Visitors look at a smart factory control system during the World Intelligent Manufacturing Summit (WIMS) 2018 in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Oct. 11, 2018. The WIMS 2018 opened at the Nanjing International Expo Center on Thursday. The event attracts over 1,900 exhibitors worldwide to showcase the latest technologies, advanced products, development trends and cutting-edge solutions in the intelligent manufacturing field. (Xinhua/Li Bo)

4

1

[ Editor: WPY ]The federal government has included a dead person on its list of Nigerians banned from travelling abroad. On Saturday, Garba Shehu...





The federal government has included a dead person on its list of Nigerians banned from travelling abroad.





On Saturday, Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, announced that at least 50 Nigerians being probed for alleged corruption have been banned from leaving the country.





He had said the action was to the effect of the executive order six recently signed by President Muhammadu Buhari.





But  you wouldnt believe  among these Nigerians placed on the watch list seen by The Nation  is Innocent Umezulike, former chief judge of Enugu state who has been deceased since June.





Interestingly, Umezulike passed away even before the executive order in question was signed by the president in July.





The late judge, who was arraigned in 2017 for alleged corruption, was laid to rest in September.



South-East Governors on Saturday expressed shock over Alhaji Atiku Abubakars choice of Peter Obi as his running mate for the 2019 pre...





South-East Governors on Saturday expressed shock over Alhaji Atiku Abubakars choice of Peter Obi as his running mate for the 2019 presidential election.





The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the zone took same stand.





Their position was made known by the Chairman of the South East Governors Forum and governor of Ebonyi State, Chief David Umahi





He, however, said that the Presidential candidate of the Party, Atiku will meet with South East leaders over the choice of his running mate.

He announced this in Enugu while addressing journalists after emergency meeting of the PDP stakeholders in the South East.





According to him, the meeting was to brainstorm on the various news making the rounds in the social media concerning purported choice of the former governor of Anambra state as Atikus running mate.





He said both PDP governors in the zone and indeed other stakeholders were shocked over the news of a vice presidential slot given to Ndigbo whereas no former notice to that effect was given.





Umahi revealed that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar sent in message during their meeting informing them that he was out of the country on a short period and pleaded with them to remain calm that he will be coming down to the zone to dialogue with leaders.





We saw news flying up and down saying that our presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has picked a running mate from the zone.





We were shocked because we were not consulted. While we were meeting, Atiku sent message that he travelled out of the country for a short period. He promised to come down and meet with South East leaders, he said.





Similarly, the vice chairman of the PDP, in the South East zone, Augustine Umahi, echoed what the Ebonyi governor said, stressing that leaders of the party in the zone saw the news of Obis nomination as running mate in the social media.





Our leaders are saying that we are not yet aware that such a thing (Obis appointment) happened.





We have gotten in touch him (Atiku), he is traveling tonight and he promised that when comes back we shall meet in that.





Peter Obi is our son, and from South East, we are not rejecting or accepting him but we are saying is that we are not aware, you cannot shave a man in his absence, he said.



Addressing the event, Politburo member and Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, Nguyen Thien Nhan, praised the proud contributions made to the citys development by the business community over the past year.

While congratulating the honourees, who represent more than 500,000 firms operating in Ho Chi Minh City, he expressed his hope that they would continue embracing obstacles and promoting solidarity in the joint effort to make the city an important economic, trade, financial and sci-tech hub in Southeast Asia.

A gathering was held in Quang Ninh province on the same day to mark Vietnam Entrepreneurs' Day. At the ceremony, the provincial Peoples Committee presented certificates of merit to 24 excellent businesses in recognition of their significant contributions to the localitys development.

A similar event was also organised in Thanh Hoa province yesterday to honour outstanding businesses and products in the locality. At present, Thanh Hoa has more than 10,000 operating firms, which have created jobs for around 350,000 labourers.Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.Addressing the 3rd National Farmers Forum in Hanoi on October 14 which was part of activities in the Proud of Vietnamese farmers programme, the Deputy PM stressed that it is necessary to fully tap potential of each regions and localities, and enhance links between the domestic and foreign markets.

The Government promises to perfect policies to foster agricultural development, trade and investment promotion, he said.

Deputy PM Hue praised the organisation of the forum and its theme, saying that Vietnam currently has 10 farm products with export turnover of US$1 billion upwards.

Vietnam has also witnessed remarkable events of the agriculture sector, especially as the country held the world rice conference for the first time.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Vietnam Farmers Union Thao Xuan Sung emphasised the great and proud achievements of the agriculture sector over the past 32 years of reform.

The export of farm products has recorded continuous growth, creating impressive breakthroughs, he said.

In the first four months of this year, Vietnams export value of vegetables and fruits surpassed those of crude oil. The countrys agro-forestry-aquatic product exports are forecast to reach US$40 billion in 2018.

However, Sung also mentioned challenges facing Vietnams agriculture sector such as climate change and internal difficulties of the national economy.

At the forum, participants voiced their concern about how to improve the quality and image of Vietnamese agricultural products, and expand more markets for and reduce production cost and prices of farm produce. They also discussed policies to cope with the protection of agricultural products in importing countries.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh underlined the need to build brand names for Vietnamese farm produce, saying that it is necessary for Vietnam to improve the quality and ensure food safety of agricultural products if it wants to build sustainable trademarks for those.

He added that the ministry has built a project to develop 15,000 new-style cooperatives, which are hoped to help farmers develop their production and make it easier for them in selling their products.

Director of the Trade Promotion Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) Vu Ba Phu said through programmes to support farmers and enterprises in building brand names for their farm produce, the MoIT and other relevant ministries will promote Vietnamese trademarks to international markets through Vietnams agencies abroad.Politburo member Vuong spoke highly of the Vientiane delegations working visit to Vietnam and the outcomes of the talks between them and their Hanoian counterparts.

He expressed his delight at the increasingly effective collaboration in all spheres between Vientiane and Hanoi, as well as other Vietnamese cities and provinces.

Politburo member Vuong hoped that the Lao capital will maintain strong connections with Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and other localities in the areas in which they hold strength, including education and training, experience-sharing in Party building and high-tech agriculture, local economic management, economics, especially in investment and trade, and infrastructure building.

Sinlavong, who is also a Politburo member of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party Central Committee, congratulated Vietnam on its significant recent achievements and applauded the extensive development of the special bilateral relations in all aspects.

He also informed his host on Vientianes situation, the Lao citys cooperation with Hanoi and other Vietnamese localities, and the outcomes of the talks between officials of the two capitals.

The official thanked Vietnamese localities for their effective support for Vientiane over the past few years. He affirmed that Vientiane will coordinate closely with Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and other Vietnamese localities to further improve cooperation and increase the sharing of experience in all fields, thereby helping to realise the agreements between the two Parties, countries, and capital cities in order to lift the Laos-Vietnam special solidarity to a new height.The meeting between Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nguyen Xuan Cuong, and Cambodian Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Veng Sakhon, took place within the framework of the 40th meeting of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) and the 18th AMAF Plus Three (AMAF+3) meet-up in Hanoi.

They reviewed their cooperation outcomes and expressed their wish to step up bilateral ties.

Minister Cuong said that agriculture plays an important role in holding up the economy of each country. The two agriculture industries also complement each other well and as such, Vietnam will provide the best possible support for each side to develop.

Minister Veng Sakhon appreciated Vietnams technical assistance for Cambodias agricultural sector, noting that cassava prices in his country are falling sharply due to the spread of disease. Cambodia hopes that Vietnam will further assist its market to deal with disease of the cassava plant and increase the buying prices of cassava in border areas.

Sharing Vietnams experience in dealing with cassava diseases, the host official said his ministry is ready to give technical support, including new cassava varieties, to Cambodia.

He said several agricultural products from Cambodia, such as cashew nuts and rubber, hold great development potential. He pledged to promote the Vietnam Rubber Groups investment in processing facilities as scheduled and to purchase Cambodian rubber latex at reasonable prices.

At the meeting, the two officials also talked about cooperation to remove the European Commissions yellow-card warning against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in the two countries fisheries sectors.

With regard to forestry, Minister Cuong said Vietnam pays special attention to the sustainable development of the forest-based economy. Forest coverage in Vietnam reached 41.45 percent in 2017 and the country is striving to expand its forested surface area with certificates of sustainable forest management practices to roughly 1 million ha by 2030.

In recent years, the two sides have exchanged information on forestry and cooperated effectively in forest protection and development, sustainable forest management, forest certification, forestry product management, and forestry science, he added.We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription.The Brong-Ahafo Regional Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, Mr Kofi Ofosu Boateng has said the "tremendous work done, by the Vice President and President Akufo-Addo has bore fruits barely five months into the introduction of the mobile money interoperability service in the country.



He said the governments commitment to supporting start-ups through policies and programmes designed to ensure the success of the mobile money interoperability system has given rise to the success of the project.



His comments follows latest data from the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System (GhIPSS), which indicates that over 1.1 million transactions was recorded at the end of September with the total value of cross-network transactions amounted to about 99.3 million Ghana cedis.



According to GhlPSS in its first month of operations, only 96 thousand transactions took place but that figure has risen steadily over the period to over 312 thousand transactions in the month of September alone.



Chief Executive of GhIPSS Archie Hesse said the continuous growth in the volume of transactions clearly shows that the mobile money interoperability came to fulfil a need.



The Vice President last year issued a challenged to the Bank of Ghana, the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), the Telcos and financial institutions to ensure that mobile money platforms were interoperable to make banking services more accessible to the large unbanked population, estimated to be about 70%.



Launching the mobile money interoperability system in may this year, the Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia said, mobile money payment interoperability system is expected to largely eliminate the difficulties associated with traditional banking services, such as the difficulty in opening bank accounts, the high costs associated with maintaining a bank account relative to customers income levels, the need to have basic literacy, administration and record keeping abilities among others.



Mr Kofi Ofosu Boateng in an interview with the media in Sunyani, praised Dr Bawumia whose efforts had resulted in a platform that provides a financial transactions engine that is versatile, efficient, robust, and enhances patronage.



He said the fulfillment of this singular achievement reechoed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos belief that with the right conditions and leadership, there is nothing we cannot achieve as a people.



It is informative to stress that as part of the commitment and determination by government to protect the public purse the mobile money interoperability project was executed with a just Ghc4 million instead of the earmarked GHc 1.2 billion by the previous NDC government.





Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoWhile receiving Vice Chairman of the International Friendship Exchange Council (FEC) Yoshihiko Nakagaki, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee, Le Thanh Liem, said the city also desires to further boost cultural and people-to-people exchanges, especially exchanges between students and youths, in order to enhance the mutual understanding and bilateral relations between Vietnam and Japan.

Vice Chairman Liem affirmed that Japan is a close friend of Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City in particular, adding that the city has increased the exchange of visits as well as cooperation and friendship activities with Japan and its cities and prefectures.

The two sides have also organised a range of cultural exchange activities such as the Japan-Vietnam Festival and the Vietnam Festival in Aichi with the theme of Ho Chi Minh Citys Integration and Development, he said.

At the meeting, Vice Chairman Liem and Nakagaki also discussed a number of issues in which Japan is interested, such as the settlement of pressure from the growing population, traffic congestion, flooding and the citys education work.

Nakagaki, who is also Chairman of the Japan-Vietnam Cultural and Economic Exchange Committee, said this is the eighth time he has had led a FEC delegation on a working visit to Vietnam, enabling him to witness the rapid and impressive changes of both Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City.

He commended the citys remarkable contributions to Vietnams strong economic growth in recent years. Japan highly evaluated the potential for socio-economic development of Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City in particular in the future, Nakagaki added.

Sharing Ho Chi Minh Citys plan to build itself into a smart city, Nakagaki said Japanese businesses want to join hands with the city in dealing with challenges in the process of urban development, especially in water supply and drainage, transport infrastructure and energy, among others.

The FEC was established in May 1983 as a non-profit international exchange organisation that, on the private-sector level, promotes relationships of friendship and cooperation between Japan and other countries, as well as fostering public understanding of international circumstances.

Members of the FEC include many people with deep knowledge and experience in diplomacy and international relations, both from the public and private sectors, including ambassadors to Japan. The FEC is committed to developing and promoting relationships of mutual benefit with people of other countries from the perspective of independent, private diplomacy, by uniting the wisdom of members and reflecting the peoples wishes in diplomacy.The presidency has just circulated the statement below announcing the placement of 50 high-profile Nigerians on travel restrictions.



The individuals, whose identities were not disclosed, include those whose assets, valued at N50million and above, are subject of corruption investigation and litigation.



The statement by presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, said the measure is part of the implementation of Executive Order Number 6 which seeks to ensure that all assets within a minimum value of N50 million or equivalent, subject to investigation or litigation are protected from dissipation by employing all available lawful means, pending the final determination of any corruption-related matter.



Mr Shehu added that the financial transactions of these persons of interest are also being monitored by relevant agencies to ensure the assets are not dissipated and that such persons do not interfere with,investigation and litigation processes.



READ FULL STATEMENT BELOW







STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE



PRESIDENT BUHARI DIRECTS IMPLEMENTATION OF EO 6 IN FULL FORCE



Following the instant judicial affirmation of the constitutionality and legality of the Executive Order 6 (EO6), President Muhammadu Buhari has mandated the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice to implement the Order in full force.





To this end, a number of enforcement procedures are currently in place by which the Nigeria Immigration Service and other security agencies have placed no fewer than 50 high profile persons directly affected by EO6 on watch-list and restricted them from leaving the county pending the determination of their cases.



Also, the financial transactions of these persons of interest are being monitored by the relevant agencies to ensure that the assets are not dissipated and such persons do not interfere with, nor howsoever corrupt the investigation and litigation processes.



It is instructive to note that EO6 was specifically directed to relevant law enforcement agencies to ensure that all assets within a minimum value of N50 million or equivalent, subject to investigation or litigation are protected from dissipation by employing all available lawful means, pending the final determination of any corruption-related matter.



The Buhari administration reassures all well-meaning and patriotic Nigerians of its commitment to the fight against corruption, in accordance with the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the general principles of the Rule of Law.



Accordingly, this administration will uphold the rule of law in all its actions and the right of citizens would be protected as guaranteed by the Constitution.



We, therefore, enjoin all Nigerians to cooperate with the law enforcement authorities towards ensuring a successful implementation of the Executive Order 6 which is a paradigm-changing policy of the Federal Government in the fight against corruption.



Garba Shehu



Senior Special Assistant to the President



(Media & Publicity)



October 13, 2018

Source: premiumtimesng.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoDetroit police say the bodies of 11 babies have been found hidden in a drop ceiling of a funeral home that the state of Michigan closed six months ago for violating rules.



Authorities say construction workers found the infant corpses Friday at the Cantrell Funeral Home.



Eight were stored in a cardboard box and three were found in separate garbage bags that were stuffed into one casket, reports The Detroit News.



The Wayne County Medical Examiner took custody of the remains after the discovery at around 5.30pm.



Jameca LaJoyce Boone, who was the funeral home's manager for a year before it was shut down and had her individual mortuary licence revoked, said she had no idea what was going on with the baby's bodies.



'I didn't know anything about that,' she told The Detroit News. 'I really don't know how that could even have happened. I don't know how long that's been going on there it's very unfortunate and they definitely need to find out who put them there.'



Cantrell Funeral Home is located on the city's east side where 10400 Mack Avenue meets Garland, about 10 blocks east of the Indian Village neighbourhood.



Detroit police have ordered a search of the building to ensure there are no additional bodies inside.



Michigan's Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) suspended the license of the funeral home in April after inspectors found decomposing embalmed bodies and other violations.



LARA had told the business to reassign prepaid contracts or refund the people who's requests they could not carry out. They had had up to 90 days to wrap up the tasks depending on which route they took, reports WXYZ.



'Based on a new complaint, LARA investigators today searched Cantrell Funeral Home and found the decomposing bodies of 11 infants. We then immediately contacted local authorities,' they said in a statement. 'In April, LARA suspended the mortuary licenses of both the home and its manager Jameca LaJoyce Boone for many violations including the improper storage of decomposing bodies of adult and infants.



'That suspension order remains in effect as does our investigation. We will use the evidence gathered today to add to our open investigation and will continue to work with local law enforcement as this case proceeds.'



Of 20 corpses thought to have been decomposing for months when they were found earlier this year, three were in cremation containers, seven in coffins and 10 laying out on tables.



Violations also included two bodies in a garage covered in what appeared to be mould due to not being held in a proper refrigerator. A third body had unknown fluids covering the facial area.



A report from April states that the owner was being charged with 'fraud, deceit, dishonesty, incompetence, and gross negligence in the practice of mortuary science'.



The charges are for receiving more than $21,000 in prepayments by no less than 13 people who had signed agreements for future funeral services, but failing to register for a new license to do so, reports Freep.com.



They also included having unclean embalming rooms.



He may be guilty of a felony punishable by a fine of '$5,000 or imprisonment of not more than five years, or both,' according to the LARA website.



Fox2 reported that Raymond Cantrell took over the half-a-century-old funeral home in 2017. He said he only held the bodies because some people were unable to pay for a proper burial.



'If I had them in the funeral home then my funeral home wouldn't smell fresh,' he previously said. 'So yes they are embalmed and serviced we put them in the garage.'



It's not clear if loved ones of the deceased were aware of the exact conditions but he added that people knew the bodies were still in his care.



Others who could afford to bury and cremate their loved ones were not, however.



Cantrell also mentioned he was trying to contact people who had ashes to collect but was not able to get in touch with everyone.



'Flat out disgusted, I can only tell them the truth,' Cantrell said in April about customers who were unaware.



'Those who have asked me to hold their loved ones will know I was doing them a favour to accommodate them. For those that weren't, like the many of the cremated they are trying to take from here or that they are taking from here. Those individuals we called we've tried to notify and they haven't been picked up.'

Source: Dailymail









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoThe Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Mr. Bernard Antwi-Boaisako, has downplayed the chances of the National Democratic Congress winning the 2020 elections with ex-president Mahama as their preferred candidate.



He posited that life under former president Mahama drove many to contemplate suicide but the assurance that Nana Akufo-Addo would kick him out of power, made them rescind that decision.



"It took the grace of God to overcome the disaster Mahama had created. He just made life hard for the people he was governing", Mr. Bernard Antwi-Boaisako said.



He explained that to the voter, the name Mahama, connotes retrogression.



He further described the former president as someone who came to power to extort from the poor taxpayer to enrich himself making it difficult for Ghanaians to make ends meet.



Ask John Mahama what happened to the $10 billion Hope City Project. That project was expected to create jobs for more than 50,000 people in the country but what happened? Through extortion, he ended up creating jobs and properties for only himself, wife and brothers, Mr. Antwi-Boasiako said.



For this reason, the NPP scribe populary known as Chairman Wontumi noted that voters wouldnt want to have such an extortionist return to power. They wont ever make that mistake of voting for John Mahama knowing very well he has amassed so much wealth through extortion.



Former President John Dramani Mahama has criticized the New Patriotic Party (NPP), for making the conditions of living in the country for the ordinary Ghanaian super-hard as compared to when the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) was in power.



He passed the above remarks when he addressed constituency delegates and some supporters of the party at Garu in the Upper East Region as part of his campaign to lead the party as flagbearer in the 2020 polls.



But Chairman Wontumi responded by stating that life under the former President wasnt only hard, but suicidal.

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.

Featured VideoWe're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to form



Singapore Airlines A350

Image Source: Airbus





SQ21 is scheduled to fly out of Singapore at 11.35 pm and arrives in Newark at 6.00 am the following day. The return leg, SQ22, departs Newark at 10.45 am and arrives back in Singapore at 5.30 pm the following day. During its initial week, the outbound flight would only operate on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays but starting the 18th, it is expected to operate daily.







In addition to the captain, the flight would have two first officers and 13 cabin crew. Pilots are given a minimum of eight hours of rest. The inaugural flight was under the command of Captain S L Leong.





A specially-configured Airbus A350-900ULR is used for this iteration. It has 67 business class seats and 94 premium economy class seats, a grand total of 161 which is half the normal capacity of a typical A350-900. SIA is Airbus' first A350-900ULR customer. Its ceiling is higher than usual and lighting is designed to help reduce jet lag and stress especially for passengers who would spend nearly three-quarters of a day on the plane. SIA is expecting six more A350-900ULR before the year ends.





Passengers are provided with a 'wellness' menu with organic dishes and up to seven weeks worth of film and television options to choose from.





SIA is not the only Southeast Asian carrier to introduce nonstop flights to New York this month. Later in October, Philippine Airlines will launch a nonstop service from Manila. The Centre for Aviation is expressing caution about whether such services would be profitable, saying that low initial yields observed would make it challenging to sustain such services as fuel prices continue to rise. Shukor Yusof of aviation consultancy firm Endau Analytics says that the recent wave of nonstop flights is turning out to be a 'race between a few airlines eyeing the longest routes inter-continentally' and that such carriers are hoping to 'capitalise and exploit a very niche market'. However, Shukor added that it is still unknown if carriers like SIA will be able to overcome rising fuel prices when operating ultra long-haul flights.



Although passengers from Manila currently have options to take them to New York more quickly, those who are interested to try the more than 18+ hour-long flight may book SQ919 to take them from Manila to Singapore where they can enjoy the world-class facilities offered by Changi Airport whilst waiting.





SIA had a previous iteration of this nonstop flight which was operated with an Airbus A340-500 from 2004 to 2013. Just like the current iteration, the previous iteration featured business and premium economy class (previously known as Executive Economy class) cabins before being upgraded to an all-business class configuration. The flight was suspended amidst rising fuel prices and the amount of fuel the A340-500 burned. With the reinstatement of the nonstop Singapore-New York flight, SIA operates the longest commercial flight in the world once again. This distinction was until a few days ago held by Qatar Airways' Auckland-Doha flight.



SIA is also not yet done with introducing nonstop flights between Singapore and the mainland United States. On November 2, SIA will reinstate its nonstop flight between Singapore and Los Angeles. It will ply the route daily. The carrier will also mount three additional flights between the two cities on December 2. The A350-900ULR will also be used on the route. SIA also currently flies nonstop between Singapore and San Francisco with a standard A350-900 and it will mount three more flights between those two cities which use the A350-900ULR.





Singapore Airlines (SIA) has reinstated its nonstop service between Singapore and New York's Newark Airport after a nearly five-year hiatus.Discussing the summits outcomes with the press, Ambassador Duong Chi Dung, head of Vietnams permanent mission to the United Nations in Geneva and assistant to the Vietnamese Foreign Minister, said the event attracted nearly 40 presidents and prime ministers from the OIF member countries and territories, along with representatives of the UN and many international and regional organisations.

Themed Living together in solidarity, sharing humanistic values, and respect for diversity: a source of peace and prosperity in La Francophonie, the summit highlighted the significance of international multilateral organisations, including the OIF, in enhancing mutual understanding, respecting diversity, and promoting cooperation to maintain peace and stability, and resolve issues around the world and in the Francophone space.

Ambassador Dung noted that it adopted many important documents, including the Yerevan Declaration, the Francophonie call for living together, and the Francophone cooperation strategy for 2019-2022. They will not only help deal with challenges facing the Francophone community but also set up orientations for the French-speaking communitys activities in the future, particularly assisting the member states and governments to realise the Sustainable Development Goals, respond to climate change, boost economic growth, and increase the use of French at multilateral forums.

He added that the summit admitted Ireland, Malta, Gambia and the US state of Louisiana as observers, raising the number of OIF members and observers to 88, thus further affirming the OIFs role as the worlds second biggest international organisation, after the UN.

The summit elected Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo as Secretary-General of the OIF for the 2019-2022 term.

Ambassador Dung highlighted the active contributions by the high-ranking delegation of Vietnam, led by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.

The official noted that Deputy PM Minh delivered an important speech, stressing that the world and the Francophone community is facing a number of challenges that no country can singlehandedly resolve, so multilateral mechanisms such as the OIF hold critical importance.

He asked the OIF to step up substantive cooperation, seek measures to deal with the root causes of crises and instability such as inequality, hunger, poverty, and underdevelopment, continue to reinforce existing mechanisms for conflict prevention, and handle disputes on the basis of international law.

The Vietnamese delegation also mentioned the Asia-Pacifics situation, emphasising that the region is an important part of the Francophone space, and it now also has to cope with many challenges caused by the strategic competition of powerful countries, racial conflicts, terrorism, cyber security, and climate change, Ambassador Dung said.

Deputy PM Minh affirmed that Vietnam has always actively participated in and responsibly contributed to the common efforts for the sake of peace, security and development of the world and the Francophone community.

Vietnam called on the involved parties, and showed its readiness to join the relevant sides to peacefully resolve the East Sea disputes in conformity with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. It also asked the OIF members to continue supporting Vietnams efforts in this issue.

The Vietnamese side actively joined in the building of and promoted the adoption of documents with content matching the countrys policies and interests.

Ambassador Dung said the documents issued at the summit called on the Francophone community to pay more attention to the complicated situation in the East Sea, urging the parties concerned to peacefully handle disputes on the basis of international law, exercise self-restraint, not use or threaten to use force, ensure the security and safety of navigation and aviation, fully implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, and make efforts to achieve an effective and efficient Code of Conduct in the waters.

On the sidelines of the summit, Deputy PM Minh had bilateral meetings with the heads of delegations of France, Canada, Armenia, Mali, Haiti, Andorra, Cameroon, Guinea, and Madagascar to strengthen Vietnams relations with the countries and call for their endorsement of its candidacy for a non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021.

At the meetings, the countries said they treasure their ties with Vietnam and consider it as a development model, especially for African nations. They hoped that Vietnam will continue acting as a bridge of the OIF in the Asia-Pacific and contribute to peace, stability and development in the Francophone community and the world. They also promised to consider supporting Vietnams candidacy for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council, Ambassador Dung added.If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found hereXiaomi now a lifestyle player, quietly launching a slew of non-smartphone products like Mi branded luggage, backpacks, apparel, U-shaped pillows, pens, home security cameras and air purifiers.

A Mi brand android television. Courtesy: www.mi.com.

One of the country's best-known smartphone brands, Xiaomi is undertaking a journey aimed at helping it transform into a lifestyle player.

The first few steps have been taken, with the Chinese major in the last few weeks quietly launching a slew of non-smartphone products.

This includes Mi branded luggage, backpacks, apparel, U-shaped pillows, pens, home security cameras and air purifiers.

It comes in addition to wearable devices (like Mi bands), electronic accessories (like routers, chargers, power banks, earphones and cables) and television sets that Xiaomi already has in the country.



The plan, says a company spokesperson, is to tap the broader smart products space as Xiaomi eyes growth beyond smartphones in India. "We are evaluating appropriate categories which make sense for the Indian market. India is ready for smart home and lifestyle products with smart TVs leading the interest," the spokesperson said.





Mi offers smarthome products too like 360 degree security cameras. Courtesy: www.mi.com.

Xiaomi took the plunge into smart TVs in March with all three variants of its 'Mi' branded LED TVs available both online and offline. The next phase of growth would see its TVs get into offline multi-brand outlets as it competes head-on with established names such as Samsung, LG and Sony.



In an interview in June to Business Standard, Manu Kumar Jain, global vice president and India MD at Xiaomi, said the company was actively working on ramping up its television business in the country. By end-September, Xiaomi had already sold half a million TVs in India, with the company pushing the pedal further in the space.



The firm, which made its stock market debut at the Hong Kong bourse in July, has recently begun manufacturing TVs in India. And according to Jain, Xiaomi is looking to manufacture its products locally in other categories too. The firm, for instance, already makes handset components such as printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs) locally and is doing the same in the case of power banks, Jain said.





Mi petis! Courtesy: www.mi.com.

India remains Xiaomi's largest market outside of China, where $1 billion of the nearly $5 billion raised in the initial public offering has been set aside for expansion. The company already commands nearly 30 per cent market share in smartphones, ahead of Samsung in the April-June period, according to International Data Corporation, and proposes to expand its lead in the category, led by product innovation and a strong distribution push both online and offline. The latter (offline push) will be critical to its second phase of growth in the country, sector experts said, as it diversifies its operations.





Xiaomi had entered India in 2014 through an online-only business model, though in the last one year it has made the brand available in brick-and-mortar retail chains, exclusive stores (called Mi Homes) and dealers (called Mi Preferred Partners). The company plans to have 100 Mi Home stores by the end of 2018 from 50 outlets now. It has also launched two company-owned-and-operated stores or "experience centres" in Bengaluru and Navi Mumbai (Vashi), which will see it showcase all its products under one roof. More such "experience centres" are on the cards as Xiaomi expands its horizons here.





Mi Band 3s retail for Rs 1,999. Courtesy: www.mi.com.

The Chinese major also proposes to increase its content and software tie-ups in the country as it seeks to improve stickiness and provide more features for less (in terms of pricing) within smartphones.

In June, the company entered the digital lending space in India, with the launch of a 'Mi Credit' product, to boost phone sales. The initiative helps consumers get personal loans via offers that appear on their lock screens when using their phones. The company is also investing in domestic start-ups as India remains critical from a growth point of view, Jain said. Insights gathered here are taken to other markets, he said, including those in Asia and Latin America, places where Xiaomi has revived its expansion plans.



Since 2017, the company has re-ignited sales in markets such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Russia, Spain, the United Arab Emirates and Ukraine. The company is also eyeing an entry into the US market in 2019 as it looks to strengthen its presence worldwide.The ASEM 12 themed " Global partners for global challenges," will work out measures to promote the ASEM role in boosting multilateral cooperation, connecting Asia with Europe, upholding international law, addressing global challenges, and maintaining peace, security, stability, cooperation and development in the world and the two continents.

Over more than twenty years since joining ASEM, Vietnam has been an active and responsible member, participating in significant events in the development path of ASEM. The most prominent contribution of Vietnam was the successful organisation of the fifth ASEM Summit together with five ASEM Ministerial Meetings and the implementation of a number of initiatives in specialised fields of ASEM. So far, Vietnam is considered one of the most active members of the ASEM Forum with 24 initiatives and the co-sponsor of 27 initiatives on practical issues for localities, businesses and the people.

Vietnam is one of the initiators and maintainers of the first ASEM cooperation mechanism on water resources management, called "ASEM Dialogue on Sustainable Development", focusing on sub-regional cooperation among the Mekong and Danube countries, contributing to enhancing the Mekong sub-region cooperation on an inter-regional level.

Leading the Vietnamese delegation to attend ASEM 12, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is one of the two senior leaders of ASEM to be invited to meet and talk with the Asian and European enterprises in the framework of the 16th Asia-Europe Business Forum. Vietnam is expected to propose two new initiatives on the ASEM conference on promoting inclusive socio-economic development in Asia and Europe and the ASEM seminar on boosting digital economy in the context of the 4.0 industrial revolution, scheduled to take place in Vietnam in 2019.

The P4G was formed based on the Danish Government's initiative to develop public-private partnerships and accelerate the implementation of global sustainable development goals by 2030 through the implementation of green growth and facilitating solutions on a global scale.

The P4G Summit is attended by eight countries, including Denmark (founder), Chile, Mexico, Vietnam, the Republic of Korea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Colombia, alongside the participation of international organisations. Within the framework of promoting the activities of the P4G forum, Vietnam organised two workshops in September 2018 on plastic waste and coastal community and plastic waste and the necessity of sorting waste in order to promote law enforcement and effective solutions to reduce plastic waste pollution. Many recommendations of the business community have been recognised by the Government and will be implemented in the future.

On December 1, 1972, Austria was one of the first Western countries to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam. We are pleased to see the friendly and cooperative relationship between the two countries grow more extensively, effectively and comprehensively, through high-level visits. The two sides have worked closely together and supported each other at multilateral forums such as the United Nations, ASEM, and ASEAN-EU. As the rotating EU presidency in late 2018, Austria supports the strengthening of Vietnam  EU relations.

In 2017, two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Austria reached more than US$4 billion, making Austria the sixth largest export market of Vietnam in Europe. In the first seven months of 2018, Vietnam's exports to Austria totalled US$2.58 billion, an increase of 47% over the same period in 2017. As of August 2018, Austria had31 valid projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of US$143.9 million. In 2010 and 2015, the two countries signed a framework agreement on financial cooperation under which the Austrian Government committed to provide EUR250 million to Vietnam.

This year, Vietnam and Belgium celebrate the 45th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties. The trust and mutual understanding between the two countries have been further strengthened through the exchanges of high-level delegations and cooperative mechanisms. Although Belgium is a small market, trade volume between Vietnam and Belgium is high due to the transit of Vietnamese goods through Belgium to enter other Western European countries. Belgium is currently the seventh largest export market of Vietnam in the EU. Two-way trade revenue reached nearly US$ 2.7 billion in 2017. By 2017, Belgium had62 valid investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of US$595 million.

The development cooperation between Vietnam and Belgium started in 1977 and Vietnam is the only Asian country to receive development assistance from the Belgian Government. Since 1977, Belgium has provided Vietnam with loans and non-refundable aid of nearly US$300 million (non-refundable aid accounts for 60%). Belgium is interested in establishing a deeper cooperation partnership with Vietnam in the field of agriculture.

Vietnam and the EU officially established diplomatic relations on November 28, 1990. EU-Vietnam relations continue to develop positively with regular exchanges of delegations and meetings. EU is the Vietnams third largest trading partner, the second largest export market and the leading foreign investor in Vietnam. As of June, 2017, 24 of the 28 EU countries had invested in Vietnam with 1,975 valid projects worth US$ 21.7 billion. The EU is also the largest non-refundable aid provider for Vietnam. In the period of 1993 - 2013, the total ODA commitment of the EU reached nearly US$14 billion, accounting for 20% of the total commitment of the international donor community to Vietnam, including approximately US$1.5 billion in non-refundable aid. Both sides are actively boosting the signing of the Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) in 2018.

Denmark has been one of the most important partners of Vietnam in Europe for many years. The two countries set up a strategic partnership in the fields of climate change, energy, environment and green growth in November 2011. This year, Vietnam and Denmark mark the 5th anniversary of the establishment of the comprehensive partnership. Economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries are growing well with a two-way trade turnover of US$664.6 million in 2017. Denmark was one of the first Nordic countries to invest in Vietnam. Currently, Denmark has 132 investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of over US$686 million. Since 1972, Denmark has provided Vietnam with over US$1 billion worth of ODA. In the area of climate change adaptation, Denmark is the largest donor of Vietnam with a grant of up to US$ 40 million for the Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Programme". The Vietnamese community in Denmark consists of approximately15,000 people who have stable and harmonious lives.

The PMs attendance at the ASEM 12, the P4G and official visits to Austria, Belgium, Denmark, and the EU aims to affirm Vietnams foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development and diversify international relations and actively integrate into the world. His trip also intends to strengthen the good relationship between Vietnam and its partner countries, contributing to the building and shaping of multilateral institutions and effective participation in addressing global challenges and enhancing the prestige and position of Vietnam in the international arena.Union minister Ramdas Athawale said on Sunday that Union minister M J Akbar should resign if the allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against him were found to be true.

Replying to queries at a press conference in Pune, he also cautioned that the #MeToo movement should not become a platform to level baseless allegations.

Athawale, who is the Union minister for social justice and empowerment, said Akbar should resign as Union minister if he was found guilty.

"If someone is insulting women, action should be taken against such an individual. Even if personalities like Nana Patekar or M J Akbar are found guilty, action should be taken against them," Athawale said.

"If someone is guilty, the person should be punished. But according to me, there is a possibility that the platform could be used to implicate someone in a false case. Police should verify such allegations," the minister added.

While Patekar was accused by actor Tanushree Dutta of misbehaving with her during a film shoot in 2008, multiple women in the last few days have come out with accounts of alleged sexual harassment by Akbar when he was a journalist.

Akbar on Sunday rejected the allegations of sexual misconduct levelled as "false and fabricated" and vowed legal action, while suggesting this was part of an "agenda" as the charges came a few months before a general election.

On being asked about a number of these allegations coming to light several years after the alleged incidents, Athawale said evidence would come up even now if investigations were conducted properly.

The Republican Party of India-Athawale leader said not all allegations under the #MeToo movement were of a very serious nature but they mostly concerned cases of inappropriate touch and misbehaviour.

"However, all allegations need to be investigated," he said.

Athawale said the Union government had appointed a committee comprising retired judges to probe the cases.In a lengthy statement, the minister gave a point by point rebuttal to claim of all the women who accused him of sexual harassment.

IMAGE: Union minister M J Akbar, left, at his residence in New Delhi on Sunday, October 14, 2018. Photograph: Vijay Verma/PTI Photo

Union minister M J Akbar on Sunday rejected allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against him by several women as "false, fabricated and spiced up", as he questioned its timing months before the Lok Sabha polls, and vowed legal action.

Hours after returning from a trip to Africa, the minister of state for external affairs issued a statement trashing the charges, saying accusations without evidence has become a "viral fever" among some sections.

"Why has this storm risen a few months before a general election? Is there an agenda? You be the judge," he said.

"The allegations of misconduct made against me are false and fabricated, spiced up by innuendo and malice. I could not reply earlier as I was on an official tour abroad," he said.

Stating that these allegations have caused irreparable damage to his reputation, the Bharatiya Janata Rajya Sabha MP said his lawyers would decide the next course of action after looking into the allegations against him.

"Whatever be the case, now that I have returned, my lawyers will look into these wild and baseless allegations in order to decide our future course of legal action," he said.

Terming the entire situation as distressing, Akbar said, "Lies do not have legs, but they do contain poison, which can be whipped in to a frenzy."

Over the last few days, multiple women have come out with accounts of alleged sexual harassment by Akbar when he was a journalist as the #MeToo movement swept social media, bringing to fore claims of sexual harassment by influential men in different walks of life.

The women who accused Akbar of sexual harassment include Priya Ramani, Ghazala Wahab, Shuma Raha, Anju Bharti and Shutapa Paul, among others.

Akbar sought to give a point by point rebuttal to their charges, saying while some of the accusations are totally, "unsubstantiated hearsay" others confirm, on record, that "I didn't do anything".

"It is pertinent to remember that both Ms Ramani and Ms Wahab kept working with me even after these alleged incidents; this clearly establishes that they had no apprehension and discomfort. The reason why they remained silent for decades is very apparent: as Ms Ramani has herself stated, 'he never did anything'," Akbar said.

Elaborating further, the MoS external affairs said a campaign against him was started by Ramani a year ago with a magazine article.

"She did not however name me as she knew it was an incorrect story. When asked recently why she had not named me, she replied in a tweet, never named him because he did not do anything," Akbar said.

"If I didn't do anything, where and what is the story? There is no story. This was admitted at the very inception. But a sea of innuendo, speculation and abusive diatribe has been built around something that has never happened," he said.

Similarly, Akbar said Shutapa Paul also stated that the "man never laid a hand on me" while Shuma Raha also clarified "he didn't actually 'do' anything".

He said that Anju Bharti's claim that he was partying in a swimming pool was "absurd" as "I do not know how to swim".

Among all the allegations, Akbar, in elaborate detail, countered Wahab's charges terming them as false, motivated and baseless.

The minister said he worked with her only at The Asian Age newspaper, whose editorial team then worked out of a small hall and he had a very tiny cubicle.

The tables and chairs of other colleagues at the office were just two feet away from his cubicle, he said.

"It is utterly bizarre to believe that anything could have happened in that tiny space, and, moreover, that no one else in the vicinity would come to know, in the midst of a working day. These allegations are false, motivated and baseless," Akbar said.

Responding to Wahab's claim that she complained to Veenu Sandal, who wrote features for the paper, Akbar said Sandal described her (Wahab's) version as "nonsense" in an interview to an English daily and also said she never heard in 20 years anybody accusing him of any such thing.

Asserting that the women remained silent for decades because he never did anything, the editor-turned-politician said, "this is the reason why no one went to the authorities for so long, because I had done nothing".

Demands for Akbar's removal were made by some political parties, after his name cropped up on social media as part of the #MeToo movement.

While the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Shiv Sena demanded Akbar's resignation, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had said the #MeToo campaign is a "very big issue". He has not commented on Akbar directly.

Modi's silence on charges against Akbar unacceptable: Congress The Congress has stepped up its attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the allegations of sexual harassment against Union minister M J Akbar, saying his silence was "conspicuous and unacceptable". As the #MeToo movement gathered pace over the last fortnight, the Union minister of state for external affairs was accused by several former colleagues of sexual harassment when he served as an editor at various media organisations. Addressing a press conference at the party office, senior party leader Anand Sharma questioned Modi's silence on the issue and said as the head of the government he should speak on the issue. "It is for the prime minister to speak on this issue, let the country judge its PM by his actions. So far his silence is conspicuous. This question is not only the moral authority of the government, but his own also, and the dignity of the office he holds," Sharma said. He claimed a prime minister, who swears by "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao" and talks of women dignity, has chosen to be silent. "His silence is unacceptable. It is the head of the government who should make his views known on the issue," Sharma said. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had earlier come out in support of the #MeToo movement, saying it was time for the truth to be told "loud and clear".

With inputs from ANIIMAGE: Goa CM Manohar Parrikar brought to Panaji in Goa. Photograph: ANI

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar arrived in his home state on Sunday from New Delhi, where he was undergoing treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences for pancreatic ailment.

Parrikar, 62, was flown in a special flight and later taken to his private residence at Dona Paula near Panaji, in an ambulance.

The flight landed around 2.35 pm at the state's Dabolim airport and the ambulance was brought out from the gate of the naval enclave INS Hansa, which is a part of the Navy-run airport.

Earlier, Parrikar was Sunday morning discharged from the AIIMS.

According to sources in the AIIMS, he was in the morning shifted to the Intensive Care Unit for a while after his condition deteriorated.

But later, the administration decided to discharge him.

The state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital has made elaborate arrangements at his private residence with a team of doctors on standby to take care of his health.

Parrikar was admitted to the AIIMS on September 15.

On Friday, Parrikar met Goa BJP's core committee members and ministers from coalition partners at AIIMS to discuss ways to ensure his government functions normally during his absence from office due to ill health.

Leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies, who met Parrikar separately, had ruled out any change in leadership in the coastal state.

The core committee is the BJP's key decision-making body in Goa, comprising senior leaders like Parrikar, Union minister Shripad Naik and party state chief Vinay Tendulkar, among others.

Parrikar has been ailing since mid-February and has been treated at different hospitals including those in Goa, Mumbai and the US.

Union minister Naik told reporters in Panaji earlier in the day that it is okay if Parrikar undergoes treatment in Goa but he needs to take rest.

"There has been an improvement in his health compared to what it was when he was flown to AIIMS last month," the AYUSH minister said.

The minister also said he had met Parrikar on Friday.

"I got the news that he is coming back but I can't believe that he is returning. His health is improving and he was expected to stay at the AIIMS for a few more days," the BJP leader said.

Naik dismissed any possibility of dissolution of the Goa assembly and expressed confidence that the Parrikar-led government will complete its five-year term.

Questions over the stability of the Goa government have been raised by the Opposition Congress because of Parrikar's illness.

In the 40-member Goa Assembly, the Parrikar-led government has the support of 23 MLAs.

These comprise 14 BJP MLAs, three each from the Goa Forward Party and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party as well as three Independents.

The Opposition Congress is the single largest party in the state assembly with 16 MLAs.With paddy growers being blamed for causing air pollution, farm experts and farmers' outfits said they are compelled to burn stubble as they do not have any other feasible and cheap option.

IMAGE: Smoke rises as a farmer burns paddy stubbles at a village on the outskirts of Amritsar. Photograph: PTI Photo

Scores of paddy growers in Punjab and Haryana continue to defy the ban on stubble burning, claiming they are "compelled" to do so in the absence of any financial support from the government for farm waste management.

Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is a major cause of air pollution not only in the two states but also in the national capital.

Governments of the two states are pinning hopes on farm mechanisation for the effective management of crop residue but the use of farm equipments, growers say, is not the "best solution which will take care of just minuscule area" of paddy.

With paddy growers being blamed for causing air pollution, farm experts and farmers' outfits said the community is a "soft target" and the "short-sighted" approach of policy makers in the government has not only "failed" to address the concerns of the growers but also to achieve the task of zero stubble burning.

Punjab has so far seen over 330 incidents of crop residue burning while Haryana has witnessed 701 incidents of stubble burning, officials said.

Though officials claimed reduction in paddy residue burning this year, farmers said the number of stubble burning incidents was lesser as paddy harvesting was yet to pick up in the wake of higher moisture content in crop caused by incessant rains last month.

"Farmers do not want to burn paddy residue. But they are compelled to burn stubble as they do not have any other feasible and cheap option," said Bhartiya Kisan Union (Rajewal) president Balbir Singh Rajewal.

Rajewal said the use of farm equipments for crop residue management was not an ideal solution as it is putting additional financial burden on small and marginal growers whose condition was already pitiable.

"Farmers who are in debt trap are committing suicide and now the government is taking penal action (imposing fine) against growers who burn paddy residue. Farmers have become soft targets for the authorities despite the fact that just 8 per cent of air pollution caused by farm residue burning," Rajewal said.

IMAGE: Farmers work in a field as smoke rises due to the burning of the paddy stubbles. Photograph: PTI Photo

Every year, Punjab and Haryana are blamed for rising air pollution and smog caused by crop residue burning by growers.

The two states annually generate 220 lakh tonne and 65 lakh tonne of paddy stubble, respectively.

Farmers find stubble burning as an easy option as a way of its disposal in the wake of limited time available for next crop sowing.

The situation is likely to aggravate this year as the window period for managing the paddy crop residue has got shortened by at least 10 days because of rains last month that delayed paddy harvesting and some farmers said they will resort to stubble burning over taking the farm mechanization route.

"Any delay in next wheat crop will lead to drop in yield and it will cause financial losses to farmers," said Rajewal.

Farm experts said the best way to manage the crop residue is to award bonus as compensation to farmers for management of paddy straw.

"Giving Rs 200 per quintal to growers is the only option available to the government for the management of crop residue. What is the harm in giving money to growers when a substantial sum of money is spent on crop procurement," asked noted farm expert Devinder Sharma.

"If a farmer burns residue even after receiving money for its management then you take action against him/her," he said.

Moreover, farm mechanisation is not a solution where vegetable crop like potatoes are to be grown, said BKU president Gurnam Singh Chaduni.

IMAGE: Farmers are burning paddy stubble despite a ban, before growing the next crop. Photograph: PTI Photo

Farm experts described distributing farm equipments such as Happy Seeder, paddy straw chopper' cutter, mulcher etc., to growers will add more to their cost.

"We have calculated that the use of machines is putting an additional cost burden of Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 per acre on the farmers, which they are unable to afford," Sharma pointed out, adding that machinery would deal with just four per cent of total paddy area.

The farmers' union also accused the government of not complying with the National Green Tribunal order which had directed it to supply machinery free of cost to farmers owning less than two acres of land.

"For those who have land more than two acres but less than five acres, the machinery should cost only Rs 5,000 and those who have land more than five acres, the farm mechanisation cost should be Rs 15,000," said Rajewal.

Farmers also accused farm equipment manufacturers of increasing the cost of machinery after the central government provided funds to Punjab and Haryana governments for distributing machinery at a subsidy.

"Earlier rotavator was available at Rs 85,000 now it costs Rs 1.30 lakh. Similarly, cost of other machinery has also been increased," Rajewal said.

For promotion of agricultural mechanisation for in-situ management of crop residue, the Centre has sanctioned Rs 695 crore for Punjab and Rs 137 crore for Haryana.

Both states are giving 50 per cent subsidy on buying machines to individual farmers and 80 per cent to cooperative societies.IMAGE: Human rights activists and friends of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi hold his pictures during a protest outside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Photograph: Murad Sezer/Reuters



United States President Donald Trump has warned Saudi Arabia of 'severe punishment' if it is responsible for the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who is feared killed, that has resulted in global outrage against the kingdom.

Trump, in an interview to CBS News, said the Saudis could be behind the disappearance of Washington Post contributor Khashoggi.

The Saudi journalist has been missing since he entered the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul on October 2, and Turkish officials have accused Riyadh of murdering him inside the diplomatic mission.

Trump said Saudi Arabia has denied 'in every way you can imagine' having anything to do with Khashoggi's disappearance.

"We're going to get to the bottom of it and there will be severe punishment," Trump said, according to an extract of the interview released on Saturday.

"As of this moment, they deny it and they deny it vehemently. Could it be them? Yes," Trump said in the interview, which was conducted on Thursday, when asked if Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia may still be responsible, and an investigation is ongoing, he said.

"There is a lot at stake and maybe especially so because this man was a reporter. There's something -- you'll be surprised to hear me say that -- there's something really terrible and disgusting about that if that was the case," Trump said.

Trump, however, said on Sunday that he is against cancelling the $110 billion mega arms deal with Saudi Arabia as this will hurt America's economy and jobs.

Trump told reporters that he is trying to get at the bottom of the issue and has sought details of it from Saudi Arabia.

Trump said that he plans to call the Saudi King on this issue.

"I will be also calling King Salman of Saudi Arabia, because I think it's appropriate for me to ask him what is going on, he said.

He, however, said that he is against cancelling the $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia because of this.

Such a move, he asserted, would have an impact on jobs in the US. In addition, countries such as Russia and China are ready to supply them with the necessary arms, if the US backs off.

But he has not made any final determination in this regard, he said.

"We'll be sitting together with all of the folks here, and a lot more. We'll have to make a determination. I do think this: That I worked very hard to get the order for the military.

"It's $110 billion. I believe it's the largest order ever made. It's 450,000 jobs. It's the best equipment in the world. But if they don't buy it from us, they're going to buy it from Russia or they're going to buy it from China, or they're going to buy it from other countries," he said.

"Russia and China wanted it very badly...I would -- from the standpoint of jobs, economic development, a lot of other reasons, I would like to do something where we could maybe look at other things, because that's a tremendous order for our companies.

"It's a tremendous order from an economic development standpoint, Trump said.

In addition to the $110 billion arms deal, Trump said the Saudis are going to invest $450 billion in the US through their companies.

"And all of these -- Raytheon, and General Electric, and General Motors -- they were there getting contracts for $25 billion, $30 billion, $40 billion. Nobody has ever seen anything like it, he said.

And this was the reason for him to make the first overseas trip to Saudi Arabia last year, he said.China hopes Abe's visit could help enhance political mutual trust, deepen cooperation and exchanges in various fields, and make new progress following efforts to bring China-Japan relations back to the right track, Lu said.

Stressing that this will be the first official visit to China by a Japanese prime minister in seven years, Lu said it comes at an important time, as this year marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship.

"Japan is an important and close neighbor of China. Sino-Japanese relations continue to improve thanks to the two sides' joint efforts," Lu said at a routine press briefing.

According to Lu, Chinese leaders will hold meetings and talks with Abe during his visit. They are expected to exchange views on improving and developing bilateral ties and on global and regional issues of common concern.

They will also hold a reception marking the 40th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship and a forum on third-party market cooperation between the two countries, he said.

Noting the increasing high-level contacts and exchanges in various fields between China and Japan, Lu said China attaches importance to Sino-Japanese relations.

"To ensure the healthy and steady development of bilateral ties, we think the two sides should abide by the principles agreed in the four political documents between China and Japan, treat each other as partners instead of threats, support each other's peaceful development and consolidate the political and legal foundation of relations," he said.

Deepening economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, also the two major economies in the world, will not only conform to mutual interests but also benefit global economy and trade, Lu said, urging the two sides to give play to their complementary advantages, expand cooperation in various fields including trade, investment, finance, innovation and high tech, and jointly explore the third-party market.

The two sides should safeguard multilateralism, the free trade system and an open world economy. "We welcome Japanese enterprises to increase investment in China," he said.The event was themed Living together in solidarity, sharing humanistic values and respect for diversity: a source of peace and prosperity in La Francophonie.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh led the Vietnamese delegation to the summit and many fringe bilateral meetings.

At the plenary sessions, participants focused on security and political issues in the world and Francophone countries, along with strategies, programmes and measures to promote common values to connect these countries, such as peace, solidarity and respect for solidarity, cooperation and development.

The summit also reserved a session for discussing the OIFs role and contribution to multilateral systems in settling security and economic challenges, while ensuring peace, stability and sustainable development.

Leaders of 84 OIF member states approved many important documents outlining the directions for the Francophone communitys activities in the future, from peace, security, language and cultural diversity, to education, economic cooperation and sustainable development, such as the Yerevan Declaration, a cooperation programme for 2019-2022, a gender equality strategy, and a number of resolutions.

The Yerevan Declaration reaffirmed the members connection with French  the foundation of the Francophone community  and their respect for cultural and language diversity. It also renewed the communitys commitment to promoting an equal and fair world order based on the purpose and principles of the United Nations Charter, peacefully resolving crises and conflicts in the Francophone space and encouraging dialogue and reconciliation to reach a solution to these crises and conflicts, and support further engagement from women in conflict prevention and settlement.

In the resolution on preventing crises and conflicts and consolidating peace in the Francophone space, the state and government leaders continued to voice their concern on the recent East Sea situation and called on the relevant parties to exercise self-restraint, not use or threaten to use force, and ensure the safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea.

They also called for resolving disputes by peaceful means on the basis of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, respecting diplomatic and legal process and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and promptly finalising a substantive and efficient Code of Conduct in the waters.

The summit elected Rwandan Foreign Minister, Louise Mushikiwabo, as new Secretary-General of the OIF. Participants also saw the transferring of the OIF chairmanship from Madagascar to Armenia.

They decided to admit Ireland, Gambia, Malta and the US state of Louisiana as observers, raising the number of OIF members and observers to 88, and upgraded the status of Kosovo, Serbia and the United Arab Emirates from observers to associated members.

The 18th Francophonie Summit will take place in Tunisia in 2020.Japan will on Monday release final August numbers for industrial production, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

Little change is expected from the previous reading for a 0.6 percent monthly gain and a 0.7 percent yearly increase in output - while capacity utilization was down 0.6 percent on month.

New Zealand will see September results for the Performance of Services Index from BusinessNZ; in August, the index score was 53.2.

Malaysia will provide unemployment numbers for August; in July, the jobless rate was 3.4 percent and the participation rate was 68.6 percent.

Finally, the in Thailand are closed on Monday in observance of King Bhumibol Day; they will re-open on Tuesday.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.Dear Editor,

Re: Its women who make things happen

Ninety-seven percent of climate scientists agree that climate-warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activities.

Most of the leading scientific organizations worldwide have issued public statements endorsing this position.

Now think a little.

As Christians, we should be concerned about the impact we have on our environment.

God appointed man to be the steward of this world (Genesis 1:28), not the destroyer of it.

However, we should not allow environmentalism to become a form of idolatry, where the right of an inanimate planet and its non-human creatures are held in higher esteem than God (Romans 1:25) and man created in His image.

With global warming, as with any other topic, it is crucial to understand what the facts are, whom those facts come from, how they are interpreted, and what the spiritual implications are.

God Bless.

RichieNational Pacific Insurance (N.P.I.) has paid its insurance alliance partner, Samoa National Provident Fund (S.N.P.F.), insurance commission of $15,355.

In the handover ceremony, N.P.I. Branch Manager, Saueleele Ah Wong, thanked and acknowledged S.N.P.F. for the close partnership N.P.I. has had with the bank for over five years.

This partnership reinforces the importance and value of insurance for clients so their assets and things that matter to them, are protected.

We are delighted to recognise S.N.P.Fs efforts to prioritise insurance for their customers. Having insurance means our customers can focus on the future. And when things go wrong in their lives, were here to set things right for them.

N.P.I. looks forward to continuing the great partnership says Ms. Ah Wong.

N.P.I. is the leading insurer in the Pacific and has been part of the Samoan community for over 40 years.

N.P.I. is proud to have helped many customers through fires and natural disasters and is committed to supporting and working with our communities into the future.DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP)  An influential body of newspaper editors in Bangladesh on Saturday criticized the government for a new digital security law that they say will stifle constitutionally protected freedom of speech and curtail press freedom.

Members of the Editors' Council told a news conference in the nation's capital, Dhaka, that they were not pleased that the bill was made a law despite their objections.

President Abdul Hamid approved the bill, known as the Digital Security Act, despite promises by three Cabinet ministers and an adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that they would address the journalists' concerns about some disputed provisions.

Shyamal Dutt, editor of the Bhorer Kagoj daily, said protesters would form a human chain in Dhaka on Monday to demand changes to the law.

The Editors' Council had postponed a street protest last month after the country's information minister said officials would look into the journalists' concerns.

"There is a Parliament session soon. We hope they will keep their promises and change some provisions," Dutt said at Saturday's news conference. "Our points are very clear, but they did not keep their promises."

Talking to The Associated Press after the news conference, Dutt said that the council was not against any cyber security law, but that keeping any ambiguities in the law that would hurt press freedom is not acceptable.

"We will continue to protest," he said.

Observers say the law is part of a broader campaign to silence critics in Bangladesh, and reflects a worrying trend in fledgling Asian democracies.

Journalists in Nepal are combating a similar law, part of an expansive rewriting of that country's civil and criminal codes meant to define the parameters of Nepal's new constitution.

Such laws in Nepal and now in Bangladesh, where democracy was restored in 1990 after a military dictator was ousted, could make it more difficult for journalists to expose corruption.

Bangladeshi journalists are taking particular umbrage with a section of the law that authorizes up to 14 years in prison for gathering, sending or preserving classified information of any government using a computer or other digital device. The journalists say publishing such information is a way to hold officials accountable. The section evokes the sentiment of a British colonial-era law about protecting official secrets.

The law also authorizes prison sentences of up to three years for publishing information that is "aggressive or frightening" and up to 10 years for posting information that "ruins communal harmony or creates instability or disorder or disturbs or is about to disturb the law and order situation."

Human Rights Watch said the law would be ripe for abuse, in part because it would empower police to search or arrest suspects without a court order.

Prime Minister Hasina has defended the law, saying it was meant to protect the country from propaganda and misinformation.

"Journalism is surely not for increasing conflict, or for tarnishing the image of the country," she said earlier.IWC Schaffhausen and the BFI (British Film Institute) revealed Richard Billingham as the winner of the third annual IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Bursary Award in association with the BFI. The award was presented during a gala dinner at Londons Electric Light Station, attended by acting greats Rosamund Pike, accompanied by the sounds of Izzy Bizu. Luminaries from the worlds of film, music, fashion and culture joined forces to celebrate this bursary, which, at 50,000, is the most significant of its kind in the UK film industry. The gala dinner marked the eve of the BFI London Film Festival opening in partnership with American Express.

The IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Bursary Award, in association with the BFI, is given in recognition of British talent and is designed to support a writer, director and/or writer/director at the beginning of their career, providing them the financial stability and time needed to develop their creativity. Richard Billinghams film Ray & Liz was selected among thousands of entries to make it into the Official Selection at the BFI London Film Festival. The winner was chosen with the help of a panel of film industry experts, with the final decision made by a board comprising Amanda Nevill, CEO of the BFI, Christoph Grainger-Herr, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen, and this years guest judges; acclaimed director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead ,Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Baby Driver) and Paul Greengrass (Bourne, United 93, Captain Phillips), along with celebrated actress Rosamund Pike.

Rosamund Pike and Christoph Grainger-Herr  IWC

We are delighted to be a part of the third annual Bursary Award in association with the BFI, commented Christoph Grainger-Herr, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen. It is vital to give young and emerging filmmakers the platform to showcase their projects, whilst also supporting them as they continue to create and entertain us with their films.

The IWC Bursary Award is a perfect partnership, designed to provide really meaningful support to our most exciting new filmmakers and give them the time they need to develop, stated Amanda Nevill, CEO of the BFI. The jury had such a tough choice to make, and I salute all three of our finalists for their outstanding work, which resonated so deeply with us. I have no doubt all three will go on to do great things.

The British film industry thrives on new, exciting, independent voices with stories to tell, said Academy Award and BAFTA nominated actress, and friend of IWC, Rosamund Pike. But as we know its one thing to have a story to tell, another to find the means of expressing it. This partnership between IWC and the BFI, and the bursary from IWC allows us to shine a bright light on a few young filmmakers at the beginning of their careers, to celebrate their visions and to give them the signal we hear you, we see you, your stories matter, please keep on going. I am delighted to be part of it.

Im extremely grateful to have won the IWC Filmmaker Bursary Award, stated IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Bursary Award in association with the BFI winner Richard Billingham. Making Ray & Liz involved juggling so many things over six yearsno matter how driven you are, you still need time and space to develop ideas. This Bursary will clear my mind of financial pressures and time constraints. I will be able to completely focus on new subject matter and creating original stories, and find the best ways to visualise them on screen.

IWC Schaffhausen has been a sponsor of the BFI and the Official Time Partner of the BFI London Film Festival since 2014.

Edgar Wright, Amanda Nevill, Richard Billingham, winner of the IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Bursary Award, and Christoph Grainger-Herr.  IWC

Ray & Liz

On the outskirts of Birmingham and the margins of society, the Billingham family perform extreme rituals and break cultural taboos as they muddle through a life decided by factors beyond their control. Turner Prize nominate and Deutsche Borse Prize winning artist, Richard Billingham, returns to the striking photographs of his family during Thatcher era Britain. The film is based on Billinghams memories, focusing on his parents Ray and Liz, their relationship, and its impact on Richard and his younger brother Jason. At times shocking and laced with an unsettling humour, three episodes unfold as a powerful evocation of experience of growing up in a Black Country council flat.

IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Bursary Award in association with the BFI

The IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Bursary Award in association with the BFI is awarded annually, forming a key part of the BFI London Film Festivals commitment to UK film and those who drive its creative success and demonstrating the steadfast support of IWC Schaffhausen for British filmmaking.

Writers, directors, and writer/directors who identify themselves as British and have a first or second fiction feature film premiering in Official Selection at the LFF are eligible for the Award. Filmmakers need to submit a 150-word biography, a filmography, a precis of the projects they are developing and a statement setting out how they would use the Bursary Award to help their future development in film.

Founded in 1933, the BFI is a registered charity governed by Royal Charter. The BFI Board of Governors is chaired by Josh Berger CBE.Oceansides first foray into district elections is certain to shake up the City Council.

Two incumbents and two newcomers are facing off for the single seat that will represent the newly created District 1, the northwest corner of the city.

The other open seat is in District 2, the northeastern section of the city, which has no incumbent, but the five candidates include a former Oceanside mayor.

That leaves half of Oceanside residents with no one to vote for on the City Council this year. The two other districts and the at-large mayor position will be up for election in 2020.

Advertisement

No voters should feel left out, though. All Oceanside residents will still have two local measures to decide at the polls, a half-cent sales tax and an ag-preservation initiative. Also, two candidates for city treasurer will be on the Nov. 6 ballot.

The District 1 City Council incumbents are Chuck Lowery, 67, a retired bakery owner, and Esther Sanchez, 62, an attorney. The other two candidates are real estate agent Susan Custer, 62, and Michael Malulani Odegaard, 57, an educator and community planner.

Sanchez has been on the council since she was first elected in 2000. Her most recent four-year term began in 2016, so if she loses this year she could continue to serve two more years as an at-large member. She could not run for the council in 2020 unless she moves to one of the citys two open districts.

Lowery was first elected in June 2010 to complete the unfinished term of Rocky Chavez, who resigned to take an out-of-town job, and Lowery lost a subsequent election for the seat later that year. He went on to win his first full term in 2014.

District 2 candidates include long-time resident Terry Johnson, 66, who was first elected to the City Council in 1992, re-elected in 1996, and then got the votes for a four-year term as mayor in 2000 before losing the election of 2004.

Other District 2 candidates are business owner Dana Corso, 53; mortgage and real estate executive Christopher Rodriquez, 33; finance executive Kristopher Kagan, 31; and management consultant Larry Kornit. 57.

Each of the candidates responded to a request from the San Diego Union-Tribune for some basic background information and answered four questions about basic issues facing the city.

All discussed the need to keep clean sand on Oceansides beaches, ways to handle the citys disappearing agricultural resources, and some things that might be done about the areas persistent homeless population. Each also briefly stated what they see as the top issue facing the city.

Odegaard holds a bachelors degree in education, a masters degree in management, and studied at the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology.

Michael Malulani Odegaard (courtesy photo)

Political corruption that causes unnecessary human suffering is the biggest issue facing Oceanside, Odegaard said in his written response. Oceansides incumbent council members have been unwilling to hold each other accountable for conflicts of interest that have caused loss of play areas in park-deprived neighborhoods, which in turn will cause higher public health costs resulting from diseases caused by human inactivity: diabetes, hypertension, and depression.

The city needs to adopt higher ethical standards for its council members, he said.

Custer, who has a bachelors degree in history, said that homelessness, especially along the San Luis Rey River, is the top issue, and that the Police Departments Homeless Outreach Team needs to work more with local charities to get people the services they need.

Susan Custer (courtesy photo)

The riverbed has become a haven for prostitution, homeless, drug users, human traffickers and fires burning at night, according to the residents I talk to, Custer wrote. This activity is spreading to the nearby neighborhoods. This needs to be investigated and if true the vegetation needs to be cleared. Also, we need a strong police presence in the riverbed, with arrests made for all illegal activity.

Sanchez, whose background includes 20 years as a deputy public defender, emphasized the importance of working with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, which is responsible for maintaining the harbor and nourishing the citys beaches, and with other state and federal agencies to routinely dredge the citys harbor and on other projects that provide sand for the citys beaches.

Esther Sanchez (Courtesy photo)

We must closely monitor ACE to ensure timely execution of contractual obligations, she said. In addition, we should come up with another sand replenishment program that could be funded by state and federal grants.

Homelessness also is an important issue for Sanchez. She talked about the importance of aggressively addressing the problem, and the importance of finding new funding sources, such as Measure X on the November ballot, to provide money to help pay for programs to help the homeless and for other much-needed city services.

Lowery said he, too, wants to maintain and improve the citys long working relationship with the Corps of Engineers and to find more help for the areas chronic homeless.

Chuck Lowery (Courtesy photo)

The two incumbents differ on Measure Y, the ballot initiative that would require a public vote on any project that would change the zoning of land now zoned for agriculture. Sanchez supports the measure, also called the SOAR initiative, while Lowery opposes it.

Our farmers are facing a bleak tomorrow, Lowery said in his written response. We can help farming through less government interference in their daily operations and by providing them options which can help their bottom line.

Those options could include locally produced recycled water, which would reduce costs for farmers, and making medical marijuana a legal crop, which Lowery supported.

In District 2, Johnson, a retired union electrician and 38-year resident of Oceanside, became one of the first to announce his candidacy early this year.

Terry Johnson (Courtesy photo)

Money is the single biggest issue facing the city, he said.

Oceanside is facing a financial crises, Johnson said. Approximately $230 million is owed to PERS (for pensions in the Public Employees Retirement System), so the city needs to look for ways to boost its revenue streams.

Corso, a Jeffries Ranch resident for 21 years, often speaks at City Council meetings on a variety of issues and has been a supporter of Measure Y, the SOAR initiative.

Dana Corso (Courtesy phto)

A majority of the current City Council have given developers the green light to move forward with high-density (development) in our only agricultural area, she said, even though the area has no sewers, water or infrastructure.

The handful of commercial farmers that oppose Measure Y want us, the taxpayers, to foot the bill for the infrastructure so that they too, can sell to (developers) and make billions.

Rodriguez, president and CEO of Maximum Real Estate Services in Oceanside, said housing affordability is the biggest single issue facing the city.

Christopher Rodriguez (Courtesy photo)

As for homelessness, he said the city should provide more social workers to help individuals in need find the public, private and nonprofit resources they need.

Homeless individuals that want help and support would be encouraged to voluntarily complete a comprehensive evaluation that would include any mental health and substance abuse screening, Rodriguez said, and their needs could can be matched with referral resources and housing opportunities.

Kagan, a vice president of finance at Scientist.com, said the city should explore new ideas to help the homeless.

Kristopher Kagan (Courtesy photo)

One solution that I would like to pursue is re-purposing our current strip malls to be multi-functional properties that support businesses and include affordable housing, Kagan said. If we keep the businesses on the ground floor and build apartments and townhomes on top of these existing strip malls, we are maximizing the space as well as rejuvenating some of these areas.

Kornit said that as a consultant he has a record of solving problems for businesses, often through the use of technology. He offered an innovative idea to help Oceanside prosper  sea farming.

Larry Kornit (Courtesy photo)

There is a model of sea farming that uses a variety of sugar kelp and shellfish to reduce CO2 levels and acidity of the ocean and allows you to grow both fertilizer, kelp and livestock, shellfish for sale, Kornit said. I have high hopes for Oceanside to embrace responsible environmental justice.

Oceanside, like Carlsbad, Vista and other cities, formed its first voting districts last year after receiving letters from Malibu-based attorney Kevin Schenkman, who alleged that at-large voting systems disenfranchise Latino voters and violate the California Voting Rights Act.

The few cities that resisted the change spent large amounts of money before settling the case or losing in court.

philip.diehl@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @phildiehlThe Escondido mayoral race pits Sam Abed, a confident two-term conservative incumbent, against Paul Mac McNamara, a progressive retired Marine Corps colonel who is venturing into Escondido politics for the first time.

Abed has been the leader of Escondidos conservative City Council since 2010 and he predicts an easy victory along the same lines of his win over Councilwoman Olga Diaz four years ago  an election he won by 24 points.

McNamara, who announced his candidacy over a year ago, says his campaign centers on building community, absent divisive politics that he says have caused a rift in the city, both politically and racially.

Paul McNamara, 65, a retired Marine Corps colonel. He is executive director of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Museum Foundation. (Howard Lipin/The San Diego-Union-Tribune)

Advertisement

Sam Abed, 66, is president of Abed Corporation, Pacific West Consulting since 1987. (Nelvin C. Cepeda/San Diego Union-Tribune)

Abed has raised considerably more money for his campaign and enjoys better than a 2-1 financial advantage. McNamara maintains his donations, unlike Abeds, are from Escondido residents, not big developers. McNamara has raised about $90,000, Abed about $200,000.

Abed is bullish on Escondido and nearly bubbles over with pride at public events talking about successes the city has seen during his years in office.

We have made transformational changes in Escondido, he said recently. I think we have made a significant turnaround financially, economically, and infrastructure-wise. We have made substantial improvements.

McNamara believes the opposite.

If you look at the past eight years, the city has been in a downward spiral, he said. I dont feel like weve been given the leadership to move our city forward.

Abed, a member of the City Council for six years prior to being elected mayor, said Escondidos economy has outperformed other local cities.

Our unemployment rate is 3.2 percent, one of the lowest in San Diego, and also our industrial vacancy is the lowest in San Diego County, he said.

Abed said more than 2,000 new businesses have been created since he was elected mayor and that high-tech companies are coming to the city.

He said he is proud of the citys police department.

Escondido is a very, very desirable city now to live in, to visit, and to do business in, he said. It concerns me that somebody like Paul McNamara, who is a very left ideologue, wants to change all these successes we have  his only agenda is anti-Sam.

McNamara said true economic development is needed in the city, not just Abeds plan of trying to develop every blade of grass we have in the city. He said Abeds claims of creating thousands of jobs reflects mainly home businesses and that all one has to do is drive around the city and look at all the for lease signs in storefronts to know there is a problem.

The lack of strong economic growth is reflected in the degradation of our community parks, cutting back on pool hours, a whole laundry list. I think its time for a change, McNamara said.

Abed lists hundreds of endorsements on his web page. McNamara lists none  by choice.

Its not because I dont have endorsements, which I do, he said. It goes back to the idea of building community in a nonpartisan race. If you list all the right side or left side endorsements, you get lumped into an assumption that you identify totally with one side or another. But Im trying to build community.

McNamara criticizes Abed for his outspoken positions on illegal immigration, saying local governments have no business sticking their noses into such matters.

I think there is definitely a rift, McNamara said. What (Abed) has done with his actions and his statements has caused a divide between the Latino community and the rest of the citys residents. He said people are afraid to take their children to school and afraid to report crime because they dont want the police coming to their house.

Abed says his stance on illegal immigration is supported in the community and he maintains only criminals in the country illegally are being deported in the city. He said the citys working relationship with federal authorities has made everyone in the city, Latino or otherwise, safer.

One of the biggest decisions that the City Council will make in 2019 is whether to allow a 550-unit luxury home development known as Safari Highlands Ranch to be built in the San Pasqual Valley. If approved, the land north of the San Diego Zoos Safari Park would be annexed into the city.

McNamara said if he is elected, based on what he knows now, he would vote against the project.

I dont see that there is enough traffic mitigation, he said. The people who live in the San Pasqual area, when they bought their homes, they had an assumption they would be able to sit in their backyards and see those green hills.

He said the traffic the development would create will overburden the area. Unless you really love traffic, I just dont know how you could go there, he said.

Abed said the decision whether to approve the development will be made based on many factors. He said he believes the project will provide substantial benefits for the residents of San Pasqual including road improvements and a new fire station.

I want to make sure everything is done properly, he said.

Both candidates have extensive web sites where their accomplishments, goals and visions are shared. Abeds can be found at mayorabed.com; McNamaras at mac4mayor.org.

jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjonesArt San Diego, the contemporary art show that turns 10 this year, kicks off at the Del Mar Fairgrounds on Thursday, with more than 15,000 art lovers expected to attend the four-day event.

On Saturday, architect Christopher Mercier  of Inglewood-based (fer) studio: Form, Environment Research  joins photographer and curator Yubal Marquez Fleites and designer Dorothy Willetts in a conversation titled On the Horizon in Todays Art World.

The discussion is part of Art Talks, a program within Art San Diego that showcases provocative artistic discourse with leading artists, curators, designers and art-industry professionals.

The three will share ideas about the current state of the art scene as well as top trends.

Advertisement

Later that day, at 5:30 p.m., three artists  Chuck Thomas, Tom Liguori and Red Wolf  will take attendees behind the scenes and share strategies and secrets behind their success.

Art San Diego: On the Horizon in Todays Art World: 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20. Wyland Center, Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. Three-day pass (includes Friday Collectors Opening Night Party plus full weekend access): $40. Two-day pass: $25. One-day pass: $20. Discounts available. Parking: $14 per day. art-sandiego.comOctober 14, 1976 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 14, 1976

In 1976 San Diego Police Chief Bill Kolender created a border crimes task force, the first unit of its type in the nation designed to curb violence against migrants who used the canyons between San Diego and Tijuana as a pathway to the United States.

The task force was disbanded 18 months later when Kolender said the work became too dangerous for officers.

Author Joseph Wambaugh chronicled the undercover squad in his 1984 book, "Lines and Shadows."

Here are the first few paragraphs of the story:

NEW POLICE TEAM

10 Stalk Bandits At Border

By Vi Murphy, Mexico Special Writer, The San Diego Union

Sgt. Jesus Manuel (Manny) Lopez, 29  the kid who cried for a policemans uniform when he was 3 years old  got his badge when he was 21.

This week, ability, experience and eight years of dedication to his work earned him one of the most unusual, dangerous and demanding duties ever assigned to an officer in the San Diego Police Department  that of leader of a newly-created border task force which went into action last Sunday for a 60-day trial period.

Nightly, Lopez and his hand-picked, nine-man team play a deadly game of hide-and-seek with bandits lurking in the dark, isolated canyons north of the Mexican border.

They turn themselves into human bait for robbers, rapist and sadists who torture and beat their victims for pleasure and sometimes kill them.

Meet Rattlesnakes, Tarantulas

On forays into the canyons they have encountered rattlesnakes they cannot kill for fear of revealing their position, and tarantulas they pray will crawl off their bodies quickly.

The assignment given Manny Lopez and his nine Mexican-American officers from the San Diego Police Department is to flush out the border bandits preying on illegal aliens north of the border and bring them to justice.

Their job is to eliminate, so far as is possible, the savage assaults that have increased sharply during the past two years in the dark river bottoms, the isolated canyons and remote arroyos along an 18-mile stretch of border reaching from the Pacific Ocean inland to the fort of the San Jacinto Mountains.

They shift the location of their operation constantly so bandits never know where they will be encountered next.

This is not to say our job is to guarantee free passage for illegal aliens, said Lopez. The U.S. Border Patrol units are conducting an intensive apprehension campaign while we battle the crime scene.

But these people are human beings. They are entitled to the same protection in this country as any other human being. To a lot of us that is what the United States is all about  concern for human beings.

What criminals from both sides of the border are doing to the aliens, who are helpless against them, is almost beyond description in may cases.

Most people couldnt bear to see the wounds of some of these victims or stand to hear them tell about what happened to them.

End Brutal Operations

The detail of our border task force is to find these bandits and end their brutal operations.

We all volunteered for the task force detail. Some of us begged to be a part of it and I hand picked every man on the team.

The job being done by Lopez and his team, who do not want their names revealed because much of their work is undercover, could not have been done by many men in the Police Department.

Of 1,072 officers on the police force, Lopez had 59 Mexican-American officers from which to pick his crew.

He screened each man for personality, ability to work as part of team, initiative, ability to follow orders instantly and without question and for facility in Spanish.

I didnt want officer who could just speak Spanish, he said. I wanted men who could speak the Spanish of Mexico, the street slang of Tijuana and the mixed Spanglish peculiar tot he border, the Mexican-American who could blend into a band of aliens with their kind of Spanish and as one of them.

The task force eases down into the canyons at night as unobtrusively as possible, often in a commando-style belly crawl.

They quietly infiltrate the bands of aliens heading north.

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.They met at Cal State Northridge, enlisted after 9/11, married in the Army, then deployed to Iraq. Josette Tolentino drove a truck during the invasion. Marlon Tolentino did three tours with infantry and artillery units.

After becoming pregnant with their first child, she decided not to reenlist and returned to California. His unit was in Ramadi, expecting soon to come home, when an IED struck his convoy. Two of his buddies were killed.

We had to move their burned bodies, Marlon said.

He was so traumatized he didnt speak of it for years, Josette said.

Advertisement

What might have been a difficult transition to civilian life is about to take a welcome turn as the Tolentinos prepare to rejoin a community of comrades-in-arms, but this time in a typical suburban setting.

On a recent Saturday, the Tolentinos and their two children did a walk-through of their new four-bedroom home. They shared a pancake breakfast with some of their future neighbors in a still-unfinished 78-home development perched on a hillside at the edge of a Santa Clarita business park.

All the residents will be veterans or active service members living on modest incomes. They are taking the otherwise impossible step into home ownership with the help of Homes 4 Families, a nonprofit that combines low-interest loans from the state Department of Veterans Affairs with real estate, local government and fundraising savvy to build what it calls enriched veteran neighborhoods.

Alicia and Bryan Espinoza with their children, Bryan Jr., 9, and Nicholas, 11 months, at the development in Santa Clarita where they are buying a home. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Besides having a home they can afford and fellow veterans for neighbors, the Tolentinos will have access to services and activities structured around the issues of veterans.

Many veterans come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and because of our current conflicts being so long, they end up being in the armed services for six to eight years, said Donna Deutchman, the nonprofits chief executive officer. They have missed the entire decade of their 20s. They havent received the skills and education they have been promised.

The Santa Clarita development is Homes 4 Families second veterans community and fourth development. The group completed 12 homes for veterans in Sylmar in 2014 and earlier built 70 more in Pacoima and Burbank.

The Santa Clarita homes are valued at $364,000. The buyers pay just the cost of construction, about $286,000.

Eighty percent of that comes from a low-interest CalVet loan. Homes 4 Families raises money from other state sources and donations to make up the remainder with loans that can be deferred as needed to limit total payments to 30% of the buyers incomes.

We figure what they owe in all other areas and we get what we get, and we dont get upset, Deutchman said.

That flexibility is key to obtaining CalVet loans for clients who dont have down payments and lack incomes to qualify for homes of that price.

Its a relationship CalVet would like to clone, but one that calls for a skill set that not every developer has, said Mark Walbert, the agencys assistant deputy secretary.

Donna is a unique person who has a lot of capability and a lot of resources, Walbert said. Not only is she the contractor and oversees a group of people that build the homes, she also has connections with the services and has skills in vetting of the veterans.

She also gets cities to pitch in. Santa Clarita worked with the group to buy a distressed commercial property at a favorable price and then changed its zoning. The city also provided $425,000 to for support services.

Army veteran Mark Johnson works to complete his sweat equity hours in the Homes 4 Families program by helping to build his own home as well as other homes in his community in Santa Clarita. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

All but 18 of the Santa Clarita homes are now finished.

This is mine right here, Mark Johnson said, stepping through the studs of one of the nine homes scheduled to be completed in December. Welcome to my home.

Johnson, who entered the Army out of high school and served 20 years, couldnt support his three children after a divorce. He was sharing a one-bedroom apartment with two sons and a teenage daughter when he was matched to the home.

Part of the deal is putting in 500 hours of work before moving in. That can include digging trenches, staking fences or painting. On this summer day he was driving nails.

But the sweat equity also includes emotional work. Each community has a nearby service center where veterans can seek help with their finances or government paperwork and can join groups to deal with trauma.

Johnson joined a group expressing their fears and aspirations in images they placed in books.

That helps me deal with the emotional side, the darkness you sometimes have to face, anger and loneliness, Johnson said.

At first youre kind of standoffish because of what you had to do in the military, he said. But once you sit down, its more intimate. Its only four people. Its to cope with being away from your family. The possibility of not seeing your family again.

Homes 4 Families is an offshoot of Habitat for Humanity, the international nonprofit that mixes volunteers and donations to build and refurbish houses for needy families.

Deutchman said Homes 4 Families branched off from the larger organization about 12 years ago to focus on building community-sized developments in Southern California exclusively for veterans.

The loan packages are structured so that the owners obtain equity from the start without a down payment, and then pay no more than 30% of their income for the mortgage, insurance and taxes.

Its important to our veterans, the ownership, said Bridgette Mills, the nonprofits director of program design and urban planning. We want our veterans to step up into the middle class. We hope they get a great career change and move up to a bigger house,

They can sell the homes for profit, but must sell to another veteran and return a pro-rated portion of the equity to the homeowners association.

Though many of those accepted to purchase homes are homeless, the program is not linked to the countys coordinated entry system that prioritizes housing for chronically homeless people.

Volunteers work outside the home that is being purchased by Iraq war veterans Marlon and Josette Tolentino at the Homes 4 Families development in Santa Clarita. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Applicants deal directly with Homes 4 Families, often finding the organization by word-of-mouth.

Bryan Espinoza, who attended the pancake breakfast with his wife Alicia and their two children, learned about Homes 4 Families from his sergeant at the National Guard Armory in Van Nuys, where the two active-duty soldiers work.

The sergeant, Enrique Luna, recalled being skeptical when he heard about the program from another soldier.

I kept telling him its not true, Luna said. Theres something theyre going to catch you on.

Even with housing allowances, active-duty soldiers stationed in the Los Angeles area cant afford houses, Luna said. Most commute long distances.

Luna gave it a try and, once he was accepted, urged Espinoza to follow.

I told him it was such a wonderful opportunity that he had to take it, Luna said. He had no choice. Its something he was going to be grateful for the rest of his life.

doug.smith@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATDougA special Mass in Los Angeles on Sunday will honor seven people, including former Pope Paul VI and slain Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero as theyre elevated to sainthood during a canonization ceremony in Rome.

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels downtown will also pay tribute to four other religious leaders and an orphan boy during a Spanish-language Mass at 12:15 p.m., hours after they are canonized by Pope Francis at the Vatican.

Three thousand people are expected to fill the L.A. cathedral for the special mass. The event will be livestreamed from the cathedrals Facebook and YouTube pages.

For many in attendance, the focus will be on Romero, who is revered as a hero for fighting oppression and resisting the massacre of poor people during the civil war in his native El Salvador.

Advertisement

Romero was shot in the heart by a right-wing death squad as he celebrated Mass in a hospital chapel in 1980.

For years, church conservatives tried to block Romeros canonization because they perceived him as a left-wing radical.

Salvadorans at home and abroad cheered the Vaticans announcement in March that Pope Francis had cleared the path for Romeros sainthood, with some calling it a sign of hope at a time when the Trump administration was rescinding temporary protected status for Salvadorans in the U.S.

We thank God for these canonizations, said Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles. Our new saint, Paul VI, was prophet for our times. ... Monsenor Romero was a heroic bishop and martyr for the faith.

Thousands of Salvadorans, many of them from Los Angeles, have traveled to the Vatican over the past week to witness the canonization firsthand.

Parishes across Los Angeles, home to a large community of Salvadoran immigrants and their descendants, have been holding vigils and Masses highlighting Romeros life. A chapel featuring relics and photographs in his honor will be open inside the cathedral through Oct. 26.

maya.lau@latimes.com

Twitter: @mayalauMore than a hundred people flocked to the steps of First Presbyterian Church in downtown San Diego Saturday and received free socks and a meal of hamburgers, hot dogs, tortilla chips and chocolate cake topped with a mini brownie.

It was one of a number of service projects held this weekend as part of Sleepless San Diego, an annual volunteer, fundraising and homelessness education effort by the San Diego Rescue Mission. Volunteers helped raise just under $30,000 as of Saturday morning, said Cheryl Doherty, executive assistant to the CEO of San Diego Rescue Mission.

The service projects  which included street cleanup and school beautification  led up to the main event: the Sleepless Night camp out at Liberty Station, where people spent Saturday night outside to get an idea of what it feels like to sleep homeless.

But as is often the case with homelessness, the acts of service and the food from Saturdays meal offered a small respite from their problems.

Advertisement

Dimitrios Shelby, a man with arthritis in one knee who lived homeless in Los Angeles for a decade, will still return to his sleeping spot on Third Avenue and Ash Street. Debbie Myers, who is nursing a cold that was made worse by the rain and uses a walker and cane to get around, will still sleep on the street around the corner while she waits for her Social Security check to come next month, her one chance at getting a place of her own.

Its not the food, said Debra Rachal, one of the attendees at Saturdays meal service. The problem with San Diego is the housing.

Saturdays meals were organized through The First Presbyterian Churchs Ladle Fellowship, which celebrated its 35th anniversary and has a close relationship with the Rescue Mission. Ladle Fellowship provides a meal, worship service and medical counseling every Sunday for the homeless and the poor. The church also organizes a street choir, Bible study and dinner on Wednesdays for them.

1 / 14 Mater Dei Catholic High School students Gretta Ochoa, 15, second from right, and Galia Santana, 14, far right, give trays with plates to people, many of them homeless, as they receive a lunch during the 35th birthday celebration for the Ladle Fellowship. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 14 People, many of them homeless, wait for a free lunch served to the homeless and poor as part of a 35th birthday celebration for the Ladle Fellowship at the First Presbyterian Church. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 14 Enrique Cabrera, 54, who says hes been homeless for 11 years, sketches in his sketch book while he and others wait for a free lunch served to the homeless and poor as part of a 35th birthday celebration for the Ladle Fellowship at the First Presbyterian Church. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 14 Enrique Cabrera, 54, who says hes been homeless for 11 years, sketches in his sketch book. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 14 Ronald Smith, left, and Dimitrious Shelby, center, and others wait in line for a free lunch served to the homeless and poor as part of a 35th birthday celebration for the Ladle Fellowship at the First Presbyterian Church. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 14 Lyssa Melonakos, far left, who is staff with Ladle, hand out meal and raffle tickets to people, many of them homeless, as they head in for the 35th birthday celebration for the Ladle Fellowship at the First Presbyterian Church. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 14 People, many of them homeless, arrive for the 35th birthday celebration for the Ladle Fellowship, where they receive a free lunch, at the First Presbyterian Church. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 14 Mater Dei Catholic High School senior Jingnan Zhang, 18, pours sugar and creamer into coffee for people, many of them homeless, during the 35th birthday celebration for the Ladle Fellowship, where they receive a free lunch, at the First Presbyterian Church. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 14 Mater Dei Catholic High School students Adrian Arce, 15, and Weiyi Ding, 18, make and wrap hamburgers that will be served to people, many of them homeless, during the 35th birthday celebration for the Ladle Fellowship. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 14 Mater Dei Catholic High School student Abraham Ratlin, 15, gives chips to Elizabeth Yu, as he serves people, many of them homeless, as they receive a lunch during the 35th birthday celebration for the Ladle Fellowship. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 14 People, many of them homeless, eat a free lunch as part of the 35th birthday celebration for the Ladle Fellowship, where they receive a free lunch, at the First Presbyterian Church. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 14 Alonzo Join, who is not homeless, eats as he and others, many of them homeless, receive a lunch during the 35th birthday celebration for the Ladle Fellowship. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 13 / 14 California State University San Marcos student Brynli McBride, 20, left, and middle school eighth grader Margaret Andico, 13, both volunteers with Shadow Mountain Community Church, listen to Alfonso Smithson, who not homeless, as McBride and Andico mingle with people, many of them homeless, that are being fed as part of a 35th birthday celebration for the Ladle Fellowship. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 14 / 14 Middle school student Josh Cuellar, 13, hands a pair of socks and other items to a homeless man, who didnt give his name, as the man leaves the First Presbyterian Church in San Diego after he was fed a lunch as part of the 35th birthday celebration for the Ladle Fellowship. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune)

We love on them and pour on them, said Lyssa Melonakos, care counselor for First Presbyterian. Melonakos said she and her fellow church staff and volunteers become invested in their clients lives and want much for them, but are disappointed to see that societal structures still dont work for them.

Its very frustrating to have to jump through so many hoops and fight a difficult system, Melonakos said.

Although Saturdays events were branded around the theme of homelessness, not everyone who came to the meal service was homeless. Some were like Rachal, whos said shes just a paycheck away from potentially losing her apartment in Normal Heights.

Rachal used to rent an apartment between North Park and City Heights for $847. Then somebody new bought and remodeled her apartment building and raised the rent to $1,500, which forced her to a homeless shelter while she looked for somewhere she could afford to live. She eventually found an apartment, but she relies on assistance from a mental health organization and still looks for free resources she can use, like the free meals provided by Ladle Fellowship.

Saturdays event was staffed by volunteers ranging from middle-schoolers to adults. Several volunteers participated through churches, including Shadow Mountain Community Church and Village Church. Some middle-schoolers said they wanted to learn how to help the homeless beyond just giving them food and learn more about what theyve experienced.

Not everyone has the same story, said eighth-grader Margaret Andico, who was volunteering with Shadow Mountain.

Kristen Taketa

Email: kristen.taketa@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @Kristen_TaketaIt was just after 1 p.m. when Talia Butcher peered out the front door of her double-wide trailer a few blocks from the beach and saw the water creep up the banks of the canal behind her home and into her yard.

Within minutes, the water covered up the tires of her black Chevy Equinox and carried the SUV across her cul-de-sac.

Then it surged up under her mobile home, splitting the plywood-and-linoleum floor in half and seeping through her home like a fountain.

Oh my God, weve got to get out of here, the 39-year-old surgical technician screamed to her husband, Robbie, as howling gusts of wind shook the home.

Advertisement

They put on life jackets, grabbed their wallets, and rounded up their two dogs, Tyson and Dixie. Then they jumped out into the churning water.

About the same time, Hector Morales, a 57-year-old cook, leapt out of his bedroom window and clambered on top of his silver Hyundai Santa Fe.

Through gusts of white wind, he spotted Talia clinging to an oleander tree and struggling to drag Robbie, who has brain cancer, across the yard.

Im coming, he cried.

Plunging into the waist-deep water, he steered them across the cul-de-sac toward their neighbors 30-foot catamaran, which was tied with ropes to two palm trees.

With murky water pushing them from behind, they hurtled into a utility pole, and Morales caught his leg in a tangle of wire. He wriggled loose just before the water carried him away and grabbed onto an oleander.

Scurrying around the side of the boat, he pushed Tyson up on to the deck, and then pulled Talia, Robbie and Dixie up on top. They quickly squeezed into the vessels cramped downstairs bathroom and shut the door tight.

::

Hundreds of residents scrambled to escape the onslaught of water and wind as Hurricane Michael made landfall Wednesday on the tiny coastal town of Mexico Beach. They hunkered down in closets, climbed on top of refrigerators, floated on top of mattresses.

Bobby Baker was huddled in his parents one-story ranch-style home when a fishing boat crashed into its sliding glass doors. Minutes later, an RV slammed into the front, knocking out the brick walls.

The 51-year-old grocery distributor had stayed behind with his wife and two dogs to take care of his father, Robert, an 82-year-old Air Force veteran who is paralyzed from the waist down, and his mother, Beatrice, who is 72.

First, he set them up on a mattress in the front den, but when water burst into the house, the mattress floated higher and higher.

Jesus, my Lord, his father cried as he propped his hands against the ceiling in order to breathe. Save us!

As the water swirled, Bobby struggled to pull his parents on the mattress out of the den. He propped his dad on the top of the door and then pushed him 3 feet under the water, up a corridor, to the opposite side of the house.

His wife, Michelle, grabbed on to a hinge on the hot tub in the sun room, and they pushed his dad and mom, and then his dogs, Bear and Buddy, on top of the hot tub. All around them, water swirled like a whirlpool.

::

About a mile away, waves coursed through Highway 98, smashing a giant wooden beam into the front door of Charles Smiths room in the Gulf View Motel. It knocked the door off its hinges, and then a pile of lumber and debris crashed through the front window.

Smith, 56, the motels owner, had picked a ground-level room, figuring it would be less vulnerable to wind. But as the water rose, he retreated into a back bedroom and piled four of his cats on the queen bed only to realize that wouldnt be high enough. He snatched Toby and tossed him up on to a stairwell. But as he tried to grab another cat, a door slammed, trapping him in the bedroom.

Quickly, he jammed a piece of wooden debris up against the side of the door, opened the door and hurled Molly up the stairwell. A wave came in, knocking him backward, and then slinging him forward and sucking him into the laundry room.

A bedroom wall collapsed and he watched Milly and CJ float out of the room off in the water, smooth as sailboats.

Clambering on top of a fridge, he grabbed onto a fish tank stand. From there, he was able to climb halfway up the wooden staircase and shelter in a nook between the first and second stories.

Across Mexico Beach, survivors ventured out of their homes to a scene of devastation.

Miraculously, the catamaran, tied with rope to two palm trees, did not come loose.

Climbing down from the vessel, Talia and Robbie Butcher found their double-wide wrenched in half and the floors drenched. But a piece of stained glass, depicting the sun rising above the ocean, still hung from the kitchen window.

Morales white-and-yellow mobile home was shunted up against a utility pole and a palm tree, and his black Nissan Rogue lay skewed on the other side of the canal in a pile of lopsided boats and debris.

Pink insulation hung from his ceiling, his fridge freezer was on its side, and a small fish swam in his bathtub.

But he had some pork chops, and the Butchers propane grill was intact, so he dragged it to a neighbors patio and started grilling.

::

On Nan Nook Road, Bobby Baker stepped out of his parents destroyed home to find his cars and motorcycles tossed into nearby yards. A stilt house had landed 400 feet up the street. Entire walls had been ripped off the front side of a neighbors home, exposing each room like a dolls house.

Desperate to get his shocked father to safety, he walked through gale-force winds to check on his own home.

Yall all right? a neighbor, Todd, hollered.

No, I need to get my dad out of the house.

Miraculously, his one-story gray stucco house was relatively unscathed, with only 3 inches of water. The beds were still dry, so he wheeled his father up the street and propped him up in a back bedroom.

::

Charles Smith emerged from his destroyed motel to find his second-floor apartment dry. He propped up the front portion of the building with wooden 6-by-6s to avert total collapse.

Scouring the rubble, he found CJ, alive, on a pile of debris.

His hometown of 34 years was unrecognizable. The hurricane had ripped entire beachfront homes off their foundations, tossing them onto the other side of Highway 98, the main beachfront drag.

Splintered plywood and roofs, fridges and sofas, littered the two-lane street. Local businesses, from Sharons Cafe, a local brunch spot, to Toucans, the nautical seafood grill and bar where Morales worked, were razed.

Its bewildering, Smith said Friday after walking down Highway 98. You close your eyes and open them and cant figure where youre at. Everything is gone, gone, gone.President Trump said he is unsure whether Defense Secretary James N. Mattis will leave the administration and described him as sort of a Democrat amid reports of friction between the two.

Trump made the remarks in an interview with CBS News 60 Minutes that airs Sunday night. An excerpt of the interview was released Sunday morning.

Well, I dont know; he hasnt told me that, Trump said when asked whether Mattis might be leaving his position.

Trump said that he has a very good relationship with Mattis and that the two had lunch together two days ago, but the president added that it could be that he is leaving.

Advertisement

I think hes sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth, Trump said. But Gen. Mattis is a good guy. We get along very well. He may leave. I mean, at some point, everybody leaves. Everybody. People leave. Thats Washington.

Mattis has often publicly walked back some of Trumps more controversial statements on foreign policy, and the two have a strained relationship, veteran journalist Bob Woodward has reported in his book Fear.

In one episode reported by Woodward, Mattis described Trump as having the understanding of a fifth- or sixth-grader after a National Security Council meeting. In another episode, after Trump said he wanted to have Syrian President Bashar Assad assassinated, Mattis reportedly agreed but later told an aide, Were not going to do any of that.

Mattis has denied making disparaging comments about Trump, and the president said last month that the retired general was doing a fantastic job.

In the 60 minutes interview, Trump also described reports of chaos within his administration as so false, dismissing concerns about the rate of turnover among his top officials.

Im changing things around, and Im entitled to. I have people now on standby that will be phenomenal. Theyll come into the administration. Theyll be phenomenal, Trump said.

He said that while he was satisfied with the performance of certain members of his administration, there are others that Im not thrilled with.

Yeah, other people will go, sure, Trump said.

Sonmez writes for the Washington Post.Freed American pastor Andrew Brunson fell to one knee in the Oval Office and placed his hand on President Trumps shoulder in prayer on Saturday, asking God to provide the president supernatural wisdom to accomplish all the plans you have for this country and for him.

Trump welcomed Brunson to the White House to celebrate his release from nearly two years of confinement in Turkey, which had sparked a diplomatic row with a key ally and outcry from U.S. evangelical groups.

Brunson returned to the U.S. aboard a military jet shortly before meeting the president. He was detained in October 2016, formally arrested that December and placed under house arrest on July 25 for health reasons.

From a Turkish prison to the White House in 24 hours, thats not bad, Trump said.

Advertisement

Brunsons homecoming amounts to a diplomatic  and possibly political  win for Trump and his evangelical base. Coming on the heels of the confirmation of a conservative justice to the Supreme Court, Brunsons return is likely to leave evangelical Christians feeling good about the president and motivated to vote in the Nov. 6 midterm election.

Brunson appeared to be in good health and good spirits. When he asked Trump if he could pray for him, the president replied, Well, I need it probably more than anyone else in this room, so that would be very nice, thank you.

Brunson left his chair beside Trump, kneeled and placed a hand on the presidents shoulder. As Trump bowed his head, Brunson asked God to give him supernatural wisdom to accomplish all the plans you have for this country and for him. I ask that you give him wisdom in how to lead this country into righteousness.

Brunson, originally from Black Mountain, N.C., had lived in Turkey with his family for more than two decades and led a small congregation in the Izmir Resurrection Church. He was accused of committing crimes on behalf of Kurdish militants and to aid a Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen, accused by Turkey of engineering a failed coup. He faced up to 35 years in jail if convicted of all the charges against him.

Administration officials cast Brunsons release as vindication of Trumps hard-nosed negotiating stance, saying Turkey tried to set terms for Brunsons release but that Trump was insistent on Brunsons release without conditions. Trump maintained there was no deal for Brunsons freedom, but the president dangled the prospect of better relations between the U.S. and its NATO ally.

We do not pay ransom in this country, Trump said.

Where previous administrations kept negotiations over U.S. prisoners held abroad close to the vest, Trump has elevated them to causes celebres, striking a tough line with allies and foes alike.

Trump thanked Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had resisted the demands of Trump and other high-level U.S. officials for Brunsons release. Erdogan had insisted that his countrys courts are independent, though he previously had suggested a possible swap for Brunson.

Trump said the U.S. greatly appreciated Brunsons release and said the move will lead to good, perhaps great, relations between the U.S. and Turkey, and said the White House would take a look at the sanctions.

Trump asked Brunson and his family which candidate they voted for in 2016, saying he was confident they had gone for him. I would like to say I sent in an absentee ballot from prison, Brunson quipped.

Evangelical voters overwhelmingly voted for the president despite discomfort with his personal shortcomings, in large part because he pledged to champion their causes, from defending persecuted Christians overseas to appointing conservative justices to the Supreme Court.

Prominent evangelical leaders such as Tony Perkins have championed Brunsons case, as has Vice President Mike Pence. First word of Brunsons arrival back on American soil Saturday came from Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. Perkins tweeted just after noon that he had landed at a military base outside Washington with Brunson and his wife, Norine.

Erdogan said on Twitter that he hoped the two countries will continue to cooperate as it befits two allies. Erdogan also called for joint efforts against terrorism, and he listed the Islamic State group, Kurdish militants and the network of a U.S.-based Muslim cleric whom Turkey blames for a failed coup in 2016.

Relations between the countries have become severely strained over Brunsons detention and a host of other issues.

A Turkish court on Friday convicted Brunson of having links to terrorism and sentenced him to just over three years in prison, but released the 50-year-old evangelical pastor because he had already spent nearly two years in detention. An earlier charge of espionage was dropped.The body of a Virginia woman presumed dead after Hurricane Michael was found by a volunteer K-9 rescue team Saturday, bringing the storms death toll to 18.

Ruby S. Allen, 62, was found Saturday morning in Charlotte County, State police spokeswoman Corinne Geller told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Her son, Ronnie Allen Jr., 36, also died after their car was stranded on a bridge during a flash flood.

Ronnie Allens son, 17, survived.

Ruby Allen is the sixth confirmed death in Virginia, along with eight in Florida, three in North Carolina and one in Georgia, after Hurricane Michael made landfall in the Panhandle as a Category 4 storm last week.

Advertisement

Thousands, though, still remain missing, including 46 in Mexico Beach, Florida, Mayor Al Cathey told ABC News Sunday. Hundreds of people chose to stay in the oceanside towns rather than evacuate as the winds and storm surges ravaged the area and authorities have been unable to track them down.

Officials have warned that the death toll will almost certainly rise as rescuers continue working their way through decimated areas.

FEMA adminstrator Brock Long said Sunday that the administration is still working to figure out how to address the wide scope of damage caused by the hurricane.

FEMA is rapidly trying to meet the demands the governor puts forward when it comes to sustaining life, but in some cases, because of the (severity of the) hit, were still focusing on search and rescue in some of the areas like Mexico Beach to make sure we leave no stones unturned and were getting to anybody that may be trapped, he told the Pensacola News Journal during a church visit with Florida Gov. Rick Scott..

As time passes on, eventually what well do is work with the state and local governments to set up disaster recovery centers that will stay in the communities for months at a time to make sure that people receive case management.

Officials in Greensboro, North Carolina, said Saturday that more than a million gallons of sewage spilled into local waterways during the storm, according to the News & Record.

Florida Sen. Bill Nelson also announced Sunday that the Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City was destroyed, but told the News Herald that it will be rebuilt as an Air Force base of the future.

Two prisons  Gulf Correctional Institution and Annex and part of Calhoun Correctional Institution  have been evacuated after intense damage from Michael.

The evacuated facilities sustained significant damage to roofs and security infrastructure, the Florida Department of Corrections said in a statement. Staff and inmates at these facilities were not injured during the storm. All inmates were secure and had access to food and drinking water through the duration of the storm.

About 80% of cell phone service has been restored in the areas hit by Michael, but nearly 192,000 Floridians are still without electricity. Gulf Power said Sunday that they expect to have power restored to 95% by Oct. 24.

Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that he expects agriculture losses in the state to pass $1 billion.

Our worst dreams are being realized, he said. Theres going to be a lot of work to do.

President Trump and First Lady Melania are expected to visit Florida and Georgia on Monday. During a Saturday campaign rally, Trump pledged that we will not rest until the job is done.A Pennsylvania man accused of killing his wife and throwing her body into Lake Erie was found guilty of murder on Friday.

Prosecutors say Christopher Leclair shot 51-year-old Karen in the head, tied up the body and attached an anchor. Karen Leclairs body was found near Dunkirk, N.Y., in July of 2017, one month after she was reported missing.

Leclair was also convicted of abuse of a corpse, evidence tampering and false reports after jurors deliberated for an hour and 40 minutes, according to GoErie.com.

It doesnt bring her back, but at least we know shes getting justice now, said Karens niece Dawn Leombruno.

Advertisement

Defense lawyer Bruce Sandmeyer argued that Karen Leclair killed herself because she was upset that her husband had been cheating on her.

Mr. Leclair is not on trial for his lifestyle, Sandmeyer said, according to GoErie.com. It is whether he shot Karen Leclair and killed her. I submit to you that the evidence did not show that. This was a period of time where Karen Leclair had had enough.

The lawyer argued that Christopher Leclair did not want anyone to know that his wife killed herself, so he disposed of the body. Prosecutors said he was having an affair and killed Karen because his girlfriend had given him an ultimatum.

It was revealed that Leclair told a woman of the potential plan in 2004.

Shes going to fall off the boat and no ones ever going to find her body, Alexandra Schuler recalled him saying, according to GoErie.com.

Leombruno said it was difficult to hear stories about Leclairs treatment of his wife.

She would do anything for anybody, and then to find that he was treating her like this, its awful, the Florida resident said.

With News Wire ServicesYou can own a piece of NASA history but at least one item will set you back more than $10,000.

Approaching the 50-year anniversary of Neil Armstrongs historic moon walk, the astronauts family is auctioning off memorabilia from his collection.

Among the 3,000 items up for bid is one of Armstrongs Project Gemini flight suits with the opening five-digit price tag.

Neil Armstrong and his family had these items in their possession for decades and they were great stewards of those pieces, Heritage Auctions executive vice president Todd Imhof told CBS News.

Advertisement

Other items up for sale include Armstrongs Boy Scouts cap, a 1936 drawing he created as a first-grader and a gold pin he wore on his first interstellar trek.

(Armstrongs family) very generously donated and loaned certain items to various museums over those years and now his sons have decided that the time has come to share these items and sell them to the space-collecting community, said Imhof.

One auction selection that is expected to draw a flurry of bids are fragments from the Wright Brothers first successful airplane. The pieces of propeller and wing date back to 1903.

A centennial flag from Purdue University, Armstrongs alma mater, is also for sale.

Armstrong beat out all others to initially set foot on the lunar surface July 20, 1969. A cinematic dramatization of the moon landing  First Man starring Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy  opened nationwide Oct. 12.On May 2, 1891, Paul Halliday, a Civil War veteran and widower in his 70s, set off in a horse-drawn cart from his home in Burlingham, N.Y., to a job 10 miles away.

Left home were his new wife, Lizzie, about 40 years his junior, and John, 37, his developmentally disabled son from his first marriage.

Halliday returned to find his cabin in flames. Within a month, there would be more fires on his property, with a mill and a barn destroyed, and his son burned to a crisp, as the Buffalo Evening News put it.

Lizzie told him they were inside when the fire started. She got out. John didnt.

Advertisement

(Hunington Weekly Herald December 29, 1893)

About a month later, there was a different angle to the story. A Female Fiend in Jail, declared a New Jersey newspaper on June 19, 1891. The paper reported Lizzie had been arrested, and was suspected of locking John in a room and setting the fire, intentionally killing him.

Halliday met Lizzie Brown, a young Irish immigrant, a few months earlier when he hired her as a maid. The gray-bearded farmer popped the question soon after because, a neighbor said, he thought it would be cheaper to marry Lizzie than to pay her wages.

After the fires, the old man talked freely about his belief that his wife was responsible for the blazes and his sons death.

Police could find no evidence to charge her.

No fool like an old fool, he told a newspaper in an interview conducted when his spouse landed in jail for running off and stealing horses with a gang she called the Shawangunk mountain robbers.

At her trial, Lizzie shrieked, ripped her clothes, kicked over chairs, and punched her jailers. Everyone said she was crazy.

Shes shamming, her husband said.

She was packed off to an asylum, but by May 1893 she was back with her old husband in a new cabin.

Four months later, Halliday vanished. His grown sons, who never liked the new wife, suspected foul play. They asked Lizzie where their father was. Away on business, she said.

The sons didnt buy it and obtained a search warrant. In the house, a group of Hallidays friends and family found bloodstains and a spent revolver cartridge. She insisted he was alive and said shed prove it by taking a couple of the searchers to him.

As soon as the carriage left, others continued their probe. Two female corpses turned up in the barn, the remains of Margaret McQuillan and her daughter, Sarah, who disappeared after accepting a housecleaning job from Lizzie.

Paul Hallidays body was discovered under the floorboards in the kitchen.

All three victims were shot several times in the heart. Hallidays body was mutilated.

Police arrested Lizzie and held her for a year awaiting trial. She acted increasingly deranged behind bars, with nonstop rages and suicide attempts.

Along the way, she became a media sensation. Papers speculated about others she may have killed, and the notion was advanced that she was Jack the Ripper.

New York newspaperwoman Nellie Bly (AP Photo/Bettman Archive)

Her wild-woman exploits caught the eye of a pioneering reporter who had built her career, in part, on reports about life in a madhouse  Nellie Bly. In the fall of 1893, Lizzie spoke with the famous newswoman. The interview ran in the New York World under the headline, A Woman without a Heart.

It is a long story, Lizzie said, and it is over many murders besides those already known.

Lizzie talked about her six husbands, mostly aged veterans who died or fled shortly after the marriage. She also gave her account of the recent murders, which was that she had been drugged by gypsies and forced to watch the killings.

Other reporters discovered more about her history. Between husbands, Lizzie found time to set a fire in Philadelphia that burned down several buildings. When she finished a two-year sentence for arson, she moved back to New York and nabbed husband number six, ill-fated Paul Halliday.

Lizzies trial for the murder of Sarah McQuillan started on June 18, 1894, and ended with a verdict of guilty and a sentence of death. She was the first woman in the world to be condemned to the electric chair.

On the way out of the courtroom, she bit a sheriff. The wound became infected and killed him, noted Michael Keene in his book Question of Sanity.

Despite all her mayhem, the governor granted clemency and sent her to a mental institution, where she continued to build her reputation as the wolf woman of Sullivan County.

In 1897, she and another inmate attacked an attendant, stuffing a towel in their victims mouth, then stomping, scratching, and beating her. Miraculously, the woman survived.

There was a period of calm after that, partly because a prison employee, Nellie Wicks, 24, took pity on the crazed killer and gave her extra attention. Hospital superintendent Dr. R. B. Lamb observed that her mania for violence may have been conquered.

In September 1906, Wicks decided to leave her job to go back to school. Lizzie responded to the news by knocking Wicks down in a bathroom, locking the door, and stabbing her 200 times with sewing shears.

Dr. Lamb was called to the bloody scene. She wont leave me now, Lizzie told him with a maniacal laugh.

Lizzie remained institutionalized until her death at 58 in 1918. In an obituary, The New York Times called her the worst woman on earth.Nepalese internet providers have begun blocking thousands of pornographic websites as part of a government directive aimed at stopping sexual violence, officials said Sunday.

The government issued new criminal and civil codes this year that include regulations against the use, broadcast and publication of pornographic materials with punishment for violators of up to one year in prison.

Min Prasad Aryal of the Nepal Telecom Authority said Sunday that more than 25,000 websites have been blocked under the campaign.

This is only the start, but a very good start, Aryal said, adding that a team of officials are monitoring internet service providers to ensure the order is followed.

Advertisement

He said those providers who refuse or fail to comply face a fine of up to $4,200 and risk losing their operating license.

Internet service providers say they are complying with the government order but say it would be impossible to weed out and block all such sites.

We are following the government order and have blocked the list of websites that was provided. However, it is not practical and technically not possible to block every pornographic website, said Binay Bohra of Vianet Communications.

Bohra said they feared that with the new law, service providers could easily be punished.

Media rights groups have also expressed concern at the blanket ban of websites.

This opens up the path for the government to block any websites in the future, saying they have obscene content. This order was issued without clarifying what is obscene and why or without doing any proper study, said Taranath Dahal, who heads the Freedom Forum, a Nepal-based media rights group.

Dahal said there should be clear regulations from the government on what content is considered obscene and pornographic and at what age should users be barred.

The government issued a similar ban in 2011, but this time there are more serious punishments for violations.The first major housing project proposed along the new Morena Boulevard trolley line is scheduled for City Council approval this fall, but critics say it could set a bad precedent because its not dense enough to help solve the citys housing crisis.

Developer Fairfield Residential is proposing 150 condos on the site of a decaying recreation vehicle park instead of a potential 300, primarily because of a 30-foot building height limit in western Clairemont thats popular with residents.

Critics, including the San Diego Planning Commission, say the city needs high-rise projects along the new trolley line to address the housing crisis, meet the goals of the citys climate action plan and secure federal money for future trolley projects.

They also complain that the developer plans to pay a fee to the city instead of reserving 10 percent of the units for residents with low incomes, an option City Council members say they plan to eliminate later this year.

Advertisement

A group of residents called Raise the Balloon, however, says the project is a model for how the city can build dense middle-class housing without destroying neighborhood character and without ignoring the concerns of residents.

Supporters also say the project will spark many additional quality projects along the blighted Morena corridor, which is expected to become more vibrant when the new trolley line connecting Old Town and La Jolla starts running in 2021.

The Planning Commission unanimously approved the project recently because it was too late for the developer to start over, but commissioners urged the City Council not to view it as a precedent and to consider lifting the height limit.

I dont think a 30-foot height limit outside the coastal zone is warranted, said Commissioner Susan Peerson, noting that other neighborhoods such as North Park and Hillcrest are allowing more dense projects. Every community needs to contribute their fair share.

Commissioner Dennis Otsuji said its disappointing that the first project wont meet the citys goals.

Its very important as the first one, he said.

Commissioner James Whalen said subsequent projects built along the trolley line must be taller and include more units or the city faces long-term risks.

The challenge we have here is to craft a balance thats sensitive to the neighborhood, but responds to the multi-billion-dollar investment in the trolley, he said. If we dont respond to that opportunity to create density on that corridor, well never get another federal dollar for transit.

The commission urged city officials and community leaders crafting an update to the Clairemont Mesa Community Plan and a separate specific plan for the Morena corridor area to consider lifting the height limit.

Ed McCoy of Fairfield Residential said the developer would have proposed a project with significantly more units if the height limit hadnt been in place when planning began.

McCoy, however, said the project would still be a quality addition to the neighborhood.

It would feature 75 one-bedroom condos and 75 two-bedroom condos across nine three-story buildings on the east side of Morena Boulevard near Frankfort Street and Tonopah Avenue.

The 6-acre site is now occupied by the Coastal Trailer Villa recreational vehicle park, which was built in 1947. City officials say the park is mostly empty, with only 12 of 90 sites occupied.

Were removing an eyesore along a very important corridor, McCoy said, predicting that a project costing $50 million to $60 million would serve as a catalyst to additional quality development.

The project would include a clubhouse, fitness area and pool. The site is 1,700 feet from a trolley stop planned for Tecolote Road.

James LaMattery, spokesman for Raise the Balloon, praised the developer for working closely with residents and responding to their concerns.

The Clairemont Community Planning Group voted 11-1 in favor of the project in June. Group chairman Naveen Waney didnt return a phone call seeking comment.

City planning officials said the project is slated for City Council approval in early December, but that an exact date hasnt been set.

david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrickSome wobbled, some stepped tentatively with arms spread out for balance, some strode confidently.

About 200 men donned womens shoes  heels, flats, a nice looking pair of ankle boots  and walked a mile around downtown Saturday morning. They may have looked funny but the reasons they walked was anything but  the 11th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event to raise awareness of domestic violence.

The walk is sponsored by the YWCA of San Diego County and is a fundraiser for Beckys House, which provides shelter, services and other programs for domestic violence victims.

Heather Finlay, the chief executive officer of the YWCA, said that the event typically raises about $100,000 for the shelter, which is run by the organization. Yet just as important as the funds is how the event, with the admittedly funny spectacle of men tottering around in womens shoes, attracts attention to the underlying cause, she said.

Advertisement

Last year there were more than 17,000 incidents of domestic violence reported in the county. And while over the years attitudes toward domestic violence have changed from largely tolerating it decades ago to now aggressively policing and prosecuting it, more work need to be done, she said.

We need the community to be educated about what domestic violence is and looks like, she said. This is a lighthearted way to get men in our community involved.

1 / 18 Steve Wilson of La Mesa, sporting a tutu and high heels was one of a couple of hundred people, many of them men wearing womens high heel shoes to walk through the Gaslamp Quarter during the YWCAS 11th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, taking a stand against domestic violence. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 2 / 18 A couple of hundred people, many of them men, wearing high heels, walked through the Gaslamp Quarter during the YMCAS 11th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, taking a stand against domestic violence. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 3 / 18 Lambert Hsu of Little Italy tries on a pair of high heels shoes before the start of the YMCAS 11th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes. He was one of a couple of hundred people taking a stand against domestic violence who walked through the Gaslamp Quarter to raise money and call attention to domestic violence. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 4 / 18 Tee Udompan of North Park, sporting black high heels was one of a couple of hundred people to walk through the Gaslamp Quarter during the YMCAS 11th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, taking a stand against domestic violence. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 5 / 18 Joel Stern, left, of Carmel Valley, Robert Canup of Point Loma, Dennis Ellis of Gaslamp, and Bill Breen, right, of Point Loma were four of a couple of hundred people to walk through the Gaslamp Quarter during the YWCAS 11th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, taking a stand against domestic violence. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 6 / 18 Bill Breen of Del Mar, sporting red high heels was one of a couple of hundred people to walk through the Gaslamp Quarter during the YMCAS 11th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, taking a stand against domestic violence. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 7 / 18 Moe Hamidi of San Marcos, wearing high heels was one of a couple of hundred to walk through the Gaslamp Quarter during the YMCAS 11th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, taking a stand against domestic violence. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 8 / 18 Taylor Rotunno of Rancho Penasquitos, sporting high heels was one of a couple of hundred people to walk through the Gaslamp Quarter during the YWCAS 11th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, taking a stand against domestic violence. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 9 / 18 Robert Canup, left, of Point Loma, and Dennis Ellis, right of the Gaslamp, sporting high heels wait for the YWCAS 11th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, to begin. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 10 / 18 Jim Schabarum of Point Loma Park, sporting red high heels was one of a couple of hundred people to walk through the Gaslamp Quarter during the YWCAS 11th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, taking a stand against domestic violence. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 11 / 18 A couple of hundred walked through the Gaslamp Quarter during the YWCAS 11th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, taking a stand against domestic violence. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 12 / 18 Austin Andrews of Pacific Beach was one of a couple of hundred people to walk through the Gaslamp Quarter during the YWCAS 11th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, taking a stand against domestic violence. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 13 / 18 Karl Yoder of La Jolla, sporting red high heels, was one of a couple of hundred people to walk through the Gaslamp Quarter during the YWCAS 11th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, taking a stand against domestic violence. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 14 / 18 A couple of hundred walked through the Gaslamp Quarter during the YWCAS 11th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, taking a stand against domestic violence. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 15 / 18 Pablo Zambrano of Orange, sporting red high heels was one of a couple of hundred people to walk through the Gaslamp Quarter during the YWCAS 11th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, taking a stand against domestic violence. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 16 / 18 Tee Udompan of North Park, sporting black high heels was one of a couple of hundred people to walk through the Gaslamp Quarter during the YWCAS 11th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, taking a stand against domestic violence. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 17 / 18 Jim Schabarum of Point Loma Park, sporting red high heels was one of a couple of hundred people to walk through the Gaslamp Quarter during the YWCAS 11th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, taking a stand against domestic violence. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 18 / 18 Womens high heel shoes wait to be chosen by participants in the YWCAS 11th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, taking a stand against domestic violence walk. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune)

Just before 11 a.m. walkers  men, women, and a handful of dogs on leashes (but no heels)  began to line up for the start, at the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade Park at Fourth Avenue and K Street. San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott made some brief remarks to the crowd, noting that one in four women are victims of abuse and college-age women have a one in six chance they will be involved in an abusive dating relationship.

To try walking in a womans shoes is a truly harrowing experience, she said. Her office prosecutes close to 1,000 domestic violence cases a year, she noted, with a 95 percent conviction rate. She then wished the walkers well  telling the men that if they got lost on the route, they should feel free to ask for directions.

With that they were off. Some men tastefully accessorized their shoes by wearing tutus and leggings. About 30 minutes later the first walkers crossed the finish line back at the park, after navigating a route up Third Avenue to Market Street and back down.

Wearing a pair of black heels, Tee Udompan shuffled to a seat after crossing the line, his legs slightly shaking. While he has done the walk before he said this was his first time in heels. How did it go?

You have to wear them to appreciate how much a woman is going through, he said with a laugh. Not easy.

Thomas Collins of San Diego has also done the walk several times, and this year even went to a store to purchase a pair of shoes that would fit him. Lot of strange looks, he said with a smile.

Collins came to provide support for the Y programs. Male or female when someone is affected by intimate partner violence and decides they have had enough and want to get help this is one of the programs they can get help from, he said.

The walk does help raise awareness of the issue. As we were walking along there were people who were stopping to say what are all those guys doing wearing high heels, he said. So people are noticing.

The walk is just one event focusing on the issue during October, which is designated Domestic Violence Awareness Month across the country.

Twitter: @gregmoran

greg.moran@sduniontribune.comA carjacker apparently changed his mind about stealing a womans SUV and took a mans pickup instead in Bay Park on Saturday, San Diego police said.

The thief pointed a handgun at both victims before driving off in a gray 2002 Toyota Tacoma.

He first walked up to the passenger side window as a 21-year-old woman was parking her Ford Expedition on Lloyd Terrace, off Lloyd Street, about 6:10 p.m., Officer Robert Heims said.

The woman later told police that the man pointed a gun at her and demanded the keys. She turned off the engine, threw the keys at him and ran away.

Advertisement

He got behind the wheel and put the key in the ignition, but then, for some unknown reason, he got out of the SUV and walked to a house with an open garage door. He pointed his pistol at a man who was working in the garage and demanded his truck, Heims said.

The victim handed over the keys and the gunman drove away in the Tacoma with California license plate 6Y93910 and a ladder rack on the back.

The carjacker was described as Latino, in his late 20s, 6 feet tall, 200 pounds, with short, dark hair and a short beard. He wore a red shirt under a dark hoodie, dark pants and shoes.

pauline.repard@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @pdrepardWorkers at Lemon Groves Goodwill Store evacuated when they found a grenade among their donations Saturday. It turned out to be an inert practice grenade, a sheriffs official said.

Employees at the thrift shop on Broadway near School Lane found the suspicious device amid some donations, which are left at the back of the store. They called the Sheriffs Department about 10:30 a.m.

Deputies saw the grenade and called in the bomb-arson unit. The street was cordoned off, everyone in the store was evacuated and people in nearby businesses were asked to stay indoors, sheriffs Lt. Rich Williams said.

The bomb experts evaluated the device and decided it was a harmless practice grenade. They left and the roads and businesses re-opened about noon.

Advertisement

pauline.repard@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @pdrepardA defiant Saudi Arabia vowed to respond to any threats made against it following President Trumps warning of severe punishment over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Trump said in an interview aired on 60 Minutes on Sunday that the desert country will face consequences if it is found responsible for the death of the Washington Post contributor.

The kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether by threatening to impose economic sanctions, using political pressures or repeating false accusations, read the statement published by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

The kingdom also affirms that if it receives any action, it will respond with greater action, and that the kingdoms economy has an influential and vital role in the global economy.

Advertisement

Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen who had been living in the U.S., has not been seen since entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. Turkish authorities believe that a team of Saudis lured him there from his home in Virginia and killed him.

Its being investigated, its being looked at very, very strongly, President Trump told 60 Minutes.

And we would be very upset and angry if that were the case. As of this moment, they deny it, and they deny it vehemently. Could it be them? Yes.

Saudi Arabias interior minister said in a recent statement that the accusations are outright lies and baseless allegations.

Trump told 60 Minutes that son-in-law Jared Kushner spoke with crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, who said he did not order Khashoggi killed.

1 / 11 U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, leaves a briefing from CIA Director Gina Haspel on the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, on Capitol Hill on Dec. 4, 2018 in Washington D.C. Two key U.S. Republican senators said that they have zero doubt that Saudi Arabias crown prince was complicit in the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, contradicting President Donald Trumps more neutral position."I have zero question in my mind that the crown prince directed the murder and was kept appraised of the situation all the way through it, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker told reporters after the CIA director Gina Haspel briefed a small group of senators. Fellow Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who has urged Trump to take a far tougher stance against Riyadh over the killing, said after the briefing that he believes Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is complicit in the murder of Mr. Khashoggi to the highest level possible. (SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty Images) 2 / 11 Yemeni human rights activist, right, who won the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for her participation in the Arab Spring uprisings, sits next to Hatice Cengiz, the Turkish fiance of murdered Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, during a commemoration event for him on Nov. 11, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey. On Nov. 15, 2018, Saudi prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty for the 5 people most directly involved with ordering and executing the crime of the 11 they have charged and that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, was not involved. The next day an American official said the C.I.A. has concluded that Mohammed bin Salman, in fact, did order the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. On Nov. 20, 2018 President Trump disputed C.I.A. experts conclusions causing international outrage and cries for Congress to take action. On Dec. 4, 2018 a CIA briefing left high-ranking GOP senators no doubt Mohammed bin Salman ordered Khashoggis killing. (OZAN KOSE / AFP/Getty Images) 3 / 11 Activists, protesting the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, hold a candlelight vigil outside Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 25, 2018. The poster reads in Arabic: Khashoggis Friends Around the World. A group of Arab and international public, political and media figures is establishing a global association called Khashoggis Friends Around the World to achieve justice for the freedom martyr. (Lefteris Pitarakis / Associated Press) 4 / 11 Salah Khashoggi, the son of Jamal Khashoggi who is reportedly banned from traveling outside of Saudi Arabia, had to shake hands with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Oct. 23, 2018 ahead of a meeting. Many people believe it was Mohammed who ordered the killing. (Saudi Press Agency via AP) 5 / 11 Turkish police secure an underground car park, where authorities earlier found a vehicle belonging to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, on Oct. 22, 2018. Turkish crime-scene investigators have arrived at the park, where the car, according to news reports, was left two weeks ago. (Mehmet Guzel / Associated Press) 6 / 11 Women for Peace activist David Barrows joins protesters demonstrating against U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen on Oct. 22, 2018 in Washington, DC. Sparked by the apparent murder of Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, the Code Pink activists called on senators to support Senate Joint Resolution 54, war powers legislation that would end U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) 7 / 11 A Turkish police officer looks around a room inside the Saudi Arabian consulate amid a growing international backlash to the disappearance of journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, on Oct. 15, 2018 in Istanbul. (Chris McGrath / Getty Images) 8 / 11 A Turkish police officer investigates outside the Saudi Arabian consulate on on Oct. 15, 2018 in Istanbul. (Chris McGrath / Getty Images) 9 / 11 Turkish crime scene investigators enter the Saudi Arabian consulate on Oct. 15, 2018 in Istanbul. (Chris McGrath / Getty Images) 10 / 11 Turkish police officers gather as they prepare to enter the Saudi Arabias Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 15, 2018. (Petros Giannakouris / AP) 11 / 11 Turkish forensic police and their investigation delegation arrive at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 15, 2018 in Istanbul. (OZAN KOSE / AFP/Getty Images)

The Washington Post reported last week that Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, was behind attempts to lure the journalist to the country.

As of this moment, they deny it, and deny it vehemently, the President said. They deny it. They deny it every way you can imagine. In the not-too-distant future, I think well know an answer.

Asked about the possibility of sanctions against Saudi Arabia, Trump said there would be severe punishment if Khashoggis murder had been ordered, but nothing against the recent deal for military equipment.

I dont wanna hurt jobs, he said, citing work from companies including Boeing, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. I dont wanna lose an order like that. There are other ways of...punishing, to use a word thats a pretty harsh word, but its true.

A growing number of businesses have withdrawn from an upcoming global summit in Saudi Arabia. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Sunday on CNNs State of the Union that U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin should skip the summit.

I dont think we should continue as business as usual until we know exactly whats happened here ... I dont think he should go, Rubio said.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters Sunday that if Saudi Arabia doesnt come clean and let us know what happened, were going to have to take some pretty strong sanctions against them. Well see what they should be.

The stock market in Saudi Arabia plunged after Trumps warning became public. The Tadawul exchange in Riyadh dropped by 7 percent at one point during the weeks first day of trading.

With News Wire ServicesWhile the hepatitis A virus ran unchecked through the streets and homeless camps of San Diego last year, claiming 20 lives and sickening hundreds of others before it was corralled, $170 million in special funding for mentally ill people sat in a county bank account.

So much Mental Health Services Act revenue piled up, San Diego County collected more than $12 million in interest from the unspent cash.

Even today, as the homeless crisis deepens and suicide remains persistently high, critics say too much of the money the county spends from the fund goes to consultants, reports, public relations and pilot projects rather than direct treatment for patients most affected by mental illness.

Theyre not addressing the seriously mentally ill, said Theresa Bish, who used to serve on the county mental health advisory board. They have allowed the problem to be on the shoulders of our jails and prisons and hospitals.

Advertisement

At the end of the 2016-17 fiscal year, the latest period for which data are available, San Diego County had $170.6 million in unspent Mental Health Services Act revenue, including $42 million held in reserve as required by the state.

The amount rose steadily over years, state records show. In 2007, the county had $23 million in unspent cash. By 2009, the bank balance swelled to $58 million and by 2011 it reached $133 million.

County officials defend their handling of revenue generated by the Mental Health Services Act, the 2004 ballot measure that imposed a special tax on California millionaires.

They said the long-banked funding had no bearing on the county response to the deadly hepatitis A outbreak, which they called a well-coordinated effort involving many government agencies and budgets.

They began spending down the reserve ahead of the public health threat, they said. More important, it will be all but gone by mid-2020, according to current estimates, they said.

Before the outbreak even occurred we had already increased MHSA spending, finance director Andrew Pease said. The Hep A response is far larger than mental health stuff. The county employed a whole bunch of other services. We werent sitting on this money.

Other counties also have been slow to spend down the revenue. Sacramento County reported $126 million in unspent mental health dollars in 2016 and Orange County has $242 million on deposit. Los Angeles, the states most populous county, reported $739 million in reserves that year.

The excess funds have not escaped the notice of other elected officials, who regularly field complaints about homelessness and a lack of adequate services for people lacking shelter. San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer is publicly prodding county leaders to do more.

Just like the city is doing with homelessness, the county MUST take a different approach with mental health, Faulconer tweeted Tuesday night, the eve of World Mental Health Day. Without more psych beds, step-down facilities, long-term housing and strong outreach that proactively helps the mentally ill off the streets, we cant turn things around.

Assemblyman Todd Gloria poked county officials Wednesday, tweeting a chart published by the state auditor in February indicating that billions of dollars in Mental Health Services Act funding remained to be spent.

We have a lot of work to do to fight stigma and help those suffering with mental illness, he wrote. Demanding CA counties use the $2.5 BILLION in unspent Prop 63 funds would go a long way to doing that.

San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts wasted little time responding.

Old numbers, my friend, he tweeted to Gloria less than two hours later. Thats from 2015-16. We are spending $80 million more annually than 2015-16 in San Diego County. The unspent reserve is gone by 2019-20.

Waste and redundancy

Presented to voters as Proposition 63 the same day George W. Bush was re-elected president, the Mental Health Services Act imposed a 1 percent income tax on residents earning $1 million or more.

The idea behind the so-called millionaires tax was to create a dedicated money stream to pay for expanded treatment and other services for seriously mentally ill people and those vulnerable to schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and other sicknesses.

San Diego County has reeled in more than $1 billion for mental health programs since then, including $151 million in the year ending June 30, 2017.

But according to mental health advocates and independent auditors, both the county and state failed to properly implement the law and voters will. Instead, policymakers created a system that promotes waste and redundancy and allows counties to bank the funding, they say.

The counties were informed sort of informally that the money could not go to existing programs, which was simply not true, said Rose King, who co-wrote the Mental Health Services Act and is now a Sacramento activist and whistleblower against its misuse of funds.

They could put the money into existing programs, King said. They could pay the psychiatrists more to get more psychiatrists into the system. They could hire more social workers and more clinical services people so patients dont have to wait three or four months for treatment.

Alfredo Aguirre, who runs the county behavioral health department, said his office has been investing mental health funds carefully to serve as many people as possible and to comply with state mandates governing the program.

Weve developed more resources and we have strengthened our continuum of care, he said. The whole idea is we want to serve people so they dont get into a crisis.

Aguirre said the county Board of Supervisors has made a considered effort to invest more mental health funds into the community. His budget jumped almost 20 percent this year, to $658 million.

But he also said there are strict guidelines on how the special tax revenue can be spent, and much of the funding has to be directed to education programs and pilot projects.

Weve been compliant from Day One, Aguirre said.

Even though compliant with state regulations, some county mental health spending was criticized by the grand jury two years ago.

MHSA includes vague and ambiguous language that allows very broad interpretations of how to spend MHSA funds, the grand jury found. The result is that San Diego County uses MHSA for a wide variety of programs only tangentially related to those with, or at risk of, serious mental illness.

Jurors singled out efforts to reduce gang violence, improve parenting, prevent hoarding and reach out to Alzheimers patients.

County officials said the spending was appropriate and within state guidelines.

The chief administrative officer disagrees wholly with this finding, they replied.

Hard-to-reach population

One of the main initiatives in San Diego County is Its Up to Us, a years-long multimillion-dollar promotion aimed at attacking the stigma often associated with mental illness, which according to the county affects one in five adults.

The campaign includes television commercials, printed materials, educational workshops and other methods of raising awareness of mental health issues, preventing suicide and providing easier access to services.

But while visits to the Its Up to Us website continue to climb -- a 17 percent spike in 2016 and another 8 percent last year -- more people are committing suicide than ever before.

In 2004, the year Proposition 63 passed, 314 people in San Diego County took their own life. By 2017, the suicide rate had jumped 45 percent, to 458 people.

Critics say investments like Its Up to Us should take a back seat to direct help.

Bish, the former advisory committee chair, said the county should boost the number of beds available through assisted outpatient treatment, a program under Lauras Law that gives local officials the authority to petition court to order patients into residential care.

If they expanded treatment and had the political and administrative will, they would seriously start making a dent, because over 40 percent of the homeless population is mentally ill, Bish said. They havent had a will historically to treat those who are most afflicted.

County supervisors waited until 2016 to even adopt a policy allowing mental health officials to implement Lauras Law, the 2002 statute passed after 19-year-old Laura Wilcox was murdered by a Nevada County man who refused psychiatric treatment.

San Diego County officials have twice petitioned judges for commitments under Lauras Law, both in recent months. Three dozen other patients agreed to treatment after being threatened with involuntary commitment since 2016, they said.

Weve made a tremendous effort to engage this hard-to-reach population, Aguirre said. If they need a court order, were prepared to do that.

Meantime, the number of beds available to serve patients experiencing psychiatric emergencies continues to shrink.

Tri-City Medical Center shuttered its 16-bed unit earlier this month after complaining that it was losing $5 million a year on the program. Police and sheriffs deputies in North County now have to drive people who are a threat to themselves or others to Poway or Escondido for treatment.

Dr. Michael Plopper is the chief medical officer at Sharp Behavioral Health Services. He said patients who are ready to move from emergency treatment often have difficulty finding a place to receive continuing care.

Our biggest needs have been for the seriously mentally ill and relatively to the continuum of care after residential treatment, Plopper said. Weve had a significant reduction in the number of board-and-care beds. That means its much more difficult in hospitals to discharge people into new environments.

About one in four patients released after emergency treatment return within 30 days, Plopper said -- a recidivism rate that has remained steady for years and inflates costs for providers and first responders.

If policymakers can find ways to enhance outpatient services -- add psychiatrists, promote access to prescriptions, increase supportive housing with wrap-around services -- the 700 or so in-patient beds now available countywide will suffice, he said.

If our continuum was fleshed out and approved, I think we have enough beds, Plopper said. But without that we are all seriously impacted. We are full all the time.

Frequent flyers

Its not entirely clear how county officials will spend down the mental health reserves.

So far, officials earmarked $28 million this year for Project One for All, which works to find clients and provide treatment, housing and other services. Since 2015, the county also has doubled its PERT effort, the psychiatric emergency response teams that can step in when police or deputies encounter seriously mentally ill people.

State law requires the Mental Health Services Act revenue be invested in five categories: community services, prevention and intervention, innovations to improve access to services, technology and job training. But local authorities get a lot of leeway in deciding which programs to support.

Several current contractors hope for an increase to existing agreements so they can offer cost-of-living or merit raises to their staff. Others would like to see programs that were scrapped previously given another chance.

When it comes to innovation contracts, weve had outcomes that were tremendous but never got moved onto long-term contracts, said Cathryn Nacario, who runs the San Diego office of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. Its just an ongoing frustration.

Daphyne Watson of Mental Health America of San Diego County said the way funding streams are categorized can defeat the purpose of providing help to those in need.

If they identify as a homeless person theyre going to get homeless services, she said. Oftentimes it focuses on getting them off the street, but theres not enough linkage or funding to provide ancillary services.

State lawmakers intent on reducing the number of frequent flyers -- the seriously mentally ill and drug- or alcohol-addicted patients who churn through hospital emergency rooms at terrific public expense -- this year approved a new tool to help local officials.

They approved a five-year pilot project that grants San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego county officials the authority to go a step further than seeking treatment for those who need help  it allows officials to seek outright conservatorship of a persons affairs. The law calls for county supervisors to approve the arrangement before conservatorship can be sought.

Watchdog Videos On Now Sexual misconduct accusers worry deputy is being protected 6:16 On Now City funded $2-million waterfront bathroom 1:26 On Now Public water district charges customer for legal work, response to records request On Now Video: Tiny homes won't be reused amid housing, homeless crisis On Now Attorney General seeks documentation for Miss Middle East On Now Rep. Hunter probe covers possible fraud On Now Video: SDG&E delaying solar credit for some low-income housing tenants On Now Video: Former San Diego Junior Theatre teacher sentenced for sex with teen girl 0:24 On Now Video: Shelter volunteers believe they were fired for finding a dog a home 0:49 On Now McKamey Manor is leaving San Diego 3:35

jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1708 @sdutMcDonald

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.Page Content

On Thursday, October 25th, Prime Minister of Sint Maarten, Leona Romeo-Marlin will be hosting the Caribbean OCTs Resilience Summit on Sint Maarten, which will be attended by political leaders of the Caribbean Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) as well as high level representatives of the European Commission, Regional Organizations and invited guests.





The Summit is being held to commemorate the signing of a financing agreement between the Caribbean OCTs and the European Commission and will be the start of a Program on Resilience, Sustainable Energy and Marine Biodiversity in our region.





The Summit evolves around the topics Unite, Prepare and Adapt, which will be presented by knowledgeable speakers and followed by panel discussions with experts in field such as Regional Cooperation, Climate Change, Disaster Preparedness and Resilience. These topics will focus on the future of the Caribbean region. A future in which our youth will have a key role. Therefore, we invite pre-exam students to share their vision on Resilience with us in the form of an essay.





Prime Minister Romeo Marlin believes in our youth and is convinced that this is where innovative solutions can start. Therefore, the Prime Minister is eager to receive the input of our youth on how we, as a unified Caribbean, can strengthen our future in relation to the effects of climate change.





By participating in this writing contest the winner will be granted the opportunity to be part of the OCT Resilience Summit on October 25th. The winner will participate as a panel member on the topic Adapt. The winner will also have an opportunity to share their ideas with important stakeholders such as all Governments of the Caribbean OCTs, the European Commission and regional organizations.





Persons who enter the essay contest will be judged by Prime Minister of Sint Maarten, Leona Romeo-Marlin, and Jolita Butkeviciene, the Director of the Directorate General for Development Coordination Latin America and the Caribbean at the European Commission. The rules and guidelines of the essay contest are available on Facebook/Caribbean OCT's Resilience Summit & Facebook/SXMGOV.





Prime Minister Romeo Marlin encourages the youth of Sint Maarten to share their vision on a Resilient Caribbean by entering this writing contest and becoming a positive contributor to the resilient development of the Caribbean! We are counting on you, our future!





Photo caption  Prime Minister Leona Romeo MarlinNetherlands in a 'cyberwar' with Russia: defence minister



The Hague, Oct 14 (AFP) Oct 14, 2018



The Netherlands is in a 'cyberwar' with Russia, Defence Minister Ank Bijleveld told Dutch television Sunday, speaking in the wake of an alleged hacking attempt by four Russians in The Hague.

"What happened is really dangerous," Bijleveld told Dutch broadcaster NPO, referring to the incident, which happened in April outside the headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Asked if the current situation between the two countries could be described as "cyberwar" she replied: "Yes, that is the case."

On October 4, the defence ministry announced it had expelled four GRU military intelligence agents.

Officials said the men entered the country on Russian diplomatic passports on April 10 and were caught on April 13 with a car full of electronic equipment in the Marriott Hotel next to the OPCW headquarters.

Russia has vehemently denied the accusations. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted on Monday that the incident was a "misunderstanding" and that the Russians had been on a routine visit.

But on Sunday Bijleveld said: "People try to interfere in various ways in our life all the time, to influence our democracy.

"We have to shake off the naivety in this domain and take measures," which was why they had taken the decision to make the incident public, she added.

Following these incidents, the defence ministry had beefed up its budget for cyberwarfare, she said.

"We are investing more in intelligence services to be able to see what is going on and take measures if necessary."

NATO was also considering a Dutch offer to use its "cybersoldiers", she added.

The alleged attempt to hack into the OPCW network came as the organisation was investigating the fatal poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in London.

Britain has blamed Russia for the attack, which took place in March in the southern English city of Salisbury and also claimed the life of Skripal's daughter, Yulia. Moscow has denied any involvement.

The OPCW was also investigating a suspected chemical weapons attack in the Syrian city of Douma, which western sources say was carried out by forces of the Russian-backed Syrian government.

smt/jj/dcr15 civilians dead in strikes on minibuses in Yemen's Hodeida: UN



Sanaa, Oct 14 (AFP) Oct 14, 2018



At least 15 civilians were killed in attacks on minibuses in Yemen's embattled Hodeida province, a UN agency said Sunday, as Huthi rebels blamed air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs did not specify the type of strikes Saturday in the Jabal Ras district, but Yemeni rebels said they were air raids by the coalition fighting alongside the government.

The coalition's spokesman, contacted by AFP, had no immediate comment.

The UN agency said at least 20 more civilians were injured, in what Lisa Grande, the world body's humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, termed "a horrific incident".

The Norwegian Refugee Council condemned "an unacceptable pattern of attacks on civilian women, men and children by parties to the conflict who profess concern for the interests and welfare of Yemeni people".

Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government after the Iran-aligned Huthis ousted it from the capital Sanaa and swathes of the country's north.

The coalition has used air power to oust the rebels from much of the country's south, but the Huthis have held onto Sanaa and the key Red Sea port of Hodeida.

Following the collapse of United Nations-backed talks in September, the coalition announced it was relaunching an assault on Hodeida city and its Red Sea port.

The fighting has since eased and the coalition has focused its raids on the city limits and other parts of the surrounding province.

Coalition air strikes last week killed 79 Huthi rebel fighters and seven civilians in Hodeida province.

The coalition has drawn heavy UN criticism for the high civilian death toll from its campaign in Yemen.

Yemen's war has left almost 10,000 people dead, mostly civilians, since the coalition intervened in 2015, and sparked what the UN has labelled the world's worst humanitarian crisis.Trump says Mattis 'could be' leaving as US defense chief



Washington, Oct 14 (AFP) Oct 14, 2018



US President Donald Trump said in an interview airing Sunday that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis "could be" leaving, referring to him as "sort of a Democrat."

Mattis, seen as one of the steadiest but also more independent members of Trump's cabinet, has served as a low-profile counterweight to the president in his often abrasive treatment of US allies.

In an interview to be aired Sunday on CBS's "60 Minutes," Trump was asked whether he wanted Mattis to leave.

"It could be that he is. I think he's sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth," Trump said, according to an excerpt released by CBS. "But General Mattis is a good guy. We get along very well. He may leave. I mean, at some point, everybody leaves."

Trump said he had lunch with Mattis two days earlier and the retired Marine four-star general had not told him that he was leaving.

Rumors that Mattis's days as defense chief are numbered have circulated since a book by journalist Bob Woodward about Trump's chaotic White House said the general had questioned Trump's judgment, likening his understanding to that of a 10- or 11-year-old child.

"Of course, I don't think about leaving," Mattis told Pentagon reporters last month. "I love it here."

Trump's comments come as he eyes another cabinet shakeup.

Last week, his ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, announced her resignation, effective at the end of the year.

She gave no reason for the surprise move, but observers have noted that the ascension of John Bolton as national security adviser and Mike Pompeo as secretary of state have shifted the power dynamics on Trump's national security team.

- Generals on the outs -



The generals who once dominated security policy increasingly have appeared to be on the outs with Trump.

Lieutenant General HR McMaster was replaced by Bolton in April, while John Kelly, the White House chief of staff and also a retired four-star general, is reported to have lost influence with the mercurial president.

Mattis has been careful to avoid public conflict with Trump, but has nonetheless performed in ways that contrast sharply with his boss, emphatically defending the US commitment to its NATO allies and calling out Russia.

Earlier this month, as NATO announced its biggest military exercises since the Cold War, Mattis reassured allies of America's "iron-clad" commitment to the 69-year-old alliance.

The US, he told reporters in Paris, is "keenly aware of the dangers close to your home."

While Bolton and Pompeo also have taken a hard line on Russia, Trump has often expressed a desire for better relations with Russia's President Vladimir Putin. He used a NATO summit in July to berate allies as "delinquent" on defense spending.

In the "60 Minutes" interview, Trump alluded to upcoming changes in his cabinet.

"I'm changing things around. And I'm entitled to. I have people now on standby that will be phenomenal. They'll come into the administration, they'll be phenomenal," Trump said.

"I think we have a great cabinet. There're some people that I'm not happy with. I have some people that I'm not thrilled with. And I have other people that I'm beyond thrilled with," he said.US diplomat heads to Iraq for talks with newly elected leaders



Washington, Oct 14 (AFP) Oct 14, 2018



US State Department number two John Sullivan departs Sunday for Iraq to meet with the country's new leaders, the highest level administration official to do so since their election.

Sullivan will visit Baghdad and Arbil, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region, the State Department said.

The US deputy secretary of state will meet with the newly elected speaker of parliament, Mohammed al-Halbusi, as well as President Barham Saleh and Prime Minister-designate Adel Abdel Mahdi.

Long stalled after the May legislative elections, the political situation in Iraq has begun to move in recent weeks with the choice of the new leaders.

The future head of government, an independent, still faces the difficult task of forming a governing team by early November as several coalitions continue to jockey for preeminence in the divided parliament.

A veteran of Iraqi politics and an economist by training, Mahdi, 76, is regarded as sufficiently independent to be able to assemble a government despite fractures in the ruling elites.

Mahdi has support from both Tehran and Washington, a necessary consensus in a country caught between two major allies, each the enemy of the other.

Sullivan will "focus on expanding US-Iraq economic ties and underscoring the United States' continued support for a strong, sovereign, and prosperous Iraq," the State Department said.The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2018 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy StatementNew York (United Nations), October 13, 2018 (SPS)  The Representative of the POLISARIO Front to the United Nations, Dr. Sidi M. Omar, has accentuated that Moroccos occupation and illegal annexation of parts of the Non-Self-Governing Territory of Western Sahara remains the chief obstacle to the decolonisation of the Territory, in a statement before the Special Political and Decolonisation Committee.



Moroccos occupation and illegal annexation of parts of the Non-Self-Governing Territory of Western Sahara remains the chief obstacle to the decolonisation of the Territory,  said on Friday the Representative of the POLISARIO Front before the Special Political and Decolonisation Committee, adding that, its flagrant attempts to appropriate sovereignty over a Non-Self-Governing Territory on the agenda of this Committee and without a due and valid decolonisation process is the root cause of the long-lasting conflict in Western Sahara.



The Representative of the POLISARIO Front recalled, the responsibility of the United Nations towards the people of Western Sahara, which is reaffirmed every year in the General Assembly resolutions on the matter, demanding that it, should be assumed without further delay.



The Sahrawi official emphasized that the continuous consideration by this Committee of the situation in Western Sahara, at the request of the General Assembly, is a testament to the unfinished decolonisation of the Territory. It is also a testament to our peoples right to self-determination and independencea right that is inalienable and can never be overtaken by the current colonial realities created by Morocco in the Territory through its prolonged occupation and intensified settlement and repressive policies, he added.



He evoked that the deplorable Moroccan occupation and annexation of parts of our land continues to date, with dire consequences for our people, both in terms of well-documented gross human rights violations in the occupied Territories and with respect to the massive plunder of our natural resources, among other things.



In a related context, the Sahrawi diplomat affirmed that the POLISARIO Front has officially accepted the invitation of the UN Secretary-Generals Personal Envoy, Mr Horst Kohler, to an initial roundtable meeting planned to take place in Geneva in early December 2018, and the POLISARIO Front stands ready to engage in direct negotiations with Morocco in line with Security Council and General Assembly resolutions. (SPS)



062/SPSAl-Ayoun (Occupied Territories), October 14, 2018 (SPS) - The Association for the Protection of Sahrawi Prisoners in Moroccan jails and the Families of Sahrawi Political Prisoners organized on Saturday a solidarity day with Sahrawi political prisoners on hunger strike in the Moroccan jails, in which many Sahrawi activists participated and observed a hunger strike as a symbolic expression of their solidarity with the hunger strikers for nearly a month.

The event was a chance for the Association for the Protection of Sahrawi Prisoners in Moroccan jails and the Families of Sahrawi Political Prisoners to express their condemnation of the tragic situation experienced by the hunger strikers, holding the Moroccan occupation fully responsible for the fate of the prisoners and demanding the international community to intervene urgently to save their lives.

It should be noted that the Sahrawi political prisoners are dispersed over many of the Moroccan prisons and living in inhuman conditions under the persistence of the occupation on the confiscation of their basic rights as prisoners of conscience. (SPS)



062/SPS/TRAStorm left wide swath of Florida a communications dead zone



Panama City, United States, Oct 13 (AFP) Oct 13, 2018



Since Hurricane Michael roared through on Wednesday, a wide swath of Florida's northwest coast has been without telephone or Internet service, adding to the daunting challenges facing residents, loved ones trying to reach them, and the work crews struggling to bring them relief.

"We have had some sites come back in service following the restoration of fiber links," cable operator Verizon said in a statement Friday. It has deployed five mobile cell sites with satellite connections "to assist with recovery efforts" while full service is restored.

But in Michael's devastated wake, and with tens of thousands still without electricity or electronic communications, those five sites have made only a modest dent.

A wide coastal zone between Panama City and the much smaller town of Mexico Beach, 25 miles (40 kilometers) to the southeast, remains cut off.

In Mexico Beach, which suffered the full wrath of Michael's intense winds and catastrophic storm surges, rescue teams have no choice but to rely on satellite phones. An emergency communications tower has been installed for their exclusive use.

The town has been placed on lockdown, with no one but residents allowed to enter. People arriving on the scene to check on friends or relatives or offer their assistance have been stopped at police blockades, unable to get through.

- 'Everything has shut down' -



The situation in Panama City varies -- communications are better in the city's western neighborhoods than in its east -- and even there signals are patchy.

"We have no cell," said Mark Bateman, associate pastor of St. Andrew Baptist Church, in an unassuming western neighborhood. "AT&T and Verizon (the area's two big telecom operators) don't work."

"We have barely any way to communicate with our ... 800 members," he said. "Some have evacuated, and we have been messaging back and forth with OnStar (the car-based emergency communication and navigation system). We also checked door-to-door in the neighborhood."

Two blocks away, Daniel Fraga, an electrician, said he has only an extremely weak and intermittent signal. To reassure family members who had evacuated to the neighboring state of Alabama, he turned to a friend with a stronger signal.

"Basically everything has shut down," he said, adding that there are "too many people on the same service."

- Neighbors helping neighbors -



A neighbor, Twyla Williams, is surviving without running water along with her diabetic husband and her eldest son, a teenager. Other families had fled to Mississippi.

"My customers have been checking on me," said Williams, who works for an architectural blueprint firm.

"One of them just pulled up to give us Gatorade, water, some food."

But with no Verizon signal, she said she used another carrier to log onto Facebook and let relatives know her family was safe.

The city's emergency services say they have received thousands of calls from people desperate for news of loved ones. But they too are struggling with little or no service.

At nearby Tyndall Air Force Base, on the coast between Panama City and Mexico Beach, the army has set up a dedicated website for those "who are worried about someone."

Tyndall, which itself suffered serious damage both to its facilities and to warplanes parked on its tarmac, is forwarding requests to local agencies.Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Michelle Fitzpatrick (Agence France-Presse) Frankfurt am Main, Germany  Sun, October 14, 2018 07:08 1129 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087779a1b3 2 Books publishing,books,Germany,children,Women,book-fair,Italy,Elena-Favilli,Francesca-Cavallo Free

Frustrated with children's stories of passive princesses and damsels in distress, two Italian women crowdfunded their way into publishing history with a record-breaking book of inspirational tales for girls.

And their revolution has only just begun.

The first volume of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo has become a global sensation, selling more than three million copies with translations in 46 languages.

The 2016 book, telling the life stories of 100 extraordinary women ranging from US author Maya Angelou to Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and Polish-born scientist Marie Curie, was born out of necessity, Cavallo said.

"Most books don't feature girls in roles where they take charge of their destiny. In most children's books, when there are female characters, they don't speak," Cavallo told AFP at the Frankfurt book fair.

"We want girls to grow up with the certainty that they can choose the life they want. And never apologise for being too assertive, too ambitious or too brave."

Co-authors Cavallo and Favilli, who live in the United States, were determined to change the gender imbalance on the bookshelf -- despite having no publishing experience.

"That's our rebel spirit," the 35-year-old laughed.

Read also: Indonesians struggle to promote books abroad

- Over $1.5 million -

The duo had already founded a children's media company in California called Timbuktu Labs, which created the first iPad magazine for children.

But to bring out a real-world book, they turned to crowdfunding, setting their goal at a modest $40,000.

They raised over $600,000, making it the highest funded book ever on Kickstarter.

Their second volume of bedtime stories last year smashed that record, raising over $900,000.

The huge appetite for the books blindsided the traditional publishing industry, spawning a raft of copycat versions as publishers scramble to catch up with demand for empowering stories about women.

Read also: Indonesia to sell rights at the 2019 London Book Fair

- 'Women's moment' -

At the opening of this week's Frankfurt book fair, the world's largest publishing event, director Juergen Boos cited the Rebel Girls chronicles as an example of how publishing was changing.

"We are seeing new ways that literature is being created, bought and received," Boos said, pointing out that it took an online community "to reveal there weren't nearly enough books with female heroines".

The second Rebel Girls book, which has sold over 600,000 copies so far, again offers one-page bios of 100 strong women, written in a fairytale-style and paired with a colourful, illustrated portrait.

Beyonce and Oprah are among those featured.

Cavallo said it was "no coincidence" the books were so successful at a time when women's voices are growing louder and the #MeToo movement has taken the world by storm, sparking a global debate about sexual harassment.

"We are experiencing a moment in history when women are determined to see women's rights at the front and centre of the political agenda," Cavallo said.

"It's probably the best time in history to be a rebel girl. But there is still so much to do."

The third Rebel Girls book is already on the way, an interactive "journal to starting a revolution".

It reached its crowdfunding target in just eight hours and will hit bookstores in early December -- although backers on Kickstarter will get their copies earlier.

The authors have also branched out into podcasts, using famous voices to read out extended versions of some of the biographies.

Billionaire philanthropist Melinda Gates is one of the narrators, as is New York Times journalist Jodi Kantor who co-wrote the expose that first revealed the sexual misconduct allegations against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.

But what Cavallo and Favilli insist they won't do is expand their brand into rebel books for boys.

"We feel it's very important for boys to read books where they are not in the title. Girls have done that their whole lives," Cavallo said.

"And a lot of boys tell us they love our stories. Many parents still feel they can't give boys a book about girls. But that's changing too."Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, October 14, 2018 08:35 1129 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087779bb27 4 Books Asian-Para-Games2018,Asian-Para-Games-2018,comics,Jendi,Ciayo-Comics Free

In honor of the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta, digital comic platform CIAYO Comics released on Aug. 30 a comic book centered on disabled swimmer Jendi.

Titled Jendi, the comic was illustrated by DS Studio and tells the story of a real-life athlete of the same name who lost his leg in a motorcycle accident at the age of 12. The accident did not stop him from winning five gold medals at the 2017 ASEAN Para Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. His inspirational story was then adapted into a comic by Fahmi Hamka and Tony Hanggoro that explores the struggle of Jendi as he comes to terms with his new life.

Read also: Indonesian comics come to the fore

Jendi himself said he hoped that his story would inspire others. In life, everything must go through a process. Everyone has their own way of life. Hopefully this comic can bring positivity to people, said Jendi, who is fond of his nickname "The Eel", which refers to his ability to adapt and survive in all situations, according to a press release.

CIAYO head of business development Khrisnawan Adhie said the company wanted to encourage young people to create. He added that a CIAYO Class program was available as a stepping stone for beginner comic artists, allowing them to develop and improve their skills and work quality. The class culminates in the chance to have their work published on CIAYO Comics. (acr/wng)Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Thomas Watkins (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States  Sun, October 14, 2018 06:03 1129 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877799acf 2 Health united-states,Pentagon,health,obesity,military Free

Forget about the high-tech military challenges from China and Russia, the Pentagon is facing a fast-growing national security threat that could be even trickier to tackle: America's obesity crisis.

A study released this week has found that nearly one-third of young Americans are now too overweight to join up, a worrying statistic for military officials already facing recruitment challenges.

"Obesity has long threatened our nation's health. As the epidemic grows, obesity is posing a threat to our nation's security as well," the Council for a Strong America states in its new report.

The Army last month announced it would miss its goal of attracting 76,500 new recruits in 2018. The shortfall is of about 6,500 soldiers -- the first time since 2005 the service had missed its hiring targets.

A strong US economy and tight jobs market played a role, but the numbers highlight the dwindling pool of applicants the Pentagon has to draw from.

According to the Defense Department, obesity is one of the top reasons why a stunning 71 percent of Americans aged 17-24 do not meet the military's sign-up requirements.

"Given the high percentage of American youth who are too overweight to serve, recruiting challenges will continue unless measures are taken to encourage a healthy lifestyle beginning at a young age," states the study, entitled "Unhealthy and Unprepared".

Other factors such as prior drug use or a lack of academic qualifications are also taking a toll.

The report, compiled by a group of retired generals and admirals, notes that the obesity issue is a particular worry as it comes when fewer young people are interested in joining the military in the first place.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, a retired Marine general, last month said the shrinking pool of Americans eligible to serve was a "big concern".

"It's a sad state of affairs when 71 percent of the 18 to 24-year-old males in this country cannot qualify to enter the United States Army as a private," he said.

The problem should be addressed at the local level, he said, praising efforts of retired service members who are working in schools "to try to restore physical education where it's been taken out, to try to get school lunches to be things that fuel the body, instead of just giving them crummy food."

Read also: Childhood obesity: 5 prevention tips for parents

- 'Pudgy soldiers' -

The obesity problem persists even after boot camp.

According to retired Army major general Jeffrey Phillips, the military spends more than $1.5 billion each year treating obesity-related health conditions and filling positions vacated by unfit troops.

"I saw it myself: pudgy soldiers visibly pushing, or beyond, the 'height and weight' standards," Phillips wrote in a Military Times commentary.

The new report says the Pentagon has recognized the long-standing obesity problem, and is taking steps to improve the health of its troops.

One Army program, known as the Performance Triad, "aims to improve soldier readiness and encourage healthy behaviors, and to provide support to soldiers in these areas."

The Army has also introduced a new physical fitness test that measures the likelihood recruits will go on to meet the physical demands of their selected military job.

Many military facilities are equipped with top-notch gyms, and dining facilities on US bases around the world often provide nutritional guidelines.

The report concludes that the solution lies in ensuring children and parents learn about the vital importance of healthy eating and physical activity from a young age.

"Basic training lasts weeks, but building strong troops takes years. Encouraging healthy lifestyles early in life will help our nation prepare for future challenges," retired Air Force general Richard Myers said.

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine last year found that 2.2 billion people worldwide are believed to be overweight, and more than one in 10 people are obese, fueling a global health crisis that claims millions of lives every year.

Of the world's most populous countries, the United States leads the way in terms of obesity among children and young adults, at 13 percent.Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, October 14, 2018 22:41 1129 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308777aa436 4 Science & Tech Facebook,fake-news,hoax,social-media,social-network Free

Long-time Facebook users know that The Onion is the last place to look for reliable news, however, this is not the case for everyone.

Here are 10 tips for how to spot fake news, not just on Facebook, but everywhere, according to social media itself.

1. Beware of headlines

A catchy headline filled with exclamation points and shocking claims should be a rare case in civil society. That said, having one too many headlines that fit these requirements on your feed could mean that there is nothing at all to said stories. Make sure to take everything with a grain of salt.

2. Link, my boy!

Fake links are easy to make and are often a sign of fake news. Even authentic and mainstream news sources can easily be copied by a fake news poster by making minute changes to the link that most people would notice.

3. Click the link

It is important to investigate any news source, even when you think the post is legitimate. If it does not link directly to a proper website, then it probably did not come from an actual news outlet. If you find any website that seems unfamiliar, it is safer to do a little digging into their background before giving any clout to what they are reporting.

4. Layout, please

Misspelling, grammatical errors, punctuation errors and syntax problems are just a few signs that the website providing news might not be legitimate or credible. Sometimes elements of the website may be authentic, such as the photo, video or graphic, however a simple Google search of these elements may verify if they truly belong to the website in question (or were taken from someone else).

Read also: Beware of hoaxes, fake news ahead of 2019 election

5. Thats Photoshop!

Fake news stories love to use photoshopped photos or images. If the photo is real, often times it is taken out of context. Again, a simple Google image search will reveal where the image originated from.

6. Are you asking me out?

Unfortunately, we are not talking about that kind of date, but dates are very important. Edited or altered dates are a telltale sign that the news is fake.

7. CSI

Follow the evidence  if the evidence is real. You can easily find the author of any article somewhere on the page and verify whether the sources they are referencing exist or are being taken out of context. Lack of an author or sweeping generalizations are a frequent fake news red flag.

8. Did you see that?

Everyone has had that moment: You and your friends see something strange and you all start talking to each other to verify whether what you all saw happened. This works the same for spotting fake news. If something really happened, why is there nobody else reporting it?

9. Something smells funny

Sites like The Onion are intentionally parodying real news and events in the form of satire. Sadly, these often get mistaken for real news  but they mean to actual harm. Just be aware to check whether the source is known for joke articles.

10. Beware of intentionally false stories

Some news stories are intentionally false, designed as propaganda in order to stir up social groups in the masses of readers. Be careful and remember that all humans are biased and that you should weigh your own morals against what articles are presenting.

Facts do not care about your feelings, but unfortunately, false information can send anyone into an emotional frenzy for any number of reasons. It is important to stay safe online so that you do not make mistakes  for yourself and others  in real life. (acr/kes)Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Michel Comte (Agence France-Presse) Ottawa, Canada  Sun, October 14, 2018 20:23 1129 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308777a994f 2 Lifestyle cannabis,Canada,cannabis-legalization,addiction Free

Canada is just days away from legalizing cannabis, but as apartment buildings, schools and other spaces move to ban pot smoking on their premises, some enthusiasts fear they won't have anywhere to exercise their newly acquired rights.

Across Canada smoking tobacco is prohibited in or near entrances to bars and restaurants, offices and even parks.

These rules are supported by decades of research linking smoking -- including second-hand -- with an increased risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease

Taking a cue from the anti-smoking campaigns of the 1980s and 90s, managers of private and public spaces are now rushing to crack down on cannabis before legalization comes into effect on Wednesday in order to prevent the same kinds of concerns arising from pot smoke.

But the move has provoked a backlash, notably from renters who face "being left out in the cold" with nowhere to consume what will be a legal product.

"When legalization hits, only people who own their homes will be able to consume it because rentals have moved to restrict smoking," pot advocate and renter Shawn MacAleese told AFP.

"The idea that you'll be able to be able to purchase a product but not use said product unless you own your own home or property is ridiculous," he said.

Canada will become only the second country in the world to legalize cannabis on October 17, following Uruguay, which led the way in December 2013.

According to the government statistics agency, about 13 percent of Canadians currently smoke tobacco.

By contrast, about 4.6 million Canadians or 16 percent of the population have used cannabis this year, and the number is not expected to rise significantly once the mind-altering drug is legalized, a recent Statistics Canada survey found.

A recent report by the Canadian Cancer Society noted 65 of the country's roughly 260 university and college campuses have banned pot smoking or vaping, praising them for "providing a healthier environment" for students.

Others have resisted, including the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, whose spokesman Hubert Lai told local media the institution did not wish to "drive the behavior underground."

- Rentals on the rise -

Dorothy Church of Condo Management Group, the largest residential building manager in Ottawa (overseeing more than 300 buildings), said there has been a push by most condominium corporations to have restrictions in place by October 17.

"The majority of condo owners don't want marijuana in their buildings," she said, because of its pungent smell and health concerns.

About 4.5 million or nearly a third of Canada's 14 million households rent, with demand for rentals outstripping demand for buying for the first time in decades.

Air circulates between apartment or condo units, for the most part, by design -- to meet building and fire code rules. Smoke can also travel, for example, from a balcony into a neighbor's open window.

"We're in an age where people are becoming sensitive to chemical scents, cleaning supplies, and cigarettes. We'll hear from a (condo) owner complaining about a neighbor who is burning incense or uses (scent) plug-ins by her door," Church said.

"The smell of marijuana is much stronger."

Some apartment and condo residents are already planning to challenge these rules, but lawyers consulted by AFP say they are confident they will hold up.

Exceptions are made for medical marijuana users.

- 'Messy' legal framework -

After hearing from pot proponents, Calgary in June became the first city in Canada to designate public pot smoking spaces in parks and at festivals.

But the bylaw was rolled back after it was deemed unworkable due to a clause requiring neighborhood consultations in each instance. It also contravened a provincial ban on smoking in public.

Calgary city councilor Jyoti Gondek described the legislative framework around cannabis as "messy."

"We will have legalized cannabis, but as a society we are still villainizing it," the former sociologist said.

"We tend as municipalities to try to manage social disorder through planning principles," which can result in "bizarre" outcomes such as this, she said.

Gondek suggested easing anti-smoking rules to allow for cannabis lounges is the best solution, but feels there is no political will for such a move.

"It's just too complicated," she concluded.

MacAleese agrees on the need for "consumption spaces."

"If we can't consume cannabis in a lounge or bar-like setting, can't consume at home unless you own it, and can't consume in public, what exactly does the government expect us to do when we finally get our legal cannabis?" he said.Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Geneva, Switzerland  Mon, October 15, 2018 01:06 1128 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308777ab8f1 2 People Kimi-Raikkonen,F1,racer,Formula-One Free

Mastering daunting street courses at breakneck speeds while racing against the world's top drivers does not necessarily mean you can handle a tranquil Swiss street.

Just ask Formula 1 star Kimi Raikkonen.

The Finnish former F1 champion has been ordered to pay a fine of 350 Swiss francs ($353, 304 euros) after crashing into a parked car in his hometown of Baar, in the northern Canton of Zug, Switzerland's ATS news agency reported Friday.

In an email to AFP, Zug police spokesman Frank Kleiner confirmed the details reported by ATS.

The incident in May occurred when Raikkonen veered to avoid an oncoming vehicle and collided with a car parked to his right.

Raikkonen will also be responsible for a 450-franc administrative fee.

Raikkonen learned last month that his team Ferrari will not be retaining his services for 2019. The Finn will move to Sauber for at least the next two seasons.Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ni Nyoman Wira (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, October 14, 2018 11:22 1129 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308777a0511 1 Lifestyle Novita-Yunus,Batik-Chic,batik,fashion Free

Designer Novita Yunus commemorated Batik Day on Saturday, Oct. 13, at Grha Bimasena in The Dharmawangsa Hotel, South Jakarta. Batik Day falls every Oct. 2.

Entitled My Priceless Heritage  Batik, Identity & Legacy, the event consisted of a photo exhibition, fashion show, bazaar and discussion panel.

121 people from 23 communities and two additional renowned figures were selected as models for the photo exhibition, which displayed more than 20 frames. Among the communities are the Bankers Community and Komunitas Pecinta Wastra Indonesia (Indonesian Traditional Fabrics Enthusiasts), while the two figures are Femina magazine editor-in-chief Petty Fatimah and harpist Maya Hasan. All of the models wore outfits designed by Batik Chic, a brand founded by Novita in 2009.

Some of the photos displayed at the exhibition as part of 'My Priceless Heritage - Batik, Identity & Legacy' event on Saturday, October 13, 2018 at Grha Bimasena, South Jakarta. (JP/Ni Nyoman Wira)

All of the photos can still be viewed at Alun Alun Indonesia in Grand Indonesia, Central Jakarta, until the end of October.

This is not Novita's first photo exhibition. Last year, she had 21 inspiring women captured for the brands Kartini project. Batik Chic has many clients who love wearing traditional fabrics, so I want to appreciate them through photo exhibition, Novita told The Post after the event on Saturday, Oct. 13, in South Jakarta.

Her photos from the Kartini project are scheduled to be exhibited in Florence, Italy, at the Festival del Cinema di Indonesia (Indonesian Film Festival) for three days from Oct. 26 to 28.

Read also: Indonesian designers to feature at Tokyo's Amazon Fashion Week

The fashion show consists of two parts; casual and kebaya (traditional long-sleeved blouse for women). For the casual collection, I showcased batik from the late Prianti Gagarin who was the Indonesian Ambassador to Venezuela, while in the second part I showcased outfits from Batik Chic, Novita said, adding that there were a total of 30 looks.

Starting from 10 a.m., the bazaar offered collections of Batik Chic from fabrics and clothes to jewelry and bags. The event also featured Novitas journey in establishing Batik Chic and batik business in general with economist Aviliani, brand consultant Uti Rahardjo and psychologist Ratih Ibrahim.

Novita Yunus (center) poses with her friends and models for the fashion show. (JP/Ni Nyoman Wira)

My Priceless Heritage is part of the book about Batik Chics 10th anniversary that is set to be released next year.

Im currently preparing for the 2018 Jakarta Fashion Week because well be having five shows there, said Novita. I also plan to open the new outlet of NY by Novita Yunus, my premium brand, in Singapore this month. (asw)Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Markus Makur (The Jakarta Post) Borong, East Nusa Tenggara  Sun, October 14, 2018 11:09 1129 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087779fd9d 1 People Flores,East-Nusa-Tenggara,religion,Catholic,Islam,Harmony,tolerance Free

As dusk started to fall on the west side of Flores Island at around 4 p.m. on Oct. 2, two Muslim high school girls wearing hijabs and donning East Manggarai traditional attires draped a congkar shawl on Catholic priest Rikardus Karno.

At Puncak Liur village in Sambirampas subdistrict, East Manggarai regency, Rikardus had just received the Catholic Sacrament of Holy Orders from Denpasar Bishop Mgr. Silvester San, who was also the apostolic administrator of Ruteng diocese. Rikardus will then carry out his church duties at Ponggeok parish in Manggarai district.

After the Mass, it was time for a humble celebration for both Catholic and Muslim families of Puncak Liur village. The residents have lived side by side for decades, and some were bonded by blood. They welcomed Rikardus, who was born and raised in Puncak Liur, at the village gate.

Imam Yakub Ladus of Fatahilla Mosque welcomed Rikardus while the residents  all in East Manggarai traditional attire  sat on mats and hummed a chant in their ethnic language.

To The Jakarta Post, Yani Abdul Tahir, an Islamic teacher in the area, said that the bond between Muslim and Catholic residents was forged when the village was built decades ago.

As Muslims and as part of the family, we are grateful, and we share the joy that he was officiated as a priest, he said.

Read also: Searching for peace at Flores' 'Kampung Rohani'

After the two Muslim girls draped the shawl on Rikardus, they hugged him.

Rikardus receives an embrace to welcome him to the village. (JP/Markus Makur)

Afterward, the priest was carried by two Muslim men into the house of the mosques imam.

Rikardus is carried into the village by two Muslim men. (JP/Markus Makur)

Oktavianus Dalmin, a member of Rikardus family, told the Post that a committee with members of both religions was made for the celebration.

Starting from preparations, decorations, to traditional rituals, everything was done together, he added.

Rikardus said he had grown up with Muslim friends and relatives.

In our daily lives, we were always together. I then studied philosophy and Islamic studies at Ledalero Philosophy and Theology College in Maumere. I learnt that all religions teach the same thing, that the meaning of life lies in the hands of God, he said.

He also said that his brother was studying at an Islamic boarding school in Java.

There are my family members who are Muslim as well, he added, saying that the traditional rituals in the village came from ancestors of both religions.

I am grateful that I was born and raised among a family that holds both Catholic and Muslim beliefs, he said. I am thankful as well that I was welcomed so warmly after I was officiated. We are one big family of Muslims and Catholics, and I intend to learn more about the stories of this village. (wng)Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, October 13 2018

A music and art performance that will boast the richness of Indonesias cultures is set to greet spectators at the closing ceremony of the third edition of the 2018 Asian Para Games, which will be held at the Madya Stadium, Gelora Bung Karno sporting complex, on Saturday. It will honor and celebrate the athletes fighting spirit.

As many as 18,000 spectators are expected to attend the ceremony, which starts at 6 p.m.

The Indonesia Asian Para Games Organizing Committee (INAPGOC) said Vice President Jusuf Kalla would attend the event, adding that President Joko Jokowi Widodo had planned to attend but he had yet to confirm.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? loginShare this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Nusa Dua, Bali  Sat, October 13 2018

The World Bank Group, in partnership with the governments of Germany and the United Kingdom, announced on Friday a US$145 million Global Risk Financing Facility (GRiF) to help vulnerable countries manage the financial impact of climate change and natural hazard-induced shocks.

The new facility was announced at the 2018 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and WB Group in Nusa Dua, Bali with the presence of senior representatives of the WB and the governments of Germany and the UK.

Natural disasters push some 26 million people into poverty each year as people struggle with the economic fallout of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and other catastrophes, said WB CEO Kristalina Georgieva in a statement. We cant stop all these terrible events, but we can help countries with insurance or other risk finance so people get faster help to rebuild.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? loginShare this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, October 13 2018

Eddy Sindoro

Former top executive of diversified giant Lippo Group Eddy Sindoro, who had been a fugitive bribery suspect, finally returned home with his hands shackled on Friday, ending a two-year run around Southeast Asia.

Eddy, who is one of the very few corruption suspects to have ever surrendered to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), was flown from Singapore to Jakarta and directly taken to the antigraft bodys headquarters.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? loginShare this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Lan Mercado (The Jakarta Post) Phnom Penh  Sat, October 13 2018

The World Bank meets in Indonesia, days after the ominous wake-up call of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 1.5 degrees Celcius report.

From prolonged droughts in Afghanistan to floods across the entirety of South Asia and mega typhoons in the Philippines, Asia has felt the brunt of climate change firsthand. The number of disasters in the region continues to increase both in quantity and devastation, leaving millions of women, men and children without food and water and displaced from their homes. Were less than a-half-a-degree away from a catastrophe of unimaginable scale.

Things need to change now and fast, and how we create and consume energy is one big piece of the puzzle. The governments and international funding institutions that shape our energy systems need to embrace renewable energy immediately. With fastest growing demand for energy in the world, Asia has enormous potential to drive the global energy transition, but the inability to act today will mean irreparable damage to the lives of millions of Asians living in extremely climate vulnerable regions.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? loginShare this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Stefanno Reinard Sulaiman (The Jakarta Post)  Sat, October 13 2018

Indonesia is seeking help from the World Bank Group to finance the digital economic platform recently introduced by the government to accelerate the adoption of digital technology to reduce economic and social disparities.

Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara said he would talk to the banks executives about the possibility of getting the funding on the sidelines of the 2018 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund-WB Group, which are currently being held in Nusa Dua, Bali.

I hope that the World Bank can help by funding our IDE Hub, which is a platform to learn about the digital economy, he added on Monday.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? loginShare this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Dyaning Pangestika (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, October 13 2018

Indonesia is looking for ways to reduce the number of cataract patients, as the country has the highest prevalence of cataracts in Southeast Asia, a 2014 report from the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) has said.

A cataract itself is the clouding of the eyes lens, a condition that can eventually worsen ones vision. Symptoms of cataracts include blurry vision, halo lights, a decreased ability to see in color and trouble seeing in bright light as well as at night.

During a recent media briefing at the Health Ministry, National Eye Committee deputy chief Aldiana Halim said there were 5.1 million people in Indonesia who suffered from cataracts and that, of the total, 1.3 million suffered from blindness.

to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content

e-Post daily digital newspaper

No advertisements, no interruptions

Privileged access to our events and programs

Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? loginShare this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Wahyoe Boediwardhana (The Jakarta Post) Sumenep  Sun, October 14, 2018 07:59 1129 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087779a713 1 National earthquake,East-Java,Sapudi-Island Free

It was 1:44 a.m. on Thursday when Purwandi felt a tremor that woke him from his deep slumber, causing him to run outside his house on Sapudi Island in Sumenep, East Java, on Thursday.

He and other residents of the island's Pancor village watched from outside as the ground shook and rattled their houses. No one dared to return home. They stayed awake outside, with some walking throughout the neighborhood until morning came.

Up until dawn, there were many residents who felt scared to go back inside their houses. Most of them are afraid and dealing with trauma due to the huge tremor, Purwandi told The Jakarta Post.

A 6.0-magnitude earthquake centered in waters northeast of Situbondo, East Java, rocked the island, which is located near the epicenter of the quake. The epicenter was at a depth of 12 kilometers and 161 km northwest of Denpasar, Bali. No tsunami alert was issued following the quake.

Sapudi Island is located in the eastern part of Java Island. It is part of Sumenep regency, East Java. (JP/-)

Sapudi residents were struck by another harrowing fact when they saw their homes in the morning. Even though the strong jolts lasted only seconds, many found that the walls of their houses had collapsed.

Taufik Majid, a Pancor resident, found that half of his house was destroyed.

Three people in Prambanan village died after their houses collapsed on them when the earthquake struck.

The victims were sleeping when the earthquake hit, causing the houses to collapse so that the victims were unable to escape, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

A wall crumbles inside a house in Pancor village on Sapudi Island, East Java, after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck the region on Oct. 11. (JP/Courtesy of Purwandi)

Local authorities recorded that 317 houses in 10 villages were damaged in the earthquake. The East Java administration said it would allocate Rp 23.7 billion to repair the houses.

Each family that lost someone in the disaster will receive Rp 5 million from the administration.

We already formed a team to build houses for one cluster of 10 families. Supplies have been sent to rebuild the houses, said East Java Governor Soekarwo, who flew directly via chopper from Surabaya, the provincial capital, to the 126-square-kilometer island to inspect the disaster area on Thursday.

What was more important, Soekarwo said, was that his administration deal with the issue as soon as possible.

Soekarwo also said that the money given to families of the deceased victims was to cover funeral costs, while injured residents would receive free medical assistance from the provincial and regency administrations.

The earthquake was also felt in Bali and Lombok. According to a report from the Bali Disaster Mitigation Agency, most of the damaged buildings were houses belonging to the residents of Jembrana regency. (dpk)Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Rizki Fachriansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, October 14, 2018 13:54 1129 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308777a258f 1 National #CentralSulawesiQuake,#video,central-sulawesi,volunteers,relocation,BNPB Free

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has denied claims that volunteers from the Central Sulawesi Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) had been kicked out of the Development Planning Board (Bappeda) courtyard where they had been staying.

BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement that the volunteers had simply been told to relocate to the Central Sulawesi BPBD office, because the Bappeda courtyard would be used for a flag hoisting ceremony attended by civil servants.

The latter were set to return to work on Wednesday, nearly two weeks after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake and a subsequent tsunami hit the region.

[The volunteers] were not kicked out. The fact of the matter is that the Bappeda head had relocated them to the courtyard of the Central Sulawesi BPBD office, as civil servants were coming back to work at the Bappeda office starting on Oct. 10, Sutopo said.

A video allegedly showing volunteers from the Central Sulawesi BPBD being kicked out of the Bappeda courtyard recently went viral. In the 11-minute video, one of the volunteers said the Bappeda head had accused them of stealing items from the Bappeda office.

Sutopo denied the accusation, saying the Bappeda had not accused the volunteers of anything. He added that several items at the Bappeda office, including laptops, had gone missing amid chaos in the area two days after the disaster.

In fact, the presence of BPBD volunteers around the Bappeda office has bolstered security in the area, Sutopo said.Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, October 14, 2018 13:20 1129 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308777a1b9a 4 News bali,travel,Bedulu-village,Gianyar Free

The balai banjar has a prominent place in Balinese culture as a community center where local residents gather for meetings or to prepare a religious ceremony. Drawing upon this concept, the people of Banjar Tengah in Bedulu village, Gianyar regency, have collaborated with a travel agent to attract foreign tourists by allowing them to observe and participate in a typical day at a balai banjar.

From Oct. 7 to 8 in the village, European and Asian visitors were seen cooking Balinese dishes, assembling canang sari (offerings), making klakat (woven bamboo used in religious rites) and playing traditional music instruments. They were also allowed to visit local homes, where some visitors opted to remain and mingle with the villagers. The visitors also enjoyed traditional dances in the evening while tucking into a meal of local dishes.

We developed balai banjar to empower the peoples economy and enhance Bedulus potential as tourist village, Banjar Tengah head I Ketut John told Antaranews.com. We teamed up with a travel agent in Bali to lure foreign tourists to Banjar Tengah's balai.

Read also: Bali among 2018's most visited cities in the world

According to the Gianyar regency website, Bedulu village lies 26 kilometers northeast of Denpasar and is known as the birthplace of the modern Kecak dance.

I Ketut is optimistic that the concept will draw in potential tourists, especially as the village has many other attractions, such as the Yeh Pulu Temple, Goa Gajah (Elephant Cave) and the Samuan Tiga Temple. We shouldnt only view [the concept] from a commercial angle, but also think about how it could improve Bedulu villages tourism, he said.

One of the visitors, Jessy, said she was glad to be able to blend in with the local community and be immersed in their daily activities. Their kindness makes us happy, she said. Everyone came to see and learn [about] a culture that does not exist in our [own countries]. This is what we want. (wir/mut)

remaining of

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.Scott Olson/Getty Images(MEXICO BEACH, Fla.) -- At least 46 people remained unaccounted for on Sunday in Mexico Beach, Florida, an area pulverized by Hurricane Michael, the city's mayor told ABC News.



Mayor Al Cathey said that 289 people, including 10 children, decided to stay put, despite evacuation orders, and ride out the category 4 storm which made landfall on Wednesday and destroyed numerous homes and businesses in Mexico Beach, which boasts a population of nearly 1,200.



Cathy and Mexico Beach City Clerk Adrian Welle told ABC News that 46 of those who stayed behind were missing Sunday.



Of the 18 people killed as the hurricane swept through the Florida Panhandle, Virginia, Georgia and North Carolina, only one confirmed death has been reported in Mexico Beach.



Hurricane Michael made landfall at Mexico Beach with 155 mph winds.



Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, toured the hard-hit areas of Mexico Beach, Panama City, Blountstown and Bristol on Sunday.



Police made two sweeps of Mexico Beach on Wednesday morning and recorded names of everyone who planned to stay, though officials said it is impossible to know who might have left during or immediately after the storm.



The storm not only destroyed homes and business in the city, it destroyed the Mexico Beach Police Department.



"We don't have a building -- from my understanding, the water surge moved it off its foundation," Mexico Beach Police Chief Anthony Kelly told ABC News on Friday. "The officers, I finally made accountability of them all today, two days after the fact. ... They're not just my officers, the people that I work with, they're my family."



Emily Mitchell returned on Saturday afternoon to what was left of the house her family owned in Mexico Beach. The roof was ripped off, walls were blown in and she called it a "total loss." They expect to just bulldoze the lot. They are unsure what their next step will be because her parents had decided they couldn't afford to pay for hurricane insurance.



"We didn't want to tell anybody about Mexico Beach because it was such a sweet town, we were scared that people would know about it and keep coming," she said.



Hurricane Michael's death toll climbed to 17 on Saturday. Officials expected the number of people killed by the storm to go higher as crews sifted through the wreckage of once-bustling oceanside cities, like Mexico Beach and Panama City Beach.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Generally, when you buy from a foreign country, you are responsible for customs duties and taxes. These are typically set up to make an imported item match the price of one bought domestically (i.e. with VAT and other required fees). The exact details vary by country and item however. You'll have to do some research to find out what the Italian duties are on the components you wish to order, and see if they raise the price enough to make it not worthwhile. Amazon itself should not add extra fees to your order, but they will clearly mark the contents of the package so Italian customs will know what duties are required. They will probably not release the package(s) for delivery to your until the duties are paid.



If you have a friend visiting the U.S. (or another country with low prices and taxes), they could buy some components for you and bring them back under their personal duty-free exemption when traveling as a tourist. You'll have to research what the exemption is for Italians visiting the U.S.



Also be aware that many manufacturers sell a "U.S. version" and "International version". There is no physical difference, but you cannot get warranty service for the International version in the U.S., nor warranty service fro the U.S. version outside the U.S. You'll have to check with the manufacturer of the items you're buying to see if this is the case. Some manufacturers are more lenient than others (e.g. Thinkpad warranty service is available worldwide regardless of where you bought your Thinkpad, since many business travelers take their Thinkpads overseas).Jerome Boateng (30 ans) ne participera pas a la rencontre France-Allemagne, prevue mardi (20h45).

Le defenseur souffre dune blessure et est retourne a Munich pour sy soigner. Il avait dispute lensemble de la rencontre face au Pays-Bas (0-3).The city was founded by Epaminondas in 369 BC, after the battle of Leuctra and the first Theban invasion of the Peloponnese peninsula

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the President of Germany, visited the ancient site of ancient Messene, near modern-days city of Kalamata in southern Peloponnese of Greece

Steinmeier arrived to the site on a small electric car and was accompanied by the President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

The German President with his wife were welcomed by professor Petros Themelis, the chief of the archaeological excavation in ancient Messene.

Most of the ancient site of Ancient Messene contains ruins of a major classical city-state named Messene.

The city was founded by Epaminondas in 369 BC, after the battle of Leuctra and the first Theban invasion of the Peloponnese peninsula.

This new Messene, todays Ancient Messene, was established over the ruins of Ithome, an ancient city originally of Achaean Greeks, destroyed formerly by the Spartans.

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: Peulle License: CC-BY-SAVery much like the early European travelers to Greece, modern travelers still love to spend their time sketching under the magnificent Greek light.

Architects and artists explore the amazing Greek landscape, archaeology and architecture with a pen in their hand.

Hence, the latest initiative by Greek-born architect Elias Messinas, who has been travelling and sketching through Greece since the 1980s, to invite travelers, architects and artists, to share their sketches and drawings of Greece in his unique new site ecoweekorg.wixsite.com/eliasblue-greece

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New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NYSPCC) will hold its annual Food & Wine Gala at the Metropolitan Club, 1 East 60th St. in Manhattan on Tuesday, November 6

NEW YORK  The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NYSPCC) will hold its annual Food & Wine Gala at the Metropolitan Club, 1 East 60th St. in Manhattan on Tuesday, November 6. The evening will begin with a cocktail reception and wine tasting at 6:30 PM, followed by a dinner and special program.

The event features an exclusive menu curated by renowned Chef Costas Spiliadis of estiatorio Milos in New York City. The evening will be hosted by Deborah Norville, Anchor of Inside Edition and member of The NYSPCC Childrens Council.

Chef Costas Spiliadis spoke with The National Herald about the event, I am honored to partner with the NYSPCC as Guest Chef for the 2018 Annual Food & Wine Gala at the Metropolitan Club. Specifically, I am moved by the work they are doing on behalf of abused and neglected children and grateful for the opportunity to raise awareness and funds to support their Trauma Recovery and Safe Touches programs which help New Yorks vulnerable young people.

Dr. Mary Pulido, Executive Director of The NYSPCC, also spoke with TNH, noting that The Food & Wine Gala is one of our most important nights of the year  it helps ensure that New Yorks most vulnerable children will receive the help they desperately need. said Dr. Pulido, Executive Director of The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

Some of the most influential and generous people in business, policy and philanthropy attend to help us to raise vital funding for our organization and the children it benefits. Of course, its a fun evening as well  were so fortunate this year to feature a live auction, a wine tasting, and to partner with a Greek Chef  Chef Costas Spiliadis  to provide excellent cuisine paired expertly with fine wine from Greece, carefully selected and graciously donated by the Chefs son, George Spiliadis (of Greek wine distributor Cava Spiliadis). Our theme is further highlighted by the launch of our Safe Touches program in Greece, funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and made possible by our partnership with ELIZA, The NYSPCCs Greek counterpart, Dr. Pulido said.

Proceeds of the Food & Wine Gala support The NYSPCCs Trauma Recovery Program which offers a specialized therapeutic program for children, ages 5-18, who have experienced physical or sexual abuse, neglect, traumatic bereavement, or who have witnessed family violence and Safe Touches, a child sexual abuse prevention workshop for children in grades K-3.

To purchase tickets, or for more information, please visit: www.nyspcc.org/galatickets18.

The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NYSPCC) is the first  and one of the most highly respected  child protective agencies in the world. Founded in 1875, the NYSPCC helps the most vulnerable children of our community recover from trauma. And, more importantly, it helps prevent child abuse through its work with parents, teachers, children and foster care agencies. More than a century since its founding, The NYSPCCs amazing work is used as a model for child abuse prevention centers across the nation. The NYPSCC has investigated more than 650,000 cases on behalf of over two million children and has educated over 47,000 professionals working with children on child abuse and neglect issues. www.nyspcc.org.

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Covering a distance of 6,300 kilometers to attend the 8th annual UNWTO International Meeting on Silk Road Tourism, currently taking place in Thessaloniki

A 45-year-old German man has cycled across 12 countries covering a distance of 6,300 kilometers to attend the 8th annual UNWTO International Meeting on Silk Road Tourism, currently taking place in Thessaloniki.

Kai Markus Xiong, who took his surname from his Chinese wife, started his journey on August 17 from Oslo in Norway.

Last year, the German activist ran from his home in Hamburg along the legendary Silk Road route to Shanghai in China to raise awareness about prejudice and to assist break down barriers between races.

Read more at ekathimerini.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: Wikiality123 License: CC-BY-SABahrain will be hosting the annual KPMG Middle East & South Asia (MESA) Partners Conference, which also coincides with KPMGs 50th anniversary celebrations in the Kingdom.



The MESA Partners Conference will take place on November 7  8, which includes a public reception on November 6 to mark the anniversary event. The conference will include a visit by Bill Thomas, chairman of KPMG International, which will serve as his first visit to Bahrain.



Managing partner at KPMG in Bahrain Jamal Fakhro emphasized the importance of the MESA partners conference in KPMGs calendar, which is expected is to bring together over one hundred partners from KPMG member firms in 20 countries.



My heartiest congratulations to Jamal Fakhro and the KPMG in Bahrain Partners and their teams on this 50th anniversary milestone. KPMG in Bahrain has a lot to be proud of, including the fantastic reputation they have established in the region and the trust they have earned of both clients and community members in their marketplace, said Thomas.



I am excited to be travelling to Bahrain in November to celebrate this occasion, and look forward to the chance to meet clients and colleagues in one of the worlds most dynamic economies, he added.



I am extremely pleased for our firm to be the host for this years MESA Partners Conference in conjunction with our celebrations to mark our presence in the Kingdom of Bahrain for half a century. Since our inception in 1968, facilitating the business success of our clients has been our passion and commitment. I believe the two-day event will be the ideal platform to discuss innovative approaches to continue to drive growth for our clients, in the light of significant technological advancements and disruption in the marketplace, Jamal Fakhro commented.



Thomas became chairman in 2017, and previously served as chairman of KPMGs Americas region from 2014-2017 and has been a member of the Global Board since 2009. He has been a leader in defining KPMGs global strategy and a champion in promoting an inclusive and high-performing culture throughout the KPMG network.



Several members of KPMGs global and regional leadership team will also attend the conference to discuss regional strategy, industry developments and the future direction of the member firms in the region.  TradeArabia News ServiceFairway Group, the Jersey-based independent, owner-managed fiduciary business offering trust, fund and pension services, is expanding internationally with the opening of operations in Bahrain.



Initially the new office will be used primarily to provide trust services to high net worth individuals and families, as well as provided corporate solutions. The plan is to then develop additional fund structuring and pensions facilities in due course.



Representatives from Jersey Finance group and several government officials attended the unveiling ceremony of the new office, located at the prestigious United Tower in Bahrain Bay.



The move into Bahrain comes on the back of the Fairway Groups long and successful partnerships in the Gulf region, including with Emirates NBD in Dubai.



Dr Simon Galpin, managing director - Bahrain EDB (Economic Development Board) said: We are delighted that Fairway Group has decided to expand its operations in Bahrain. The growing demand for sophisticated financial services and corporate solutions reflect an excellent opportunity for further growth in the sector. Our strong regulatory environment, low costs, and one of the most educated workforces in the region make Bahrain an ideal location for companies like Fairway Group.



Graeme Fairlie, who will continue in his current role as the Fairway Groups international business development executive, will also take on the position as regional manager in Bahrain.



Fairlie said: We see Bahrain as a business-friendly, competitive landscape which is the perfect place for us to build our presence in the Gulf. We are seeing increased interest in highly regulated international finance centres like Jersey, to provide additional comfort outside the GCC.



The St Helier-based Fairway Group, which has 5.5 billion ($7.2 billion) of assets under administration and almost 100 staff, is committed to taking its expertise internationally, a company statement said.



Louise Bracken-Smith, CEO of the Fairway Group, said: The opening of our first office outside Jersey, in such a historical location and iconic building, marks an exciting step for us which is testament to our continual development while keeping clients at the centre of everything we do.  TradeArabia News ServiceDubais real estate market recorded 39,802 transactions worth Dh162 billion ($44 billion) from the start of the year till the end of September reflecting growth driven by optimism among investors and developers, a media report said.



The first nine months of 2018 recorded 25,473 sales transactions worth more than Dh56.6 billion, about 11,000 mortgage transactions worth over Dh86 billion, and 3,486 other transactions valued at Dh 19.3 billion, reported Emirates news agency Wam, citing a report issued by DLDs Department of Real Estates Studies & Research.



Sultan Butti bin Mejren, director general of DLD, said: "The positive results of these decisions are evident in the prevalent confidence among the various relevant parties in the market. These positive repercussions will continue to resonate in the short and long terms by introducing new sales categories for either personal use or for investing."



During the first nine months of the year, Dubai received 27,174 investments through 21,605 investors, totalling nearly Dh50 billion, reflecting the emirate's sustained growth for years, consolidated by the huge diversity of investors from the UAE, the GCC, the Arab World, and the world at large.



In total, the investments came from 163 nationalities, of which 16 were Arab, five from the GCC, and 142 were other nationals. When looking at the list of top 10 investors by nationality, the Emiratis and Indians competed head to head to top the list, with the former recording 4,112 investments worth Dh9.4 billion, while the latter recorded 4,676 investments worth Dh8.6 billion.



The Saudis came third with 1,882 investments worth around Dh3 billion, followed by Pakistanis who recorded 1,851 investments worth Dh2.3 billion, and UK nationals ranked fifth with 1,761 investments worth over Dh3.4 billion. The list of top 10 investors by nationality also included Dubai residents from China, Egypt, Jordan, Canada, and Russia respectively.



GCC nationals displayed a strong demand for investment in the first nine months of the year, and the report revealed that their transactions exceeded Dh 13.7 billion through 6,681 transactions made by 4,904 investors. Emiratis topped the list of the highest GCC investors, followed by citizens of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, respectively.



Referring to Arab investments in Dubai, the report revealed that Dubais real estate market welcomed investors from 16 Arab nationalities, where a total of 2,894 investors recorded 3,607 investments worth around Dh6 billion. Jordanians topped the list of highest Arab investors with 644 investments by 548 investors, worth over Dh1.2 billion, followed by Egyptians who recorded 719 transactions made by 623 investors, worth over Dh1 billion. Iraqis and Lebanese investors came third and fourth respectively.



A total of 142 foreign nationalities chose Dubai as a destination for their investments. Up to13,821 investors concluded 16,900 investments worth over Dh30.2 billion, reaffirming bin Mejrens opinion when talking about the diversity of the investor base that helped Dubais real estate market demonstrate its ability to compete with other destinations while enhancing investor confidence in the market.



The top four foreign nationalities who invested in Dubai are Indians, Britons, Pakistanis, and Chinese people. Indian investments were worth over Dh8.6 billion, significantly exceeding British investments who came second with investments worth over Dh3.4 billion. Pakistanis recorded Dh2.3 billion in investments, while the Chinese pumped Dh1.7 billion into Dubais real estate market.



Out of the total investments, women recorded 7,758 investments totalling Dh13 billion.



In the list of top 10 areas in terms of the numbers and values of real estate transactions in the Dubai market during the first nine months of 2018, Business Bay topped the list with 2,644 transactions worth Dh5.312 billion and Dubai Marina came in second. The remaining eight areas went to Al Barsha South Fourth, Al Merkadh, Al Warsan 1, Jebel Ali First, Burj Khalifa, Al Thanyah Fifth, Al Hebiah Fourth, and Al Yelayiss 2.



In terms of mortgages, Dubai Marina listed 736 transactions worth Dh2.238 billion, Al Thanyah Fifth came in second with 640 transactions totalling Dh1.356 billion, and Business Bay recorded 590 transactions exceeding Dh3.7 billion, topping the list in terms of value. The remaining seven areas went to Jebel Ali First, Al Barsha South Fourth, Burj Khalifa, Al Hebiah Third, Palm Jumeirah, Al Thanyah Fourth, and Al Thanyah Third.Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the UAE federal export credit company, in collaboration with Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, successfully organised a focus group workshop to strengthen Dubai-based food manufacturers and exporters ability to trade globally.



The workshop allowed ECI to gain increased understanding of the challenges and issues that the exporters face today, while at the same time develop and implement bespoke solutions to help mitigate trade and export risks, said a statement.



Present during the event were Massimo Falcioni, chief executive officer of ECI, along with senior officials from ECI as well as representatives of Dubai based companies from the food and beverage manufacturing and trading sector, it said.



Attendees during the event took part in highly interactive workshop sessions and roundtable discussions that focused on timely and strategic topics.



The event is part of a series of roadshows that ECI is holding in partnership with chambers of commerce across the UAE.



The collaboration with Dubai Chamber reflects ECI's continuing efforts to be a major player in the implementation of the UAE's non-oil diversification strategy and to encourage increased trade and export activity between local and international companies.



Hamad Buamim, president and chief executive officer, Dubai Chamber, said: The workshop was a great learning experience for businesses operating within the trade sector, while it also supported our efforts to enhance the competitiveness of our members.



International expansion remains a major part of Dubai Chambers strategy and we are always looking at new markets that offer potential to our members and the wider business community in Dubai, he said.



At the same time, our representative offices strategically located around the world play a major role in facilitating our members expansion into foreign markets, in addition to boosting trade and investment, he added.



Massimo Falcioni, chief executive officer, ECI, said: Our collaboration with Dubai Chamber is a step forward in the move to enhance global competitiveness amongst its members. The workshop gave us an opportunity to hear about their challenges and a platform to explain to the export community the risk mitigation solutions that will drive in increased productivity and enhanced efficiencies in their operations.



We would like to thank Dubai Chamber for helping us in hosting the event and for giving a strategic avenue to make the public more aware of our mandate to support UAE economic diversification, he said.



The information that we collated will go a long way in our efforts to support local businesses, particularly the exporters and re-exporters, by providing them with the necessary solutions to help them grow further, he added.



In the first half of 2018, Dubais non-oil foreign trade reached DH645 billion ($175.6 billion), an increase of Dh5 billion ($1.36 billion) from 2017 figures. Dubais exports and re-exports touched Dh268 billion ($72.9 billion), where re-exports registered Dh24 billion ($6.5 billion) increase, up by 14 per cent to Dh203 billion ($55.27 billion).



Exports and re-exports, accounting to approximately 40 per cent of Dubais total trade, are key segments contributing to the emirates growth as a major global trading hub.



Turkey, India, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iraq, US, Kuwait, Singapore, South Korea and Switzerland are amongst the top destinations for Dubai exports and re-exports last year.



As Dubai continues to strengthen its position and attractiveness as a favoured export and re-export centre for global trade and commerce, it presents significant opportunities to various businesses including those in the food manufacturing and processing industry, as well as the fast-growing halal industry.



Halal food is the largest and most diverse sector of the global Islamic economy, according to Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC), in its State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2017-2018 report published in collaboration with Thomson Reuters.



The global halal food market is estimated to have reached a value of Dh4.5 trillion ($1.24 trillion) in 2017 and is expected to reach Dh7 trillion ($1.93 trillion) by 2022.



Dubais competitiveness plays a key role in accelerating the growth of halal trade and attracting international investments from around the world because of the emirates strategic location in connecting the East and West corridors.



The Focus Group Discussion served as a strategic platform to learn more about businesses operating in the UAE, especially in Dubai.



The event included a roundtable discussion that touched on timely and strategic topics like market environment and implied challenges; trends impacting the market; current risk management practices and ECI support and its product features, it stated.  TradeArabia News ServiceAluminium Bahrain (Alba), the Bahrain-based aluminium smelter, participated in the 12th World Trade Fair and Conference  Aluminium 2018, which took place last week in Messe Dusseldorf, Germany.



Aluminium 2018 in Dusseldorf is one of the leading business-to-business (B2B) events in the world for the aluminium industry and its main application fields. It takes place every two years and witnesses participation from global aluminium manufacturers and suppliers as well as provides a comprehensive overview of the business and emerging markets.



Albas chief executive officer Tim Murray; chief marketing officer Khalid Abdul Latif; director of marketing Boris Santosi; and director Line 6 Smelter Project and engineering Shawqi Al Hashimi were the key attendees at the event along with other Alba officials, said a statement from the company.



Murray said: The event is a well-known global aluminium conference to interact with current and potential customers and suppliers as well as seek business opportunities for the future.



Our participation in this event is in line with the companys strategic objective to further strengthen its market share in the European markets especially with the ramp-up with Line 6, he added.  TradeArabia News ServiceA total of 40 companies representing Bahrain's IT and telecommunications sector, 20 start-ups and three government agencies are part of the Bahraini National Pavilion at the Gitex Technology Week, being held in Dubai, UAE.



Bahrain's labour fund Tamkeen's chief executive Dr Ebrahim Mohammed Janahi inaugurated the pavilion today (October 14). The event, a major information and communications technology (ICT) trade fair, will run until October 18, at the Dubai World Trade Centre.



The participating Bahrain government bodies include the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications, the E-Government Authority and Tamkeen, a statement said.



This year marks the largest increase in participation since the launch of the national pavilion at Gitex, with 20 startups participating for the first time in the national pavilion, it added.



Dr Janahi toured the participating exhibitors at the BNP and was introduced to products and services offered by them including cloud computing, blockchain, as well as exhibitors unveiling their innovative IT services at the event.



During the tour, the participating enterprises highlighted the opportunities and challenges facing the sector and stressed Tamkeen's role in supporting the ICT sector and enhancing its competitiveness at the regional and international levels.



Dr Janahi said: Tamkeen is keen to support the annual participation of Bahrain's national pavilion at Gitex, which comes as part of the Bahrains national efforts to promote economic growth and the countrys capacity and infrastructure in the ICT sector.



We are eager to back the ICT sector through providing them with full support to participate in the largest technology event in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, enabling them to showcase their products and services and further expand their businesses, as well as enhance their competitiveness, he said.



He added that Tamkeen's role is primarily to infuse support for the private sectors enterprises to meet the needs of the current and emerging market and to work in the context of national efforts to build a culture of innovation and productivity through the various support programmes Tamkeen provides, exposing enterprises and individuals to the potential of new economies and job opportunities.



Ubaydli Ubaydli, chairman of Bahrain Technology Companies Society (BTECH), affirmed that the organisation is eager to develop a rich programme of events within the pavilion, visit other national pavilions, and provide a favourable platform for participants to enter into fruitful deals.



This strong Bahraini presence at Gitex will also provide an unprecedented opportunity to assess the current status of the Bahraini technology sector in comparison with other national pavilions at the event, to identify the challenges and opportunities, and to complete the national map for the advancement of the ICT sector in Bahrain, enhancing its competitiveness and increasing its ability to build and export companies, he said.



This Bahraini technology conglomerate at Gitex reflects Bahrain eagerness to further develop its technical sector and highlight its role through the participation of regulator and legislator, the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunication, eGovernment Authority, along with the financer and sponsor Tamkeen, as well as those involved in the sector IT companies and entrepreneurs, he concluded.  TradeArabia News ServiceThe German National Tourist Office (GNTO) will be embarking on its annual roadshow covering some GCC states, in partnership with Emirates airline, next week.



The B2B roadshow, targeting travel trade professionals, media and other key opinion leaders will kick off in Riyadh on October 21 with further stops being Jeddah (22 October), Abu Dhabi (23 October) and Kuwait (24 October).



The trade event  spanning vibrant cities, medical travel, designer outlet shopping, luxury hotels as well as German tour operators  aims at informing guests of the latest travel attractions in Germany, such as the upcoming winter holiday season with its festive Christmas markets and will also include raffle draws.



Sigrid de Mazieres, director for the Gulf countries at the German National Tourist Office (GNTO), an affiliate of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB), commented: The Gulf region is Germanys third largest non-European source market after the US and China, and we are looking forward to strengthening ties with the local travel industry and connecting them with leading German tourism partners.



She added, Face-to-face meetings and partnerships with members of the trade are one of the most effective ways we can attract travellers from this region. This is why these roadshows are so important.



Adil Al Ghaith, senior vice president Commercial Operations, Gulf, Middle East & Iran said: We are pleased to team up with the German National Tourist Office to further strengthen our partnership with the travel trade and to attract more GCC travellers to Germany.



This is a very important market for us and we are committed to stimulating more tourist arrivals to Germany by offering fantastic connections and more travel options to Munich, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Hamburg via Dubai, especially as we introduce our flagship A380 to Hamburg this month. We are confident that the results of all our joint activities and marketing efforts will create more awareness around Germany and inspire more people to travel there.



Through this promotional and networking initiative, the German National Tourist Office aims to not just raise awareness for Destination Germany among the local travel trade, but to help to diversify their product offering which eventually leads to enhance travel agencys sales and customer satisfaction levels.



The latest inbound tourism figures from the Gulf region reflect that Germany is increasingly becoming a popular holiday destination for Gulf nationals. From January to July 2018 overnight stays from the region increased by 5.3 per cent compared to the same period in 2017.  TradeArabia News ServiceCareem, a leading ride-hailing app in the region has signed an agreement with Bahrain FinTech Bay, a major financial technology hub in the Middle East and Africa.



The partnership gives Bahrain FinTech Bay visitors access to special promotions when availing Careems service from and to the Fintech hub.



This agreement comes as part of Careems mission to simplify and improve peoples lives regionally said Khaled Nuseibeh, general manager of Careem GCC. We aim to support innovation in the region, working with entities such as Bahrain FinTech Bay and fulfilling their needs as well as the needs of their visitors enable us to be part of their journey that will impact our journey positively.



Khalid Saad, CEO of Bahrain FinTech Bay said: We are pleased to announce our partnership with Careem. We value supporting companies that are operating in Bahrain and believe this collaboration will be mutually beneficial and add value to our partners, residents and anyone going to and from Bahrain FinTech Bay. We look forward to closer collaboration with Careem in the future.



Bahrain FinTech Bay visitors can enjoy Careem services through the following codes that are specifically designed for new and existing Careem users:



 NEWFINTECHBAY: 50 per cent off 2 rides for new Careem users with a max discount of BD2 ($5.3) per trip.

 FINTECHBAY: 15 per cent off all rides for existing Careem users with a max discount of BD1 per trip.



Visitors can view the details of their booking, contact their Careem captain, schedule future bookings or cancel at their convenience, a statement said.  TradeArabia News ServiceOYO Hotels, South Asias largest and worlds fastest growing hospitality chain, is set to establish its presence in the UAE, starting with the launch of its operations in Dubai, Sharjah and Fujairah.

With a string of over 10 full-inventory, franchised and operated hotels and over 1,100 rooms across the UAE, OYO Hotels is ready to offer the benefits of its full-stack technology led hospitality model to hoteliers across the country.

The company raised Dh3.68 billion ($1 billion) funding through SoftBank Investment Advisers last month. OYO chain of hotels is currently present in over 350 cities with over 12,000 asset partners spread across six countries including India, China, Malaysia, Nepal, the UK and now UAE in the Middle East.

OYO plans to host guests in over 12,000 rooms within 150 hotels across the UAE by 2020.

According to data from Dubai Corporation of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), overall, Dubai hotel room supply is set to reach 132,000 by the end of 2019. Dubai Tourism also forecasts the hospitality sector to experience sharp, sustained growth over the coming years, with occupied room nights set to reach 35.5 million annually in 2019, representing a 10.2 percent compound annual growth rate over the next 24 months.

Ritesh Agarwal, founder and CEO, OYO Hotels, said: With over 170 countries committing to the World Expo 2020, the hospitality sector in the Middle East, and more specifically UAE, is poised to grow substantially and with our market learnings and expertise we are ready to tap this opportunity. Weve been at the forefront of the budget and mid-segment hotels revolution in the markets we operate in and can bring in our operational expertise and technology edge to the benefit of independent hotel owners. Dubai alone will host over 20 million visitors and currently records approximately hotel keys at 29.9 per 1,000 people. We are really excited to bring our quality living experiences at affordable prices to visitors of Dubai, while helping local hotel owners make best out of the opportunity ahead of them.

We are really excited about the opportunity offered by the UAE. This expansion is in line with our quest to support the countrys hospitality ecosystem and creating infrastructure for asset owners to grow and run successful businesses, all of this while ensuring high standards of quality. We want our potential guests and partners to know that in OYO Hotels theyve found a trusted solution for all their travel and business needs, added Manu Midha, regional lead, UAE, OYO Hotels.

The United Arab Emirates is working on a target of opening over 75,070 rooms, across the country and other neighbouring countries, and preparing to welcome over 25 million visitors at World Expo 2020. OYO will be working towards transforming the hospitality industry in the region, by partnering in this vision.

At the time of entry, OYO Hotels will offer guests the high quality and affordable experience - perfectly suited for the needs of millennial travellers, aspiring for hassle-free accommodations. These properties will be operated under models of manchise, lease with full inventory control similar to other markets like India and China. These hotels will provide affordable and trusted living options for travellers from GCC countries, India and other International tourists, including business and leisure travellers.  TradeArabia News ServiceRemarks by Ulrika Modeer, UNDPs Assistant Administrator and Director of the Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy, at the event Mainstreaming Islamic Finance into Global Initiatives: Another Formidable Pillar in Promoting the SDGs.

As prepared for delivery

Excellencies, Distinguished participants, Ladies and Gentlemen;

Selamat Pagi,

I am pleased to be here today to discuss how Islamic finance can contribute to the SDGs, and how UNDP is working with partners throughout the world to harness innovative financing solutions to meet the SDGs.

With the 2030 Agenda, we have agreed on a set of ambitious targets. The SDGs are a bold set of goals representing a new opportunity for humanity to have a common framework to guide our collective actions and achieve a better future for all. But we all recognize that the SDG funding gap[1] cannot be closed by traditional development aid alone[2]. Filling the funding gap will require the engagement of new partners and tools to leverage additional financing for development and leave no one behind.

Islamic finance has the potential to be a crucial tool to offer governments a strong, non-traditional source of financing to advance their SDG implementation. By 2030, it is estimated that between 50-80% of the worlds poor will reside in fragile and conflict-affected countries  many of which are also in Muslim-majority or countries with significant Muslim populations.

It is particularly in these contexts that Islamic finance has the possibility of being a game changer. The primary tools of Islamic finance can not only inject further investments in many crises that are underfunded and neglected by ODA, but can also act as a catalyst for Governments, private sector and aid agencies to work closer together in programming that addresses the root causes of risk and vulnerability, in addition to meeting immediate humanitarian needs[3].

UNDP and Islamic finance social tools

Islamic social finance can help governments and communities meet a range of development needs. Zakat, with its defined set of beneficiaries in need and rapid disbursement, can be vital for crisis response. Waqf, our theme for today, is well-suited for building resilience through institutions, infrastructure, and permanent sources for funding the SDGs.

As a whole, social Islamic finance tools such as Zakah, Waqf, and Sadaqah have a significant potential to address marginalization and vulnerability, when directed towards locally driven programmes promoting social and economic inclusion.

The Islamic Development Bank has estimated that between $230 and $560 billion is given in Zakah each year globally. The Koran identifies specific categories of zakat beneficiaries, including helping the poor and needy, refugees and displaced people and liberating those in bondage  providing a strong alignment between Zakat and the SDGs commitment to leave no one behind.

Indonesia is a global leader on Zakat for the SDGs. Our UNDP Indonesia team worked with BAZNAS, the national Zakat collection agency, to apply Zakat funds, for the first time ever, towards local SDG plans, beginning with renewable energy projects in underserved communities. The project, launched in 2017, will provide electricity to 803 households from four villages in Jambi province, benefiting almost 5,000 people. BAZNAS and UNDP will further the collaboration by implementing a livelihood enhancement programme in Jambi to increase the local populations income generating capacity.

In response to the tragic earthquakes and tsunami in Central Sulawesi and Lombok, UNDP will support BAZNAS to help ensure the zakat they have collected helps provide emergency relief to the population. Zakat can be a critical funding lifeline in the aftermath of crisis, when it is so important to crowd-in financing from public and private sources to reach the most vulnerable, and affected communities.

Turning to Waqf: the value of waqf land and property in Indonesia alone is estimated at around 4.4-billion-squared metres, with an economic value of $27 billion. If systematically directed towards SDG outcomes, waqf could become a game-changer in support of Indonesias commitment to reducing poverty and lessening inequality. However, several limitations prevent the use of waqf towards effectively supporting the SDGs. These include the need for standards and principles governing the management of waqf assets, as well as the need for new institutional arrangements that build on pre-existing initiatives to move from current models of parallel financing to actual SDG-related financing. Todays launch of the international Waqf Core Principles is therefore a very welcome step in the right direction, as they will provide sound supervisory waqf management and enhance its disclosure and transparency. UNDP is pleased to have supported the development of these new standards through our partnership with Badan Waqf Indonesia. We are also working together to develop the first block-chain enhanced waqf digital platform to increase waqf collections and enhance the effective use of waqf land.

However, more is needed to tap the potential of waqf and other Islamic social finance tools and channel them towards development outcomes.

 We need experts capable of structuring waqf into blended finance mechanisms using a collection of knowledge and best practices which can be adapted to the local policy environment.

 We also need budgeting mechanisms which allow for government funding to catalyse and facilitate Islamic social finance tools for the SDGs.

I believe that UNDPs development experience and expertise can offer a range of support to stakeholders in the Waqf ecosystem. To governments regulating and overseeing Waqf institutions, we offer technical support on policy, administration, and regulatory best practices. Importantly, we can help align countries Waqf sectors with their national SDG agendas. To managers of Waqf institutions, we offer impact identification and measurement tools. These tools can better align their efforts with the SDGs. Third, we can support donors by helping them identify and track the SDG impact of their envisioned philanthropy, and help integrate the SDGs into the charters by which donors establish endowments. And all of these efforts are in place to ultimately serve the beneficiaries of Waqf endowments  now and in the future.

UNDP stands ready to continue to support the Government of Indonesias efforts to apply Islamic finance where it is needed most, as well as to other Governments and private partners around the world that are looking to better access Islamic financing towards development outcomes.

In addition to Islamic social finance, were also helping engage commercial Islamic finance, for example through our joint work with the Islamic Development Bank on the Global Islamic finance and Impact Investing Platform (GIFIIP), which is helping to link investors with SDG-aligned projects, including expanding Green Sukuk opportunities. We recently witnessed the issuance of several green sukuks around the world, including Indonesias first sovereign green sukuk earlier this year, which was developed with the support of UNDP. This green sukuk was oversubscribed by more than three times by investors, and its proceeds went exclusively towards climate change action (SDG 13).

And just last week, a private Bank, HSBC, issued the world-first SDG sukuk. With sukuk representing 16% of the total Islamic finance assets, the potential to catalyse Islamic impact investing towards sustainable development knows no bounds.

Conclusion

But we are just getting started. UNDP is present in all OIC countries; by utilizing our global network and local knowledge base, as well as our impartiality and neutrality, UNDP is well situated to partner and collaborate with Islamic finance stakeholders to help governments unlock the financing needed to achieve their SDGs.

Let me stop here and thank you for the time that you have given me this morning and congratulate our partners on launching the Waqf Core Principles today. I am looking forward to exchanging experiences and learning more about the roles of Islamic Social Finance for the achievement of the global goals and exploring new ways to partner together.

Terima kasih.Algeria to halt collective removal of West African migrants in desert : UN

United Nations, Oct 12 (UNI) Atrocities suffered by child and adult migrants from West African States should shock the conscience of humanity into action, a UN rights investigator said, before calling for Algeria to halt the collective expulsion of thousands of foreign nationals to Niger.

The appeal for help from the international community from UN Special Rapporteur on migration Felipe Gonzalez Morales, follows his official visit to Niger, a hub for those looking to leave in search of new opportunities, for decades, United Nations news reported.

In a statement, he cited testimonies of migrants exposed to unimaginable atrocities trafficking, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, rape, as well as worker-exploitation and enslavement. They had taken migrant routes through Sudan, Chad, Libya and Mali to Niger.Antonio Gutters stands by its Mideast peace envoy

United Nations, Oct 13 (UNI) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres supports its Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov, after a senior Palestinian official criticised him for going beyond his role in a deal over a calm deal between Israel and Hamasin, said a UN spokesman.

UN Secretary-General 'fully supports' the efforts of Nickolay Mladenov, said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for Guterres.

Mr Mladenov has been working particularly with the Palestinian National Authority, Egypt and Israel, to change the dynamics in Gaza, to avoid escalation, to support intra-Palestinian reconciliation and to address all humanitarian issues, Haq said.Athens, Oct 14 (UNI) Eleven people have died in Northern Greece after a smugglers vehicle carrying illegal migrants collided with a truck and caught fire.

Ten of the victims were believed to be migrants who crossed into the Greece from Turkey. The 11th person was the car's driver and a suspected migrant smuggler,the police said on Saturday.

The report published in Hurriyet Daily News said that the Firefighters have managed to recover 11 bodies from the car.

The truck driver survived the crash and managed to escape the fire without any serious injuries.

In recent times,the attempts to smuggle migrants into Europe are becoming riskier as authorities have clamp down on smugglers.

Earlier in June also, a van smuggling 16 migrants, mostly from Iran and Syria, crashed in Northern Greece. Six people died in the crash which included three children.

Greece has been one of the migrant crisis hotspots in Europe, with hundreds of thousands of migrants arriving since 2015.

The ongoing flow of the migrants into the country has forced the Greek government to take strict measures to reduce the number of migrants in Greek after the complaints from the locals.

The Migration Ministery had pledged earlier this year to cut from the current level of 15,500 to 6,500 migrants on the islands.

UNI XC AVK 0720China, Malaysia, Thailand to conduct joint military drills later this month

Beijing, Oct 14 (UNI) The Chinese, Malaysian and Thai armed forces scheduled a joint drill in Malaysia later this month, according to the Chinese Ministry of National Defense.

According to a ministry statement, the drill which has been code-named 'Peace and Friendship 2018' will start from October 20 and will continue till October 29 in two states of Malaysia and offshore areas.

A total of 692 members of the Chinese People's Liberation Army will take part in the drill, as well as three naval vessels, two shipboard helicopters, three Il-76 air-lifters and four vehicles from the Chinese side, a report in the Xinhua said.Srinagar, Oct 13 (UNI) In defiance of a separatist boycott call in Baramulla in north Kashmir and Samba in Jammu, the electorate in the third phase of civic polls in J&K exercised their democratic right while a low voter turnout was recorded in the summer capital and Anantnag.

Commencing at 0600 hrs and ending at 1600 hrs, polling was by and large peaceful amid a security blanket.

People in droves cast their votes since early this morning in border town of Uri, in north Kashmir district of Baramulla where over 72.7 per cent votes were polled till 1400 hrs. Long queues could still be seen outside the polling stations. Uri, a border town, always witnesses high voter turnout in Assembly and Parliament elections in the past.

Elsewhere in the valley, voter turnout of the two lakh electorate remained low.

An official spokesman told UNI that in Srinagar only 1.5 per cent votes were polled during the first six hours. It was 2.7 per cent in Anantnag in south Kashmir.

Former National Conference spokesman, Junaid Azim Mattoo, who resigned from the party and contested as an independent candidate cast his vote in the uptown. Mr Junaid dismissed allegations that he was a puppet of Bharatiya Janata Party.

The NC and Peoples Democratic Party, he said, had entered into an alliance with the BJP and both the parties were now misleading the people.

With the mandate set for October 20, the spokesman said there was a voter turnout of 73.9 per cent in Samba in Jammu region till 1400 hrs.In Bari Brahamana in Jammu region, 85.73 votes were polled, Chief Electoral Officer J&K Shaleen Kabra said here this evening.

An official spokesman told UNI that in Srinagar, only 1.2 per cent votes were polled during the first six hours. It was 2.5 per cent in Anantnag in south Kashmir.

In Baramulla, overall poll percentage was 9.2 pc during the first two hours.

However, elsewhere in the Valley, voters stayed away in most areas.

The vote in Srinagar covered Lal Chowk, Rajbagh, Ikhrajpora, Mehjoor Nagar, Natipora, Chanapora, Budshah Nagar, Bagaat Barzulla, Rawalpora, Hyderpora, Khanka-e-Moualla, Mahraj Gung, Jamia Masjid, Makhdoom Sahib, Khawaja Bazar, Aquilmir Khanyar, Rouzabal, Doulatabad, Islamyarbal, Nawab Bazar, Nawa Kadal, Safa Kadal, Rathpora, Eidgah, Palpora, Tarabal spread over Khanyar, Amira Kadal and Eidgah assembly segments in the down town, civil lines and uptown.

During the first two phases of polling in Srinagar, the voter turnout was just 6.2 per cent and 2.1 per cent respectively.

Names of the contesting candidates were not disclosed for security considerations.

The election was held in 20 wards of the SMC, 13 wards of Uri Municipal Committee in northern Kashmirs Baramulla district and seven wards of Mattan Municipal Committee in southern Kashmirs Anantnag district.

The NC and PDP, besides Communist Party of India (M), boycotted the polls on Article 35 A issue.

Mr Kabra said that in the third phase, voting took place at 300 polling stations across the state with in 96 wards of eight Urban Local Bodies.

The CEO said that to ensure free and fair elections, observers and micro-observers had been posted at 222 hypersensitive polling stations in the Kashmir Division and 19 in Jammu Division.

Municipal Elections-2018 are being held in four phases, covering 79 municipal bodies with an electorate of about 17 lakh electors. A total of 3,372 nominations had been filed for 1,145 wards.

UNI Jammu reported that Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party on Saturday described the prolonged suspension of the state Assembly as unconstitutional.

In an interaction with the media, Mr Harsh Dev Singh sought President Ram Nath Kovind's intervention to safeguard the Constitution and rule of law by ordering early dissolution of the Assembly in conformity with the legal stipulations, prevalent practices and precedents.

The suspension of Assembly was supposed to be temporary period so as to determine whether any political party or combination of parties had the requisite majority to form the government, he added.

He pointed out that the Assembly has been kept in suspended animation for more than 116 days.

'We will hold statewide protests besides demonstrations outside Parliament in case the suspended Assembly was not dissolved forthwith,' he warned.

In Srinagar, NC leader Omar Abdullah tweeted that the 'disastrous handling' of Kashmir by the Centre had gone almost unquestioned.

The former Chief Minister was reacting to reports about a mere one per cent voter turnout being recorded in Srinagar, where the wards of Srinagar Municipal Corporation, spread over three main assembly segments of Amira Kadal, Khanyar and Eidgah.

Interestingly, the NC and PDP recently joined the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council Kargil.

UNI BAS RP2036Family of 'Pakistani Christian' Asia Bibi hopeful of leniency in blasphemy case

Islamabad, Oct 14 (UNI) Relatives of a Christian mother who faces becoming the first person to be executed for blasphemy in Pakistan have expressed hope that the Supreme Court will set her free.

In 2010, Bibi was the first woman to be sentenced to death under Pakistan's blasphemy laws in a case that has generated global headlines and indignation. Pakistan's Supreme Court on October 8 heard what media described as the final appeal of the woman, who has denied all charges, reported RFE/RL. The three-judge bench listened to Bibi's defense lawyer challenge statements by those who accused her of making derogatory remarks about Islam.

Bibi, a mother of four and a laborer, was accused in 2009 by a Muslim woman she was working with in a field. Following the hearing, the Supreme Court said it had made a decision in the case, but it did not reveal its judgment.Huge quantity of liquor seized, three arrested

Patna, Oct 14 (UNI) Huge quantity of liquor was seized from Muzaffarpur, Nawada and Madhubani districts and three criminals were arrested in this connection, in a drive launched to nab violators of liquor ban in dry Bihar.

A report received here from Muzaffarpur said that during the checking of vehicles, 36 cartons of foreign liquor were seized from a car near Dadarpul under Ahiyapur police station area in Muzaffarpur district. A person travelling in car was arrested soon after recovery of liquor from the vehicle, police added.

In another raid, more than 10,000 small plastic packets containing country liquor were recovered from a pick-up van near Sadbhavna chowck under Bundelkhand police station area in Nawada district. Price of seized liquor was estimated to be Rs 6.5 lakh in open market, police said adding that driver of the pick-up van was arrested for interrogation in this connection.Tashkent, Oct 12 (UNI) Russia and Uzbekistan agreed on mutual use of the airspace by military aircraft on Friday.

According to TASS, Defence Ministers of Russia Army General Sergei Shoigu and Uzbekistan Major-General Abdusalom Azizov have signed an agreement on the mutual use of the airspace by military aircraft.

The agreement will also allow both the countries to promptly resolve the issues of military cargo carriages and military transport planes to make non-stop flights.Sri Lanka: Naval Base bordering Hambantota Port soon

Colombo,Oct 14 (UNI) To maintain maritime awareness on the east-west coastline, the Sri lankan government has announced major naval base bordering the Hambantota Port.

The naval base will be equipped with high tech equipment, surveillance systems with radar to keep check on east-west coastline of the country,reports Ceylon Today.

While addressing local and international dignitaries, diplomats and experts on Maritime safety and security at the Indian Ocean: Defining Our Future Quorum,former Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy, Admiral (Ret.) Travis Sinniah said "There is a feeling that its going to be a Chinese base with Chinese being deployed. Its highly speculative as it was only created as a commercial port and a service port in the future.Letter from the Latvian ambassador in Rome

Rome, 5 October 2018

N. IT-26365

Gentlemen

I would like to refer to the article concerning Latvia entitled  The Art of War - Latvia, the new Iron Curtain  by Manlio Dinucci, published in Il Manifesto, edition of 18 September 2018  and given the importance and inviolability of the freedom of opinion as a fundamental right, I consider it necessary to clarify certain aspects relative to the official position and information concerning Latvia.

In the first place, I refer to the paragraph in which it is affirmed :  [] Latvian President Raymond Vejonis, who, in April, had already approved the project for a law forbidding the teaching of Russian in Latvia, a country whose population is composed of almost 30 % of ethnic Russians, and where Russian is used as their main language by 40 % of its inhabitants .

On the basis of the information presented in the Population Register of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (last updated on 1 July 2018), the percentage of persons of Russian ethnicity residing in Latvia is 25,82 %. On 2 April 2018, Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis proclaimed the amendments to the Law on Education and the Law on General Education, which introduced a gradual transition to a greater proportion of teaching in the national language.

I would also like to point out that the text of this reform contains no disposition for a law specifically forbidding the teaching of the Russian language in Latvia, as is mistakenly claimed in the article. The reform attempts to promote a consolidated society, and equal opportunities for all graduate students, by excluding all forms of discrimination. The main objective is to ensure that all graduates are able to master the Latvian language with equal efficiency, thus guaranteeing the same opportunities for entry into the working world and the pursuit of their studies.

At the same time, whether before or after the reform, the programmes for the instruction of national minorities will be maintained, and will continue to guarantee the protection and development of their language and cultural identity, as stipulated in the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia. The Latvian government will therefore continue to finance programmes for the instruction of national minorities in seven languages (Russian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Estonian, Lithuanian, and Hebrew) in primary schools. In secondary schools, the government will continue to support teaching in the mother tongue for the pertinent subjects, such as the culture and history of national minorities. Public support for teaching in minority languages in Latvia will therefore once again exceed that of many other European countries.

Latvia will continue to guarantee the protection of the culture and identity of minorities, in conformity with the framework Convention for the protection of national minorities.

The second argument, of which I would like to emphasise certain aspects, concerns the deployment of the Italian contingent in Latvia. The presence of Italian troops in Latvia is part of the NATO operation  Enhanced Forward Presence  conducted by Canada, which pursues its goal for the defence of the territories of the members of the Alliance.

The deployment of troops has a preventive and dissuasive objective, destined to prevent conflict and preserve peace. The demands of such an intervention are the consequence of certain concrete events such as the use of force by states which are not members of NATO. I am referring specifically to the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia. This precedent makes absolutely legitimate the adoption of a preventive measure by the Alliance as a strictly defensive response, which is proportionate and in line with international obligations. The consensus concerning the presence of military personnel from the allied countries, along with other defensive measures, is a manifestation of the responsibility of a state to defend its own frontiers.

The visit by President Mattarella to Latvia and to the Italian contingent is the expression of the cooperation between Italy and Latvia in order to achieve their common objectives as NATO countries.

Thanking you for your precious attention, I express my availability for possible ulterior information, and take this opportunity to present my most cordial salutations.

Solvita Aboltina

Ambassador of Latvia

Response by Manlio Dinucci

Rome, 10 October 2018

Excellence,

We appreciate your attention to our work, and intend to answer the two questions that arise from it. We have noted your correction of the percentage of ethnic Russians in the Latvian population -  25,82 %  instead of  almost 30 % . Nevertheless, in a country where one quarter of the population is composed of ethnic Russians, the most common language, also used by numerous other citizens, is Russian, which is now banished by law from higher education and reduced in secondary schools.

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) declares itself to be  preoccupied by the reports on current linguistic policies, which in Latvia discriminate against ethnic minorities in the sectors of education and employment  (30 August 2018).

This same Committee raised another question which you do not mention - 11 % of inhabitants, particularly ethnic Russians, including those born in Latvia, have no status as citizens. These are  non-citizens  who, against the norms of the EU itself, find themselves  deprived of the right to vote, and discriminated against in the access to public services . There is a vast wave of opposition in Latvia to such linguistic and social discrimination - the Saskana (Harmony) party, opposed to discrimination, once again won the political elections on 6 October.

Concerning the Italian contingent, which, according to you, is deployed by NATO in Latvia with a  preventive and dissuasive objective  that is to  defend the nation  against Russia, we shall have to remind you of facts which, after all, have already been amply documented. It is NATO which, since 1999, has been extending menacingly to the East, right on the edge of Russian territory. As from 2004, the ranks of the Atlantic Pact were swollen by all the countries which were once members, with the USSR, of the Warsaw Pact, later dissolved  NATO supported the aggression by Georgia against South Ossetia in 2008; and in 2014, it supported the demonstrations in the Ukraine by transforming them into a putsch, operated by neo-Nazi army formations who had been trained for that purpose. This fact caused the Russians of Crimea (a territory which is historically Russian, attributed by Moscow to the Ukraine in 1954 within the political frontiers of the USSR) to decide on its return to the Russian Federation by a regular referendum. By accusing Russia of  the illegal annexation of Crimea  by  the use of force , you create an image of the functional enemy for the USA/NATO escalation which is dragging Europe towards a dangerous confrontation similar to that of the Cold War.

I remain at your disposition for further clarifications.

Manlio Dinucci

Commentator for Il Manifesto

Commentary for the Voltaire Network

Far from being a question of detail, the treatment by Latvia of its Russian minority constitutes the central point of NATOs political action throughout Eastern Europe.

As soon as the independence of the Baltic states was proclaimed in 1990, the United States and NATO deployed the families of their agents with the stay-behind network, recruited at the end of the Second World War and exiled in the NATO zone. These were families raised in the cult of Nazism, and financed for half a century by the United States and the United Kingdom, either directly or with the intervention of Federal Germany.

These families spread the idea that the Soviets had never fought Nazism as an ideology, but had invaded Central and Eastern Europe in order to consolidate their Empire. These Nazi collaborators never adhered to the Hitlerian ideology, but were prepared to ally themselves with the Nazis in order to defend their country against Soviet imperialism. Thereafter, the crimes of the Soviet regime in Latvia would be of a different nature and a different amplitude from those it committed in other areas of the Soviet Union.

On this basis, we saw the development of groups claiming to be followers of Nazism, and which had a historic link with it, mostly in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and the Ukraine. As from 2005, and with the support of the President of Latvia, a Canadian naturalised Latvian, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Nazi or neo-Nazi ceremonies were held publicly in Latvia, and the stay-behind ideology became official [1].

The current treatment of the Russian minority can only be understood in this context.

Thierry Meyssan

President of the Voltaire NetworkThe United States is in an isolated geographic position and has the most powerful naval force.

It is capable of intervening anywhere in the world. Yet a US Minister, Ryan Zinke declared in Pittsburg, during a Consumer Energy Alliance meeting that the possibility of the US imposing a blockade on Russia in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean is almost zero. This is because the new Russian hypersonic missiles Kh-47M2 Kinzhal and 3M22 Zircon can neutralize a United States naval group, from the Gibralta Straits.

The United Kingdom has announced that it is going to send 800 commandos to North Norway to confront a potential Russian aggression.

In the midst of the deployment of further NATO troops in the Baltic countries and Poland, the United States Navy has announced the reactivation of its Second Fleet, seven years after its deactivation. This US naval force must operate in the North, the Baltic and the Arctic Ocean.

The enclave of Kaliningrad in the Baltic and the North Stream gas pipeline are Russias chief vulnerabilities on the east flank of Nato. Could the United States, with NATO support, use its Second Fleet to impose a naval blockade against Russia in the Atlantic, the Baltic Sea and the Arctic? The airplane carriers are not risking operating in the Arctic because they can be blocked in the ice. As for the two other areas, it is possible to operate there, but without any chance of success.

Russia is able to attack any naval group that would attempt to organize the blockade. How? By launching hypersonic missiles against the surface ships, as soon as these ships enter the Strait of Skagerrak, which links the North Sea to the Baltic.

Furthermore, Russian Submarines with nuclear propulsion, armed with hypersonic missiles can strike any US naval group that it encounters when it is 1000 kilometres from the East side of the Atlantic Ocean, at the South of Iceland.

The Russians can also launch KH-47M2 hypersonic missiles carried by long range bombers Tu-160 and Tu-23M3, if the US Naval Group reaches South Greenland. In order to avoid being intercepted, the Russian airplanes would pass from above from the North Pole.

What are the odds that the US Naval Group will survive? In the event of an attack using hypersonic missiles, the Pentagon would have very little time to react. This is due to the accelerated speed at which these missiles move and the minimum time needed for hypersonic missiles to enter the reaction zone of the AA systems. The Kinzhal Missile has a range of 2000 km, a speed of 12 250 km/h and a maximum altitude for crossing of 40 000 to 50 000 m. The Zirkon missile has a range of 1000 km, a speed of 9 800 km/h and a maximum altitude for crossing of 40 000 m.

The probability of destroying an airplane carrier with these two types of hyper sonic missile, piercing the AA defense is 88%. This means that, if 100 hypersonic missiles are launched, 88 will pierce the AA defences and destroy their targets.

Applying the math to the specific case of the United States: if 11 Russian hypersonic missiles are launched against the 11 existing US airplane carriers, only 1.3 missiles would fail to reach their targets. This means that after the first storm of Russian hypersonic missiles, there would only be two airplane carriers at the Pentagon, one of which would already be damaged. This would be a very serious catastrophe for the US Navy.Transparent. Photo: Jennifer Clasen/Amazon Prime Video

While the conclusion of Transparent is currently hanging in limbo  it could take the shape of a full season, movie, or limited series at this point  Amazon is committing to another project from Jill Soloway in the meantime. In a new interview with the New York Times, Soloway confirmed that the two-hour Transparent: The Musical, which was written with their sister, Faith, will be airing on the streaming service next fall. It will hopefully feel like Jesus Christ Superstar mixed with La La Land mixed with Flight of the Conchords with something more Jewish thrown in, Soloway explained. A little Yentl.

The musical has already done a few performances in New York City, but in an interesting deviation, its core narrative doesnt revolve around the identity tribulations of Jeffery Tambors Maura Pfefferman. Instead, it centers on the neuroses of Judith Lights Shelly Pfefferman. This idea of music rescuing our family was all there, Soloway added. So were like, lets just keep blowing on the flame. The Pfeffermans will live on, and thats what kept us going.Yvette Nicole Brown. Photo: Presley Ann/Getty Images

Community alum Yvette Nicole Brown subbed in for The Views Joy Behar on Friday, and, boy, she didnt hesitate to get in the mix. The subject? First Lady Melania Trumps recent interview with ABC News Tom Llamas, in which she responded to rumors of Trumps alleged infidelities, including his (extremely) brief affair with Stormy Daniels. It is not a concern or a focus of mine, FLOTUS told Llamas, blaming the media for spreading gossip. I am a mother and First Lady, and I have much more important things to think about and to do.

When Llamas subsequently stopped by The View to discuss the interview, Brown had quite a theory as to why Melania remains relatively unfazed by rumors about her husbands dalliances. Is it possible that shes not concerned with his mistresses because she was one of them? the Mom actress reportedly suggested, according to Deadline. Is that possible that it doesnt affect her in that way?

Which is not going to help Melania Trumps opinion of the media, thats for sure. In response, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders took to Twitter on Friday to put The View on blast for their disgusting attacks on Melania. The lefts war on women they disagree with is a disgrace, Sanders tweeted in part.

Sad @TheView continues their disgusting attacks on @FLOTUS. The lefts war on women they disagree with is a disgrace. @FLOTUS is strong, accomplished, and has a lot more class than the women who bully her  Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) October 12, 2018

For the record, Brown is standing by her musings. For the historical record, the president and First Lady famously first met in November 1998, when Trump was separated from then-wife Marla Maples and, funnily enough, was on a date with another woman. Having finalizing his divorce in 1999, Donald and Melania later tied the knot in 2005.

An attack from @PressSec is a personal badge of honor. I knew before that I was on the right side of history. Her snarky disapproval seals it.  BTW the views expressed were mine, Sarah & I own them. Leave @TheView out of it. Come for me. The twitter lines are open!   yvette nicole brown (@YNB) October 13, 2018

Bigger issue is this: doesn't @PressSec and Steph have better things to do than whine about the truth some unknown black chick spit?



Might I point you both in the direction of #Flint Michigan? Their water is STILL undrinkable, BTW.



But #LetThemEatCake amirite?  yvette nicole brown (@YNB) October 13, 2018

RelatedOVL adds 11th team to the league next seasonBy West Kentucky Star Staff Oct. 14, 2018 | 01:57 PM | MCCRACKEN COUNTY

Police are searching for a car responsible for a hit-and-run accident Sunday in McCracken County that sent one person to the hospital.

According to the McCracken County Sheriff's Office, the accident happened around 11:30 am in the 11000 block of Highway 60 West. Deputies say 41-year-old Brian Griffin, of West Paducah, was eastbound when his motorcycle was rear-ended by an unknown vehicle. Griffin's motorcycle went down, and skidded off the shoulder into a ditch.



Griffin was transported by ambulance to Mercy Health for treatment of his injuries.

Griffin and a witness described the hit and run vehicle as a black, four-door Chevrolet Impala. The car was last seen traveling east on Highway 60 West.

Anyone with information on the accident is asked to contact the McCracken County Sheriff's Office at 270-444-4719.By West Kentucky Star Staff Oct. 13, 2018 | 10:08 PM | GRAVES COUNTY

A disturbance early Saturday in Graves County led to a man's arrest on multiple drug charges.

According to the Graves County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to a home in the 100 block of Sedalia Street in Sedalia for an intoxicated man reportedly causing a disturbance. Deputies arrived to find 39-year-old Brock William Ray at the home.

During the investigation, deputies reportedly found a glass pipe with suspected methamphetamine inside. Ray was arrested and taken to the Graves County Jail. While inside the jail, deputies reportedly found suspected marijuana inside Ray's shoe.

Ray was charged with possession of meth, possession of drug paraphernalia, tampering with physical evidence, promoting contraband and possession of marijuana.Thank you for reading!

Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue.



China News on Women





Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page20 remarkable young apprentices picked to represent Coleg Cambria at WorldSkills UK finals

This article is old - Published: Sunday, Oct 14th, 2018

Coleg Cambria has produced the largest cohort of WorldSkills students in Wales thanks to its prominent industry links and business partnerships.

The college has a growing reputation in the competition and strengthened that further last week by unveiling its 20-strong group for the WorldSkills UK finals, to be held at the NEC Birmingham in November.

WorldskillsUK LIVE is the biggest skills, apprenticeships and careers event in the country, where the students will showcase the ability and experience theyve gained at the college and with leading organisations in myriad sectors, from Airbus, Raytheon Systems and JCB Transmissions to Magellan Aerospace and Thomas Cook.

Announcing their latest advance on the competition, Coleg Cambria chief executive David Jones spoke of his pride at sending such a vastly talented group to the finals.

To get to this level and represent the college and north east Wales is a major achievement and Im very excited to see how well you do, said Mr Jones.

As we celebrate five years of Coleg Cambria we also mark five years since we began entering the WorldSkills competition. During that time we have got better and better, achieving medals and enhancing our reputation as one of the top colleges around  thank you, and good luck to you all.

Rona Griffiths, Deputy Director for Learner Experience and Enterprise, has worked tirelessly to increase the number and quality of representatives Cambria sends to the contest, and was herself named WorldSkillsUK Local Heroes Winner in 2017.

She believes this cohort is among the elite and is confident members of the team will progress further onto the global WorldSkills finals in Shanghai 2021.

You are 20 remarkable young apprentices with a variety of different skills and on top of this you are doing well in your studies and excelling in preparing for competition throughout the year, she said.

Getting to the WorldSkillsUK event in Birmingham means each of you is among the top eight people in your skill category, which is incredible.

You are the elite and a credit to the college and the companies you represent.

Mrs Griffiths added: At Cambria we work hard to find the very best training and placements, giving you the best opportunity to enter your chosen career when you graduate.

Together we have shined a light on north east Wales and shown  with our industry partners  that you belong on the global stage.

The two most successful students to have represented Cambria at WorldSkills are Joe Massey and Ethan Davies, who competed for Team UK at the overall finals in Abu Dhabi last year.

Joe received a Medallion of Excellence in Aircraft Maintenance, while Ethan shone in the CNC Milling category.

The final word went to Lord Barry Jones. A champion of industry and education for many years, he was in attendance and gave an inspiring, passionate rallying cry, urging the students to do their very best over the three days of competition.

I am so lucky to be in front of you and hear this story of great success, going up against the best out there and showing them how good you are, said Lord Jones, former MP for Alyn and Deeside.

Coleg Cambria is the leading FE institution in England and Wales, it has a great reputation and track record and is like a powerful locomotive helping industry and creating prosperity for work and wealth.

Im looking at the faces of the most highly skilled people in the land; you have a great future, you represent this great college but also the nation.

There is nothing better, there is no-one better  you are brilliant.

For more on WorldSkillsUK, visit www.worldskillsuk.org. Visit the Coleg Cambria website for information on the colleges participation in the competition.Cross-border forum brings together industry, government and academia leaders

This article is old - Published: Sunday, Oct 14th, 2018

Key players in academia, government and industry have come together to drive forward plans to boost skills across North Wales and the North West of England.

At the cross-border skills symposium at Theatr Clwyd, Mold, a panel of experts from the regions leading businesses and higher education institutions met with politicians to discuss the findings of a study into the retention and attraction of talented graduates.

The study, designed to help drive the development of the economy and wider community across North Wales and the Mersey Dee area, was led by Wrexham Glyndwr University.

Working alongside Bangor and Chester Universities, the project was designed to find out how many graduates from the combined three universities stayed in the region and gained employment in key sectors of industry such as advanced manufacturing, energy, financial services and tourism.

Wrexham Glyndwr University Vice-Chancellor Professor Maria Hinfelaar said: These sectors are expected to grow in the coming years, supported by private sector investment as well as public funding such as the North Wales Growth Deal.

The data gathered in the study showed that the majority of the graduates from the three universities actually work in the cross-border region, and our region does much better than other parts of the country in retaining its graduates. This is in spite of past concerns about a brain drain from the area.

It also became clear, perhaps unsurprisingly, that the key economic sectors in the region employ many of these graduates  but more will be needed in future.

Once the report had been presented, an industry panel debated its results  and what they considered to be the strengths and challenges of the region.

Airbus, Unilever, Horizon Nuclear Power, the Institute of Directors, the Chamber of Commerce and Denis Ferranti Group sat on the panel and contributed to the discussion alongside politicians including Ken Skates AM, Cabinet Secretary for the Economy and Transport, and Ian Lucas MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Mersey Dee North Wales area.

Professor Hinfelaar added: The industry panel were all in agreement that improvements to road and rail infrastructure are needed, as well as coordination of rules and regulations on both sides of the border between England and North Wales so that people and businesses can thrive.

The symposium was a tangible example of collaboration between the universities themselves and with the business community, which was very welcome. It was further supported by the North Wales Economic Ambition Board and the Mersey-Dee Alliance.

Ken Skates AM made clear his strong view that government policy should encourage cross-border working, and Ian Lucas MP spoke as the Chair of a cross-border all-party group of MPs  so the initiative had support all the way from Cardiff to Westminster.

As a University, we are at the heart of our regional community, provide the highly-skilled graduates our unique cross-border region needs.

We are very grateful to all those who participated in the symposium  its a key part of that vital work.Park rangers and Tesco staff join forces for Ty Mawr project

This article is old - Published: Sunday, Oct 14th, 2018

Staff from Tesco recently joined the park rangers at Ty Mawr Country Park for their Workforce Community Day.

The team helped the rangers to turn the overgrown and tired looking area around the Dovecote in to a blank canvas so it can be developed into a bug friendly habitat as part of the new car park works being carried out at the park.

The area around the car park is to be landscaped with wildflower bee and butterfly banks and the Dovecote area will be home to a new bug hotel.

Ty Mawr Country Park was successful in securing a grant from the Green Infrastructure Capital Grant Scheme to improve the summer only field parking into an all year around parking facility.

The car park will have environmentally friendly paving that allows water to drain freely and allows grass and wildflowers to grow through.

During the day the Tesco team also worked hard to get the area cleared and put up new fencing to separate the car park from the picnic seating area; along with sprucing up the wood carvings and animal housing with a fresh lick of paint at the parks small animal experience area.TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - First responders run towards an emergency situations, not away.

Never is their dedication more evident than during a crisis, like Hurricane Michael.

70 mile per hour winds, snapping trees, and downed power lines, most people in our area sought shelter from the deadly force of Hurricane Michael. But not everybody, first responders went out in the storm, risking their lives to keep us safe.

Tallahassee Police Department Spokesperson, Officer Rachelle Denmark, describes how officers stayed out assisting people until weather conditions became too dangerous.

"I had a tree break right next to the car I was in. My police car. Driving down the road trying to get to shelter, a tree snapped in two and landed. I heard it snap and I heard it crash and it landed right beside the car as I drove past and that's when I knew it was time to get to shelter," said Denmark.

She says that even though the storm has passed there is still plenty of work to be done.

Denmark says they are still in their emergency response operation regarding Hurricane Michael to ensure the safety and security of the community and they will not be finished with that until that task is done and they can resume normal operations.

TPD wants to remind people to be vigilant. Lock your doors and secure your valuables.

They say crimes aren't stopping, they have been arresting people and taking reports of burglaries.TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - After seeing the damage from Hurricane Michael, six students from the School of Forest Resources and Conservation at the University of Florida drove northwest to help clean up downed trees in Tallahassee.

UF student Ryan Krammes led the charge to rally the Gators to the Capital City after seeing the damage caused by the Category 4 hurricane.

"First thing that popped in my mind was coming out here, Panama City, whichever one we had the resources to get to. Tallahassee was the most feasible so we came out here as soon as we could to help out with hurricane relief clearing tree debris and things like that" said Krammes

One of the helpers, Calvin Carlson, is from the Capital City.

Carlson says he felt a similar urge as Krammes, but for him it was personal.

"Knowing that I could put my degree back to work where I'm from really influenced a lot," said Carlson.

While there is still a lot of work to do, every helping hand will help clean up Tallahassee one tree at a time.TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) -- The tropics are relatively quiet right now, with only one area of interest in the Atlantic Basin.

Post-Tropical Cyclone Leslie has been meandering through the central Atlantic Ocean since late September. Now, Leslie is getting ready to make landfall in Portugal. Currently, the system is about 85 miles south southwest of Porto, Portugal with sustained winds of 70 mph.

Leslie is still moving northeast at 35 mph. Heavy rain will effect parts of Portugal and Spain Saturday night and Sunday.

Beyond that storm, there are no other areas of interest in the tropics to talk about. The National Hurricane Center is not expecting to see an area of disturbed weather in the next five days.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 00:52:52|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Women who are overweight or obese have up to twice the risk of developing colorectal cancer before age 50 as those who have a normal body mass index.

The study published in this week's JAMA Oncology is the first epidemiologic analysis of the potential contributors to early-onset colorectal cancer, or cases diagnosed under age 50.

The researchers with Washington University and Harvard University used data from 85,256 women ages 25 to 44 in a database starting in 1989. Among them, 114 had been diagnosed colorectal cancer under age 50 till 2011.

Compared with women with the lowest BMIs (18.5 to 22.9 kilograms per square meter), women with the highest BMIs (greater than 30) had almost twice the risk of early-onset colorectal cancer, according to the findings.

The researchers estimated that roughly 22 percent of early-onset colorectal cancer could have been prevented had all participants had a normal BMI between 18.5 and 24.9.

They also found that the higher risk of early-onset colorectal cancer associated with increasing BMI held even among women with no family history of the disease.

"There are few known risk factors for early-onset colorectal cancer," said Edward Giovannucci from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

"If the screening age gets pushed before age 50, BMI may be one of the factors to take into account," said Giovannucci, the paper's co-author.

"Our findings really highlight the importance of maintaining a healthy weight, beginning in early adulthood for the prevention of early-onset colorectal cancer," said co-senior author and cancer epidemiologist Cao Yin at Washington University.

The study is an association one, so it does not establish that increasing weight is a cause of early-onset colorectal cancer.

It is possible BMI could be serving as a surrogate for other risk factors that may influence colorectal cancer risk, including metabolic syndrome and diabetes, according to the researchers.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 02:58:07|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

ROME, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Seventy migrants were rescued at sea and brought to Italy early on Saturday thanks to a new Italian humanitarian group called Mediterranea Saving Humans.

Mediterranea launched the first Italian-flagged migrant rescue vessel, called the Mare Jonio (Italian for Ionian Sea) on Oct. 3, the fifth anniversary of a 2013 migrant shipwreck off Italy's Lampedusa island in which close to 400 men, women and children died.

The group's stated purpose is to monitor the central Mediterranean for migrant vessels in distress, to ensure the authorities come to their aid, and to step in directly to carry out rescues if needed.

"Received communication from Malta on vessel in distress. Malta says has no assets and asked us to head to the scene. The vessel is 13 nautical miles from Mare Jonio and 26 nautical miles from Lampedusa," Mediterranea tweeted in the small hours of Saturday.

"We are going, but request Italy intervention before it's too late."

After several hours of back-and-forth between Mediterranea, Malta, and Italy -- which the group documented in a series of tweets -- the Italian Coast Guard, which had initially refused to intervene, showed up and escorted the vessel, a wooden fishing boat, to Lampedusa.

Later on Saturday, Mediterranea tweeted that "we are happy to learn that, after a night of monitoring and calls for aid, these people are safe in Italy. The Mare Jonio mission continues."

The comments of Malta's side are not available now.

The rescued migrants had left from Libya and hail from Eritrea, Ghana, and Syria, La7 private broadcaster reported, showing footage of them disembarking on Italian soil just before dawn.

Mediterranea, which is made up of activists, NGOs, and leftwing Italian MPs, says on its website it decided to launch an Italian vessel because most international rescue NGOs have been banned from Italy's ports.

So far this year, just over 20,000 migrants reached Italy by sea and an estimated 1,778 migrants have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean, according to the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 03:23:10|Editor: Lu Hui

Video Player Close

ANKARA, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The release of an American pastor detained in Turkey, a key figure in bilateral rows, would ease tensions, but a rocky path still lies ahead for a full recovery of the strained relations.

After two years of detention, evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson was sentenced on Friday by a court to jail for three years and 45 days over terror charges, but was then set free due to the time he had served.

The decision to free the 50-year-old long-time resident in Turkey's western province of Izmir would eased a diplomatic standoff between Ankara and Washington for the past year that has caused a serious economic and currency turmoil in Turkey.

It also seems to be the result of a breakthrough in a "silent diplomacy" recently intensified between officials from both sides on the issue of releasing Brunson but also several other U.S. citizens and local consular staff arrested like Brunson in the wake of the failed coup in 2016.

The case fueled a crisis between the NATO allies. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, contending the terror-related charges against the pastor were politically motivated, slapped tariffs and sanctions on Turkey.

Ankara for its part imposed trade measures against the United States while seeking to exchange Brunson for the Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of orchestrating the botched coup.

U.S. administration officials have said the release of Brunson and other U.S. nationals detained in Turkey after the coup attempt would be a significant step towards a reconciliation between Ankara and Washington.

"If he's set free, an important hurdle for the return to a normalization of our relations will be lifted. It will be an important step towards the reopening of communication ways for other outstanding issues between our two countries," told Xinhua a U.S. source before Friday's hearing.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in Washington that "it is the right thing for them to do, it is the humanitarian thing for Turkey to do," adding that the release of Brunson would be "an important step" for U.S.-Turkish relations.

While the Brunson case is now solved, there are still several sore points between the NATO partners such as their differences regarding the Syrian war and the case of Fethullah Gulen that Ankara wants extradited.

Most analysts agree that the Brunson case was a test for bilateral ties and when this impediment is surmounted, Turkey and the United States will ultimately try to restore their damaged partnership, to both countries benefit.

"His release will definitely infuse a breath of fresh air in bilateral relations and have a positive effect," said political analyst and journalist Serkan Demirtas to Xinhua.

"It will open the way for other issues to be discussed and possibly resolved in a spirit of dialogue like what it was before the Brunson crisis," Demirtas said, adding communication channels shut down by the American side on political, military and financial matters are now expected to be reopened.

However, this expert also believes that a speedy recovery for the "strategic partnership" also appears unlikely because of the backlog of serious issues that have yet to be resolved.

Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Program at the Washington Institute, hailed Brunson's release as a "big deal for U.S.-Turkey relations," which will allow both countries to tackle bilateral issues without the emotional dimension of the pastor's arrest.

Meanwhile, Unal Cevikoz, a former ambassador and vice president of the main opposition People's Republican Party, argued that the unusual way the U.S. preacher was released amid reports of a Turkish-U.S. deal "has consolidated the impression that the Turkish justice is not independent."

"Therefore, the U.S. will continue to impose sanctions on Turkey to solve other main issues," he warned on his Twitter account.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 03:38:15|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

TEHRAN, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The approval of the UN convention of Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) will improve Iran's international image and facilitate its economic interaction with the world, Reza Kami, chairman of Iran-Turkey Joint Chamber of Commerce, said on Saturday.

"Turkey is a member of this convention and it will facilitate our banking and financial relations," Kami was quoted as saying by Tehran Times daily.

He noted that transparency in financial interaction will encourage businessmen and investors.

Iranian lawmakers last Sunday approved a bill on Iran's accession to the CFT standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and threats to the integrity of the international financial system.

The FATF has set October as the deadline for Iran to complete reforms which would "bring it in line with global norms or face consequences."Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 03:53:18|Editor: ZX

Video Player Close

by Raul Menchaca

HAVANA, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Brigitte Garcia mills around a leafy Havana street, holding up a handwritten sign with a description of her home: a two-bedroom unit close to the capital's Old Quarter.

Every weekend for the past two years, Garcia shows up at the same spot on Havana's Paseo del Prado, a pedestrian promenade, hoping one of the scores of other people milling about with signs of their own takes an interest in her offer.

Known as the Bolsa de Permuta de Prado, or Prado Exchange, this corner of the city has over the years turned into a kind of improvised venue for real estate transactions.

"I don't want to sell, but to exchange my house, because the real estate brokers put exorbitant prices on the houses and that discourages potential buyers. So you wait and wait but never solve your situation," said Garcia, 37.

But so far, she has had no luck at the Prado Exchange, where she aims to swap her conveniently located two-bedroom for a larger house in a less fashionable district.

She and her husband have two children, one already a teenager, and they want each to have his own bedroom.

Like regular real estate brokers, Cuba's exchange brokers, here called "permuteros," charge a fee based on the price of the transaction.

Nobody knows for sure how or when residents began to gather on Prado to swap homes, but it probably began during the years the government prohibited the sale or purchase of homes.

In November 2011, the government lifted the ban, allowing homeowners to sell their properties for the first time since the 1959 Revolution.

The move spurred an unprecedented real estate market that grew rapidly, fueled by the restoration of bilateral ties between Cuba and the United States during the Barack Obama administration.

Many Cuban-Americans living in the United States were eager to buy property on the island as a second home, to open a business or as an investment. Invariably they skirted the law barring foreigners from buying real estate by purchasing through relatives.

When U.S. President Donald Trump took office, he imposed new restrictions on ties that deflated the booming real estate market.

Still, the local real estate market has given rise to several websites, among them Revolico.com. Managed from abroad, it has almost 50,000 listings for real estate sales and some 5,000 listings for swaps.

However, like most Cubans, Garcia has limited access to the Internet.

"I don't have a laptop and accessing the Internet is not easy for me," said Garcia, though she has placed an ad in Revolico.com.

She prefers not to deal with private real estate management companies, such as La Isla or Casas Cubanas, whose services are reliable, but expensive. The companies are now awaiting a government decision on whether to allow them to continue operating.

In the meantime, she plans to continue coming to the Prado Exchange, where Anay Rodriguez, 50, has become another familiar face.

"You see such a crowd here and that means that the people are finding it difficult to reside where they really want," said Rodriguez, who has been trying for a year to move to a more central location.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 05:53:40|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

RAMALLAH, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that killing a Palestinian women by Israeli settlers in the northern West Bank city of Nablus is "an awful crime."

The Palestinian state-run news agency WAFA reported that Abbas spoke with the father of the woman A'aesha al-Rabi, 45 years old, who died of sustained wounds in the head from a stone thrown by Israeli settlers.

According to the report, Abbas said to the family that "this crime was committed by settlers who are protected by the state of occupation and it should not go without punishment."

Abbas stressed that "the Palestinian people will keep steadfastness over their land whatever the sacrifices are," adding "such crimes will never weaken our people to carry on towards freedom and independence."

Earlier on Saturday, thousands of outraged Palestinians buried the body of Rabi in the village of Bedia in northern West Bank. Her body was wrapped with a Palestinian flag and carried on the mourners' shoulders before her burial.

Rabi was hit with a deadly stone in her head as she was traveling with her husband near Israeli military checkpoint Za'atara close to Nablus. Her husband, who was driving the car and said he had to pull over after the attack, was slightly injured.

She was sent to hospital but was dead by the time she got there, according to medics.

Her body was laid to rest in her hometown Bedia near Salfit amidst grief, after an autopsy was carried out to confirm the cause of her death following the attack by settlers.

Rabi was a mother of eight, one of whom is preparing to get married in two weeks.

The Israeli army said in a statement on Saturday that it is investigating the incident.

Palestinians have repeatedly warned against settler attacks on their farms, homes, properties and people. Such incidents have seen a particular rise along with the olive harvest season.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian official on Saturday called on the international community to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against humanity in the Palestinian territories.

Hanan Ashrawi, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, condemned the series of war crimes committed by Israel and its extremist settlers against the defenseless Palestinian people in a clear and deliberate violation of all international and humanitarian laws.

Ashrawi said in a press statement that "the intensification of the field executions and the deliberate killing and continued terrorism of organized extremist settlers reflect a clear disregard by the Israeli government of extremism to the world and its institutions and international bodies."Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 06:03:42|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

DUBLIN, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Irish government witnessed a significant reshuffle on Saturday following the recent resignation of its former communications minister who was involved in a suspected deal with a government-funded project bidder.

In a statement issued earlier in the day, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announced that Richard Bruton has been named as the new Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to replace Denis Naughten who had resigned from the post earlier this week.

Bruton was the former Minister for Education and Skills before the latest appointment.

According to the statement, Bruton's former post will be succeeded by Joe McHugh while Joe McHugh's post as the former Government Chief Whip and Minister of State for the Gaeltacht (any primarily Irish-speaking region) and the Islands will be filled by Sean Kyne, and Sean Kyne's post as the former Minister of State for Rural Affairs and Natural Resources will be filled by Sean Canney.

The new appointments announced by Varadkar also made Sean Canney as the Minister of State for Communications, Climate Action and Environment.

In Ireland, a Minister of State is not a member of the cabinet and his or her role is to assist the government Ministers at various departments.

Sean Canney was the Minister of State for the Office of Public Works and Flood Relief before June 2017, but he was removed from the post after Varadkar became the country's prime minister in the same month. He is the only independent politician among the four newly appointed ministers. All the other three belong to the ruling party of Fine Gael led by Varadkar.

Local media reported that Sean Canney's nomination was intended to help the minority government to win more support from independent members in the lower house of the parliament.

The latest appointments, which are subject to the approval of the lower house of the Irish parliament, were announced two days after the resignation of Denis Naughten.

Earlier on Thursday, Naughten announced resignation at a meeting held at the lower house of the parliament after he admitted having attended several private dinners with a U.S. businessmen of Irish origin, who was involved in a bidding for a government-funded National Broadband project which falls under the jurisdiction of Naughten's department.

Varadkar has ordered an independent investigation into the National Broadband Plan to see if there is anything compromised during Naughten's interactions with the American businessmen.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 06:03:42|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

HAVANA, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Saturday slammed the nearly six-decade U.S. economic blockade on the island, saying Washington's policy is "the main obstacle" for the country's development.

"The U.S. blockade against Cuba is the most comprehensive and prolonged system of economic sanctions that has ever been applied against any country," the president said in a message posted on his Twitter account.

Diaz-Canel added that the policy is "the main obstacle for the nation's development" and called for it to end.

Earlier this week, the Cuban leader opened a Twitter account on the social network and so far has more than 28,000 followers.

On Oct. 31, Havana will present, for the 27th time, a non-binding resolution condemning the unilateral embargo policy before the United Nations General Assembly. 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 toward the Caribbean nation.

However, the United States is not obliged to comply with the UN mandate and claims the blockade is a bilateral issue with Cuba and must be resolved between the two nations.

In its annual report to the UN, Havana indicated that economic losses due to the U.S. blockade totaled more than 4.3 billion U.S. dollars between April 2017 and March of this year, a policy that has been reinforced during U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 06:08:43|Editor: mym

Video Player Close

RABAT, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Morocco defeated Comoros 1-0 in their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Casablanca Saturday night.

At complex Mohammed V, the Moroccans faced a well organized Comoros team and were able to reach the goal only in the stoppage time.

The goal was scored by Faycal Fajr from a penalty kick in injury time.

The Moroccans performance was significantly impacted by the absence of its playmaker and Ajax star Hakim Ziyech due to injury.

Ziyech will also miss the next encounter between the two sides on Tuesday in the Comoros islands.

In the other game of Group B, Cameroon, who qualify for the Nations Cup automatically as hosts, won 1-0 against Malawi.

After their win, Morocco move to six point in the second place, one point less than Cameroon, while Malawi remain on three points followed by Comoros with one point.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 10:09:07|Editor: Lu Hui

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Only two months before U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's Oct. 4 speech about the administration's policy toward China, U.S. coffee giant Starbucks partnered up with e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba on coffee delivery to boost its business in China.

Regrettably, the success story of Starbucks, which tells the truth of mutually beneficial cooperation between China and the United States, has faded away in the memory of some politicians in the Trump administration, which nowadays claims to be a ripped-off almsgiver.

In his speech at a think tank in Washington, Pence repeated the U.S. administration's allegation that "we've rebuilt China." The vice president asserted that "America agreed to give Beijing open access to our economy, and we brought China into the World Trade Organization (WTO)."

The speech was in tune with the cliche that China's success is owed to the so-called sacrifice of the U.S. interests. It has also demonstrated once again the Trump administration's self-centered "America First" thinking.

What Pence avoided mentioning is that after its entry into the WTO, China opened its market to the United States at greater scopes and depths. According to UN statistics, U.S. exports to China increased 577 percent from 2001 to 2017, far higher than the 112 percent average growth rate of overall U.S. exports.

Besides, U.S. enterprises have benefited tremendously from the Chinese market. For example, U.S. General Motors' production in China accounts for 40 percent of its global production, and Qualcomm's chip sales and patent license fees in the Chinese market account for 57 percent of its total revenue.

Unfortunately, these irrefutable facts have been deliberately ignored by the U.S. vice president.

Without doubt, China's success could not have been achieved without mutually beneficial cooperation with other countries across the globe, in which the United States has played an important role. However, that does not mean China's exports only go to the U.S. market or China's economic growth solely relies on U.S. investment.

In fact, China's success depends on the hard work of the Chinese people, not the U.S. trade deficit, and on the socialist path with Chinese characteristics chosen by the Chinese people, not some delusional models preached by some American leaders.

Since China started its epic reform and opening-up 40 years ago, over 700 million Chinese people have shaken off poverty. With an average annual GDP growth rate of over 9 percent from 1989 until 2018, China has become the world's second largest economy.

The miracle is facilitated by China's steadfast commitment to opening its door to the whole world and learning from the useful experience and outstanding achievements of all other countries.

So far, China has fostered trade partnerships with more than 230 countries and regions, and has become the largest trading partner of over 120 of them.

Looking ahead, China's cooperation and connection with the outside world will surely deliver more benefits not only for China but also for the whole world.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 10:29:09|Editor: ZX

Video Player Close

MOGADISHU, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from the twin suicide bombing at a restaurant and a hotel on Saturday in Somalia's southern town of Baidoa in Bay region has risen to 10, local officials said.

"At least 10 people were killed and more than 20 others were injured in the attacks. Most of the dead people were civilians," said Ugas Hassan Abdi, South West State's minister of information.

The victims, mostly young people, were having tea when a suicide bomber blew himself up in the restaurant and after a few minutes, a similar attack struck Bilan Hotel in the center of the town.

"I saw several bodies lying on the ground as gunfire raged at the scene," Abdifitah Muhidin, a witness, told Xinhua.

The militant group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying its fighters killed more than 20 people.

The latest attacks came as the Somali government is planning to hold nationwide memorial events to mark the first anniversary of the deadliest bombing that devastated the Somali capital Mogadishu and killed more than 500 people on Oct. 14, 2017.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 12:19:22|Editor: ZX

Video Player Close

TAIYUAN, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Craving something cold on a hot summer day? Vinegar-flavored ice-cream could be just the thing, at least according to an ice-cream store in Shanxi Province.

The Shanxi store in the city of Taiyuan, the provincial capital, caused huge buzz on the Internet after the owner created an extra-sour type of ice cream made with Laochencu (mature vinegar).

Chen Yichao, a store employee, said the ice-cream cones were made with high quality milk and top-quality Shanxi mature vinegar.

"We use mature vinegar that has been fermented for three years or five years," Chen said.

The store, which opened less than a month ago, has sold a large number of the sour ice creams, which cost 10 yuan (1.4 U.S. dollars) each.

"The vinegar ice-cream accounts for at least 60 percent of all ice-cream cones sold every day," Chen said.

Chen said that it took "many times of experiments" to make the vinegar ice-cream tasty. "Some people don't like the flavor, but we are catering to those who dare to try new things."

"It tastes good," a customer said. "I like the flavor of vinegar."

The desert, made from milk, sorghum, peas, barley and vinegar, is one of the best selling items at the store, with more than 200 cones sold every day, according to China Global Television Network.

The bizarre creation caused widespread fascination on the Internet. "That's creative. Will they make ice cream with spicy paste one day?" read a comment on microblog Sina Weibo.

Shanxi is famous for its mature vinegar. The province has been making vinegar for more than 3,000 years.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 12:29:26|Editor: ZX

Video Player Close

LA PAZ, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Bolivia's oil revenue this year is estimated to reach 2.2 billion U.S. dollars as it "will be able to fulfill" contracts with its southern American partners, Minister of Hydrocarbons and Energy Luis Alberto Sanchez said Saturday.

"The income to the country is guaranteed," Sanchez said. "We should feel certain about the expected income from the export of gas because we will be able to fulfill the contracts with Argentina until 2026 and with Brazil for the remaining volume to be delivered and an extension of the contract until 2024."

Bolivia is negotiating an increase in gas sales in western Brazil, the minister said, adding that it is negotiating with new markets that will generate greater benefits through direct sale of natural gas to several Brazilian states.

"This is good for us because it opens up the Brazilian market. The country has all the right conditions to take on these new contracts and at better prices," he said.

Bolivia is working on the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by way of the Peruvian port of Ilo on the Pacific coast, the government confirmed Saturday.

The deal with Paraguay is under negotiation to supply gas to the Chaco region, a sparsely inhabited area, both at the household level and for the generation of electricity, according to Humberto Salinas, vice minister of Industrialization, Commercialization, Transportation and Hydrocarbon Storage.

"We will be exporting to Paraguay and we will end up opening new overseas markets with the liquified natural gas," Salinas said.

Bolivia is a major exporter of LNG in South America, with 99 percent of the exports going to Paraguay and Peru, the vice minister said, adding that it hopes to add Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil to the list of export destinations.

Between 1985 and 2005, Bolivia earned 4.587 billion dollars in oil revenue, at an average of 225 million dollars a year. From 2006 to 2015, the total reached 31.573 billion dollars, with a yearly peak of 5.489 billion dollars in 2014.

Bolivia's GDP growth declined from a peak since the 1970s of 6.8 percent in 2013 to an estimated 4.2 percent in 2017 due to a less favorable international environment and a temporary reduction in the external gas demand, according to the World Bank.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 13:14:31|Editor: Shi Yinglun

Video Player Close

TALUQAN, Afghanistan, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The death toll has risen to 22, wheile 36 others wounded in a bomb blast on an election gathering organized by a female candidate, Nazifa Big Yusufi, in northern province of Takhar, a provincial government spokesman said Sunday.

"The latest figures by provincial authorities indicated that 22 people were killed and 36 others wounded in Saturday's bomb blast in Rustaq district of Takhar province," Mohammad Jawad Hejri told Xinhua.

The initial information by the provincial police department also showed that the blast was not a suicide bombing but the explosion was occurred after an improvised explosive devices (IEDs) attached to a motorcycle was detonated by a time device, he said.

The long-delayed parliamentary and district council elections are expected to be held on Oct. 20.

More than 2,500 candidates from 33 out of 34 provinces, excluding Ghazni, will stand for the parliament's 249 seats.

Nearly 9 million registered voters, including 3 million women, will cast their ballots to elect the lawmakers for a five-year term while they will also vote to elect members of the district councils.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 13:44:36|Editor: ZX

Video Player Close

HOUSTON, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming import expo in China will help Houston increase its trade ties with China, a senior trade official of Houston, U.S. state of Texas, said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Horacio Licon, vice president of the Greater Houston Partnership, an economic development organization serving the Greater Houston area, told Xinhua that the expo is a great opportunity for Houston to continue developing its trade relationship with China.

"This is a great opportunity to work with a very important market," Licon said. "China is the second largest economy in the world. It's the second largest trading partner for Houston. So anything that is helping us increase that relationship is very important to us."

The first China International Import Expo (CIIE) will be held from Nov. 5 to 10 in Shanghai, one of the largest cities in China by population and a financial hub in the world.

As the first state-level Import Expo in the world, CIIE marks the shift in China's economic development model from export-oriented to balancing import and export. It is expected to give firm support to trade liberalization and economic globalization, and actively open the Chinese market to the world.

Analysts believe that against the global backdrop of trade protectionism, the expo is consistent with China's long-time efforts to seek mutual benefits and advocate free trade.

Licon said this kind of platform is really important right now, especially at a time when China and the United States have rising trade frictions.

"There's a need to remain aware of the latest changes that we need to follow in order to make the products reach their customers," Licon said. "So instead of losing value, I think this type of event is even more important now."

Next month, Licon will head to Shanghai, leading a team of 15 delegates representing 12 companies, which cover diverse industries such as technology, manufacturing, energy and logistics.

Licon said he wants to explore and understand more the business environment in China via this platform.

"We have expectations in terms of understanding and hearing directly from our Chinese counterparts on the private sector and on the government side, the messages about the future of Chinese trade, how the government is seeing the future of Chinese trade and how Houston will play a role in that relationship," Licon said.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up policy, thanks to which the relationship between Houston and China started, Licon said.

"That's really when the relationship between Houston and China started historically speaking," Licon said. "So it's a brand-new relationship and that is an important economic driver for our companies and for our trading infrastructure, operators or ports or airports."

According to Licon, the total trade between Houston and China last year was 18.8 billion U.S. dollars. And for the first six months of 2018, the bilateral trade has hit almost 13 billion dollars.

He said he expects the number to continue growing. "We are expecting further growth in 2018 in total," Licon said. "It's a new story. We have something to offer. Therefore, this recent story will continue to develop and at least the statistics are showing a positive story."

Licon hopes to strength the cooperation between Houston and China. He said Houston has a much more balanced trade with China as a city. He hopes more Chinese companies could come and make use of all the resources available.

"We're trying to find ways to continue collaboration and grow trade in a way that works for all parties," Licon said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 14:44:42|Editor: ZX

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- A six-point proposal raised by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will elevate practical cooperation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), so as to benefit the region's common development, analysts said.

Li put forward the proposal while addressing the 17th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the SCO member states, which was held on Friday in the Tajik capital city of Dushanbe. It comes about four months after the landmark SCO Qingdao summit.

The Chinese premier proposed advancing SCO cooperation in six areas: security, multilateral economic cooperation and trade, industrial capacity cooperation, connectivity, innovation, and people-to-people ties.

"The proposal contains very concrete measures. It shows that China has a strong desire to push forward with the SCO practical cooperation," said Li Ziguo, a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies.

Deng Hao, secretary general of the China Center for SCO Studies, said the practical cooperation aims to achieve common development among regional countries.

"All member states yearn for development and expect the SCO to play an even bigger role. That is in line with the aspiration of the people," Deng said.

The SCO was established in 2001 by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, while India and Pakistan joined as full members in 2017. The eight members account for about 20 percent of the global economy and 40 percent of the world's population.

In his speech, the Chinese premier called on the SCO members to firmly support free trade and the rules-based multilateral trading regime, and further advance trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.

He specifically stated that China is ready to import more high-quality agricultural products from fellow SCO member states.

"This is good news, as Russia and Central Asian countries are very keen to increase farm exports to China," said Li, the researcher.

Industrial capacity cooperation is another key area that the premier mentioned. He said China will continue to take its advanced equipment and high-quality industrial capacity overseas and encourage leading businesses to invest in SCO countries.

According to the premier, the stock of Chinese investment in SCO member states has reached 84.6 billion U.S. dollars, much of which has been channeled to industrial capacity cooperation projects.

Deng said this cooperation particularly suits the needs of SCO countries for industrialization.

Premier Li said China will expand cooperation in areas such as infrastructure, processing, manufacturing, energy exploitation and agriculture with other SCO member states.

On innovation, the premier highlighted the digital economy, smart manufacturing, bio-technologies, clean energy and meteorology as the priorities in experience-sharing and technological cooperation.

Li, the researcher, spoke highly of this emphasis on technological cooperation. He said it was commendable not only because a new industrial revolution is underway, but also because China has an edge in the digital economy and big data technologies, and therefore would like to share its knowledge.

Deng said the six-point proposal underlines an important piece of Chinese wisdom -- development is the hard truth, and the areas identified by the premier to advance cooperation are a Chinese solution to realizing SCO common development.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 14:49:42|Editor: Shi Yinglun

Video Player Close

QALAT, Afghanistan, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- At least eight Afghan police personnel, including a district police chief, were killed in clashes in southern province of Zabul overnight, a provincial source said Sunday.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 15:14:47|Editor: Li Xia

Video Player Close

QALAT, Afghanistan, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- At least eight Afghan police personnel, including a district police chief, were killed in clashes in southern province of Zabul overnight, a provincial source said Sunday.

In one incident, police chief of Mizan district Asad Khan was killed during clashes following a Taliban attack on district's government offices and surrounding security checkpoints late Saturday night, the source said anonymously.

In neighboring Shahr-i-Safa locality, seven police officers were killed in a similar incident as they repulsed a Taliban attack on police security checkpoints.

Several militants were also killed and injured during the clashes, the source said.

Zabiullah Mujahid, a purported Taliban spokesman, has claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying three Taliban fighters were wounded in the fighting.

The violence has been on the rise as Afghan security forces struggle against a surge in attacks by militants as the country is preparing for parliamentary elections slated for Oct. 20.

During the upcoming polls, 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 election officials recently canceled district councils election which was expected to be held together with the parliamentary polls.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 16:29:54|Editor: Li Xia

Video Player Close

TEHRAN, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Close to 4.95 million tons of oil and non-oil commodities were transited through Iran during the first half of the current Iranian year starting March 21, Eghtesadonline reported Sunday.

The figure registered a 2-percent rise compared with the corresponding period of last year, the report said.

The main transit commodities were fuel, chemicals, construction materials, home appliances and cotton.

Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, Uzbekistan and Turkey were the main destinations for the transit goods passing through Iran.

More than 1.46 million tons of the commodities were transited from Iran's Shahid Rajaee Port in the city of Bandar Abbas in the southern province of Hormozgan during the six-month period, which accounted for some 30 percent of the transit goods, said Director General of Hormozgan Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization Daryoush Baqer-Javan.

The port was the most active point of entry among Iran's 32 border terminals during the period, Baqer-Javan was quoted as saying.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 16:44:57|Editor: Li Xia

Video Player Close

MOGADISHU, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Death toll had risen to 22 while more than 30 others had been injured after Saturday's twin suicide bomb attacks in Baidoa town, located at the southern part of the Horn of Africa nation, officials said on Sunday.

Governor of Bay region Ali Wardhere Doyow told reporters that the locals are donating blood to the victims of the twin bombings in Baidoa town, adding that those with serious injuries would be transferred to Mogadishu for further treatment later on Sunday.

"The death toll from Saturday's terrorist attacks is now 22, and over 30 others still remain in hospitals, the victims are receiving emergency healthcare and blood donations, some with serious wounds will be taken to the capital Mogadishu today," Doyow said.

Ugaas Hassan Abdi, information minister for Southwest State in Somalia, told Xinhua by phone that two young al-Shabab militants wearing vests carried out the attacks at two main social gatherings in the center of the town.

"The terrorists targeted innocent civilians, children, youth, community leaders and soldiers at bars near a police station and Bilan hotel in the center of town, the death toll could rise time time," said Abdi.

The police said a man wearing an explosive device walked into Beder restaurant and blew himself up, killing several people and injured others in Baidoa which is considered as the hub of economic activities.

According to the police, another suicide bomber blew himself up at the Bilan hotel, killing more than six people.

The al-Qaida allied terrorist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying its fighters killed more than 20 people.

Hussein Mohamed, security minister for the Southwest State in Somalia, urged people to be vigilant and unite for the fight against terrorist militants going to massacre them.

"We can defeat terrorists if we are united to the fight against al-Shabab," Mohamed said, calling on people to support one another and donate blood to the victims.

Al-Shabab had claimed responsibility for the latest attacks, saying its fighters killed more than 20 people.

The insurgents had stepped up their assault against the government and African Union Mission in Somalia bases across south and central parts of the Horn of Africa nation.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 17:50:04|Editor: Yang Yi

Video Player Close

DUSHANBE, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Sunday wrapped up his first visit to Tajikistan, forging closer ties with regional countries who jointly voiced firm support for free trade and multilateral economic cooperation.

This is expressed in the joint communique of the 17th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states and during the multilateral and bilateral meetings.

Addressing the SCO meeting on Friday, Li proposed advancing cooperation in six key areas that include trade, industrial capacity cooperation, connectivity and pledged efforts to make the SCO an example of openness, cooperation and common development among regional countries.

TRADE MORE, GAIN MORE

The SCO was established in 2001 by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, while India and Pakistan joined as full members in 2017. The eight members account for about 20 percent of the global economy and 40 percent of the world's population.

Li said as the SCO trade has kept growing over the past few years, everyone is made a beneficiary of free trade and regional cooperation.

"Past experience shows that development cannot be achieved behind closed doors, and opening up is the right way forward," Li said.

He called on the SCO member countries to firmly support free trade and the rules-based multilateral trading regime and further advance trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.

Prime ministers and representatives at the meeting agreed that the countries in the region particularly need to safeguard multilateralism and free trade under the new circumstances.

They stressed the importance of "consistently strengthening an open, inclusive, transparent, non-discriminatory and rule-based multilateral trading system, as well as preventing any unilateral protectionist measures in trade," the joint communique said.

Meeting Li on the sidelines of the SCO meeting, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Russia is willing to work with China to safeguard multilateralism and free trade. In particular, Medvedev said he expects the Russia-China trade to exceed 100 billion U.S. dollars this year.

The SCO members, Li said, also need to launch feasibility studies on establishing an SCO free trade area, and develop institutional arrangements for closer regional economic cooperation.

Zooming in on agriculture, Li said China hopes to expand imports of high-quality agricultural products from fellow SCO member countries and also hopes that more specialty Chinese agricultural products will be made available for customers in other SCO countries.

"This is good news, as Russia and Central Asian countries are very keen to increase farm exports to China," said Li Ziguo, a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies.

"This demonstrates that the SCO can fight unilateralism and protectionism, not just in words but also in deeds," said the researcher.

BUILDING BELT AND ROAD

In 2013, it was in Kazakhstan where the idea of building a Silk Road Economic Belt was raised. Now in its fifth year, the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has become a popular international public good, delivering broad benefits.

Li said the SCO serves as a key platform for BRI endeavors.

The member countries reaffirming support for the BRI in the joint communique advocated the creation of a broad, open, mutually beneficial and equal partnership in the SCO space.

Li said China is ready to further synergize the BRI with development strategies of fellow SCO members.

For residents in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, the BRI literally means better roads. China is renovating 23 streets there for free, using new materials like rubble mastic asphalt which makes the surface more durable, water-proof and easy to maintain.

"China today is such a great country," said Nurlan Eshenbayev, head of Bishkek's construction management department. "Our relations have been even closer in recent time."

Meanwhile, Chinese companies are working on a light rail transit in Astana, the first of its kind in Kazakhstan. Scheduled to open in 2020, the 22-km line will make life easier for commuters who sometimes need to beat the city's nightmarish traffic.

But more important is transnational road and railway links. At the SCO meeting, the Chinese premier urged more efforts to ensure that roads connecting SCO countries be built on schedule by 2020. Cross-border railway networks should be expanded as well, he said.

"Convenient and efficient transportation networks are critical to the free flow of production factors, cross-border trade and travels," Li said. "It (connectivity) is a priority of the BRI as it will contribute to the interconnected development of the Eurasian continent."

Tajik Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda said his government has taken the cross-border road and railway construction as a focus to participate in joint efforts to build the Belt and Road.

Rasulzoda said this to the press on Saturday after holding talks with Li during the latter's official visit to Tajikistan.

FRIENDSHIP OVER PAMIR MOUNTAINS

It was Li's first visit to Tajikistan. He described the China-Tajikistan friendship as one that has spanned more than a thousand years and leapt over the Pamir Mountains in a signed article published in a mainstream Tajik newspaper.

The Chinese premier took note of the rapid and healthy growth of bilateral ties and cooperation in all areas at the moment when he met with Rasulzoda.

But people on the streets can tell it better. A Chinese-built thermal power station is now supplying stable electricity to the capital city of Dushanbe. Central heating has been restored for more than 700,000 residents.

"Thank God, our apartment has become warm and comfortable this year," said Muyassar Sadykova, who lives in Dushanbe. She said when it was freezing cold before, her family used to keep warm by throwing old shoes to burn in the stove.

"I think what the Chinese have built here for us is nothing but friendship," said Hikmataullo Zoirov, a local engineer at the Dushanbe-2 thermal power station.

President Emomali Rahmon told Li in their meeting that Tajikistan appreciates China's support and assistance to its economic and social development and is willing to enhance cooperation with China in areas of transportation, agriculture, energy and infrastructure construction, among others.

Li said the development prospects of bilateral relations and their cooperation are broad because the economies of the two countries are complementary.

"We want to deepen the cooperation to let the people of the two countries benefit more and the friendship grow even closer," Li said at the joint press conference with Rasulzoda.

Tajikistan is the first leg of Li's Eurasian trip, which will also take him to the Netherlands and Belgium. He will attend the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in Brussels.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 17:50:04|Editor: Li Xia

Video Player Close

Workers pick grapes at Morocco's agricultural company Red Farm in Rommani, Morocco, on Oct. 1, 2018. (Xinhua/Chen Binjie)

RABAT, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Mamoun Sayah, general manager of Morocco's agricultural company Red Farm, is expecting to introduce his wines into the massive Chinese market through the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) scheduled for early November in Shanghai, a financial hub of China.

"Our winery is expanding its production capacity" and used to produce 2.5 million bottles of wine each year, Sayah said, adding that his winery owns 300 hectares of grapes, 50 hectares of which will be harvested for the first time this year.

Such a bumper harvest, which will help increase the wine production to 3 million bottles in 2018, has made Sayah turn his attention to the vast Chinese market to "digest the new capacity," especially less than one month ahead of the CIIE.

"It is very attractive for us to participate in this event. At present, our wines are mainly sold domestically, and we hope to further open the export market," he explained.

His Red Farm vineyard enjoys superior geographical conditions: 450 meters above sea level, backed by the valley, and adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean.

This guaranteed the quality of the grapes and a French winemaker is also hired to guide wine production, said Sayah, in full confidence with his winery.

At present, the winery boasts two wine filling production lines and has signed wine supply agreements with Moroccan high-end hotels.

On the potential Chinese market, Sayah believes that with improving living standards, Chinese consumers' demand for Moroccan wine is rising.

"Chinese consumers know very little about Moroccan wines. Therefore, Red Farm will adopt more modern and fashionable outer packaging and focus on marketing," he said.

"I believe they can break through the encirclement of French wines and have a place in the Chinese market," the Moroccan wine producer noted.

According to Sayah, his farm will focus on promoting its red, white and rose wines at the expo in Shanghai, and strive to open the Chinese market through wine tasting and on-site explanations.

"Chinese consumers will find that the Red Farm wines are cost-effective and have a unique flavor. Our goal is to export 500,000 bottles of wine to China every year," he said.

In addition to wine, the farm also produces 200,000 bottles of olive oil per year, and the import expo will be a good opportunity to expand the sales of olive oil, Sayah added.

As of present, two Moroccan companies have decided to participate in the first China International Import Expo.

Morocco's Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Rakiya Eddarhem said the presence of Moroccan companies at the expo contributes to the diversification of Morocco's economic partners and raises the popularity of Moroccan products.

"The participation of Moroccan exporters in the major event is strategic for promoting Moroccan exports. The opening strategies, as well as the kingdom's African orientation, are beginning to bear fruit," said Hassan Sentissi El Idrissi, president of Moroccan Association of Exporters.

The first CIIE will be held in Shanghai from Nov. 5 to 10. More than 2,800 enterprises from more than 130 countries and regions have confirmed their participation.ABC News(PANAMA CITY, Fla.) -- Hurricane Michael's death toll has climbed to 17 as search-and-rescue crews continue to sift through the wreckage of once-bustling oceanside cities, like Mexico Beach and Panama City Beach, four days after the storm came ashore.



Mexico Beach was largely decimated when Michael made landfall there Wednesday as a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph.



"There are individuals who are deceased. We do not have a count, but we are working to identify them," Miami Fire Chief Joseph Zahralban, leader of a search-and-rescue team in Mexico Beach, told The Associated Press.



One body was found in the wreckage of a home in the town on Friday, but teams planned to be back out to comb through the debris on Saturday.



Of the 17 killed in the storm, eight were located in Florida. Four people died in Gadsden County and three died in Jackson County, in addition to one recovered so far in Mexico Beach, located in Bay County. Jackson County Emergency Management Agency Director Rodney Andreasen said one of the fatalities in Jackson County occurred when a man was struck by a tree in Alford.



FEMA Administrator Brock Long warned on Friday that the death toll will likely climb.



"I hope we dont see that climb dramatically, but ... we still havent gotten into some of the hardest-hit areas," he said.



Ray Jadallah, from the Miami-Dade County Florida Task Force 1, has spent the last two days -- 20 hours a day -- digging through debris in Mexico Beach. He said they are ignoring intact structures and painstakingly going door to door at collapsed buildings, first making noise to alert anyone who could be inside that they are not looters, and then sending in a cadaver dog to search for any bodies.



So far, they have located just one dead body, a relative relief for Jadallah, who did the same work following Hurricane Katrina when they found "numerous victims." The destruction in Bay County has largely been from wind damage, as opposed to the flooding during Katrina.



"We were just surprised by the sheer damage," Jadallah said of arriving in Mexico Beach after Hurricane Michael. "Literally overnight it went from a Category 1 or 2 to a Category 4, almost borderline 5. This type of destruction we haven't seen since I was a kid and that was Hurricane Andrew. This is pretty extensive, the damage. It's going to take some time for them to get back on their feet."



About 285 people defied mandatory evacuation orders in Mexico Beach. Police made two sweeps of the town Wednesday morning and recorded names of everyone who planned to stay, though officials said it is impossible to know who might have left during or immediately after the storm.



"We don't have a building -- from my understanding the water surge moved it off its foundation," Mexico Beach Police Chief Anthony Kelly told ABC News Friday. "The officers, I finally made accountability of them all today, two days after the fact. ... They're not just my officers, the people that I work with, they're my family."



Emily Mitchell returned on Saturday afternoon to what was left of the house her family owned in the city. The roof was ripped off, walls were blown in and she called it a "total loss." They expect to just bulldoze the lot. They are unsure what their next step will be because her parents had decided they couldn't afford to pay for hurricane insurance.



"We didn't want to tell anybody about Mexico Beach because it was such a sweet town, we were scared that people would know about it and keep coming," she said.



"It's just totally wiped out."



Neighboring Panama City was hit just as hard as Mexico Beach. Many survivors told of hunkering down in their homes as they were torn apart by the 150 mph winds.



"I decided to stay because my family decided to evacuate, but the pets had to stay here," Panama City resident John Pandullo said. "They didnt have a place to go. So I wanted to protect them or be there for them in case something like this happened -- and it did."



Pandullo rode out the storm in a closet with his dog, Rosie, as the house literally collapsed around him. The roof caved in and the living room and garage of his parents' home no longer exist.



"It was just so crazy and its just so bad," he said. "The dog was right here and she would not leave my side and she would not move. She was shaking extremely bad. And the winds were coming in and the rain was all pouring down on us and basically I waited for over an hour.



"I managed to make a phone call actually at the peak of the storm, and I was actually able to talk with my parents at the time," Pandullo continued. "And my mom was praying with Jesus on the phone about it the whole time you know -- 'Please let him be alive.'"



Kenny Day has lived in Panama City for two decades and said riding out Michael was "the most scared I've ever been in my life."



"The whole house shook; it felt like the whole house was going to come apart at some point," Day said. "Luckily it didn't. I'm amazed it didn't."



Day's home suffered minor damage, and he's been staying at a motel in Pensacola, but he immediately headed out to buy supplies and has traveled back and forth to Panama City to help others whose homes were damaged worse than his.



"How does it feel to have that help? We need it. We're gonna need it bad," he said. "Man, it's gonna be rough for a while in Panama City."



Five people, including a firefighter, died in Virginia as flooding caused massive damage in an area already hard hit by Hurricane Florence last month. Three people died in North Carolina, all due to falling trees, and a young girl was killed in Georgia when debris was blown through the roof of her grandparents' home.



There were still 1.3 million customers without power across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama and Virginia as of 5 a.m. Saturday.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 17:55:05|Editor: Yamei

Video Player Close

ISTANBUL, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- At least 19 people were killed and 12 others wounded on Sunday when a truck carrying illegal immigrants overturned in western Turkey, local media reported.

The truck skidded off the road and plunged into a ditch in Izmir Province, state-run Anadolu Agency said.

The NTV broadcaster put the latest casualties at 31, with 19 killed including children, and the driver and 11 others injured.

The truck was en route to Izmir from the southwestern province of Aydin when the tragedy happened, the Hurriyet daily said.

The Aegean Sea is a favorite route for illegal immigrants sneaking toward Europe.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 18:35:12|Editor: Li Xia

Video Player Close

MAZAR-E-SHARIF, Afghanistan, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- A total of 14 fighters including 12 Taliban insurgents and two police personnel have been killed elsewhere in the northern Balkh province over the past 24 hours, a police spokesman in the northern region Sayed Sarwar Hussaini said Sunday.

The clashes, according to the official, flared up in Chamtal and Charbolak districts since Saturday after the Taliban fighters launched coordinated offensives on security checkpoints.

Ten militants and one police constable have been injured, the official added.

Taliban militants who have intensified anti-government activities since late April haven't commented on the report.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 18:50:14|Editor: Li Xia

Video Player Close

JERUSALEM, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Israel's leading airline El Al warns that all Israeli airlines will stop flying from Jan. 1, 2019 because of security concerns abroad, a local newspaper reported Sunday.

The surprising announcement was made by Eli Dapas, El Al chairman, in his urgent letter to the deputy head of Israel's National Security Council and the director general of the Prime Minister's Office, the Hebrew-language newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

All flights would be halted because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not intend to continue employing security guards worldwide, Dapas said in the letter.

According to Dapas, the director-general of the Foreign Ministry recently sent him a letter saying the ministry won't employ security workers anymore at foreign airports since Jan. 1, 2019, as no agreement has been reached with these employees.

These Israeli security personnel living abroad normally serve as assistants of security officers in the destinations flown by Israeli international airlines El Al, Arkia and Israir.

Copies of the letter were sent to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also serves as Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Minister of Transport.

Any change in the complex security system will require the consent of many bodies, and the government can't take such decision only 2.5 months in advance, Dapas noted.

The Prime Minister's Office, however, said the issue is expected to be resolved with the Ministry of Finance in days.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 18:55:15|Editor: Li Xia

Video Player Close

KABUL, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Taliban outfit has confirmed that its leaders had held talks with the U.S. special envoy for Afghan peace and reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad, in Qatar's capital Doha on Friday, said a statement of the armed group posted on its website on Sunday.

The Taliban delegation, according to the statement includes chief of political office in Doha Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, deputy head Mawlawi Abdul Salam Hanafi, office members Shahabuddin Delawar, Qari Deen Mohammad Hanif, Mohammad Zahid Ahmadzi and Mohammad Suhil Shaheen.

Taliban purported spokesman Zabihullah Majahid who posted the statement on the armed groups's website, asserted that the "representatives of the Islamic Emirate" (name of ousted Taliban regime) in the meeting "described the presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan as the main obstacle in achieving peace" and demanded the withdrawal of foreign forces from the country.

"Keeping that in mind, efforts must be made towards a true and intra-Afghan solution. At the end both sides agreed to continue holding meetings in the future," the statement added.

The Afghan-born U.S. veteran diplomat Khalilzad after touring Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and meeting Taliban leaders visited Kabul on Saturday and held talks with leaders and politicians within and outside the government.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 19:25:18|Editor: Li Xia

Video Player Close

DOHA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Qatar Press Centre (QPC) expressed its deep concern about the disappearance of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, state-run Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported Sunday.

QPC "has been following with great concern" the developments regarding the suspicious disappearance of Khashoggi since the first day, QPC was quoted as saying in a statement.

The center also called on human rights organizations to take urgent and strong moves on Khashoggi's disappearance, urging the investigation bodies to "prosecute the perpetrators of the evil with transparency."

The statement also confirmed QPC's rejection against all forms of target and restriction of journalists.

Khashoggi has been missing since Oct. 2 and is presumed killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

However, Saudi Arabia dismisses the allegations as "baseless."Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 19:35:21|Editor: Li Xia

Video Player Close

NEW DELHI, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- India's junior external affairs minister M.J. Akbar, who was a journalist before taking up his current assignment on Sunday said that the allegations of sexual assault leveled against him by women journalists were "false, wild and baseless."

He also announced of taking a legal action against the women journalists. As many as 14 women journalists have so far accused him of sexually assaulting or exploiting them while he was a journalist. The allegations date back at least two decades.

The minister had returned on Sunday morning after a weeklong official tour overseas, including to Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea.

"The allegations of misconduct made against me are false and fabricated, spiced up by innuendo and malice. I could not reply earlier as I was on an official tour abroad," he said in a statement issued to the media.

He also raised a question mark over the timing of the allegations, even as they came just before elections in five states, which are slated to take place over the next two months.

"Why has this storm risen a few months before a general election? Is there an agenda? These false, baseless and wild allegations have caused irreparable damage to my reputation and goodwill," he said in his statement.

"I will be taking appropriate legal action," he added.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 20:00:26|Editor: Li Xia

Video Player Close

MOGADISHU, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations and African Union missions in Somalia on Sunday condemned the twin explosions in the southern town of Baidoa that killed at least 22 people and wounded over 30 others on Saturday evening.

In separate statements, the UN and AU missions in Somalia said Saturday's twin blasts on Beder Restaurant and Bilan Hotel will not derail efforts to stabilize Somalia.

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) sent condolences to families and relatives who lost their loved ones and wished a quick recovery to the injured.

"As the state readies to hold elections for the regional presidency next month, such senseless attacks on the people are a deliberate attempt by terrorists to curtail political progress,"said the AU mission.

The first blast occurred at a busy restaurant where a suicide bomber below himself up and after few minutes a similar attack struck Bilan Hotel in the center of the town, killing more than six people.

Islamist militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, saying its fighters killed at least 20 people. The insurgents said they targeted an army barrack and a hotel owned by former finance minister.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) said arbitrary targeting of innocent Somalis will not achieve any political agenda for perpetrators.

"No political agenda can be served by the random and indiscriminate targeting of innocent civilians," said the UN mission.

Meanwhile, President Mohamed Abdulahi Farmajo has condemned the attacks and wished speedy recovery to the victims.

Farmajo also ordered relevant ministries to immediately provide medical assistance to the victims of the terror attacks in Baidoa.

He sent his condolences to the families and relatives of those killed in the attack, calling on the Somali people to stand up for the families of the victims of the terror attacks.

"I send my condolences to all families and relatives of those who lost their lives and injured al-Shabab terrorist group," said the president.

He vowed to enhance security order to thwart any terror incidences posed by the militant group which has engaged the government in nearly daily attacks.

The attacks came after two years of relative calm in Baidoa town considered as the economic hub of the Horn of Africa nation.

The latest attack took place as local leaders were due to bold elections for the regional presidency next month.

Among the candidates who have expressed their intention to vie for the presidency is former al-Shabab deputy commander Mukhtar Robow.

The Somali government has however barred Robow from running for public office in the country. Robow abandoned the group six years ago due to ideological differences.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 20:10:28|Editor: Li Xia

Video Player Close

DHAKA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh is all set to send a high-powered delegation to the first China International Import Expo (CIIE), to be held in Shanghai from Nov. 5 to 10 which reflects Beijing's commitment to open its door wider for trade and investment, senior officials said Sunday.

Abu Mukhles Alamgir Hossain, deputy director of the Export Promotion Bureau of Bangladesh (EPB), told Xinhua that the delegation would be led by Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed.

Apart from this, he said an EPB team led by its chief Bijoy Bhattacharjee, also a secretary of the Bangladeshi government, will visit Shanghai to supervise the Bangladeshi expo participants.

Eight Bangladeshi state agencies and enterprises including Export Promotion Bureau of Bangladesh (EPB), Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA), Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (BEPZA), Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC), an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism will take part in the expo to showcase the country's remarkable social developments and economic achievements.

Avijit Chowdhury, director general of EPB, said they regard the mega expo as an opportunity to woo foreign investors and create new market for Made-in-Bangladesh products abroad.

He said Bangladesh has already booked a big pavilion at the expo that allocated national pavilions for the participating countries.

There is also space for showcasing a memento portraying Bangladesh in the fair, he said.

Li Guangjun, economic and commercial counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh, had earlier said the fair manifests that China's door will open wider not be closed.

The first CIIE will be held in Shanghai from Nov. 5 to 10. More than 2,800 enterprises from more than 130 countries and regions have confirmed their participation.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 20:10:28|Editor: Li Xia

Video Player Close

MOGADISHU, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Somali security forces were deployed across major installations in the restive capital Mogadishu as the Horn of Africa nation marked the first anniversary of October 14, 2017 bombing attack that left hundreds of people dead.

According to the UN and Somali government, the explosion killed at least 587 people and ranks as one of the deadliest ever terrorist attacks in Africa involving the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Another 316 people were injured in the blast, and among the fatalities was a United Nations program worker.

Local people including those who bear the scars of the bombing gathered at the intersection where the horrific attack took place to mark the anniversary.

The government said security would be beefed up in the area where a monument has been erected, to allow residents to commemorate their fallen family members and friends.

A massive car bomb detonated outside the entrance to a hotel in the city's K5 junction, which is home to government offices, hotels and restaurants. Later in the day, a second bombing was reported in the city's Madina district.

In his statement to mark the anniversary, Nicholas Haysom, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Somalia, expressed his solidarity with the victims of a devastating suicide bombing in central Mogadishu a year ago during a brief ceremony on Sunday at the main UN compound in Mogadishu.

Haysom called upon the forces of violent extremism to refrain from using IEDs as a weapon of insurgency.

"Owing to the indiscriminate nature of IED attacks, most of the victims are usually innocent civilians -- men, women and children. No political purpose can ever be served by the random killing of civilians," he said.

The UN also lauded the resilient spirit of the Somali people and noted how the country's progress towards peace and prosperity has continued unabated despite sporadic incidents of terrorism.

"Our thoughts also go out to those survivors of the explosion whose lives were irreversibly altered by the terrible events of October 14, 2017. May they and their loved ones find the strength to overcome the lasting physical and mental scars left by this heinous attack," Haysom said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 20:15:29|Editor: Li Xia

Video Player Close

Photo taken on Oct. 14, 2018 shows plastic boxes of election materials at a warehouse of Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC) in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. Afghan election for Wolesi Jirga or Lower House of parliament is slated for Oct. 20 and more than 2,500 candidates are racing to find way in the 249-seat house. (Xinhua/Rahmat Alizadah)

KABUL, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- As the date for the upcoming Afghan parliamentary elections is getting closer the Afghan Interior Ministry announced deployment of 50,000-strong troops to ensure security for the polling process.

"The government has decided to deploy 50,000 troops elsewhere in the country to provide security for the coming elections," spokesman for Interior Ministry Najib Danish told reporters at the press conference here.

He also stated that more troops would remain on alert to deal with any eventuality on the election day.

Afghan election for Wolesi Jirga or Lower House of parliament is slated for Oct. 20 and more than 2,500 candidates are racing to find way in the 249-seat house.

Anti-government militants since the beginning of electoral campaign on Sept. 28 have targeted election rallies in the eastern Nangarhar, southern Helmand and northern Takhar province killing over three dozen people and injuring scores others.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 20:15:29|Editor: Li Xia

Video Player Close

MOGADISHU, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Somali military court on Sunday executed an al-Shabab militant who masterminded the October deadly attack in 2017 that left about 587 people dead and 316 others injured.

Court Prosecutor Mumin Hussein Abdulahi told reporters that the court found the suspect guilty of coordinating the deadliest attack in Mogadishu truck bombing in October last year.

The militant was driving one of the two cars used to carry out the bomb attacks on that day and the security forces arrested him on the same day, according to Abdulahi.

The execution came a year as the country held nationwide memorial events to mark the first anniversary of the deadliest bombing that devastated the Somali capital.

A massive car bomb detonated outside the entrance to a hotel in the city's K5 junction, which is home to government offices, hotels and restaurants. Later in the day, a second bombing was reported in the city's Madina district.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 20:15:29|Editor: Li Xia

Video Player Close

NICOSIA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations is expected to start a new efforts towards solving the Cyprus problem after a hiatus of more than 14 months in the negotiations, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said on Sunday.

He added that the effort would involve a sounding out the parties involved in the issue.

"The Greek Cypriot side will respond in a positive way to possible soundings by the United Nations. I wish that the behavior of Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots will be the same," Anastasiades told a group of Greek Cypriots.

Anastasiades promised he will make whatever it takes within his power to reach a solution that will reunite Cyprus and restore international law and order.

Cyprus was partitioned when Turkey sent troops to occupy the northern part of Cyprus in 1974, in response to a coup by the military rulers of Greece at the time.

More than 40 years of negotiations came to an end in July 2017, when participants at an international conference in Switzerland -- Greek and Turkish Cypriots and guarantor powers Greece, Turkey and Britain -- failed to agree on a blueprint submitted by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

The Secretary General is expected to receive on Monday a report by a personal envoy, Jane Holl Lute, on the results of her soundings of the parties to restart the negotiations.

Anastasiades said last week after meeting the UN permanent representative in Cyprus, Elizabeth Spehar, that she will arrange a meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci by the end of October.

He said she told him that Akinci had responded positively to a proposal he made for the two to meet, ostensibly to arrange for the opening of more crossing points between the two parts of Cyprus, but also "to discuss about the future of Cyprus."

Commenting on the expected new UN initiative, Anastasiades said he expected a sounding out mission to find out whether existing differences can be bridged on the basis of some new ideas being floated.

But he cautioned that such a move does not necessarily mean a new dialogue on the Cyprus issue.An employee packs the bottles of wine into boxes at Red Farm winery in Morocco's western town of Rommani, on Oct. 1, 2018. (Xinhua/Chen Binjie)

RABAT, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Mamoun Sayah, general manager of Morocco's agricultural company Red Farm, is expecting to introduce his wines into the massive Chinese market through the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) scheduled for early November in Shanghai, a financial hub of China.

"Our winery is expanding its production capacity" and used to produce 2.5 million bottles of wine each year, Sayah said, adding that his winery owns 300 hectares of grapes, 50 hectares of which will be harvested for the first time this year.

Such a bumper harvest, which will help increase the wine production to 3 million bottles in 2018, has made Sayah turn his attention to the vast Chinese market to "digest the new capacity," especially less than one month ahead of the CIIE.

"It is very attractive for us to participate in this event. At present, our wines are mainly sold domestically, and we hope to further open the export market," he explained.

Employees at Red Farm winery pick up grapes in Morocco's western town of Rommani, on Oct. 1, 2018. (Xinhua/Chen Binjie)

His Red Farm vineyard enjoys superior geographical conditions: 450 meters above sea level, backed by the valley, and adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean.

This guaranteed the quality of the grapes and a French winemaker is also hired to guide wine production, said Sayah, in full confidence with his winery.

At present, the winery boasts two wine filling production lines and has signed wine supply agreements with Moroccan high-end hotels.

On the potential Chinese market, Sayah believes that with improving living standards, Chinese consumers' demand for Moroccan wine is rising.

"Chinese consumers know very little about Moroccan wines. Therefore, Red Farm will adopt more modern and fashionable outer packaging and focus on marketing," he said.

"I believe they can break through the encirclement of French wines and have a place in the Chinese market," the Moroccan wine producer noted.

According to Sayah, his farm will focus on promoting its red, white and rose wines at the expo in Shanghai, and strive to open the Chinese market through wine tasting and on-site explanations.

Employees at Red Farm winery clean and process the harvested grapes in Morocco's western town of Rommani, on Oct. 1, 2018. (Xinhua/Chen Binjie)

"Chinese consumers will find that the Red Farm wines are cost-effective and have a unique flavor. Our goal is to export 500,000 bottles of wine to China every year," he said.

In addition to wine, the farm also produces 200,000 bottles of olive oil per year, and the import expo will be a good opportunity to expand the sales of olive oil, Sayah added.

As of present, two Moroccan companies have decided to participate in the first China International Import Expo.

Morocco's Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Rakiya Eddarhem said the presence of Moroccan companies at the expo contributes to the diversification of Morocco's economic partners and raises the popularity of Moroccan products.

"The participation of Moroccan exporters in the major event is strategic for promoting Moroccan exports. The opening strategies, as well as the kingdom's African orientation, are beginning to bear fruit," said Hassan Sentissi El Idrissi, president of Moroccan Association of Exporters.

The first CIIE will be held in Shanghai from Nov. 5 to 10. More than 2,800 enterprises from more than 130 countries and regions have confirmed their participation.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 20:30:30|Editor: Li Xia

Video Player Close

RIYADH, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia on Sunday strongly warned against any threats to exert economic sanctions or political pressures on the kingdom, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

Saudi Arabia will respond any action with greater action as the kingdom plays an influential and vital role in the global economy, SPA quoted an official source as saying in a statement.

The anonymous official also highlighted his country's prominent role in the Arab and Islamic world in achieving regional and global security, stability and prosperity throughout history.

Saudi Arabia has been facing negative media reports about the disappearance of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi since Oct. 2 after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Media reports said Khashoggi might have been killed or arrested inside the Saudi consulate, which has been denied by the Saudi authorities.Human rights activists and friends of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi hold his pictures during a protest outside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on Oct. 8, 2018. (Reuters photo)

RIYADH, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia on Sunday strongly warned against any threats to exert economic sanctions or political pressures on the kingdom, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

Saudi Arabia will respond any action with greater action as the kingdom plays an influential and vital role in the global economy, SPA quoted an official source as saying in a statement.

The anonymous official also highlighted his country's prominent role in the Arab and Islamic world in achieving regional and global security, stability and prosperity throughout history.

Saudi Arabia has been facing negative media reports about the disappearance of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi since Oct. 2 after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Media reports said Khashoggi might have been killed or arrested inside the Saudi consulate, which has been denied by the Saudi authorities.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 21:04:54|Editor: Li Xia

Video Player Close

People queue at a soup kitchen for free food distributed by charity activists of Food for Life foundation held on the occasion of the upcoming World Food Day in Budapest, Hungary, on Oct. 14, 2018.(Xinhua/Attila Volgyi)Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 21:05:36|Editor: Yang Yi

Video Player Close

BUDAPEST, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The number of Chinese tourists visiting Hungary, especially the capital Budapest, was on a dramatic rise, local media reported on Sunday.

"Among the foreign guests visiting Budapest, the number of arrivals from non-European markets increased in August, with China showing the greatest growth of 43 percent," the Budapest Festival and Tourism Center (BFTK) announced based on the figures of the Hungarian Central Statistics Office.

The other countries with the most tourists arriving to Budapest were Israel with 31.1 percent, and the United States, 22.4 percent.

Budapest's commercial guest turnover continued to grow in August, and in January-August the number of guest nights was close to seven million, according to BFTK.

"In August, the number of domestic guest arrivals increased most in the capital, by 9.6 percent, and the number of domestic guest nights grew by the same level, while total gross sales of commercial accommodation increased by 13.8 percent," BFTK added.

Earlier in the week, another event took place that would most probably support the increase of the Chinese tourists to Budapest in the future.

UniCredit Bank Hungary signed an agreement with Alipay, making China's leading mobile payment platform available to Chinese visitors in Hungary from 2019.

According to the latest number of the Hungarian Tourism Agency, 178,000 Chinese visitors visited Budapest in 2017. The number of Chinese tourists visiting Hungary grew by 34 percent last year, reaching 227,000.

While the numbers are not yet available for the current year, it is already known that in the first half of 2018, 140,000 Chinese tourists arrived, an increase of 11 percent.A man holds in his hand Euro banknotes at a petrol station on Sept. 25, 2018, in Lille, north of France. (AFP photo)

TEHRAN, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump "mistakenly" thought Saudi Arabia would be able to replace the lost share of Iran's crude supply to the global market, Iran's First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri said Sunday.

Referring to the U.S. sanctions against Iran's oil and non-oil sectors, Jahangiri was quoted by Tasnim news agency as saying the enemy's goal is to minimize the country's sources of income in the current economic war against Iran.

The reduced share of Iran in global oil market is the reason behind the recent surge in oil prices, the vice president noted.

"Trump thinks the Saudis can make up for Iran's (lost) oil share, but they cannot and now we see that oil prices have risen," Jahangiri said.

The enemy is seeking to cut Iran's oil exports to zero and prevent Iran's imports of basic commodities, including raw materials, he said.

In May, Trump pulled Washington out of the 2015 international deal on Tehran's nuclear program and vowed to restore sanctions on Iran's oil exports on Nov. 4.

Iran exported at least 2.5 million barrels per day of crude in April, before Trump withdrew the United States from the deal.

Recently, Iran announced that the Republic of Korea, one of the country's major crude customers, has stopped crude imports from Iran.

Last week, Iran's Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said Saudi Arabia would not be able to replace Iran's oil share in the global market.

The comments by Zanganeh came in response to the recent statements of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that his country and other producers had already raised their crude output to replace Iran's share of oil exports in the market.

"Such overstatements could only please Mr. (Donald) Trump," Zanganeh said, adding that "in reality, the market will never believe such claims."

Neither Saudi Arabia nor any other oil producer has such a capacity to replace Iran's oil in the market, he stressed.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 22:30:49|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived here on Sunday for an official visit to the Netherlands, the first by a Chinese premier in 14 years.

During his stay in the country, the premier will hold in-depth discussions with Mark Rutte, prime minister of the Netherlands, and other leaders on bilateral ties, China-Europe relations, and global and regional issues of common concern. He is also set to address a business forum in The Hague.

The two sides are expected to sign a series of cooperation documents on aviation, energy and finance, among others.

The visit, also Li's first to the European country as the Chinese premier, will further enhance political trust and pragmatic cooperation, and inject new impetus to China-Netherlands as well as China-Europe ties, Vice Foreign Minister Wang Chao said at a press briefing ahead of the visit.

It is the second stop of Li's Eurasia trip from Oct. 11 to 19. He has paid an official visit to Tajikistan and attended the 17th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Dushanbe, and will fly to Belgium for the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit and a working visit.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 22:45:53|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

TRIPOLI, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Libya's eastern-based army on Sunday expressed readiness to secure any elections in the country.

The General Command of the Arab Libyan Armed Forces affirmed that it is concerned with the protection of the democratic process and the peaceful transfer of power, said a statement of the army's information office.

It confirms readiness to secure any electoral process in the country by protecting polling stations in areas under the control of the army, the statement said.

In May, France hosted a meeting with the participation of different Libyan parties to end the political crisis in the country.

The parties agreed to hold and commit themselves to presidential and parliamentary elections slated for Dec. 10.

Despite signing a UN-sponsored peace agreement by the Libyan political parties in 2015, Libya remains politically divided between eastern and western governments, both competing for legitimacy.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 22:50:55|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

MANAMA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Bahrain on Sunday affirmed its full solidarity with Saudi Arabia against all attempts to undermine it or seek to harm it.

It stressed strong rejection against those who attempt to harm Saudi policy, position and sovereignty, said a government statement.

"Bahrain commends the high position of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as it is considered the basis for security and stability of the Arab and Islamic worlds, and also acts as a solid foundation for the stability of the region," said the statement.

Bahrain reiterated its firm stance with Saudi Arabia in all its policies and efforts to confront various threats and issues, facing the international community, extremism and terrorism, the statement added.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 23:05:56|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

DAMASCUS, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian Interior Minister Muhammad al-Sha'ar said Sunday that the Syrian and Jordanian sides have agreed to re-open the Nasib-Jaber border crossing as of Monday, according to the state TV.

Al-Sha'ar said that technical teams from both countries met Sunday at the Jaber border point, which is on the Jordanian side of the border, and finalized all arrangements and measures pertaining to the re-opening of the Nasib-Jaber crossing between both countries.

The border crossing was closed in 2015 when the rebels took over the Nasib area and the crossing in the countryside of Daraa province in southern Syria.

The Syrian army captured Daraa and the border crossing in July after the rebels in the province surrendered to the army and agreed to evacuate to rebel-held areas in northern Syria, mainly the northwestern province of Idlib.

Last month, the Syrian Transportation Ministry declared raising the transit crossing fees that should be paid by trucks passing in and out of Syria whether they are loaded or empty.

Ahead of the crisis, the Nasib crossing was the busiest border crossing in Syria as it is situated on the Damascus-Amman international highway.

The crossing is also considered one of the most important land crossings in the Middle East as it was the main crossing for Syrian exports to Jordan and the Gulf countries.

Lebanon would also benefit from the re-opening of the Nasib crossing as the Mediterranean country only through Nasib can do trade business with Arab markets.

The closure of the Nasib border incurred major losses in Lebanon, as 70 percent of the agricultural exports, 32 percent of the food industry and 22 percent of the total industry exports in the country passed through Nasib ahead of its closure, according to Nabil Itani, chairman, and CEO of the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon.

The Lebanese businesses had to resort to sea shipment when Nasib was closed, which is much more expensive compared with the land shipment.

The crossing is also important for Jordan which is suffering from economic problems.

Since the crossing was closed in 2015, Jordan has suffered heavy losses as 70 percent of its exports and imports went through Syria, according to Nabil Ruman, head of the investor's board of the Jordanian Free Zone.

Reports said the loss of the Jordanian transport sector from the border closure is estimated at around half 1 billion U.S. dollars.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 23:10:57|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

XI'AN, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Baihe, a poverty-stricken county of no more than 220,000 people in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, has sent over 1,800 students to the country's top Chinese universities since 2000, offering the local region a solution to getting out of poverty.

"The science student who scored the highest in this year's national college entrance exam in the city of Ankang was from my class. He was admitted by Tsinghua University," said Xie Peicheng with pride, a teacher at Baihe Senior High School.

Seventy percent of the students in his class are from rural households, and many of the students come from poor families. "A decade ago, few students could pass the college entrance exam. But now, more students are being accepted by top universities," said Xie.

Baihe County lies in the deep mountains of Shaanxi Province, where there are rocky roads and areas of infertile soil. "To send a student from here to college is to help his or her family out of poverty," said Zeng Yougen, one of Xie's students. Zeng is also a graduate from a top three Chinese university and now the manager of a large company in the city of Hangzhou, capital of eastern China's Zhejiang Province.

"Mountainous Baihe lacks flat terrain, but the local government has offered the largest area of land to build our high school," said Niu Yubin, the principal of Baihe Senior High School. "The school was completed within three years with a total investment of 400 million yuan (about 58 million U.S. dollars). Its modern facilities are even better than those in high schools in many large cities."

The local government of Baihe has always made education a top priority. From 2011 to 2015, spending on education reached 128.2 million yuan, nearly two times that of its fiscal revenue. Five middle schools and high schools in the county have also been relocated to better places, 27 primary schools extended or rebuilt, and 11 kindergartens built from scratch.

Since then, Baihe has become a leading high school in the Ankang area, contributing the largest number of students to second-tier universities for 17 consecutive years.

Thanks to the good education they have received, more young people from the county have been seeking better lives in big cities while older generations have been returning, hoping to make a difference in their hometown.

Huang Zhigui, a 50-year-old miner-turned coal mine owner, was one of the villagers that returned after working in central China's Henan Province for 30 years. "I would drink a big bowl of wine to give myself encouragement before I went below," Huang recalled the days as a miner. He however deems it worthy work as he has donated most of his savings from the job to the renovation of a primary school back home.

"I have tasted the hardships of a drop-out, and our children deserve a better education," Huang said.

In 2009, Huang, already a millionaire, returned with an ambition to help his hometown out of poverty. He invested his savings of over 20 million yuan into a tea factory and 200 hectares of land.

Last year, his tea business began to profit. Thanks to selling six tonnes of tea, Huang received net earnings of over 400,000 yuan. "Investment in agriculture is a long-term business, and I feel encouraged that it will become a stable business for generations to come," Huang said.

Li Changhua, 64, like 271 other households, could hardly make ends meet before she began working for Huang's tea factory. But now, the job has become a stable and major source of income.

Migrant workers account for up to 60 percent of the population in Baihe, which holds back its economic growth. "We will continue our efforts in education and provide one-stop services for businesspeople to attract investment and help increase employment," said Chen Jun, Baihe's Party chief.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 23:15:58|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

CAIRO, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian criminal court sentenced on Sunday three defendants to death over terrorism-related charges, official Ahram Online news website reported.

The court also sentenced another four defendants to life in prison and seven others to 15 years.

Nine other defendants in the case have been acquitted, the report said.

The court's verdict can still be appealed.

Sunday's sentence came nearly four years after the 23 defendants were charged with establishing Ansar Al-Sharia terror group.

In 2014, the defendants were convicted of forming and running the Ansar Al-Sharia terrorist group, attacking police, army personnel and institutions, government facilities, and Christians and their places of worship.

Terrorism rose in Egypt following the military ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.

Terror attacks gradually expanded from North Sinai province bordering Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip to other provinces including the capital Cairo, and started to target the Coptic minority via church bombings and shootings.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 23:46:04|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

CAPE TOWN, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The South African government is intensifying the implementation of its land reform and restitution programs so that South Africans can leverage land for the betterment of their lives and the growth of the economy, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday.

"It is our firm belief that communities must take great interest in their land restitution processes and be active participants in all enterprises and activities taking place on their land," Ramaphosa said.

He was speaking at a ceremony marking the restitution of land to a black community in KwaZulu-Natal Province.

The handover of 4,586 hectares of land to the KwaMkhwanazi community came at a time when the attention of South Africa is focused on the effort to correct the original sin of land dispossession, Ramaphosa said.

"This is the first of a number of land claims that we aim to unlock over the next few months," said Ramaphosa.

The KwaMkwanazi community was forcibly removed from their land during the apartheid era. In recent years, the affected community submitted claims for the return of land administered by the King Cetshwayo District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal.

The community's successful claim sees 1,656 claimants regain ownership of their ancestral land.

"We are making history and celebrating the return of your land today," Ramaphosa said.

KwaMkwanazi is a beacon of hope for communities who may over time have grown despondent or impatient as they await the realization of a fundamental human right, said Ramaphosa.

He promised that the government will assist the locals with post-settlement packages that will develop their ability to create sustainable income and jobs from the land transferred to the community.

"When we work together, we are able to dislodge from our society the deeply embedded injustices and damage of centuries of colonialism and decades of apartheid," Ramaphosa said.

In his maiden State of the Nation Address in February, Ramaphosa pledged to accelerate the land redistribution programs not only to redress a grave historical injustice, but also to bring more producers into the agricultural sector and to make more land available for cultivation.

"If we could end apartheid rule in the way we did, we have it within us to return our people to the land, as we are proving here today," Ramaphosa said at Sunday's ceremony.

It will be impossible for one section of the population to live in prosperity and peace while millions of citizens live in conditions of poverty, unemployment and underdevelopment, he said.

This government is resolute in its commitment to returning the land in an orderly and lawful manner, the president said.

"We shall not allow illegal land occupations," he reiterated in an apparent bid to alleviate fears that the ongoing land reform, characterized by land expropriation without compensation, will drive away white farmers, kill jobs and threaten food security.

No one should exploit the challenges facing landless communities to foment lawlessness and tension in the country, he added.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-14 23:51:06|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) - Qiangsheng, a Siberian crane whose name literally means "surviving gunshots," is a critically endangered migratory bird species on the IUCN red list.

Nobody had expected that the bird, whose wings and leg were gravely damaged by poachers' bullets, could fly thousands of miles to the Arctic Siberia where the white cranes breed.

Its rescuers never expected Qiangsheng to return to China. But after a few months, it did.

On Wednesday, Qiangsheng was spotted on a monitor, and its tracker data showed that it had come back to the wetland of Xianghai National Nature Reserve in the northeastern province of Jilin, after spending the summer in the Siberian tundra.

"Qiangsheng flew out of the country on May 14, returned to China on Oct. 9 and arrived at Xianghai Reserve at noon on Oct. 10, basically following the same route there and back," said professor Zhou Haixiang, a veteran ornithologist and member of China's State Committee of UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB).

For the Chinese volunteers who have been battling the poachers, the coming back of Qiangsheng was inspiring news ahead of World Migratory Bird Day on Saturday, the second such day within the year.

Even better, Qiangsheng might have participated in breeding activity this year, analyzed an expert based on data collected near the species' breeding areas.

SURVIVING GUNSHOTS

In March this year, Zhou and his team of volunteers found Qiangsheng with three bullet wounds in the wetlands of Liaohe River, in northeastern Liaoning Province.

Its life was hanging by a thread.

The volunteers rushed the bird to Shenyang Predatory Birds Rescue Center, where a four-hour surgery managed to remove the bullets and save its life.

Qiangsheng's wings were shattered and had a broken leg. The volunteers had to bundle together eight of its primary flight feathers to hold its wing in place.

To avoid secondary damage caused by stress responses, Qiangsheng was released into Huanzidong Wetland Reserve in Liaoning shortly after the surgery.

Considering the severity of its wounds, the volunteers thought Qiangsheng would stay at the feeding site for the summer. But after only 50 days of unassisted recovery, it took off with his flock towards the Arctic tundra.

"On May 13, a flock of white cranes departed from Huanzidong Wetland in Faku District, Liaoning, and began their migration. By 5 p.m., the flock flew west by our location in Momoge Wetland," wrote Zhou in his journal.

"Qiangsheng landed 10 km north of us," he wrote, calling it "the white crane whom the volunteers are worried about the most."

Not even the experienced expert had foreseen that the crane, which had barely escaped death, could fly more than 400 km in one day.

FIGHTING POACHING

In the same location that Qiangsheng was found this spring, three other cranes were poisoned by poachers, including one of the only two young chicks of the flock born last year.

The chick and another adult died before rescuers reached them. The other crane was saved and set free a few days later.

After receiving the volunteers' report, Liaoning forest police established a special task force to investigate into the case. A few days later, three suspects were detained.

On Sept. 25, volunteers in Tianjin, a northern port city and important layover site for avian migration, reported two illegal sheds where captured wild birds were forcedly fattened and sold for meat. Over 100,000 birds were found in captivity.

In a matter of days, a joint operative was launched by state and municipal authorities, in which 19,800 law enforcement officers and volunteers conducted inspections of 12,518 risk sites and businesses as of Oct. 4.

China is determined to establish an ecological "red line" by 2020 that will make certain regions protected. Many wildlife experts in China and abroad, including Zhou Haixiang, have urged that wetlands, as a crucial habitat for biodiversity, should be included in the redlined areas to be "under mandatory and rigorous protection."

China plays a fundamental part in the global avian protection given its geographical importance along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, one of the three major migration paths, experts said.

The Siberian crane, also known as white crane or snow crane, is one of the most threatened of the 15 cranes species remaining on Earth, with an estimated global population of 3,200 as of 2010 and a low reproductive rate.

Every year they fly to breed in the Arctic and spend the winter in warmer wetlands in Asia. They have one of the longest migrations among all cranes.

Their wintering site in Poyang in central China holds approximately 95 to 98 percent of the total population.

"May Qiangsheng fly free and prosper. May no harm ever be done to it or its kin," read a comment on the China Wildlife Conservancy Association's post on the crane's update in May.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-15 00:26:20|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

DAMASCUS, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The ultra-radical groups have yet to leave the planned demilitarized zone which is slated to go into force on Oct. 15 in northern Syria, a war monitor reported on Sunday.

A few hours were left for the demilitarized zone to go into effect and the ultra-radical rebels, who are in control of 70 percent of the planned buffer zone, are still in their positions, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The watchdog group said tension prevails in that region, which stretches from the northeastern countryside of Latakia province to the northern countryside of the province of Hama and western countryside of Latakia as well as areas in the countryside of Idlib province in northwestern Syria.

It said the Syrian and Russian side is targeting the demilitarized zone for many reasons, one of which is the presence of the extremist groups in the zone.

The withdrawal of the extremist groups from the buffer zone is the second step of the Russian-Turkish deal to establish such a zone in northern Syria.

The rebels have withdrawn their heavy weapons recently.

The deal was reached last month between the leaders of Turkey and Russia, aiming at averting Idlib Province, which is the last major rebel stronghold in Syria, a wide-scale offensive by the Syrian Army.

The Syrian government has welcomed the deal but noted that it was temporary not a permanent one.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-15 01:01:28|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (2nd L) arrives at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Oct. 14, 2018. Li Keqiang arrived here on Sunday for an official visit to the Netherlands at the invitation of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived here on Sunday for an official visit to the Netherlands, the first by a Chinese premier in 14 years.

It is also Li's first trip to the European country as the Chinese premier.

The Netherlands is one of the first western countries to establish diplomatic ties with new China and the two countries decided to build an open and pragmatic partnership for comprehensive cooperation during Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit in 2014, said Li in a written statement upon his arrival.

As two large trading nations, China and the Netherlands are important trading partners for each other, he said, noting that he hopes the visit will further enhance political trust between the two countries.

He said he expects that through this visit, China and the Netherlands will discuss ways to comprehensively deepen and expand cooperation in various areas and cement consensus on safeguarding multilateralism, supporting globalization and promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, so as to inject new impetus to cooperation and relations between China and the Netherlands as well as China and Europe and deliver more benefits to the people.

During his three-day stay, the premier will hold in-depth discussions with Mark Rutte, prime minister of the Netherlands, and meet with Dutch King Willem-Alexander. He is also set to visit a hi-tech exhibition and address a business forum in The Hague.

The two sides are expected to sign a series of cooperation documents on aviation, energy and finance, among others, according to a press briefing by Chinese Foreign Ministry ahead of the visit.

It is the second stop of Li's Eurasia trip from Oct. 11 to 19. He has paid an official visit to Tajikistan and attended the 17th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Dushanbe, and will fly to Belgium for the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit and a working visit.Photo from Department of Finance of Ireland shows the Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe presenting the government's 2019 budget before he tabled it to the lower house of the Irish parliament for debate.(Xinhua/Department of Finance of Ireland)

DUBLIN, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has recently introduced to the parliament Ireland's 2019 budget as the first balanced one in a decade.

The fact that the Irish government can deliver a balanced budget, the first of its kind since the 2007 financial crisis, is largely due to the improved Irish economy over the last few years, Donohoe said in his budget speech to the lower house of the parliament.

He said the 2018 forecast for Ireland's economic growth is revised up from 5.6 percent to 7.5 percent, compared to last year's 7.2 percent, while predicting a 4.2 percent growth for 2019.

If the economy continues to perform well beyond next year, Donohoe said the public budget is likely to achieve a surplus in future.

A balanced budget will help reduce the high public debt, which was 111 percent of its gross national income in 2017. The debt stands at 42,000 euros (48,300 U.S. dollars) per capita, the highest level in the developed world, he said.

Adopting a balanced budget, he said, will help bring the public debt down to 105 percent of the gross national income in 2018 and 101 percent in 2019.

In the meantime, this measure will help the Irish government to cope with the situation after Britain's exit from the European Union (EU) in March 2019, which is the largest and imminent challenge faced by Ireland, he said.

To minimize the negative impact of Brexit, especially under the scenario where there will be no deal in the Brexit talks between Britain and the EU, the Irish government has taken a number of measures concerning the 2019 budget, he said.

These measures, including the establishment of a 20-billion-euro (23 billion dollar) Rainy Day Fund, increased spending on employment of customs personnel and equipment at airports, sea ports and border crossings with Britain's Northern Ireland, he said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-15 02:06:35|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

GAZA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- In the Palestinian Gaza Strip, the possibilities of reaching a truce deal between Islamic Hamas movement and Israel, or an outbreak of a fierce military conflict are almost equal.

Palestinian observers believe that armed Palestinian factions and Israel do not show a desire for a military escalation, but developments on the ground keep the possibilities open for a sudden military confrontation.

On Friday, seven Palestinians, including a child, were killed and dozens wounded by Israeli gunfire during weekly protests that have been ongoing since March 30 along the Gaza-Israel borders.

This raised the total number of Palestinian death toll since the beginning of the protests, known as the "Great March of Return," to more than 200.

Then, Israel on Saturday suspended the entry of industrial fuel to Gaza's sole power plant until further notice in response to Friday's protests.

The fuel halt came amid efforts exerted by the United Nations and other countries to ease the blockade Israel has been imposing on Gaza since Hamas' violent takeover of the impoverished enclave in 2007.

On Saturday, Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas movement politburo chief, said the weekly protests will continue until Israel lifts its blockade on Gaza.

"Both Hamas and Israel are tightening the ropes around each other to strengthen their position weather for truce or war," Gaza-based political expert Adnan Abu Amer told Xinhua.

Abu Amer said that Israel's demands for any humanitarian moves for Gaza are still the same as it requires complete calm.

"There is still time to see a different Israeli position ... Israel may ease the blockade and this may not be a miracle, but it is not easy at the same time," he said.

Israel has repeatedly demanded that Hamas and other Palestinian factions be demilitarized in addition to handing over the Israeli soldiers held hostage in Gaza in order to agree on substantial steps to ease the blockade.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian factions stress that the weekly protests are peaceful that demand a complete lifting of the blockade, which led to unprecedented deterioration of the humanitarian situation of Gaza's 2 million populations.

In recent months, Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations have succeeded to stop repeated violent confrontations between Hamas and Israel. However, their mediation did not come out with a full truce agreement.

Hamas also announced efforts by the United Nations, Egypt and Qatar to secure an unconditioned truce deal in exchange for lifting the blockade, which Israel has not officially confirmed.

"Hamas is more in favor of calm than military escalation, but at the same time keeping the weekly protests to press for the lifting of the blockade," political analyst Abdel Nasser al-Najjar from Ramallah city told Xinhua.

The expert said it is hard to tell what may happen in the coming days as things are "vague".

"Nobody can really tell if Gaza will see a new war, or Israel will relax its blockade," he noted.

To avoid further deterioration, al-Najjar said, Gaza needs a national strategy based on the interests of the Palestinian people, with ending the internal Palestinian division on top.

The seaside territory has been suffering from a political division since Hamas violent takeover of Gaza.

Last October, Hamas and Fatah signed an Egyptian-sponsored reconciliation pact in Cairo to heal their decade-long rift.

Under the deal, Hamas should fully hand over its power in Gaza to the Ramallah-based consensus government in December.

However, the ongoing differences between the two sides forced a delay in the implementation of the deal until further notice.

More than one agreement on national reconciliation were reached under Saudi, Qatari and Egyptian sponsorship, but none did reach a tangible breakthrough to end the division.

Abbas has recently threatened that he will make "decisive decisions" against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, including a halt of aid to the blockaded war-torn territory.

"Taking new punitive measures by the Palestinian Authority against Gaza will only perpetuate the division," Akram Atallah, a political observer from Gaza told Xinhua.

Atallah warned that the dedication of the separation of Gaza is already taking place through "the gate of humanitarian intervention".

"The Palestinian Authority should think how to bring Gaza back under its umbrella, especially after it was proved that previous measures intensified the division," the expert pointed out.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-15 02:31:38|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Tens of thousands of people, both Angelenos and visitors from around the world gathered at the Original Farmers Market in downtown Los Angeles during the weekend, enjoying the festivity brought by the annual Fall Festival.

Every year, the Original Farmers Market celebrates the fall harvest with Fall Festival, a free gathering that includes crafts, artisan demonstrations, live music, petting zoo and the festival-favorite pie-eating contest.

"We have been doing our pie-eating contest since I can remember, and we have people who look forward this every year, they sign up in advance, get really into it, and it's something you don' t really see through out the city, we are probably one of the very few venues that still hold a pie-eating contest," said Maritza Cerrato, marketing and tourism specialist with the Original Farmers Market.

Competitors should eat the pie without the help of hands in a limited time, which forces them to dig into pies face-first and minutes later presents audiences a hilarious sight with their faces full of gooey pie, whipped cream and big smiles.

"I was pretty hungry but now I'm good," said the winner Soroush who ate the whole pie during the contest, "I'll join it again the next year, now I have the skill, I'd better use it."

The 84th Fall Festival is the market's oldest and most historic event, it started in 1934, only months after the Original Farmers Market opened.

With over 100 different shops, restaurants and grocers, the market evolved from a traditional farmers market, where farmers sold their vegetables to local customers. The traditional farmers market is also a world-famous tourist destination.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-15 03:16:43|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

RAMALLAH, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Revolutionary Council of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party Sunday recommended dissolving the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), the Palestinian Authority parliament.

Fatah Revolutionary Council, which has been convening in Ramallah for three days, called on the Palestinian Central Council in an official statement to dissolve the PLC and prepare for general elections in the Palestinian territories within a year.

The PLC, with a Hamas overwhelming majority, has been inoperative since the internal Palestinian split started following the Islamic movement's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007, according to Fatah Revolutionary Council.

The statement accused Hamas movement of disabling the PLC "which has lost its ability to carry out its legislative and supervisory missions."

The Palestinian Central Council is the second highest official Palestinian establishment after the Palestinian National Council (PNC).

The Central Council is scheduled to convene in Ramallah on Oct. 28. The council last time convened in January without the participation of both Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.

Earlier, senior Palestinian officials affirmed that the council intended to take decisive and crucial decisions to treat the internal Palestinian crisis that was an outcome of the feuds with Hamas.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-15 05:06:58|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

CAIRO, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Egypt expressed its concern over the repercussions of a Saudi journalist's disappearance in Turkey and voiced support for Saudi Arabia in dealing with the issue, Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

"Egypt is following up with concern the repercussions of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance, stressing the importance of finding out the truth through transparent probe," Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Hafez said in the statement.

The Saudi reporter has been missing since Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul with some allegations that the Saudi regime might be involved in his mysterious disappearance.

Saudi officials have repeatedly dismissed the charges, saying Khashoggi's disappearance came after he left the consulate building.

Egypt also warned against the perils of jumping to conclusions, launching accusations haphazardly or using the case politically against the kingdom based on uncertain charges, according to Egyptian Foreign Ministry.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-15 05:06:59|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

CAIRO, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will start a three-day state visit to Russia next Monday during which he will hold talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

The two leaders will discuss "ways of enhancing distinguished bilateral relations at all levels," Egypt's presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said in the statement on Sunday.

He added that Sisi and Putin will also go through a number of regional and international issues of mutual concerns.

Rady pointed out that the Egyptian president will deliver a speech at Russia's Federation Council where "will be the first time for a foreign head of state to deliver a speech."

Nourhan al-Sheikh, a political science professor at Cairo University, expects the talks to involve key regional issues such as the recent developments in war-torn Syria and Libya.

"The war in Yemen is also very important and it could be on the agenda of Sisi-Putin talks," Al-Sheikh told Xinhua.

At the bilateral level, the Egyptian-Russian military cooperation is among the topics to be discussed during Sisi's visit, according to the professor.

She expected the talks to discuss the project of Egypt's first nuclear power plant that will be built by Russia as well as the vast Russian industrial zone agreed to be established in Egypt's Suez Canal region.

Putin visited Cairo in December 2017 when he and Sisi witnessed the signing of the agreement to build Egypt's nuclear power station.

Egypt was Russia's hot tourist destination before October 2015 when a Russian passenger plane crashed in Egypt, killing all 224 people on board, mostly Russians.

The crash was later claimed by the Islamic State.

Moscow then suspended all direct flights between Russia and Egypt until it resumed direct flights only between the two capital cities earlier this year. Flights to other Egyptian cities remain on hold.

"Besides economic and trade topics, the two leaders will surely discuss the resumption of Russian direct flights to Egypt's resort cities of Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurgada," Al-Sheikh added.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-15 05:17:00|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

DAMASCUS, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem on Sunday underscored the importance of a quick reopening of the border crossings with Iraq, according to the state news agency SANA.

Al-Moallem's remarks came during his meeting with the visiting Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari held in the capital Damascus on Sunday evening.

Both ministers affirmed the need to reopen border crossings to improve the flow of goods and facilitate travel between the two countries.

Reopening the border points come as the Syrian army has cleared large swaths of border areas between Syria and Iraq from the presence of the Islamic State (IS).

In July, the Iraqi forces worked to enhance the security situation on the border with Syria, installing cameras and flying drones to ensure the security against any threat from IS.

Earlier in October, the Iraqi security forces said that the Iraqi army has strengthened control of the country's border with Syria to prevent infiltration attempts by terrorists.

Both countries have suffered from the presence of the IS militants in the border region. Given that the two countries have fought IS and secured the border points, the situation seems ripe for reopening the border crossings.

However, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and allied Kurdish-led groups still control border areas in northeastern Syria with Iraq.

The U.S. forces also present at the al-Tanf area in southeastern Syria where a major border crossing between Syria and Iraq is located.

The border crossing that would be likely reopened is the al-Qa'im which is located in southeast of Syria's eastern province of Deir al-Zour.

Al-Qa'im crossing is considered as one of the major supply routes across the Middle East, which connects the town of Abu Kamal in Syria's Deir al-Zour to the city of Husaybah in the Al-Qa'im District of Iraq's Anbar Governorate.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-15 05:22:01|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

RIYADH, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabian king on Sunday thanked Turkish President in a phone call for welcoming the kingdom's proposal on a joint working team to investigate the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Press Agency reported.

During the call, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud expressed his keenness to maintain good relations with Turkey and asserted that no one will affect the strength of the relationship between the two countries.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also expressed his appreciation for the close bilateral relations and their peoples and is keen to strengthen and develop them.

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been missing since Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The case attracted the world attention with allegations that Khashoggi might had been killed or arrested inside the Saudi consulate, which had been dismissed by Saudi Arabia.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-15 05:32:02|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

SKOPJE, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Macedonian government revised and approved the proposal for amending the budget for 2018 during Saturday's government session, Macedonia's Minister of Finance Dragan Tevdovski said on Sunday.

According to Tevdovski, the rebalance of the budget revises the GDP (gross domestic product) growth to 2.8 percent, maintains the deficit at 2.7 percent and cuts the expenditures and revenues for 0.5 percent.

"The rebalance aims to revise the expenditures, which will provide financial support for the municipalities and health insurance, pension funds and the employment agency," underlined Tevdovski.

According to the Macedonian finance minister, the draft rebalance reallocates about 48 million euros (around 55.5 million U.S. dollars) in financial support to municipalities for their overdue debts.

"The biggest redistribution allocation is for the municipalities in order to reduce expired and unpaid obligations of municipalities. The way of realizing the financial support of the municipalities will be confirmed by law," Tevdovski said.

Moreover, Tevdovski said that the laws are in the final processing phase and will be submitted to the parliament in the meantime when the plenary session will vote on the initiation of the constitutional changes procedure.

Macedonian government started the procedure for rebalancing the 2018 Budget in order to preserve the deadlines in accordance with the legal regulation for its approval by the Parliament until Nov. 15, in case the decision is made for holding early elections.

Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev had said that earlier elections could be held as soon as Nov. 25, as at least 45 days have to pass between the dissolution of the parliament and the polls.

On Oct. 8, the Macedonian government adopted a motion on starting the changes on the country's constitution, which is scheduled to be discussed in the parliament on Oct. 15 plenary session.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-15 05:37:03|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

PARIS, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- France, Germany and Britain on Sunday expressed concerns over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and called for "a credible investigation" into the incident.

In a joint statement issued by the Quai d'Orsay, top diplomats of the three European countries stressed that "all the light must be shed on the disappearance of... Khashoggi, whose relatives have had no news since October 2," saying they treated the affair "with the utmost seriousness."

"There needs to be a credible investigation to establish the truth about what happened, and, if relevant, to identify those responsible for the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, and ensure that they are held to account," said French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves le Drian, German Heiko Maas and British Jeremy Hunt.

"We encourage joint Saudi-Turkish efforts in that regard, and expect the Saudi government to provide a complete and detailed response. We have conveyed this message directly to the Saudi authorities," they added.

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared during a visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul earlier this month.

Media reports said the Washington Post columnist might have been killed or arrested inside the Saudi consulate, which has been denied by the Saudi authorities.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-15 05:47:04|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

ANKARA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on late Sunday held phone talk with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, discussing the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

During the phone call, the two leaders emphasized the importance of forming a joint working group to make investigation on the case, the report cited Turkish presidential source as saying.

Saudi King Salman also affirmed his country's solid ties with Turkey, saying no one could undermine the strength of their bilateral relationship, the Saudi Foreign Ministry tweeted after the phone conversation.

Khashoggi, journalist and columnist for The Washington Post, has been missing since he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

Unconfirmed reports said that Khashoggi was likely killed inside the compound, which was denied by Saudi officials as "baseless."

Erdogan urged Saudi Arabia to explain the fate of Jamal Khashoggi, saying the kingdom's consulate should provide evidence that Khashoggi exited the building after entering.

A Saudi delegation arrived in Turkey on Friday to discuss the case with Turkish authorities, following Turkish presidential spokesperson announced to form a joint Turkish-Saudi investigation team upon the kingdom's request.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-15 05:47:04|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

YAOUNDE, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Cameroon's Constitutional Council will on October 16 begin hearing petitions from some opposition candidates and voters demanding the nullification of the October 7 presidential poll, said Secretary General of the institution Malego Joseph Asse on Sunday in a statement.

Hearings will begin at 11:00 am local time in the capital, Yaounde, Asse said.

According to the Cameroonian electoral body, Elections Cameroon (Elecam) 25 petitions have been filed by voters and candidates asking for the election to be either partially or totally annulled.

Presidential candidates including Joshua Osih from the leading opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF), Maurice Kamto from the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM), and Cabral Libii from the UNIVERS, decry among other things "irregularities" and "disregard of electoral law" that their team observed during the polling.

According to Cameroon Electoral Code, the Constitutional Council is expected to proclaim the final results of the election by October 22.

On Friday, Elecam chairperson, Enow Abrams Egbe called on the candidates to remain calm as the country awaits the final results of the election.

"We therefore exhort all candidates to demonstrate maximum restraint and wait for the proclamation of the results." Egbe said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-15 05:47:04|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

TEHRAN, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that the U.S. sanctions on Iran's oil exports in Nov. would have "no impact" on the economy and the lives of people.

The enemy has waged a psychological war and "has already done whatever it could have done," Rouhani said in the University of Tehran on Sunday.

The impending Nov. 4 sanctions on Iran's oil exports by the U.S. will have "no impact" on the state of affairs in the country, but the pressures by the current U.S. administration are aimed at a "regime change" in Iran, Rouhani was quoted by Press TV as saying.

"Over the past 40 years, there has not been a more spiteful team than the current U.S. government vis-a-vis Iran and the Islamic republic," Rouhani said.

"They started with a psychological war. Their next goal is an economic war in an attempt to portray (the Islamic republic) ineffective, and their ultimate goal is to delegitimize the system and change it," he added.

Iran has defeated the U.S. many times before and will thwart all its conspiracies with the unity and integrity among the Iranians again, he maintained.

Rouhani said that Washington has been isolated after its withdrawal from the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, adding that except for a few countries, all others view the move as "illegal" and a "mistake."

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on May 8 his withdrawal from the Iranian 2015 international nuclear deal, also known as JCPOA, and vowed to return harshest sanctions in history against Iran.

The first round of renewed U.S. sanctions, imposed on August 7, prohibits Iran from the purchase of U.S. dollar and precious metals, part of a larger move that attempts to cut the country off from the international financial system.

A second tranche of U.S. sanctions on Iran's oil exports and gas sector are set to go into effect on Nov. 4.

Iran's First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri said on Sunday that the U.S. is seeking to cut Iran's oil exports to zero and prevent Iran's imports of basic commodities including raw materials, Tasnim news agency reported.

Trump's goal by exerting energy sanctions on Iran is to minimize the country's sources of income in the current economic war against Iran, Jahangiri added.

Iran has no concerns over the potential impacts of returning U.S. sanctions on its oil exports given that it is already selling its crude oil higher than the price tag it has set in its annual budget plan, according to him.

Iran was selling its oil at above 80 U.S. dollars per barrel, Jahangiri said, adding that the country would be economically safe even if the sanctions slashed its oil sales by half.

The budget bill for the current Iranian year was devised on assumptions that the country would sell its oil at 55 dollars per barrel, according to Press TV.

Trump "mistakenly" thought Saudi Arabia would be able to replace the lost share of Iran's crude supply to the global market, Jahangiri said.

The reduced share of Iran in global oil market is the reason behind the recent surge in oil prices, the vice president noted.

Iran exported at least 2.5 million barrels per day of crude in April before Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal.

Recently, Iran announced that South Korea, one of the country's major crude customers, has stopped crude imports from Iran.

Iran's Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has also said neither Saudi Arabia nor any other oil producer has such a capacity to replace Iran's oil in the market.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-15 05:52:05|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

BUDAPEST, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Hungarian government has asked for the support to the production of kiwi and fig from the European Union, although both fruits are usually imported from tropical countries to Hungary, according to official sources here on Sunday.

"Hungary initiated the extension of production support for the production of kiwi and figs at the European Commission (EC)," the Ministry of Agriculture announced on its official site.

"Having assessed one of the largest kiwi plantations of the country, the ministry sees a real opportunity in kiwi and fig farming in Hungary, and initiated the expansion of production-linked hectare support at the EC," according to the ministry said.

"In addition, the development of the professional conditions for planting these fruit types has also begun to allow the possibility for the support of plantation as well," the statement added.

Under the plans, Hungarian farmers would be able to claim kiwi and fig production support as soon as 2019, according to the plans, according to the ministry.

As a landlocked country, Hungary has continental climate, meaning cold winters and very hot summers, but the south of the country now is closer to a Mediterranean climate due to the effects of global warming, and the production of species that were unthinkable a few decades ago are becoming reality, according to the ministry, which also see the needs of the introduction of new technologies related to the new species.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-15 06:07:08|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

ALGIERS, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Algerian Foreign Minister Abdelkader Messahel on Sunday said that his country is desired to develop "fruitful, diversified and mutually beneficial cooperation with Nigeria."

Speaking at the 4th Algerian-Nigerian High Joint Commission held in Algiers, Messahel assured the will that drives the two countries to develop cooperation "must result in the implementation of concrete projects based on our potentialities and complementarities."

Messahel noted that the joint commission, which he co-chaired with his Nigerian counterpart Geoffrey Onyeama, "constitutes an essential stage in the establishment of renewed and fruitful cooperation."

He further specified that he is convinced that during this session, "several cooperation agreements will be signed in a bid to intensify the legal framework governing our bilateral cooperation."

Messahel recalled the "major projects" currently under development between the two nations, notably the trans-Saharan highway linking Algiers to Lagos, the construction of the trans-Saharan gas pipeline and the establishment of fiber optic cable.

Onyeama arrived in Algiers Sunday for a two-day working visit on top of wide a delegation of officials and businessmen.

During his stay in Algiers, Onyeama will hold talks with senior Algerian officials.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-15 06:22:11|Editor: Yang Yi

Video Player Close

Photo provided by Nile Establishment for International Trade shows its factory in Qalioubiya, Egypt, on April 7, 2018. The upcoming import expo in China's Shanghai city is a chance to increase Egyptian exports to the Chinese market, said Egyptian businessman Ashraf el-Adawi, head of Nile Establishment for International Trade exporting citrus to China. (Xinhua)

by Mahmoud Fouly, Abdel-Maguid Kamal

QALIOUBIYA, Egypt, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming import expo in China's Shanghai city is a chance to increase Egyptian exports to the Chinese market, said Egyptian businessman Ashraf el-Adawi, head of an Egyptian company exporting citrus to China.

"It is an opportunity for Egyptian companies to get in touch with their Chinese counterparts and boost mutual trust between the two sides, especially that the Chinese market is new to us," Adawi, chief of Nile Establishment for International Trade told Xinhua in a recent interview at his office in Qalioubiya province, north of the capital Cairo.

The first China International Import Expo (CIIE) will be held from Nov. 5 to 10 in Shanghai, a world famous financial hub and one of the most populous cities in China.

Founded in 1985, Nile Establishment for International Trade is a member of El-Adawi Co. for International Trade, a group that annually exports about 100 tons of citrus to several countries across the world. Half of them were exported by Nile Establishment alone.

"Nile Establishment began to export orange to China only two years ago. We started with two tons in the first year and 10 tons in the second," Adawi told Xinhua, expecting his company to export 20 tons of orange to China next year.

The Nile Establishment chief, who expressed admiration of China where he visited seven times, said that his company would like to know more about Chinese companies and open channels for cooperation. He expected the upcoming Shanghai import expo to serve the purpose.

In recent years, the Chinese-Egyptian ties have been elevated to the level of comprehensive strategic partnership which resulted from the strong support from the leaderships of both countries.

"Trade relations between Egypt and China are growing so positively and so fast, and the Chinese market is open to Egyptian products," Adawi said, stressing that the Egyptian citrus companies are able to meet the needs of the Chinese market.

Egypt, famous for its production of sweet juicy oranges, has become the third largest exporter of citrus to China after South Africa and the United States.

Adawi noted that his company had to increase its workers from 700 to 1,000 since it started orange exportation to China.

"The Chinese importing companies demand a very high quality orange to be exported to China, so we had to upgrade our packhouse and we also bought an advanced electronic sizer to meet the quality required for the Chinese market," he said.

According to Adawi, it cost his company up to 50 million Egyptian pounds (about 2.8 million U.S. dollars) to bring the new electronic sizer technology and the machines required for upgrade to reach the quality demanded by the Chinese side.

He explained that upgrading the packhouse included larger coolers with more advanced technologies to lower the temperature and make it suitable for high quality orange.

"Exporting to China urged us to supervise the early stage of the plantation process in our farms to ensure high quality and increase our production capacity to manage the quantities required for the Chinese market," Adawi added.

Adawi pointed out that the size of his company's farms was doubled from 400 to 800 acres after it started exportation to China. The company also increased its orange purchases from 50 to 70 tons per year.

"We are currently studying exporting grapes and pomegranates to China and we have started taking specific measures in this regard," Adawi told Xinhua, noting that his company's farms started to grow grapes to be exported to China in particular.

"The Chinese market is promising to us and Shanghai import expo is a good chance to bring together Egyptian exporters and Chinese importers," said the Egyptian businessman.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-15 06:32:13|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

People demonstrate at the Copley Square in Boston, the United States, on Oct. 14, 2018. Hundreds of Asian Americans on Sunday afternoon held demonstrations in central Boston to show support for a lawsuit accusing Harvard University of discriminating against Asian American applicants by using "de facto racial quotas, racial stereotypes and higher standards." Harvard has denied the charges. The lawsuit, launched by the Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), an anti-Affirmative Action advocacy group, will go to trial on Monday at a U.S. District Court in Boston. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

BOSTON, the United States, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Asian Americans on Sunday afternoon held demonstrations in central Boston to show support for a lawsuit accusing Harvard University of discriminating against Asian American applicants by using "de facto racial quotas, racial stereotypes and higher standards." Harvard has denied the charges. The lawsuit, launched by the Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), an anti-Affirmative Action advocacy group, will go to trial on Monday at a U.S. District Court in Boston.

Before the crowd at the Copley Square, leaders and representatives of Asian-American communities across the United States took to the stage and made speeches one by one, arguing that the racial factor should not play a role in selective college admissions.

Equal education rights for all is an Asian American dream, they said. Many demonstrators held slogans and banners on which the following is written: "My race should not hurt me in admissions" or "Discrimination in the name of diversity is wrong."

"For many years Asian Americans have been under the impression that Harvard and other elite universities treat them differently than they do white, African American and Hispanic applicants. So this lawsuit is about ending Harvard's discriminatory practices that are targeting Asian Americans." SFFA President Edward Blum said in an interview with Xinhua.

The final goal of the lawsuit is to have Harvard stop discriminating against Asian Americans and treat everyone, whites, African Americans, Hispanics and Asian Americans the same during the admissions process. Yes, Not to use race in their admissions policies." said Blum, "Harvard can achieve diversity without discriminating."

"Over the decades, reputable journalists, scholars, discriminated-against students and former admissions officers have revealed that Harvard and other selective colleges unlawfully use de facto racial quotas, racial stereotypes, and higher standards to discriminate against Asian-American applicants", the rally organizers accused in their press release for the rally.

Though Asian American applicants are exceedingly competitiveness on all objective measures both in academic and extracurricular criteria, they are consistently rated the lowest by the college's personality trait ratings, said Yukong Zhao, co-founder and president of the group Asian American Coalition for Education, a major organizer of the rally.

Harvard's race-based admissions model creates unbearable study burdens, stress, depression and many other serious psychological issues among Asian-American children, Zhao told Xinhua, noting it's also an insulting to Asian Americans who are among the best in terms of entrepreneurship, technological innovation and so on.

The U.S. Justice Department announced last month it was supporting the lawsuit, saying Harvard's admissions process "may be infected with racial bias."

However, the dispute over the lawsuit appears to be big and hot. It's widely expected that the case will finally go to the Supreme Court.

"I support affirmative action...I think that the premise that Chinese Americans are negatively affected by affirmative action is incorrect." Sally Chen. a senior Chinese American student studying history and literature at Harvard, told Xinhua.

"I do think Asian Americans do face discrimination in this country... but I don't think that this supreme court case, which is just generally trying to get rid of race as a part of our admission process, will address that issue in any way." said Chen, adding that she would support Harvard revise its current policies addressing implicit bias in the admission process.

Larry Bacow, Harvard's new president, defended the school's race-conscious admissions process last month. "People understand and recognize that we learn from our differences - that creating a diverse learning environment enriches the learning experience for every student on campus," local media quoted Bacow as speaking at a higher education event in Detroit.

Asian-Americans now account for 23 percent of all admitted students in Harvard, according to local reports.

U.S. District Court Judge Allison Burroughs, who was nominated by then Democratic President Barack Obama and seated in 2015, will preside over the upcoming trial, which is expected to last two to three weeks.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-15 06:42:14|Editor: Mu Xuequan

Video Player Close

MOGADISHU, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The international community on Sunday joined Somalis in mourning the deaths of 587 people who were killed and 316 others injured during the October 14, 2017 bombing attack in Mogadishu.

The Somalis including lawmakers and government officials used the occasion to call for unity, peace and reconciliation that will help bring lasting stability in the country.

Thousands of Somalis gathered at the Zoope Junction, the scene of the deadly truck bombing to mourn the deaths of their colleagues and relatives amid tight security in and around the restive city of Mogadishu.

A memorial monument was also unveiled at K-5 junction as hundreds of people visited the scene of the massacre on October 14 last year.

Speaking during the event, Prime Minister Hassan Khaire described the October 2017 terrorist attack as the deadliest in the history of the country.

Khaire said hundreds of survivors are still coping with the physical and emotional consequences of the incident and cautioned Somalis against allowing their sons to joint the terror group.

The bomb blast, one of the deadliest in the country's history, attracted mass condemnation from the international community who rallied behind the people of Somalia.

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), in coordination with the Somali security forces acted swiftly after the attack, to secure the area and help in recovery efforts.

Francisco Madeira, the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia said the mission remains committed to finding a lasting solution to the wholesale use of explosive devices by militants in Somalia.

Madeira said the mission is working with the Somali government and partners to put a check on the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) menace.

To date, a lot of progress has been made, with several IEDs recovered and safely detonated, said the AU mission.

"As we commemorate 12 months since the people of Somalia fell victim of the most senseless mass murder perpetrated by al-Shabab against innocent Somali men, women and children, I wish, on behalf of the AU Commission, the entire AMISOM family and on my own behalf, to reiterate our rejection and strong condemnation of this heinous crime," said Madeira.

He paid tribute to the resilient people of Somalia, who endured the pain but did not succumb to the whims of a blood thirsty group, which rejects peace and continues to maim and destroy lives.

"We salute the Somali National Security Forces who were not deterred by this barbaric act and are, today, dislodging the terrorist group from its strong holds in Balcad and Marka, in lower and Middle Shabelle regions," he said.

Madeira reiterated the AU and AMISOM continued commitment, and engagement with the people and the government of Somalia, in their joint endeavor to restore peace and stability in the country.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-15 07:07:18|Editor: ZD

Video Player Close

NAKURU, Kenya, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Sunday the country' s soldiers will continue their mission in Somalia until peace and stability in the Horn of Africa nation is realized.

Kenyatta vowed he will not withdraw Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers from Somalia before peace and stability is restored.

"We went to Somalia in 2011. We shall continue our presence in the country until the restoration of full security in Somalia," he said during the 7th annual KDF Day in Nakuru County where he also laid a wreath at the monument of fallen heroes.

"And so we will continue to maintain our presence in Somalia under AMISOM until our security objectives and those of the international community are achieved; including the restoration of peace and stability in Somalia," he added.

KDF Day is marked to commemorate Kenya's fallen heroes and heroines who died while defending and protecting the sovereignty, territorial integrity, peace and freedom of the country.

Kenyatta said Kenyans are proud and appreciative of the proactive role played by KDF in security operations and peace initiatives in the region especially in the fight against terrorism, a challenge that continues to create fear and despondency among populations.

"Kenyans are proud of their soldiers and the professional, patriotic and disciplined manner they have handled themselves," he said.

Islamist militant group al-Shabab is fighting to overthrow the internationally backed Somali government but has also carried out attacks in neighboring Kenya, which has deployed troops as part of Amisom.

Kenyatta hailed efforts of the force in safekeeping missions, stating that Kenya cannot let down its guard until the complex transnational terror networks operating in the Horn of Africa region are completely removed.

The president said there is need to ensure that Kenyan borders remain secure, a role the KDF has prayed with pride, courage and determination.

He said the decision to let KDF troops remain in Somalia was due to the transnational threats to both national and international security.

"Our region continues to experience major security challenges emanating from terror networks that emerge and have thrived by taking advantage of the ungoverned spaces on the Horn of Africa," he added.

These networks, he said, continue to target our people in order to create fear and affect our everyday life.

The president said Kenya's continued contribution of troops for peace missions was indicative of the government's commitment to peace and security in the region and beyond.

Kenyatta called on soldiers to rededicate themselves to protect the sanctity of human life, remain united and maintain their high degree of integrity and accountability.

He also encouraged KDF to continue cooperating with other agencies in times of disasters and emergencies.

Deployed in 2011 to shore up the Somali government in its battle with Islamist militias, KDF,which is under AMISOM, operates under a Security Council mandate.Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-15 05:27:02|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

German Christian Social Union's candidate and Bavarian governor Markus Soeder (R, Front) delivers a speech after the initial forecast at the Maximilianeum in Munich, Germany, on Oct. 14, 2018. The Christian Social Union (CSU), one of the three ruling parties in Germany, suffered great loss Sunday in the state election in Bavaria, according to the initial forecast by the public broadcasters ARD and ZDF. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)

MUNICH, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Despite garnering the most votes, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's ally, the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union (CSU) suffered great loss in the state election on Sunday.

According to initial forecasts, the CSU took just 35.5 percent of the vote, slumping by 12.2 percentage points from the last state election in 2013, while the environmentalist Green Party became the biggest winner by garnering 18.5 percent of votes.

The German Social Democratic Party (SPD), another party in Merkel's Grand Coalition government, has halved in comparison to the last state election, receiving only 10 percent of votes.

The anti-migration far-right Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) won 11 percent of votes, crossing the 5-percent hurdle and leaping into the state parliament. They followed the right-leaning Free Voters, which won 11.5 percent of votes.

Official results will be published later on Sunday or Monday.

"It's not easy to separate ourselves from what's going on nationally," Bavarian state premier Markus Soeder said after the results were announced. "The main priority is to form a stable government for Bavaria as quickly as possible, and we accept that task."

The CSU and Merkel-led Christian Democratic Union (CDU) are sister parties and form the Union. The recent polls showed that the Union had reached the lowest supporting rate in history, around 26 to 28 percent, while it received 32.9 percent of votes in the federal elections in 2017.

The CSU has been critical of Merkel's migration policies and Horst Seehofer, CSU chairman and German interior minister, had a dispute over migration issues with Merkel in July and even threatened to resign. The dispute was believed to have weakened the Union and the unity of the coalition government, thus causing loss of voters' support.

SPD Chairwoman Andrea Nahles said "the poor performance of the grand coalition here in Berlin" should be held co-responsible for the crash in Bavaria.

"We have not been able to free ourselves from the directional dispute in the CDU/CSU. That's why there was no tailwind from Berlin, on the contrary. It is clear that must change," DPA quoted Nahles as saying.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...PRACTICA DES INTALNITA  Sparg trotuarele si apoi uita sa repare

In Baia Mare nu de putine ori se fac lucrari de remediere a unor avarii aparute fie la reteaua de apa, fie la cea de gaz. Doar ca cei9 care fac aceste lucrari au obligatia, conform legii, sa repare si sa lase totul asa cum au gasit inainte de [citeste mai departe]Demonstrators sit on the ground along Pennsylvania Ave. in front of the White House in Washington in April 2017. The Trump's administration's National Park Service is exploring higher fees and much stricter limits on future D.C. protests. Read more

It hasn't gotten the attention it deserves  almost nothing does anymore  but since July 16, a colorful and boisterous protest has taken place every single night in front of Donald Trump's White House. The crowds  sometimes in the hundreds, sometimes less  try to mix it up and have a little fun. They flash neon signs reading "treason" or don dinosaur suits and welcome a parade of "resistance" celebrities like Hollywood's Alyssa Milano or lawyer Michael Avenatti.

"We don't plan on stopping until Donald Trump is gone," vow the organizers, including longtime activists like Adam Parkhomenko, a former national field director for the National Democratic Committee  who is of Ukrainian ancestry and was inspired by the mass protests in Kiev that ultimately ended an unpopular government over there. In other words, it's a free speech hangout for some of the president's most vocal dissenters.

The apogee of the event arguably came on Aug. 6, when Rosie O'Donnell and some other Broadway performers Amtraked their way down to the White House gates for a rousing night of anti-Trump show tunes. O'Donnell, longtime bete noire of the 45th president, led the troupe in "America the Beautiful" and told the assembled mass to "stand up against treason, and stop fascism before it takes over the United States."

The very next day, Aug. 7, the Trump administration's National Park Service promulgated rules that threaten protests like the nightly White House demonstrations  as well as any other would-be spontaneous large D.C. protests. The rules would restrict gatherings that now take place on a 25-foot-wide sidewalk in front of the White House to just a 5-foot sliver, severely limiting crowds. The NPS also threatens to hit political protesters on the National Mall with large security and cleanup fees that historically have been waived for such gatherings, and it wants to make it easier to reject a spontaneous protest of the type that might occur, say, if Trump fires special counsel Robert Mueller.

"President Trump might not like having protesters on his doorstep, but the First Amendment guarantees their right to be there," Arthur Spitzer, legal codirector of the D.C. chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, wrote in a post opposing the rules. But foes of the measure rallied late and are running out of time: The government's comment period ends on Monday.

The ACLU notes that we've been here before. In 1967, as protests were mounting over the Vietnam War, the ACLU and other free-speech advocates had to go to court against the administration of Democrat Lyndon Johnson, which had tried to implement protest limits similar to what's being proposed in 2018.

That time, the good guys won. The courts ruled that the LBJ-era plan was an undue restriction on our First Amendment guarantees of free speech, and that outcome has allowed for mass protests near the White House ever since, as well as the rules that made it easier for spontaneous demonstrations and required speedy government action on larger rallies that require permits. "Timeliness is essential to effective dissent," Judge J. Skelly Wright wrote in 1967. "Delay may stifle protest as effectively as outright censorship."

The ACLU would likely mount a similar challenge if the new Trump-era restrictions are imposed  but past success is no guarantee of future results. This time, any court challenge will come before a judiciary that Trump and his enabler Mitch McConnell are racing to reshape in their ultra-conservative likeness. And if the issue climbs the judicial ladder all the way to the Supreme Court, the morally tainted Trump-installed Brett Kavanaugh could be the deciding vote.

The big question about the National Park Service rules is: Why now? In the short term, maybe the persistence of the Parkhomenko-led protests (and the appearance of O'Donnell, whom the president has in the past called "a total loser") set off light bulbs over the heads of Trump and his minions. The park service claims it's simply because so many people are protesting Team Trump in Washington that its budget is straining to keep pace.

But something else has changed since August, and that is the Trump strategy for holding onto Congress, which is critical for staving off Mueller's probe and preventing Trump's impeachment in 2019. In a not-so-shocking development, the original idea  that middle-class voters would somehow get excited about a massive tax cut that was skewed toward large corporations and billionaires  wasn't working, with polls showing the Democrats with a double-digit lead in the so-called "generic ballot." So the president and his allies  Republicans candidates, the Fox News Channel, talk radio  instead have amplified divisiveness and, in some cases, unleashed hate.

A judge credibly accused in sworn testimony of sexual assault, whose confirmation hearings revealed a penchant for dishonesty and a poor temperament, was nonetheless rammed onto the Supreme Court  aided by Trump openly mocking Kavanaugh's accuser, cheered on by cult-like supporters. A series of rallies where Trump called journalists "enemies of the American people" took place against the backdrop of the president's close allies, the Saudis, almost certainly killing a critical Washington Post journalist  after which the president's main concern has remained pocketing Saudi petrodollars for his hotel and a billion-dollar arms deal to slaughter more children in Yemen.

In a throwback to the Selma era that many of us naively hoped had been relegated to the dustbin of history, Republicans are now openly and blatantly working to make it harder for nonwhites  blacks in Georgia (where a black woman has a shot at becoming governor), Native Americans in North Dakota  to cast ballots. And now the latest: Team Trump  at the behest of the administration's most fanatical xenophobe, Stephen Miller  is bringing back the much-despised family separation policy at the southern border that will rip migrant babies from their mothers and fathers and dump them into a growing American gulag of detainment camps in the dusty desert.

What do these very not-normal, autocratic moves have in common? They are all making the not-always-silent majority of Americans who strongly disapprove of Trump's presidency madder than they've ever been. In the Kavanaugh caper, women who felt they weren't being heard flooded Capitol Hill, sat in at Senate offices, confronted senators in elevators and pounded on the wooden doors of the high court. The first go-round at migrant family separation sparked sizable protests last summer  so it's likely Round 2 will provoke similar spasms of protests. And when these protests occur, Fox News will highlight them for their audience of angry old men  rebranding legitimate dissent as "mob rule."

"The Democrats are willing to do anything, to hurt anyone, to get the power they so desperately crave," Trump told a Minnesota rally earlier this month. "They want to destroy." That divisive rhetoric is amplified by the essentially state-run media known as Fox News, which has made the supposed threat from left-wing violence into a staple of its prime-time lineup.

In the last 72 hours, the climate of violence has indeed escalated, but with the fisticuffs thrown not by leftists but by pro-Trump goon squads  21st century brownshirts, essentially  called the Proud Boys, who've been captured on video this weekend inflicting actual "mob rule" mayhem in New York City and in Portland, Ore.

New York City police are still investigating a chaotic scene there on Friday night  but that didn't stop Fox News from blaming violence on the left and anti-fascists. "Antifa strikes again  swords and vandalism at New York GOP office," was the FNC headline, even as video clearly showed the sword was brandished by Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes.

Such falsehoods are not a bug, but a feature. This McCarthyite-style "Red Scare" targeting mostly nonexistent left-wing violence has coincided with a seeming uptick in polling for at least some GOP candidates in November midterms, as once ambivalent 2016 Trump voters remember the one thing that united them: Hatred of liberals and the media.

The White House protest restrictions touch the black heart of Trump's divisive crusade. If these rules go into effect, those who are most angry at the president's actions, who see America plunging into an era of authoritarianism, are likely to ignore these rules and protest anyway. And when they do, the government will now have the power to arrest dissenters  in chaotic scenes that will provide miles of new footage for Fox News. And that chaos will rally Trump's base behind even harsher restrictions on First Amendment protest, speech and the free press, until dissent is silenced totally.

This downward spiral has a name: fascism.

And yet there's something else that's equally troubling about the timing of this  coming right before the midterm elections. It's not hard to think that no matter what happens on Nov. 6, we are on the brink of much larger protests than we've seen so far.

If Democrats do recapture the House, as polls and pundits have predicted for much of this year, an impeachment-fearing Trump may move quickly to shut down the Mueller probe by replacing either Attorney General Jeff Sessions or Sessions' aide who oversees Mueller, Rod Rosenstein or by brazenly firing Mueller  assuming his rabid base, Fox News and a firewall of GOP senators will keep him in office. If that happens, some 400,000 people have signed up to take part in rapid-response protests that under new rules would be problematic and possibly now illegal in D.C.

If Republicans do better than expected in November, angry, protest-prone Democrats may look to widespread voter suppression or a renewal of 2016-style Russian interference and demand to speak out. Or Team Trump will be emboldened to step up its roundup of migrant children and their placement in cages or cruel tent cities. Either way, Trump's inclination to be a divider and not a uniter will increase both chaos and state repression.

There's so much going on right now  the elections, the Mueller probe, the Saudi crisis, etc., etc. It's easy to see some National Park Service rules on permit fees and sidewalk restrictions as a back-burner, Page A17 story. It's not. It's at the cruel core of a presidency with a stunning willingness to erode your First Amendment rights to air grievances and protest the government  the principle that has survived, however imperfectly, for 230 years. People should be very afraid  not just of these proposed rules, but about why Team Trump wants this in the first place.

Note: Section on NYC police investigating Proud Boys violence incident has been updated.President Donald Trump speaks to the members of the National Electrical Contractors Association at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. Read more

Whats at stake

Trump's ability to pass any major legislation in the next two years  at the very least. The Russia investigation, too. At the most extreme? Justice Brett Kavanaugh's standing and, if the most militant Democrats get their way, an attempt to impeach Trump.

More broadly, this midterm has shaped up as a test of the stunning results of 2016. Was it a freakish outcome, spurred on by an extraordinary mix of events? Or an inflection point, when Trump shattered the old rules?

This election won't provide definitive answers, but it is the first national measure since 2016.

If Democrats take one or both chambers of Congress they'll have the power to block bills for at least the next two years, much as Republicans used their House majority to stifle Barack Obama's biggest initiatives after the 2010 midterm elections.

They'll also gain the power to lead committees and conduct investigations  and have promised loads of them.

While House Republicans have tried to shield Trump from the special counsel probe into Russian election interference, Democrats have pledged to drill deeper. They'll be able to subpoena key figures and fight GOP efforts to undermine investigators.

Democrats have also pledged to look into potential self-enrichment within the administration, and could put more scrutiny on explosive issues such as the work to reunite children and parents separated at the southern border. Some Democrats want to dig into whether Kavanaugh lied under oath in his Senate nomination hearings. At the far end of the spectrum, others have broached impeachment of Kavanaugh, Trump, or both, though most party leaders have urged caution.

A Democratic House alone, however, would not be able to stop Trump from appointing more Supreme Court justices, should additional vacancies arise. And any impeachment efforts would almost certainly run aground in the Senate, even if Democrats win that chamber (against much tougher odds).

Democratic control in part of Congress could also provide Trump a useful foil. He would have a convenient target should the economy stumble or other problems arise. Democrats, now limited to opposition, would have some responsibility for legislating, keeping the government running, and laying out their ideas, rather than just saying "no" to the White House.

Still, they'd certainly prefer that option to the status quo.

As for Trump, the election might not say much about 2020.. Obama and Bill Clinton both lost big in their first midterms, and still won second terms.

>> VOTERS GUIDE: View candidates in the 2018 midterm election based on your address, or browse all the action in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware

Key races

It's hard to think of a race in which Trump isn't a factor.

For the past three years, all of American politics has essentially boiled down to the question: Are you with him? Or not?

Voter enthusiasm was at the highest level for any midterm in two decades, according to a Pew Research Center poll in late September, and 60 percent of voters viewed their decision as an expression of either support for Trump or opposition to him.

>> SIGN UP: Get text alerts from the Inquirer about key issues in the midterms

And that was before the Kavanaugh Supreme Court fight inflamed voters on both sides. Still, in some races, the president's influence is particularly profound.

Pennsylvania's First Congressional District: Some Republicans, like U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in the Bucks County district, are trying to localize their races, and many Democrats are avoiding talking explicitly about the president, too  because they say his Twitter feed says it all. Fitzpatrick has an independent reputation and an established name, since his brother represented the district for four terms. His race will hint at whether Republicans can maintain a distinct identity, or if the president's influence overwhelms everything.

Pennsylvania governor and U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania: The top of the Republican ticket in Pennsylvania reflects how the GOP has embraced Trump, and makes the state a test of whether his approach transfers to other candidates. Scott Wagner, the nominee for governor, is a brash businessman who is unafraid to offend. U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta has played up his blue collar appeal and hard line on illegal immigration.

New Jersey's Third Congressional District: U.S. Rep. Tom MacArthur, a Republican, backed Trump's tax bill and attempted roll back of the Affordable Care Act. He was the only House member in suburban Philadelphia to support both plans.

Latest developments

What hasn't happened?

Most recently Trump landed Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, sealing a conservative majority for years to come. The result enraged Democrats, but may also fire up Republicans who felt the nominee was mistreated.

Good economic news should benefit Republicans  though that is often overshadowed by Trump's latest firestorm.

Trump, and his Twitter feed, remain the biggest variables of all: what will he cook up in the days before the vote? At this moment, even he probably doesn't know.Gun control and gun rights have emerged as big issues leading up to Election Day. Read more

Whats at stake

Attention to gun-related issues has heightened since the last time Pennsylvania and New Jersey voters sent anyone to Congress, the result of several high-profile mass shootings since the November 2016 elections: 26 killed in Sutherland Springs, Texas; 17 killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.; 58 killed and 850 injured in Las Vegas, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Philadelphia police have reported more than 600 homicides in that time frame, most of them by firearm.

Gun-control advocates and their opponents view the midterms as critical. If Democrats gain control of the House of Representatives, that would increase the chances of passing  or simply voting on  gun-related legislation.

"If we get an election where we replace 40 or 50 members of the House  we can pass a background-check bill or domestic violence legislation," Mark Kelly, the astronaut and husband of former Rep. Gabby Giffords, said in Chester County last month.

The National Rifle Association, urging its members to get out the vote, said, "This year, there are a number of key U.S. House and Senate races that we absolutely must win in order to ensure we keep our pro-gun majorities in Congress."

It's less likely the power balance will shift in the Senate, meaning the chance of any gun-control legislation becoming law would remain slim regardless of the House makeup.

>> VOTERS GUIDE: View candidates in the 2018 midterm election based on your address, or browse all the action in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware

Key races

Pennsylvania's First Congressional District: In this closely watched Bucks County race, Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick was endorsed by the Giffords organization and Everytown for Gun Safety. He has supported raising the age for buying semiautomatic weapons to 21, a bill allowing families to take out temporary firearm restraining orders against relatives in mental crisis, background checks, and banning bump stocks. He voted against a concealed-carry reciprocity bill, but said he believed in the concept. He also voted to prevent the Veterans' Affairs Department and Social Security Administration from sharing mental health records with the national background-check system.

Democratic challenger Scott Wallace, who rallied Tuesday with the father of a Parkland victim, backs universal background checks, temporary restraining orders, raising the semiautomatic purchase age to 21, biometric trigger locks, and banning assault weapons, high capacity magazines and bump stocks. He opposes arming teachers, fortifying schools, and concealed-carry reciprocity.

Pennsylvania's Sixth Congressional District: One of the seats that could swing the House for the Democrats, this Chester County race will choose the replacement for retiring Republican Rep. Ryan Costello, who supported various gun-safety measures.

Democrat Chrissy Houlahan, a military veteran, has prioritized gun-control in her campaign, holding in September a meeting with gun-violence survivors, activists, and Kelly and Giffords. Giffords, Everytown and the Brady Campaign endorsed her. She favors universal background checks, renewing the assault weapons ban, restricting high-capacity magazines, and allowing the CDC to study gun violence.

Republican Greg McCauley, an NRA member, says he supports both "common-sense gun safety" and the Second Amendment. He backs expanding background checks, raising the purchase age for semiautomatic firearms to 21, and expanding mental health care. He also supports concealed carry reciprocity, fortifying schools, and armed officers in schools, and opposes renewing an assault weapons ban.

Pennsylvania's 10th Congressional District: This race in south-central Pennsylvania is tight, making it high-stakes: GOP Rep. Scott Perry is a longtime gun-rights advocate. He supported NRA-backed legislation to make it easier to buy silencers and in 2016 introduced a bill proposing to block President Obama from taking executive actions aimed at preventing gun violence. As a state legislator, he sponsored the 2011 bill that expanded the so-called castle doctrine in Pennsylvania.

George Scott, his Democratic challenger and a military veteran, supports universal background checks, banning bump stocks and high-capacity magazines, raising the minimum age for gun purchases to 21, increasing school security, and funding for the CDC to study gun violence. He released a campaign ad during the primary (since taken offline) in which he burned a rifle.

U.S. Senate in New Jersey: New Jersey has gone decades without sending a Republican to Congress, but the race between incumbent Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat, and Bob Hugin, a Republican, has become tighter than expected.

Menendez has been a strong gun-control advocate. He has introduced or supported legislation to restore the assault weapons ban, require universal background checks, ban high-capacity magazines, keep terrorists from buying firearms, and other measures.

Hugin, a former Marine, has said he supports gun owners' rights but also supports expanding background checks and banning mentally ill people from having guns.

Latest developments

The Parkland shooting brought new energy to the gun-control movement, with marches held nationwide in March, including in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Candidates have focused on school security, talked about reaching young voters, and addressed guns more frequently. Some Democrats are pushing gun-control platforms, something the party largely avoided in recent years, while many Republicans have embraced alternative proposals, such as arming teachers or fortifying schools with metal detectors.

Answering your questions

Based on your questions in response to our election text alerts on this topic, here's an additional guide to help you figure out what different candidates think.

Additional resourcesA Border Patrol agent walks near the secondary fence separating Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego. Read more

Whats at stake

The thing about immigration is that, as a political issue, it cuts both ways.

Sanctuary cities?

Many Democrats praise them, applauding steps to protect contributing, law-abiding immigrants who lack proper documentation to live and work here.

Many Republicans condemn sanctuary cities  Philadelphia among them  as places that deliberately ignore law-breaking migrants who need to be identified, arrested, and deported.

Nationally, President Trump generally has had his way on immigration, implementing policies to reduce the number of people coming into this country illegally as well as legally. Those moves tend to be supported or condemned depending on one's voter registration.

The election will help determine whether Trump will continue to chip away at immigration, implementing restrictions wherever possible, or whether he'll face stronger resistance from those who want a fast, meaningful turn in direction.

>> VOTERS GUIDE: View candidates in the 2018 midterm election based on your address, or browse all the action in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware

Key races

U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania: In Pennsylvania, the race where immigration cuts deepest is also the one where it's unlikely to matter.

Incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey is being challenged by Republican U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, known for his hard-line approach to immigration. It's a reputation he built as mayor of Hazleton, where he cracked down on undocumented people. On the campaign trail, he has railed against sanctuary cities.

>> SIGN UP: Get text messages from the Inquirer about key issues in the midterm election

But polls show the more-moderate Casey is ahead by double digits.

Casey has proposed doubling the number of border-patrol agents and using technology to enhance 24-hour border security. He's also said that it's unrealistic to consider trying to deport 11 million undocumented people, and called for comprehensive immigration reform that provides a pathway to citizenship for law-abiding migrants.

Casey was stung in October when an undocumented mother of four staged a sit-in in his Philadelphia office, prompting the senator to issue a three-page document listing all he has done to try to help the family.

Pennsylvania governor: In the governor's race, Republican Scott Wagner has made a point of attacking sanctuary cities, including Philadelphia, and wants legislation to block local governments from refusing to cooperate with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Sanctuary cities like Philadelphia generally decline to help ICE enforce federal immigration laws.

Polls show incumbent Democratic Gov. Wolf ahead by about 16 points.

Latest developments

No immigration concern has resonated more loudly in the lead-up to the voting than the border separations of migrant children from their parents. With even some supporters questioning whether Trump had gone too far, the president rescinded his executive order to pull families apart.

Still, several hundred children have yet to be reunified with their families, despite a court order.

Other presidential actions likewise carry national and local impacts.

>> READ MORE: What to know about voting in the 2018 midterms

Last month the president set the annual cap on the number of refugee admissions at 30,000  a historic low that follows the previous historic low of 45,000, down from 110,000 under President Obama.

In the same vein  and here immigration advocates saw a big win  a federal judge stopped the administration from kicking out thousands of immigrants who had legally come to America from ravaged homelands.

The temporary injunction, issued on Oct. 3, offered a reprieve to about 320,000 migrants across the country, and thousands in the Philadelphia region, who have built full lives and vibrant communities, and who are raising their American-born children.

The administration sought to end what's called Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from Sudan, El Salvador, Haiti, and Nicaragua. TPS, as it is known, allows people from 10 countries to live and work in the U.S. because of war, floods, droughts, epidemics or armed conflict in their home nations.

Additional resourcesSoybean farmers, including those in Pennsylvania, have been caught up in trade disputes, one of the key economic issues of the midterm elections. Read more

Whats at stake

President Trump is overseeing a booming economy with low unemployment, high stock market prices and strong GDP growth.

One would think Republicans running for Congress would brag about these economic gains, but they're hardly talking about them on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

"They're responding to what the public is saying within polls, that this issue isn't as high on the minds of voters as it sometimes is in the past, especially during economic recession times," said Christopher Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion.

Still, the midterm elections could have a major impact on economic policy. A Democratic takeover of the House could stymie Trump's economic agenda, which has so far included sharply lower corporate tax rates, a series of tariffs, and cuts in regulation.

>> VOTERS GUIDE: View candidates in the 2018 midterm election based on your address, or browse all the action in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware

Key races

New Jersey's Third Congressional District: The Republican rewrite of the federal tax code is controversial in New Jersey because it scaled back the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction, a provision expected to harm some residents in high-tax regions like the Garden State.

U.S. Rep. Tom MacArthur, a Republican, was the lone New Jersey lawmaker from either party to vote for the tax law, making taxes a major issue in South Jersey's Third Congressional District, which includes parts of Burlington and Ocean counties.

Andy Kim, MacArthur's Democratic challenger, has called the tax overhaul a "disaster," warning that home values would drop because of the law's $10,000 cap on SALT deductions. He has noted most of the tax law's benefits went to big corporations, which received a permanent rate reduction from 35 percent to 21 percent. The law also lowered tax rates for each individual income level, but those cuts expire after 2025.

MacArthur credits the tax cuts for boosting the U.S. economy by spurring investment and hiring, as well as doubling the standard deduction and child tax credit. He has defended his vote by noting that the average property tax bills in his district are well below the $10,000 SALT deduction cap, and said his involvement prevented the deduction from being eliminated entirely. Like Kim, he wants Congress to make the individual tax cuts permanent.

An August Monmouth University poll found voters in the district were split on the tax law  40 percent approved while 40 percent disapproved. But 45 percent said they expected their federal taxes to go up because of the overhaul, compared to 13 percent who said they believed their tax bills would drop.

Pennsylvania's Seventh Congressional District: In Pennsylvania, polls have shown that Trump's trade and tariff policies are unpopular in Lehigh Valley's Seventh Congressional District, where soybean farmers and manufacturers have exposure to the tariffs against China and on steel and aluminum.

Most voters (53 percent) in the district oppose tariffs on steel and aluminum, compared to 39 percent who support the tariffs, according to a New York Times Upshot/Sienna College poll from last month. The poll also found that most voters there (59 percent) support the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, which the Trump administration has renegotiated.

The candidates in the district have tread lightly on tariffs and trade.

Republican Marty Nothstein said free trade must be fair trade, so he understands Trump's misgivings about unfair practices. But he said tariffs on steel and aluminum amount to an indirect tax on American consumers while creating trade havoc with Canada. "We must take care to restore the equilibrium needed to keep Pennsylvania's international trade on the rise," he said in a statement.

Democrat Susan Wild's campaign did not respond to requests for comment. She has told reporters that the United States needs to crack down on countries that commit unfair trade practices, but she doesn't want the country to fall into a trade war.

Latest developments

The Trump administration struck a deal with Canada and Mexico in October to update the trade pact with the North American countries. The president has been touting the economy and the agreement ahead of the midterm elections, calling it the "most advanced, modern, and balanced trade agreement ever" during a speech in Philadelphia.

Trump said he and Republican lawmakers are working on a "very major tax cut" for the middle class during a recent campaign rally in Nevada, according to the Washington Post. Trump said the cuts would be done before November, though Congress is out of session until after the midterm elections.

Additional resources:Welcome to another week, Philly. It's beginning to feel a whole lot like fall, and while frost isn't coming to the city quite yet, you may want to keep a jacket on hand. This morning we have our usual bag of good reads from last week, plus an interview with one of our colleagues about a Philadelphian who turned his life around thanks to a No. 2 pencil.

Reading this online? Sign up here to get this newsletter delivered to your inbox every morning.

 Oona Goodin-Smith, Tauhid Chappell (morningnewsletter@philly.com)

The week ahead

This weeks most popular stories

Behind the story with Samantha Melamed

Each week we'll go behind the scenes with one of our reporters to learn how they reported their latest story and the challenges they faced along the way. This week, reporter Samantha Melamed discusses how she learned about Russell Craig, a North Philly artist who used drawing and painting as an escape while he was in prison, then turned that passion into a successful career as a muralist.

How did you first learn about Russell Craig?

[Inquirer video editor/producer] Raishad Hardnett, my collaborator on this story, learned about Russell's story from contacts at Mural Arts and recognized immediately that it was a story worth telling. Then, fortunately, he convinced me to join him in this project.

What can you tell me about the stigma and hardship people released from prison face? Are success stories like Russell's rare to find or hear about?

There are success stories  and there are also a lot of far more complicated stories. People coming out of prison often struggle with housing, particularly given that they may not be allowed to stay with family in public housing. They face enormous stigma on the job market, particularly as background checks have become more common; there have even been stories of people with records barred from work as home health aides for their own kin.

What are some difficulties you face when trying to get someone to open up about their prison experience?

Not everyone wants to think about or be identified with that part of their life. Fortunately, Russell was open to sharing  he gets that it's part of the story that makes him who he is.

What were some new things you learned when writing this profile?

I never imagined there was such a thriving art market in prison! He really made a business for himself selling portraits in prison, and that's what convinced him he could do it on the outside, too.

Contact Samantha Melamed at SMelamed@philly.com or on Twitter at @samanthamelamed. Contact Raishad Hardnett by email at RHardnett@philly.com or on Twitter at @raishadmomar.

Through Your Eyes | #OurPhilly

Halloween is just around the corner. We hope you have a fun time carving out some spooky designs like @rebecca__adams! 

Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and we'll pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout out!

#CuriousPhilly: Have a question about your community? Ask us!

Have you submitted a question to Curious Philly yet? Try us. We're listening to our readers and doing our best to find answers to the things you're curious about.

We're also looking for help with a new Curious Philly story. Do you know someone working into their 70s, 80s or 90s, just because they love what they do? We want to hear from you. Send us a name and 2-3 sentences about the working Philadelphian who you know to audience@philly.com, and we may be in touch for an upcoming article.

What were

Comment of the week

Convert more parking spots to commercial/taxi//uber/lyft loading zones, and then increase fines for double parking or parking in bus stops (and for private cars parking in the commercial loading zones). Encourage people to use SEPTA or else park in parking lots and garages. Encourage parking lots to reduce rates for short term (hour or less) parking. Everybody wins. Steve.Rosard, on the  truck traffic

A DAILY DOSE OF | ORANGE

Gritty has come into Philly like a wrecking ball , and whether you love, hate, or just prefer to keep a safe distance from the Flyers' furball, you've got to give credit to the mascot's masterful marketing .Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-05 22:11:04|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

ZALAMBESSA, Ethiopia, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Fiyori Bizen, an Ethiopian mother of three, used to live a challenging life, as her home on the country's border with former bitter enemy Eritrea had suffered damages because of occasional armed clashes.

That all changed for Bizen, 28, on September 11, with the opening of the Ethiopia-Eritrea borders which had been closed for more than two decades ever since both nations fought a bloody two-year border war from May 1998 to December 2000, which left an estimated 70,000 people dead from both sides.

With the re-opening of the border earlier this month in the aftermath of fast paced diplomatic rapprochement since July between the two countries, Zalambessa and other Ethiopian entry points are busy serving as a gateway and meeting point in renewed commercial and cultural interaction between the two countries.

This renewed economic interaction between the two nations seemed unthinkable several months ago as thousands of soldiers from the two countries were in a state of armed conformation, a legacy of their bitter two-year border war.

Despite a peace deal signed in Algiers in December 2000 to end the armed conflict, the two countries remained in a state of bitter enmity, locked in a state of armed standoff along their 1100 km long border.

That hostility ended in July with Ethiopia and Eritrea signing a peace declaration, thereby ending their mutual hostilities, enabling the resumption of air services, re-opening of phone lines, restoration of diplomatic missions, in addition to re-opening of their common border.

Speaking to Xinhua, Bizen, whose house is on the outskirts of Zalambessa town, located in Ethiopia's northern Tigray regional state and is just several meters away from the Eritrean border, said her house has transformed from a shelter to one that is facilitating her new business of providing coffee drinks to travelers from both countries.

"I have an increasing customer list of drivers, regular commuters and soldiers from both countries, ever since my coffee drinks business opened a week ago," said Bizen.

Bizen said because of the insecurity in the area, many of her neighbors had in previous years relocated their homes and businesses to cities like Adi-Grat and Mekelle, far from the border areas, but her economic weakness had prevented her from doing similar relocation.

However, her economic misfortune had overnight turned into an economic advantage, as passenger and vehicular traffic between the two countries has increased exponentially since September, making her home an ideal place to rest and have drinks for transiting people.

Bizen also said the transformation from a housewife to a rising small business owner helped her supplement her husband's meagre income, allowing them to pay for school fees and daily needs of their three children.

"The good business opportunities enabled me to open other business portfolios including selling plastic products and hand-woven baskets, as I try to meet the various needs of my customers," she told Xinhua.

Nevertheless, the dividend for her from the re-opening of the border between the two countries has not only been monetary and security wise.

"With the border opening I have been able to reconnect with my long-lost relatives in Sahr town, just across the border in Eritrea, providing me mental relief and happiness," Bizen further said.

LANGUAGE TRANSLATION BUSINESS BOOM?

While, for border residents like Bizen the re-opening of the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea is tied to their localities, Kibreab Baraki, a part time lecturer and translator is hoping to literally cash in on his language skills.

Baraki speaks fluent Amharic, the working language of Ethiopia, Tigrinya, the working language of Eritrea and Ethiopia's Tigray regional state and English which is increasingly being used by civilians and government officials in both countries.

"With rising business ties between the two countries after the opening of their common border, I believe I can use my language skills to help reconnect Ethiopians, Eritreans and other nationalities once again," Baraki told Xinhua while sipping coffee drink inside Bizen's makeshift business stall.

However, Baraki is not limiting his ambitions to mere translation works, having already made contacts with tour operators in Eritrea to facilitate tourism opportunities between the two "brotherly nations."

"I'm currently studying the business prospects in translation and tourism fields and has devised plans to open with Eritrean colleagues joint business ventures," Baraki told Xinhua.

Nevertheless, Baraki cautioned the peace process between Ethiopia and Eritrea needs to be actively promoted at a ground level to ensure the newfound peace is lasting and has a win-win approach.BENGALURU: The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) - the state-run aerospace company - has regretted the 'politicisation' of its employees soon after Congress president Rahul Gandhi attacked the Narendra Modi government during an interaction with its present and past employees.

The company termed it as ''a fad and regrettable'' development that would be detrimental to national security and the organisation.

A statement from HAL, which did not specifically refer to Rahul Gandhi's interaction with the employees, came after the event during which the Congress president alleged that temples of modern India were being attacked and destroyed.

The NDA government has extended full-fledged support (to HAL), having placed supply orders of over Rs 27,340 crore during the 2014-18 period by recognising its premier position,'' a senior HAL officer was quoted as saying PTI.

Towards improvement and upgradation of infrastructure, including ramping up of production facilities, funding to the tune of Rs 7,800 crore was sanctioned during the period, a statement from HAL said.

The official also said HAL enjoys pride of place in the defence and aerospace industry sector and has made an immense contribution to the nation-building process.

"Today's attempt at the politicisation of the employees is a fad and regrettable development and will be detrimental to the interest of the organisation, its employees as well as national security,"the HAL official said in the statement.

In the interaction with former and past employees, Gandhi had accused the Modi government of destroying the "strategic asset" state-run aerospace company HAL and told its employees that Rafale is their right.

Congress, which has been accusing the government of benefiting Reliance Defence Ltd of Anil Ambani from the deal, has also been demanding answers on why the state-run aerospace major HAL was not involved in the deal as finalised during the UPA regime.

The party had been accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of snatching jobs of people of Karnataka by taking away the contract from HAL.

The Congress chief had been saying that had HAL been selected in place of Reliance Defence, it could have generated employment to scores of unemployed youth in the state.

However, the BJP and Reliance Defence have dismissed all the allegations as false.

Modi had announced the procurement of 36 Rafale fighters after holding talks with then French President Francois Hollande on April 10, 2015, in Paris.Wife of Additional District Judge Krishan Kant who was shot on a busy road in Gurugram on Saturday succumbed to her injuries on Sunday. 45-year-old Ritu along with her 18-year-old son Dhruv was shot at by their gunman in Arcadia Market in Gurugram. The guard fled the place after opening fire at the duo but was later arrested by the police.

Both the victims were rushed to a hospital after the attack. Ritu had sustained two bullet wounds and was admitted to the Medanta Hospital in Gurugram. While Ritu died during treatment early on Sunday morning, Dhruv remains critical.

The guard has been identified as Mahipal who had been working with the judge for the past one and a half year.

After initial interrogation of the accused, police officers said he had been demanding leave to go home for the past few days but this was not denied. This might have led to him suffering from depression, the officers said. "The judge also used to scold him often," one of the interrogating officers said.

On Saturday as well, the judge's wife scolded him inside the car when they were going to the market, the officer said. "He had a grudge against the judge."

In video footage of the incident recorded by a witness, Mahipal is seen with the gun in his hand. He was also seen trying to push Dhruv inside the car as he laid listless on the road.

Gurugram Police has formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the attack on the two members of the judge's family. The SIT will be headed by Deputy Commissioner of Police, East Gurugram Sulochana Gajraj. Along with the DCP, two Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACP) and four inspectors have been named as members of the SIT.

Police said they are interrogating Mahipal but the reason for the crime is yet to be ascertained. "Some locals informed the police about gunshots being fired outside the Arcadia market. When a police team reached the spot, they found Ritu and Dhruv lying in a pool of blood," DCP Sulochana Gajraj said.After the rise of Zika virus and Dengue fever in Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, Telangana's Hyderabad saw a rise in cases of viral fever, dengue and influenza on Sunday.

Hyderabad also saw a rise in chikungunya cases.

The doctors claim that the change in temperature has caused the rise of fever, news agency ANI reported.

Out of all the cases reported, 10-20 per cent are of viral fly, doctors confirmed.

Looking at previous records, the doctors said that at least 20 positive dengue cases came up in the previous month while this month it is 10.

Meanwhile, in Rajasthan's Jaipur, at least 55 people have been tested positive of Zika virus as of Saturday.

Union Health Ministry officials said fresh mosquito samples have been collected from various parts of Jaipur by a team from the National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR).

Most of the cases are reported from Shastri Nagar area and proper preventive measures have been taken by the authorities.

Fogging and other anti-larvae activities are being carried out in the Shastri Nagar area to prevent the spread of the virus.

The first case of Zika had surfaced on September 22 when an 85-year-old woman with no travel history tested positive for the disease.

(With Agency Inputs)The Chhattisgarh unit of the BJP on Sunday filed a complaint against Congress for posting a picture of the Indian map with a part of Kashmir missing on the Twitter account of Chhattisgarh Congress.

A case has been registered under certain sections of cybercrime, said SHO Yadumani Sidar of Civil Lines as reported by news agency ANI. An investigation has been initiated in the matter added Sidar.

"A case has been registered under certain sections of cybercrime. Investigation underway," said Sidar.

The BJP workers of Raipur took to Twitter saying that this act mirrors the mentality of the Congress and their intention to break the unity of India.

Responding to the incident, a Congress party member, Jayavardhan Birsa, clarified that the picture was a printing mistake that happened while it was being compressed. He also said that as the party stands for the integrity of the nation it had immediately removed the picture and rendered an apology.Special Relief Commissioner BP Sethi in Odisha sanctioned relief funds on Sunday for people who lost their lives in a landslide in Mahendragiri hills.

The Commissioner said that a relief fund of Rs 4 lakh will be sanctioned to families of the deceased after district officer submits an official report.

According to news agency ANI, the Commissioner confirmed that the restoration work is nearing completion in Ganjam district.

At least 15 people lost their lives in a landslide in Odisha's Gajapati district as of Saturday.

The landslide occurred at Baraghara in the hilly Rayagada block where some villagers had taken shelter in a cave following very heavy rain on Thursday evening, a senior official said.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who conducted an aerial survey of Gajapati and two other districts, said, "I extend my deepest condolence to the bereaved families."

Senior BJD leader and former Union minister Chandra Shekhar Sahu, who visited the site, said he saw around a dozen bodies and the toll may go up.

He said the local authorities had advised the villagers to move to safe shelters before the cyclone, but they apparently "refused".

Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also expressed grief over the tragedy and conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families.

Chief Secretary A P Padhi said a detailed report on the incident has been sought from the district collector and the affected families would be given financial assistance as per the norms.

The chief minister has announced a monetary relief for people affected by the cyclone and the resultant flooding in Ganjam and Gajapati districts and Gunupur sub-division of Rayagada district.

"On an average a family of four will be assisted with more than Rs 3,000 as relief," Patnaik told reporters in Bhubaneswar.

He said the relief amount will be provided at the rate of Rs 60 per adult and Rs 45 per child per day for 15 days.

As many as 1,27,262 people were sheltered in 963 relief centres Friday, while the NDRF and the Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) were deployed to speed up rescue and relief operations, Sethi said.

Two helicopters requisitioned from the Indian Navy are being engaged in air dropping operation in Purushottampur and Aska areas of Ganjam district, the officials said.

The chief minister has directed Finance Minister Sashi Bhushan Behera and SC-ST Development Minister Ramesh Majhi to proceed to Kandhamal district to monitor the relief and restoration work, an official in the CMO said.

The state government cancelled the Dusshera vacation of all its employees in southern and central division, including Bhubaneswar, in view of cyclone Titli and the subsequent flooding in different parts of the state.

About 60 lakh people were affected in the cyclone and flood and normal life was badly hit in Ganjam, Gajapati and Rayagada districts, official sources said.

(With Agency Inputs)NEW DELHI: Union Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs MJ Akbar, who has been accused of sexual harassment by several women in the past few days, returned to India from Nigeria on Sunday morning.

When quizzed by reporters upon his arrival at the Delhi airport to comment on the sexual harassment allegations made against him, the Minister said, ''there will be a statement later on.''

#WATCH Delhi:Union Minister MJ Akbar returns to India amid accusations of sexual harassment against him, says, "there will be a statement later on." pic.twitter.com/ozI0ARBSz4  ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2018

Amid an increasing clamour for Akbar's resignation, the BJP is likely to take a clear stand on the allegations of sexual harassment made against him once he explains his position to the party's central leadership.

Akbar, a former journalist and now Minister of State in the Modi government, was in Nigeria on an official trip. He has not responded to the charges made against him so far.

While the BJP has maintained a studied silence on the matter so far, party sources have said the charges against him are serious and his continuance as a minister is no longer guaranteed.

A final call is expected to be taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the party sources said.

There is also a view within the party that there is no legal case against him and allegations pertain to a time long before he became a minister.

Meanwhile, BJP chief Amit Shah has said that he was not in a position to comment on MJ Akbar, who is facing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, as the claims against the Union Minister needed to be "looked into".

"It's difficult to comment on something that comes on a website. One can put anything on a website. So, this needs to be checked. If that is true or false, whether such an incident happened or not," Shah said in an interview to ETV.

"It will have to be seen if it is the same person who is levelling allegations or someone else has put it up (on social media). All these things will have to be seen. And once we do it, we will certainly think over it (the action against Akbar)," he added.

More than half a dozen women journalists have accused Akbar of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour at various stages of his journalistic career, during which he launched and edited several newspapers.

On Friday, US-based journalist Majlie de Puy Kamp told online news portal HuffPost India that Akbar forcibly kissed her on the last day of her internship at The Asian Age office in 2007.

Earlier this week, FORCE magazine Executive Editor Ghazala Wahab, in an article on a news portal, wrote an account of her "harrowing experience" with Akbar.

Former Mint Lounge Editor Priya Ramani, who wrote about a predatory "celebrity editor" without naming anyone in a piece last year, on Monday publicly identified Akbar as the central character of her piece.

"I began this piece with my MJ Akbar story. Never named him because he didn't 'do' anything. Lots of women have worse stories about this predator - maybe they'll share," she said.

Journalist Shutapa Paul recalled in a series of tweets on Wednesday that as the India Today editor, whenever Akbar came to Kolkata, he would invite her to his hotel, usually after 8 PM. He would then drink alcohol and ask her to also do so.

Other female journalists who have levelled allegations against Akbar include Prerna Singh Bindra, Sujata Anandan, Shuma Raha, Harinder Baweja and Anju Bharti.NEW DELHI: Amid an increasing clamour for Union minister MJ Akbar's resignation, the BJP is likely to take a clear stand on the allegations of sexual harassment against him once he explains his position upon his scheduled return to India on Sunday.

The Minister of State (MoS), who has been on an official trip abroad, has so far not responded to the charges.

While the BJP has maintained a studied silence on the matter so far, party sources have said the charges against him are serious, and his continuance as a minister is no longer guaranteed.

A final call is expected to be taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the party sources said.

There is also a view within the party that there is no legal case against him, and allegations pertain to a time long before he became a minister.

Meanwhile, BJP chief Amit Shah has said that he was not in a position to comment on MJ Akbar, who is facing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, as the claims against the Union Minister needed to be "looked into".

"It's difficult to comment on something that comes on a website. One can put anything on a website. So, this needs to be checked. If that is true or false, whether such an incident happened or not," Shah said in an interview to ETV.

"It will have to be seen if it is the same person who is levelling allegations or someone else has put it up (on social media). All these things will have to be seen. And once we do it, we will certainly think over it (the action against Akbar)," he added.

More than half a dozen women journalists have accused Akbar of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour at various stages of his journalistic career, during which he launched and edited several newspapers.

On Friday, US-based journalist Majlie de Puy Kamp told online news portal HuffPost India that Akbar forcibly kissed her on the last day of her internship at The Asian Age office in 2007.

Earlier this week, FORCE magazine Executive Editor Ghazala Wahab, in an article on a news portal, wrote an account of her "harrowing experience" with Akbar.

Former Mint Lounge Editor Priya Ramani, who wrote about a predatory "celebrity editor" without naming anyone in a piece last year, on Monday publicly identified Akbar as the central character of her piece.

"I began this piece with my MJ Akbar story. Never named him because he didn't 'do' anything. Lots of women have worse stories about this predator - maybe they'll share," she said.

Journalist Shutapa Paul recalled in a series of tweets on Wednesday that as the India Today editor, whenever Akbar came to Kolkata, he would invite her to his hotel, usually after 8 PM. He would then drink alcohol and ask her to also do so.

Other female journalists who have levelled allegations against Akbar include Prerna Singh Bindra, Sujata Anandan, Shuma Raha, Harinder Baweja and Anju Bharti.Taking a jibe at Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu for his remark, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra on Sunday accused him of never leaving an opportunity to humiliate India or glorify Pakistan.

Sidhu had on Saturday said he found the culture in Pakistan more relatable than in Tamil Nadu. "If I go to Tamil Nadu, I don't understand the language. Not that I dont like the food, but I can't take it for long. That culture is totally different. But if I travel to Pakistan there is no difficulty. The language is the same and everything there is just amazing," he had said.

Reacting on this, Patra further alleged that it was an attempt by the Punjab minister to create a gap between the southern and northern part of the country and it is clearly reflected in Sidhu's statement.

He said that there is a controversy by the Congress to divide the country.

The BJP leader pointed out that the support extended by the Congress leaders for Pakistan, trying to create a rift between the north and south of India and the attempt made by Alpesh Thakor to wage a war against the north Indians is a transparent attempt to set fire to the country, However, he pointed out that this attempt by the Congress which will not succeed.

Patra also said that Sidhu should get himself inducted in Pakistan's Cabinet as he repeatedly exudes his love for the country. "The kind of love he (Sidhu) exudes for Pakistan, the only advice which we can give is Sidhu please proceed to become a part of Imran Khan's cabinet," Patra told reporters.

"Repeatedly engaging with Pakistan shows a conspiracy. It depicts his mentality to divide north and south India and that is a strategy being followed by the whole of Congress," he added.

Sidhu had earlier stirred a row after he visited Pakistan for Prime Minister Imran Khan's swearing-in ceremony. At the ceremony, he had hugged Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. Defending his hug, he had termed it as an emotional response as he claimed that Bajwa had told him that Pakistan was making efforts to open the corridor from Dera Baba Nanak to Kartarpur Sahib for pilgrims to pay obeisance on the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday lauded his party and said that it is only in BJP that a poor tea-seller's son can rise and become the Prime Minister of the largest democracy.

Shah made a reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi while speaking at an event in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh's Hoshangabad.

While speaking about PM Modi, Shah said that someone who is born in a poor household and with no political background can also become the Prime Minister in BJP.

Addressing the people in Hoshangabad, Shah said that it is their responsibility to get a victory of BJP in Madhya Pradesh.

Shah addressed the people and said that BJP should win with such a margin that even after 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP's flag should fly from Panchayat to parliament for the next 50 years, news agency ANI reported.

Shah is on a two-day visit to Madhya Pradesh where he will be addressing party workers in different districts.

During his visit, Shah will take part in party functions in Satna, Rewa, Dindori and Jabalpur districts in the run-up to Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh on November 28, state BJP president Rakesh Singh said on Saturday.

On Monday morning, Shah will take a plane to the famous temple town of Khajuraho, from where he will proceed to Satna and Rewa districts to address two party functions, Singh said.

Thereafter, Shah will take a helicopter to reach Dindori district, where he will address a tribal function, the state BJP president said.

Next, Singh said, Shah will head to Jabalpur to address a conference of party workers.

The BJP president will leave for Delhi at night, he said.Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday expressed his concern over the deteriorating health of Gopal Das, who is on a fast for the conservation of River Ganga and is currently hospitalised.

"The deteriorating health of Gopal Das is a concern for the whole country. He has been on hunger strike since June 24 seeking prevention of mining in Ganga. Gopal Das is now the voice of Agarwal and this voice must be strengthened," Gandhi said on Twitter.

Das was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rishikesh, on Saturday, two days after environmentalist GD Agarwal died following a fast for over 100 days.

Agarwal, popularly known as Swami Sanand, had been on a hunger strike since June 22 for a pollution-free Ganga and an uninterrupted flow of water in the river.

The Congress has attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "neglecting" the repeated pleas of Agarwal, who had written several letters to the Prime Minister voicing his concern over Ganga pollution.

Agarwa died after a heart attack in Rishikesh on Thursday. The 86-year old former IIT-Kanpur professor, Agarwal had been on hunger strike since June 22 for a pollution-free and uninterrupted flow in the Ganga.

He had demanded that steps be taken to make the river free-flowing for natural cleansing, and also a ban on construction of all hydroelectric projects along the tributaries of the Ganga besides enactment of the Ganga Protection Management Act.

Agarwal had sent several letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had in 2014 pledged on the banks of the Ganga in Varanasi that immediate steps would be taken to ensure cleaning of the holy river. However, the government paid no heed to his demands, said `IITians for Holy Ganga`, a forum formed to preserve the heritage and ecology of the river.

Agarwal, who is also know as Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand, had given up water a couple of days ago after government failed to respond to his satyagraha. He was moved to the AIIMS, Rishikesh, on October 9 from the protest site. Activists and politicians criticised the government for not listening to Agarwal.

Calling the BJP government "insensitive", Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh said the BJP, which garnered votes in the name of the Ganga, could not save the son of the Ganga (Agarwal).

In a tweet, he said he had raised the issue in Parliament to save Agarwal.

Senior Supreme Court lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan criticised the government saying Agarwal was forcibly picked up by the Uttarakhand police and hospitalised. "He passed away today after his pleas to save the Ganga fell on Modi`s deaf ears. RIP Dear Sir. This world is not for pure souls," Bhushan tweeted.

Union River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Nitin Gadkari had in August this year said nearly 70-80 per cent of the cleaning work of the Ganga would be completed by March 2019 and the holy river would become completely clean by 2020.NEW DELHI: In a rare instance, the Supreme Court has come to the rescue of a man belonging to the Scheduled Caste category whose services were terminated twice by the Uttar Pradesh government owing to a dispute over his caste certificate.

The top court, held that the subsequent change in law does not have the effect of reversing all the decisions made prior to the fresh view taken by a court of law.

The Supreme Court in 2013 had upheld an Allahabad High Court order by which Vijay Shankar was reinstated to service with all consequential benefits, holding him as a member of SC category after state government had withdrawn its appeal following a lengthy hearing.

The Uttar Pradesh government, however, in 2015 again dismissed him from service, saying a larger bench of the high court has taken a different view and his caste does not fall under the Schedule Caste category.

Shankar, who belongs to the 'Kasera' community, a sub-caste of 'Shilpkars' which is a SC category notified under the Constitution, challenged the decision once again before the Allahabad High Court, but it dismissed his plea saying that the law has now been changed by a larger bench of the top court.

A bench of justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao said the high court in its judgment, dated August 12,2015, has completely "misappreciated and misapplied the law".

"The difference between a superior court reversing a decision, which is in appeal before itself, and overruling the view is well known," it said.

The apex court directed the Uttar Pradesh government to immediately release the withheld pension and other retirement benefits of Shankar, who superannuated from the post of assistant prosecution officer during his second termination period.

The court, while allowing the appeal of Shankar, set aside the high court order of August 2015, rejecting his plea and his dismissal order of June 15, 2015.

"If a point is settled inter-parties and there is a subsequent change in the law because the court takes a different view, the change in a law does not have the effect of unsettling the rights settled earlier.

"The subsequent change in a law does not have the effect of reversing all the decisions made prior to the fresh view," the bench said.

It said in the present case, Shankar's rights were settled by the earlier high court judgment of December 23, 2011, which was upheld when the appeal of the state government was dismissed as withdrawn by the apex court.

The apex court said it was not permissible for the principal secretary, home department, to rely upon the subsequent contrary decision and dismiss the appellant (Shankar) from service again.

The ordeal of Shankar, who joined the service in 1991 as assistant prosection officer, started when he was terminated on May 21, 2007, by the state government on the ground that he has obtained the job by submitting a forged Scheduled Caste certificate.

It was found that Shankar's caste was recorded as 'Kasera' in his school certificate, which according to the state government was not a SC category.

Shankar, first challenged his dismissal order before the Uttar Pradesh State Public Services Tribunal, which granted him relief by setting aside the punishment order and reinstated him with all consequential service benefits and continuity in service.

The tribunal also observed that 'Kasera' is a sub-caste of 'Shilpkar' as per a government order dated December 12,1950. It said there are 26 sub castes of 'Shilpkar' and that 'Kasera' was one of them.

Thus, 'Kasera' being a sub-caste of 'Shilpkar' comes under the category of Scheduled Caste, the tribunal said.

Aggrieved by the tribunal's order, the Uttar Pradesh government moved the Allahabad High Court that on December 23, 2011, upheld the tribunal's order, saying the caste of his parents as per the

National Citizen Register, was found to be 'Shilpkar', which is a Scheduled Caste.

The state government, then moved the apex court where after a lengthy hearing, the appeal was withdrawn and the order of the high court reinstating Shankar was upheld.

The problem started thereafter as in a separate case, a full bench of the high court on May 29, 2014, held that the 'Kasera' caste did not fall under the Schedule Caste category and the order given in Shankar's case was wrong in law.

Relying on the full bench order of the high court, the government again dismissed Shankar's case, saying the law has now changed and his caste does not fall under schedule caste category.

Shankar, then filed the appeal before the apex court against the order of the high court dismissing his petition against the second dismissal order.KOLKATA: Amidst the race for best-themed pandals in Kolkata, a Durga puja committee has come up with a unique theme - a pandal decorated with turmeric.

For the first time ever, people of Kolkata and other parts of Bengal will be able to witness a pandal decorated with turmeric.





Santoshpur Lake Palli has tied up with JK Masale to decorate their pandal with turmeric.

The exteriors, as well as the interiors, have been decorated with turmeric.

As much as 4 tonne or 4,000 kg of turmeric has been used in decorating the pandal. While 80-85% of the whole turmeric has been used, 15-20% powdered turmeric has been used. We have procured the turmeric from Tamil Nadu as the best quality turmeric is available there. Even the packets of turmeric have been used in the Goddess' mandap, said Vijay Jain, director, JK Masale.



On the other hand, the organisers say that they tried to recreate Goddess Durgas kitchen.

Turmeric plays an important role in our lives. From cooking to weddings to auspicious occasions to pujas, all of this is incomplete without turmeric. We have earlier seen Durga puja committee using safety pins, biscuits as a theme of the pandal. But, none have ever decorated and done their pandal with turmeric, said Shubham Chakraborty, Durga puja organiser.

He further adds, We have tried to recreate Goddess Durgas kitchen inside the pandal. We have erected a huge cooking wok in the middle of the pandal to give it a look of a kitchen.

Santoshpur Lake Palli threw open its pandal for the public from Friday evening i. e. tritiya or the third day of the Navratras. People were seen making a beeline outside even before the pandal was thrown open for the public.BHOPAL: BJP president Amit Shah will arrive in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Sunday on a two-day visit during which he will address party workers in different districts, a senior party leader said.

During his visit, Shah will take part in party functions in Hoshangabad, Satna, Rewa, Dindori and Jabalpur districts in the run-up to Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh on November 28, state BJP president Rakesh Singh said on Saturday.

After reaching here on Sunday, Shah will leave for Hoshangabad in the evening in a helicopter, he said.

The BJP chief will address party workers in Hoshangabad, around 85 kilometers from Bhopal, before returning to the state capital, where he will stay the night, he added.

On Monday morning, Shah will take a plane to the famous temple town of Khajuraho, from where he will proceed to Satna and Rewa districts to address two party functions, Singh said.

Thereafter, Shah will take a helicopter to reach Dindori district, where he will address a tribal function, the state BJP president said.

Next, Singh said, Shah will head to Jabalpur to address a conference of party workers.

The BJP president will leave for Delhi at night, he said.Mumbai: Multiple women have come out to share their unpleasant #MeToo experiences involving filmmaker Sajid Khan. The director, who is quite popular in the film industry has stepped down from his directorial post (he was directing the fourth instalment of the superhit franchise Housefull) following allegations of sexual misconduct. And now, actress Amrita Puri has tweeted against Khan by calling him a "creep".

Puri, who has worked in 'Aisha', 'Blood Money' and 'Kai Po Che!' tweeted: "It was fairly well known that @SimplySajidK is a creep and is completely inappropriate as far as his conduct with women goes. I was warned to stay away from him if I ever came across him. I refuse to believe that it has come as a surprise to ppl from the industry or his family. (sic)."

It was fairly well known that @SimplySajidK is a creep and is completely inappropriate as far as his conduct with women goes. I was warned to stay away from him if I ever came across him. I refuse to believe that it has come as a surprise to ppl from the industry or his family.  Amrita Puri (@_Amrita_Puri) 12 October 2018

Her tweet has not gone down well with Khan's cousin Farhan Akhtar.

Akhtar tweeted: "I deeply resent your insinuation that me or my family knew of his behaviour yet did nothing. Your anger is justified. Your conspiracy theories not. @_Amrita_Puri (sic)."

I deeply resent your insinuation that me or my family knew of his behaviour yet did nothing. Your anger is justified. Your conspiracy theories not. @_Amrita_Puri https://t.co/MCLptZioWR  Farhan Akhtar (@FarOutAkhtar) 13 October 2018

When Sajid Khan made news for all wrong reasons, his sister Farah Khan and cousin Farhan Akhtar reacted to the entire controversy by posting:

"This is a heartbreaking time for my family.We have to work through some very difficult issues. If my brother has behaved in this manner he has a lot to atone for.I dont in any way endorse this behavior and Stand in solidarity with any woman who has been hurt. (sic)."

This is a heartbreaking time for my family.We have to work through some very difficult issues. If my brother has behaved in this manner he has a lot to atone for.I dont in any way endorse this behavior and Stand in solidarity with any woman who has been hurt.  Farah Khan (@TheFarahKhan) 12 October 2018

"I cannot adequately stress how shocked, disappointed and heartbroken I am to read the stories about Sajids behaviour.

I dont know how but he will have to find a way to atone for his alleged actions. (sic)."

I cannot adequately stress how shocked, disappointed and heartbroken I am to read the stories about Sajids behaviour.

I dont know how but he will have to find a way to atone for his alleged actions.  Farhan Akhtar (@FarOutAkhtar) 12 October 2018

Sajid has been named by actresses Sonali Chopra and Rachel White and one journalist for sexual misconduct. He has been called out not just for harassment but also for exposing his manhood to women, IANS report suggests.

Soon after Sajid's name made headlines vis-a-vis #MeToo movement, superstar Akshay Kumar took to Twitter to request the producers of Housefull 4 to halt the shoot until further investigations.

Sajid had directed the first two instalments of the Housefull series. He was replaced by Sajid-Farhad in the third edition and was roped in again for the fourth instalment. But now that he has been accused of sexual misconduct, the makers have replaced him again.

Farhad Samji has stepped into the shoes of the director to help the film.LUCKNOW: Om Prakash Rajbhar, a senior minister in the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has warned that the saffron party will pay dearly in the upcoming polls if fails to clear its policy on reservations for backwards.

Rajbhar, who has attacked the ruling BJP at past several occasions, also warned that if the saffron party fails to clear its stand regarding 27 percent reservation for backwards and most backwards, it will lose the votes from the community in the crucial 2019 Lok Sabha polls

Either decide on the 27 percent reservation for backwards or be prepared to lose our votes in the 2019 polls,'' Rajbhar said.

Pichaadi jaati ke 27% aarakshan ka bantwara karo nahi toh yeh soch lena ki 2019 mein UP mein khata nahi khulne dunga: UP Minister OP Rajbhar in Ballia yesterday pic.twitter.com/GdXx4N2T4v  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 14, 2018

Further attacking the ruling party, Rajbhar said that ''the poor will take your (BJP) money, eat chicken but will not vote for you if you don't do anything for the community,

''Garib tumhara (BJP) note bhi lega, murga bhi khaayega par tumhe vote nahi dega agar tune kaam nahi kiya toh. Gorakhpur, Phulpur, Kairana aur Noorpur ka result yaad karlena,'' the Minister said.

Garib tumhara (BJP) note bhi lega, murga bhi khaayega par tumhe vote nahi dega agar tune kaam nahi kiya toh. Gorakhpur, Phulpur, Kairana aur Noorpur ka result yaad karlena: UP Minister OP Rajbhar in Ballia yesterday pic.twitter.com/nayXSdpAfh  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 14, 2018

Rajbhar made these remarks in Ballia on Saturday.

He had earlier warned that the saffron party will pay dearly in the upcoming polls if the Opposition parties unite.

Rajbhar heads the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) and is a minister in the Uttar Pradesh government led by Yogi Adityanath.

Rajbhar had said that the saffron party will have to face a tough time to win elections if a Grand Alliance of non-BJP parties actually comes into existence.

The minister also regretted that his party's alliance with the BJP has not been fruitful as he has not gained anything from the alliance.

Rajbhar claimed that he had made several requests for an office for party activities but got nothing.

The Uttar Pradesh minister, in a veiled attack on the state government, had said last month that renaming Mughalsarai Railway station as Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Junction would not help spur development or ensure that trains run as per schedule.

Earlier in June this year, Rajbhar had made headlines for taking up a spade and repairing a 'pitiable' road outside his house in a Varanasi village himself.

Rajbhar did this in his Fatehpur Khonda village of Varanasi where he lives.

According to reports, the road outside his residence was in a bad shape for years and the minister had made several requests to the concerned department of the state government to get it repaired, but to no avail.BRUSSELS/LONDON: Brexit negotiators have yet to seal a deal on Britain`s divorce terms, officials said, after a flurry of meetings in Brussels on Sunday to try to secure a draft agreement before Prime Minister Theresa May arrives for a summit this week. With less than six months until Britain leaves the European Union, Britain`s Brexit minister Dominic Raab met EU negotiator Michel Barnier and the ambassadors of the 27 other member states were separately summoned to a meeting.

But senior EU sources said a final deal had yet to be agreed for leaders to approve this week, with some adding that the EU`s timetable before Wednesday`s summit would now have to shift. A meeting of EU advisers was postponed from Monday to make way for more talks. Raab had raced to Brussels after the two sides "jointly agreed that face-to-face talks were necessary" on the "big issues still to resolve".

One of those was a "backstop" to prevent a return to controls on the border between the British province of Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. This arrangement has strengthened opposition to May`s plans after her Northern Irish allies accused the bloc of trying to annex the province.

Britain`s biggest shift in foreign and trade policy for decades is also dividing the prime minister`s Conservative Party, with critics, such as Raab`s predecessor, pressing May to change her strategy. David Davis, who resigned as Brexit minister in July, accused the government on Sunday of accepting "the EU`s language on dealing with the Northern Ireland border".

"This is one of the most fundamental decisions that the government has taken in modern times. It is time for cabinet members to exert their collective authority," wrote Davis, who campaigned for Britain to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum. "This week the authority of our constitution is on the line," he said in an article in the Sunday Times.

Davis also pressed May to abandon her Brexit proposal, which involves staying in a free trade zone with the EU for manufactured and agricultural goods. The bloc "has rejected it. The public does not like it. Parliament will not vote for it," he wrote.

LOBBYING

So far, May has shown little appetite to change tack, trying to persuade Conservative lawmakers and those in the opposition Labour Party to vote for any deal based on her plan. But lobbying of May from all sides has increased in recent weeks as London and Brussels edge closer to an agreement on a draft withdrawal treaty to cover the divorce terms, a transition period and a solution for Northern Ireland.

Preventing any return of a "hard" border in Ireland has become one of the major obstacles, with Brexit campaigners fearful that a backstop with no expiry date will keep Britain inside a customs union with the EU indefinitely. May insists any customs arrangement as part of the backstop must be temporary, but the EU has refused to set an end date.

Health minister Matt Hancock suggested the backstop could be temporary without such a date, an argument that may fall flat with some eurosceptic lawmakers who are calling for May to "chuck Chequers", her Brexit plan named after her country residence. "There are different ways to ensure that something is time-limited," Hancock told the BBC. "For instance, you can set conditions at the point at which the arrangements come to an end."

Even if May reaches a withdrawal agreement, she will struggle to get it through parliament and may find opposition from the small Northern Irish party which props up here minority government to other legislation such as the budget. "I fully appreciate the risks of a `no deal` but the dangers of a bad deal are worse," Arlene Foster, head of the Democratic Unionist Party, wrote in the Belfast Telegraph newspaper.

"This backstop arrangement would not be temporary. It would be the permanent annexation of Northern Ireland away from the rest of the United Kingdom and forever leave us subject to rules made in a place where we have no say."DUBAI: Saudi Arabia on Sunday warned against threats to punish it over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last week, saying it would retaliate against any sanctions with tougher measures, as international criticism increased. Khashoggi, a US resident and Washington Post columnist critical of Saudi Arabia, disappeared on October 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Turkey`s government believes he was murdered inside the building and his body removed. Saudi Arabia has denied that.

US President Donald Trump has threatened "severe punishment" if it turned out Khashoggi was killed in the consulate, though he said Washington would be "punishing" itself if it halted military sales to Riyadh, a key ally. "The Kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether by threatening to impose economic sanctions, using political pressures, or repeating false accusations..." the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA)quoted an unnamed government source as saying.

"The Kingdom also affirms that if it receives any action, it will respond with greater action and that the Kingdom`s economy has an influential and vital role in the global economy," the source added, without elaborating. Britain, France and Germany told Saudi Arabia they were treating the case with "the utmost seriousness". "There needs to be a credible investigation to establish the truth about what happened, and - if relevant - to identify those bearing responsibility for the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, and ensure that they are held to account," the foreign ministers from the three countries said in a joint statement.

"We encourage joint Saudi-Turkish efforts in that regard and expect the Saudi Government to provide a complete and detailed response. We have conveyed this message directly to the Saudi authorities." The statement, by British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt, France`s Jean-Yves Le Drian and Germany`s Heiko Maas, made no mention of potential actions the countries might take.

The Saudi stock market lost $33 billion of its value on Sunday amid investor worries about deteriorating international relations, one of the first signs of the economic pain that Riyadh could suffer over the affair. In a column published just after the SPA statement, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya channel`s General Manager Turki Aldakhil warned that imposing sanctions on the world`s largest oil exporter could spark global economic disaster.

"It would lead to Saudi Arabia`s failure to commit to producing 7.5 million barrels. If the price of oil reaching $80 angered President Trump, no one should rule out the price jumping to $100, or $200, or even double that figure," he wrote. US senators have triggered a provision of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act requiring the president to determine whether a foreign person is responsible for a gross human rights violation. The act has in the past imposed visa bans and asset freezes on Russian officials.

Anti-Saudi sentiment in the U.S. Congress could conceivably raise the pressure to pass the so-called No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act, which would end sovereign immunity shielding OPEC members from U.S. legal action. A senior member of Saudi Arabia`s ruling family, Prince Khaled al-Faisal, has met Turkey`s President Tayyip Erdogan to discuss Khashoggi`s disappearance, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters without providing details of the talks.

On Friday, a source with links to the prince`s family said Prince Khaled, the governor of Mecca, had been sent to Turkey in his capacity as special adviser to King Salman. A Turkish official told Reuters on Sunday that the Saudis had said they would allow the consulate to be searched, and that this would happen by the end of the weekend, though he had conceded to "flexibility on this date."

"But Turkey is determined on the subject of entering the consulate and carrying out a criminal inspection. There is no alternative to carrying out this inspection. Time is important in terms of evidence," the official said.New Delhi: Taking a cue from India's Aadhaar initiative, Malaysia wants to bring changes in its national identity card system for target delivery of welfare schemes and government subsidies to avoid duplicity and fraud.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Kuala Lumpur in May, offered Malaysia's Premier Mahathir Mohamad collaboration on matters in which India has expertise, including the Aadhaar initiative, Malaysia's Minister of Human Resources M Kula Segaran said.

With the Malaysian Cabinet agreeing to the collaboration, Kula Segaran led a delegation comprising officers of the country's central bank, the finance ministry, the economic affairs ministry, and human resources ministry, to India last week.

The delegation met ministers and officials here and explored whether certain features of the Aadhaar system can be adopted in Malaysia. "We met UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey... We have identity cards (known as MyKad), but with the (introduction of an Aadhaar-like) system, the primary aim is to avoid duplicity of payments and fraud, and to target specific groups," Kula Segaran said.

Asked if Malaysia was exploring if it can link identity cards to bank accounts like in the Aadhaar system for target delivery of welfare schemes and subsidies, he answered in the affirmative.

Replying to a query on whether Malaysia could face problems of opposition of the people over privacy concerns just like India did, Kula Segaran said there was such a possibility and work was on to identify what would be a "workable" format to adopt from India.

He, however, said that there should not be much of a problem in Malaysia as identity cards with personal information have been there for decades.

"You put my ID card number, you will get my details, where I was born, who is my mother, who is my father," he said, adding that the issue that needs to be addressed in Malaysia is the target delivery of welfare schemes and government subsidies. Now, we have fuel subsidy in my country. Everybody gets fuel subsidy. We want to target certain groups and give it to them, not to others. We have different groups like B40 -- those who earn household income of less than 3,990 Malaysian ringgit," Kula Segaran said.

The other intention is to make the delivery of subsidies cashless, he said. "Right now we send cheques or we give cash. No need of that if you follow the Aadhaar system, and it comes directly into your account," he said.

There are multiple subsidies provided by the Malaysian government such as fuel, low income group, single mother, etc for which it will be useful, he added.

India recently witnessed an acrimonious debate over Aadhaar's merits and demerits. A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court last month while quashing some contentious provisions of the Aadhaar Act, held that Aadhaar would remain compulsory for filing of Income Tax returns, allotment of Permanent Account Number and for availing facilities of welfare schemes and government subsidies.112 Agency

In the temporarily occupied territory of the Donetsk region in the Manych area near the border with the Russian Federation, the OSCE UAV again recorded columns of militants' military trucks. This is reported by the Ukrainian side of the Joint Coordination and Control Center with reference to the OSCE SMM report published on October 13.



Thus, according to the report, the drone again spotted columns of military trucks, one of which was composed of seven KamAZ trucks, four Urals, and MT-LB on the trawl, and the other one consisted of two KamAZ trucks and two Urals.



"This is just one of many facts recorded by international observers confirming the continuous movement of weapons in both directions on the Russian-Ukrainian border controlled by the occupiers," the report said.



Also they reported on the systematic obstacles to activities of international observers from the side of armed forces of the Russian Federation. According to the report, the militants banned mission representatives from traveling for monitoring in Sedov, Novoazovsk, and Voznesenivka. In addition, in Boikivske, the staff of the local hospital refused to give information to the OSCE SMM about the affected civilian population without permission from the armed forces of the Russian Federation.



"A similar refusal was received by international observers from the school authorities in Chornukhino. This is an obvious indicator of how intimidated the population of the temporarily occupied territories is," the report says.



The mission had previously recorded columns of trucks with covered cargo compartments, which drove into the territory of Ukraine and out of it. In August of this year, the OSCE drone fixed the movement of a cargo convoy from the Russian Federation in Donbas.



Also on October 10, the OSCE SMM recorded a convoy of trucks that drove along a road in an uncontrolled area of Donetsk region, there were no border checkpoints there.

Related: Defender Day celebration participants fought with police officers in Kyiv downtownUkraine has four important celebrations on October 14: Holy Protection of Mother of God, Day of Defender of Ukraine, Day of the Ukrainian Cossacks and the anniversary of Ukrainian Insurgent Army

Ukraine celebrates Holy Protection of Mother of God, the Day of Defender of Ukraine, Day of the Ukrainian Cossacks and the anniversary of Ukrainian Insurgent Army on October 14. The Feast of the Holy Protectress is the first of the four important memorable events in the history of the country. All four feasts are closely connected to each other.

The Holy Protection

Open source

The Christians of the byzantine rite (Orthodox Christians and Greek-Catholics) celebrate the Feast of the Holy Protection or the Holy Protection of Mother of God on October 14.

According to the legend, on this day the army of Rus' people headed by Askold besieged Constantinople. The residents of the city started to pray to the Holy Mother asking for salvation. And the Holy Mother appeared before people and covered them with her cloth (Pokrova) and the enemy could not see these people anymore.

Another version says that it was the vision of Andrew of Constantinople during the siege of Constantinople by the Hagarenes army.

The Holy Mother appeared before people in the shrine and took them under her protection  the veil. After that, the enemy retreated.

Traditions:

By the start of October, all the major farmer works are over and it is the best time for weddings and parties.

It is said that veil covers the earth with either leaves or snow.

On this day, the believers pray to the Holy Mother for health, protection and help.

It is common to help the poor, orphans, and funk houses with burning twigs of apple or cherry tree. It is believed to bring luck and prosperity.

Since 1999, the Day of Ukrainian Cossacks is also marked on this day.

Day of Ukrainian Cossacks

Open source

Ukraines President Petro Poroshenko made October 14 with the decree and canceled Soviet celebration on February 23 (the Defender of the Fatherland Day).

This day was defined considering historical meaning and achievements of Cossacks in establishing of Ukrainian statehood and essential contribution in the modern process of state-building.

The celebration of the Day of Ukrainian Cossacks coincides with the holiday of Pokrova. For centuries, the Mother of God was considered the protector of all Ukrainian Cossacks. And Zaporozhian Sich Cossacks built a church in honor of the Pokrova of Virgin Mary with her icon. By the way, on this very day, the Cossacks gathered the Great Council on which they chose hetmans and decided further military plans.

It is interesting that the Cossacks deeply and sincerely revered the Intercession of the Mother of God, believed in its power and solemnly celebrated it and because of that another name of the feast appeared  Cossacks Pokrova.

There is probably no one in Ukraine who would not know about the Cossacks. There are plenty of books, films and stories about them. Even the state anthem mentions them. The image of a brave young man who protects the dignity and freedom of our people has been engraved in the memory of generations.

The uniqueness of our history is that Cossack organization embodies the dedication of our ancestors to freedom.

Numerous attacks by Tatars and Turkish on Ukraine forced Ukrainians to defend the territories. The Cossacks became a force that defended not only Ukraine but also Poland, Moldova, Hungary and Austria from the invaders.

As we know, the first powerful rebirth of Ukraines statehood fell on the Cossack era. The second attempt to win the independence by the Ukrainian people happened in the difficult 1917-1920 years.

The third one - already in our time - during the collapse of the Soviet empire, when the interest in the Ukrainian history and genetic memory rose.

The fourth wave is probably, nowadays. After all, since October 14, 2015 is a public holiday and a non-working day  it is also the Day of Defender of Ukraine.

Day of Defender of Ukraine

Open source

Since 2014, Presidents decree set the Day of the Defender of Ukraine on the day of Pokrova.

A year later, on February 21, 2015, Poroshenko made the Day of Defender of Ukraine a state holiday.

The Defender's Day of Ukraine replaced the Soviet celebration on February 23 (the Defender of the Fatherland Day).

"On October 14, the Pokrova of the Holy Mother was a festive day for the defenders of the Fatherland since the Cossack times, so, last year, deliberately striking out artificially brought to us holiday of the Russian occupation army from the Ukrainian calendar, I, naturally, choose October 14 " Petro Poroshenko said.

The holiday was introduced "to honor the courage and heroism of the defenders of independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, military traditions and victories of the Ukrainian people."

Anniversary of creation of Ukrainian Insurgent Army

Open source

October 14 is also a day with many torchlight marches in a number of Ukrainian cities. This is how Ukrainians mark the day of creation of Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).

The tradition to celebrate this anniversary was introduced by Ukraines President Viktor Yushchenko in 2005.

Since 2015, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army soldiers have gained the status of fighters for Ukraines independence in the 20th century.It is expected that more than 172 thousand citizens will take part in the events

Kyiv police

Over 9.4 thousand law enforcement officers are guarding order in Ukraine on Sunday, October 14, during the celebration of the Day of Defender in our country. This was announced by the Deputy Chairman of the National Police Olexander Fatsevych during the operational meeting, the press service of the department reports.



According to him, in general, more than 430 mass events will take place in the state today. Accordingly, the situational centers in the territory are transferred to emergency mode. The operational situation in the country is monitored continuously and around the clock.



It is expected that more than 172 thousand citizens will take part in events throughout the country. Our task is to prevent violations of public safety and order. Particular control is established the cities of Kyiv and Lviv, where the largest number of participants is expected, said Fatsevych.



At the same time, the safety of road users, in particular citizens arriving for a celebration, a prayer service, a patriotic march in Kyiv, is provided by patrol police and prevention police forces.

Earlier celebration participants fought with police officers in downtown in Kyiv during the celebration of the Day of Defender of Ukraine, reports RBK-Ukraine.

The participants of the action claimed that they agreed to meet to celebrate the Defender of Ukraine Day through Facebook. The organizer was dismissed mayor Artem Semenihin. The activist attempted to bring a tent on Maidan but the police special forces seized it. As a result, a skirmish took place at the beginning of Mykhailivs'ka St. The sides used batons and tear gas, reads the message.



There is no information on casualties yet. The Police havent commented on the situation.

Reportedly, Memorial Hall for the Defenders of Ukraine was opened in the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine with the participation of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

Related: Ukraine preparing to resist Russia in the Sea of Azov, - Poroshenko112 Agency

Dozens of people were detained by law enforcement officers near the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, reports Hromadske.



"In Kyiv, near the entrance to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, police special forces surrounded and then detained about 30 young people for unknown reasons," the report said.



It is noted that the situation near the church is calm, those wishing to visit the monastery complex passed by the police and went inside without interference.



At the same time, RBC-Ukraine reports that police detained 122 people.



"A group of 66 people was sent to the district police station, where officers will check the documents and send them home. The rest still stand in front of the entrance to the monastery, they were blocked by the soldiers of the special-purpose police regiment," the publication said.



The police have not yet commented on this information.



We recall, on October 14 Ukraine celebrates the Day of Defender of Ukraine and the Day of the Ukrainian Cossacks. Over 6,000 law enforcement officers are guarding order in Kyiv.



It was noted that law enforcement officers did not allow damage to Soviet monuments in the Mariinsky park of the capital, in particular the monument to General Vatutin, who liberated Kyiv from Nazi German forces; the participants of far right OUN organization were planning to demolish it today. It was also reported that clashes between police officers and protest participant took place on Mykhailivska Street.

Over 9.4 thousand law enforcement officers are guarding order in Ukraine on Sunday, October 14, during the celebration of the Day of Defender in our country. This was announced by the Deputy Chairman of the National Police Olexandr Fatsevych during the operational meeting, the press service of the department reports.



According to him, in general, more than 430 mass events will take place in the state today. Accordingly, the situational centers in the territory are transferred to emergency mode. The operational situation in the country is monitored continuously and around the clock.



It is expected that more than 172 thousand citizens will take part in events throughout the country. Our task is to prevent violations of public safety and order. Particular control is established the cities of Kyiv and Lviv, where the largest number of participants is expected, said Fatsevych.

Related: Fireworks, pyrotechnics and flags: Nationalists march in Kyiv (photo, video)112 Agency

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko for the first time awarded the title of general to a woman. The first Ukrainian woman who received the rank of Major General, was the head of the Security Service Military Medical Department Lyudmyla Shugaley. This is reported in the decree posted on the official website of the head of state.



On October 12, Petro Poroshenko signed six decrees on awarding the rank of general.

Earlier we reported that Ukraine is preparing to resist Russian aggression in the Sea of Azov. About this informed President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko at the ceremony of solemn oath by the students of the Kyiv Military Lyceum named after Ivan Bogun. His speech was broadcasted by "112 Ukraine".



We are preparing to repulse Russian aggression at the sea direction - in Azov Sea. Gunpowder should be kept ready, Poroshenko noted.



On October 12, President Petro Poroshenko introduced a partially secret decision of the Security and Defense Council (NSDC) to protect the interests of Ukraine in the south and east, as well as in the Black and Azov Seas and in the Kerch Strait.

Earlier, NSDC Secretary Alexander Turchinov said that Ukraine would continue to expand its military presence in the Sea of Azov to repel "possible aggression" on the part of the Russian Federation. In particular, a shipboat group has already been created, and plans include the creation of a naval base on the Sea of Azov by the end of 2018.

We recall that in the last three months, Russia's activity in the Azov Sea has increased significantly. The Russians do not allow merchant ships which enter and leave Ukrainian ports to pass through the Kerch Strait without hindrance. In this regard, the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko instructed the Minister of Defense, the Chief of General Staff and the command of the Ukrainian Navy to take measures to stop Russian provocations regarding blocking the entry of ships into Ukrainian ports in the Sea of Azov.



As noted by the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, the Russian Federation intends to occupy the Sea of Azov, as well as Crimean peninsula. Kyiv will not allow this.

Related: OSCE drone again records military trucks in Donbas near border with RussiaPoroshenko assured that the government will respect the choice of those who decide to remain in the church structure that maintains unity with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC)

Ukraine never had and will never have an established church. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko claimed this on Sofiyivska Square during the prayer, 112 Ukraine was broadcasting the event.

We never had and will never have an established church. And no one will forcibly invite anyone to the Orthodox church blessed by Tomos. I emphasize again - this is a matter of free choice for every believer. I ensure that the government will respect the choice of those who decide to stay in that church structure that maintains unity with the Russian Orthodox Church, Poroshenko noted.

The President also noted that the state will protect the rights of priests and laity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) of the Moscow Patriarchate who will create together with other Orthodox unified Ukrainian local church.

Poroshenko hopes that the Bishops' Council will be held without any conflicts, contrary to the Ukrainian national proverb that along with two Ukrainians, there are three hetmans.

As we reported on April 17, Petro Poroshenko signed an appeal to Bartholomew, the Archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch with a plea to provide Tomos towards the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and urges the Verkhovna Rada to support it.

On April 18, Poroshenko held the meeting with the primates of the Orthodox churches and accepted the appeal to Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch, on the provision of Tomos on the autocephaly for the Ukrainian church with the signs of all bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church  Kyiv Patriarchate and Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

Since 90-s there are a few jurisdictions in Ukraine that call themselves Orthodox local and autocephaly Churches.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church  Moscow Patriarchate and Metropolis of Bessarabia of the Romanian Orthodox Church have the canonical status. Ukrainian Orthodox Church  Kyiv Patriarchate is canonically not recognized.

Also, there is unrecognized Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.Open source

Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Lyudmyla Denisova said that Russia provides her with outdated information about the health of Ukrainian political prisoners. About this Denisova wrote on her page on Facebook.



Mikhail Fedotov (head of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation) responded to my inquiry about the state of health of Balukh, Chapukh, Degermendzhi and Dzhepparov. The adviser to the president of the Russian Federation wrote that Ukrainian prisoner Balukh was in hunger strike for only a month. Not more than 200 days, as everyone counted, and only 30. And it seems that at the end of April the political prisoner resumed eating. But we all know that only on October 9, Balukh wrote a letter about the suspension of the protest, "Denisova said.



She added that the state of health of Balukh and three other political prisoners held in Crimea, Russian doctors assess as satisfactory, but do not provide Denisova with any supporting medical certificates.



According to Denisova, this information is a response to her August request.



Think about it: almost 2 months have passed. Information about the health of our political prisoners is simply irrelevant, she summed up.



We recall, on October 9, the Ukrainian political prisoner Volodymyr Balukh stopped the hunger strike, which lasted 205 days. At the same time, Ukrinform, citing the archbishop of Simferopol and the Crimean UOC-KP Kliment, reports that Baluh suspended the hunger strike only for the period of transfer to the colony. Upon arrival at the colony, Balukh will continue his hunger strike.



Related: Fireworks, pyrotechnics and flags: Nationalists march in Kyiv (photo, video)

Explosions at the ammunition depots occur at times but they decrease

Over the previous day, the sappers cleared 15 settlements from the shells situated around the 6th depot in Ichnia, Chernihiv region, reports the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.

Related: Explosion intensity in Ukraine's Ichnia decreased, - Defence Ministry

The ammunition scattered as a result of the explosions removed from the territory of Ichnia and the following villages: Monastyryshche, Olshany, Kolomiitseve, Polova, Kolisnyky, Lisovy Sorochyntsi, Strilniky, Levkiv, Horodnia, Tarasivka, Hmyryanka, Korshaky, Luchkivka and Chervone.

At the same time, the State Emergency Service continues the operation to eliminate the fire in the ammunition depots. The special aviation carried out 38 water discharges on October 13. From the beginning of the operation, 702 tons of water were thrown off to smoldering ammunition.

Related: Ammunition again detonate at Ichnia depot - three explosions reported

Reportedly, an explosion in the sixth armory occurred in Ichnia. The air-space within 30 km is shut down, traffic and railway movement are stopped due to the emergency situation. The Military Prosecutors Office of the Central Region opened a criminal proceeding on the case of explosions at the ammunition depot in Ichnia.

Related: Explosion of ammunition at Ichnia depot ceased, - photo

Since October 10, ten demining groups have been working on the territory of the armory. 70% of the administrative territory was cleared. On October 11, the fire was completely eliminated.

Over the past four years, it's been the fifth accident with the ammunition stocks in Ukraine exploding; the incidents took place in Balakliya (Kharkiv region), Svatove (Luhansk region), and Kalynivka (Vinnytsia region).It is reported that the sides used batons and tear gas against each other

Celebration participants fought with police officers in downtown in Kyiv during the celebration of the Day of Defender of Ukraine, RBK-Ukraine reports.

The participants of the action announced via Facebook that they agreed to meet to celebrate the Defender of Ukraine Day. The organizer was dismissed mayor Artem Semenihin. The activist attempted to bring a tent on Maidan but the police special forces seized it. As a result, a skirmish took place at the beginning of Mykhailivs'ka St. The sides used batons and tear gas, reads the message.

There is no information on casualties yet. The police havent commented on the situation.

Reportedly, Memorial Hall for the Defenders of Ukraine was opened in the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine with the participation of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

As we reported earlier, on October 14, Ukraine marks Intercession of the Theotokos, Defender of Ukraine Day, and Day of Ukrainian Cossacks. At that day, more than 6 thousand law enforcement officers will maintain order in Kyiv.Open source

More than 230 people poisoned with piped water on the occupied areas of Donetsk region over one week. Pavlo Lysyansky, Commissioner of the Ukrainian Parliament for Human Rights in Luhansk and Donetsk regions reported his on Facebook.

Number of residents poisoned with sink water has increased in Donetsk region controlled by the illegal armed formations. From October 5  12, more than 230 people addressed hospitals on the occupied areas of Donetsk complaining about high temperature, sickness, and upset stomach. Mostly, they are children up to 17 years. Also confirmed information about the massive poisoning of students of the military lyceum in Donetsk with tap water. They are more than 104 people. The parents of several students claimed they were recommended to be treated at home and not to go hospitals, the official claimed.

Also, it is reported that the residents of Dokuchaievsk city complain about the poor quality of the piped water. According to them, the water a distinct mold smell.

The occupation authorities of so-called DNR conducted an analysis of the piped water in Makiivka, where massive poisoning occurred. From the published results it becomes clear that there are deviations in both chemical and microbiological parameters.Open source

Ukraine is preparing to resist Russian aggression in the Sea of Azov, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko stated this at the ceremony of solemn oath by the students of the Kyiv Military Lyceum named after Ivan Bogun. His speech was broadcasted by "112 Ukraine."



We are preparing to repulse Russian aggression at the sea direction - in the Sea of Azov. Gunpowder should be kept ready, Poroshenko noted.



On October 12, President Petro Poroshenko introduced a partially secret decision of the Security and Defense Council (NSDC) to protect the interests of Ukraine in the south and east, as well as in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and in the Kerch Strait.

Earlier, NSDC Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov said that Ukraine would continue to expand its military presence in the Sea of Azov to repel Russias "possible aggression." In particular, a shipboat group has already been created, and plans include the creation of a naval base on the Sea of Azov by the end of 2018.

We recall that in the last three months, Russia's activity in the Azov Sea has increased significantly. The Russians do not allow merchant ships which enter and leave Ukrainian ports to pass through the Kerch Strait without hindrance. In this regard, Poroshenko instructed the Minister of Defense, the Chief of General Staff and the command of the Ukrainian Navy to take measures to stop Russian provocations regarding blocking the entry of ships into Ukrainian ports in the Sea of Azov.



As noted by the President of Ukraine, the Russian Federation intends to occupy the Sea of Azov, as well as Crimean peninsula. Kyiv will not allow this.

Related: Defender Day celebration participants fought with police officers in Kyiv downtownLISBON, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese Defense Minister Azeredo Lopes resigned from the government on Friday, Portuguese Lusa News Agency reported.

Azeredo Lopes presented his resignation to Prime Minister Antonio Costa earlier in the day, and a source in the Defense Ministry's office told Lusa that the resignation had already been accepted by the prime minister.

There have been request of dismissal of Azeredo Lopes recently as the process of judicial investigation to the theft and recovery of the stolen arms in the arms depot of Tancos, some 130 km northeast of Lisbon in June 2017, is underway.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.Home  Just In  From the Kathmandu Press: Sunday, October 14, 2018

All major Nepali and English broadsheet dailies published from Kathmandu on Sunday have given the top priority to the death of Nepali and Korean nationals in a snowstorm on Gurja Himal of Dhaulagiri range. The newspapers, however, have reported different death tolls, from seven to nine.

Death of former minister and former ambassador Chakra Prasad Banstola has also received significant attention on the front pages of daily newspapers published from the capital. Nagarik and Republica have published banner news stories on the death of their publisher companys founder Hemraj Gyawali. Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post have also covered the incident on their front pages as Gyawali also worked as the chairperson of their publication. As the biggest festival of Nepalis, Dashain, is currently underway, many newspaper reports concentrate on different dimensions of the celebration.

Few other political, sociocultural and economic issues have been featured on the front pages of Kathmandu newspapers today.

Important

Congress leader Chakra Banstola passes away

After spending past six years in a coma, Nepali Congress leader Chakra Prasad Banstola passed away on Saturday, according to newspaper reports. Though some media reported his death quite earlier, Rajdhani lead story quotes his private aide Radha Krishna Kafle to inform that he breathed his last at 9:20 pm.

Banstola had suffered brain haemorrhage on December 29, 2012 while attending a programme in Morang, and he remained comatose ever since, reports The Himalayan Times.

Another girl murdered after rape

Kantipur, Annapurna Post, Rajdhani and The Himalayan Times report that a 10-year-old girl was founder murdered after her rape in Aaurahi Rural Municipality of Dhanusha district.

Manisha Kumari Yadav had left her house to observe a religious function nearby her house on Friday evening and was missing since then, Rajdhani reports, adding that her body was recovered at a paddy farm during a police search the next day.

KMC provides additional Rs 50 million for Kashthamandap reconstruction

Kathmandu Metropolitan City has allocated additional Rs 50 million to the reconstruction of historic Kashthamandap that collapsed in the 2015 earthquake, according to Nepal Samacharpatra.

Kathmandu Mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya handed over a cheque worth this amount to Kashthamandap Reconstruction Committee chairman Rajesh Kaji Shakya.

Earlier, the local government had provided Rs 5 million to the project.

Ignored

Province 2 endorses law that contracts constitution

The Province 2 Assembly on Saturday endorsed a law on the formation of provincial police organisation, Kantipur reports, adding this law contradicts the constitution and related federal laws.

The Nepal Communist Party, which leads the federal government but is an opposition force in the province, had been objecting to key provisions of the bill. Therefore, it took around four months to endorse the bill, according to the report.

Provincial speakers complain of human resource crisis

Speakers of provincial assemblies of different provinces have complained that the Federal Parliament Secretariat deployed unskilled and insufficient human resources to the provincial assemblies, and it has directed affected effective functioning of provincial legislative bodies.

Further, frequent transfer of key staff has also affected the efficiency, according to a report published in Annapurna Post.

Probe panels finds irregularities in Sikta

A government team has found that consultants, while designing the multibillion rupee Sikta Irrigation Project, failed to carry a special test of soil, and it resulted in the construction of a fragile canal, The Kathmandu Post reports in its anchor story.

The government had launched the probe after reports of repeated collapses of the main canal.

Interesting

153 new industrial enterprises in 2.5 months

Karobar reports in a two column story that total 153 industrial enterprises have been registered with the government in past 2.5 months. Among them, 47 are tourism businesses, 47 service oriented, 40 production oriented, seven information technology, seven agriculture and forestry, four energy and one construction, according to the report.

The total capital of these businesses is Rs 6 billion.Kathmandu, October 14

Nepal and Malaysia have agreed to ink a deal on October 29 to re-open the Malaysian market for Nepali labourers.

This comes months after Labour Minister Gokarna Bista placed a ban on sending Nepali workers to Malaysia after it was revealed that they were coerced to process their documents only through prescribed companies which were fleecing them. News report suggested that the amount totaled to around Rs5 billion over the last five years.

According to sources at the ministry, Malaysias Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran is scheduled to arrive in Kathmandu on October 28, a day before the signing ceremony.

As part of the new deal, the Kuala Lumpur has agreed to waive visa fees for Nepali migrant workers. Similarly, recruiters in Malaysia will have to foot expenses incurred by Nepali labourers during their application process. According to sources, Nepali workers will save up to Rs 100,000 each after the deal is implemented.

However, the caveat is that if a Nepali worker fails the medical of immigration clearence test, he/she will not be allowed to go to Malayasia and would also have to foot all the expenses incurred during the process.

The new agreement will shorten the contract period of Nepali migrant workers to two years from the existing three.Sulphur3

Ethiopia is home to some of the world's most beautiful scenery, including some striking sulphur -- yes, sulphur -- springs.

Early last year, award-winning photographer Carl Court visited one of these springs, located at the base of the Dallol Volcano.

The stunning site is roughly 600km north of the capital Addis Ababa, but many of the images don't look like anywhere else on Earth.

Dallol is the Earth's lowest land volcano at 48 metres below sea level. Its last recorded eruption was back in 1926. The salt flats stretch for miles in all directions and in the far distance you can see high mountains, some of which are extinct volcanoes.

The district holds the current record for the highest average temperature of any inhabited place on Earth, which can regularly exceed 46 degrees Celsius.

Despite the heat, Ethiopian communities here continue the centuries-old tradition of mining salt from the ground by hand.

The craters are full of striking neon yellow, orange, and green colours. And all of it is thanks to the boiling-hot magma below the surface, which pushes up salt, sulphur, potash, and other minerals.

As brine evaporates from the surface, salt formations are formed in the craters, which are white, yellow, brown, orange, and green. Halophile algae -- which can live in very salty conditions -- also contribute to the colourful scene.

'As a photographer, one of my primary interests is how the life, culture and environment can be portrayed and shown in still images,' said Court. 'In Danakil, it wasn't hard too do this as everything is very dramatic and completely out of the ordinary.'

Dallol gets many tourists visiting every year because it's truly unlike anywhere else on Earth. Court said it's 'utterly surreal.'

But visitors have to be careful because even if they can stand the intense heat, there are dangers from the acid pools and toxic gases that are released from the craters.For the past few weeks, The Honey Badger, Nick Cummins has been hiding out in Papua New Guinea, to avoid the backlash from The Bachelor shock finale that saw him reject both his final ladies.

And now fans are starting to get seriously annoyed with the rugby stars lack of commitment after he pulled out of his first two scheduled appearances of his book tour.

Nick Cummins has cancelled first two book signing events. Source: Facebook/Warringah Mall

Not long after The Bachelor wrapped up the 31-year-old released his first book on Tuesday, The Honey Badger Guide To Life along with a national book tour that was meant to kick off this week.

However, with little notice, Nick decided to cancel his first two appearances at Big W outlets in Erina Fair on the NSW Central Coast and at Warringah Mall on Sydneys Northern Beaches.

Both Shopping centres were left to break the news on their Facebook pages, with Warringah Mall event having a little dig at Nick by writing, Ah shucks Nick, now we know how those Bachelorettes felt.

Nick Cummins faced backlash after trying to explain his actions on The Project. Photo: Channel 10

And his lack of commitment to these events is really not helping his reputation among fans who expressed their frustration in the comments similar to how they responded to his one and only interview following the finale.

Cant commit to anyone or anything can he? one wrote, while another fumed: This guy is a disappointment all round.

I guess his head was cloudy and he couldnt, in good conscience, commit to signing books for an hour, one woman joked.

Others have comically suggested, Cant wait to hear his love advice, which is ironic as the book was initially titled The Honey Badger Guide To Life (and Love) before needing some last minute edits to exclude the chapter on love tips.

Fans are getting seriously annoyed with his lack of commitment. Source: Instagram/Nick Cummins

Its uncertain whether Nick will continue his other pre-scheduled tour dates across Australia over the next week including signings at participating QBD Books and Dymocks stores.

However, his next scheduled appearance is planned for Monday 12: 30 PM at Sydneys George Street Dymocks store.

Got a story tip? Send it to tips@oath.com

Want more lifestyle and celebrity news? Follow Yahoo Lifestyle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.Gareth Bale will miss Wales' Nations League clash against the Republic of Ireland after the Real Madrid star returned to Spain to continue his recovery from a groin injury. Bale was sidelined for Wales' 4-1 friendly defeat against Spain in Cardiff on Thursday after aggravating the groin injury while playing for Real against Alaves a week ago. The 29-year-old had hoped to recover for his country's trip to Dublin on Tuesday, but Wales manager Ryan Giggs had already admitted he didn't expect the forward to be back in time. A post on the national team's Twitter account read: "Gareth Bale has returned to his club this afternoon and will not travel to Dublin with the rest of the squad." Bale scored four goals in his first nine appearances for Real this season, but he has been bothered by the injury for several weeks. It is a frustrating spell for the former Tottenham star after his goals helped Real win the Champions League final against Liverpool last season. Against Spain, Giggs' side struggled badly without Bale, crashing to their heaviest defeat since a 6-1 thrashing against Serbia in 2012. Bale was presented with a golden boot prior to kick-off against Spain in honour of his record tally of 30 goals for Wales. Ipswich winger Gwion Edwards was drafted into the senior squad for the first time on Friday as cover for Bale. Wales have three points from their two Nations League games so far, beating the Republic 4-1 and losing 2-0 to Denmark. Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale will miss Wales' clash against the Republic of IrelandMichel Barnier's time on the political stage was supposed to be over. Passed over by his allies in Brussels in a failed audition for Europe's top role and out of step with his own party in his French homeland, it was time for him to take his bow. But the 67-year-old former French former minister and former EU commissioner was invited to perform his final encore as Brussels' chief Brexit negotiator -- and he's winning applause. The experienced operator has impressed pro-Europeans with his pugnacious defence of the Union's core interests and won the grudging respect of his British opposite numbers. He appears to be enjoying the return to the limelight, even though he had nothing to lose when he accepted what seemed a thankless task on October 1, 2016. A convinced European, he had hoped to take a role in building rather than dismantling the union in March 2014, when he sought the backing the centre-right PPE to become president of the EU Commission. But his own French conservative party failed to swing behind him, and former Luxembourg premier Jean-Claude Juncker got the job instead. Isolated in Brussels, Barnier later hoped to return to his homeland of Savoie in French Alps as president of the regional assembly, but again local barons of his UMP opposed him. "He embodies Europe -- everything our voters don't want," one party worthy told colleagues ahead of the 2015 poll, in a conversation overheard by an AFP reporter in Strasbourg. Friends say these failures left him bitter, but it was Europe that came to the rescue, albeit with a role mitigating what he sees as the "lose-lose" decision of British voters to quit the union. His former rival Juncker named him a special adviser on defence and security, then handed him the tricky but high-profile task of agreeing divorce terms with the pickly Brits. Two years later Barnier still hasn't nailed down the settlement terms, but he's done well enough that he felt he had to announce he is not seeking PPE support to replace Juncker next year. Instead he plans to focus on Brexit and might yet find himself in a position to slip into the top job anyway, after staying above the fray of party infighting and the European parliamentary vote in May. "The PPE was never going to let one of its members sink without trace," explained one of Barnier's allies. The Frenchman has been vice-president of the group for 12 years. In a letter to PPE president Joseph Daul, Barnier said he had a "duty and a responsibility" to see the Brexit negotiations through to the end. Now, Barnier is a rare European leader known well-enough in Britain to be caricatured by Fleet Street cartoonists and excoriated in euro-sceptic editorials. But he insists he's not in it for the knockabout. "I will do this without aggression and with much respect for a great country that will remain our ally an partner," he insisted, as he always does, in one of his now regular speeches last week. - 'Pragmatic and experienced' - When late French leader Charles de Gaulle opposed Britain's entry into the then European Common Market, Barnier voted in a 1972 French referendum to allow it in. "I have never regretted that vote because there is strength in unity," he has repeatedly declared. British europhobes were always going to scorn a patrician-looking Frenchman and veteran Brussels' insider, but those who know him best were not outraged by his nomination. "We could have done a lot worse than the pragmatic and experienced Barnier," admitted Syed Kamal, head of the British Conservative Party's group in the European Parliament. Barnier served variously as France's environment, European affairs, agriculture and foreign minister -- learning the dossiers that now bedevil the complicated break-up talks. And in Brussels, where he has been commissioner for finance and for the single market, he mastered the arcane mysteries of EU law. "He knows about the problems we'll have to negotiate with the British," Juncker explained. - Power players - Britain's task is a hard one; the unprecedented dissolution of legal, political and trade ties built over four decades after a narrow majority of voters backed an exit rejected by the bulk of the political elite. But Barnier's political challenge is almost as complex. He is the Brexit pointman not only for his nominal employer the European Commission, but also for the 27 remaining member states. The deal will have to be approved not just in Westminster but in the Strasbourg parliament -- and by power players like France's President Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel. Thus far, Barnier has avoided trouble from his own side, "but we've often had to realign the talks" sniffs one diplomat. And the scars from his earlier political battles have not healed, warn others, describing a "tortured" and often bitter personality beneath Barnier's suave exterior. But, while Britain has repeatedly changed its own main negotiator, and Prime Minister Theresa May has tried and failed to go above his head directly to fellow national leaders, Barnier has held on. And if the British leader comes to Brussels this week ready to sign up to a Brexit deal that respects the integrity of Europe's single market, Barnier will be on stage to take a bow. EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has won the grudging respect of his British opposite numbers Kiss and break up: EU president Jean-Claude Juncker greets Theresa May at a European summit Charles de Gaulle honoured Winston Churchill after the war but opposed Britain's entry to the European Common MarketExhausted diplomats in Brussels have taken to calling this stage of the Brexit negotiations "The Tunnel". British and EU officials are negotiating day and night to get to the outline of a Brexit deal by Wednesday. They need to resolve the final sticking points, notably on customs checks for Northern Ireland, before EU leaders meet to decide on next steps. Here's what you need to know to understand an unprecedented divorce battle: - Two agreements? - The core of the talks so far have concerned arrangements for Britain's "orderly" separation from Europe after 40 years of shared trade and laws. Often called the "divorce agreement", this text will take the form of a legal treaty and it must be agreed quickly to allow the British and EU parliaments to ratify it. If it's not in place and ratified by March 29, Britain will crash out of Europe in a "no deal" Brexit with serious economic and legal consequences. But there's also a second text. The "political declaration" will be much shorter, maybe six or seven pages. It will not be a legal text, but it could prove politically explosive. The declaration will outline the parameters of future British relations with Europe, with goals like a free trade pact to be negotiated after Brexit day. It won't be binding, but British lawmakers and voters may balk at paying tens of billions of euros in a divorce settlement with no detailed promises on future ties. - Where are we now? - EU negotiator Michel Barnier says the Brexit treaty is 80 to 85 percent ready. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney went as high as 90 percent. Both sides have agreed language on the rights of each others' citizens on their territory. They have put a number on the huge bill that Britain will pay. A transition period has been agreed: Britain will apply EU rules and pay into the budget until 2020, while the future relationship is negotiated in more detail. But you only get to 90 percent of a deal by leaving the hardest stuff until last. Britain has not yet agreed that the European Court of Justice will have oversight if either side complains about the other breaking the treaty. And the issue of Northern Ireland's borders could yet break the deal. - The Irish problem? - Both London and Brussels agree that there should be no return to border controls between Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland. Closer cross-border ties are a key development underpinning the return to peace since the Good Friday Agreement ended three decades of conflict. Europe's preferred solution would be for Northern Ireland to remain in the EU Customs Union after Brexit, and for low-key controls between Britain and the North. But Ulster unionists, including the small but influential DUP, will reject anything that divides them even symbolically from the core United Kingdom. And hardline eurosceptic mainland politicians reject the alternative pushed by Prime Minister Theresa May, for all of Britain to remain in the customs union for now. Europe -- while being ready to negotiate a trade deal after the divorce -- is wary of London trying to "cherry pick" single market access while rejecting EU rules. - What's the answer? - We will know by Wednesday whether May has decided to take up an invitation to outline any new plans to the other 27 EU leaders at a pre-summit dinner. One idea that the British press has reported would be to extend the transition period beyond 2020, but it's not clear whether May's own party would back that. Barnier, meanwhile, is insisting his border controls between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK could be "de-dramatised" to the point of near invisibility. If the negotiators can convince the EU leaders that a deal is imminent, they could call another summit next month to approve the package. If they can't, the EU 27 will head back to their capitals to begin planning for a "hard Brexit". British and EU officials are negotiating day and night to get to the outline of a Brexit deal by Wednesday Demonstrators dressed as custom officials set up a mock customs checkpoint at the border crossing in Killeen, Northern Ireland near Dundalk to protest against the potential introduction of border checks post-Brexit Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May has to reach a deal acceptable not only to Brussels but also to the members of her own Conservative partyPrince Harry and Meghan touched down in Sydney on Monday, kicking off a bumper Pacific tour that is the British royals' first major outing abroad as a couple. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made a low-key arrival to a wet and wintery Australia after a weekend spent celebrating the marriage of their relative Princess Eugenie and following an overnight commercial flight with Qantas. They were seen leaving the airport with staff, looking relaxed, as Meghan clutched a pair of purple binders and Harry carried a brown and green manbag. Their more-than-two-week official visit will take in multiple stops in Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand -- all parts of the Commonwealth, a group of predominantly former British colonies. Queen Elizabeth II is still the head of state in Australia although there is significant support for the country becoming a republic. Recent polls show Australians fairly evenly split on the issue, with only the slimmest of majorities in favour of ditching the British Queen and nominating an Australian head of state. During the trip, the royals plan to pet koalas, watch soldiers perform the haka and attend the Invictus Games, a multi-sport tournament for military service personnel and veterans who have been wounded or suffered injury or illness that opens on Saturday 20 October. The whole visit will be keenly watched by the British and Australian media. Meghan, a photogenic US actress, married the grandson of Queen Elizabeth II in May, becoming the newest royal to attract media obsession in Britain and beyond. The 37-year-old made waves recently by bucking protocol and closing her own car door. - Koalas and joeys - The couple will be accompanied by a staff of 10 and a substantially larger swarm of reporters from all the major British papers and TV broadcasters. The official visit begins on Tuesday in Sydney, where they will be welcomed by Australia's Governor-General Peter Cosgrove -- the queen's official representative -- and his wife Lynne. The royals will meet two koalas and their joeys at Sydney's Taronga Zoo. After sailing Sydney Harbour and visiting the famous Bondi Beach, meeting flying doctors, attending functions at the Invictus Games and meeting Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, they jet off to Fiji on October 23. Meghan will get a chance to speak at a UN women's empowerment in marketplaces event and meet some female vendors in the project in the Fiji capital Suva. They will meet the local royals in both Fiji and Tonga, which are members of the Commonwealth. The final leg coincides with the 125th anniversary of women's suffrage in New Zealand -- the first country to give women the right to vote. Meghan is expected to speak at a suffrage anniversary celebration in Wellington on October 28. The couple will have a chance to watch members of the New Zealand defence force perform the haka -- the traditional warrior dance popularised globally by the nation's rugby team -- at a governor's reception earlier that afternoon. The trip officially ends in New Zealand on October 31. Meghan has previously visited New Zealand as a tourist in 2014. Prince Harry has been to all four countries, but on his own. The couple's first trip abroad saw them dash off to Dublin shortly after their wedding. Prince Harry and Meghan are set to visit Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand on their first major trip abroad as a coupleBurundi on Sunday accused former colonial power Belgium of ordering the assassination of independence hero and Crown Prince Louis Rwagasore in 1961, a move likely to further poison ties between the two countries. A government statement said Belgium was the "true backer of the assassination of Rwagasore", in the first direct accusation over the murder by Bujumbura, which said it plans to probe the six-decade-old incident. The statement said that Brussels "has yet to explain itself" over the killing of Rwagasore, who played a key role in Burundi's anti-colonial movement. Rwagasore was named prime minister in the run-up to independence but was shot dead a month later by a Greek assassin accompanied by three Burundian members of a pro-Belgian party at a hotel in the capital -- a little over a year before independence was achieved in July 1962. He is one of Burundi's most beloved heroes, with his name gracing stadiums, schools and roads across the country. In the statement, the government said it "plans to launch a technical commission to investigate the assassinations ... of Rwagasore" and his two young children a few months later. The Kingdom of Burundi, believed to date to the 17th century, came under German colonial rule in 1890, but was awarded by the League of Nations to Belgium after World War I. Rwagasore was the eldest son of King Mwambutsa IV. Burundi has been gripped by political crisis since President Pierre Nkurunziza sought a third term in office in 2015, provoking severe civil unrest that has left at least 1,200 dead and displaced over 400,000 people. In October 2016, Belgium withdrew its ambassador to Burundi and suspended several development projects, as Bujumbura's relations with foreign allies worsened over the crisis. The following month, the executive secretary of the ruling CNDD-FDD Evariste Ndayishimiye accused Belgium of "acting as if Burundi is still under its yoke," on Twitter, after accusing it of backing the opposition. Burundi independence hero Prince Louis Rwagasore, whose bust is seen here in Bujumbura, was shot dead a month after being named prime minister in 1961US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will "probably" meet at a G20 summit next month, a US official said Sunday, as both sides deplored a badly strained relationship that a Chinese official called "very confusing." "The presidents will probably meet at the G20 in Buenos Aires," Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on the "Fox News Sunday" program. But he added that trade talks with China -- with each side imposing a mounting series of tariffs on the other, raising fears of a shock to the global economy -- had so far been "unsatisfactory." "The relationship has not been positive lately," Kudlow said. China's ambassador to the US, Cui Tiankai, raised similar doubts about the relationship between the world's two largest economic powers. Also appearing on Fox, he confirmed reports that China has grown frustrated in trade talks because of conflicting signals from the Trump administration. Cui said other ambassadors in Washington shared his frustration. "They don't know who was the final decision-maker" in the administration, he said. "Of course, presumably the president would take the final decision. But who is playing what role? It can be very confusing." - Litany of complaints - He also complained about a recent incident in which a US navy ship, in a so-called "freedom of navigation" exercise, sailed close to a disputed island claimed by China in the South China Sea. "This is a very good example of American intervention into Chinese internal affairs," Cui said, adding that US officials would not be pleased if Chinese warships entered the Gulf of Mexico. Kudlow concurred that the differences between the two sides extend beyond trade. "The relationship has not been positive lately, and we have to have reciprocity in all of these areas: trade, security, military issues. That's what is at stake here," he said. Earlier this month, US Vice President Mike Pence issued a long litany of complaints against China. He accused Beijing of "predatory" trade practices, of military "aggression," of massive attacks on personal freedoms and religious minorities, and even of electoral interference aimed at unseating Trump by running ads in American newspapers. Cui replied on Fox that Chinese media were "just learning from American media to use all these means to buy commercial pages from newspapers," adding, "This is a normal practice for all the media." But the ambassador also held out hope for the Buenos Aires meeting. Two earlier meetings between the presidents, he said, had made it "clear that such top-level communication played a key role, irreplaceable role in guiding the relationship forward. And there is good mutual understanding and good working relationship between the two. "I hope, and I'm sure, this will continue." This file photo shows US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a November 2017 meeting in Beijing; the relationship has since cooled considerablyTreading carefully among his sprawling green plants in the Nile Delta, Egyptian farmer Fatuh Khalifa fills his arms with fluffy white cotton picked by his workers. Durable, fine and luxuriously soft, cotton sourced from Egypt has long been seen as the best on the market. But recent years have been far from smooth for the North African country's farmers. "I cultivate 42 hectares (104 acres) and it's expensive ... while the price (of cotton) is very low", said Khalifa, who has been growing the premium long-fibre variety for over 30 years. Profits are "meagre", he lamented, his head shaded by his cap from the unforgiving sun on his farm in Kafr El Sheikh. Cotton was once Egypt's main source of wealth in the 19th century, as the Nile Delta provided fertile grounds for the crop used to make the towels, sheets and robes coveted by Europe's burgeoning bourgeoisie. But decades of fierce international competition has diminished returns. Well-marketed short-fibre cotton -- while lower quality than the long-fibre variety -- looks good and has increasingly been used by textile giants, dealing a heavy blow to Egyptian players. The United States and Brazil are now the world's top cotton exporters, according to this month's report by the US Department of Agriculture, followed by India and Australia, leaving Egypt trailing far behind. Back in 1975, Egypt exported $540 million of cotton. By 2016, the sector's export receipts had fallen to $90.4 million, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. - Major challenges - The popular uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak in 2011 dealt a fresh blow to the cotton sector, as political and economic chaos hit production and export chains. Egypt's output of cotton fibres fell as low as 94,000 tonnes in 2013, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, down from 510,000 tonnes in 1971. Last year brought producers some respite, thanks to rising prices and higher export volumes. But a trade spat between the US and voracious importer China has seen benchmark global cotton prices fall afresh, as traders take fright over Beijing imposing tariffs. The commodity was trading at a shade under $0.77 per pound (0.45 kilos) in early October, after reaching $0.95 -- the highest level in more than six years -- in early June. In Egypt, the price has dropped back to the minimum guaranteed by the state of some 2,700 Egyptian pounds ($150, 130 euros) per 100 kilos. Egypt's cotton union says buyers are even demanding lower prices, without triggering any intervention by the government. - Productivity, modernisation - Others offer a different diagnosis of the sector's ills. "The drop in prices is not in itself a bad thing", said Ahmed El-Bosaty, CEO of Modern Nile Cotton, one of the biggest companies in the sector. Bosaty said the major challenge is boosting productivity. "A rise in productivity rather than prices would ensure better incomes for workers", he said. A cotton expert at the agriculture ministry acknowledged that modernisation is key. "Productivity is rising", said Hisham Mosaad. But cotton enterprises must invest in mechanisation, as the industry is still entirely manual, he added. Another challenge is that few Egyptian firms make finished products. "We produce raw cotton for direct export", said Mohammed Sheta, director of research at the Kafr El Sheikh cotton institute. Egypt does not have "the factories or the means allowing us to transform it into fabric", he lamented. - State reforms - The state has tried to spur activity, boosting areas under cultivation over the last four years by around 50,000 hectares, to more than 140,000 hectares. In an experimental move, the government in September even allowed the cultivation of short-fibre cotton, but only outside the Delta region. Experts and farmers remain sceptical, believing Egypt will struggle against foreign heavyweights in the short-fibre market segment. But many companies see the situation as urgent. Even though official exports of Egyptian cotton rose 6.9 percent by volume in the three months to the end of May compared to the same quarter of 2017, there was a 57.9-percent fall in consumption of Egyptian cotton at home, due to the domestic market turning to imported products. At the high end of the value chain, designer Marie Louis Bishara runs one of the few Egyptian firms that produces high quality finished products locally for the international market. Young men and women work side by side in her modern factory in northern Cairo, in roles ranging from overseeing looms to packing finished shirts. Promising Egyptian quality, she has dedicated one of her lines to local long-fibre cotton. "We try to show the world that if you want to make luxury products, you have to use extra long cotton from the Delta", she said. Shirts, trousers and jackets stamped "Made in Egypt" have gone from the design stage on her factory floor to grace shop shelves in France, Italy and her home country. A farmer works in a cotton field in Kafr el-Sheikh in Egypt's Nile Delta on September 13, 2018 An Egyptian cotton picker at work in Kafr el-Sheikh in the Nile Delta Egypt's long-fibre cotton has for centuries been coveted for its durability, fineness and softness A tailor sews cotton shirts at the Marie Louis clothing and textile factory in the 10th of Ramadan city, about 60 kilometres north of Cairo, on July 29, 2018 Tailors work at the Marie Louis factory, where long-fibre Egyptian cotton is used to produce high quality clothing for sale in France, Italy and Egypt A worker prepares high-quality long-fibre cotton threads at the Marie Louis clothing and textile factoryKathmandu, October 14

Nepal Communist Party chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda has conceded that misunderstanding brewed among top leaders following the controversy related to Bamdev Gautams election bid. He, however, said that the misunderstanding was now over.

Prachanda, who was speaking to the partys Province 3 office bearers, said that the rank and file of the party should back the government and boost its strength. The controversy related to Bamdev Gautamjis election bid is over. Most probably, he will now give up on the whole idea,a leader present at the meeting told Onlinekhabar.

This comes a few days after it was revealed that the letter Kathmandu-7 MP Rambir Manandhar wrote to chairman Oli requesting his resignationso that Gautam could contest the seat was drafted at Prachandas residence. Prachanda told the provincial leaders that the leadership, in the last few weeks, had been focused on going abroad and that took a toll on the party unification process.An ultra-nationalist monk -- dubbed the "Buddhist Bin Laden" -- on Sunday condemned the international community for their calls to bring Myanmar's generals to justice over the Rohingya crisis. Firebrand monk Wirathu, known as the face of Myanmar's Buddhist nationalist movement, was speaking at a pro-military rally that attracted hundreds of supporters, his first since being barred from giving public sermons last year. The ban, which ended in March, was issued by a council of senior monks who said Wirathu had "repeatedly delivered hate speech against religions to cause communal strife". The hate speech he espouses -- which includes calling the Rohingya Muslim minority "Bengali" in an attempt to delegitimize their identity as being from Myanmar -- has also caused Facebook to ban him from their platform. The hardline abbot on Sunday reverted to his signature rhetoric at the rally to protest calls for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Myanmar's generals for genocide and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya Muslim minority. "The day when the ICC comes here...is the day that Wirathu holds a gun," he said in a speech that often referred to himself in the third person. He lauded China and Russia in the UN Security Council as "nationalist giants who stand with the truth" in their role of preventing any firm action against Myanmar. "Don't lie to the world saying that Bengalis are Rohingya because you want to promote Islamisation in Myanmar," Wirathu said. "Don't destroy our country by creating a fake ethnic group." The military has said their brutal crackdown -- which led to more than 720,000 Rohingya fleeing across the border carrying accounts of rape, arson and murder -- was warranted for combatting terrorism. While much of the world has regarded the unfolding Rohingya crisis with horror, the majority of people within Myanmar side with the military as the Muslim minority group is widely detested. The supporters showed up in force at Sunday's march, with hundreds gathering in front of downtown Yangon's iconic Sule Pagoda carrying giant portraits of army chief General Min Aung Hlaing, who UN investigators say is the most responsible. "We can't stand the bullying of the army chief and the Tatmadaw by the international community," said protester Khine Thet Mar, 46, using the Myanmar name for the military. The UN Human Rights Council voted last month to prepare for criminal indictments over the atrocities in Myanmar. Min Aung Hlaing has remained defiant in the face of international pressure, saying that no country, organisation or group has the "right to interfere in" Myanmar's sovereignty. Buddhist monk Wirathu has criticised the international community for calls to investigate Myanmar's generals over the Rohingya crisis The hate speech espoused by Buddhist monk Wirathu has caused Facebook to ban him from their platformWith just under six months until Brexit day, German business is losing patience with negotiations ahead of a vital deadline, warning ever more stridently of the risks of a no-deal departure. "Europe must stop a worst-case Brexit scenario," Joachim Lang, director of the Federation of German Industry (BDI) said Tuesday, warning that "a separation of the UK from the EU without a departure or transitional agreement or clarification of the future relationship is still a possibility." At stake for Germany are some 50,000 jobs the BDI says depend directly on business with the UK. In financial terms, Europe's largest economy sold 84.4 billion euros ($97.4 billion) of exports to Britain in 2017, making the island nation its fifth-biggest customer, while importing 37.1 billion. The scale means a no-deal Brexit would be "a disaster that would cause great difficulties for tens of thousands of firms and hundreds of thousands of workers on both sides of the English Channel," Lang said. Current talks aim to settle Britain's divorce issues and agree a "transition phase" to ease its departure by keeping it under EU law through 2020. But while much is already agreed, negotiations have snagged on thorny issues like the Irish border that allow for little compromise and divide British PM Theresa May's majority. An EU leaders' summit this week has been dubbed a "moment of truth", as two sets of lawmakers -- in Westminster and the European Parliament -- must both green-light any deal and will need time to debate it before Brexit day on March 29. Adding to the pressure, the European Commission said last week it was making plans to cope with a no-deal scenario. - 'Will Brits be reasonable?' - Businesses on the front line of potential Brexit disruption mostly strike a less alarmist tone than the BDI chief. "If Britain becomes a 'third country' (losing membership of the EU's single market) it's not a problem, we already work with 50 third countries," said Samia Zimmerling, head of export administration at Delta Pronatura -- a cleaning products maker with operations in both Germany and the UK. But she lamented the drawn-out talks, which are delaying concrete adjustments companies must make to any new trade arrangements, like updating complex IT systems. "We're waiting every day," she said. "We don't have any faith in the British (government), they're just indecisive." Zimmerling and around 200 other businesspeople attended a Wednesday conference organised by Frankfurt's Chambers of Commerce and Industry (IHK), one of a string of events in economic centres around Germany. Britain's departure has special significance for Frankfurt, which is both the centre of the powerhouse "Rhine-Main" region and a financial hub. Bankers and local politicians hope to attract banking business from London following Brexit, with lobby group Frankfurt Main Finance last week tallying 26 financial firms that will transplant some operations. But at Wednesday's meeting, experts from the finance ministry in Berlin and the customs service focused on explaining more prosaic issues to the gathered businesspeople. Attempting to strike a bright tone and coax the odd laugh from the audience along the way, they delved into how to register for customs software or claim back taxes on goods exported outside the EU. Higher barriers to trade "wouldn't be anything new to us as a company, although for me personally, yes," said Thorsten Neubecker, a 30-year veteran of Germany-UK trucking at transport firm MOL Logistics. "We're assuming that there will be this temporary two-year transition period, to give us time" to adapt, he added. "Whether the Brits will be reasonable, whether Brussels will be, I don't know, we just have to hope." Alexander Schroeer of Cuta Solutions, a firm that advises other companies about international trade, was more pessimistic. "There's a political discussion in England that has nothing to do with the agreement itself," he complained. "For me it's clear that there will be a hard Brexit." German firms are increasingly frustrated by the lack of clarity over BrexitThe eruption of Guatemala's Fuego volcano ended Saturday, an official source said, with locals escaping a repeat of June's eruption that killed 190. However, mild to moderate explosions sent smoke swirling up to 940 meters above the crater, while a lava flow measuring 1,200 meters continued. "All of this activity is expected to disappear in the coming hours," said a bulletin from Guatemala's government agency for seismology (Insivumeh), without ruling out that it could pick up again in coming days. The latest eruption began in the early hours of Friday, with 62 people evacuated and a highway near the 3,763 meter volcano, 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Guatemala City, closed. Guatemala's disaster management agency CONRED said two other volcanoes are also being monitored. The Pacaya volcano, located 20 kilometers south of the capital, and the Santiaguito volcano, 117 kilometers west of Guatemala City, have both showed increased activity. A powerful June 3 eruption of the Fuego volcano -- located 35 kilometers southwest of the capital -- rained rocks, ash and toxic gases on several villages and left 190 people dead and 235 missing. The eruption of Guatemala's deadly Fuego volcano saw 62 people evacuatedIsrael's government Sunday approved the construction of 31 settler homes in Hebron, the first such green light for the flashpoint West Bank city since 2002, a cabinet minister said. Construction permits were agreed in October last year but needed the government's approval, according to the Peace Now NGO which monitors settlement construction in occupied territory. "For the first time in more than 20 years, Hebron will have a new Jewish neighbourhood where a military camp once stood," Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said after the weekly cabinet meeting. He said in a statement that the project will comprise 31 settler homes and two kindergartens. "It is an important step in the global activity which we are carrying out to reinforce settlements in Judea and Samaria," added Lieberman referring to the occupied West Bank. Hebron is holy to both Muslims and Jews, with Old Testament figures including Abraham believed to be buried there. The city is a flashpoint reflecting the deep tensions that run between Palestinians and Israelis. Hebron is home to around 200,000 Palestinians, with about 800 settlers living under Israeli army protection in several heavily fortified compounds in the heart of the city. The Hebron units are to be built on Shuhada Street, once a bustling shopping street leading to a holy site where the biblical Abraham is believed to have been buried. The street is now largely closed off to Palestinians who have repeatedly demanded that it be reopened to traffic. The area was seized in the 1980s by the Israeli army which built on it a military base to protect Hebron's Jewish settlers. The 1994 massacre of 29 Muslim worshippers in Hebron by Israeli-American Baruch Goldstein led to an agreement three years later giving the Palestinian Authority control over 80 percent of the city. The settlers and about 30,000 Palestinians living adjacent to them fall under Israeli military rule. Peace Now said in a statement that the land on which the settler homes will be built legally belongs to the Palestinian municipality of Hebron. Israeli settlements are considered a violation of international law and major stumbling blocks to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians want for their future state. But Israel disputes that and says Palestinian intransigence, violence and "incitement" against it are responsible for stalled peace efforts. According to Peace Now settlement plans in the West Bank have increased since the beginning of 2017, when Donald Trump, a key ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was inaugurated as president of the United States. About 430,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.6 million Palestinians in the West Bank, occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. Israeli settlers walk past a group of Palestinian men sitting outside shops that were closed by the Israeli army ahead a planned tour by settlers to visit the tomb of a Biblical figure on September 25, 2018 in the flashpoint city of Hebron An Israeli settler places an Israeli flag on the window of a Palestinian house after it was occupied by settlers near the Ibrahimi Mosque, or the Tomb of the Patriarch, in the West Bank city of Hebron on March 27, 2018Britain, France and Germany insisted Sunday that "light must be shed" on the whereabouts of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as they called for a credible investigation into his disappearance. In a joint statement, Britain's foreign minister Jeremy Hunt, his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian and Germany's Heiko Maas said whoever was responsible for the Saudi journalist's disappearance must be held to account. Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to obtain official documents for his upcoming marriage. "Defending freedom of expression and a free press and ensuring the protection of journalists are key priorities for Germany, the United Kingdom and France," the ministers said in a statement issued by the Foreign Office in London. "In this spirit, light must be shed on the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi," it said, indicating all three countries were treating the matter "with the utmost seriousness". "There needs to be a credible investigation to establish the truth about what happened, and -- if relevant -- to identify those bearing responsibility for the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, and ensure that they are held to account. While expressing support for joint Saudi-Turkish efforts to look into his disappearance, they said the Saudi government must provide "a complete and detailed response", indicating that such a message had been conveyed "directly" to Riyadh. Turkish officials say they believe Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi mission and lurid claims suggesting he was tortured and even dismembered have been leaked to the media. Saudi Arabia warned Sunday it would retaliate against any sanctions imposed on the oil-rich kingdom over Khashoggi's disappearance, as the Riyadh stock market plunged on growing investor jitters. From tech tycoons to media giants, a host of Western companies are now distancing themselves from the Gulf state, imperilling Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's much-hyped economic reform drive. "Jamal Khashoggi is missing since October 2" reads a poster held up by demonstrators outside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where the journalist was last seen before disappearingMacedonia's parliament will vote Monday on whether to ratify a deal to change the country's name, in a bid to finally settle one of Europe's longest running disputes. Prime Minister Zoran Zaev faces an uphill battle to get the necessary votes to rename the Balkan state North Macedonia to end the row with Athens and open a path to EU and NATO membership. He needs two-thirds of parliament's MPs to amend the constitution and seal the deal. But the Social Democrat premier's coalition, backed by parties representing ethnic Albanians -- who make up around a quarter of the country's 2.1 million population -- doesn't have enough votes. He will need to get the support of around a dozen deputies from the rightwing opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, which has campaigned vehemently against the change. Ever since its small neighbour proclaimed independence in 1991, Greece has maintained that the word Macedonia can only apply to its own northern province. Greece has long vetoed the Balkan country joining NATO and the European Union over the bitter row. But a breakthrough came in June when Zaev and his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras agreed on the name North Macedonia. Macedonia then held a referendum on September 30 in which more than 90 percent supported the name change -- but only a third of the electorate turned out, leading to opponents claiming the result was illegitimate. The poor turnout has hurt Zaev's campaign to attract opposition MPs to the cause. - 'Very uncertain' - "There will be no two-thirds majority, do not hope for it," VMRO-DPMNE MP Trajko Veljanovski said last week. Another of the party's MPs, Ilija Dimovski, was more cautious. "We will see what will happen, but VMRO-DPMNE MPs, or most of them, will not support the deal." The government has planned talks with four or five VMRO-DPMNE lawmakers -- which would still not be enough to ratify the deal. "All this is very uncertain," a government official, who requested to remain anonymous, told AFP. Zaev has said that if parliament fails to pass the name he will immediately call early elections. According to Florian Bieber, a professor of southeast European studies at the University of Graz in Austria, it is still "possible that pro-agreement parties and candidates might win a two-thirds majority and ratify the agreement. "Only if this fails, will the agreement be dead or at least shelved," he told AFP. But Boris Georgievski, expert in international relations and head of Deutsche Welle's Macedonian-language service, said that if Monday's vote falls short he does "not see how the agreement has a chance to survive". And time is running out, as the agreement stipulates that everything must be completed by the end of the year -- though Greece has already said it is willing to be flexible over deadlines. - 'No plan B' - Failing to change its name could push Macedonia into isolation. Tsipras said in July that if the deal is not ratified, Skopje will not be invited to join NATO and EU talks will not move forward. This "chance will not be repeated", Zaev warned, and called on the opposition to look to "its responsibilities". "There is no plan B to join NATO without a name agreement," the military alliance's chief Jens Stoltenberg repeated earlier this month. "The only way to become a member of NATO is for the country to agree on the name issue with Greece." Bieber said that while Macedonia had historically seen Athens as the "main stumbling block", failing to pass this deal "would certainly put the country and the government in a difficult position, as the responsibility would lie with it, and not with Greece". The parliamentary session starts at 11:00 am (0900 GMT) on Monday. No deadline has been set for when it will end. Ever since its small neighbour proclaimed independence in 1991, Greece has maintained that the word Macedonia can only apply to its own northern province, to the anger of many across the border There has also been opposition to the deal in Greece Both countries claim Alexander the Great as one of their own Greece has long vetoed Macedonia joining NATO and the European Union over the bitter rowMaldives judges on Sunday heard a petition by strongman president Abdulla Yameen to have his recent election defeat annulled, potentially triggering US sanctions and plunging the Indian Ocean archipelago into fresh turmoil. Yameen lost heavily in the September 23 election to a little-known united opposition candidate, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, despite his main rivals being in jail or in exile and the media in his pocket. Under pressure from the US, Europe and India, which is seeking to counter growing Chinese influence in the strategically positioned 1,200-island honeymoon paradise, Yameen quickly conceded defeat and said he would leave office on November 17. But even as Western countries breathed a sigh of relief, prisoners were released and opposition figures began returning from exile, Yameen last week filed a request for the Supreme Court to annul the result and call fresh elections. A statement on Saturday by his Progressive Party (PPM) said the vote was the "most farcical election in living memory" with the organisation "abysmal", vote-rigging "rampant" and many people unable to cast ballots. The Supreme Court in the capital Male adjourned on Sunday after proceedings that lasted several hours, and will resume on Monday. The United States -- which like the European Union threatened sanctions if the elections were not free and fair -- on Saturday warned it would react if Yameen, 59, does not go quietly. "The US is concerned by troubling actions by outgoing president Yameen that threaten to undermine the will of the Maldivian people," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said on Twitter. He added that Washington "will consider appropriate measures against anyone who undermines a peaceful transfer of power in #Maldives". The situation is not dissimilar to 2013 when Yameen, the estranged half-brother of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who ruled the Maldives with an iron fist for 30 years until 2008, first became president. Mohamed Nasheed, Yameen's rival at the time and the country's first democratically elected president, beat him in the first round of elections but Yameen persuaded the Supreme Court to nullify the result. A subsequent vote was then twice delayed, allowing Yameen time to forge alliances that helped him narrowly win a contested run-off. Since then Yameen has borrowed heavily from China for infrastructure projects. - 'Blatantly unsubstantiated' - Dozens of people queued up outside the Supreme Court on Sunday to get inside several hours before the hearing began. It started with the court allowing all opposition parties to have their say. A handful of people held placards, including "Arrest Yameen". Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, Colombo-based spokesman for the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), said the legal challenge was an attempt by Yameen to create turmoil. The country's Joint Opposition, which includes the MDP, has asked Yameen to withdraw the "blatantly unsubstantiated case, and to step aside and to facilitate a peaceful, and smooth transition." The opposition has also urged state institutions, including the courts and the security forces, to uphold the will of the people. "Maldivians used the ballot to defeat the dictatorial regime. Yameen must not be allowed to (pervert) the hard-won opportunity for all Maldivians to attain meaningful democracy and stability," the Joint Opposition said in a statement at the weekend. Apart from his political foes, in February Yameen jailed the chief justice and another Supreme Court judge after accusing them of trying to topple him. Yameen had initially suspended the court, parliament and the constitution and declared a state of emergency when legislators were about to impeach him in February. Three of the remaining Supreme Court justices have been restored, but the opposition has said they had no faith in the judiciary to deliver justice while Yameen remains in power. However, several high-profile political prisoners, including Gayoom, have been released on bail since the election results were officially announced. Maldives President Abdulla Yameen lost heavily at elections in September Opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (C) unexpectedly won the election, securing 58.4 percent of the vote against President Abdulla Yameen's 41.6 percentUganda's President Yoweri Museveni visited eastern Bududa Sunday after 43 people died when a landslide caused a river to burst its banks, sending water and boulders cascading downhill. Wearing military uniform and carrying a cleft stick Museveni looked across the Sume river at the remains of Wanjenwa village which was wrecked by a torrent of rocks carried down river by Thursday's deluge. "Who allowed them to build a market here?" he asked officials. "Building on the flood plain of the river is very dangerous. Local government have failed to implement regulations," Museveni told journalists. After touring the site of devastation Museveni is set to address a crowd of several hundred residents, local dignitaries and Red Cross volunteers in Bukalasi village where many casualties were taken for treatment at the health centre. Over 850 people were displaced in the disaster, caused by heavy rains. Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda on Sunday updated a previous death toll by one person. "We can confirm that 43 people have lost their lives but we are continuing to search for others," he said. In March 2010, at least 100 people were killed in the same mountainous region, which lies on the border between Uganda and Kenya and is a high-risk area for landslides. Questioned about delays to a resettlement program which was initially announced in 2010, Rugunda blamed "minor administrative issues". Although there may be "delays here and there they do not change the principle that these people must be resettled," he added. Last week's disaster in Uganda killed at least 43 people and forced another 850 from their homes Bududa district sits in the foothills of Mount Elgon, a high risk area for landslidesSome 20 protesters were arrested Sunday when Nicaraguan police swooped in to break up a meeting of demonstrators gathering for a march against the government of President Daniel Ortega. Police wielded clubs and hurled stun grenades to break up the demonstrators gathering at a shopping mall parking lot, beating men, women and even some elderly people. Those arrested were dragged down the street to be later loaded onto police patrol vehicles. Some reporters were also beaten and briefly detained, local independent reporters said. "They respect no one, not even older people or children," said Azhalea Solis, head of the Civic Alliance, an umbrella group that represents business people, students and social groups. And there was outrage from the Organization of American States and the president of neighboring Costa Rica. "We demand the government of #Nicaragua release the protesters who have been detained, that it respect the right to peaceful protest nationwide, and stop repression and all intimidation of political leaders and civilians," OAS chief Luis Almagro wrote on Twitter. "Deeply concerned by this morning's arrests in Nicaragua. The repression the Nicaraguan people are being put through must stop," Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado tweeted. Police had earlier announced that they would not allow any unauthorized demonstrations. Hundreds of anti-riot police officers were deployed early in the day to key points of the capital Managua as well as to the highway to the restive city of Masaya. Government supporters took over city roundabouts where protesters had planned to gather. Anti-government demonstrations began on April 18, initially protesting changes in the social security system. Since then the demonstrations have grown in size and the protestors are calling for the resignation of Ortega and his wife and vice president Rosario Murillo. Police used stun grenades and swung clubs to break up a demo against the government of President Daniel Ortega, arresting some 20 demonstratorsHome  Just In  Province 3 capital: Nepali Congress warns of blockade if relocated from Hetaunda

Hetaunda, October 14

A key provincial leader of the main opposition Nepali Congress has warned that his party will impose a blockade if the Province 3 Assembly decides to relocate the provincial capital from Hetaunda of Makawanpur district.

Indra Bahadur Baniya says arguments that a capital should be at centre from all districts of the province is an anti-federalism idea as it is not possible.

He adds no one ever questioned if Kathmandu was an appropriate location for the federal capital though it is not at the centre of country.

Meanwhile, leaders of the ruling Nepal Communist Party in the district also demanded that Hetaunda be retained as the provincial capital.

Claiming that efforts are being made to relocate the capital, leader Kumari Moktan says all parties should come together to establish Hetaunda as the permanent provincial capital.

The issue of naming the capital is at the centre of political discussions in the city after a committee formed to suggest the capital city submitted its report to the Provincial Assembly without any concrete decision.Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have officially touched down in Sydney ahead of their first major international royal tour.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex landed at Sydney International Airport just before 7am on Monday on a commercial Qantas flight.

Holding hands and beaming to cameras, the newlyweds were briefly seen walking out of a VIP exit and into an awaiting car.

Meghan looked relaxed in a navy and burgundy coat, over a black top, and had her hair styled straight, meanwhile Harry wore a casual jumper over a collared shirt.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive in Sydney. Photo: Mediamode

It will be a low-key day for the couple ahead of the official start of their tour tomorrow, with Harry and Meghan staying at Admiralty House, the official Sydney residence of the Governor General.

Roads were cleared and traffic lights left green so the couple  accompanied by a police motorcade  could make their way directly to Admiralty House in Kirribilli without getting stuck in the peak hour rush.

As part of their 16-day tour, Harry and Meghan will spend time in Sydney, Dubbo, Melbourne and Queenslands Fraser Island, and dedicate a lot of time to the Invictus Games, which will kick off on Saturday.

All eyes will be on Meghan during her visit Down Under and it could be life changing for Australian designers should the duchess choose to wear their label.

During her ten days in Australia, Meghan is likely to wear more than 30 outfits and will be joined by a hair stylist for the duration of the tour, as Kate did when she visited in 2014.

Meghan looked refreshed as they exited the airport. Photo: Mediamode

Wearing local designers is part and parcel for royals on tour, Amanda Dishaw, who chronicles Meghans style on the blog Meghans Mirror said, predicting the duchess suitcase is filled with Australian designers.

Meghan has already shown support for Australian designers, donning a tiered tulle skirt and sheer-beaded bodice by Australian-born, London-based duo Ralph & Russo for the couples engagement photo shoot.

Photo: Getty

A safe bet is Ralph & Russo  (but) we also think we could see some of the Australian brands Meghan herself has said she loves in the past like Bec & Bridge, Maurie & Eve, Ellery or Maticevski, Amanda said.

Story continues

In April, she wore a blazer by Sydney-based duo Camilla and Marc teamed with an Oroton cross-body bag to attend the Commonwealth Youth Forum reception in London.

Celebrity stylist Lana Wilkinson predicts Meghan will again don Camilla and Marc, as well as Zimmermann, Scanlan Theodore and Rebecca Vallance.

When I think of Meghans style I think its cool but conservative, fashion-forward but classic, and there are so many Australian brands that reflect this, Lana told AAP.

While Meghan has become known for structured dresses, tailored suiting and elegant separates, Wilkinson expects some feminine, floaty dresses while visiting the sunshine state.

For a day event, I can definitely see her in a floral number. For Fraser Island, she could definitely do a Zimmermann dress or even another feminine brand thats big overseas like Alice McCall.

Photo: Getty

Meanwhile, Alex Perry and Carla Zampatti have both reportedly sent garments to the duchess.

Lana predicts the Markle effect will be welcomed by the Australian fashion industry.

This is a global stage, bigger than a huge celebrity wearing their label. It could literally be brand changing  life changing  for these designers, she said.

Royal watchers will get their first glimpse of Meghans wardrobe on Tuesday morning when Governor-General Peter Cosgrove officially welcomes the royal couple to Sydney.

Got a story tip? Send it to tips@oath.com

Want more lifestyle and celebrity news? Follow Yahoo Lifestyle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.



Or sign up to our daily newsletter here.Mourners at a funeral for four sisters and their family members killed in a birthday limousine crash were assured their loved ones can still see their tears and feel their heartache.

On a damp, chilly day, hundreds of people packed the pews of an old brick church in New York at the service for eight of the 20 people killed last Saturday (local time) when the limousine they hired for a 30th birthday celebration crashed.

The stretch limo barrelled down a hill past a stop sign into another vehicle in the car park.

All 17 passengers and the driver were killed as well as two pedestrians.

A unity urn with cremated ashes of Robert Joseph Dyson and Mary E. Dyson is set in place as friends and family prepare for a funeral mass for eight of the 20 people killed in last Saturdays fatal limousine crash. Source: AP Photo/Hans Pennink

When the limousine company operator, Nauman Hussain, 28, was arrested on Wednesday morning, he was traveling with packed bags, Schoharie County District Attorney Susan Mallery said, according to multiple news outlets.

The question that is in the hearts of so many is: Why?' The Reverend O Robert DeMaritnis told hundreds of mourners.

Why did these 20 individuals have to be taken from us so quickly and so unexpectedly?

A church program for a funeral mass for eight of the 20 people killed in last Saturdays fatal limousine crash in Schoharie, New York. Source: AP Photo/Hans Pennink

Rev DeMaritnis spoke on an altar flanked by pictures of Allison King, sister Abigail Jackson and her husband Adam Jackson, sister Mary Dyson and her husband Robert Dyson, sister Amy Steenburg and her husband Axel Steenburg, and his older brother Richard Steenburg.

Urns containing their remains were placed beneath the pictures, with each of the three married couples sharing urns.

Five teddy bears lay by the urns, one for each young child who lost a parent.

Two of the victims Erin and Shane McGowan had just married in June. Source: Facebook/Erin McGowan

A week ago, the group  most of them in their 30s  was headed to a birthday party for Amy at a local brewery in Cooperstown.

The reverend said he believed Amy and her friends were able to celebrate her 30th birthday, but in their afterlife.

He told mourners to take solace in their eternal life.

Clergy arrive before the start of a funeral mass for eight of the 20 people killed in last Saturdays fatal limousine crash, including Axel and Amy Steenburg, who also wed in June. Source: AP Photo/Hans Pennink

Rev DeMaritnis married Amy and Axel in June.

He recalled them as a laughter-loving couple who made a sign asking wedding guests not to take pictures because we suggest that you live in the moment.

Story continues

Rev DeMaritnis had wondered why they never picked up the sign. Now, he said, he knew.

The scene of the crash in upstate New York. Source: CBS2

Thats what theyre asking me to ask you to do today, Rev DeMaritnis said, holding the sign aloft.

The sisters grew up in Amsterdam, a small upstate New York city, and many of the victims have deep ties to the area. The city has been stricken with grief amid a series of funerals.

Meanwhile, authorities continue to investigate the cause of the crash while prosecutors have charged Hussain, with criminally negligent homicide, saying he allowed an improperly licensed driver to operate an unserviceable vehicle.

Thousands came together for a candlelight rally by the Mohawk River on Monday night, and thousands more attended calling hours Friday evening for the sisters and their family members.

What good can come from this tragedy? Rev DeMaritnis asked the packed church as he spread his arms wide.

Take a look  thousands and thousands of people.A rescue team Sunday began retrieving the bodies of nine climbers killed in a violent storm on Nepal's Mount Gurja, a freak accident that has left the mountaineering community reeling. A helicopter dropped four mountain guides at the camp where the South Korean climbing expedition was staying when powerful winds and snow swept through, killing the entire team and scattering their bodies as far as 500 metre (1,640 foot) away. "All nine bodies have been found and the team are in the process of bringing them down," said Siddartha Gurung, a chopper pilot who is coordinating the retrieval mission. Attempts to reach the remote site in the Dhaulagiri mountain range in Nepal's Annapurna region on Saturday were hampered by strong winds. Gurung did manage to reach the area and described a scene of total destruction. "Base camp looks like a bomb went off," said Dan Richards of Global Rescue, a US-based emergency assistance group that will be helping with the retrieval effort. The expedition was led by experienced South Korean climber Kim Chang-ho, who has climbed the world's 14 highest mountains without using supplemental oxygen. Mountaineering experts are questioning how the experienced team was so badly hit while still at base camp at around 3,500 metres. "At this point we don't understand how this happened. You don't usually get those sorts of extreme winds at that altitude and base camps are normally chosen because they are safe places," said Richards. The team -- five South Koreans and four Nepali guides -- had been on 7,193-metre (23,599-foot) Mount Gurja since early October, hoping to scale the rarely climbed mountain via a new route. A sixth South Korean climber was staying at a village lower in the valley when the storm hit, after being forced to a lower altitude by health problems. The freak storm is the deadliest incident to hit Nepal's mountaineering industry since 18 people were killed at Mount Everest's base camp in 2015 in an avalanche triggered by a powerful earthquake. The previous year, 16 Sherpas were killed on Everest when an avalanche swept through the Khumbu Icefall during the busy spring climbing season. Then in October that year, a blizzard killed more than 40 tourists and their guides in the Annapurna region, a disaster that was largely blamed on poor weather forecasting and lacklustre safety standards in Nepal's poorly regulated trekking industry. Mount Gurja lies in the avalanche-prone Dhaulagiri range Location of Mount GurjaThe leader of Sweden's centre-right Moderates party on Sunday said he had failed a first chance to form a coalition government after last month's general election left the country in a state of political deadlock Ulf Kristersson's Moderates party is part of a centre-right bloc called Alliance which received marginally fewer votes on September 9 than the previous governing centre-left coalition. Both blocs have struggled to form a majority after refusing to make a deal with the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, a party which was linked for years to far-right groups. Kristersson's announcement came after some allies criticised his suggestion to build a minority government with the centre-right Christian Democrats party, but not other members of Alliance. "I have tried all the other options to form a government and it hasn't succeeded," Kristersson told a news conference in Stockholm. Kristersson's failure to form a government comes after outgoing prime minister Stefan Lofven was ousted in a vote of no confidence last month. Lofven's Social Democrats party -- which largely dominated Swedish elections for decades -- had governed for four years in a coalition with the Greens, and was supported in parliament by the Left Party. The September election focused on the state of housing, healthcare and welfare services, in particular due to pressures from immigration following the 2015 migrant crisis. The parliament's speaker Andreas Norlen -- who has four chances of tasking a candidate to form a government which parliament will accept -- now has to find a new candidate. He said he would hold a new round of talks with party leaders on Monday, making it likely for Lofven to get the next chance. If all four attempts fail then Sweden will head to another election. "The way I see it there are only two options. Either a party is willing to talk to us (to form a government) or we will head for another election," Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Akesson told TT news agency. Ulf Kristersson, leader of Sweden's Moderate party, announced that his attempt to form a government had failedTunisian fishermen saw the blue crab wreak such havoc on their catches when it first appeared that they nicknamed it after the terrifying jihadists of the Islamic State group. But now -- four years after these scourges of the sea invaded their waters -- the predators have turned into prey as fishermen in the North African country cash in on the crustaceans. Jamel Ben Joma Zayoud pulls his nets out of the water off the Mediterranean island of Djerba to find them full of blue crabs with their fearsome-looking spikes. "Look, there are only Daesh, they've destroyed everything," he says, using the Arabic term for IS that has become the crabs' nickname. The blue crab, once a native of the Red Sea, first showed up in the Gulf of Gabes off Tunisia's coast in 2014 and immediately set about snapping up the rich pickings it found. "It quickly became a curse," Zayoud, 47, tells AFP. "It eats all the best fish." - Feeling the pinch - There are two explanations for how the blue crab, or Portunus Pelagicus, made it all the way to the shores of Tunisia, says researcher Marouene Bedioui, at the National Institute for Marine Sciences and Technologies. Either their eggs were transported on boats to the region or they arrived as part of a lengthy migration that started when the Suez Canal opened in 1869. However the crabs turned up, their impact has been damaging. The hard-up fishermen along the coast, already struggling to make ends meet, felt the pinch as the crabs attacked their nets and the local fish. "One thousand, one hundred fishermen have been hit by this plague in Gabes," said Sassi Alaya, a member of the local labour union. "Nowadays we change our nets three times a year, while before it was once every two years." In 2015 and 2016, fishermen demonstrated over the issue -- and eventually the government took notice. The authorities last year launched a plan aimed at helping fishermen to turn the pest into profit. They were taught how to trap the crabs and the government began subsidising the cost of purchasing what was caught. Plants popped up to freeze the crabs and ship them to markets in the Gulf and Asia where customers are willing to shell out for their meat. - Crab lunch - One of them is managed by a Turkish company -- putting to use the experience it gained dealing with an influx of the crabs back home. Each afternoon a line of refrigerated vans forms outside the facility delivering the crabs caught that morning from nearby harbours. "When the crab appeared we didn't know how to make money from it," said Karim Hammami, co-director of the firm Tucrab. "Tunisians didn't consume it so the fishermen avoided catching it -- but when investors came in and the authorities began moving we started targeting foreign markets." In the first seven months of this year, Tunisia produced 1,450 tonnes of blue crab worth around three million euros ($3.5 million), the ministry of agriculture says. For those making their livelihoods from the sea, the transformation has been stark. "The situation has completely changed," said fisherman Zayoud. He has now started going after fish with his nets, and crabs with cages. So succesful have the fishermen been that they are now even planning to limit themselves in order not to deplete crab stocks too much. And even they have got a taste for their former foe. For their lunch, Zayoud and his crew select, cook and tuck into a healthy male crab. "Daesh eat all the best fish," explains the fisherman. "So their meat has to be delicious." Such was the havoc the blue crab brought to Tunisian fishermen's catches, they nicknamed it "Daesh" after Islamic State jihadists The blue crab was once a native of the Red Sea but first showed up in the Gulf of Gabes off Tunisia's coast in 2014 The blue crab's impact on already struggling fishermen led them to demonstrate until the government took notice Last year, Tunisian authorities launched a plan to help fishermen turn the pest into profitIn Ukraine, the women outnumber the men by almost 2 to 1. Its not hard to see why finding a husband for these single women has become a booming industry.

Anna Panasenko works for the matchmaking tour company A Foreign Affair. She believes Ukrainian women make great partners. Theyre not afraid of anything. They just want to find good husbands who [are] going to take care of them. Thats it.

The services her company provides are proving to be a popular way of meeting a partner too. We have thousands of marriages, thousands of couples, Anna tells Sunday Nights Matt Doran.

Nearly 15 thousand kilometres away in Australia is marine engineer, Cris Challenor. Hes planning his trip to Ukraine, where he hopes Anna will help him meet his future wife. Virtually all Cris friends are married with kids  and, at 37, he wants to settle down too.

I would love to find the right person, settle down and hopefully have kids one day. It would be great. Cris says. It just seems like you go down the pub and you dont really talk to other people. You dont really go out to meet people any more. You just do it on social media or Tinder, and thats not really me.

Meanwhile lawyer Rob Kilgannon is also getting ready to travel to Ukraine. Rob has been single for the past two years after the end of a tempestuous 25-year relationship with a fiery Spanish woman.

I like clever and funny women, but short temper I cant deal with.

Cris and Rob both travel to Odessa, Ukraines capital. Over the next ten days, these two Aussies will meet dozens of women in this Black Sea resort town in their search for a new partner.

On the very first night, one of the big social events for our tourists  a dance. There are always interpreters at hand to help bridge the language gap.

The pressure starts to get to Rob. It was really kind of intense, he explains. There is no down time, there is no sort of regathering with your boys down in the corner and [having a] schooner in between.

Story continues

Yet at the end of the night, Rob has met a lovely lady named Tatyana.

It was great, says Rob. She came across and said, Do you want to go outside? and we just stood against the front of a truck for an hour talking. It was great.

Cris has made an even bigger impression on the women of Odessa, according to his translator. Girls say he is the best guy in this party. The most handsome.

Among those taken by Cris is part-time model Elena. They arrange to meet up at the beach the following day.

Shes was actually quite a nice girl, well-travelled, quite intelligent, very well-educated, Cris reveals. She was easy to talk to. She was outgoing. We had experienced a few things similar and we had a few similar interests, so yeah, the date was really good.

While Cris is enjoying his time with Elena, Rob has set sail with Tatyana and translator Anna.

Rob, hes a really nice and romantic man, as I see, Anna observes. Really honest, really open, really easy-going. He has a good heart. He [is] open to everything. The good thing about Rob [is that] he doesnt have a plan. He just takes it how it comes.

With only a limited time to find his ideal partner, Cris is moving quickly. After one beach date with 31-year-old Elena, hes decided hes ready to meet her mother.

Theres a quick tour of the apartment, before they sit down to a lavish feast, prepared by Elena and her mum, Nadia.

Its not long before the pleasantries are set aside, and some tough questions from mum come out.

Elena translates for her mother: She is asking, what can you tell her about your life, what are you doing for a job, and if you are ready for children. Just simple question, Elena laughs.

Meanwhile Rob is making inroads himself. While Rob got on well with Tatyana, hes found an even deeper connection with Ludmilla, who he warmed to during a visit to the zoo. Afterwards, they go out for dinner  with their ever-present translator.

Rob feels something special about Ludmilla. Shes really quite bright and shes funny and shes reserved and even-tempered. She has been married twice, but she has been married twice to the same person, so there is a real optimism in her. There is a real hopeful way forward, I think.

After a hectic week for our foreign tourists looking for love in Ukraine, things are about to get even busier  and more bizarre  with speed dating.

Cris is immersed in a deep and meaningful conversation with Natalia and, of course, their translator.

Theres a lot of single, beautiful women, Cris says. All the young guys at home would be just laughing to come here.

When the event wraps up, Rob still has eyes for Ludmilla. Shes stunning. [Theres been] very preliminary conversation about maybe a trip down to Australia to see what we are all about down there.

For Cris, theres an unexpected twist. Hes met dozens of beautiful women in the Ukraine, but over the past few days, chemistry has grown between Cris and the tour guide Anna.

Theres some people that you meet, and then you know theres just a spark, and the second I met Anna I knew that straight away there was just something between us. [I] felt like I wanted to spend some time with her.

Theres definitely a strong connection there, and loves a very big word, and Im realistic in the fact that you know we live on opposite sides of the world. Were definitely going to stay in touch and just see what happens. Long distance relationships do work, so well see if this keeps going.

Reporter: Matt Doran

Producers: Karen Willing

A 26-year-old woman became completely paralysed and could not even move her tongue before doctors later realised her contraceptive pill was causing her body to shut down.

Account executive Katrina Parra, from Venezuela, began struggling with abdominal pain, anxiety and vomiting constantly from the start of 2012, but doctors could not diagnose what the problem was.

By December 2012, Ms Parras symptoms became worse as she constantly felt cold, her body

was weak and frail and she was placed in an intensive care unit (ICU) over the holidays.

But doctors could not diagnose the illness, even drawing the conclusion Ms Parra had a psychological problem and she needed to see a therapist.

Katrina Parra, from Venezuela, was diagnosed with acute intermittent porphyria after her contraceptive pill caused her body to shut down. Source: MDRUM/Australscope

Without a diagnosis, Ms Parra continued to decline and became completely paralysed.

For more than a week she lay in ICU, awake but unable to move or communicate.

After eight months of painful symptoms and hospitalisation, doctors finally diagnosed Katrina with acute intermittent porphyria, a genetic disorder which affects the production of haemoglobin in the body.

The genetic deformity can be unknown until symptoms are triggered by a certain factor.

In Ms Parras case, it is thought the factor which led to her condition spiralling was her birth control pill.

Time in intensive care

Now, after having treatment for her condition and stopping her birth control, Ms Parra has

made a strong recovery and is now a fitness instructor.

In 2012 I started to vomit a lot and I felt abdominal pain, anxiety and I felt like I needed to

bathe in hot water for hours as if Id been poisoned, Ms Parra said.

I went to the clinic and the doctors did tests but the tests didnt show anything was wrong. I was still taking my birth control and four months later, on December 24, 2012 I felt awful again. I had chills, a high temperature and no strength in my body.

I went to a clinic again where they diagnosed me with septicaemia and they put me in ICU

for a week, until the new year. It was awful, but the nurses took good care of me. They put me in a room and nobody was allowed to visit me unless they were completely covered so I was protected from germs.

Story continues

Doctors did a lot of tests, but my symptoms only got worse. I was vomiting, hallucinating, I

had abdominal pain, leg pain and I was just really going crazy.

Days passed, and I didnt get a diagnosis. My mum was really stressed about my condition,

but I had such a huge support from all of my family.

began struggling with abdominal pain, anxiety and vomiting constantly from the start of 2012. Source: MDRUM/Australscope

I just wanted to die

Ms Parra said her doctors started giving her medication which they did not realise they could not give her because it had a negative effect on her porphyria.

I was intoxicated and feeling worse every day. I just wanted to die and be finished with the whole nightmare, she said.

One day, my doctor told my mum he thought it was a psychological problem and I should

be seen by a psychiatrist. She couldnt believe it and she got so mad.

Conferences were held in the clinic, but no doctors could think of a single solution or diagnosis.

I was vomiting a lot but the only thing I continued taking was my birth control.

Birth control can be known to trigger porphyria, and all of my symptoms began when I started taking the pill. No matter how ill I felt, I still didnt stop taking the pill.

Because of the difficulty in receiving a diagnosis, I started to become paralysed and it got

so bad that I couldnt even move my tongue.

They put me back in intensive care where I spent days completely awake but not able to move any part of my body.

I couldnt speak or move, but my body was in a lot of pain and I just wanted to die.

After first being taken into hospital, it was another two months before Ms Parra could leave the hospital.

Eight months after her spending over a week in a full body paralysis, her doctors finally

discovered her condition was acute intermittent porphyria. Source: MDRUM/Australscope

Long road to recovery

Eight months after her spending over a week in a full-body paralysis, her doctors finally discovered her condition was acute intermittent porphyria and they were able to successfully treat her relentless symptoms.

Acute intermittent porphyria is a genetic disorder caused by a mutation in the bodys production of haemoglobin which can be brought on by drugs, medication, excess alcohol, infections or other factors.

There is no cure for porphyria, but it can be treated by stopping the medication causing the

attacks and by injecting the body with haemoglobin to compensate for the bodys lack of it.

I needed a lot of medical attention because my body was totally paralysed, and I was in a

lot of pain, Ms Parra.

The pain was so bad that the only thing that could relieve me was morphine. Doctors even

say that the abdominal pain is very similar to giving birth.

When they finally diagnosed me, I felt so relieved. We would finally be able to treat it and

Id understand how to live with the condition.

Each month for two years, nurses came to my house and they put the porphyria treatment

straight into my vein as I was having porphyria attacks every month.

I also had physiotherapy three times a day to regain my strength and ability to move. While

I was paralysed, I lost my voice and so required a vocal therapist.

My physiotherapists really gave me the best support and I owe them a lot. I wanted to feel

good again and to have my life back.

The recovery was slow though. It took me two months just to be able to move one finger again. By two months I could finally make the first sound with my voice.

I was trapped in a bed for five months and I remember when my physiotherapist stood me

up for the first time, I started to cry because I couldnt stand up by myself.

My toes are still numb

Since beginning her recovery journey, Ms Parra has had a positive attitude for the last five years as she battled to regain her life.

She made her first steps nine months after her diagnosis and it took over two years to make a full recovery.

After recovering from being bed-ridden for five months and unable to move her tongue, Ms Parra has now achieved her goal of becoming a fitness instructor.

She also spoke about how she hopes to educate more people on the condition which nearly took her life, and to help those who are dealing with it themselves.

I havent had a porphyria attack for three years now. I take good care of myself now  I

cant have any birth control obviously, I dont drink or smoke, Ms Parra said.

To this day, my toes are still a little numb and they dont move as they used to. It doesnt

bother me though because I can walk normally.

I have just achieved my goal of becoming a Fitcombat teacher, but my biggest goal is to

create a porphyria foundation to help others. People die from porphyria because of the

difficulty in diagnosing it.

I dont wish that on anybody, its awful. Just thinking about it gives me the chills. I really

didnt care if I died, I just wanted the pain to go.

Dont give up, you can have a totally normal life afterwards. Take care of yourself and stay

positive. We need to spread the word because theres not enough information about this

condition.

You can follow Ms Parras account on Instagram @somosporfiria where she shares her own

progress as well as the stories of other people suffering with porphyria.

 MDRUM/Australscope#Samcheong Re-education Camp Victims of detention camp during military junta file damage suit against gov't Former victims of forced labor and harsh military training at a detention camp set up by the military junta in the early 1980s have filed a damage suit against the government, a la...

#S Korea-Pacific islands-FM talks S. Korea, Pacific islands hold FM talks Foreign ministers from South Korea and 14 Pacific island countries held virtual talks on Tuesday during which they agreed to hold a summit of their leaders, Seoul's foreign ministr...A central question in the 126th Assembly District race is who will be a better advocate to bring state funding and support back to central New York: Assemblyman Gary Finch, a Republican who has been in office since 1999, or Keith Batman, a Cayuga County legislator and the Democratic challenger in the campaign.

Since launching his state Assembly bid in April, Batman has made this a major theme of his campaign. In a news release, he said the job of an assembly member is to "represent the district and its citizens, get funding for projects, and help find solutions to local problems." Earlier in the same release, he said he would "show up, work and deliver."

Batman believes he would be in a better position to help the 126th district because, as a Democrat, he would be in the Assembly majority. Democrats control the chamber, which gives them an advantage in securing funding for their districts.

In his Batman's view, Finch hasn't been able to do a lot for the district as a minority member of the Assembly.

"I think the record shows that he really hasn't been particularly successful in getting the support and resources we need," he said in an interview last week. "Almost everything that he talks about when he talks about what he's done are things that other people have done and he signed on to one way or another."

He continued, "In my view, we don't need someone signing on to someone else's priorities. We need someone who is taking our priorities as their priority, their focus. We need someone like that to go to Albany and fight for us and be our voice. That's what I'm going to do."

From Finch's perspective, Batman's pitch to voters isn't a new argument. Since he was elected in 1999, he said in an interview last week, he's heard the same argument over the years  that his Democratic opponent would be better positioned to bring money and resources back to the district because they would be in the majority.

Finch acknowledged there may be some true to that message, but also highlighted the funding he has been able to secure for the district. In 2014, he partnered with state Sen. Jim Seward to advocate for a $200,000 grant to help finance the Dutch Hollow Brook stream bank restoration project.

He also pushed for a $2 million grant to assist the city of Auburn and town of Owasco with the installation of new water filtration systems. And earlier this year, he joined with state Sen. Pam Helming to announce a $500,000 grant for the village of Aurora and Wells College to purchase a new water filtration system.

"I know Keith says that the majority can deliver those things, but somehow I've been able to do it and been successful," Finch said.

Finch questioned how some state funding is distributed. While he praised the city of Auburn for winning a $10 million state grant through the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, he disagreed with the competitive approach that pits regions against each other.

"The playing field is not level," he added.

Finch is seeking his 10th full term in the state Assembly. A former mayor of Aurora, he won a special election in 1999 to fill the seat vacated by former Assemblyman Dan Fessenden.

Batman has a local government background, too. He was elected to the Cayuga County Legislature in 2013 and served two years as chairman of the body. Before joining the county Legislature, he was the town supervisor in Scipio.

The 126th Assembly District covers parts of Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland and Onondaga counties. The election is Tuesday, Nov. 6.

Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0Two years ago, Linda Fedigan Hale found herself in the South Street home of a recent widower. He was selling some of his wife's possessions. One of them was a painting of a barn on Rockefeller Road against a background of autumn foliage ringing Owasco Lake. The widower said he bought the painting from a young girl 25 years ago, and offered it to Hale for $300. She bought it.

Because it's not often an artist can buy back one of their first works.

The widower had no idea it was Hale who sold him the painting that she was now purchasing. And Hale, for her part, had no idea the man owned one of her paintings until she saw the canvas.

That kind of quiet ubiquity has come to define the art of Hale, an Auburn native who will open her next show Nov. 17 at LFH Gallery in Frankfort. Since selling her first painting for $2,000 to Cayuga Savings Bank in the 1970s, an autumn scene of Hoopes Park, Hale has completed hundreds of works that have drawn the attention of galleries, businesses and collectors.

If you go WHAT: Art by Linda Fedigan Hale WHEN: Opening reception 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17 WHERE: LFH Gallery, 2528 Southside Road, Frankfort INFO: Call (315) 416-3383

"I think my paintings are at a point where many people are enjoying them," she humbly said.

Hale, who now resides in New Hartford and has three grown children, was born in Auburn and lived in the area until her 40s. She's been interested in art all her life, she said, and took five years of lessons with Joyce Berry in Skaneateles when Hale was in her 20s. Berry, who has taught at the Louvre, stressed the importance of observation and encouraged Hale to express herself, she said.

Hale's paintings are mostly representational, but she uses vivid colors to achieve a look so three-dimensional that many ask her if she uses a palette knife. (She doesn't.)

"I've had people say you're painting the souls of people's lives," she said.

That aspect of her work is why Jeff and Kathy Edwards, owners of Edwards Poultry Farm in Genoa, have purchased about a dozen of Hale's paintings. Jeff said he and his wife first saw Hale's work at a show at the Moravia restaurant currently known as Drifters On Owasco. They didn't buy anything then, but after building an addition to their house with walls that needed filling, they called Hale.

"The thing I look for in a painting is if it captures the moment, if it's like you were right there," Jeff said. "There's some (of Hale's paintings) that I just adore."

Along with her collectors, area businesses have bought Hale's work for display, including the Sherwood Inn and Tom Thumb Drive In in Owasco, where a painting of the restaurant itself hangs inside.

Once, Hale even sent a painting to President George W. Bush: "Solitude Sits By the Window," an image of a girl holding the world in a style more abstract than Hale's signature. She painted it after landing in San Diego, where her children live, on a flight that was in the air as the Sept. 11 attacks took place. Its airy swirls of greens and blues attempt to depict the tragedy through the eyes of a child, she said. A decade later, Hale painted a sequel with more intense reds and oranges, and her subject that much older. She hopes to donate the painting to a first responders organization.

Hale's art isn't limited to painting, though. She's also directed plays for Southern Cayuga and Cazenovia schools, and writes poetry. A collection of it will be available at her LFH Gallery show.

Many have asked Hale to pair her poetry with her painting more often, she said. Like all of her art, though, that's up to her.

"I paint in the mood," she said. "I love it."

Lake Life Editor David Wilcox can be reached at (315) 282-2245 or david.wilcox@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @drwilcox.

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.I accepted cans of food from an individual I have never been introduced to. I thanked her, logged the food into my donation book for her organization, and promptly forgot her because she never gave me her name! I like to learn the names of my donors. It is a connection that I try to adhere to when there is so much happening around me. Individual donors make such a difference in our pantrys food supplies. I was sorry she became so faceless, since she handed me so much. But then I understood she might not have wanted any praise in giving the cans. Was she glad or was she hesitant coming into the pantry for the first time? I do not know, and it upsets me. Here in the pantry, we pride ourselves as a community of understanding and compassionate people whose goal is to embrace our 200-plus families with recognition of what it takes to feed 2,400 families a year. I am sad I never learned this lady's name, but she helped me understand that few people really know the pantry, unless they work here or are individuals working with this pantry's procedures. The Hero for Hunger this month is the anonymous face, often times featureless, who gives and gives more without any form of appreciation or gratitude. These heroes make this pantry unique.

I also assume everyone entering Calvary Food Pantry knows how the process of getting food works. Like the other day, every once in a while I come across an individual or a family applying for the first time. Glad to be there, or ashamed to be asking, these new participants' reactions are often the same: amazement at the amount of food available at their fingertips. Furthermore, I have been told, the hustle and bustle of volunteers (hiding the strict procedures necessary for getting food) is heartwarming. New applicants are often asked to view the film on YouTube that was produced by Terry Cuddy's media class at BOCES, outlining procedural where-with-alls for the pantry, and then come to me later if they have any misunderstandings and/or questions. We give three meals a day for five days, to anyone who asks, in our geographic area. They then have choices from a menu (another surprise). As I said, we feed many people each month. Newcomers seem to be satisfied what we do here for them. Additionally, I have large racks of food each day I am open. I give to anyone who lives in our geographic area, but I deny no one access and eventually send whoever to their own geographic area's food pantry. (These procedures were put in place several years ago by my partner, the Food Bank of Central New York, because we were running out of food needed by our 200-plus families and assorted individuals.)

The BOCES film was only one of a few steps I needed to bring the pantry into the 21st century. My goal, initially, was to have The Citizen's monthly column, our website (with Heroes for Hunger articles from the past listed), a computer program that links us to all our participants, a Food Bank of CNY partnership, and now a YouTube film of operations. I feel I have thoroughly succeeded at this objective. It has been a large undertaking, but a success. I dont struggle to tell my story to the businesses, churches  including my landlord, the Thompson Memorial AME Zion Church  and interested people who want to help how my board and I run this operation. They now know what it takes. What this has done for me is freed up my fundraising responsibilities, which are essential to the survival of the pantry programs. Every penny counts here.

News from the pantry

 We made $1,200 dollars from our rummage sale! Thank you everyone!

 The Prison City Ramblers gave us $1,000 from its annual Fathers Day car show. Thank you.

 Antonia Frank and her family are again contributing her "Shoebox: Made with Love" project from the Lakes Church, with personal care and hygiene goods. We will keep you posted. Thank you, Antonia.

 The Thanksgiving Turkey Trot from First Presbyterian Church kicks off with the turkey truck from 9:30 a.m. to noon Nov. 19. Bring your donated turkeys there, 112 South St., Auburn, as you have done many times in the past. This kicks off our Thanksgiving donation period, where our baskets are filled for our 200 families. St. Luke's, Westminster and Auburn United Methodist churches and Community Computer all participate in our fundraising efforts to fill baskets.

 The Hunger Walk happened yesterday. We will keep you informed of the outcome.

Please volunteer, donate or reciprocate in kind.

Nancy Sheffield is the executive director of the Calvary Food Pantry in Auburn.

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0Todays urgent message comes to us from the family of Ann Scanlan, a lovely lady whom many of you know. We have such a caring community here in Auburn, and Im sure Anns special donor will come forward to help. Modern medicine is truly amazing. You can now save a life by donating a small portion of your own liver, which will grow back in a matter of weeks.

In late June 2013, Ann and several family members started the summer with a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. During the trip, it became apparent that she wasnt feeling well as she struggled to keep up with her grandchildren. Being the trooper that she is, Ann figured that she could push through the week and see her doctor after the trip. As it turned out her ailment was rather serious in nature. She had an infected gall bladder that was removed in August. After clearing the infection, a damaged liver was observed by the surgeon. The diagnosis by the hepatologist was autoimmune hepatitis. This issue forced doctors to closely monitor her liver. On Sept. 29, 2017, doctors discovered the first of what turned out to be two malignant tumors on Anns liver. This led to hepatocellular carcinoma that was treated immediately with Y90 radioembolization. This treatment was effective; however, it is not a cure. Anns medical team at the University of Rochester Medical Center at Strong Memorial Hospital feel that her best option for a cure is a liver transplant. Specifically, they recommend a living donor liver transplant, which can be done as soon as we can secure a donor. This is what leads us to this platform. Anns four adult children have all been tested and, unfortunately, do NOT possess the same (compatible) blood type; therefore, they cannot be considered as a donor. Now, we turn to our friends in the community to humbly ask those that may be able (criteria below) to consider being a living donor and give the gift of life to Ann.

The best option for her quality of life is to have a liver transplant. She is currently on the national transplant waiting list, but with over 16,000 people on the list and only 4,500 deceased donors on average annually, there is a critical shortage of organs. With the shortage of available organs, the BEST option is finding a suitable donor for LDLT. Criteria for suitable donors begins with the following:

 Between 18 and 55 years old;

 O blood type (Rh factor does NOT matter);

 No major medical problems like cancer, heart disease or diabetes;

 Be physically fit and in general good health and healthy body weight;

 Compatible frame (around the same height or taller than recipient).

Throughout the past year we have met several times with the most proficient medical staff that specializes in this field and have complete confidence in the direction the team at Strong is taking our family.

We are opening this conversation to our community because we have an urgency to find a living donor for liver transplant. The liver of the potential donor regenerates within weeks, which is an amazing opportunity to give the gift of life to Ann. To learn more, please don't hesitate to reach out to anyone of us. We will answer any questions  sons Brian Scanlan at (315) 729-3355 or Brendan Scanlan (315) 730-5125  and/or put you in contact with our medical team via our LDLT coordinator at Strong. By calling the coordinator at (585) 275-5875 directly, your information and call will be kept confidential. This is completely voluntary and you may opt out of the process at any time. We have watched our community of family and friends come together when we need it most. Please don't hesitate  we need help from someone out there and you may potentially be a match for our mother. Thank you in advance and have faith! From the family of Ann and John Scanlan

Ormie King's column appears Sundays in The Citizen and he can be reached by email at ormie5king@gmail.com.

Love 8 Funny 2 Wow 2 Sad 2 Angry 0I ask the voters of Auburn to elect David B. Thurston as the next Auburn City Court judge.

The Auburn City Court serves many purposes in our community: deciding criminal cases, civil cases, landlord-tenant disputes, small claims and housing code violations. Our court has also successfully established problem-solving programs for those who come before the court suffering from addiction or behavioral health problems. These programs, supervised by the city court judge, focus on treatment and rehabilitation.

Judge Michael F. McKeon, who is retiring at the end of this year, has served our community with distinction and dedication for the past 20 years. The voters of Auburn now have the responsibility to elect his successor. To be successful, a judge must have the experience, commitment and temperament to fairly adjudge all who come to the court.

David Thurston has these qualities. Experience counts, and for the past four years he has served as a judge in this court. His tenure is marked by fairness and dedication to serving our community.

I have practiced law with Mr. Thurston and I have also represented clients in Auburn City Court for many years. I know that David Thurston has the intelligence, character and temperament to bring justice for all citizens of Auburn.

I endorse Mr. Thurston for this vital position. He has earned my respect and I now respectfully ask you to join with me and support David B. Thurston for Auburn City Court judge.

Robert Bergan

Auburn

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Gov. Roy Cooper (CJ file photo by Kari Travis)

The Cato Institute gave Gov. Roy Cooper an F on its Fiscal Policy Report Card The state did get some good news from outside reviewers, however.While Cooper scored poorly for his fiscal policies, North Carolina ranked among the top 10 states for fiscal health, recent State Fiscal Rankings from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University say.The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank focusing on limited government and free markets. On Tuesday, Oct. 9, the organization released the 14th biennial fiscal report card. The report card scores governors across the U.S. on their fiscal policies, including spending and taxing records.Five governors received an A for their fiscal policies. Eight governors got an F. Cooper was among the eight who scored poorly.Governors who cut taxes and spending receive high grades. Those who pursue tax and spending increases receive the lowest scores.the report card says.The General Assembly passed tax cuts in 2017 over Cooper's veto. The 2017 law cut the flat individual income rate from 5.499 percent to 5.25 percent, and it cut the corporate tax rate from 3 percent to 2.5 percent.Cooper has been a vocal opponent of the tax cuts and has proposed freezing the implementation of the cuts in his 2018 proposed budget. The governor has also advocated for increased spending, particularly for education.Cooper's office didn't respond to a request for comment.In its fifth State Fiscal Ranking , the Mercatus Center ranked North Carolina ninth. Mercatus is a market research center based at GMU.Specifically, the state ranked second for budget solvency, which measures whether a state can cover its fiscal year spending using current revenue. North Carolina ranked eighth for long-term solvency and 14th for trust-fund solvency. For cash solvency, the state ranked 23rd. For service-level solvency, North Carolina was 16th.Dale Folwell, the state treasurer, said the state should focus on correcting the unfunded liabilities for the state's health plan and pension system. The state has about $50 million in unfunded liabilities.Folwell said the state, legislature, and the treasurer's office are all working to ensure the state is fiscally healthy. He pointed to the General Assembly's creation of the unfunded liability solvency reserve in June 2018 as one way North Carolina is addressing fiscal shortcomings.Folwell said.Should Beaufort County's commissioners be resolved to ask the federal government to defend our Southern Border by ending the Biden /Harris Open Border policy in regards to that one border that is intentionally made OPEN?

Yes, Illegal Migrants are a huge expense to local governments.

No, the cost of Undocumented Immigrants is insignificant in our providing a pathway for Dramatic Demographic Upheaval..When Obama took office, he took over from one of the least popular presidents in US history, 22% George Bush, a liar who tortured and spied his way through an illegitimate war that we're still fighting, and next year's deployment will include soldiers who weren't even born when the war started.



Bush's crimes, high and low, were the subject of intense public interest and there was massive pressure on Obama to investigate and publish the details of the outgoing administration's misdeeds.





Obama's position was that "We need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards." He refused any attempt to prosecute the GWB squad for their myriad of sins. This set the stage for the rehabilitation of America's first wave of 21st century looters: from GWB himself (now known as Michelle Obama's BFF  a gentlemanly painter who is supposedly secretly part of the #resistance), the torturer who now runs the CIA, and now, Brett Kavanaugh: once GWB's White House Staff Secretary, whose memos and emails from that period were not investigated and published when Obama and the Dems owned the White House and Congress, and which were later suppressed by Trump during Kavanaugh's confirmation process.





Meanwhile, Bush's "resistance" consisted of repeatedly calling up swing senators to lobby for Kavanaugh's confirmation. I tell you what: I never cared about Obama "palling around with Bill Ayers" (indeed, that's a mark in his favor), but it's pretty gross that Michelle Obama is palling around with GW Bush. And now it's more than gross: it's contributed to a generation's worth of toxic, anti-woman, racist class warfare from a Supreme Court packed with plutocrats, rapists and enablers of plutocrats and rapists.





The Democratic establishment refused to contemplate any reckoning for the crimes of the Bush regime  crimes that are impossible to overstate, even though we've had ten years' worth of official forgetting  and this did not result in a civilizing of the discourse or a spirit of bipartisanship. It led to Donald Fucking Trump. Brett Fucking Kavanaugh. Gina Fucking Haspel. The tax-scam. Family separation. The Muslim ban. The attacks on voting, on the movement for Black lives, on women, on migrants, on poor people.





Here's why that matters. There's a good chance that Donald Trump is going to be out in 2020, and a Democrat will end up in his seat. If that Democrat follows the example of Obama and the Dem establishment, then Trump's planet-cooking program of looting and racism and misogyny and oligarchic fattening will go unpunished.

Trump's capos and dukes will lurk on the sidelines through the next Democratic administration, able to amass power thanks to a lack of official recognition of their crimes (against America, against humanity, against the Earth). Their programs of disenfranchisement, theft and brutality will never be named, never be reckoned with, and will thus never be extinguished.





We can't afford that. The world can't afford that. The next inauguration should be followed by another Nuremberg trial, not a street party.





Just by looking at the National Archives description of the records, it appears clear that Kavanaugh was involved in the planning of the Bush-era surveillance rules which led to warrantless wiretapping being codified into the American national security state. Further, Kavanaugh's alleged involvement in Bush-era judicial subterfuge by Republican hatchet man Manuel Miranda is still an open question, though Kavanaugh has repeatedly denied having any involvement in funneling the stolen information Miranda hacked from Senate Democrats in 2003 to the Bush administration. The Bush Justice Department declined to prosecute Miranda, and questions about Kavanaugh's level of cooperation will remain until at least the end of October. Over the past decade, the political world has done everything possible to minimize and forget the crimes of the early to mid-2000s. The effect has been felt ever since. Members of the Bush administration and their hangers-on have spent their time working diligently to return to good standing in the social and professional worlds they once dominated in Washington and New York. Allowing them to reintegrate into elite society has had almost as catastrophic an effect on American politics as Donald Trump.

Obama's Resistance to Investigating the Bush Administration Allowed Brett Kavanaugh to Skate Onto the Supreme Court [Eoin Higgins/The Intercept]The Malaysian government has stated it intends to abolish the death penalty in a move that has been welcomed by human rights campaigners. Malaysia's Law Minister said: "The death penalty will be abolished. Full stop." He added: "Since we are abolishing the sentence, all executions should not be carried out." There are currently over 1,267 people on death row in Malaysia who are set to win a reprieve. The law minister said prisoners on death row would be released or have their sentences commuted. He said: "When commuted, they would have to face life imprisonment because there had been several deaths that were caused by the offender and so they were sentenced to death."

Malaysia's decision was hailed by Amnesty International. Its Secretary General Kumi Naidoo said: "Malaysia must now join the 106 countries who have turned their backs for good on the ultimate cruel, inhumane, degrading punishment. The world is watching." Mr Naidoo added: "There is no time to waste. The death penalty should have been consigned to the history books long ago. Malaysia's new government has promised to deliver on human rights, and today's announcement is an encouraging sign, but much more needs to be done." There are still 23 countries that retain the death penalty. According to Amnesty International, there were 993 executions recorded worldwide in 2017.- Mosiuoa Lekota says continuing with land expropriation is going to lead to war in SA

- Lekota said that peace in South Africa is what the struggle fighters fought for

- The COPE leader told the Kliprivier community they should vote out the ANC to end land reform problems

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see Briefly news on your News Feed!

COPE leader Mosiuoa Lekota once again spoke out against land reform. Lekota was addressing the community of Kliprivier when he addressed the matter.

Lekota said that land expropriation without compensation will lead to war in South Africa. He reminded people that peace is exactly what struggle fighters were fighting for.

The COPE leader went on to say that not compensating landowners for their land is unconstitutional.

PAY ATTENTION: Save mobile data with FreeBasics: Briefly is now available on the app

According to a report by EWN, Lekota wants law enforcement to help secure the rights of landowners.

It is an ongoing problem that land is being illegally occupied in Kliprivier.

Lekota told the community that the only way to end this problem and deal with it is through voting out the ANC.

Vote the ANC out. Vote in a government of men and women who are going to do what the Constitution says must be done.

Lekota added that land should be expropriated but not without compensating the owners.

You cant let anybody and everybody just run onto somebodys property. The Constitution does not allow that.

To conclude his visit to the area, Lekota paid a visit to the De Deur Police Station to talk about the illegal occupation cases.

READ ALSO: South Africa ready to help troubled Zimbabwe when they ask - Lindiwe Sisulu

Do you have news that might interest us? Message us on our Facebook page and we could feature your story.

Enjoy the silly video: In My Feelings Drake Dance Challenge - When You Are Tired of It and head over to Briefly South Africa's YouTube channel for more awesome videos.

To stay up to date with the latest news, download our news app on Google Play or iTunes today.

Source: Briefly.co.zaA cardiologist based in Cape Town has been awarded for her research in cardiovascular disease in kids. Professor Zuhlke will be using her knowledge and the money from the award to further learn how to improve the lives of children with heart disease.

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see Briefly news on your News Feed!

A Capetonian paediatric cardiologist bagged a much-desired medical award with her medical research.

For her work relating to cardiovascular disease in children, Professor Liesl Zuhlke was awarded the African Research Leader Award.

The United Kingdom's Department of International Development and the South African Medical Research Council together fund the project that awards medical research across Africa.

PAY ATTENTION: Save mobile data with FreeBasics: Briefly is now available on the app

The proud professor's research is focused on congenital heart disease, rheumatic heart disease and cardiac diseases associated with HIV and antiretroviral therapy in children. Her research will go toward improving young patient care.

As part of the reward, the professor received more than R14.5 million.

EWN reports that Professor Zuhlke will be able to use her prize money to go on with her research over the next 5 years.

READ ALSO: Explainer: Are you confusing Pik Botha with PW Botha? Meet both

Were going to look at that in a much more detailed fashion and see maybe theres something we can change to improve the outcome.

Professor Zuhlke is based at the Red Cross War Memorial Childrens Hospital.

What an inspirational woman and gain for the medical world!

Do you have a beautiful or inspiring story to tell us? Message us on our Facebook page and we could share your story.

Laugh at the silly Animated Joke: What Happened To A Rich Man? and check out what else is going on at Briefly South Africa's YouTube channel.

To stay up to date with the latest news, download our news app on Google Play or iTunes today.

Source: Briefly.co.zaNews / International

by Staff Reporter

President Emmerson Mnangagwa will meet Russia's President Vladmir Putin early next year, as he continues his engagement and re-engagement drive that is calculated to integrate Zimbabwe into the global family of nations and spur growth as part of the vision to create an upper middle-income economy by 2030.In August this year, Vice-President Dr Constantino Chiwenga was in Moscow as President Mnangagwa's special envoy, to relay a message to the Kremlin.Writing for The Sunday Mail in his inaugural column for this publication, which will be exclusively carried by this paper every week, President Mnangagwa said his charm offensive on the sidelines of this year's United Nations General Assembly had yielded a "solid stock of goodwill".That goodwill, he said, had helped Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube make significant headway on an arrears clearance deal with creditors last week."As I write, our delegation led by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, is in Bali, Indonesia, where it is meeting development partners and creditors. This initiative, which is a continuation of our engagement and re-engagement policy, has elicited good responses from IFIs and development partners," said President Mnangagwa."The numerous contacts I made on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly gave our country a solid stock of goodwill which our delegation in Bali has fully exploited. Key countries which include the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, South Africa, the EU bloc and even the United States of America, have responded favourably to our engagement overtures, and have welcomed our debt-settlement plan for the US$5,6 billion we owe IFIs and the Paris Club, and our Transitional Stabilisation Plan which we will now fully implement."The People's Republic of China continues to support us both bilaterally and internationally, including by way of private sector investments which continue to enhance national capacity.''Early next year, I am set to meet President Putin in Russia to explore ways to enhance our co-operation," he said.Last week, Prof Ncube announced that the IMF and World Bank had endorsed Zimbabwe's arrears clearance plan and two-year Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP).The African Development Bank, EU, France, UK, USA, Australia, Netherlands and South Africa also expressed their support.The TSP will guide the country's economic thrust through to December 2020.Zimbabwe arrears currently stand at $5,6 billion, which are spilt into $2,2 billion (multilateral creditors), $2,7 billion (Paris Club) and $700 million (non-Paris Club $700 million).Prof Ncube told The Sunday Mail last week that next month Government would engage two specific sponsors who are G7 members to secure bridging finance required to clear arrears with multilateral creditors. The G7 comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States."Government will engage the G7 as a bloc and also two specific creditors within G7, as potential sponsors. I have already told the two potential sponsors that I will be approaching them at the end of November," Prof Ncube said.In a speech at Chatham House  an international affairs think-tank in London  last Monday, Prof Ncube said the plan was likely to be "adhoc" and "custom-made"."In the end the arrears plan for Zimbabwe will be adhoc; it will be custom-made.''I think it will be similar to the Myanmar one, where Japan was the sponsor, so even for us, we need a sponsor to make this happen, then cajole the rest of the club for debt restructure," he said.Myanmar, which was saddled by a debt of $11 billion, met the Paris Club on January 25, 2013 and the latter agreed to cancel half of the arrears in two stages and rescheduled the rest over 15 years, with a seven-year grace period.Norway cancelled all the $534 million owed to it, while Japan cancelled more than $3 billion.The Japan Bank for International Co-operation extended $500 million to help clear arrears to the Asian Development Bank.News / National

by Staff reporter

Several senior police officers have been moved from the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP)'s traffic section to other units within the force.The transfers are part of efforts by the law enforcement agency to root out corruption within the traffic unit.On Thursday, the police top brass redeployed 819 officers mostly from the traffic section to other departments, among them patrol and investigations.Among the redeployed senior officers were a superintendent V Ndlovu from national traffic who was moved to police general headquarters (PGHQ) national chaplaincy as superintendent chaplaincy.A chief superintendent S Bizeki was transferred from national traffic to PGHQ as staff officer administration, while chief superintendent K Nyaumwe was moved from the same section to PGHQ operations as staff officer national highway patrol.Superintendent C Maramwidze from national traffic PGHQ was also affected by the movement. He now heads the police staff college as head of traffic training.The changes were announced in a radio transcript gleaned by the Daily News.Read the transcript: "The following transfers have been approved and should be implemented immediately."The movements follow the recent redeployment of close to 2 000 junior police officers from the national traffic to patrol and investigations police units as the ZRP reinvents its operations.Before the appointment of new brooms at the ZRP late last year, corrupt traffic police officers were making a killing from establishing unsanctioned roadblocks and getting motorists to pay them bribes in order to avoid arrests or stiff penalties.The Daily News understands that over 20 senior police officers from the rank of superintendent and above have since the beginning of the month been served with retirement letters.The retirement letters, signed by police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga read "Retirement from the Zimbabwe Republic Police in Terms of Section 22(3) of the Police Act Chapter 11:10"."This letter serves to advise you of your retirement from the Zimbabwe Republic Police in terms of section 22 subsection (3) of the Police Act Chapter 11:10," reads one of the letters."The commissioner-general of Police avails himself this opportunity to sincerely thank you for having diligently served the organisation and the people of Zimbabwe."According to the Police Act Chapter 11:10 the retirement age is 50 and once a police officer reaches that age they have to renew their contract.Earlier in the year, government retired 10 members of the police service namely commissioners Grace Nomsa Ndebele and Mekia Tanyanyiwa; senior assistant commissioners Godfrey Munyonga, Justice Chifunye Chengeta, Robert Tendero Masukusa, Erasmus Makodza, Prudence Chakanyuka, Eve Mlilo, Grace Maenzanise and Munyori Taedzerwa.The police have also been undertaking widespread promotions as part of improving the effectiveness in law enforcement.The promotion procedures are conducted as a regular exercise in the service and are a motivating tool aimed at rewarding officers who are hardworking, the police said.In July this year, the ZRP promoted close to 500 senior police officers to various ranks as well as 2 000 junior police officers to various ranks.News / National

by Staff reporter

Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce, Raj Modi will donate his monthly salary during his tenure in Government to under-privileged people in Bulawayo.Modi is the only Zanu-PF candidate who won a parliamentary seat in Bulawayo's 12 constituencies. He was elected MP for Bulawayo South during the July harmonised elections.In an interview with our Bulawayo Bureau, Modi said the monthly donation is the least he can do for the people of Bulawayo, whom he credits for his success."I am a successful businessman because of the people of Bulawayo. I am a Member of Parliament because of the people of Bulawayo and I was appointed Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce because I am a Member of Parliament, so I am a Minister because of the people of Bulawayo. While I can thank them all through words, I am compelled to show my gratitude by helping the under-privileged in our city. Therefore, I am making an undertaking to donate my entire salary every month to the needy. I will not touch or use a cent from that money. It will go to the poor, especially the children whom I love so much. I will also give to women, orphans, the elderly and people living with disabilities."The philanthropist said his humble monthly donation is an effort to contribute towards the national cause."The Government wants to eradicate poverty. I believe that the effort should start at the household level, at the grassroots, going up. I am in touch with the grassroots, I know what our people want as my lifestyle is not far removed from those of the electorate."However, I must hastily add that I am not going to help the people of Bulawayo South only but the people of Bulawayo, the city. I don't care where you are from; if I have the opportunity to assist you, I will assist you. I know what it feels like to be poor. I have the emotional intelligence and the empathy that enables me to walk in the shoes of the underprivileged."Meanwhile, Modi, in partnership with Smile Africa, an NGO that helps the underprivileged, donated 1 260 packets of rice mixed with soya to more than 150 children at Sidojiwe Hostels in Belmont yesterday."I partnered with Smile Africa to source food for the children of Sidojiwe because I believe it is time to work as a cohesive unit and make a coordinated effort to help the people of Bulawayo, instead of separate entities making individual efforts. Sidojiwe is in my constituency and as much as I want to help everyone who needs help, I cannot do it alone. That is why I am working with those who are willing to work with me to bring relief to our people," he said.Mr Albert Mavunga, the founder and chairperson of Smile Africa, said they had decided to work with Modi as he is a prominent humanitarian."The Deputy Minister has been giving to the poor for over two decades now and he has been doing so from his pocket. Smile Africa saw it necessary to seek him out and to partner him because we believe we can do more together. This donation is just the first of many that we will be doing together," said Mr Mavunga.Cannabis will be legalized on Wednesday, but some in Fort McMurray's oilsands and the broader oil and gas industry are still figuring out the best way to balance consumption and safe operation.

The major players in the oilsands often boast they're obsessed with workplace safety and there's zero-tolerance for on-site impairment from drugs or alcohol.

The pending legalization of cannabis poses some new challenges for the industry.

The industry's workplace safety association, Energy Safety Canada, said it expects cannabis will become more prevalent among oil and gas workers after legalization.

"We do expect we will see an uptick in usage," said Murray Elliott, the president of Energy Safety Canada. "But it won't be the end of the world."

Energy Safety Canada believes oil and gas employees have the right to use cannabis when they are not working.

But the association also says cannabis use and impairment on-site is still unacceptable.

The association has rolled out guidelines for industry that breaks down the levels of impairment, similar to what the federal government is using for drivers.

But Elliott said there are still many unknowns about the impact of cannabis on workers and he's calling on the government to fund more research to better understand the effects.

Advice to workers from the union

Walter Ticas, president of Unifor 770 A  the Fort McMurray union that represents Suncor workers  said Suncor is still developing policies around cannabis.

In the meantime, Ticas advises members to be proactive, so they don't accidentally leave a joint or pipe in their work clothes.

He advises members to separate their work clothes from their regular outfits, so they don't inadvertently bring cannabis into the workplace.

Paul Chiasson/Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press

As for measuring impairment, Ticas said it's challenging for employers and workers because it can be difficult to determine impairment.

For now, Ticas is calling on employees to use their "good judgment" when it comes to recreational or medical consumption.

Story continues

"Just respect cannabis and understand the effects it takes on your body," Ticas said. "If you feel different days after consumption, speak up."

'We have to jump in and go with it'

Jeff Bradshaw, president of the Cannabis Learning Series, a Calgary-based company specializing in workplace safety education, has been conducting seminars and campaigns with employers to prepare for legalization.

Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Like Unifor, he calls for good judgment. But given that Canada is only the second country to legalize marijuana, there isn't any user manual for workplaces to build upon.

"I think if we waited another year, we still wouldn't have the answers," Bradshaw said. "We have to jump in and go with it.

"It is going to happen on Oct. 17 and we have to make sure we are learning as we go."

CBC made inquiries to CNRL, Syncrude, Suncor and Nexen to ask if those companies have developed policies to deal with cannabis consumption and possession.

CNRL said it has clarified its policies to prohibit the use and possession of legal medical and recreational marijuana on-site.

Syncrude spokesperson Will Gibson promised a response on Monday.

Connect with David Thurton, CBC's Fort McMurray correspondent, on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or email him at david.thurton@cbc.caSYDNEY (Reuters) - A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck remote New Britain island in Papua New Guinea on Thursday, the United States Geological Survey said, though there were no immediate reports of damage. The quake hit about 200 km (125 miles) southwest of the town of Rabaul at a depth of almost 40 km, just before 7 a.m. local time (2100 GMT Wednesday). "We felt the earthquake a bit, but it was not too strong," Constable Roy Michael told Reuters by phone from Rabaul police station. He said there was no damage in the town, but officers had not yet been able to contact villages closer to the epicenter. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said waves less than 0.3 meter high could be expected on coastlines in Papua New Guinea and neighboring Solomon Islands. Australia's Tsunami Warning Center said its coastlines were not at risk. The quake was initially recorded with a magnitude of 7.3 but was downgraded. At least two aftershocks with a magnitude greater than 5 shortly followed. In March, a 6.6 magnitude quake struck nearby and no casualties or damage were reported. Papua New Guinea, one of the world's poorest countries, sits on the geologically active Pacific Ring of Fire and is still recovering from a 7.5 quake that hit some 900 km to the west in February, killing at least 100 people. (Reporting by Tom Westbrook, editing by G Crosse and James Dalgleish)The family of an Airdrie man who vanished while in Montana for a wedding is offering a reward for information leading to his whereabouts as the search for him enters into the second week.

Cameron (Cam) Collin, 37, was last seen around 10:45 p.m. on Oct. 4 at a bachelor party on a rural property outside Billings, Mont. Collin's trip to the U.S. was to celebrate his college roommate's wedding.

"We know he wasn't really feeling very well, all the boys decided to leave and go to the bar and Cam was left alone," said Collin's sister, Julia Collin.

"Sometime after they left, Cam disappeared."

He left behind his jacket and all of his belongings, including his travel bags and work gear.

Julia Collin said they received a small lead that he may have been spotted that night walking along the Old Highway 87 toward Billings. The tracking on his cellphone also indicated he likely headed in that direction, but there has been no sign of him since.

"We haven't really gotten a good ping off his phone or anything like that, the phone seems to be dead and there's been absolutely no activity on his bank card or credit card," she said.

Julia Collin said his friends reported his disappearance to authorities on Oct. 7, after he didn't make it to the wedding.

Julia Collin/Facebook

His father and sister have been in Montana helping with the search since early this week. A search of the creek near the property, thankfully, turned up nothing, Julia Collin said.

Now, the family is offering a $5,000 reward in the hope somebody knows something that will lead them to Cam Collin.

"We're hoping the reward will give some good leads to the Yellowstone County Sheriff. The next thing that they're going to do is bring dogs to the property, but we're just really hoping somebody out there has seen him and can help point us in the right direction," Julia Collin said.

Cam Collin is 6-5, with an average build. He was last seen wearing a long-sleeve black shirt with "Affliction" on it, jeans and cowboy boots.

Story continues

"My brother is dearly missed by friends and family. We want to find him. Anyone who meets him knows his smile and kindness and we just really want to bring him home," Julia Collin said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office.By Andrei Makhovsky MINSK (Reuters) - The Russian Orthodox Church said on Saturday it would respond firmly to the Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarchate over its decision to back Ukraine's request to establish an independent, or "autocephalous", Church. Kiev sees the move, endorsed by a synod meeting in Istanbul on Thursday, as a vital step against Moscow's meddling in its affairs, but the Russian clergy fiercely opposes it as the biggest split in Christendom in 1,000 years. Alexander Volkov, spokesman for Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, said the Holy Synod of the Church would "express its position", without elaborating on what measures it might take. "The Synod, which will convene in Minsk (on Monday), will give its final assessment," Volkov told reporters. "At any rate, the response will be in kind and tough," he added. Last month the Russian Orthodox Church announced it would no longer participate in structures chaired by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, deepening the row over the Ukrainian Church's bid to break away from Moscow's orbit. The long-running dispute has worsened since 2014 when Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and gave support to pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine. Arriving in Minsk on Saturday, Patriarch Kirill, who has close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, told reporters: "I hope the Orthodox Church will find the strength to overcome hardships... to stay united." The Kiev Patriarchate's leader has been sharply critical of Putin and in 2014 suggested he was possessed by Satan. (Reporting by Andrei Makhovsky; writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Gareth Jones)LONDON (Reuters) - Russia's ambassador to London denied on Friday that spies from his country's military intelligence agency had tried to kill former double agent Sergei Skripal and hack various organizations across the world. Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko told reporters relations were at a low because the British government was trying to carry out a campaign aimed at discrediting Russia. When asked directly whether he accepted the British accusation that agents from Russia's GRU military intelligence agency had tried to kill Skripal in March, Yakovenko said: "No we don't accept that." Asked whether the two men accused by Britain of trying to kill Skripal were GRU agents, he refused to answer the question directly. He denied accusations from Britain, the United States and the Netherlands that the GRU had hacked organizations across the world to undermine Western democracies. "Of course I deny it because this is part of a general campaign launched in Britain and supported by the United States... to discredit my country," he said. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Stephen Addison)By Andrew Torchia and Arshad Mohammed DUBAI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia on Sunday warned against threats to punish it over last week's disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as European leaders piled on pressure and two more U.S. executives scrapped plans to attend a Saudi investor conference. Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist critical of Riyadh's policies, disappeared on Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Turkey believes he was murdered and his body removed. Saudi Arabia has denied that. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened "severe punishment" if it turns out Khashoggi was killed in the consulate, though he said Washington would be "punishing" itself if it halted military sales to Riyadh. "The Kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether by threatening to impose economic sanctions, using political pressures, or repeating false accusations," the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted an unnamed official as saying. "The Kingdom also affirms that if it receives any action, it will respond with greater action, and that the Kingdom's economy has an influential and vital role in the global economy," the official added, without elaborating. The Saudi Embassy in Washington later tweeted what it called a clarification, thanking countries including the United States "for refraining from jumping to conclusions" over the case. In a sign Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud may seek a diplomatic solution to the incident, he stressed the strength of Saudi-Turkish ties in a telephone call with President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, the Saudi press agency said late on Sunday. The king thanked Erdogan for welcoming a Saudi proposal to form a joint working group to discuss Khashoggi's disappearance and said no one could undermine their relationship. EUROPE SEEKS CREDIBLE INVESTIGATION Europe's largest economies -- Britain, France and Germany -- said on Sunday they were treating the case with "the utmost seriousness". "There needs to be a credible investigation to establish the truth about what happened, and - if relevant - to identify those bearing responsibility for the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, and ensure that they are held to account," the countries said in a joint statement. "We encourage joint Saudi-Turkish efforts in that regard, and expect the Saudi Government to provide a complete and detailed response. We have conveyed this message directly to the Saudi authorities." The statement, by Britain's Jeremy Hunt, France's Jean-Yves Le Drian and Germany's Heiko Maas, made no mention of potential actions the countries might take. Hunt later said that if Saudi Arabia were proven to be guilty, "we would have to think about the appropriate way to react in that situation." OIL PRICE WARNING In a column published just after the SPA statement, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya channel's General Manager Turki Aldakhil warned that imposing sanctions on the world's largest oil exporter could spark global economic disaster. "It would lead to Saudi Arabia's failure to commit to producing 7.5 million barrels. If the price of oil reaching $80 angered President Trump, no one should rule out the price jumping to $100, or $200, or even double that figure," he wrote. Investor concern is growing that Khashoggi's disappearance could add to a sense that Saudi policy has become more unpredictable under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is pushing social and economic reforms but has also presided over a rise in tensions between with several countries. A Gulf banker said the Khashoggi case, combined with other events, had become a significant factor for some potential investors. "It's cumulative  the Yemen war, the dispute with Qatar, the tensions with Canada and Germany, the arrests of women activists. They add up to an impression of impulsive policy-making, and that worries investors," the banker said. Foreign capital is key to Saudi plans for economic diversification and job creation. But in response to Khashoggi's disappearance, media organizations and a growing number of executives have pulled out of a Riyadh investment conference scheduled for next week, dubbed "Davos in the Desert." On Sunday, JP Morgan Chase & Co said Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has canceled plans to attend the Saudi Arabian investor conference later this month. Ford Motor Co said Chairman Bill Ford has canceled his trip to the Middle East, which included an appearance at the Saudi investment conference. JP Morgan Chase and Ford did not comment on whether the decision was related to concerns about the disappearance of Khashoggi. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin still plans to attend the conference, but that could change, Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, said on ABC's "This Week". WASHINGTON REACTS U.S. senators called for reactions ranging from boycotting an upcoming economic summit in Riyadh to ending support for Saudi military operations in Yemen. "If they lured this man into that consulate, they went medieval on him, and he was killed and he was chopped up and they sent a death crew down there to kill him and do all of this, that would be an outrage," Florida Senator Marco Rubio told CNN's State of the Union. "Just because they are an ally in an important mission, which is containing Iranian expansion in the region, cannot allow us to overlook or walk away from that." Fellow Republican, Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, appearing on "This Week", called for severe action which he said would affect arms sales and involvement in Yemen. The Saudi stock market fell as much as 7 percent in early trade on Sunday, one of the first signs of economic pain Riyadh could suffer over the affair. By close, it had recovered some losses, ending down 3.5 percent and losing $16.5 billion of market value. Senators have triggered a provision of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act requiring the president to determine whether a foreign person is responsible for a gross human rights violation. The act has in the past imposed visa bans and asset freezes on Russian officials. Anti-Saudi sentiment in the U.S. Congress could conceivably raise pressure to pass the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act, which would end sovereign immunity shielding OPEC members from U.S. legal action. ACCESSING CONSULATE The crisis has polarized Saudis, with some blaming the nation's enemies and others concerned about the direction the country is heading under Prince Mohammed. Prince Khaled al-Faisal, a senior member of Saudi Arabia's ruling family and senior advisor to King Salman, has met Erdogan to discuss Khashoggi's disappearance, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters without providing details. A Turkish official told Reuters on Sunday that the Saudis had said they would allow the consulate to be searched, and that this would happen by the end of the weekend, though he conceded to "flexibility on this date." "But Turkey is determined on the subject of entering the consulate and carrying out a criminal inspection. There is no alternative to carrying out this inspection. Time is important in terms of evidence," the official said. (Additional reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi and Asma Alsharif in Dubai, Orhan Coskun in Ankara, Michael Nienaber in Berlin, Elizabeth Piper in London, Christopher Bing and Sarah N. Lynch in Washington; Jarrett Renshaw in New York, writing by Stephen Kalin, Arshad Mohammed and Phil Stewart; editing by Robin Pomeroy and Sandra Maler)Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh. blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work.

.

..JNS.org..12 October '18..Some American pundits are slamming Israel for denying entry to Palestinian-American student Lara Alqasem. Perhaps they should take a look at Americas own laws concerning the admission of extremists before they throw mud at Israel.In 2014, Ms. Alqasem became a member of the anti-Israel group Students for Justice in Palestine at her home campus, the University of Florida. She didnt join as some passing lark; she was an activist who rose through the ranks, becoming vice president of the chapter, and then serving as president in 2016-17.SJP is not a group that merely criticizes Israel. It supports Palestinian terrorists. In recent years, it has issued statements and held events praising and defending, among others, convicted Jerusalem supermarket bomber Rasmea Odeh; convicted Palestinian sniper and bomb-maker Samer Issawi; and Palestinian stabbers Fadi Aloon and Fadil Qawasmi.With that kind of track record, if Alqasem was a non-American applying to enter the United States, she would not be admitted.The Recluse Amadeus Los Cabos is a line that was showcased at the 2018 IPCPR Trade Show and put into wider distribution shortly afterward. The Los Cabos line made its debut two years earlier at the 2016 IPCPR Trade Show, but at the time it had only seen a limited distribution. Los Cabos gets its name from two components: First, it is named for Los Cabos, Mexico, a favorite vacation destination and Recluse co-owner Scott Weeks has said often that he considers his cigars a mini-vacation. Second, it is Recluses first widely distributed San Andres Mexican wrapped offering. Today we explore the Recluse Amadeus Los Cabos in the Toro size.

The date August 8, 2016, will forever be remembered as the day the premium cigar industry became a regulated industry. One regulation would be that all new cigar blends released after that date would require pre-market approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The cigar industry first learned of this deadline back on May 5th, so as a result there was still a short window to get new product into the marketplace. Many companies essentially chose to quietly introduce products to the marketplace and keep the details covert. We termed these releases stealth releases.

Recluse took a very different approach. The company had a product pipeline and it decided to unveil nine products at the 2016 IPCPR Trade Show that were a part of the pipeline. These products were then introduced to the market in a limited fashion. The plan was to use subsequent trade shows to showcase a major release.

Recluse Amadeus Los Cabos is the first line to have a wide release since 2015 when the Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva was released. In 2016, Recluse chose to focus on the introduction of the nine new lines, and last year Recluse skipped the IPCPR Trade Show, so there was no new release.

Without further ado, lets break down the Recluse Amadeus Los Cabos Toro and see what this cigar brings to the table.

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

In addition to the San Andres wrapper, the Recluse Amadeus Los Cabos utilizes a Sumatra wrapper and filler from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. Consistent with the brands philosophy, the tobaccos used go through eight fermentation cycles. As with all Recluse Cigars, Los Cabos is produced at the companys Tabacalera Leyendas Cubanas factory located in the Dominican Republic.

Wrapper: San Andres Mexican Oscuro

Binder: Sumatra

Filler: Dominican (Ligero, Viso, and Seco primings), Nicaraguan Criollo 98

Country of Origin: Dominican Republic

Factory: Tabacalera Leyendas Cubanas

Vitolas Offered

As is standard with all Recluse offerings, the Los Cabos is available in 14 sizes. All of the sizes except the lancero are box-pressed. Consistent with the brands philosophy, the cigars are rolled entubado (tubular) style. Each of the sizes is available in 20-count boxes except for the three Kanu offerings which are in 20-count boxes.

Petit Corona: 4 x 42

Corona: 5 3/4 x 46

Robusto: 5 x 52

Toro: 6 1/4 x 50

Belicoso: 6 1/2 x 56

Lancero: 7 x 38

Tarantula: 6 x 60

Excepcionales: 7 1/2 x 56

Sidewinder #1: 5 x 57

Sidewinder #2: 6 x 57

Sidewinder #3 7 x 57

Kanu #1: 6 x 54

Kanu #2: 7 x 52

Kanu #3: 8 x 58

The Sidewinder and Kanu vitolas are unique to Recluse. The Sidewinder is a cigar that is box-pressed on the top and bottom, but rounded on the sizes. The Kanu is a cigar box-pressed in the shape of a kayak. In terms of other sizes, all of the others are box-pressed except the lancero.

Appearance

The San Andres wrapper to the Recluse Amadeus Los Cabos Toro isnt the darkest wrapper, but it certainly qualifies as an oscuro. The wrapper has a light roasted coffee bean color to it. There is a very light coating of oil on it. There are some visible veins and visible wrapper seams and you can feel a sandy-like texture on the surface of the wrapper. At the same time, the wrapper had a very pristine look to it. As for the box-press, it is more of a trunk-press with no soft spots.

The band to the Recluse Amadeus Los Cabos has the appearance of two bands, but in reality is on the cigar as a single unit. The band features a blue background with a holographic chrome font. The upper portion of the band features the Recluse spider logo. Above the logo is the text RECLUSE. The lower portion of the band features the text Amadeus in cursive font. There is an open slot between the two portions of the band where the color of the wrapper can be seen. To the left and right of the slot, there is a border that matches the wrapper color giving an illusion that there are actually two bands on the cigar.

Surrounding the footer is a metallic silver-colored ribbon.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw

Prior to lighting up the Recluse Amadeus Los Cabos Toro, the footer band was removed and a straight cut was used to remove the cap. It was now time to begin the pre-light draw ritual. The dry draw delivered a mix of coffee, earth, citrus, and a slight tingly spice. I considered this to be a satisfactory pre-light draw. It was now time to light up the Recluse Amadeus Los Cabos Toro and move into the main phase of the smoking experience.

Tasting Notes

The Recluse Amadeus Los Cabos Toro continued with the notes of coffee, citrus, and earth found on the pre-light draw. There was also some white pepper on the tongue as well as on the retro-hale. The coffee and earth notes emerged in the forefront early on. Meanwhile, the citrus and pepper settled in the background. I also detected a slight floral note in the background. As the cigar experience progressed, I also detected a mineral note in the background.

The coffee and earth remained in the forefront during the second third. During this stage from time to time, the coffee notes demonstrated a subtle chocolate sweetness resulting in a mocha-like fusion. Meanwhile, the white pepper, citrus, and mineral notes remained in the background. The floral notes had pretty much dissipated before the midway point. Later in the second third, the white pepper notes started to increase.

By the final third, the pepper notes joined the coffee and earth notes in the forefront. There wasnt much in the way of chocolate-sweetness, but from the background the citrus still provided a subtle sweetness. The was also rounded out by some of the mineral notes. This is the way the Recluse Amadeus Los Cabos Toro came to a close. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

Overall, the Recluse Amadeus Los Cabos Toro had no problems maintained a straight burn path. There was an occasional bit of jaggedness on the burn line, but this didnt prove to be problemsome. The resulting ash had mixed shades of gray to it. This was an ash that was skewed on the firm side. As for the burn rate and burn temperature, both were ideal.

Draw

One thing that Recluse Cigar has prided itself on is how the entubado cigars result in an effortless draw  and Ive found the company has lived up to the expectations. I particularly like how Recluse Cigars draw. While the draw is effortless, I also find a perfect balance of openness and resistance. The Los Cabos Toro was no exception to this case. At the same time, I found the Los Cabos Toro produced an ample amount of smoke.

Strength and Body

I found the Recluse Amadeus Los Cabos Toro to be on the bolder side. This is a cigar that started out medium to full in both strength and body. The intensity of both attributes gradually increases during the cigar experience. Toward the end, this is a cigar that is right on the cusp of moving into full strength, full-bodied territory.

In terms of strength versus body, both attributes balanced each other very nicely and neither attribute overshadowed the another.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

Recluse Cigar Company has been around for six years now, and this is a company that is producing excellent regular production cigars that consistently perform at a high level at an affordable price. Now Los Cabos becomes the fifth showcased release from Recluse, and the cigar once again maintains the excellent track record this company has established. While some of the spice at the end reminded me that San Andres can be somewhat pungent, for the most part, I found the majority of this smoke allowed all of the tobaccos to shine and produced a balanced profile.

While the Recluse Amadeus Los Cabos Toro is probably a cigar Id recommend to a seasoned cigar enthusiast, I wouldnt discourage a novice looking for something bolder to give this a shot. As for myself, this is a cigar Id smoke again, and it garners box worthy consideration.

Summary

Key Flavors: Coffee, Earth, White Pepper, Mineral, Citrus

Burn: Excellent

Draw: Excellent

Complexity: Medium Plus

Strength: Medium to Full

Body: Medium to Full

Finish: Excellent

Rating

Assessment: Box Worthy Consideration

Score: 91

References

News: Recluse Amadeus Los Cabos Launching at 2016 IPCPR Trade Show

Price: $8.50

Source: Recluse Cigar Company

Brand Reference: Recluse

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop, except where notedIndian Navy joins a select league of nations with capability to search, locate and provide rescue to distressed submarines by induction of 1st Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel (DSRV) and associated kit in fly away configuration which can be rapidly mobilised. (Photo: Twitter | @indiannavy)

New Delhi: Enhancing its operational capabilities, the Navy has inducted its first deep submergence rescue vehicle which is deployed to rescue downed or disaster-struck submarines at high sea.

Navy Spokesperson Captain D K Sharma said that with induction of the deep submergence rescue vehicle (DSRV), India has joined a select group of countries that have the capability to locate and rescue "distressed submarines".

At present, the US, China, Russia and a few other countries have the capabilities to deploy DSRVs.

"Indian Navy joins select league of nations with capability to search, locate and provide rescue to distressed submarines by induction of first Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel(DSRV) and associated kit in fly away configuration," he said.

Though DSRVs are used for rescue of personnel in downed submarines, they are also deployed for various other missions including to lay cables on the sea bed. Some DSRV vessels are air transportable in very large military cargo.

Captain Sharma said the DSRV which was inducted can be mobilised from the naval base in Mumbai to nearest mounting port by air, land and sea. The second DSRV is expected to be inducted at Visakhapatnam in 2019.

"The DSRV can be mobilised from Naval base at Mumbai to nearest mounting port by air/ land or sea for providing rapid rescue to the submarine in distress," the Navy spokesperson said.

Indian Navy sources said induction of the DSRV was part of the Navy's efforts to enhance operational capabilities when China has been ramping up its maritime presence in critical sea lanes which are of strategic importance to India.

Last year, the Indian Navy operationalised a new concept of deployment of warships in the Indian Ocean region to effectively counter China's growing presence in the strategically key waters. The "new mission-based deployment" involves deploying mission-ready ships and aircraft along critical sea lanes of communications.The IMF team, Umar said, was scheduled to arrive in Pakistan on November 7 to negotiate the programme, likely to span over a three-year period. (Photo: File)

Islamabad: Pakistan is ready to share details of the debt related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with the IMF, Finance Minister Asad Umar has said while rejecting the US' view that China-funded projects were to blame for the cash-strapped country's current economic woes.

Speaking to the media here on his return from Indonesia where he requested International Monetary Fund's Managing Director Christine Lagarde for a bailout package for Pakistan, Umar said the decision to approach the global lender was taken after consultations with friendly countries.

The IMF team, Umar said, was scheduled to arrive in Pakistan on November 7 to negotiate the programme, likely to span over a three-year period.

He said Pakistan's current year debt repayments were about USD 9 billion but obviously it would not entirely be available from the IMF.

Lagarde has made it clear that the IMF would require absolute transparency on Pakistan's debts, including those owned by China under the USD 50 billion CPEC. Umar, however, rejected the US State Department's statement, suggesting that the debt accrued on the CPEC projects was to blame for Pakistan's current economic crisis.

The US Friday said that the huge Chinese debt was responsible for the economic challenges in Pakistan, adding that it will review Islamabad's bailout plea to the IMF from all angles, including the country's debt position.

"We understand that Pakistan has formally requested assistance from the IMF. In all cases, we examine that closely from all angles of it, including Pakistan's debt position, in evaluating any type of loan programme," State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert had said, adding this is something the US has been tracking fairly closely.

Responding to a question, Nauert said; "The secretary (of state Mike Pompeo) had spoken about this a few months back, I know, in some interviews not that long ago. I think part of the reason that Pakistan found itself in this situation is Chinese debt, and the fact that there is debt that governments have incurred that they maybe thought wouldn't be so tough to bail themselves out of, but has become increasingly tough."

Umar said the US was a key stakeholder in the IMF with about 16.5 per cent votes but enjoyed no veto power in its decision making that required majority 51 per cent votes. He said no government in Pakistan irrespective of any political background could compromise on national security and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government, too, would not opt for an IMF programme if conditionalities are of that nature.

But Umar Saturday said the government will have to take difficult decisions that would be painful for people but necessary under international commitments to get out of the current severe economic situation.

The IMF, Umar said, had asked for details of loans, including ones secured in relation to the CPEC projects, for analysing the debt sustainability.

Pakistan would share "normal debt-related information about CPEC with the IMF", the Express Tribune Sunday quoted the finance minister as saying.

Reiterating that the government had decided to approach the Fund in consultation with friendly countries, he said that talks with these countries were still underway. He did not identify these countries but Islamabad was in contact with China and Saudi Arabia in recent weeks.

Unlike 2013, said the minister, the global environment was not favourable to Pakistan that was why the government thoroughly deliberated upon this matter before approaching the IMF.

He said that Pakistan was facing a financing gap of USD 12 billion this year, adding that this gap would not be bridged by IMF alone. "We will turn to friendly countries again if the IMF terms are unacceptable to Pakistan during talks on the programme," he asserted.

The minister said that he had been contending for quite some time that economic conditions could lead to national security issues and the government would not compromise on matters of national security.

He also said that Saudi Arabia, China and the United Arab Emirates had not placed tough conditions for bailing Pakistan out. But he declined to cite specific reasons why these countries had not provided any financial assistance to Pakistan, the report said.

Categorically rejecting the US assertion that the country was in an economic mess because of the CPEC-related debt repayments, Umar said that over the next three years, such repayments amounted to just USD 300 million a year, which "is very nominal against USD 9 billion of total debt repayments payable during this fiscal year alone".

The "statement of state department spokesperson is 100 per cent wrong", the minister said explaining that Pakistan's financing gap for the current year was about USD 12 billion and total repayments to China averaged USD 300 million over the next three years.

We totally disagree with that statement, Umar said, adding that he had already explained this to the US representatives and also to the IMF chief.

"The American narrative is totally wrong narrative, Umar was quoted as saying by the Dawn. Without disclosing exact numbers, Umar said Pakistan's net foreign currency reserves were far below than the current gross level of USD 8.3 billion.

The minister said that one of the reasons for widening current account deficit was an increase in crude oil prices. He acknowledged that the IMF programme would impact the lower and middle-income groups in Pakistan. "We can perhaps live without the IMF but this could be more painful," Umar added.Vietnams recent exchange rate fluctuation will not carry into the last quarter thanks to strong government reserves, experts say.

The USD/VND reference rate set by the central bank fluctuated in the early days of this month, reaching VND22,723 last Tuesday, the highest so far this year, up 1.31 percent from the end of last year.

Banks traded their dollars for VND23,315-23,395 on Tuesday.

But the central rate dropped by VND3 on Thursday, before returning to VND22,721 on Saturday, while local banks sold their greenback for VND23,300-23,385, VND10-15 lower than on Tuesday.

However, financial experts are confident that the exchange rate will remain stable in the last months of the year.

Andy Ho, CEO of Vietnams investment fund VinaCapital, said that the countrys foreign exchange reserves of over $62 billion are enough to ease the burden that the weakening Chinese yuan might bring to bear on the dong.

The dong will only weaken if the government does so to boost exports, he added.

Ngo Dang Khoa, country head of global markets, HSBC Vietnam, said that the USD/VND exchange rate has been stable compared to other countries in the region.

The dong has only fallen by 2.6 percent since the beginning of the year, while other currencies have seen steeper drops, especially the Indonesian rupiah which has fallen by 10 percent, he said.

The dong will surely be affected by the weakening Chinese yuan because of the ongoing U.S.-China trade war, Khoa said, noting that that the CNY has fallen by 8 percent to the USD since April.

But the State Bank of Vietnam has made calculations with different variables, thus the dong wont experience too many fluctuations in upcoming months, he said.

Local banks currently have good greenback reserves, and can supply customers who need between $1 million and $100 million, he added.

The countrys trade surplus of $6.32 billion and the disbursed foreign direct investment of $13.25 billion in the first nine months this year are positive factors that will also keep the USD/VND exchange rate stable, Khoa said.

The CEO of another foreign bank in Vietnam, who declined to be named, said the pressure on dollar repayments will not be high because the number of dollar borrowings was low.

As the government is pushing equitization of state-owned enterprises, successful acquisitions by foreign investors will bring in more dollars to Vietnam, he added.

In a recent report, the Standard Chartered bank projected that the USD/VND exchange rate will stand at around VND23,400 by the end of this year.

The bank expected a small dong depreciation early next year, before ending 2019 mildly stronger against the USD as positive domestic and external factors support the currency.Experts have slammed a resort planned in the Bach Ma National Park, saying it will destroy and pollute the environment.

The central province of Thua Thien Hue had approved a VND1.5 trillion ($66 million) project for a resort complex that would see two cable cars built in the Bach Ma National Park.

The province had approved the plan in 2014, and a company partly funded by a foreign investor has been selected for the project.

According to the plan prepared by the U.S.-based Wimberly, Allison, Tong & Goo, or WATG, one cable car will stretch more than four kilometers (2.5 miles) to reach the peak of Bach Ma Mount inside the park and the other will run 1.6 kilometers from that peak to a top of a waterfall.

The entire project has two parts, with one covering 64 hectares (158 acres) near the gate to the park and the other measuring 300 hectares on top of Bach Ma Mount for accommodation, spiritual tourism and recreation services.

The plan will also restore and bring back to life 139 abandoned villas along the side of Bach Ma Mount and a tower for sightseeing on its peak that were built by the French in the 20th century.

One too many

La Thi Kim Ngan, former deputy head of Vietnam Institute for Urban and Rural Planning (VIUP), said the plan has too many projects on top of the Bach Ma Mountain.

She said these projects should be moved to surrounding areas, near residential areas, to create jobs for locals and at the same time, save the mountain from many concrete structures.

The cable car from the mountain peak to the fall is unnecessary and should be reconsidered, she told a meeting held by the province to seek opinions on the plan on Saturday.

Nguyen Xuan Hoa, former director of the provinces culture department, seconded Ngan.

He said the plan focuses too much on the area at the mountain top and suggested that accommodations and other related services should be moved to the area around the foot of the mountain.

Too many projects on the Bach Ma peak would overload nature, Hoa told the meeting and agreed with Ngan that the province should eliminate the cable car to the waterfall.

Martial arts master Nguyen Van Dung, who has spent years trekking the path to Bach Ma peak, said the plan has too many projects and for him, it was an enormous encroachment on the natural environment of the Bach Ma park.

Dung talked about the environmental pollution that the project would generate. He said he was worried that wastewater from tourist activities will eventually flow into the stream inside the park and then to the Huong River that runs through Thua Thien Hue.

Who can guarantee that wastewater from the Bach Ma tourism complex will not cause pollution? I think we should have specific and careful environmental impact assessment for this plan, he said.

Nguyen Ngoc Lung, head of the Research Institute for Sustainable Forest Management and Forest Certification, raised a question: Can the investor fulfill the task of preserving the natural habitat in Bach Ma?

He said ecotourism was a way to conserve the environment effectively as it educates people about it, but he did not see any of this in the plan.

The Bach Ma National Park was established in 1991 and covers more than 37,000 hectares. It's a one-hour drive to the southeast of Hue, the provincial capital and tourism center which mainly draws tourists to temples and royal tombs that dated back to the time it was the seat of Vietnam's last dynasty Nguyen (1802-1945).

The parks biodiversity is considered one of the richest in Vietnam and the region.

Nguyen Van Phuc, deputy director of Thua Thien Hues culture department, had told VnExpress last year that it would be a pity if the province failed to develop ecotourism in the Bach Ma Park, with the number of visitors a modest 15,000 each year.

The province attracted 3.8 million tourists last year, up 16.63 percent against 2016.Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) says its armed fighters (Peshmerga) engaged the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps forces in a heavy clash on Friday, October 12.

The Central Command of Kurdistans Peshmerga Forces confirmed the news on its official website, announcing in a statement: At about 8 a.m. this morning, Friday, October 12, 2018, the Peshmerga forces, who had been surrounded by regime forces in a mountain resort called Bidmiri in the city of Pawa, engaged in a clash with the regime forces."

Reportedley, the clash continued until 11:00, leaving one civilian and five of the two side's forces dead.

The KDPI's statement reiterated, The place where Peshmerga forces were positioned was targeted by [IRGC's] heavy weapons. The clash continued until 11 a.m. in which, according to information received, three members of the IRGC were killed."

The Islamic Republic's Ministry of Intelligence announced that several members of a separatist team near the western borders has been killed or arrested during a firefight.

In a statement published by state-run Iran Students News Agency (ISNA), the Intelligence Ministry maintained, The terrorist separatist team infiltrated the country through the western borders and was staying at a 'safe' house.

The Ministry of Intelligence has also claimed that several weapons, grenades, military equipment, and documnets were confiscated, insisting that the confiscated weapons prove "Arab countries support terrorist acts in Iran.

Furthermore, without any reference to IRGC's casualties, a website close to the military elite, Booltan (Bulletin) News, reported that two armed members of KDPI, Zanyar Eslami and Shaho Waisi were killed. KDPI has confirmed the two casualties.

KDPI, one of several armed Kurdish groups opposed to the Islamic regime in Iran, has been recently targeted by IRGC rockets and drones, as well.

Around a dozen Kurdish rebels were killed on September 8, when IRGC launched ground-to-ground missiles at their headquarters.

Three weeks later, Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) said Iranian military had attacked its forces on September 30, on Mount Kodo, Choman district, over the border in Iraq.

Chief of staff of Irans armed forces, IRGC Maj. Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, visited Kermanshah province this week. He told reporters that Erbil (the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan) and Baghdad must do more to stop the Kurdish parties from launching cross-border attacks against Iran.

Since 2016, when the Kurdish dissident groups reported that they had spread their forces across Iranian Kurdistan, the number of clashes between IRGC forces and the Kurdish parties have significantly increased.

While the Islamic Republic describes Kurdish dissident groups as anti-Islamic Revolution and terrorist, the armed groups maintain that their main goal is defending human rights for the Kurdish minority in Iran.

Based on the last census conducted in 2006, the four Kurdish-inhabited provinces in Iran  West Azerbaijan, Kermanshah Province, Kurdistan Province and Ilam Province  have a total population of 6,730,000. Kurds form a significant portion of this number.Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.

0108263 License for publishing multimedia online



Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349Several photographers have been arrested in Shiraz, 481 km (298 miles) south of Irans capital, Tehran, for posting "obscene" pictures and images described as "modelling" on their Instagram accounts.

Iranian government's official news agency (IRNA) cited the Prosecutor-General of Shiraz, Ali Salehi, as saying on Saturday, October 13, "A number of the city's photographers have been detained for posting improper photos" adding that their Instagram accounts have been blocked for promoting "corruption and fornication".

The prosecutors office has not mentioned how many photographers have been detained.

Meanwhile, IRNA says that the detainees had posted photos that are known as "modelling" pictures in Iran. Usually, these are not photos of naked people, but show models in cloths or postures that are deemed inappropriate by strict Islamic standards.

Furthermore, according to IRNA, several Instagram accounts belonging to an unknown number of Shirazi photographers have been blocked since late last week.

Some of the photographers, whose Instagram accounts have been filtered by the Islamic Republic's Judicial Department have insisted that they have never been active in the field of "modelling".

"We have only posted photos of one or two men who are close friends of ours", one photographer using Instagram told IRNA.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), which intervenes in almost all matters of daily life in Iran, has recently launched an operation code-named Spider Project II (SP II) to monitor activities on the internet.

Since its establishment, SP II has detained hundreds of cyber space users, particularly those on Instagram, accusing them of being active in the field of "modelling".

Two years ago, a court in Shiraz sentenced twelve suspects to a total of 379 months jail time for being active in the modelling business and posting images related to it on the Internet.

Commander of the Islamic Republic's Cyberspace Police also announced last May that it had discovered 51,000 "indecent", "absurd" and "obscene" accounts on Instagram and was attempting to identify the admins of the pages.

The Islamic Republic has always been ultra-sensitive toward activities on cyberspace, particularly those related to Shiite beliefs, and has recently established an exclusive department affiliated with the deputy Prosecutor-General's office to tackle so-called "internet crimes".

Since its launching, the Islamic Republic's cyber police unit, FATA, has played a key role in Irans efforts to block the Internet. The cyber police monitors Iranians who express even mild opposition to the ruling establishments policies or try to circulate images and reports concerning political unrest, labor strikes, and protest rallies through social media.Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 14

Trend:

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have 30 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Oct. 14.

Armenian armed forces were using heavy machine guns.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 14

By Matanat Nasibova  Trend:

Azerbaijani poultry company Zagatala Broiler LLC plans to increase imports of breeding chickens, the head of LLC Vahid Mammadov told Trend.

"The volume of production of chicken products today partially covers the domestic demand of the population in Azerbaijan, so we plan to increase the share of chicken imports in order to expand the production of broiler chicken products," he said.

According to the head of LLC, the company is engaged in growing broiler chickens, producing chicken meat and other poultry products.

"We import chickens mainly from Georgia, then we grow them in Zagatala Broiler LLC poultry farm. The number of imported poultry differs from year to year. In particular, a couple of years ago, this figure was only 20,000-23,000 chickens annually. In recent years, imports have increased four to five times. Last year, we purchased about 100,000 chickens in Georgia, according to the results of the current year, the volume of purchases amounted to 120,000," Mammadov said.

Manufactured products have a Certificate of Conformity issued by the State Committee for Standardization, Metrology and Patents and the Hygienic Certificate issued by the Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology of the Ministry of Health of Azerbaijan.

The company uses modern equipment made in Turkey.Tehran, Iran, Oct. 14

Trend

Shapour Mohammadi, the head of Security and Exchange Organization (SEO), said Iran and Montenegro would launch a mutual fund between the two countries.

Iran and Montenegro will launch a mutual fund as well as joint project funds, Mohammadi said in a meeting with Zoran Dikanovic, the president of the Capital Market Authority in Montenegro.

The funds will be established as part of an agreement signed between the two countries back in 2010, he added.

Executing the 2010 cooperation document between Iran and Montenegro will open a new page in the two countries' capital markets' relations, the official said.

Dikanovic, for his part, hailed the implementation of the agreement and said the two countries could benefit from joint project funds.Tehran, Iran, Oct. 14

Trend

Director General of Veterinary Organization in Golestan Province said the province is scheduled to export shrimps to Spain for the first time ever after obtaining license to ship shrimps to Europe directly.

The shrimps cultured in the province can now be exported to European countries directly, Mahmoud Reza Vafaei told IRNA on October 14.

Plans are underway to export 50 kilogram of shrimps to Spain for the first time, he added.

This could facilitate the export of the sea creature to European nations, Vafaei said.

We expect to export 2 to 3 million tons of processed shrimps to Spain by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21), he said.

He said the province is currently exporting shrimps to China and the UAE.Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 14

By Elnur Baghishov  Trend:

The Bushehr province of Iran has exported non-oil items worth $56 million to Qatar in the first half of the current year (starting March 21), governor of Bushehr province Abdul Karim Grawend said in an exclusive interview with IRNA correspondent.

The export of goods from the Bushehr province last year exceeded $70 million, he said. If this process continues, a new record in export of goods from Bushehr to Qatar will be fixed.

Grawend predicts further increase in the trade turnover between Bushehr province and Qatar if the required programs are implemented in foreign trade.

"One of the problems in Qatar's economic relations is the lack of product quality and good packaging.

Qatari businessmen are interested in importing products from Iran, the nearest port of Iran - through the Bushehr port.Tehran, Iran, Oct. 14

Trend

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani hailed the European Unions decision to stand by Iran after Washingtons withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

The EUs decision to stand up against the US in support of Iran following Washingtons pullout (from the JCPOA) was a historic move, Rouhani said on Sunday addressing academics in Tehran, IRNA reported on October 14.

He added that the US expected Iran to leave the deal as well, but Iran decided to remain in the international agreement to thwart US plots.

(US President Donald) Trump failed to gain worlds support for his decision to pull out of the JCPOA, Rouhani said.

Back in May, Trump pulled his country out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), despite objections from other signatories of the accord.

In August, Washington re-imposed the first round of anti-Iran sanctions it had lifted under the JCPOA. The second phase of US bans will come into effect next month.Tehran, Iran, Oct. 14

Trend

Iran has arrested 13 foreign currency dealers over their role in destabilizing the foreign exchange market, the spokesman of the countrys judiciary said.

13 individuals have been arrested over their role in (the foreign currency) market, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei said on October 14, Tasnim news agency reported.

So far, 196 people have been arrested for economic crimes and foreign currency smuggling.

Similar arrests were made in August.

Rial has lost about half of its value since April because of a weak economy and heavy demand for dollars among Iranians who fear the effects of US sanctions.

US President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May, and Washington now plans to reimpose sanctions on Tehran. The first round of US sanctions on Iran went into effect on August 6, followed by ones targeting Iran's oil exports on November 4.The border crossing between Jordan and Syria will officially reopen on Monday after being closed for three years, the two countries said on Sunday, though it will not be open to normal traffic immediately, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, the Syrian and Iraqi foreign ministers discussed accelerating efforts to reopen the border between their countries, Syrian state media said.

The Syrian government retook the area around the border crossing with Jordan at Nassib in July during a weeks-long Russian-backed offensive to drive rebels from their stronghold in southwest Syria.

The closure of the Nassib crossing in 2015 cut a crucial transit route for hundreds of trucks a day transporting goods between Turkey and the Gulf, and Lebanon and the Gulf, in multi-billion dollar annual trade.

Since then, Syrias only normally operating frontier crossing has been with Lebanon, which itself has no other functioning land borders.

The frontier with Turkey is still closed into Syrian government-held areas, and open only into territory controlled by rebels.

Near Syrias border with Iraq, a U.S. military base has closed the main Damascus-Baghdad highway, though there is a smaller crossing at Albu Kamal further east that is presently open only for government or military traffic.Rescuers on Saturday found the body of a worker beneath the rubble of a commercial mall that collapsed in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey, bringing to eight the number of workers killed in the collapse, Xinhua reported.

The civil protection authorities of the state of Nuevo Leon said the body was found at 4:26 a.m. local time, after more than 40 hours of search efforts by some 200 rescue workers.

More than 20 workers were laboring on the structure which was under construction when it collapsed.

The cause of the collapse is still unknown.

Dozens of rescue crew and soldiers initially recovered the bodies of seven construction workers from underneath the rubble two or three hours after the accident occurred.

In addition to the dead, 14 workers and one firefighter at the scene were injured.

With the recovery of the eighth body, rescue workers have completed their search efforts as there have been no further reports of unaccounted for or missing construction workers, said Miguel Angel Perales, deputy director for the state's civil protection agency.

"There are no other persons in the rubble based on the information we have," Perales said.

On Thursday night, the Monterrey mayor's office said the construction was illegal. In November of last year, construction had been suspended after the work on the center had caused a wall on a neighboring house to fall.

According to local reports, the construction, located in the Espacio Cumbres neighborhood, consisted of three stories for businesses and parking stalls when it collapsed.

On Friday, Jaime Rodriguez, governor of Nuevo Leon, said the investigation will have to determine who is responsible, whether that be the local authorities, the construction company or the engineer who designed the building.

"We cannot let this go unpunished, because ultimately that would be a bad example. Our city has to grow with certainty and safety," Rodriguez said.Death toll has risen to 24 following a petrol pipeline explosion in Osisioma local government area of Abia State in southern Nigeria, Xinhua reported with the reference to local police.

Abia police chief Anthony Ogbizi said five more deaths were recorded as victims who had various degrees of burns battled for survival following the explosion in two villages of the state on Friday.

Ogbizi blamed the explosion on a spillage from a pipeline that was undergoing maintenance, saying further investigation had been launched on the incident.

On Friday, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps accused some youths in the area of scooping petroleum products from vandalized pipelines.

The past few years had witnessed a string of pipeline explosions in Nigeria. Some of such incidents happened as locals tried to siphon fuel from the pipelines.

According to reports, at least 150 people were killed in a pipeline explosion on May 12, 2006, in a village to the east of Lagos, the country's economic hub, while locals were drilling into it.Mexicos Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray told his Chinese counterpart in a phone call on Saturday that Mexicos new trade deal with the United States and Canada will not impede economic relations with other countries, according to a foreign ministry statement, Reuters reported.

The pact set to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement outlines that if one of the partners enters a free trade deal with a non-market country such as China, the others can quit in six months and form their own bilateral accord.

The mechanism would support US President Donald Trumps efforts to isolate China economically amid an escalating tariff war between the two economic powerhouses, and give Washington an effective veto on any China trade deal by Canada or Mexico.

Videgaray did not detail whether Mexico would seek such a deal, but said the new pact, called the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), would not block bilateral accords with countries not included in the deal.

Videgaray emphasized that none of its conditions constitute an obstacle for bilateral relations or economic exchanges that Mexico, as a sovereign state, maintains with other nations, the official told Chinas Wang Yi, according to the statement.

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has called the provision a poison pill that could be replicated.Pope Francis on Sunday made saints of two of the most contentious Roman Catholic figures of the 20th century  murdered Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero and Pope Paul VI, who reigned over one of the Churchs most turbulent eras and enshrined its opposition to contraception, Reuters reports.

In a ceremony before tens of thousands of people in St. Peters Square, Francis declared the two men saints along with five other lesser-known people who were born in Italy, Germany and Spain in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Both Romero, who was shot by a right-wing death squad while saying Mass in 1980, and Paul, who guided the Church through the conclusion of the modernizing 1962-65 Second Vatican Council, were contested figures within and without the Church.

Both were naturally timid men who were thrust to the forefront of history by the convulsive political and social changes of the 20th century and both had a lasting influence on the current pontiff, Francis, Latin Americas first pope.

In his homily, read with tapestries of images of the seven new saints hanging from St. Peters Basilica behind him, Francis called Pope Paul a prophet of an extroverted Church who opened it up to the world. He praised Romero for disregarding his own life to be close to the poor and to his people.

Romero, who had often denounced repression and poverty in his homilies, was shot dead on March 24, 1980, in a hospital chapel in San Salvador, the capital of the impoverished Central American country of El Salvador.

Romeros murder was one of the most shocking in the long conflict between a series of U.S.-backed governments and leftist rebels in which thousands were killed by right-wing and military death squads.

It was widely believed to have been ordered by Roberto DAubuisson, an army major and founder of the right-wing ARENA party. He died of cancer in 1992.

Romero consistently denounced violence by the Salvadoran military and paramilitary against civilians and urged the international community to stop the oppression.

In his final homily, minutes before he was shot in the heart, Romero spoke of spreading the benefits of human dignity, brotherhood and freedom across the earth ....A small private plane carrying three people crashed into the Atlantic off the Hamptons Saturday morning  and the body of the male pilot had been recovered by nightfall, officials said, New York Post reported.

The seven-seat, twin-engine Piper PA-34 went down about a mile off Quogue at about 11 a.m., according to a Coast Guard spokesman.

The plane lost radio contact with air-traffic controllers some time prior to the crash, law-enforcement sources told The Post.

The bodies of the two passengers, a man and a woman, remained inside the wreckage Saturday night, submerged in about 60 feet of water, the sources said.

The plane had been flying from Danbury, Conn., to Charleston, SC, officials said.

Surfers alerted authorities after seeing the aircraft  flying in light rain and winds  break apart and plummet, Coast Guard officials said.

The crash occurred about a mile east of Rogers Beach and about three miles southeast of Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, according to the FAA and police officials.

Tim Carbone, manager of the Surf Club in Quogue, recalled hearing a high-pitched revving sound moments before the plane went down.

I was loading up my truck and I heard this high, high revolution, Carbone told The Post.

The engine was going way too fast. I thought to myself Geez, thats not good. 

I immediately thought it was a stunt [pilot], he said. But Im thinking what are they doing out there today. It was cloudy and misting.

Stunt pilots often practice over the ocean.

Next thing I know, [the engine] just stopped. It was a muffled stop  it stopped in a second or two. I ran over to look and I saw three pieces of the plane floating down. They were falling down like leaves.

Im thinking Holy Jesus, look at that! 

Carbone saw his surfing buddy down the beach and ran over to him. The friend was already on the phone with cops.

Once the pieces dropped into the water, they quickly sank.

We saw parts of the plane floating, but then they disappeared. Its sad, its tragic, Carbone added. I feel bad for the families.

Emergency personnel responded to a debris field and oil sheen on the water, the Coast Guard said.

Multiple agencies joined in the rescue effort, including local police departments, the Air National Guard, the state Department of Environmental Conservations Marine Resources Division and the Coast Guard, which in its search employed a 45-foot boat along with 87- and 110-foot cutters.

By Saturday evening, authorities had not yet released the names of the victims.

The plane is registered to the Oxford Flight Training school at Waterbury-Oxford Airport in Connecticut, according to data provided by the sources.

It was manufactured in 1975, Federal Aviation Administration records say.

In June, a small plane with four people aboard plummeted into the Atlantic about a mile off of Indian Wells Beach in Amagansett.

Builder to the Stars Ben Krupinski and his wife Bonnie Bistrian Krupinski, both 70; their 22-year-old grandson, Will Maerov; along with pilot Jon Dollard, 47, were killed in the crash.KYODO NEWS - Oct 14, 2018 - 20:33 | Feature, All

Japan has sounded out North Korea about its plan to establish a liaison office in Pyongyang to resolve the long-standing issue of past abductions of Japanese nationals by the North, sources familiar with bilateral relations said Sunday.

Tokyo hopes to get to the bottom of the issue and secure the repatriation of the abductees with the plan that was conveyed to the North Korean side through informal contacts, according to the sources.

But the outlook for a major breakthrough on the abduction issue remains uncertain as North Korea's response has reportedly been blunt.

(Undated supplied photo shows Megumi Yokota before being abducted by North Korea in 1977 at age 13)

Japan has also expressed its readiness to cooperate in allowing North Korean athletes to enter the country when Tokyo hosts the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics and to work toward settling the "unfortunate past" based on the Japan-North Korea Pyongyang Declaration in 2002, the sources said.

The Pyongyang declaration touched on the "tremendous damage and suffering" Japan caused to the people of Korea during its colonial rule that ran from 1910 to 1945.

The latest approach is seen as a fresh attempt by Tokyo to lay the groundwork for a Japan-North Korea summit, as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been stepping up diplomacy by meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

For his part, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is eager for bilateral talks with the North Korean leader, saying he wants to seize "every opportunity" for direct talks to resolve the abduction issue.

Japan officially lists 17 nationals as having been abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s but alleges their involvement in many more disappearances. Five of the 17 were repatriated in 2002.

The proposed opening of a liaison office is based on a bilateral agreement reached in 2014 in Stockholm that says Japanese officials will stay in North Korea to check the progress of Pyongyang's probe into the abduction issue.

Japan and North Korea agreed back then that Pyongyang would reinvestigate the fates of all abduction victims. But North Korea disbanded the panel and effectively abandoned the bilateral agreement in 2016.

North Korea has said the findings of the probe were conveyed to Japan but Tokyo has maintained that no explanations were made.

Abe has expressed willingness to settle diplomatic challenges left unresolved since the end of World War II.

His intention to meet with Kim has been relayed by Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae In. Moon, who met with Kim in September, has told Abe that the North Korean leader is ready to engage in direct talks with Japan at an appropriate time and improve relations.

Some family members of the Japanese abductees expressed anxiety.

Shigeo Iizuka, who heads a group representing the abductees' families, said Japan should first get an assurance from North Korea that all abductees will return immediately.

"If (the liaison office) is set up before that, we may not be able to see progress" on the abduction issue, Iizuka said.KYODO NEWS - Oct 14, 2018 - 09:01 | All, World

An American pastor held for two years in Turkey on terror-related charges arrived home in the United States on Saturday, with President Donald Trump welcoming him to the White House.

Andrew Brunson, who was at the center of a row between the United States and Turkey, Brunson thanked Trump in the Oval Office, saying "you really fought for us, unusually so, from the time you took office." A Turkish court on Friday ordered his release from house arrest.

Brunson then knelt down and prayed with the president, asking God for "supernatural wisdom to accomplish all the plans you have for this country and for him."

(Getty/Kyodo)

Trump said it was a "great honor" to have Brunson in the White House and thanked a number of lawmakers and members of the Cabinet for their assistance in securing the pastor's release.

Related coverage:

Freed U.S. pastor Brunson heads back home

Brunson was detained in October 2016 in the aftermath of a failed coup and put under house arrest in July this year. From the outset, he has denied the charges that he had links to supporters of a U.S-based Turkish cleric accused of being behind the coup.

The case soured relations between Ankara and Washington, sending the Turkish lira into a tailspin in August. The plunge in the lira also prompted currencies in other emerging countries to gyrate against the U.S. dollar, casting a pall over global financial markets.

Earlier in the day, Trump dismissed reports that Washington and Ankara reached a secret deal for Brunson to be freed in exchange for the United States easing "economic pressure" on Turkey, adding the release will lead to an improvement in bilateral relations.

"There was NO DEAL made with Turkey for the release and return of Pastor Andrew Brunson. I don't make deals for hostages," he said in a Twitter post.

"There was, however, great appreciation on behalf of the United States, which will lead to good, perhaps great, relations between the United States & Turkey!"KYODO NEWS - Oct 14, 2018 - 12:38 | Feature, All

A growing number of women in Japan's Self-Defense Forces are entering formerly male-dominated fields, with one recently becoming the country's first-ever female fighter jet pilot.

"I want to become a full-fledged pilot, no different from men," Misa Matsushima, 1st Lt. of the Air Self-Defense Force, told reporters in late August after a ceremony at a base in the southwestern Japanese prefecture of Miyazaki, marking the completion of a training course to become an F-15 fighter pilot.

The 26-year-old Matsushima, who stands just 159 centimeters tall, had dreamed of becoming a fighter pilot ever since watching the hit movie "Top Gun" starring Tom Cruise, portraying young naval aviators, when she was in elementary school.

"I'll be glad if more women are motivated to become fighter pilots because of me," she said.

The ASDF lifted the gender restriction on women operating fighter jets as well as reconnaissance aircraft in November 2015. Until then, Japan's Defense Ministry had considered the conditions too severe for women because of the extreme g-forces involved in flying fighter jets, which at times make it difficult for pilots to even breathe.

At the ministry's Joint Staff, which is in charge of the SDF's entire operation, some female officials from the Maritime Self-Defense Force and ASDF now occupy important posts.

In the Ground Self-Defense Force, women have taken on roles across a wide range of activities. For example, the regimental commander for logistics support, who leads some 700 subordinates, is female, while women have also become attack helicopter pilots and restrictions on them becoming tank drivers have been lifted.

The head of the 1st Escort Division of the MSDF, a four-ship squadron including the flagship helicopter carrier "Izumo" with a crew of 1,000, is also a woman.

Related coverage:

Woman qualifies to become fighter jet pilot for 1st time in Japan

The ministry has also started considering allowing women to work aboard submarines.

If the plan is put into action, the only restrictions remaining for female members will be GSDF corps that handle hazardous substances and the corps dispatched to areas where dust particles are formed in the air.

These two corps are subject to placement limitations under the domestic Labor Standards Law -- from the viewpoint of protecting women's bodies from harmful substances that could affect pregnancies -- according to the Defense Ministry.

While the recent trend of promoting women to the frontlines in fields of national defense reflects the government's "female empowerment policy," the ministry is also trying to utilize more female members to ease a human resources shortage.

As of the end of March, the number of working SDFs members stood at 226,789 out of the full quota of 247,154, a 91.8 percent sufficiency rate. The number of women was 14,686, accounting for only 6.5 percent of the all members, although the ministry says it aims to have more than 9 percent women by 2030.

To secure enough personnel, a high-ranking ministry official said it is "urgently necessary" to appoint more women to a wider range of jobs including high-ranking posts, with the ministry considering measures such as raising the upper limit on the job seeker's age and the retirement age.

But obstacles stand in the way to adding more female SDF members due to a lack of women's facilities, such as lodgings. Even the National Defense Academy, the educational body that trains future officer candidates located in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, has limited facilities for women. The academy restricted the quota for female applicants to 60 out of a total of 480 positions, at the entrance examination held for fiscal 2018.

Renovations are not only needed in the workplace to employ more women but also at some training facilities.

"Although we'd like to boost the number of female officers, we can't possibly manage it due to a significant amount of money required to renovate the facilities," said another high-ranking ministry official.

To create a more women-friendly work environment, the ministry set up day-care centers for children inside some garrisons and bases, and revised its system so that it can re-employ former female workers who have left to raise children. Four women have been rehired from January through September, based on the amended system.

"When we have to dispatch our personnel for natural disaster rescue operations or international missions, female members are in demand because they are usually easier to talk with. We want to aim to be an organization with diversity," said another top-ranking official.KYODO NEWS - Oct 14, 2018 - 15:53 | All, Feature

The Japanese government will introduce an electronic system for tourist visa applications in April 2020 in an effort to help achieve its goal of 40 million inbound visitors by that year, government sources said Sunday.

The online system will first be available to Chinese tourists for single-entry visa applications and then to travelers from other countries, the source said. Tourist visas for Chinese visitors accounted for nearly 60 percent of all the visas issued in 2017, according to the Foreign Ministry.

The government plans to add other types of visas to the new system.

The electronic visa is designed to simplify the application process, reduce workload at diplomatic missions and tighten immigration control, with visa data to be shared with airlines, ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

Visitors will be able to apply for tourist visas online through travel agencies.

Japan had a record 28.7 million foreign visitors in 2017, up 19.3 percent from the previous year, and their spending last year rose 17.8 percent to an all-time high of 4.42 trillion yen ($39 billion).

As the government is looking to boost tourism as a pillar of its growth strategy, it aims to bring the visitor number to 40 million by 2020 and 60 million by 2030.

Chinese visitors have been the biggest chunk of foreign tourists to Japan by country and region. A recent survey showed views by Chinese people on Japan have improved after years of deteriorating relations over a territorial row and wartime history.Pinarayi hinted that KIIFB resources were necessary to improve the faculty and infrastructure facilities like labs and libraries in the higher education sector.NEW DELHI : Former Maldives foreign affairs minister Dunya Maumoon met with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday. She extended hand of friendship towards India and said that both countries need to regain the trust.

After meeting with Sushma Swaraj, Dunya Maumoon took to Twitter and shared her views on the relationship with two countries. Her tweet reads It was such a pleasure to call on my friend HE @SushmaSwaraj to pass on greetings from my father. HE @maumoonagayoom built a warm friendship between our countries while he was in office. We need to regain the trust between our countries.

'People even stood up against Lord Krishna' says Divya kholsa on Bhushan Kumars sexual misconduct allegations

Recently, The relationship between India and Maldives have been affected due to male snubbed helicopters and work permit of India. The another reason which strained the relations of these country is that Maldivess Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pakistan to get help for developing its infrastructure in power sector.

Foreign affairs minister Dunya Maumoon is he daughter of former President of the Maldives Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who served the country as the President of Maldives from 1978 to 2008.

Titli Cyclone: Andhra CM asks PM Modi for Rs 1,200 crore relief

Recently, Ibrahim Solih won the Maldives elections in a surprise victory, ousting Abdulla Yameen from power and this change of government can reflect on the its relations with IndiaNew Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will celebrate Dusshera on the Indo-Pak border along with the BSF personnel . Apart from this, Rajnath Singh is also going to perform in Shastra puja or weapons worship.

I relate to Pakistan more than Tamil Nadu: Navjot Singh Sidhu

According to news agency ANI, Home Minister will celebrate Dussehra festival on October 19 with the Border Security Force (BSF), where the BSF will be stationed in the Bikaner of Rajasthan. Prior to this, Rajnath Singh will perform an Shastra Puja on Border which is considered to be a part of of Dussehra. Rajnath Singh will leave for two-day tour to Bikaner 18th and the 19th of October and will celebrate Dussehra on October 19.

This will be the first time that the Union Government will celebrate Dusshera on the border of India and perform Shastra puja. The border of India is a very sensitive place as both the countries have fought many battles and many soldiers have sacrificed their life for the country.

Nana Patekar out of Housefull 4, can be replaced by Sanjay Dutta or Anil Kapoor

To celebrate Dussehra on the border, he will assess the situation on the border and will see the progress made in various projects. Spend time with the soldiers and will address the security forces. The 3,323 kilometers long India-Pak border is considered very sensitive but the border of Rajasthan is very quiet. Looking at this, Rajnath Singh will celebrate Dussehra at this place on.Wed., Nov. 17, 12-1 p.m.

Lectures & Meetings

Edwards Group, LLC is an estate planning and elder care law firm. They guide families through their legal, financial and care options as they navigate the journey of aging. This discussion will cover an introduction to basic estate planning and the legal documents involved. By the end of the session, attendees should have an understanding of the differences between, and when one might need, essential estate planning tools: Powers of Attorney, Trusts, and Last Will & Testament. Lunch & Learn Programs are free monthly, one-hour sessions offered to current, future and prior caregivers. AgeLinc, Your Link to Aging Well 217-787-9234China Bitcoin Exchange Regulation

China Bitcoin Exchange Regulation

Since early 2018, the government of China has tightened policies targeting millionaire investors in the country holding their wealth overseas to avoid large taxes, and it may lead local investors to alternative assets like crypto.

Chinese investors rely on the Swiss offshore banking industry, Hong Kong real estate market, and foreign stock markets to hoard millions of dollars worth of properties, assets, and cash outside of mainland China.

But, local financial authorities have started to crackdown on investors that amass significant wealth in overseas markets.

Will Investors Move to Crypto?

In recent months, the Chinese government has begun to cooperate with agencies in 83 countries that follow the Common Reporting Standards (CRS) established by the Organization for economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The involvement of the Chinese government with the OECD and CRS is expected to lead to direct communication and cooperation with Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and the Bahamas, five regions that investors often depend on to save massive amounts of capital in the offshore banking sector.

Last month, China disclosed that all 83 countries under CRS and OECD will share data related to financial accounts held by Chinese citizens, allowing the government to target high profile millionaire investors.

The go-to market for Chinese investors in the real estate sector of Hong Kong. Individuals based in China can easily set up a shell company in Hong Kong and receive a bank account with the name of the firm to move funds from China to Hong Kong, with which the investor can invest in properties in the region.

The influx of investors from China to the real estate market of Hong Kong led premiums on apartments to rise substantially, creating a real estate bubble that has made it more challenging for local residents to acquire properties.

It is difficult and ineffective for the Chinese government to restrict money flowing from China to the Hong Kong real estate market as it would require a highly impractical process of banks cooperating with the government to censor and monitor every large transaction.

Story continues

But, it is possible for the government crackdown on individual investors holding large amounts of foreign assets and cash in offshore savings accounts.

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum remain as the only alternative outside of the Hong Kong real estate and stock market for local investors to store significant capital in. The lack of correlation between crypto and the broader financial market could appeal to investors as a safe haven against the global economy.

OTC Market Active

Hong Kong and Taiwan-based digital asset exchange executive Terence Tsang stated in an interview that the over-the-counter (OTC) crypto market of China still remains active subsequent to the imposition of a blanket ban by the government.

The latest warning and potentially increased monitoring of foreign platforms is targeted at a batch of smaller exchanges that had claimed to be foreign entities, but are in fact operating in China claiming they have outsourced their operations to a Chinese company, Tsang said.

Featured image from Shutterstock.



The post China Threatens Overseas Tax Havens, Will Investors Flock to Crypto? appeared first on CCN.

By Chris Kirkham

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Faced with a proliferation of new electronic cigarettes and a sharp rise in teen vaping, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday sent letters to 21 electronic cigarette manufacturers seeking information to assess whether the products are being marketed illegally.

An FDA rule banned the sale of new e-cigarette products after August 2016 without regulatory approval. In September, Reuters reported that startups and big tobacco firms launched more than a dozen new high-nicotine e-cigarette products mimicking the popular Juul devices after the FDA imposed the deadline.

The agency on Friday sent letters to companies including Reynolds American Inc, a unit of British American Tobacco Plc, which makes the Vuse Alto device, asking for evidence that the products were on the market before the August 2016 cutoff.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said the agency "will not allow the proliferation of e-cigarettes" being sold without proper approval.

The agency also sent letters to Fontem Ventures, a unit of Imperial Brands Plc, seeking information about its myblu e-cigarettes, as well as smaller companies including Kandypens, Myle Vapor and VGOD.

Shares of British American Tobacco on Friday were down 3.9 percent and Imperial Brands fell 6 percent in London.

A spokesman for British American Tobacco said the company will provide to the FDA information to show it is in compliance with the rule. He said the company notified the FDA in May that the product was a "repackaged and re-branded" version of a product that was on the market before August 2016.

A spokesman for Imperial Brands said the myblu products are in compliance with FDA rules, adding that the company will provide the requested documentation soon.

Story continues

Representatives for the other companies did not respond to requests for comment.

If the FDA determines the e-cigarettes were introduced after the August 2016 deadline, companies could face fines or have their products seized from store shelves. Gottlieb said the agency was concerned about sweet flavors in several of the products, which he said are one of the principal drivers of the youth appeal of e-cigarettes.

POPULAR AMONG TEENS

The FDA has faced increased pressure to act as the sleek Juul e-cigarettes have surged in popularity among U.S. teenagers. Juul Labs Inc's share of the e-cigarette market rose to more than 70 percent now, up from 13.6 percent in early 2017, according to a Wells Fargo analysis of Nielsen retail data that does not include online sales.

Juul sales grew from 2.2 million devices sold in 2016 to 16.2 million devices last year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many high schools have resorted to locking bathrooms  jokingly called "Juul rooms" by students.

The Juul design mimics a flash drive - with plug-in cartridges of concentrated nicotine juice. It is far more compact than earlier vaping devices and produces less vapor, making it easy to use without being detected - an attribute some health advocates say attracts teenagers.

Juul was on the market before the August 2016 FDA deadline, but other companies have introduced new copycat devices after the cutoff date without regulatory consequences.

Anti-smoking advocates including the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids complained about the Juul lookalikes in an August letter to the FDA, saying the companies that had "evaded the review process."

The FDA has recently cracked down on what it calls an "epidemic" of youth e-cigarette use, threatening last month to ban Juul and four other leading e-cigarette products unless their makers take steps to prevent use by minors.

(Reporting by Chris Kirkham; Editing by Nick Zieminski)A method made by Stanford University scientists could be used by UK police, experts claim. - PA

Murderers can be tracked down using ancestry websites under a new technique developed by Stanford University scientists.

Detectives in California have already used a public ancestry database to arrest Joseph James DeAngelo, the alleged Golden State Killer, who is believed to have committed at least 13 murders and more than 50 rapes.

However, Stanfords new computational tool could speed up investigations and make them much easier.

It works by providing new ways for police forensics databases - which can often be patchy - to be used alongside the wealth of data contained in public gene databases, such as Ancestry.com and 23andMe.

These are used by consumers who send in their own DNA samples for analysis to discover more about their family history.

The data on these sites is so large that experts believe its possible to use them to identify six in every 10 people in the US who are of European descent, even if they have never provided a DNA sample.

Creating the new tool was a technical feat because the two databases use completely different systems of genetic markers.

Only 2 percent of the population needs to have done a DNA test for virtually everyones genetic information to be represented in the data.

While it could help solve crimes, it raises wide-ranging privacy questions: if someone uses a consumer website to trace his ancestry, should that information also be used to identify members of his own family in a criminal case?

Javier Ruiz Diaz, a policy director from the Open Rights Group, said: The current use of genetic databases by US police is deeply unethical, and possibly unlawful in Europe. The consequences for research could be very negative if people, understandably, refuse to provide samples because of concerns about police access.

Dave Curtis, who is an honorary professor at UCLs Genetics Institute and the Centre of Psychiatry at Queen Mary University of London, said: This could be easily done in the UK, its very doable, all it takes is for people to make a genetic profile on these databases and agree to be contacted by people who match with them.

This means the police could easily make their own profile, upload the DNA from the crime scene, and then match up with the private database, which will allow them to see all the suspects cousins...They may be breaking the companys rules but they wont be breaking the countrys rules.President Trump raised eyebrows earlier this year when he announced plans to create a Space Force, which would become the sixth branch of the military.

Vice President Mike Pence later announced in a speech that the branch was needed in order for the US to maintain military dominance in space. The proposed Space Force is estimated to cost $13 billion in its first five years.

And despite some snickers among political observers, renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson doesnt think the Space Force is that crazy of an idea. But Tyson, one of the authors of Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military, has a note of caution.

Just because it came out of Trumps mouth doesnt mean its crazy, he said this week on Midday Movers (video above). But, if while doing this, you do not continue to invest in innovations in science and technology, you are making a fatal mistake that will compromise the future health, wealth and security of the nation.

(Photo: Rick Kern/WireImage)

What Tyson means is that a lack of investment in other forms of space innovation could mean the US would begin to fade.

And well continue  its not a cliff edge, he said. Its a fade. One day, you wake up and say, No one is asking us to have a seat at the table. Japan, China, and Russia are mounting this mission to Mars, and they didnt even invite us.

While detailing the administrations plans for the Space Force, Pence cited threats by Russia and China as reasons why the new military branch is necessary.

A different state of mind

Tyson doesnt think the US has the ability to keep up, at least for now, despite the fact that NASAs budget for 2018 is roughly $19.1 billion.

Story continues

We dont have a spaceship that can take anybody into space today, he said. Were hitching a ride on the Russian Soyuz capsule to get our own damn space station.

Vice President Mike Pence speaks in August, during an event on the creation of a United States Space Force. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

And that is how the fade begins, Tyson said, when you wake up and realize that the US is no longer relevant on the world stage.

Its a really different state of mind than I had growing up being shaped in 20th century America, where we did what we wanted, he said. No one denied the objective truths of science. They used science as advice to make policy, not science as something to combat.

Whats next? he asked. Were going to say, I gained three pounds last week. I want to repeal the law of gravity? You dont have these options when it comes to scientific results. So my biggest fear is that we will have the collapse of the American civilization simply because people are not heeding the advice of informed scientists.

Adriana is an editor for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.* Riyadh says it would respond with "greater action"

* Follows Trump's threat of "severe punishment" against Riyadh

* Britain, France, Germany call for accountability

* U.S. senators seek actions including sanctions, boycott (Adds Dimon won't attend Saudi investor conference)

By Andrew Torchia and Arshad Mohammed

DUBAI/WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia on Sunday warned against threats to punish it over last week's disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as European leaders piled on pressure and two more U.S. executives scrapped plans to attend a Saudi investor conference.

Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist critical of Riyadh's policies, disappeared on Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Turkey believes he was murdered and his body removed. Saudi Arabia has denied that.

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened "severe punishment" if it turns out Khashoggi was killed in the consulate, though he said Washington would be "punishing" itself if it halted military sales to Riyadh.

"The Kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether by threatening to impose economic sanctions, using political pressures, or repeating false accusations," the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted an unnamed official as saying.

"The Kingdom also affirms that if it receives any action, it will respond with greater action, and that the Kingdom's economy has an influential and vital role in the global economy," the official added, without elaborating.

Story continues

The Saudi Embassy in Washington later tweeted what it called a clarification, thanking countries including the United States "for refraining from jumping to conclusions" over the case.

In a sign Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud may seek a diplomatic solution to the incident, he stressed the strength of Saudi-Turkish ties in a telephone call with President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, the Saudi press agency said late on Sunday.

The king thanked Erdogan for welcoming a Saudi proposal to form a joint working group to discuss Khashoggi's disappearance and said no one could undermine their relationship.

EUROPE SEEKS CREDIBLE INVESTIGATION

Europe's largest economies -- Britain, France and Germany -- said on Sunday they were treating the case with "the utmost seriousness".

"There needs to be a credible investigation to establish the truth about what happened, and - if relevant - to identify those bearing responsibility for the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, and ensure that they are held to account," the countries said in a joint statement.

"We encourage joint Saudi-Turkish efforts in that regard, and expect the Saudi Government to provide a complete and detailed response. We have conveyed this message directly to the Saudi authorities."

The statement, by Britain's Jeremy Hunt, France's Jean-Yves Le Drian and Germany's Heiko Maas, made no mention of potential actions the countries might take. Hunt later said that if Saudi Arabia were proven to be guilty, "we would have to think about the appropriate way to react in that situation."

OIL PRICE WARNING

In a column published just after the SPA statement, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya channel's General Manager Turki Aldakhil warned that imposing sanctions on the world's largest oil exporter could spark global economic disaster.

"It would lead to Saudi Arabia's failure to commit to producing 7.5 million barrels. If the price of oil reaching $80 angered President Trump, no one should rule out the price jumping to $100, or $200, or even double that figure," he wrote.

Investor concern is growing that Khashoggi's disappearance could add to a sense that Saudi policy has become more unpredictable under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is pushing social and economic reforms but has also presided over a rise in tensions between with several countries.

A Gulf banker said the Khashoggi case, combined with other events, had become a significant factor for some potential investors.

"It's cumulative  the Yemen war, the dispute with Qatar, the tensions with Canada and Germany, the arrests of women activists. They add up to an impression of impulsive policy-making, and that worries investors," the banker said.

Foreign capital is key to Saudi plans for economic diversification and job creation.

But in response to Khashoggi's disappearance, media organisations and a growing number of executives have pulled out of a Riyadh investment conference scheduled for next week, dubbed "Davos in the Desert."

On Sunday, JP Morgan Chase & Co said Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has canceled plans to attend the Saudi Arabian investor conference later this month. Ford Motor Co said Chairman Bill Ford has canceled his trip to the Middle East, which included an appearance at the Saudi investment conference.

JP Morgan Chase and Ford did not comment on whether the decision was related to concerns about the disappearance of Khashoggi.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin still plans to attend the conference, but that could change, Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, said on ABC's "This Week".

WASHINGTON REACTS

U.S. senators called for reactions ranging from boycotting an upcoming economic summit in Riyadh to ending support for Saudi military operations in Yemen.

"If they lured this man into that consulate, they went medieval on him, and he was killed and he was chopped up and they sent a death crew down there to kill him and do all of this, that would be an outrage," Florida Senator Marco Rubio told CNN's State of the Union.

"Just because they are an ally in an important mission, which is containing Iranian expansion in the region, cannot allow us to overlook or walk away from that."

Fellow Republican, Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, appearing on "This Week", called for severe action which he said would affect arms sales and involvement in Yemen.

The Saudi stock market fell as much as 7 percent in early trade on Sunday, one of the first signs of economic pain Riyadh could suffer over the affair. By close, it had recovered some losses, ending down 3.5 percent and losing $16.5 billion of market value.

Senators have triggered a provision of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act requiring the president to determine whether a foreign person is responsible for a gross human rights violation. The act has in the past imposed visa bans and asset freezes on Russian officials.

Anti-Saudi sentiment in the U.S. Congress could conceivably raise pressure to pass the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act, which would end sovereign immunity shielding OPEC members from U.S. legal action.

ACCESSING CONSULATE

The crisis has polarised Saudis, with some blaming the nation's enemies and others concerned about the direction the country is heading under Prince Mohammed.

Prince Khaled al-Faisal, a senior member of Saudi Arabia's ruling family and senior advisor to King Salman, has met Erdogan to discuss Khashoggi's disappearance, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters without providing details.

A Turkish official told Reuters on Sunday that the Saudis had said they would allow the consulate to be searched, and that this would happen by the end of the weekend, though he conceded to "flexibility on this date."

"But Turkey is determined on the subject of entering the consulate and carrying out a criminal inspection. There is no alternative to carrying out this inspection. Time is important in terms of evidence," the official said. (Additional reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi and Asma Alsharif in Dubai, Orhan Coskun in Ankara, Michael Nienaber in Berlin, Elizabeth Piper in London, Christopher Bing and Sarah N. Lynch in Washington; Jarrett Renshaw in New York, writing by Stephen Kalin, Arshad Mohammed and Phil Stewart; editing by Robin Pomeroy and Sandra Maler)Human rights activists and friends of Saudi journalist Khashoggi hold his pictures during a protest outside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul Human rights activists and friends of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi hold his pictures during a protest outside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey October 8, 2018. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

By Andrew Torchia and Arshad Mohammed

DUBAI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia on Sunday warned against threats to punish it over last week's disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as European and U.S. allies piled on pressure.

Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist critical of Riyadh's policies, disappeared on Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Turkey believes he was murdered and his body removed. Saudi Arabia has denied that.

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened "severe punishment" if it turns out Khashoggi was killed in the consulate, though he said Washington would be "punishing" itself if it halted military sales to Riyadh.

"The Kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether by threatening to impose economic sanctions, using political pressures, or repeating false accusations," the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted an unnamed official as saying.

"The Kingdom also affirms that if it receives any action, it will respond with greater action, and that the Kingdom's economy has an influential and vital role in the global economy," the official added, without elaborating.

The Saudi Embassy in Washington later tweeted what it called a clarification, thanking countries including the United States "for refraining from jumping to conclusions" over the case.

Europe's largest economies -- Britain, France and Germany -- said on Sunday they were treating the case with "the utmost seriousness".

Story continues

"There needs to be a credible investigation to establish the truth about what happened, and - if relevant - to identify those bearing responsibility for the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, and ensure that they are held to account," the countries said in a joint statement.

"We encourage joint Saudi-Turkish efforts in that regard, and expect the Saudi Government to provide a complete and detailed response. We have conveyed this message directly to the Saudi authorities."

The statement, by Britain's Jeremy Hunt, France's Jean-Yves Le Drian and Germany's Heiko Maas, made no mention of potential actions the countries might take. Hunt later said that if Saudi Arabia were proved to be guilty, "we would have to think about the appropriate way to react in that situation."

WASHINGTON REACTS

U.S. senators called for reactions ranging from boycotting an upcoming economic summit in Riyadh to ending support for Saudi military operations in Yemen.

"If they lured this man into that consulate, they went medieval on him, and he was killed and he was chopped up and they sent a death crew down there to kill him and do all of this, that would be an outrage," Florida Senator Marco Rubio told CNNs State of the Union.

"Just because they are an ally in an important mission, which is containing Iranian expansion in the region, cannot allow us to overlook or walk away from that."

Fellow Republican, Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, appearing on ABC's "This Week", called for severe action which he said would affect arms sales and involvement in Yemen.

The Saudi stock market fell as much as 7 percent in early trade on Sunday, one of the first signs of economic pain Riyadh could suffer over the affair. By close, it had recovered some losses, ending down 3.5 percent and losing $16.5 billion of market value.

Senators have triggered a provision of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act requiring the president to determine whether a foreign person is responsible for a gross human rights violation. The act has in the past imposed visa bans and asset freezes on Russian officials.

Anti-Saudi sentiment in the Congress could conceivably raise pressure to pass the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act, which would end sovereign immunity shielding OPEC members from U.S. legal action.

OIL PRICE WARNING

In a column published just after the SPA statement, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya channel's General Manager Turki Aldakhil warned that imposing sanctions on the world's largest oil exporter could spark global economic disaster.

"It would lead to Saudi Arabia's failure to commit to producing 7.5 million barrels. If the price of oil reaching $80 angered President Trump, no one should rule out the price jumping to $100, or $200, or even double that figure," he wrote.

Investor concern is growing that Khashoggi's disappearance could add to a sense that Saudi policy has become more unpredictable under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is pushing social and economic reforms but has also presided over a rise in tensions between with several countries.

A Gulf banker said the Khashoggi case, combined with other events, had become a significant factor for some potential investors.

"Its cumulative  the Yemen war, the dispute with Qatar, the tensions with Canada and Germany, the arrests of women activists. They add up to an impression of impulsive policy-making, and that worries investors," the banker said.

Foreign capital is key to Saudi plans for economic diversification and job creation. But in response to Khashoggi's disappearance, media organisations and some technology executives pulled out of the Riyadh investment conference scheduled for next week.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin still plans to attend, but that could change, Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, said on This Week.

ACCESSING CONSULATE

The crisis has polarised Saudis, with some blaming the nation's enemies and others concerned about the direction the country is heading under Prince Mohammed.

Saudi Gulf Affairs Minister Thamer al-Sabhan said there had been a "frenzied campaign" to spread lies over the affair and that it was "known" who was behind that, wording used in the past to refer to Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Abdulrahman bin Abdullah al-Sanad, head of the body overseeing the Saudi religious police, called for unity.

"Defending the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and standing for it and its leaders is a religious duty and a national demand," he tweeted, without referring specifically to the Khashoggi case.

Prince Khaled al-Faisal, a senior member of Saudi Arabia's ruling family and senior advisor to King Salman, has met Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan to discuss Khashoggi's disappearance, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters without providing details.

A Turkish official told Reuters on Sunday that the Saudis had said they would allow the consulate to be searched, and that this would happen by the end of the weekend, though he conceded to "flexibility on this date."

"But Turkey is determined on the subject of entering the consulate and carrying out a criminal inspection. There is no alternative to carrying out this inspection. Time is important in terms of evidence," the official said.

(Additional reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi and Asma Alsharif in Dubai, Orhan Coskun in Ankara, Michael Nienaber in Berlin, Elizabeth Piper in London, Christopher Bing and Sarah N. Lynch in Washington; writing by Stephen Kalin; editing by Jason Neely/Robin Pomeroy)bithumb

bithumb

On October 12, CCN reported that BK Global Consortium, the parent company of Singapore-based BK Medical Group, has acquired a 50 percent stake in Bithumb, South Koreas largest crypto exchange.

Kim Byung-gun, a prominent plastic surgeon and blockchain investor, finalized the deal between BK Global Consortium and Bithumb, officially acquiring the leading cryptocurrency trading platform at a valuation of $350 million.

Investors Highly Optimistic in the Deal

For many years, despite three high profile security breaches that have led to the loss of tens of millions of dollars in user funds, Bithumb has been able to secure its position as the most dominant digital asset trading platform in South Korea alongside Upbit.

In late 2017, Dunamu, a subsidiary of Kakao, the largest Internet conglomerate in the country that has over 80 percent market share in fintech, payments, online stock brokerage, ride-hailing, and messaging, launched Upbit to compete against Bithumb and Korbit.

Currently, Upbit is engaging in a tight competition against Bithumb, often demonstrating a higher daily trading volume possibly due to its listing of more than 100 cryptocurrencies.

But, the sophisticated platform of Upbit, that has been audited several times for transparency and investor protection, has not been enough to overtake Bithumb and its loyal user base.

Korea Bitcoin

The majority of investors in South Korea remain highly optimistic in the acquisition of Bithumb by BK Global Consortium because with the deal, now every major cryptocurrency exchange in the country is operated by large-scale conglomerates.

Upbit is run by Kakao, Gopax is run by the countrys largest commercial bank Shinhan, Korbit is run by $15 billion Nexon, and Bithumb is operated by BK.

One commonality amongst major cryptocurrency exchanges operated by leading multi-billion dollar conglomerates is that none of the platforms have experienced security breaches and successful hacking attempts. Korbit, Upbit, and Gopax have not been hacked in their entirety, because of their focus on security and investor protection.

Story continues

For conglomerates in South Korea, it is of utmost importance to protect their name value and brand image due to the psychology of local investors. More often than not, when a local conglomerate begins to demonstrate a downtrend and loses the support of local consumers, it fails to survive in the long run.

With the involvement of BK, investors are anticipating a re-established focus on security, internal system management, and overall improvement in investor protection, which will help legitimize the cryptocurrency exchange market of South Korea.

Prior to the acquisition of Bithumb by BK, the publicly listed exchange was owned and operated by a talent agency and a couple of non-finance related businesses, which led investors to speculate that the exchange was being forced to maximize profits at the cost of security and system stability.

What Investors Can Expect Next

Binance and Upbit have recently announced their plans to expand to the cryptocurrency exchange market of Singapore, subsequent to the decision of the government to provide stable banking services to crypto-related businesses and develop the local blockchain industry.

Given the strong connections of BK with the Singaporean market, investors are expecting Bithumb to expand its services to Singapore in the months to come.

Images from Shutterstock



The post Why Investors are Highly Optimistic in Acquisition of Koreas Largest Crypto Exchange appeared first on CCN.

Afghan officials say at least 22 people have been killed -- including civilians and members of the Afghan security forces -- by a bomb that exploded at an election campaign rally for a woman who is running for parliament in the northeast of the country.

Ahmad Jawad Hijri, a spokesman for the governor of Takhar Province, said 36 people were wounded in the attack in Rustaq district.

He earlier told RFE/RL that the death toll could rise because many of the wounded were in critical condition.

Khalil Aser, a spokesman for the provincial police chief, said at least 32 people were wounded by the blast.

Aser said an explosives-laden motorcycle had been parked near the rally and was detonated before Nazefa Yousufi Beg arrived to speak to voters ahead of Afghanistan's October 20 elections.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Taliban militants are active in the area and have claimed previous attacks in Takhar.

Bek is one of 417 women contesting seats across the country, more than ever before.

Takhar, a province bordering Tajikistan, has long been a hotbed of the Taliban insurgency.

In the western province of Herat, gunmen attacked the election campaign office of a candidate, killing a security guard and a child, said Jailani Farhad, a spokesman for the Herat governor.

President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attacks in a statement, saying that the enemies of Afghans cannot weaken the will of the nation.

U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan John Bass condemned the violence, and called on the Taliban to do the same.

"If the group [the Taliban] is serious about the peace process it will do the same and punish those responsible," he said in a tweet.

With reporting by ReutersRelatives of a Christian mother who faces becoming the first person to be executed for blasphemy in Pakistan have expressed hope that the Supreme Court will set her free.

"We are hopeful that whatever the court proceedings are, it will come out as positive for us," Ashiq Mesih, the husband of the imprisoned Asia Bibi, told the AFP news agency on October 13.

Her daughter, Eisham Ashiq, said: "I will be very happy the day my mother will be released. I will hug her and will cry meeting her and will thank God that he has got her released."

In 2010, Bibi was the first woman to be sentenced to death under Pakistan's blasphemy laws in a case that has generated global headlines and indignation.

Pakistan's Supreme Court on October 8 heard what media described as the final appeal of the woman, who has denied all charges.

The three-judge bench listened to Bibi's defense lawyer challenge statements by those who accused her of making derogatory remarks about Islam.

Bibi, a mother of four and a laborer, was accused in 2009 by a Muslim woman she was working with in a field.

Following the hearing, the Supreme Court said it had made a decision in the case, but it did not reveal its judgment.

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) speculated that the Supreme Courts refusal to publicly announce its decision could be a sign of hope for Bibi.

"Given the religiously charged atmosphere of the country regarding blasphemy cases, it is understandable that the court would avoid announcing its decision especially if it is in Asia Bibi's favor," the ACLJ said on October 9.



Several thousand Islamist hard-liners protested in Lahore on October 12 against the women and some have threatened to kill her if she is released.

A hard-line Pakistani Islamist party warned of "terrible consequences" if she is granted leniency in her appeal.

"If there is any attempt to hand her over to a foreign country, there will be terrible consequences," Tehreek-e Labaik Pakistan said in a statement.

Bibi's family members are in London on a trip organized by Aid to the Church in Need, a charity that helps Christians worldwide who are believed to be in danger.

While Pakistan's laws carry the death penalty for blasphemy and offenders have been sentenced to death, no convict has ever been executed so far. People charged with blasphemy but later freed have had to flee the country for their safety.

At least 1,472 people were charged under Pakistan's blasphemy laws between 1987 and 2016, according to the Lahore-based Center for Social Justice.

It said Muslims constituted a majority of those prosecuted, followed by members of the Ahmadi, Christian, and Hindu minorities.

Rights groups say the laws are increasingly exploited by religious extremists as well as ordinary Pakistanis to settle personal scores.

With reporting by AFP and The Baptist PressPakistan has fired a senior judge who accused the country's powerful spy agency of manipulating elections in July.

Justice Shaukat Siddiqi was removed as judge of a high court in the capital, Islamabad, through an order issued overnight by the president of Pakistan, the Law Ministry announced on October 12.

The Supreme Judicial Council, a body that oversees complaints against judges, had recommended Siddiqi's removal after a secret trial for "defaming a state institution," the ministry said.

Siddiqi had accused the Pakistani Army's spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), of manipulating the elections that brought Prime Minister Imran Khan to power in July -- an accusation that was also made by Khan's opponents.

The judge's accusation, just days ahead of the polls, added to questions about the legitimacy of the elections that were raised by the party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, which lost power in the elections.

Siddiqi said the decision to remove him was not unexpected.

It is widely believed that Pakistan's military, which has ruled the country for almost half of its history, did not want Sharif to seek another term.

Sharif, who was once Pakistan's most popular politician and an advocate for civilian supremacy, was removed by the Supreme Court as prime minister on corruption charges emanating from a leak of financial data in 2016 known as the Panama Papers.

He was later arrested just days ahead of the elections, a move that is thought to have spoiled his party's quest for the victory.

The dismissed judge claimed that the ISI was involved in Sharif's arrest and had told the court not to release Sharif and his daughter, Maryam, until after the elections. They were released on bail last month.

Pakistan's military denies interfering in politics and judicial affairs.

Based on reporting by dpa and ReutersA snowboarder cut a fresh line through the virgin snow on Alberta Face on the first day of skiing for the 2018-2019 ski season at Wolf Creek Ski Area in Colorado. Wolf Creek was the first ski area in North America to opened after 30 inches of fresh snow and will operate on Saturdays and Sunday for now.( AP Photo/The Gazette, Christian Murdock)Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!

Your notification has been saved.

There was a problem saving your notification.

{{description}}

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai takes his seat for an FCC meeting where they will vote on net neutrality, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)We have been studying Colorados political party voting patterns in statewide elections for about three decades  and the major finding is thaVista Grande United Church of Christ in Colorado Springs recently achieved a "Just Peace" designation. This signifies that the 5460 N. Union Blvd. congregation is taking an active stance on social justice issues.

Those familiar with the church, headed for the last four years by the Rev. Clare F. Twomey, might say the church has already been pretty active in this area.Aaron Lund, at left facing camera, Lisa Bolton, blue cap, and other volunteers for Food Not Bombs serve a warm meal to homeless people huddled in the cold Sunday outside Penrose Library in downtown Colorado Springs. A wintry blast blew through the state Sunday, bringing cold but not much snow to the Pikes Peak region.You have permission to edit this article.

Edit CloseThe Gazette, Colorado Politics and KOAA News5 hosted Colorados Republican and Democratic candidates for governor, attorney general, secretary of state and state treasurer  all in one place and for the first time in Colorado Springs  on Saturday night.

KOAA News5 anchor Rob Quirk moderated the debates, and Elizabeth Watts, a KOAA News5 anchor, and Joey Bunch, the senior political reporter for Colorado Politics, posed questions.

Watch the full live recording of the debate here:

During the first part of the debate, candidates for attorney general, secretary of state and state treasurer debated each other for more than an hour at the Garden Pavilion at the Penrose House Conference Center.

Highlights:

state debate Phil Weiser (Democrat) and George Brauchler (Republican) (left to right) debate during a state debate at the Penrose House on Saturday, Octobe

Closing statements:

Their group debate preceded a one-on-one between the two major party candidates running for governor.

Republican Walker Stapleton, the two-term state treasurer, and Democrat Jared Polis, a five-term congressman, sparred over health care, transportation funding and energy policy, among other topics.

Highlights:

Ahead of Saturday night's debate, the candidates sat down with KOAA for individual interviews. Watch the eight "Meet the Candidate" videos below:

Candidates for governor

Candidates for Attorney General

Candidates for State Treasurer

Candidates for Secretary of State

For more election 2018 coverage, check out the Gazette's Voters Guide at gazette.com/2018-voters-guide.ROCKY FORD  Vincent Gearhart had two beautiful daughters, so beautiful that he had to capture them in photographs. Thats why he got into photography.

The plains might seem timeless, and its true, not much has changed in north La Junta, as they call those unincorporated fields north of the river where Gearhart was born and raised and stayed like his daddy before him. Still, a lot happened over the years.

Two decades of work on the railroad. A divorce. A remarriage. The flood of 1999, the worst in 34 years that irreparably damaged his home and washed away those beautiful photos. And, before then, an unspeakable tragedy.

But Gearharts interest remained. Only the subject changed.

092918-news-abandonedcolorado-002.jpg Vincent Gearhart looks out over the property at Harwood House in Rocky Ford .

Now hes on his way to a place that cannot be seen along U.S. 50. The driver, his buddy Lex Nichols, pulls off, crossing the tracks and parking before the tall shrubs.

They take their tripods from the trunk and hoist them over their shoulders, their Cannons strapped around their necks as they embark on another mission for Colorado Abandoned. Thats the name of the website, Instagram and Facebook they manage, posting the broken, rusted, leaning and lost relics of their native countryside.

Some days theyll head out before dawn, roaming with the tumbleweeds through these southeast counties and towns forgotten by dwellers of Colorados booming metros beyond.

They dare not pass a collapsing barn or shed, for fear it wont be there the next time.

The more we do it, the more were finding that were collecting history. This is gonna be gone eventually, Gearhart says. Its about taking something thats totally ugly, nasty, horrible, and making a piece of art out of it.

A few weeks ago, during one 300-plus-mile excursion, they were rewarded with old Chevys tangled in weeds. Another time, they stopped in Delhi, entering a darkened convenience store that was no more, where in the back it seemed a family made a home  a Christmas tree still standing, adorned with tinsel and a star. Another time, a man checking on his chickens agreed to show his property.

There was this tricycle that had just been sitting there out in the open for who knows how long, Gearhart recalls. It looked like a little kid just got up and left it.

Today, theyre sticking close to Nichols home in Rocky Ford. Pray for Rocky Ford, request signs posted by the roads, overlooked by the stacks of the old sugar factory, the industry that left with the others over the years.

092918-news-abandonedcolorado-004.jpg Lex Nichols, left, and Vincent Gearhart prepare their camera gear last month in Rocky Ford . The friends and business partners work to preserv

They crunch through the shrubs, careful of snakes as they hop over a dried ditch, crossing the field splashed orange by the setting sun. They arrive at twisting trees covering the crumbling walls of red brick.

This house, its a beautiful house, Nichols says, but nobody knows its here.

They clamber through the spaces where screens might have once wrapped around the porch. The wood floor splinters and bounces under their feet. The decaying ceiling sags. The cushion of a sofa is here, a high-heeled shoe there, the bones of a buzzard up the rickety stairs. The evening glow trickles through the cracks in the walls, illuminating the space  heaven for the photographers, perfect.

Not everything is perfect, Nichols says. If it was, it would lose its magic.

They prop their tripods, adjust the settings on their cameras, and off they go to their shadowy, dusty corners.

  

A beautiful house, Nichols says, not unlike his childhood home. Well, this is a little bit nicer than anything I grew up in, he says. But its an old farmhouse. It brings up memories of my youth.

It went fast, as youth does for anyone who has a baby at 18. Hes now a husband of 24 years, a father of two beautiful daughters. But it doesnt seem so long ago he was shearing sheep for his dad, washing dishes at the cafe at night, never leaving to live with his mom in another state because Rocky Ford was where he belonged, despite there being no money.

What was a luxury to us was so much different, he says. Being able to buy a pack of cigarettes or $2 of gas.

There was also the Kodak camera his mom bought him. That inspired a passion and a shattered dream. Rather than travel the globe with his camera, Nichols ended up teaching skills at the local junior college. Gearhart sat in on those night classes.

Part of it, Gearhart says, was trying to find a way to deal with stuff.

Beyond photography, the two connected on a deeper level  failed relationships and loves gone too soon.

Nichols lost a child at 6 months. And Gearhart had lost his 15-year-old girl, a brain tumor taking her like the flood would take those captured memories, those photos washed away.

Whatever it is, deal with it, move on, something like that, Gearhart utters under his breath. I dont know.

  

Now theyre at the last destination of the day, the cobblestone and wood remains of a homestead. Nearby an old man sits in his pickup, swigging beer and swatting flies.

Corroded tractors rest here, wagons there, old Coke bottles in the grasses, jumbled and creeping over a tricycle. Gearhart eyes it briefly.

Then he turns his attention to the former home, the cracking, thatched roof. I love that, he says. Its so  rough.

He bends down to take pictures, his sleeves lifting to reveal a fresh tattoo. A cartoonish wizard juggles symbols: Yin and Yang, the Hindu Om, the Egyptian Ankh, the signs for peace and money.

You ever heard of Mr. Natural? Gearhart asks. Anyway, Mr. Natural is the guy, a sage or whatever. And people ask him, What does it all mean? And he says, It dont mean (expletive). It dont mean (expletive). Youre here, youre gone, and thats the way it is.

And thats the way it is out here on the plains, timeless only for the pictures that make everything last a little longer, if only they could.Taliban says U.S. envoy held talks on possible paths to end Afghan warVANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 12, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Candente Copper Corp. (TSX:DNT, BVL:DNT) ("Candente or the Company) has been advised that a recent change in Government regulations in Peru may allow the Company to re-initiate drilling under the permit originally approved in August 2014. This is the result of a new Government regulation DL N1394 (Sept 6, 2018) which has now given Environmental Certificates a validity period of up to 5 years. The company has requested confirmation from the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) and the Mining Environment Affairs Office (DGAAM) that this Government regulation does apply to the Companys 2014 drilling permit.



This change in Government regulations is much welcomed news as it would significantly reduce the timeline for drilling to be re-initiated. It would also enable the Company to focus on a new Land Access Agreement with the Canaris Community, which is required prior to drilling. In addition, an extension to our 2014 drilling permit would allow the Ministry of Energy and Mines and the Ministry of Culture to start planning their Consulta Previa (CP) process for this area, which is also required prior to drilling, commented Joanne Freeze, President and CEO.

The Consulta Previa is the process of Free Prior Informed Consent (abiding by international human rights law), which establishes bottom up participation and consultation of stakeholders, including Indigenous Populations, prior to exploration or development on and around ancestral land. The Companys management and social team has held several meetings and participated in a workshop with the Ministry of Culture this year to better understand the CP process.

About Candente Copper

Candente Copper is a mineral exploration company engaged in acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties. The Company is currently focused on its 100% owned Canariaco project, which includes the Feasibility stage Canariaco Norte deposit as well as the Canariaco Sur deposit and Quebrada Verde prospect, located within the western Cordillera of the Peruvian Andes in the Department of Lambayeque in Northern Peru.

Joanne C. Freeze, P.Geo., CEO, and Michael Thicke, P.Geo, are the Qualified Persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101 for the projects discussed above. They have reviewed and approved the contents of this release.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Candente Copper relies upon litigation protection for forward-looking statements.

On behalf of the Board of Candente Copper Corp.

Joanne C. Freeze P.Geo.

President, CEO and Director

___________________________________

For further information please contact:VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 12, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Velocity Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: VLC) (Velocity or the Company) announces the closing of its non-brokered private placement announced on October 2, 2018 (the Financing).



The Financing raised aggregate gross proceeds of $1,005,064 through the issuance of 6,700,433 units (each, a Unit) at a price of $0.15 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one common share in the capital of the Company (each, a "Share") and one-half of one common share purchase warrant, with each whole warrant (each, a Warrant) entitling the holder to purchase one Share at a price of $0.20 per Share for a period of 36 months from the issue date. All securities issued in connection with the Financing are subject to a hold period of four months and one day in Canada.

Certain officers and directors of the Company (collectively, the "Related Parties") participated in the Financing pursuant to the terms described above, purchasing in aggregate 1,437,266 Units. These constitute related party transactions pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 61-101  Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (MI 61-101). The Company relied on Sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 for an exemption from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements, respectively, as at the closing of the Financing, neither the fair market value of the Units issued in connection with the Financing, nor the fair market value of the consideration received by the Company for same, insofar as it involved the Related Parties, exceeded 25% of the Company's market capitalization.

In connection with the Financing, the Company paid aggregate finder's fees consisting of $57,013 in cash and 380,084 non-transferrable finder's warrants (each, a "Finder's Warrant"). Each Finders Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Share at a price of $0.15 per Share for a period of 12 months from the issue date. Leede Jones Gable Inc. received finders fees consisting of $52,375 cash and 349,167 Finders Warrants, and Haywood Securities Inc. received finders fees consisting of $4,637 cash and 30,917 Finders Warrants.

The proceeds of the Financing are intended to fund ongoing work at the Companys Rozino gold project (the Project) in Bulgaria and for general working capital.

About Velocity Minerals Ltd.

Velocity is a gold exploration and development company focused on eastern Europe. The Companys management and board includes mining industry professionals with combined experience spanning Europe, Asia, and the Americas as employees of major mining companies as well as founders and senior executives of junior to mid-tier public companies. The team's experience includes all aspects of mineral exploration, resource definition, feasibility, finance, mine construction and mine operation as well as a track record in managing publicly listed companies.

The Company recently announced the results of a preliminary economic assessment on the Project, located in southeast Bulgaria (previous news release NR18-17, dated September 17, 2018). A technical report prepared pursuant to National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects on the Project will be filed on SEDAR on or before October 31, 2018.

About Bulgaria

Bulgaria is a member of NATO (2004) and a member of the European Union (2007). The local currency (BGN) has been tied to the Euro since 1999 (1.956 BGN/EUR). The country is served by modern European infrastructure including an extensive network of paved roads. Bulgaria boasts an exceptionally low corporate tax rate of only 10%. The countrys education system is excellent with good availability of experienced mining professionals in a favourable cost environment. Foreign mining companies are successfully operating in Bulgaria. The countrys mining law was established in 1999 and updated in 2011. Mining royalties are low and compare favourably with more established mining countries.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

"Keith Henderson"

President & CEO

For further information, please contact:



Keith Henderson

Phone: +1-604-638-3456

E-mail: info@velocityminerals.com

Web: www.velocityminerals.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release does not constitute an offer of sale of any of the above-mentioned securities in the United States. The foregoing securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act") or any applicable state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) or persons in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor will there be any sale of the foregoing securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release includes certain forward-looking information (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding the use of proceeds from the Financing, the filing of a technical report prepared pursuant to National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects on the Project on SEDAR and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Often, but not always, forward looking statements can be identified by words such as pro forma, plans, expects, may, should, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates, believes, potential or variations of such words including negative variations thereof, and phrases that refer to certain actions, events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that costs will remain stable over the relevant period, that market fundamentals will result in sustained precious metals demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in connection with the future development of the Project in a timely manner, construction and continued operation of the Project, and the Companys projects generally, and the Companys ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws.

Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors include, among others, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development and mine development activities for the Project, estimation or realization of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production, capital expenditures, the costs and timing of the development of new deposits, the availability of a sufficient supply of water and other materials, requirements for additional capital to fund the Companys business plan, future prices of precious metals, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, possible variations in ore grade or recovery rates, possible failures of plants, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, the inability to or delay in obtaining governmental and regulatory approvals (including of the TSX Venture Exchange for the Financing), permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, hedging practices, currency fluctuations, title disputes or claims limitations on insurance coverage and the timing and possible outcome of pending litigation, environmental issues and liabilities, risks related to joint venture operations, and risks related to the integration of acquisitions, as well as those factors discussed under the heading. Risk Factors in the Companys annual managements discussion and analysis and other filings of the Company with the Canadian Securities Authorities, copies of which can be found under the Companys profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking information in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law.Re: In February 1995, Doris Schopper became president of the international [ #permalink

6 KudosMon, 11/15 (9am ET): How to Pace yourself during the GMAT Test? | Timing and Pacing Strategies from GMAT ExpertNext Match: Montana 10/18/2018 | 7 p.m. Pluto.TV

Somewhere down the road there will be a more tangible reward for the toughness the Portland State volleyball team showed this weekend. Down to 10 players for a pair of matches against teams that came into the weekend tied for the lead in the Big Sky standings, the Vikings pushed both Weber State and Idaho State to five sets, only to lose both matches, 3-2.The Vikings (2-18, 1-7 Big Sky) deserved better against the Bengals (12-9, 6-2 Big Sky) Saturday, but were forced to settle for the loss after the Bengals came back from a 2-1 deficit to beat the Vikings in five at the Viking Pavilion. The Vikings saved four set points while winning the third set, 27-25, but the Bengals came back late to win the fourth set, 25-21, and then made a decisive run in the middle of the fifth set to close out the match, 15-11.Sophomore setterpersonified the toughness by the Vikings Saturday, as she played through a hand injury that forced her right index and middle fingers to be taped together. Reeb showed no signs of the injury bothering her, however, and recorded yet another stat-stuffing match with 44 assists, seven digs, six kills (against only one error) and five total blocks between one solo and four assists. Reeb also had a double-double with 50 assists and 10 digs against Weber State on Thursday  her fourth double-double in eight Big Sky matches this season.Junior outside hitterhad her second strong match of the weekend, as well, as she led the Vikings with 17 kills against the Bengals, two days after setting a new career high with 19 kills against the Wildcats. McDougald was productive while still being efficient in both matches this weekend, as she only had eight errors combined on 119 total attacks between both matches.McDougald came up especially big for the Vikings in the third set, when she and the Vikings fought off four set points to beat the Bengals 27-25. Neither team led by more than two points in the set until the Vikings used a 6-1 run to take a 19-16 lead late. The Bengals responded with their own 8-2 run, however, giving them three set points at 24-21.Seniorsaved the first set point for the Vikings, as she placed a crafty tip to the right front corner for a kill. Freshman coming off a 20-kill, 23-dig performance against Weber State on Thursday  saved the next set point off a back-row kill that dribbled over the net for a point for the Vikings. Wilson and Reeb then saved the third straight set point with a combo block on the left side of the net that tied it up again at 24-24.Idaho State earned its fourth set point on the next point with a kill from leading attacker Abby Garrity, but the Vikings saved it again to get back level at 25-25. McDougald saved the set point this time with a kill, hitting a ball off the Idaho State block on the left side after McBride kept the ball alive with a great pick up on a blocked ball earlier in the point.McDougald gave the Vikings their first set point while converting the second of two straight cross-court attacks to put the Vikings up 26-25. Reeb then made sure the Vikings converted on their own set point, as she dumped a ball over the net to seal it for the Vikings at 27-25.The Vikings fell behind 5-2 early in the fourth set, but used a 7-0 run to take a 9-5 lead. The Vikings played tenacious defense while forcing the Bengals into three attacking errors and a ball handling error during the run.The Vikings still led by three at 14-11 when McDougald hammered a ball from the left side for a kill, and led 18-16 a few points later following back-to-back combo blocks from Wilson and Reeb. The Bengals responded with a 7-1 run to take a 23-19 lead, however, and there was no miracle comeback for the Vikings this time as the Bengals closed out the fourth set, 25-21.The Bengals led 5-3 early in the fifth set, before a mini, 3-0 run for the Vikings  the last point coming on yet another McDougald kill  gave the Vikings their first lead in the set at 6-5. McDougald recorded her 17th kill a few points later to tie it again at 7-7, but the Bengals came back with five straight points to take a commanding 12-7 lead.An Idaho State service error, followed by a kill from, gave the Vikings hope at 12-9, but the Bengals won two of the next three points to earn four match points at 14-10. Wilson saved one match point for the Vikings with her last kill of the match, but the Bengals finished the match on the next point off a solo block from Taylor Meeks.The Vikings played a strong first set for the second straight match Saturday, taking the opening frame off the Bengals, 25-21, just as they did against Weber State on Thursday.Wilson and McDougald combined for a mini, 3-0 PSU run that give the Vikings a 14-9 lead in the first set. Wilson ended the run with her third kill of the set while carving out a crazy angle as she cut the ball back all the way across the court from the right.Idaho State came back with five straight points to tie the set at 14-14, but the Vikings followed with four straight points of their own to retake the lead at 18-14. The Bengals got back within one at 21-20, but the Vikings won four of the final five points to close out the set, 25-21. McBride recorded her fourth kill of the set to give the Vikings the lead at 24-21, before an Idaho State attack error ended the set on the next point.McBride finished one kill from recording her second straight double-double with nine kills and 15 digs against the Bengals Saturday. Wilson also finished second to McDougald with 15 kills in the match, and led the Vikings with six total blocks on one solo and five assists. Freshman libero, meanwhile, set a career high with 26 digs Saturday, two days after she came within one of her previous career high with 23 digs against Weber State.The Vikings remain home next weekend, when they'll host Montana and Montana State on Oct. 18 and 20, respectively, at the Viking Pavilion. And if the Vikings can match the toughness they showed against Weber State and Idaho State in both of those matches, then the tangible reward they deserved this weekend will come against either the Grizzlies or Bobcats.The Vikings fell to 34-23 all time against the Bengals with Saturday's lossThe Vikings also fell to 22-21 in the Big Sky series between them and the BengalsAll three defensive specialists on the Vikings' roster had 10+ digs in the match, as seniorsandhad 13 and 10 digs, respectively, to go with Sullivan's team-high 26 digs.For the past 10 years, country music star Luke Bryan has brought his brand of country music to rural communities via a Farm Tour. The tour, which is visiting six family farms from Iowa to Florida this year, began Thursday, September 27 at the dairy farm of Bonnie and John Ayars.

This Luke Bryan concert is not something that happens every day to everyone, Bonnie said before the concert. We hope to turn it into something truly meaningful as we know it will be for our family. And, we also want to share it with our community.

The concert drew around 20,000 people last week, and the entire tour, which wraps up October 6, is expected to draw more than 100,000 fans.

Farm tour is one of the most exciting aspects of our year, shared Luke Bryan in a press conference before the event. Its a labor of love that we look forward to every year.

For Luke Bryan, the farm tour also reminds him of his childhood growing up in a small Georgia town where his family farmed.

I remember being a kid from a small town and thinking we never had things like this, Bryan said. Being a farmer is one of the trickiest, hardest jobs on the earth. We want to provide a fun, positive experience to a small rural community.

In addition to providing an experience, Bryan along with Bayer are donating scholarships and food to some of the most in need in those communities. Bayers #HeresToTheFarmer campaign donates a meal to someone in need through Feeding America. Since the beginning of their partnership with Bryans tour, they have donated nearly 2 million meals to area food banks. If you want to help, use the #HeresToTheFarmer hashtag on social media, and Bayer will donate a meal to the cause.

Luke Bryans Farm Tour will make stops in Illinois, Iowa, Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia. You can learn more about it on his website.

The Ayars family milk 150 Guernsey, Brown Swiss, and Holstein cows near Irwin, Ohio. They also farm 1,000 acres of corn, soybeans, and hay, and produce their own branded ice cream product that is available in more than 30 local stores.

To comment, email your remarks to intel@hoards.com.

(c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2018

October 1, 2018As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQSome have suggested that President Hassan Rouhani resign, or that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei decrease his absolute hegemony. Many call for apologies to the people from senior officials. Will the situation inevitably lead to the end of this regime?

The Hamshahri daily cited Mostafa Tajzadeh, deputy interior minister during the tenure of Mohammad Khatami, as saying, I am in contact with a number of officials, and I can say if they share my concerns. However, as you know, in the Islamic Republic we have two types of officials. The first group has authorities yet feel no responsibility. The second group have responsibilities on their shoulders yet lack the necessary authorities. The first group can be dubbed as the epicenter and power hardcore. It has been some time now that this group has realized how the situation is deteriorating significantly.

Tajzadeh went on to suggest that Rouhani should request permission from Khamenei for the regimes foreign policy to be left to him. He went so far as to suggest a one-year period to enter talks with U.S. President Trump. If the talks lead to the sanctions being lifted, the economy might be saved. If not, Rouhani should accept responsibility and step down.

Rouhani ally, Ahmad Zeid Abadi, argues, Shuffling the cabinet will not help at all in changing the status quo. Rouhani is in a circle of people that can do nothing but make circumstances even more complicated. He added, If I had any suggestion, I wouldnt advise him to resign.

The upcoming sanctions are of great concern to Sadeq Zibakalam, a theoretician for the moderates in the Iranian regime. He says social consequences are dire as prices skyrocket and living conditions become intolerable for the people.

Officials should refrain from using any words that may open old wounds and provoke the society, he added in his remarks to the Baztab website.

The Iranian people are showing their anger and loss of confidence in the regime. If officials do not take measures to assuage the situation, the negative impact on the regime itself will intensify.

Meanwhile, the opposition, the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) Resistance Units are increasing in numbers.

The December through January uprising made it clear that the people want this regime gone in its entirety, and Khamenei is very much aware of this. Domestic crackdown has thus far been ineffective. The Iranian people have voiced their desire for a free and democratic Iran.Such commentary reflects familiar narratives that the Iranian regime has been promoting in recent weeks, as tensions between itself and the United States increase and the imminent expansion of US sanctions looms over Iran. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, for instance, has delivered a number of speeches insisting that Tehran is capable of wholly defeating the sanctions. And in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last weekend, he argued that the cooperation between their countries, particularly in the context of the Syrian Civil War, is evidence that Washington can be contained.

But Tehrans preoccupation with confronting the US and thwarting the assertive policies of President Donald Trump casts doubt upon IRNAs notion that neighborly cooperation with Iran will lead to solidarity and guarantee peaceful relations among regional countries. For one thing, that preoccupation has seemingly thwarted the peace process in Syria, as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxies have been repeatedly accused of violating ceasefires brokered by Russia and Turkey.

These violations apparently serve to deepen the Iranian footprint in Syria as part of an effort to counterbalance American influence in the region. Presently, the Islamic Republic is making a concerted effort to leverage those militant proxies and the IRGC for a full-scale assault on Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold in Syria and a lynchpin in the prospective land corridor between Tehran and the Mediterranean Sea.

The presence of Iranian militant proxies poses a threat to prospects for peace and stability in Iraq, as well. That situation was detailed on Thursday by The Cipher Brief, which noted that Iran-backed groups remain armed after the defeat of Sunni militants affiliated with the Islamic State, whose widespread presence had previously justified the Iranian intervention. The report also specified that these paramilitary groups remain in a separate chain of command from the duly constituted Iraqi government armed forces.

Tehrans appeal for regional cooperation is deeply ironic at a time when these proxy forces are proliferating and often acting contrary to the interests of the countries in which they are located. And the irony is made greater by the fact that Iranian forces recently violated Syrian and Iraqi autonomy more directly, while also insisting that regional governments crack down on terrorist groups that are not backed by the Islamic Republic.

On September 9, the IRGC launched missile strikes in the Kurdish region of Iraq, targeting headquarters of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan. Xinhua News Agency reported that Major General Mohammad Baqeri, the chief of staff for Irans Armed Forces, appeared to reserve the right for more such attacks when he said on Thursday, Bases of counter-revolutionary (forces) and ill-wishers of the Iranian nation must not exit near our borders in neighboring states.

Baqeri reportedly followed up on this by insisting that the Iraqi government and the government of Iraqs semi-autonomous Kurdish region are responsible for keeping these groups under control. That warning was implicitly extended to Syria, as well, which was the subject of another Iranian missile strike on October 1. That strike was presented by Iranian officials both as revenge for a terrorist attack on a military parade roughly a week earlier and as a warning to Western enemies, in keeping with the regimes effort to use regional conflicts as fuel for anti-Western propaganda.

The effort to confront American and European influence in the region is certainly being conducted through the operation of militant proxies in Iraq and Syria. But Iran is also circumventing its neighbors national autonomy by way of expanding political influence. As the Cipher Brief notes, the paramilitary groups in Iraq have begun to field their own candidates for high office and to otherwise promote policies that are favorable to Iranian interests and opposed to those of the US. This naturally belies the claims that are still being made by Iranian officials regarding the supposedly mutual benefits of broader regional cooperation under an Iranian banner, unless one considers ant-Western sentiment to be mutually beneficial in and of itself.

Tehrans official promises of regional peace and prosperity were further undermined this week by the spread of stories regarding Iranian violations of Iraqi water rights. Iranian state media naturally denied those reports, but Emirates-based The National explained that dams in both Iran and Turkey have already caused the Tigris River to reach record-low water levels, such that people have been filmed walking across it, with the water coming only up to their knees.

Nevertheless, IRNA insisted that reports were false which quoted Iranian officials as acknowledging the dam projects. It also suggested that the reports were part of a coordinated effort to harm relations between Iran and Iraq. Such claims, like the appeals for regional solidarity, are common features of official Iranian narratives, and they have been applied to reports of Irans activities not only in the region but also throughout the world.

The Associated Press reported on Thursday that the Iranian Foreign Ministry had summoned the German ambassador to hear complaints over a recent court decision regarding the extradition of an Iranian diplomat to face charges in Belgium. The diplomat in question is accused of masterminding a plot to detonate explosives at a gathering of the National Council of Resistance of Iran near Paris. The AP noted that Irans Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi denied the allegations and dismissed the German decision as part of a plot to sever Iranian-European relations, though he offered no evidence to support that claim.

The previous week, it was reported that an exhaustive investigation by French intelligence had left officials with no doubt that the diplomat, Assadollah Assadi, was behind the foiled plot or that he had been operating on the order of officials in Tehran. And on Friday the Washington Post published an article affirming that the revelation of the Paris plot has fueled considerable concern that Iran is plotting other attacks in Europe.

These concerns underscore another worrying aspect of Irans appeals for regional economic cooperation, namely that some such cooperation is likely to provide financing for terrorist groups with designs on targeting either Irans Western enemies or its ideological opponents in the broader Middle East. This danger is made apparent by the illicit nature of some of the transactions in which Iran is already engaging. The NCRI recently reported, for instance, upon the fact that Iran has become a major transit point for charcoal being smuggled out of Somalia. In this way, the Islamic Republic has helped to generate an estimated 7.5 million dollars for the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabaab terrorist group.

The NCRI points out that these operations represent only a small portion of the Iranian regimes smuggling, terrorist financing, and violations of United Nations sanctions. And the sanctions-busting aspect of the scheme is something that is certain to be reflected in other transactions, particularly after the return of the American secondary sanctions on the Iranian oil industry in early November.

A report published by Forbes on Thursday detailed some of the ways in which Iran is apparently already concealing its oil exports and thereby practicing for illicit operations that might continue after November. The report went on to suggest that these secretive activities constitute a reason for the US government to avoid sanctions waivers and to consider taking further steps to crack down on countries and businesses that facilitate the evasion of sanctions on Iran.

In view of Irans regional propaganda, such crackdowns could have the added effect of mitigating the regimes efforts to deepen its influence among neighbors and its promotion of anti-Western solidarity throughout much of the Middle East.Next Match: at Green Bay 10/19/2018 | 7:00 p.m. ESPN+

INDIANAPOLIS  IUPUI lost a tight battle to Northern Kentucky, falling in four sets to the Norse on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 13).The Jags (5-17, 2-6 Horizon) were led bywho finished with 13 kills, 18 assists and eight digs.tied her career-high with 11 kills and added eight digs.had 20 assists and seven digs.led the Jags defense with 17 digs andfinished with 12. The Jaguars finished with 11 blocks as a team, led bywith five, whileandeach had four.The first three sets of the match ended up 25-22, with the first set going in IUPUI's favor. The back and-forth first set did not feature a three-point lead until IUPUI went up 20-17 after an ace by Boatman. Two kills by Hoffman and a kill byhelped the Jags to the set win.IUPUI and Northern Kentucky traded points to start the second set until NKU scored three-straight to take a three-point lead. The Jags responded with four-straight that featured kills by Oehlberg and Boatman and two blocks. After the teams traded 3-0 runs, IUPUI ended up taking a 22-21 lead after another service ace. A timeout by Northern Kentucky sparked the Norse who scored the next four points to end the set.The Jags jumped out to a 7-3 lead to begin the third frame after a 5-0 run featuring two kills by both Gibson and Oehlberg. NKU responded with six of the next seven points to go up by one point. With the Jags down one, another 5-0 run featuring two Jaguar blocks put IUPUI up 17-14. With the score tied at 20, Northern Kentucky pulled off three-straight points to take control of the set and go up 2-1 in the match.After dropping two close sets, IUPUI seemed out of gas as a 5-0 NKU run put the Jags down 14-6. IUPUI was never able to respond and another run by Northern Kentucky made the score 21-9 as NKU closed out the match with a 25-14 set win.IUPUI will hit the road for its next four matches beginning with a meeting with Green Bay on Friday (Oct. 19) at 7 p.m.The fair is being organized and financed by the European Union.

On October 16, the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv will host the country's largest higher education exhibition, with participants including representatives from 35 countries from all over the world.

The EU will present information about study programs and scholarships available through its programs and initiatives for youth from Ukraine, EU Neighbours reported.

Erasmus+, the EU's largest program for education, training, youth and sport, will participate in the exhibition.

Read alsoKlitschko: Education sector among Kyiv's investment priorities

The event visitors will be able to meet representatives of universities and higher education agencies from Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.

"Europe is the world's most popular study abroad destination, with a wide range of types of institutions and education programs offering widely recognized qualifications," said Ambassador Hugues Mingarelli, Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine. "If you choose to study in the EU, you are opting for a high-quality education program and a great experience during your studies."

The fair is being organized and financed by the European Union.

The Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. calls the King James Bible the most influential and widely read Bible for more than 350 years. That version of the Christian holy book  sometimes called the KJV  was originally published in 1611. It includes sayings that are well known among English speakers, such as Let there be light, and, Beware of false prophets.

But a Canadian writer says even people who know the King James Bible or its sayings likely do not know how it came to be. Ruth Magnussun Davis says its roots are in a little-known book called the Matthew Bible. She says the name hid the fact that the Matthew Bibles main author was a disputed reformer named William Tyndale.

That beautiful poetic language in the New Testament is mostly William Tyndales. Its his voice speaking to us down the centuries.

Davis recently published a book called The Matthew Bible: That Which We First Received. She says after she learned about the Matthew Bible, she wanted to tell others.

I came to faith later in life and I left my law practice to work with the Matthew Bible when I realized how beautiful it was Its a gentler, sweeter, and richer, and clearer Bible than the later ones.

The story begins

Davis says that, in a way, the story of the Matthew Bible begins in England in the 1400s. At that time, the Roman Catholic Church ruled the country and the lives of those who lived there. But very few people could read or understand the Latin Bible the Catholic Church used.

In answer, several experts wanted to translate the Bible into English so everyday people could understand it.

But Church officials objected. Strongly. They passed laws saying that anyone who translated the Bible into English without official permission could be burned.

In the early 1500s, one man began translating it anyway. His name was William Tyndale. He was a priest  a Catholic religious official  but he also questioned some of the Churchs ideas. Tyndale believed that the Bible should guide Church teachings, and that believers should be able to read it in their own language. The BBC history website notes that these sorts of ideas were closely associated with Martin Luther and other controversial Protestant religious reformers.

To avoid punishment, Tyndale soon fled to the European continent.

There, says Davis, Tyndale completed the first English version of the New Testament  the part of the Christian Bible that tells about the life and teaching of Jesus.

It was smuggled back into England. And pirate printers began making their own versions. And it was a very popular book. However, King Henry VIII promptly outlawed it and he banned all of William Tyndales writings. And the authorities on the continent were seeking Tyndale, they wanted to capture him. And he did all this translation work while he was a fugitive, on the run from the authorities. Working in hiding and in great poverty.

In addition to the New Testament, Tyndale was able to translate some of the Old Testament  the part of the Christian Bible mostly relating to the ancient people of Israel.

But then a friend betrayed him to the authorities. Tyndale was arrested for the crime of heresy  speaking out against accepted religious teaching. In 1536, officials strangled Tyndale and burned his body.

The Matthew Bible is born

But the story does not end there. Two men connected with Tyndale continued his efforts. One, named Myles Coverdale, completed Tynsdales translation of the Old Testament. He added a translation of the New Testament and published the first full English Bible in 1535.

Another man, named John Rogers, used Tyndales and Coverdales work to make another version of an English Bible. Then Rogers added his own notes, comments, study aid, and a kind of Bible dictionary, says Ruth Magnussun Davis. Davis argues it was, the first English study Bible.

John Rogers version was printed in Antwerp and then shipped to England. The title page claimed it had been written by someone called Thomas Matthew, likely to disguise Tyndales involvement.

Whats more, the Bible was dedicated to King Henry VIII, the same king who had outlawed all of Tyndales writing.

Nobody knows why John Rogers chose the name Thomas Matthew says Davis.

The work became known as the Matthew Bible.

By this time, King Henry VIII had decided he wanted to give the English people a Bible in their own language. He approved both the Coverdale Bible and the Matthew Bible for the church.

"The world's most beloved Bible"

Here the story of the men behind the Matthew Bible takes two very different turns. John Rogers went on to continue to challenge the authority of the Catholic Church. He was sentenced to death and, in 1555, burned at the stake.

Coverdale, however, became friendly with King Henry VIII and some of his top officials. When Catholics objected to some of the notes and comments in the Matthew Bible, Coverdale was asked to revise it. The new version was called the Great Bible  but it was really the Matthew Bible under a new name, says Davis.

Two more major revisions followed. They were called the Geneva Bible and the Bishops Bible. But both were criticized because of the authors religious and political points of view.

So King James I of England called for a committee to get together and agree on a translation. In the early 1600s, that committee produced the King James Bible. That text has been the worlds most loved Bible for centuries, says Davis. More than 80 percent of it are the words of William Tyndale, taken from the Matthew Bible.

"Bought with blood"

Davis says that several things make the first Matthew Bible special.

For one thing, its the only English bible thats bought with blood. William Tynsdale and John Rogers paid for their work with their lives. They worked for no reward, for no money, for no fame, but solely for the love of Gods word.

Yet perhaps most important for Davis is the kind, merciful language of the Matthew Bible. In some places, she says, the Matthew Bible offers a different meaning than the King James and other Bibles modern Christians may know. For example, Davis points to a passage from the book of Proverbs about raising children.

The King James Bible urges parents to punish their child and not to stop, even if the child cries. If you stop, the King James Bible says, the child will not learn.

But the Matthew Bible is closer to the original Hebrew, Davis says. In Coverdales translation, the passage says to punish the child, but not too severely: For great wrath brings harm.

In other words, Davis says, a child will learn only hate and despair from needlessly severe treatment. You can teach him more later, when he has had time to grow.

Davis says comparing the translations of the Bible helped her understand her religion and grow more deeply in faith.

When I came to faith late in life, I wasn't expecting the harshness that I thought that I saw, and then when I found the Matthew Bible, and I found William Tyndale, and hes so full of love, it's like, wow, Ive come home!

Im Caty Weaver.

And I'm Jonathan Evans.

Kelly Jean Kelly wrote this story for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

[Editor's note: This story has been updated to credit Coverdale, not Tyndale, with the passage about punishing the child, but not too severely.]

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

prophet - n. a member of some religions who delivers messages that are believed to have come from God

faith - n. belief in the existence of God : strong religious feelings or beliefs

practice - n. to have a professional medical or legal business

translate - v. to change words from one language into another language

associated - adj. to think of one person or thing when you think of another person or thing

controversial - adj. relating to or causing much discussion, disagreement, or argument

smuggle - v. to take or bring something secretly

authorities - n. people who have power to make decisions and enforce rules and laws

revise - v. to make changes especially to correct or improve

reward - n. money or another kind of payment that is given or received for something that has been done

merciful - adj. treating people with kindness and forgiveness

wrath - n. extreme anger

despair - n. the feeling of no longer having any hope

harshness - n. having the quality of being severe or cruelOn August 21, 2017, millions of people across America stopped what they were doing to observe a total solar eclipse.

But a new study suggests humans were not the only living beings who took a break from their usual activities during this historic event.

A total solar eclipse happens when the sun, moon and Earth perfectly line up. Last years total solar eclipse was the first one in 99 years to pass over parts of the whole United States.

The new study found that bees went silent when within the path of totality of the solar eclipse. The results were recently published in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America.

The research was led by Candace Galen, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Missouri. She found there was a lot of interest leading up to the eclipse by people wondering how different animals might behave.

It seemed as if everyone and their dog was asking me what animals would do during a total eclipse," Galen said in a statement.

Scientists had previously observed behavioral reactions in some animals during solar eclipses. These have included some forms of sea life, birds, antelope and cattle. But very few studies specifically examined the behavior of insects during a solar eclipse, and none had dealt with bees.

Bees are important for the growth of wild and agricultural plants. They help spread the substances that make it possible for flowers to reproduce through the process known as pollination.

Before the eclipse, Galen and her team had been field testing a system to examine bee pollination activities. The system used listening devices placed in nature to measure buzzing sounds. The buzzing is caused by movements in the bees wing muscles during flight.

Galen said she thought it seemed like a perfect fit to use those same methods to look at bee behaviors during an eclipse.

The researchers organized a team of about 400 citizen scientists and elementary schoolchildren in different areas of the country to help with the experiment. The teams were deployed to areas in three U.S. states  Oregon, Idaho and Missouri. The three states represent different kinds of geology and climate.

Very small microphones were hidden among the natural environment to capture buzzing sounds as bees flew from flower to flower. In some areas, light and temperature information was also collected.

The sounds were then examined to measure the level of activity before, during and after the solar eclipse. In recordings taken during the totality part of the eclipse, researchers heard almost complete silence. Only one buzz interrupted the quiet, the study said.

However, during partial stages of the eclipse, 90 percent of the microphones recorded buzzing. This meant there was still widespread bee activity before and after the total solar eclipse. The researchers said there was some slowing of activity immediately before and after totality.

Changes in light affect the bees ability to see and find food sources and carry out pollination activities. Drops in temperature make it difficult for them to keep their bodies warm enough to fly.

Galen said results of the study were in keeping with normal bee behavior. Bees commonly fly more slowly when the sun goes down and return to their colonies at night. But what did surprise researchers was how quickly the bees went silent during totality.

We had not expected that the change would be so abrupt, that bees would continue flying up until totality and only then stop, completely, Galen said. It was like 'lights out' at summer camp! That surprised us.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

pollination  n. the process of moving a very fine dust that is produced by a plant for reproduction to another plant

buzzing  n. the sound a bee makes when it flies

geology  n. the study of rocks and soil and the physical structure of the earth

interrupt  v. to stop an action or activity, usually for a short period of time

stage  n. a period of development in a process

abrupt  adj. sudden and not expectedSome people claim they never forget a face. But what does that saying mean? Is there really no limit to the number of faces a person can remember?

A new study has found that, on average, people can remember as many as 5,000 faces.

That number comes from a group of researchers at the University of York in England. They published their findings on facial recognition this month in the Proceedings of The Royal Society B, Biological Sciences.

There have been many studies recently on facial recognition technology. But the authors of this study say theirs is the first time that scientists have been able to put a number to the abilities of humans to recognize faces.

The research team tested people on how many faces they could remember from their personal lives and in the media. They also tested them to see how many famous faces they recognized.

Rob Jenkins works in the psychology department at the University of York. He said the researchers study centered on the number of faces people actually know.

He said the researchers were not able to discover whether there is a limit on how many faces the brain can handle.

How does facial recognition help humans?

Jenkins said the ability to tell individual people apart is clearly important.

Throughout history, humans have mostly lived in small groups of around one hundred individuals. But in todays modern world of big cities, computers, televisions and social media, we meet and deal with thousands of people.

The study suggests our facial recognition abilities help us to deal with the many different faces we see on the screens, as well as those we know, like family and friends.

The results of the study give a baseline for comparing the "facial vocabulary" of humans with facial recognition software.

Scientists have been working on computer technology to remember and identify faces since the 1960s. Today, facial recognition technology is used in many ways, including by law enforcement agencies to prevent crime and violence.

Governments use it to keep secret areas secure and, in extreme cases, control populations. Some governments use the software to watch people and find out where they go and what they do.

Even Facebook uses facial recognition. For example, when you tag, or name, a friend, Facebook technology may recognize the persons face from a different picture you had shared before.

For the human study, people spent one hour writing down as many faces from their personal lives as possible. Some examples may include people they went to school with, people they work with and family members. Then, they wrote down famous faces they know, such as actors, politicians and other public people.

At first, they found it easy to come up with many faces. But by the end of the hour, they found it harder to think of new ones. Their change in speed let the researchers estimate when they would have run out of faces completely.

1,000 to 10,000 faces remembered

People who took part in the study were also shown thousands of photographs of famous people. Researchers asked them which ones they recognized. To make sure they knew these people, researchers required them to recognize two different photos of each famous person.

The results showed that the participants knew between 1,000 and 10,000 faces.

How do they explain such a wide range?

Jenkins said one explanation may be that some people have a natural ability for remembering faces. There are differences in how much attention people pay to faces and how well they process the information, he said.

Jenkins also said it could be because of different social environments. Some people may have grown up in more populated places. So, they may have had more social contact throughout their lives.

The people in the study included 25 men and women students from two universities. They were between 18 and 61 years old.

Researchers think age may be an interesting area for further research.

"It would be interesting to see whether there is a peak age for the number of faces we know", Jenkins said. He said it is possible that we gather more faces throughout our lifetime. But, he added, there also may be an age at which we start to find it harder to remember all of those faces.

Im Anne Ball.

Anne Ball wrote this story for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.

_________________________________________________________________

Quiz

Quiz - Study Says the Brain Remembers Thousands of Faces Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

_________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

handle  v. to deal with or act on

baseline  n. information that is used as a starting point by which to compare other information

software  n. the programs that run on a computer and perform certain functions

range  n. a series of numbers that includes the highest and lowest possible amounts

participant  n. a person who is involved in an activity or event: a person who participates in an activity or event 

peak  adj. at the highest point or levelA corruption case that had already shocked Asia took a surprising turn last month. Patrick Ho, a Chinese citizen and former official of Hong Kong, faces corruption charges in the United States. The U.S. accused him last year of trying to buy favors from African officials to help a Chinese company. The U.S. also accused a former Senegalese foreign minister, Cheikh Gadio, in connection with the crime.

But, last month U.S. federal lawyers dismissed Gadio from any charges.

In answer, Hos lawyers urged a federal judge in New York to release their client, too. It was the fifth time they have requested that Ho be released from jail while he waits for trial.

But their request was refused again. Government lawyers also announced Gadio had agreed to help them in their case against Ho.

Gadios help will provide strong evidence of Hos guilt, government lawyers told the court.

The case raises the issue of what some call an open secret  widespread bribery of foreign governments by Chinese companies seeking international business deals.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is currently operating a well-publicized campaign against corruption within China. However, Chinese officials have not yet brought any foreign bribery case against a Chinese company or business leader.

The case

Patrick Ho and Cheikh Gadio were arrested in New York last November. Government lawyers for the U.S. say the men bribed African officials in order to help a large business called CEFC China Energy.

At the time, Ho led a non-governmental group that was supported financially by CEFC China Energy. Gadio was a member of Senegals parliament and also operated a business advising company.

Ho and Gadio reportedly planned to give $2 million to Chads President Idriss Deby. In return he reportedly would help CEFC China Energy enter into Chads rich energy business.

Ho also reportedly paid $500,000 to Sam Kutesa, the Ugandan foreign minister. That reported bribe was to help CEFC China Energy gain business agreements in Ugandas financial and energy industries, lawyers claim.

The charges against Gadio were never presented to a grand jury. However, Ho was officially charged with several crimes of foreign bribery and money laundering.

Ho pleaded not guilty.

Corruption or charity

U.S. government lawyers have in the past charged American and European companies with paying bribes to Chinese officials. But they have never before tried someone from a Chinese company on charges of bribing foreign officials in exchange for business contracts.

At Hos trial on November 5, U.S. government lawyers will say payments promised or made to the African officials were bribes. Hos defense lawyers will call the money gifts to aid groups.

U.S. government lawyers recently gave the court some official documents about the case. They describe what Gadio will claim: Ho put $2 million in paper money in a gift box. Then Ho gave the box to Chadian President Idriss Deby. When Deby refused the money, Ho wrote a letter promising $2 million to aid efforts in Chad.

But, Gadio will add, Ho never asked what happened to the $2 million donation. Not asking about it, Gadio says, shows that Ho did not really care about aid work.

U.S. government lawyers also said recently that they will show how Ho was involved in other corrupt actions. They say Ho offered a bribe to John Ashe, a diplomat from Antigua and Barbuda.

And, they will say Ho was interested in doing business with Iran while the country was under U.S. restrictions. They say he also tried to organize sales of weapons to Libya and Qatar.

One of Hos top lawyers said he did not want to comment on the recent events related to the case.

The lawyer for Cheikh Gadio sent a note to VOA. Sean Hecker wrote that his client looked forward to continuing to work with U.S. officials before returning to Senegal.

Im Jonathan Evans.

Masood Farivar reported this story for VOANews.com. Kelly Jean Kelly adapted his report for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

client - n. someone who asks for the services or advice of another person

bribery  n. the act of offering or accepting an unlawful payment or gift

money laundering  n. the act of covering up illegal financial activities

plead  v. to admit or state in a court of law

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.Experts say Indonesia is experiencing unexpectedly high rates of children stunting.

Studies show that many Indonesian children are stunted in their growth. They fail to grow as large as their parents. They also develop at a slower rate than healthy boys and girls.

A World Bank publication reports that 37% of Indonesia's children were stunted in 2013. That percentage is similar to some poor African countries south of the Sahara Desert. The bank noted that stunting can limit a childs physical and mental abilities and cause lifelong damage.

The World Health Organization defines stunting as restricted growth and development that children experience from poor nutrition, repeated infection and lack of psychosocial stimulation."

Now, the Indonesian government is declaring war on childhood stunting. The health ministry and other government agencies have worked to fight the problem for years. But the administration of President Joko Jokowi Widodo has made dealing with stunting an issue of national importance. He talked about it in an Independence Day speech last year.

First 1,000 days

Health experts say the first 1,000 days of a child's life are important in preventing stunting. They say children require good nutrition, stimulation and activity, clean water and timely treatment of conditions like diarrhea and malaria.

Stunting affects more than one in three Indonesian children. That means about 9 million children in Southeast Asia's most populous country are suffering from developmental limitations.

The poorest areas have the highest rates of childhood stunting. The eastern province of Nusa Tenggara Timur has a 52 percent rate, the countrys highest. But stunting affects developed areas, with some rates among the wealthy as high as 29 percent.

Doctor Brian Sriprahastuti serves as an advisor to the Indonesian president on the issue of stunting. He said the reasons for the stunting problem today go beyond the usual issues of poverty and limited access to public services. He said that officials believe that behavior is the main problem of this stunting issue."

A new promise

In the World Bank publication, Jokowi called current stunting rates "unacceptable." He promised to prevent two million children from being stunted by 2021. He said that ending stunting is a main priority" for our government.

Jim Yong Kim is President of the World Bank Group. He said the Indonesian government is investing in what he said are "evidence-based interventions" across 100 districts. He added that the government plans to expand the program to all 541 districts by 2021.

Sriprahastuti of the President's Office said that the government was accepting a human rights-based approach. He said, "For all pregnant women in Indonesia, everywhere, for all children under two, everywhere, we have to support them."

Claudia Rokx is a World Bank health specialist. She said Indonesian officials know they have a huge problemand are ready to do something about it.

She added, "Everything is in place for them to do it well, they just have to coordinate better, be persistent and make sure that these kids get the best start in life they can get."

Im Jonathan Evans.

Max Walden reported this story for VOA News. Jonathan Evans adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

persistent  adj. continuing to do something or to try to do something even when it is difficult or other people want you to stop

district  n. an area established by a government for official government business

psychosocial  adj. relating to relationship of social conditions, individual thought and behavior

stimulation  n. the act of inciting growth or activity

kids  n. children

approach  n. method; plan of action

priority  n. a top goal or concern

access  n. the ability to enter or pass something; freedom to use something

beyond  adv. on the farther side; in additionSkowhegan, ME  A New Hampshire man was arrested and charged with aggravated assault after a police investigation concluded he was responsible for injuring a 2-year-old girl Thursday night in Skowhegan. Cody Alexander Swanson, 25, of Concord, later fled the scene, police said.

Skowhegan Detective Michael Bachelder and patrol officers took Swanson into custody at 5:45 p.m. Friday at Swansons friends residence on Main Street. He had sought refuge there after the incident, which occurred at an Indian Ridge apartment, according to police. Swanson, who also has been listed in criminal records as having a Skowhegan address, is being held at the Somerset County jail. He has a history of assault dating back to at least August 2016.

Early Saturday afternoon, Skowhegan police Chief David Bucknam reported that the child was breathing on (her) own and is responsive.

Bucknam said that when first responders arrived at the scene on Thursday, they found the toddler severely bruised. Her mother, Crystal Bowman, 25, of Massachusetts, had called authorities and reported that the girl had fallen down a flight of stairs.

There was large bruising on the forehead of the 2-year-old, and the child had multiple injuries all over (her) body from previous incidents, Bucknam said. She was taken to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor and was in stable condition by Friday night, according to Bucknam. Bowman was uninjured. Bachelder, along with Maine State Police Detectives Christopher Crawford, Ryan Brockway and Detective Sgt. Jason Richards investigated the case.

From what we understand, as far as it goes right now, some child abuse is taking place, Bucknam said. Cody is our suspect and he was arrested.

Swanson has been incarcerated for convictions on class D domestic violence assault charges in Maine twice since 2016. He was also convicted of disorderly conduct and violating conditions of release in 2016. Before moving to Maine, Swanson was arrested four times in New Hampshire during June and July 2014 on various charges that did not include assault. In those cases, he was charged with trespassing, consuming alcohol on public property, breaching bail conditions and giving a false report to an officer. Law officers reported they found an unused hypodermic needle in his pocket, indicative of heroin use.

Aggravated assault is a class B felony in Maine, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000.The high price of mobile data means it is difficult for South Africans who live in poor or rural areas to enjoy the benefits of a broadband Internet connection.

A South African startup named AfriCanopy plans to solve this problem by leveraging unused television white space (TVWS) spectrum to roll out high-speed, low-cost broadband to rural areas.

AfriCanopy recently gained approval for an eight-month trial project to implement the technology in the King Cetshwayo municipality in KwaZulu-Natal.

The company will provide 85,000 residents of the municipality and 50 schools in the area with low-cost Internet access, while creating 400 new jobs through its Business-in-a-box (BIAB) kits.

These kits include all the equipment required to provide services, airtime, and data on the TVWS broadband network.

MyBroadband spoke to AfriCanopy executive technical lead William Stucke about the technical details behind the project and its implications for low-cost mobile broadband in South Africa.

White spaces

Stucke told MyBroadband that the service will use TVWS in the frequency range of 470  694MHz, courtesy of the CSIRs Geo-Location Spectrum Database (GLSD).

TV White Spaces are those portions of the terrestrial UHF TV broadcast band that are not used in a particular place for broadcasting TV, he explained.

In order to determine exactly which channels are available where, a GLSD has details of every TV transmitter in the country, including all its characteristics, such as location, transmitter power and frequencies, and antenna height, orientation and inclination.

A Master TVWS device is equipped with GPS and a back-channel to access the Internet, he added.

Once deployed and switched on, it uses these to tell the GLSD where it is, its ID, whose it is, what its characteristics are, and to request access to available TV channels.

This database identifies channels that can be used without causing interference to any TV receivers in the vicinity. The Master TVWS device selects one of these and broadcasts a beacon signal on an allowed channel.

Slave TVWS devices listen for this signal and register with the Master device, which in turn registers all devices with the GLSD, and authorises their operation for a limited time.

This is Dynamic Spectrum Assignment (DSA), and differs fundamentally from the traditional method, where spectrum is assigned manually, over a large area, for a long duration, and usually for exclusive use, Stucke said.

Instead, the TVWS devices must renew their lease on the assigned spectrum  typically every day. In addition, if anything changes, or interference is reported, the TVWS devices must cease to use the offending channel immediately.

They can go through the requesting process for an alternative channel. They are secondary users of the spectrum and may not cause any interference to the primary users, he noted.

Stucke explained that one of the main reasons this approach works is the disparity in transmitting power between TV broadcast transmitters and TVWS devices.

Another reason is that broadcasting is a very inefficient usage of spectrum, as only every 4th channel may be used at each transmitter site, due to adjacent-channel interference on the antenna array, he said.

Once broadcasters migrate from analogue TV transmission to digital, up to 75% of the spectrum will be unused at any one place, Stucke added.

Coverage and speed

The coverage of AfriCanopys initial trial network will comprise a central hub and four base stations arranged in a diamond pattern, each of which has four sector transceivers.

These base stations are 16km apart, and provide coverage up to 20km from the site itself, provided there is a line of sight to connected devices.

As this part of rural KZN is pretty hilly, there are significant gaps in coverage in places, Stucke noted.

These are dealt with by making use of mesh Wi-Fi networks connected to each of the Primary BIAB points, thus extending the network behind hills and other obstructions.

When it comes to the amount of bandwidth per user, this can vary depending on a number of factors, including the number of devices connected, and how many channels are available at any given time.

Each base station TVWS transceiver can aggregate up to 20MHz, which gives it a total aggregate capacity (uplink + downlink) of up to 169Mbps with one CPE, or 157Mbps with 5 CPEs, Stucke said.

He added that if only one user was connected to each CPE, they would get the maximum speed provided by the network, while if each served its maximum number of 850 connected users, this would be divided among all connected users.

Stucke said that if the company achieves its targets within the trial, it can always increase the network capacity.

The big difference between the TVWS network and traditional cellular networks is the price of data.

Stucke said the cost to carry a MB of data on AfriCanopys network is significantly lower than mobile network operators, and the company will sell data on a flat-rated basis so that users who are only buying 1MB at a time will pay less per MB than almost all options available from major mobile networks.

The current model used by the mobile network operators favours the rich, Stucke said. If you can afford to buy 20+ GB at a time, you pay a moderately low price.

If you are only buying 10MB at a time, you pay much, much more.

He added that AfriCanopy is hopeful to extend its trial duration following the initial eight-month period.

The duration of phase 1 of the trial is eight months, Stucke said. This is extendable, on application, by a further six months. We intend to make use of this.

Now read: Fibre vs DSL vs LTE subscribers in South AfricaFindings released during Airbnbs Africa Travel Summit found that South African Airbnb hosts have earned over R4 billion since the platform was founded in 2008, the Sunday Times reports.

A report based on data compiled by Genesis Analytics found that Airbnb has had a significant positive impact on South Africas economy, especially in popular tourist destinations such as Cape Town.

In the period from June 2017  May 2018, Airbnb generated around R8.7 billion in economic impact in South Africa, the report stated.

Hosts across the country are using their extra income from hosting to make ends meet and otherwise afford to stay in their homes, the report said.

Pushback against Airbnb

Airbnb has experienced significant opposition from the traditional tourist industry in many countries, however, including South Africa.

The Tourism Business Council of South Africa has repeatedly called for the service to be regulated, but the platform is still operating freely for now.

SA Tourism partnered with Airbnb for the travel summit, and said that collaboration with the international giant was a smart move.

It would definitely be to our disadvantage if we [didnt] play or collaborate with the worlds largest accommodation platform, said SA Tourism CEO Sisa Ntshona.

Ntshona added that Airbnb should compete with traditional organisations within the same standardised and competitive arena, with hosts being subject to commercial rates and taxes and employees classified correctly under industry regulations.

Airbnb said it supports over 22,000 jobs across South Africa, and the popularity of the platform is growing quickly each year compared to traditional tourism sectors such as the hotel industry.

The company is readying for an initial public offering next year, and recently requested permission for the ability to grant hosts equity in the company.

Granting participants in the gig economy equity in a business from an earlier stage will further align incentives between such companies and their partners.

Now read: Airbnb wants to give hosts stock in the company        .                     .            (     1985 .),       (          ). ...We dont hear from Oregon College Girl too often, but when we do, Id describe the exchanges as usually one of the following:

A. brief

B. one-sided

C. perplexing

A few weeks ago I got this text message:

I ran out of Clif bars, wrote our girl. And her favorite water flavorer stuff.

I mulled over my reply for a few seconds.

Did she want me to mail her some Clif bars? Overnight them via Amazon.com? Have a drone drop an emergency resupply package outside her dorm window? Surely she realizes that shell have to just GO to the local grocery store to buy more. With her own money.

Awww, I texted. I hope you will be OK, I wrote, inserting the praying hands emoji.

No reply.

I need a flu shot, she texted another time. It costs $40 on campus.

First of all, we have medical insurance, so Im quite sure she could get a flu shot in Portland for free. But whatever. Let it not be said that this mom denied her own daughter a flu shot! I shall provide for my offspring! Free flu shots for all Huffman children!

Well get you one when you come home for fall break, I said.

No reply.

Another day she texted a photo of a large white board covered in tiny writing. It was jam packed with terminology she was memorizing for her political science class.

The test is tomorrow, she said.

Howd it go? I texted her the next day.

No reply.

Another day she sent me a picture of a brochure titled: The FBI: A career like no other. She picked it up at a campus career event.

YES! I texted back. What a great idea! A career as a professional spy or snooper: I love it!

No reply.

Aside from these half-conversations, we have successfully FaceTimed with our girl a couple times.

But not too often. I dont want to be THAT parent, you know the one cant stop trying to FaceTimes her college kid.

College Girl needs to focus on college, not moms annoying questions about laundry and what did you have for dinner tonight and have you seen so-and-so from Napa on campus at all?

I think she likes to talk to us, but only for so long.

A FaceTime call can reach an abrupt end when we mention to College Girl that for her next trip home, she will just have to make do with using Grandmas hand-me-down suitcase, the one with the sticky handle and the questionable zipper. (Just wrap it in duct tape, I suggested. Or go to a thrift store and get another one. I think this is a very practical solution. However, from the face our girl made on the phone, not so much).

Hows the laundry going? I asked her, changing the subject.

She made another face.

It costs FOUR DOLLARS to do a load and you have to use your debit CARD to put MONEY on another CARD to pay.

I started wondering if she had done any laundry at all. She did leave town with all my socks so it was theoretically possible shed been wearing them once (or more?) and then just throwing them away.

About an hour after we hung up, I sent her $12 via Venmo.

Do some laundry, I texted.

Thanks mom, she wrote back.

Surrendering to Motherhood appears every other Monday. Follow Jennifer on Twitter: @NVRHuffman.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.In May 1885, a 24-year-old Englishman named John Parkinson arrived in Napa County. While here, until January 1889, Parkinson honed his carpentry skills and launched his career in architecture. He would eventually become a leading architect in Los Angeles. Later, he would write his autobiography that included his memories of Napa County, its people and his experiences here.

Although Parkinson worked hard, he played with equal enthusiasm. In his unpublished memoirs, Parkinson recorded his hunting experiences and antics he enjoyed with his Napa friends.

Parkinson began, In the fall of 1885, Frank Chapman, Rockwell Chapman, Ed. Church and myself organized a hunting party. With double-shotguns and one hundred cartridges each, we started for Gordon Valley located in the mountains east of Napa Valley. He added, I had never fired a double-barreled shotgun and its was my first hunting trip.

As he continued his story, apparently, neophyte Parkinson was not at a disadvantage. We started up the trail through one of the canyons on the Napa side and found plenty of quail  thousands of them  and the party of four blazed away, but never a quail fell. Finally, I told the fellows I would try independently on a branch road, and soon a lot of quail arose. As I fired the gun, one quail dropped.

He also noted, One of the others shot a rabbit. That was the only game shot by the crowd in a two-days hunt.

Parkinson added, When we arrived at the (Gordon family) ranch with the quail and the rabbit, I claimed to be the best shot, having shot the quail, and told the fellows none of them could hit my hat. I threw it into the air and they all fired at it, but missed. On its dropping to the ground, Ed. Church put his gun into my hat and blew it to pieces.

He continued, The Gordon family, who owned the (east Napa County) valley, had a son named Frank, who was a cousin to the Chapmans. Shortly after Church destroyed Parkinsons hat, Frank Gordon escorted his guests out on another hunting expedition where he handed Parkinson and friends some humility. Parkinson wrote, Frank Gordon then took us over the valley, carrying along his gun, and he brought down quite a number of quail. But the Napa hunters returned to the Gordon homestead empty-handed.

Parkinson concluded his first hunting trip recollections with an amusing notation about their overnight experiences. That night we all slept in the attic of the Gordons farm house. Church was quite a noisy sleeper and kept us awake by his snoring. Rockwell Chapman claimed he could see the rafters and roof rise and fall in unison with the snoring.

Many years later, Parkinson met another of his Napa buddies, a man he simply referred to as Dr. Mansfield, in the Sierras for an extended hunting trip. At its conclusion, Parkinson decided instead of immediately returning to Los Angeles, he would accompany Mansfield to Napa in order to visit more of his Napa friends. By that time, both men were sporting a new appearance, which they used to their advantage and amusement.

Parkinson elaborated, We each had a crop of whiskers of about three weeks growth, had on overalls, slouch hats, and looked the part of miners perfectly.

Bob Lamdin, another Napa boy, had a grocery store (on Main Street) near the bank of which Henry Brown is now the head. We walked into the grocery store, made ourselves known, and then thought we would try a joke on Henry.

All three men walked into the bank together. Lamdin portrayed the role of the pretend miners escort and spokesman to see if we could get a loan. Parkinson added, Henry did not recognize us.

The story continued, Bob told him we were a couple of miners who had struck a good gold prospect up in the hills and wanted a loan of about $100,000 dollars. Henry shrunk down about a foot in height and looked almost like a dwarf before Bob got through telling him what a good loan it would be. Finally, we had to laugh and Henry saw the joke.

Parkinson added, regarding his friend and lifelong Napan, Henry is a shrewd, safe banker and has been very successful. Also, once he had recovered from the practical joke, Brown, looks good for another 10 years, at least, wrote Parkinson.

The Englishman recalled many other interesting Napa Valley memories as part of his autobiography. Some, or all, of these recollections may be featured in future columns.ST. HELENA  In 1945, as members of the Japanese high command surrendered to General Douglas MacArthur on the deck of the U.S.S. Missouri, Harry Nagata of U.S. Military Intelligence Service was there, serving the same country that had locked his Japanese-American family in an internment camp.

Seventy-three years later, at age 97, Nagata joined fellow veterans on an emotional trip to Washington, D.C., where he visited war memorials and museums and placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier after the Changing of the Guard.

It was a very silent and respectful ceremony, said Nagata, who lives at St. Helenas Vineyard Valley Mobile Home Park. Just the clicking of the soldiers heel and the beautiful sound of the playing of Taps. It was inspiring.

Another highlight was witnessing a Navy rifle drill at a museum, Nagata said.

The three-day trip was arranged by Honor Flight Bay Area, a nonprofit that flies veterans to Washington, D.C. to visit memorials and museums related to the war during which they served.

Nagata was the oldest of the 26 veterans who joined the September trip. They were greeted at the San Francisco and D.C. airports with cheers, applause, salutes and music. Each was presented with a homemade quilt commemorating their service, courtesy of the nonprofit Quilts of Honor.

With sirens blaring and lights flashing, National Park police escorted the group down D.C. streets to 11 sites such as the World War II Memorial and the National Museum of American History, where an exhibit honors Japanese-Americans who served during World War II.

Nagata graduated from Central High School in his home town of Fresno in 1939. After the U.S. entered the war, Nagata, his parents and six siblings were rounded up and temporarily confined in livestock pens at the Fresno fairgrounds before being shipped off to the Jerome War Relocation Center in Arkansas and later to the Gila River camp in Arizona. A seventh sibling was born in the camp in 1944.

The military combed internment camps for young Japanese Americans who could serve as linguists. Nagata was assigned to a branch of the U.S. Armys Military Intelligence Service made up of Japanese Americans, mostly second-generation Nisei like him, who used their knowledge of the Japanese language to help the war effort.

Nagata was aboard the U.S.S. Missouri on Sept. 2, 1945, when MacArthur accepted the Japanese surrender that formally ended World War II. The 23-minute ceremony was broadcast around the world, and Nagata said the sight of MacArthur with his trademark corncob pipe is still fixed in his memory.

After the war, Corporal Nagata was stationed in Tokyo and assigned to the 720th Military Police Battalion, working in interpretation and interrogation. His family was finally released in 1946.

For more information about the Washington, D.C. tours for veterans, visit honorflightbayarea.org.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.Amy Martenson is involved in two battles: one for re-election to the Napa Valley College board, and another with her fellow trustees  a skirmish she suggests may land in court.

In the final weeks of campaigning for a second four-year term on the NVC board, Martenson is involved in a dispute over an Oct. 1 email she says wrongly claimed she was scolded by her fellow trustees in April over improper meddling with professors in the two-year schools wine program.

A follow-up letter by the first-term Area 2 trustee to school Superintendent Ron Kraft, dated Oct. 4, demanded that Kraft stop any false and defamatory statements against me and publish a retraction, or face possible legal action.

I have suffered harm to my character and reputation as a result of the defamatory and false statement that you have made, Martenson wrote to Kraft in her cease-and-desist notice. The allegation, she added, was further harming her re-election campaign ahead of the Nov. 6 race after printed copies of Krafts letter were distributed around her district, with no disclosure of the source.

Any possible litigation against Kraft or the college would not be filed before Election Day, Martenson said before the NVC board meeting Thursday night.

The conflict dates to March, when the president of NVCs academic senate filed a complaint that Martenson improperly contacted faculty members, Kraft wrote.

Emails indicate the complaint dealt with Martenson emailing a soil scientist and instructor, Paul Anamosa, to share a former NVC viticulture students concerns about an absence of instruction about organic or biodynamic winemaking. The email discussion later involved winemaking instructor Paul Gospodarczyk and viticulture instructor Molly Hodgins  a step that drew an email rebuke from Trustee board chair Mary Ann Mancuso for discussing curriculum issues with the faculty and bypassing the academic senate, the usual go-between between professors and the board.

At a trustees meeting April 12, a three-member board committee  Mancuso, Kyle Iverson and Jennifer Baker  made three recommendations in response to the complaint, including a promise to uphold NVCs governance rules and to inform college staff they would not be obligated to respond to individual trustees inquiries. The third recommendation was to issue a board motion admonishing Martenson by name for her failure to adhere to its Code of Ethics and expect her to immediately, fully and consistently follow the code.

With Martenson recused from the vote, the other six board members approved the first two recommendations  but changed the third, at the request of trustee Rafael Rios, to state that the whole board and not only Martenson would strive to follow ethics rules as they are critical to the institutional health, vitality and stability of Napa Valley College.

However, the clash flared up again earlier this month after an email by Kraft to college staff assuring them they would not be required to respond to inquiries from board members, unless a supervisor tells a worker to do so or the trustee acts at the full boards direction, and that employees can refuse to speak to trustees without fearing reprisal. The message specifically referred to Martenson and called her actions a serious violation of the schools decision-making channels that had the effect of disrupting, offending and intimidating college faculty, and damaging District-Senate relations.

Martenson responded within days  directly to Kraft and also publicly on social media.

The letter breaks both libel laws, as it contains misleading and false statements about me, and breaks (Fair Political Practices Commission) rules, because there is no disclosure indicating who paid for the printing and distribution of the letter, Martenson wrote in an Oct. 4 message on her Facebook campaign page. Your copies will be evidence for me to show how far the letter was spread and the damage it has caused.

Instead of an apology from Kraft, Martenson got another rejection on Monday, when the NVC board turned aside her complaints after a special session.

The Board has carefully reviewed the Presidents email and determined that it is truthful and factually accurate, read a statement issued by the five trustees at the closed meeting (Martenson and Rios were absent). President Kraft correctly summarized the history of the Boards handling of an ethics violation by Trustee Martenson. It therefore considers Trustee Martensons claim of defamation to be without merit.

While the wording of the NVC boards April declaration did not single out Martenson, comments by her fellow trustees during that meeting made clear that all the members  except Martenson herself  agreed she had violated the boards ethics code, the statement said. Trustees also rejected the allegation that Krafts email was timed to influence the November election, in which Martenson will defend her Area 2 seat against Jeff Dodd.

On Thursday, Kraft disputed the idea that removing direct mention of Martenson from the boards final statement in April exonerated her, pointing to trustees repeated mentions of her before the vote.

The board took the time and delivered the process to clearly indicate to Amy that she seriously violated the (boards) ethics policy, he said after NVC trustees Thursday meeting, in which the dispute was not on the agenda.

Editor's Note: This story has been modified to reflect the fact that Mary Ann Mancuso was acting in her capacity as board chair when she wrote to Martenson in April.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.Even though Jeffrey Perez de Leon was a college student in Southern California during last Octobers wildfires, the disaster remains personal to this Napa native.

Members of his extended family, Jeff and Tracy Foley, lost their Atlas Peak house in the Atlas Fire. It was a home where Perez de Leon had celebrated many family gatherings such as Fourth of July and Christmas.

Their house was a big part of my childhood, he said.

After coming home that Christmas and visiting the Foleys and hearing their story, Perez de Leon said he was inspired to create a documentary about the fires.

I wanted to start a conversation about how people feel and what they went through, said the filmmaker. What happens after the news vans and the news move on? What I wanted to show is that afterwards people have their lives to pick up and rebuild.

Over a half-year period, Perez de Leon produced, directed and edited a 17-minute documentary about the October 2017 fires.

Called Trial by Fire, it was recently uploaded to YouTube and Vimeo where it can be viewed for free.

The film features interviews of the Foley family and others impacted by the fires such as the Haire family of Napa and Mike Dombrowski, a captain in the Napa Fire department who helped fight the fires.

The idea for a film comes naturally to Perez de Leon. He recently graduated from Cal State Northridge with a degree in film editing. Today, he lives in Los Angeles and works as a post-production assistant at an ad agency.

Starting in February, Perez de Leon spent about three months traveling back and forth to Napa filming here.

He spent another two months editing it.

In total, Perez de Leon estimated he spent about 500 hours on the project. It was a lot, he said.

Trial by Fire was produced on a shoestring budget, Perez de Leon said. He used his own camera and audio recorder. His girlfriend, Elise Eberhard, acted as a production assistant. His brother, Alex Perez de Leon, managed the sound recording. Other family members assisted him.

Now that the film is finally finished and viewable, Im so proud of it, Perez de Leon said.

I want people to feel inspired by  the triumph of getting up every day and moving forward, even after something so devastating.

The film is dedicated to Carmen Berriz, a Napa woman who died in the fires. Perez de Leon explained that he is friends with Berriz granddaughter, Carmen Meissner.

This project was made in a way to honor her, and turn something tragic into a way of celebrating the best in people.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.I have never been a fan of term limits. It seems to me that the best term limit is at the ballot box.

Even with gerrymandering, outside money and other political hi-jinks, the power still rests ultimately with the voters, and if they are too indifferent, uninformed, or foolish to vote out corrupt or ineffective officials, then I guess they get the leadership they richly deserve.

There may be a stronger argument to make for limits on chief executive positions like president or governor  these offices are extremely powerful and a bad or ineffective head of state could do a great deal of damage. Even so, I still think term limits should be up to the voters.

One place where I depart on this, however, is for judicial appointments. It seems like a no-brainer that lifetime appointments for judges are a bad idea.

Why? First, in the big picture, voters have no direct control over who sits on the U.S. Supreme Court or other federal institutions, so they have no way of directly limiting their power or longevity. So my theory about the best term limiter being the ballot box simply doesnt apply the way it does with lawmakers or chief executives.

Second, just look at what has become of the nomination and confirmation process in recent decades. The frightful disaster that was the Kavanaugh confirmation process has been many years in the making, with both parties waging dispiriting and character-wrecking warfare over who sits on the high court.

Both sides know perfectly well that any person who sits on that court can stay as long as he or she likes, with death the only term limiter. A justice appointed at age 50 has a very good chance of being on the court at least three decades, sometimes more. The life expectancy for well-educated Americans, a group that definitely includes anyone likely to qualify for the supreme court, is north of 82, according to several recent studies, and has risen by about a decade over the last 50 years.

When the Constitution was written, overall life expectancy in the United States was under 40, and even for the prosperous white males that the Founding Fathers expected to sit on the Supreme Court, there were plenty of things that would kill a justice before he turned 70. A lifetime appointment for a 50-year-old justice in 1789 probably meant something more like a 10 or 15 year term than the 30 or 40 year one today.

This means the stakes of any given Supreme Court nomination have risen exponentially even in the last 50 years, far more so in the last two centuries.

Lets dispense with the polite fiction that the Supreme Court is not a political body. While it doesnt typically engage in the naked partisanship that you see in Congress, there is no question that Republicans (and Whigs and Federalists before them) picked justices that suited their political outlook, and Democrats picked justices to their tastes. The determining factor was political, no matter what the president and senators were claiming.

And the Supreme Court has always worked in political ways, even if not overtly partisan. Remember President-elect James Buchanan conspiring with Chief Justice Roger B. Taney to push through the horrendous Dred Scott decision in 1857, which explicitly stripped black people of citizenship, saying they were so far inferior, that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect. Buchanan and Taney somehow convinced themselves that this decision would settle the nagging slavery question, but instead it may well have tipped the country into outright civil war.

In the 1930s, a conservative, Republican-heavy Supreme Court was active in striking down many of FDRs New Deal initiatives, so much so that the frustrated president proposed adding extra judges (of his own choosing, naturally) to the traditionally nine-member court. Even his own party was appalled by his court packing scheme and he backed down, but it threw into sharp relief just how much of a political player the court was.

And more recently, the string of 5-4 decisions on politically charged cases in the last two decades, most prominently the 2000 decision that ended the election recount in Florida and put George W. Bush in the White House, have demonstrated that the Supreme Court is not just nine neutral, non-political umpires calling balls and strikes, as the most recent member to join the court has put it.

The latest confirmation battle is clinching proof that the stakes of the current system for nominating Supreme Court justices are simply too high. Rather than helping guard our democratic institutions, the court is becoming an accidental vehicle for warping and twisting them, inflaming partisan divisions and cutting off paths of reasonable compromise.

After recognizing that the Supreme Court is a political institution, therefore, it stands to reason that a limit on the term of a justice would lower the political stakes, and therefore lower the political temperature over a nomination.

Limiting a justice to, say, 20 years on the bench would guarantee a steady and predictable churn. Every future president would have a reasonable chance of making at least one nomination, or at least knowing whether he or she was likely to have such a chance. Neither party would be inherently advantaged or disadvantaged by such a system, since it is impossible to predict the political mood of the country decades in advance.

There are several organizations advocating for just such a change to the Constitution, including Fix the Court, which calls for an 18-year limit.

Whatever the number may be, with a term-limited court, it is far less likely that any one president could alter the shape of the court fundamentally in ways that would last for decades  sometimes at the cost of voters not yet born.

You can reach Sean Scully at 256-2246 or sscully@napanews.com.

Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.Napa has a long and successful Sister City relationship with Japan, dating back to the 1970s. Napas Mayor Ralph Bolin and Mayor Furuuchi of Iwanuma signed the Sister City agreement in 1973 and a cherry blossom tree was planted at Napas City Hall.

Sister City supporters and the Silverado Ballet Troupe went to Iwanuma often starting in the '70s and delegations came here. There was a large summer class of exchange students at Napa Valley College at the time and, more recently, musical exchanges.

Over the years, the visits have continued and friendships have developed. The last time a Napa delegation went to Iwanuma was in 2008; guests came here in 2015.

We are happy to report that a delegation from Iwanuma will be in Napa Oct. 23-27. The new Mayor of Iwanuma Hiroo Kikuchi will join the delegation for two days at the end of the visit. We wanted to inform the community of this visit in case there are individuals or businesses who would like to participate in some way to welcome our guests.

Napa and Iwanuma also have earthquakes in common and relief efforts have been extended in both directions after the recent quakes. The delegation from Iwanuma has expressed an interest in seeing our recovery efforts while in Napa. They will also be welcomed by Mayor Jill Techel at Napa City Hall.

Dr. Charlie Ray has just retired as chairperson of the Sister City Committee and I am happy to now serve in that role. Please contact me at alan.atkinson@cbrands.com for more information or if you would like to participate in the visit please contact Betty Malmgren at emmnapa@aol.com.

Alan Atkinson

NapaOn Oct. 8, 1918, 100 years ago during the First World War, the Lost Battalion was found.

According to an early news report, it was thought to be lost to the enemy in battle. Thus its nickname stuck in the public psyche as well as in history.

On Oct. 2, the 1st Battalion of the 308th Infantry, 77th Division, joined the forward movement in the massive Meuse-Argonne offensive.

The Lost Battalions commander, Harvard Law School graduate Major Charles Whittlesey, age 34, lived up to his sobriquet Galloping Charlie, by briskly leading his men 1,000 yards deep unopposed into enemy territory.

Idyllically, it was so far a perfect textbook advance. Due to an enemy snafu, a dangerous gap had been left in the German defensive line.

Whittleseys 1st Battalion pushed forward, occupying a ravine at the end of a narrow salient it had created. By early morning Oct. 3, voices in German could be heard on both of its flanks and rear. Exceedingly far advanced, 1st Battalion had outrun its flank supporting units, which retreated on the left and became stymied on the right.

Assuming that orders to retire or to fall back, were faked by the enemy or uttered by a turncoat officer, the troops were ordered to ignore them. The 77ths overbearing general of division, Robert Anderson, had so issued General Order No. 27 on Sept. 28, 1918. It included his caveat that any American officer ordering a retreat was a traitor to be shot on the spot. Only to go forward was thinkable.

Whittleseys 1st Battalion wore the 77th Divisions Statue of Liberty shoulder patches. Culturally diverse, its menmainly from New York Citys Lower East Side, spoke 42 languages or dialects, such as Greek, Italian, Yiddish, Russian, and Mandarin.

Its nickname was the Melting Pot Division or the Metropolitan Division. (By battles end it had its 2nd Battalion, with parts of the 306th and 307th, with Whittlesey the CO.)

The Lost Battalions initially comforting pocket instead became a depressed trap, ringed by Germans upon the heights 200 feet high. In carrying few accouterments, since it was light infantry. The Lost Battalion was hungry, thirsty, wet, cold, and on low ammo.

Outwardly solemn and imperturbable, Count Whittlesey ably held his command together during the crisis. Tall, erect, slender, wearing round metal eyeglasses, and maintaining a soldierly bearing, he was characterized a young Woodrow Wilson.

Intensive machine gun and Minenwerfer (a shrapnel-firing mortar) fire poured down upon Whittleseys stricken command. Potato masher grenades were rolled down the slopes. There was a flame-thrower assault and waves of infantry attacks fell upon the Lost Battalion. The assaulting Germans hoped for a spoiling massacre. Runners would be cut down, almost as they started out. Carrier pigeons were sent aloft to rear area headquarters bearing messages requesting a relieving force in order to evacuate the many wounded and also to alleviate the suffering. Some were shot down by German rifle-fire. Artillery support was also sought.

Unfortunately, the wrong coordinates were sent, making Whittlesey and his men the target. The Lost Battalion was now potential cannon fodder for its own friendly artillery.

Only two pigeons remained in their coop. When opened, the first pigeon became with the aid of the reverberating ground, due to the friendly bombardment  an escape artist, squirming out of the hands of its trainer. The last pigeon remaining named Cher Ami (Dear Friend) was released carrying a desperation plea note.

First fluttering up to the safety of a nearby tree branch, Cher Ami either did not want to leave behind her buddies of the Lost Battalion or perhaps she had a natural trepidation in regard to navigating the bullet-ridden air space back to headquarters.

Cursing at her, one of her handlers threw rocks, then, climbed up a branch of the tree, causing Cher Ami, initially to fly to a higher branch, finally to attempt flight.

An exploding artillery shell, however, knocked Cher Ami to the earth. Rising again through the air back to 77th Division HQ, a distance of 25 miles, she made it in 25 minutes. Landing there at about 4 p.m., the message was removed from its canister, which read: We are along the road parallel 276.4. Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us. For heavens sake, stop it.

This note was then taken on motorcycle at 4:15 p.m. to the 154th Brigades artillery unit, by which time the lethal barrage had coincidentally ended. Mercifully, due to the note, fire was not resumed, helping to spare the Lost Battalion.

Cher Ami, shot through her breast, losing an eye, with a badly torn leg, received a replacement wooden leg. She was now a war hero.

By the fifth day of the siege of the Lost Battalion, on Oct. 7, a demand note of surrender was given to Whittlesey. It praised the Lost Battalions noble yet futile resistance, anticipating its honorable surrender. Whittlesey declined to capitulate.

In early afternoon, three Doughboys began to crawl by inches through the thick underbrush. They met with K Company of the 307th Battalion, which was guided to back the pocket holding the remnants of the isolated Lost Battalion that rainy night.

Welcome relief arrived on Oct. 8, as rations and medical personnel heralded the Lost Battalions deliverance. From its original 554 officers and men, 144 were removed by stretchers and 194 walked out on their own. The rest were later to be buried in the American section of the huge Meuse-Argonne Cemetery.

Falling back to the final barrier of the Meuse River, besieging German casualties were about 600.

Major Whittlesey received a battlefield promotion to lieutenant colonel. Awarded the Medal of Honor on Dec. 6, 1918, he may eventually have felt it a dishonor. Rigidly, he had un-proudly obeyed his orders. A legendary hero, he was a celebrity.

Whittlesey went home to practice law and try to forget the war, which he came to feel was an unnecessary waste of lives. Almost daily, he was contacted by his last surviving men from the Lost Battalion, either seeking postwar help finding jobs or imploring medical or other aid. Impecunious surviving widows asked his succor.

A mother hen, Whittlesey hurried about, trying to nurture the lives connected to his former unit. Depressed over their plight, he was unable to escape the Great War.

His brother, Elisha Whittlesey, a gentleman volunteer in the ambulance field service Over There, had contracted a lung disease, which disabled him. Whittlesey, possessed a loud racking cough due to having been gassed while in the pocket with his trapped battalion. The war had claimed his health physically and mentally.

He felt he was merely a flashy ornament to be shown off at official ceremonies for the public. At the ceremony for the original Unknown Soldier in Washington, D. C., on Nov. 11, 1921, he wondered if the Unknown might have been one of his own men.

President Warren Hardings misstatement that it was as an impersonal tribute, perhaps isolated Whittlesey, as much as had been his Lost Battalion.

On Nov. 20, he stood with Marshal Foch at a New York ceremony to the Red Cross Roll Call to appeal for charity, wounded veterans, present, some armless or legless.

Next day, Whittlesey booked passage on the Toloa, a United Fruit Co. ship to Cuba. Disappearing en route on the 26th, he sought the seas embrace to escape the war.

Futini is a Napa-based history enthusiast. This is the latest in an occasional series marking the 100th anniversary of the First World War. He will give a talk at the Napa City-County Library on Americas Experience in the First World War in the main conference room on Nov. 17 at 2 p.m.With Bhutan polls slated to be held on October 18, both Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) and newcomer Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) in Bhutan are trying to woo voters hard.

But the disheartening thing about the Bhutan polls is women participation has remained dismal since the beginning of elections in 2008. In 2008 polls, there were only ten female candidates. Four women were elected then.

In 2013, eleven women made it to the general round, but only three became members of parliament.

In 2018 polls, among the 94 candidates competing for 47 seats in the National Assembly only ten are women, between the two parties. Among those ten women, six won their constituencies and four primary winners are still in the election race. If all the women are elected, there will be nine women in the National Assembly (two women are contesting from the same constituency).

This trend is worrying for a democratic country with around 50 per cent of the population being women.

The Bhutan parliament is overwhelmingly dominated by men both in the National Assembly and the National Council. There is only 11 per cent women elected in parliament due to low support from their parties and other voters.

Phuntshok Chhoden, the Executive Director of Bhutan Network for Empowering Women, is of the opinion that the deeply entrenched societal, cultural and traditional beliefs, stereotypes and norms surrounding gender roles are the main reasons why making headway in terms of women participation in elections remains a daunting task.

The Bhutanese government did, through a consultative process, try to push for 20 percent quota for women in all elected offices recently, but found little support.

BNEWs Executive Director Chhoden, is mentoring and nurturing women to build leadership capacity and skills for women to be able to represent in politics. A balanced women representation in Parliament or Cabinet will make them more sensitive to women and childrens issue and also will lead to a healthy democracy.

A lot needs to be done to create a conducive environment for women and the effort has to come not just from the government but also from relevant agencies. Most political parties have been high on rhetoric and low on output in terms of women candidates.

The BNEWs Executive Director thinks the elected women leaders good performance can go a long way in changing the societys attitude towards women in leadership positions.

In spite of advancement of women in education and participation in the paid economy, they have yet to make a decent representation in national politics. Women continue to remain invisible and marginalized in decision-making bodies.

Bhutan for its own sake must consider the issue of womens reservation of seats in electoral bodies for a more representative, strong democracy.

For now, it is certain that there are more male participants than female in the national politics. Whether this trend changes in the coming years or not that remains to be seen.In a major drive against illegal foreign liquors making entry into Indian markets, the troops of 37 Bn SSB stationed at Border Outpost( BOP), Tankibasti seized a consignment of 75 cases containing 900 bottles of Bhutan-made liquors near Dimakuchi of Udalguri district along the Indo-Bhutan border on Saturday evening.

The consignment of 75 cases was seized along with a Bolero Pickup van.

The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) team also apprehended one Bhutan national identified as 26-year-old Kinzang Wangchuk.

According to information, the apprehended Bhutanese national is a resident of Momring village under Jomotsangkha Post Office of Samdrup Jongnkhar province in Bhutan.

The consignment was being brought from Bhutan and was supposed to be delivered in Indian side.

The seized items were later handed over to the Excise office at Tangla in Udalguri district for further legal action.

The market value of the seized items is estimated to be about Rs 5,83,000.Armenia Ambassador presents situation on Armenian borders to Dereck Hogan

Armenia Ambassador discusses situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border with U.S. Co-Chair of OSCE Minsk Group

Morgan Stanley predicts growth in luxury brand sales in the Metaverse

UN Security Council still hasn't planned discussion on current situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border

Armenia President and PM discuss situation on border

Jon Inarritu calls on international community for measures against continuous provocations of Aliyev regime

BREAKING on Azerbaijani-Armenian border: 12 Armenian soldiers captured

Opposition Homeland Party: All healthy national forces of Armenia need to gather and support army

Armenia's Yolyan Hematology Center says blood donors are needed

Armenia MOD Suren Papikyan holds phone talks with Russian counterpart

Armenian National Committee of Europe: We urge the EU to put political pressure on Azerbaijan

Baku is putting the blame on Yerevan

Armenia minister: Unpredictable processes are unfolding after Karabakh war

Armenia Security Council Secretary discusses situation on border with US Ambassador

Armenia Security Council Secretary meets with Iran Ambassador, situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border discussed

Charles Michel calls for urgent de-escalation of situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border

Employees of Armenia's Sotk gold mine are evacuated

Armenia MP: We are anticipating more active steps from our strategic ally

RFE/RL: Armenia parliament committee chair: Armenian side has 15 casualties, 7 soldiers are captured

Armenia MOD: 12 Armenian servicemen captured, intensity of battles not weakening

Dollar drops in Armenia

Android banking apps and crypto wallets are under threat

Ambassador: Russia, Armenia are holding consultations over escalation of situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border

BREAKING: Armenia has casualties, 2 military posts lost, 6 soldiers reportedly captured

Opposition MP: Faction of 'Armenia' Alliance is holding urgent and ongoing sessions and discussions

Opposition MP on possibility of Armenia exiting Collective Security Treaty Organization

ARF-D Armenia Supreme Body convenes urgent session

Ruling party MP: Azerbaijan has launched armed attack against sovereign territory of Armenia

Armenian army units destroying adversary's armored vehicles that invaded Armenia's territory on Nov. 16

Republican Party of Armenia vice-president: I told you a hundred times that the war is not over

Republican Party of Armenia and Prosperous Armenia Party convene urgent sessions

Armenian military-political figure Samvel Babayan: Enemy is trying to meet two objectives

Ann Linde shares deep concern over situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Armen Grigoryan: Pashinyan received Biden's invitation to participate in Summit for Democracy, confirmed participation

WSJ: Ohio attorney's office sues Meta for $ 100 billion

NEWS.am 16.11.21 BREAKING: Situation is tense on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Armenia Security Council Secretary receives France Ambassador

Armenia MOD: Armenian side has casualties and injured, there is news about loss of two military posts

MFA: Armenia, in accordance with the UN Charter, has the right by all means to reflect the use of force by Azerbaijan

Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan Defense Ministry is trying to blame Armenian side for its large-scale provocation

Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijani armed forces invaded and unlawfully deployed near Armenian communities

Armenia Security Council Secretary: There are injured and casualties

Security Council Secretary: If Armenia fails to resolve crisis via Russia and CSTO, it will have to use other mechanisms

Armenia MOD: Situation hasn't changed essentially, adversary has major losses of armored vehicles and manpower

Newspaper: Armenian side has 10 casualties as a result of exchange of fire

Russian and Iranian presidents discuss situation around Nagorno-Karabakh

Security Council Secretary: We are applying to Russia with call to protect Armenia's territorial integrity

Bitcoin price collapsed

Armenian Defense Ministry on situation on Azerbaijan border: Local battles are ongoing

Armenia MP calls on CSTO, OSCE, PACE and EU to implement necessary acts of restraint

Armenia recalls Ambassador to Brazil, Colombia and Bolivia

TASS: Yerevan applying to Moscow with the call to protect Armenia's sovereign territory

Issue on fate of Armenian captives removed from Armenia parliament's agenda, main speaker was absent

Majority faction MP: Armenia has suffered positional losses

Hraparak.am: Azerbaijanis capture 6 Armenian servicemen

Deputy Mayor: Gunshots being fired can be heard in Goris

Armenia parliament speaker, UK ambassador confer on aggravation of border situation in recent days

Armenia MOD: Situation at eastern part of border with Azerbaijan remains tense

Networking capacity of office of high commissioner for Armenian diaspora to be expanded

Armenia Security Council chief, Russia ambassador discuss situation on border with Azerbaijan

MOD: Azerbaijan armed forces fired at Armenia positions

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan, ex-deputy PM now lawmaker Gevorgyan case court session put off for 1 month

Armenia ex-president Kocharyan, former deputy PM now MP Gevorgyan criminal case court hearing reconvenes

Biden expresses concern over China's actions regarding Tibet and Hong Kong

Oil is getting more expensive

5 more persons die of coronavirus in Karabakh

Armenia ex-defense minister: Yerevan-Goris highway is, in fact, under Azerbaijan control

Turkish lira hits record low against dollar

Acting mayor appointed to Armenias Artik town

572 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Over 4,000 pilgrims, escorted by Russia peacekeepers, visit Artsakhs Amaras, Dadivank monasteries in 1 year

Parliament to hold closed session today to discuss fate of Armenian captives in Azerbaijan

Armenia opposition MPs leave legislature sessions hall

Pentagon continues to express concern over India's decision to buy Russian S-400s

Armenia parliament convenes regular sessions

Tense situation in Armenias Byurakan village

Newspaper: Why Azerbaijan army becomes more active at Armenia borders?

Newspaper: Azerbaijan to transfer money for flight through Armenia airspace

Armenia PM, representatives of IT companies discuss prospects for public-private partnership

Traces of ancient easternmost Roman aqueduct discovered in Armenia

Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group view 'with deep concern' recent events on Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Putin, Macron discuss situation regarding settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Armenia Parliament Speaker: Checkpoints are placed in territories that are considered Azerbaijan

Ukrainian MP: Yerevan and Kyiv are working on regulating and strengthening bilateral ties

Situation on border discussed during opposition 'Armenia' faction's session chaired by Robert Kocharyan

Political scientist: Armenian-Ukrainian relations have tremendous potential

41-year-old Azerbaijani man dies in mine explosion in Akna

Armenia Parliament Speaker assures that new defense minister will be the best one in Armenian history

Armenia FM: Peace cannot be achieved by the good will of one party alone

Armenian and Chinese governments sign agreement on technical-economic cooperation

Armenia Prosecutor General's Office launches case on Azerbaijani army trespassing state border

Russian and Turkish MFAs discuss launch of '3+3' advisory mechanism in South Caucasus

Armenia parliament majority faction has new secretary

NEWS.am daily digest: 15.11.21

Armenia MP: Armenian community is one of the most active communities in Ukraine's public-political life

Armenia parliament to not hold special session based on opposition's demand

Baku proclaims occupied sections of Armenia's territory as 'sovereign territory of Azerbaijan'

Armenia finance minister receives Asian Development Bank delegation

Armenian MFA: Armenia-EU Common Aviation Agreement signed

Advocate: Armenia's ex-police chief is acquittedIranian First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri highlighted the reasons behind the recent surge in oil prices and said US President Donald Trump wrongly thought that Saudi Arabia was able to replace the reduced share of Iran in global oil markets, Tasnim News Agency-:

Addressing a ceremony in Tehran on Sunday to mark the World Standards Day, Jahangiri referred to the US sanctions on Irans oil and non-oil sectors and said, In the current economic war against Iran, the enemies goal is to minimize the countrys sources of income.

They are seeking to prevent the imports of basic commoditiesincluding raw materialsto Iran, and they want people to protest against the government, he said.

Trump thinks that the Saudis can make up for Irans [lost] oil, but they cannot, Eshaq Jahangiri added. And now oil prices have risen.Home | News | General | Tambuwal blows hot, threatens to expose APC leader in Sokoto

- Tambuwal says he does not want to be 'pushed' by APC leaders in the state

- The governor says, if pushed, he would reveal all the dirty details about APC's main leader in Sokoto and former governor Wamakko

- He also urged all political parties to conduct themselves with decorum and avoid violence in the peaceful state

Sokoto governor Aminu Tambuwal has threatened to expose the alleged dirty laundry of the leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the stat Aliyu Wamakko.

Daily Trust reports that Tambuwal issued the on Saturday, October 13 while addressing his teeming supporters shortly after returning to the state from the PDP national convention held in Port Harcourt last Saturday.

READ ALSO: Obasanjo chides Buhari for not signing African trade agreement

Governor Tambuwal warned Wamakko that if pushed to the wall, he would reveal the dirty details that he had helped the APC leader to cover up.

He said: When I became the Governor, some elders in the state advised him to draw a line which I did. I want us to remain in that course. They know what they left behind and if I open their can of worms, it will not augur well with some of them".

Then he warned: If I am pushed to the wall, some of them will run away not even the EFCC can contain them. So let the sleeping dog lies.

Tambuwal also warned political parties against causing violence in the state, noting that he wants Sokoto to remain the peaceful state it is known as.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Tambuwal's outburst came just hours after NAIJ.com reported that at least one person was confirmed killed when supporters of the two largest parties in Nigeria, APC and PDP, clashed in Sokoto on Saturday.

According to reports, a 22-year old young man identified as Imrana Ahmad Alkanchi was said to have been hit by a stray bullet fired at the scene of the clash.

Alkanchi's cousin, an Information officer of the Sokoto state university, Zayyanu Shehu confirmed his death.

Nigeria Latest News: Here's What Saraki and Tambuwal's Defection Means for the APC - on NAIJ.com TV

[embedded content]

Subscribe to watch new videos

Source: Naija.ng

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Travel Ban: CUPP, PDP cry foul as Buhari hits 50 high-profile Nigerians

- PDP alleges that the travel ban was a ploy to intimidate its members and supporters ahead of 2019 election

- The party claimed the law was not duly followed in the announcement of the travel ban

- CUPP says the Presidency should have waited for the outcome of the appeal court case challenging the High Court ruling which declared the Executive Order 6 as valid

The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the political group Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) have condemned the travel ban slapped on 50 high-profile Nigerians by President Muhammadu Buhari.

In separate statements released on Saturday, October 13 shortly after Presidency announced the bans through spokesman Garba Shehu, PDP and CUPP expressed worries over the move.

Nigerian Tribune reports that the PDP statement signed by its national spokesman Kola Ologbondiyan accused the APC of trying to intimidate the opposition ahead of 2019.

READ ALSO: Obasanjo chides Buhari for not signing African trade agreement

The party said it hoped the move was not "a ploy to harm certain eminent Nigerians on the claims of resisting travel restrictions" and alleged that the Buhari administration reportedly made the move "without recourse to due process of the law.

In its own statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Saturday night by the first national spokesman of the CUPP Hon Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, the coalition also decried the move.

It noted that President Buhari should have waited for the pending appeal court decision on the validity of the Executive Order 6 under which the travel bans were issued.

It hoped the Appeal Court would quash the Executive Order 6.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android and read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

The statement read in part: the court of Appeal, we hope will deal a decisive blow on this dictatorial Order and consign it to the dustbin of history where it rightfully belongs.

NAIJ.com had reported earlier that the Presidency on Saturday afternoon announced the placement of 50 high-profile Nigerians on travelling ban.

The identities of the individuals were not disclosed.

But according to a statement from the presidency, those on watch list include Nigerians with assets valued at N50million and above who are subject of corruption investigation and litigation.

The statement was signed by presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu

How should convicted looters be punished? - on NAIJ.com TV

[embedded content]

Subscribe to watch new videos

Source: Naija.ng

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Alleged APC thugs block Tambuwal's convoy in Sokoto, 1 killed

- A young man was reported killed when APC and PDP supporters clashed in Sokoto state

- The 22-year-old man Imrana Ahmad Alkanchi was hit by stray bullet and confirmed dead by his cousin Zayyanu Shehu

The incident occurred after APC loyalists tried to block Governor Tambuwal's convoy and his supporters from passing through an area

At least one person was feared killed when supporters of the two largest parties in Nigeria, APC and PDP, clashed in Sokoto on Saturday, October 13.

Daily Trust reports that a 22-year old boy identified as Imrana Ahmad Alkanchi was said to have been hit by a stray bullet fired at the scene of the clash.

Alkanchi's cousin, an Information officer of the Sokoto state university, Zayyanu Shehu confirmed his death.

READ ALSO: Obasanjo chides Buhari for not signing African trade agreement

The young man was waiting to board a commercial motorcycle Okada on his return from Gawon Nama market when the bullet hit him.

According to the report, some alleged political thugs loyal to the APC, had attempted to block Governor Aminu Tambuwal s convoy from passing through Gawon Nama area, but clashed with his supporters.

Gawon Nama is where the house of APC leader and former governor of the state AlIyu Magatakarda Wamakko is located.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android and read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Tambuwal was received by hordes of supporters who thronged Sultan Abubakar III International Airport as early as 10am to welcome him as he returned to Sokoto for the first time since he losing at the PDP national convention.

Sokoto state police Command spokesman DSP Cordelia Nwewe said the matter is under investigation.

NAIJ.com reported recently that Tambuwal said before the convention that he dropped his second term as a governor under the All Progressives Congress (APC) due to his commitment to the unity and development of Nigeria.

Tambuwal said this in Ibadan, Oyo state capital, during his campaign to the southwest geopolitical zone where he vowed to provide purposeful and visionary leadership that will foster unity in the nation.

Nigeria Latest News: Here's What Saraki and Tambuwal's Defection Means for the APC - on NAIJ.com TV

[embedded content]

Subscribe to watch new videos

Source: Naija.ng

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Atiku: NUJ, RATTAWU deny alleged unpaid salaries by Gotel Communication

Members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists(NUJ) and the Radio, Television, Theatre and Arts Workers Union(RATTAWU) chapters of Gotel Communications Limited, Yola, Adamawa state have debunked a report by a popular online medium, alleging that the company, owned by the Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, is owing members of the staff a months salary.

Former vice-President Atiku Abubakar speaks during the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)s national convention in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on October 6, 2018.

Nigerias main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has picked Abubakar to challenge President Muhammadu Buhari who is seeking a second term in presidential polls scheduled for February 2019. / AFP PHOTO /

The unions also described as wicked, the claim in the said report that the former vice president has a care-free attitude towards the company.

In a statement jointly signed by the chairmen, RATTAWU, NUJ, Mohammed Ahmed Mustapha and Muhammad Aliyu Mustapha, respectively, the union said the true position of events at Gotel Communication is that those who were dis-engaged completely were paid their severance allowances.

The union also said that those who resigned did so based on their personal interests of searching for greener pasture and were not disengaged as claimed by the online medium.

The statement reads thus:

The attention of the leadership of the Gotel Communications Limited chapters of the above named unions, has been drawn to a publication by an online news medium, PREMIUM TIMES, dated October 8 to the effect that the staff of the multimedia organization, owned by former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, are currently in distress over owed severance benefits and delays in payment of salaries. It equally claimed that crisis was brewing in the media outfit due to unpaid entitlements following the disengagement of the staffs previous appointments. The said publication further blamed the situation on what it called the founders carefree attitude.

Following the above allegations, a joint meeting of NUJ and RATTAWU chapters of Gotel Communications Limited Yola, Adamawa State reacts as follows:

That it is untrue that our members are in distress over non-payment of severance benefits.

That the dis-engagement and re-absorption exercise took place in 2016.

That those dis-engaged completely, were paid their severance allowances.

That the re-absorbed members of staff were issued with dis-engagement letters and payment of the terminal benefits is ongoing, according to the understanding to implement the payment plan in phases.

That the statements credited to the Chairman of the restructuring committee to the effect that, the management would not pay the re-absorbed workers their severance allowances is diametrically opposed to the reality on ground at GOTEL Communication as payment has since begun in phases.

That those who resigned did so not because of the situation in Gotel, but in search for greener pasture, which is normal and obtains in every organization.

That members of our unions are not being owed one month salary as speculated in the poorly investigated report. The organization is up-to-date in terms of salary payment.

That it is tendentiously wicked for anyone to speculate and or allude that our founder , His Excellency Atiku Abubakar is carefree about his businesses. Only ignorance or outright mischief could have contrived such allegation as NONE of the three stations, FM radio, AM Radio and Gotel television has gone off the air for one day in its ten years of operation.

We also advice the promoters and or sponsors of the said story to desist from seeking political capital from scenarios they imagine would advance their parochial cause, no matter how banal such causes may seem.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Herders/farmers clashes, killings are being fuelled by fake news  Lai Mohammed

Lagos  The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Saturday appealed to all Nigerians to join efforts with government to combat the menace of fake news.

The minister made the appeal while speaking at the inaugural lecture of the Guild of Professional Bloggers of Nigeria (GPBN) in Lagos.

The theme of the lecture was Combating Fake News in the Cyberspace.

Lai Mohammed

Mohammed said the collective efforts of all Nigerians were needed in view of the threats fake news posed to peace and unity of the country.

He explained that most of the security issues confronting the country, such as herders/farmers were caused by the misrepresentation of facts in both the mainstream and social media.

The minister said the spread of fake news had also promoted ethnic and religious suspicions among Nigerians.

He said the media, especially, had a huge responsibility to check the problem in view of their strength and reach, calling on professionals to always verify their facts before sending out information.

The media have a responsibility to verify the facts before they share, because once they share, it is always very difficult to retract.

You see most of the issues we have about herders/farmers clashes, killings are being fuelled by fake news.

Look at the farmers/herders clashes, the truth is that they are being caused largely by population explosion, climate change and pure criminality.

So, it has nothing to do with religion or ethnicity.

Nigeria at Independence only had 45 million people but today, we are 190 million people.

You can imagine the same water, same air and same arable land available for 45 million people at Independence are now being shared by 190 million people.

It is like a room that can take 45 people, you now bring 190 people, you can imagine what will happen.

So, that is the honest truth about population explosion.

Then, the other is climate change. We read about earthquakes and flooding in different parts of the world.

These are manifestations of climate change.

So, how does it affect Nigeria?

The Lake Chad that used to cover a surface area of 25,000sq km and 35 million people from six nations, including Nigeria, Cameroun and Chad depend on the water for fishing, agriculture, irrigation and so on.

The same water has shrunk to 2000 sq km.

So, these 35 million people have to look for water elsewhere.

That is why we have all these clashes.

Of course, I must state the issue of criminality too, but we must stop presenting the issues as if it is Muslims against Christians or Hausas against Ibos. Thats not true.

So, we should stop this narrative of Christians/Muslims or North/South.

We are dealing with pure criminality, population explosion and climate change and that is the way we should look at it.

If we continue to post fake news attributing different reasons to the real causes of these issues, a stage will come when Muslims will be suspicious of Christians, Christians become suspicious of Muslim for no reason.

And that is not good for our unity, he said.

The minister said the government was partnering different media organisations to check the problem of fake news.

He listed some of them as the News Agency of Nigeria, Nigeria Television Authority, Vanguard Newspapers and Television Continental (TVC)

Mohammed said the government was also collaborating with local and international social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp to tackle the problem of fake news.

He described bloggers as critical stakeholders in the media industry in view of their number and capacity to influence others.

While stating the readiness of government to collaborate with them on the threats of fake news, the minister urged them to uphold the ethics of the profession to ensure they disseminate only credible information.

He commended GPBN for the lecture, saying the initiative would go a long way to deepen professionalism among its members.

In her lecture, Prof. Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika, Head, Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos said the media was powerful because of their capacity to influence others and bring about change.

She said it was, therefore, expected of stakeholders in the industry to always uphold the ethics and report the facts.

The fourth Estate of the Realm must never relent in its quest of being the watchdog of the society.

This duty of the media is one that cannot be underestimated .

In this era of social media, it behoves of the media to ensure that their platforms are not compromised, no matter the cost involved, Ogwezzy-Ndisika added.

The don, who was the Chairman at the lecture, described fake news as a threat to the society and development.

She urged media professionals to pursue conscious efforts to ensure that the threats of fake news were checked.

As the 2019 approaches, Ogwezzy-Ndisika urged the media to always verify whatever they were putting out in order not to cause unnecessary tension before, during and after the election.

She said most of the fakes were disseminated through social media and online platforms.

The don advised bloggers to work at the credibility problems in the online media by ensuring whatever they were publishing had all the elements of credibility.

Earlier, Mr Chris Nwandu, President, GPBN, said media platforms could pass integrity test only if they were credible.

He said it was important for bloggers to ensure they publish truthful information always because that was the right thing to do.

Nwandu said he knew the legal consequences of sharing fake news having been arrested by police and remanded in Ikoyi Prison in 2015 for sharing a Facebook post.

He said though the charge of spreading fake news was later withdrawn from court after 18 days in prison, the episode opened his eyes to the laws against fake news and the need to verify information before sharing.

Nwandu said the association was formed to set standards for members and make sure they comply with the ethics of the profession.

The basic idea behind GPBN is to set up a body that will set standards for the practice of blogging just like every other profession in the world, he said. (NAN)

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | I will be a listening governor  Sanwo-Olu

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Saturday said he would run a government based on the wishes of the people if elected.

Sanwo-Olu

He made the pledge at Ikeja while speaking during a Thank You visit to party members in the Lagos West senatorial zone.

The APC candidate said his policies and programmes would be based on the yearnings and aspirations of the people.

He added that he would always keep a listening ear in serving the state.

People with sickle cell protest detention in hospital over bills

Sanwo-Olu, who spoke in Yoruba, said he was seeking the number one seat in the state out of the passion to serve the people and take the state to greater heights.

I am in the governorship race because I want to serve the people.

I promise, when we are elected by the Grace of God, I shall run a government based on the aspirations of the people.

I will be a listening governor. I will attend to the needs of the people.

I am here to serve and I will do my best to take the state to greater heights, he said.

While appreciating party members for electing him as candidate in the just concluded primaries, Sanwo-Olu said he believed his choice was out of the confidence they had in him to address issues needing attention.

The candidate, however, urged members to brace up for the challenges ahead by mobilising members and residents to secure victory in 2019.

Sanwo-Olu urged members to put the primaries behind them and work together to ensure that APC was victorious in 2019.

I thank you for supporting me to get this far. I am very grateful and I will not disappoint you.

But the task ahead is bigger; it is no more a party affair, but we are going to the general election.

Party primaries: Gov. Bello directs stakeholders to return to wards

So, I want to appeal to you that we start our preparations right from now.

We should reach out to everyone and carry out this project together.

We should put the issues of primaries behind us and stay together.

I know some people might feel bad that they could not realise one aspiration or the other, it is natural.

But we need to put all of that behind us and bring everyone on the train to ensure victory in 2019.

Sanwo-Olu said APC had earned the confidence of residents through the delivery of democratic dividends.

Chief Rabiu Oluwa, Lagos West Senatorial Leader of the party, described Sanwo-Olu as a man with the passion and the vision to move Lagos forward.

He said party members had confidence in him, hence his emergence as the governorship candidate.

Oluwa urged party members to continue to support the candidate to ensure victory in 2019.

Also speaking, the South-West Zonal Woman Leader of the party, Mrs Kemi Nelson, urged party members to redouble efforts to ensure victory for the party.

Nelson appealed to party members not to underrate the opposition, but that they should see the Sanwo-Olu project as one in which they had to give their best.

We should not underrate the opposition at all; we should not pretend they are not there.

We should work, work and work hard and do our best to ensure victory for our candidate and our party, she said.

Nelson said she would mobilise women to ensure the candidate win overwhelmingly.

Newsmen report that Dr Obafemi Hamzat, a former Commissioner of Works and Chief Henry Ajomale, the immediate past chairman of the party in the state, were present at the gathering.

A member of the partys Governors Advisory Council (GAC), Dr Abayomi Finnih, was also present among other members.

NAN

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Buhari meets aggrieved APC members of HoR.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday summoned aggrieved members of the House of Representatives under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

President Muhammadu Buhari

Newsmen report that the meeting between the president and the aggrieved members which lasted for about one and half hours, was held behind closed door.

Musa Soba, representing Soba constituency in Kaduna state, who spoke after the meeting, said they were summoned by the president to present their complaints arising from the conduct of the APC primaries.

He disclosed that the aggrieved members who were denied the opportunity to re-contest for their seats in 2019 general elections were over 70.

Soba revealed that they appealed to the president to use his good office to intervene in what they described as impunity exhibited by some state governors and APC leadership in the affected states to deny them tickets to contest for the election.

President Buhari orders military to stand for democracy, civil authority

He lamented undue exclusion and lack of transparency in the primaries conducted by the APC, and urged the president to remedy the situation before it was too late.

Hussaini Kangiwa, who also attend the meeting, allegedly accused some elders in the state of hijacking APC structure.

Kangiwa, who was an aspirant for Kebbi North Senatorial District, also accused the APC leadership in the state of nepotism in the selection of candidates for the 2019 National Assembly elections.

Why PDP always record electoral failure in Lagos -Adewale

The lawmaker warned that the APC risked losing Kebbi to the opposition party if the president failed to intervene to right the wrongs.

NAN

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | 20 arrested in hunt for kidnapped Africas youngest billionaire

Twenty people have been arrested as police press a manhunt for Africas youngest billionaire who was kidnapped in Dar es Salaam two days ago, a minister said Saturday.

Mohammed Dewji

Mohammed Dewji, who at 43 is Africas youngest billionaire, was snatched by gunmen as he entered a hotel gym in Tanzanias economic capital on Thursday morning.

Up until now, 20 people have been arrested, Interior Minister Kangi Lugola told reporters, without giving any detail on their identities. Security forces are working day and night to find him.

Nollywood producer, Alex Eyengho ready to battle for a seat in the Lower House

Officials have implicated the involvement of foreigners, saying he was taken by whites.

Dewji is chief executive of the MeTL Group which operates in some 10 countries and has interests in agriculture, insurance, transport, logistics and the food industry.

According to Forbes, he is worth $1.5 billion (1.29 billion euros) and ranks 17th on the list of African billionaires.

Between 2005-2015, he served as a member of parliament and in 2013, he became the first Tanzanian to grace the cover of Forbes magazine. Two years later, he was named Forbes Africa Person of the Year.

Dewji is also the main shareholder in Tanzanias Simba FC football club.

Enelamah assures of amicable solution to Ladol, Samsung dispute

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Eschew partisan politics or lose respect, Buhari tells religious leaders

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has advised religious leaders in the country to eschew partisan politics in order not to lose their status and public respect.

President Buhari gave the advice in his remarks at the Interfaith Initiative for Peace Conference on Saturday in Abuja.

The President urged religious leaders to play the roles they had played in 2015 that saw a peaceful election.

He said, I appeal to them to eschew partisan politics and appeal to their respective members to read the manifesto of each political party, discuss and pray for Gods guidance before casting their votes.

Religious leaders should not be seen to involve themselves in partisan politics or political controversies. Otherwise they risk losing their status and public respect.

He commended the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Saad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan and the Co-Initiators of the Interfaith who he said have continued to work for peace and peaceful coexistence as faithful Muslims and Christians.

He also expressed appreciation to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Reverend Justin Welby for accepting to be the keynote speaker at the Conference.

According to him, Primary Elections are over, it is my hope that all who feel aggrieved would put the stability of our country first before their political ambitions and accept the decision of their political parties or seek resolution through party reconciliation mechanisms or the law courts.

Very soon, political campaigns will commence leading to Elections in February next year. It is my hope and prayer that we will even perform better at the polling stations and see to a peaceful completion of the entire process without resorting to negative use of religion and ethnicity.

Continuing, he said, On their part, traditional rulers are also requested to enlighten their subjects, encourage them to ask questions and seek clarifications before going out to vote.

As your President, I will request that you encourage your subjects to come out and exercise their voting rights as responsible citizens. To all of us politicians, I ask that we discharge our political responsibilities with integrity, bearing in mind that we will one day give an account to God, the Almighty.

I am proud to say that our country has moved on, the era of free money, lack of transparency and accountability is over! We deserve continuity; we deserve a better future for the coming generations. I sincerely hope 2019 will move us closer to these goals and so I look forward to a peaceful, fair and credible elections come 2019.

I implore you to continue praying for the countrys unity, peace and progress.

Read his full speech below

May I sincerely thank members of the Interfaith Initiative for Peace, for putting up this Conference as they did prior to the 2015 General Elections that brought in this Administration.

2. My special thanks to His Eminence Alh. Muhammad Saad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto and His Eminence John Cardinal Onaiyekan, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, the Co-Initiators of this group of Nigerians who love their country and have continued to work for peace and peaceful coexistence as faithful Muslims and Christians.

3. I also wish to express my personal appreciation to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, who in spite of his busy schedule has accepted to be the keynote speaker at this important conference. We thank you for your love for Nigeria and her people and appreciate all your efforts in informing Britain and other nations about the true state of affairs in Nigeria.

4. Our Primary Elections are over, it is my hope that all who feel aggrieved would put the stability of our country first before their political ambitions and accept the decision of their political parties or seek resolution through party reconciliation mechanisms or the law courts.

5. Very soon, political campaigns will commence leading to Elections in February next year. It is my hope and prayer that we will even perform better at the polling stations and see to a peaceful completion of the entire process without resorting to negative use of religion and ethnicity.

6. Having witnessed the roles our religious leaders have been playing so far, I appeal to them to eschew partisan politics and appeal to their respective members to read the manifestos of each political party, discuss and pray for Gods guidance before casting their votes. Religious leaders should not be seen to involve themselves in partisan politics or political controversies. Otherwise they risk losing their status and public respect.

7. On their part, traditional rulers are also requested to enlighten their subjects, encourage them to ask questions and seek clarifications before going out to vote. As your President, I will request that you encourage your subjects to come out and exercise their voting rights as responsible citizens. To all of us politicians, I ask that we discharge our political responsibilities with integrity, bearing in mind that we will one day give an account to God, the Almighty.

8. I am proud to say that our country has moved on, the era of free money, lack of transparency and accountability is over! We deserve continuity; we deserve a better future for the coming generations. I sincerely hope 2019 will move us closer to these goals and so I look forward to a peaceful, fair and credible elections come 2019.

9. Finally, I implore you to continue praying for the countrys unity, peace and progress.

I thank you and may God bless all of us.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | 2019: Why I deserve re-election - Buhari

- President Buhari has told Nigerians why he deserves second term

- He said his achievements in various sectors should earn him continuity in 2019

- The president, therefore, appealed to Nigerians to vote for him again

President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to Nigerians to vote for him again to enable him to continue his work towards making Nigeria a better country.

Premium Times reports that President Buhari spoke during a meeting with religious leaders at an interfaith seminar in Abuja.

I am proud to say that our country has moved on, the era of free money, lack of transparency and accountability is over. We deserve continuity; we deserve a better future for the coming generations, Buhari said.

READ ALSO: Tambuwal threatens to expose APC leader Wamakko, others

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury in England, was present at the event and delivered a keynote. John Onaiyekan, leader of the Catholic Church in Nigeria, and Saad Abubakar, Sultan of Sokoto, were also present, according to a dispatch from the State House on Saturday, October 13.

President Buhari urged the religious leaders to continue to preach peace and unity, saying his government is working relentlessly to resolve all crises.

He also promised a seamless election in 2019 and urged all those who lost in the primaries to seek judicial redress or use internal resolution mechanisms of their respective political parties.

I sincerely hope 2019 will move us closer to these goals and so I look forward to a peaceful, fair and credible elections come 2019, Buhari said.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that Professor Danny McCain, ambassador, Global Scholars from the United States of America, said the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), President Buhari, and that of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), former vice president Atiku Abubakar, must accept the outcome of the 2019 presidential election to avoid bloodshed in the country.

Speaking on Friday, October 12, in Abuja, at the 9th annual Independence lecture with the theme: The Nigeria of our Dream, organised by The Change we NEED Nigeria Initiative, McCain said every vote must count.

He said the outcome of the election must reflect the aspirations of the people. He further expressed optimism that the next election would be peaceful as demonstrated by the former president Goodluck Jonathan when he accepted defeat and stepped down.

Is Atiku the Right Man to Defeat President Buhari? 2019 Election - Nigeria Street Gist On NAIJ.com TV

[embedded content]

Subscribe to watch new videos

Source: Naija.ng

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | DTHA PDP primaries: Group protests Warri South Constituency 11 result

The Urhobos of Warri under the aegis of Warri Urhobo Movement for Democracy, have protested against the results of the recent Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Warri South Constituency 11, Delta State House of Assembly primaries .

In a statement signed by Comrade Samuel Aghogovbia and Comrade Onokurefe Akpos (Chairman and Secretary of the group, respectively, it asserted that the outcome of the primaries was not a true reflection of the wish of PDP Warri Urhobo members, alleging that it was influenced by some leaders in the corridors of power in favour of their chosen aspirant in clear disregard to the leadership of PDP Warri Urhobo leaders.

PDP: National Convention Planning committee will be impartial -Okowa

While alleging that a PDP chieftain in the area lied to PDP delegates that Governor Okowa endorsed the purported winner of the primaries in the constituency, the group in the statement recalled that former Governor James Ibori in his road map to peace which it explained was aimed at balancing the political imbalance against the Warri Urhobos, apportioned Warri South Constituency 1 to the Itsekiris and Warri South Constituency 11 to the Warri Urhobos and that after the exit of Chief Ibori from office, the PDP Itsekiris made several attempts during former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghans regime to snatch the Warri South Constituency 11 from the Warri Urhobos to no avail.

2019: Delta APC Assembly candidate to PDP candidate: Ill defeat you at the polls

According to the statement, Warri South Constituency 1 is comprised of Agbarha Warri communities of Okurode (popularly called Ekurede Urhobo), Ogunu, Otovwodo (Agbassa), Ukpokiti and Oteghele in spite of this, the Warri Urhobos have never contested the DTHA seat in Warri South Constituency 1, whereas Itsekiris PDP have taken over Warri South Constituency 11 from the Urhobos, with the outcome of the primaries

While expressing their continuous and total support for Governor Okowa and the PDP, the group expressed fear that PDP fielding an unpopular candidate against the All Progressives Congress popular candidate may adversely affect the fortunes of the party in the house of assembly election of the constituency in 2019, insisting that PDP Itsekiri leaders influenced the said primaries and that they(Itsekiri PDP leaders) have no say on elections matters in Warri South Constituency 11.

2019: South East Nigeria reacts to Atikus choice of Peter Obi

The statement therefore appealed to Governor Okowa and the Delta PDP heirachy to as matter of urgency call on all the aspirants in the contest and the Warri Urhobos PDP leaders to put their house in order for the party to win the DTHA election in Warri South Constituency 11 and deliver Governor Okowa in 2019.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Atiku is not corrupt  Dansadau

Senator Seidu Dansadau, a governorship candidate in Zamfara State, says former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is not corrupt even as he accused clerics and the media as the main blocs of influencers of the erroneous but unsubstantiated accusation that Atiku is corrupt. Senator Dansadau

Dasadau, who is also the Chairman of the National Rescue Mission,NRM, one of the newly registered parties, said, contrary to the public opinion, no trace of corruption was traced to Atiku, whether while in office or outside office. According to him, there is the erroneous believe that whoever is rich is corrupt. The common mean psyche has been so bastardized such that whoever is rich must be corrupt and thief.

The clerics and the media are not helping matters. Without adequate information based on thorough investigation, these two blocs just say and write anything about people. Unfortunately, there are no consequences for such unverifiable claims, he said. As chairman of Public Accounts for two years in the Senate and members of the same committee for 8 years, I can tell you that there was no corruption traced to Atiku. But those who dont like him particularly these blocs, they are quick to judge and say he is corrupt. In our spiritual history, disciples and prophets of God, some were into businesses and some of them were very rich within their time. Business and entrepreneurship is a noble career.

One of the strengths of Atiku is business. Whatever business he touches, God blesses him. His water company, Faro, do you know the profits he makes from that alone. That alone can sustain one for life,he stated.

Dansadau advised the ruling party to make campaign issue based rather than personal attacks. That is the only way they can be taken seriously because the only thing one hearing from APC these days is that Buhari is the only person who is not corrupt and the only person who can rule Nigeria. So, whoever challenges him automatically is corrupt. In fact, this corruption issue is no longer relevant. Its been over flogged. My advice is, let them change that strategy. It is too weak to win over any discerning minds

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Obasanjo, Sachs, Afreximbank back Africa education fund

- Obasanjo and others have committed to launch the Education Fund for Africa to ensure free education for children on the continent

- The former president said investing in education by Africans for Africans was important for the continents development

- He added that Africa has to develop itself as no one else would do it for her saying the absence of education is the main cause of insurgency in Nigeria

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Jeffrey Sachs and the African Export Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK) have committed to inaugurate the Education Fund for Africa to ensure free education for children on the continent.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that they made the pledge on Saturday at the second Babacar Ndiaye Lecture in Bali, Indonesia.

The lecture was organised by AFREXIMBANK as a side event at the ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG).

READ ALSO: 13 former governors, 7 ex-ministers, others allegedly affected (full list)

Obasanjo and Sachs delivered lectures on Global Power Disequilibrium, Trade Wars and Implications for Africa, in honour of Ndiaye, former President, African Development Bank, who died on July 31.

Obasanjo said that investing in education by Africans for Africans was important for the continents development.

He added that Africa has to develop itself as no one else would do it for her. According to him, the absence of education is the main cause of insurgency in Nigeria.

When you talk to some of our people they will say it is the fault of governors and leaders in the community, but it is the fault of all of us Nigerians.

We have to make sure we get it right and where a particular community is not moving right we have to appeal, cajole, enforce and make sure that every child in that community has education up to secondary school level.

I believe that education is the starting point for development in Africa. There is no earthly reason why any African child should not have education up to secondary school free.

We are the architects of our own fortune or misfortune and so we cannot blame anyone. Education is very basic to everything- life expectancy, maternal mortality, infant mortality, employment generation and all.

Obasanjo said that once the issue of education was solved, the people would live better lives and make contributions to their own communities, states and indeed the world.

On the issue of the existing trade war between the U.S. and China, he said Africa should ensure it got up to 50 per cent intra-African trade to serve as a buffer.

Sachs, a development economist, said that Africa should take advantage of the trade wars to make bold breakthroughs, adding that it was the time to make bold initiatives for 2030.

He said that Africa, India and China were similar in population and should take advantage of the present global issues to develop themselves to become future world economic hubs.

There is a very dramatic technological revolution on the way and that is to the benefit of Africa.

Information revolution is the basis for Africa to make revolutionary advances in healthcare, education and the private sector economy.

You need infrastructure and training for the people on the new technology, so you need to build digital capacity and ensure the universities are creating engineers to handle these new technologies.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet!

On the issue of education for all, Sachs said that if Africa would pledge to fund the vision, he and many others would work to fulfil the pledge. You provide the funds and we make it happen, he said.

Benedict Oramah, the President, AFREXIMBANK, said that although education was not part of the banks mandate, the bank would do everything possible to ensure that the fund emerges.

You ask about where the money will come from but the money is in Africa and we have to start raising the money from within and when we do, others will follow. Africa has to get it right for it to get to where it should be, he said.

The guests at the lecture included leaders of African and global banks, development finance institutions, the business community and political leaders attending the IMF/WBG meetings.

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had reported that the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar might have gotten the nod of his former boss, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on Thursday, October 11, as he seeks to be Nigeria's president in 2019.

Atiku arrived Obasanjos home at about 1:12 p.m Thursday afternoon, accompanied by PDP national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, and the director general of the Atiku Campaign Organisation, Otunba Gbenga Daniel.

Also present in the meeting was a top chieftain of the main opposition party, Chief Olabode George, and Afenifere leaders led by Chief Ayo Adebanjo.

Atiku's acceptance speech after being declared PDP presidential flag bearer | Naij.com TV:

[embedded content]

Subscribe to watch new videos

Source: Naija.ng

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Police confirms death of innocent individual during attack on Tambuwals convoy in Sokoto

- Police in Sokoto have confirmed that one person died during the attack on Governor Aminu Tambuwals convoy

- Political thugs armed with dangerous weapons destroyed billboards, building structures and vehicles bearing inscriptions of the PDP, as the governor proceeded to the Government House

- The deceased was trying to get a commercial motorcycle when a bullet hit him

The Sokoto state Police Command has confirmed the death of one person as a result of stray bullets fired when hoodlums allegedly attacked Governor Aminu Tambuwals motorcade in Sokoto on Saturday, October 13.

The commands spokesperson, DSP Cordelia Nwawe, told newsmen that one other person who was injured during the incident had been hospitalized, NAN reports.

READ ALSO: Atiku is not corrupt - Dansadau insists

NAIJ.com gathers that the PDP had organised a reception rally to welcome Tambuwal after his failed attempt to secure the 2019 presidential ticket of the party.

The governor was received by a crowd of supporters at the Sultan Abubakar III International Airport, Sokoto, and went in a motorcade to the Government House.

The event was, however, not-hitch free as political thugs armed with dangerous weapons destroyed billboards, building structures and vehicles bearing inscriptions of the opposition party.

A car bearing the APC logo and painting travelling to Sokoto from Bodinga was also set ablaze by mobs along the Sokoto State University.

The motorcade was then forced to stop along Gawon Nama, near the resident of Senator Aliyu Wamakko, when another set of mobs carrying arms confronted it.

It took the efforts of security operatives to get it moving again.

A relative of the deceased who pleaded anonymity, disclosed that the deceased, Imran Ahmad-Alkanci, was on his way home after visiting family relations when the incident happened.

The source said the 22-year-old was trying to get a commercial motorcycle when the bullet hit him.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto state may have decided to run for a second term in office after failing to secure the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The immediate past commissioner for local government affairs in the state, Manir Daniya, who was supposed to contest the governorship race after Tambuwal made known his presidential ambition, reportedly stepped down for the governor.

Here's what Saraki and Tambuwal's defection means for the APC - on NAIJ.com TV:

[embedded content]

Subscribe to watch new videos

Source: Naija.ng

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Buhari vs Atiku: What will determine our votes - Northern elders

- Northern Elders Council have disclosed the condition that will determine whom to support between Buhari and Atiku

- The groups chairman said the candidates manifestos will determine who gets their support between the duo

- He said it is not appropriate to endorse candidates without knowing their clear-cut manifestos or programmes

The chairman of the Northern Elders Council, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, has said that the programmes put forward by President Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar would determine which of them the group would support in 2019.

The Punch reports that the NEC chairman said it is premature to endorse any presidential candidate without knowing his or her manifesto.

Yakasai said: In my opinion, this is not the appropriate time to start making decisions about where the votes will go. Neither of the two candidates has published a clear-cut manifesto or programmes. I am advising that people wait for the programmes put forward by the candidates before we make our final choice.

READ ALSO: Corruption travel ban: Alleged full list of affected persons revealed

I was not even in Nigeria when the conventions of the parties took place. By the provision of the constitution of Nigeria, no organisation, other than a political party, is allowed legally to solicit for votes for any candidate.

Those who are doing it are doing it against the law. The Peoples Democratic Party did their convention with 13 aspirants and one emerged. The APC did theirs also. It is a matter for Nigerians to make up their minds to decide whom they will vote for.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that Professor Danny McCain, ambassador, Global Scholars from the United States of America, said President Buhari and former vice president Atiku Abubakar must accept the outcome of the 2019 presidential election to avoid bloodshed in the country.

Speaking on Friday, October 12, in Abuja, at the 9th annual Independence lecture with the theme: The Nigeria of our Dream, organised by The Change we NEED Nigeria Initiative, McCain said every vote must count.

He said the outcome of the election must reflect the aspirations of the people. He further expressed optimism that the next election would be peaceful as demonstrated by the former president Goodluck Jonathan when he accepted defeat and stepped down.

Is Atiku the Right Man to Defeat President Buhari? 2019 Election - Nigeria Street Gist On NAIJ.com TV

[embedded content]

Subscribe to watch new videos

Source: Naija.ng

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | What I will do if elected as the Lagos state governor - Sanwo-Olu

- The governorship candidate of the APC in Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has disclosed how he is going to run his administration if elected as the state governor

- Sanwo-Olu said he would run a government based on the wishes of the people

- The governorship candidate added that he would always keep a listening ear in serving the state

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Saturday, October 13, said he would run a government based on the wishes of the people if elected.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports anwo-Olu made the pledge at Ikeja while speaking during a Thank You visit to party members in the Lagos West senatorial zone.

The APC candidate said his policies and programmes would be based on the yearnings and aspirations of the people.

READ ALSO: Let us try Atiku if he doesnt perform, we will send him out too - Reformed APC Chairman

He added that he would always keep a listening ear in serving the state. Sanwo-Olu, who spoke in Yoruba, said he was seeking the number one seat in the state out of the passion to serve the people and take the state to greater heights.

I am in the governorship race because I want to serve the people. I promise, when we are elected by the Grace of God, I shall run a government based on the aspirations of the people.

I will be a listening governor. I will attend to the needs of the people. I am here to serve and I will do my best to take the state to greater heights.

While appreciating party members for electing him as candidate in the just concluded primaries, Sanwo-Olu said he believed his choice was out of the confidence they had in him to address issues needing attention.

The candidate, however, urged members to brace up for the challenges ahead by mobilising members and residents to secure victory in 2019.

Sanwo-Olu urged members to put the primaries behind them and work together to ensure that APC was victorious in 2019.

I thank you for supporting me to get this far. I am very grateful and I will not disappoint you. But the task ahead is bigger; it is no more a party affair, but we are going to the general election. So, I want to appeal to you that we start our preparations right from now.

We should reach out to everyone and carry out this project together. We should put the issues of primaries behind us and stay together.

I know some people might feel bad that they could not realise one aspiration or the other, it is natural. But we need to put all of that behind us and bring everyone on the train to ensure victory in 2019.

Sanwo-Olu said APC had earned the confidence of residents through the delivery of democratic dividends.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet!

Chief Rabiu Oluwa, Lagos west senatorial leader of the party, described Sanwo-Olu as a man with the passion and the vision to move Lagos forward.

He said party members had confidence in him, hence his emergence as the governorship candidate. Oluwa urged party members to continue to support the candidate to ensure victory in 2019.

Also speaking, the south west zonal woman leader of the party, Kemi Nelson, urged party members to redouble efforts to ensure victory for the party.

Nelson appealed to party members not to underrate the opposition, but that they should see the Sanwo-Olu project as one in which they had to give their best.

We should not underrate the opposition at all; we should not pretend they are not there. We should work, work and work hard and do our best to ensure victory for our candidate and our party, she said.

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had reported that the flag bearer of Lagos state chapter of APC for the 2019 governorship election, Babajide Sanwo-Olu said his administration would focus extensively on the development of the grassroots people and eradication of poverty if elected.

Sanwo-Olu made this known while speaking during his Thank you visit to Lagos Central Senatorial District leadership forum where he met with APC leaders in the senatorial district at Muri-Okunola Street, Victoria Island in Lagos.

Nigeria Latest News: Buhari vs Atiku - 2019 Elections | NAIJ.com TV:

[embedded content]

Subscribe to watch new videos

Source: Naija.ng

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Atiku is not corrupt - Governorship candidate insists; calls out media, clerics for spearheading allegations

- Senator Saidu Dansadau, a governorship candidate in Zamfara, says Atiku Abubakar is not corrupt

- He said no trace of corruption could be linked to Atiku; whether while in office or outside office

- Dansadau advised the All Progressives Congress (APC) to focus its campaign on issues, rather than on personal attacks

A governorship candidate in Zamfara, Senator Saidu Dansadau, says Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2019 elections, is not corrupt.

According to Vanguard, the gubernatorial candidate, who is also the chairman of the National Rescue Mission (NRM), one of the newly registered parties, accused the media and clerics of being the main blocs of influencers of the erroneous but unsubstantiated allegation that Atiku is corrupt.

READ ALSO: Let us try Atiku, if he doesnt perform, we will send him out too - Reformed APC chairman

NAIJ.com gathers that Dansadau decried the erroneous assumption that once a person is rich, they are corrupt. He stated that no trace of corruption could be linked to Atiku, whether while in office or outside office; contrary to popular opinion.

He said: The common mans psyche has been so bastardized such that whoever is rich must be corrupt and a thief. The clerics and the media are not helping matters.

Without adequate information based on thorough investigation, these two blocs just say and write anything about people. Unfortunately, there are no consequences for such unverifiable claims.

He continued: As chairman of Public Accounts for two years in the Senate and members of the same committee for 8 years, I can tell you that there was no corruption traced to Atiku. But those who dont like him, particularly these blocs, they are quick to judge and say he is corrupt.

In our spiritual history, disciples and prophets of God, some were into businesses and some of them were very rich within their time. Business and entrepreneurship is a noble career.

One of the strengths of Atiku is business. Whatever business he touches, God blesses him. His water company, Faro, do you know the profits he makes from that alone? That alone can sustain one for life.

Dansadau advised the All Progressives Congress (APC) to focus its campaign on issues, rather than on personal attacks.

He said: That is the only way they can be taken seriously because the only thing one is hearing from APC these days is that Buhari is the only person who is not corrupt and the only person who can rule Nigeria. So, whoever challenges him automatically is corrupt.

In fact, this corruption issue is no longer relevant. Its been over flogged. My advice is, let them change that strategy. It is too weak to win over any discerning minds.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar said he is not a corrupt person.

The former VP also declared that nobody has been able to provide evidence of corruption against him. He disclosed this in Ekiti state, during a visit to consult with the outgoing governor, Ayo Fayose.

Buhari vs Atiku - 2019 Elections - on NAIJ.com TV:

[embedded content]

Subscribe to watch new videos

Source: Naija.ng

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | 2019: We wont endorse Buhari, Atiku for 2019 presidency - ACF

- The Arewa Consultative Forum said it will not endorse any presidential candidate for the 2019 elections

- The northern group said it will only enlighten the electorate about the qualities to look for in the candidates and make their choice

- It noted that there are other candidates from north that can be voted for apart from President Buhari and former VP Atiku

The Arewa Consultative Forum has said it is not in a hurry to endorse either President Muhammadu Buhari, who is the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, or the Peoples Democratic Partys candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, ahead of the 2019 presidential election.

The secretary -general of the ACF, Anthony Sani, in an interview with The Punch, stated that the northern body was of the view that there were other presidential candidates of northern extraction from other political parties who might need endorsement too.

According to Sani, the forum cannot afford to ignore the other candidates at the expense of Buhari or Atiku.

READ ALSO: Corruption travel ban: Alleged full list of affected persons revealed

He noted that the emergence of both candidates from the northern region was heartening, adding that it would make irrelevant the age-old politics of identity.

The ACF secretary said this would pave the way for real issues of genuine concern to ordinary Nigerians.

He said: Though Atiku and Buhari have emerged as presidential candidates of the two main political parties, it is important to note that there are other presidential candidates of northern extraction in some other political parties who cannot be ignored.

Unlike the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, which planned to endorse a yet unidentified candidate, Sani insisted that it was not practicable for the forum to endorse the candidate of a political party.

He said: What the ACF does is to enlighten the electorate about the qualities to look for in candidates who can provide purposeful and effective leadership.

It will further enlighten the public about the party manifestos that can deliver on what most northerners share.

In the case of the incumbent president, the performance of the administration by way of fair and realistic assessment of progress against plans by the government for the purpose of informed judgment on election day is expected to form part of the enlightenment of voters.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet!

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that the national chairman of the Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC), Alhaji Buba Galadima, on Saturday, October 13, urged Nigerians to cast their votes for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in 2019 general elections.

Galadima, who stated this in Abuja, while delivering his speech at the official inauguration of Enyimba Progressive Association (EPA), Abuja Chapter, said what annoyed him about President Muhammadu Buharis administration was its inability to secure lives of Nigerians and their property.

Nigeria Latest News: Buhari vs Atiku - 2019 Elections | NAIJ.com TV

[embedded content]

Subscribe to watch new videos

Source: Naija.ng

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralLeaders and elders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Lagos West Senatorial District have urged the Governorship candidate of the party, Babajide Sanwo-Olu not to underrate the strength of opponents in the 2019 governorship poll.

The elders, however, expressed no doubt in the ability of Sanwoolu coming out top as he remained the best candidate for the job in the state.

Members of the Governors Advisory Council, Alhaji Rabiu Oluwa, and Dr. Yomi Finnih, immediate past Lagos APC chairman, Otunba Henry Ajomale and immediate past Women leader of the party in Lagos, Kemi Nelson, among others fave the advice, yesterday, during, Sanwo-Olus Thank you visit to Lagos West Senatorial District leadership forum, in Ikeja, for supporting his candidacy at the just concluded primaries.

Speaking on the occasion, Oluwa, urged all the party members to be united and work together to ensure resounding victory for APC to win all elective positions in 2019 polls.

Oluwa said all the party members in the state should reconcile their grievances, especially issues surrounding the just concluded primary elections in the interest of the party as whole

Ajomale said the ruling party cannot afford to lose Lagos to the opposition party. We have never lost Lagos State and we will not lose Lagos State. I was the state chairman of the party for 12 years and we never lost the state to opposition party. I want to implore all of us to work together to ensure Sanwo-Olus victory in the governorship election. We cannot afford to lose Lagos to Jimi Agbaje or any unworthy candidate, he said.

Nelson, in her brief address, urged Sanwoolu not to rest on his oars following overwhelming support he enjoyed during the primaries but embark on reconciliatory and massive mobilisation of voters and residents to achieve maximum victory at 2019 polls.

Meanwhile, In his address, Sanwo-Olu, said Lagos West as the largest senatorial district in Lagos State is important to the partys success in 2019 general elections and therefore implored all the party members to be united and work as a team for APC to achieve positive results in the state.

He assured the party leaders that his government will focus on the people, especially those at the grassroots through different programmes that will bring about development in the state.

Acvording to Sanwoolu: We must do everything to reach out to the people at the grassroots; the poor and the needy. We will develop programmes to reach out to as many people as possible in the state. Governance is about people and we will do everything to reach out to them through different programmes that will bring about development in the state.

Earlier, the Director-General of Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu Campaign Organisation (BOSCO), Mr. Tayo Ayinde, expressed confidence in Sanwoolu to further develop Lagos State and the people and therefore urged all the electorate to vote for the APC governorship candidate and other candidates in 2919 general polls..

Ayinde, also expressed no doubt in the ability of the Senatorial District which has the largest percentage of voters to deliver the largest votes in the targeted 2.5 million, which the campaign organisation planned to deliver for Sanwo-Olu in next year governorship election.Home | News | General | Archbishop of Canterburys Visit to Atiku Generates Debate

The age-long friend and admirer of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, saturday paid an incredible visit to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in his Abuja home.

The visit which took many by surprise was interpreted by many to imply that the former vice-president who emerged as the PDP presidential flag bearer in Port Harcourt last Saturday might be securing international support for his ambition.

Welby who was in Nigeria saturday for an inter-faith dialogue, was accompanied to the house of Atiku by the outgoing British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright.

Both Welby and Arkwright, were received by Atiku and the National Chairman of PDP, Uche Secondus as well as the Director-General of Atiku Campaign Organisation, Gbenga Daniel.



Later in the night, Welby along with the Sultan of Sokoto and other religious leaders were hosted to a dinner by Buhari in the Presidential Villa.

Welbys visit to Atiku, Buharis main challenger at the forthcoming presidential poll, however, generated interest in view of his relationship with latter which spanned decades, beginning from the time the archbishop lived and served in Nigeria as an Executive Director of the French oil corporation, Elf Aquitaine, in the 1970s when the Buhari was Nigerias Minister of Petroleum.

In continuation of the age-long relationship, Welby has always visited Buhari in the Nigeria House anytime the Nigerian president is in London.

In May 2016, for instance, when the then British Prime Minister, David Cameron, was caught on camera, describing Nigeria as one of the fantastically corrupt countries in the presence of the Queen Elizabeth II of England, Welby rose in Buharis defence, saying, but this particular president is not corrupt. Hes trying very hard.

It was against this background of his expected continuous support for Buhari, that his visit to the presidents major opponent at the February 16, 2019 presidential poll was not expected yesterday.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Tragic moment when 27-year-old woman fell to her death while taking selfie (photos)

Capturing precious moments are very important, and people go to great lengths to take lovely photos of themselves, so they can post on social media and get numerous likes among other reasons.

However in a bid to take good photos, it has ended tragically for some, leading to their deaths.

According to a report, taking selfies has led to more than 250 deaths since 2011, and that does not seem ready to stop anytime soon.

NAIJ.com gathered that a 27-year-old woman in Panama, identified as Sandra Manuela Da Costa Macedo, fell to her death from the 27th floor of a building while trying to take a selfie.

The mother of two had been sitting on the railing of the balcony when she tumbled backwards and fell. It has been said that perhaps strong winds pushed her back leading to her fall.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Nigeria

Sad moment when woman falls from 27th floor Photo source: @elsiglodigital on Instagram

Source: Instagram

READ ALSO: Designer Yomi Casual and wife celebrate first wedding anniversary with lovely photos

Sad moment when woman falls from 27th floor Photo source: @elsiglodigital on Instagram

Source: Instagram

Sad moment when woman falls from 27th floor Photo source: @elsiglodigital on Instagram

Source: Instagram

Sandra is also said to be a teacher.

So sad!

Watch the tragic incident HERE.

In other news, NAIJ.com reported that a man thanked God for his life after he narrowly escaped death in the hands of his gate man.

The man had allegedly been attacked by his gate-man in Ibadan, Oyo state.

He took to his Facebook page, to share the sad story of how he was attacked by a gate-man he took care of. He identified the gate-man simply as Jonathan.

William-Funmilayo revealed that the gate-man had come into his room with a knife to attack him. He explained that he escaped only to find out that the gate-man had an accomplice who was holding a machete.

Medical Expert Speaks About High Rate of Maternal Death in Nigeria | Naij.com TV

[embedded content]

Subscribe to watch new videos

Source: Naija.ng

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | How travel ban will bring ridicule on FG - Femi Falana

- Femi Falana, a senior lawyer and human rights activist, says the executive order imposing a travel ban on some Nigerians is a violation of the law

- Falana says only the courts and anti-corruption agencies can impose restrictions on persons in the country

- The senior lawyer calls on the federal government to withdraw the travel ban without any delay

Femi Falana, a senior lawyer and human rights activist has said the travel ban placed on 50 high-profile Nigerians by President Muhammadu Buhari would expose the current administration to ridicule.

The Cable reports that Falana in a statement on Sunday, October 14, said the directive which is backed by an executive order signed by the president was a violation of the law.

The senior lawyer stated that only the courts and anti-corruption agencies could impose restrictions on persons in the country.

He called on the federal government to withdraw the ban without any delay, noting that the ban was a reminder of how the military imposed restrictions on political opponents by seizure of their passports and restricting their movement.

"Sadly, the travel ban is a sad reminder of the reckless placement of political opponents on security watch list and seizure of their passports by the defunct military junta, Falana said.

READ ALSO: Corruption travel ban: 13 former governors, 7 ex-ministers, others allegedly affected (full list)

Notwithstanding such judicial indictment of politically exposed persons seeking medical treatment during trial the law has not authorised the Executive to restrict the movement of criminal suspects.

The power of the anti-graft agencies and the courts to place criminal suspects on watch list or subject their passports to temporary seizure has never been in doubt.

To that extent, the directive to place the 50 high profile suspected persons on watch list and restrict their movement is highly superfluous, completely unwarranted and totally uncalled for.

In fact, it is an ingenious design to expose the Buhari administration to ridicule.

If the federal government had done some background check it would have discovered that the names of the 50 VIPs have long been placed on security watch list while their passports have been impounded by the anti graft agencies or the courts as one of the conditions for admitting them to bail.

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app

For the umpteenth time, I am compelled to caution the Buhari administration to wage the war against the menace of corruption within the ambit of the rule of law.

Since the 50 high profile criminal suspects covered by EO6 have been placed on watch list while their passports have been seized by either the anti graft agencies or the courts the travel ban slammed on them by President Buhari ought to be withdrawn without any delay.

Similarly, Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has raised alarm over the travel ban imposed by the federal government on 50 Nigerians.

Abubakar, on Sunday afternoon, October 14, warned that the travel ban was capable of devastating the Nigerian economy, and could at worse plunge the most-populous black nation into anarchy, Premium Times reports.

The presidential candidate in a statement from his campaign office said the action by the president in imposing the ban was undemocratic and contravenes the sworn oath to abide by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Top 5 the Richest People of Nigeria: The Luxury of Corruption on NAIJ.com TV

[embedded content]

Subscribe to watch new videos

Source: Naija.ng

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Two Nigerian soldiers killed in mine blasts

Two Nigerian soldiers were killed and nine others wounded in two separate mine blasts in the northeast where troops are battling Boko Haram extremists, military and militia sources said Sunday.

Nigeria Soldiers

The two incidents occurred on Saturday, a military officer told AFP.

We lost two soldiers in the incidents. Nine others and three civilian vigilantes were injured, said the officer who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak on the matter.

Troops rescue 73 hostages, kill 7 Boko Haram terrorists in Borno

In the first incident, troops on foot patrol stepped on a mine around Kumshe village, near the border with Cameroon.

Two soldiers were killed in the explosion, a member of a civilian militia assisting in the fight against the jihadists, told AFP.

Hours later a military patrol hit a mine planted on a road between the towns of Dikwa and Marte, about 140 kilometres away. Nine soldiers were wounded as well as three from the civilian militia group, the officer said.

Boko Haram has intensified attacks on military targets in Borno and neighbouring Yobe state in recent months.

The nine-year jihadist conflict which has spilled into Niger, Cameroon and Chad, has killed 27,000 people and left some 1.8 million homeless in Nigeria alone.

FIFA Ranking: Super Falcons remain 38th

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | ICRC raises alarm over 24 hours deadline on healthcare workers abducted by Boko Haram

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), has raised an alarm over the 24 hours deadline given by Boko Haram to eliminate another female staff held captive by the insurgents.

Mr Mamadou Sow, Head of ICRCs Operations in the Lake Chad Basin, in a statement on Sunday made an appeal to the Nigerian Government, communities and individuals towards the release of two medical workers.

Sow named the affected medical workers as; Hauwa Mohammed and Alice Loksha.

According to Sow, speed and urgency are critical. A deadline that could result in the killing of another health care worker is less than 24 hours away.

To the holder of these kidnapped women, we urge you for mercy. We urge you not to kill another innocent health care worker, who was doing nothing but helping the community in north-east Nigeria.

Sow noted that Hauwa worked in a hospital supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), when she was abducted March 1, 2018 with Alice, a nurse who worked in a centre supported by UNICEF.

Hauwa and Alice are medical workers, who chose to work and help vulnerable communities in Rann, an area heavily affected by violence.

The towns population has more than doubled because of the conflict, while most local health care staff have fled. These women were providing essential and life-saving services to thousands of people, displaced and residents alike. All they sought to do was help, he said.

According to him, the third health care worker abducted alongside Hauwa and Alice was ICRC colleague, Saifura Hussaini, who was killed by her abductors in September.

Sow urged those involved with this case to do everything they could to avoid a repeat of that devastating outcome.

He noted that Leah Sharibu, a 15-year-old school student, was taken from her school in Dapchi, in a separate abduction incident in February.

He, however, added that she was also being held by the same armed group and everything must be done to ensure her prompt and unharmed release.

2019: Why womens participation is dwindling

The Director of ICRC Operations in Africa, Patricia Danzi, also urged the Federal Government to work towards the release of the innocent spirited individuals.

We urge you to spare and release these women. They are a midwife, a nurse and a student. Like all those abducted, they are not part of any fight.

They are daughters and sisters; one is a mother, women with their future ahead of them, children to raise, and families to return to, She said.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Drug Abuse: Cleric, others advocate youth empowerment to curb drug use

The Diocesan Bishop of the Diocese of Lagos (Anglican Communion), has urged the countrys leaders to do more by creating employment for the youth, as they are the future leaders.

Rt. Rev. Humphrey Olumakaiye, said this on Sunday at the outing with the Bishop entitled Say No to Drug Abuse at the Church of Resurrection, 1004 Flats, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The cleric also urged wealthy Nigerians to help empower the youth, adding that government cannot do it alone.

There is need for us to be passionate about youth development, because we believe that many of our youths are neglected, and are not brought up properly.

We believe that oil, gas and agriculture are not the greatest resources of a nation, but the youths are the greatest resources of the development of a great nation.

We believe that they are the future of our great nation, in actual fact they are the posterity, they are the hope of our future in this country.

We believe that it will be proper for us to have a holistic approach to youth development, if we do that we are actually building great leaders.

That is why we are embarking on this campaign because we know that drug can kill their vision and destroy their future, he said.

He urged parents to teach their wards the path of righteousness, saying that without the youths there is no nation.

The biggest room is the room for improvement, and we can do more by placing them on the path of righteousness, honesty, dignity of labour.

Above all we need to make sure that they are empowered and we should build them up spiritually, without them we dont have a nation.

They are energetic, they are charismatic, and I believe they have a bright future and that is what we should do as a church, he added.

Prof. Motunrayo Olumakaiye, wife of the Bishop, said that it behooves on parents to always be there for their children rather than leaving them to caregivers.

The youth are the future of a nation, youths are very restless, they want to explore themselves and if they are not positively engaged certainly the devil will engage them.

We want to let the youth know that God has a very bright future for them; its a call to our parents to be more vigilant towards their children.

The internet should be used positively, parents should be conscious of what their children are doing.

Some do not even know what their children are passing through emotionally, psychologically, academically.

Mr Olugbenga Obaparusi, Brand Manager of Emzor Pharmaceutical, urged the government and the church to intensify efforts at creating employment for youths.

We need to intensify our efforts on the youth empowerment and development, the rate of unemployment is alarming, an idle mind is the devils workshop.

2019: Dont replace old irresponsible leaders with young irresponsible leaders

The government and the church should create employment for the youths, if they are empowered and engaged they will be preoccupied, the rate of drug abuse will be minimised if not eradicated.

My advice for youths using drugs is that they should shun drug use, because it is a time bomb that will destroy their lives, he said.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | We shall support Atiku Abubakar to victory in 2019  Wike

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has declared that he will wholeheartedly support PDP Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to electoral victory in 2019.

R-L: PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, Deputy Governor Ipalibo Harry Banigo and Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani at the Government House Port Harcourt on Sunday during a Special Thanksgiving Service for the successful hosting of 2018 PDP National Convention

Speaking at the Government House Port Harcourt on Sunday during a Special Thanksgiving Service for the successful hosting of 2018 PDP National Convention, Governor Wike declared that at the convention he promoted the candidature of Sokoto State Governor, Rt Hon Aminu Tambuwal , but accepts the choice of the party as the way forward.

He said: I supported the Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal fully. I have no regrets for my support for Tambuwal.

But the party has made a choice and as a loyal party man, I stand by the choice of the party. I will support His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar to victory in 2019. That is what is called party loyalty .

Governor Wike stated that APC is a hopeless that has failed Nigeria, pointing out that the all Nigerians must work diligently towards sacking the Buhari administration.

We must put our heads together to ensure that this bad government is sacked. We must ensure that this bad government goes in 2019.

ATIKU: Loneliness of a long distance runner

If this same government returns in 2019, then Nigerians are digging their graves. The suffering now will be a childs play. That is why we must work for the good of our people, he said.

He said after the Special Thanksgiving Service, all Nigerians must head to the fields to work for the victory of the PDP in 2019.

The governor noted that the PDP will win in Rivers State despite the evil machinations of the APC Federal Government. He said that he will complete his mission in Rivers State through a resounding victory in 2019.

On the successful hosting of the National Convention, Governor Wike noted that he stood his ground because of the economy of Rivers State and the fact that Rivers State remains the home of PDP since 1999.

Rivers State has made PDP proud and we shall continue to make PDP proud. God lives in Rivers State , he said.

He reiterated that PDP is alive today because of the kind of National Chairman that emerged in the person of Prince Uche Secondus.

PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus called on Nigerians to work towards taking back the country from the brink of destruction.

Stop plot to sabotage PDP, Kogi state; PDP youth frontier tells Secondus

He said: Let us take back our country from destruction. Everything about this country has collapsed .

He noted that after the National Convention, the party leadership has been involved in fence mending to bring all groups to platform to work for the victory of the PDP in 2019.

He said that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is the best candidate to drive the country to growth and prosperity.

APC will be finally buried in February 2019, he said.

Secondus thanked the Government and people of Rivers State for hosting the most successful convention in the history of Nigerian Party politics.

He charged the security agencies and INEC to work towards free and fair elections in 2019, saying that the plot by the APC Federal Government to rig will be resisted.

In a sermon, Apostle Zilly Aggrey said that the PDP is right to thank God for the successful hosting of the National Convention, noting that it is a platform for greater success.

Rivers State PDP Chairman, Bro Felix Obuah said despite the obstacles, God ensured that the National Convention is the best ever.

The Thanksgiving Service attracted PDP faithful from the 23 Local Government Areas of the state.

Leading gospel artistes; Preye Odede, Mercy Chinwo, Felix Ndukwe, Sensational Dele and selected choirs performed at the event.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Nigeria Back To Decree 2 Era  Atiku Reacts To Buharis Controversial Travel Ban List

Nigerians have been warned that the FGs latest ban on 50 Nigerians is a throwback to Buharis evil Decree Number Two of 1984.

Nigerias former Vice President and presidential candidate of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has warned that the Executive Order 6 (EO6) under which the President Muhammadu Buhari has placed 50 high profile Nigerians under watch and restricted their movement, is a throwback to Decree 2 of 1984.



According to Nigerian Tribune, Atiku reacted on Sunday in Abuja.

Recal that the presidency had on Saturday announced that following the court validation of EO6, at least 50 high profile Nigerians have been placed under a watchlist as President Buhari mandated the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice to implement the order in full.

According to a statement issued by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity), a number of enforcement procedures are currently in place by which the Nigeria Immigration Service and other security agencies have placed the individuals directly affected by EO6 on watch-list and restricted them from leaving the county pending the determination of their cases.

Atikus statement read in part: It is a throwback to Buharis evil Decree Number Two of 1984 which criminalised truth-telling if it did not please Buhari, proving that dictators can grow old, but they cant grow into democrats.

The statement which emanated from his media office in Abuja observed that the crime of the victims is that they are suspected of having property overseas and are involved in tax dodging or other alleged financial infractions.

Atiku said while the nation must unequivocally abhor any act of criminality, financially or otherwise, the rule of law must be the guide at all times or society will descend to anarchy.

The statement added: Thus, we find it most undemocratic that in a nation governed by the rule of law, a President who swore an oath to abide by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, does this.

If past events are to be the judge, these 50 individuals will conveniently be critics and opponents of the Buhari administration.

This is nothing short of intimidation ahead of the 2019 elections.

This is what the Buhari administration did in Osun where they froze the accounts of the Adeleke family and then illegally and clandestinely paid a16.7 billion to the Osun state government to facilitate daylight electoral robbery.

The Nigerian Constitution guarantees every Nigerian citizen freedom of movement and freedom of association. This Constitutional right cannot be taken away except by a court order.

If the Buhari administration wants to curtail the rights of Nigerians, then they must go to court and obtain a court order. Anything short of this is unconstitutional and extrajudicial.

This sudden dictatorial act brings to mind President Buharis comments for which he was condemned by the international community and by the generality of Nigerians.

While delivering an address at the annual general conference of the Nigerian Bar Association on August 26, 2018, President Buhari has said where national security and public interest are threatened or there is a likelihood of their being threatened, the individual rights of those allegedly responsible must take second place, in favour of the greater good of society.

That was not only a faulty interpretation of the constitution, the statement also betrays the dictatorial and authoritarian mindset of President Buhari because only he gets to decide who and what threatens national security.

The presidential hopeful further observed that under the Buhari administration, Nigeria has witnessed an unprecedented capital flight out of the nation to the extent that the country is not even listed amongst the top 10 recipients of Foreign Direct Investment in Africa in the latest ranking by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

The statement further said: It is salient to note that we were number one under the last Peoples Democratic Party administration.

Funny enough, the Buhari administration was unable to stop Abdulrasheed Maina, their financier, from leaving the country after he was illegally brought back by them and reinstated to the federal service with double promotion.

It is precisely this type of draconian orders that have chased investors away from Nigeria and it is precisely why Nigerians will chase this recession-friendly government away from power on February 16, 2019, so we can begin the job of Getting Nigeria Working Again.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | News | General | Another Goof By FG? Dead Judge Among 50 Nigerians Banned From Travelling Abroad

A former Chief Judge of Enugu State who was buried months ago, is among the Nigerian top dignitaries banned by President Buhari from travelling outside the country.

The President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government has included a dead person on its list of 50 Nigerians banned from travelling abroad .



The presidential senior special adviser on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, had on Saturday, announced that at least 50 Nigerians being probed for alleged corruption have been banned from leaving the country.

He had said the action was to the effect of the executive order six recently signed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

But you wouldnt believe among these Nigerians placed on the watch list published by The Nation, is Innocent Umezulike, former chief judge of Enugu state who has been deceased since June.

Interestingly, Umezulike passed away even before the executive order in question was signed by the president in July.

The late judge, who was arraigned in 2017 for alleged corruption, was laid to rest in September.

It is unclear, whether the presidency is aware that the late Jurist is already resting in peace in his grave in Enugu State or whether the ban is intended to operate even from his grave.

This however is not the first time the presidency will be listing dead Nigerians in its data as among the living. In December 2017, President Buhari appointed 8 dead people as Board members of government agencies and ministries.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: GeneralHome | World | Africa | Mnangagwa ally donates his govt salary to charity

Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce, Raj Modi will donate his monthly salary during his tenure in Government to under-privileged people in Bulawayo.

Modi is the only Zanu-PF candidate who won a parliamentary seat in Bulawayo's 12 constituencies. He was elected MP for Bulawayo South during the July harmonised elections.

In an interview with our Bulawayo Bureau, Modi said the monthly donation is the least he can do for the people of Bulawayo, whom he credits for his success.

"I am a successful businessman because of the people of Bulawayo. I am a Member of Parliament because of the people of Bulawayo and I was appointed Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce because I am a Member of Parliament, so I am a Minister because of the people of Bulawayo. While I can thank them all through words, I am compelled to show my gratitude by helping the under-privileged in our city. Therefore, I am making an undertaking to donate my entire salary every month to the needy. I will not touch or use a cent from that money. It will go to the poor, especially the children whom I love so much. I will also give to women, orphans, the elderly and people living with disabilities."

The philanthropist said his humble monthly donation is an effort to contribute towards the national cause.

"The Government wants to eradicate poverty. I believe that the effort should start at the household level, at the grassroots, going up. I am in touch with the grassroots, I know what our people want as my lifestyle is not far removed from those of the electorate.

"However, I must hastily add that I am not going to help the people of Bulawayo South only but the people of Bulawayo, the city. I don't care where you are from; if I have the opportunity to assist you, I will assist you. I know what it feels like to be poor. I have the emotional intelligence and the empathy that enables me to walk in the shoes of the underprivileged."

Meanwhile, Modi, in partnership with Smile Africa, an NGO that helps the underprivileged, donated 1 260 packets of rice mixed with soya to more than 150 children at Sidojiwe Hostels in Belmont yesterday.

"I partnered with Smile Africa to source food for the children of Sidojiwe because I believe it is time to work as a cohesive unit and make a coordinated effort to help the people of Bulawayo, instead of separate entities making individual efforts. Sidojiwe is in my constituency and as much as I want to help everyone who needs help, I cannot do it alone. That is why I am working with those who are willing to work with me to bring relief to our people," he said.

Mr Albert Mavunga, the founder and chairperson of Smile Africa, said they had decided to work with Modi as he is a prominent humanitarian.

"The Deputy Minister has been giving to the poor for over two decades now and he has been doing so from his pocket. Smile Africa saw it necessary to seek him out and to partner him because we believe we can do more together. This donation is just the first of many that we will be doing together," said Mr Mavunga.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: AfricaHome | World | Africa | Bulawayo residents refuse to listen to 'foreign' mayor

AS residents continue to blast the Bulawayo City Council for raising rates and rentals in their 2019 budget projects it has since emerged that 16 out of 32 consultation meetings in the city endorsed the budget, while the local authority failed to hold a meeting in one ward.

The consultation did not take place in Ward 24, which is under the leadership of controversial Councillor, Arnold Batirai.

Although the council's senior public relations officer, Mrs Nesisa Mpofu could not comment why the meeting was not held, sources revealed residents in the ward refused to listen to Clr Batirai arguing that they did not recognise him as their ward councillor.

Mrs Mpofu revealed that women in the city were among the constituencies consulted that had voted no to the budget. She, however, could not be drawn into commenting on the reason for the rejection. Wards that did not endorse the budget are wards 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27 and 28.

The business community and youth endorsed the budget together with wards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 13, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23 and 29.

Speaking during the budget presentation that was held last Wednesday, councillors implored those that had not endorsed the budget to come aboard and help the local authority push one way.

"Now that we have our budget let us all work together in implementing it, yes we know there are some who did not endorse it but in a democracy it is the majority who always win and this time the majority of the constituencies consulted endorsed the budget," said Ward One Councillor, Mlandu Ncube.

Meanwhile, residents have blasted the local authority for a number of irregularities within the budget making process, revealing that the local authority had even failed to provide them with copies of the financial review for 2018 and copies of the proposed 2019 budget prior to budget consultations.

They further allege the budget review document shared by the Bulawayo City Council at budget consultation meetings did not contain much information on the proposed 2019 budget.

In an interview with Sunday News, Bulawayo Progressive Residents' Association information manager, Mr Zibusiso Dube, said the local authority owed residents an explanation.

"The Bulawayo City Council informed residents too late about the budget consultations, with information about the meetings only becoming available three days before commencement of the consultations. They once again failed to avail residents with copies of the financial review for 2018 and copies of the proposed 2019 budget prior to budget consultations, meaning that residents could not prepare their input in advance and make informed contributions at the budget consultations.

"While the council made indications on what it spends and would like to spend for say water, healthcare and education, no breakdowns of amounts to be spent were given. For instance, for water services it is unclear how much is spent on water chemicals or maintenance of the city's water works or how much is spent on salaries for staff in the water department. As such, residents were put in a position where they cannot make meaningful contributions," said Mr Dube.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa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this is pretty good casting

Reply

Thread

Link

I mean, Patricia is a good actress but she looks nothing like Dee Dee Blanchard. I wonder if she is going to gain weight or if she will have to wear a fatsuit.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

bizarre casting choice. are there no competent heavy actresses?

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

That's weird, I was literally just reading about Gypsy Rose Blanchard the other day. She clearly knew a lot of it was a lie, particularly her age, and the fact that she even showed people her real birth certificate over and over to prove she was an adult but they just kept believing her mother that she was a disturbed child anyway and returning her to her for even worse abuse is so disturbing.

Reply

Thread

Link

you should watch the documentary if you can! i know its on hbo, but im sure you can stream it from somewhere else.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

This story is so fascinating to me. I hope this series is good

Reply

Thread

Link

I am not my hair, I am not this skiiiin, I aaaaaaaam the soul that liiiiiives within

Reply

Thread

Link

One of my sisters definitely had that green blouse in high school. And that makeup palette.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I think about Gypsy all the time. Her childhood was hell and now she's in prison. Poor girl :(

Reply

Thread

Link

I think she even said in an interview that she actually enjoys her life in prison, because it's so much better than what she had before.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I just hope she's getting the therapy that she so desperately needs. Girl didn't have a chance from the beginning with a mother like that.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

the shaved head really suits her

Reply

Thread

Link

It does. Shes so pretty.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Is the lip injections?

Reply

Thread

Link



nope, shes always been a little cutie with lips

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I believe you

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

i kinda see emily blunt in that before picture?

Reply

Thread

Link

I'm so jealous of anyone that looks good with a shaved head. I would look like a moon.

Reply

Thread

Link

the moon is beautiful so there you go :~)

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link



Thank you <3

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Me too. I feel like I will shave my head at some point in my life, but probably not for 20 years, minimum. I have a round face and a definite bump in my skull... wish I could see what I would look like first

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

i asked my mom if my head had any scars i didnt remember or was weird shaped because i wanted to shaved my hair

but i feel you, i want to shave again but i gained weight so i wont do it until i feel better about that



Edited at 2018-10-14 05:23 am (UTC)

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I have a massive forehead and a crooked nose so I feel you. Id look so bizarre with my head shaved lmao

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I'm basically a walking chin and nose so i think it would just be too much for people to handle, that walking straight at them with no hair to soften it

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

as soon as i lose weight im buzzing my hair off lmao. i cant wait.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

The casting is interesting to me, because in the shaved-head picture, Joey King really reminds me of Rosanna Arquette, for some reason.

Reply

Thread

Link

Ill be seeing the fuck out of this movie that story is so wild. I feel so bad for gypsy such a fucked up life

Reply

Thread

Link

Here for this hair post - I've shaved my head quite a few times and I keep my hair super short generally. In fact I need to shave the back and sides tomorrow and I am NOT looking forward to it cause it's such a pain to get it neat and tidy on my own.

Reply

Thread

Link

one of the most depressing cases i've ever read about. everything about it makes my heart hurt. the decade-long abuse, gypsy desperately reaching out over the internet to terrible people. so sad the authorities never caught on to what the mother was doing.

Reply

Thread

Link

I was so relieved when her mom died tbh jfc

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

IMO killing her was self-defense

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I read that in the age of GoFundMes and social media its getting easier for authorities to track Munchausen by proxy cases once hospitals start to raise red flags. Its rough but theres definitely more awareness and suspicion now at least

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

omg I am READY for this!

Reply

Thread

Link

Lmao my first reaction was "Joey King is 19 years old???" I haven't heard about her since Ramona and the Beezus so she has stayed perpetually a tiny child in my mind this entire time



MSBP has got to be one of the most unsettling things that exists in this world that I'm aware of.

Reply

Thread

Link

She was the star of this terrible Netflix movie called the Kissing Booth that Twitter/Tumblr is obsessed with.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

surprisingly she's been in a ton of stuff, she's worked very steadily

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link





Mte! She's permanently Ramona-sized in my head, she was so cute in that movie...

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

never watch the kissing booth because she is like so wildly sexualized in that film



Edited at 2018-10-14 08:27 pm (UTC)

Reply

Parent

Thread



LinkIn the World is Not Enough, British spy James Bond takes on international oil cartels and illegal operators. The fiction of the story is clear to all, but the underlying subject is still very valid, as the ongoing media riot about Washington Post journalist Khashoggi, a Saudi national, is putting pressure on the House of Saud.

The disappearance of the former Saudi journalist, presumably in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, last week, is causing a diplomatic and strategic conflict between the West and Saudi Arabia of unprecedented levels. British spy-novel writers John LeCarre and Ian Fleming would have been flabbergasted these days, when looking at the growing crisis surrounding Saudi Arabias international standing and the position of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The possible role of the Royals in the abduction of Khashoggi, supported by the Saudi Royal Court and secret services, will not blow over without leaving immense scars. The current crisis will not just have possible repercussions for the Kingdom, as its international standing is being threatened, it was also influence the power game currently ongoing in the Royal Palace.

Without even knowing the real facts behind the disappearance of Khashoggi, one thing is clear; the rosy halo surrounding the Young Prince in Riyadh has been removed by force.

As long as there are no real hard facts being presented by either the Saudi government, who are claiming not be involved, and the Turkish government, claiming that they have hard facts showing the abduction and killing of Khashoggi, the crisis will continue, opening even more ugly wounds in the coming days. The Khashoggi issue could even lead to a much more dangerous situation than currently is being discussed in the media or by Western politicians or anti-Saudi forces in Qatar, Turkey and Iran.

Related: Goldman: The Oil Market Can Handle Iran Outages

The anti-MBS forces are having a field day, as they are able, without a military intervention or assassination, to undermine the position of the Crown Prince significantly.

Already, American Senators, European politicians and Turkish officials, are calling for very harsh measures against the Saudi Kingdom if proof appears of the direct involvement of the Saudi government or members of the Royal Family, including MBS, in the abduction and killing of the journalist.

Blocking potential investments deals or military sales could be already part of the discussions in Washington, London or Brussels. The heat is also on via the international financial sector, which is expected to be heading to Riyadh for the Future Investment Initiative 2018 in 1.5 weeks. A growing list of investors and speakers, such as Virgin Groups CEO Richard Branson, Uber CEO Khosrowshahi, Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, AOL co-founder Steve Case and The Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington, threatening not to attend is a major blow to Riyadhs dream. More Western CEOs are expected to join this list, putting pressure on Riyadh to act swiftly. Riyadh and MBS will need to quickly address these issues, including opening up its books on Khashoggi. For the long-term, Riyadhs future will depend on an influx of cash and companies, willing to take part in its future.

Related: Whats Next For Oil Prices?

Another spy character, Jack Ryan (Tom Clancys Hero), would be a good advisor to MBS at present. The Crown Prince will now need to play on several chess boards at the same time, dealing with Grandmasters in Moscow, Beijing and Delhi to counter Western opposition and to support his own position in the Kingdom, OPEC and regionally. On all sides, the dangers are clear. Most probably MBS is a vivid reader of Clancy too, now trying to mitigate the damage by arranging a turn-to-the-east, which has been extremely quiet in the Khashoggi case.

Still, outside support or contracts will not save the Crown Prince yet. Showing weakness, while his dream, Saudi Vision 2030 and FII2018, is showing cracks could be fatal. He will need to show strength and political hardness. Realism is back in town, soft doctors make stinking wounds.

The threat to MBSs position, and possibly the King, also will derail ongoing discussions the coming weeks between OPEC and non-OPEC how to deal with the U.S. Sanctions on Iran, the continuing tweets of Trump to produce more oil, and regional instability. If MBS is openly weakened, or being confronted by low success at FII2018, the entire future of the Oil Kingdom is at stake. Internal instability, currently kept under the carpet, will erupt for sure in the open. For the global oil market, this situation is a direct threat to current market stability too. With OPECs leading producer, and proponent of the current oil production deal with Russia, weakened or even threatened by regime implosion, the sharks will be hunting very soon. Several OPEC members will not be totally unhappy with the volte face of MBS, as some indicated. An instable Saudi Arabia gives room to maneuver for Iran, Qatar and Venezuela. These three will be looking for any weak point in the Saudi power constellation, as this will weaken the Moscow-Riyadh link too. Khashoggis disappearance in Istanbul also brings in Turkey as a player. Erdogan and MBS are not on speaking terms since years, while Iran and Qatar have Ankara in the pocket.

By Cyril Widdershoven for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:The oil market is well-balanced and well-supplied.

This was one of the key messages in the speech that OPECs Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo delivered at the Oil & Money Conference in London this week.

The oil market isnt necessarily all in on OPECs well-supplied narrativethe perception among market participants has been for weeks that the market is short on oil and will continue to tighten even more when U.S. sanctions on Iran snap back in three weeks time and Venezuelas unstoppable production decline continues.

Despite assurances from oil experts and officials that there isnt any shortage of supply, the fear factoras Vitols chairman Ian Taylor put ithas largely, until today, overshadowed fundamentals and is making the oil market more emotional than usual.

OPECs chief attempted to calm market fears, assuring delegates at the London conference this week that there is plenty of oil to go around, that Russia and Saudi Arabia are adding supply as promised in June to maintain the supply and demand balance, and that OPECs largest producer Saudi Arabia has not turned down a single customer.

Barkindos speech coincided with the publication of the cartels Monthly Oil Market Report, which showed that Saudi Arabia added 108,000 bpd of production last month, lifting output to 10.512 million bpd, and that Russia pumped a post-Soviet record high of 11.54 million bpd, up by 150,000 bpd from August. OPECs increased production and the help from Russia offset a 150,000-bpd production loss in Iran and another plunge in Venezuela, which is now pumping less than 1.2 million bpd, as per OPEC secondary sources. Related: Oil Markets Take A Bearish Turn

At the conference in London, Barkindo also revealed that one of the key oil customers and demand growth driversIndiahad sent a letter to OPEC complaining about the high oil prices it is now paying for oil.

OPEC is scheduled to hold talks with India on October 17, as it wants to ease consumer fears, the cartels chief said.

India has expressed discomfort with the high oil prices, Barkindo said, noting that As one of our major consuming countries, of which we have an official energy dialogue, it was also a concern for us getting this feedback from India.

And it should be a concern for OPEC, because Indiaalso struggling with a massive local currency depreciation which makes oil even more expensive for itis a key demand growth driver, and this discomfort may be a sign that demand destruction is coming with Brent Crude prices above $80 a barrel.

Im confident, hearing from our largest producers, that they are ready, willing, and capable to ensure that this market remains well supplied, OPECs head stressed, as quoted by Platts.

The market has been reacting to perceptions of a supply shortage, it is not really as such. The balance may be fragile as a result of non-fundamental factors, but I remain confident that we will overcome.

Not only is the market currently well-supplied, projections point to a possible rebuild of stocks in 2019, Barkindo said.

Despite assurances that there isnt any shortage of oil in the world and that Saudi Arabia and Russia would be keeping the supply-demand balance, OPECs head admitted that current market forces are definitely not the fundamentals, and are out of reach of the cartels control. Related: Barclays: $70 More Likely Than $100

Nonetheless, we do recognize that there are many non-fundamental factors influencing the market that are beyond the oil industrys control, such as geopolitics, growing trade disputes, natural disasters and other developments. They can have compound effects and are a major source of uncertainties, Barkindo said in his keynote speech.



OPECs report and the chiefs speech at the conferencealong with the EIAs report that US crude stocks saw a sizeable increasedid manage to assuage fears and contribute to a price decline in the last couple of days.

Despite these assurances from OPEC, its likely that the oil market will continue to be ruled by emotions rather than fundamentals for at least another month, until participants see how much Iranian oil will really be choked off by the sanctions, how much the Saudis and Russians are able (and willing) to offset, how low Venezuelan production would drop, or how Libya and/or Nigeria will keep their ever-fragile production recovery.

There may be no shortage of oil whatsoever, but the perception of a supply squeeze may still be the dominant narrative on the market over the next few weeks and months.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:Three members of an Australian family used a broom and a shovel to fight off a rare attack by a large kangaroo that left all of them injured, one seriously. Linda Smith, 64, suffered a collapsed lung, broken ribs, cuts and other internal injuries, and underwent surgery in hospital on Sunday after the Saturday evening attack at her property in the Darling Downs region of Queensland state. The wildlife carer and her husband Jim had been feeding 30 kangaroos and wallabies at their property every night amid a severe drought that has depleted their food sources. One of the large males -- at least six-foot (1.8 metres) tall -- turned on her husband as he fed it, she told Queensland Ambulance Service. "Jim was on the ground and the kangaroo just kept at him. I went outside to try and help him and took a broom and a piece of bread but he knocked the broom out of my hand then attacked me," Smith said. The 64-year-old managed to get the roo off her husband and grabbed a piece of wood to defend herself, while her 40-year-old son "came out to try and help me and hit him over the head with a shovel". The kangaroo then hopped off back into the bush, Queensland Ambulance Service's senior operations supervisor Stephen Jones said, adding that the attack was "rare". "They are known to attack and can be quite vicious, particularly the large males. But it is something that is uncommon, something that I haven't come across in my 30-odd years in the service," Jones told AFP. He added that if Smith had not intervened to help her husband, who suffered multiple cuts and abrasions to his arms, chest and legs, he could have suffered more serious injuries and "the outcome may have even been death". Smith, who said she has been a wildlife carer for 15 years, added that she did not want the marsupial to be hunted down and killed. Calling what happened "an act of nature", Smith said she was always aware she was dealing with wildlife. "I am always careful, especially of the males. It's breeding time so they can be more aggressive. I don't want this kangaroo to be hunted down and killed, I love animals," she added. "I do understand what happened but I have never seen one that aggressive -- it was in there for a fight and it wouldn't back off." There are more than 46 million kangaroos across Australia according to a government count last year, but conservationists warn that population numbers are falling amid a long drought in the vast continent's east.1 hour ago

'We dont deserve this': Inflation hits Turkish people hard

ISTANBUL (AP)  Market-stand owner Kadriye Dogru makes do with stale, sesame-covered bagels, known as simit, for lunch these days. The widowed mother of two says she goes without lunch so she can put food

Read ArticleTORONTO, Oct. 14, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Over 50 actions are expected on Monday, October 15, when communities across Ontario mobilize in defense of new workers rights brought in by Bill 148: Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, including the $15 minimum wage that is scheduled for January 1.



What stands to be the largest coordinated day of action for Ontario workers in the past decade will target ridings of Conservative MPPs, after Premier Doug Ford revealed the government is considering the full repeal of Bill 148, cancelling Ontarios decent work laws.

It is not too late for Premier Doug Ford and his cabinet to do the right thing and help Ontario workers, said Ontario Federation of Labour President Chris Buckley. This October 15, wherever Conservative MPPs look across the province, theyll find workers who want, need and deserve decent work laws, including the $15 minimum wage.

The law is the law, and as it stands, nearly 2 million workers are scheduled to get a raise in 11 weeks, says Pam Frache, Coordinator of Fight for $15 & Fairness Campaign. Every single day we encounter people who tell us they voted for Premier Ford because they thought his promise to be for the people meant standing up to corporate elites, like Galen Weston and Rocco Rossi. Repealing Bill 148 now would be a slap in the face of many workers who voted for Premier Ford, she added.

Rocco Rossi is the Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, which has repeatedly called for a full repeal of Bill 148. That same bill brought in modest reforms like 10 days of job-protected emergency leave (the first two days paid), equal pay for equal work, and making it easier to join and keep a union (read more here ).

Actions across the province range from public rallies, visits to the offices of Conservative MPPs, workplace actions in support of $15 & Fairness, campus actions at universities and colleges as well as neighbourhood outreach blitzes.

The day of action is coordinated by the Fight for $15 and Fairness and the Ontario Federation of Labour as well as community, student, teacher, faculty, faith, health, labour and non-profit associations across the province.

Scroll below for October 15 Actions, more details are coming, including actions at Ontarios 24 colleges. To see the latest listing of events, visit www.15andFairness.org or www.oflevents.ca .

AJAX

MPP Rod Phillips Office

4:00 PM to 6:00 PM  1 Rossland Road W, Suite 209

https://www.facebook.com/events/1890033274377097/

ALLISTON

MPP Jim Wilsons Office

4:15 PM to 6:15 PM  180 Parsons Rd, Unit 28

https://www.facebook.com/events/1105764262908474/

AURORA

Outreach Blitz

2:30 PM to 4:00 PM  15900 Bayview Avenue

https://www.facebook.com/events/2278584029054493/

BRAMPTON

Outreach Blitz

5:00 PM to 6:30 PM  Brampton City Hall, 2 Wellington Street West

https://www.facebook.com/events/1109860432517237/

BRANTFORD

MPP Will Boumas Office

1:00 PM to 2:00 PM -- Assemble at Laurier Brantford (student centre), then visit the MPPs office at 96 Nelson Street (Suite 101)

https://www.facebook.com/events/1925329787772168/

COBOURG

MPP David Piccinis Office

4:00 PM to 6:00 PM  513 Division Street

https://www.facebook.com/events/2239650782774692/

ETOBICOKE

Outreach Blitz

12:00 PM to 2:00 PM  Corner of Dixon and Islington

https://www.facebook.com/events/273361209972051/

GUELPH

Outreach Blitz and Banner Action

9:00 AM to 4:00 PM -- University Centre and Guelph City Hall

https://www.facebook.com/events/2051966904867912/

HAMILTON

Mohawk College

12:00 Noon to 1:00 pm  Fennel Campus (135 Fennel Avenue West)

https://www.facebook.com/events/660954794289049/

Rally

6:00 PM to 7:00 PM  Jackson Square (James North and King Street)

https://www.facebook.com/events/2126481291013219/

KINGSTON

Outreach Blitz - Queens University

12:00 Noon to 1:00 PM (University Avenue & Union Street West)

Outreach Blitz - St. Lawrence College

1:00 pm to 2:00 pm (main entrance, transit stop)

Outreach Blitz - Cataraqui Town Centre

4:00 pm to 5:00 pm (location TBA)

https://www.facebook.com/events/163504867919883/

LONDON

Fanshawe College

10 AM to 3 PM  F Building at Fanshawe College

https://www.facebook.com/events/548694465559530/

Chamber of Commerce Action

4:00 PM to 6:00 PM  London Chamber of Commerce, 244 Pall Mall St

https://www.facebook.com/events/240792906594680/

MISSISSAUGA

Outreach Blitz

11:00 AM to 1:00 PM -- Westwood Mall, (7205 Goreway Drive), at the bus shelter

https://www.facebook.com/events/314623869120414/

Outreach Blitz

5:00 PM to 7:00 PM  Mississauga Celebration Square (300 City Centre Dr)

https://www.facebook.com/events/343116039596400/

NEWMARKET

Action Against Corporate Bullies

6:00 PM to 7:00 PM  Real Canadian Superstore, 18120 Yonge St

https://www.facebook.com/events/550068845448883/

NORTH BAY

15 Workplace Actions

9:00 AM to 9:00 PM  Across the city

https://www.facebook.com/events/991736950987724/

OAKVILLE

Banner Drop

4:30 PM to 6:00 PM  Trafalgar Road exit  South-West QEW off-Ramp

https://www.facebook.com/events/1800350026749723/

OTTAWA

Outreach Blitz

4:00 PM to 6:00 PM  in front of Loblaws, 363 Rideau St (corner of Nelson St)

https://www.facebook.com/events/681597172211532/

PETERBOROUGH

Outreach Blitz

4:30 PM to 6:00 PM  South East corner of George St North & Simcoe St

https://www.facebook.com/events/543791412738650/

SCARBOROUGH

Centennial College, Progress Campus

9:00 AM to 12:00 PM  Progress Campus, the Bridge

https://www.facebook.com/events/243984089622188/?event_time_id=243984096288854

Scarborough Centre

10:30 AM to 12:00 PM  Intersection of Warden Ave and Lawrence Ave East

https://www.facebook.com/events/550380335403347/

Scarborough Agincourt

12:30 PM to 2:00 PM  Sheppard Ave East and Kennedy Road Intersection

https://www.facebook.com/events/336959493705534/

Scarborough Rouge Park

2:30 PM to 4:00 PM  Morningside Avenue and Milner Avenue Intersection

https://www.facebook.com/events/1083895695111500/

ST. CATHARINES

Rally

12:00 PM to 2:00 PM  Outside the Ministry of Transportation, 289 St Paul St

https://www.facebook.com/events/2143198219048121/

TORONTO

Morning Outreach Blitz

7:30 AM to 8:45 AM  Dufferin & Sherbourne TTC stations

https://www.facebook.com/events/338555650239079/

York University Outreach Blitz

11:00 AM to 12:30 PM  Vari Hall, York University at 198 York Blvd

https://www.facebook.com/events/2149680478582507/

University of Toronto Outreach Blitz

11:00 AM to 1:30 PM  Sid Smith (East Side)

https://www.facebook.com/events/2186536938264706/

Rally outside Ministry of Labour

12:30 PM to 1:30 PM  400 University Ave

https://www.facebook.com/events/251715398866409/

Educators at Lawrence West

3:15 PM to 5:00 PM  Lawrence West Subway Station

https://www.facebook.com/events/475332019618614/

WATERLOO

MPP Mike Harris Office

3:00 PM to 5:00 PM  63 Arthur St South Unit 3&4

https://www.facebook.com/events/1109742122517576/

For more information:

Meagan Perry,

Director of Communications

Ontario Federation of Labour

mperry@ofl.ca l 416-894-3456

Nil Sendil

Communications Coordinator

Fight for $15 & Fairness

info@15andfairness.org l 647-710-5795

cope343The community will repay a little of the debt owed to those who served in the armed forces at the Santa Barbara County Veterans Stand Down setMark James Miller is an associate English instructor at Allan Hancock College, and president of the Part Time Faculty Association. He can be reached at mark@pfaofahc.com.KABUL (Reuters) - The number of people killed when a bomb went off at an election rally in northeastern Afghanistan has climbed to at least 22, officials said on Saturday.

The explosion happened in Takhar province where scores of people had gathered to listen to a speech by a woman standing as a candidate in the parliamentary polls on Oct. 20.

Jawad Hejri, spokesman for Takhar governor, said at least 22 people died and 36 were wounded in the attack, in Rustaq district.

Explosives had been placed on a motorcycle near the rally, which was to have been addressed by the candidate, Nazifa Yousufi Bek.

The victims included security officials and civilians, a local police official said, adding that the candidate was not at the rally at the time.

No militant group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. It is the third attack against the election campaign process this month.

Bek is one of 417 women contesting seats across the country, more than ever before.

Candidates, regardless of gender, are braving violence and opposition from social conservatives in a campaign seen as a test of the war-torn nation's democratic institutions.

Seven candidates, all men, have been killed in separate attacks so far. Another two have been abducted, and four others have been wounded by hardline Islamist militants, election officials said.

Takhar, a province bordering Tajikistan, has long been a hotbed of the Taliban insurgency. The Taliban have told Afghans to boycott the upcoming polls.

In the western province of Herat, gunmen attacked the election campaign office of a candidate, killing a security guard and a child, said Jailani Farhad, a spokesman for the Herat governor.

President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attacks in a statement, saying that the enemies of Afghans cannot weaken the will of the nation.

US ambassador to Afghanistan John Bass condemned the violence, and called on the Taliban to do the same.

"If the group (the Taliban) is serious about the peace process it will do the same and punish those responsible," he said in a tweet.

(Reporting by Sardar Razmal and Abdul Qadir Sediqi; Writing by Rupam Jain; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Andrew Bolton)

Donald Trumps trade wars: what China should do next



One response on Beijings part would be to recognise the risk of a broader clash



Philip Stephens







China has changed the world. It has been too slow to understand that it has also changed the worlds view of China. These are unsettling times for Beijing. Until now Chinas rise has been on its own terms. There have been bumps and squalls and the occasional stand-off with Washington, but mostly the west has been distracted or amenable. Chinese leaders have grown used to getting their own way. Now, Chinas feet are being held to the fire.



There is a temptation to imagine that party chiefs have a carefully worked-out strategy in response to the latest package of punitive tariffs announced by US president Donald Trump  the equivalent of a $25bn tax on Chinese exports to the US. It is axiomatic among much western commentary that China always thinks three moves ahead. The signs now are otherwise. Those reading the runes in Beijing say the leadership has been caught badly off guard.



Years of deep research into the way America works have been confounded by Mr Trumps wilful unpredictability. Beijings intelligence is weak. The high-level contacts in Washington and beyond  so carefully cultivated by Chinese officials  did not include the hardliners now setting the pace in the presidents inner circle. Beijing has for years studied the inter-agency process of US decision-making only to discover that to know by heart how US administrations usually work is not to know what Mr Trump will do next  or why.



The US president is by nature volatile  witness his bomb-you-hug-you approach to North Koreas Kim Jong Un. There is more to Chinas discombobulation, however, than confusion wreaked by Mr Trumps crudely mercantilist view of trade balances or the inconstancy of White House decision-making. Beijing should look also to the change wreaked by its own behaviour.



During the past several years China has reshaped the dynamics of its relationship with the west. This reaches well beyond Washington. Ask most European policymakers what they think of a Sino-American trade war and they will tell you that Mr Trumps approach is dangerous and counterproductive  it will end up in lose-lose, rather than win-win. Yet behind their hands these devoted multilateralists and free traders will admit a certain satisfaction that someone has stood up to Beijing.



Not so long ago most western governments looked at China through the lens of rich market opportunities. Some still tilt in that direction. But, in Europe at least, Beijings growing assertiveness, a suspicion that it is using its financial clout as a tool of geopolitical coercion and its unabashed appropriation of western technology has changed the mood. China suddenly looks a strategic threat as much as a market opportunity.



Xi Jinping cannot complain he has been blindsided. Chinas emperor-president has cast off the stylised humility of his predecessors to celebrate both his personal power and Chinas global status. Foreign critics are brusquely dismissed for failing to appreciate the fact of Chinas rise. The Peoples Liberation Army shows off its prowess in the disputed South East China seas. The Belt and Road Initiative sees Beijing building strategic outposts across Asia and into Africa. Its investments in the weaker economies in eastern Europe fit a suspicion in Brussels that it is pursuing a policy of divide-and-rule.



None of this is to say that Mr Trumps trade tariffs are a rational response. If retaliation leads to further escalation the world eventually will stumble into a full-scale trade war and economic slump. Beijing, however, would be foolish to underestimate the curious coalition that one way or another finds itself standing behind the US president. There are plenty of China hawks who disagree profoundly with Mr Trumps views on trade, but welcome any opportunity to rein in Beijing.



An intelligent response on Chinas part would start by recognising the risk of a broader clash. Unsurprisingly, Mr Xi has felt the need to respond to the latest tariffs, but there is retaliation and retaliation. In its measured form it leaves open the road to a resumption of serious negotiations. Waiting it out until after the US midterm elections in November would provide room to assess how far Mr Trump is being driven by short-term political pressures.



On the other hand, a more aggressive reaction would open the door to those in Washington who want to impose a permanent set of restrictions and restraints on economic relations between the two countries. There are those in the west with fond memories of the COCOM rules against technology transfers to the Soviet Union during the cold war. Todays American technology companies have deep interests in China. But Beijing would be the bigger loser from a spillover to the technology sector of the present dispute.



The harder task for Beijing will be recognising that to a significant extent it has been the author of its own predicament. Western business leaders, trade negotiators, commercial lawyers  they all have a story to offer of promises made and broken in Beijing, of unreasonable obstacles to doing business, and the loss of precious intellectual property. If China wants to win arguments in Washington it needs friends in the American business community.



For the first decades of its rise,  hide-and-bide modesty gave China control of its own story. Hubris has handed the pen to its critics. Great power status, Mr Xi might reflect, has its own traps.Maldives judges on Sunday heard a petition by strongman president Abdulla Yameen to have his recent election defeat annulled, potentially triggering US sanctions and plunging the Indian Ocean archipelago into fresh turmoil. Yameen lost heavily in the September 23 election to a little-known united opposition candidate, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, despite his main rivals being in jail or in exile and the media in his pocket. Under pressure from the US, Europe and India, which is seeking to counter growing Chinese influence in the strategically positioned 1,200-island honeymoon paradise, Yameen quickly conceded defeat and said he would leave office on November 17. But even as Western countries breathed a sigh of relief, prisoners were released and opposition figures began returning from exile, Yameen last week filed a request for the Supreme Court to annul the result and call fresh elections. A statement on Saturday by his Progressive Party (PPM) said the vote was the "most farcical election in living memory" with the organisation "abysmal", vote-rigging "rampant" and many people unable to cast ballots. The Supreme Court in the capital Male adjourned on Sunday after proceedings that lasted several hours, and will resume on Monday. The United States -- which like the European Union threatened sanctions if the elections were not free and fair -- on Saturday warned it would react if Yameen, 59, does not go quietly. "The US is concerned by troubling actions by outgoing president Yameen that threaten to undermine the will of the Maldivian people," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said on Twitter. He added that Washington "will consider appropriate measures against anyone who undermines a peaceful transfer of power in #Maldives". The situation is not dissimilar to 2013 when Yameen, the estranged half-brother of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who ruled the Maldives with an iron fist for 30 years until 2008, first became president. Mohamed Nasheed, Yameen's rival at the time and the country's first democratically elected president, beat him in the first round of elections but Yameen persuaded the Supreme Court to nullify the result. A subsequent vote was then twice delayed, allowing Yameen time to forge alliances that helped him narrowly win a contested run-off. Since then Yameen has borrowed heavily from China for infrastructure projects. - 'Blatantly unsubstantiated' - Dozens of people queued up outside the Supreme Court on Sunday to get inside several hours before the hearing began. It started with the court allowing all opposition parties to have their say. A handful of people held placards, including "Arrest Yameen". Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, Colombo-based spokesman for the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), said the legal challenge was an attempt by Yameen to create turmoil. The country's Joint Opposition, which includes the MDP, has asked Yameen to withdraw the "blatantly unsubstantiated case, and to step aside and to facilitate a peaceful, and smooth transition." The opposition has also urged state institutions, including the courts and the security forces, to uphold the will of the people. "Maldivians used the ballot to defeat the dictatorial regime. Yameen must not be allowed to (pervert) the hard-won opportunity for all Maldivians to attain meaningful democracy and stability," the Joint Opposition said in a statement at the weekend. Apart from his political foes, in February Yameen jailed the chief justice and another Supreme Court judge after accusing them of trying to topple him. Yameen had initially suspended the court, parliament and the constitution and declared a state of emergency when legislators were about to impeach him in February. Three of the remaining Supreme Court justices have been restored, but the opposition has said they had no faith in the judiciary to deliver justice while Yameen remains in power. However, several high-profile political prisoners, including Gayoom, have been released on bail since the election results were officially announced.By Shamil Zhumatov BAIKONUR COSMODROME, Kazakhstan (Reuters) - A Russian cosmonaut and a U.S. astronaut were safe on Thursday after a Soyuz rocket bound for the International Space Station failed in mid-air two minutes after liftoff in Kazakhstan, leading to a dramatic emergency landing. The two-man crew, Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin and American Nick Hague, landed unharmed on the Kazakh desert steppe as rescue crews raced to reach them, according to the U.S. space agency NASA and Russia's space agency Roscosmos. The mishap occurred as the first and second stages of a Russian booster rocket separated shortly after the launch from Kazakhstan's Soviet-era cosmodrome of Baikonur. The Soyuz capsule carrying Ovchinin and Hague separated from the malfunctioning Russian rocket and plunged 31 miles (50 km) down to the surface, with parachutes helping to slow its speed, NASA said. A cloud of sand billowed up as the capsule landed after what NASA called a 34-minute steep ballistic descent. Video from inside the capsule showed the two men being shaken around at the moment the failure occurred, with their arms and legs flailing. Ovchinin can be heard saying, "That was a quick flight." Photographs released by Roscosmos after the rescue showed the two men smiling and relaxing on sofas at a town near their landing site as they underwent medical tests. A photograph posted on Twitter by NASA showed Ovchinin and Hague embracing their families after being transported back to the Baikonur site. Rescue crews raced to the scene to retrieve them from their landing spot, including paratroopers, helicopters and all-terrain vehicles, NASA said. NASA has relied on Russian rockets to ferry astronauts to the space station since the United States retired its Space Shuttle program in 2011, although the agency has announced plans for a test flight carrying two astronauts on a SpaceX commercial rocket next April. Space is an area of cooperation between the United States and Russia at a time of fraught relations. Asked about the mishap, President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House he was "not worried" that American astronauts have to rely on Russia to get into space. Thursday's mishap was the first serious launch problem experienced by a manned Soyuz space mission since 1983, when a crew narrowly escaped before a launchpad explosion. 'CREW HAS BEEN SAVED' Moscow immediately suspended all manned space launches, the RIA news agency reported, while Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said he ordered a state commission to be created to investigate what went wrong. Russia's Investigative Committee said it opened a criminal investigation into the matter. "Rescue services have been working since the first second of the accident," Rogozin wrote on Twitter. "The emergency rescue systems of the MS-Soyuz spacecraft worked smoothly. The crew has been saved." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the most important thing was that the two men were alive. The space station's next re-supply mission had been scheduled for late October from Baikonur, but the new investigation may delay it. NASA officials now must decide how or whether to maintain a U.S. presence on the $100 billion orbital research laboratory. "The fact that this crew didn't get to orbit, we feel bad for them. But we have confidence that our Russian colleagues will figure out what's going on and we'll hopefully see Nick and Alexei in orbit at the space station soon," said Kenny Todd, NASA's International Space Station operations integration manager. Hague and Ovchinin were set to join the station's current three-member crew, which includes American Serena Aunon-Chancellor. "We have a lot of things planned through the rest of the fall and the winter, and that's all just being reassessed right now," Sam Scimemi, NASA's director for the International Space Station, told Reuters. "We have resources well into next year for this crew, so there's no concern about resources on board." Interfax quoted a source as saying the crash meant the three people aboard the space station - a German and a Russian in addition to the American - would be stuck there at least until January. They were due to return to Earth in December. Unmanned launches of Soyuz rockets might also be suspended, Interfax said. Visiting Kazakhstan for the first time as NASA administrator, Jim Bridenstine witnessed Thursday's launch and promised a "thorough investigation" into the mishap. "I'm grateful that everyone is safe," Bridenstine said in a statement. Questions are now likely to be asked about Russia's space program. In August, a hole appeared in a Soyuz capsule docked to the ISS that caused a brief loss of air pressure and had to be patched. Rogozin has said it could have been made deliberately by someone during manufacturing or while the craft was in space. Last November, Roscosmos lost contact with a newly launched weather satellite after it blasted off from Russia's new Vostochny cosmodrome in the Far East. (Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov in Kazakhstan and by Christian Lowe, Tom Balmforth, Polina Nikolskaya, Polina Ivanova, Polina Devitt in Moscow; Additional reporting by Joey Roulette in Orlando, Florida; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Richard Balmforth and Will Dunham)Saudi Arabia warned it would retaliate against any sanctions imposed on the oil-rich kingdom over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as more Western companies distanced themselves from the Gulf State. US President Donald Trump has threatened the kingdom with "severe punishment" if Khashoggi, who has been critical of powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed inside its Istanbul mission. But Riyadh vowed to hit back on Sunday against any punitive measures as its stock market tumbled, with the fallout from the crisis threatening to imperil Prince Mohammed's much-hyped economic reform drive. "The kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats or attempts to undermine it whether through threats to impose economic sanctions or the use of political pressure," an official said, according to state news agency SPA. The official said Riyadh would "respond to any action with a bigger one", pointing out that the oil superpower "plays an effective and vital role in the world economy". According to Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television, the kingdom has "over 30 measures" it could implement. Following Riyadh's assertion it would retaliate, Britain, France and Germany released a joint statement saying they were treating Khashoggi's disappearance "with the utmost seriousness". "There needs to be a credible investigation to establish the truth about what happened, and -- if relevant -- to identify those bearing responsibility for the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, and ensure that they are held to account." This message had been conveyed "directly to the Saudi authorities", said the statement, signed by Britain's foreign minister Jeremy Hunt, his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian and Germany's Heiko Maas. - 'Baseless allegations' - Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, vanished after entering the consulate on October 2. Saudi Arabia insists Khashoggi left the building safely and dismissed accusations that authorities had ordered his murder by a hit squad as "lies and baseless allegations". Turkish officials have said they believe Khashoggi was killed inside the mission and claims have been leaked to media that he was tortured and even dismembered. A Saudi dissident in Quebec said on Sunday he believes the kingdom hacked his phone and listened to calls he had with Jamal Khashoggi prior to the journalist's disappearance. "For sure, they listened to the conversation between me and Jamal and other activists, in Canada, in the States, in Turkey, in Saudi Arabia," Omar Abdulaziz said in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Saudi King Salman spoke to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by phone on Sunday, the Saudi foreign ministry said, telling Erdogan: "No-one will get (to) undermine the strength of this relationship." According to a Turkish presidential source, who asked not to be named, Erdogan and the king discussed "the issue of shedding light on the case of Jamal Khashoggi" and also emphasised the "importance of creating a joint working group within the framework of the investigation." In the US, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Saudi Arabia should take Trump's warning over the journalist's fate seriously. "When the president warns, people should take him at his word," he told Fox. "If the Saudis are involved, if Khashoggi was killed or harmed or whatever, bad outcome here. He (Trump) will take action." - Saudi stocks tumble - Investors have taken fright, prompting Saudi stocks to tumble by around seven percent at one point on Sunday, wiping out their gains for 2018. The kingdom's Tadawul All-Shares Index (TASI) lost more than 500 points, diving by seven percent in the first two hours of trading Sunday, in panic selling reminiscent of the days after the global financial crisis in 2008. It later clawed back some losses to close the day down 3.5 percent at 7,266.59 points. Japanese SoftBank's shares also took a dive on Monday, falling by nearly seven percent over fears for its major financial ties with Saudi Arabia. Mohammed Zidan, market strategist at Thinkmarket in Dubai, said the drop in Saudi stocks was linked to the uncertainty surrounding the Khashoggi affair. "The withdrawal of top participants from the Riyadh investment conference has also negatively impacted traders' sentiment," he told AFP. Business barons including British billionaire Richard Branson and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, as well as media powerhouses like Bloomberg and CNN, have pulled out of next week's Future Investment Initiative (FII) in Riyadh. JP Morgan CEO James Dimon and Ford chairman Bill Ford said on Sunday they would also not attend. The cancellations have cast a pall over the annual summit at which Prince Mohammed wowed investors last year with talking robots and blueprints for a futuristic mega city. The withdrawal of Uber's Khosrowshahi from the event is particularly symbolic as the kingdom's vast Public Investment Fund (PIF) has invested $3.5 billion in the ride-hailing app. bur-ac-sy-oh-dm/delBy Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Sunday made saints of two of the most contentious Roman Catholic figures of the 20th century -- murdered Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero and Pope Paul VI, who reigned over one of the Church's most turbulent eras and enshrined its opposition to contraception.

In a ceremony before tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square, Francis declared the two men saints along with five other lesser-known people who were born in Italy, Germany and Spain in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Both Romero, who was shot by a right-wing death squad while saying Mass in 1980, and Paul, who guided the Church through the conclusion of the modernising 1962-65 Second Vatican Council, were contested figures within and without the Church.

Both were naturally timid men who were thrust to the forefront of history by the convulsive political and social changes of the 20th century and both had a lasting influence on the current pontiff, Francis, Latin America's first pope.

In his homily, read with tapestries of images of the seven new saints hanging from St. Peter's Basilica behind him, Francis called Pope Paul "a prophet of an extroverted Church" who opened it up to the world. He praised Romero for disregarding his own life "to be close to the poor and to his people".

Romero, who had often denounced repression and poverty in

his homilies, was shot dead on March 24, 1980, in a hospital chapel in San Salvador, the capital of the impoverished Central American country of El Salvador.

Romero's murder was one of the most shocking in the long

conflict between a series of U.S.-backed governments and leftist

rebels in which thousands were killed by right-wing and military

death squads.

It was widely believed to have been ordered by Roberto D'Aubuisson, an army major and founder of the right-wing ARENA party. He died of cancer in 1992.

Romero consistently denounced violence by the Salvadoran military and paramilitary against civilians and urged the international community to stop the oppression.

Story continues

In his final homily, minutes before he was shot in the heart, Romero spoke of spreading "the benefits of human dignity, brotherhood and freedom across the earth ...."

75,000 KILLED

The 1980-1992 war in El Salvador between the U.S.-backed army and the Marxist guerrillas of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), which later became the ruling party, left 75,000 dead and 8,000 missing.

Romero became an icon for Latin America's poor, appearing on T-shirts similar to those bearing the image of Che Guevara, but his sainthood cause ran into stiff opposition in the Vatican and among powerful conservatives in the Latin American Church.

Both feared that Romero had become too political in life and even more so in death.

The process languished for decades. Francis speeded it up after his election in 2013 and in 2015 the Vatican declared that Romero had died a martyr, killed out of hatred for the faith.

"His martyrdom continued (even after his death). He was defamed, slandered ... even by his own brothers in the priesthood and the episcopate, Francis said in 2015. "(He was hit by) "the hardest stone that exists in the world: the tongue."

"POPE HAMLET"

Paul VI, a shy man described by biographers as a sometimes indecisive and tormented Hamlet-type figure, guided the Church through the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, which had started under his predecessor, and the implementation of its reforms. He was elected in 1963 and died in 1978.

Francis often quotes Paul, showing that he is committed to the reforms of the Council, which allowed the Mass to be said in local languages instead of Latin, declared respect for other religions, and launched a landmark reconciliation with Jews.

Still today, ultra-conservatives in the Church do not recognise the Council's teachings and blame Paul for starting what they see as a decline in tradition.

Paul reigned in the 1960s when many men left the priesthood and vocations fell sharply in a turbulent era of social change that coincided with the sexual revolution and the widespread availability of the birth control pill.

Despite his many reforms, Paul is perhaps best known for his 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae (On Human Life), which enshrined the Church's ban on artificial birth control, saying nothing should block the possible transmission of human life.

The ban, which Paul issued against the advice of a papal commission, became the most contested Church ruling of the 20th century and is still widely disregarded by Catholics.

Paul also became the first pope in modern times to travel outside Italy to see faithful, ushering in a practice which has become synonymous with the papacy.

Paul is the third pope that Francis has made a

saint since his election in 2013. The others are John

XXIII, who died in 1963, and John Paul, who died in 2005.

(Reporting By Philip PullellaEditing by Keith Weir)Culture

Filmmaker Ursula Manvatkar speaks on life, movies and inspirations

A producers role involves putting the team together as well as the financial aspect of getting the job done for as little cost as possible, making sure the post-production timelines are adhered to and confirming distribution of the film.A horseshoe-shaped demilitarised zone around Syria's opposition stronghold of Idlib is aimed at averting a massive government assault on the area, but its implementation has been riddled with challenges. The buffer, agreed by regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey last month, was meant to be free of heavy weapons by October 10 and of jihadists by October 15. Here is how the events unfolded: - 'Bloodbath' - After a string of Russian-backed victories this year, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad set his sights on Idlib, the largest piece of territory still held by Syria's beleaguered rebels. For weeks, regime forces massed on the edges of the province, stepping up bombardment since early September and dropping leaflets calling on residents to surrender. That prompted a chorus of international warnings against an offensive. US President Donald Trump cautioned that "the world is watching", as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he feared a "bloodbath". On September 10, the United Nations warned that an assault could create the century's "worst humanitarian catastrophe". A day later, its Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that Idlib "must not be transformed into a bloodbath". - Russia-Turkey accord - On September 17, Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi and agreed to create a 15-20 kilometre (nine to 12 mile) buffer zone around the Idlib region. According to the deal, the zone would separate rebel and regime zones and would be monitored by the two sponsor countries. The buffer would include parts of Idlib province and the neighbouring regions of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia. All factions in the planned demilitarised area were to hand over their heavy weapons by October 10, and radical groups withdraw by October 15, according to the agreement. - Turkish convoys - In mid-September, Turkey sent military convoys to its "observation posts" in Idlib province. Since then, Ankara has consolidated its military positions with near-weekly convoys as the deadline for establishing the buffer zone approaches. - Rebel, jihadist reactions - On September 23, the National Liberation Front (NLF), a powerful Turkish-backed rebel alliance in Idlib, cautiously welcomed the deal. But it later said it was opposed to the deployment of Russian forces in the buffer, and said Ankara promised them that patrols by Moscow would be dropped. On September 29, Jaysh al-Izza, a formerly US-backed Syrian rebel group active in northern Hama province, rejected the deal and said the buffer should be carved out equally from rebel and regime zones. But the most powerful force in Idlib, an alliance known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that is led by former Al-Qaeda members, has not commented. Hurras al-Deen, an even more hardline faction, has rejected it. HTS, Hurras al-Deen, and other jihadists control more than two-thirds of the planned buffer zone, making their compliance key to the deal's success. - Arms pullout - Despite their different positions, rebels and jihadists were reported to have completed the first task of removing heavy arms on time. On October 8, the NLF said it had finished withdrawing heavy weapons from the planned buffer zone. The following day, on the eve of the deadline, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said HTS and "other less influential jihadist groups" also removed heavy arms from large parts of the demilitarised area. On October 10, Turkey announced that the pullout was "complete". - Precarious deal - On October 7, Assad told officials from his Baath party that the accord was only "temporary", and that Idlib would fall back under government control soon. Days later, on October 12, Syria's army sent text messages to residents in the planned buffer area, telling them: "Get away from the fighters. Their fate is sealed and near." The same day, four leading aid agencies warned of massive humanitarian consequences "if either the deal collapses or fighting escalates in areas not covered by it". On October 13, opposition fighters launched two mortar attacks on regime positions from within the buffer zone, killing two Syrian soldiers in Hama, according to the Observatory. And on October 14, the eve of the second deadline, the war monitor and an AFP correspondent said no jihadists had been seen withdrawing from the buffer zone.By Daren Butler ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's investigation into the disappearance of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has revealed recordings made on his Apple Watch purportedly indicating he was tortured and killed, a Turkish newspaper reported on Saturday. The report in the pro-government Sabah daily, which could not immediately be verified, emerged after a delegation from Saudi Arabia arrived in Turkey for a joint investigation into his disappearance. "The moments when Khashoggi was interrogated, tortured and murdered were recorded in the Apple Watch's memory," the paper said, adding that the watch had synched with his iPhone, which his fiancee was carrying outside the consulate. Two senior Turkish officials previously told Reuters that Khashoggi had been wearing a black Apple watch when he entered the consulate and that it was connected to a mobile phone he left outside. However, it was not clear whether data from Khashoggis watch could have been transmitted to his phone outside, or how investigators could have retrieved it without obtaining the watch themselves. Technology experts say it is highly unlikely the watch could have recorded actions inside the embassy and uploaded them to an iCloud account. Most models of the watch require that it be within 30 to 50 feet (9-15 meters) of the iPhone that it is paired with to upload data to Apples iCloud, they said. Even newer models that can communicate with the cloud directly via wireless require either connection to a nearby WiFi network or a type of cellular connection that is not available in Turkey, the experts say. RECORDINGS Sabah, which cited "reliable sources in a special intelligence department" for its report, said Khashoggi was believed to have turned on the recording feature on the watch before entering the consulate. The paper said Saudi intelligence agents had realized after he died that the watch was recording and they used his finger print to unlock it, deleting some files, but not all of them. The recordings were subsequently found on his phone, it said. On Thursday, Turkey said it and Saudi Arabia had agreed to form a joint working group - at Riyadh's initiative - to investigate the case. A Saudi source said a senior royal, Prince Khaled al-Faisal, had visited Turkey that day. Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2to get documents for his forthcoming marriage. Saudi officials say he left shortly afterwards but Turkish officials and his fiancee, who was waiting outside, said he never came out. Turkish sources have told Reuters the initial assessment of the police was that Khashoggi, an outspoken critic of the Saudi government, had been deliberately killed inside the consulate. Riyadh has dismissed the claims. SPA said on Friday that Saudi Arabia's interior minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, condemned the "lies and baseless allegations" against the kingdom, although he praised the joint investigation with Turkey. The Saudi delegation, which arrived in Turkey on Thursday, is meeting a Turkish prosecutor investigating the case as well as representatives from the Justice Ministry, Interior Ministry, police and the national intelligence agency, one source said. On Tuesday, the Turkish foreign ministry said the Saudi consulate in Istanbul would be searched as part of the investigation. (Additional reporting by Jonathan Weber in Singapore; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Gareth Jones)JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser.Page Content

Around 250,000 foreign nationalsincluding significant portions of the labor force in construction and hospitalitywere given temporary reprieve from approaching deportation deadlines.

U.S. District Court Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco ordered the Trump administration to halt its plans to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for individuals from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Sudan. Employees with TPS from the affected four countries will temporarily maintain their right to work in the United States while a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California challenging the government's decision to end TPS is resolved.

Congress created the status in 1990 to offer foreign nationals temporary permission to live and work in the U.S., instead of being returned to countries that are deemed unsafe after natural disasters, armed conflict or other emergency situations. Salvadorans, for examplethe largest group of TPS holders at approximately 200,000were provided the provisional status and protected from deportation after earthquakes hit the country in 2001, and their protected status has been routinely renewed ever since. Similarly, 50,000 Haitians, the second largest group holding TPS, were granted protection after Haiti's 2010 earthquake. About 2,500 Nicaraguans have lived and worked in the U.S. with TPS since 1998.

The protection is granted for six to 18 months at a time, if conditions in a given country have been determined not to have improved enough. The Trump administration has taken a harder line on TPS than previous administrations, which tended to keep renewing it; the program is supposed to be temporary and was never intended to bestow long-term residency. Critics of the program argue that it has been incorrectly extended for years, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has determined that conditions in the four countries named in the lawsuit have improved to the point that TPS for those countries' nationals is no longer necessary.

TPS and the employment authorization documents that accompany it are scheduled to expire as follows:

Nov. 2, 2018, for Sudan.



Jan. 5, 2019, for Nicaragua.



July 22, 2019, for Haiti.



Sept. 9, 2019, for El Salvador.



In addition, TPS for Nepal is set to be terminated on June 24, 2019, and for Honduras on Jan. 5, 2020. These two countries were not included in the court order because their terminations had not been announced at the time the lawsuit was filed.

The Trump administration has renewed TPS for nationals from Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

[How well do you understand I-9 compliance? Take this quiz to find out.]

Workforce Impact

Chen held that the immediate harm to the TPS beneficiaries far outweighed any immediate harm to the U.S., said Forrest G. Read IV, an attorney in the Raleigh, N.C., office of Jackson Lewis. "Indeed, the judge found that the U.S., rather than suffering harm from the continuation of TPS, actually might suffer economic harm due to the TPS terminations."

Neil Bradley, a senior vice president and chief policy officer for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, argued that industries such as construction, food processing, hospitality and home health care services will be greatly affected if nationals from El Salvador, Haiti and Honduras lose work authorization.

"Terminating these designations would end the work authorization of many key employees  [and] adversely impact several key industries where TPS recipients make up a significant amount of the workforce," Bradley said.

According to the Center for Migration Studies, a New York City-based think tank, the labor force participation rate of the TPS population from El Salvador, Haiti and Honduras ranges from 81 to 88 percent, well above the rate for the total U.S. population (63 percent) and the foreign-born population (66 percent). The five leading industries in which TPS beneficiaries from these countries work are construction (51,700 workers), restaurants and food services (32,400), landscaping (15,800), child daycare (10,000), and grocery stores (9,200).

Employer Takeaways

If TPS expires for various countries, key employees that have been with an organization for years could be without work authorization and employers could have to fill unanticipated vacancies, said Lynn Shotwell, head of global outreach and operations for the Society for Human Resource Management. "If your organization has known TPS recipients, it is reasonable to do workforce planning around how those positions will be filled if those employees lose work authorization."

Justin Storch, SHRM's director of regulatory affairs and judicial counsel, cautioned HR to be mindful of discriminating against TPS holders. He said HR should not:Saudi Arabia made clear Sunday it would not take any threats against the kingdom lightly, vowing that it would retaliate against any sanctions imposed by other countries. The statement from an unnamed government official appeared to be a response to President Donald Trumps threat of severe punishment for the worlds largest oil exporter if its proven that the country was responsible for the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul.

The kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats or attempts to undermine it whether through threats to impose economic sanctions or the use of political pressure, an unnamed government source told the official Saudi Press Agency. The kingdom also affirms that it will respond to any action with a bigger one. The Saudi economy has vital and influential roles for the global economy. The statement doesnt ever mention Trump or Khashoggi but it did come shortly after Trump said in an interview that he wanted to get to the bottom about what happened to the journalist.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Nobody knows yet, but well probably be able to find out, Trump said when asked whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave an order to kill Khashoggi. Were going to get to the bottom of it and there will be severe punishment, Trump said in an interview with CBS 60 Minutes, according to excerpts released Saturday. The Independent also reported that U.K. officials have started writing up a list of Saudi officials who could come under sanctions if an investigation does show the kingdom was behind Khashoggis disappearance.

I dont want to hurt jobs." President Trump says there will be consequences if Saudi Arabia is found to be behind journalist Jamal Khashoggis disappearance, but he wont commit to sanctions or cutting sales of military equipment. 60 Minutes, Sunday. https://t.co/lO8gSASPJZ pic.twitter.com/VhAEOoDBN6  60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 13, 2018

Advertisement

Advertisement

The threats against Saudi Arabia caused the kingdoms stock market to plunge Sunday, showing how the rising tensions could severely hit Saudi Arabias economy. In another hint at how Riyadh is facing condemnation for its actions, media firms and some executives have already pulled out of a major investment conference that is scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabias capital next week and had been dubbed Davos in the desert. This is happening at a time when Saudi Arabia is preparing for a big investment event and they dont need people suspending or pulling out investments, Nadi Barghouti, head of asset management at Emirates Investment Bank in Dubai, told Reuters.

Advertisement

The big question, of course, is whether Saudi Arabia would be willing to use its oil exports to retaliate against any sanctions. It wouldnt be the first time but would mark a sharp change in strategy for the kingdom. Bloomberg explains:The government of Savannah, Georgia wants everyone to know that personal preferences aside, googly eyes do not belong on statues. Who did this?! the City of Savannah Government posted to its Facebook page Thursday. It illustrated the post with two photos that showed how someone had stuck googly eyes on a statue of Nathanael Greene, a Revolutionary War general that is in the citys Johnson Square. It may look funny but harming our historic monuments and public property is no laughing matter, the city wrote. In fact, its a crime. It then asked anyone with any information to come forward.

Advertisement

What the city got instead was a viral Facebook post as social media users all seemed to agree there was much better use of taxpayer money than looking for the person who stuck googly eyes on a statue. It is a trespassing, police public information coordinator Bianca Johnson told BuzzFeed News. It is technically a crime, so we are going to be looking at the [surveillance] cameras and seeing what comes of it. Johnson recognized the eyes didnt do any damage but if we didnt do anything this thing could get out of hand.

Some, however, predicted the effect would be just the opposite as many would see it as a challenge to stick as many googly eyes as possible on statues. So Im not a part of this community or anything, but you guys do realize you just dared your entire city to googly eyes all of your monuments right? a Facebook user named Greg Lamb wrote. Just pick the eyes off and move on.New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is pointing the finger at President Donald Trump and the states Republicans for the violence that broke out Friday night after the speech of the leader of a far-right group. Cuomo told reporters he couldnt fathom why Republicans would have invited a man who leads an organization that has been designated as a hate group to speak at their Metropolitan Republican Club. The Proud Boys is made up of men who describe themselves as western chauvinists.

Advertisement

Cuomo said the invite extended to Proud Boys founder Gavin McInness is part of a political tactic because what theyre trying to do is fire up their base for the midterm elections. The New York governor said New York Republicans knew what was going to happen when they invited the group to speak. It was either one of the dumbest acts or one of the most malicious and incendiary political acts Ive ever seen, the governor said Sunday in a conference call with reporters. You knew who the Proud Boys were. What did they think they were doing if not furthering the Presidents political tactic of polarization?

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Cuomo connected the invitation extended to McInness as an extension of the effort by the GOP to demonize Democrats. They invite the Proud Boys to the heart of Manhattan. Then they stand up and complained when the club was vandalized, the governor said. Why? Because theyre making the point that the Democrats are an angry mob which is just what the President is saying.

Advertisement

As Cuomo called on the FBI to investigate the violent clashes Friday night that included apparent beatings by members of the Proud Boys against anti-fascist protesters, he also directly blamed Trump for creating the atmosphere where this type of violence could become a reality. The bottom line is that I hold the President responsible for demonizing differences, fanning the flames of racism and division and creating a fire of hatred and violence, Cuomo said. These vile acts of racism, division and discrimination are repugnant to American values, and have no place in our state.

The state Republican Party dismissed Cuomos comments as outrageous, saying it puts his partisanship in evidence. Its unconscionable that when Republicans were attacked and threatened, Governor Cuomo said absolutely nothing, spokeswoman Jessica Proud said in a statement. Violence of any kind has no place in society, yet the governorwho is charged with ensuring everyones personal safety and property is protectedonly thinks those rights should be afforded to Democrats. Its not surprising coming from the man who said conservatives have no place in the state, but its nonetheless outrageous.President Donald Trump said Defense Secretary James Mattis could soon leave his Cabinet. In an interview with Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes that is scheduled to be broadcast Sunday night, Trump said that there are some people who are members of his administration who hes not thrilled with. When Stahl asked the president specifically whether Mattis could be leaving, Trump said he didnt know but didnt quite give him a vote of confidence when she asked whether hed like to see him stay in his post.

Advertisement

I have a very good relationship with him. I had lunch with him two days ago. I have a very good relationship with him. It could be that he is. I think hes sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth, Trump said of the retired Marine Corps general. The commander in chief then proceeded to call Mattis a good guy before getting a bit philosophical about loyalty in the nations capital: He may leave. I mean, at some point, everybody leaves.

Everybody. People leave. Thats Washington. Despite this turnover, Trump said talk of a White House in chaos was nothing but fake news. The president insisted that hes changing things around and there are people now on standby that will be phenomenal.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

WILL MATTIS LEAVE? General Mattis is a good guy. We get along very well. He may leave. I mean, at some point, everybody leaves, President Trump tells Lesley Stahl for @60Minutes https://t.co/kYresbc0JT pic.twitter.com/3Rq8rVjb0G  Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) October 14, 2018

The question didnt come out of the blue. Several reports have recently said Trump was weighing whether to get rid of Mattis. Last month, the New York Times reported that Trump was considering asking Mattis to step down after the midterms. Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin also wrote last month that White House officials had been compiling names of potential replacements for Mattis. The defense secretary was cited in Bob Woodwards book criticizing the president. According to Woodward, Mattis told associates that Trump acted like  and had the understanding of  a fifth- or sixth-grader. Mattis denied he ever said that. The contemptuous words about the President attributed to me in Woodwards book were never uttered by me or in my presence, Mattis said in a statement. While I generally enjoy reading fiction, this is a uniquely Washington brand of literature, and his anonymous sources do not lend credibility.RainbowYOUTHs joint initiative with HELL Pizza, which saw 3,000 t-shirts up for sale in support of LGBTQIA+ rights in Aotearoa, has raised a game-changing $75,000 and increased awareness of the issues facing one of the countrys more vulnerable communities.

RainbowYOUTH communications manager and 2IC Toni Duder says HELLs involvement with the campaign has been a game-changer for the LGBTQIA+ charity.

Not only does HELLs support mark a significant financial contribution for RainbowYOUTH, it also has given thousands of people the opportunity to show their support of the queer, gender diverse and intersex people in their lives, says Toni.

Were so grateful to the team at HELL for their commitment to this kaupapa. They have given us the capacity to sustain the life-saving work we already do and to reach more places around the country in support of our rangatahi.

Fit to a tee:

For the campaign, limited-edition t-shirts bearing the slogan The Only HELL Im Going To were sold online, with all proceeds donated by HELL to RainbowYOUTH.

HELL general manager Ben Cumming says the company was proud to help raise awareness of such an important issue facing Kiwi youth and wider New Zealand society.

RainbowYOUTH is an inspiring organisation that does a lot for the LGBTIQA+ community, so when we were approached and asked for help, we instantly wanted to get involved and quickly came up with the idea of producing a t-shirt, says Ben.

Our goal was to have as many people as possible buy the t-shirts and wear them with pride to show their support, the outcome has been extremely positive.

Were really pleased to have helped RainbowYOUTH reach its fundraising target, and to have generated such a positive response from the many Kiwis who came out in support of this campaign.

Ben says the campaign was a natural fit with the companys long-running activities in support of young Kiwis and families, who are going through or have been through hell.

Where will the money go?

Toni says the money will be used to continue RainbowYOUTHs work providing life-saving support, information and safe spaces to queer, gender diverse and intersex rangatahi.

The money will bolster our regional outreach, particularly where we work with rural communities to help create peer-support groups, to produce and distribute educational resources around sexuality and gender, and run workshops to up-skill local support workers around the challenges faced by our community.

Speaking about the benefits of such regional support groups, one 18-year-old outreach leader says We have created a safe and welcoming space for youth to be themselves and talk to people within their community, and to talk about things that they felt they couldnt before.

I feel a sense of purpose running this group, and I feel a sense of comfort knowing that the group is helping not only myself, but many other people in their journey to accepting themselves.Another injury concern for Gueye

Sunday, 14 October, 2018







The midfielder, who sustained a knee problem just before the last international break and missed the home game against Huddersfield Town as a result, went off injured during his country's home clash with the Sundanese in Dakar following a heavy challenge.

He had scored earlier in the 3-0 win, popping up in the opposition box to slide home.

The two countries are due to play each other again in Khartoum on Tuesday.

About these adsNick Honey Badger Cummins says he was battling with emotions and mental health in the lead-up to The Bachelor finale.

Addressing the shows controversial ending in a pre-recorded interview he gave a heartfelt speech on The Project last night.

Ive never been in a mental space as low as I have been on that show, especially towards the end of it, he said.

Ive had injuries, Ive been in a wheelchair, all that stuff doesnt compare to what you actually have to go through on something like that.

Cummins said he knew during the home town visits that he was struggling to connect enough with the Bachelor girls to choose one. But he also hadnt made up his mind whether to pick someone or reject the format.

I thought, I can avoid a whole lot of drama, for me for the girls, and just pick someone. Or I could just be honest.

He added, Shed be sitting here now. People would be asking if youre in love? And its like, I didnt want to lie.

Its not fair to her. Going down that path three months, only to break her heart.

Denying his charity walk on the Kokoda trail in Papua New Guinea was to escape media, he said he thought there would be more understanding.

Its been sensationalised and really exaggerated. But I understand people are really invested in something like this, maybe theres some sort of emotion they want to get out of it, he said.

You go in there, Ive got a chance at finding the girl for me here then all of a sudden youre sending girls home, he said.

Im not a rude bloke, I feel Im pretty honest and fair. Every time a girl was sent home at least one would come up and say, Are you okay? I wasnt. Its terrible sending someone home when you dont actually know them that well and they could be the one. Youre sending a nice girl home in tears. Its tough.

But he gave a direct message to the finalists, saying, Brittany and Sophie, you know I care for you and I said this so many times throughout the show.Dateline cameras this week showcase a unique prison in Brazil using compassion and freedom to reform hardened criminals, as an alternative to harsh punishment.

Dateline reporter Evan Williams spends one week inside an APAC prison (Association for Protection and Assistance of Convicts) in Sao Joao Del Rei, where inmates are given the responsibility of running the facility and even hold the keys.

Convicted murderer and drug trafficker Romulo told Evan that the prison provided an opportunity to become a better person. I was sentenced to jail for 24 years and six months and I have the keys to the front door. If I wanted to run away I could do it. But I want to be here, to rehabilitate and to return to society.

APAC prisoners all have jobs, from tending and butchering livestock, to counselling addicts. They are allowed regular contact with their families and are expected to study, exercise and pray.

Dateline also investigates the other side of life behind bars, by visiting a nearby mainstream prison, where overcrowding, punishment and violence are everyday occurrences

With close to 700,000 prisoners, Brazil has the 3rd highest prison population in the world, beaten only by US and China, with a sky-high recidivism rate of 70%. Overcrowding, poor conditions and gang violence are the catalyst for the riots that have become synonymous with mainstream Brazilian prisons. In the past two years, close to 500 prison inmates were killed in Brazils penal system.

APAC inmate Romulo was originally sentenced to 24 years in a mainstream prison. If you are not a criminal when you go in, you will be when you come out, he tells Dateline.

Last year, 11 years into his sentence, a judge decided to give Romulo a chance and sent him to an APAC prison. APAC shows you how to be a dignified and honest person. If I stayed in the [mainstream] prison system all this time, I think that I would be a monster today, he adds.

APAC prisons are a ray of hope not only for the prisoners, but even for the prison authorities.

The Head Prison Officer at the regional prison of Sao Joao Del Rei told Dateline, Nowadays, APAC is the system that helps us a lot. Why? Because every inmate who aims to go to APAC has to have a good behaviour here, if he doesnt have a good behaviour here, he doesnt have the privilege of going to APAC.

But there are a few who feel APAC is not a perfect reform model.

Criminal lawyer Barbara Furtado, has thoroughly studied the APAC system, and is concerned about its emphasis on faith. They are using the law to force these people to be morally perfect, she tells Dateline. You have to have a religion. You have to pray before you eat, sleep, and as soon as you wake up. So, they are not so open. APAC is a light in the medieval system. They are not a solution, they are a start.

A solution or not, APAC prisons are gaining popularity in Brazil. Could this alternative be the model for reforming prisoners around the globe?

Tuesday, October 16 at 9.30pm on SBS.Prolific Aussie Kids TV producer Jonathan Shiff has received a Kids Trendsetter Award at MIPJunior, part of the MIPCOM trade event in Cannes.

Along with global TV execs Angela Santomero, Tom McGillis and Ben Bocquelet in recognition of their contributions to childrens programming.

Shiff is Australias most successful independent Kids TV producer, with hits including H2OJust Add Water, Mako Mermaids, Ocean Girl, Thunderstone and more.

Speaking at a forum in Cannes, Shiff said ideas can come from looking at gaps in the market, but ultimately stories come within, an emotional connectivity to the story, a passion for the story. In the case of H2O, I had done Ocean Girl, so I had a passion for underwater. I work very closely with Nicole Keeb at ZDF and often shes whispering in my ear about something that might spark [an idea]. But generally, it comes from within. These are your babies for a couple of years, so you want that passion, you want to be connected to it.

Fearless stories for fearless girls is Shiffs mantra, with a surmountable commitment to production.

I keep pushing the envelope, thats what drives me. We use CGI and shooting underwater is extremely difficultand at times extremely dangerous. We have 22 stuntmen and stuntwomen from James Bond [movies] to help us. There are real sharks. We use electric prods from the Navy. Sometimes I think, this is nuts! But it takes us into the imagination, into a frontier that is a wonderful canvas, whether its a jungle or a magical world. Overcoming my fear is part of the fun. The stories themselves are often driven by empowering particularly young women. I think young women today face as much if not more of a need for empowering stories in a world that is so set on disempowering them, constantly. Theres a never-ending search for stronger and stronger female roles.

His most recent series The Bureau of Magical Things was recently picked up by Nickelodeon channels, to screen in over 170 territories.

Source: World ScreenSHANGHAI (Reuters) - State-run China General Nuclear Power Corp (CGN), a leading developer of reactors in the country, said on Saturday a proposed project in Britain was not imperilled by new U.S. rules blocking it from acquiring American technology.

CGN and China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) are jointly promoting an advanced third-generation reactor known as the Hualong One to overseas clients. CGN aims to deploy the technology at a proposed nuclear project at Bradwell in England.

On Thursday, amid growing trade tensions, the U.S. Department of Energy said it was tightening controls on exports to China of civil nuclear technology to prevent use for military or other unauthorised purposes.

CGN said in a statement on Saturday the project in England did not use American technology.

"We will continue to push forward with the new nuclear power project in England with our partners," it said.

CGN came under scrutiny anew in the United States last year with a National Security Council-led review of China's efforts to obtain nuclear material, equipment and advanced technology from U.S. companies, U.S. government officials told reporters on Thursday.

The review was prompted by China's accelerated efforts to acquire U.S. intellectual property to the detriment of U.S. businesses and military interests, they said.

The officials said the indictment in 2016 of a Chinese-American nuclear engineer, Allen Ho, was one of the factors that led to the review.

Ho, a naturalised U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to produce "special nuclear material" in China in violation of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act. CGN was also charged.

The United States and China signed an agreement on nuclear cooperation in late 2006 to build four Westinghouse AP1000 reactors and also transfer key technology to China. After years of delays, the debut AP1000 was connected to the Chinese grid earlier this year.

(Reporting by John Ruwitch; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)A demonstration organized by the right-wing Patriot Prayer group ended in clashes on Saturday night, October 13, with a brawl erupting among counter-protesters and an American flag being burned on the street.

Portland police said they saw hard-knuckled gloves, firearms, knives and batons at the demonstration, with at least one fight reported.

This footage was shared by Bryan Colombo, who said the flag was burned by members of the Antifa movement who were counter-protesting the Patriot Prayer march. The flag was burned at the site of the police-involved shooting of an African-American man in September, he said. Credit: Bryan Colombo via StoryfulBrexit Secretary Dominic Raab flew to Brussels on Sunday for unscheduled talks with EU negotiator Michel Barnier - but "key issues" remain despite speculation a deal had been reached.

News of the talks fuelled reports that a divorce agreement may be close ahead of Wednesday's crunch summit of European leaders.

Politico went as far as citing unnamed diplomats as saying a deal was done.

But speaking afterwards, Mr Barnier said: "Despite intense efforts, some key issues are still open."

These issues, including avoiding a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, are now unlikely to be resolved ahead of the summit, with an EU official telling Sky News that "no further negotiations are planned ahead of the European Council... the EU negotiator will brief the leaders who will then assess the progress so far".

A Number 10 spokesman said: "In the last few days UK and EU negotiators have made real progress in a number of key areas. However there remain a number of unresolved issues relating to the backstop.

"The UK is still committed to making progress at the October European Council."

Ambassadors to the other 27 EU member states were summoned to separate meeting on Sunday that did not include Britain.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, meanwhile, is hosting European counterparts at his country residence in Kent - tweeting a picture of them all in a maze and saying the talks were "straightforward" in comparison.

On the prospect of a Brexit deal, he told reporters: "I think what we're reading is that we've made a lot of progress. There are still some big issues to settle. We are putting everything into trying to resolve these issues."

It comes after David Davis issued a dramatic call to cabinet ministers to stage a mutiny against the prime minister to kill her Brexit plan.

The prime minister will be travelling to Brussels on Wednesday for a summit where both sides hope to sign off on a draft withdrawal agreement setting out the terms for Britain's divorce from the EU.

Story continues

This is despite DUP leader Arlene Foster reportedly being "ready" to trigger a "no-deal" Brexit.

She regards this as the "likeliest outcome" following a "hostile and difficult" exchange with Mr Barnier last week.

The issue of the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland is one of the last remaining obstacles to achieving a divorce deal.

:: Chequers proposal: Here's what you need to know

Mr Davis has said Mrs May's plan to keep the UK in a customs union is "completely unacceptable" and "flawed".

Writing in The Sunday Times, the former Brexit secretary wrote: "This is one of the most fundamental decisions that government has taken in modern times.

"It is time for the cabinet to exert their collective authority. This week the authority of our constitution is on the line."

It has been reported that four more letters demanding a vote of no confidence in the PM were submitted last week after three during the Tory conference, making a total of 44, just four short of the number needed to trigger a vote.Energy firm Cuadrilla is set to start fracking on Saturday (Shenzhen: 002291.SZ - news) after a judge ruled there was "no evidence" to show fracking posed more than a "medium risk".

Cuadrilla is now free to begin work on the UK's first horizontal shale gas well in Lancashire after an attempt to temporarily block the firm failed at the High Court on Friday.

Anti-fracking campaigner Bob Dennett, who applied for the interim injunction, claimed emergency response planning and procedures at the Preston New Road site were inadequate.

But Mr Justice Supperstone ruled there was not a "serious issue" to be tried which would justify an interim order.

Mr Dennett said he would continue to fight.

"We have been advised that there are two clear errors in this judge's determination that leave the way open for us now to take this to the Court of Appeal, which is what we are obviously going to do," he said.

An additional legal challenge brought by Friends of the Earth regarding regulation at the site is still being considered by the High Court.

Jamie Peters, Friends of the Earth fracking campaigner, who was at the High Court, said: "In a week in which the scale of action needed to stop climate chaos has dominated the headlines, it is simply wrong to be heralding the start of a new fossil-fuel industry."

"You can have fracking or you can deal with climate change - you can't do both," he added.

Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the Green Party, called the ruling "bitterly disappointing" and urged the government to ditch "its reckless dash for gas and invest instead in a renewable revolution of solar, wind and tidal power".

Cuadrilla chief executive Francis Egan welcomed the ruling, saying in a statement: "If commercially recoverable this will displace costly imported gas, with lower emissions, significant economic benefit and better security of energy supply for the UK."

Protesters have set up camp outside the site virtually around the clock since it opened, concerned about, among other things, the contamination of drinking water and earthquakes.

Fracking had been suspended since 2011 after it caused two earth tremors - one of 2.3 magnitude.A kitten stuck in a storm drain in Gretna, Louisiana, was luckily saved by some dedicated deputies from the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs office in Louisiana.

Deputy Andy Perez shared footage of the rescue on his Facebook page. Deputies Andy Perez, Latisha Davis, Shane Rivolo and Melissa Fuller rescuing a small kitten trapped in a drain in Gretna, LA, the post said. The officers can be seen trying to remove the top of the drain with a crow bar before resorting to prying up the surrounding concrete. The kitten can be heard crying inside.

The deputies eventually came up with a plan to help the kitten out. I remembered I had rope in my car and figured we throw it down the hole and hope that the kitten would climb up, Perez told Storyful. The officers eventually coaxed the cat out of the drain, resulting in a successful rescue. As of writing, the post has over 180 shares and over 16,000 views on Facebook. Credit: Andy Perez via StoryfulTens of thousands of people marched in Paris and other major cities across France on Saturday to call for greater action on climate change.

Around 80 demonstrations were scheduled to be held nationwide on Saturday, from the northern city of Lille to Marseille, in the south of France.

The protests came a week after after an alarming United Nations report calling for urgent global action to avoid a climate catastrophe.

In Paris, an estimated 14,500 people marched from the central Opera district to the historic Place de la Republique, according to the Occurrence research institute. The Paris police put the number much higher at 18,500, while organisers said that 50,000 people had turned out.

The huge crowds brandished colourful banners that read, Change the system, not the climate and #ThereIsStillTime.

An estimated 10,000 people took to the streets in eastern city of Lyon, while between 2,000 to 3,500 marched in southwestern Bordeaux. In Lille, the protest drew more than 3,000, according to police.

The public outrage is justified because so many warnings are being ignored by governments around the world, Rajendra Shende, chairman of the environmental organisation TERRE, told FRANCE 24.

The last major climate change protest in France  which drew an estimated 115,000 people nationwide, according to organisers  was held on September 8, a little more than a week after the countrys former environment minister Nicolas Hulot resigned from office, disappointed over the lack of progress on climate change and other issues.

Hulot was succeeded by Francois de Rugy, who hailed Saturdays turnout as a call to action.

I applaud those who marched for the climate this afternoon across France. Everyones mobilisation is a call to action! he tweeted.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)"Doctor Strange" actor Benedict Wong says that filming could begin for the sequel. Marvel Studios has not made any comments about future plans following Avengers 4, besides "Spider-Man: Far From Home," which comes out a few months later.

The rest of the filming slate is a mystery to fans, however, reports have shown how the next few years could be shaping up. James Gunn's firing from "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," left a major hole. ScreenRant says the film was originally scheduled to hit theaters in May 2020.

Marvel fans have continued to speculate what could replace it, and it appears the best option would be "Doctor Strange 2."

Marvel silent on possible 'Doctor Strange' sequel

Marvel's silence on any Phase 4 films doesn't hurt "Doctor Strange 2," but no serious reports have indicated that any movement is happening. There were reports alleging that Benedict Cumberbatch was getting a pay raise, as he returns for the sequel. While there has been silence on the project, Benedict Wong has said the film could begin filming later this year.

Benedict Wong made the surprise announcement during a panel at Fan Expo in Vancouver. Wong said that he really wants to start filming before 2018 is done, which only leaves two months for the sequel to begin filming.

Marvel execs have hinted at a potential sequel

Previously Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige has said that a "Dr. Strange," sequel was being developed, but has not actually said when it would hit theaters. Comicbook says that filming "Dr. Strange 2" this year would make it a leadoff film for Marvel Studios in 2020. It would also make Dr.

Discuss this news on Eunomia

Strange a strong lead character for the Marvel Cinematic Universe moving forward.

While Marvel has been silent about the current status of a sequel, "Doctor Strange," director Scott Derrickson has indicated that he will return and that there has been movement in regards to the sequel. Derrickson deserves to return as "Doctor Strange," received major praise and brought in almost $700 million worldwide.

"Doctor Strange," screenwriter Robert Cargill previously mentioned his plans for a sequel, though his status as a writer for the sequel has not been confirmed. Cargill had previously said that Marvel films have succeeded in having more than one villain in them, hinting that his potential sequel could involve Nightmare and Baron Mordo. While nothing has been officially confirmed, fans will just have to wait to hear what is really going on with the future of "Doctor Strange," and whether we will actually have a sequel.The latest updates and spoilers for "Spider-Man: Far From Home" reveal another Spidey costume for Peter Parker in the movie. Several behind-the-scenes photos and videos of the film's set revealed the new costume of the web-slinger as Tom Holland is doing a scene with Zendaya.

There is also news of a petition made by Marvel fans to have former web-head Tobey Maguire have a cameo appearance in the sequel. "Far From Home" will have Peter traveling to Europe with his friends, but his trip is in jeopardy when Mysterio steals a valuable tech from Stark Industries.

Peter also needs to rediscover the hero within after losing his mentor, Tony Stark in the fourth "Avengers" film.

A new Spidey suit spotted

According to Screen Rant, the new Spider-Man costume was spotted during a BTS production scene in New York as Tom Holland suits up and did a stunt along with his co-star Zendaya. The new costume resembles his old Stark Suit, with the color scheme being red and black, similar to his first comic book appearance.

Another noticeable change is that his web shooters are now hidden in the suit, as supposed to wrist watches. He also has the white spider logo on his back similar to the "Spider-Man" PS4 video game. This will be Peter's second costume in the film, with the stealth suit being previously leaked online.

Some comic book fans also compared Peter's new outfit to the "Superior Spider-Man" costume, when Doctor Octopus transferred his consciousness to Peter's body in the comics.

Fan petition for Tobey Maguire in the sequel

According to Cinema Blend, Marvel fans started a petition on Change.org to have former Spidey actor Tobey Maguire have a cameo in "Far From Home." The petition read that the scene will have him play a pizza delivery guy, which is one the many jobs that he did during the Movies.

Discuss this news on Eunomia

Another fan also suggested that one of Maguire's customers is Andrew Garfield, who also played Spidey, in Marc Webb's take on the Marvel hero. The petition already had 85,000 signatures and looks to continue to make the trend.

It was previously reported that Peter will meet former S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury, who tries to help him find himself to stop Mysterio.

Fury will mentor the web-slinger after Tony's demise and guides him to the right path the same way he did with the Avengers.

Fury's right-hand woman, Maria Hill, will also appear in the film. There are also new characters such as Jessica Drew, Chameleon, and Spencer and Alistair Smythe. The Spidey sequel will premiere in cinemas on July 9, 2019.Aditya Chakrabortty in The Guardian:

What will a Corbyn government actually do? Brexit aside, British politics has no bigger known unknown. The prospect fills the rich with fear and the left with hope. Both sides assume that Prime Minister Jeremy Corbyn will be defined by his radicalism, yet in one corner of Britain an arm of the state is already ruling in his name. And the early results are sobering.

In the north London borough of Haringey, the Blairite council leadership was deposed by Labour members a few months ago and replaced with avowed leftwingers. Said the new council leader, Joe Ejiofor: Over the next four years, it will be up to us to show everybody what this mythical beast the Corbyn council does. The title may not have been of his making, but by God was he going to wear it. It is for the many, not the few.

Everybody cheering that May morning knew what he meant. No more slinging families out of their homes to clear way for multinational developers. No more machine politics and trampling over communities. No more of the politics of contempt.

It was the willingness of the previous leader, Claire Kober, to hand swaths of the borough over to giant building companies that forced her out of office.

More here.Art lovers interested in accessible collectibles can head to the Albuquerque Museum for its largest fundraiser beginning this weekend.

The 28th annual Arts Thrive exhibition has lured 128 artists with 36 new exhibitors from across New Mexico and beyond. Formerly known as Miniatures and More, this years version features expanded categories and sizes from Oct. 21 through Dec. 2. The artists receive 60 percent of the proceeds, with the museum collecting 40 percent.

The show features 250 works of art ranging from painting and sculpture to pieces in newly-created divisions such as glass, textiles and jewelry.

The artwork will attract those looking for something to decorate an office or entry space, as well as homeowners wanting to embellish a table or a wall, Arts Thrive administrator Karanina Madden-Krall said.

The styles range from the contemporary street art of Christian Gallegos to more traditional landscapes by Tom Murray.

The glass art includes a female sculptural form by Linda Tratechaud and a three-dimensional plate by Santa Fes Sarah Nelson.

When you hold it up to the light, its got a really great translucence, Madden-Krall said of the plate.

Colorados Leon Loughridge made a hand-bound book of his own woodblock prints.

He is a master bookmaker, Madden-Krall said.

An anonymous jury of art industry professionals sorts through the submissions, looking for quality and variety.

A selection of prominent artists, including Catalina Delgado-Trunk, Emmi Whitehorse, Aaron Karp and the estate of Robert Ellis, will discuss and show their work at a collectors dinner on Friday, Oct. 19.

Renowned Albuquerque fiber artist Nancy Kozikowski has created a handwoven, hand-embroidered kimono-style robe for the event. Acoma Pueblo potters Frederica and Randy Antonio have submitted two pieces.

I like to call it a pop-up gallery, Madden-Krall said.Serenata of Santa Fe will gather the music of composers from the Czech Republic, France and the U.S. for its Worlds Apart concert on Sunday, Oct. 21.

Slated for its usual venue at Santa Fes First Presbyterian Church, the chamber groups program features musicians Ruxandra Marquardt (violin), Alice Norris (viola), Sally Guenther (cello), Pamela Epple (oboe), Debra Ayers (piano) and soprano Gail Springer.

Czech composer Bohuslav Martinus 1947 Quartet opens the concert.

Hes one of the composers that isnt played that often, artistic director and oboist Pamela Epple said. He was kind of a bad boy. He was not like Smetana and Dvorak, all the other Czech composers who were influencing music at that time. He was thought to be unfit for a teaching career. His life was full of chaos.

In 1923, Martinu left Czechoslovakia for Paris and deliberately withdrew from the Romantic style in which he had been trained. He turned instead to the neoclassicism developed by Stravinsky.

You would think (Quartet) would reflect a lot of folk music, Epple said, but it really doesnt.

Instead, the work incorporates the happy, jazz-inflected tunes of the 1920s.

The La Jolla Chamber Music Society commissioned American composer Joan Tower to write her piano trio Big Sky for its Summerfest La Jolla 2000. Tower is best known for penning Fanfare for the Common Woman, inspired by Aaron Coplands Fanfare for the Common Man.

The piece reflects the time the composer spent growing up in Bolivia.

She became obsessed with horses and loved to jump as a teenager, Epple said. She wrote this based on the memory of her horse. Its incredible music. Its vast; its rhythmic; it has beautiful harmonies.

The program moves to Paris for Germaine Tailleferres Piano Trio, written in 1917, then revised in 1978.

Tailleferre was one of a group of composers known as Le Six, who rebelled against the impressionism fashionable at the time.

They were referencing the style of Picasso and Matisse and Modigliani and they had the works in their little concert venue, Epple said.

Her piano trio is just ravishing, Epple said. They even named a street after her in Paris.

Pulitzer Prize-winning American composers Kevin Puts You Need Song from the Opera America Songbook is a simple piece about the act of singing. Mark Campbell, the librettist of Puts Silent Night, wrote the lyrics.

Theyre very lyrical and clever about how we all need song at various moments in our lives, Epple said.

The concert will end with Santa Fe composer Ron Strauss A la Luna, commissioned by Serenata in 2016. Strauss set the text to the 19th century Spanish poetry of the Galician Rosalia de Castro. De Castro was an ardent defender of womens rights.

She was kind of a woman activist in her way, Epple said. She had such a unique sensibility for her time. Its a very intimate work describing emotional atunement to the natural world.Joel-Peter Witkin laughs easily, spouts silly jokes and kisses a visitors hand as she leaves.

Not the kind of behavior youd expect from this master of the macabre.

Depending on your point of view, the Albuquerque resident is either famous or infamous for black-and-white photographic assemblages featuring corpses and body parts. He sets people with physical deformities in staged tableaux evoking 19th century studio photographs, as well as Baroque compositions. The images can both attract and repel.

Santa Fes CENTER is showing Splendor and Misery: An Exhibition of Legendary Photographer Joel-Peter Witkin through Nov. 4 at El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe Gallery. CENTER also will host An Evening With Joel-Peter Witkin at the closing event of the annual Review Santa Fe Photo Festival at the Drury Plaza Hotel on Saturday, Oct. 20. Witkin is the keynote speaker.

Now 79 and sporting trademark oversized black-and-white polka dot glasses, Witkin insists he is anything but grotesque. But he recognizes his status as one of the most controversial artists in America.

Witkin has created images of severed arms and feet within a carefully placed still life. Most notoriously, he once produced a photograph of two severed heads kissing.

Most people think Im a dark soul, but no, Im a lighthearted person about 10 years short of a clown, he said, grinning in his South Valley studio, his torso bouncing with his laugh. A Mickey Mouse clock looms over him on a high wall.

Ive always been interested in living people, he insisted. I havent photographed remains in about 20 years.

Witkin lives on about seven acres surrounded by a canopy of trees towering over a menagerie of rescued horses, burros, llamas and three dogs. His wife, Cynthia, returned to him about a year ago after being divorced from him for more than 20 years.

Its a miracle of love, he said.

Witkin has worked with people at the extreme margins of society, often in countries where the laws are more lenient about human remains.

Despite the challenging and often shocking nature of his photographs, his work hangs in major museums, including New Yorks Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Bibliotheque Nationale de France in Paris.

A devout Catholic, Witkin says his work is about morality.

Ive always been interested in the drama of life, he said. I dont believe its dark imagery. I believe its part of reality. I think were here to solve problems  what life means and what people can contribute to life.

Even in death, it can be beautiful, he continued. The crucified Christ is probably the most often visualized image of death.

CENTERS program and exhibitions manager Angie Rizzo says Witkins work opened her mind.

Its important for several reasons, she said. It asks the question of why his subject matter is so taboo.

Now death happens in hospitals and institutions, so all the spiritual rites of passage are monitored by the law, she said. Theres a lot of assumptions that if someones sick and dying, they have to be in hospitals; they cant be at home. Death is a hidden matter.

Witkins work with dwarfs, amputees and transsexuals predated the radical acceptance of alternative body types, she added.

The portrait Satiro depicts a legless, armless man as a satyr. Witkin appended his torso with the fresh legs of an elk, adding a crown of thorns to his shoulder stumps. A herd of sheep grazes peacefully in the background. Witkin shot the 1990 photograph of an actor/comedian in Mexico. Cast latex horns sprout from his head.

What I told him was, You are a god of nature, Witkin said. Its about nature and the mystery of nature.

The photographer picked up his first camera at age 11 when he was growing up in Queens.

It was instinctive, he said. I was an artist from the egg.

Las Meninas echoes the original 1656 painting by Diego Velasquez, one of the most analyzed works in Western painting.

In Witkins version, a little girl with spina bifida helms the center, a skirt covering what would have been her legs above a wire cage. A Christ figure stands in a doorway.

She has no legs, he said. The child was very beautiful. She can never touch the earth. So this is about suffering and immobility.

Its about morality because each of us with every breath we take, we are deciding what to do, he added.

Witkin first came to Albuquerque as part of his graduate degree program. In 1975, he moved here from an 11- by 22-foot New York apartment.

He met the great 20th century photographer Edward Steichen at what is now the Museum of Modern Art when he was a teenager. Witkin showed the legendary man his 20 best slides.

He picked one for a show; it was called the Masterpieces of the Museum collection, Witkin said.

He encouraged me, Witkin said, adding Oh, I get goosebumps, rubbing his arms.

A roiling sea backdrop hangs from his studio wall, awaiting his latest composition, of a mermaid cradling a baby. Hes still working on the design.

People are afraid of death; I cant wait, he said. Im not suicidal. But from a Catholic standpoint, if you live a good life, youre going to spend an eternity with God. And thats the big show.There was a time when people of faith seeking respite from the violence and disquiet in the world around them or a measure of comfort for internal conflicts and anxieties could count on sanctuary and solace in places of worship.

And while that remains true for the most part, it is not a certainty in todays troubled world. Brutal behavior does not respect the sanctity of churches, temples and mosques. Now, sacred spaces, as well as schools, are soft targets for the vengeful, the hateful, the fanatical and the deranged.

Theyre easy pickings because people who go to schools and churches are not going to be armed, said Todd Patton, a reserve officer and chaplain with the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office and pastor of Albuquerques Promise Community Church. Church doors are not supposed to be locked. Churches are supposed to be welcoming. Just come on in. You can still maintain that. You just have to be cautious. All kinds of violent things are going on  even within churches.

Patton is among those who will be presenting programs at the 10th Annual Place of Worship Threat Survival Conference on Saturday, Oct. 20, at Calvary Church, 4001 Osuna NE. He is an instructor, as is Vince Harrison, Calvary Churchs safety director, with Global One Defense, the security company that is conducting the survival conference.

Patton served 20 years active duty with the sheriffs office. As a reserve officer, in addition to his chaplain duties, he runs a peer-support program and works with his therapy dog, Copper, a 3-year-old chocolate Labrador, in stress debriefings and public relations.

Harrison was with the Albuquerque Police Department 21 years, retiring as a detective, and has been involved in safety and security at Calvary for 20 years.

I wanted to share what we did at Calvary with other churches, Harrison said. If I were to walk into a church and pull a gun, what would you do? How do you react to a homeless person screaming and taking peoples purses? We teach the basics of de-escalation, basic gun and knife disarmament, how to defend yourself. Dont become a victim, become a victor.

Warrior mentality

Harrison said last years conference drew 125 people from 100 places of worship, including representatives from a mosque. Most of the participants are from New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and Colorado.

This years guest speaker is Kirk Carpenter, superin-tendent of the Aztec, N.M., schools, the target of a December 2017 shooting that killed two Aztec High School students before the shooter took his own life.

Conference topics include The Threat is Real: Domestic and Transnational Terrorism Attacks on Places of Worship, Active Shooter Survival and Threat of Improvised Explosive Devices.

Harrison will present a program titled Place of Worship Security Team: Selection and Retention. Pattons program is Combat Warrior Mentality and Combat First Aid During and After an Attack.

Warrior mentality is getting people to see and understand that when it comes down to it, you can fight for your life, Patton said. It is focusing on the fight system if you are cornered and out of all other options. We talk about improvised weapons  or actual weapons if you are allowed to carry them. You dont have to curl up and die. You can fight.

Battle of the blood

In 2017, a man shot to death 26 people and wounded another 20 at a Baptist church in Texas. In 2015 nine people were shot and killed in a historic black church in Charleston, S.C., and in 2012 six members of a Sikh temple in Wisconsin were fatally shot.

Here in New Mexico, in August 2015, a homemade bomb exploded in a mail box at a Las Cruces Baptist church just prior to Sunday services and about 20 minutes later another bomb blew up in a trash can near the entrance of a Las Cruces Catholic church while Mass was in progress. No one was injured in either bombing.

But these are just a few of the violent incidents aimed at places of worship in the country in the last half dozen years.

No one ever anticipated this, Patton said. One reason we do these conferences is to bring awareness to the current situation. It is unpredictable. We still come across pastors who say, That would never happen here. But what if it did happen? Are you prepared? We are not talking about people being armed with rifles at the door. We are talking about awareness. We are talking about trauma bags.

Trauma bags, Patton said, are kits stocked mostly with bulky dressings, gauzes and other materials designed to staunch heavy bleeding.

There are two battles, the battle of the bullets and the battle of the blood, he said. You can win the battle of the bullets and lose the battle of the blood. We talk about how to apply tourniquets, how to stop the bleeding long enough for fire and rescue to get there.

Patton said security situations vary from large churches such as Calvary, which has 15-person safety teams, to smaller churches such as his own. But it boils down to being alert and being prepared.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Place of Worship Threat Survival Conference

WHEN: 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20

WHERE: Calvary Church HUB (auditorium), 4001 Osuna NE

HOW MUCH: $100. Buy one ticket, get one free. Or split the cost and bring a friend. To register and pay online, through Wednesday, Oct. 17, Place of Worship Threat Survival Conference9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20Calvary Church HUB (auditorium), 4001 Osuna NE$100. Buy one ticket, get one free. Or split the cost and bring a friend. To register and pay online, through Wednesday, Oct. 17, click here . Or make reservations by emailing Gil Baca at GlobalGilBaca@gmail.com or by calling Baca at 505-385-7089.

CHURCH SHOOTINGS

Some of the church shootings in this country since 2012:Nov. 5, 2017: A man armed with an assault weapon kills 26 and wounds 20 at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas.Sept. 24, 2017: A Sudanese immigrant was charged with shooting a woman to death and wounding seven others at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Tenn.June 17, 2015: A 21-year-old white man shoots and kills nine black worshipers, including a pastor, at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.Aug. 5, 2012: A white supremacist fatally shoots six and wounds several other members of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, Wis.May 3, 2012: A homeless man shoots to death a priest and a church secretary  both women  at St. Peters Episcopal Church in Ellicott City, Md.Nine months after President Donald Trump was forced to dissolve a panel charged with investigating voter fraud, GOP officials across the country are cracking down on what they describe as threats to voting integrity  moves that critics see as attempts to keep some Americans from casting ballots in Novembers elections.

In Georgia, election officials have suspended more than 50,000 applications to register to vote, most of them for black voters, under a rigorous Republican-backed law that requires personal information to exactly match drivers license or Social Security records.

In Texas, the state attorney general has prosecuted nearly three dozen individuals on charges of voter fraud this year, more than the previous five years combined.

And in North Carolina, a U.S. attorney and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued subpoenas last month demanding that virtually all voting records in 44 counties be turned over to immigration authorities within weeks  a move that was delayed after objections from state election officials.

Voting rights advocates said Republicans are seizing on sporadic voting problems in an effort to disenfranchise voters of color.

In Georgia, several of these groups filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to block the exact match registration law passed last year.

The myth of voter fraud is used by those who wish to curtail the right to vote of specific populations, usually minority voters, said Ezra Rosenberg, an attorney for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a participant in the suit.

Instead of thinking up schemes to stop people from voting, we should be doing everything in our power to make it easier for people to vote, he added.

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who enforces state election laws and is also the GOP gubernatorial nominee, said the focus on the suspended voter registrations is a crisis manufactured by his Democratic opponent.

While outside agitators disparage this office and falsely attack us, we have kept our heads down and remained focused on ensuring secure, accessible, and fair elections for all voters, he said in a statement last week in which he touted Georgias record number of registered voters.

Numerous studies have found no evidence of large-scale voter fraud in the United States. But the specter of fraud was raised repeatedly by Trump after the 2016 election, when he claimed without evidence that millions of undocumented immigrants voted illegally for his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Soon after entering office, Trump created the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, which was charged with examining claims of voter fraud, improper registration and voter suppression.

The commission was disbanded in January after states refused to turn over requested data and filed lawsuits to block its demands, citing voter privacy. Trump blamed states for refusing to cooperate and promised to continue the effort within his administration.

In a tweet at the time, Trump said the commission fought hard to investigate allegations of voter abuses because they know that many people are voting illegally. System is rigged, must go to Voter I.D.

Matt Dunlap, the Democratic secretary of state of Maine who served on Trumps commission, said in an interview that he now views the effort as a sham. He accused Republicans of trying to gin up anti-immigration sentiment by falsely claiming that voting by undocumented immigrants is rampant.

Its a dog whistle, no question about it, Dunlap said. Whenever we talk about illegal immigration, voter fraud, others taking something away from us  of course its a dog whistle.

In Georgia, the issue is inflaming an already hard-fought governors race, where Kemp is battling against Democrat Stacey Abrams, who would be the first female black governor.

The Associated Press reported last week that 53,000 voter registrations in the state are on hold under the exact match verification process, which requires voter application information to precisely mirror a residents state or federal data on file. Even a hyphen out of place could prompt an application to be flagged by local election officials and suspended.

Nearly 70 percent of the registrations that have been frozen are those of African Americans, according to the AP.

Kemps office said the reason so many black voters have had their registrations held up is because they were signed up to vote by the New Georgia Project, a voter registration campaign founded by Abrams that Kemp accused of filing sloppy, handwritten forms.

Abrams is no longer involved with the group. In a statement, her campaign spokeswoman, Abigail Collazo, said Kemp is trying to deflect responsibility and deny accountability for the continued use of the exact match program, which is well known to disproportionately impact minority voters. It is clearer than ever that Brian Kemp cannot be trusted to oversee this election.

Kemps office said that all voters whose applications were suspended have received notices about how to contact local officials to rectify their status. All are permitted to vote this November if they bring proper identification that substantially matches their registration.

This is a publicity stunt that the media falls for year after year, said Candice Broce, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state, noting that a similar exact match law was recently upheld in Florida by a federal appeals court.

The 53,000 Georgians cited in their complaint can vote in the November 6th election, she said. Any claims to the contrary are politically motivated and utterly false.

The controversy in North Carolina elicited a more bipartisan uproar, with Republicans and Democrats alike decrying the efforts of Robert Higdon Jr., the U.S. attorney for Eastern District of North Carolina and a Trump appointee, to secure millions of voting records from 44 counties in the eastern half of the state.

The demand for documents came just days after Higdons office, in concert with ICE, issued indictments charging 19 foreign nationals of voting illegally in the 2016 elections.

State election officials argued that responding to the subpoenas would require compiling more than 20 million documents and would burden tiny electoral offices while they were already printing ballots and making other preparations for the November elections.

A spokesman for the State Board of Elections said the U.S. attorney agreed to wait until January for the documents.

Higdons office declined to answer questions about the subpoenas, citing an active grand-jury investigation. ICE officials also declined to comment.

The demand could cast a chilling effect among voters worried about the privacy of their voting records, state officials said, and frighten naturalized immigrants into wondering about their right to vote.

The scope is immense. Its incredible. The amount of information theyre seeking  Ive never seen anything quite like it, said Andy Penry, chairman of the state electoral board.

It would be nice if the proponents would give us some information to justify the breadth and scope of the subpoenas, said Penry, a Democrat. In the absence of that, there are going to be a lot of people who are going to think that this is an effort to buttress false narratives of voter fraud.

Election officials say they support efforts to investigate and stop improper voting  and in fact, Higdons indictments resulted from an audit that the State Board of Elections conducted after the 2016 election, which showed that more than 400 people cast ballots improperly because of felony convictions, while an additional 41 documented noncitizens cast ballots.

But many believe that such investigations should remain the province of state and local officials  not the federal government.

Stacy Eggers IV, a Republican appointee to the electoral board who doesnt often vote with his Democratic colleagues, joined the unanimous vote to file a court motion to quash the subpoenas. He said he was alarmed by the demand for absentee ballots, which include a number that can be traced back to a voter  and to how he or she voted. Close to half the electorate in the state voted absentee in 2016, he said.

If there is election fraud, we want to have it investigated, because it lessens the power of legitimate voters, Eggers said. But what does a federal investigative body need with the votes of 50 percent of the electorate in eastern North Carolina? Thats my biggest concern.

Voter fraud prosecutions are also on the rise in Texas, where Attorney General Ken Paxton has expanded the number of investigators in his office focused on the issue and ramped up prosecutions.

Paxton, who declined a request for an interview, last month touted a one-year jail sentence and deportation his office secured of a noncitizen charged with voter impersonation and voter fraud.

Election integrity is a top priority for my office, Paxton said in a statement at the time. Anyone attempting to deprive the people of Texas of their voice in either state or federal elections will be brought to justice and penalized by the full extent of the law.

Fueling the debate are recent problems with state programs in Pennsylvania and California aimed at increasing voter registration that have produced tens of thousands of registration errors.

In California, mistakes in the states new Motor Voter program  which began automatically registering eligible voters through the Department of Motor Vehicles in April  led to as many as 100,000 registration errors, including some voters being registered twice and some with their party affiliation improperly switched. In addition, 1,500 ineligible people were registered, including some noncitizens, Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in a news conference Tuesday.

State Republicans and Democrats, including Padilla, agree that the states new motor voter program may need to be suspended.

Jim Patterson, a Republican state assemblyman from Fresno who led the effort to uncover and fix the problems, said that because of errors, many, many Californians are now beginning to call into question the sanctity of the voter rolls and the accuracy of their own voter registration.

Patterson said he is confident that voters and local registrars have time to correct the problems before Election Day.

In Pennsylvania, officials realized in 2017 that a poorly designed touch-screen system for applying for drivers licenses had prompted thousands of noncitizens to register to vote.

Scott Wagner, the Republican nominee for Pennsylvania governor, criticized his opponent, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolfe, for poor management of election records and promised a thorough scrub of them if elected.

I will make it a priority to make sure all noncitizens are removed from the voter rolls and Pennsylvanians can have confidence in their election system once again, Wagner said in March.

A conservative group called the Public Interest Law Firm (PILF) sued Pennsylvania in February seeking its election records, claiming that as many as 100,000 noncitizens may be registered to vote.

Such rhetoric alarms voting rights advocates, who believe that groups such as PILF are pushing to create political support for purging immigrant voters from election rolls without certainty that they are ineligible to vote.

PILF spokesman Logan Churchwell said his group wants to bring the same due diligence to the data that state election officials claim they do. He also disputed the idea that his groups lawsuits, or stricter voting requirements such as voter ID laws, have a chilling effect on turnout.

Why would it have a chilling effect on a U.S. citizen? he asked. Its a public service to them.

State officials said they have fixed the touch-screen system and said there is no evidence that 100,000 noncitizens are registered to vote. Officials are still assessing how many improper voters were registered.

The state found more than 11,000 instances in which a driver who obtained their license as a noncitizen also has registered to vote, but nearly 2,ooo did so after becoming naturalized citizens, according to Wanda Murren, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of State.WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump confirmed Saturday that he is considering a new family separation policy at the U.S.-Mexico border because he believes the administrations earlier move to separate migrant children from parents was an effective deterrent to illegal crossings.

Asked to respond to a report in The Washington Post that the administration is weighing a new family-separation policy, Trump told reporters, Were looking at everything that you could look at when it comes to illegal immigration.

Trump said the soaring number of illegal border crossings is a terrible situation and argued that family separations likely would help scare away some undocumented migrants from trying to enter the United States.

If they feel there will be separation, they wont come, Trump said.

Trump made his comments to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One for his trip to Kentucky, where he was scheduled to headline an evening campaign rally.

Trump attributed the rise in illegal border crossings to the robust economy.

We have people that are trying to get into our country because of how well our country is doing, Trump said. You know, in the old days, when the country wasnt doing well, it was a lot easier. Now everybody wants to come in, and they come in illegally, and they use children. In many cases, the children arent theirs. They grab them, and they want to come in with the children.

The president later added: You have really bad people coming in and using people. Theyre not their children. They dont even know the children. They havent known the children for 20 minutes. And they grab children and they use them to come into our country.

In August the country saw a 38 percent increase in the number of migrants arrested and charged with illegally crossing the border, Department of Homeland Security officials said.

The Post first reported Friday that the White House was actively considering plans to again separate parents and children at the U.S.-Mexico border. Senior administration officials noted, however, that they are not planning to revive the chaotic forced separations carried out by the Trump administration in May and June that spawned an enormous political backlash and led to a court order to reunite families.

One option under consideration, according to the report, is for the government to detain asylum-seeking families together for up to 20 days, then give parents a choice: Stay in family detention with their child for months or years as their immigration case proceeds, or allow children to be taken to a government shelter so other relatives or guardians can seek custody.Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

For more than two decades, parents, victims, nuns and others reported alleged sexual assaults or raised other red flags about Fr. Arthur Perrault to Catholic priests and diocesan officials, including two archbishops. None of those warnings, according to court records, stopped him from preying on children here until he vanished from Albuquerque in 1992.

When Fr. Arthur Perrault ushered the altar boy into his bedroom at Our Lady of Guadalupe rectory and locked the door, the 13-year-old feared what would happen next. Years later, he remembered the cleaning lady knocking at the door three times. The Catholic priest warning him to keep quiet. And how the unwanted fondling of his privates resumed when she went away.

Perrault had to stop so he could perform a wedding at the church, but asked the seventh-grader to come back afterward to watch TV or see a movie.

At that point in time, I was scared to death. I wanted to run out, the former altar boy said in a deposition, portions of which were unsealed last year by an Albuquerque district judge.

Leaving the rectory, the boy made his escape. He rushed through the church out into the December morning while Perrault stood at a window watching. The priest knew where he lived, so the boy jumped into a muddy, icy drainage ditch where he couldnt be seen from the street as he ran for home.

A mile or so later, he climbed back to the pavement only to see a greenish-blue compact car with Perrault behind the wheel headed toward him. Perrault pulled up and said, Im sorry. Come on. The boy yelled an obscenity and turned away.

I was so upset, and I didnt think I could keep away from him, the former altar boy testified. I knew he wasnt going to leave.

He realized that a kid from school lived just five houses away. Once there, he banged on the door.

I remember being muddy and his mom standing there when I burst in the door, he said. I was crying and screaming, and I told her that I needed to call my mom, that there was a priest chasing me. And I know it probably sounded screwy to her.

Hours later, his father told him, I want you to sit down, write out what happened, and Im going to go to the archbishop, and were going to make sure that he doesnt do this any more.

The former altar boy, who gave the account in a deposition in the early 1990s, is known as Victim #17 in redacted state court records.

But despite the boys letter to then-Archbishop James Peter Davis in December 1971 and the parents intervention, Perrault went on to sexually assault at least 21 more children over the next two decades, according to allegations in court records.

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe announced last year that 74 Catholic priests, deacons and religious leaders in New Mexico have been accused of sexual abuse of children, noting that the vast majority of the abuses occurred more than 25 years ago.

Lawyers for his accusers say Perrault stands out because of how long he got away with the alleged criminal activity, and how many warnings the Archdiocese had about his conduct before he fled the state in the fall of 1992.

The Archdiocese says that, these days, it has a zero tolerance policy when priests abuse children.

But from 1966 to 1992, there were nearly 20 instances in which parents, victims, nuns and others reported Perraults sexual assaults or raised other red flags to priests, diocesan officials and former Archbishop Davis and his successor, Archbishop Robert F. Sanchez, court records show.

At a deposition in 1994, Sanchez testified that he knew of only one complaint about Perrault.

Federal charges

Perrault, now 80, faces federal aggravated sexual assault charges involving an unidentified altar boy allegedly molested at Kirtland Air Force Base and Santa Fe National Cemetery. The alleged repeated molestations occurred during 1991-92  some 20 years after Victim #17s parents thought Perraults behavior had been stopped.

Perrault has been in federal custody since his arrest last month by the FBI, which sent agents to Morocco to retrieve him for prosecution in New Mexico. Perrault taught English to children at a Tangier school for 23 years. He was detained and ultimately expelled by Moroccan authorities once they learned of his federal indictment, which was only unsealed to the public after his arrest.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Martha Vazquez is set to hear an appeal by Perraults attorney of a detention order keeping Perrault in custody pending trial. U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Molzen on Sept. 25 found Perrault was a flight risk, chiefly because he earlier fled to Morocco, which has no extradition treaty.

Molzen rejected the option of a halfway house for Perrault, noting that he was charming and manipulative.

Perraults attorney has said the criminal charges date back nearly 30 years and said that, in a trial, the case will come down to whether jurors believe the victim or Perrault. Perrault has pleaded not guilty. If convicted of the most serious charges, he could face life in prison.

Officials at the Archdiocese declined to discuss Perraults case because of the active investigation.

Beyond the courtroom, the past has come to haunt Victim #17, who testified during his deposition of having dreams of me being a little boy at night and Father Perrault  doing stuff. He would wake up sweating.

Most of the people I represent are in their 40s and 50s and 60s, and are looking back at childhood events, said Brad D. Hall, an Albuquerque attorney whose firm has filed more than 100 clerical abuse cases in New Mexico since 2011. Therapy helps, but many of them have suffered for 30 or 40 years. Thats a life sentence for many of them.

Archdiocese response

Robert F. Sanchez served as archbishop from 1974 until he stepped down in 1993 after a scandal involving his relations with at least five young women, according to court records. He died in 2012 of complications of Alzheimers disease.

Court records and interviews show that his approach to dealing with Perrault and other priests accused of abusing children was to send them to therapy.

For instance, in 1981, after two nuns reported assaults of children by Perrault and a mother notified the archbishop that her son committed suicide after being abused by him, Sanchez sent Perrault for a psychological evaluation.

In 1981, I did not understand that (child sexual assault) to be a crime. I considered it to be a moral infraction of his (the priests) own life and it was an offense against a child, he said during the 1994 deposition.

Why was Perrault allowed to go on so many years doing this, Archbishop? Sexually molesting children, one of the victims attorneys asked.

Sanchez replied,  It appeared to me that with proper counseling of this man, proper therapy and support, that he could work effectively. There was no indication to the contrary.

Sanchez testified that if Perraults therapist indicated to me that Father Perrault constituted a continual danger to children, that I would have not allowed him to function in that way.

Perrault abruptly left his post as pastor of St. Bernadette parish in Albuquerques Northeast Heights as allegations against him became public.

But earlier in 1992, Sanchez testified that he didnt consider Perrault a potential danger to anyone  because of his presence with his therapist, the continuing therapy that he was receiving, evaluation he was received, the fact that there had been no allegations for several years and years, the fact that the people of St. Bernadette, meeting with them repeatedly, had nothing but affirmative things to say about him. .

How did he know there were no complaints? Sanchez replied, because I had not received them. I could not be accountable for things that I was unaware of.

Paraclete and therapy

Court documents chronicle Perraults pattern of alleged child sexual assaults amid stints of psychoanalysis. For instance: In 1965, the archbishop of Hartford, Conn., sent a 28-year-old Perrault to New Mexico for treatment at the now-closed Via Coeli center, run by the Servants of the Paraclete, in Jemez Springs. He began therapy in early 1966, because, according to his therapist notes, of his homosexual approaches to some of the young men with whom he was working.

Nearly all of his alleged victims were boys, some as young as 9.

After his release to Albuquerque in early 1966, which led to a teaching assignment at St. Pius X High School, Perrault allegedly abused nine children by the decades end. The first victim was assaulted at the archbishops house in the mid-1960s; others at St. Pius and at Queen of Heaven parish. The first complaint came in 1968, when a victim reported the abuse to the director of the University of Albuquerques Upward Bound program and was later chastised and threatened by Perrault. The University of Albuquerque closed in 1986.

By the early 1970s, Perrault was seeing a therapist, but during that same time period, he allegedly sexually assaulted eight more children while assigned to the high school, and later, at Our Lady of Guadalupe parish. Archdiocesan priests, including then-Father Robert Sanchez, confirmed to high school board members that the rumors that Perrault was a practicing homosexual were true.

Then-Archbishop Davis told board members he placed Perrault under psychiatric care, and Perrault was eventually transferred to Our Lady of Guadalupe parish.

Victim #17

Months later, in December 1971, Perrault allegedly sexually assaulted Victim #17, who contacted an attorney after Perrault left the state in 1992.

According to Victim #17s deposition, he cried and argued when his father demanded they go back that December day and confront Perrault about the assault. The priest told them he was sorry that he had touched me.

While his father continued to talk with Perrault, the boy was sent outside, where he met another priest from the parish who told him, You need to forgive and forget and pray. The victim said the priest told him that Perrault was just trying to express love for me.

I remember he tried to put his arm around me, and thats the last thing I wanted him to do, and so I shrugged away, and I told him to leave me alone.

After his father told him to write a letter to the archbishop, Thats the last day my parents and I basically spoke about this incident. They just told me that they would handle things with the Archbishop, and we didnt ever go back to that church again.

The only other thing they (his parents) communicated to me was they talked to the Archbishop and they were taking him (Perrault) out of the church and he wouldnt bother anyone again.

Perrault wrote a letter to the family apologizing, explaining he was lonely and had lung cancer, which federal prosecutors say wasnt true.

I just fell apart and reached out to the first person, Perrault wrote.

In 1992, Victim #17s mother contacted her son after the abuse allegations surfaced publicly.

Youre not going to believe it, she told her son. But hes been back in the church, and not only has he been back in the church, but hes the head of this big church called St. Bernadettes.

During Perraults 10 years at that parish, six more children were sexually abused, court records allege.With the death of Arizona Sen. John McCain, our nations uniformed personnel lost their staunchest advocate in Congress. Sen. McCain was the champion of the front-line war fighter in each and every Department of Defense (DOD) budget. McCain crusaded for budget monies for equipment, materiel and training.

In New Mexico we have three Air Force Bases and the Army Test Range at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR). The mission set at each of these four military installations is being severely jeopardized while most of us idly stand by as the militarys ability to train, test and evaluate is potentially eroding.

Cannon Air Force Base

In northern New Mexico air crews from Cannon AFB are being challenged by protests over the low-level flight routes they need to hone their skills for combat in an environment mirroring real-world combat environments. These training flights are not some fun and games activity; they are essential missions that could determine life and death outcomes in a war zone. Conspicuously absent in the northern community discussions are the advocates to articulate how essentially critical these training routes are for air crews who will soon be flying in combat in protection of our nation.

Holloman Air Force Base

At Holloman AFB in southern New Mexico, the current Regional Special Use Airspace Optimization Plan (RSOP) is being crippled by those who advocate for fishing, hiking and camping access. The mission of the F-16s at Holloman is to provide initial flight qualification training  the Air Force is experiencing a critical shortage of fighter pilots. The expanded Military Operating Areas and coordinated use of WSMR airspace will allow the Air Force to minimize any potential disruption or impact to training across our state. The process surrounding the RSOP protects citizens access to recreational activities and creates the opportunity for F-16 pilots to receive critical life-preserving training.

White Sands Missile Range

White Sands Missile Range is the foremost military test range in the United States. WSMR is the second-largest testing facility in the world and the largest in the United States. The SunZia Southwest Transmission Project is a known impediment to the comprehensive test environment essential to develop weapons and countermeasures to protect our national security. In 2014 Gov. Susana Martinez expressed concerns about the project to then-Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. The WSMR 2016-2046 30-year strategic plan anticipates increased testing of emerging technologies. In 2017 Martinez wrote to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Defense Secretary James Mattis urging that transmission routing be conformed to the original Department of Defense-preferred route. In January of 2018 Rep. William Mac Thornberry, R-Texas and chairman of the committee on Armed Services, also wrote to Mattis and Zinke stating the proposal agreed to in May 2014 by the DOD and the DOI will unacceptably limit WSMR testing. The May 2014 proposal was forced through by the Obama White House. These three letters, plus the strategic plan based on current and near-term threat analysis and longer-term mission requirements have thus far gone unheeded. And the SunZia project remains a huge danger to the viability of White Sands.

In central New Mexico critical missions have been and continue to be compromised. The approval of a bird sanctuary located a mere 3.5 miles south of the Albuquerque International Sunport active runway has severely limited the ability of the 58th Special Operations Wing to meet mission requirements.

Kirtland Air Force Base

Giant wind turbines are being erected north and east of Kirtland AFB with zero assessment of their impact on military operating areas or military flight training paths. Most recently, a sovereign nation pueblo is lobbying for a land swap with the Bureau of Land Management. The unique geography of the terrain allows for extremely critical training. Such a swap will create a high risk for future training.

All of us expect our war fighters to win any fight, anytime, anywhere. This is an appeal to all New Mexicans to become advocates for the war fighter. This is an appeal for community leaders and local elected officials to inform themselves on the serious nature of these unsettled conflicts. Everyone needs to understand there is no guarantee that these missions will remain in New Mexico if the critical needs of the war fighter are dismissed, ignored and rejected. We all enjoy the first-world privileges and lifestyle engendered by the security the war fighter provides us on a daily basis. To paraphrase Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, a reason national security is not a nagging concern on the mind of the average citizen is thanks to the fact that our military services protect us so well.Living in the world is challenging, often profoundly disturbing and frequently dangerous. Colleges and universities should be institutions wherein we learn to understand and address in constructive ways knowledge, beliefs and values from the past and the present with which we do not agree and perhaps even find abhorrent. The arts represent and help to create identities and values, and often we share uncomfortable, distressing spaces with them. How we share those spaces helps us to define ourselves. The arts have the capacity to help us experience, learn and understand, often especially if they present uncomfortable truths. It also goes without saying that the arts have given us transcendent beauty  sometimes both exist simultaneously within the same object or performance.

At the time the Three Peoples murals were painted in 1939, they were welcomed as both beautiful and a model of inclusion; they were not meant to be nor were they understood to be racist. For decades they have been read differently than the artist and former UNM President (James Fulton) Zimmerman intended or anticipated. The first time I saw them, when I came to teach here in 1993, I saw two things in those murals: they were influenced by Diego Riveras Detroit frescoes, and they presented a narrative that privileged the depicted Anglos. No question. That being said, they are complex, significant works of now controversial art, demanding a close reading; they are historical markers that make visible the changes in values since they were painted. My students and I stood in front of these murals engaged in animated discussion; several well-reasoned papers came from those moments.

Following my presentation on Chicano/a murals in the Pinder/Lubin course on the Adams murals in February, I suggested the following:

First, we keep the murals where they are for all the reasons cited above.

Then, we create a documentary film available in the library about the history of the murals and their changing reception over time to offer a framework for understanding their multiple histories. It could be updated periodically to keep it current and relevant.

And to further the conversation we could offer a juried competition for artists whose work UNM would then commission in a variety of mediums to address current understandings of racism, diversity and inclusion in New Mexico. To expand upon that, we could create an infrastructure that would make it possible to have such a competition every three to five years. Such an opportunity would make it possible for artists, the university and the broader community to continuously reflect upon our changing understanding of racism and its deleterious effects, of what constitutes diversity and inclusion and their value to us. There should be an honorarium. The resulting collection would be displayed in a permanent rotating exhibition near the murals. All New Mexico-based artists would be welcome to participate. Over time the selected works of art would join the conversation, becoming part of the historical record.

This may not be the best solution, but somehow, let us make the opportunity to create history, not obliterate it. Censorship is never the solution.

Holly Barnet-Sanchez is associate professor emerita, Modern Latin American and Chicano/a, Latino/a Art History and former Associate Dean for Student Affairs, College of Fine Arts.Steve Ivey, retired car dealer in Mountainair, started getting phone calls from all over the world last spring.

The Mountainair police station, a neighborhood bank and even the local arts council also started getting calls when people couldnt reach Ivey  all of them desperately seeking information about the former businessman and the Alpine Motors dealership he had shut down the year before.

The calls were inquiries about high-end vehicles  a Maserati, a Lexus, a Mercedes 300 SL  the customers supposedly bought from Ivey, and the bottom line was, Wheres my car?

The answer was, in every case, there is no car and there never was.

Ivey and his defunct business were the target of an international identity theft scheme that ripped off people from Holland and Switzerland to Colorado and Wisconsin.

The scammers took over the Alpine Motors website after Ivey retired and marketed cars supposedly from the business on websites like autotrader.com, cargurus.com and Facebook.

Those who fell for it paid for the pricey vehicles sight unseen, Ivey said. For example, the man from Holland was out $38,500 for the Mercedes because the scammers rejected his request to first pay just an initial deposit, insisting he send the full amount before they would ship the car overseas.

A guy from Canon City, Colo., drove down to Moriarty with a buddy and a car-hauling trailer to collect the 1965 Corvette convertible he thought he had purchased from the fake Alpine Motors, Ivey said.

I told him, Youve been the victim of a scam,  Ivey said. You should have seen the look on his face when he realized what he had done. He left here with no car and out $43,000.

Ivey said he and his wife came to the rescue of at least eight people  including one bewildered buyer who called the local bank for information on how to deposit tens of thousands of dollars into Iveys account  but for others it was just too late.

Ivey said all told, the losses he knew of came to at least $250,000, but police told him the amount of money involved actually totaled much more because it was part of a large-scale scam that went way beyond Alpine Motors and Moriarty.

Ivey said the calls, which had stopped by August, were a blow because of the care he and his father had taken to build a reputation for the 32-year-old car business.

I guess Im not legally responsible, but Im feeling horrible because our family built an excellent reputation, he said. Now, instead of being able to help people like my dad and I did for so many years, someones using our name to hurt people and rip them off.

The funny thing was, he said, that the cars he and his dad marketed were a far cry from the fancy wheels falsely sold under his name. Those were all high-end cars that we never sold in 32 years in business, he said. Were a pickup truck and cheap car market up here because people are low-income.

Iveys advice to company owners is to close down their official website when they go out of business so it cant be easily hijacked by an imposter. Although an acquaintance had earlier set up a company website for Ivey, Ivey said he never used it and forgot to take it down when he retired.

Ivey also cautioned those who make large purchases without first checking out the goods.

Im not sure what Im supposed to learn from this except you cant trust anybody blindly today, he said.

Ellen Marks is assistant business editor at the Albuquerque Journal. Contact her at emarks@abqjournal.com or 505-823-3842 if you are aware of what sounds like a scam. To report a scam to law enforcement, contact the New Mexico Consumer Protection Division toll-free at 1-844-255-9210.Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  After more than a decade of debate and disagreement  and more than 35 bills falling by the wayside  New Mexico lawmakers finally approved the framework of an independent ethics commission during the 2017 legislative session.

Now, it will be up to voters to decide in November whether to put the ethics commission in the state Constitution. It will appear on the ballot as Constitutional Amendment 2.

If approved, the new seven-member ethics commission would function as a clearinghouse of sorts for complaints involving state officials, legislative employees, lobbyists and government contractors.

I think its overdue and will put us in line with the vast majority of states that already have (an ethics commission), said former longtime U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., who is helping backers rally support for the measure. This will help, I believe, to reassure people that the folks representing them are generally honest and aboveboard.

Although powers and makeup of the commissions vary, New Mexico is one of only six states  along with Arizona, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming  that do not have an ethics commission, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The number of states with ethics commissions has steadily increased in recent years; in 1980, only 28 states had them.

New Mexicos ethics commission proposal comes after a string of public corruption scandals involving elected officials.

In one of the most recent examples, former state Sen. Phil Griego, a Democrat from rural San Miguel County, is serving a prison sentence after being convicted of fraud, bribery and pocketing money from his campaign account.

And ex-Secretary of State Dianna Duran, a Republican, resigned and pleaded guilty in 2015 to using campaign funds to cover a gambling habit. She was sentenced to 30 days in jail  she served the time in the Santa Fe County jail  and several years of probation.

Its unclear whether the creation of an independent ethics commission would reduce public corruption, since a 2013 study by University of Missouri researchers found no correlation between corruption rates and the existence of such commissions.

But backers say the creation of an ethics commission would not only bolster public confidence but would also represent an improvement over New Mexicos fragmented current system for handling ethics complaints, in which jurisdiction depends on whos being accused and investigations often take place in secret.

The beauty of an independent ethics commission is we wont be investigating ourselves, said former Gov. Garrey Carruthers, a Republican who helped head a task force that recommended the creation of such a commission in 2006.

Carruthers also said the ethics commission could take a proactive role in educating contractors, elected officials and others about state ethics laws.

We might be able to stop some of that behavior when it first starts, he said.

Structural decisions

Even if voters approve the ethics commission measure in November  and theres no organized opposition against it  there will still be key structural decisions to be made.

For instance, the proposed constitutional amendment does not stipulate exactly when complaints would be made public and does not provide for a funding mechanism to pay for the ethics commissions operations.

Those decisions and others, such as member qualifications and penalties for frivolous complaints, would have to be made by the Legislature during the 60-day session that starts in January. A subcommittee of lawmakers has been holding meetings to discuss some of those issues.

Senate Minority Leader Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, who has spoken against the idea of an independent ethics commission in recent years, predicted that the proposed constitutional amendment will be easily approved by voters.

But he expressed concern about complaints possibly being made public or leaked by commission members before they can be thoroughly investigated. He said legislators have in the past received internal ethics complaints about divorces and other personal matters.

These things can be so treacherous, Ingle told the Journal. With that many people involved, its going to be hard to keep it private.

In contrast, Rep. Jim Dines, R-Albuquerque, a retired attorney who spearheaded a bipartisan push in 2017 to pass the ethics commission legislation, said much of the commissions business should be handled in the open.

The real strength of the commission will be its transparency, Dines said. We dont want it to be a toothless tiger.

Subpoena power

One thing that would be enshrined in the state Constitution, should voters approve the proposed amendment, is subpoena power for the ethics commission. That would allow the commission to require witnesses to testify and compel requested records and other evidence to be provided.

The makeup of the seven-member commission would also be set in the Constitution. The commission would include one gubernatorial appointee, four members picked by top legislative leaders  the top Democrat and Republican in both the House and Senate  and two additional members selected by already appointed commissioners.

Overall, no more than three of the commissioners could be from the same political party. That means at least one member would have to be either an independent, a Libertarian or a member of some other political party beside the Democratic and Republican parties.

The thought is that will lessen any kind of political bent, said Kathleen Sabo, executive director of New Mexico Ethics Watch, a nonpartisan organization that is one of several groups closely watching the recent meetings on how to set up the ethics commission should voters approve the idea.

She also said the creation of an independent ethics commission could be an economic benefit for the state, since surveys have shown that business leaders overwhelmingly support more government accountability and transparency.

This could really have an economic impact, Sabo said. It could leave an impression and make more businesses want to come here.



A total of $16 million of state money  which was set aside through state Senate and House bills  was awarded to districts across New Mexico based on school safety need.

The Public School Capital Outlay Council voted unanimously on Thursday to approve the funding plan, which was one of three options presented to the council.

Albuquerque Public Schools asked for a total of $13.2 million of combined state and district money for 72 schools upgrades.

School districts are required to match a certain percentage, which is 45 percent for APS.

The district got funding for nearly all its projects barring four  George I. Sanchez, Ernie Pyle Middle School, Tony Hillerman Middle School, and Atrisco Heritage Academy High School.

APS was approved for a total of $11,258,145 worth of projects for 68 school campuses, including about $4 million of direct state dollars.

Some of APS legislative money will go to pay down offsets, money the district owed to the state from past appropriations, explained Jonathan Chamblin, executive director of the New Mexico Public School Facilities Authority.

Chamblin said schools that werent funded were either newer campuses or campuses that had a number of security upgrades over the years.

They scored as being relatively more secure than the other APS schools, he said.

APS also got less funding than requested for some individual projects.

But Kizito Wijenje, APS executive director of capital master planning, said the district will still move forward with updating security and putting uniform safety measures in place at each APS school.

The safety of the school, kids and staff is not negotiable, he said.

Wijenje, who is still reviewing the PSCOCs decision, said he expects APS will include school security projects as part of its mill levy bond election in February to make up for the deficit.

APS requested the Legislative funding for four things at each school: classroom door locks, fencing, card-access to front doors and secure front entryways.

Chamblin said districts including APS should expect to get the first installment of the funding in about a month.

To get the money, districts had to submit applications for each school where the funds would be used, a summary of how the measures will improve the schools security and the total project cost. From there, the projects were ranked based on need and the schools with the most demand were given priority.

Some districts, including Santa Fe Public Schools, did not apply for the school security money.

While the house bill was a single appropriation, the senate bill is recurring for up to $10 million a year for four years.

Wijenje said APS plans on submitting an application  a process Chamblin expects will be similar to this years  again next year.Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

Nationally, opioid overdose deaths continue to skyrocket but New Mexico, a long time leader in drug overdose deaths, has seen a slight decline.

State officials say that decline is, in part, due to better prescribing practices for opioids like oxycodone and hydrocodone, as a result of a state law mandating that health care providers check a patients prescription history in the states Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) database when prescribing opioids.

The policy interventions we have made as a state aim to end this drug epidemic and reduce the tragic loss of life in New Mexico, said Department of Health Cabinet Secretary Lynn Gallagher. Our concentrated efforts to reduce opioid over-prescribing is ultimately improving our ability to identify and offer help to those at risk.

State Epidemiologist Michael Landen M.D., said in a telephone interview Friday that educating doctors and others who prescribe the drugs, as well as patients, about the dangers of chronic opioid use, is having an impact on the number of drug overdose deaths.

Opioids were marketed as safe drugs that could be taken for a long time, Landen said. Weve learned that there are real dangers associated with the chronic use of these drugs.

According to the state Department of Health, the number of patients receiving high dose opioid prescriptions decreased by 17 percent over the past year.

And the number of patients with prescriptions for both opioids and benzodiazepines decreased by 19 percent. Mixing opioids with other medications like benzodiazepine tranquilizers such as Xanax or Valium increase a patients risk of overdose.

State licensing boards have adopted regulations requiring doctors and others to check the computerized PMP database before prescribing drugs such as Xanax.

The Department of Health recently reported a 4 percent decline in death rates due to overdose of commonly prescribed opioids, such as oxycodone, in 2017 compared to 2016. In addition, deaths due to heroin decreased by 9 percent, and deaths due to synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, decreased by 6 percent over the same time period.

Nationwide drug overdose death rates increased by 21.5 percent.

Landen said he attributes the decline to better prescription monitoring, increased use of alternative medications for addicts and the increased availability of naloxone for people overdosing from heroin or other opioids.

Since 2013, the state has distributed over 70,000 nalaxone kits statewide and reports 385 overdose reversals due to administration of naloxone from the first quarter 2017 to the first quarter of 2018.

Naloxone is used as an emergency antidote for people overdosing from heroin and in smaller daily doses as a long term alternative drug to treat opioid addiction.

The state is also contacting doctors when they find a patient has died of an opioid overdose and tracking high use of opioid prescriptions.

The reaction has been positive, Landen said. It is an opportunity to educate prescribers on lower risk alternatives to opioids.

He said the National Safety Council has recognized New Mexicos policies to combat opioid overdoses as some the best in the nation.

States on the East Coast, Midwest and South have seen opioid overdose death increase by more than 40 percent in recent years. Much of that is attributed to illegal fentanyl shipped from China to Mexican drug cartels and organized crime groups operating in Canada that smuggle the drug into the United States.

Fentanyl is mixed into counterfeit opioid pills, heroin and cocaine, which the Centers for Disease Control says likely contributes to increases in overdoses involving those drugs.

More than 72,000 people died in the United States from drug overdoses in 2017 and more than 49,000 of those deaths were attributed to opioids.WASHINGTON  Three weeks before critical midterm elections, voters are expressing significantly more interest in turning out than they were four years ago, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. Enthusiasm is up across almost all demographic groups, but the increases are greater among younger adults, nonwhite voters and those who say they favor Democrats for the House.

At the same time, President Donald Trumps job approval rating has risen five points after tying a record low point in August, although Democrats maintain a double-digit advantage in overall support for Congress, the poll finds.

Four years ago, midterm voter turnout fell to its lowest level in more than half a century. Republicans were able to capitalize by expanding their House majority and taking control of the Senate. Today, with that GOP House majority at risk and some close Senate races that will determine who has control of that chamber in January, a 77 percent majority of registered voters say they are certain to vote next month or have already voted, up from a 65 percent majority in Post-ABC polls in October 2014.

Certainty to vote is up 32 points among women younger than 40, compared with 2014. Among men and women ages 18 to 29, it has risen 17 points. Among nonwhite registered voters, 72 percent are now certain to vote, up from 48 percent in Post-ABC polling in October 2014. White men without college degrees represent the one heavily Republican group whose certainty to vote is lower than average and has increased less than other groups since 2014. In contrast, white women with college degrees are up 15 points to 88 percent. For white women without degrees, the figure is up 12 points.

Among voters who prefer Democratic candidates for the House, 81 percent say they are certain to vote, up from 60 percent in 2014. Among those who support Republican candidates for the House, enthusiasm now stands at 76 percent, compared with 73 percent in October 2014.

The poll offers no definitive answer to the question of how the partisan battle over the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh has affected intensity among voters from both parties. By one measure, the percentage of Republican voters who say they are now certain to vote has risen slightly more than among Democrats since August. By another, the Democrats advantage from before the Kavanaugh fight remains.

Asked directly, 33 percent of registered voters said the debate over Kavanaugh made them more likely to support Democrats while 27 percent said they are more apt to back Republicans, with a 39 percent plurality saying it makes no difference. While national effects are mixed, Republicans overwhelming support for Trumps nominee may be a liability for Democratic senators running for reelection in heavily Republican states, including West Virginia and North Dakota.

Registered voters say they prefer the Democratic candidate for the House over the Republican candidate by 11 percentage points  53 percent to 42 percent. That is slightly lower than in August, when the Democratic advantage was 14 points. Among likely voters in the new survey, the margin is 13 points. Historically, that kind of gap foreshadows gains, possibly substantial, for the Democrats.

The gender gap remains large, as it has all year. Among registered voters, women favor Democratic House candidates by 59 percent to 37 percent while men split about evenly, with 48 percent favoring Republican House candidates and 46 percent favoring Democrats.

Those registered voters who describe themselves as independents favor Democrats by 52 percent to 38 percent, driven primarily by a 2-to-1 advantage for Democrats among independent women (62 percent to 29 percent).

White women with college degrees split 57 percent to 42 percent for Democratic candidates while white women without a college education lean toward Republicans, 49 percent to 43 percent.

The upward move in the presidents approval rating brought it to 41 percent, with 54 percent disapproving, among adults overall. Among both registered voters and likely voters in the survey, his approval rating stood at 43 percent.

Approval of his handling of the economy stands at 49 percent, with 46 percent disapproving. This is the first time Trump has received net positive ratings on the economy in Post-ABC polls.

That increase in overall approval has not translated into similar Republican gains on the generic ballot because a record 90 percent of those who say they disapprove of the president now say they are supporting Democratic House candidates, up from 83 percent in August. Among those who approve of the presidents job performance, 87 percent support GOP House candidates  also a high in Post-ABC polling this election cycle.

Historically, there is a close correlation between approval or disapproval of a sitting president and voting intentions in midterm elections, which is one reason Republicans have been eager all year to see the presidents approval ratings increase.

Majorities of voters see the upcoming elections as more important than in the past, with Democrats more likely to say so than Republicans. By 74 percent to 61 percent, registered voters who identify as Democrats or lean toward the Democratic Party are more likely than registered voters who identify as Republicans or lean toward the GOP to say these midterm elections are more important than past ones.

The share of voters who say they prefer the next Congress to be in Democratic hands as a way of providing a check on Trump has fallen from 60 percent in August to 54 percent today, while the percentage who say they want a Congress controlled by Republicans to help support the presidents agenda has risen from 34 percent to 41 percent.The current levels are similar to opinions of then-President Barack Obama ahead of the 2010 and 2014 midterms. Democrats suffered losses in both those elections.

Majorities of Democrats and Republicans say supporting a candidate who shares their view of Trump is an important consideration in their vote. Overall, 58 percent of voters say this is extremely or very important, including 63 percent of Democrats and those who lean Democratic and 56 percent of Republicans and those who lean Republican.

Among all adults, Democrats are trusted more than Republicans to deal with the main problems facing the nation, by 45 percent to 37 percent. Four years ago, adults split 39 percent to 39 percent on that question. In 2006, when Democrats swept to power in the House, their advantage on this question was 19 points.

Of six individual issues, Democrats hold marginal to significant leads on five of them while Republicans hold a narrow advantage on one  the economy, by 45 percent to 41 percent. Democrats are rated insignificantly better on taxes (45 percent to 42 percent).

Democratic advantages on the others are all by double digits. They lead by 10 points on which party is trusted more to change the way things are working in Washington; by 11 points on the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court; by 12 points on immigration; and by 26 points on who is trusted to handle equal treatment of men and women.

The economy and health care rank as the most important voting issues this fall, followed by changing the way things work in Washington and the equal treatment of women and men, followed by taxes, immigration and the appointment of judges to the high court.

The Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted Monday through Thursday by telephone among a random national sample of 1,144 adults, with 65 percent reached on cellphones and 35 percent on landlines. The margin of sampling error is 3.5 points for overall results as well as for results among 991 registered voters; the error margin is four points among for the sample of 752 likely voters.

  

The Washington Posts Emily Guskin contributed to this report.THERMALITO, Calif. - A Thermalito woman is upset about a recent campaign photograph Oroville mayoral candidate Janet Goodson mailed to voters on a flier.

Mikey Bryce showed Action News Now reporter Cecile Juliette the photo that has her so upset.

Bryce said someone came up to her and asked, are you supporting Janet Goodson?

"I said no," said Bryce, who said the person told her that her face is all over Goodson's campaign fliers.

Bryce says she remembers when Oroville Vice Mayor Janet Goodson came to her front yard when she met with residents of her Thermalito neighborhood.

A photo was snapped, and it ended up in Goodson's campaign literature.

"I am not even in the city," said Bryce. "I'm in the county."

Bryce says the photo misleading. 'I do not want people to think I am supporting her because I am not," she continued.

She said she told Goodson, "I am receiving calls from my friends that are not happy with me thinking I support you. Do something," she pleaded.

She said she emailed Goodson, asking her to take the photo down.

Bryce says Goodson did not respond. She claims that not only did the photo go out to registered voters in mailers, but Goodson also posted it to her "Janet Goodson for Mayor" Facebook campaign page.

The photo carried this caption: "Speaking to constituents about the increasing number of homeless and viable solutions."

This has Bryce crying foul. "I can't even vote for her. She's not even in our district," she repeated.

Goodson removed the Facebook photo after Action News Now contacted her about this story. She was not available for an interview but gave this statement. It reads in part: "He (the photographer) did not stipulate nor indicate a restriction on its use. That same picture has been used on my Janet Goodson for Mayor page as a profile picture since August 7, 2018."

Bryce says she has no plans to take any legal action, but says she wants to spread the word that she does not support Goodson's campaign.

"Now we've gone to another layer of this that I just didn't want to be involved in, and I am, and I don't want to be," says Bryce.

Action News Now checked with a copyright attorney to see if Goodson did anything wrong by using Mikey Bryce's photo without her permission. The attorney told us that it would be hard to convince a judge that the photo was a false endorsement.DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - The Latest on the disappearance of a Saudi writer who Turkish officials fear was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul (all times local)

---

9:10 p.m.

A member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee says the U.S.-Saudi relations may need "to be completely revised" if an investigation finds the kingdom's government responsible for the murder of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi.

Republican Marco Rubio of Florida says that includes the multi-billion dollar arms deal that President Donald Trump wants to preserve.

Rubio tells CBS' "Face the Nation" that "we can never be a voice for human rights anywhere in the world if we allow a situation like this to go forward and us do nothing about it."

The senator calls Saudi Arabia "a key leverage and hedge point against Iranian influence in the region."

But, he adds, that "cannot supersede our commitment to human rights."

If the Saudis are implicated, Rubio says there would be no pro-Saudi contingent in Congress "that's going to stick with our relationship with Saudi Arabia as it's currently structured

___

8:20 p.m.

A leading U.S. senator says Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin shouldn't attend a major investment conference in Saudi Arabia later this month in the wake of reports that journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi may have been killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Florida Republican Marco Rubio tells CNN's "State of the Union" that he doesn't think any U.S. government officials "should be going and pretending as it's business as usual, until we know exactly what's happened here."

But White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow says the conference will deal with terrorist financing and how to stop it, and that "at the moment," Mnuchin intends to go.

Kudlow tells ABC's "This Week" that Mnuchin "will make up his mind as the week progresses and as new information surfaces" and the investigation proceeds.

___

7: 50 p.m.

A White House aide says President Donald Trump is serious when he says there'll be "severe punishment" if Saudi Arabia is found to be complicit in the disappearance of U.S. resident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Economic adviser Larry Kudlow says that when Trump "warns, people should take him at his word." Kudlow isn't saying what Trump could do, but says Trump will "decide what the proper actions" are.

The Saudis themselves are warning they'll respond to any "threats" against the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia is the world's top oil exporter, and Kudlow was asked on "Fox News Sunday" whether a Saudi response could affect energy prices.

Kudlow calls the U.S. "the dominant energy player so we're in pretty good shape in my opinion with our energy boom to cover any shortfalls."

Khashoggi hasn't been seen since he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

___

7:10 p.m.

Germany, France and Britain are calling for a "credible investigation" to establish what happened to Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi and seek a "complete and detailed" Saudi response.

Khashoggi went missing when he visited the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Turkish officials fear Khashoggi was killed and dismembered, allegations Saudi officials call "baseless."

The German, French and British foreign ministers said in a joint statement Sunday that defending freedom of expression and ensuring protection for journalists are key priorities and that they are "treating this incident with the utmost seriousness."

They said there must be a credible investigation to establish the truth and "if relevant" identify those responsible for Khashoggi's disappearance.

"We encourage joint Saudi-Turkish efforts in that regard, and expect the Saudi government to provide a complete and detailed response," they added.

___

3:15 p.m.

Saudi Arabia says it rejects any "threats" of economic sanctions or political pressure after President Donald Trump's comments on the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.

The statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency on Sunday also warned that the kingdom will respond to any steps taken against it.

This statement came after the Saudi stock market plunged by nearly 7 percent at one point on Sunday.

The statement did not directly acknowledge Khashoggi's disappearance, which happened Oct. 2 when he visited the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

Turkish officials fear Khashoggi was killed and dismembered. Saudi officials call the allegations "baseless," but have offered no evidence Khashoggi ever left the consulate.

___

1 p.m.

The Saudi stock market has dropped more than 6.8 percent after President Donald Trump threatened "severe punishment" over the disappearance of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

The drop in the Tadawul exchange in Riyadh happened Sunday, the first day of trading.

In an interview to be aired Sunday, Trump told CBS' "60 Minutes" that "We're going to get to the bottom of it and there will be severe punishment."

Turkish officials say they fear Saudi agents killed Khashoggi after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. The kingdom has called the allegations "baseless," but has offered no evidence the writer ever left the consulate.WILLIAMS, Calif. - Authorities in Mexico have found a van belonging to a man suspected of killing his ex-girlfriend, according to Williams Police.

21-year-old Salvador Garcia Jr. is suspected of killing his ex-girlfriend Karen Garcia.

Police have not confirmed when they found the van or what was inside.

Karen Garcia was reported missing in January days after her sister and five others were killed by a wrong-way driver in a crash on Interstate 5 in Yolo County.

Garcia's body was eventually found in a car at a parking lot in Woodland.

Salvador Garcia Jr. was considered a suspect after Colusa Police searched his home and found evidence of a homicide.

Check out this link for more on the search for Karen Garcia's suspected killer.Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier?

Sign up to receive news and updates from this site directly to your desktop.

Breaking News Columbia Breaking News Greenville Breaking News Myrtle Beach Breaking News Aiken Breaking News N Augusta Breaking News

Click on the bell icon to manage your notifications at any time.

Success! Please click the 'Allow' button in the 'Show Notifcations' alert in your browser if one is available. Thank you for signing up!

Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page.U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham on Saturday said he and S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster will sit down with President Donald Trump next week to discuss the future of the imperiled Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility.

"Ive got one singular focus: to try to convince President Trump to abandon MOX makes no sense," Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said.

Graham  a repeat MOX defender  later said he was confident Trump would listen.

NNSA delivered MOX termination notice this week; construction expected to wind down "This notice terminates the contract in its entirety, and is effective immediately," the notice, which the Aiken Standard obtained, reads.

"And Im confident that were going to fight," the senator continued. "You thought Kavanaugh was a fight? You aint seen nothing yet over this."

The National Nuclear Security Administration terminated the MOX contract in its entirety on Oct. 10, just one day after a federal appeals court cleared the way for such action. The Aiken Standard obtained the NNSA's seven-page termination notice, which listed steps necessary to wind down construction and preserve the site.

The NNSA is a semiautonomous U.S. Department of Energy agency in charge of the nation's nuclear outfit. The NNSA oversees the MOX project, which employs about 1,700 people.

MOX, located at the Savannah River Site, is designed to turn at least 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium into fuel for commercial reactors. The MOX project, still incomplete and still a source of controversy, has been more than a decade in the making.

On May 10, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry moved to kill the project, citing a reportedly cheaper plutonium disposition method: dilute-and-dispose.

Dilute-and-dispose involves mixing plutonium with inert material for longterm burial elsewhere, in this case the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.

Graham, on Saturday, said mothballing MOX  the end goal of the Oct. 10 notice  is a "stupid decision." The senator said he would confront the energy secretary directly about the matter.

"Im going to tell Rick Perry that you dont have a plan to get this out of South Carolina," Graham said, referencing the plutonium. "Dilute-and-dispose wont work. This pie-in-the-sky, you have done nothing to study it."

On Wednesday, in an interview with the Aiken Standard, McMaster said he and South Carolina's leaders were going to "stick together" and were working on a sit-down with Trump.

DOE halts SRS management and operations solicitation, cites NNSA study Savannah River Nuclear Solutions is the current Savannah River Site management and operations contractor.

The governor  who is no fan of dilute-and-dispose, either  further said South Carolina would make its case to the president and "anyone in the administration who has a role to play" regarding MOX.

Next week's prospective summit would mark at least the second McMaster-Trump MOX meeting.

In June, McMaster said he spoke to both Trump and Perry during a private White House event in May. McMaster was photographed with Trump and Perry at that time, and McMaster later tweeted out a photo of himself and the president standing together.

When asked in June about the May meeting, the governor said Trump listened.

"It's time for Trump to fire a bunch of people," Graham said Saturday.No joint life in Barkan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned Sept. 27 to the UN General Assembly hall in New York to send what he termed 'a message to the tyrants in Tehran,' writes Akiva Eldar. Netanyahus tough stance on Iran evidently did not impress the young Palestinian who killed Kim Levengrond-Yehezkel and Ziv Hajbi on Oct. 7 at the West Banks Barkan industrial area where they worked. The Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip who launch incendiary kites and balloons into Israel to burn the fields of the neighboring Israeli communities were not impressed, either. Netanyahu is unable to defend his people in those places, at this point in time.

The explanation for the gap between Netanyahus presentations and press briefings regarding the Iranian nuclear threat and the assessments by Israeli and international experts should be sought in the Palestinian arena, Eldar explains. In fact, it can be found in the prime ministers own comments regarding the murder of Levengrond-Yehezkel and Hajbi. This despicable terrorist, this evil man, wished to kill Jews and at the same time destroy the fabric of joint [Palestinian-Israeli] life in Barkan, Netanyahu wrote on Facebook, pledging to remember the two victims forever and to keep developing the Barkan zone.

Netanyahu certainly knows there is no joint life in Barkan, only the type of coexistence one finds between a rider and his horse, adds Eldar. The Palestinians employed as laborers at the Barkan plants are banned from entering nearby Israeli settlements and are forced to lead their lives under military rule. As with other industrial parks Israel has established in the West Bank, Barkan was built on land considered by the international community (including the United States) and international law as occupied territory. A promise to develop Barkan, located in the heart of the West Bank, is tantamount to a commitment to perpetuate and deepen the Israeli occupation there. Occupation with no hope or end in sight is a surefire recipe for violence. During Netanyahus nine years in power, 144 Israelis have been killed and hundreds injured in terror attacks, the vast majority of which occurred in territories under Israeli occupation.

The Iran-phobia Netanyahu has been riding in recent years is a fig leaf designed to ignore the occupation policy of his government, concludes Eldar. This week, as mentioned, his policy took the lives of two more Israelis. Sadly, they do not appear to be the final victims. Facing this real threat, we are sure to see Netanyahu pursuing his Iran-phobia strategy. Let's prepare for another PowerPoint presentation, depicting a 'nuclear facility' in the heart of Tehran and the exposure of missile launchers on the outskirts of Beirut.

There will be nothing because there is nothing

People close to Netanyahu will swear that he is completely convinced that despite the investigations, the testimonies and the leaks, despite all the recordings and the (three) state witnesses, in the end, 'There will be nothing because there is nothing,' reports Ben Caspit. Yet if that really is the situation, Netanyahu would not be getting closer to deciding to advance the election to March 2019.

Although he denied it on Tuesday, no one in Israeli politics doubts that Netanyahus main motive in advancing the election is the impending indictments, Caspit writes. This comes in addition to all the polls that show his popularity soaring and that he would defeat his opponents easily. This is the real fuel that he needs to speed up the election, and the engine is already running. Netanyahu will make his final decision next week when the Knesset returns for its winter session Oct. 15, or he may make it a week later. Regardless, the time for decisions has come.  Ignoring for a moment the security situation, the drama that Israel can expect next year will have no precedent.

One thing is certain, Caspit concludes. Netanyahu must arrive at the position of candidate for indictment as a popular, serving prime minister. Another prime minister, Ehud Olmert, resigned before the investigation against him was completed. He was then indicted, convicted and sent to prison. Netanyahu has certainly learned his lesson after what ultimately happened to him.

Gazans blame PA for hardship

The already poor living conditions in the Gaza Strip have been steadily deteriorating in recent months. Sanctions by the Palestinian Authority (PA), and its failure to achieve reconciliation with Hamas and lift the Israeli siege, have significantly worsened the situation, reports Adnan Abu Amer.

Palestinians know that if they take to the streets and protest against Hamas, the movement could impose harsh security measures, fearing that local and regional forces would seize the moment and take what's left of its authority in the Gaza Strip, writes Abu Amer. At the same time, the movement allows popular protests in Gaza against the Israeli siege and the PA's sanctions.

Perhaps another reason why Palestinians aren't so quick to demonstrate against Hamas is because they understand that the alternative might not be better, Abu Amer concludes. Gazans do not want the PA to take over, given its tight security control over citizens in the West Bank and how it allows Israel to violate its sovereignty there. Without Hamas, Gazans fear, they would lose all sense of safety. No matter how much they might criticize it, they accept Hamas control of the Gaza Strip.

The Israel-Qatar paradox

Israel and Qatar have been growing closer over the last few months as a result of their joint efforts to save Gaza from collapse and prevent another war between Hamas and Israel, reports Shlomi Eldar.

The relationship is something of a paradox, writes Eldar. While Qatar is continuing its tradition of aiding the Hamas regime, it is also helping Israel avoid another war. In that way, everyone benefits from the wealth and munificence of the tiny emirate.

The two countries' increasing closeness has been kept discreet, largely out of fear that Egypt might see it as a way of subverting the boycott it imposed on Qatar in 2017, adds Eldar. This discretion explains why a meeting that took place in Larnaca last June between the Qatari emissary to Gaza, Mohammed al-Emadi, and Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman was not covered by the press. News of the meeting was only revealed by Israels Channel 10 some two months later. According to the report, Qatar committed to investing $350 million to advance certain projects in the Gaza Strip and to pay the salaries of government employees there.

Israel once accused Qatar of aiding a terrorist group, continues Eldar. However, with the United States interested in keeping Qatar out of Irans grasp and with the Jewish lobby working on the Emirates behalf, Israel has grown supportive of the Qatari emissarys activities.

Israel blocks Palestinian olive farmers

Dozens of farmers and other residents of West Bank villages rallied Sept. 22 in front of the Israeli gate by the separation wall near Araqah, seeking access to their lands on the Israeli side of the barrier that have been under Israeli sovereignty since the wall was built in 2003, reports Entsar Abu Jahal.

The protesters came from towns in southwest Jenin province including Araqah, Nazlet Zeid, Tawra and at-Tarem, Abu Jahal writes. They demanded unrestricted access to their land and denounced what they called the arbitrary measures Israel enacted Sept. 22 to stop farmers from harvesting their olives. Israel has been denying farmers permits, citing supposed security concerns and saying some parcels are too small to qualify for access.

The new measures come atop other conditions that Israel has imposed for years, such as age restrictions and limited hours of access, Abu Jahal continues. Now, any farmer seeking a land-access permit must produce a land title issued in 2018 and a new deed from the Beit Salem camp or, if the owner has died, a deed transfer to determine the heirs shares of the land. No permit is issued if the land or share of land is less than 380 square meters (454 square yards). In those cases, Israel seizes the parcels.Local investors paid $2.175 million for the former Smith's Bakery building at 1201 West I-65 Service Road in Mobile, according to Robert Cook of Vallas Realty, who handled the transaction. The 130,869-square-foot building was previously occupied by Sara Lee from 2009-2012 until they were bought by Bimbo Bakeries in 2012. Bimbo plans to relocate in early 2019. The new owners plan to lease the facility out for bulk warehouse and distribution needs. Vallas Realty and JLL will handle the marketing.

Local investors paid $750,000 cash for 27 acres off Ala. 59 in Foley, just south of Waffle House, according to Frank Malone of Bellator Real Estate & Development, who represented the seller. Ken Crabtree of Re/Max Paradise represented the buyers. The acreage included seven adjacent parcels with 50 front feet on Ala. 59, and frontage on Baldwin County 20 and Pine Street. The buyers plan to develop the property for retail/commercial use. The site is near the new Publix supermarket scheduled to open later next year.

Cottage Hill Baptist Church sold a building formerly used as a counseling center at 4254 Cottage Hill Road in Mobile for $195,000 to Michelle Crowe of e-worc web & new media for their new office, according to Paul Carter of the Paul Carter Agency, who represented the seller. Justin Toomey of Stirling Properties worked for the buyer.

Chic Jolie has leased 1,200 square feet of retail space in Vigouroux Shopping Center at 9948 Airport Blvd., in Mobile, according to Angie McArthur of Stirling Properties, who represented the landlord. Chic Jolie is a fine European women's boutique specializing in clothing, accessories, jewelry and gifts. The store is scheduled to open in January 2019.

Volume home builder D.R. Horton paid $2,210 million for 40 lots in Antietam, an active adult community under way in Pensacola, Fl., according to Nathan Cox, CEO of 68 Ventures. The homes prices range from $240,000 to $325,000 in the subdivision off U.S. 90 West and Tower Ridge Road. Active adult buyers are 55 or older. Antietam will have a total of 199 home lots on 80 acres once fully developed.

Dynamic Education Systems, Inc., a Phoenix, Arizona-based career training center, has opened in a 3,000-square-foot building at 3506 Montlimar Plaza Drive in west Mobile, according to Brandon Broadus and David Dexter of NAI Mobile, who brokered the lease.DESI helps qualified youth and adults receive education, training and job placement assistance.

Gamers N Geeks has leased 26,500 square feet in Town West Shopping Center at 5701 Moffett Road in Mobile, according to Amber Hightower Dedeaux of Vallas Realty, who handled the transaction. The store opened in 2012 in its current space on Moffett Road and owner Tommy Wetjen plans to relocate to the larger store space early next year.Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall will meet with members of the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles after victims advocates and Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey said they were alarmed about early paroles for violent offenders.

Ivey and Marshall will meet with the board at 8:30 a.m. on Monday. The governor and attorney general have scheduled a press conference immediately following the meeting.

In a letter to Ivey that Bailey released, he asked the governor to investigate the parole boards actions.

The current Board has repeatedly and consistently released violent offenders after they have served only a minute portion of lengthy sentences, Bailey wrote.

In response to the criticism, the parole board released a statement saying it had no data showing an increase in early parole consideration for violent offenders.

The three parole board members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate.

Ivey spokesman Daniel Sparkman said the governor has met with the victims' advocacy group VOCAL, which spoke out about the issue of early release.The Alabama Farmers Federation has set up a fund to help farmers who suffered crop losses because of Hurricane Michael.

Federation President Jimmy Parnell said there has been an outpouring of support for farmers who suffered losses to homes, crops and barns from the hurricane.

People can make donations at AlabamaFarmersFoundation.org or send checks payable to Alabama Farmers Agriculture Foundation to P.O. Box 11000, Montgomery, AL 36191.

The federation is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, state and national elected officials and others to collect crop damage reports, the federation said in a press release.

Funds collected by the Foundation through Nov. 30 will be applied to farmer losses not covered by a insurance or disaster relief programs.

For more information, contact the Foundation at 334-612-5525 or abutts@alfafarmers.org.A 28-year-old man died from injuries after being struck by a vehicle while trying to cross Patton Road in Huntsville on Saturday night.

Huntsville Police said the victim is Jacob Patrick Blackwell, whose address is unknown. Authorities notified his next of kin in Mississippi.

Authorities collected toxicology kits from Blackwell and from the driver, who was cooperative, police said. Criminal charges are not expected. The investigation continues.

Police have not released the drivers name.

The vehicle was traveling south on Patton Road, just south of Bob Wallace Ave, when it struck Blackwell, who was taken to Huntsville Hospital, where he died.Alabama voters have eight days left to register to vote in the Nov. 6 election.

State law sets the deadline to register at 15 days before the election, which is Oct. 22.

Voters can register online on the Secretary of State website. Voters can also update their registration information if they have moved

For voters not able to go to the polls on election day, the last day to apply for an absentee ballot is Nov. 1.

About 900,000 voters participated in the June 5 primary, 26.6 percent of the states registered voters. About 590,000 people voted in the Republican primary for governor, compared to about 283,000 in the Democratic primary.

Alabama and national politics.Originally Posted by Judy Originally Posted by

We have trade surpluses with these 3 Central American countries, so I have no problem returning a little of that back to them IF THEY USE IT to meet the conditions for stopping illegal immigration into the US by their countries. They must do it from their end, their side, their soil. They must and they can. Trump just needs to bring the hammer down and make it clear to them what is required which Trump and his team appear to be doing. They need to know it's not negotiable. It's a MUST DO deal.After death of President Islam Karimov, who ruled for decades, government attempts to be more transparent and fair.

Tashkent, Uzbekistan  On September 25, friendly staff at Uzbekistans Supreme Court warmly greeted dozens of guests, among them journalists, foreign diplomats and members of the international community, allowing the visitors to take photographs of the buildings impressive interior.

The atmosphere was festive and open, and yet surreal. Until recently, the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan was a heavily guarded place whose name invoked little more than fear.

But on this day, the top court had a good reason to celebrate.

With the help of the United States Agency for International Development and the United Nations Development Programme, it launched a new website which, among other features, allows the public to view court trials across the country in real time online. While the pilot project involves 12 courts, it will gradually extend to the rest of the country.

Uzbekistan was until recently one of the worlds most isolated countries, with institutionalised forced labour on its vast cotton fields, a torture record and restricted individual freedoms.

Now, it opening up.

Since President Shavkat Mirziyoyev took power in December 2016, following the death of Islam Karimov, who ruled the country since independence in 1991, Uzbekistan has been on the reform path.

Mirziyoyev, second left, and his family members pose for a picture at a polling station during a presidential election in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, December 4, 2016 [Anvar Ilyasov/Reuters/Pool]

The rule of law reform, aimed to enhance the transparency and accessibility of the allegedly corrupt courts, has been just one of the steps to improve Uzbekistans image.

Faced with a collapsing economy, international isolation, and a growing number of unemployed youth following years of Karimovs misrule, the country had little choice but to open up.

The reform agenda that the president launched in February last year, the Action Strategy, is very well aligned with what the UN is working towards globally through Agenda 2030, Helena Fraser, UN resident coordinator and UNDP resident representative in Uzbekistan, told Al Jazeera.

It includes the reform of the judiciary, reform of public administration, liberalisation of the economy, education, health and social protection reforms, and then interestingly, the fifth pillar is about security, tolerance and constructive foreign policy.

The reforms have encompassed all spheres of social and political life from freeing the countrys currency to normalising relations with its neighbours.

The scope of change has come as a surprise to everyone, not least Uzbeks themselves.

In an effort to bring politics closer to people, Mirziyoyev launched a virtual reception centre which allows citizens to raise issues that concern them with the president.

The worst outcome would be that the government does everything that it has been encouraged to do for decades ... and we then walk away and say that we are not going to support it. Helena Fraser, UN resident coordinator and UNDP resident representative in Uzbekistan

These include complaints about corrupt local officials, which has made bureaucrats more accountable and responsive to the public.

There is a new confidence in politics, which was not there before. People used to say that nothing changes because no one thinks about us and we can say and do nothing, so lets live our simple life and forget about politics, Akhmed Rahmanov, an Uzbek business consultant told Al Jazeera. Now, if something goes wrong, they can write to the president.

In a country with no democratic experience, where until recently citizens had few rights and fear prevailed, people finally feel they can discuss their problems openly.

Social media has become a vibrant platform for activists, bloggers, journalists and citizens alike to discuss the countrys most pressing issues.

Fairly quickly, he (Mirziyoyev) set a new tone. And that new tone has been the main factor driving change because the system has had to adapt both to the new presidents expectations and to his willingness to make the state more responsive to citizen concerns, said Uzbek VOA journalist Navbahor Imamova, noting that her views shared here were personal and did not represent her employers.

Importantly, Mirziyoyev openly recognised the abuses of the previous administration and vowed to address the states egregious human rights record. He has already proved these were not only words.

The most notable developments on human rights in the little more than two years of Mirziyoyevs presidency has been the release of approximately 30 or more high-profile political prisoners, the easing of some restrictions on the freedom of speech and assembly and in that area weve seen the emergence of a fairly dynamic media environment as compared to what used to exist, Steve Swerdlow, Human Rights Watch Central Asia researcher, told Al Jazeera.

As Swerdlow explains, the government also took 17,000 people off the infamous blacklist, which included individuals suspected of having ties with Islamic extremists, heavily restricting their rights and freedoms.

Moreover, at least five officials have been prosecuted for the use of torture during the Karimov years.

Forced cotton picking, obligatory for all public administration workers, medical and educational staff, students and schoolchildren has been abolished.

This September, the US Department of Labour removed Uzbekistan from the list of countries relying on forced child labour.

More work to be done

The government has still a lot to do to prove its commitment to reform.

It is yet to recognise the victims of Karimovs regime. Freedom of religion remains restricted, there is internet censorship and the BBC, HRW and other organisations are still banned. Finally, political structures at all levels have to absorb the reforms to effect systemic transformation.

The most important change is also yet to come.

Years of authoritarian rule wiped out all opposition, political ideas and democratic movements in the country. For years, advocates of political Islam were the only alternative to state propaganda.

Today, despite all changes, Uzbeks still find it hard to organise themselves politically, not least because they fear possible repercussions.

For the moment, a competitive, pluralistic democracy, or competitive elections even, remain distant dreams, HRWs Swerdlow said.

In a one-man system like Uzbekistan, Mirziyoyev is the only one who can trigger the emergence of new political forces. And in order to do so, he will have to make clear that political opposition is what the country needs. Only then will he prove his commitment to lasting change.

Meanwhile, as the UNs Fraser explains, the international community should use the momentum to catalyse further change. For that, it will need to continue supporting Uzbekistan with investments, resources and expertise.

The worst outcome would be that the government does everything that it has been encouraged to do for decades, whether its on human rights, health systems, the rule of law, tax reforms, or gender violence, and we then walk away and say that we are not going to support it, Fraser said.

For the moment, the hopes are high.

Everyone I talk to in the Uzbek government, both on the record and off the record, tells me that there is no way the country is going to move backward  towards what it was like under Karimov, journalist Imamova says. Uzbekistan is determined to move forward.Revelations about systematic rape of girls in an NGO-run school in Liberia reveal just how wrong charity work can go.

Released last week to howls of outrage, ProPublicas Unprotected is a chilling expose about a rotten and unaccountable international charity industry. In particular, it peels away the shroud of secrecy around an American NGO, More Than Me (MTM), whose white American cofounder gallivanted around the globe for years raising millions of dollars for an academy she founded in Liberias capital, Monrovia, while her Liberian partner repeatedly raped young female recruits.

In the ProPublica feature, Liberian nurse Iris Martor  a former employee of MTM who first exposed the abuse  sums up profoundly why founder Katie Meyler, her largely white American board, legion of inexperienced and underqualified teachers and administrators shielded themselves from blame: They think we (Liberians) are all stupid people with little or no education, and our system is fragile, and they can get away with things because their skin is white That is what Katie feels. But it is not true.

Indeed, Unprotected reveals our warped tendencies to glorify foreigners for swooping into poor countries under the guise of doing good. More Than Me  what I prefer to call All About Me because of the founders narcissism  is the quintessential story of humanitarianism gone wrong.

Back in 2007, when I was in my mid-20s, Id met Meyler and others like her after moving back home  to Liberia  to work for our government. She struck me as awkward and altogether benign, a small fish in a larger pond of dubious foreign evangelicals, aid workers, consultants, and high-level development bureaucrats. However, Unprotected hones in on how the white saviour complex can spin outrageously out of control.

Anyone who exploits a country, its people and their suffering to build their celebrity, increase their funding streams, or quadruple their social media followers is pathological. They should be publicly discredited, but instead, we hoisted Meyler up. She clearly lacked the capacity and integrity to work in Liberia but that did not deter former president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf from giving her an abandoned government building for the MTM Academy.

It did not stop this same president  who has now become an undeserved poster child for protecting the rights of women and girls  from proclaiming at the academys opening in September 2013 that Meylers model should be replicated across Liberia.

That Meylers Liberian cofounder and former lover MacIntosh Johnson had died of HIV while in jail facing abuse charges in 2014 did not deter our then-Minister of Education George Werner, from publicly endorsing her efforts. It did not stop him from further recruiting her for a misguided pilot to privatise government-run schools without consulting Liberian educators or sector experts. What qualified Meyler to run a number of partnership institutions is anyones guess.

The rumour mill was rife with unsavoury stories about More Than Me, yet Meyler continued to collect accolades including a Time Person of the Year designation in 2014. When an anonymous letter smearing the organisation and its founder for her complicity in the abuse spread like wildfire in November 2016, I asked a number of Liberian female journalists to investigate the allegations, but no one did.

Frustrated, I approached a former MTM board member and he corroborated the negligence of the MTM leadership. When I asked why nothing had been done to unmask the organisation and its founder, he lamented that our systems of accountability in Liberia were too weak.

In hindsight, I suppose I could have been my usual relentless self. I could have gotten off my comfortable perch in London, flown back to Monrovia, and demanded that former government and civil society colleagues look into the matter. But I did not, and for that, I shoulder some responsibility. We all do.

That it took a white British male journalist to break this story when so many of us suspected or knew something had gone awry is deeply troubling. That we Liberians watched this charade in horrified silence and did nothing about it is especially shameful.

Small shame better than big shame

A lot can be said about the failures of More Than Me and its reckless founder. However, Meyler is a symptom of something much more sinister. The biggest disappointment rests with us, Liberians, who neglected to protect the academys students from one of our own. We must accept this child rape saga as emblematic of our deeper, societal pathologies. Pathologies of secrecy, paedophilia and impunity. Pathologies of constantly looking outside of ourselves for solutions. Of pandering to clueless foreigners.

The Liberian colloquial phrase small shame better than big shame is so apt here. We must not allow a big shame  doing nothing about the culture of rape  from trumping our small shame  fuelling the MTM machinery. We must huddle around the survivors of MTMs abuse  and others like them across the country  by enveloping them in a cocoon of support, love and protection. For those who contracted HIV and other STIs from Johnson, we must ensure that they receive regular medical attention. All the girls should be entitled to psychosocial counselling, fully funded scholarships, and a safe space to live and thrive.

Given that MTMs sex abuse has been so thoroughly exposed, the government of Liberia must strengthen institutions that monitor sexual and gender-based violence across Liberia by infusing them with funding and trained personnel. More generally, we must rein in non-profit organisations operating in Liberia  be they foreign or local  by making them accountable. A once championed NGO Policy should ensure that their activities, funding streams, and impact are monitored by and reported to the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.

We must swiftly ban More Than Me and revoke its NGO accreditation. We must expel Meyler, launch a criminal investigation of her and her board, and turn over MTM-operated schools to reputable Liberian educators. Meyler must be publicly shamed and stripped of her awards/recognition. Foreign donors who bankrolled MTM should empty its coffers, channelling the millions of dollars into more worthy Liberian-run initiatives, like Brenda Brewer Moores Kids Educational Engagement Project (KEEP).

The More Than Me saga is a glaring reminder that Liberia could do without no good foreign do-gooders who do more harm than good. More importantly, it compels Liberians to take full responsibility for this debacle and ensure that it never happens again.

Indeed, small shame better than big shame.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.Bosnia and Herzegovina is on the verge of a political crisis as anti-EU, anti-NATO and pro-Russia Serb nationalist candidate Milorad Dodik is about to take the presidency of the country.

On October 7, more than three and a half million Bosnians were called to cast their vote in the presidential elections. Since 1995, Bosnia has had a tripartite presidential system, in which candidates from each constituent ethnic group  Bosniak (Muslim), Croat and Serb  sit, on a rolling basis. With a turnout of 53.3 percent, results indicate that, respectively, conservative candidate Sefik Dzaferovic won the Bosniak seat, social-democrat Zeljko Komsic won the Croat seat and ultra-nationalist Milorad Dodik won the Serb seat.

Dodik is, now, expected to be the first of the three presidential members to take office. However, following the national constitution, he is primarily the candidate of ethnic Serbs to whom he has concurrently promised a referendum to secede from the rest of Bosnia. As he immediately declared after the election, his first priority will be the position of the Serb people. How  one may ask  can a candidate both be elected as president of a multi-ethnic state and call for self-determination of one specific ethnic group within that country?

To answer this question, we need to look at the extremely complex political system put in place after the international peace negotiations in the mid 1990s.

A complex political system

Established in 1995 as part of the US-led Dayton Peace Agreement, this tripartite power-sharing ethnoterritorial framework was supposed to bring to an end a destructive conflict and offer a temporary solution to a deep political crisis. But today, the Dayton Agreement is still in place and so is the national constitution that it enacted. Annex IV of the so-called General Framework Agreement for Peace is, in fact, the document that still governs the country.

The Dayton Agreement, which was originally drafted in English, partitioned Bosnia into two parts, Republika Srpska with 49 percent of the territory and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina with 51 percent, combining mostly Muslim and Croat populations. According to the results of the 2013 census, Republika Srpskas population is made of 81.5 percent ethnic Serbs, 13.9 percent Muslim Bosniaks and 2.4 percent ethnic Croats.

The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in turn, has 70.4 percent Muslim Bosniaks, 22.4 percent ethnic Croats and 2.5 percent ethnic Serbs. Because of its contested nature, the Dayton Agreement left aside the district of Brcko, a supposedly neutral self-governing district in the North of Bosnia, which according to the results of the latest census has 42.3 percent Muslim Bosniaks, 34.6 percent ethnic Serbs and 20.7 percent ethnic Croats. Added to these three constituent groups are other seventeen ethnic minorities, including Romas and Jews, which constitute 2.7 percent of the total population of the country.





Problematically, the Dayton Agreement maintained for the Serbian-populated areas the name Republika Srpska. This implied the existence of a special entity within Bosnia, carrying the name of Republic within a sovereign state  the other entity being called the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Inevitably, this has continued to evoke the Bosnian Serb attempt during the war to ethnically homogenise whole parts of Bosnia.

The Dayton Constitution for Bosnia explicitly conceived human rights of individuals as inalienable and described them as never secondary to those of ethnonational groups. In the citizenship act, however, made up of a set of power-sharing agreements, ethnic groups clearly have political supremacy over individuals. While the act was modified in 1999, this measure is still in place.

Moreover, the Constitution of Bosnia, as established in Dayton, makes a clear distinction between the constituent peoples and other citizens of Bosnia. Those who do not belong to one of the three groups, or who do not want to show a preference for an ethnic group simply cannot elect group representatives.

If, historically, ethnic affiliation has been strong in the Balkans, the Dayton Agreement has both further crystallised it and stratified it as some groups matter more than others.

Translated in the context of the presidential elections, political candidates need to self-define as pertaining to one of the three constituent groups. As a consequence, the political affiliation of the voters follows these very same ethnic lines. The Bosniak community supports Bosniak candidates, the Croats support their co-ethnics, and so do the Serbs.

Foreign supervision

Another reason for the resurgence of ethnonationalism in Bosnia  a sentiment not exclusive to the Serbs  is that since 1995, the country has in fact been under international supervision. This, in many ways, has created frustration. Tapping directly in this sentiment of discontent, Dodik declared that he intends to write a letter to US President Donald Trump asking for the closure of the so-called Office of the High Representative (OHR).

The OHR was established in Dayton as the body responsible for enforcing the peace agreement. Since 1995, the OHR has been in charge of monitoring the implementation of the peace settlement, maintaining close contact with the parties to the Agreement to promote their full compliance, and facilitating, as the high representative judges necessary, the resolution of any difficulties arising in connection with civilian implementation. Finally, the OHR coordinates the activities of the various international agencies operating in the country, especially the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Dayton defined the OSCE as one of the bodies responsible for helping to secure lasting peace and to build a stable, secure, and democratic state.

Last week, High Officer Valentin Inzko addressed the population of Bosnia in an official statement encouraging electoral participation: Make your voice heard. Decide for yourself about your future. Otherwise, others will decide for you. Yet the existence of these supervisory bodies within the country makes many feel that Bosnias full realisation of self-determination is yet to come.

Dodiks electoral victory needs to be seen in the context of these unintended consequences of the Dayton Agreement and the presence of international supervisory authorities. Since 1995 both have facilitated the strengthening of pre-existing ethnonational identities.

Dodik and other ethnonationalists have also benefitted from the rise of far-right sentiment in the rest of Europe. As ultra-nationalist movements and parties have spread across Europe, blaming others (whether migrants or minorities) has emerged as a winning electoral strategy. In a situation such as Bosnias, where ethnicity is the first available category of political allegiance, this sort of language has had even greater appeal.

It is yet unclear what strategy Dodik and Zeljka Cvijanovic, his close ally who won the presidency of the autonomous entity of Republika Srpska, will deploy to accommodate the will of the ethnic Serbs of Bosnia (not all of whom are in favour of Republika Srpskas secession). Bosnia has been negotiating for years to start the EU accession process and the victory of an anti-EU nationalist candidate will be yet another hurdle to a potential membership.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.Revelations about systematic rape of girls in an NGO-run school in Liberia reveal just how wrong charity work can go.Australia gives drought-stricken farms billion-dollar aid package

Australias national and state governments are supporting drought-stricken communities by subsidising transport costs, offering low-interest loans and giving cash payments to farmers.Cameroon displaced speak of death, displacement, trauma

Internally displaced English speakers from western Cameroon find themselves stranded in their own country, afraid to go home, as the violence continues.Cairo court found three men guilty of forming an armed group and carrying out string of attacks on Egyptian policemen.

A court in Egypt has sentenced three people to death for their involvement in the killing of policemen and belonging to an armed group.

The defendants were found guilty by a Cairo criminal court on Sunday of being involved in the killing of 10 policemen, including an officer, between August 2013 and May 2014.

The charges also included establishing and running an armed group known as Ansar al-Sharia.

Both the defence and prosecution have the right to appeal.

{articleGUID}

Four others were sentenced to life imprisonment  a 25-year term in Egypt  and seven defendants to 15 years in prison. Nine of the 23 defendants were acquitted.

Egyptian courts have issued or confirmed a large number of death sentences in recent weeks.

On Thursday, a military court sentenced 17 people to death for attacks against churches in 2016 and 2017 that killed a total of 74 people.

On Monday, four fighters belonging to ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant), also referred to as ISIS, were sentenced to death, while on September 8 a court upheld death sentences for 75 people, including leaders of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood movement.

In 2013, armed groups launched a campaign against the government in Egypt after Mohamed Morsi, the countrys first democratically elected leader, was forced out by the military.

The Egyptian military says around 300 suspected jihadists and at least 35 soldiers have been killed since it launched an operation in February against fighters in the Sinai Peninsula.A champion for social justice at the beginning of countrys civil war, Romero was killed during mass nearly 40 years ago

San Salvador  Nearly four decades after his assassination, Father Oscar Romero, the former Archbishop of San Salvador who was killed by suspected right-wing paramilitaries in 1980, will be proclaimed a saint by Pope Francis in Rome on Sunday.

Romero will be canonised along with six others.

His canonisation is widely celebrated by the people of El Salvador. Images, art, and graffiti of the archbishop mark nearly every street across the capital city.

We have waited many years for this, Maura, a 67-year-old woman from Suchitoto, Cuscatlan who declined to provide her last name for security reasons, told Al Jazeera. From the day he was killed, we said [Romero] was a saint.

Who was Archbishop Oscar Romero?

Romero was born in 1917 in Ciudad Barrios in the department of San Miguel in southern El Salvador. The Roman Catholic Church ordained him a priest at the age of 25, prior to his return to El Salvador in 1943.

Archbishop Oscar Romero calls on the international community to put pressure on the government to end repression in El Salvador [File: Getty Images]

He was appointed as the Archbishop of San Salvador in February 1977 after nearly 20 years working as a priest in San Miguel, the capital of the department bearing the same name. El Salvadors ruling elite viewed Romero as someone who would deter the growing Liberation Theology.

Yet as tension continued to escalate in the country, Romero became known as a staunch advocate of human rights and the plight of the poor, consistently denouncing the violence carried out by the Salvadoran military and paramilitaries against civilian populations.

His words gained Romero many enemies within the dictatorship. He was assassinated on March 24, 1980, while holding mass in the Church of the Divine Providence in San Salvador.

The day before his funeral, he delivered a powerful sermon in which he spoke directly to Salvadoran soldiers.

In the name of God  I beg you, I beseech you, I order you to stop the repression, he said.

A woman prays at the crypt of Oscar Romero in the National Cathedral of San Salvador [Jeff Abbott/Al Jazeera]

Romeros funeral, attended by thousands, was also targeted by snipers. At least 40 people were killed.

His death marked the beginning of El Salvadors 12-year-long civil war, which killed more than 75,000 people and disappeared thousands more.

Romero is an international icon for those who work for peace and justice, Domingo Solis, a Franciscan priest in San Salvador, told Al Jazeera. We are called to follow and put into practice his example.

No one prosecuted

Any attempts to prosecute the intellectual authors of the murder in El Salvador were derailed in 1993, with the passing of an amnesty law, which provided amnesty for those of committing war crimes. The law subsequently closed all investigations into crimes committed during the civil war.

{articleGUID}

In 2016, the amnesty law was declared unconstitutional by the countrys constitutional court. The repeal of the law permitted the reopening of the investigation and prosecution of war crimes, including the assassination of Romero, which was reopened in 2017.

While no one has been prosecuted in El Salvador for the assassination, Major Roberto DAubuisson, a former death squad leader and founder of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance party, or ARENA, is widely seen as being the one who ordered the assassination of Romero. DAubuisson died in 1992 from cancer at the age of 48.

More than 100 people gathered outside the court this week to demand the advancement of the case into the investigation into the assassination of Romero [Jeff Abbott/Al Jazeera]

Alvaro Saravia, a former captain in the Salvadoran air force who was recruited by DAubuisson, was also named as one of the participants in the assassination. In 1987, he faced extradition from the United States and prosecution in El Salvador for his part in the murder, but the extradition order was later withdrawn.

{articleGUID}

In advance of Sundays canonisation, more than 100 Salvadorans from a diverse group of organisations, marched through the streets of San Salvador to demand the advancement of the investigation into the assassination of Romero.

Ovidio Mauricio, the director of Tutela Legal Maria Julia Hernandez, a San Salvador based human rights organisation, said they wanted to case solved as quickly as possible.

Romero was someone who always struggled against injustice and for social justice, Mauricio told Al Jazeera. This is why the people respect him, and why was a saint long before.Passage vital to trade between Jordan and Syria will reopen on Monday for first time in three years, say officials.

Jordan and Syria have agreed to reopen a vital border crossing between the two countries, three years after the commercial lifeline fell to rebel groups and traffic was halted.

The Naseeb crossing would be opened on October 15, the Jordanian Petra news agency cited Jumana Ghunaimat, spokesperson for Jordan government, as saying on Sunday.

The decision came after technical teams from the two countries met on the Jordanian side.

The passage, known as Jaber to Jordanians, is a vital lifeline for trade between the two brotherly countries Jordan and Syria through them to other Arab countries, Ghunaimat said, according to Petra.

However, although the crossing will be officially opened on Monday, it will not open to normal traffic just yet, said Nael Husami, head of the Amman chamber of industry.

Syrias Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar also confirmed the crossings reopening, according to Syrias state-run Sana news agency.





The move comes after Syrian government troops reclaimed their side of the crossing in July as part of a deal with rebel fighters.

The closure of the passage in 2015 cut a crucial transit route for hundreds of vehicles a day transporting goods between Turkey and the Gulf, and Lebanon and the Gulf, in multi-billion dollar annual trade.

The resumption of commercial trade through the crossing would bring major relief to President Bashar al-Assads government.

Syria  Iraq crossing

Also on Sunday, Syrian and Iraqi foreign ministers discussed accelerating efforts to reopen the border between their countries, according to Sana.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari, who was in Damascus on on a three-day visit, met with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem, and discussed speeding up the reopening of their border, Sana reported.

At present, Syrias crossing with Iraq is only open for government or military uses, while its frontier with Turkey is only open into rebel-held areas.

The war-torn countrys only other normally operating border is with Lebanon, which itself has no other functioning land borders.

Opening the Syria-Jordan border will also be important for Lebanon, which relies on Syria for overland connections to all other countries because its only other frontier is with Israel, with which it has no ties.

In July Lebanese caretaker economy minister Raed Khoury said it was vital for Lebanese exporters to be able once again to send produce overland through Syria to the wider region.

Lebanese exports fell by 35 percent after the Syrian conflict began, Khoury said.

The reopening of that crossing would mark a diplomatic victory for Assad, whose government has been isolated from its Arab neighbours since the war began in Syria in 2011.

Arab countries have boycotted the Syrian government since the early days of the war, freezing its membership in the 22-member state Arab League.Israel recently announced it would suspend all fuel deliveries to Gaza as government increases pressure on Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday threatened to inflict very strong blows on Hamas after fresh violence along the fence that separates the besieged Gaza Strip from Israel.

Israeli forces killed seven protesters along the fence on Friday during the ongoing weekly Great March of Return protests, which began in March.

Though largely peaceful, some protesters have employed tactics such as flying incendiary balloons and kites that float over Israels separation fence and set fire to agricultural land on the Israeli side.

We are very close to another type of action which would include very strong blows. If Hamas is intelligent, it will cease fire and violence now, Netanyahu said during a weekly cabinet meeting.

Israel announced it would suspend all fuel deliveries to the Gaza Strip, after fresh protests along the fence that saw seven Palestinians killed by Israeli troops.

Gaza, which already suffers from chronic power outages, relies on fuel shipments from Israel to power its electricity-generating plant. Just last week, a deal had been reached with Israel for the passage of Qatari-funded fuel to Gaza to increase electricity supplies.

The majority of people in Gaza are originally from parts of present-day Israel [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters]

A UN-brokered deal had seen Qatar pledge to pay $60m for fuel to be brought into Gaza over six months.

On Saturday, Israels Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman said fuel deliveries would only resume if there was a total cessation of violence, the launching of incendiary balloons (from Gaza towards Israel) and the use of burning tyres against Israeli towns near the enclave.

For their part, Palestinian protesters have faced Israeli tear gas and sniper fire during the mass protests.

At least 205 Palestinians and one Israeli have been killed since protests began on March 30.

The protesters are demanding to be allowed to return to their villages and homes from which their families were removed to make way for present-day Israel.Slain Salvadoran priest, who was a hero among countrys poor, declared a saint with six others by Pope Francis.

San Salvador  Maria Barrera remembers the moment the news of Archbishop Oscar Romeros murder reached the town of El Rosario.

My body went cold, Barrera recalled. I cried because we were left without our pastor.

Romero was killed by members of a death squad while performing mass at the Church of the Divine Providence in San Salvador on March 24, 1980.

His death sent shockwaves throughout El Salvador, which was experiencing the start of a civil war that would last more than a decade and leave 75,000 people dead and thousands more disappeared.

The day before his death, Romero publicly denounced the violence carried out by the countrys armed forces against civilian populations during a mass at the National Cathedral.

In the name of God  I beg you, I beseech you, I order you to stop the repression, he said.

On Sunday, nearly four decades later, Romero, along with six others including Pope Paul VI, was made a saint.

Tens of thousands, including Barrera, marched through San Salvador as part of the procession of celebration that ultimately arrived at the National Cathedral. Thousands remained through the night to listen to the Pope Franciss declaration, which occurred at 2:00am (08:00 GMT) in El Salvador.

A woman carries an image of Saint Romero during the march on Saturday [Jeff Abbott/Al Jazeera]

Barrera described the time she met Romero as a teen. The now 63-year-old had lunch with him on a visit to her village of El Rosario, Cuscatlan in 1978.

He was very humble, she reflected.

I knew he would be declared a saint, Barrera told Al Jazeera. Im honoured and privileged to say that I once ate with this saint.

Tears of joy, cheers, and shouts of Your people made you a saint filled the Gerardo Barrios plaza on Sunday in front of the Cathedral as Pope Francis declared Romero a saint.

Similar vigils occurred in parishes across El Salvador in commemoration of the canonisation of Romero, including at the Church of the Divine Providence in San Salvador, where Romero was murdered.

Romero was the voice of those who did not have a voice. He was with the poor. He became a saint because his people had already declared him a saint. He is the saint of the poor of the world. Maria Barrera

Romeros path to sainthood began in 2015, when Vatican theologians declared him a martyr, saying he was killed in hatred of the faith.

The Church then looked to verify a miracle attributed to Romero, which was confirmed and the canonisation process started, despite deep opposition from some within the Vatican who viewed Romeros life and symbolism after his death too political.

On the side of the people

Romero was deeply loved by the poor of El Salvador and of Latin America for whom he dedicated much of his life. During the canonisation ceremony, Pope Francis praised Romero for being close to the poor and to his people.

Archbishop Oscar Romero calls on the international community to put pressure on the government to end repression in El Salvador [File: Getty Images]

This is a moment of pride for Latin America, said Elvia Cazun, a 38-year-old nun who has worked in the Monsenor Romero Historical Center for the last four years. [He was] someone who lived the experiences of the people, she told Al Jazeera A pastor must be at the side of the people in their suffering.

Barrera said he liked to be on the same level as the people he served.

If he was told that he would be given food that is better than the others, he never wanted it, she recalled. He wanted to eat what all the others were eating, she added.

Romeros concern for the poor began after seeing the realities of migrant labourers who travelled to San Miguel for the coffee harvest.

He saw the poverty that the labourers faced, said Cazun. From this moment, he accompanied them.

In the course of the beginning of the civil war, which lasted from 1979 through 1992 and left more than 75,000 people dead and thousands more disappeared, he became an outspoken critic of the violence against El Salvadors poor, as well as the rampant inequalities in the country.

Romero was concerned for the situation of the people, Barrera told Al Jazeera. People arrived from small villages to tell him that there was repression. He stood in solidarity with the people and denounced these injustices.

After his death, Romero became a symbol throughout Latin America with graffiti, signs and memorabilia lining the streets throughout major cities of El Salvador.

Romero was the voice of those who did not have a voice, Barrera said. He was with the poor. He became a saint because his people had already declared him a saint. He is the saint of the poor of the world.Navalny, one of Putins biggest political rivals, was in prison for organising protests against the Kremlin.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been released from prison for organising what the government claims are illegal protests against the Kremlin.

Navalny, 42, spent three weeks behind bars, his second spell in detention in as many months. He was released last month after serving 30 days in prison, and soon re-arrested.

Over the 50 days I have been in jail, we have seen yet more evidence that this regime is in complete decline, Navalny said upon his release according to the AFP news agency, hinting at recent embarrassments to Moscows intelligence services abroad and the launch failure of a manned Russian space rocket.

If anyone thinks that with arrests  they can scare or stop us, that is clearly not the case, he added.

{articleGUID}

Navalnys original arrest came late August, when he was apprehended for organising a demonstration at the beginning of the year.

Upon his release, the Putin-critic was immediately arrested again, this time for a protest against the raising of the retirement age.

That second arrest coincided with regional elections last month, one in which the Kremlin suffered rare defeats, with voters rejecting candidates from the ruling United Russia party in at least two regions.

In the far eastern Primorsky Krai, a runoff election will be held again in two months after accusations of vote-rigging in favour of the Moscow-backed candidate led to protests.

Putins staunch opponent

Over the last couple of years, Navalny has been one of Putins most staunch opponents. In the run-up to the 2018 presidential elections, Navalny ran a campaign focusing on battling corruption.

However, Navalny was barred from running in the elections after a Russian court reinstated a past criminal conviction for embezzlement.

The conviction had been previously overturned by the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled that Russia did not give Navalny a fair trial.

{articleGUID}

The European Union said the circumstances surrounding Navalnys removal from the race cast serious doubt on the election.

Putin won the contest with 76 percent of the vote, his best ever showing.

Following those results, Navalny has remained critical of Putin and has subsequently been arrested several times.

Supporters fear that the two consecutive administrative cases mean the authorities may be getting ready to open a criminal probe against Navalny.

In that case, he could face a lengthy prison term.Riyadh has fired back at threats of economics consequences coming from the US.

Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it would retaliate to possible economic sanctions taken by other states over the case of Jamal Khashoggi, state news agency SPA reported.

Saudi Arabia has been under pressure since Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), and a US resident, disappeared on October 2 after visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The kingdom confirms that if any action is taken against it, it will respond to it by a greater action, SPA quoted an unnamed official as saying.

The kingdom confirms its categorical rejection of any threats and attempts to harm it by threatening to impose economic sanctions or the exercise of political pressure, the official continued, adding that the Saudi economy is vital and influential in the global economy.

On Saturday, US President Donald Trump vowed severe punishment for the Saudis if evidence arises proving they had a role in Khashoggis disappearance, though he said he would not stop billion-dollar arms sales to Riyadh.

A growing number of business figures and companies have said they will boycott an important investor conference in Saudi Arabia later this month in reaction to Khashoggis disappearance.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, English investor Richard Branson and Ubers Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi are among high-profile individuals who have cancelled their trips to Riyadh.

US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin still plans to attend the so-called Davos in the Desert conference in Riyadh, despite the controversy, according to White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow.

Mr Mnuchin will make up his mind as the week progresses and as new information surfaces, Kudlow said on US network ABCs This Week show on Sunday.

Earlier on Sunday, the BBC reported that Mnuchin, and the UKs International Trade Secretary, Liam Fox, may not attend the upcoming Davos in the Desert gathering, over concerns that Saudi Arabia is responsible for Khashoggis reported death.

The conference is part of MBSs ambitious 2030 programme to make the kingdom less reliant on oil.It is common for companies to organize various informal events where workers can come with their partners. One of those...Rebel fighters have fired mortar shells from a planned buffer zone in northwestern Syria, despite an apparent heavy arms pullout days earlier, according to a monitoring group.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said rebels in the demilitarised zone around the northwestern region of Idlib fired several mortar shells at an army position in nearby Hama province, killing two soldiers late on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, rebels shelled Aleppo province from other parts of the demilitarised area, with no casualties recorded, according to SOHR.

This is the first clear violation of the deal since the heavy weapons were withdrawn. This area is supposed to be clear of heavy weapons, including mortar shells, SOHR head Rami Abdel Rahman told the AFP news agency on Sunday.

In a statement on Twitter on Sunday, the group said that government forces had returned fire in a lengthy exchange of violations of a deal to rid the enclave of heavy weapons.

#SOHR A day before the end of the deadline for the "jihadis" to leave#Hama and #Aleppo witness about 17 hours of exchange of violations by using heavy weapons left human losses in the ranks of the regimehttps://t.co/wkUWx6JWdn  # #SOHR (@syriahr) October 14, 2018

Idlib is the last remaining rebel-held area in war-torn Syria.

Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Asaad, struck a deal with Turkey in September to set up a demilitarised zone to prevent a potentially devastating regime assault on Idlib.





The deal required the horseshoe-shaped area to be free of heavy arms by October 10, with radical fighters leaving by Monday.

The National Liberation Front (NLF), an umbrella organisation of Turkey-backed rebels, confirmed to Al Jazeera on Wednesday that they had complied with the first part of the deal.

Our heavy weapons  including tanks and cannons  have been moved to the back lines of the de-militarised zone so that they are no longer a target for the Russian warplanes, NLF spokesperson Naji al-Mustafa, told Al Jazeera.

We will remain in our defence lines with our small arms and light weapons, he said.

Before reports of shelling emerged, there had been no signs of rebel fighters leaving the area, according to SOHR.

We have not monitored any withdrawals by rebel fighters at all from areas falling in the planned buffer zone, a spokesperson from the group said on Sunday.

A correspondent for AFP in Idlib also said no rebel units had left in recent days.

{articleGUID}

Sundays shelling throws the future of the deal into uncertainty. The agreement, signed on September 17 in the Russian resort city of Sochi, averted a large-scale offensive, which the United Nations has said could cause massive displacement and bloodshed.

The UN warned that such action would provoke a humanitarian disaster in the region, where as many as 800,000 people  half of whom are internally displaced from previous offensives  could be forced to flee again by a regime assault on Idlib and surrounding areas.

Nearly three million people live in the zone now, hundreds of thousands of them already displaced by the brutal seven-year war and others heavily dependent on humanitarian aid to survive.Romero was killed by right-wing death squad in El Salvador. Paul VI guided the church through tumult of the 1960s.

Pope Francis has made saints of two of the most contentious Roman Catholic figures of the 20th century: assassinated Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero and Pope Paul VI, who reigned over one of the Churchs most turbulent eras and enshrined its opposition to contraception.

In a ceremony on Sunday before tens of thousands of people in St Peters Square, Francis declared the two men saints, along with five other lesser-known people who were born in Italy, Germany and Spain in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Both Romero, who was shot by a right-wing death squad while saying Mass in 1980, and Paul, who guided the Church through the conclusion of the modernising 1962-65 Second Vatican Council, were contested figures within and without the Church.

Both were naturally timid men who were thrust to the forefront of history by the convulsive political and social changes of the 20th century and both had a lasting influence on the current pontiff, Francis, Latin Americas first pope.

Romero, who had often denounced repression and poverty in his homilies, was shot dead on March 24, 1980, in a hospital chapel in San Salvador, the capital of the impoverished Central American country of El Salvador.

Romeros murder was one of the most shocking in the long conflict between a series of US-backed governments and leftist rebels in which thousands were killed by right-wing and military death squads.

It was widely believed to have been ordered by Roberto DAubuisson, an army major and founder of the right-wing ARENA party.

Third pope canonised by Francis

Paul VI, a shy man described by biographers as a sometimes indecisive and tormented Hamlet-type figure, guided the Church through the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, which had started under his predecessor, and the implementation of its reforms. He was elected in 1963 and died in 1978.

Francis often quotes Paul, showing that he is committed to the reforms of the Council, which allowed the Mass to be said in local languages instead of Latin, declared respect for other religions, and launched a landmark reconciliation with Jews.

Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero was a champion of the poor [Leif Skoogfors/Corbis via Getty Images]

Still today, ultra-conservatives in the Church do not recognise the Councils teachings and blame Paul for starting what they see as a decline in tradition.

Paul reigned in the 1960s, when many men left the priesthood and vocations fell sharply in a turbulent era of social change that coincided with the sexual revolution and the widespread availability of the birth control pill.

Despite his many reforms, Paul is perhaps best known for his 1968 encyclical Humane Vitae (On Human Life), which enshrined the Churchs ban on artificial birth control, saying nothing should block the possible transmission of human life.

The ban, which Paul issued against the advice of a papal commission, became the most contested Church ruling of the 20th century and is still widely disregarded by Catholics.

Paul also became the first pope in modern times to travel outside Italy to see faithful, ushering in a practice which has become synonymous with the papacy.

Paul is the third pope that Francis has made a saint since his election in 2013. The others are John XXIII, who died in 1963, and John Paul, who died in 2005.Taliban fighters kill 17 Afghan soldiers and abduct 11 others in overnight raids in Farah provinces Pusht Rod district.

At least 17 soldiers have been killed in Taliban raids on two military posts in western Afghanistan, officials said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks that began late on Saturday in the Pusht Rod district of Farah province and continued into Sunday. The strikes come a week before voters cast their ballots in parliamentary elections across the war-torn country.

The raids involved a large number of Taliban, according to Farah provincial council chief Farid Bakhtawar.

At least 11 soldiers were captured and another four wounded in the overnight attacks, local officials said.





Defence ministry spokesman Ghafoor Ahmad Jawed said reinforcements had been sent to the area.

The Taliban have also suffered huge losses, Jawed added.

The fighters seized weapons and armoured vehicles during the assault, provincial council member Dadullah Qaneh said.

In the southern province of Zabul, the police chief of Mizan district was killed in clashes with Taliban fighters on Saturday night, the provincial governor, Rahmatullah Yarmal, said.

Violence has escalated in the months leading up to the October 20 parliamentary election, with hundreds killed or wounded.

On Saturday, a motorcycle carrying explosives detonated among supporters of Nazifa Yousefibek, a female candidate for the northeastern province of Takhar, killing 22 and wounding 36  mostly civilians.

And in the western province of Herat, two gunmen attacked the campaign office of a candidate in Injeel district, killing two people, provincial governor spokesman Jailani Farhad said.Vehicle carrying refugees and migrants plunges off highway in Izmir, killing 22 and wounding 13 others, police say.

At least 22 people, including children, have been killed when a vehicle carrying refugees and migrants plunged off a road into a waterway in western Turkey.

The truck was travelling on a highway in the Izmir region close to Izmir airport on Sunday when it flipped and fell into the channel several metres below, Anadolu news agency said.

Turkish television showed the wreckage of the vehicle with corpses strewn nearby; the truck had been reduced to burned-out metal by the impact of the crash.

Thirteen people were injured and taken by ambulance to nearby hospitals, according to local media.

DHA news agency said the driver of the vehicle, a Turkish man aged 35, survived and told police from his hospital bed that he had swerved to avoid a white oncoming vehicle.

The dead included two babies and two children as well as a pregnant woman, DHA reported.





The trucks passengers were foreigners who had reached a deal with traffickers to be transported by boat to the Greek island of Samos, south of Izmir.

Turkey became one of the main launch points for more than a million refugees and asylum seekers taking the sea route to EU countries in 2015, many fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East and Africa.

The influx of people was drastically curtailed by a 2016 accord between Ankara and the European Union after hundreds died crossing to Greek islands a few miles off Turkey.

According to UN figures, more than 24,500 migrants and refugees have arrived in Greece by sea so far this year, with 118 people losing their lives via this route.

Last week, eight people were found drowned off the Karaburun district, also in Izmir province, after their boat capsized.

Twenty-six others are still officially listed as missing after that accident, according to Anadolu.Setback expected for dominant Christian Social Union as far-right and left parties pick up votes over migration.

Polls have opened in the German state of Bavaria where some 9.5 million voters will elect a new regional parliament  a result that could trigger shockwaves in Berlin.

The state election is expected to deal the prosperous regions long-dominant conservative party a setback, with unpredictable consequences for German Chancellor Angela Merkels federal government.

In almost every election since the second world war, the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), part of Merkels federal alliance, has been Bavarias largest party.

But in recent months, it appears to be losing support on both the left and the right, with the Greens picking up liberal-minded voters and the far-right Alternative for Germany party set to win seats.

Polls suggest the CSU will lose their majority by a wide margin.

While the CSU is unlikely to lose power altogether, after a 61-year reign, just needing coalition partners to govern would be a humiliating setback.

In Berlin, the CSU is one of three parties in Merkels federal coalition government along with its sister, Merkels Christian Democratic Union, and the centre-left Social Democrats.





Polls put support for the CSU as low as 33 percent, down from 47.7 percent in 2013.

The Greens are running second, with support up to 19 percent, and the Social Democrats could lose nearly half the 20.6 percent they won five years ago.

Alternative for Germany looks set to win 10 percent or more.

Al Jazeeras Dominic Kane reporting from Munich said that the seminal issue in the election has been how to manage border control and migration into Bavaria.

Certainly the parties of the right, the centre-right and to a certain extent the populist right have stressed that they believe that migration needs to be better managed, needs to be toughened up, the rules that govern migration into this state and into country need to be overhauled, Kane said.

Contrast that with the view of the parties of the centre-left and the left who say thats not the case, that thats not the policy to  win this election to the state parliament taking place today.

Internal squabbling

The alliance has been notable largely for internal squabbling since it took office in March with the CSU leader, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, often playing a starring role.

A long-running CSU power struggle saw 69-year-old Seehofer give up his job as state governor this year to younger rival, Markus Soeder.

Soeder wants voters to give the CSU credit for Bavarias enviable prosperity, with an unemployment rate of just 2.8 percent, and keep it strong to ensure stability. He has blamed goings-on in Berlin for poor poll ratings.

Where Germany is good, Bavaria is better, he told a rally on Friday. It is no coincidence when the results on the economy, security and finances are so clear. A country needs a backbone  in Germany, the backbone is Bavaria, but in Bavaria, the backbone is the Christian Social Union.





Regional Green co-leader Katharina Schulze says people are fed up with the politics of hate and agitation and want a policy that gives courage instead of fear.

Far-right Alternative for Germany, which entered Germanys national parliament only last year, is appealing to voters who want an uncompromising anti-migration, law-and-order stance.

Seehofer has sparred with Merkel about migration on and off since 2015, when he assailed her decision to leave Germanys borders open as refugees and others crossed the Balkans.

They argued in June over whether to turn back small numbers of asylum seekers at the Germany-Austria border, briefly threatening to topple the national government.

There was an EU summit at a European level [this summer], Kane said.

The CSUs concerns were discussed, and solutions were thrashed out to try to change the way that border control and migration was managed right across the EU. From that perspective at least, what happens here, which government emerges in this state after todays voting, that really could have a profound impact within Berlin and in Brussels.





Seehofer also starred in a coalition crisis last month over Germanys domestic intelligence chief, who was accused of downplaying recent far-right violence against migrants.

There is widespread speculation that a poor performance on Sunday could cost Seehofer his job, though he has insisted he will stay. Soeder, meanwhile, has pivoted from tough talk on migration to trying to project an inclusive image as Bavarias leader.

The 64-year-old Merkel, who has led Germany since 2005, has already been weakened by government infighting and the replacement of a close ally as her partys parliamentary leader.

She will hope that poor state election results do not create new political problems before a CDU party convention in December where her leadership is due for renewal.

Of course I hope for a good result for the CSU, she said on Friday. I know that we dont live in easy times. Otherwise, Im waiting for the result.About the show

A weekly programme that examines and dissects the worlds media, how they operate and the stories they cover. Watch The Listening Post every Saturday at 0830GMTEl Salvador has become the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. But not everybody is happy about itWhen a federal court dismissed on June 29 the class-action lawsuit claiming that the State of Michigan had deprived Detroit public schoolchildren of "their right to literacy," the left was all set to react in faux shock. The court's key finding hardly came as news to most of us, but the headlines in the New York Times sounded as if someone had denied climate change: "'Access to Literacy' Is Not a Constitutional Right, Judge in Detroit Rules."

These days, when everything progressives want government to provide free is defined as a "right"  health care, housing, a guaranteed income, American citizenship for illegal aliens, etc.  it stands to reason that literacy may as well be thrown in there, too. It's only obvious, provided you've never read the Bill of Rights. Hence this lawsuit, brought by public-interest lawyers (who know better) on behalf of several students of low-performing Detroit schools, claiming that "access to literacy" is a fundamental right under the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause.

Judge Stephen J. Murphy's 40-page opinion dismissing the case politely but firmly explains why literacy is not a fundamental right, and we can expect that finding, after years of legal dramatics, to be upheld on appeal. The defendants in the case include Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, the state superintendent of public schools, and the members of the State of Michigan School Board. Notably not being sued are any members of the Detroit school district's Board of Education, who are the elected officials actually in charge of managing Detroit schools.

The lawsuit claims that "[d]ecades of State disinvestment in and deliberate indifference to Detroit schools have denied Plaintiff schoolchildren access to the most basic building block of education: literacy." It accuses state officials of "intentionally discriminating against [Plaintiffs] on the basis of race." The plaintiffs demand a boodle bag full of remedies, collectively described in Judge Murphy's opinion as "unquestionably sweeping  and undoubtedly costly."

To support its allegations of "deliberate indifference," the complaint distorts the story of Detroit's troubled school system so it begins only after the state first intervened in 1999. The lawsuit barely manages 13 words about how it was only following decades of failures and malfeasance by the district's former elected school board that, as reported by Crain's Detroit Business, "poor academics, abhorrent graduation rates and low test scores opened the door for the state to wrest control from an elected school board." Republican Governor John Engler had been trying to get the district fixed since his election in 1990, but he was stymied by a majority of Democrats in the state House. When Republicans finally won a majority, they acted to allow Detroit's Democrat Mayor Dennis Archer (with his full support and that of many other Democrat leaders) to take over the district in an attempt to finally turn it around. According to the New York Times, the mayor had had enough of a "school board ... [that] ignored too many proposals over the years to improve its financial management practices and the overall administration of schools." For example:

Despite having classrooms without enough books or supplies, the district has a $93 million surplus, partly because officials have used low-paid substitutes to fill the 1,100 vacancies among 12,000 teaching positions[.]

The school board, invariably re-elected by loyal Detroit residents to govern the district, were manifestly incompetent and entirely ungovernable themselves:

Only $400 million has been spent of a $1.5 billion bond issue for long-term capital improvements approved in 1994. A series of school superintendents have been hired, promising substantial changes, only to end up arguing with the school board and leaving.

That's right: Democrat board members weren't even organized enough to blow $1.5 billion in taxpayer funds. It's not as if they didn't have time while being chauffeured around in limousines.

When the school board was ousted and replaced with an unelected reform board in 1999, Detroit residents were outraged, calling it undemocratic to replace an elected school board and racist that white politicians (Mayor Archer was black) should be making decisions over what happens in majority-black Detroit. Under the reform board, things improved, but not much, as the damage was too deep. Enrollment continued to drop, taking per-pupil funding with it.

In 2004, Detroiters voted to return to an elected school board. But soon, "budget missteps, corruption, financial mismanagement and enrollment losses ushered in" another round of state intervention, this time under a Democrat, Governor Jennifer Granholm. In 2009, when it came to light that "[d]istrict officials, including the school board ... had problems keeping track of how much money was coming in and what was owed," Granholm appointed Robert Bobb as emergency financial manager. He immediately figured out that basic administrative tasks were being screwed up, and "1,545 DPS employees had ineligible dependents on the staff, costing the district an estimated $2.6 million." Looking back later, Bobb said he'd "found Detroit Public Schools to be a magnificent vessel of wholesale theft and graft. Not one area of management escaped the thieves and defrauders." That included food service workers; teachers (and a teacher's mother!); and even members of his security team, who lied about overtime.

By 2016, the "culture of corruption" in the district led to federal charges against a dozen current and former school principals who were "taking bribes and kickbacks from a school supplies vendor and fabricating invoices from the city's beleaguered public schools." The scheme stretched all the way back to 2002 (and even liberal commentator Jack Lessenberry became convinced "that Detroit Public School administrators deserve to be held in contempt"). By the time six of the crooked principals were pleading guilty to their role in the kickback scheme, Michigan's Republican lawmakers were finalizing a $617-million bailout to save the district from bankruptcy. While Michigan citizens watched yet more tax dollars consigned to oblivion, Democrat legislators were griping that the bailout wasn't big enough.

At the end of 2017, Michigan Capitol Confidential reported that per-student spending for the Detroit Public Schools Community District was higher:

... [t]han all but eight of the nation's 100 largest school districts, or $14,259. Even with all that money, the district still generated the nation's worst reading scores among low-income students. The Miami-Dade district spends $8,725 per student (some $5,500 less than Detroit), and children from low-income households there had the best literacy rates among large cities.

So where exactly is the "deliberate indifference" and "disinvestment" in all of this?

Whatever is behind the literacy problems in Detroit schools, it's not lack of money, state indifference, or "disinvestment." Nor did Judge Murphy find any basis for a claim of racial discrimination against the defendants. Not that any of that will matter to the folks who brought this lawsuit, nor to the misinformed segment of the public whose indignation all of this is meant to stir up.Robert Spencer's new book, The History of Jihad from Muhammad to ISIS, is a clarion call to Western civilization. We are under assault by Islam from all sides in a war that has raged since 632, the date of Muhammad's death. In trying to raise the alarm, Spencer is clearly one of the Paul Reveres of our time. But who is willing to listen?

Spencer's opening observation sums up his book.

There is no period since the beginning of Islam that was characterized by peaceful co-existence between Muslims and non-Muslims[.] ... There has always been, with virtually no interruption, jihad. Nor is jihad in Islamic theology primarily, or even prominently anything but warfare against non-believers.

The rest of Spencer's well researched and thoroughly documented book is the details  fascinating, convincing, and frightening details that more that substantiate his case.

Spencer is one of the world's leading authorities on Islam. He has written several bestselling books on Islam and is founder of Jihad Watch, a website that covers global Islamic attacks and activity on a daily basis. It is a program of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, where Spencer is a Shillman fellow. He also is co-founder of the organization Stop Islamization of America. A tireless speaker and advocate, he has been banned from entering the U.K. despite the fact that the British government has no trouble allowing Islamic hate-preachers full access.

Of the Catholic faith (via the Melkites), Spencer has spent decades researching, studying, and observing the elements that fill this important book with records of events and, most damagingly, direct quotes from Qur'an, which "contain numerous exhortations to fight against the infidels, as do all the hadith collections of Muhammad's words and deeds." More specifically, the scriptures command Muslims to "fight those who do not believe in Allah." The historical record is chilling. But Spencer's most damaging and convincing argument is to let the Muslims speak for themselves, including the prophet Muhammad, who bragged, "I have been victorious with terror."

The book sweeps the reader through Muhammad's own bloody conquests against Jews and other infidels, and then on through centuries of jihad, mass bloodshed from Spain to India, the Barbary Wars, the Ottoman Empire, and on into modern-day global terrorism. There is no accurate body count, but it's certainly a staggering number.

His most alarming material is in the closing chapter, "The West Loses the Will to Live." The well documented, ongoing jihad against Israel is more than enough for a book of its own. The fall of the Shah of Iran triggered the globalization of modern jihad terrorism. Spencer details the rise of al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden along with the 9/11 attacks that were, not so shockingly, organized and funded by senior people in both Saudi Arabia and Iran. Even worse were attempts by the Bush administration and the Obama administration to cover this up. One can see the hand of Obama's CIA director, John Brennan, in a good deal of this. Who can forget Obama's 2009 trip to Cairo, where he "acknowledged civilization's debt to Islam"? Somehow he managed not to mention the slaughter of millions over the centuries in the name of Allah.

The Obama-supported Muslim Brotherhood, which has been labeled by some as a terrorist group, and its offshoot, CAIR, remain highly active in weakening America's resolve to resist the encroachment of Islam. In February 2012, for instance, the Obama administration, led by John Brennan, purged thousands of documents about the threat of jihad from FBI's and other government training manuals, because they were allegedly "biased, false and highly offensive to Muslim groups."

In other words, Spencer points out, "American was going to war against jihadists while forbidding itself to understand jihad." Brennan, in fact, "was instrumental in the Obama administration's recasting of the defense against terror as a localized struggle against al-Qaeda." This was after Spencer had led seminars on Islam and jihad for the FBI, the United States Central Command, United States Army Command and General Staff College, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Justice Department's Terrorism Advisory Council, and the U.S. intelligence community.

Meanwhile, the flood of Muslim immigrants into the West has accelerated. Spencer concludes, "The failure of today's leadership and the international media to inform the public about what is really going on [is] an abdication of responsibility unparalleled in history." Spencer believes that the leaders of Europe have "brought almost certain doom on their countries." Reading daily dispatches, particularly from the U.K. and France, it is difficult to disagree.

Spencer is not a lone voice. In his daily electronic ride across America warning of the increasing Islamic threat, he has active allies in Pamela Geller, David Horowitz, Brigitte Gabriel, Jamie Glazov, Raymond Ibrahim, and Glen Roberts, who have not been afraid to identify the ideological monster that threatens to destroy our Constitution and our way of life. Robert's website, Religion of Peace, keeps daily track of jihadist attacks on a global basis: 33,943 since 9/11. Islamic extremism and efforts to combat it were responsible for 84,000 deaths in 2017, according to a report from an organization founded by former U.K. prime minister Tony Blair. The data found that there were 7,841 attacks in 48 countries in 2017; at least 47 Islamic extremist groups deliberately "orchestrated fatal campaigns against civilians." Those attacks, the report says, were "designed to instill fear and erode public morale."

The real question is how to destroy the Islamic destroyers. Amil Imani, writing for Pamela Geller's website, offers an action-specific list that includes holding to account politicians who sell themselves to Islamic advocacy groups; staying informed; and finding ways to actively wean ordinary Muslims off their religion of destruction, intolerance, backwardness, and death. Muslims need to be openly challenged ideologically. Do they accept sharia law (female genital mutilation, the right of a man to beat his wife, total subjugation of wives by their husbands, death for unmarried fornication and adultery, death to gays, death to critics of Islam, death for apostates) over America's constitutional law? Is reform of Islam even a theoretical possibility?

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich echoes Spencer:

Western civilization is in a war. We should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background, and if they believe in Sharia, they should be deported. Sharia is incompatible with Western civilization. Modern Muslims who have given up Sharia  I am glad to have them as citizens. Perfectly happy to have them next door.

On a personal note, I spent two exciting years in Beirut as chief of Middle East services for the Associated Press. I had many Arab, Armenian, and Palestinian friends and employees. Many of them were wonderful, lovely people who were fun to socialize and spend time with. But this was before Jimmy Carter cut the floor out from under the Shah, paving the way for Ayatollah Khomeini to return from Paris to Tehran to assume leadership of the country. My friends were what I would call cultural or secular Muslims. They were not devout and did not pray five times a day. As far as I knew, they were good people. So it's important to separate good human beings from radical Islam wherever we can.

In his 2002 "Letter to the American people," bin Laden wrote that war against the United States will end:

... only with the submission of the United States to the warriors of jihad. The first thing we are calling you to is Islam[.] ... [K]illing you and fighting you and terrorizing you, responding to your attacks, all are considered to be the great legitimate duty in our religion. These actions are offerings to God.

Will any imam or devout Muslim challenge this or renounce it?

"The historical record speaks for itself," says Spencer, "even more loudly and clearly than it usually does. It is my hope that readers with an open mind and a willingness to consider unwelcome facts ... will see this record for what it is and ponder carefully its implications for the future of free societies around the world." In other words, Islam is coming, by land, sea, and air. The warnings are all there. It's time to recognize what is happening and bring it to a halt.

Frank Hawkins is a former U.S. Army intelligence officer, Associated Press foreign correspondent, international businessman, senior newspaper company executive, founder and owner of several marketing companies, and published novelist. He currently lives in retirement in North Carolina.It seems to me the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, last seen in Istanbul, is Erdogan-brand Turkish taffy, a confection of sugary lies made to inflame Americans against the Saudis and aid the far more dangerous to our well-being mullahs of Iran.

I confess to prejudice in this matter. I think Iran is a grave threat to the world, and the Saudis are aiding us in constraining the mullahs. Like Matthew Continetti, I believe the Saudis are now an important counterterrorism ally and roiling the waters there would disrupt energy markets, create pockets of instability in which jihadists and Iranian-backed militias thrive, and cause headaches for Israel.

If we disrupt our present relationship, why wouldnt the Saudis turn elsewhere -- China and Russia -- and any influence we have in the Middle East would be lost.

In fact, if those in Congress who believe this nonsense get their way and cut arms sales to the Saudis, the beneficiaries will be arms producers in China and Russia and, of course, Iran.

Emmett Tyrell, Jr. speaks for me in the American Spectator:

Today, the United States is faced with a potentially-nuclear-armed Iran that has spread itself far beyond its borders. Iran threatens Americas allies in Israel and the Sunni Arab states, as well as seeks undue control over the regions vital oil and natural gas sources. Whats more, Irans ruling elite are intoxicated by a noxious mix of anti-Americanism, anti-Semitism, and radical Shiite orthodoxy. [snip] Thanks to the Trump Mideast policy, Israel and the Sunni Arab states are now moving closer together as they are increasingly threatened by Iran. Last year, President Trump presided over one of the largest arms sales to Saudi Arabia in history. And, the United States is buttressing Saudi Arabias efforts to roll back Irans influence in Yemen. All of these are good things that will contribute to the securing of U.S. interests in the region. Do We Lose Little or Lose Big? Naturally, just as things seem to be going well for the United States in the Mideast, the reality of Mideast politics hits American policymakers hard. Recently, a Washington Post contributor, Jamal Khashoggi, is believed to have been gruesomely murdered after he entered the Saudi embassy in Istanbul, Turkey. Now, American leaders are calling for an embargo of arms sales and foreign aid to Saudi Arabia until their behavior changes. I understand the desire to seek justice on Khashoggis behalf. But, punishing Saudi Arabia in this case will do nothing more than harm Americas already-tenuous ability to roll back the Iranians. Trying to socially reengineer Saudi foreign policy will be as idiotic as trying to turn Iraq into Idaho -- especially at a time when Washington needs Riyadh. Unfortunately, we are not dealing with nice people in the Middle East. Washington policymakers need to stop thinking such leaders exist there. Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab states are essential in the American mission to isolate Iran. Either the United States is serious about rolling back Iran or its not. And, if Washington no longer believes returning Iran back to its containment is the best course, then overriding the terrible Iran deal was a catastrophic mistake on the part of the Trump Administration.

So why the fuss -- stirred by the Washington Post, for whom Khashoggi was the Saudi correspondent, and peddled by Irans supporters and Trumps opponents, who falsely assert that he was a liberal, progressive voice for democracy?

He was anything but, as Daniel Greenfield and others remind us.

In the 1970s he joined the Muslim Brotherhood, which exists to rid the Islamic world of western influence. He was a political Islamist until the end, recently praising the Muslim Brotherhood in the Washington Post. He championed the moderate Islamist opposition in Syria, whose crimes against humanity are a matter of record. Khashoggi frequently sugarcoated his Islamist beliefs with constant references to freedom and democracy. But he never hid that he was in favour of a Muslim Brotherhood arc throughout the Middle East. His recurring plea to bin Salman in his columns was to embrace not western-style democracy, but the rise of political Islam which the Arab Spring had inadvertently given rise to. For Khashoggi, secularism was the enemy. The Washington Post was happy to provide a forum for a member of a terror network that is responsible for murdering countless Christians and Jews.

But its not just my prejudice that informs my view that this -- like Turkeys case against the just released American hostage Pastor Andrew Brunson -- is an Erdogan confection of adulterated ingredients. The purported eyewitnesses seem to be liars who, like Khashoggi himself, have ties to the anti-U.S. Moslem Brotherhood and Iran, according to Daniel Greenfield.

Hatice Cengiz, his purported fiance who, we are told, waited for hours outside the Saudi consulate in vain for his exit, is connected to Qatar (an Iranian ally) which, like the Washington Post, has been promoting the story and has openly been critical of the Saudis, While she claims to be Khashoggis fiancee, his family has denied ever hearing or knowing about her. Also critical to this story are the purported eyewitness (Turan Kislakci) and the reporter (Jamal Eishayyal). Kislakci, who has led the protests against the Saudis, claimed that 15 Saudi operatives killed Khashoggi, which was debunked later by Turkish officials, who said that the 15-man team were investigators who entered with their agreement. Eishayyal, an Al Jazeera correspondent, is the brother of the director of a Qatari-funded news website al-Araby al-Jadeed, which is supervised by the Muslim Brotherhood in Doha and in London and is run by Palestinian politicians, Asmi Bisharai, the adviser to the emir of Qatar. Their father is a leading Brotherhood figure who works for the Emir.

Meanwhile the Washington Post, which has yet to explain why it hired a Moslem Brotherhood propagandist, is still being fed anti-Saudi and anti-Trump nonsense by Khashoggi buddy Khaled Saffuri, an aide to US Al-Qaeda fundraiser Abdurahman Alamoudi (currently in federal prison) and friend of convicted/deported Palestinian Jihad leader Sami al-Arian.

Indeed, Khashoggi tooled around Afghanistan with Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda founder Abdullah Azzam.

I didnt realize until yesterday that Jamal Khashoggi was the author of this notorious 1988 Arab News article of him tooling around Afghanistan with Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda co-founder Abdullah Azzam. Hes just a democrat reformer journalist holding a RPG with jihadists. pic.twitter.com/G7xTCjwiPx  Patrick Poole (@pspoole) October 12, 2018

The Turkish police reports keep shifting as the story falls apart. On Twitter, Turkish academic and columnist Emre Uslu contends that in the 650 meters distance between the hotel (where the claimed assassins stayed) and the consulate there are seven security cameras, but for some reason, the police haven't shown any of that camera footage to prove that they actually went to the consulate.

Perhaps Turkey is dialing down the story because, as journalist-in-exile Abdullah Bozkurt reminds us, the Saudis have plenty of dirt on the corrupt Erdogan, like the $100 million they wired to the Erdogan family foundation.

Not only are the sources of the Khashoggi tale suspect, but also the information they peddle is bizarre. First accounts were that the Turkish government had video and audio proof that Khashoggi was killed and dismembered in the consulate but wouldnt release them because that would reveal where the cameras and recorders were hidden. Think: Surely if that were the case the Saudis would know from the claim itself where the cameras and recorders had been placed. Later accounts say Khashoggi recorded the proof on his Apple wristwatch synced to a phone outside the building. Whatever proofs of this bizarre tale the Turks and Iranian stooges are promoting, we havent seen it.

On the other hand, we are seeing lots of evidence of a press, in particular the Washington Post, that is terminally credulous and uninterested in the background and motives of its sources at best, or at worst willing promoters of the mullahs and the Obama crowd that loved them.What is it about restaurants and meltdowns of the leftwing elites? Is it time to invent a new dish, called the 'lefty-melt'?

Seems that as Brazil's presidential campaign goes into its final stretch with a strong likelihood of a Trump-like conservative named Jair Bolsonaro winning, Brazil's elites are reacting the same way U.S. elites react to President Trump.

Staff of Mani, an elite, chi-chi, oh-so-hip, cool and chic restaurant in Sao Paulo with an awesomely innovative menu, joined a leftist social media campaign against Bolsonaro on Instagram discouraging Bolsonaro's supporters from coming to their restaurant. And surprise, surprise, they found themselves empty on a Saturday night.

Terca Livre, a Brazilian publication that has been compared to Breitbart News, reports that fans have sent film showing how bad it was - and you can see that here.

Here's what they did to make that happen:

The chefs and cooks and waiters all posed together a week ago in a picture with messages written on their arms saying the equivalent of #not-him, #neverhim #never-everhim and #neverf***inghim in reference to Bolsonaro, waving their middle fingers together.

They apparently posted this, according to Terca Livre:

I don't see that picture on their Instagram site now, which suggests it might have been taken down, but given that this is the Internet, pictures spread. Apparently a rival restaurant posed this either to suggest the group was comprised of idiots or else to support them:

It's a hard fall for a restaurant that was rated #9 on a list of the 50 top restaurants in Latin America, and which Terca Livre noted once had lines of comers snaking out the door. What's more, it's not that expensive: If 40 reais is worth about ten U.S. dollars, the menu shows that most entres in the fancy establishment go for about ten bucks. That would be cheap in Los Angeles or Manhattan.

Terca Livre, via Google Translate (with some tweaks from me), wrote:

The publication was indeed controversial with many comments, both against its act and in favor.



Some netizens soon followed a boycott campaign against the restaurant. Yesterday, about 6 days after the chef's political-gastronomic demonstration, a client entered, filmed and published in social networks the establishment situation: completely empty. The place had been one to line up for and fight for places.

Chase out those marginal, Neanderthal, deplorable, fascist, benighted Bolsonaro supporters ... and find yourself in for a surprise.

With restaurants like this empty, I have a feeling that support for Bolsonaro might just be a bit deeper than members of Brazil's polite society are letting on.Prior to the attempted foreign policy reset between the United States and North Korea that occurred earlier this year, the U.S. excoriated the North Korean regime in connection with the widespread and lucrative WannaCry attacks of 2017.

The ransomware attack occurred in May of 2017 and hijacked more than 300,000 computers in 150 countries with unpatched Windows 7 operating systems. In December of 2017, homeland security adviser Tom Bossert stated that the attacks caused "havoc and destruction" and categorized North Korea as a "largely unchecked" bad actor in the cyber-crime realm for more than a decade.

Ransomware, among many malicious application variations with a focused objective of destruction and money extortion schemes, has consistently been deployed by the enemies of America against government entities, financial institutions, and the average citizen. The WannaCry version of ransomware encrypted the victim's computer files, rendering them inoperable. The ransomware would then demand a payment from the owner. If the user refused to pay, his files would remain permanently encrypted.

Wannacry had some serious repercussions in certain countries. In the United Kingdom, multiple National Health Service hospitals were rendered inoperable due to the malware and were forced to redirect non-critical emergencies to other hospitals. Security researches have also stated that the damage done by WannaCry would have been exponentially greater had it targeted critical infrastructure systems.

North Korea is hardly the only country engaging in this type of nefarious activity, as an August 2018 report from cyber-security firm Accenture shows a "significant" increase in cyber-attacks and cyber-espionage campaigns initiated by Iran.

During the first half of 2018, Iranian state-sponsored attackers in concert with other hacktivists in the country have presented a "disruptive or destructive cyber-threat against the United States, Europe, and the Middle East," according to the Accenture Cyber Threatscape Report 2018.

Regarding the potential for "high-value" attacks against our most critical infrastructure, the report also states, "The oil and gas industry will continue to be an attractive target for threat actors, given the disruption that a cyber incident could inflict on the security and economy of an oil-producing country."

We already have a better than good idea who the culprits are, but how do we combat it? The United States has moved toward attempting a diplomatic solution toward denuclearization with North Korea, but the possibility of snags related to the fallout of WannaCry may factor into the eventual outcome of this round of diplomacy.

According to an editorial in the Wall Street Journal written by Bossert during the time that he was publicly casting North Korea as accountable for the WannaCry attack, the U.S. intended to "continue to hold accountable" hackers "who harm or threaten" us, "whether they act alone or on behalf of criminal organizations or hostile nations." This editorial came on the heels of the release of the U.S. National Security Strategy, which calls for "swift and costly consequences on foreign governments, criminals, and other actors who would undertake significant malicious cyber activities." This language leaves open the possibility of retribution, including "hack backs," which may include counter-cyber-operations.

These potential counter-actions may not actually breach any legal obligation to the target nation. This is based on the fact that an "injured" state may take actions that would normally be considered illegal, but not if they are carried out in response to another nation's unprovoked aggression. This type of cyber-operation can be designed to compel the "responsible State" to make reparations for damages.

National security adviser John Bolton holds aggressive ideas on combating international cyber-threats. In various editorials, speeches, and cable news appearances, he has stated that the U.S. should deploy its "muscular cyber-capabilities" against attacks perpetrated by countries like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea and make the penalties for their attacks "so high that they will simply consign all their cyber-warfare plans to their computer memories to gather electronic dust."

As the fallout from the U.S. pulling out from the Iran nuclear deal and the continuing saga that is the denuclearization of North Korea develop, whether or not these inhumane regimes continue to engage in cyber-warfare and how we address it is certain to play a major role in future negotiations.

Julio Rivera, editorial director at ReactionaryTimes.com, is a small-business consultant based in New York City.How far is too far for the #MeToo movement? That we are finally getting around to asking that question - even those on the left - says just how far off the rails the movement has gotten.

Case in point: Francisco J. Ayala. He's a world renowned geneticist at UC Irvine, born in Spain, whose friendly greetings for Benedicte Shipley were perceived by both in radically different ways. Ayala would greet Shipley for years with a hug and kisses on both cheeks, telling her how attractive she is. He thought he was showing her good manners. She believed he was harassing her.

Ayala is 84 years old. Shipley is 50. Other women came forward to tell of Ayala's unwanted friendliness. He swore he meant no disrespect by his actions. Indeed, some women enjoyed their encounters with Ayala.

But the university threw the book at him.

LA Times:

The university swiftly moved to erase his presence. The world-renowned geneticist resigned, was banned from campus and stripped of prestigious University of California titles. And though he had given Irvine $11.5 million in donations, his name was taken off the university buildings he helped support. The sanctions have bitterly divided the campus, drawn international attention and underscored the growing complexity of the nations pitched battles over sexual harassment.

Some of this reaction by the university stems from the fear of being sued. But if the school does this to a guy accused of over-friendliness, what would they do to someone actually accused of assault? Burn him at the stake?

We should not be insensitive to the issues raised by the #MeToo movement. But how are men to know when their actions constitute harassment or even assault? There are no guidebooks to follow. Women don't advertise their willingness - or unwillingness - to be hugged and kissed in greetings. Are men supposed to be mind readers?

Unwanted fondling or forcible kissing clearly crosses that line  but people sharply disagree about Ayalas conduct, which included a 2015 incident in which he jokingly offered one of the women his lap as a seat at a faculty meeting (and then apologized after he learned she was offended). Elizabeth Loftus, a UCI professor of social ecology, law and cognitive science, said she found Ayalas hugs and cheek kisses adorable. Shipley, who said Ayala also on occasion rubbed his hands up and down her sides when hugging, viewed his behavior as more than creepy. Of the 10 women besides the complainants who said Ayala gave them compliments or greeted him with kisses, two said it made them feel uncomfortable, according to UCIs findings. The Times obtained an unredacted copy of the report. Others who witnessed Ayalas actions called them inappropriate. One called him a dirty old man. Rose McDermott, a Brown University professor who specializes in gender issues, believes younger women are more sensitive to perceived harassment than older ones. How we draw the line between inappropriate or patronizing behavior and genuine harassment is really challenging because women themselves dont agree, she said. Those in-between spaces are getting harder to negotiate. More than 100 scholars at UCI and around the world have signed a statement expressing concern that the sanctions were a massive overreaction.

Behavior like this in the workplace is easier to police. Most companies have specific definitions of sexual harassment, although in this case, UC Irvine apparently expanded part of their definition of harassment. There is also the "power differential" that should prevent superiors from harassing those who work under them. While this came into play during the investigation, there is a legitimate question as to whether the extreme reaction by the school was justified.

Those who are driving the hysteria in the #MeToo movement don't want a discussion or debate. They don't do nuance and would never agree that men have a point when they complain that the goal posts on harassment and assault are constantly shifting, making it near impossible to carry on normal give and take between the sexes. It simply cannot be allowed that the definition of sexual harassment is whatever the hell a woman says it is. There must be rules that are well understood by both sexes and where most men - who, after all, want to please women - can be comfortable in how they behave.

Ordinary men and women are usually able to establish their own boundaries without any help from the harpies in the #MeToo movement. And while most men welcome the discussion on harassment and assault, we don't want to walk on egg shells worrying that a friendly greeting or the accidental brush against a woman will lead to firing and disgrace.As Democrats continue to promise their base they'll somehow manage to impeach the newest justice on the Supreme Court, Justice Kavanaugh's first day on the bench last Tuesday showed a man far from disabled by what the left just put him through.

As reported in Roll Call:

Justice Brett Kavanaugh heard oral arguments for the first time Tuesday in cases about one of the Supreme Court's least favorite criminal laws, jumping into his role with some straightforward questions and little hint of the bitter confirmation process he just went through. There were no outbursts from protesters in the gallery, as there had been during his Senate confirmation hearings or Saturday's historic vote.

After the justices took their places, Chief Justice Roberts welcomed Kavanaugh, telling him, "We wish you a long and happy career in our common calling."

Shortly after, while lawyers were being admitted to the Supreme Court Bar, Justice Kagan leaned over and spoke to Kavanaugh, who "became animated, smiling widely and nodding as he exchanged comments with his new colleague."

The court was hearing oral arguments in two cases on Tuesday. About 15 minutes into the first hearing, Kavanaugh asked his first question, inquiring why a previous Supreme Court ruling regarding the Armed Career Criminal Act shouldn't be applied to the statute under review in the current case. He showed complete familiarity with the issues and the law, including a related Florida statute. From then on, he was asking questions throughout both oral arguments.

It's encouraging that, in his first appearance on the Supreme Court after that awful nomination process, Brett Kavanaugh showed no hint of apprehension that he was there on probation or that he wasn't fully deserving of being exactly where he was. It's clear that by Tuesday, his estimation of the accusations being hurled at him only days before was exactly what they deserved  forgotten and put out of his mind. Unfortunately, in his personal life, Kavanaugh and his family will still need healing, and all the scars the left so basely inflicted on them will be there for life. But by keeping his promise to rise above all that without bitterness, and to become a fair and successful justice, he's showing his enemies up as being the small and vindictive people they are. He'll let their hatred remain their problem, not his.

Kavanaugh is a brilliant jurist, considered possibly the best qualified candidate ever nominated to the Court. The strength of his mind was evident Tuesday in the way he waded right in with his new peers to hash over the legal intricacies of cases, statutes, and precedents. He was made for this job.

Roll Call reports that former justice Anthony Kennedy also was there, listening to the arguments from the audience. Afterward, "[a]s the arguments ended and the justices stood to retire to their chambers, Kagan shook Kavanaugh's hand."

It was Kennedy who swore Kavanaugh in Monday night, and if the former justice believed any of the accusations of Kavanaugh's enemies, he would never have done so, nor attended court the first day of Kavanaugh's service. (Recall that Bill Clinton was disbarred from practicing before the Supreme Court for lying about Monica Lewinsky and Paula Jones). Nor, judging by the way Justice Kagan warmly  and publicly  welcomed Kavanaugh, is it likely that she shares any of the doubts about his character that her sister liberal women claim to have. Even liberal justices respect evidence, and Chuck Schumer's political directives don't extend to the Supreme Court. (Maybe that explains the red-haired woman's desperation at the doors of the courthouse).

These are promising signs. It means there are still areas of our national life that remain uncorrupted by raging mobs, even if the U.S. Congress is no longer one of them.

T.R. Clancy looks at the world from Dearborn, Michigan. You can email him at trclancy@yahoo.com.In her disjointed and flippant Washington Post column, Kathleen Parker compares President Trump's meeting with rap superstar Kanye West to a cocktail hour, and suggests we all could use a drink after reading about it. Here's what Parker wrote:

The Republican Party, the erstwhile home to the Moral Majority, is now wedded to a porn-star-linked president, who last week was made to look like a somber adult seated across from a stentorian Kanye West, who seemed to have (a) lost his mind or (b) emptied a bottle of Adderall into his coffee before arriving at the White House for lunch with the president. Ostensibly, the purpose of his visit was to discuss prison reform and plead for clemency for Larry Hoover, a convicted murderer and gang kingpin. Instead, the rapper embarked on a wildly disjointed, stream-of-consciousness lecture with such rapid-fire madness that one half-expected he might suddenly start crawling up the wall and across the ceiling  or, forgetting that his "Make America Great Again" cap wasn't really the Superman cape he thought it was, plunge through the window fully expecting to fly.

As a result, Parker said she needed a drink. Based on her sloshy writing, it appears she already got one.

But speaking of what she refers to as cocktail hours, it is cocktail hour every day among the Democrats because Democrats constantly concoct more ways to keep minorities dependent on government.

Kanye and Trump had their talk on whatever, and Parker is outraged. But what's important here is that President Trump has a record and Kanye West recognizes it. Parker seems to think that the mere theatrics of President Trump's meeting with West was more important than his very real record of economically helping black people unlike any other president. Kanye understood that. Parker doesn't. Parker and her ilk would rather see blacks and other minorities have more opportunities to move up the economic ladder.

While we're at it, during cocktail hour on Sept. 11, 2012 then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her boss, President Obama, did nothing to save Americans lives being thrust into a bona fide terror attack. Instead they concocted a lie about a video to protect their political power.

Obama respected the Oval Office so much with his feet on his desk . Maybe that calls for a cocktail hour, too. No wonder we had the slowest economic recovery in seventy years and he had no idea how or didn't care about getting manufacturing jobs to U.S. workers.

The media seems to care a lot about a reporter possibly killed by the Saudis (which they should care about) but they didn't care at all as Obama lied and gave billions to the murderous tyrants in Iran who are responsible for so many deaths. They didn't even care when when Obama dictated to the Justice Department to stop an investigation of drug-running by a terrorist group to appease Iran.

The media has to destroy Kanye because they can't allow blacks to get off the reservation but they support Taylor Swift so much, touting her vast knowledge. As the media campaigns for Democrats every day and seeks to destroy Trump, they know that if blacks and minorities ever are allowed to think for themselves, the Democratic Party is in trouble.

The reporting on Kanye shows everyone just how racist the Democrats are. Kathleen Parker can drink to that, too.The entire Democrat establishment of Chicago was publicly humiliated last week after selling expensive ($200) tickets to a fundraiser in the grand ballroom of the Hilton Hotel downtown, only to have the special guest, Maxine Waters, missing in action, with no notice and no excuse. Representative Waters has titillated angry Democrats with her incitements to harass their political opponents, and her demands for impeachment of President Trump that began even before he took office.

Image credit: Majunznk

These outbursts won her the sobriquet Auntie Maxine. But based on her failure to show up with no notice, one has to wonder if she isnt turning into Ross Perots legendary crazy aunt in the basement.

The national media seem to have been completely uninterested in the Missing Persons bulletin potential in such a high profile snub. The only media account that I have found is from the Chicago City Wire on October 11.

Chicago Democrat Machine royalty converged tonight at the Chicago Hilton Grand Ballroom for a cocktail reception that was supposed to feature U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California) as the special guest. (snip) The event, honoring Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis, retired Illinois Supreme Court Justice Charles Freeman and Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios, was hosted by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Cook County Board President and current mayoral candidate Toni Preckwinkle.

The 2 hosts, Rahm Emanuel and Toni Preckwinkle, are the two monarchs of local government. But they were not the only powerhouses snubbed:

Other listed attendees on hand to see Waters included Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan (D-Chicago), State Reps. Robert Martwick (D-Chicago), Karen Yarbrough (D-Maywood), Robert Rita (D-Blue Island), Lou Lang (D-Skokie) and Mike Zalewski (D-Riverside), and State Senators Ira Silverstein (D-Chicago), Antonio Munoz (D-Chicago), Luis Arroyo (D-Chicago), Steve Landek (D-Bridgeview), Don Harmon (D-Oak Park), Laura Murphy (D-Park Ridge) and Michael Hastings (D-Orland Park).

Mike Madigan is considered the most powerful man in Illinois state politics, and has been for many years.

The honorees who were snubbed are also bigshots. Karen Lewis of the teachers union is a major force in politics, and outgoing Cook County Assessor Berrios is the local head of the Democratic Party.

They can all go pound sand as far as Auntie Maxine is concerned, apparently.Fake news! The words bring to mind epic distortions and outsized emphasis on trivial events like Melania's wardrobe and presidential statements about crowd size. The most devastating aspect of "fake news," however, is the media's ability to make a story completely disappear. Exhibit A is the "untold story" of Kermit Gosnell, described by Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer as "America's Most Prolific Serial Killer."

The movie, largely extracted from their 2017 book, premiered to nationwide audiences on Friday  but only after overcoming huge legal and industry hurdles. Funding for the project was accomplished via nearly thirty thousand individuals who contributed over 2.3 million dollars to a fundraising site. Advertising was difficult, as many outlets, including Facebook and NPR, to say nothing of the film industry, created obstacles that reduced public exposure to the project.

The film itself is riveting, with a plot that moves along briskly and focuses primarily (a la Law and Order) on the trial of Dr. Gosnell. Shock and awe isn't the method used to communicate this appalling, many-tiered story. Direct exposure to gore is rejected while still presenting indirectly the horror of Gosnell's Philadelphia abortion facility and illegal drug dispensary.

The reluctance to hold this and presumably any abortion facility responsible for violations of the law (including obvious health code violations) is made clear by the grand jury testimony of a stodgy health inspectress, who ignored a stack of complaints about Gosnell's facility on Governor Tom Ridge's politically motivated orders. Both the Philadelphia D.A. (portrayed capably by Michael Beach) and a preliminary judge are also adamant that Gosnell's case not be about abortion per se.

The trial, however, inevitably confronts the jury with the reality of abortion  a reality ironically presented by Gosnell's defense attorney in his questioning of a respected doctor from a prestigious hospital who says, somewhat reluctantly, that the institution had performed about 30,000 abortions. Thanks to the media's virtual blackout on this topic, most Americans don't know that for decades, more than a million abortions were performed annually in the U.S., and today, the honest figure (not the CDC reported figure) stands near 900,000.

Beyond the number of abortions performed, Gosnell's attorney (played with villainous verisimilitude by Nick Searcy) skillfully leads the stylishly clad physician through the D&E (dilation and extraction) procedure, brandishing huge forceps; scissors; and the long, poison-containing needle routinely employed in a legal abortion. Counsel methodically points each instrument at the designated "targets" via a black and white representation of a baby in the womb. His point is that there's precious little difference between what Gosnell usually did in his ramshackle facility and what well equipped abortion-providers do. The climax of his cross-examination occurs when he asks the physician what would happen if, despite all their efforts, the baby came out alive. Her chilling answer is that the baby would be given "comfort care"  i.e., placed in a tray and kept warm until he dies. Gosnell's attorney comments that snipping the spinal cord (something Gosnell did several and probably hundreds of times) seemed like a more humane procedure  "withdrawn."

The jury also sees, as the movie audience doesn't, a picture of "Baby A," whose spine was snipped by Gosnell, one of the three babies judged to have been born alive and murdered by the doctor. The way the jury members recoil and avert their eyes provides a dramatic representation of the way media and the public in general wish to avoid looking at the reality of this "procedure" that is mendaciously placed under the benign rubric of "reproductive health."

Kudos should be given to Earl Billings for his deft portrayal of Gosnell, a man who calmly greeted police and FBI agents at his home, played Chopin on the piano while agents searched the premises, and expressed concern for the turtles in his filthy clinic while he was being held over for trial. As I noted in my review of McElhinney's and McAleer's book, "[n]ot since Hannah Arendt's portrait of Adolf Eichmann has there been a more provocative analysis of evil." Gosnell's "greed and macabre callousness" existed alongside a "cheerful disposition that accompanied various acts of charity." In his overly self-confident mind, he was simply taking a legally protected procedure a few steps farther. Gosnell justified his criminal acts with a dubious claim of good intentions.

The heroic protagonists of the film are Assistant District Attorney Christine Wechsler and Detective James "Woody" Wood (portrayed by Sarah Jane Morris and Dean Cain), two persons who are appalled by Gosnell's macabre collection of infants' feet, aborted babies, and refrigerated milk carton containers filled with fetal remains. Their clearly communicated shock and disbelief allow the audience to see secondhand what isn't and probably shouldn't be shown on screen. The institutional obstacles these two individuals must overcome to convict a mass murderer of three homicides is indicative of the willful blindness baked into modern American society.

Nowhere is that blindness more apparent than in media that refuse to publicize atrocities that might actually open eyes to the reality of abortion on demand. The Philadelphia D.A. is convinced that the Gosnell case will become a circus, with journalists portraying the prosecution as anti-choice, anti-woman, and racist. What happens instead is an empty courtroom and media silence. Toward the end of the trial, thanks to the efforts of a blogger-journalist, the film shows a packed courtroom. That image, however, is misleading, since trial coverage was largely confined to Philadelphia. Today, the gruesome story of Kermit Gosnell is still largely untold.

Richard Kirk is a freelance writer living in Southern California whose book Moral Illiteracy: "Who's to Say?" is also available on Kindle.The "believe woman" claims of rape no-matter-what meme continues to trivialize real rape and other forms of assault, while turning women into permanently helpless victims unable to function in simple every day activities because #MeToo!

In the heart of multi-cultural, pluralistic and oh-so-liberal Brooklyn, New York, a white woman is paying for cat litter in a Mid-Eastern deli as a black mother exits the store with her two young children. Ah, sophisticated big city co-existence in all its smug glory!

But wait! Danger for women is everywhere! Everywhere! And it happens! Something touches the white woman's delicate butt! Oh no! Galvanized by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's vivid recollections of a highly questionable drunken adolescent hazy encounter 36 years earlier embedded in her hypothalamus, the alert white female professional victim follows the black family outside, accusing the 9 year old boy of touching her clothed and sacred body part and then calls the police.

The 9 year old cries. The mother defends her son.

A white woman set off a firestorm in a Brooklyn community and on social media after she called 911 on a black boy at a bodega, claiming he grabbed her butt -- only for surveillance video to show that he never touched her. (snip)

Security camera video grab via NBC New York The woman, identified by the New York Post as Teresa Klein, was buying cat litter inside Sahari Deli Market in Flatbush Wednesday when the boy, wearing a school uniform and backpack, walked past her with his mother and younger sister, witnesses say and video shows. His backpack appeared to brush against Klein's backside. Klein whips her head around and begins shouting in the direction of the exiting family, surveillance video shows. She makes crude gestures at them, and the mother is seen walking back and arguing with her. Joni Torian, a customer who witnessed the dispute, told the Post, "The mother was right behind him when she says he grabbed her very flat behind. Ain't no mama gonna let her child sexually assault a woman. [Klein] started yelling, 'Miss, you need to watch your son, he just grabbed my ass.' It was kind of funny at first, but then she was saying, 'I will call the cops.'" (snip) Klein is heard saying sarcastically into the phone, as incredulous bystanders watch, "White woman calling the cops on a black lady, I get it." (snip) The fight is then taken outside the store, where witnesses began recording the confrontation. In one video posted to Facebook, Klein is seen getting on her phone and saying, "I'm going to call the cops right now" -- which sends the boy and his little sister into tears. (snip) Klein continues speaking into the phone, saying, "I've been sexually assaulted by a child."

The woman continued her rant against the child as other customers defended him, while others videoed the entire incident. The next day the woman returned to the store, saw the store's security video of her "assault" and apologized. However,

It seemed to touch off even more emotional backlash among other black men inside the store. "Apology don't solve people's problems, man," one man said. "If it was me, I would have been incarcerated by now."

"But...but," women defenders will defend, "women have been victimized for so long you can't blame them for a little mistake." Oh no! Of course not!

So what if innocent men are vilified, smeared, even incarcerated? They deserve it because they're well...men.

So what if the cops had been more involved, showing the woman the child was innocent? They're cops; by definition, bad.

So what if the cops and the judge are slow to react when a real case of sexual assault occurs because wolf has been called too many times? They're men. Or evil conservative, elitist women.

#MeToo!Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.By some estimates as many as 22 F-22 Raptor fighters were damaged or destroyed when Hurricane Michael scored a direct hit on Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida on Wednesday. Tyndall is the main F-22 base in the U.S. and according to various sources only 33 of the bases 55 Raptors were evacuated ahead of the storm. The balance couldnt be flown because of maintenance or other issues and some had to be left outside. The precise fate of the remaining 22 planes, which are worth at least $140 million dollars each, hasnt been clarified by the Air Force but it acknowledges that some were damaged.We anticipate the aircraft parked inside may be damaged as well, but we wont know the extent until our crews can safely enter those hangars and make an assessment, it said in a statement.

Raptors aside, the base itself suffered hundreds of millions of dollars of damage. Virtually none of the various buildings and facilities escaped damage from the big storm. Top military brass are on the scene to assess the damage to assets and capabilities and the Air Force took pains to reassure the public that the remaining Raptors still have a big bite. The Air Force remains capable of executing its combat mission across the world with aircraft from other bases, as well as those that were evacuated from Tyndall in advance of the hurricane, it said in a statement.China has spent 3.2 trillion yuan so far  that's $463 billion  tearing down substandard old dwellings and replacing them with brand-new tower blocks.

The big picture: The Shantytown Redevelopment Program (yes, that's its actual name) is now being accelerated. Between 2018 and 2020, China plans to build 15 million new homes; work has already started on more than 5 million of them.A United Nations scientific body just released a seminal report on how the worlds energy systems would have to be transformed to adequately address climate change.

The big picture: The world is still heavily dependent upon fossil fuels. It accounts for 81% of the world's energy consumption, a figure that hasnt changed in 30 years. Evolving electricity mixes is one clear gauge of how countries are doing cutting their greenhouse gas emissions and using cleaner energy technologies.

The details: Four countries  United States, Japan, China and Denmark  illustrate the challenges different parts of the world have in greening their electricity mixes. You can hover over the Denmark graphic to pull up the same info for any other country.

The United States' greenhouse gas emissions are at lows not seen in decades, thanks largely to cleaner-burning natural gas displacing the far dirtier coal, along with an increase in renewables. While the U.S. is a leader in cutting its emissions, President Trump wants to withdraw America from the Paris climate deal and bring back coal, which would increase domestic emissions. Japan is a case study of what is likely to happen today when a lot of carbon-free electricity goes away. After the country shut down its nuclear power plants in response to the 2011 Fukushima disaster, its dependence on fossil fuels  and natural gas in particular  increased. China is ground zero for all things energy and climate change given its population size and energy appetite. Its dependence on coal is huge, yet its also leading in developing renewable energy. Its second-largest source of electricity is actually hydropower, a renewable energy that doesnt get as much attention today as wind and solar. Denmark is a prime example of the potential for wind energy, particularly offshore. The renewable energy provides nearly 50% of the countrys electricity, a huge growth just over the last couple of decades.

Go deeper: UN details massive changes needed to slow global warmingA particularly gruesome example of overindebtedness can be found in West Africa.

Expand chart Data: Jubilee Debt Campaign; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

The details: Ghana's foreign-currency debts are rising. The current IMF program, which began in 2015, projected external debt of 40% of GDP this year and total debt of 61%. The actual numbers look more like 46% and 71%, respectively.

Its government revenues are flat : In 2014, before the IMF program started, they were 17.8% of GDP. They were meant to rise to 20.3% this year, but instead they have fallen slightly, to 17.6%.

: In 2014, before the IMF program started, they were 17.8% of GDP. They were meant to rise to 20.3% this year, but instead they have fallen slightly, to 17.6%. Its currency is in free fall: Government revenues are in Ghanaian cedis. It now takes roughly 5 cedis to buy $1, up from 2.5 cedis at the beginning of 2014.

The bottom line: In 2018, a majority of Ghana's government revenues will be spent just on servicing the country's foreign-currency-denominated debt, per the Jubilee Debt Campaign.

With all those revenues leaving the country, there's much less left over for Ghanaians : Real domestic government expenditure has fallen from 820 cedis per person in 2013 to just 680 cedis per person last year. No wonder growth is anemic.

: Real domestic government expenditure has fallen from 820 cedis per person in 2013 to just 680 cedis per person last year. No wonder growth is anemic. Ghana is an extreme example of what's happening in Africa more broadly: On average, African countries spent 11.8% of their revenues on external debt payments last year, a number that has more than doubled in the past five years.

The big question: What will happen when the current IMF program ends in April? New loans, from the IMF or anybody else, are unlikely to be the answer when the problem is that Ghana already has too much debt.Twenty years after his murder, the remains of Matthew Shepard will be interred at the Washington National Cathedral, the New York Times reports.

The big picture: 15 U.S. states don't include gender identity or sexual orientation in hate crime laws, per CNN, and five don't have hate crime laws at all. Those include Indiana, Georgia, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Wyoming  where Shepard was murdered. But Shepard, who was robbed, beaten, and tied to a fence in freezing temperatures, became "a symbol of deadly violence against gay people," per the Times, and continues to be a symbol today.

The details: The event at the cathedral, taking place October 26, will be overseen by the Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop, Rev. V. Gene Robinson, along with the Episcopal Diocese of Washington's Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, the Times reports.

Wyoming has maintained that Shepard was not killed because he was gay, and, per the Associated Press, this week there was a forum in Laramie, Wyoming, where Shepard was killed, "questioning the prevailing view" that his sexual orientation was the motive for his murder.

that Shepard was not killed because he was gay, and, per the Associated Press, this week there was a forum in Laramie, Wyoming, where Shepard was killed, "questioning the prevailing view" that his sexual orientation was the motive for his murder. One of the convicted killers, Russell Henderson, has said he and Aaron McKinney were not motivated by anti-gay hatred. But McKinney "repeatedly used homosexual slurs" in his confession.

Where things stand: Shepard's parents, Judy and Dennis, travel the country advocating for LGBTQ rights, CNN reports. They had a victory in 2009 when President Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, but advocates argue that state legislatures must take action as well for there to be real protections.

In 2017, 52 LGBTQ people were killed in the U.S. because of hate violence, CNN reports  86% more than the year prior.

were killed in the U.S. because of hate violence, CNN reports  86% more than the year prior. Bishop Robinson told the NYT that Shepard's death is "a symbol of the kind of mindless, pointless violence against us for no other reason that being who we are. It is important for us to remind ourselves that we are still trying to come out from under that shadow."

Go deeper: Homosexuality still criminalized in much of the worldAs we near November's midterm elections, Democrats haven't distilled one of their biggest talking points  Medicare for All  down to one single policy.

The big picture: The fight for universal health care is not a new one. But the wave of Democrats campaigning on "Medicare for All" represents the most mainstream political support the idea has had in decades.

How it started

President Truman first proposed a national health care program in 1945, and it remained a mainstream debate for decades. President Nixon even had a universal health care proposal  the Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan, or CHIP. (No relation to today's CHIP program for low-income children.)

CHIP was a three-pronged plan that combined employer-based insurance, government assistance for low-income families, and Medicare for seniors. Participating in one of those programs would have been mandatory.

But after the 70s, the campaign for universal coverage faded.

Fast forward to 2016, when Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign thrust explicit calls for a single-payer system issue back into the national debate. In 2017 he introduced the Medicare for All Act with Sens. Cory Booker, Richard Blumenthal, Tammy Baldwin, Kamala Harris, and more as cosponsors.

Sanders says on his website that Medicare for All is building "upon the success of the ACA to achieve the goal of universal health care."

Where we are now

Axios' Sam Baker reported that adopting Medicare for All has become something of "a litmus test for a lot of Democratic primaries in 2018."

Democrats haven't decided on one message for what that will look like.

for what that will look like. But the majority of Democrats and Republicans all support the initiative, per a Reuters/Ipsos poll from last month.

Yes, but: Politico's Paul Demko reported in August that the idea hasn't been easy to sell to voters in the primaries.

A veteran Democratic pollster, John Anzalone, told Politico: "Voters are smart enough to know that Medicare for all isn't going to happen right now, or maybe ever."

On the other side: A source familiar with President Trump's thinking on the issue told Axios' Jonathan Swan that a counter-message to Medicare for All "is the best performing message of...in this November's election."

The bottom line: The Democrats' fight has been a long time coming, and success in universal health care would be a major party victory. But first, they'll need to get their plan straight.Saudi Arabia is doubling down on its denials of allegations that it is responsible for the disappearance and possible murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, saying in a statement Sunday that it will respond to any "threats" made against it, the Associated Press reports.

The big picture: The kingdom's stock market plunged after President Trump said there would be "severe punishment" if more evidence came out tying the Saudis to Khashoggi's death, though he's also voiced reluctance at cutting off arms sales with the kingdom. In a statement, Saudi Arabia said it "affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it. ... The kingdom also affirms that if it is (targeted by) any action, it will respond with greater action.""Russia has been cultivating ties with the Taliban to increase its influence in Afghanistan three decades after Moscows humiliating defeat there helped hasten the Soviet Unions collapse," Missy Ryan and Amie Ferris-Rotman of the Washington Post report.

Why it matters: "The Russian gambit is a relatively modest political investment that could yet yield outsize dividends as Moscow seeks to prove its global heft."

"'Supporting the Taliban in a small way is an insurance policy for the future,' said Artemy Kalinovsky, a scholar of Central Asian history at the University of Amsterdam."

The big picture: "Moscow has ... sought to reclaim its role as regional power broker, convening secret discussions with the United States, Iran, Pakistan, India and China ... It is part of a strategy ... to protect Russias southern flank from the Islamic States emergence in Central Asia and hedge against the possibility of an abrupt U.S. exit from Afghanistan after 17 years of war."President Trump was interviewed by "60 Minutes'" Lesley Stahl Thursday for an episode airing on Sunday and discussed how the Saudis could be behind the disappearance and possible murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

A tweet previously embedded here has been deleted or was tweeted from an account that has been suspended or deleted.

The details: In this interview, the president also talks tariffs, China, North Korea, Russia, NATO, global warming, his treatment of the Brett Kavanaugh accuser, according to CBS. Though this will be Trump's first interview with the program as president, it won't be the first time he's been featured on "60 Minutes."

A look back

In 1985 Trump had his first "60 Minutes" experience with Mike Wallace where he was interviewed about his real estate business. Wallace interviewed other Trump Tower tenants who accused him of driving up rent prices to evict them and called him arrogant. His response was "I think Im right. And when I think Im right, nothing bothers me.

In 2015 while on the campaign trail, Trump was asked about a man making an anti-Muslim statement during a rally and he responded with "I love the Muslims....but like anything else you have people with problems."

In 2016 Trump and then running-mate Mike Pence sat across from Leslie Stahl and were asked about the country's fight against ISIS. "We have to wipe out ISISWe have no choice. Hillary Clinton invented ISIS with her stupid policies," Trump said.

In 2016 President-Elect Trump sat with his family in a chair across from "60 Minutes" correspondent Leslie Stahl and flipped his position on affordable health care, saying people with pre-extended conditions would still be covered after a repeal of Obamacare, and lauded Hillary Clinton as a "great competitor" despite his criticism on the campaign trail.By Trend

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have 30 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Oct. 14.

Armenian armed forces were using heavy machine guns.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

President Donald Trump thanked Turkey on Saturday for freeing US pastor Andrew Brunson after two years in custody and said it would help improve strained relations, but he denied cutting a deal with Ankara, Reuters reports.

I dont make deals for hostages. There was, however, great appreciation on behalf of the United States, which will lead to good, perhaps great, relations between the United States & Turkey! Trump wrote in a tweet.

Trump specifically thanked President Tayyip Erdogan for his help, drawing a curt response from the Turkish leader, who has repeatedly said it was a courts decision to make, not his.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

South Korea's finance minister asked the International Monetary Fund on Saturday to play an active role in efforts to help North Korea carry out reforms and open up to the outside world, ministry officials said, Yonhap news agency reported.

Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon made the request when he met with IMF chief Christine Lagarde on the sidelines of an International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) meeting held on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, officials said.

Kim explained to Lagarde that this year's three inter-Korean summits and the first-ever summit between the North and the United States led to dramatic progress in reducing military tensions between the two Koreas and improving the North-U.S. relations.

Kim said he looks forward to the IMF playing more active roles in helping with the North's efforts to reform, open up and join the international community, the officials said.

The North should first join the IMF if it's going to receive support from such organizations as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

President Moon Jae-in said during a visit to New York last month that he's confirmed the North has a willingness to seek reform and openness by joining various international organizations, such as the IMF and the World Bank.

Moon also said that support from South Korea alone is not enough to help with the North's economic development and the international community should do more by creating a fund supporting the North's infrastructure development.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzQ: What's the deal with all the "I Love New York" signs along the Thruway?

I thought that the state had to take them down or else lose federal funding. If I'm not mistaken, that deadline has come and gone.

Is the state now in violation of federal regulations?

 John Ryan, Schodack

A: The more than 500 "I Love NY" signs will remain standing, John, after an agreement between state and federal transportation regulators.

The big blue tourism signs along highways from Long Island to Buffalo can stay put without costing New York $14 million in highway funding, after a deal was reached that includes an effort to highlight state attractions.

"We have reached an agreement to launch an innovative experimental project to allow tourism signage to highlight cultural, historic and other significant state attractions off the highway system," said state Department of Transportation Commissioner Paul Karas and Thruway Authority Director Matthew Driscoll in a joint statement. "This is a win-win for all parties and we thank our federal counterparts for their cooperation."

The Federal Highway Administration, which regulates signage on federal highways, had warned the state that the signs  part of a 5-year-old promotional campaign for "I Love New York," "Taste of New York" and "Pathways Through History"  didn't abide by rules and were too distracting to drivers.

After months of back-and-forth, state officials announced in late September that they would design a new advertising campaign to coordinate with the road signs. A final plan is expected to be submitted after more coordination with federal counterparts.

"This agreement resolves the pre-existing matter between the state and the federal government and the state will continue to receive all federal highway aid," Karas and Driscoll said.

Do you have a question about transportation? Email gettingthere@timesunion.com. Include your name, town and telephone number.Street beatings and melees broke out on both coasts this weekend during confrontations involving the Proud Boys and antifascists - ideologically opposed movements that both condone political violence and practice it with some regularity on their opponents.

Police in New York and Portland, Oregon, are investigating viral videos of the attacks but have not yet blamed either group. New York's Democratic mayor, governor and attorney general, however, have accused the Proud Boys of instigating the weekend's first act of violence. (Representatives for the Proud Boys could not immediately be reached.)

Gavin McInnes, who founded the Proud Boys in 2016 as a nationalist men's club, was scheduled to speak at the Metropolitan Republican Club that evening about "Deep State Socialists" and "Western Values" - common themes for his group.

After the speech, about two dozen Proud Boys emerged from the club to find a similarly sized group of protesters waiting to confront them, including antifascists, as seen in cellphone videos. While antifascists, or "antifa" activists, are more loosely organized than the hierarchical, uniformed Proud Boys, both groups consider each other dangerous to U.S. society and condone violence to defend their notions of it.

"I recognized one" of the antifascists, McInnes later told HuffPost, recalling the confrontation. "He stole a Proud Boys MAGA hat and was immediately tuned up."

Cellphone videos show an unidentified victim writhing on the sidewalk while several men take turns kicking him, and at least a dozen Proud Boys in uniform polo shirts, scream various slurs.

The video ends as police rush in to break up the confrontation.

New York police said the victim refused medical treatment but spoke to investigators, and three people have been charged with assault. The New York Times, however, reported that all three were affiliated with the anti-fascist group, rather than the Proud Boys, leading to confusion and messages from top state Democrats calling for more investigation.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which considers the Proud Boys an extremist group, wrote that its members were joined at the event by "an ultranationalist far-right skinhead crew," which may have also taken part in the attack caught on video.

The next night, on the other side of the country, Proud Boys were reported among a right-wing group that marched through downtown Portland toward their ideological opponents.

Portland, which has long seen clashes between the far left and far right, has been consumed for two weeks with Black Lives Matter protests over a fatal police shooting in September. Those protests, in turn, provoked right-wing groups when video emerged last weekend of demonstrators blocking traffic and beating on a passing driver's car.

So on Saturday evening, a conservative group organized a "flash march for Law and Order" - marching toward the downtown plaza where a memorial had been set up for the police shooting victim, Patrick Kimmons.

"We've got Proud Boys running security," one of the organizers said in a Facebook Live stream of the march.

Predictably, the marchers arrived at the plaza to find it full of counterprotesters chanting "Black Lives Matter." The local antifascist group was among those live-tweeting from that side of 4th Avenue.

The right-wing marchers paused on the other side of the street, waving U.S. flags and chanting back - "All Lives Matter," and "USA, USA!" and eventually shouted threats.

"Respect the memorial and vigil that's going on over there," a man with a loudspeaker said, as seen in one of several Facebook Live videos. "But if they come across the street, you gotta do what you gotta do."

Portland police had apparently been expecting trouble and managed to dissuade it for half an hour or so by lining up in tactical gear along the street.

But after sundown, things kicked off.

The antifascists may have provoked the violence, according to Mike Bivins, a freelance reporter who documented the ensuing melee on Twitter. One of them burned an American flag as the Proud Boys and company were leaving, causing them to return. Another antifascist then doused the entire group with pepper spray, Bivins wrote.

From there, the scene devolved into something like an exponentially larger version of the Manhattan assault.

While it's hard to tell who is who in cellphone videos, a man stepped out from a sea of red "Make America Great Again" hats and punched someone in the opposite crowd in the face. Various fistfights and scuffles then started, with some people scrambling across the street, slamming into windows or collapsing to the pavement in a flurry of kicks.

A man in a camouflage shirt followed the melee around, spraying liquid into the crowd.

Finally, an armored police officer stepped up and shot foam bullets into the sidewalk, which dispersed the combatants.

In statement sent to The Washington Post on Facebook, a representative for Patriot Prayer, the group that organized the march, said most of the people in the melee were not members but "people who gathered with us as we marched."

"The Tyranny.of Social Justice and its army of black clad, masked up enforcers is coming to an end," the statement continued.

"The Police Bureau is aware that people were assaulted during today's demonstration," police wrote in a statement afterward. They had made no arrests by Sunday morning but, like their counterparts in New York, continued to investigate copious amounts of amateur footage.

Officers spotted not only pepper spray in the crowd, but also "hard-knuckled gloves, firearms, batons and knives," police wrote - not to mention U.S. flagpoles turned into clubs.

Police did not specify which weapons belonged to which group.WASHINGTON - Senators called Sunday for swift and united action against Saudi Arabia if the United States determines that Saudi agents killed Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, with one Republican saying Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin should refuse to attend an economic summit in Riyadh this month until the facts are clear.

"I don't think we should continue with business as usual until we know what happened here," Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said on CNN's "State of the Union."

"I don't think he should go," Rubio said when asked about Mnuchin's plan to attend the conference.

Khashoggi, whose writings criticized the Saudi government, has not been seen since Oct. 2, when he walked into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul to obtain a document for his upcoming wedding. Turkish authorities say a team of Saudis killed him, but the Saudi government has denied involvement.

President Donald Trump, in excerpts of an interview with CBS News' "60 Minutes" released Saturday, promised "severe punishment" for Saudi Arabia if the country is found responsible, but he said canceling arms sales to the kingdom, one proposed response, would be "very foolish" and would ultimately harm U.S. industries.

Rubio suggested that Trump should not rule out the possibility, saying, "Every option needs to be there in a response." The senator, a member of the foreign relations and intelligence committees, vowed that if Saudi Arabia is found guilty of Khashoggi's death and the Trump administration does not respond, Congress would step in.

"It can't be symbolic," Rubio said of the administration's response. "It can't be just words."

Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., also called for a robust response if the Saudi government is found responsible, including limiting or suspending arms sales and reconsidering U.S. involvement in the civil war in Yemen.

"Severe action needs to be taken," Flake said on ABC News's "This Week." He said the Saudis' explanation for Khashoggi's disappearance "just isn't plausible."

Former CIA director John Brennan agreed.

"If Khashoggi had disappeared in Turkey when he was at a hotel or a private residence, I think there is plausible deniability on the part of the Saudi government. But he disappeared when there is video evidence of him being at the consulate," Brennan said on NBC News' "Meet the Press."

"Their denials ring hollow, very much ring hollow," he said.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told "Fox News Sunday" that Trump is "very, very serious" about retaliating against the Saudis if they are found responsible.

On "Meet the Press," he said Mnuchin would "make up his mind" this week about whether to attend the conference "as new information surfaces."

---

The Washington Post's Felicia Sonmez contributed to this report.Denver-based The Urology Center of Colorado, Golden-based Surgical Specialists of Colorado and Denver Heart and Rocky Mountain Gastroenterology are partnering to host the 9th Annual State-Of-The-Art Symposium, Oct. 20 in Denver.

Here's what you should know:

1. The symposium will focus on the journey of cancer patients, from primary care through multiple specialties.

2. This year's speakers include experts in breast cancer, prostate cancer, bladder cancer, nutrition and genetics, as well as prostate cancer survivor Steve Cooper.

3. The event is free to primary care providers. Those in attendance will receive free continuing education credits from CME/AAFP Credit Hours, CNE Contact Hours and COPIC Points.

4. The Urology Center of Colorado includes a full-service outpatient ASC, as well as a urology clinic, radiology, laboratory, imaging and pathology services, on-site radiation therapy, a urologic cancer center and a clinical research department.DUP leader Arlene Foster has warned Prime Minister Theresa May not to have the same deep regrets over a Brexit deal as Margaret Thatcher had when she signed the Anglo-Irish agreement.

In a hard-hitting message, Mrs Foster urged the PM to stand firm against what she described as a dodgy deal foisted on her by others.

Telling Mrs May to make the right choice, the former First Minister cited the Anglo-Irish Agreement, saying Mrs Thatcher had come to regret being persuaded to sign the 1985 accord, which gave the Irish Government a formal say in Northern Ireland affairs for the first time.

It came as the UK-EU Brexit negotiations reached a critical phase.

Read More

Writing in todays Belfast Telegraph, Mrs Foster set out the DUPs bottom line on Brexit: defending the integrity of the United Kingdom.

The coming days, weeks and months will be critical, Mrs Foster writes.

The decisions taken will shape the type of Northern Ireland that our grandchildren will live in.

The stand we are taking is not about the party, this is about the Union and the shape of the United Kingdom for the future.

Her remarks come in a week when the relationship between the DUP and the Conservative Government  which relies on the 10 DUP MPs votes to keep it in power  came under increasing strain after EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier revealed the EUs Irish backstop plan, which Brexiteers fear would see Northern Ireland cut adrift from the rest of the UK after Brexit. Mrs Foster writes: Under the EUs plan, Great Britain-based businesses would have a barrier when they would seek to trade with Northern Ireland.

Such a barrier cuts right to the heart of what is at stake here. The United Kingdom is one nation.

There should not be international-style borders within it.

In her article, Mrs Foster says that the DUPs actions this week are not just muscle-flexing, as some have implied.

This is no game. Anyone engaging in this in a light-hearted way foolishly fails to grasp the gravity of the decisions we will make in the coming weeks, she says.

The Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA called on Mrs May to stand by her unionist principles.

I believe that the Prime Minister is in her own beliefs a committed unionist, she says.

She should learn from her previous female predecessor, Margaret Thatcher. Despite her unionist convictions, others persuaded Thatcher to sign the Anglo-Irish Agreement.

She later deeply regretted the choice she had made. However, we do not want nor need the regrets of another Prime Minister. We want the right choices made.

We want her to stand by her principles and instincts rather than accepting a dodgy deal foisted on her by others.

Mrs Fosters statement comes as the party faces criticism from some Conservatives over its tough stance. Yesterday DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds said the party predicted developments in the Governments Brexit position this weekend.

Earlier this week DUP Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson said the party might vote against the Governments forthcoming Budget.Theresa May faces a Tory mutiny and increased pressure from her DUP allies over Brexit as a key summit with EU leaders looms.

As negotiations continue in Brussels ahead of a summit starting on Wednesday, the Prime Minister faces a political battle over a plan which could keep the UK in a customs union to avoid a hard border with Ireland.

Former Brexit secretary David Davis said the plan was completely unacceptable and urged Cabinet ministers to exert their collective authority.

Expand Close David Davis urged Cabinet ministers to exert their authority on the Brexit issue (Stefan Rousseau/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp David Davis urged Cabinet ministers to exert their authority on the Brexit issue (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Meanwhile Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster is reported to have said that a no-deal Brexit was now the most likely outcome after talks with senior figures including Michel Barnier in Brussels.

Her party is opposed to any customs arrangement which would result in Northern Ireland being annexed or impose extra checks on goods travelling to or from Great Britain.

With continued speculation that Leave-supporting Cabinet ministers could resign if Mrs May presses ahead with the plan, David Davis said: This is one of the most fundamental decisions that government has taken in modern times.

Writing in the Sunday Times he said: It is time for the Cabinet to exert their collective authority. This week the authority of our constitution is on the line.

The issue of the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland is one of the last remaining obstacles to achieving a divorce deal with Brussels, with wrangling continuing over the nature of a backstop to keep the frontier open if a wider UK-EU trade arrangement cannot resolve it.

The European Unions version, which would see just Northern Ireland remain aligned with Brussels rules, has been called unacceptable by Mrs May and is loathed by the DUP.

Mrs Mays counter-proposal is for a temporary customs arrangement for the whole UK, but Tory Brexiteers are suspicious this could turn into a permanent situation, restricting the freedom to strike trade deals around the world.

The Sunday Times said at least nine ministers want Mrs May to change course when the Cabinet meets on Tuesday.

Speculation about possible resignations has centred on Andrea Leadsom, Penny Mordaunt and Esther McVey, but the newspaper also indicated that Scottish Secretary David Mundell and Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson could quit because special arrangements for Northern Ireland could fuel the case for Scottish independence.

Mrs Mays own position also appeared in jeopardy, with as many as 44 letters demanding a vote of no confidence reportedly submitted to the Conservative 1922 Committee  just four short of the number required to trigger a ballot.

Expand Close Arlene Foster has insisted the DUP is not playing a game over its opposition to the Brexit backstop plans (Victoria Jones/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Arlene Foster has insisted the DUP is not playing a game over its opposition to the Brexit backstop plans (Victoria Jones/PA)

The Northern Irish situation is politically problematic for Mrs May because her minority administration depends on the votes of the 10 DUP MPs.

A leaked email reported in the Observer indicated Mrs Foster was ready to block a Brexit deal.

According to a private email exchange between senior UK officials, seen by the newspaper, Mrs Foster gave her views during a dinner with the leader of Conservative MEPs, Ashley Fox.

The leaked email said Mrs Foster described the EUs chief Brexit negotiator Mr Barnier as difficult and hostile and indicated the DUP were ready for a no-deal scenario, which she now believed was the likeliest one.

Writing in the Belfast Telegraph on Saturday, Mrs Foster said she appreciated the risks of a no-deal Brexit but the dangers of a bad deal are worse.

She added: The DUPs actions this week are not as some have suggested about flexing muscle.

This is no game.

Anyone engaging in this in a light-hearted way foolishly fails to grasp the gravity of the decisions we will make in the coming weeks.

A further demonstration of Tory resistance to Mrs Mays plans came from MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who wrote in the Sunday Telegraph that the idea of remaining in the customs union  even it if is called a temporary customs arrangement  after the end of the transition period, in to the 2020s, means simply delaying Brexit and causing the 17.4 million people who voted for it to lose faith in our democracy.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the European Research Group of pro-Brexit MPs, warned that when it came to the backstop proposal temporary means eternal.Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill has hit out at the DUP's role in Brexit negotiations, claiming the party leader Arlene Foster is willing to "drive our economy over the cliff in pursuit of her narrow agenda".

Sinn Fein's leader in Northern Ireland made the comments during a speech in Tipperary on Sunday in the wake of leaked documents which purport to show DUP leader Arlene Foster saying a no-deal Brexit is now the most likely outcome to negotiations.

Read More

The comments were included in emails seen by the Observer in which UK Government advisers discuss comments made in a meeting between Arlene Foster and leader of the Conservative MEPs Ashley Fox.

Next week Prime Minister Theresa May will travel to Brussels to attend a key summit of EU leaders which had been slated as the deadline for an agreement on terms for the 'divorce' deal between the EU and the UK - although it is possible this could be extended into November.

"The majority of MLAs elected in the north are opposed to Brexit," Mrs O'Neill said, speaking at an event to commemorate Sean Treacy, an IRA man killed during the Irish War of Independence.

This is being wilfully ignored by Theresa May and her accomplice Arlene Foster and I have no doubt that one or the other, or both will pay a heavy price politically.

The DUP are isolationists and on the wrong side of the argument and the democratic will of the people."

Mrs O'Neill said the DUP supported a "Brexit at the cost of imposing a hard border".

Arlene Foster is prepared to drive our economy over the cliff in pursuit of her narrow agenda with no regard for the future prosperity of the people of the north who will pick up the tab for her reckless Brexit," she said.

She said Sinn Fein and "other progressive parties" would continue to work with the EU to protect Northern Ireland's economy and the Good Friday Agreement.

Mrs O'Neill said Irish unity had taken on a "new dynamic" because of Brexit, and the Good Friday Agreement provides "a peaceful democratic pathway to Irish unity".

She added it was the party's "historic task" to persuade people "its in their economic, cultural and political interests to share power not only at Stormont  but on an All-Ireland basis together".An explosive set of leaked emails has shown DUP leader Arlene Foster preparing for a no-deal Brexit as the most likely outcome after frayed negotiations this week with the EU.

In the exchange between senior UK officials seen by the Observer it is reported Mrs Foster sees a no-deal Brexit as the "likeliest outcome".

The DUP leader this week met with the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier to discuss Northern Ireland's post-Brexit future and a potential backstop arrangement which would maintain customs alignment between Northern Ireland and the EU - an outcome the DUP stridently opposes.

Read More

Writing in the Belfast Telegraph on Saturday, Mrs Foster said: "The EU spin on this offer suggested that Northern Ireland would have the best of both worlds  ie we would have full access to the EU single market and full access to the UK single market. That was a lie. We would not."

In the leaked email exchange, an adviser involved in the Brexit talks describes Mrs Foster's comments during a meeting with leader of the Conservative MEPs Ashley Fox.

"She described Barnier as being difficult and hostile in her meeting today," the leaked exchange reads.

"AF [Arlene Foster] said the DUP were ready for a no-deal scenario, which she now believed was the likeliest one.

It is also noted that it was not clear whether the DUP leader was threatening to pull down the confidence-and-supply arrangement with the Conservative Government, or was simply making her plans clear.

The leaked emails come amid a turbulent day for Theresa May and efforts to unite her Government behind her Brexit plan.

Writing in the Sunday Times, former Brexit secretary and high-profile Leaver David Davis has called on members of the Cabinet to rebel against Mrs May's plans.

Mr Davis has said the Brexit plan currently on the table is "completely unacceptable" and called on the Cabinet to "exert their collective authority".

Theresa May's cabinet will meet on Tuesday, with the Prime Minister expected to call for her colleague to unite and back her Brexit vision ahead of a key summit wit the EU in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday.

The summit had been pencilled in as the deadline for an agreement on the 'divorce' terms of Britain's exit from the EU, however President of the European Council Donald Tusk has said there could now be "an extraordinary summit" in November to "finalise and formalise the deal".The family of a 21-year-old man who died in a landslide following torrential rain brought by Storm Callum have paid tribute to a beautiful son.

Corey Thomas Sharpling was killed near the village of Cwmduad in Carmarthenshire, west Wales, on Saturday, Dyfed-Powys Police said.

Mr Sharpling, from Newcastle Emlyn, was one of two people to die as Callum wreaked devastation across western parts and around coastal areas on Friday and Saturday.

Elsewhere, a 38-year-old man was swept away by rough seas in Brighton, East Sussex at about 1.30 am on Saturday.

He was found in water near Brighton Palace Pier and confirmed dead by paramedics, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said.

Mr Sharplings family paid tribute in a statement, saying : We are heartbroken at the tragic loss of our beautiful son Corey. Many knew his wit, charm and sense of loyalty and we take those things with us in our hearts.

Expand Close Corey Thomas Sharpling, who died in a landslide,(Family Handout/PA) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Corey Thomas Sharpling, who died in a landslide,(Family Handout/PA)

Callum eased on Sunday, with a band of rain making its way east and bringing a reversal of fortunes and cooler conditions.

Met Office meteorologist Luke Miall said: Into the afternoon and evening that rain will start to pull away into the North Sea but we do see another very heavy batch of rain coming across the south and south-east.

One or two showers to the far north west, but in between a slice of much clearer skies so a cold night to come, with some patchy frost and a few fog patches by dawn so it will be a chilly start to the new working week.

A bit of everything through the week ahead, here are all the details... pic.twitter.com/KZ6WHQgn8u  Met Office (@metoffice) October 14, 2018

Rain will persist in the South East, while the rest of the UK should see largely dry conditions on Monday.

The better weather will come as a relief to communities hit by Storm Callum, after rivers burst their banks, homes were flooded and power supplies were wiped out.

Wales bore the brunt of the wind and downpours, and people were urged to stay away from Carmarthen after the River Towy burst its banks.

Expand Close A car is stranded in floodwater in Tonna near Aberdulais, Neath, South Wales (Ben Birchall/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp A car is stranded in floodwater in Tonna near Aberdulais, Neath, South Wales (Ben Birchall/PA)

About 100 sheep were washed away in the Carmarthenshire village of Pontargothi.

Other areas in the east and south-east of the UK escaped much of the storms wrath and enjoyed largely sunny, warm conditions.

Donna Nook in Lincolnshire reached 26.5C on Saturday, making it the warmest October day in seven years.Police in Craigavon have a new feathered recruit in their ranks.

Over the weekend the PSNI in the area received a report of a swan "patrolling" the Lake Road, and sent officers to check out the situation.

The bird was captured and initially looked after by an officer in the back of a police car.

*Update on earlier swan related incident* Having rounded up our stray Bangorian, we couldn't find anyone willing to actually drive that far to return him. We also decided that, since our visitor had clearly made a deliberate effort to come to Craigavon, that forcing him back to be to inflict the worst view in the world on him...Carrick. So, to avoid subjecting him to the cruel and degrading treatment of forcing him to look out at Carrick, it is a pleasure to welcome our latest arrival to the team, Police Swan Bucky, who is now safely at home patrolling Craigavon Lakes. Welcome to the team PS Bucky! *Serious bit* PLEASE don't try this at home. Swans are strong, can be very defensive, territorial, and can break human bones with their wings. Beautiful creatures, but not to be experimented with by budding Steve Irwin's. M #QuackingPeopleSafe #NewRecruit #HotFuzz #PSBucky #TheOldBill Posted by Police Armagh, Banbridge & Craigavon on Saturday, October 13, 2018

On Facebook, a spokesperson for PSNI Craigavon said the swan had come to the area from Bangor.

"Having rounded up our stray Bangorian, we couldn't find anyone willing to actually drive that far to return him," the spokesperson said.

"We also decided that, since our visitor had clearly made a deliberate effort to come to Craigavon, that forcing him back to be to inflict the worst view in the world on him...Carrick."

The spokesperson added that rather than subjecting the swan to the "the cruel and degrading treatment of forcing him to look out at Carrick", 'PS Bucky' would take up a new role patrolling the lakes of Craigavon.

Carrick sits across the water from Bangor on Belfast Lough.

The Facebook post also includes a note of caution for anyone considering approaching a swan that the birds can be "very defensive, territorial, and can break human bones with their wings" and should not be interfered with by "budding Steve Irwins".David Taylor worked for the press office between 2012 and 2014 (Niall Carson/PA)

One of the Irish police officers at the centre of a scandal concerning corruption in the force has been suspended.

Superintendent David Taylor was suspended from his duties just three days after publication of the Disclosures Tribunal third interim report, RTE News said.

RTE News said Supt Taylor has been suspended on the basis that there has been a loss of public confidence in him as a member of An Garda Siochana.

A Garda spokesman said: A Garda officer has been suspended from duty, as this is an employment matter An Garda Siochana will not commenting any further on the name of the individual.

The officer will now be subject to disciplinary proceedings.

Expand Close Former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan (Eleanor Barlow/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan (Eleanor Barlow/PA)

The Disclosures Tribunal found former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan was part of a campaign of calumny against Sergeant Maurice McCabe.

The report said he was actively aided by his former press officer, Superintendent David Taylor.

Expand Close Maurice McCabe had accused the force of malpractice (Niall Carson/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Maurice McCabe had accused the force of malpractice (Niall Carson/PA)

Sgt McCabe had accused the force of malpractice, including the quashing of penalty points, and later made a complaint against Mr Callinan.

The tribunal said it was convinced Supt Taylor pursued a scheme that somehow evolved out of his cheek-by-jowl working relationship with Mr Callinan.

The Disclosures Tribunal investigated allegations that Garda chiefs orchestrated a smear campaign, including false historical sex abuse claims, against Sgt McCabe.

Supt Taylor, who worked for the press office between 2012 and 2014, had claimed he was ordered by Mr Callinan to negatively brief journalists about Sgt McCabe.

The report said it did not accept Supt Taylors evidence that he was given specific instructions by Mr Callinan to spread the false allegations.

It also said Supt Taylors credibility was completely undermined by his own bitterness.

Damning findings were made against Supt Taylor, who Mr Justice Peter Charleton said lied in an affidavit when trying to stop a Garda disciplinary inquiry into him and in the protected disclosure that formed the basis of much of the tribunals terms of reference.

It was reported by The Irish Times on Saturday that Supt Taylors future in the Garda was being considered by senior management, as part of the fallout from the Disclosures Tribunal report.Theresa May faces open revolt from Tory Eurosceptics and questions about her ability to deliver Brexit as a crunch European Union summit looms.

As negotiations continued in Brussels ahead of a summit starting on Wednesday, Cabinet ministers were urged to speak out against her plans and potentially quit in protest at any deal which could see the UK indefinitely tied in to the EUs customs union.

Former Brexit secretary David Davis said the plan was completely unacceptable and urged Cabinet ministers to exert their collective authority.

Tory MP Nadine Dorries suggested that Mr Davis should be installed as interim leader, claiming that was the only way to secure the kind of free-trade deal Brexit demanded by Eurosceptics.

Expand Close David Davis urged Cabinet ministers to exert their authority on the Brexit issue (Peter Byrne/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp David Davis urged Cabinet ministers to exert their authority on the Brexit issue (Peter Byrne/PA)

Cabinet minister Matt Hancock sought to play down speculation that some of his colleagues might quit over the Brexit plans, but was unable to say whether a fixed deadline for any customs arrangement would be written into a deal with Brussels.

He told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show: There are different ways that you can make sure that something is credibly time limited and thats what I want to see.

Tory vice chairman James Cleverly told Sky News Sophy Ridge on Sunday that Cabinet ministers should use their position to influence Brexit policy rather than resign.

They should use that position to put their ideas forward, I would suggest thats a much more constructive and helpful way of influencing the direction of the negotiations with the EU, he said.

This is a significant intervention from DD. His position has always been, change the policy, not the PM. Getting May out and him becoming an interim leader may be the only way to deliver #Brexit and FTA



Cabinet mutiny threatens to kill PMs Brexithttps://t.co/kK9LOshNNU  Nadine Dorries (@NadineDorries) October 14, 2018

Writing in the Sunday Times, Mr Davis, who quit in July over Brexit, said: It is time for the Cabinet to exert their collective authority. This week the authority of our constitution is on the line.

The newspaper said at least nine ministers want Mrs May to change course when the Cabinet meets on Tuesday.

Speculation about possible resignations has centred on Andrea Leadsom, Penny Mordaunt and Esther McVey, but the report also indicated that Scottish Secretary David Mundell and Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson could quit because of the sensitivity of the issue in relation to calls for Scottish independence.

Mrs Mays own position also appeared in jeopardy, with as many as 44 letters demanding a vote of no confidence reportedly submitted to the Conservative 1922 Committee  just four short of the number required to trigger a ballot.

Ms Dorries said that Mr Davis had always focused on changing the policy, rather than the Prime Minister.

But she added: Getting May out and him becoming an interim leader may be the only way to deliver Brexit and FTA (a free-trade agreement).

Dozens of Tory Eurosceptics have also written to Chancellor Philip Hammond demanding the release of the analysis behind the cross-Whitehall Brexit impact assessments, amid claims they were Project Fear-style scaremongering.

The febrile atmosphere in Tory ranks comes as negotiators in Brussels attempt to reach a deal on the withdrawal agreement for the UKs exit from the EU.

The issue of the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland is one of the last remaining obstacles to achieving a divorce deal, with wrangling continuing over the nature of a backstop to keep the frontier open if a wider UK-EU trade arrangement cannot resolve it.

The European Unions version of the backstop, which would see just Northern Ireland remain aligned with Brussels rules, has been called unacceptable by Mrs May and is loathed by the DUP.

Mrs Mays counter-proposal is for a temporary customs arrangement for the whole UK, but Tory Brexiteers fear this becoming an open-ended position which would prevent free trade deals with countries around the world.

Expand Close Arlene Foster has insisted the DUP is not playing a game over its opposition to the Brexit backstop plans (Victoria Jones/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Arlene Foster has insisted the DUP is not playing a game over its opposition to the Brexit backstop plans (Victoria Jones/PA)

The Northern Irish situation is a particular headache for Mrs May because her minority administration depends on the votes of the 10 DUP MPs.

According to a private email exchange between senior UK officials, seen by the Observer, DUP leader Arlene Foster has indicated her party was ready for a no-deal scenario, which she now believed was the likeliest one.

Mrs Mays hopes of getting a Brexit deal through Parliament could depend on the actions of Labour MPs, with former minister Caroline Flint telling Sky she would back a reasonable deal.

I think if a reasonable deal is on the table the question for some of my Labour colleagues is why wouldnt you support a deal, why would you stand along (with) Boris Johnson or Jacob Rees-Mogg who want us to crash out without a deal?

But shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry told the BBC: We said we wanted a meaningful vote and we cant see why we should have, on the one hand Theresa Mays nonsense and on the other hand a no deal, because thats what theyre threatening us with.

If she comes back with something thats just a fudge shes cooked up with Brussels were not voting for something thats essentially a bridge to nowhere.Police are trying to identify the man who died (David Cheskin/PA)

A man has died after being found unconscious on a beach.

The man was discovered by a member of the public near a car park at Longniddry Bents in East Lothian.

Emergency services were summoned following the discovery at 7.45am on Sunday, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police are appealing to the public for information as they work to confirm his identity.

https://t.co/SakNoUpUh2



Can you help us identify a man whose body was discovered on a beach in Longniddry this morning?



If so, please contact police immediately.  East Lothian Police (@EastLothPolice) October 14, 2018

Officers said there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and revealed that he had previously been at the Oktoberfest event in Gosford House.

The man is described as white, in his early to mid twenties with short brown hair.

Inspector Laura Dickson said: This has been a tragic death of a young man and we are actively trying to identify him and locate his next of kin as a matter of urgency.

I would ask anyone who knows of someone who was at Oktoberfest but who has not come home yet to contact police immediately.

In addition, anyone with any further information relevant to our inquiries is also asked to get in touch.

Police Scotland can be contacted on the 101 number.It is better to make human rights arguments without referring to Nazis, the chairman of Labours anti-Semitism inquiry has suggested.

Shami Chakrabarti, who is shadow attorney general for England and Wales, chaired an inquiry into anti-Semitism in 2016, but the issue has continued to raise hackles, with Jewish Labour MP Margaret Hodge condemning party leader Jeremy Corbyn as a racist anti-Semite over the summer.

Speaking on Sky Newss Sophy Ridge on Sunday show, Baroness Chakrabarti was reminded of her report into anti-Semitism, where she said its always incendiary to compare the actions of Jewish people or institutions to those of Hitler or the Nazis.

Ms Ridge asked the Labour peer whether Mr Corbyns comparison of Palestinians being under Israeli occupation was acceptable under her own definition.

Baroness Chakrabarti said her aim was to guide people making very important arguments in how to do so without just automatically getting peoples backs up.

Defending Mr Corbyn as a lifelong human rights defender who was quite right to draw peoples attention to the plight of the Palestinians, she nevertheless stood by her advice.

I think that it is better, if possible - given the rise of the far right, given the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe - it is better to make those human rights arguments without comparison to the NazisBaroness Chakrabarti

She said: I think that it is better, if possible  given the rise of the far right, given the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe  it is better to make those human rights arguments without comparison to the Nazis.

Ms Ridge also pressed her on the re-election of Peter Willsman to Labours National Executive Committee despite a bizarre rant where he blamed Jewish Trump fanatics for the anti-Semitism row.

Baroness Chakrabarti said she stood by her previous comments that there was a real issue of anti-Semitism, even though some people would not have experienced it personally.

Well guess what? she said. If youre not Jewish you are not going to necessarily have personally experienced it and maybe you have been insensitive to it or maybe you are just speaking from your own personal experience.

The thing about racism of any kind or frankly misogyny or any other kind of discrimination or hate, the thing about it is that youve got to try and listen to the broader experience.

Youve got to try to understand things that you have not experienced yourself and thats what I was trying to advocate then and continue to advocate now.

Adding she would possibly have felt more comfortable had Mr Willsman not been re-elected, she said people should be given the chance to reflect and learn and change and be more sensitive.Scots Tory leader Ruth Davidson and Scottish Secretary David Mundell have warned they could quit their roles if there is a Brexit compromise that threatens to undermine the integrity of the UK, according to reports.

The senior Conservative politicians outlined their concerns over the question of the Irish border in a letter to Prime Minister Theresa May last week.

The Sunday Times said the two made it clear they would resign if Northern Ireland faces new controls that separate it from the rest of the UK  because that could fuel the case for Scottish independence.

The newspaper quoted a senior Conservative who said they would consider any differentiated deal that puts a hard border down the Irish Sea to be a resigning matter.

Expand Close Ruth Davidson and David Mundell have reportedly issued a warning over any border down the Irish Sea (Andrew Milligan/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Ruth Davidson and David Mundell have reportedly issued a warning over any border down the Irish Sea (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Both have insisted that, more than four years on from the referendum on Scottish independence, keeping the United Kingdom together is their top priority.

The letter states: Having fought just four years ago to keep our country together, the integrity of our United Kingdom remains the single most important issue for us in these negotiations.

Any deal that delivers a differentiated settlement for Northern Ireland beyond the differences that already exist on an all Ireland basis (eg agriculture), or can be brought under the provisions of the Belfast Agreement, would undermine the integrity of our UK internal market and this United Kingdom.

It continues: We could not support any deal that creates a border of any kind in the Irish Sea and undermines the Union or leads to Northern Ireland having a different relationship with the EU than the rest of the UK, beyond what currently exists.

Well resign if you do anything that makes Scotland think theres a better alternative to a hard Tory Brexit say Mundell and Davidson! First, what a bizarre position - isnt it their job to stand up for Scotland? And, second, have they the gumption to resign? I bet they dont! https://t.co/mR64ApibUr  Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) October 14, 2018

Political opponents in the SNP have described the stance as astonishing and bizarre.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: Well resign if you do anything that makes Scotland think theres a better alternative to a hard Tory Brexit say Mundell and Davidson!

First, what a bizarre position  isnt it their job to stand up for Scotland? And, second, have they the gumption to resign? I bet they dont!

The Scottish Governments Constitutional Relations Secretary Mike Russell told the BBCs Sunday Politics Scotland programme: This is an astonishing development, not that Ruth Davidson holds any position in the UK Government, but to say that youll resign if Scotland is not treated as badly as everywhere else strikes me as a complete dereliction of duty.

Theyre elected by people in Scotland and here they want Scotland to suffer the hardest of Brexits. That strikes me as a ludicrous position and one in which we should be saying, have they really come to this?

Referencing the report on Ms Davidson and Mr Mundell, Labour MP Ian Murray tweeted: But they also dont want to continue to participate in the customs union and single market so how do they suggest resolving it? Utterly contemptible.

They cant achieve a no hard border in Ireland without participation in the same trading arrangements as the EU.The UK, France and Germany have demanded a complete and detailed response from Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Reports claim the Washington Post columnist was killed while visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, with Turkish authorities reported to have obtained audio and video recordings of the alleged murder.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and his French and German counterparts said they had grave concerns about the situation and called for a credible investigation into what happened.

Expand Close Jeremy Hunt and his French and German counterparts said they had grave concerns about the situation (Peter Byrne/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Jeremy Hunt and his French and German counterparts said they had grave concerns about the situation (Peter Byrne/PA)

Defending freedom of expression and a free press and ensuring the protection of journalists are key priorities for Germany, the United Kingdom and France, the three ministers said.

In this spirit, light must be shed on the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, whose family has lost contact with him since October 2.

Mr Hunt, Frances Jean-Yves Le Drian and Germanys Heiko Maas said they were treating the incident with the utmost seriousness.

There needs to be a credible investigation to establish the truth about what happened, and  if relevant  to identify those bearing responsibility for the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, and ensure that they are held to account, they said.

We encourage joint Saudi-Turkish efforts in that regard, and expect the Saudi Government to provide a complete and detailed response.

We have conveyed this message directly to the Saudi authorities.

The disappearance of Mr Khashoggi has placed the relationship between the Gulf kingdom and the West under intense strain.

US President Donald Trump has threatened severe punishment if authorities determine Saudi Arabia was behind Mr Khashoggis disappearance.

The Saudi government has dismissed the allegations against it as baseless.

The intervention by Mr Hunt and his allies followed criticism from Labour about the Governments response.

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said there had been nothing but pusillanimous mutterings from Mr Hunt on the issue.

They're playing catch-up with Donald Trump when it comes to condemnation of this and actually taking action and being prepared to stand firmShadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry

He is being outdone by Donald Trump, whoever would have thought that? she said on the BBCs The Andrew Marr Show.

Theyre playing catch-up with Donald Trump when it comes to condemnation of this and actually taking action and being prepared to stand firm.

Ms Thornberry said the alleged murder was yet more evidence of how the Saudi prince in particular appears to be out of control and this country has had enough.

Commons Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat said on Saturday that the UK should work with its allies on its response, and that International Trade Secretary Liam Fox should boycott the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh later this month if Saudi involvement in Mr Khashoggis disappearance was proved.

The Department for International Trade said: The Secretary of States diary is yet to be finalised for the week of October 22, we will update on his activity in due course.

A critic of Saudi Arabias de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Mr Khashoggi was living in self-imposed exile in the US and writing opinion pieces for the Washington Post before he vanished.

He visited the consulate on October 2 to obtain a document confirming he had divorced his ex-wife, in order to allow him to remarry.

Turkish officials have said he was killed on the premises and his body removed.The intervention by Mr Hunt and his allies followed criticism from Labour about the Governments response (Jack Taylor/PA)

Jeremy Hunt has challenged Saudi Arabia to explain what happened to journalist Jamal Khashoggi following his disappearance earlier this month.

The UK, France and Germany have demanded a complete and detailed response from Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of the Washington Post columnist.

Reports claim the writer was killed while visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, with Turkish authorities reported to have obtained audio and video recordings of the alleged murder.

If, as they say, this terrible murder didnt happen then where is Jamal Khashoggi? That is what the world wants to knowJeremy Hunt

Speaking from his official country residence in Kent, Mr Hunt said: None of us know what happened but we are all extremely concerned about the stories that have emerged and the country that can help us get to the bottom of this is Saudi Arabia. So what happens from now on is absolutely up to Saudi Arabia.

What they need to do is co-operate fully with the investigations that the Turks are asking us to do and to get to the bottom of this.

If, as they say, this terrible murder didnt happen then where is Jamal Khashoggi? That is what the world wants to know.

If they have got nothing to hide then they will, and should, co-operate.

Mr Hunt and his French and German counterparts have issued a joint statement saying they had grave concerns about the situation and called for a credible investigation into what happened.

Joint Statement by the Foreign Ministers of Germany, France and Great Britain on Disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi: pic.twitter.com/xQyyIAd786  GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) October 14, 2018

Defending freedom of expression and a free press and ensuring the protection of journalists are key priorities for Germany, the United Kingdom and France, the three ministers said.

In this spirit, light must be shed on the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, whose family has lost contact with him since October 2.

Mr Hunt, Frances Jean-Yves Le Drian and Germanys Heiko Maas said they were treating the incident with the utmost seriousness.

There needs to be a credible investigation to establish the truth about what happened, and  if relevant  to identify those bearing responsibility for the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, and ensure that they are held to account, they said.

The disappearance of Mr Khashoggi has placed the relationship between the Gulf kingdom and the West under intense strain.

US President Donald Trump has threatened severe punishment if authorities determine Saudi Arabia was behind Mr Khashoggis disappearance.

The Saudi government has dismissed the allegations against it as baseless.

The intervention by Mr Hunt and his allies followed criticism from Labour about the Governments response.

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said there had been nothing but pusillanimous mutterings from Mr Hunt on the issue.

Expand Close A security guard at the entrance of Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul, where Jamal Khashoggi was last seen (Petros Giannakouris/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp A security guard at the entrance of Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul, where Jamal Khashoggi was last seen (Petros Giannakouris/AP)

He is being outdone by Donald Trump, whoever would have thought that? she said on BBCs The Andrew Marr Show.

Theyre playing catch-up with Donald Trump when it comes to condemnation of this and actually taking action and being prepared to stand firm.

Ms Thornberry said the alleged murder was yet more evidence of how the Saudi prince in particular appears to be out of control and this country has had enough.

Commons Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat said on Saturday the UK should work with its allies on its response, and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox should boycott the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh later this month if Saudi involvement in Mr Khashoggis disappearance was proven.

The Department for International Trade said: The Secretary of States diary is yet to be finalised for the week of October 22, we will update on his activity in due course.

A critic of Saudi Arabias de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Mr Khashoggi was living in self-imposed exile in the US and writing opinion pieces for the Washington Post before he vanished.

He visited the consulate on October 2 to obtain a document confirming he had divorced his ex-wife, in order to allow him to remarry.

Turkish officials have said he was killed on the premises and his body removed.He has been living inside Ecuadors embassy in London for over six years (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

The Ecuadorian government has decided to partly restore communications for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

They were cut in March, denying him access to the internet or phones and limiting visitors to members of his legal team.

He has been living inside Ecuadors embassy in London for over six years.

The Ecuadorian government said in March it had acted because Mr Assange had breached a written commitment made to the government at the end of 2017 not to issue messages that might interfere with other states.

Wikileaks said in a statement: Ecuador has told WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange that it will remove the isolation regime imposed on him following meetings between two senior UN officials and Ecuadors President Lenin Moreno on Friday.

It is positive that through UN intervention Ecuador has partly ended the isolation of Mr Assange although it is of grave concern that his freedom to express his opinions is still limitedKristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks

Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks editor-in-chief, added: It is positive that through UN intervention Ecuador has partly ended the isolation of Mr Assange although it is of grave concern that his freedom to express his opinions is still limited.

The UN has already declared Mr Assange a victim of arbitrary detention. This unacceptable situation must end.

The UK government must abide by the UNs ruling and guarantee that he can leave the Ecuadorian embassy without the threat of extradition to the United States.

Mr Assange has been granted political asylum by Ecuador but believes he will be arrested if he leaves the embassy and extradited to the United States for questioning over the activities of WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks said Mr Assange has not entered into any form of agreement with Ecuador to restrict his speech or other rights.

His lawyers are considering his legal options and will make a statement in due course.

The WikiLeaks statement said the meetings were held in Ecuador between the president and the UN high commissioner for refugees Filippo Grandi and UN special rapporteur for freedom of expression David Kaye.

It said: Concern over Mr Assanges situation has also been raised by other UN bodies, as well as Human Rights Watch (who was refused access to him), Amnesty International, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights, Ecuadors Permanent Human Rights Commission, and public protests

Mr Assange was informed of Ecuadors decision hours after Mr Grandi and Mr Kaye met with President Moreno.

President Moreno ordered Mr Assanges isolation on March 28 in retaliation for giving opinions on the politics of friendly nations like Spain or the United States.

The statement continued: Mr Assange had critically reported on the Trump administrations involvement in Yemen and Spanish police brutality. High level representations were made by the Trump administration and the Spanish government over Mr Assange, who was given political refugee status by Ecuador in 2012 over US attempts to prosecute him.

The Trump administrations stepped up efforts to prosecute Mr Assange after WikiLeaks published the largest leak in the history of the CIA last year.

The US has announced that it now considers Ecuador a strategic ally and helped it secure a billion dollars in previously withheld loans.

For almost seven months, Ecuador has kept Mr Assange in a regime that has been likened to solitary confinement by Human Rights Watch. Ecuador has prevented Mr Assange from receiving visitors other than his lawyers. It installed three sets of signal jammers in the embassy, to prevent Mr Assange from communicating using mobile phones or internet.

The extrajudicial seven-month isolation of Mr Assange has interfered with his fundamental rights and the rights of his family. It has also prevented Mr Assange from working and giving public talks.

Ecuador has also prevented all journalists from speaking to him during this time. Ecuadors President until last year, Rafael Correa, has denounced Mr Assanges treatment as torture stating the government is basically attacking Julians mental health.

Ecuador has informed Mr Assange that the government intends to continue Morenos policy of restricting him from expressing his opinions under threat of expulsion.A man has been shot in a flat in Glasgow (Dave Thompson/PA)

Two masked men were behind a targeted shooting that left the victim in a critical condition in hospital, police said.

They pair forced their way into a flat in Wellshot Road, in the Shettleston area of Glasgow, where they gunned down a 42-year-old man inside the property.

The two then fled in a small dark car following the attack at around 8.10pm on Saturday.

The victim was taken by ambulance to Glasgow Royal Infirmary, where he is being treated for serious injuries.

Police Scotland has appealed for information over the incident, which officers are treating as attempted murder.

Detective Inspector Alasdair Barlow, leading the inquiry, said: We believe that this was not a random attack and that the victim was the intended target.

Nevertheless, a team of detectives and specialist officers are currently in the area carrying out enquiries to establish the full circumstances of this incident.

It is vital that we catch those responsible for this despicable act of violence and I appeal to members of the public to come forward with any information, however slight it might appear, in order that we can identify the men involved and hold them accountable for their actions.

Anyone with information is asked to contact CID officers at Helen Street police office on the 101 number.

Crimestoppers can also be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111.Britain must apply the same standards to Saudi Arabia as it does to Russia and hold the state to account over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the shadow foreign secretary has said.

Emily Thornberry criticised the UK response so far and said it was time to end Britains blind spot on Saudi Arabia following claims the Washington Post columnist was killed while visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Writing in The Observer, the Labour MP said: We must apply the same standards to countries such as Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt that we apply to Iran, Russia and Syria.

Where any of them abuse human rights and breach international humanitarian law, we must be prepared to call it out in the same measure, rather than treating it as one rule for our supposed friends and another for our supposed enemies.

My article for tomorrow's @ObserverUK - "It is time to end Britains blind spot on Saudi Arabia until Saudi Arabia is genuinely ready to change its ways." https://t.co/Ydy9AxBhJW  Emily Thornberry (@EmilyThornberry) October 13, 2018

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has been under increasing pressure to take tough action over the disappearance of Mr Khashoggi, who has not been seen since October 2, and has said that if reports of Mr Khashoggis death prove correct, the UK would regard the situation as serious.

Ms Thornberry said this was too little, far too late.

In response to her article, Mr Hunt tweeted: From the party whose leader wouldnt even condemn Russia by name after the first ever chemical weapons attack on British soil we have been robust and will continue to be on this very troubling issue.

Really Emily? From the party whose leader wouldnt even condemn Russia by name after the first ever chemical weapons attack on British soil...we have been robust and will continue to be on this very troubling issue https://t.co/5MXbtHKCPt  Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) October 13, 2018

Riyadh has faced a chorus of international calls to shed light on what happened to the journalist, and business leaders have already shunned the regime.

In a sign of the international concern, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he wanted to know the truth about what happened and expressed fears such disappearances would happen more regularly and become a new normal.

Financial Times editor Lionel Barber announced the newspaper would be pulling out of its partnership in a high-profile economic conference in Riyadh, while Sir Richard Branson has frozen several business links with the Gulf state.

Official statement: The Financial Times will not be partnering with the FII conference in Riyadh while the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi remains unexplained  Lionel Barber (@lionelbarber) October 12, 2018

Commons Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat said on Saturday that the UK should work with its allies on its response, and that International Trade Secretary Liam Fox should boycott the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh later this month if Saudi involvement in Mr Khashoggis disappearance was proved.

The first thing for us to do is for us to get together with our allies, the United States, the Europeans and others, to discuss very seriously whats going on, Mr Tugendhat told BBC Radio 4s Today.

The idea that we can treat Saudi as a normal state if it practises state-sponsored murder outside its borders is simply not true.

He added: We may be talking about downgrading diplomatic relations, we may be talking about restricting support for certain areas.

The Department for International Trade said: The Secretary of States diary is yet to be finalised for the week of October 22, we will update on his activity in due course.

A critic of Saudi Arabias de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Mr Khashoggi was living in self-imposed exile in the US and writing opinion pieces for the Washington Post before he vanished.

He visited the consulate on October 2 to obtain a document confirming he had divorced his ex-wife, in order to allow him to remarry.

Turkish officials have said he was killed on the premises and his body removed.

Saudi officials have denied the allegations as baseless.Abducted 5-yr-old found dead in Bara

A five-year-old boy, who was kidnapped earlier on Wednesday, was found murdered in Bara district on Saturday night.First Lady Melania Trump was interviewed by ABC while touring Africa last week (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

Melania Trump has explained why she wore a jacket that said I really dont care, do u? on a trip to visit migrant children who had been separated from their parents.

The First Lady admitted it was a message to people and the left-wing media who are criticising me.

At the time of the June visit to the Upbring New Hope Childrens Centre in McAllen, Texas, spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said: Its a jacket. There was no hidden message. After todays important visit to Texas, I hope the media isnt going to choose to focus on her wardrobe.

Melania Trump tells @TomLlamasABC she wore the I really dont care jacket for the people and for the left-wing media who are criticizing me. And I want to show them that I dont care. #MelaniaTrump https://t.co/EqEyfZkJvZ pic.twitter.com/2EWeCKB0de  ABC News (@ABC) October 13, 2018

Now in an interview with US TV network ABC News, Mrs Trump said the jacket was a statement that the criticism will not stop her from doing what I feel is right.

She noted that she wore the jacket getting on and off the plane, but not during her visits with children.

She said she purposely wore the jacket on the flight back to Washington after seeing how the media was obsessed about it.

It was kind of a message, yes, she said.

Today's visit to #Texas to spend time with children & thank the many hardworking individuals helping to care for them was very meaningful. Thank you to @SecAzar @HHSGOV for traveling w me today & the care you are giving these children in such a difficult time. pic.twitter.com/P5orrJ4k6p  Melania Trump 45 Archived (@FLOTUS45) June 22, 2018

Todays visit w the children in Texas impacted @flotus greatly. If media would spend their time & energy on her actions & efforts to help kids - rather than speculate & focus on her wardrobe - we could get so much accomplished on behalf of children. #SheCares #ItsJustAJacket  Stephanie Grisham 45 Archived (@StephGrisham45) June 21, 2018

In earlier released portions of the interview, Mrs Trump said she loves her husband President Donald Trump and has much more important things to think about than allegations he cheated on her.

Mrs Trump, who was interviewed by ABC while touring Africa last week, said people are just spreading rumours about her marriage.

I know people like to speculate and media like to speculate about our marriage and circulate the gossip, she said.

But I understand the gossip sells newspapers, magazines  and, unfortunately, we live in this kind of world today.

She insisted allegations of her husbands infidelities are not a concern.

Asked in the interview if she loves her husband, Mrs Trump said: Yes, we are fine. Yes.

It is not a concern and focus of mine, she said. Im a mother and a first lady, and I have much more important things to think about and to do.Pope Francis has defrocked two more Chilean bishops accused of sexually abusing minors, and to show greater transparency about how he is responding to the churchs global sex abuse crisis, he publicly explained why they were removed.

The Vaticans unusually detailed statement announcing the laicisation of retired Archbishop Francisco Jose Cox Huneeus and retired Bishop Marco Antonio Ordenes Fernandez signalled a new degree of transparency following past missteps by Francis.

The statement said the two were defrocked for abusing minors with evidence so overwhelming that a canonical trial was unnecessary.

Expand Close Pope Francis poses with Chiles President Sebastian Pinera and his wife Cecilia Morel (Alessandro Bianchi/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Pope Francis poses with Chiles President Sebastian Pinera and his wife Cecilia Morel (Alessandro Bianchi/AP)

The Vatican said the decision cannot be appealed against.

Cox, 87 and suffering from dementia, is a member of the Schoenstatt religious order and had served as a bishop in Chillan, Chile before becoming the number two official at the Vaticans Pontifical Council for the Family, a high-profile position during St John Paul IIs papacy.

He returned to Chile and became bishop in La Serena until he left in 1997 under unclear circumstances, but took on administrative jobs in Rome and at the Latin American bishops conference in Colombia.

In 2002, the Vatican office for bishops asked the Schoenstatt Fathers to take him in one of its houses, apparently because of abuse allegations.

He has been living in Germany since then but last year a new, formal accusation was received by the Vatican about an alleged case of abuse that happened in Germany in 2004.

The Schoenstatt Fathers said Saturday the Vatican had asked that Cox remain in their custody.

Today more than ever, we deplore every act of abuse that offends the dignity of peopleThe Schoenstatt Fathers

The order said it would cooperate with the justice system, given that victims in Chile have made criminal complaints against him.

We receive this news with much shame for the damage caused to the victims, the community said.

We show solidarity with them and their profound suffering.

Today more than ever, we deplore every act of abuse that offends the dignity of people.

Given the favour that Cox enjoyed by John Pauls inner circle, his fall is yet another stain on John Pauls legacy.

It also calls into question the senior Schoenstatt cardinal in Chile, Cardinal Javier Errazuriz, an adviser to Francis who has long been accused of covering up for abusers.

Ordenes Fernandez, 53, for his part, was made bishop of Iquique, in northern Chile, in 2006 at the young age of 42.

He retired six years later allegedly for health reasons.

Expand Close Pope Francis holds a folder (Alessandra Tarantino/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Pope Francis holds a folder (Alessandra Tarantino/AP)

But subsequently allegations of abuse were levelled against him.

Previously, the Vatican has rarely, if ever, announced laicisations of individual priests and only issued a single-line statement if a bishop had resigned, without further explanation.

Before Francis papacy began in 2013, it was Vatican practice to reveal if resignations were retirements due to age, or for some other grave reason that made them unfit for office.

But Francis early on removed even that minimum amount of information.

Advocates for abuse survivors have long complained about the Vaticans secrecy in handling such abuse cases, and the lack of transparency when it arrived at judgments.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said Saturdays more detailed statement suggested a new trend in the way the Vatican will announce the results of investigations of bishops accused of abuse.

A similarly detailed statement was issued when Francis defrocked Chiles most notorious abuser, Fernando Karadima, several weeks ago.

Francis has been under fire for his handling of abuse cases for years.

In May, all active bishops in Chile offered to resign over their collective mishandling of the abuse scandal. So far, Francis has accepted the resignations of seven.

Francis discussed the issue during his Vatican audience on Saturday with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera Echenique, who also met with the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

The Vatican said both meetings discussed the painful scourge of abuse of minors, reiterating the effort of all in collaboration to combat and prevent the perpetration of such crimes and their concealment.Pope Francis has praised two of the towering figures of the 20th-century Catholic Church as prophets who shunned wealth and looked out for the poor as he canonised Pope Paul VI and martyred Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero.

Francis declared the two men saints at a Mass in St Peters Square before tens of thousands of pilgrims, a handful of presidents and some 5,000 Salvadoran pilgrims.

Tens of thousands more Salvadorans stayed up all night at home to watch it on giant TV screens outside the San Salvador cathedral where Archbishop Romeros remains are entombed.

Expand Close A view of St Peters Square during a canonisation ceremony (Andrew Medichini/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp A view of St Peters Square during a canonisation ceremony (Andrew Medichini/AP)

In a sign of the strong influence Paul and the archbishop had on historys first Latin American pope, Francis wore the blood-stained rope belt that Archbishop Romero wore when he was gunned down in 1980 and also used Pauls staff, chalice and pallium vestment.

Paul presided over the modernising yet polarising church reforms of the 1960s, while Archbishop Romero was murdered by El Salvadors right-wing death squads for his fearless defence of the poor.

In his homily, Francis called Paul a prophet of a church turned outwards to care for the faraway poor.

He said Archbishop Romero gave up his security and life to be close to the poor and his people.

And he warned that those who do not follow their example to leave behind everything, including their wealth, risk never truly finding God.

Wealth is dangerous and  says Jesus  even makes ones salvation difficult, Francis said.

The love of money is the root of all evils, he said. We see this where money is at the centre, there is no room for God or for man.

Expand Close Priests wearing vestments with the effigy of martyred Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero attend the canonisation ceremony (Andrew Medichini/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Priests wearing vestments with the effigy of martyred Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero attend the canonisation ceremony (Andrew Medichini/AP)

For many in San Salvador, it was the culmination of a fraught and politicised campaign to have the church formally honour a man who publicly denounced the repression by El Salvadors military dictatorship at the start of the countrys 1980-1992 civil war.

I am here to give glory to Monsignor Romero, said Aida Guzman, a 68-year-old Salvadoran woman who carried photos of people killed during the war as she joined thousands in a Friday evening procession in San Salvador.

He is a light for our people, an inspiration for all.

Mr Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, was murdered as he celebrated Mass on March 24, 1980, in a hospital chapel.

A day before he was killed, he had delivered the latest in a series of sermons demanding an end to the armys repression  sermons that had enraged El Salvadors leaders.

Almost immediately after his death, Archbishop Romero became an icon of the South American left and is frequently listed along with Martin Luther King Jr and Gandhi as one of the worlds most influential human rights campaigners.

The United Nations commemorates the anniversary of his death each year.

But his popularity with the left led to a decades-long delay in his saint-making cause at the Vatican, where right-wing cardinals led by Colombian Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo warned his elevation would embolden Marxist revolutionaries on the continent.

Eventually Pope Benedict XVI unblocked the cause and Francis saw it through to its conclusion Sunday, including his determination that Archbishop Romero was a martyr for the church  killed out of hatred for the faith and for preaching the Gospel, even though his assassins were Catholics like him.

Archbishop Romeros influence continues to resonate with El Salvadors youth as the country endures brutal gang violence that has made the Central American nation one of the most violent in the world.Saudi Arabia has warned it will respond to any threats against it following President Donald Trumps warning of severe punishment over the disappearance of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi.

President Trump made a point of visiting the kingdom on his first overseas trip as president and has touted arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

But both the White House and the kingdom are under mounting pressure as concern grows over the fate of the veteran journalist, who has not been seen since he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

Expand Close Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul (Petros Giannakouris/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul (Petros Giannakouris/AP)

The kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether through economic sanctions, political pressure or repeating false accusations, the kingdoms statement said.

The kingdom also affirms that if it is [targeted by] any action, it will respond with greater action.

The statement came after the Tadawul stock exchange in Riyadh dropped by 7% at one point during the weeks first day of trading, with 182 of its 186 listed stocks showing losses by the early afternoon.

Turkish officials say they fear Saudi agents killed and dismembered Mr Khashoggi after he entered the consulate, saying they have audio and video recordings of it that they have not released.

The kingdom has called the allegations baseless, but has offered no evidence the writer ever left the consulate.

In an interview to be aired Sunday, President Trump told CBS 60 Minutes show that the consequences of Saudi Arabia being involved would be severe.

Theres something really terrible and disgusting about that, if that was the case, so were going to have to see, President Trump said.

Were going to get to the bottom of it and there will be severe punishment.

However, President Trump in the same interview said: As of this moment, they deny it and they deny it vehemently. Could it be them? Yes.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has aggressively pitched the kingdom as a destination for foreign investment. But Mr Khashoggis disappearance, and suspicions he may have been targeted over his criticism of the crown prince, have led several business leaders and media outlets to back out of an upcoming high-profile investment conference in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia is America's No. 1 weapons customer https://t.co/yadiVMwzVZ pic.twitter.com/GGoWpeYN5e  CBS News (@CBSNews) October 14, 2018

President Trump also said we would be punishing ourselves by cancelling arms sales to Saudi Arabia, which his administration touted on his first overseas trip.

The sale is a tremendous order for our companies, and if the kingdom does not buy its weaponry from the United States, they will buy it from others, he said.

President Trump said he would meet with Mr Khashoggis family.

Mr Khashoggi, who was considered close to the Saudi royal family, had become a critic of the current government and Prince Mohammed, the 33-year-old heir apparent who has shown little tolerance for criticism.

As a contributor to the Post, Mr Khashoggi has written extensively about Saudi Arabia, including criticism of its war in Yemen, its recent diplomatic spat with Canada and its arrest of womens rights activists after the lifting of a ban on women driving.American pastor Andrew Brunson, recently freed after nearly two years of detention in Turkey, asked God for supernatural wisdom for President Donald Trump during a prayer in the Oval Office.

Mr Trump welcomed Mr Brunson to the White House to celebrate his release from nearly two years of confinement, which had sparked a diplomatic row with a key ally and outcry from US evangelical groups.

Mr Brunson returned to the US aboard a military jet shortly before meeting the president.

He was detained in October 2016, formally arrested that December and placed under house arrest on July 25 for health reasons.

From a Turkish prison to the White House in 24 hours, thats not bad, Mr Trump said.

Mr Brunson appeared to be in good health and good spirits.

When he asked Mr Trump if he could pray for him, the president replied, Well, I need it probably more than anyone else in this room, so that would be very nice, thank you.

Mr Brunson left his chair beside Mr Trump, kneeled and placed a hand on the presidents shoulder.

As Mr Trump bowed his head, Mr Brunson asked God to give him supernatural wisdom to accomplish all the plans you have for this country and for him. I ask that you give him wisdom in how to lead this country into righteousness.

He continued: I ask that you give him perseverance, and endurance and courage to stand for truth. I ask that you to protect him from slander from enemies, from those who would undermine. I ask that you make him a great blessing to this country. Fill him with your wisdom and strength and perseverance. And we bless him. May he be a great blessing to our country. In Jesus name, we bless you. Amen.

Mr Brunson, originally from Black Mountain, North Carolina, had lived in Turkey with his family for more than two decades and led a small congregation in the Izmir Resurrection Church.

He was accused of committing crimes on behalf of Kurdish militants and to aid a Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen, accused by Turkey of engineering the failed coup.

He faced up to 35 years in jail if convicted of all the charges against him.

Mr Trump maintained there was no deal for Mr Brunsons freedom.

We do not pay ransom in this country, Mr Trump said.

Mr Trump thanked Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had resisted the demands of Mr Trump and other high-level US officials for Mr Brunsons release.

The US had repeatedly called for Mr Brunsons release and, this year, sanctioned two Turkish officials and doubled tariffs on steel and aluminium imports citing in part Mr Brunsons plight.

Expand Close President Donald Trump meets with American pastor Andrew Brunson, (Jacquelyn Martin/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp President Donald Trump meets with American pastor Andrew Brunson, (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Mr Trump said the US greatly appreciated Mr Brunsons release and said the move will lead to good, perhaps great, relations between the US and fellow Nato ally Turkey, and said the White House would take a look at the sanctions.

Mr Trump asked Mr Brunson and his family which candidate they voted for in 2016, saying he was confident they had gone for him.

I would like to say I sent in an absentee ballot from prison, Mr Brunson quipped.

A Turkish court on Friday convicted Mr Brunson of having links to terrorism and sentenced him to just over three years in prison, but released the 50-year-old evangelical pastor because he had already spent nearly two years in detention. An earlier charge of espionage was dropped.

Hours later, Mr Brunson was flown out of Turkey, his home for more than two decades. He was taken to a US military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, for a medical check-up.This plant is expected to become one of the largest facilities in the next few years.

Sun Pharma is planning to invest an additional Rs 200 crore at its plant in Assam to augment operations. The company has already invested Rs 700 crore in this manufacturing facility.

Sun Pharma has invested Rs 120 crore to set up this new production line, which will boost the capacity to manufacture liquid vials, injectables, eye drops and tablets among others.

This plant is expected to become one of the largest facilities in the next few years in the company's network to manufacture sterile products.Hiring of civil staff on hold for two months

The government has directed the officials of Public Service Commission (PSC) not to open vacancy to recruit fresh civil servants for the next two months. A Cabinet meeting took the decision to this effect on Sunday.Can Vasectomy Cause Erectile Dysfunction? Prior to vasectomy, men are extremely anxious and nervous over thoughts that the procedure might cause erectile dysfunction. However, research has shown very rare occurrences of such kind and it is highly unlikely that undergoing vasectomy would cause any such issue. To better understand why it is so, a deep look into what actually happens during vasectomy is essential. Vasectomy is a form of contraception wherein sperms do not leave the male body. The male would still be able to have an erection and ejaculate thereafter, but the only difference would be that the semen would not contain any sperm. Hence, no risk of pregnancy for the sexual partner. The process of erection should therefore not be affected post vasectomy because the process does not have any effect on the physical attribute of a person having or sustaining an erection. In short, vasectomy will not have any effect on having an orgasm or how ejaculating feels. Your semen too would look and feel the same as it was before the vasectomy. Most Read : Here's How You Can Better Your Love-making Skills

What Are The Common Problems Associated With Vasectomy? Although there are no such noticeable side effects after vasectomy, some of the problems post the surgery might include the following;  Bleeding

 Blood clot in the scrotum

 Bruising of the scrotum

 Infection at the site of the surgery

 Swelling

 Mild pain/discomfort Rare but some delayed complications might include:  Chronic pain

 Inflammation due to leaking sperm

 Vasectomy failure resulting in pregnancy

 Dull ache that worsens during ejaculation (when there is a fluid buildup in the testicle)

 Development of cyst near the coiled tube situated on the upper testicle

 Presence of a fluid-filled sac around the testicle

When To See A Doctor? In case there are signs of infection after the procedure, you would need to get in touch with your doctor right away. The usual signs of an infection are a temperature above 100.4 degrees F and blood oozing from the site of the surgery along with swelling and severe pain. You might also need to follow-up with your doctor about six to twelve weeks post the vasectomy procedure. A follow-up semen analysis is necessary to check if the vasectomy process has been successful. The semen is examined under a microscope to check if sperms are present.

Are There Any Long-term Side Effects? Although complications are very rare, the following are some of the long-term complications:  Discomfort and pain In very rare conditions, there could be a chronic scrotal pain after vasectomy.  Surgical failure A semen analysis after the surgery should show the presence of nonmotile sperm. In some rare cases, with time, the vas deferens that were cut might just grow back. This could cause vasectomy failure.  Epididymitis The epididymis is a duct that is located behind the testicles, which allow the sperm to flow to the vas deferens. When the vas deferens is cut during vasectomy, the sperm is backed up after flowing from the epididymis to the vas deferens. This can cause the gland to get inflamed resulting in epididymitis.  Vaso-venous fistula The multiple blood vessels that hold on to the vas deferens might become injured due to the vasectomy. This causes pooling of blood leading to a fistula. The signs of this condition are blood in urine or blood in the ejaculate. Although this complication is very rare, you should seek immediate medical help if you find symptoms of this condition.  Sperm granuloma This condition causes lumps of sperm that result in the occurrence of small cyst like bumps. These cysts usually range between 1 mm to 1 cm in size. There could be several lesions in a person. However, they particularly do not cause any symptoms. In some rare cases, there could be pain at the granuloma sites. Severe cases might require the granuloma to be removed surgically. Most Read : Amazing Psychological Facts That Will Blow Your MindPR Newswire

IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 13, 2018

IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CommerceWest Bank (OTCBB:CWBK) helped Augie's Quest Provide ALS Research. ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurological disease that causes dysfunction in the nerves and causes the brain to lose its ability to initiate and control muscle movement. Augie's Quest is dedicated to finding treatments and cures for ALS.

"We are extremely proud to partner with CommerceWest Bank again this year as a sponsor of the 13th Annual Tradition of Hope Gala," commented Augie Nieto, Chief Inspiration Officer for Augie's Quest to Cure ALS. He continued, "Ivo Tjan and his team have always led by example, supporting ALS research with in-kind donations as well as sponsorship funds. Their support has made drug advancements possible, providing hope to thousands of families living with ALS."

"Augie and his team have been relentless in their pursuit to find a cure for ALS," commented Ivo A. Tjan. He continued, "One day they will find a cure. It will be called Augie's Cure, as he has driven success for cutting edge ALS research. We are proud to be a part of Augie's story, as he makes history to find a cure."

CommerceWest Bank is a California based full service commercial bank with a unique vision and culture of focusing exclusively on the business community. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Irvine, California. The Bank serves businesses throughout the state with an emphasis on clients in Orange County, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Riverside Counties. We are a full service business bank and offer a wide range of commercial banking services, including concierge services, remote deposit solution, online banking, mobile banking, lines of credit, working capital loans, commercial real estate loans, SBA loans, and treasury management services.

Mission Statement: CommerceWest Bank will create a complete banking experience for each client, catering to businesses and their specific banking needs, while accommodating our clients and providing them high-quality, low stress and personally tailored banking and financial services.

Please visit www.cwbk.com to learn more about the bank. "BANK ON THE DIFFERENCE"

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/commercewest-bank-helped-augies-quest-provide-als-research-300730367.html

SOURCE CommerceWest BankReciba en su email: noticias de ultima hora, analisis tecnicos o el cierre de mercado

Email no valido Nombre requerido Recibira las informaciones mas relevantes del dia en tiempo real Que informacion desea recibir? Noticias de Ultima hora Boletin Cierre de Mercado Boletin analisis tecnico Boletin Fundsnews Debe seleccionar un tipo de boletin Acepto la Politica de privacidad Debe aceptar la politica de privacidad Responsable EMPRESAS DEL GRUPO WEB FINANCIAL GROUP Finalidad La remision de informacion, novedades y promociones Establecimiento o mantenimiento de Relaciones Comerciales. Legitimacion Consentimiento del interesado. Interes legitimo en el desarrollo de la relacion comercial Destinatario Empresas del Grupo WEB FINANCIAL GROUP Derechos Acceso, rectificacion, supresion, limitacion, oposicion y portabilidad Informacion adicional Politica de Privacidad de nuestra pagina Web + INFORMACIONHeritage sites work to start soon

National Reconstruction Authority chief has said rebuilding work of heritage sites Rani Pokhari and Kasthamandap would start soon as the disputes between stakeholders have been resolved.Janaki Medical Colleges 50-seat ceiling remains

Authorities have decided to retain the 50-seat ceiling on Janaki Medical College in Province 2 despite assurances by its new management committee formed in August.Anup Ojha is a reporter for The Kathmandu Post primarily covering social issues and human interest stories. Before moving to the social beat, Ojha covered arts and culture for the Post for four years.Labour pact with Malaysia before Tihar, says Bista

The long-awaited labour agreement between Nepal and Malaysia is likely to be signed within three weeks, paving the way for resumption of Nepali workers departures to Malaysia which has been halted since the third week of May. Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Gokarna Bista told the Post that the governments of two countries were eager to sign the labour pact at the earliest.Footfall on Corks main street is up, City Hall insists, as more traders begin voicing concerns about the controversial afternoon car ban.

The figures were released following calls from Fianna Fail Councillor Ken OFlynn for an immediate rethink of the traffic strategy.

What took 800 years to build could take just weeks to destroy, he warned.

Last week, the Cork Business Association said the car ban is not the only reason trade is down, and it urged a cautious approach to the voicing of concerns.

The more we amplify the more damage we do, CBA chief executive, Lawrence Owens warned.

However, Mr OFlynn said it was time for traders with concerns to stand up and be counted.

Anyone that suggests to our traders that they should keep quiet for fear of annoying Cork City Council is no friend of our city or our traders, he said.

It is clear to the dogs in the street that city trade has died a death in the afternoons. While everyone wants the City Centre Movement Strategy to work, if it puts them out of business, it will have been an abject failure. The afternoon trade has completely fallen away and any city trader will confirm this.

It will be 10-weeks this Thursday since the reintroduction of the 3pm to 6.30pm daily bus lane on St Patricks St was reintroduced.

Wyon Stansfeld of Pinochios toy store on Paul St said the quietness in the afternoon is getting beyond a joke.

I dont know if its just us but my God is it quiet in the afternoon since the change in the parking rates, he tweeted.

Please dont tell me to wait and let it bed in, I cant afford it anymore.

Dukes Coffee Company on Careys Lane tweeted: City is flying and growing. Just a pity that some folk still feel disenfranchised or scared to visit the city late afternoons the way they used to.

City is flying & growing! just a pity that some folk still feel disenfranchised or scared to visit the city late afternoons the way they used to, a job for @corkcitycouncil @Buseireann marketing Dept I guess. The new vat rate is the real issue but well get over that too   dukes coffee company (@dukescoffeeco) October 11, 2018

John Grace Fried Chicken on Cook St said they had recorded two of the worst days of trade in 40-years of business earlier this week.

City council chief executive, Ann Doherty, accepted that some businesses are facing challenges, but she said the city must modernise and future-proof its public transport infrastructure.

We reintroduced the bus priority lanes and the range of supporting measures thanks to a strong partnership approach and we will continue to address whatever concerns arise using that partnership approach, she said.

Council figures show an 11% increase in footfall on St Patricks St from Thursday August 9 to Sunday August 12 compared to the corresponding period before the bus lane; with footfall up 18% from Thursday August 16 to Sunday August 19; up 16% from September 13 to 16; 15% from September 20 to 23; and up 22% from September 27 to 30.

The trend continued into October, with pedestrian levels on the street about 22% above the pre-bus lane period from October 4 to 7, and higher too on October 8 to 10 - last Monday to Wednesday.Footfall levels on the street have also been higher between 3pm and 7pm since the introduction of the bus lane.

Average daily usage of the councils two multi-storey car parks was up 12% in the first week after the car ban, and up 7% for the week ending September 26.

The extended park and ride service showed a 10% increase in passengers numbers in the weeks after the car ban. with average daily usage up 20% between October 1 to 10.

But Mr OFlynn said: I am hugely frustrated for our city traders and they are being pushed to their limits and this is just not fair.Almost two in 10 Irish people think the President should get the minimum wage and no more.

That is one of the findings of today's Paddy Power opinion poll carried out by Red C, which interviewed a random sample of 1,000 adults between October 3 and 10.By Sean Wall

A goal from Stuart Lowndes on 54 minutes proved decisive as Dunboyne captured the Meath SFC for the first time since 2005 at Pairc Tailteann this afternoon.

The brother of Dublin All-Ireland star Eric crashed the ball to the net after a high delivery from Donal Lenihan bounced around the goalmouth before falling kindly into his path.

That score propelled Dunboyne into a 1-10 to 0-9 lead and there was no way back for a disappointing Summerhill who were tasting defeat at the ultimate stage for the second successive year.

Overall Dunboyne deserved their success as they upped the tempo significantly following an indifferent opening half display. Corner-forward Robbie McCarthy, who represented Dublin at senior level a number of years back, top scored for the winners with seven points, five of which came from placed balls.

Summerhill who had scored 20 goals in their seven matches to get to this stage threatened to add to that goal tally in the early stages but after that they were well contained by a well-organised winners defence.

The opening half proved a dour enough affair with Dunboyne enjoying an abundance of possession but unable to make it count on the scoreboard as they trailed 0-4 to 0-5 at the break.

Dunboyne registered the opening three points inside 13 minutes from McCarthy (free), Liam Byrne and David McEntee. However they failed to build on that promising start and only added one further point for the remainder of the half from a McCarthy free.

A promising run from Kevin Ryan ended with his shot being blocked on two minutes and then Barry Dardis flashed an effort wide of the posts when he should have done better.

Dardis eventually got the Hill off the mark from a free and they enjoyed their best spell in the second quarter with David Larkins point leaving the sides level on 20 minutes.

Sean Dalton pointed them ahead a minute later and it was a pointed free from Dardis which eventually separated the sides at the break.

Dunboyne were much more prolific in front of the posts at the start of the second half and with McCarthy (two) and Lenihan on the mark they went 0-7 to 0-5 clear by the 35th minute.

They were still two points clear heading into the final quarter but points from Padraig Geraghty and Dardis had the sides level on 49 minutes.

Substitute Cathal Lacey edged Dunboyne ahead before Lowndes struck for that goal to eventually put daylight between the sides.

McCarthy then fisted over to leave his side five clear and give Dunboyne only their third ever senior title.Media Society condoles Gyawalis demise

Nepal Media Society (NMS) has expressed its sadness and shock on the demise of Nepal Republic Media Chairman Hemraj Gyawali. He was also a former chairman of Kantipur Publications.The value of property restrained under confiscation of criminal assets laws quadrupled to nearly $7.4 million last financial year, the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions annual report reveals.

The property restrained in 2017-18 includes more than $194,000 in cash, 26 cars worth about $511,000 and 13 houses with a net value of nearly $6.7 million.

That is compared to the previous financial year, which saw the DPP restrain about $1.8m worth of property.

Prosecutors helped seize more than $194,000 in cash last financial year.

Also in 2017-2018, $1.1 million worth of tainted interests in property was forfeited to the territory, including $624,000 cash, nine cars to the tune of $177,000 and interests in two houses valued at about $228,600.Mary* was only 17 when she was sent away to a psychiatric hospital in the late 1980s because she told her parents shed fallen in love with another woman.

She says she was forced to sit in an ice bath while Bible verses were read out to her. She was interrogated about her sinful attraction and warned that it would separate her from Gods love. And then she had electrodes attached to her genitals.

A major study into gay conversion therapy has called for sweeping reform. Credit:AP

Mary is one of 15 survivors whose stories form part of the first major academic study into the nature and extent of gay conversion practices in Australia.

While hers is an extreme example, the research estimates that up to 10 per cent of LGBT Australians are still vulnerable to so-called conversion therapy, much of it taking the form of faith-based counselling or pastoral activities steeped in the belief that homosexuality is a form of brokenness that ought to be fixed.Shark attack survivor Hannah Papps, who was attacked by a shark during a holiday in the Whitsundays, has lost her leg.

The 12-year-old Melbourne girl is recovering at Lady Cilento Children's Hospital following the attack on September 20 in Cid Harbour, off Whitsunday Island.

Hannah was on holiday in the Whitsundays with her father and sister when she was bitten, and was then airlifted to Mackay Base Hospital in a critical condition and transferred to Brisbane.

She was mauled less than 24 hours after Tasmanian tourist and avid snorkeller Justine Barwick was bitten by a shark in the same harbour.Investigators believe the death of a man in a home in Brisbane south-east on Sunday may have been an accident, as forensic officers continued to comb through the scene for evidence.

The 33-year-old house sitter was found dead about 9.30pm inside the Hoff Street house in Mount Gravatt East after his family hadn't heard from him recently.

A crime scene was declared shortly after the discovery was made.

However, a police spokesman said it was "looking more like an accident" on Monday morning.Heres something I hate. A politician gets a question. Theyre being asked because its top of mind, its a big story, everyone wants to know  but the politician says, I just dont think the Australian people are interested in that.

Scott Morrison is getting his first taste of how hard his job can be. Credit:AAP

All of them do it, but the most recent deluge came when Scott Morrison took over from Malcolm Turnbull. Repeatedly asked why he was now Prime Minister, Morrison got into the habit of telling us what we were actually interested in: drought, electricity, house prices. Well, yes, but most of us would have ticked "all of the above".

Its part of a politicians job to figure out what voters think. But you might hope, after years in which more and more people have decided to vote for anyone but the major parties, their confidence that they know exactly what voters care about  or at least their brazen willingness to boast about it - might have taken a little bit of a dent.

Hopefully the unfolding of the debate about religious freedom did the job.Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size The tax-free threshold would be scrapped, tax rates would increase for every $1000 of income earned, and savings would be targeted by the tax office under one of the most ambitious blueprints for economic reform seen in a decade. The proposal has been unveiled as leading economists and powerful lobby groups on either end of the political spectrum - the Australian Council for Social Services and the Business Council of Australia - demand a new wave of reform, warning Australia must overhaul its 20th century tax system or risk leaving workers, welfare recipients and business behind. The PricewaterhouseCoopers tax plan, released to Fairfax Media, argues for major tax changes given the budget is inching towards a surplus for the first time in a decade and policy-makers have more flexibility than at any time since the global financial crisis. While the PwC proposal kicks off a discussion over the future of income tax, Australia's top economists have also said increasing the GST base, death taxes, and a transition to land tax from stamp duty should all be on the table after the last two attempts at serious reform were shelved by Coalition and Labor governments. Former second tax commissioner Richard Highfield said in the eight years since the landmark Henry tax review, structural issues have not been resolved and costs are growing, with lost revenue blowing out to $8 billion a year, according to the Australian Tax Office. The longer we wait the more serious it becomes, the UNSW Business School adjunct professor and former OECD tax administration chief told Fairfax Media.

Advertisement

We have a very poor mix and too many taxes, which result in enormous compliance costs and a lot of administrative pain for little gain. Loading Australia has more than 125 taxes at a state and federal level, but 90 per cent of revenue is raised through just 10. Ross Garnaut, a lead adviser on the Hawke-Keating economic policies of the 1980s and 1990s called for a new national debate. "Australia is in trouble," he said. "The situation is more dangerous than any in my lifetime. We have made it difficult to face up to shocks as they arise." PwC tax partner Paul Abbey said an impending budget surplus meant policy-makers could be much more dynamic and compensate those who lost out, while growing the overall economic pie. His controversial income tax proposals are designed to start a debate about what kind of tax system Australia needs as the population ages and the gap between asset wealth and income grows.

Advertisement

Under the PwC plan, every dollar earned would be taxed by eliminating the tax-free threshold for earnings under $20,000, and redistributing the billions of dollars in extra revenue to low-income earners through welfare and low-income tax offsets. The move would prevent people currently earning more than $100,000 a year from getting the benefit of the tax-free threshold and target welfare payments at those who need it most. The system has been in place for more than two decades in New Zealand, where the tax leader of Chartered Accountants John Cuthbertson says the economy is better off. You're not getting your best bang for your buck, he said. You are having to give money to everyone. The PwC plan also calls for dynamic income tax rates, which would increase progressively from 0.2 per cent up for every $1000 earned rather than jumping from bracket to bracket. Taxes are currently levied at 19 cents for each dollar earned between $18,200 -$37,000, and 32.5 cents for $37,000-$90,000, before rising to 45 cents for every dollar earned above $180,000.

Advertisement

The Coaltion's 10-year plan will abolish the middle 37 cent tax bracket for earnings between $90,000 and $180,000, but the PwC proposal goes further by smoothing the remaining jumps and applying one effective average tax rate for the entirety of a worker's income. Mr Abbey said eliminating bracket creep, which occurs when people earn more and push income into higher tax brackets, would boost productivity, particularly among self-employed and primary carers returning to work after having a child. It takes out any of the bracket creep disincentive around working extra hours, he said. Fashion retailer Alpha 60 used to lose 11 hours a week on processing payroll taxes, but the digitisation of the system makes the prospect of dynamic tax rates more feasible. Georgie and Alex Cleary, who run fashion firm Alpha60. Credit:Justin McManus It now takes 20 minutes, said owner Alex Cleary. Head of industry at accounting giant Xero, Matt Prouse, said a dynamic system could be plugged into their operations.

Advertisement

Just like you don't care about how Netflix streams video, you just press play," Mr Prouse said. PwC's final proposal would see a flat 30 per cent tax rate applied to all interest earnings from savings, share dividends and other capital gains, eliminating discounts and a myriad of different rates for housing investors and shareholders and pegging them to the top company tax rate. The move would trigger an outcry from investors who have been taxed at a 50 per cent capital gains discount and many retirees who have no income and rely on tax concessions to fund their lifestyles. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show that between 2002 and 2014, wealth for those aged 55 and over grew by 42 per cent compared to 7 per cent for people aged 25-34. PwC modelling shows implementing the flat 30 per cent rate would increase the number of taxpayers by 27 per cent, helping to alleviate pressure on the tax base as the population ages. The Henry review found in 40 years' time there would be just 2.7 people of working age for each person aged 65 years or older, compared with 5.0 people today and 7.5 people 40 years ago.

AdvertisementIt's just as well Scott Morrison didn't take the prime ministership on a promise of improving the government's standing in the polls. It would have been his first broken promise.

Seven weeks after overthrowing Malcolm Turnbull, the Coalition has only managed to go backwards, according to today's Fairfax-Ipsos poll.

After two years consistently behind Labor, Turnbull had finally managed to draw roughly level with Labor by the middle of the year. Turnbull didn't have the government in an election-winning position, but he had it in a position where winning was starting to look distinctly possible.A new HSC maths course for "everyday life" will be trialled and specialist maths teachers for primary schools will be recruited as part of a bold strategy to get most students studying maths.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Education Minister Rob Stokes will today launch a significant new plan to boost the number of students studying maths through to the final years of school.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian wants almost all NSW students to study HSC maths. Credit:Nic Walker

Ms Berejiklian is leading the push to have every NSW student studying maths in year 12.

The proportion of students doing high-level maths and science subjects in the HSC has steadily declined over the past 10 years.Nepal expands its global outreach: Gyawali

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali has said that Nepal is expanding its relations in the international arena.While there has been much support among planners for the concept, many have questioned the extraordinary secrecy the project was conceived in. The suburban rail loop was planned within the office of Development Victoria rather than the transport department, and was not raised in cabinet before its announcement. Experts say some elements of the plan make sense but infrastructure priorities needed to be decided in public view. Victoria doesn't have a long-term transport strategy, despite state legislation demanding one exist.

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, federal MP Anthony Albanese, Premier Daniel Andrews and Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan on Sunday announcing joint funding for the suburban rail loop plan. Credit:AAP Yes planning for the future is very worthwhile, said civil and traffic engineer Des Grogan. But it must be properly considered. Mr Grogan is an engineer with 40 years' experience in Victoria, and worked on many of the states biggest plans over that time. He was a member of the states expert body advising the planning minister, and worked on the East West Link panel hearings among others. Mr Grogan said an orbital rail loop was a thought bubble that would clearly not produce the best outcome for taxpayers because many other projects would deliver more benefits. Among them he named the extension of the Glen Waverley train line, providing more trains, upgrading signalling, using car parking at racecourses and even running commuter trains from Flemington Racecourse and the Showgrounds train stations, along with improved bus services.

He said simpler but less politically announceable projects would achieve more than the suburban rail loop quicker, and with less disruption. And he questioned the proposed cost of recent business cases put forward by the state government. At an average of $450 per hour, 40 people working a 40-hour week over a seven-week period would cost about $5 million, he said. This would be sufficient to complete a competent business case, he said. Mr Andrews has repeatedly promised business cases on big projects costing tens of millions of dollars to produce. Mr Grogan said the secrecy behind the suburban rail loops conception set a terrible precedent.

Only four ministers even knew of the projects existence before it was announced: the Premier, Treasurer Tim Pallas, Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan and Special Minister of State Gavin Jennings. Key to the project's planning was Tom Considine, now at Development Victoria but until 2016 Mr Pallas chief of staff. It is understood that even a high-ranking bureaucrat within the Transport Department who was away on the day of the rail line's announcement had to be contacted by their officers, who were unsure how to respond. The Transport Department was not told of the plan because of perceptions it would not welcome a project of its massive scope, and would attempt to block its development within government. Infrastructure Victoria  set up to take the politics out of planning for major transport projects, and reporting to Mr Jennings  was also not told.

Its $500,000-a-year chief executive Michel Masson and his board, whose expertise cost Victorians $1 million last financial year, found out about the project at the same time media did. John Stanley, a transport planning expert at Sydney University who has advised the Andrews government, said the suburban rail loop seemed an attractive proposition, but it was also part of a project-to-project approach. Professor Stanley said that while a circumferential rail line was a good idea, building it when many of the suburbs it would pass through were very low density made the entire project hard to justify. The first stage of the project, better linking Monash University by rail to Cheltenham, made excellent sense. Does it make strategic sense to do more than that? Maybe not, but thats what has to be decided, he said. He said the confidentiality around its planning was far from ideal.Explosives had been placed on a motorcycle near the rally, which was to have been addressed by the candidate, Nazifa Yousufi Bek. The victims included security officials and civilians, a local police official said, adding that the candidate was not at the rally at the time. No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack. It is the third attack against the election campaign process this month. Khalilzad arrived in Kabul on Saturday and briefed Afghan President Ashraf Ghani about his 10-day tour of four countries, which ended with the meeting with leaders of the hardline Islamist militant group. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. Credit:AP

According to Taliban sources, the two sides arrived with tough conditions. "It was an introductory meeting in which an eight-member US delegation held a detailed meeting with members of our political office," said a senior Taliban member. Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanakzai, who is the head of Taliban's Qatar office, led the discussions, he said. Another senior member of the Taliban said Khalilzad had asked the Taliban leadership, based in the Qatari capital Doha, to declare a ceasefire in Afghanistan for six months, starting before the October 20 parliamentary polls. A campaign poster of the parliamentary candidate Fida Mohammad Olfat Saleh for the upcoming election in Kabul, Afghanistan. Credit:AP "Both sides discussed prospects for peace, and the US presence in Afghanistan," said another Taliban official, requesting anonymity.

In exchange, the Taliban want the Afghan government to release fighters from jails across the country and the swift removal of foreign forces fighting alongside Afghan troops. A Taliban source said the US delegation proposed forming different committees to handle the release of prisoners. "Neither side agreed to accept the other's demands immediately, but they agreed to meet again and find a solution to the conflict," he said. Loading Khalilzad was appointed last month, as President Donald Trump's administration launched fresh efforts to hold peace talks with the Taliban.

A senior official working with the Afghan president said Khalilzad had briefed Ghani about his meetings with senior ministers and top diplomats in four countries who could play a key role. Khalilzad's trip started in Afghanistan and he travelled to Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar before returning to Kabul. A statement about Khalilzad's diplomatic tour released by the US embassy in Kabul did not confirm his meeting with the Taliban. "The United States shares the aspirations of all Afghans for a peaceful Afghanistan where all Afghans see themselves included. All citizens of Afghanistan must be a part of this reconciliation process," said Khalilzad, according to the embassy statement at the end of his four-nation tour. The US overthrew a Taliban-led government in part because of its refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden, pictured in 1998. Credit:APStockholm: The Swedish Centre and Liberal parties have rejected a proposal to form a government made by Moderate Party Leader Ulf Kristersson, a further setback in his effort to form a coalition before next week.

Centre party leader Annie Loof said her party would vote "no" to a Moderate one-party government, which Kristersson had proposed on Friday.

Liberal leader Jan Bjorklund later said that he prefers keeping the four-party Alliance together.

Both Loof and Bjorklund said they wanted to see an Alliance government based on cooperation with the Social Democrats and/or the Green Party and that they at this point won't support any government that gives the nationalist Sweden Democrats any influence over policy making. They also proposed that the speaker of the parliament by Tuesday's deadline should give Kristersson more time to form a government.Dubai: Saudi Arabia has warned against threats to punish it over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last week, saying it would retaliate against any sanctions.

Khashoggi, a US resident and Washington Post columnist critical of Saudi Arabia, disappeared on October 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Turkey's government believes he was murdered inside the building and his body removed. Saudi Arabia has denied all allegations of foul play.

US President Donald Trump has threatened "severe punishment" if it turned out Khashoggi was killed in the consulate, though he said Washington would be "punishing" itself if it halted military sales to Riyadh, a key ally.New York: A brawl outside a Republican club in Manhattan involving a far-right group and anti-fascist activists spurred calls for an investigation into the violence and whether police acted properly in breaking it up.

Some Democratic politicians, including New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, also criticised the club for inviting Gavin McInnes, the head of the far-right group, the Proud Boys.

Cuomo has now asked for the FBI to look into the incident, and assigned a State Police hate crimes unit to assist with the New York Police Department investigation of the violence, which he linked to President Donald Trump.

"This is Trump at his worst," the governor said on a call with reporters. "It is wholly consistent with everything he has done since he started running for president."PRESIDENTS OF WAR Michael Beschloss Crown 739 pages; $35 The most agonising decisions presidents make are invariably during wartime, especially when battles are lost and body counts pile up. During one of the bloodiest campaigns of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln paced the corridors of the White House, his head bowed, hands behind his back, muttering over and over, I must have some relief from this terrible anxiety or it will kill me. It practically did. The Korean War was almost equally taxing for Harry Truman, who in a moment of candour admitted that under the strain, ...Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.



As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.



Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.



Digital EditorNine climbers die on Mt Gurja after snowstorm

Nine climbersfive South Koreans and four Nepalis died at the Mt Gurja base camp in Myagdi district when a violent snowstorm devastated their camp, police said on Saturday.BJP chief Amit Shah Sunday exhorted his party workers in to strive to win over 200 seats in next month's

The polling for the 230-member Assembly in the BJP-ruled state will be held on November 28.

Speaking at a party workers' convention at Hoshangabad in the state, Shah said, "The party can form the government with less than 200 seats, but we need to cross the 200-mark because our workers in West Bengal, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are looking towards "



The saffron party currently has 166 MLAs in

Shah said the victories in the upcoming in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh should be so massive that they create a storm, which would turn into a "tsunami" in 2019.

"This tsunami would cover the entire country, including West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala," he added.



"The party has witnessed success due to the sacrifices of several workers and leaders in the last 50 years. We are lucky, but we also have a responsibility. After we win the 2018 Assembly elections and the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, we will have the responsibility of ensuring victory for the party from panchayat to Parliament for the next 50 years," Shah said.

Recalling that he was a booth in-charge in 1982, Shah said the (BJP) was the only party where an ordinary worker could rise to the president's post.

"It is possible only in the BJP that a tea-seller's son can bring glory to the country by becoming prime minister," he said, referring to Narendra Modi.The authorities in districts which saw attacks on Hindi-speaking migrant workers following the rape of a 14-month-old girl are reaching out to the affected people to persuade them to stay back.

Non-Gujaratis were targeted after a native of Bihar was arrested for allegedly raping the toddler in Sabarkantha district on September 28. The attacks triggered an exodus of Hindi-speaking workers from

Chief Secretary J N Singh directed the collectors of affected districts to reach out to Hindi-speaking migrants to instill confidence in them.

In one such measure, Aravalli district collector N Nagarajan, accompanied by superintendent of police (SP) Mayur Patil, on Thursday had 'pani puri' from the stall of a migrant from Madhya Pradesh.

"Tasted #Panipuri at a stall run by an entrepreneur belonging to #NorthIndia with @Arvalli_SP @DdoArvalli. He expressed full confidence in measures taken by district administration to ensure safety and security and maintain law and order," Nagarajan said in a tweet.

He also shared photos of his meetings with migrants' representatives.

Collectors of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and other affected districts also visited areas with large migrant populations to spend time with them and allay their concerns about safety. The collectors were accompanied by the respective SPs.

Over the last few days, they also held meetings with leaders of organisations representing Hindi-speaking migrants, most of whom are employed in industrial belts of

Ahmedabad collector Vikrant Pandey shared on Twitter measures being taken by his office to prevent migrants from leaving, including visits to the railway station and meeting workers in industrial areas.

Earlier on Tuesday, Pandey told reporters, "The situation is normal and there is nothing to worry about."



Police officials organised meetings of local peace committees and felicitated migrant workers for their contribution to the state.

On Wednesday, Additional Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad city, Ashok Yadav felicitated around 250 families of workers from Naroda and Odhav industrial areas.

He said the move was aimed at boosting their morale.

The Gujarat police said they have taken action against people responsible for spreading rumours that led to attacks on migrants and to ensure social media is not misused.

No fresh incidents of attack on migrants have been reported from any part of Gujarat since the last few days.Home Minister will celebrate and perform 'shastra puja' in Bikaner along the highly sensitive Indo-Pak border, officials said Sunday.

Perhaps this is for the first time that a senior minister of the central government will conduct 'shastra puja' or worship of weapons along India's border with Pakistan, with whom India fought full scale wars.

The home minister will celebrate the festival with the jawans of the (BSF) posted in Rajasthan's Bikaner along the Indo-Pak border on October 19, a home ministry official said.

Singh will also perform the 'shastra puja' at the Border Out Post (BOP) located at the forward areas.

'Shastra puja' is part of the 'Dussehra' festival which is celebrated for the victory of Lord Ram over Ravana.

During the two-day visit, the home minister will arrive in Bikaner on October 18, stay the night at the BOP, before celebrating the festival with the jawans on October 19, the official said.

Singh is expected to review the situation on the border and assess the progress in various infrastructure projects.

He will attend a 'Bada Khana' (feast with the jawans) and address the security personnel, another official said.

The 3,323-km-long Indo-Pak border is considered to be highly sensitive. Even though the border in Rajasthan is peaceful, the border guarding forces of the two countries often engaged in massive firing in Jammu and Kashmir, leading to loss of human lives and properties.

Last year, the home minister had celebrated at Joshimath in Uttarakhand along the Sino-Indian border.Officers involved in Nirmalas case under probe

A team formed to investigate the police officials who had misled the probe into the rape and murder of 13-year-old Nirmala Pant has arrived in Kanchanpur to meet with the stakeholders. The team collected information from Nirmalas family, activists, civil society leaders and journalists.Taking a cue from India's initiative, wants to bring changes in its national identity card system for target delivery of welfare schemes and government subsidies to avoid duplicity and fraud.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Kuala Lumpur in May, offered Malaysia's Premier collaboration on matters in which India has expertise, including the initiative, Malaysia's Minister of Human Resources M Kula Segaran told PTI.

With the Malaysian Cabinet agreeing to the collaboration, Kula Segaran led a delegation comprising officers of the country's central bank, the finance ministry, the economic affairs ministry, and human resources ministry, to India last week.

The delegation met ministers and officials here and explored whether certain features of the system can be adopted in

"We met (Unique Identification Authority of India) CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey... We have identity cards (known as MyKad), but with the (introduction of an Aadhaar-like) system, the primary aim is to avoid duplicity of payments and fraud, and to target specific groups," Kula Segaran said.

Asked if was exploring if it can link identity cards to bank accounts like in the Aadhaar system for target delivery of welfare schemes and subsidies, he answered in the affirmative.

Replying to a query on whether Malaysia could face problems of opposition of the people over privacy concerns just like India did, Kula Segaran said there was such a possibility and work was on to identify what would be a "workable" format to adopt from India.

He, however, said that there should not be much of a problem in Malaysia as identity cards with personal information have been there for decades.

"You put my ID card number, you will get my details, where I was born, who is my mother, who is my father," he said, adding that the issue that needs to be addressed in Malaysia is the target delivery of welfare schemes and government subsidies.

"Now, we have fuel subsidy in my country. Everybody gets fuel subsidy. We want to target certain groups and give it to them, not to others. We have different groups like B40 -- those who earn household income of less than 3,990 Malaysian ringgit," Kula Segaran said.

The other intention is to make the delivery of subsidies cashless, he said.

"Right now we send cheques or we give cash. No need of that if you follow the Aadhaar system, and it comes directly into your account," he said.

There are multiple subsidies provided by the Malaysian government such as fuel, low income group, single mother, etc for which it will be useful, he added.

India recently witnessed an acrimonious debate over Aadhaar's merits and demerits. A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court last month while quashing some contentious provisions of the Aadhaar Act, held that Aadhaar would remain compulsory for filing of Income Tax returns, allotment of Permanent Account Number and for availing facilities of welfare schemes and government subsidies.US President has said that he wants people with merit, who can help, to enter the country and not sneak inside the border illegally.

"I'm very tough at the borders. We've been very tough at the borders. People have to come into our country legally, not illegally. Legally. And I want them to come in on merit," Trump told reporters at the White House on Saturday.

Responding to a series of question on illegal immigration, the president reiterated that he wants people based on merit, a move that can help technology professionals from countries such as India.

"What I want is merit. I want a lot of people to come in. We have great car companies entering our country again. This hasn't happened for 35 years. We have companies like Foxconn going to Wisconsin with a massive, massive plant," he said.

"We need people coming in, but we want them to come in on merit. We want people that are going to help us. It's very important," Trump said.

Observing that immigration is not tricky to him, he insisted that the administration and the Congress have to do the right thing whether there's an election or not.

He opposed the chain migration policy and said, "If that's a bad policy, then guess what, a lot of bad things are going to happen. But a lot of people agree with me. I would say a vast majority of our country agrees. They don't want criminals coming into our country. They don't want people that they don't want in the country that aren't going to help us as a country. They don't want these people coming in. So we have a very strong policy.

"The one thing that really has changed over the last couple of years since I've been President -- our country is doing so well, even with real interest -- not with false interest rates. Zero interest. Anybody can do well with zero interest. We're the hottest country in the world, economically, by far. You take a look at us compared to China, compared to everybody else, we're the hottest country in the world. A lot of people are trying to come in. Our border security, our ICE, our law enforcement is doing an incredible job," he said.Indian-origin MP Priti Patel, one of the most outspoken British politicians in favour of Brexit, joined fellow Brexiteers on Sunday to mount a further challenge to Prime Minister Theresa May's plans for a future trading arrangement with the European Union (EU).

Patel is among 63 Conservative Party MPs to sign a letter attacking the UK government over its forecasts and blaming May's team of leaking negative financial forecasts of the impact of Britain's exit from the economic bloc.

"Adopting a constructive and transparent approach would be in the national interest," says the letter, organised by the Economists for Free Trade group of Eurosceptic economists and former minister Steve Baker.

"The general public is battered and bewildered by conflicting predictions of the future path of the economy following Brexit, fuelling a growing suspicion that Whitehall is engaging in what is apparently known internally as 'policy-based evidence-making'," it notes.

The show-of-unity letter, addressed to UK Chancellor Philip Hammond, comes as one of its signatories former Secretary David Davis openly called for a Cabinet uprising against May's Brexit strategy ahead of a crucial summit with the EU in Brussels scheduled for next week.

Writing in The Sunday Times, the former minister said the government's negotiating strategy had "fundamental flaws", arising from the "unwise decision in December to accept the EU's language on dealing with the Northern Ireland border".

The British PM has suggested a temporary customs arrangement for the whole of the UK to remain in the EU Customs Union while the complicated Irish border issue is resolved.

However, Brexiteers like Patel and Davis suspect this could turn into a permanent situation, restricting Britain's freedom to strike future trade deals with other countries.

"This is one of the most fundamental decisions that government has taken in modern times. It is time for the Cabinet to exert their collective authority. This week the authority of our constitution is on the line," writes Davis, who stepped down from the UK Cabinet in July due to his opposition to May's Brexit strategy agreed by the rest of the Cabinet at her country residence of Chequers.

A few days later, he was joined by another vocal Eurosceptic minister, Boris Johnson, who stepped down as Foreign Secretary and has since issued a series of direct attacks on the British PM's plans over the issue of Brexit.

In his newspaper article, David Davis also accuses the Prime Minister's aides of "incipient panic" in the face of Brussels' demands and wrongly trying to cut out the Cabinet from the key decisions.



May now faces an onslaught from at least nine ministers wanting her to change direction when the Cabinet meets on Tuesday with credible threats to resign from at least four. They are demanding a date be set to leave the Customs Union or a break clause, to be triggered in London, not Brussels.

Andrea Leadsom, the Leader of the Commons, is said to be "considering her position."





Scottish secretary David Mundell and Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Tories, have also made clear they would resign if Northern Ireland faces new controls that separate it from the rest of the UK because that would fuel the case for Scottish independence. In a further blow for the British PM, many anti-Brexit MPs who had voted to remain in the EU now plan to vote against her deal.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which supports the government as part of a pact to make up for the Tory government's lack of majority in the House of Commons, has warned May not to sign up to any deal that would see Northern Ireland remaining in the EU single market while the rest of the UK left.



Britain is set to formally leave the EU on March 29 next year after a 2016 referendum in favour of Brexit. Both sides are working towards a mid-November deadline for agreeing their so-called "divorce" arrangement, before they can formalise a future trading relationship by January next year.

The issue of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which will become the UK's border with the EU, is one of the last remaining obstacles to achieving a divorce deal with Brussels.

A pre-agreed transition period is set to end in December 2020, following which, unless there is an agreement in place, the UK would exit the economic bloc without a deal a scenario that has been painted as dire by experts.Pakistan is ready to share details of the debt related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with the IMF, Finance Minister has said while rejecting the US' view that China-funded projects were to blame for the cash-strapped country's current economic woes.

Speaking to the media here on his return from where he requested Monetary Fund's Managing Director for a bailout package for Pakistan, Umar said the decision to approach the global lender was taken after consultations with friendly countries.

The IMF team, Umar said, was scheduled to arrive in Pakistan on November 7 to negotiate the programme, likely to span over a three-year period. He said Pakistan's current year debt repayments were about $9 billion but obviously it would not entirely be available from the IMF.

Lagarde has made it clear that the IMF would require absolute transparency on Pakistan's debts, including those owned by China under the $50 billion

Umar, however, rejected the US State Department's statement, suggesting that the debt accrued on the projects was to blame for Pakistan's current economic crisis.

The US Friday said that the huge Chinese debt was responsible for the economic challenges in Pakistan, adding that it will review Islamabad's bailout plea to the IMF from all angles, including the country's debt position.

"We understand that Pakistan has formally requested assistance from the IMF. In all cases, we examine that closely from all angles of it, including Pakistan's debt position, in evaluating any type of loan programme," State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert had said, adding this is something the US has been tracking fairly closely.

Responding to a question, Nauert said; "The secretary (of state Mike Pompeo) had spoken about this a few months back, I know, in some interviews not that long ago. I think part of the reason that Pakistan found itself in this situation is Chinese debt, and the fact that there is debt that governments have incurred that they maybe thought wouldn't be so tough to bail themselves out of, but has become increasingly tough."



Umar said the US was a key stakeholder in the IMF with about 16.5 per cent votes but enjoyed no veto power in its decision making that required majority 51 per cent votes.

He said no government in Pakistan irrespective of any political background could compromise on national security and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government, too, would not opt for an IMF programme if conditionalities are of that nature.

But Umar Saturday said the government will have to take difficult decisions that would be painful for people but necessary under commitments to get out of the current severe economic situation.

The IMF, Umar said, had asked for details of loans, including ones secured in relation to the projects, for analysing the debt sustainability.

Pakistan would share "normal debt-related information about CPEC with the IMF", the Express Tribune Sunday quoted the finance minister as saying.

Reiterating that the government had decided to approach the Fund in consultation with friendly countries, he said that talks with these countries were still under way. He did not identify these countries but Islamabad was in contact with China and in recent weeks.

Unlike 2013, said the minister, the global environment was not favourable to Pakistan that was why the government thoroughly deliberated upon this matter before approaching the IMF.

He said that Pakistan was facing a financing gap of $12 billion this year, adding that this gap would not be bridged by IMF alone.

"We will turn to friendly countries again if the IMF terms are unacceptable to Pakistan during talks on the programme," he asserted.

The minister said that he had been contending for quite some time that economic conditions could lead to national security issues and the government would not compromise on matters of national security.

He also said that Saudi Arabia, China and the had not placed tough conditions for bailing Pakistan out.

But he declined to cite specific reasons why these countries had not provided any financial assistance to Pakistan, the report said.

Categorically rejecting the US assertion that the country was in an economic mess because of the CPEC-related debt repayments, Umar said that over the next three years, such repayments amounted to just $300 million a year, which "is very nominal against $9 billion of total debt repayments payable during this fiscal year alone".

The "statement of state department spokesperson is 100 per cent wrong", the minister said explaining that Pakistan's financing gap for the current year was about $12 billion and total repayments to China averaged $300 million over the next three years.

We totally disagree with that statement, Umar said, adding that he had already explained this to the US representatives and also to the IMF chief.

"The American narrative is totally wrong narrative, Umar was quoted as saying by the Dawn.

Without disclosing exact numbers, Umar said Pakistan's net foreign currency reserves were far below than the current gross level of $8.3 billion.

The minister said that one of the reasons for widening current account deficit was increase in

He acknowledged that the IMF programme would impact the lower and middle-income groups in Pakistan.

"We can perhaps live without the IMF but this could be more painful," Umar added.Saudi Arabia threatened on Sunday to use its economic clout to retaliate against any punitive measures, hitting back after the US President Donald Trump said he could take action against the worlds largest oil-exporter over the disappearance of a government critic. The kingdom emphasises that it will respond to any measure against it with an even stronger measure, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The kingdoms economy has an influential and vital role in the global economy. While the Saudi statement didnt make an ...

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.



As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.



Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.



Digital EditorPresident Donald Trump hinted that US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis may be planning to quit his administration, and described the former US Marine Corps general as sort of a Democrat. In an excerpt from a 60 Minutes interview that will air in full Sunday on CBS, Trump talked about the level of turnover in his administration after almost two years, and suggested there could be more to come. There are some people that Im not happy with.

I have some people that Im not thrilled with. And I have other people that ...Foreign investors have pulled out close to Rs 266 billion ($3.6 billion) from the Indian capital in the first two weeks of this month on unabated fall in rupee and rising crude and US treasury yields.

This is much higher than the over Rs 210 billion net outflow seen in entire September. Prior to that, overseas investors had put in a net amount of Rs 74 billion in the capital (both equity and debt) in July-August.

According to the latest depository data, (FPIs) sold equities to the tune of Rs 179.35 billion during October 1-12 and bonds worth Rs 86.45 billion, taking the total to Rs 265.8 billion ($3.6 billion).

FPIs have been net sellers almost throughout this year except a couple of months. However, experts said the swiftness of the exit in October thus far has shaken the market.

Negative sentiments from the global market on concerns over a slowing world economy led by lingering trade war between the US and China triggered the FPI pullout, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

The sentiment was also dampened by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgrading the outlook for world economy to 3.7 per cent growth last week.

"Rise in and US treasury yields and a tightening of global dollar liquidity are the key reasons for the FPI selling as they have induced high volatility in currency, bond and equity

"One must however remember that this is a global phenomena across emerging markets and not limited to India alone. Of course, the impact of rise in is higher for India as it imports most of its oil requirements. The matter was further exacerbated by the IL&FS default and the rout in NBFC debt papers," said Alok Agarwala, Senior Vice President and Head Investment Analytics at Bajaj Capital.

Making a similar point, Vidya Bala, Head of Mutual Fund Research at FundsIndia, said rising rates in the US, strengthening dollar and higher US earnings have been triggers for money moving out of India and other emerging markets to the US.

"While these have been the primary factors for the pullout, locally, rising oil price and oil marketing companies absorbing price cuts, the recent spate of management-related issues in banks and tightening liquidity in NBFCs have been immediate triggers," she added.

She further said the volatility can be expected to continue for other reasons too, like US sanctions on Iran which take effect in November. Iran is a major source of crude oil for India.

"India also has some key state elections coming up, which could provide cues to FPIs for next year's central elections," Bala added.

So far this year, FPIs have pulled out over Rs 300 billion from equities and nearly Rs 570 billion from the debt markets.At least one person got killed and 14 were injured after an under-construction building in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur collapsed on Sunday.

The two-story building collapsed around 3:30 PM.

Of 14 injured, two are said to be in serious condition and have been sent to Lucknow for medical treatment.

Three people are still suspected to be trapped under the debris.

Teams of Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been dispatched from Lucknow for assisting in relief work. The district magistrate is at the scene with his team.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)On pachyderms

When the elephnat goes, we will lose over 100 varieties of trees and bushesAhead of assembly elections in the state, residents in Bhopal have registered protest against caste-based reservation by putting up posters outside their houses asking political parties to not seek votes from people belonging the 'general category'.

The poster further urges people to choose the NOTA (None Of The Above) option in the upcoming polls.

The posters read: "I belong to general category. Political parties, be kind enough to not embarrass me by asking me to vote for you. Vote for NOTA."

Urging the government to address this issue and scrap caste-based reservation, a resident told ANI, "We expected more from both the Centre and state government in terms of work they have done to address the issue related to caste-based reservations."

She further claimed that those belonging to the general category are worst affected by reservations. "The worst affected are our kids, who are often denied an equal opportunity when it comes to getting admission in schools, colleges or getting jobs. Even these people (Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes category) are often exempted from giving examinations. This is affecting people who are from the general background. It is high time that the government addresses the issue," said the woman resident.

Another resident said that people belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) should be given financial help instead of quotas in education and jobs.

"Help them financially instead of giving them so many benefits. For instance, a general candidate student, even if he fares well in his school examinations, is often ignored, while the other student, who has scored less but belongs to SC/ST category, is given the opportunity," said the local.

The resident, Sudhir Sharma, further added that political parties use the issue for political gains in elections.

"This is unfortunate, but, the political parties also use this as an opportunity to win elections. Many aggrieved voters will avail the NOTA option instead of casting their votes for any particular party," he stated.

Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections will be held on November 28 to elect representatives of the 230 constituencies in the state.In the wake of the 'Me Too' movement, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Sunday urged girls and women activists to report the incidents of sexual crimes to the police and the DCW so that offenders can be put behind bars.

"The Commission understands that going through the legal process is not easy. But the brave MeToo activists have already taken the first hardest step of all - to talk about their ordeals openly. When they report these matters to the authorities through proper complaints, the chances of justice being delivered increase significantly," a statement from the DCW read.

"The Commission believes that their speaking out has given courage and strength to millions to shout out against sexual crimes and narrate their stories. In doing so, they have not only helped themselves but created huge awareness against sexual crimes, "it added.

In order to support survivors, the organisation has also set up a separate email id - metoodcw@gmail.com -for lodging the complaints under the 'Me Too' movement. A helpline service (181) has also been started for any assistance regarding the same.

The statement comes two days after DCW Chief Swati Maliwal penned a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to set up an investigation committee at the earliest and initiate probes against the people who have been accused of sexual misconduct.

She also requested the central government to set up more fast tracks courts and deploy more police across the country so that the women victims can get speedy justice.

"I urge you (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) not to let this movement get suppressed and help women victims to fight their battles for justice," she added.

The 'Me Too' movement gained momentum in India after Bollywood actor Tanushree Dutta accused Nata Patekar of misbehaving with her during a film shoot in 2008.

Since then, scores of women have come out to speak about their ordeals on social media, including actors, musicians, journalists, and politicos.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)American pastor Andrew Brunson, who was released by the Turkish authorities after two years in connection to a coup d'etat case, has arrived here and met with President Donald Trump at the White House.

Upon his arrival on Saturday, Brunson thanked Trump and other lawmakers for securing his release. He also introduced his family to the US President.

Lauding the Christian evangelist for displaying resilience in the last two years, CNN quoted Trump as saying, "I just want to congratulate you because you have galvanised this country. There's so much interest, and it's your faith, it's your strength, what you've done, gone through."

He also thanked his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for facilitating Brunson's return, saying "it was not easy".

In response, Brunson said, "We especially want to thank the administration, they really fought for us, unusually so. From the time you took office, I know that you've been engaged."

"We're so grateful to so many people in Congress who stood with us and who prayed for us and fought for us, so we want to thank you," he added.

On Friday, a Turkish court ordered his release and dropped charges against him. The pastor, who ran Ressurection Church in Turkey, was arrested two years ago for allegedly helping terrorist groups in carrying out the 2016 coup d'etat in a bid to overthrow Erdogan.

Before meeting with Brunson, Trump had refuted reports that the pastor was released based on a deal between the US and Turkey.

"There was NO DEAL made with Turkey for the release and return of Pastor Andrew Brunson. I don't make deals for hostages. There was, however, great appreciation on behalf of the United States, which will lead to good, perhaps great, relations between the United States & Turkey!" the US President wrote on Twitter.

After being released, Brunson boarded an American military plane for home, where he stopped in Germany en-route for a medical check-up.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The police on Sunday said that they are yet to ascertain the motive behind the shooting of an additional session court judge's wife and son in Gurugram on Saturday.

Speaking to the media, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) East Gurugram, Sulochana Gajraj said, "We will seek his (gunman Mahipal) remand to question him further. It is still not clear why he shot the wife and son of additional Sessions Court judge yesterday. The investigation is underway."

Gajraj added that the accused said he was under stress since the last few days and was not able to sleep, but did not give any exact or specific reason for anything. The police did not find any medical history, nor was he under any medication.

"Nothing happened that could have triggered sudden aggression, but we have to find out what was going on in his mind. It shall also be taken into consideration that he was staying with the family for 1.5 years, had there been a severe issue why would he continue to stay with the family?" added the DCP

Refuting the reports of the firing taking place in the police station, Gajraj said, "He fired five rounds of the revolver, no firing took in the police station."

The police also did not find any complaints of misconduct against the accused and have not contacted Mahipal's family as yet.

Reacting to the reports of religious conversion of the accused, she said, "He said that he is a Hindu but he believes in every religion."

On the afternoon of October 13, the personal security officer of Additional Session Court judge Krishan Kant shot his wife and son in Sector 49, Gurugram. The wife succumbed to her injuries earlier this morning.

Officials from Medanta Hospital where Kant's wife and son were admitted said the woman died due to excessive bleeding from the bullet wound. "A team of three doctors conducted her post-mortem," the official added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)American rapper Kanye West has finally broken his Twitter hiatus days after meeting United States President Donald Trump at the White House for lunch on October 12.

On Saturday (local time), Kanye returned to social media after deleting his Instagram and Twitter accounts last week and posted a number of videos about mind control. The 'Ye' star posted two short videos and one sound byte before a long selfie video that lasted nearly 10 minutes. In the main video, Kanye spoke at length about the mind and "unprogramming" ourselves.

"I just want to talk about mind control. You know when people try to influence you through social media and try to tell you what to do, or if people post something that's positive on Instagram it gets taken down if it's not part of a bigger agenda," he said. "That's, like, mind control. That's the poison that's happening with social media."

In the video, he also criticised social media and its effect on users, especially when people care too much about how many followers they have or likes they get on a picture. "Social media is a lie," he told viewers.

On Thursday (local time), Kanye met Trump and held a press conference in which the duo touched upon the 13th and Second amendments, North Korea, bringing manufacturing to the US, and ending stop-and-frisk in Chicago, among other issues.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)After winning the Test series against West Indies here at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday, Indian skipper Virat Kohli said that a three-day finish was not part of the plan; however, it helped to understand how to create pressure and intensity with the ball.

"It is good to have so many guys bowling so well. We have four bowlers who can pick wickets; anyone can step in at any time for anyone. It's a great luxury to have from team's point of view," Kohli said.

"In batting, learning from the last tour, we want to improve collectively but we want to keep bowling as a major strength. In order for us to feel like we have a chance to win, these guys are taking responsibility well."

Speaking on Shardul Thakur 's debut, Kohli said, "Shardul showed his fitness level. He picked wickets, not just completed over. I think it was the stand out performance of his career."

Kohli also lauded the youngsters and said, "We wanted them to play with a lot of freedom, which they did. Rishabh was really fearless. Both those guys were really good and got a chance to understand how to play at this level. They have solidified their place in the team. Getting the man of the series regardless of where we play, it is an outstanding achievement. I am really happy these guys grabbed their chances."

Talking about the upcoming crucial Test series against Australia, Kohli said, "Four tests in Australia can be brutal as the ball doesn't do much like in England. Umesh is right up there to feature in Australia."

Prithvi Shaw's performance earned him the Man of the Series, while Umesh Yadav became the Man of the Match.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar said that what people are witnessing today as part of the '#MeToo' movement is a reflection of what is happening in the society.

"Prabhupada Swami always talked about character building and used to say, 'If you lose character, it is a real loss'. What we are witnessing today in #MeToo movement is a reflection of what is happening around," Javadekar said while addressing a gathering here.

The 'Me Too' movement gained momentum in India after Bollywood actor Tanushree Dutta accused Nata Patekar of misbehaving with her during a film shoot in 2008.

Since then, scores of women have come out to speak about their ordeals on social media, including actors, musicians, journalists, and politicos.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former Maldives foreign affairs minister Dunya Maumoon on Sunday extended the hand of friendship towards India and said that the trust should be regained between the two countries.

The statement from Maumoon, who is the daughter of former President of the Maldives Maumoon Abdul Gayoom came after meeting with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi.

Taking to Twitter, Maumoon said, "It was such a pleasure to call on my friend HE @SushmaSwaraj to pass on greetings from my father. HE @maumoonagayoom built a warm friendship between our countries while he was in office. We need to regain the trust between our countries."

India-Maldives relations have been strained recently after Male snubbed helicopters and work permit of India.

The rift between the two countries escalated after the Maldives inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pakistan to get help for developing its infrastructure in power sector in July.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tehmina Durrani, the wife of former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif, has stated that she was "appalled" to see how her husband is being treated in custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

In a series of tweets, Durrani said, "Today, 8 days after my husband Shabaz Sharif was arrested by NAB, I was finally allowed to meet him. I hv returned home appalled. He lives in a dingy 10+10 cell with an exhaust fan, & not a crack in the concrete 4 fresh air or a ray of light! Thr is no concept of day & nite!"

Durrani further revealed that in order to use the restroom, Shehbaz has to repeatedly hit a lock on a barred door for the jailer to hear him and take him to use the public toilet. She also said that Shehbaz has not been provided with an air conditioner or newspaper.

"Narrating the situation, she said, "He has 2 repeatedly hit the huge lock on a barred door 4 the jailer 2 hear him & come with keys to take him 3 the public toilet, be it in the middle of the nite.Thr is no AC, & no newspaper but thr r many mosquitos wich hv left many red bites! He is taken 4 a walk in a corridor," the tweet read.

She also accused the NAB of unfair interrogation and lack of legal facilities for her husband, and claimed that the leader of the opposition is not being allowed to meet his lawyers.

"The leader of the opposition has not been allowed 2 meet his lawyers! Despite constantly asking 4 the required documents, NAB has not provided them. He is investigated 4 less than 30 minutes a day! Then he waits for the next 30 minutes & the next day 2 dawn. A dawn he can't see," Durrani added.

Shehbaz's wife went on to question why her husband was being treated like a "condemned criminal" when there is no probe. " If thr is no investigation why is Shabaz Sharif being treated like a condemned criminal? Why is he taken to the NAB court in a dark & airless 'Baktarband' grave-like jeep? Why is he so unprotected while 'IN' NAB custody that he is pushed around & falls?" she added.

Detailing Shehbaz's services for the Punjab province and his dedication towards serving the country, Durrani stated, "Shabaz Sharif, 3 times CM Punjab & present leader of the opposition taught us The Value Of Time. He was a man in a hurry. He served & delivered 24/7. Today, as he sits idle in his suffocating cell, I wonder why he 'Ran' so fast, & yet again 2day he said "I'm wasting 2 much time."

Continuing her tirade against NAB, Durrani termed the whole process of investigation as a "sham".

"My husband & I were not allowed 2 speak alone. Both his jailer & investigator were present. As I did not want 2 comment on an investigation, I waited until I saw it all 1st hand 2 give an accurate update on Shabaz Sharif's living conditions & the NAB investigation. It is a sham!," she tweeted.

Shehbaz Sharif was arrested by the NAB on October 5 for his alleged involvement in the Ashiana Housing Scheme scam, shortly ahead of the Pakistan by-polls. Sharif was arrested on charges of misusing authority and resorting to corruption in the housing scheme, during his tenure as the Chief Minister of Punjab province.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs MJ Akbar, who arrived in India on early Sunday morning refrained from speaking on sexual misconduct allegations levelled against him while saying that he will issue a statement on the matter later on.

On being asked about the allegations, Akbar said, "There will be a statement later on." He was on an official visit to Nigeria.

Akbar has come under the scanner after several of his former colleagues accused him of sexual misconduct when he held senior editorial positions in a number of media organisations. This came in the wake of #MeToo movement. Soon after these allegations, many in the opposition demanded minister's resignation.

According to a source, senior ministers, in off-record conversations, had earlier indicated that Akbar will have to step down once he returns to India as his position in the government is untenable.

However, a consensus has reportedly not been achieved among the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members on whether a MoS can be ousted merely on the basis of allegations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)One million Nepalis suffer from arthritis

Around one million people in the country suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), medical experts said at an event held here on Saturday.At least 16 people were killed Saturday and 36 wounded in two attacks against Afghanistan's ongoing parliamentary election campaign ahead of next week's vote, authorities told Efe.

The first attack occurred in Takhar province in the country's northeast, where a bomb killed 14 people and wounded 35 others during a rally.

"A motorcycle laden with explosives or a mine was parked behind a campaign tent of the candidate Nazifa Yousofi Beig in Rostaq district," Takhar police spokesperson Khalil Aseer told Efe.

He stated that when the explosion occurred, the candidate was near the tent, but escaped injury because she had not left her vehicle, while three police officers and an intelligence agent were among the dead.

The second incident occurred in the northwestern city of Herat, the third-largest city in Afghanistan, where two people including a child were killed in a shooting inside a campaign office, Herat government spokesperson Jailiani Farhad told Efe.

Although the Taliban insurgent group had issued warnings demanding a boycott of the parliamentary elections, scheduled for October 20, no group claimed responsibility for either incident.

Four attacks have been carried out in October against electoral campaign events, including Saturday's violence.

A suicide bomber killed eight people, including a candidate, in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan on October 9, while another suicide attack killed 14 people and injured 47 in the eastern province of Nangarhar on October 2.

More than 2,500 candidates are running for the 249 seats in the Afghan Parliament, with the elections denounced by insurgents as a "false" process that aims at legitimizing the presence of foreign troops in country.

The Afghan government has deployed 54,000 soldiers to ensure the security of the polls, but 2,384 of the 7,384 polling stations are in areas under Taliban control and will remain closed on election day, according to the country's Independent Election Commission.

--IANS

ahm/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)At least 17 passengers fleeing escalating war in Yemen's war-torn port city of Hodeidah were killed on Saturday when a Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit two buses near a security checkpoint, a provincial hospital official said.

The airstrike hit the buses in Masbarah area at the top of Jabal Ras hill near a Houthi-manned security checkpoint south of the port city.

"Most of the victims are women and children," the official told Xinhua by phone on condition of anonymity.

He said 20 others were wounded and were transported to several hospitals.

The Houthi-controlled Saba news agency reported the air attack, while there was no immediate comment from the Saudi-led coalition.

The Saturday attack was the latest in a series of airstrikes against the civilians since the coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict in 2015.

On Wednesday, a coalition airstrike killed five farmers near a charity drinking water pump in al-Jah district in Hodeidah, according to the local hospital officials.

The war has escalated in the Red Sea port city following the collapse of peacemaking efforts last month by the UN in Geneva after Houthi rebels refused to attend.

The Hodeidah port is a main entry point of about 70 percent of Yemen's food, medicines, aid and fuel.

Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen on March 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after the Houthi rebels forced him into exile. The war has killed over 10,000 people and displaced nearly three million.

--IANS

ahm/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will launch a nationwide campaign on Monday to tackle the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) ongoing financial crisis, cabinet Minister Gopal Rai said on Sunday.

Talking to the media, Rai said that AAP, the ruling party of Delhi, had reached a point where "it does not have sufficient funds to carry out its functions and prepare for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections".

The party, he said, has called for a gathering of all its Ministers, MLAs, Rajya Sabha members and in-charges at the Talkatora stadium for the campaign.

"Kejriwal will launch the nationwide campaign 'Aap ka Daan Rashtra ka Nirmaan' under which anyone, who supports the party's policies and positive nation building, can donate a minimum of Rs 100 to the party per month," Rai said.

"Until now, the party has been getting random donations. Under this campaign, we have developed a system to get regular funds and get monthly financial help from the people," he added.

The AAP's Karnataka convenor, Prithvi Reddy, will head the campaign.

However, he said, if anyone wants to donate only once and not monthly, then the party will accept cheques, credit cards and cash. "But cash donations cannot be more than Rs 2,000," Rai said.

--IANS

sd/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)At least eight Afghan police personnel, including a district police chief, were killed in clashes in the southern province of Zabul overnight, a provincial source said on Sunday.

In one incident, police chief of Mizan district Asad Khan was killed during the clashes following a Taliban attack on district government offices and surrounding security checkpoints late Saturday night, Xinhua news agency quoted the source as saying.

In neighbouring Shahr-i-Safa locality, seven police officers were killed in a similar incident as they repulsed a Taliban attack on police security checkpoints.

Several militants were also killed and injured during the clashes, the source said.

Zabiullah Mujahid, a purported Taliban spokesman, has claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying three Taliban fighters were wounded in the fighting.

The violence has been on the rise as Afghan security forces struggle against a surge in attacks by militants as the country is preparing for parliamentary elections slated for October 20.

--IANS

mr/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The health parameters of Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who returned from Delhi on Sunday, are stable, his office said.

"The Chief Minister arrived back in Goa today (Sunday) evening. He is recovering and his health parameters are stable. The line of treatment from AIIMS will be continued," the Chief Minister's Office said in a statement.

Parrikar was discharged early on Sunday from Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences, where he was being treated for advanced pancreatic cancer since September 15.

Parrikar arrived in Goa by a special flight and headed straight to his private residence, near Panaji, where a government-operated ambulance and a medical crew were kept on a stand-by.

Goa's Power Minister Nilesh Cabral earlier on Sunday said he hoped for a miracle for Parrikar, who has been battling cancer for several months.

Parrikar, a former Union Defence Minister, was ferried, under a police escort, by an ambulance from the airport and was taken inside his residence with the help of a stretcher.

Parrikar has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and Delhi for the last seven months.

On Friday, Parrikar held a meeting of his Cabinet Ministers and senior members of the BJP State Executive Committee at AIIMS.

The Congress has been demanding Parrikar's resignation on account of his prolonged illness and absence from office.

--IANS

maya/shs/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Giving no indication of resigning from the government, Union Minister M.J. Akbar, who is facing charges of sexual harassment and wrongdoing by around a dozen women journalists, on Sunday called the allegations "false, wild and baseless" and vowed to take legal action against the accusers.

"Accusation without evidence has become a viral fever among some sections. Whatever be the case, now that I have returned (from abroad), my lawyers will look into these wild and baseless allegations in order to decide our future course of legal action," he said in a statement hours after his return.

Akbar, who was abroad on an official trip in Nigeria when allegations were made by women journalists who had worked with him in newspapers over 15 years ago as part of the #MeToo campaign, asked whether there was an agenda in the allegations as they came ahead of general elections.

While Akbar issued a statement, there was no word from the government or the ruling BJP as to whether he would continue in the government amidst opposition demands for his resignation.

"Why has this storm risen a few months before a general election? Is there an agenda? You be the judge. These false, baseless and wild allegations have caused irreparable damage to my reputation and goodwill," he said.

"Lies do not have legs, but they do contain poison, which can be whipped into a frenzy. This is deeply distressing. I will be taking appropriate legal action," said the 67-year-old former Editor of Asian Age.

Referring to charges by former colleague Priya Ramani, who had written an article a year ago and now named him following the #MeToo campaign, Akbar said: "Priya Ramani began this campaign a year ago with a magazine article. She did not, however, name me as she knew it was an incorrect story. When asked recently why she had not named me, she replied, in a Tweet: "Never named him because he didn't 'do' anything.

"If I didn't do anything, where and what is the story? There's no story. But a sea of innuendo, speculation and abusive diatribe has been built around something that never happened. Some are total, unsubstantiated hearsay; others confirm, on the record, that I didn't do anything," he said.

He referred to other journalists and said: "Shutapa Paul states, 'the man never laid a hand on me'.

"'Shuma Raha says, I must clarify, however, that he didn't actually 'do' anything'. One woman, Anju Bharti, went to the absurd extent of claiming I was partying in a swimming pool. I do not know how to swim."

Akbar, a founding editor of The Telegraph daily and Sunday magazine, was a big name in the industry before he joined in 1989 when he fought the Lok Sabha election on a Congress ticket and became an MP.

He joined BJP ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. A Rajya Sabha MP from Madhya Pradesh, he was inducted into the Modi government in July 2016.

Rebutting allegations by some others, Akbar said: "Another accusation was made repeatedly by Ghazala Wahab, in an effort to damage my reputation. She claimed that she had been molested in office, 21 years ago. This is 16 years before I entered public life, and when I was in

"The only office where I worked with Ghazala Wahab was that of The Asian Age. A part of the editorial team then worked out of a small hall. At the time concerned, I had a very tiny cubicle, patched together by plywood and glass. Others had tables and chairs two feet away.

"It is utterly bizarre to believe that anything could have happened in that tiny space, and, moreover, that no one else in the vicinity would come to know, in the midst of a working day. These allegations are false, motivated and baseless.

"Pertinent to remember Ramani and Wahab kept working with me even after these alleged incidents; clearly establishes they had no apprehension and discomfort. Reason why they remained silent for decades is very apparent, as Ramani has herself stated, I never did anything," he added.

--IANS

and-vsc-ab/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Defying widespread calls for his ouster over multiple charges of sexual harassment, Union Minister M.J. Akbar on Sunday termed the allegations "wild and baseless" and questioning their timing and vowed to take legal action against the accusers.

As the #MeToo movement gained momentum in the country, around a dozen women journalists accused Akbar of sexual harassment and molestation, leading to a growing chorus for his ouster as the Minister of State for External Affairs.

On his arrival from an official trip in Nigeria, Akbar issued a statement rubbishing the charges and wondered if there was an agenda behind the allegations as they came ahead of next year's general elections.

"Accusation without evidence has become a viral fever among some sections. Whatever be the case, now that I have returned (from abroad), my lawyers will look into these wild and baseless allegations in order to decide our future course of legal action," he said hours after his return.

While there have been speculations that he may resign upon his arrival, Akbar gave no indication of his stepping down nor was there a word from the government or the ruling BJP as to whether he would continue in the government.

"Why has this storm risen a few months before a general election? Is there an agenda? You be the judge. These false, baseless and wild allegations have caused irreparable damage to my reputation and goodwill," said the 67-year-old former Editor of Asian Age.

Former Mint Lounge Editor Priya Ramani was the first to accuse Akbar. As days passed, more and more women journalists who had worked with him came out with their complaints.

Among others to accuse Akbar include Force magazine Executive Editor Ghazala Wahab, US-based journalist Majlie de Puy Kamp and UK-based journalist Ruth David.

Akbar in his statement gave a point by point rebuttal of the charges.

Referring to charges by former colleague Ramani, Akbar said: "Ramani began this campaign a year ago with a magazine article. She did not, however, name me as she knew it was an incorrect story. When asked recently why she had not named me, she replied, in a Tweet: 'Never named him because he didn't 'do' anything.'

"If I didn't do anything, where and what is the story? There's no story. But a sea of innuendo, speculation and abusive diatribe has been built around something that never happened. Some are total, unsubstantiated hearsay; others confirm, on the record, that I didn't do anything," he said.

"Shutapa Paul states, 'the man never laid a hand on me'.

"'Shuma Raha says, I must clarify, however, that he didn't actually 'do' anything'. One woman, Anju Bharti, went to the absurd extent of claiming I was partying in a swimming pool. I do not know how to swim."

"Another accusation was made repeatedly by Ghazala Wahab, in an effort to damage my reputation. She claimed that she had been molested in office, 21 years ago. This is 16 years before I entered public life, and when I was in

"The only office where I worked with Ghazala Wahab was that of The Asian Age. A part of the editorial team then worked out of a small hall. At the time concerned, I had a very tiny cubicle, patched together by plywood and glass. Others had tables and chairs two feet away.

"It is utterly bizarre to believe that anything could have happened in that tiny space, and, moreover, that no one else in the vicinity would come to know, in the midst of a working day. These allegations are false, motivated and baseless.

"Pertinent to remember Ramani and Wahab kept working with me even after these alleged incidents; clearly establishes they had no apprehension and discomfort. Reason why they remained silent for decades is very apparent, as Ramani has herself stated, I never did anything," added Akbar.

A founding editor of The Telegraph daily and Sunday magazine, Akbar joined in 1989 and became a Congress MP. He joined BJP ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. A Rajya Sabha MP from Madhya Pradesh, he was inducted into the Modi government in July 2016.

While the government has not officially responded, Union minister Ramdas Athawale said Akbar should resign if the allegations against him were true.

"If someone is insulting women, action should be taken against such an individual. If personalities like Akbar are found guilty, action should be taken against them," Athawale told the in Pune while calling for the allegations to be investigated.

The Congress and Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) flayed Akbar for his brazenness.

"Akbar calls the sexual allegations a political conspiracy. It adds insult to injury and humiliation. Let this be a tipping point moment for the #MeToo movement. Don't be intimidated. This is the time to rise even further. This is the time to fight back, appalled," Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha twitted.

AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said Akbar's decision not to quit was expected.

"Akbar comes from a party where Kuldeep Singh Sengar is still part of the BJP despite being accused of raping a young girl and getting her father killed," said Bharadwaj referring to the MLA from Uttar Pradesh, the main accused in the 2017 Unnao gang rape and murder case.

"AAP believes this is purely Modi brand of politics, where all accusations are judged and rejected by the accused itself. The party supports the cause of brave women coming naming and shaming the sexual predators," he added.

--IANS

and/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Israel's leading airline El Al warns that all Israeli airlines will stop flying from January 1, 2019 because of security concerns abroad, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

The surprising announcement was made by Eli Dapas, El Al chairman, in his urgent letter to the deputy head of Israel's National Security Council and the Director General of the Prime Minister's Office, the Hebrew-language newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

All flights would be halted because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not intend to continue employing security guards worldwide, Dapas said in the letter.

According to Dapas, the Director-General of the Foreign Ministry recently sent him a letter saying the Ministry won't employ security workers any more at foreign airports after January 1 as no agreement had been reached with these employees.

These Israeli security personnel living abroad normally serve as assistants of security officers in the destinations flown by Israeli international airlines El Al, Arkia and Israir.

Copies of the letter were sent to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also serves as Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Minister of Transport.

Any change in the complex security system will require the consent of many bodies, and the government can't take such decision only 2.5 months in advance, Dapas noted.

The Prime Minister's Office, however, said the issue was expected to be resolved with the Ministry of Finance in days.

--IANS

mr/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Goa Forward Vice President Trajano D'Mello resigned from the party after accusing the BJP-led government of brazenly backing the fish mafia in the state, adding to the state's political turbulence.

Even as the BJP-led coalition in Goa battles to stay afloat amid Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's prolonged illness, a past ghost of a formalin-in-fish controversy continues to dog the government, especially BJP ally Goa Forward.

On Sunday, D'Mello resigned from the party, claiming that the government was backing the fish mafia which uses formalin, a carcinogenic preservative used to preserve cadavers, to preserve fish sold in the state's fish markets.

"I would like to state that if fighting for justice for an upright officer who is mentally tortured is anti-party activity, I would prefer to fight for the injustice meted out to an officer who has alerted and saved the trusting Goan from the deadly cancerous poisoning of our brethren," D'Mello said in his Facebook post on Sunday.

D'Mello was referring to the targeting of the whistle-blower Food and Drugs Administration official Iva Fernandes, who exposed the formalin-use scandal and has now complained to the Human Rights Commission claiming harassment by her seniors after she conducted the raid in July.

The controversy involving use of formalin in fish erupted in July this year, Fernandes found traces of formalin in fish being sold in Goa during a raid.

The BJP-led coalition government, of which Goa Forward is a part, has been on the backfoot ever since, after several of its Ministers were accused of allegedly protecting fish-traders who were allegedly importing formalin-laced fish consignments into Goa from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

D'Mello, who had been served a show cause notice by Goa Forward for his critique of the party last week, also said questioned the party leadership about its silence against the harassment of Fernandes.

"If Goa Forward, which forms one fourth of the state cabinet with its three Ministers, cannot insist on a crackdown on those who poison fish consumed by the people of Goa, then who can?" D'Mello said.

--IANS

maya/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)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.A Kerala Minister on Sunday urged the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) to look into the grievances raised by actresses.

The Women's Collective in Cinema (WCC) has raised concerns over how AMMA, led by superstar Mohanlal, has handled the case involving the kidnapping of an actress.

The Kerala government will step in if a need arises, State Minister for Law, Cinema and Culture A.K. Balan said here.

"Now that the WCC has raised issues, in all fairness, AMMA should look into it and sort out it," said Balan.

The WCC was formed last year by women drawn from various sectors of the film industry to fight for their cause, after they found that AMMA was not protecting their interests.

Senior actor Dileep is an accused in a kidnapping case that took place last year. The actor was in jail for 85 days and is now out on bail.

It was at a lengthy press conference that the WCC, led by actress Revathy, alleged that AMMA has not supported the victim, whereas Dileep has got all the backing.

Others who took part included Rima Kallingal, Remya Nambisan and Geetu Mohandas, who had earlier quit from AMMA to protest against the way the actress' kidnapping issue was handled by AMMA.

On Saturday, Revathy said things were not clean in the Malayalam film industry. She said she was shocked to see a 17-year-old young girl knocking at her door and complaining about the way she was exploited.

But on Sunday, Revathy issued a statement, clearing her stance regarding something she said during the press conference, in reference to an incident which took place years ago.

"I wish to clarify that the said incident happened 25-26 years back and not one and a half years back as some are projecting it to be. She said that someone repeatedly knocked at her door asking her to open and she did not know who it was. I asked her to come inside the room and locked the door. She was scared and I was also equally scared and both of us waited out that night in fear. No sexual or physical assault actually happened," said Revathy.

Meanwhile, a lawyer has filed a petition at a police station in Kochi against Revathy for withholding the information and not reporting to the concerned authorities.

Following the WCC press meet on Saturday evening, their Facebook page has come under cyber attack.

--IANS

sg/rb/ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)As Europe continues to grapple with the problem of refugees fleeing war-torn Syria, an organisation founded by an Indian is helping a small town in Germany in rehabilitating these people.

R Ventures Foundation, registered in Amsterdam, is helping the university town of Heidelberg in the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg in rehabilitating the Syrian refugees by setting up an incubator to impart skills so that these people can become entrepreneurs and job creators.

Founded in 2017 by Shantanu Prakash, an IIM Ahmedabad graduate and a member of the Global Futures Council on Migration at the World Economic Forum (WEF), the organisation is focused on the intersection of refugees and entrepreneurship with the belief that refugees and displaced persons can help catalyse a new era of job creation and integration.

So what kind of skills are being imparted to these refugees?

"Currently, we are looking at more of the hi-tech area, innovation technology area, but it also depends on who it applies to," Prakash, who was on a visit here, told IANS in an interview.

"Our idea is to really look at people who have a desire to become entrepreneurs, who are educated," he said.

He said that a lot of these people are already well-educated, but being refugees, they have to start from zero.

In this connection, he drew a parallel with the situation during the 1947 Partition when many people migrating from newly-created Pakistan to India were highly educated but had to restart their life from scratch.

"Now, it would be a pity if a highly qualified engineer has to take up a job of a janitor or something," Prakash said.

"So, the idea is that we provide them a supportive environment. We give them the skills, how to create a business in a different country."

Pointing out that that there is the issue of cultural sensitivity and the rules of business being different, Prakash said R Ventures Foundation helps the refugees to create a business pitch.

"We have got a full curriculum for it, what to teach step by step, teaching them a whole variety of skills, how to build up a business," he stated.

"Our idea is that the graduates of this programme will set up businesses in Heidelberg or elsewhere."

Prakash said that once these entrepreneurs become successful, people will write about them and then Germans and people of the rest of the world will know that the refugees are adding value to the society.

So how did the whole idea of imparting skills while rehabilitating refugees come about?"

"There was no compelling reason for us," Prakash said on a philosophical note. "Maybe it was a calling. Maybe it was something that we were meant to do."

Prakash said that through his involvement with the WEF, he got to understand the contentious issues regarding refugees.

"When I got deeper into it, I got more fascinated about it," he explained. "And I thought that people are referring to this as a crisis rather than opportunity."

Though a lot of foundations are working for refugees, Prakash said that what is different about R Ventures is that it is trying to address the issue from a different angle.

"Our dimension is: Can some of them become job creators? For us, that is good enough," he stated

So, how did a small German town and this organisation founded by an Indian come together?

Heidelberg City Manager Nicole Huber said that the idea took shape when she came in touch with R Ventures co-founder Archish Mittal sometime in 2017.

She said that the state government of Baden-Wurttemberg has made Heidelberg the registration hub for refugees in the whole of south Germany. There are around 1,000 Syrian refugees in the town with a population of a little over 160,000 while many have left for different places within Germany.

So, have there been law and order problems in Germany with the influx of such a huge number of refugees?

"We don't see any more crime... than with an average German population," Huber said.

(Aroonim Bhuyan can be contacted at aroonim.b@ians.in)

--IANS

ab/vm/tb/sac

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A woman in Australia's Queensland state suffered internal injuries including a collapsed lung and broken ribs after being attacked by a wild kangaroo that her husband was feeding on Saturday night, according to local media.

Wildlife carer Linda Smith, 64, and her husband Jim were feeding the marsupials at their home southwest of state capital Brisbane when one kangaroo, "a huge grey ... turned on him," the ABC news channel reported on Sunday.

"Jim was on the ground and the kangaroo just kept at him," Xinhua news agency quoted Smith as saying.

Smith said she took a broom and a piece of bread to try and help her husband but the kangaroo "knocked the broom out of my hand then attacked me".

The animal went back into the bush and was gone when emergency services arrived, with one paramedic saying Smith was "lucky to be alive". She was in stable condition and set to undergo surgery on Sunday afternoon, the channel reported.

Smith said she understood the attack was "an act of nature" and did not want the kangaroo to be hunted and killed.

Kangaroos, like their marsupial cousins koalas, are a popular Australian sight and can be found in the wild throughout the country.

Earlier this year, kangaroo attacks on visitors at a hospital site in New South Wales state alone fuelled calls for more warnings about feeding or approaching the animals.

--IANS

mr/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Barcelos is a new South African flame-grilled chicken restaurant that opened its outlet here recently -- at a time when a competing brand has also stepped in, and another downed its shutters. It is also a time when many eateries are experiencing a sharp drop in footfalls as orders through delivery firms like Swiggy, Uber Eats and others are on the rise.

"There are two kinds of chicken outlets -- price-focused and experience-focused. While the popular fried chicken brands are price-focused, we are focused on providing an experience to our guests," Rohit Malhotra, Business Head-India, Barcelos, told IANS, offering a tangy mango drink.

It might have looked like any other mango drink. But sip it, and you will be pleasantly surprised by the taste.

The 65-seater Barcelos outlet at the Express Avenue Mall has been designed well.

The recipe for success is to have a wide variety of dishes catering to different taste buds rather than offering just the chicken-based items, said Malhotra, who proudly shared the thick menu card running into several pages.

"Our menu has Italian, Spanish, Mexican, Portuguese and American dishes. The menu should have the several dishes, including vegetarian ones, for a family or group to choose from instead of restricting their choice to just peri-peri and other chicken dishes," he said.

True to this, the menu has wide variety of dishes to choose from for adults as well as children -- lots of pastas and burgers. However, the chicken footprint is hard to miss.

Even as Malhotra was explaining Barcelos' India strategy, it was time to bite into a classic Italian bruschetta. It was okay.

"Our focus is on the mall segment and to avoid high-street outlets as there is no control over the number of competing players. Further, mall outlets get footfalls as a good number of shoppers do not mind sitting for some time to have a bite," Malhotra said.

By this time, the soft and mildly spicy and tasty peri-peri grilled chicken wings had been polished off while a plate full of fried shrimps and a second round of the tangy mango drink arrived.

Queried about the threat posed by food delivery companies, Malhotra said Barcelos has not signed up with any.

A hotelier had told IANS that the advent of food delivery companies have increased the number of orders but have eaten into the dine-in business. According to him, the size of the outlets is being reduced to cut rental expenses.

The crispy shrimps were good -- and when taken with the mango mocktail, it was great.

It was time for the main course -- flame-grilled peri-peri chicken and Portuguese rice. For those who are accustomed to a spicy meal, it is suggested to first dig into the peri-peri chicken and follow this up with the rice. One can add a dash of peri-peri sauce to further spice up the soft chicken.

On the expansion front, Malhotra said the company bets on the franchise model. "We are also planning to come out with our outlets for food courts," Malhotra said.

According to him, Barcelos India is hoping to open 20-25 outlets each year after 2019.

FAQs:

What: Barcelos

Where: Express Avenue, Royapettah

When: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Cost for two: About Rs.1,500 plus taxes

(Venkatachari Jagannathan's visit was at the invitation of Barcelos. He can be contacted at v.jagannathan@ians.in)

--IANS

vj/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)With "cotton-ball" clouds floating in the blue sky, the beat of Dhak (drums) mixed with popular melodies filling the air, and frenzied last-minute shopping, Bengal looks set to indulge itself in the state's biggest festival - Durga Puja - from Monday.

It is that time of the year when festivity, merriment and religiosity take over, and roads are choked with human traffic throughout the day - and night.

Be it the kids excited about their first pandal-hopping, teenagers decked-up in brand-new clothes or the artisans and craftsmen busy applying final touches to the Durga idols, everyone has a sparkle of happiness in their eyes as the five-day festivity truly transcends the barriers of and transforms into a celebration of life.

The streets are decorated with lights, colourful billboards and giant entry gates of different community pujas. Shops - big or small - look busy and the restaurants welcome the gastronomes with mouth-watering dishes, including special Bengali platters.

Ignoring the forecast of heavy rains, that were likely after a cyclone hit the neighbouring state of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh last week, thousands hit the streets on Saturday and Sunday to partake of the festive spirit a little ahead of schedule.

Security in the cities and suburbs has been bolstered with the installation of CCTV camera watchtowers. Extra security personnel have been deployed to prevent any breach of peace, and to control the rush and man the traffic.

According to Hindu mythology, Goddess Durga, accompanied by her four children - Ganesh, Kartik, Lakshmi and Saraswati - descends on the Earth every year to visit her parents to fight evil. This is the occasion that the puja celebrates.

Durga, the slayer of the demon Mahishasur, comes astride her lion and wields an array of weapons in her 10 hands in a symbolic representation of "Shakti", or woman power.

The puja rituals begin on Monday -- "Shashthi" or the sixth lunar day - and culminate on "Dashami" (Dussehra) when the idols are immersed in rivers and other water bodies.

Around 28,000 community pujas are being organised across the state, with the Mamata Banerjee government giving a generous grant of Rs 10,000 to each of them.

Like every year, a number of major community pujas in Kolkata are set to mesmerise the visitors with their uniqueness of theme, decoration and aesthetics of the idols.

While the theme of an old community puja in north Kolkata pays tribute to the sex workers and demands social rights for them, a famous south Kolkata puja built the marquee to pay tributes to and celebrate the visually-impaired.

A puja in the city's eastern suburbs, considered to be a major crowd-puller for many years, has recreated Rajasthan's Chittorgarh Fort of queen Padmavati. Another new puja in the vicinity is set to surprise the visitors with the marquee themed upon the evolution of radio and music systems.

A popular puja in the posh satellite township of Salt Lake has tied up with the Chinese consulate in the city to create a slice of authentic China at the puja premises, bringing in 25 Chinese artisans and performers.

Increasing in number each year, the individual pujas in various apartments and building blocks across Kolkata are also ready with their own set of cultural functions and contests for the residents.

--IANS

mgr/ssp/shs/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Over a thousand nationalist demonstrators took to the streets of Yangon on Sunday to march in support of Myanmar's military at a time when the Southeast Asian country is in the spotlight for the ongoing violent persecution of the Rohingya people.

The rally converged outside the Yangon City Hall building, where controversial extremist Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu - known for promoting hate speech against Rohingyas, the country's Muslim ethnic minority - gave a speech before the thousand-strong crowd in which he condemned foreign involvement in Burmese affairs, Efe reported.

Myanmar's armed forces, along with police officers, paramilitary groups and civilian mobs, started to crack down on the Rohingya living in the northwestern Rakhine State in late 2016.

Burmese authorities cited alleged attacks on police and troops by unidentified insurgents along the border with Bangladesh as the reason for the crackdown, although observers say the root causes of the conflict can be found in long-simmering tensions between Myanmar's Buddhist majority and the much smaller Muslim community.

At least 700,000 Rohingya have fled Rakhine by sea or on foot over the past two years due to what the United Nations has described as a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing" and human rights groups have condemned as crimes against humanity.

Although the Rohingya have settled in the region since at least the 15th century AD, Myanmar does not consider them citizens, instead classifying them as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

Between 1988-2011, Myanmar - which was known by the colonial name Burma until 1989 - was ruled by a military junta accused of innumerable human rights violations and abuses.

After the so-called State Peace and Development Council was dissolved, the current nominally-civilian government took over, although the army continues to have a huge influence on Burmese and society.

--IANS

ahm/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Actress Claire Foy says she felt compelled to speak out about the pay gap between herself and "The Crown" co-actor Matt Smith to open doors for others fighting for fair play.

Foy became a figurehead of sorts for those fighting for gender equality when she spoke out about the fact she was paid much less than Smith - even though she was The Queen to his Prince Philip on the drama. The revelation forced the show's bosses to publicly apologise to both stars for inadvertently putting them in a very awkward position.

Now, in a magazine, Foy has said the whole drama was very upsetting and she had moments when she wished she didn't have to be the one making waves, reports aceshowbiz.com.

She said: "I was deeply hurt by it, because I'd been working on that show for two years. I loved everybody on it. And then I realised, 'There's been a big, fat, dirty secret that nobody's ever talked about'.

"But then there was also that thing (of being) an inadvertent spokesperson. Why did it have to be me? I could have said nothing. And I think everyone would have preferred that. But I thought, 'If I do that, I will be cheating myself and all the other women I know.'"

Foy recently dismissed reports suggesting she had been offered $225,000 in back pay to settle the gender pay gap on "The Crown".

--IANS

rb/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)From Rome to London the contrast was sharp - from political despair to hope. A comprehensive conference on Afghanistan, superbly organised the NATO Foundation, was the only redeeming feature in Rome. Meetings with journalists and think-tanks on the margins were depressing.

The Far Right leader of the ruling coalition, Matteo Salvini of the League, whose early act as Deputy Prime Minister was to order a boat full of North African migrants to be allowed to drift towards Spain, is rising on the popularity charts. He is much the most popular leader in Italy with his anti-immigrant rantings. To firm up ideological bonds, Marine Le Pen, of France's National Front, visited Salvini recently. If this was not a sufficient shot in the arm for Italian fascists, White supremacist, once President Trump's soulmate, Steve Bannon, arrived to give a fillip to his plot - Brothers of Italy, they are called, under a title a canopy which Bannon calls "The Movement". "Bannon is here frequently to confer with Salvini and meet some of us," says Francesco Galieti, journalist who also advises investors.

Bannon is the spider in the web wherever ultra-nationalism, illiberal economics, leavened with dollops of racism rears its head. On Brexit too he is putting in his mite to accelerate the break with EU. Just as committed on the other side of the debate is the even more powerful, anti-Brexit billionaire, George Soros. They are both in convulsions to save the world from the curse of anti-capitalist headwinds.

There is a common anxiety but with distinct rightwing prescriptions.

Bannon must not be overdrawn but he does represent an impulse to navigate the leaky boat of capitalism away from any real or imaginary leftward lurch.

The desperation of this lot is manifest even as far as Brazil. Jair Bolsonaro, who romanticizes the likes of Pinochet, has support from the same interests who are stitching together fascism in Europe. Steve Bannon has been advising Bolsonaro's media team. His appearance on a Nigel Farage radio show created a minor storm. Farage, of the former Independence Party, leads the anti-Brexit movement with a self-explanatory title - Leave Means Leave.

Removed from anti-Brexit extremism are countries like Austria, Poland, Hungary and the Nordic North, which are anti migrant, on occasion anti-Semitic. Bannon has no interests here; Soros does.

Against this broad canvas of despairing gloom, I would like to state, on the pain of being repetitious, that Britain provides relief. For many in Britain this relief is mingled with fear because the rightwing media has painted Jeremy Corbyn in lurid colours. The Conservative Party, not to be confused with the rightist aberrations stretches from European continent to Latin America and elsewhere is in convulsions over both Brexit and Corbyn. Prime Minister Theresa May is looking at the "Exit" door in a sort of daze. She does not quite know how to handle the several balls up in the air. A break with EU will prompt Scotland sewing up its own deal with Brussels. Also, since this will entail the border between Belfast and Dublin demanding visa clearances, the Democratic Unionist leader, Arlene Foster, will break with Theresa May, bringing down her government. The whole point about Unionism in Ulster is to be "exactly" like the rest of Britain, says Foster. Any arrangement exclusive to Northern Ireland will not be acceptable to the Unionists.

Meanwhile, the right wing of the Conservatives, say, former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and his cohorts are threatening to throw a ginger fit if Brexit is "softened" a means of placating the urge to "remain", which is noticeable on both sides of the aisle.

Ambiguity afflicts the Labour Party too but it has the advantage of being in the opposition. It is under no compulsion to show its hand. It is simply waiting for an embattled Prime Minister to trip up. That would mean fresh elections which Labour is expected to win easily.

His opponents would not accept it but Labour Party has a charismatic leader in Jeremy Corbyn who has emerged even more firmly in control after the annual Party conference in Liverpool last month.

During his speech, Corbyn made an offer to Theresa May. "Labour MPs would vote for a soft Brexit deal which keeps Britain in the Customs Union with the EU."

What would be the Labour Party's position on a growing demand for a fresh referendum on Brexit? I had put this question to Corbyn two months ago. His response was very political. "The people have voted for Brexit in a referendum. Let the government negotiate a deal with Brussels which is acceptable to the British public."

Corbyn was very conscious of the many inconsistencies among Labour voters, constituency to constituency, during the referendum. But as an opposition leader and Prime Minister in-waiting, his job was to wait for May to make mistakes.

With Corbyn as Prime Minister looming large on the horizon the media, which has placed him consistently in a negative searchlight, has a huge challenge on its hands: how to begin to adjust to the reality of Corbyn.

He continues to say things which make those elements of the Conservative Party who are wrapped in a very Anglaise-Britishness very uncomfortable. For instance he would like schools to have in the text books those aspects of British history which illuminate negative aspects of colonialism. This when the centenary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in April 2019 may well be a high profile event during the Indian election season.

Little wonder a magazine like the Economist still makes Corbyn look like Che Guvera, a beret and the revolutionary leader's trademark beard et al.

(Saeed Naqvi is a commentator on political and diplomatic affairs. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached on saeednaqvi@hotmail.com)

--IANS

naqvi/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Actress Kirron Kher said that every organisation should follow the Vishakha Guidelines to curb sexual harassment at workplaces.

Kher was interacting with the media launch of television reality show "India's Got Talent" season 8 along with co-judges Malaika Arora and Karan Johar on Saturday here.

Reacting to the #MeToo campaign, which has gained momentum in India, Kher said: "It's not just about the film industry, it's about the world. This is happening all over the world. Things like these happen in media houses, corporate offices, schools and colleges, villages and cities.

"There is a law called 'Vishakha Guidelines'. It is supposed to be there in every institution whether it's a corporate office or the film industry. In every production house, it should be followed."

The Vishakha Guidelines are a set of procedural guidelines for use in India in cases of sexual harassment. They were promulgated by the Supreme Court in 1997 and were superseded in 2013 by the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

The actress also said that one should immediately bring such matter in knowledge of the concern authorities.

"If anyone faces such kind of things then, they should complain immediately and the institution concerned is supposed to investigate the matter. If you are not following the Vishakha Guidleines then, you are making a mistake."

Kher is a BJP MP from Chandigarh constituency.

Reacting on accusation of sexual assault that has been leveled against Union External Affairs Minister M.J. Akbar, Kher said: "I am sure it will be investigated and both sides will be allowed to put their point of views. As we all know, Mr. Akbar is not in India right now and I am sure when he comes he will give his answers."

Talking about filmmaker Sajid Khan who has been accused of sexual misconduct by three women, Kher said: "I have known him for many years. I haven't experienced his this kind of behaviour in front of me so, I can't talk about. What's the truth in that matter only Sajid and the ladies who have accused him can answer... I respect the girls who have come out and talked about it in the open. I also feel that the media shouldn't only highlight Sajid's case because there are lots of other cases which are important to look into."

India's Got Talent season 8 will go on air on October 20, every Saturday and Sunday at 10 p.m. on Colors.

--IANS

iv/ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The wife of an Additional District Judge in Haryana, who was shot at by her husband's Haryana Police security guard on Saturday, succumbed to her injuries in a hospital, police said on Sunday.

Ritu, 38, died overnight, forensic expert and doctor Deepak Mathur told IANS.

The judge's son Dhruv, 18, who too was shot at, was very critical and admitted in a private hospital.

Haryana Police Constable Mahipal Singh, who fired the shots, hailed from Mahindargarh and was attached to the judge, Shrikant, for nearly two years.

He was arrested while trying to flee to Faridabad.

The judge was not in the government car when the incident occurred in Sector 49 on Saturday.

"Ritu suffered two bullet injuries in her chest. She died of excessive blood loss," Mathur told IANS.

To investigate the killing, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by the DCP East of Gurugram has been set up, a police officer said. The SIT will also include three ACPs and SHO of Sector 50 police station.

--IANS

pradeep/mr/shs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Process to update laws delayed

The government is yet to determine the number of laws that are inconsistent with the new constitution for mandatory amendment within the next five months.Actress Kriti Sanon on Sunday urged people to handle the #MeToo movement responsibly and to not dilute the movement with their anonymity.

She believes men and women must reveal their identity before imposing serious allegations against someone.

The "Barielly Ki Barfi" star took to Twitter to share her thoughts.

Kriti wrote: "What happens when a #MeToo story of an 'anonymous' girl comes out against someone? Do we simply believe it without even knowing who the girl is or if she even exists? How does one inspect such an incident in order to come to any conclusion? Is it fair to consider the accused 'guilty' when the MeToo story does not come with the victim's name? Should the media carry such stories?"

According to Kriti, any story without proper identification can "spoil someone's name and career".

So, she asked everyone to "handle the #MeToo movement responsibly and find out a lawful way" for it.

"All women/men who want to share their #MeToo stories to either come out in open with their names and faces or file a FIR or a legal case(while asking for your identity to not be given to media or public) so that case can be at least inspected and the #MeToo movement does not get misused or diluted," the 28-year-old added.

Kriti thanked girls for showing courage to speak out their harassment stories in public and said that #MeToo movement will now bring fear in people before they do anything wrong.

"Thanks to you girls and the movement that now people will fear being caught if they wrong anyone. This fear was much needed and is hopefully here to stay."

The actress is also a part of film "Housefull 4", which was earlier being directed by Sajid Khan before multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct. He has been replaced in the project now.

--IANS

sim/rb/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Jail officials on Sunday brought six Manipur University professors for medical check-up from the Imphal Central Jail in handcuffs, triggering condemnation.

The Manipur University Teachers Association, the Manipur University Students Union and the Manipur University Staff Association condemned the police for heaping humiliation on the professors.

On the basis of an FIR filed by the pro Vice Chancellor, police and paramilitary personnel raided the boys' hostels and residences of the faculty on the campus on September 20 midnight to arrest the six professors and 80 students.

All of them have been in judicial custody since then.

--IANS

il/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar, accused of sexual harassment by several women journalists, returned to India on Sunday and said he will issue a statement over the allegations.

Replying to a volley of questions from reporters gathered at the airport, the Minister said: "There will be a statement later on." He refused to say anything more.

Since October 7, the Minister, a writer and a former Editor of Sunday magazine and Asian Age newspaper, has not tweeted from his account.

It is believed that Akbar, a former Congress MP who later joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is to call on External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

As the #MeToo campaign gained momentum, about half a dozen women journalists accused Akbar of sexually harassing them when he was the Editor.

The opposition has demanded his resignation.

--IANS

rak/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi Commission for Women on Sunday urged the victims of sexual crimes to report their cases to the police and the women's panel, creating a dedicated email ID to receive such complaints.

"It has taken a lot of courage for women and girls to narrate the incidents of sexual assault faced by them and the Commission stands in solidarity with them in their struggle. This reporting will pave the path for putting these sexual predators behind bars, something that should have been done long ago," DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal said in a statement.

Women can register their complaints at "metoodcw@gmail.com", she said.

She targeted Union Minister M.J. Akbar, facing allegations that he sexually harassed several women journalists at various publications that he edited, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his silence.

"All 9 women are making false allegations? They are after your seat in Parliament? What a moron M.J. Akbar is! If anyone is impacting BJP adversely today, it is M.J. Akbar for his notoriety and lecherous behaviour and PM Modi for his unbelievable silence and inaction in the matter," Maliwal said.

Akbar on Sunday described the allegations of sexual harassment against him as "false, baseless and wild" and threatened legal action.

--IANS

som/shs/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A majority of older patients who underwent heart valve surgery were found to be at risk of cognitive problems up to six months after surgery, researchers say.

Researchers, from the University of Rochester in the US, examined whether surgeries on two types of heart valves -- the mitral or the aortic -- were associated with better or worse outcomes.

The findings, published in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society, showed that people having aortic valve surgery are at greater risk of early cognitive decline within the first month after surgery than people having mitral valve surgery.

However, cognitive health in both groups appears largely to return to what it was before surgery within the six months after surgery.

These findings highlight the cognitive vulnerability of this population, especially older adults with aortic stenosis -- the heart valve that controls blood flow from your heart to the rest of your body, the researchers said.

For the study, the team included hundreds of participants who had been tested before and after surgery to determine their ability to remember, think, and make decisions.

Within the first month after valve surgery, people experienced some cognitive decline compared to before the surgery, the researchers found.

In addition, people who had mitral valve surgery experienced a mild decline. But people who had aortic valve surgery experienced poorer cognitive function the month after surgery, although they tended to improve after that.

--IANS

pb/rt/vc/ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)As many as over 200 members of the Carnatic music community from across the world on Sunday came together to express that sexual harassment, abuse and assault must not be tolerated, and that it is time for the "deafening silence" to be broken.

A note from the Carnatic music community was shared on social media by celebrated vocalist TM Krishna. It featured the names of all artistes who have lent support to the #MeToo movement as part of which women are coming out about their unsavoury experiences in the work place.

"Over the past few days, we have all read many disturbing accounts of sexual harassment, abuse and assault, including from within the Carnatic music community. Many such instances in the past have been brushed under the carpet, subsequently creating a culture of silent complicity.

"There continues to be a deafening silence that needs to be broken. As artistes and students of music, we believe it is our responsibility to speak up and acknowledge that such unacceptable behaviour must be strongly condemned, in order to create a more equitable and safe environment for all people," the note read.

The members said it is important to bring to light those who have misused their position and power to exploit those at risk.

"We ask for due process through civil society investigations into these allegations to hold these individuals accountable, and whole-heartedly welcome those who want to come forward and share their stories.

At this juncture, we also encourage and request sabhas and cultural organisations all over the world to recognise this issue and put forward proactive structural measures to address such claims and prevent future incidents. We believe that this will make the Carnatic community safer for all," the note further read.

--IANS

rb/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday criticized the Punjab government for not acting against the killers of two Sikhs who died during protests against the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib three years ago.

Krishan Bhagwan Singh and Gurjit Singh died in police firing in October 2015 in Faridkot district.

On the third anniversary of the killings, Kejriwal offered his condolences to the victims' families and expressed disappointment with the Punjab government for "failing to punish the culprits".

Taking to Twitter, Kejriwal said: "I offer condolences to the families of Krishan Bhagwan Singh and Gurjit Singh. Highly unfortunate that Captain Amarinder Singh's government has badly failed to punish the culprits of sacrilege of Shri Guru Granth Sahibji and the murderers of two innocents."

Police had booked its officers on charges of murder and attempt to murder in connection with the firing in Behbal Kalan village.

In September this year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the proceedings against three Punjab Police officers booked in connection with the firing.

--IANS

sd/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Qatar Press Centre (QPC) expressed deep concern over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, state-run Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported on Sunday.

QPC "has been following with great concern" the developments regarding the suspicious disappearance of Khashoggi since the first day, Xinhua news agency reported, quoting the QPC as as saying in a statement.

The centre also called on human rights organisations to take urgent and strong moves on Khashoggi's disappearance, urging the investigation bodies to "prosecute the perpetrators of the evil with transparency".

The statement also confirmed QPC's rejection against all forms of target and restriction of journalists.

Khashoggi has been missing since October 2 and is presumed killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Saudi Arabia has denied the allegations as "baseless".

--IANS

mr/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday expressed concern over the deteriorating health of Gopal Das, who is on a fast for the conservation of river Ganga and currently in a hospital.

Das was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, on Saturday, two days after environmentalist G.D. Agarwal died following a fast for over 100 days.

Agarwal, popularly known as Swami Sanand, had been on a hunger strike since June 22 for a pollution-free Ganga and an uninterrupted flow of water in the river.

"The deteriorating health of Gopal Das is a concern for the whole country. He has been on hunger strike since June 24 seeking prevention of mining in Ganga. Gopal Das is now the voice of Agarwal and this voice must be strengthened," Gandhi said on twitter.

The Congress has attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "neglecting" the repeated pleas of Agarwal, who had written several letters to the Prime Minister voicing his concern over Ganga pollution.

--IANS

and/shs/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)"Game of Thrones" fame star Richard Madden is in talks to essay the role of Agent 007 after actor Daniel Craig stepped down from the film.

According to The Sun, Madden has impressed the creators of "Bond" with his performance in drama series "Bodyguard" and will replace Craig.

A source close to Barbara Dana Broccoli, producer for the Bond film series, said: "It's seriously looking like he (Madden) is going to get the job. 'Not only is he on top of Barbara's list, but she is preparing to offer the role."

Last month, Madden's father revealed that his son was eager to play Bond's character.

"I'm quite sure he does want that to be on his CV one day but he's not making a song and dance about it. Whether it's Bond or any big role, Richard has ideas about things he'd like to do. It's probably best whatever his desires or thoughts are to keep it to himself," Madden Sr added.

James Bond will return to cinemas for the 25th time and the film will be released in the UK on February 14, 2020.

--IANS

sim/rb/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Bheri-Babai tunnel: Project completes 70 percent works

The Bheri Babai Diversion Multipurpose Project has finished digging more than 70 percent of the 12-km tunnel using a tunnel boring machine (TBM) in 10 months since its construction began. The irrigation cum hydropower project, which is using the TBM to dig a tunnel for the first time in the country, has dug 8.5km so far.Saudi Arabia threatened on Sunday to hit back if the US were to impose sanctions on Riyadh in the wake of the disappearance of a Saudi journalist, according to the state-run SPA news agency.

US President Donald Trump had warned on Saturday that his administration could severely punish Saudi Arabia, a key US ally, if the kingdom was found responsible for the disappearance and possible murder of Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, reports Efe news.

"The kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it whether by threatening to impose economic sanctions, using political pressures or repeating false accusations," the report by SPA said, citing an unnamed official source.

"The kingdom also affirms that if it receives any action, it will respond with greater action," the report added.

Earlier on Sunday, the Saudi stock market plunged nearly seven percent amid fears of imminent US sanctions.

Before Saturday's comments, Trump had been reluctant to criticize Saudi Arabia and had said on Thursday that he was against cancelling the $110 billion US-Saudi arms deal over the journalist's disappearance.

The possible murder of Khashoggi, a US permanent resident in self-imposed exile who had written critically against the Saudi monarchy, has generated a far stronger international backlash against the kingdom than the ongoing Saudi-led war in Yemen, which has caused widespread famine in the already impoverished Arab country.

--IANS

mr/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The wife of Additional District and Sessions Judge Krishan Kant, who was shot at by her husband's security guard on Saturday, has died while their teenager son is "brain dead", doctors said on Sunday. But police said the boy too was dead.

While the wife, Ritu (38), died overnight due to excessive bleeding at the Medanta-The Medicity hospital here, the 18-year-old son Dhruv was "brain dead", a spokesperson for the hospital told IANS.

Dhruv, who was shot in the head, "is on critical life support and is brain dead", the official said.

A police officer, Sub-Inspector Jitender Singh, had earlier told IANS that the teenager also succumbed to his injuries early in the day.

The wife and son were seriously wounded after being shot from close range by Mahipal Singh, a Haryana Police Constable hailing from Bhungarka village in Mahindargarh who was posted with the judge for nearly two years.

The Personal Security Guard was arrested while trying to flee to Faridabad. On Sunday, he was sacked from the Haryana Police.

The judge was not in the government car when the horrific incident occurred in Sector 49 on Saturday.

Ritu suffered two bullet injuries in her chest and died due to excessive loss of blood, senior forensic expert and doctor Deepak Mathur told IANS. Medanta said she died at 9.30 p.m. on Saturday.

To investigate the incident, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been set up under the supervision of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (East), said a police officer.

--IANS

pradeep-rak/mr/shs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The "100 per cent organic state" Sikkim, the first in the world, will get the "Oscar for best policies" at a UN ceremony in Rome and it bolsters efforts to attain the Sustainable Development Goals, an Indian MP said on Sunday.

Sikkim beat out 51 other nominees from 25 countries for the Future Policy Award 2018 -- the world's best laws and policies promoting agro-ecology -- which will be presented during the World Food Week at headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Monday.

Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling and Sikkim Democratic Front MP Prem Das Rai are in Rome to attend the award-giving ceremony, besides Indian Ambassador Reenat Sandhu.

"We are pleased to know that a Himalayan state of India has been awarded this year's Future Policies Award in agro-ecology," Rai told IANS in an email reply.

"The leadership under Chief Minister Pawan Chamling has to be lauded. Farsighted and with huge political will has been the underpinning of this policy. It's even more important to understand that the magnitude of the policy in both its simplicity and wide-ranging implications for human development and climate change mitigation.

"It bolsters efforts to attain the Sustainable Development Goals. Hence Sikkim and India need to be proud of this great moment," an elated Rai added.

This year's award is co-organised by the FAO, the World Future Council (WFC) and IFOAM - Organics International.

Brazil, Denmark and Quito shared the silver award.

Gold prize winner Sikkim is the first organic state in the world, says the WFC.

All of its farmland is certified organic. At the same time, Sikkim's approach reaches beyond organic production and has proven truly transformational for the state and its citizens.

Embedded in its design are socioeconomic aspects such as consumption and market expansion, cultural aspects as well as health, education, rural development and sustainable tourism. The policy implemented a phase out of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and achieved a total ban on sale and use of chemical pesticides in the state.

The transition has benefitted more than 66 000 farming families, the WFC says in a statement.

The Sikkim tourism sector has benefitted greatly from the state's transition to 100 percent organic: the number of tourists increased by over 50 per cent between 2014 and 2017. As such, Sikkim sets an excellent example of how other Indian states and countries worldwide can successfully upscale agro-ecology.

The Sikkim Chief Minister and Vandana Shiva, together with the women of Himalaya, have jointly announced a commitment for a Himalaya entirely organic and biodiverse, aimed at spreading the model that Sikkim has built over 15 years, which has shown how a 100 per cent organic agricultural model, based on the principles of agroecology and local circular economy, is not only possible but also advantageous.

The agro-ecological model is able to give life to a virtuous cycle among farmers, environment, territory and community as well as the basis of joint commitment aimed at the global transition towards poison-free agriculture food and farming by 2050, says non-governmental organisation Navdanya, which has a primary membership of more than 650,000 farmer families in 17 Indian states.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 19, 2016 declared Sikkim as the first organic state in the country, saying it will soon become the harbinger of organic farming not only in India but around the world.

--IANS

vg/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he will take a look at US sanctions on Turkey and will consider whether to lift them after the American missionary Andrew Brunson was freed this Friday after two years in prison imposed by the Turkish justice system.

Questioned by reporters about the possibility of lifting the economic restrictions that Washington imposed on Ankara last August because of Brunson's incarceration, Trump said the White House will "take a look" at the sanctions, Efe reported.

The president again insisted that there was "no deal made at all" with Turkish authorities to eliminate sanctions in order to get Brunson released, though he tweeted about the "great appreciation on behalf of the United States, which will lead to good, perhaps great, relations between the United States & Turkey!"

Meanwhile on Saturday the American pastor Brunson thanked Trump for his efforts to get him out of Turkey after two years behind bars and prayed for him, asking God to grant the president "supernatural wisdom."

The missionary spoke several minutes with the president at the White House and, in the presence of the media, asked if he could pray for him, to which Trump readily agreed.

Brunson then knelt before him, put his hand on Trump's shoulder and began to pray: "Lord God, I ask that you pour out your holy spirit on President Trump, that you give him supernatural wisdom to accomplish all of the plans that we have for this country."

--IANS

ahm/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Washington, Oct 14 (IANs) US President Donald Trump has defended his administration's policy of separating families that arrive in the country illegally, saying the fear of separation was an effective deterrent.

Trump was addressing reporters on Saturday outside the White House as he departed for a campaign rally in Richmond, Kentucky, reports Efe news.

"If they feel there will be separation, they don't come," he said.

"You've got some really bad people out there."

In June, the Trump administration abandoned the controversial policy of separating children from their parents upon arrival at the US-Mexico border after the measure had led to widespread condemnation in the US and abroad.

Over 2,300 children were held at the border in May and June while their parents were prosecuted for entering the country illegally.

After signing an executive order at the end of June abandoning the policy, Trump said, "we are keeping a very powerful border and it continues to be a zero tolerance. We have zero tolerance for people who enter our country illegally".

--IANS

ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The President of the on Saturday warned that his administration would inflict severe punishment on if the Middle Eastern Kingdom was found to have played a part in the disappearance of a dissident journalist.

made the remarks in a rare network interview on the CBS show "60 Minutes" with Lesley Stahl, Efe reported.

Saudi journalist - a permanent resident of the US in self-imposed exile who penned a column in the Washington Post and was a fierce critic of Riyadh's human rights violations and of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's policies - has been missing since he entered the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul (Turkey) on October 2 to pick up the paperwork needed for his planned marriage.

Turkish have widely reported that Khashoggi is feared by officials to have been murdered and dismembered inside the building by a Saudi hit squad, who may have removed the mutilated corpse in the consulate's diplomatic pouch, which is protected by international law from being searched by authorities.

Trump had previously said that even if the Saudis were to blame for Khashoggi's disappearance, he would not halt billions in arms sales to the country.

"I don't like the concept of stopping an investment of $110 billion into the United States, because you know what they're going to do, they're going to take that money and spend it in Russia or China," Trump said.

He also took pains to emphasize that Khashoggi was not a US citizen.

"It's in Turkey, and it's not a citizen, as I understand it," he said.The death toll had risen to 22 and more than 30 others are injured after Saturday's twin suicide bomb attacks in Somalia's Baidoa town, officials said on Sunday.

Those with serious injuries would be transferred to Mogadishu for further treatment, Xinhua news agency reported.

Ugaas Hassan Abdi, the Information Minister for Southwest State in Somalia, told Xinhua over telephone that two young al-Shabab militants wearing vests carried out the attacks at two main social gatherings in the centre of the town.

"The terrorists targeted innocent civilians, children, youth, community leaders and soldiers at bars near a police station and Bilan hotel in the centre of town. The death toll could rise again," said Abdi.

The police said a man wearing an explosive device walked into Beder restaurant and blew himself up, killing several people and injuring others in Baidoa, which is considered as the hub of economic activities.

According to the police, another suicide bomber blew himself up at the Bilan hotel, killing more than six people.

The Al Qaeda allied terrorist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying its fighters killed more than 20 people.

The insurgents have stepped up their assault against the government and African Union Mission in Somalia bases across south and central parts of the Horn of Africa nation.

--IANS

mr/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Twitter is reportedly facing an investigation by privacy regulators in Ireland over data collection in its link-shortening system, the media reported.

Privacy regulators in Ireland have launched an investigation into exactly how much data Twitter collects from t.co, its URL-shortening system, The Verge reported late on Saturday.

The investigation stems from a request made by UK professor Michael Veale under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a comprehensive European privacy law under which EU citizens have a right to request any data collected on them from a given company.

But when Veale made that request to Twitter, the company claimed it had no data from its link-shortening service. The professor was sceptical, and wrote to the relevant privacy regulator to see if Twitter was holding back some of his data.

Now, that investigation seems to be underway. The investigation, first reported by Fortune, is confirmed in a letter obtained by The Verge, sent to Veale by the office of the Irish Data Privacy Commissioner, the report said.

Initially designed as a way to save characters in the limited space of a tweet, link-shortening has also proved to be an effective tool at fighting malware and gathering rudimentary analytics.

Those analytics services can also present a significant privacy risk when used in private messages.

Both Facebook and Twitter have faced lawsuits for collecting data on links shared in private messages, although no wrong-doing was conclusively established in either case.

--IANS

vc/mag/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Foreign Ministers of the United Kingdom, France and Germany on Sunday expressed serious concerns about the fate of a missing Saudi Arabian journalist and called for an investigation into the case.

Jamal Khashoggi disappeared after visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 and Turkish authorities have speculated that he was either killed or kidnapped there, while Saudi Arabia has denied the accusations, reports Efe news.

In a joint statement, Jeremy Hunt, Jean-Yves Le Drian and Heiko Maas said: "There needs to be a credible investigation to establish the truth about what happened, and - if relevant - to identify those bearing responsibility for the disappearance of Khashoggi and ensure that they are held to account.

"We encourage joint Saudi-Turkish efforts in that regard and expect the Saudi government to provide a complete and detailed response. We have conveyed this message directly to the Saudi authorities," the statement added.

Turkish have widely reported that intelligence officials believe Khashoggi was murdered and dismembered inside the consulate by a Saudi hit squad.

Earlier on Sunday, the Saudi stock market plunged nearly seven percent amid fears of imminent sanctions by the US after President Donald Trump threatened a severe punishment if the kingdom was found responsible for the journalist's disappearance.

The possible murder of Khashoggi, a US permanent resident in self-imposed exile who had written critically against the Saudi monarchy, has generated a far stronger international backlash against the kingdom than the ongoing Saudi-led war in Yemen, which has caused widespread famine in the already impoverished Arab country.

--IANS

mr/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Stormy affair Several families in Nayagarh, Ganjam and Jagatsinghpur rushed to name their newborn daughters Titli because they were born either before the cyclone's arrival in Odisha or after it made landfall. This is quite in contrast to what happens in many other countries.

According to the US Social Security Administration, once popular baby names such as Katrina, Sandy and Andrew have lost favour in the United States after they were attached to hurricanes and storms that caused death and destruction. Work and play Twitter broke into a storm after pictures of Union ...Allowance distribution: Roving Rautes receive payout

The peoples representatives of Gurans Rural Municipality said it was difficult to distribute social security allowances to the Rautes, the nomadic indigenous ethnic people of Nepal, because of their constant move from one place to another.Union minister M J Akbar, facing charges of sexual harassment that go back to his time as newspaper editor, has not only refused to step down but insinuated that the approaching Lok Sabha elections had a bearing on the allegations. Speaking on Sunday after his return from his official visit abroad, he said he would take legal action against the women who had alleged sexual harassment by him.

Akbars holding out, sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said, stemmed from the seeming support he received from the party leadership. However, the sources also said Akbar was ...Even as the nutritional benefits of walnuts are boosting consumer demand, the 100 per cent import duty and currency weakness have affected the exports to India, said California Walnuts Commission (CWC).

Walnut exports to India are likely to decline from California, which produces 99 per cent of the crop, due to 100 per cent import duty and weakness in the rupee, Senior Marketing Director, International, Pamela Graviet told PTI here.

"We expect the exports to India to go down further as the Indian government has imposed 100 per cent import duty on walnuts in 2017-18 from the earlier 30.9 per cent. This has increased the prices of the nuts and impacted demand," CWC Senior Marketing Director, International, Pamela Graviet told PTI here.

The walnut crop year is from September-August. India produces around 30,000-35,000 tonne walnuts in Jammu and Kashmir, according to govt data.

The overall demand for walnuts in India is growing steadily and is around 45,000 tonne. The CWC began exporting the nuts to India four years ago and exported 10468.43 tonne in 2017-18.

"The numerous health benefits of walnuts are steadily boosting the demand of the nuts in India. We expect that once the tariff issue is settled, the exports to the sub-continent will grow," Graviet added.

India, like many other countries is becoming vulnerable to many lifestyles ailments including diabetes, hypertension, obesity among others, she said adding that it is clinically proven that walnuts help in managing these health issues.

The top export markets for the CWC are Germany, Japan, Turkey, China, Korea and Spain, she said.

"India ranked 10th as an export destination. However, it dropped in rank in 2017-18 crop year when it increased the tariff to 100 per cent from the earlier 30.9 per cent," she said.

The CWC expects the ranking to improve again eventually as the Indian consumers are hungry for healthy vegetarian food and walnut is a good nutritional choice.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An 11-year-old-boy was killed and two others were injured, one of them critically, after a gas cylinder exploded at workshop here Sunday, police said.

The incident took place at a motorcycle mechanic's workshop in the Giaspura locality, they said.

The deceased, Amit, was the son of the workshop's owner Jatinder Yadav, police said.

The boy died on the spot while the injured were rushed to a hospital, they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A large crowd converged in Bargari Sunday to mark the third anniversary of alleged police firings which led to death of two people during protests against a spate of sacrilege incidents in Punjab in 2015.

The sacrilege incidents had led to massive protests in different parts of the state three years ago and two people were killed in the firings at Behbal Kalan. Police had also allegedly fired at protesters to disperse them in Kotkapura.

Several state leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party, Punjab's main opposition party, also converged at Bargari.

Punjab ministers Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Sukhbinder Sarkaria, and other state Congress leaders attended separate programmes in memory of the deceased in their native villages, Sarawan and Niamiwala.

Anti-sacrilege protesters, who were staging a sit-in at Bargari since June 1, had organised a function to observe the third death anniversary of the victims. They had given the government a 15-day ultimatum on October 7 to take action against those indicted by Justice Ranjit Singh Commission which had probed the incidents of sacrilege.

The Congress government had set up the panel last year to probe incidents of sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib and other religious scriptures, after rejecting the findings of the Zora Singh Commission set up by the previous Akali Dal-BJP government, saying its findings were "inconclusive."



AAP state leaders Harpal Singh Cheema, who is the leader of oppposition, Bhagwant Mann and party's rebel MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira joined the gathering at Bargari.

Radical Sikh preachers Dhian Singh Mand, who is the main face behind the sit-in, and Baljit Singh Daduwal also addressed the crowd.

On the occasion, AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal attacked Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh over his alleged failure to punish those responsible for the incidents, following which the Congress leader hit back alleging that his Delhi counterpart was politicking.

"On 3rd death anniversary of Behbal Kalan victims Krishan Bhagwan Singh& Gurjit Singh,I offer condolences 2 their families.Highly unfortunate that @capt_amarinder govt has badly failed 2 punish the culprits of sacrilege of Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji &the murderers of 2 innocents," Kejriwal tweeted.

In reply, Amarinder Singh tweeted, "Stop politicking @ArvindKejriwal. It's shocking a man in your position talks of subverting law instead of waiting for SIT's findings. We don't live in anarchy. In any case who better than you'd know what happens when one doesn't go by law. Remember your apology to the Badal clan."



Cheema, in his speech Sunday, asked that when the Ranjit Singh Commission had indicted former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal for the police action on the protesters, then why was the Congress government trying to shield him.

"Captain (Amarinder Singh) sahab is trying to shield Badal," he alleged.

Mann alleged that the intent of the Congress government "was not clear". "Amarinder Singh is also equally responsible as he is delaying the action. The Congress and Akalis are playing a friendly match," Mann, the MP from Sangrur, alleged.

Khaira said they would not rest until justice was done and all culprits were punished.

Apna Punjab Party chief Sucha Singh Chottepur attacked Amarinder Singh and claimed that despite requests from Cabinet ministers, the chief minister rejected their demands for justice in the sacrilege and firing incidents.

However, Punjab Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa said the Punjab government was duty-bound to give justice to the victims of the firing incidents and its perpetrators would be behind the bars soon.

"Due to some legal issues with the probe, the matter is facing delays but those responsible would face the law," he said during a visit to the victim's family.

Bajwa said the chief minister wanted to ensure that those behind the incident were punished, without leaving any room for loopholes.

"Any officer trying to save his skin by resorting to legal impediments would see the government removing all such loopholes so as to make sure that nobody responsible gets away scot free," Bajwa said.

He was apparently referring to a senior Punjab Police officer who was indicted by the Ranjit Singh Commission for the alleged police firing at Kotkapura on October 14, 2015.

Addressing the people at Sarawan village, Bajwa alleged the previous Parkash Singh Badal government had "revived the memory of Jallianwala Bagh massacre by firing upon those protesting in a peaceful manner against the sacrilege of Sahib Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji".

The minister said the people were still anguished and pained over the sacrilege incidents and the subsequent firing ion those who were sitting on a peaceful protest.

On the occasion, Bajwa accepted the development demands of the people of the villages from where the two victims hailed and assured them of early fulfilment of their demands.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Three persons were arrested Sunday in connection with the killing of a senior SBI employee in Assam, police said.

An Assam Police spokesperson said that the three persons were apprehended from a place in Kamprup district on Saturday for their involvement in the killing of the bank employee, identified as Junu Sarma.

They were arrested Sunday following their interrogation, the spokesperson said.

The police is continuing with the investigation to find out the involvement of more persons, if any.

Sarma, a senior official of State Bank of India's Dadara branch, was shot dead by the assailants at Agyathuri in Kamrup district on October 10 when she was returning home from office.

According to the police, when Sarma's car had slowed down, a gunman on a motorcycle broke the window pane of her vehicle and shot at her neck from point blank range.

Her driver rushed her to a nearby hospital, where she was declared brought dead.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Three people were arrested for allegedly objecting to the appointment of a dalit woman as cook in a government school in Salem district, months after another woman faced a similar opposition in nearby Tirupur, police said Sunday.

Jothi, appointed cook of Kuppankottai government primary school last week, faced protest from parents of a section of students, who informed the school management that their wards would not consume the meals prepared by her, they said.

They also sought a replacement and reportedly threatened to withdraw their wards from the school.

Subsequently, the headmaster of the school alerted the block development officer, who convinced them and the cook continued to work there.

However, cases were filed against six people, including the headmaster under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act and three of them arrested Sunday.

Police said they were on the look out for other three.

A similar controversy had erupted in a government school in Tirupur district, where a group of caste Hindus had objected to a Dalit woman cooking meal for the students.

Following the intervention of senior district officials and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the issue was resolved.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An actor-model has lodged a complaint against Bollywood filmmaker Subhash Ghai for allegedly molesting her, a senior police official said Sunday.

The complaint was filed at the Versova police station on Saturday night, he added.

"We have received a written complaint application from her and an inquiry into the matter is underway," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Zone IX, Paramjit Singh Dahiya said.

In her complaint, the actor alleged that Ghai had called her to his residence in August and forcibly tried to kiss her.

"He (Ghai) called me to his house on August 6. There were about five to six people there. He told me to massage his back and head. It was shocking for me, but as a mark of respect for the 73-year-old person, I massaged his head for three to five minutes and then went to the washroom to wash my hands," the complaint read.

It added that Ghai followed her to the washroom and then took her to another room, saying he wanted to talk to her about something.

"He told me to come close, pulled me towards him and forcibly tried to kiss me," the complaint said.

The actor further alleged that she told Ghai she wanted to leave, but the filmmaker threatened her saying he would not launch her in a movie if she left.

"He told me -- ja ke dikha...you will not go anywhere and stay with me the whole night. Otherwise, I will not launch you or make you a star," the complaint said.

The actor said she knew Ghai since four to five months before the incident. "He used to invite me to his house for parties and had promised to launch me in a movie. The filmmaker always used to talk to me in flirty ways and tried to get my attention," the complaint said.

Recently, writer Mahima Kukreja had shared screenshots of a private conversation with a woman on Twitter, levelling rape charges against Ghai, and said she was a "very credible media/lit personality, who does not want to be named".

The woman had claimed that Ghai harassed her while she was working with him on a film and one day, during a late music session, he spiked her drink and raped her in a hotel room.

However, Ghai had denied the allegation, saying it was "sad that it is becoming a fashion to malign anyone known, bringing some stories from the past without any truth or blown-up false allegations. I deny strictly and firmly all false allegations like these".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Flaying caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for advancing the Telangana assembly polls, Union Minister D V Sadananda Gowda Sunday said the exercise would cost the exchequer dear and hamper development works.

Addressing a public meeting in Kalwakurthy Assembly constituency, the Union Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation questioned the rationale behind advancing the elections, originally scheduled to take place simultaneously with general in April-May next year.

The Telangana Assembly was dissolved on September six, more than eight months ahead of schedule, on the recommendation of the government, paving the way for early "The intention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to reduce the election cost and ensure that development works are not affected due to the election code," Gowda said adding "the move will cost the state exchequer more.

He alleged that Rao was not going to the Secretariat or giving appointments to even his cabinet colleagues and party MLAs, but only meeting Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM President and Hyderabad MP) and MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi.

This is the administration of the caretaker Chief Minister of Telangana," he said.

Expressing hope that BJP would win the elections, Gowda said the party's intention was development of Telangana.

The BJP-led government at the Centre has planned to set up a National Investment Manufacturing Zone in Hyderabad at an outlay of Rs 17,300 crore and generate employment for nearly 2.6 lakh people.

The Prime Minister is very particular about development of newly formed states especially Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and had provided all support to ensure that these two states were developed on par with others, he said.Ajit Tiwari is the Province No. 2 bureau coordinator for kantipur Publications.A group of Afghan diplomats will begin training here from Monday as part of an India-China joint initiative.

The joint training programme is being held after an understanding for such a cooperation was reached during an informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held in April at China's Wuhan city.

The first India-China Joint Training Programme for Afghan Diplomats will be held from October 1526, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.

Ahead of their training, Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Vinay Kumar had hosted the 10 Afghan diplomats, who will take part in the training programme as part of the trilateral cooperation between India, China and Afghanistan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union minister M J Akbar on Sunday rejected allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against him by multiple women and threatened to take legal action against them.

The Minister of State for External Affairs issued a statement, trashing the allegations, hours after he returned from a trip to Africa.

"Allegations of misconduct made against me are false and fabricated. These false, baseless and wild allegations have caused irreparable damage to my reputation," he said in the statement.

Akbar further said his lawyers will look into these "wild and baseless" allegations, and questioned why this storm has risen a few months before a general election.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Kashmiri students studying at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) have threatened to leave for their homes on October 17, if the sedition charges against three of them are not dropped.

In a letter to AMU vice-chancellor, AMU students union former vice-president Sajjad Rathar said, "If this vilification does not stop, more than 1,200 Kashmiri students will leave for their homes in the Kashmir Valley on October 17 as a last option."



Terming the slapping of sedition charges as "vendetta", Rathar said, "The option of holding Namaaz-e-Janaza (prayer meeting) in absentia was dropped after the AMU authorities did not give the permission."



"If no prayer meeting was held as confirmed by all official agencies, the slapping a case of sedition against three Kashmiri students is simply a vendetta, harassment and denial of justice," he said.

The letter was handed over to AMU Proctor Mohsin Khan in presence of large number of Kashmiri students at his office on Saturday night.

AMU spokesman Shafay Kidwai, however, denied the Kashmiri students' charges of harassment and stressed that "no innocent would be framed".

Prof Kidwai also made it clear that "there is zero tolerance for any anti-national activity on AMU campus".

Three Kashmiri students of AMU were booked on sedition charges for allegedly for raising "anti-India" slogans and trying to hold a prayer meeting for Hizbul Mujahideen commander Manan Bashir Wani on October 12 (Friday).

Twenty seven-year-old Wani, pursing a PhD course in Allied Geology at the AMU, had quit the university and joined militant ranks in January this year. He was killed in an encounter at Shatgund village in Handwara area of north Kashmir's Kupwara district on Thursday.

Aligarh's Senior Superintendent of Police Ajai Sahni said police took the action (on October 12) after a video surfaced, showing the three Kashmiri students raising "anti-India" slogans.

"Police have filed an FIR against Wasim Malik, Abdul Mir and one unnamed person. They have been identified on the basis of a video recording," he said.

Prof Kidwai said show cause notices have been issued to nine students for trying to hold an unauthorised gathering Thursday.

"A three-member inquiry committee has been set up to probe the incident. It will submit a report in the next 72 hours," he said.

The three students were suspended from the AMU earlier.

Some AMU students from Kashmir had on Thursday (October 11) gathered near Kennedy Hall on the campus to hold funeral prayers for Wani, following which the varsity staff and the students union leaders had rushed to the spot and tried to stop them.

A heated exchange erupted between the students union leaders and the Kashmiri students and they finally moved out of the area, Kidwai said, adding three Kashmiri students were suspended for trying to hold the "unlawful" gathering.

He said the university has made it clear that it has a zero tolerance policy for any act which could even remotely be described as anti-national.

AMUSU president Faizul Hasan had told PTI that he had always championed the cause of freedom of speech but any act of treason or terror was unacceptable to the students' union.

He said they will not allow the university to be defamed by any person who indulges in such unlawful activity.

BJP lawmaker from Aligarh, Satish Gautam said those who tried to hold a prayer meeting for Wani on the AMU campus should be expelled.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An injured of the Nagerbazar blast has succumbed at a state-run hospital here taking the toll to two, an official of the medical establishment said Sunday.

Fruit seller Ajit Halder (38), who was badly injured in the October-2 blast at Nagerbazar in North 24 Parganas district, succumbed at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital Saturday night, the official said.

"His condition has been deteriorating for the last few days and he passed away last night," the official said.

A seven-year-old child was killed and nine people, including his mother, were injured in the low-intensity explosion in front of a fruit stall in the northern suburb of the metropolis.

West Bengal CID, which has taken up the investigation into the blast, had earlier talked to Halder as the low-intensity blast took place in front of his shop.

"We were talking to him and trying to figure out what had happened during that time. He gave us many information. Much depended on his statement, but now that he has passed away, we'll have to rethink our methods of investigation," a CID officer said.

Meanwhile, the condition of another victim of the blast, Sharat Shetty, who is also undergoing treatment at the same hospital, is stated to be critical, the hospital official said.

The mother of the seven-year-old victim of the blast is also undergoing treatment at the SSKM hospital, an official of the state-run facility said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Left Front Chairman Biman Bose on Sunday came down heavily on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for going on an "inauguration spree" of Durga pujas, and criticised her government's expenditure over the annual immersion carnival held on Red Road.

The state is reeling under a "crisis-like" situation and common people are burdened with economic issues, while Banerjee is busy organising the Red Road Carnival, Bose told reporters after a Left Front meeting here.

Seventy-five Durga Puja committees will participate in this year's 'Durga Puja Bisarjon (Immersion) Carnival', which the CM has asserted as an event to showcase the tourism potential of Bengal.

Bose also took exception to the Durga pujas Banerjee has been inaugurating in the last few days.

"She has embarked on an inauguration spree three days before the start of 'Devi Paksha' (Mahalaya). This had never happened in the past.

"She is inaugurating Durga pujas and taking part in festivities while people are getting arrested for participating in a democratic movement," he said, alleging that a student was held by police on October 10 for protesting against the government.

He said 17 Left Front partners have decided to organise demonstrations against spiralling fuel prices after the Durga Puja festival gets over.

Bose added that party activists will demonstrate in front of every petrol pump in West Bengal on October 30.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The British Council Sunday signed a formal agreement with a city-based literary organisation to promote art and culture of India and the United Kingdom in their respective countries.

The agreement was signed here by Sundeep Bhutoria, Trustee of Prabha Khaitan Foundation - the literary, performing arts and cultural organisation - and Alan Gemmale, Director of British Council in India.

"The agreement would continue our association further and we would tell our incredible stories of culture, we are rooted in cultural connect with Kolkata and there are stories to tell and inspire others," the Director of British Council in India said.

Christopher Rodrigues, Chairman and global head of the British Council, had come down to Kolkata from London to formalise the agreement.

"It is a great feeling to be in Kolkata at this time of the year with the onset of Puja festivities. I am looking forward to seeing it," Rodrigues, Chairman and global head of British Council, said.

Dignitaries including industrialist Hari Mohan Bangur, danseuses Tanusree Shankar and Dona Ganguly, litterateur Anjum Katyal, Director British Council East Debanjan Chakrabarti, Director, Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC) Gouri Basu, National Library Director Arun Kumar Chakraborty were present on the occasion.

Bhutoria said Prabha Khaitan Foundation has been carrying out various cultural and literary events across India covering 25 cities and have started doing events in London.

"We have started literary events in regional language across India. We will organise events in cities across the world and also support Kolkatas initiative to become the first UNESCO designated City of Literature in India," Bhutoria said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress Sunday alleged that the ruling TRS had not fufilled any electoral promise and demanded that caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao explain why he dissolved the assembly nine months ahead of schedule if people were happy with the government's performance.

Addressing a meeting at Gandhi Bhavan here, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee President N Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that the KCR government has disappointed all sections of society with its 'misrule' for four-and-a-half years.

Sensing the rising dissent and anger among people towards the government, KCR (as Rao is popularly known as)dissolved the Assembly to advance the elections, a party release quoted Uttam Kumar Reddy as saying.

"If everything was going on well, then why did KCR not complete his full term?" Uttam asked.

Reddy alleged that all sections of society, including women, youth, students, Dalits, Girijans, BCs, Muslims and others were feeling betrayed by the TRS government and were waiting for the next elections 'to take revenge.'



The TPCC chief exhorted Congress workers and sympathisers to play an active role in putting an end to the 'dictatorial' rule of KCR.

"Next elections are not between political parties, but between the KCR family versus people of Telangana," he said.

Reddy alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and KCR have been conspiring to conduct huge irregularities to win next elections.

However, with their active participation in the electoral process, people of Telangana can foil their attempts," he alleged.

Reddy alleged that the KCR family has looted thousands of crores of public money through various projects.

The TPCC chief said KCR has no right to seek votes from any section or community of Telangana.

The TPCC chief defended proposed alliance of Congress with TDP and said KCR had no right to question the TDP-Congress alliance.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The ruling Congress in Mizoram has been facing problems in selecting candidates in autonomous council areas for the 40-member state Assembly elections on November 28, party sources said.

Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, who is also Mizoram Pradesh Committee (MPCC) president, had announced names of 36 candidates on Thursday, while the decision of the names within the three autonomous districts has been left to the respective district committees, only the Lai Autonomous District Congress Committee has submitted two names.

The selection of Congress nominees in the Mara Autonomous District Council (MADC) took a turn with majority of members of the council are supporting another person over Assembly speaker Hiphei (82), who was recommended by the nomination board of the council committee, the sources said.

In a letter submitted to the state PCC chief, the members of district council said that 11 council members within Palak Assembly constituency were asked to make recommendations on candidate and six members supported K Riachho, a retired IAS officer, while Hiphei was supported by only three members and two members expressed support to two other persons.

The supporters of Riachho submitted a representation to Lal Thanhawla expressing dismay at the decision of the Mara Autonomous District Council committe (MADCC) nomination board and asked the latter to ignore its recommendations.

"The members of the council and the people of the constituency would not be responsible if Hiphei is the Congress nominee of the MPCC from Palak seat and loses in the polls," the letter said.

A Congress legislature party meeting held at the official residence of the chief executive member N Zakhai in Siaha town Saturday decided that the decision made by the MADCC nomination board should be final and the MPCC chief Lal Thanhawla should make decision based on its recommendations.

A letter sent to Lal Thanhawla said that the state PCC chief should not make any consideration based on external suggestions made by signature campaign by some people.

Meanwhile, the state PCC said that the names of the two candidates to represent Chakma-dominated areas were yet to be announced as the ruling party "respected" the appeals made by the civil society.

The civil society, under the umbrella of NGO Coordination Committee, has appealed to all major political parties not to field any candidates belonging to the Chakma community in the two Chakma dominated seats - Tuichawng and West Tuipui.

Though major political parties agreed in principle to abide by the appeals made by the civil society, the main contenders - the Congress and the MNF expressed doubt that other party might disobey the diktat of the NGOs by fielding candidates belonging to the Chakma community on the eleventh hour ensuring victory in two seats.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Unfazed by the BSP's decision to not align with the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said Sunday the party is "still in the driver's seat" and in touch with all "possible partners" in the poll-bound state.

Scindia, who is spearheading the Congress campaign in Madhya Pradesh, also said the entire state leadership and party cadre was "working cohesively" to chart out the party's plan to dislodge the BJP government after "14 years of misrule".

Asked if the BSP could cut into the Congress' vote share, he told PTI in an interview that: "I don't think so. Obviously, the alliance would have had its own benefits, but as things stand today, support for the Congress is running deep in Madhya Pradesh. The workers are motivated and the people are looking to us for change. So, we are definitely still in the driver's seat."



Replying to a query about a possible tie-up with the Samajwadi Party and the Gondwana Gantantra Party after Bahujan Samaj Party's decision to not align with the Congress in the state, Scindia said, "We are in touch with all possible partners -- our ultimate goal is to beat the Bharatiya Janata Party. We are not currently ruling out the possibility of an alliance."



His remarks come days after BSP chief Mayawati announced her party will not forge an alliance with the Congress "at any cost" for the upcoming Assembly polls in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

However, he said the general election next year will be a "different ball game altogether" and if state alliances don't work out, the possibilities still exist for a coalition in 2019.

Scindia said the party's "driving mantra" is 'Waqt hai badlaav ka' (It is time for change), and added that this is "not a slogan, this is a reality, a commitment to change".

"We are not fighting this election on the Modi or Shivraj factor but the 'people factor'. The people of Madhya Pradesh have suffered from the BJP rule for 14 years. Everywhere we look, the people are exasperated and angry," the MP from Guna said.

Talking about the issues that the Congress will raise during the campaign, Scindia said the party will take the fight to the streets. "We are focusing on some key issues -- farmer distress across the state, complete breakdown of law and order, especially rising cases of crimes against women, unemployment, and massive corruption, be it Vyapam, e-tender or sand-mining."



The state will go to polls on November 28 and counting of votes will be held on December 11.

Asked what was different internally in the Congress organisation as compared to the past three elections and whether differences between senior leaders had been sorted, Scindia said the party was united and there were regular meetings on key matters, including on overhauling the organisation, reviving and rejuvenating party cadres and strengthening the system at the district and block level.

"We understand that to fight the BJP, we will have to go down to the booth level and fight. Under Congress President Rahul Gandhi's uniting leadership, we are working as a single INC unit, coming together under the umbrella of a common vision and mission for the development of Madhya Pradesh," the 47-year-old leader said.

On opinion polls putting the Congress marginally ahead of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Scindia said he believes his party is "in the lead".

The people are now looking to the Congress for change and are hopeful that the party will bring a wave of development, progress and honesty, the former Union minister said.

Asked if the Congress was bargaining hard as a result of which state-level alliances were failing and damaging prospects of a grand alliance in 2019, Scindia said the party was trying to build reasonable alliances that were mutually beneficial for all involved actors, and one that will be able to give the BJP a strong fight.

"For example, in Madhya Pradesh, there was clearly a mismatch between the BSP's vote share and the seats they were demanding obviously, that would not be strategically-beneficial for us. So, it is not about bargaining hard for the sake of debate, it is about reaching the most effective agreement," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress workers Sunday tried to show black flags to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani to protest attacks on Hindi-speaking migrants in the state.

Some party workers tried to show black flags to Rupani when his cavalcade was passing through the VIP guest house area here. They were, however, prevented by police.

Congress media coordinator Rajiv Bakshi claimed that black flags were shown to Rupani by the party's youth wing workers, who also raised slogans against him.

He said 150 party workers were detained by police but were later released.

Rupani reached the state capital this evening to invite Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for the launch ceremony of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's 'Statue of Unity' at Narmada bank in Gujarat on October 31.

Rupani and Adityanath will address a joint press conference on Monday.

Non-Gujaratis, especially those hailing from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, were reportedly targeted in several parts of the state following the arrest of a Bihar native for allegedly raping a 14-month-old girl earlier this month.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Subtle sexism

Looks harmless from the outside but could have a sinister impact on everyday livesThe National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has asked Madhya Pradesh to enter correct data related to tigers in its state in an online platform, according to an RTI document.

A letter has been sent to the Chief Wildlife Warden of the state by the NTCA to re-enter the data.

Certain data entry errors were pointed out in information given by the state during a meeting held in Nagpur in May.

Following which, the NTCA had also provided technical assistance to Madhya Pradesh on the basis of a request from the state in this regard.

"You are requested to kindly re-enter data in the manner as suggested at the earliest," said the NTCA letter, a copy of which was received in response to an RTI application filed by Bhopal-based wildlife activist Ajay Dubey.

There are six tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh -- Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Panna, Bori-Satpura, Sanjay-Dubri and Pench -- which have about 308 big cat, as per a central government report of 2014.

There are an estimated 2,226 tigers in India, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Depressed over their only daughter eloping with a man outside their community, an elderly couple allegedly committed suicide at their house in Pollachi, some 35 km from here Sunday.

The couple had advised their 24-year-old daughter, who had fallen in love with the man while in college, not to continue the affair, police said.

However, the daughter left home last evening, telling her parents that she was going to live with him, they said.

Upset over her decision, her mother called a woman relative last night and told her that both she and her husband were going to commit suicide by consuming insecticides.

The woman who rushed to the house with some relatives, found the couple lying unconscious on the floor and they were immediately rushed to the Government hospital in the town.

However, both husband and wife passed away en route to the hospital, police said.

The relatives could not contact the daughter as her cell phone was switched off, they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A couple was hacked to death by unidentified persons at Bhatkundi village in Bihar's Banka district, a police official said.

Superintendent of Police Chandan Kushwaha said that the miscreants killed the couple on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday by slitting their throats, the SP said.

The deceased have been identified as Shekhar Choudhary (50) and his wife Kiran Devi (45).

The miscreants entered the couple's house when other family members were away to participate in a 'kirtan' programme.

The son of the deceased couple has lodged an FIR in Sadar police station against five persons.

According to the villagers, the killing could be a fallout of a land dispute, the police said.

Raids were being conducted to nab the criminals.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The CPI on Sunday said that it has entered into an alliance with Ajit Jogi's Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) for the Assembly polls in the state.

The will be held in two phases -- on November 12 and 20. Counting of votes will take place on December 11.

Earlier, the Bahujan Samaj Party had forged an alliance with Jogi's outfit. According to the poll alliance agreement, the BSP will contest 35 seats, while the JCCJ will fight the remaining 55 seats in the 90-member Assembly.

CPI state secretary R D C P Rao and Jogi announced the alliance between the two parties at a press conference here on Sunday.

Jogi said the addition of CPI to the JCC (J)-BSP alliance had made it a "mahagatbandhan" (grand alliance), boosting its poll prospects in the Bastar region and in places with a high number of labourers.

The aim of the alliance is to form a government which will work in the interest of Dalits, adivasis, the poor, villagers, farmers, labourers and minorities, and take decisions for the welfare of the people of Chhattisgarh, Rao said.

He alleged that over 50 per cent of the state's population continued to live below the poverty line despite 15 years of BJP rule.

Under the agreement, the JCC(J)-BSP will support CPI candidates in Konta and Dantewada, while the Left party and affiliated labour unions will campaign for the former's candidates in Chitrakot and Bijapur in Bastar division and in industrial areas like Korba and Bhilai Nagar, Rao said.

In the 2013 Assembly polls, the CPI had garnered just 0.66 per cent of the votes cast and had lost in all the 13 seats it had contested.

Rao, however, said his party had a significant presence in the Bastar region, particularly in Dantewada and Konta seats, from where it has fielded its popular leaders Nandaram Sodhi and Manish Kunjam respectively for the upcoming polls.

While Kunjam has been a two-time MLA from Sukma, Sori has won the Dantewada seat once in the past.

Jogi will be campaigning for the candidates of the grand alliance in Bastar region between October 20 and 24 during. He will address rallies in Konta and Dantewada on October 23.

The development is being seen as a blow to the opposition Congress which was planning to forge a grand alliance in Chhattisgrah to unseat the ruling BJP.The Communist Party of India Sunday announced that it had entered into an alliance with Ajit Jogi's outfit Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) for the Assembly polls in the state.

The Chhattisgarh Assembly polls will be held in two phases -- on November 12 and 20 -- and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 11.

Earlier, Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party had forged an alliance with Jogi's outfit, as part of which the BSP will fight 35 seats while the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) will contest the remaining 55 seats in the 90-member Assembly.

CPI state secretary RDCP Rao and Jogi announced the alliance between the two parties Sunday at a press conference here.

Jogi said the addition of CPI to the JCC (J)-BSP alliance had made it a "mahagatbandhan" (grand alliance) and added strength to its poll prospects in the Bastar region and in places with a high number of labourers.

The aim of the alliance is to form a government which will work in the interest of Dalits, Adivasis, the poor, villagers, farmers, labourers and minorities and take decisions for the welfare of Chhattisgarh's people, Rao said.

He alleged that over 50 per cent of the state's population continued to live below the poverty line despite 15 years of BJP rule.

Under the agreement, the JCC (J)-BSP will support candidates of the CPI in Konta and Dantewada while the Left party and affiliated labour unions will campaign for the former's candidates in Chitrakot and Bijapur in Bastar division and industrial areas like Korba and Bhilai Nagar, Rao said.

In the 2013 Assembly polls, the CPI had garnered just 0.66 per cent of the votes cast and had lost all 13 seats it had contested.

Rao, however, said that his party had a significant presence in the Bastar region, particularly in Dantewada and Konta seats, from where it had fielded its popular leaders Nandaram Sodhi and Manish Kunjam respectively for the upcoming polls.

While Kunjam has been a two-time MLA from Sukma, Sori has won the Dantewada seat once in the past.

Jogi will be campaigning for the candidates of the grand alliance in Bastar region between October 20 and 24 during which he will address rallies in Konta and Dantewada on October 23.

The development is being seen as a blow to the opposition Congress which was planning to forge a grand alliance in Chhattisgrah to unseat the ruling BJP.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The populist ANO movement of billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis and their Social Democrat coalition partners suffered a crushing defeat in a second round of Senate elections.

The ANO and their CSSD allies won one seat each in the elections held on Friday and Saturday for 27 seats, a third of the members of the upper chamber.

The main opposition rightwing ODS emerged the clear winners with 10 seats.

Turnout was only 16.4 per cent.

The first round was held the previous Friday and Saturday.

The ANO and CSSD now have a total of 20 seats in the 81-member Senate. The ODS has 16 seats.

Babis deplored the "horrible result" and blamed it on the electoral system which he said "allowed other parties to ally themselves against the ANO in the second round."



The lower house is the country's main legislative body and the government can override Senate vetoes.

To win a parliamentary confidence vote in July, ANO and their leftwing Social Democrats coalition partners had to rely on backing from the Communists, the first government to do so since the 1989 Velvet Revolution that toppled four decades of Communist rule in the eastern European country.

Babis's opponents criticise him over an alleged EU subsidy fraud from 2007 which led to police charges that are still in effect, and for his Communist past and alleged cooperation with its secret police before 1989, which he denies.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The death toll in a bomb attack on an Afghan election rally has risen to at least 22 people, officials said Sunday, as the country braces for more violence ahead of the October 20 poll.

Dozens of people were killed or wounded in parliamentary election-related attacks across Afghanistan on Saturday as militants step up attacks on the ballot. A motorcycle carrying explosives detonated among supporters of Nazifa



Yousefibek, a female candidate for the northeastern province of Takhar, provincial governor spokesman Mohammad Jawad Hejri told AFP.

Most of the 22 killed and 36 wounded were civilians, he said.

Provincial health director Hafizullah Safi put the death toll slightly higher at 23.

In the western province of Herat, two gunmen attacked the campaign office of a candidate in Injeel district, killing two people, provincial governor spokesman Jailani Farhad said.

A nine-year-old boy and a security guard died in the attack and two others were wounded.

Violence related to the long-delayed legislative vote has killed or wounded hundreds of people in recent months.

At least nine candidates have died so far, most of them in targeted killings, according to the Independent Election Commission.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Delhi minister Rajendra Pal Gautam Sunday demanded action against officials of the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) over a "racist and misogynist question" asked in an examination conducted for recruitment of primary teachers.

In a statement, the Delhi SC/ST minister expressed "serious concern" on the issue and said that he will ask Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash to take appropriate action against the DSSSB.

The examination was conducted Saturday.

"The purported question was asked in the Hindi section of the examination held yesterday. It had four options pointing to a caste-based system of the Brahminical Society. It is a multiple choice question and the answers are highly racist and gender insensitive," the minister alleged.

According to the statement, the minister said that the service department, which is under the Lieutenant Governor, is the governing body of the DSSSB.

The department should make it clear what made them include such a "shoddy" question, he said.

"Setting a caste-based question which ostensibly hurts the sentiments of the community in addition to being highly disrespectful to women demonstrates the state of mind of those at the helm of the DSSSB," the statement read.

The minister said he will speak with the chief secretary on Monday to demand an interim investigation into the issue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has withdrawn the draft National Drug Demand Reduction Policy from the Cabinet so as to include data from an ongoing national survey on the extent and pattern of substance use.

A decision in this regard was taken as the survey is likely to be completed soon.

The survey being conducted by the ministry in collaboration with the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC) under the AIIMS is already underway to reach an estimated figure on the number of people in the country who are into drug use.

"The survey is about to end. Already data from 24 states/UTs have been collected and submitted. Data collection from 12 states including West Bengal, Goa, Sikkim and Chandigarh is still in process," a senior Social Justice and Empowerment ministry official said.

The government plans to adopt 15 districts in the country on a pilot basis to implement an intensive action plan for de-addiction and make the districts drug-free, according to the draft Policy.

The draft policy also proposed regulation of over the counter sale of sedatives and pain killers with the involvement of departments concerned both at the Central as well as the state level.

The 15 districts which have been identified include Vishakhapatnam, Pune, Aizawl, Dibrugarh and Ludhiana.

Integrated and comprehensive action plan would be carried out in the pilot districts initially for a period of one year for reduction in number of drug addicts and make these districts drug free.

The draft policy proposes upgrading existing de-addiction centres in these pilot districts to treatment clinics to provide for both inpatient and outpatient treatment facilities.

Also, as part of the draft policy, de-addiction centres would be set up in 25 factories and major industrial establishments, 25 prisons, 25 juvenile homes and in 25 separate de-addiction centres for women in prisons.

The MSJE had forwarded the draft National Drug Demand Reduction Policy to the Union Cabinet in May after modifying the document as suggested by a Group of Ministers (GoM).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had directed the GoM, headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, to examine the draft national policy which seeks to address the problem of drug and substance abuse in the country.

The GoM comprised ministers of health, social justice and empowerment, women and child development, transport, and home affairs.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)AIADMK senior leader C Ponnaiyan



Sunday asserted that the state DVAC was an independent body and it had to decide whether to go on appeal against the Madras High Court order which had directed a CBI probe against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami.

Seeking to clarify his comments on Friday, the former minister said he had only stated that the government might go in for an appeal, which was "misconstrued" as a definitive statement.

Ponnaiyan's clarification came a day after the DMK seized on his comment that the government would go for an appeal against the high court order and "unbundle the lies" of the opposition party.

"I did not say the Directorate of Vigilance and



Anti-Corruption (DVAC) would go for an appeal, I said it might go. There is a difference between may and will.

"It (DVAC) is an autonomous body .... and to decide whether to go for an appeal totally rests with them. Neither the government, the party nor the chief minister has any connection in this," the AIADMK leader said.

On October 12, the Madras High Court ordered CBI probe into allegations of corruption in award of government road contracts, triggering demands by the opposition parties for Palaniswami's resignation.

Ponnaiyan, citing norms, had Friday said those who had won road contracts were not relatives of the chief minister.

The firm that bagged the contract was in the civil contract business for over 30 years and had won bids worth crores of rupees even during the past DMK regimes, he asserted.

DMK's charges are borne out of political vendetta to "besmirch" the AIADMK government, which has been successfully implementing a slew of welfare measures, he had said.

The high court, which passed the order on a petition by the principal opposition DMK, held that the preliminary inquiry by the DVAC was nothing but a "perfunctory exercise" and had not been done in a fair manner.

The judge had on October 9 reserved orders after the DVAC informed that no cognisable offence had been made out against the chief minister in the complaint lodged with it.

In its petition, the DMK, represented by its organising secretary R S Bharathi, had alleged irregularities and corruption in award of road contracts.

It accused Palaniswami of abusing his power and allotting projects worth Rs 3,500 crore to his relatives and 'benamis'.

Palaniswami, who also holds the highways portfolio, has rejected the DMK's charges and asserted that there were no irregularities in the award of contracts.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Dashain shopping: Thousands flock to livestock markets

Thousands of people have started to flock to livestock markets across the country to buy goats and sheep in readiness for the Dashain sacrifice.Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) has sought a 200-acre land from the Uttar Pradesh government for setting up a handicraft park on the Yamuna Expressway, which is expected to attract direct investments worth Rs 3,000 crore.

The proposed industrial park shall house around 250-300 small and medium manufacturer exporters and provide a range of facilities including common facility centres, testing labs and raw material banks to boost their market competitiveness. It is expected to create 25,000-30,000 jobs.

"It is requested to grant EPCH a land parcel of 200 acre under Yamuna Expressway Industrial Authority in line with the textile policy of the Centre, which mandates provision of land with price rebates of 30 per cent," EPCH said in a letter to the Infrastructure and Industrial Development Department of UP, earlier this month.

EPCH Executive Director Rakesh Kumar said the proposed park would be shot in the arm for the handicraft sector of UP which is currently grappling with issues like high cost of credit, lack of access to modern technology, high cost raw materials.

"The manufacturer exporters at the handicraft park would benefit from multiple synergies emanating from industrial park being in the vicinity of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor and India Exposition Mart.

"The upcoming Jewar airport is also expected to give a major push to tourism and meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibition related visits in the region," Kumar told PTI.

He said if the proposal does not go through with the UP government, EPCH may approach the Haryana government for setting up the handicraft park in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier and Britain's Brexit minister scrambled to hold talks on Sunday ahead of a crunch summit this week as time runs out on striking a divorce deal.

Barnier and Dominic Raab held surprise talks in Brussels, as London insisted the negotiations were far from reaching a conclusion.

With Britain set to leave the bloc at the end of March, European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker is demanding "substantial progress" this week, specifically on the vexed issue of the UK's border with the Republic of Ireland, an EU member.

With a breakthrough still seemingly elusive, Raab went to Brussels for talks with Barnier to get a head start on Wednesday's summit. "With several big issues still to resolve, including the Northern Ireland backstop, it was jointly agreed that face-to-face talks were necessary ahead of this week's October European Council," said a spokeswoman for Raab's ministry.

A senior British government source played down reports that a deal had already been done.

"It's very much in the EU's interests to make it look like there is a deal," the source said, because it would then leave Britain looking "like we are the ones being intransigent".

There are still some "big issues" to be resolved and "Dominic has gone out there to try to resolve the outstanding issues".

In Brussels, diplomatic sources told AFP that member states' ambassadors to the EU had been called for an urgent meeting at 6:30pm (1630 GMT).

"They are going to take stock," one source said, but currently the British "do not seem ready yet" to sign off on an agreement.

Sunday's flurry of activity comes as British Prime Minister Theresa May prepares to face what one newspaper cartoon dubbed "hell week". On Tuesday, she will rake over the Irish border issue with her cabinet, amid speculation that further ministers could resign if the PM ploughs on with her proposals.

David Davis, who quit as Brexit secretary in July over May's broad blueprint, wrote in The Sunday Times newspaper that her plans were "completely unacceptable" and urged ministers to "exert their collective authority" this week.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The is likely to experience three more quarters of losses, hurt by high levies and "unsustainable tariffs", a top official of industry body has said.

"Under the current scenario, I see at least another three plus quarters of losses. Why? Because personally, I do not think the present tariffs are sustainable for the long-term health of the industry...," Director General, Rajan Mathews told PTI.

Stating that the high incidence of levies -- licence fee and spectrum usage charges -- compounded by upfront payment for radio-waves have added to the operators' woes, Mathews noted that 2018-19 will certainly be a "tough year" in terms of financial performance of the industry.

"Already we have been through two quarters of losses (this fiscal). So something dramatic has to happen in the next two quarters and we know that is not going to happen. Clearly, 2018-19 will be a tough year in terms of financial performance for the industry but the beginning of fiscal 2019-20 will see clarity (emerging)," he said.

In 2016, launched Jio, a new fourth-generation wireless service that disrupted the by offering free calls and cheap data on mobile phones. Jio's entry set off a brutal tariff war, forcing older players such as Airtel, Vodafone and Idea (now Ltd) to cut tariffs, denting the industry's financial metrics and deepening the impact of regulatory decisions like cut in termination charges.

Asked if he expects the mobile rates to fall further or stabilise, Mathews said, the tariffs are already at affordable levels.

"It is difficult for me to see how much further the tariffs can drop," he said, adding that continuous deterioration of revenue stream would be detrimental for the industry as networks will need investments in new technology and wider, better coverage.

For the June quarter, Bharti had reported the loss of Rs 9.4 billion from its mainstay India business, as it bled to retain market play, in the face of free voice calls and dirt cheap tariffs from Reliance Airtel, however, reported a Rs 970 million net profit on a consolidated basis in the April-June period after taking into account revenues from its Africa business.

On July 30, announcing its last financial result before merger with Vodafone India, Aditya Birla Group firm Idea Cellular reported total comprehensive income of Rs 2.63 billion for June quarter - helped by a one-time gain from the sale of mobile towers.Scores of paddy growers in Punjab and Haryana continue to defy the ban on stubble burning, claiming they are "compelled" to do so in the absence of any financial support from the government for farm waste management.

Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is a major cause of air pollution not only in the two states but also in the national capital.

Governments of the two states are pinning hopes on farm mechanisation for the effective management of crop residue but the use of farm equipments, growers say, is not the "best solution which will take care of just minuscule area" of paddy.

With paddy growers being blamed for causing air pollution, farm experts and farmers' outfits said the community is a "soft target" and the "short-sighted" approach of policy makers in the government has not only "failed" to address the concerns of the growers but also to achieve the task of zero stubble burning.

Punjab has so far seen over 330 incidents of crop residue burning while Haryana has witnessed 701 incidents of stubble burning, officials said.

Though officials claimed reduction in paddy residue burning this year, farmers said the number of stubble burning incidents was lesser as paddy harvesting was yet to pick up in the wake of higher moisture content in crop caused by incessant rains last month.

"Farmers do not want to burn paddy residue. But they are compelled to burn stubble as they do not have any other feasible and cheap option," said Bhartiya Kisan Union (Rajewal) president Balbir Singh Rajewal.

Rajewal said the use of farm equipments for crop residue management was not an ideal solution as it is putting additional financial burden on small and marginal growers whose condition was already pitiable.

"Farmers who are in debt trap are committing suicide and now the government is taking penal action (imposing fine) against growers who burn paddy residue. Farmers have become soft targets for the authorities despite the fact that just 8 per cent of air pollution caused by farm residue burning," Rajewal said.

Every year, Punjab and Haryana are blamed for rising air pollution and smog caused bycrop residue burning by growers. The two states annually generate 220 lakh tonne and 65 lakh tonne of paddy stubble, respectively.

Farmers find stubble burning as an easy option as a way of its disposal in the wake of limited time available for next crop sowing.

The situation is likely to aggravate this year as thewindow period for managing the paddy crop residue has got shortened by at least 10 days because of rains last month that delayed paddy harvesting and some farmers said they will resort to stubble burning over taking the farm mechanization route.

"Any delay in next wheat crop will lead to drop in yield and it will cause financial losses to farmers," said Rajewal.

Farm experts said the best way to manage the crop residue is to award bonus as compensation to farmers for management of paddy straw.

"Giving Rs 200 per quintal to growers is the only option available to the government for the management of crop residue. What is the harm in giving money to growers when a substantial sum of money is spent on crop procurement," asked noted farm expert Devinder Sharma.

"If a farmer burns residue even after receiving money for its management then you take action against him/her," he said.

Moreover, farm mechanisation is not a solution where vegetable crop like potatoes are to be grown, said BKU president Gurnam Singh Chaduni.

Farm experts described distributing farm equipments such as Happy Seeder, paddy straw chopper' cutter, mulcher etc., to growers will add more to their cost.

"We have calculated that the use of machines is putting an additional cost burden of Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 per acre on the farmers, which they are unable to afford," Sharma pointed out, adding that machinery would deal with just four per cent of total paddy area.

The farmers' union also accused the government of not complying with the National Green Tribunal order which had directed it to supply machinery free of cost to farmers owning less than two acres of land.

"For those who have land more than two acres but less than five acres, the machinery should cost only Rs 5,000 and those who have land more than five acres, the farm mechanisation cost should be Rs 15,000," said Rajewal.

Farmers also accused farm equipment manufacturers of increasing the cost of machinery after the central government provided funds to Punjab and Haryana governments for distributing machinery at a subsidy.

"Earlier rotavator was available at Rs 85,000 now it costs Rs 1.30 lakh. Similarly, cost of other machinery has also been increased," Rajewal said.

Forpromotion of agricultural mechanisation for in-situ management of crop residue,the Centre has sanctioned Rs 695 crore for Punjab and Rs 137 crore for Haryana.

Both states are giving 50 per cent subsidy on buying machines to individual farmers and 80 per cent to cooperative societies.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An auto rickshaw driver got the scare of his life when he received a call from Pakistan's top investigation agency which sought an explanation from him about a whopping Rs 300 crore worth of transactions made to his account.

The driver, identified as Muhammad Rasheed, who lives in Karachi came to know about the huge transactions in his account when the Federal Investigating Agency (FIA) summoned him for an explanation.

"I got a call from the FIA office and they told me to show up for questioning. I was so scared as I didn't know what had happened," Rasheed said.

"When I went to the FIA office they showed me the record of my bank account," he said.

"The FIA officials told me that transactions of some 300 crore rupees were made through my salary bank account which I had opened back in 2005 when I was working for a private company as a driver," Rasheed said.

Rasheed said he had quit the job just after a month to start his own work.

"Three hundred crore rupees is a dream. I have never even seen one lakh rupees in my life," he lamented.

When asked about his former employer, Rasheed said he was unable to recall its name.

"My family and I live in a rented place. I work hard to make both ends meet. I can't even imagine such a huge amount. I suspect my salary account was being used for some other purposes," he said.

He said that he convinced the FIA officials about his present financial conditions.

Few days back a food vendor in Karachi's Orangi town also got the shock of his life when he found more than 200 crore rupees in his account.

The FIA is investigating large-scale money laundering cases after the Supreme Court appointed a Joint Investigation Unit (JIT) to probe into the matter.

The FIA is investigating several individual accounts, which have been used for money laundering by some influential businessmen and politicians.

In many cases dormant accounts of poor people have been activated with connivance of some bank officials for huge transactions.

The JIT has been probing since September into the money laundering cases revealing several suspicious accounts.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Rain and a wet outfield caused the abandonment of the third and final Twenty20 international between South Africa and Zimbabwe at Willowmoore Park on Sunday.

South Africa won the series 2-0 after winning an earlier one-day series 3-0.

The matches were largely one-sided and South Africa used them to test the depth of their resources, using 22 players across the five matches.

South Africa travel to Australia later this month to play three one-day internationals and a Twenty20 international, while Zimbabwe depart later this week for Bangladesh where they will play three one-day internationals and two Tests. The first one-day international is in Dhaka next Sunday.

Zimbabwe captain Hamilton Masakadza said his team's batting in South Africa had been disappointing.

"We will have to adapt quickly to Bangladesh conditions. As the top three or four batsmen, we must make sure we build a platform," he said. JP Duminy, who was due to captain South Africa on Sunday, said the objective of giving opportunities to several players had been achieved.

"The selectors got a look at quite a few guys," he said. "We will be going into Australia with some confidence, although it is a work in progress.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Police have arrested five persons in connection with the alleged gang rape of a minor girl in Uttar Pradesh's Siddharthanagar district, an official said Sunday.

The girl (15) was gang raped on October 4, and on the complaint of her mother, police lodged an FIR against eight people on Friday evening, Superintendent of Police Dharamveer Singh said.

"Of these, five of the accused persons were arrested Friday night, while a search is on to arrest the remaining three accused persons," he said.

Singh said as per reports, the girl went to a field on October 4 night to relieve herself and the eight men dragged her, and after covering her mouth with a cloth, raped her.

They also made a video of the incident. The accused and the victim are residents of the same village, police said.

"The FIR was registered against eight persons under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the POCSO Act on the complaint registered by the girl's mother," the SP said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The foundation stone for a museum for prime ministers in the Teen Murti Estate premises will be laid by Union ministers Monday, despite objections raised by the Congress, including former PM Manmohan Singh.

Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma and Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri will lay the foundation stone for the museum at Teen Murti Estate, the official residence of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

The Culture Ministry issued an invite to media late Friday evening for the foundation stone laying ceremony.

The government has gone ahead with its plan even as Singh last month wrote to his successor Narendra Modi, raising expressing concerns over the government's move to change the "nature and character" of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML).

Urging Modi to leave the Teen Murti Complex, which houses the NMML, "undisturbed", Singh said the present museum respected both history and heritage.

"I recall that during the six-year tenure of Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji as prime minister, there was absolutely no attempt to change the nature and character of the NMML and the Teen Murti Complex in any way. But sadly that it seems to be part of the agenda of Government of India now," Singh noted in his letter on August 24.

Senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Jairam Ramesh, who are members of the NMML society, along with historians had also opposed the move.

Some had also called on Home Minister Rajnath Singh on August 26, urging him not to dilute the legacy of Nehru.

The new museum which will include memorabilia of prime ministers, Lal Bahadur Shastri onwards, will come up on a plot of land within the Teen Murti Estate and is expected to cost Rs 270 crore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)He made sure he didn't miss out on his daily namaz while in jail but also faithfully read the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads for solace and strength, says former TV anchor Suhaib Ilyasi who was acquitted on charges of murdering his wife this month.

Going from the heights of fame as a pioneer of crime shows in the country with "India's Most Wanted" to finding himself as the accused in one of Delhi's most high-profile murder cases, it has been a rough 18-year ride, said Ilyasi.

A reading of the Hindu scriptures helped see him through the darkest days behind bars in Tihar Jail, added the 52-year-old, who describes himself as a "devout Muslim".

He was sentenced to life imprisonment for stabbing his wife to Anu death in 2000 and was acquitted by the Delhi High Court on October 5, which ruled that it was a case of suicide.

Ilyasi's wife Anju was rushed to a hospital on January 11, 2000 with stab wounds she received at her East Delhi residence. She was declared dead on arrival at the hospital. Her mother and sister filed a case against him.

Though he spent most of the 18 years out on bail with the threat of prison hanging like the proverbial sword of Damocles over his head, a trial court sentenced him on December 20 last year.

Ilyasi moved the high court challenging his conviction and his faith in the judiciary paid off.

"When the trial court pronounced my conviction, for a moment I felt the ground beneath my feet give way. However, I had full faith in the judiciary and was sure that the truth will ultimately prevail.

"But inside the prison, one feels moments of endless wait, of uncertainty and insecurity. It was in those moments that I found solace in the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads," Ilyasi told PTI.

Those were dark days, he recalled, but a reading of the scriptures and his innate faith ensured that his positivity was not overpowered and he "emerged stronger and wiser" from his nine months in captivity.

He recited a verse from the Upanishads and said, "The teachings kept me strong, positive and motivated." He turned into a hardcore vegetarian and shared the teachings of the holy books with his fellow inmates.

"Initially, they were shocked to hear a Musalman reciting Sanskrit 'shlokas' and explaining their meanings. I am happy that I could share the wisdoms of the holy books with them," said Ilyasi, adding that he offers namaz five times a day.

The former investigative journalist, whose father Jameel Ilyasi was the head of the All India Imams Organisation, is writing a book to make the teachings of the Gita and the Upanishads easily understandable.

"I have gained a lot from the teachings of these two scriptures and now I want to make them accessible to common people. I had started working on the project in jail itself," Ilyasi, who also edited the prison's journal 'Shakti Times' during his stay in the jail, said.

"It is a known fact that all religions, including Islam, have drawn inspirations from the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads. In today's time, it is all the more important that everybody, irrespective of religion, should know and understand the real meaning of these epic scriptures. This will bring more unity and harmony in society," the founder and editor-in-chief of Bureaucracy Today magazine said.

The entrepreneur has produced various programmes for India TV and Doordarshan, directed and produced films and has a chain of pharmacies and supermarkets.

In 2016, the music launch of his film "Ghar Wapsi", in which Pakistani ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali was making his acting debut, was scrapped following threats from right-wing political parties, including the Shiv Sena.

The various businesses kept him busy through the 18 years but it took a tremendous toll on his personal life, said Ilyasi.

"Not only did I have to fight to prove my innocence, I also had to fight a legal war with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law for my daughter Aaliya's custody The contention was to take Aaliya's custody on the basis of the murder allegations. However, they were not successful as the honourable court allowed Aaliya to stay with me," he said.

Ilyasi, who has remarried and has a son, nine-year-old Mihran, wants Aaliya, now 21, to host "India's Most Wanted".

He said he is gearing up to re-launch the show, which once dragged fugitive criminals into the police dragnet. The dark days, he said, are behind him. "Nothing can compensate for the time I have lost. There is no point thinking about the past or the unseen future. I have learnt to live in the present.

"Today I am free, not just in physical terms but also emotionally and spiritually.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Wrong policies responsible for rise in disasters

Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa on Saturday said humans were responsible for the increasing incidents of natural disasters.Wadia group budget carrier GoAir Sunday launched its second international route with non-stop air services to Male, the capital city of Maldives, from the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport here.

The city-based airline had made its international debut last Friday with a flight with an Airbus A320Neo plane to tourist hub Phuket in Thailand from New Delhi.

"We welcome Male as a part of our new global network. In light of the significant increase in outgoing tourism from India over the past few years, GoAir introduced direct flight services from Mumbai and New Delhi to Male," said Cornelis Vriesjwik, chief executive officer, GoAir, in a release.

The Mumbai-Male flight was also operated with an A320Neo aircraft, the airline said.

GoAir became eligible to fly overseas two years ago when it took delivery of its 20th aircraft, which was also the first Airbus A320Neo for the airline.

GoAir, which commenced its domestic operations in November 2005, is the sixth domestic airline to fly international.

National carrier Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express, private carriers Jet Airways, IndiGo and SpiceJet are the other Indian airlines operating flights to overseas destinations.

Besides Mumbai, GoAir will also fly to Male from New Delhi.

The airline will fly three times a week from Mumbai and two times per week from New Delhi, it said, adding that services from Mumbai will be operated on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday and from Delhi on Wednesday and Saturday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said Sunday that counselling of policemen entrusted with protecting dignitaries will be done, his statement coming after a judge's wife was shot dead by the personal security guard of the judge in Gurgaon.

The incident happened around 3.30 p.m. Saturday, when Additional Sessions Judge Krishan Kant's wife Ritu (45) and their teenage son Dhruv were visiting a crowded market in Gurgaon.

Dhruv, who was hit in his head by a bullet fired by Mahipal, the judge's official gunman, was admitted to a hospital and doctors said Sunday he continued to be in critical condition.

Mahipal has told police he was depressed because of his family problems. A court sent him to four-day police custody for further interrogation.

Speaking on the sidelines of a programme in Karnal, Khattar told reporters, "Their (the security personnel's) counselling will be done...and time to time such counselling should be done."



On Saturday, Khattar expressed shock over the firing incident and had summoned the Haryana home secretary and the state director general of police.

At another programme in Hisar on Sunday, Khattar announced incentives for numberdars or revenue department officials. The incentives included doubling their monthly honorarium, providing mobile phones and bringing them under the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme.

The chief minister said Rs 3,000 instead of Rs 1,500 per month would be deposited directly to the bank accounts of the officials as their monthly honorarium.

Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu and Transport Minister Krishan Lal Panwar attended the event in Hisar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A judge's wife, who was allegedly shot in a crowded market area in Gurgaon by his personal security guard, succumbed to injuries, while their 18-year-old son has been declared "brain dead", officials said Sunday.

Additional Sessions Judge Krishan Kant's wife Ritu (45) and son Dhruv (18) had gone for shopping in the Arcadia market Saturday when they were shot by Mahipal. They were admitted to a hospital in critical condition.

Regional Medical Officer, Gurgaon Civil Hospital, Pawan Choudhary confirmed the death of Ritu and said the post-mortem examination had been conducted.

The reason for Ritu's death was excessive bleeding. A panel of three specialist doctors found two gunshot wounds on the right side and in the middle of the chest, Chaudhary said.

Dhruv, who was shot in the head, is brain dead. He has been put on life support system. It would be a miracle if he is saved, the medical officer said.

Mahipal was brought to a Gurgaon court at 1 pm which sent him to four-day police custody.

The Gurgaon Police had sought a week's custody for extensive interrogation of Mahipal to establish the reason why he shot Ritu and Dhruv.

It has set up a Special Investigation Team to investigate the case from all angles.

"Mahipal is frequently changing his statements and becomes furious whenever he is questioned. He said he was depressed due to family problems," said a senior police officer, who is part of the interrogation team.

"As per the statement of the accused, he was not happy with the behaviour of the victim's family members. He was also upset due to frequent fights with his wife which was confirmed by his neighbours in police lines, the officer told PTI.

After initial interrogation of the accused, police officers said he was a Haryana police head constable and was serving as personal security guard of the judge for two years.

He had been demanding leave to go home for the past few days but this was not granted, the officer said.

"The judge also used to scold him often," one of the interrogating officers said.

On Saturday, the judge's wife scolded him inside the car when they were going to the market, the officer said. "He harboured a grudge against the judge."



Additional Sessions Judge Krishan Kant in a statement said that after committing the crime, Mahipal informed him about the incident on the phone.

Ritu's family members had earlier decided to take her body to Hisar, her native city, for cremation. They later returned to the Medanta hospital to donate her organs.

Police had earlier said the shooting happened around 3.30 pm Saturday.

A police official said Ritu had suffered a bullet injury in her chest.

In video footage of the incident recorded by a witness, Mahipal is seen with the gun in his hand. He was also seen trying to push Dhruv inside the car.IIM-Shillong will on Monday host the screening of a Geographic film on former president APJ Abdul Kalam, on the occasion of his 87th birth anniversary, officials said on Sunday.

Kalam passed away minutes after delivering a lecture at the institute in July 2015. The authorities launched a Centre for Policy Research the same year in his honour.

The Geographic film, which is part of the channel's ongoing series 'Mega Icons', narrates significant events from the life of India's 'Missile Man' and gives a "scientific breakdown" of how these events turned him into a revered leader, the institute said in a statement.

"The documentary also reveals many lesser-known facts, not just through intimate interviews with his close ones, but also through the voice of the former president," it said.

The screening will be held on the institute premises, in the presence of students and dignitaries, including the ones who were present during his last speech here, the statement added.

Kalam, who was born on October 15, 1931, contributed to the world of science and humanity.

He was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, and studied physics and engineering.

He came to be known as the 'Missile Man of India' for his work on the development of ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology.

In 2002, Kalam became the 11th President of India.

Fondly recognized as the 'People's President', he was honoured with prestigious awards such as Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award, and Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award.An Indian-origin man based in north-west England, who suffers from a degenerative eye condition, is set to become the first person in the UK to get a guide horse to assist him with daily tasks once he loses his vision completely.

Mohammed Salim Patel, a journalist based in Blackburn at Lancashire, suffers from a condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa, due to which he is left with a very small amount of sight in his right eye and will eventually become totally blind.

The 24-year-old, who suffers from a deep-seated fear of dogs since a scary childhood encounter, could not rely on the more commonly used guide dogs for the blind and that is how the concept of a miniature guide horse came to his attention.

"Digby (guide horse) is still a baby and will be two years old in May 2019. His training will take around two more years, so I expect to be able to bring him home to Blackburn once he's finished his training," Patel told PTI.

"There is no rush though, as there would be for a guide dog. Digby will be able to work into his 40s, whereas a guide dog has to retire at the age of eight," he said.

After spending some time with his companion-to-be, Patel believes a guide horse has many added benefits over guide dogs, including a much longer working life, 350-degree vision and ability to see in the dark.

"Guide horses can work for a lot longer, therefore even if his training takes longer than two years, it doesn't matter too much as once he's trained, I will have decades with him as my assistant animal," Patel explained.

The story of Digby caught the attention of the annual Amplifon Awards for Brave Britons, where the horse is among the finalists in the Hero Pet category aimed at honouring animals who have transformed the life of their owners.

"It's very nice to have Digby recognised for his great work, despite still being in training. He is a star," said Patel, in reference to the awards, which will be announced on Tuesday.

The BBC journalist began working with his local station, BBC Radio Lancashire, before moving on to BBC North West Tonight TV after completing a Journalism Trainee Scheme.

"I fancied being a TV presenter and decided to give media studies a go. I found myself making documentaries on taboo subjects, and essentially creating journalistic pieces. This is when I strongly considered pursuing a career in journalism, as a journalist rather than a TV presenter," he said.

However, it was not an easy journey, being told that a broadcast journalism course would be too difficult for a blind person to complete.

"I used my time at university to get as much broadcasting experience as I could. I loved radio. I was fortunate to achieve a First Class BA Honours in International Journalism and got a job as a reporter at my local BBC radio station," said Patel, whose family has their roots in Gujarat.

"My mother was born in India but then came to the UK to marry my dad. He has family in Gujarat too," he said.

"I love visiting India as it's a beautiful country that fascinates me. I take every opportunity I can to visit my cousins who live there and to also visit the many different cities in India," he added.

It remains to be seen if Digby might join him on one of these visits in the future.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Kriti Sanon Sunday praised women for sharing their stories of sexual harassment in the wake of the #MeToo movement and said the fear which is being instilled in the offenders, courtesy the campaign, is a welcome change.

The actor said she hopes the movement is here to stay "but we need to make sure this does not get diluted."



"It takes a lot of courage for a girl to come out in the open and talk about her #MeToo story and hats off to the ones who have spoken up. Thanks to you girls and the movement that now people will fear being caught if they wrong anyone. This fear was much need and is hopefully here to stay," she posted on Twitter.

Kriti, however, questioned the anonymity of some of the alleged victims, saying just one fake account can malign someone's name and career.

"What happens when a #MeToo story of an 'anonymous' girl comes out against someone? Do we simply believe it without knowing who the girl is or if she even exists? How does one inspect such an incident in order to come to any conclusion? Is it fair to consider the accuse 'guilty' when the #MeToo story does not come with the victim's name?



"Should the media carry such stories? It takes just one story to spoil someone's name and career. It is important that we handle the movement responsibly and find a lawful way. Ultimately there has to be a legal repercussion of #MeToo for it to be enduringly effective."The actor urged both women and men to reveal their identity or follow the legal route while sharing their stories.

"I urge all the women/men who want to share their #MeToo stories to either come out in the open with their names and faces or file an FIR or a legal case (while asking for your identity to not be given to media or public) so that the case can be at least inspected and the #MeToo movement does not get misused or diluted," she said.

Kriti's statement comes days after the director of her upcoming film "Housefull 4", Sajid Khan, stepped down from his duties after he was accused of sexually harassing three female actors and a journalist.

Filmmaker Farhad Samji has taken over the project as the director.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri Sunday said the Skywalk at ITO here was conceptualised, planned and totally funded by the housing and urban affairs ministry, a day after Delhi government alleged that it was not informed about the inauguration of the project.

The housing and urban affairs minister is set to inaugurate the ITO skywalk Monday.

In a series of tweets, Puri said that he is surprised at the "despair" being expressed in certain quarters at not being invited for the inauguration of ITO Skywalk.

Puri, however, accused the AAP government of holding on to Metro Phase-IV since October'14 and Delhi-Meerut RRTS since Dec'16 despite repeated reminders.

"...These projects, primarily a state responsibility, are game changers in addressing congestion, pollution & accidents. Yet no commitment is being conveyed," he tweeted.

Slamming the Delhi government, Puri in a tweet said, "No matter how hard you try to stall the progress of Delhi, we its resilient citizens will find a way forward".

"Inaugurations will come & go Sirs, why hold them against innocent hardworking citizens who will benefit from these projects & from those you have delayed for long," he said.

Yesterday, Delhi PWD Minister Satyendar Jain said that the Delhi government has not been informed by the Union government about the inaugural ceremony of the newly-constructed skywalk at ITO.

Jain had also said these ceremonies, however, are "not important" for the AAP dispensation since the people of Delhi had elected the party leaders with a "historic mandate" in February 2015.

In another tweet, Puri said, "When works were getting delayed after sanctions in April, 2016 because of non-cooperation by AAP Govt, it was decided in Oct, 2017 to fund all mobility projects fully by my Ministry, DDA or ITPO."



The Union minister also alleged, that the AAP government did not agree to give the project for additional loop at ISBT flyover on ring road to CPWD.

"It decided to go ahead on its own in constructing flyovers at Metcalfe House & Majnu ka Tilla T-junctions at an estimated cost of Rs 320Cr," Puri said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik Sunday said his administration has taken up the matter related to the wellbeing of Aligarh Muslim University students from the Valley with the Uttar Pradesh government.

The governor's remarks came a day after three AMU students from Kashmir were suspended and booked for sedition after they allegedly tried to hold a prayer meeting for Hizbul Mujahideen commander Manan Bashir Wani, who was killed in a gunbattle with security forces in north Kashmir on Thursday.

Malik was speaking with youths during an interactive session 'Kashmir Youth Dialogue' organized by the Jammu Kashmir Youth Alliance here.

"The governor assured the youth that his administration has taken up the concern for the wellbeing of Kashmiri students in the Aligarh Muslim University with their administrative counterparts in Uttar Pradesh so that they can carry on with their studies in a safe and secure environment," a government spokesman said.

The spokesman said Malik also informed the participants that to ensure the welfare of youths from Jammu and Kashmir studying in other parts of the country, liaison officers would be designated for areas having a high number of students from the state.

The liaison officers would act as a point of contact in these states for the students to get their concerns presented and addressed, he said.

MLA Langate Sheikh Abdul Rasheed took out a protest march here in "solidarity" with the Kashmiri students of the university.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two alleged bovine smugglers were arrested and 25 animals rescued in two separate operations in Reasi and Rajouri districts of Jammu and Kashmir, police said Sunday.

Abdul Ghani and Bahar Din, both residents of Mahore, were arrested while they were trying to smuggle 19 bovine animals at the Khor-Dewal area of Reasi district, a police spokesman said.

He said a police party after putting hectic efforts by scaling mountainous terrain intercepted the smugglers and rescued the animals.

The accused were apprehended in the hills falling in the Khour area, the spokesman said. A case was registered against them, he added.

In another operation, the police seized a truck carrying six animals after a long chase near Narian village in Rajouri district, the spokesman said.

The truck was on way to Rajouri from Jammu and tried to sped away after noticing the police check point, he said.

The driver of the vehicle escaped leaving behind the truck and the animals. the spokesman said. A case was registered and further investigation is on, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)1. Yes. Council members appear to have taken time to review each section carefully.

2. Yes. The council has set up town halls and a public hearing to inform the residents.

3. No. The council should have set up a charter review committee, including residents.

4. No. Some of the items proposed so far benefit the council more than the community.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say until after the public has had more opportunities to weigh in.

Vote

View ResultsA brief visit to a high-end mall here was all it took for Japanese designer Atsushi Nakashima to decide that he wanted to incorporate traditional Indian embroidery in his art.

Nakashima was struck by the fact that the mall, like many others anywhere in the world, had international brands like Louis Vuitton but it also housed stores showcasing traditional Indian designs on the top floor.

"In Japan, although we have the wonderful attire in the form of the kimono, it is no longer worn everyday. It was interesting for me to see how traditional Indian crafts, prints and silhouettes were still alive," Nakashima, whose autumn-winter collection was showcased Friday at the Lotus Make-Up India Fashion Week here, told PTI.

Having travelled to several countries, he said he admired their unique design traditions. But with Indian designs, he said he was "jolted into a wow".

"In India, I really felt a spark with all the traditional crafts, and as a designer I look forward to seeing how I can interpret Indian embroidery into my designs."



The 40-year-old designer, who began his career working with French designer Jean Paul Gaultier in 2004, launched his own brand seven years later in 2011.

Since then, he has showcased his designs at home as well as internationally. He won the third DHL Designers Award, a recognition that helps young fashion design talents to expand their business into new markets.

His last show was in Milan.

Nakashima's designs stand out particularly because of the gender-neutral prints and silhouettes, and his new collection, inspired by the music of the 60s, is no different.

He "deliberately" shifts away from the historical fashion trend that required women to be "ultra-feminine" on the ramp, restricting them to skirts.

"But as fashion evolved, we saw women wearing other kinds of bottoms as well. So, there is a move towards a more unisex approach towards fashion and I have tried to incorporate that too," he said.

With roomy contours in pastel shades and psychedelic prints, Nakashima said his designs are as open to interpretation by women as they are by men.

His artistic style is also defined by a nuanced fusion of both Japanese and western elements.

He said he tried to drift away from the "rigid" Japanese structure of the clothes to more "fluid" western silhouettes.

That is not to say that he has left his traditions behind.

To make the conventionally "square-ish" kimono sleeves flow freely, he uses layerings of different materials as well as colours.

"I try to create something that looks like western wear but feels like it has evolved from a kimono. The sleeves fall like a western wear but when you put it on, you realise it comes on as Japanese wear," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Sunday said his government was working vigorously to improve the infrastructure as per the schemes being framed by the villagers.

The seriousness of the government in this regard can be judged from the fact that it has been spending Rs 164 crores and 176 crore in two blocks of East Singhbhum district to improve infrastructure, Das said.

He was addressing a gathering after laying foundation stone of six road construction projects and unveiled 21 smart classes and two science centres in Bhagaband village under Dumaria block of the district.

The government has constructed 350 km of road and 39 bridges and culverts across the district during its three-and- half-year tenure, the chief minister said.

Das said his government has set a target to electrify 32,000 villages of by December.

"We have plans to set up separate feeders to provide electricity to agriculture, industry sectors as well as consumer from 2019," he said.

The chief minister pitched for bridging the urban-rural disparity and providing equal facilities.

The chief minister said the two science centres were set up at a cost of Rs 17 lakh to develop innovative ideas and talent in the field of science.

The chief minister said, "We have the potential to be in line with the most developed countries of the world as we have 40 per cent mineral reserve, hard-working human resources and will power."



The state has started marching on the path of development and it would be ranked among the most developed states of the world in the next 10 years, Das asserted.

The government has taken initiative to ensure that no one in the state is without home, employment and education by 2022 to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'new India' dream.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)JKNPP activists Sunday staged a protest here, seeking immediate deportation of illegally settled Rohingya and Bangladeshi nationals in Jammu and Kashmir winter capital.

Led by Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) chairman and former minister Harsh Dev Singh, over a dozen party activists assembled at the Exhibition ground and held a demonstration to press for early deportation of the foreign immigrants.

They burnt an effigy of the Centre alleging that it had failed to evict these unlawful foreigners and raised slogans 'Chodho Hamara Jammu Pradesh, Rohingyas Jaao Bangladesh' and 'Rohingyas, Bangladeshis go back'.

The natives of Myanmar and Bangladesh have already been identified in Jammu city and its adjacent areas, and as such they should be immediately deported from Jammu and Kashmir, Singh said.

"Don't pass statements, just act... Do not test the patience of the nationalist Dogras. Deport them (Rohingyas and Bangladeshis) otherwise the nasty situation could lead to devastating socio-political conflict between the hosts and the unlawful foreigners, the JKNPP leader warned.

Claiming that the people were sick of the stereotype statements issued by Central leaders for mere media consumption, Singh alleged that while the Rohingyas and Bangladeshis were settled in Jammu during the Congress-National Conference rule, the BJP had been hand in glove with its erstwhile ally PDP in providing them all kinds of civic amenities to settle them in and around the city under a deep rooted conspiracy to reduce Dogras to minority.

They had illegally built slums at some of the congested colonies in Jammu city and managed to procure permanent resident certificates, Aadhaar cards, ration cards, free water and electric connections, besides admissions of their children in government schools, he claimed.

Singh said despite proven criminal antecedents of Rohingyas, the Centre and the governor administration were not taking cognisance of the alarming situation which could explode and flare up tension in the entire Jammu province.

With the illegal settlement of these foreign immigrants, not only the demography of Jammu city and its peripheral areas are under threat but they had become a hub of serious crimes, he alleged.

The JKNPP leader claimed that the illegal immigrants described as "ticking time bombs" by the intelligentsia had been found active in fuelling narco-smuggling, human trafficking, child abductions, beggary, border crossing and other crimes.

Besides, they enjoy the patronage of various radical terror outfits active in the valley, he alleged.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Ending uncertainty over her candidature, the JD(S) Sunday announced fielding Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's wife Anitha Kumaraswamy in the bypoll to the Ramanagara Assembly constituency.

The ruling party in the state also said Madhu Bangarappa, son of former chief minister S Bangarappa, would be the candidate from the Shivamogga parliamentary seat.

Earlier, there was speculation that Anitha would contest either from Ramanagara or Mandya.

The Janata Dal (Secular) has still not finalised the candidate for the Mandya Lok Sabha bypoll. The party has said the candidature will be announced later.

The coalition partner of the JD(S), Congress, has announced that Anand Nyamgouda, son of Sidhu Nyamagouda who was killed in a road accident on May 28, will be its candidate from the Jamakhandi Assembly seat.

The party is yet to decide its candidate for the Ballari Lok Sabha seat.

The bypolls to three Lok Sabha seats -- Shivamogga, Mandya and Ballari -- and the two assembly seats of Ramanagara and Jamakhandi will take place on November 3.

JD(S) national secretary general Danish Ali told PTI that the names of Anitha Kumaraswamy and Bangarappa were finalised for the Ramanagar and Shivamogga seats respectively.

However, the candidate for Mandya would be finalised later, he said.

Ali also said the JD(S) would support the Congress candidates from Ballari and Jamakhandi.

Confirming this, JD(S) state general secretary M Srikanth said Bangarappa would be the alliance candidate from Shivamogga.

Bangarappa would meet JD(S) supremo and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda Monday, before leaving for Shivamogga to file his nomination papers, he added.

Congress spokesperson A N Nataraj Gowda also confirmed that Bangarappa would contest from Shivamogga.

The Congress, in a press release, said it had appointed polls in-charge for the seats from where JD(S) candidates would fight the by-elections.

Large and Medium Industries Minister K J George would oversee the Mandya parliamentary seat, while Revenue Minister R V Deshpande and Lok Sabha member D K Suresh would be in charge of Shivamogga and Ramanagara respectively, it said.

The bypolls were necessitated following the resignations of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president BS Yeddyurappa from the Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat, C S Puttaraju from the Mandya Lok Sabha seat and B Sriramulu from the Ballari Lok Sabha seat.

They contested the 2018 state Assembly polls and got elected.

The Ramanagara seat got vacated as Chief Minister Kumaraswamy, who won from both the Channapatna and Ramanagara seats, opted to represent the former in the Assembly and resigned from the latter.

The Jamakhandi Assembly seat fell vacant after the sitting MLA, Siddu Nyamagouda, was killed in a road accident on May 28.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 23-year-old man from Karnataka was arrested for allegedly raping and killing a middle-aged woman at Old Goa village, 10 kms away from here, police said Sunday.

The arrest was made Saturday night, days after the victim's body was found in Old Goa, police said.

"The accused, Manjunath Dodamani, hailed from Belgaum in Karnataka and lived with his parents at Old Goa. He was arrested last night," Superintendent of Police (North), Chandan Chaudhury, told reporters.

"He has confessed to the crime. He told the police that on Wednesday night, he offered lift to the woman and later took her to an isolated spot, where he raped her and later strangled her to death," the SP said adding that the accused knew the deceased.

The woman's post-mortem had revealed that she had been sexually assaulted and murdered, police said.

Chaudhury said a team of 15 police officers followed all possible leads to nab the accused.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Langate MLA Sheikh Abdul Rasheed was detained Sunday for taking out a protest march here in "solidarity" with Kashmiri students of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU)who were booked on sedition charges.

Three Kashmiri students of the university were booked Friday for sedition for allegedly raising "anti-India" slogans and trying to hold a prayer meeting for Hizbul Mujahideen commander Manan Bashir Wani, who was killed in an encounter in north Kashmir Thursday.

Rasheed, the MLA from north Kashmir's Langate constituency, along with supporters of his Awami Ittehad Party (AIP)took out a protest march from his official residence at Jawahar Nagar area towards Lal Chowk city centre, a party spokesman said.

He said the protestors were shouting slogans in favour of the students of the AMU "who are being harassed constantly for offering in absentia funeral prayers of Hizb commander Manan Wani".

The spokesman said as the march reached near the Zero Bridge in the Rajbagh area, policemen stopped the protestors and took the AIP chief into custody.

Talking to reporters before the march, Rasheed said offering funeral prayers for anyone, including Wani, was not a crime "but a fundamental religious obligation".

"The AMU administration has filed charges of sedition against Kashmiri students only under pressure from local BJP leaders just to polarise the issue and gain electoral dividends.

"Whatsoever is being attributed to the students is absolutely false and baseless. The AMU is a prestigious institution and the only aim to drag the university into controversies is to interfere in the affairs of the varsity and abolish its Muslim dominated character," he alleged.

The MLA said Kashmiri students "are being targeted only for the reason that they are Kashmiris and being a Kashmiri has become a crime in India".

"Every Kashmiri stands with the students who are being subjected to mental torture and harassment not only at the AMU but everywhere in India.

"We demanded withdrawal of FIR against the students and seek revocation of suspension orders of the students who have been accused of raising anti-India slogans," Rasheed said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Malayalam actor Kollam Thulashi has been booked by the Kerala Police for his controversial remarks against women during a NDA protest meeting over the Sabarimala Temple issue, police said Sunday.

Addressing the protesters in Kollam on Friday, Thulashi, a BJP supporter, had allegedly said, "women in the restricted age group who visit the Lord Ayappa Temple should be ripped apart."



An FIR was registered Saturday against Thulashi under Indian Penal Code sections, including 295 (A) (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings), and also under section 119 (A) of Kerala Police Act which deals with acts in public places degrading the dignity of women.

He was booked on a complaint from local DYFI leader Rateesh, police said.

Facing condemnation over his remark, the actor later had claimed that he made it in an emotional state of mind and expressed regret.

The BJP-led NDA had organised the protest against the LDF government's decision not to file a review petition against the Supreme Court's verdict allowing women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala Temple by lifting the ban on those between 10-50 years.

The state has been rocked by protests by Congress, BJP and Hindu outfits against the government's move to implement the apex court order.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)It may not be as easy to spot liars as thought, according to a study which has found that verbal and physical signs of lying are harder to detect than people believe.

Tests reveal that people are skilled at identifying commonly displayed cues -- such as hesitations and hand gestures -- but these signs are produced more often when someone is telling the truth.

Liars are also skilled at suppressing these signals to avoid detection, researchers found.

Psychologists used an interactive game to assess the types of speech and gestures speakers produce when lying, and which clues listeners interpret as evidence that a statement is false.

Jia Loy, from the University of Edinburgh in the UK, created a computerised two-player game in which 24 pairs of players hunted for treasure. Players were free to lie at will.

Researchers coded more than 1,100 utterances produced by speakers against 19 potential cues to lying -- such as pauses in speech, changes in speech rate, shifts in eye gaze and eyebrow movements.

The cues were analysed to see which ones listeners identified, and which cues were more likely to be produced when telling an untruth.

The team found listeners were efficient at identifying these common signs.

Listeners make judgements on whether something is true within a few hundred milliseconds of encountering a cue.

However, they found that the common cues associated with lying were more likely to be used if the speaker is telling the truth.

The study helps understand the psychological dynamics that shape deception, researchers said.

"The findings suggests that we have strong preconceptions about the behaviour associated with lying, which we act on almost instinctively when listening to others," said Martin Corley, of the University of Edinburgh.

"However, we don't necessarily produce these cues when we're lying, perhaps because we try to suppress them," Corley said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Minister M J Akbar returned here Sunday from a tour of Africa amid mounting demand for his resignation over allegations of sexual harassment by a number of women journalists in the last few days.

The Minister of State for External Affairs evaded a barrage of questions from the media over the allegations and only said he would issue a statement later on.

"There will be a statement later on," he told reporters at the airport.

Multiple women in the last few days have come out with accounts of alleged sexual harassment by Akbar when he was a journalist as the #MeToo movement swept social media, bringing to fore sordid tales of sexual harassment by influential men in different walks of life.

Akbar's name cropped up on social media earlier this week as part of the #MeToo movement and since then pressure has been increasing on the government to sack him.

The Congress has already demanded Akbar's ouster.

There was an indication by the BJP that it is likely to take a clear stand on allegations of sexual harassment against Akbar once he explains his position upon his return.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party has maintained a studied silence on the matter so far, party sources have said the charges against him are serious, and his continuance as a minister is no longer guaranteed.

A final call will be taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the sources said.

A group of journalists Saturday held a protest here expressing solidarity with their women colleagues who have demanded proper implementation of the prevention of sexual harassment act to ensure dignity at workplace.

The protesting journalists also sought immediate action against those facing allegations of sexual misconduct.

They also demanded the removal of Akbar from the union council of ministers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two villagers were Sunday injured in separate attacks by tigers in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region, a senior forest official said.

Shyamrao Nathuji Gurnule (65) was seriously injured in a tiger attack near the gate of Umred Pawani Karhandala Sanctuary at around 3:30pm Sunday, Ravikiran Govekar, field director of Pench Tiger Reserve, said.

In another incident at around 4:30pm Sunday, Kisan Santosh Dhurve (55), was injured in an attack by a wild animal, possibly a tiger, in the Pawani buffer range of Pench Tiger Reserve, Govekar said.

"While Gurnule is being shifted to Nagpur for treatment, Dhurve has been admitted in Deolapar primary health centre," the official said.

Gurnule is a resident of Karhandala village while Dhurve lives in Bothiya Palora village in Ramtek tehsil and both were probably grazing cattle when the incidents happened, he informed.

Forest officials are probing the incidents, Govekar said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Maharashtra minister said Sunday that the BJP-led government had decided to allow online sale and home delivery of liquor in the state, but later stated that only a proposal in this regard had been received.

"We want to curb the instances of drunken driving. Allowing home delivery of liquor will help in this," Excise Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule told PTI Sunday morning, without elaborating as to when the decision would come into effect.

However, apparently fearing backlash over the announcement from Opposition parties and anti-liquor activists, the minister later said that only a proposal had been received.

"We have a received an application requesting framing of a policy for purchase of liquor online from home. However, the government has not thought about it, nor there has been any policy (framed)," Bawankule told reporters in Nagpur.

He also said that his department recently took action against 35 liquor shops in the state for providing foreign liquor at customers' doorstep by taking orders through certain WhatsApp groups.

Earlier, a senior official in the excise department had told PTI that increasing the revenue was also a prime objective behind the decision to allow online sale of liquor.

The government is losing sizable excise tax due to closure of around 3,000 liquor outlets located near the highways owing to the Supreme Court's order, he said.

Also, the reduction in prices of petrol and diesel earlier this month has caused some strain on the state's treasury, the official had added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Nationalist Congress Party will hold rallies in Maharashtra from Monday to protest against water scarcity, rising fuel prices and load-shedding, state unit chief Jayant Patil said.

The party plans to stop vehicles of ministers on official visits as the state government is not addressing the issues of the common man, Patil said Sunday.

The rallies would start from public places and would end with party functionaries submitting memorandums of grievances to revenue officials at tehsil and district levels, the NCP leader said.

"The rallies will be held in several parts of the state to mobilise the people against the ruling government. We will also stop the vehicles of ministers on official visits because this government is not addressing the issues of the common man," Patil said.

"There is no limit to fuel prices, which have continued to escalate. The power supply in rural parts of the state is not regular and highly insufficient," Patil said.

He alleged that the government's faulty policies had led to water scarcity in Maharashtra which had annoyed people.

"The people are annoyed with the government but no one is listening to their grievances," he claimed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Ajay Maken will launch the 'Lok Sampark Abhiyan' (public outreach campaign) on Monday from the New Delhi Parliamentary constituency, a party spokesperson said Sunday.

The programme will be launched at 4 pm at Sant Ravidas Chowk, Pyarelal Road near Karol Bagh MCD Zonal office of the constituency, DPCC chief spokesperson Sharmistha Mukherjee.

During the programme, the party workers will carry out a door-to-door campaign to apprise people of the "failures and unfulfilled promises" of the Modi government at the Centre and the Kejriwal government in Delhi, she said.

Two booklets -- pertaining to "false promises made by the Modi government and corruption in Kejriwal government" -- will be distributed among three lakh Congress workers in Delhi to "expose" both the dispensations, Mukherjee added. The booklets were released by the Congress on Sunday.

The workers will also collect donations from every block for the party fund, Mukherjee said.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to provide two crore jobs to youths per year but in the four and a half years, the government could generate only about 5 lakh jobs. Similarly, the Kejriwal government, which had promised 15 lakh employment in five years, could provide only 388 jobs in three and a half years," she said.

"The Modi government at the Centre and the Kejriwal government in Delhi remain in the limelight through headline management and advertisements at the cost of thousands of crores of rupees to the exchequer," Mukherjee added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Maldives and India need to regain mutual trust, former Maldivian foreign minister Dunya Maumoon said after meeting External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj here.

Maumoon met Swaraj Saturday during an unofficial visit to India "on behalf of" former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

"It was such a pleasure to call on my friend Sushma Swaraj to pass on greetings from my father. Maumoon A Gayoom built a warm friendship between our countries while he was in office. We need to regain the trust between our countries," she said on Twitter after meeting Swaraj.

"Visiting Delhi, India for some unofficial meetings on behalf of my father Maumoon Abdul Gayoom," she said on Twitter earlier.

Her meeting with Swaraj comes as the Maldives is set to witness the formation of a new government under President-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

Solih recently won the Maldives' presidential election, defeating strongman Abdulla Yameen, who was known to be close to China.

India had congratulated Solih on his victory.

India's ties with the Maldives came under strain after Yameen declared Emergency in the country on February 5, following an order by the country's Supreme Court to release a group of opposition leaders, who had been convicted in widely criticised trials.

India had criticised the Yameen government for the imposition of the Emergency and urged it to restore the credibility of the electoral, and political process by releasing political prisoners.

The Emergency was lifted 45 days later.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Maldives judges on Sunday heard a petition by strongman president Abdulla Yameen to have his recent election defeat annulled, potentially triggering US sanctions and plunging the archipelago into fresh turmoil.

Yameen lost heavily in the September 23 election to a little-known unity opposition candidate, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, despite his main rivals being in jail or in exile and the media in his pocket.

Under pressure from the US, Europe and India, which is seeking to counter growing Chinese influence in the strategically positioned 1,200-island honeymoon paradise, Yameen quickly conceded defeat and said he would leave office on November 17.

But even as Western countries breathed a sigh of relief, prisoners were released and opposition figures began returning from exile, Yameen last week filed a request for the Supreme Court to annul the result and call fresh elections.

A statement on Saturday by his Progressive Party (PPM) said the vote was the "most farcical election in living memory" with the organisation "abysmal", vote-rigging "rampant" and many people unable to cast ballots.

The United States -- which like the European Union threatened sanctions if the elections were not free and fair -- on Saturday warned it would react if Yameen, 59, does not go quietly.

"The US is concerned by troubling actions by outgoing president Yameen that threaten to undermine the will of the Maldivian people," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said on Twitter.

He added that Washington "will consider appropriate measures against anyone who undermines a peaceful transfer of power in #Maldives".

The situation is not dissimilar to 2013 when Yameen, estranged half-brother of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled the Maldives with an iron fist for 30 years until 2008, first became president.

Yameen's rival at the time Mohamed Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected president who is now in exile, beat him in the first round of elections but Yameen persuaded the Supreme Court to nullify the result.

A subsequent vote was then twice delayed, allowing Yameen time to forge alliances that helped him narrowly win a contested run-off.

Dozens of people queued up outside the Supreme Court on Sunday to get inside several hours before the hearing began. It started with the court allowing all opposition parties to have their say.

Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, Colombo-based spokesman for the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), said the legal challenge was an attempt by Yameen to create turmoil.

The country's Joint Opposition, which includes the MDP, has asked Yameen to withdraw the "blatantly unsubstantiated case, and to step aside and to facilitate a peaceful, and smooth transition."



The opposition has also urged state institutions, including the courts and the security forces, to uphold the will of the people.

"Maldivians used the ballot to defeat the dictatorial regime. Yameen must not be allowed to perverse the hard-won opportunity for all Maldivians to attain meaningful democracy and stability," the Joint Opposition said in a statement at the weekend.

Apart from his political foes, in February Yameen jailed the chief justice and another Supreme Court judge after accusing them of trying to topple him.

Yameen had initially suspended the court, parliament and the constitution and declared a state of emergency when parliament was about to impeach him in February.

Three of the remaining Supreme Court justices have been restored, but the opposition has said they had no faith in the judiciary to deliver justice while Yameen remains in power.

However, several high profile political prisoners, including Gayoom have been released on bail since the election results were officially announced a week after the vote.

Yameen has since borrowed heavily from China under Beijing's Belt and Road initative for infrastructure projects that, like elsewhere around the Indian Ocean and beyond, have rattled India and Western countries.

The opposition has said it wants to renegotiate China's loans, although the experience of Sri Lanka, which last year leased to Beijing a new deep-sea port for 99 years, suggest this may not be easy.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Supreme Court of the Maldives is to decide Sunday on President Abdulla Yameen's petition to overturn his defeat in last month's election, a move that could bring international sanctions.

The tiny Indian Ocean archipelago, which straddles the main east-west international shipping lanes, has seen political tensions escalate as Yameen jailed or exiled all his main opponents during his five-year rule.

After initially conceding defeat in the September 23 presidential election, Yameen mounted a challenge on Thursday asking the Supreme Court to annul the results and call a fresh vote.

Despite opposition fears of rigging in favour of Yameen who has ruled with an iron fist since 2013, the election was endorsed by the international community as free and fair.

Yameen was due to hand over power to the opposition candidate, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, on November 17, but the latest court action risks pushing the country back into unrest, the opposition has said.

However, the strongest warning came from the United States which said it will take "appropriate measures" if Yameen fails to ensure a smooth transition of power.

"The US is concerned by troubling actions" by Yameen "that threaten to undermine the will of the Maldivian people, and will consider appropriate measures against anyone who undermines a peaceful transfer of power in #Maldives," a State department spokesman, Robert Palladino, said on Twitter.

The United States had previously warned of targeted sanctions if Yameen's administration attempted to rig the September vote won by Solih, who secured 58.4 per cent against Yameen's 41.6 per cent.

The Supreme Court hearing is due to start at 1:00 pm (0800 GMT) in the upmarket tourist destination which is also at the centre of a tussle for influence between India and China.

Yameen has courted China's backing while the opposition has said it wants to renegotiate huge loans Yameen had taken from Beijing.

Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, Colombo-based spokesman for the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), said the legal challenge was an attempt by Yameen to create unrest.

The country's Joint Opposition, which includes the MDP, has asked Yameen to withdraw the "blatantly unsubstantiated case, and to step aside and to facilitate a peaceful, and smooth transition."



The opposition has also urged state institutions, including the courts and the security forces, to uphold the will of the people.

"Maldivians used the ballot to defeat the dictatorial regime. Yameen must not be allowed to perverse the hard-won opportunity for all Maldivians to attain meaningful democracy and stability," the Joint Opposition said in a statement at the weekend.

Apart from his political foes, Yameen has jailed the chief justice and another supreme court judge after accusing them of trying to topple him in February.

Yameen had initially suspended the court, parliament and the constitution when he declared a state of emergency when parliament was about to impeach him in February.

Three of the remaining supreme court justices have been restored, but the opposition has said they had no faith in the judiciary to deliver justice while Yameen remained in power.

However, several high profile political prisoners, including Yameen's estranged half-brother Maumoon Abdul Gayoom have been released on bail since the election results were officially announced a week after the vote.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A man was arrested Sunday after smack worth Rs 4 crore was allegedly seized from his car, police said.

Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar Singh said accused Rehmat Ali (25) tried to speed past the police checkpoint when asked to stop.

"The vehicle was, however, stopped and on searching it, we found smack worth Rs 4 crore in the international market," he said.

"Rahmat has said that he was going to Devalji in Rajasthan to deliver the consignment to a person called Chintu Musalman. Further investigations are underway to ascertain details of the contraband," Singh informed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)One person was killed and two others injured when a speeding truck hit their bike near Atarhat village in Chilla area here, police said Sunday.

The incident took place on Saturday when the three -- Anil Kumar (21), Anuj (18) and Umesh (19) were going somewhere.

All of them were rushed to a hospital where Anil died during treatment.

The truck driver is absconding.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) has signed an MoU with Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation (BAIF) for a CSR project to uplift the economic status of rural households in Odisha by providing them with sustainable livelihood opportunities.

The company will spend Rs 20.29 crore for the CSR project 'Utthaan in' the next five-and-half-a-year under this Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

It was signed by B Sairam, General Manager (CSR), MCL and D N Shindey, vice-president, BAIF, in the presence of L N Mishra, Director (Personnel), MCL on Friday, a company official said.

"This association of MCL with BAIF, which has a proven record in the field of community development, will go a long way in the socio-economic development of rural peripheral villages," Mishra said.

With this CSR project, MCL aims at creating self-employment opportunities for the rural poor families by promoting agro-based activities in 40 shortlisted villages of Jharsuguda, Angul, Sundargarh and Sambalpur districts in Odisha.

The executing partner BAIF will set-up cluster offices in these four districts to undertake activities such as animal husbandry, dairy farming, goat rearing, backyard poultry farming, horticulture along with awareness creation and capacity building programmes, MCL said in a statement.

This comprehensive community development programme will benefit 6,174 families, it said.

Besides plantation and aftercare of fruits and forest trees, cultivation of suitable intercrop, post-plantation care, improved agri practices, pest management and soil conservation, this programme will also work on bringing changes in behavioural aspects with respect to safe drinking water, health awareness, clean kitchen, sanitation and use of toilets in the rural villages.

MCL, which is a leading coal producer, contributing to 25 per cent of total coal production of Coal India, is also the top contributor to Odisha under its CSR initiatives.

MCL contributed Rs 267 crore under CSR during the 2017-18 financial year, as against prescribed Rs 123 crore, it added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former judge K Ravinder Reddy, who quit after delivering the verdict in the Mecca Masjid blast case, has joined the Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS), part of the opposition alliance led by the Congress for the coming Assembly polls, weeks after expressing keenness to embrace the BJP.

The move is being seen as a shot in the arm for the TJS in the run-up to the December 7 polls. Reddy was welcomed into the party by TJS president M Kodandaram at an event Saturday.

Reddy, the then judge for National Investigation Agency (NIA) cases here, had on April 16 acquitted Hindutva preacher Aseemanand and four others in the Mecca Masjid blast case.

He had resigned as a judge within hours of pronouncing the judgment, citing personal reasons.

Last month, Reddy had expressed keenness to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), describing it as a "patriotic party", and banners welcoming him into the party were put up at the state BJP headquarters here, but it did not materialise.

The TJS is part of the opposition alliance, also comprising the Congress, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Communist Party of India (CPI), formed to take on the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in the upcoming polls.

Kodandaram expressed hope that the seat-sharing talks among the alliance partners would be finalised by "Vijaya Dasami" (October 18).

Kodandaram was the chairman of the Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC), which was at the forefront of the separate Telangana agitation.

The JAC consisted of various parties, including the TRS. Kodandaram, however, fell out with the TRS after the party assumed power in Telangana in 2014.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Siram Raghavan says thanks to the #MeToo movement, people will stay within their limits, especially when they are around women.

Raghavan believes the campaign is an interesting phenomenon that is finally arrived in the country and it will only grow further with time.

"Many years back this was taken for granted but not anymore. It is a necessary thing that has happened and this is only going to help the film industry in a good way. It will stop people from trying and doing these things with women," Raghavan told PTI.

The "Andhadhun" director said what is essential is that so many women have opened up but it is the stories which are coming out that have shocked him the most.

"Everybody is capable of doing some nonsense... It is not the names but the events that shocked me. The things that I read."



The filmmaker said till the time legal action is initiated against those accused of sexual misconduct, removing them from a project is the way forward.

"Till truth comes out following the investigation... Like in Hollywood, actors were replaced. Everybody is looking for ways to deal with it here. What is the other solution (than removing the person from the project)?" he added.

Raghavan said thorough investigation is the need of the hour.

"You have to go deep into it and find out the truth and take action. Till then one has to wait and watch," he said.

The director said he does not tolerate any misbehaviour on his film sets.

"I have lot of girls working with me, like associate directors, assistant directors, co-writers, editors, and so on... No nonsense is tolerated. There are guidelines that we follow...

"But looking at what has happened, these things should be dealt in a stricter way.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An 11-year-old boy was killed and his seven friends were injured Sunday when a speeding car hit them while they were walking towards a temple here in Maharashtra, police said.

The mishap took place around 4 am near the Sainath Nagar locality, an official at the Mumbai Naka police station said.

The boys, all residents of Nashik and in the age group of 9 to 15 years, were heading towards the Kalika Mata temple in the city as part of the ongoing Navratri festivities when the speeding car hit them on the Mumbai-Agra road, he said.

The deceased was identified as Vishal Pawar, the official said, adding that the seven injured boys were admitted to the Nashik Civil Hospital.

A search was on for the car driver who fled the spot along with the vehicle after the accident, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A girl was found within 24 hours after she went missing from her house in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district, police said Sunday.

A family from Ramloo-Brahmana village had lodged a complaint at the Ramgarh police station stating that their daughter had gone missing from her home Friday evening, a police spokesman said.

He said a team was constituted to trace the girl.

"The police team mobilised all resources and succeeded in tracing the missing girl from Vijaypur area within 24 hours.

"She was brought back safely to police station Ramgarh and subsequently handed over to her family members after completing legal formalities, the spokesman said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress Sunday launched a scathing attack on the Centre over the falling rupee and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "monumental mismanagement" of the economy and delivering blows to it.

The opposition party said in 2014, Modi had promised to strengthen the rupee if he became prime minister and said he would bring it to the level of 40 per dollar.

Addressing a press conference at the party office here, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma pointed out that the rupee had, on more than one occasion, crossed 74 to a dollar, whereas the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had left it at 59 to a dollar.

"There has been a monumental mismanagement of the Indian economy under the BJP-led NDA government. They have been busy, the prime minister in particular and his Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, either making false claims, or embellishing and manufacturing numbers just to mislead the people," he said.

A nation could not have a sound economy if it was not attracting investments, the Congress leader said.

On demonetisation, Sharma said Modi's arbitrary and reckless decision wiped off more than 90 per cent of the currency in circulation in one stroke, destroyed not only factories but crores of jobs and soon after that, there was a hasty imposition of a flawed Goods and Services Tax (GST).

"If you put all that together, you will realise that this is the highest GST and the most complex one when it comes to compliance, which has been thrust on the country. So, these are the blows Modi has delivered," he said.

The Congress leader took a dig at the finance minister by describing him as a blog writer rather than being an efficient minister and said the Centre attributed the slowing down of the economy, the falling rupee and all such things to global factors.

But strangely, these factors were only evident in India and not other economies of Asia which were not affected by those, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress Sunday stepped up its attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the allegations of sexual harassment against Union minister M J Akbar, saying his silence was "conspicuous and unacceptable".

As the #MeToo movement gathered pace over the last fortnight, the Union minister of state for external affairs was accused by several former colleagues of sexual harassment when he served as an editor at various media organisations.

Addressing a press conference at the party office, senior party leader Anand Sharma questioned Modi's silence on the issue and said as the head of the government he should speak on the issue.

"It is for the prime minister to speak on this issue, let the country judge its PM by his actions. So far his silence is conspicuous. This question is not only the moral authority of the government, but his own also, and the dignity of the office he holds," Sharma said.

He claimed a prime minister, who swears by "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao" and talks of women dignity, has chosen to be silent.

"His silence is unacceptable. It is the head of the government who should make his views known on the issue," Sharma said.

Akbar who returned today from a tour of Africa, said he would issue a statement later on.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had earlier come out in support of the #MeToo movement, saying it was time for the truth to be told "loud and clear".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tax evasion of Rs 5.26 crore was detected in preliminary investigation carried out at Mody University in Rajasthan's Sikar district, a state directorate of revenue intelligence official said on Sunday.

The action was taken following complaints of Goods and Services Tax (GST) being evaded by the university administration in the garb of a mess facility provided to the hostel inmates, the official said.

While mess facility is chargeable under GST, the institution had clubbed it with hostel fees to avoid paying tax, the official added.

Preliminary investigation of purchases and books of the mess revealed tax evasion of Rs 5.26 crore, the official said.

The institution took the hostel and mess fees from the parents but had failed to pay GST on the amount since last one year, the official added.

The directorate will now recover interest and penalty after detailed investigation, the official said further.

The SDRI had recently exposed tax evasion of Rs 3.50 crore by Jyoti Vidhyapeeth and Rs 2.10 crore by Rajdhani Foundation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Khurshid Ahmad Ganai, advisor to Jammu and Kashmir governor, has urged policymakers to put more efforts to linking with employment and entrepreneurship to ensure more job opportunities to skilled youth in the country.

"There is a need to improve policies which can give fillip to skill development programmes at colleges, schools, skill centres to produce skilled population for our nation.

"The policymakers should put more efforts into linking with employment and entrepreneurship through skill development to ensure that our skilled youth can get jobs," Ganai said, addressing students at the valedictory function of a two-day skill development art and craft mela in Jammu.

He said in the age of globalisation, skill building is important to boost efficiency and quality of services for economic growth.

Skills and knowledge are the driving forces of economic growth and social development for any country, he said.

He urged the youth to take advantage of the resources and schemes launched by the government to accelerate economic growth, and said they need to explore opportunities in traditional skills and new-age technologies as both are relevant and capable of generating sustainable livelihood.

"It is the endeavour of governor's administration to provide access to quality skill training at the local levels through short term courses as well as long term training," the advisor said.

He said efforts at rectifying the imbalance in the system through empowering potential of skilling, finds a deep connect with Gandhian principles of craft-centred education.

"Craft-centred education creates a balance between theory and monotonous learning through creative stimulation and self-expression," the advisor maintained.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)He was known as a firebrand barrister but not many would believe that Motilal Nehru was also an impresario who sent a troupe of magicians and performers to Paris in 1900 for a grand exhibition.

Australian author John Zubrzycki, who dedicates a whole chapter to this fascinating facet of Nehru in his new book "Jadoowallahs, Jugglers and Jinns", says finding his story was truly a fortunate "stroke of serendipity".

In the tenth chapter of the richly illustrated volume -- "Motilal's Magical Menagerie", the author describes about a letter written by him to the immigration authorities in Bombay on April 1, 1900.

"I have just learnt that in order to send a party of Indians consisting of performers, musicians, acrobats and artisans to the ensuing Paris Exhibition it is necessary to obtain a permit from the Protector of Emigrants," the letter reads.

"As I about to send such a party, I beg to state the necessary particulars for your information," says the letter written by Nehru to J Walsh, the Protector of Emigrants in Bombay.

The Exposition Universelle or Paris Univeral Exhibition was a world fair held in the French capital from April 14-November 12 in 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next.

According to Zubrzycki, it was the most ambitious world fair ever staged, and more than 50 million visitors passed through the 108-acre site that spanned both banks of the Seine.

British India and Ceylon pavilion of the grand event was built in an oriental style, reflecting the architecture of the Indian region.

The Sydney-based author, in an interview to PTI, said he chanced upon that rare original letter at the repository of the Maharashtra State Archives housed in Elphinstone College in Bombay.

"The letter was found in the labyrinthine sections of archival records in a file titled 'Ruling of the Govt of India regarding the Departure from Bombay of a Party of Indian Jugglers and Dancers for Service in Connection with the Exhibit in Paris'," he said.

The author writes in the book, published by Pan Macmillan India, that Nehru was an "admirer of French culture" and displayed the "same meticulous planning" in sending the troupe to Paris as he did when preparing his briefs as a barrister at the Allahabad High Court.

The Australian author said Nehru had taken time out from his successful legal career to follow in the footsteps of the world's greatest showbiz entrepreneur, Phineas Taylor Barnum, famously known as P T Barnum.

"Attached to the files of the Maharashtra State Archives is a 37-page document laying out the memorandum and articles of association of the Societe des Grandes Attractions, a company formed in Paris 'to carry on the business of caterers for public amusements in France'," he said.

Zubrzycki said that though Nehru's troupe set sail for Trieste on board SS Amphitrite, a major roadblock had almost wrecked the plan.

"Under the Emigration Act of 1883, the emigration of Indian was prohibited except to specified countries as manual labourers. These restrictions were tightened after an outbreak of plague in Bombay in 1896.

"Nehru's jugglers, dancers and performers were considered itinerants and therefore at the high risk of carrying the plague, so he had to apply for clearance. Complicating his plan was almost simultaneous application from Professor Deval's Great Indian Circus," he said.

The circus was to take about 60 artists as well as elephants, lions and tigers for a month-long season in Egypt, before proceeding to the Paris Exhibition, the author said.

"Both applications sent to the authorities were to be considered for whether magicians and circus artists could be classified as emigrants, i.e., manual labourers, or not. If they were, they would stopped from travelling under the Plague Act," he said.

The matter went all the way up to the then Viceroy Lord Curzon to decide if magicians tricks since it involved sleight of hand, amounted to manual labour or not.

"The authorities finally said, it did not constitute manual labour, and therefore Nehru's troupe were luckily able to set sail. But, Prof Deval's circus was, a week later denied permission to depart to Egypt under the Epidemic Diseases Act," he said.

The 450-page book, also draws from repositories located at the National Archives in Delhi, Library of Congress in the US, India Office Records, British Library, Wellcome Library, besides collections at several libraries. Private collections of Priya Paul and others have also been used.

Zubrzycki in his book also pays homage to great Indian magicians like P C Sorcar and Gogia Pasha.

"India had been stereotyped by the West as the land of snake charmers, and therefore I believe many of the Indian magicians did not get their due, though they were in many ways ahead of their western counterparts. This book is an attempt to give theme their due," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pope Francis raised slain Salvadoran archbishop Oscar Romero and Pope Paul VI to sainthood on Sunday in a ceremony at the Vatican attended by tens of thousands of pilgrims.

"We declare and define Paul VI and Oscar Arnulfo Romero Galdamez... to be saints and we enrol them among the saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole church," Francis said, before the crowds broke into wild applause.

The pair were elevated to the highest position in the Roman Catholic Church along with five others, including an Italian orphan who died of bone cancer aged 19 and a German nun.

Relics of each new saint were carried to the altar -- part of a bone for Romero and the shirt Paul VI was wearing when he was stabbed in an assassination attempt at Manila airport in 1970.

Among those present were El Salvadoran president Salvador Sanchez Ceren, Chile's president Sebastian Pinera and Spain's Queen Sofia.

Francis was wearing a blood-stained rope belt which belonged to Romero, who stood up for peasant rights in the face of a right-wing backlash and was murdered at the altar in 1980.

The pontiff was also to use a chalice and pastoral staff belonging to Paul VI in a canonisation being seen as a reminder of Francis's call for "a poor church for the poor".

Both men have been hailed by Francis for their courage in turbulent times and their dedication to social justice and the downtrodden.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Mutual fund industry managed to garner Rs 7,727 crore through systematic investment plans (SIPs) in September, a surge of 40 per cent from the year-ago period, despite corrections in equity market.

With this, total SIP contribution in the first half of the current fiscal rose to Rs 44,487 crore, compared to Rs 29,266 crore in April-September 2017, as per the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).

SIP continued to be the preferred route for retail investors to invest in mutual fund as it helps them reduce market timing risk, the industry body noted.

As per the latest data, the SIP contribution in September stood at Rs 7,727 crore, which was 40 per cent higher than Rs 5,516 crore clocked in the same month last year.

In August, the industry collected Rs 7,658 crore and Rs 7,554 crore each in June and July.

The pace of growth in fresh SIPs has slowed over the last three months as the SIP book grew by a little over 2 per cent in this period.

A sharp plunge of more than six per cent in 30-share Sensex last month, triggered by the IL&FS crisis, fall in the rupee and boiling crude oil prices, could be the reason for this pace.

However, over the past few years, investment through SIPs has been rising as investments of over Rs 67,000 crore through the mode were seen in 2017-18 and more than Rs 43,900 crore in the preceding fiscal.

"There is a healthy trend and SIPs have seen growth from strength to strength surviving markets volatility. This a good way for retail investors to manage market's ups and downs and it's encouraging that this trend continues," Edelweiss Asset Management Company Chief Executive Radhika Gupta said.

According to Morningstar Director - Manager Research Kaustubh Belapurkar, Indian investors are increasingly showing signs of maturity by recognising the fact that equity is a long term asset class and volatility is a part of the journey. Investors are in fact using market dips to top up their investments.

"We are witnessing a trend of increasing SIP numbers as industry efforts towards investor education is getting more investors under the fold, who are acknowledging the power of the long-term wealth creation potential offered by equity investing," he added.

Adhil Shetty, CEO of BankBazaar.com, believes that it is the right time to continue with SIPs in equity funds rather than redeem investments. It gives investor a chance to add higher number of units in their portfolio.

"This surge in investment points towards an increase in investor awareness about SIP, which is a good sign for the industry," he added.

Currently, mutual funds have 2.44 crore SIP accounts through which investors regularly invest in Indian mutual fund schemes. In the current fiscal, the industry has added 10.17 lakh SIP accounts each month on an average, with average ticket size of Rs 3,165.

SIP is an investment vehicle that allows investors to invest in small amount periodically instead of lump sum payment. The frequency of investment is usually weekly, monthly or quarterly. It is similar to a recurring deposit where investors deposit a small or fixed amount every month.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In a scathing attack on the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) patron Sharad Yadav said Sunday no other ruling dispensation has caused more harm to the people of this country since independence.

At a press meet here, he alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not fulfill any of the promises he made to the people during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

"Narendra Modi made one false promise after another... People are witnessing skyrocketing prices (of almost every commodity). Petrol-diesel prices are rising on a daily basis. The central government has collected Rs 11 lakh crore on account of petroleum products alone," Yadav told reporters.

Stating that both central and state governments have lost credibility, the former Union minister claimed that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was voted to power as the grand alliance leader, ditched 11 crore people when he switched sides.

Yadav, who was an integral part of the ruling JD(U), distanced himself from the party last year after Kumar quit the grand alliance to join hands with the BJP.

He launched a new political outfit, Loktantrik Janata Dal, earlier this year.

"This government (Narendra Modi govt) is looting people. Since independence, people have not witnessed a government which causes more harm than good. It has made a mess of everything. Around seven crore people lost their jobs due to demonetisation," Yadav said.

Talking about the Muzaffarpur shelter home abuse case, he said "women are no longer safe" in the state.

"The recent incidents of sexual abuse at a shelter home and the case, where Dalit women of Buxar district were sent to jail, have exposed the state government's attitude. The JD(U) government is only interested in strengthening one individual and his party," Yadav said, in a veiled reference to PM Modi and the BJP.

More than 25 people, including women, were arrested in Buxar in January in connection with an attack on the chief minister's cavalcade. Kumar remained unharmed, but several security personnel suffered injuries in the attack.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two days after a 32-year-old man from Bihar was found dead by the roadside in Surat, Gujarat, the police on Sunday refuted rumours of a hate crime saying the man died in an accident.

Incidents of attacks on Hindi-speaking migrants were reported in some districts of Gujarat earlier this month after the rape of a 14-month-old girl in Sabarkantha district and arrest of a worker from Bihar for the crime.

Surat is believed to have the highest number of migrant workers among all cities in Gujarat.

However, Surat police commissioner Satish Sharma Sunday said the evidence shoed that the deceased, Amarjit Singh, died after his motorcycle hit a tree.

After Singh's body was found in Khatodara area Friday night, it was suspected that someone might have attacked and murdered him.

"Evidence gathered so far shows it was a case of accident. Preliminary forensic examination shows it was a motorcycle accident. The motorcycle hit a tree. Statements of the people who took him to hospital also corroborated it," the commissioner said.

As to the missing mobile phone of the deceased, Sharma said somebody might have stolen it after the accident.

"We have not reached any final conclusion and are investigating the case from all angles," he said.

He also said that while a portal in Bihar claimed that it was a murder and stated that Singh was 15 years old, it did not seek Surat police's version.

The deceased was 32 years old, Sharma said.

"Not a single incident of Gujaratis attacking non-Gujaratis have taken place in Surat," he said, adding that the three recent cases, where complainants were non-Gujaratis, were routine crimes and twenty people were arrested.

The victims in these cases continue to live in the same locality as before, which shows these were not hate crimes, the police commissioner said.

Singh's family had claimed that he was murdered. His brother Rakesh Singh had said that Amarjit received a call around 10 pm Friday after which he left house to meet someone.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan's electronic media regulatory authority has issued a notice to a private TV channel for airing reports deemed to be against two federal ministers, a media report said Sunday.

"From the tickers it was transpired that the prime minister had expressed displeasure over the performance of federal finance minister for his policies," Dawn reported, citing the notice issued by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) on Saturday.

In the notice titled 'Notice on False News, it said that by airing such reports, the channel had violated provisions of the 2015 Electronic Media Code of Conduct.

The regulatory authority asked the TV channel to prove authenticity of its reports and submit a reply by Monday, the paper reported.

It also said if the channel failed to provide evidence in support of its reports, it should tender an apology.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Pakistani national was arrested by the Sri Lankan authorities at the Bandaranaike International Airport here for attempting to smuggle over 2 kgs of heroin worth Rs30 million, according to a media report.

The 39-year-old suspect had arrived from Qatar and was arrested after the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) found 2.42 kgs of heroin concealed in a false bottom of his luggage, the Colombo Page reported.

The heroin stock was said to be worth about Rs 30 million in the international market.

Following the arrest, the authorities at the airport conducted further investigations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Chief Minister was Sunday discharged from the AIIMS, where he has been undergoing treatment for pancreatic ailment, and is likely to return to his home state, sources said.

According to sources in the AIIMS, he was Sunday morning shifted to ICU for a while after his condition deteriorated. But sometime back, the administration decided to discharge him, the sources said.

Parrikar (62) was admitted to Delhi's premier (AIIMS) on September 15.

"The chief minister is likely to be brought to in a special flight on Sunday from Delhi. The doctors who are treating him at the hospital would certify on Sunday morning whether he is fit to travel back home," the official of the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) had said Saturday.

If he returns to Goa, Parrikar will stay at his private residence in Panaji, he added.

On Friday, Parrikar met BJP's core committee members and ministers from coalition partners at to discuss ways to ensure his government functions normally during his absence from office due to ill health.

However, leaders of the ruling BJP and its allies, who met Parrikar separately, had ruled out any change in leadership in the coastal state.

Parrikar has been ailing since mid-February and has been treated at different hospitals including those in Goa, Mumbai and the US.Union minister Shripad Naik said Sunday there has been an improvement in Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's health but he needs to take rest after returning to his state from New Delhi.

Parrikar was Sunday discharged from the AIIMS, New Delhi, where he was undergoing treatment for pancreatic ailment since September 15, and is likely to return to his home state, sources said.

Naik dismissed any possibility of dissolution of the Goa Assembly and expressed confidence that the Parrikar-led government will complete its term.

Questions over the stability of the Goa government have been raised by the Opposition Congress because of Parrikar's illness.

"Parrikar will be arriving in Goa this evening by a special flight. From the airport, he will directly go to his private residence at Dona Paula," a senior official in the Chief Minister's office said Sunday.

Naik, the Union AYUSH minister, said it is okay if Parrikar undergoes treatment in Goa but he needs to take rest.

"There has been an improvement in his health compared to what it was when he was flown to AIIMS last month," the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader told reporters here at the sidelines of a function.

The minister said he had met Parrikar on Friday.

"I got the that he is coming back but I can't believe that he is returning. His health is improving and he was expected to stay at the AIIMS for a few more days," he said.

Naik, who is part of the Goa BJP's core committee that met Parrikar in Delhi on Friday to discuss about the development in the state, said there was no proposal or possibility of dissolution of the state Assembly.

"This government will complete its tenure of five years," he asserted.

State Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said elaborate arrangements have been made at Parrikar's private residence where a team of doctors from the state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital will take care of his health.

Parrikar had Friday held meetings at the AIIMS with party leaders as well as allies to discuss ways to ensure that his government functions normally.

He is expected to shed "many" of his portfolios after Dussehra, according to ministers who met him in the hospital.

The core committee is the BJP's key decision-making body in Goa, comprising senior leaders like Parrikar, Naik and party state chief Vinay Tendulkar, among others.

In the 40-member Goa Assembly, the Parrikar-led government has the support of 23 MLAs.

These comprise 14 BJP MLAs, three each from the Goa Foward Party and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) as well as three Independents.

The Opposition Congress is the single largest party in the state Assembly with 16 MLAs.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) has approved enhancement of free accident insurance cover for pilgrims visiting the shrine to Rs 5 lakh besides free treatment to trauma victims from nearby areas.

The decisions were taken at the 63rd meeting of board which was held at the Raj Bhavan here Saturday under the chairmanship of Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik, who is also the Chairman of the board, an official spokesman said Sunday.

He said the board approved enhancement of Group Accident Insurance cover for pilgrims.

"The accident cover extended to each pilgrim free of cost shall now be Rs five lakh instead of existing Rs three lakh for pilgrims aged five years and above and Rs three lakh for pilgrims below five years of age up from Rs one lakh at present, the spokesman said.

He said the board also approved additional life insurance cover of Rs five lakh to pilgrims who avail the service of the upcoming passenger ropeway between Bhawan and Bhairon Ghati.

This cover shall be in addition to the accidental cover available to each yatri once he/she collects the yatra slip and commences the journey. It is pertinent to mention that premium on providing insurance cover to the pilgrims is borne by the board and the insurance cover has been upgraded after a gap of eight years, the spokesman said.

The meeting also reviewed the functioning of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Narayana Super Speciality Hospital, Kakryal and expressed satisfaction on its performance.

The board in a historic decision approved a medical support policy for the treatment of victims of public trauma under its social support initiative at the super speciality hospital. The beneficiaries in this policy will include public trauma victims of road accidents, landslides or shooting stone incidents and such calamities from surrounding areas of the shrine referred to the hospital by the Deputy Commissioners concerned to provide emergency medical aid, the spokesman said.

He said medical assistance would be provided in all such cases by the shrine board till the stabilization of the patient up to a ceiling of Rs two lakh as a goodwill gesture for such critical cases.

The spokesman said to further augment and upgrade medical facilities for pilgrims en route Katra to Bhawan, the board decided to establish a new fully equipped and staffed medical unit at Lambi Keri to cater to medical exigencies in the Adhkuwari-Sanjichhat sector taking the total number of medical units to eight on all tracks.

The board also decided to create a new medical unit at Bhairon Temple at an estimated cost of Rs one crore keeping in view futuristic requirements, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Continuing with its campaign against the government over the Rafale deal, the Congress Sunday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was directly involved in it, adding that he had much to hide about it.

Questioning Modi's silence over the deal, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma claimed that only the prime minister was aware that the offset contracts would not be given to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

"It was his (Modi's) decision. Only he was privy to what he was going to do," Sharma said, addressing a press conference at the party office here.

It was expected that the prime minister would speak on this issue of national importance, but he continued to remain silent while making tall claims about his government, the Congress leader said.

"The prime minister has much to hide in the Rafale deal. His silence raises fundamental questions, because he is directly complicit and personally accountable for it," he alleged.

Claiming that the Rafale deal was the biggest scam in the history of the country, Sharma reiterated his party's demand for setting up a Joint Parliamentary Committee to look into it.

The former Union minister also questioned Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's visit to France, during which she will take stock of the progress of French firm Dassault Aviation supplying 36 Rafale jets to the Indian Air Force under the Rs 58,000-crore deal.

Sharma maintained that there was a hike in the price of the fighter aircraft India was buying from France and asserted that the prime minister needed to clear many doubts about the deal that had been raised.

He said more details of the deal would emerge if a forensic audit of it was carried out.

The Congress has been claiming that the aircraft will cost significantly more than what the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was negotiating.

The opposition party has also been demanding answers from the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government as to why HAL was not involved in the deal as finalised during the UPA regime.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Days after Ganga activist G D Agarwal passed away, Congress president Rahul Gandhi Sunday expressed concern over the deteriorating health of another person fasting for the conservation of the river.

Sant Gopaldas, 36, has been fasting for the cause for over 110 days. He began his fast against mining in the Ganga river bed first in Badrinath and had been fasting at Triveni and Bag ghats of the Ganga in Rishikesh since June 24.

"Deteriorating health of Sant Gopaldas is a matter of concern for the nation. He has been sitting on fast since June 24 to stop mining in the Ganga. Sant Gopaldas represents the voice of Swami Sanand (Prof. G. D. Agarwal). This voice should remain loud and clear," Gandhi tweeted in Hindi.

Gandhi had Friday hailed environmental activist Agarwal for his contribution towards saving the Ganga and vowed to take his fight forward.

Agarwal passed away at a hospital in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, on Thursday, 111 days after he began a fast for a pollution-free Ganga.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The RBI will not relax the October 15 deadline for global financial technology (fintech) companies to comply with its norms in the public interest, according to sources.

The central bank in April gave six months time to global payment companies to store transaction data of Indian customers within India. The RBI's norms will kick in from Monday.

According to the sources, global reportedly sought an extension of the October 15 deadline but it seems that the RBI is not inclined to relax the norms.

requires data about residents be collected, processed, and stored inside the country, often before being transferred internationally, and usually transferred only after meeting local privacy or data protection laws.

Although domestic companies have welcomed the guidelines, global companies fear increase in their expenses for creation of local servers.

To avoid this rise in cost, global companies in recent meeting with the RBI proposed to provide mirror data instead of original data to which the central bank did not agree, the sources said.

Last week, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley met RBI Deputy Governor B P Kanungo to discuss RBI's data localisation norms. The meeting was also attended by Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg, Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar and IT Secretary Ajay Prakash Sawhney.

The RBI in April said in order to ensure better monitoring of payment service operators it is important to have unfettered supervisory access to data stored with these system providers as also with their service providers/ intermediaries/third party vendors and other entities in the payment ecosystem.

All system providers shall ensure that the entire data relating to payment systems operated by them are stored in a system only in India, it had said.

The RBI further said data should include the full end-to-end transaction details, information collected/carried/ processed as part of the message/payment instruction.Trade ministers of 16-member bloc, including India and China, have urged all participating countries to continue to exert all efforts for early conclusion of the negotiations, the commerce ministry said on Sunday.

The progress of the talks for the mega trade deal (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) was discussed during the two day meet of ministers in Singapore, concluded Saturday.

"While appreciating some narrowing of gaps, the Ministers urged all RECP Participating Countries to continue to exert all efforts towards meeting the targets set in the package of year end deliverables," the ministry said in a statement.

Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C R Chaudhary attended the 6th Inter-sessional Ministerial Meeting (IMM) in on 12-13 October.

Chaudhary also held bilateral meeting with Trade Minister of The island nation sought India's help in early conclusion of RCEP negotiations, it said.

Next round of meeting at chief negotiators level is scheduled to be held in Auckland later this month.

Earlier a joint statement issued after the meeting of trade ministers in August has stated that the countries adopted a package of year-end deliverables developed by the trade negotiating committee.

The ministers had expressed hope that completion of the package would signify the substantial conclusion of the this year. However, Commerce Minister had earlier stated that the talks would continue for next year.

RCEP aims to cover goods, services, investments, economic and technical cooperation, competition and intellectual property rights.

The RCEP is a proposed free trade agreement being negotiated by 16 countries, including 10 Asean members (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos and Vietnam) and their six free trade agreement partners - India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, since November 2012.

The meeting assumes significance as there is a tremendous pressure on India to conclude the negotiations as early as possible despite the fact that several issues pertaining to goods and services have yet to be agreed upon by the member countries.

The mega pact aims to relax norms and significantly cut to boost trade in goods, services, promote investments, technical cooperation, and intellectual property rights.Union minister and Rashtriya Lok Samta Party chief Upendra Kushwaha has dismissed speculation he would exit the ruling NDA, asserting his party stands committed to the alliance and is working to ensure a second five-year term for Narendra Modi as prime minister.

Kushwaha emphasized his party will take forward its "Halla Bol, Darwaza Khol" campaign with full determination to ensure representation of every section of society in higher judiciary.

In an interview to PTI-Bhasha, he said, "The NDA alliance is moving forward strongly, we are and we will remain committed to making it even stronger."



Asked about his remark that milk from Yadavs and rice from Kushwahas can help prepare delicious "kheer" (rice pudding), the minister of state for human resource development said, "The remark was taken out of context. The message was for society, this was not a political comment".

He said if every section of society contributes some ingredients to prepare kheer, it will help cement the social fabric and the country will together move ahead.

He said if a Yaduvanshi contributes milk, a Brahmin sends sugar, a person from the backward community gives dry fruits, Tulsi leaves come from the home of a Dalit person, the kheer prepared by this method and savoured on a dastarkhan of a Muslim brother will make the country stronger.

"And this is also the intent of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas," Kushwaha said, referring to Prime Minister Modi's slogan about collective effort for inclusive growth.

The Rashtriya Lok Samta Party chief said his previous kheer remark had no political context but people are free to speculate.

Asked about the indication by Tejaswi Yadav and other RJD leaders that he will join the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, Kushwaha said, "They will be disappointed".

On seat-sharing arrangement with the BJP, he said talks are on and all discussions will happen on the right forum.

He said his party's objective is to ensure all-round development, education for all and protecting the interests of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.

For social justice, Kushwaha stressed, the biggest issue was ensuring representation of every section of society in higher judiciary which is difficult to achieve through the existing collegium system.

The collegium system of appointing judges is undemocratic and his party has launched the "Halla Bol, Darwaza Khol" campaign to open the doors of higher judiciary to common people, he said.

In the coming days, he said, his party will take the campaign forward strongly.

The Union minister from Bihar also raised questions on the law and order situation in the state, and said he was not the only one worried, but Chief Minister Nitish Kumar too has expressed concern on the matter during a meeting with senior police officers.

The situation is not satisfactory and this cannot be denied, Kushwaha said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Saudi Arabia on Sunday dismissed threats of sanctions over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and vowed the oil-rich kingdom would retaliate against such action.

"The kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats or attempts to undermine it whether through threats to impose economic sanctions or the use of political pressure," an official source said, quoted by state agency SPA.

"The kingdom also affirms that it will respond to any action with a bigger one," the source said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In a rare instance, the Supreme Court has come to the rescue of a man belonging to the Scheduled Caste category whose services were terminated twice by the Uttar Pradesh government owing to a dispute over his caste certificate.

The top court, held that the subsequent change in law does not have the effect of reversing all the decisions made prior to the fresh view taken by a court of law.

The Supreme Court in 2013 had upheld an Allahabad High Court order by which Vijay Shankar was reinstated to service with all consequential benefits, holding him as a member of SC category after state government had withdrawn its appeal following a lengthy hearing.

The Uttar Pradesh government, however, in 2015 again dismissed him from service, saying a larger bench of the high court has taken a different view and his caste does not fall under the Schedule Caste category.

Shankar, who belongs to the 'Kasera' community, a sub-caste of 'Shilpkars' which is a SC category notified under the Constitution, challenged the decision once again before the Allahabad High Court, but it dismissed his plea saying that the law has now been changed by a larger bench of the top court.

A bench of justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao said the high court in its judgment, dated August 12,2015, has completely "misappreciated and misapplied the law".

"The difference between a superior court reversing a decision, which is in appeal before itself, and overruling the view is well known," it said.

The apex court directed the Uttar Pradesh government to immediately release the withheld pension and other retirement benefits of Shankar, who superannuated from the post of assistant prosecution officer during his second termination period.

The court, while allowing the appeal of Shankar, set aside the high court order of August 2015, rejecting his plea and his dismissal order of June 15, 2015.

"If a point is settled inter-parties and there is a subsequent change in the law because the court takes a different view, the change in a law does not have the effect of unsettling the rights settled earlier.

"The subsequent change in a law does not have the effect of reversing all the decisions made prior to the fresh view," the bench said.

It said in the present case, Shankar's rights were settled by the earlier high court judgment of December 23, 2011, which was upheld when the appeal of the state government was dismissed as withdrawn by the apex court.

The apex court said it was not permissible for the principal secretary, home department, to rely upon the subsequent contrary decision and dismiss the appellant (Shankar) from service again.

The ordeal of Shankar, who joined the service in 1991 as assistant prosection officer, started when he was terminated on May 21, 2007, by the state government on the ground that he has obtained the job by submitting a forged Scheduled Caste certificate.

It was found that Shankar's caste was recorded as 'Kasera' in his school certificate, which according to the state government was not a SC category.

Shankar, first challenged his dismissal order before the Uttar Pradesh State Public Services Tribunal, which granted him relief by setting aside the punishment order and reinstated him with all consequential service benefits and continuity in service.

The tribunal also observed that 'Kasera' is a sub-caste of 'Shilpkar' as per a government order dated December 12,1950.

It said there are 26 sub castes of 'Shilpkar' and that 'Kasera' was one of them.

Thus, 'Kasera' being a sub-caste of 'Shilpkar' comes under the category of Scheduled Caste, the tribunal said.

Aggrieved by the tribunal's order, the Uttar Pradesh government moved the Allahabad High Court that on December 23, 2011, upheld the tribunal's order, saying the caste of his parents as per the National Citizen Register, was found to be 'Shilpkar', which is a Scheduled Caste.

The state government, then moved the apex court where after a lengthy hearing, the appeal was withdrawn and the order of the high court reinstating Shankar was upheld.

The problem started thereafter as in a separate case, a full bench of the high court on May 29, 2014, held that the 'Kasera' caste did not fall under the Schedule Caste category and the order given in Shankar's case was wrong in law.

Relying on the full bench order of the high court, the government again dismissed Shankar's case, saying the law has now changed and his caste does not fall under schedule caste category.

Shankar, then filed the appeal before the apex court against the order of the high court dismissing his petition against the second dismissal order.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Supreme Court has stayed the order of Uttarakhand High Court which had directed that no two-wheelers would be allowed to ply on a street, used primarily by morning walkers, in Haldwani.

A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta also stayed the high court's directive which had said that proper railings should be fixed on both sides of 'Thandi sadak' in Haldwani and necessary steps be taken for its beautification.

The apex court also issued notice to the Uttarakhand government on a plea by Thandi Sadak Shopkeeper Association which has challenged only these two directions among the five passed by the high court in its June 18 order.

The high court had passed the order while hearing a plea which had sought direction to state government to immediately launch a waste and garbage disposal system at the 'Thandi sadak'.

The petition before the high court had highlighted the unscientific disposal of garbage in the area and said that it was the only stretch which was used by morning walkers there.

The high court was also told that the entire area was littered with garbage and was used by the transporters to park their vehicles seeking entry into nearby Gola River for mining purposes.

In its order, the high court had also directed the Nainital District Magistrate to ensure that 'Thandi sadak' was kept clean and there was no dumping of waste and garbage on it.

"No transport vehicle or private vehicle shall be parked on the Thandi Sadak henceforth. It shall be open for the police authorities to remove the vehicles from the present place, if not removed by the owners and drivers themselves within 48 hours," the high court had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The recent Supreme Court verdict on Sabarimala is against the devotees and central government should make necessary amendments to protect the rights of the believers, Kerala Varma Raja, head of Pandalam royal family Sunday said here.

The Pandalam royal family for ages has been closely interlinked with the lore of Lord Ayyappa, the presiding deity at Sabarimala. During the annual mandalam festival at the temple between November-January, the male head of the family has privileges to perform certain ceremonies.

"Pandalam royal family follows the rights and rituals of Sabarimala temple. As far as the verdict is concerned, it is against the devotees. We have moved the Supreme Court against this. We will take appropriate step after analysing the outcome of the petition," Raja told media in a press meet.

Raja was here to take part in the protest march organised by Ayyappa Dharma Protection Committee against the September 28 verdict of the five-judge constitution bench, which had in its 4:1 verdict lifted the ban on the entry of women of menstrual age into the shrine.

The Constitution bench had said that banning the entry of women into the shrine is gender discrimination and that the practice violates rights of Hindu women.

The royal family head said the issue was not political and he was not siding with any political party.

He urged that the Centre to make necessary amendments in the law against the apex court decision.

"This is not a political issue. Not siding with any political party. It's a custom, tradition followed by thousands of believers. Central government should make necessary amendments in law with regard to this matter," he said.

Earlier in the day, while inaugurating the protest march at Jantar Mantar, he asked the Kerala Chief Minister to consider the sentiments of the believers.

"Chief Minister must consider the sentiments of the believers. The President of India and the Centre must interfere in the matter," he urged.

The BJP-led NDA had organised the protest against the LDF government's decision not to file a review petition against the Supreme Court's verdict allowing women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala Temple by lifting the ban on those between 10-50 years.

The state has been rocked by protests by Congress, BJP and Hindu outfits against the government's move to implement the apex court order.

Meanwhile in Kerala, amid continuing protests on the Sabarimala issue, a temple body which manages the Lord Ayyappa shrine Sunday invited various stakeholders for a meeting to discuss 'various aspects', including preparations for the annual pilgrimage season, beginning next month.

As Various Hindu outfits and Lord Ayyappa devotees have been staging protests over the last few days all over Kerala against implementation of the Supreme Court order, the call for talks is considered an attempt for a consensus.

The three-month-long annual 'Mandalam-Makaravilakku' pilgrimage season of the Sabarimala Temple will begin on November 17.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A school principal was hacked to death Sunday by a six member gang in front of 20 students, for whom he was holding a special class, police said.

Ranganath (60), principal of the Havanur Public School in suburban Agrahara Dasarahalli, was holding classes for 10th standard students when the gang barged into the classroom and hacked him to death, they said.

They later fled in the car in which they came to the school, police said.

One of the gang members was nabbed later from Mahalaxmi Layout area here, based on a tip off.

The man suffered a leg injury when police fired at him after he attacked them. He was later taken to a hospital and treated.

Police suspect a land dispute relating to the school building to be the reason behind the killing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Mumbai BJP leader demanded Sunday that the Maharashtra government revoke its decision to give land to filmmaker Subhash Ghai for his film school here in the wake of accusations of sexual misconduct against him.

The veteran Bollywood filmmaker has been accused of rape and molestation in the last few days, as the #MeToo movement continues to sweep social media.

"In view of sexual harassment charges on Subhash Ghai and police complaint filed, 5.5 acre land leased by govt in Film City for Subhash Ghai's film school, be reverted," tweeted Vivekanand Gupta, secretary of the BJP's Mumbai unit.

Gupta tagged Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and culture minister Vinod Tawde in his tweet.

The BJP-led state government cleared a proposal to lease 5.5 acres of land to Ghai in Film City in Mumbai at a cabinet meeting two weeks ago.

Gupta's demand that the decision be scrapped came as an actor-model filed a complaint against the filmmaker Saturday for allegedly molesting her.

Before that, writer Mahima Kukreja had shared screen-shots of a private conversation with a woman on Twitter who levelled rape charges against Ghai.

Ghai has denied the allegations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Goa unit of the Shiv Sena has opposed holding of Electronic Dance Music (EDM) festivals in the state saying such events are used by drug peddlers to make money.

In a statement issued here, Shiv Sena's Goa spokesperson Rakhi Prabhudesai Naik said the government should not allow EDM festivals in the state, which are usually held during the peak tourist season in December.

Goa had been a home to Sunburn and Supersonic EDMs. However, in the last two years they were not held in the state. The state government had given permission to 'Timeout' musical festival last year at Vagator, near Anjuna beach.

"The state government should not allow EDM festival this year, which would be the first step to clean the tourism from the menace of drugs," Naik said.

Sena also demanded that a special squad under Crime Branch or CBI should be formed to investigate the nexus between local police and drug peddlers.

"Sena has been vocal about the increasing drug menace in the coastal belt like Calangute, Anjuna and Pernem due to the utter failure of local police stations in curbing it," she said.

The Sena is against "narco-tourism", she said adding, "As a part of our demand, we want that the EDM festival which is promoted in the name of tourism should not be allowed."



Naik said going by the figures provided by the tourism department, Goa has been receiving 6 million tourists. For the population of 1.5 million, 6 million is a big number to handle due to inadequate infrastructure.

"The state police department and also the traffic cell remains busy during the entire week of the EDM ," Naik added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members met Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Shehbaz Sharif at the National Accountability Bureau Office here for the second time since his arrest.

Shehbaz is in the custody of the National Accountability Bureau Lahore till October 16 in a physical remand in the Rs 1,400 crore Ashiyana housing scam case.

Sharif, Hamza Shehbaz, Nusrat Shehbaz and other family members met Shehbaz on Saturday for more than an hour, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

This was their second meeting with Shehbaz since his arrest on October 5. The first meeting took place on October 7.

The meeting on Saturday was said to be more about Shehbaz's health. The by-election situation was also discussed during the meeting, the paper reported, citing its sources.

Sharif has alleged that Shehbaz was arrested at the behest of Prime Minister Imran Khan. He said NAB's action against the Sharif family members is a political victimisation.

The PML-N has said it will launch a protest movement against the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led coalition government for targeting its political opponents.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra Sunday took a dig at Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, saying he should get himself inducted in Pakistan's Cabinet as he repeatedly exudes his love for the country.

Quoting media reports according to which Sidhu at a festival in Kasauli recently said he can relate to Pakistan more than South India, Patra said this is the "conspiracy" of the Congress government to divide the nation of the lines of north and south parts of the country.

"The kind of love he (Sidhu) exudes for Pakistan, the only advice which we can give is Sidhu please proceed to become a part of Imran Khan's cabinet," Patra told reporters.

"Repeatedly engaging with Pakistan shows a conspiracy. It depicts his mentality to divide north and south India and that is a strategy being followed by the whole of Congress," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)China-based Skyworth Electronics is looking to garner around 6 per cent share of the fast growing LED TV market here by 2021 as it expands its network and product portfolio, top company officials said.

Skyworth Electronics, which last week introduced its German TV brand Metz in India, expects it to be one of the leaders in the OLED TV segment.

The company also plans to introduce its range of washing machines and cooling products such as refrigerators and air-conditioners in the Indian market by next Diwali.

"For Skyworth, we are aiming to have around 6 per cent market share in the LED TV segment by 2021," Skyworth India Electronics CEO Amitabh Tiwari said.

The company expects to have around 0.8 per cent market share in the LED TV segment this year and 2.5 per cent in 2019.

The Indian TV market, which is estimated at around 10.2 milion units per year, is highly competitive with over 25 players.

Presently, over 72 per cent of the LED TV market is controlled by three big manufacturers -- LG, Samsung and Sony.

Through Metz, the company aims to compete in the 4K Android, Android and Analog categories in the premium OLED (organic light-emitting diode) TV sets market.

Asked about the prices, Skyworth India Electronics Director Gopal Adhikarla said that it would at par with the top three LED TV manufacturers.

"We are not in the competitive pricing segment," said Adhikarla.

The company would focus on both online and offline brick-and-mortar retail formats.

"In 2019, for Skyworth we would have 1,500 stores and approximately 450 to 500 stores for Metz, he said.

Skyworth also plans to invest around Rs 150 crore in advertising and marketing as part of its brand building exercise in the next three years and around one-fourth would be spend on digital channels, Adhikarla added.

Over its foray into washing machines and cooling products, Tiwari said: "We are planning to introduce it next year Next year before festive season, we should have these products."



Metz is a Germany-based consumer electronic company which has been acquired by Skyworth.

Skyworth, a Shenzhen-based Chinese company, is the fifth largest maker of LED TVs in the world.

The company is getting its products assembled by its two strategic partners in India -- Dixon and Skyquad. It is importing components from China.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A piece of China has come alive in Kolkata with Durga Puja organizers in the Salt Lake area setting up a Yunnan-themed pandal, replete with dragon motifs, lanterns and a replica of Hulu (Chinese bottle gourd).

Durga Puja here has a Chinese connection this time with culture and traditions of the two places blending into one, Chinese Consul General to Kolkata Ma Zhanwu said Sunday.

Five artisans were sent to Yunnan province by the puja committee of B J Block, Salt Lake, a few months ago to learn about the art, culture and way of life of the people there.

The Chinese consulate helped the committee find a sponsor for the trip.

"It feels good to see that a puja committee has installed a giant Hulu before the pagoda-shaped pandal, with the help of the local artisans. Much like Hulu, which signifies happiness and prosperity, the festival fills lives with joy," he said.

Zhanwu also performed Tai Chi moves on the occasion while his wife played pipa (stringed instrument).

"Over the next five days, a troupe of 39 artistes from Yunnan will be performing at the B J block puja ground. They will perform side by side the Indian artistes," he said.

Governor K N Tripathi, who inaugurated the festival, said the cultural exchanges between the two countries will strengthen bilateral ties.

He also prayed for peace and welfare of the people in the city. "On this occasion, we should take a pledge to remain united and work together for the betterment of society," Tripathi added.

Echoing similar sentiments, Zhanwu said he was looking forward to similar exchanges with the city on other occasions, too.

"In March, when the organisers approached us with the idea, we lapped it up instantly. We are happy to showcase Chinese culture at a festival like Durga puja in Bengal and look forward to more people-to-people exchanges in the coming years," he stated.

Asked about the state government's initiative to promote Durga Puja festival among foreign tourists, Zhanwu said, "I had the opportunity to attend the Red Road carnival, showcasing the diverse creativity surrounding the five-day festival. It was a unique and wonderful experience."



The state government, in 2016, decided to up the grandeur of Durga Puja celebrations in the city by a few notches by organising a massive farewell procession at Red Road every year before the immersion of the goddess.

The carnival gives people an opportunity to witness the best pujas in the city at one place.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Social media posts of political parties and groups in poll-bound Telangana will come under the Election Commission's scanner to check for any objectionable content under the model code of conduct, state Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar has said.

An agency had been appointed in Telangana to help the CEO on social media issues and the EC at the national and the state level is in touch with companies such as Google and Facebook, which have assured cooperation in cases of violation of the model code of conduct (MCC), he said.

Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in Telangana on December 7.

"We are working out the matrix right now on how to control social media (content violative of MCC)... we will put some key words which indicate violation of MCC... an appeal or an offer of money with catch phrases. we will scan through various websites, the CEO told PTI.

The official said Telangana Director General of Police M. Mahendar Reddy has also offered help of the Cyber wing in taking action in cases of violation of the code.

"The source will be identified and action will be taken against him under the relevant sections of IPC and cyber crimes also," he said.

According to him, the guidelines for social media are exactly same as that of print and electronic media.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar said they will keep an eye on bulk messaging sent through social media or the traditional way with a malafide intention.

Besides monitoring, a Facebook page under the name Chief Electoral officer Telangana has been created to update and initiatives by the EC to reach out to voters.

The page had already clocked over 9.70 lakh views as of October 11, Kumar said.

Around 90 per cent of followers are less than 34 years of age and majority of whom are below 24, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union minister Ramdas Athawale Sunday said that he had devised a formula to satisfy bickering allies BJP and Shiv Sena which involved splitting the tenure of chief ministership in Maharashtra equally between the two parties.

He said that he would discuss this proposal with leaders of the Sena and the BJP, allies in the Maharashtra and Union governments.

"The formula of the party with the maximum number of seats getting the Chief Minister's post is already there but I am going to discuss this new formula (splitting the CM's tenure) with leaders of both the parties," Athawale said.

The two parties have been at loggerheads over several issues and Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has said that his party would fight all future polls alone.

The BJP, on the other hand, has said that it wanted an alliance with the Sena but was willing to fight on its own if an agreement was not reached.

The Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment also staked claim to the Mumbai South Central Lok Sabha seat currently held by Sena's Rahul Shewale.

"If the BJP and Sena form an alliance for the 2019 general elections, I will ask Sena to leave Mumbai South Central constituency for me and, in return, I will convince the BJP to leave Palghar seat for Sena," he said.

The BJP and Sena, despite being allies, had fought against each other in the Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll in May this year with the former's Rajendra Gavit defeating Sena's Shrinivas Wanaga by 29,572 votes.

Athawale, however, added that it would not be "very difficult" for him to get the Mumbai South Central seat if the Sena and BJP don't forge an alliance.

He added that the Bahujan Vanchit Aghadi, an alliance floated by Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh leader Prakash Ambedkar and Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM, would hurt the Congress and benefit the ruling NDA.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Stephen Hawking, one of the world's best-known theoretical physicists who died seven months ago, had warned against a new race of "superhumans" created as a result of genetic engineering that could destroy humanity from beyond the grave.

The British author of the definitive 'A Brief History of Time', who famously often threw up the prospect of time travel, made his last prediction about scary superhumans in a final collection of articles and essays to be published next week, following his death in March at the age of 76.

"Once such superhumans appear, there will be significant political problems with unimproved humans, who won't be able to compete," Hawking wrote.

"Presumably, they will die out, or become unimportant. Instead, there will be a race of self-designing beings who are improving at an ever-increasing rate," noted the scientist, who suffered from motor neurone disease that had left him almost completely paralysed for most of his life.

The set of articles on what he called "the big questions" were in preparation for a book, which is set to be published on Tuesday. According to 'The Sunday Times', in 'Brief Answers to the Big Questions', Hawking suggests that wealthy people will soon be able to choose to edit their own and their children's DNA to create superhumans with enhanced memory, disease resistance, intelligence and longevity.

"I am sure that during this century people will discover how to modify both intelligence and instincts such as aggression," he wrote.

"Laws will probably be passed against genetic engineering with humans. But some people won't be able to resist the temptation to improve human characteristics, such as memory, resistance to disease and length of life," he adds.

Hawking's theory refers to techniques such as Crispr, a DNA-editing system that allows scientists to modify harmful genes or add new ones. Invented just six years ago, it is already in use worldwide.

Many scientists welcomed Hawking's predictions as a means of saving Earth from destruction.

"Humans have arguably reached a critical moment," Chris Rapley, professor of climate science at University College London, told the newspaper.

"We have moved beyond affecting the planet at the landscape scale to interfering with its very metabolism at the global scale. All the indications are that the limitations of our brains, both individually and collectively, leave us incapable of addressing the challenge. On this basis the future looks desperately gloomy," he said.

The final set of research by Hawking will be presented by the Stephen Hawking Foundation and John Murray publishers in the form 'Brief Answers to the Big Questions' next week.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Afghan officials say the Taliban have attacked an army base, killing 17 Afghan soldiers and abducting 11 others.

Ghausuddin Noorzai, the district chief in Pusht Rod, in the western Farah province, says another four soldiers were wounded in the attack, which began late Saturday and continued into Sunday morning.

He says the Taliban also overran two checkpoints near the base, seizing weapons and ammunition.

Abdul Samad Salehi, a member of the provincial council in Farah, confirmed the death toll and said the troops defending the base received no air support or reinforcements.

The Taliban claimed the attack.

The insurgents attack security forces on a near-daily basis and have seized several districts across the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The hardline chief minister of Sri Lanka's Tamil-dominated Northern Province has said that the TNA party must make its support to the government's 2019 budget conditional to the release of all Tamil political prisoners.

Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran stated this at a political meeting held in Jaffna yesterday.

Wigneswaran said some Tamil youth have been imprisoned over the last 20 years for being aligned with the former LTTE militant group. But many LTTE leaders such as its former deputy leader Karuna are free, he said.

"We have to consider this and ask the party to take action," he said.

The next government budget is to be presented in parliament on November 5 with the final vote scheduled for December.

The Tamil National Alliance's (TNA) vote would be key to the current unity government in passing the budget. The TNA support would be important in the midst of reported attempts by loyalists of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa to defeat the budget in order to force the government to resign.

While Tamil political activists and rights groups describe those held for LTTE-linked terrorist acts as political prisoners, the government maintains there are no such prisoners in the country.

Responding to Wigneswaran's stance, TNA spokesman M A Sumanthiran said that the release of all Tamil political prisoners has been a long held demand of the party.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Amid continuing protests on the Sabarimala issue, a temple body which manages the Lord Ayyappa shrine Sunday invited various stakeholders for a meeting to discuss 'various aspects', including preparations for the annual pilgrimage season, beginning next month.

As Various Hindu outfits and Lord Ayyappa devotees have been staging protests over the last few days all over Kerala against implementation of the Supreme Court order, permitting women of all age groups into the shrine, the call for talks is considered an attempt for a consensus.

The Travancore Devaswom Board has invited tantries (temple priests), Pandalam royals and devotee groups to the meeting.

TDB president A Padmakumar said the meeting is scheduled to be held on October 16 at its headquarters here.

Besides the Tazhamon tantri family and the Pandalam royals,various stakeholders of the Sabarimala shrine,including Ayyappa Seva Sangam, Ayyappa Seva Samajam, tantri mahamandalam and Yoga Kshema Sabah would be invited for the talks, he said.

"TDB has no prejudice over any matter related to Sabriamala...Let them come and share their views. We will take a suitable decision on all aspects regarding the temple after that," Padmakumar told reporters.

The members of the Padalam royal family and tazhamon tantries later said a collective decision would be taken soon on whether to attend the TDB meet or not.

The three-month-long annual 'Mandalam-Makaravilakku' pilgrimage season of the Sabarimala Temple will begin on November 17.

Meanwhile, various devotee groups and Hindu outfits took out protest marches in different places across the state, demanding that the sanctity of the temple rituals be protected.

The BJP-led NDA's 'Long March', which started last week from Pandalam in protest against the CPI(M)-led LDF government's decision to implement the top court order without going for a review, reached the capital city Sunday.

Actor-turned-MP Suresh Gopi flagged off the rally here at Alamkode.

"Each BJP worker will fight till his final drop of blood is shed to protect the sanctity of the centuries old tradition of Sabarimala" party state president P S Sreedharan Pillai said addressing the rally.

The march, which criss crossed the southern districts of the state, would conclude before the state Secretariat, the administrative hub here, Monday



Hundreds of activists of Antarashtriya Hindu Parishad (AHP) also took out a rally here, urging the state and union governments to address the concerns of devotees of Lord Ayyappa.

AHP president Pravin Togadia called for a hartal in the state on October 18 if the Left government implements the apex court order.

"We demand that the state government file a review petition in the Supreme Court.Till that petition is pending, they should not implement the court order," he said addressing the rally.

If the state fails to do so, the AHP would announce a hartal in Kerala on October 17, 10 pm to October 18, he said.

Warning that AHP would expand the agitation to other parts of the country, Togadia demanded that the Centre come out with an ordinance to overcome the apex court order.

A group of Yuva Morcha activists took out a march to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's residence at northern Kannur district.

Police blocked the agitators by putting up barricades a few kilometers away from the residence.

On September 28, a five-judge Constitution bench, headed by then chief justice Dipak Misra, lifted the ban on the entry of women of menstrual age into the shrine.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The territorial army symphony band enthraled spectators and tourists at the India Gate with melodious and scintillating tunes as the 'citizens' army' celebrated its raising day.

As part of the Territorial Army's 69th raising day on October 9, its symphony band played at the iconic India Gate on Saturday and Sunday. The event showcased the rich tradition of the Territorial Army through variety of melodious tunes from contemporary to traditional music, the army said in a statement.

"The fusion of Indian traditional with western music enthralled the crowd which congregated in large numbers drawn by the scintillating performance of the band," the statement said.

At present, the symphony band consists of more than 40 musicians playing brass, strings and indian classical instruments. This symphony band is a representation of 'Unity in Diversity' which is the essence of 'Territorial Army' also popularly known as the 'Citizens' Army', it added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Three "gangsters" were arrested from Maharashtra for allegedly killing an inspector and a constable in Rajasthan's Sikar district eight days ago, police said Sunday.

"We have arrested three persons from Maharashtra, involved in killings of (Fatehpur police station) SHO Mukesh Kanungo and constable Ram Prakash, DGP O P Galhotra told PTI.

The arrested accused are being brought to Rajasthan by a police team, he said, adding that the accused would be interrogated once they are brought here.

The DGP did not reveal the names of the arrested accused.

SHO Mukesh Kanungo and Constable Ram Prakash were allegedly shot dead by the SUV-borne gangsters, who opened fire on the police team chasing them in a private vehicle at Beswa village under Fatehpur police station in Sikar district on October 6, police said.

Acting on a tip-off, the police team was on hunt to nab gangster Ajay Chaudhary and his aides when he and his aides in the SUV opened fire. In the firing, Kanungo was hit in the neck and the constable on the chest. The duo succumbed to the injuries before they could be rushed to a hospital.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Three motorcycle-borne miscreants Sunday looted Rs 2.10 lakh from an ATM staff of a bank in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, a police official said.

The three miscreants ambushed the ATM personnel, identified as Murari Lal, and snatched a bag containing Rs 2.10 lakh when he (Lal) went to replenish the ATM with currency notes on his bicycle, Saraiyan Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Shankar Jha said.

The miscreants fired two rounds in the air before decamping with the money, the SDPO said.

The police have recovered an empty cartridge from the site of occurrence.

The incident took place near the ATM located on Chhath Ghat road under the jurisdiction of Sahebganj police station, he said.

The police will investigate the matter, particularly the reason as to why the ATM staff had gone alone and that too on a bicycle, a police official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US President said Sunday that he is against cancelling the $110 billion mega arms deal with as this will hurt America's economy and jobs.

Under tremendous pressure from the media and the Congress for taking some action against Saudi Arabia, after the sudden disappearance of Saudi dissident and journalist in Turkey, Trump told reporters that he is trying to get at the bottom of the issue and has sought details of it from

Khashoggi, who wrote for The Washington Post, is feared being killed by Saudi officials inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, where he was last seen entering.

Turkish officials claim that they have the audio and video which indicate that Khashoggi was brutally killed inside the consulate. has denied the allegations so far. But it has been facing global outrage on the issue.

Trump said that he plans to call the Saudi King on this issue. "I will be also calling King Salman of Saudi Arabia, because I think it's appropriate for me to ask him what is going on, he said.

He, however, said that he is against cancelling the $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia because of this. Such a move, he asserted, would have an impact on jobs in the US. In addition, countries such as Russia and China are ready to supply them with the necessary arms, if US backs off. But he has not made any final determination in this regard, he said.

"We'll be sitting together with all of the folks here, and a lot more. We'll have to make a determination. I do think this: That I worked very hard to get the order for the military. It's $110 billion. I believe it's the largest order ever made. It's 450,000 jobs. It's the best equipment in the world. But if they don't buy it from us, they're going to buy it from Russia or they're going to buy it from China, or they're going to buy it from other countries," he said.

"Russia and China wanted it very badly...I would -- from the standpoint of jobs, economic development, a lot of other reasons, I would like to do something where we could maybe look at other things, because that's a tremendous order for our companies. It's a tremendous order from an economic development standpoint, Trump said.

Trump said by taking such a step, the US would be hurting itself. "I actually think we'd be punishing ourselves if we did that. There are other things we can do that are very, very powerful, very strong. We will do that, he said.

"Now, as of this moment, nobody knows what happened. As of this moment. We're looking into it very seriously. Turkey is looking into it at a very high level -- at the highest level. So is Saudi Arabia. I mean, they're going to get back, and they have been getting back, he said.

Cancelling the mega arms deal with the Saudis, he said, would be "very foolish" for the country.

In addition to the $110 billion arms deal, Trump said the Saudis are going to invest $450 billion in the US through their companies.

"And all of these -- Raytheon, and General Electric, and General Motors -- they were there getting contracts for $25 billion, $30 billion, $40 billion. Nobody has ever seen anything like it, he said.

And this was the reason for him to make the first overseas trip to Saudi Arabia last year, he said.US President Donald Trump said in an interview airing Sunday that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis "could be" leaving, referring to him as "sort of a Democrat." Mattis, seen as one of the steadiest but also more independent members of Trump's cabinet, has served as a low-profile counterweight to the president in his often abrasive treatment of US allies.

In an interview to be aired Sunday on CBS's "60 Minutes," Trump was asked whether he wanted Mattis to leave.

"It could be that he is. I think he's sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth," Trump said, according to an excerpt released by CBS.

"But General Mattis is a good guy. We get along very well. He may leave. I mean, at some point, everybody leaves." Trump said he had lunch with Mattis two days earlier and the retired Marine four-star general had not told him that he was leaving.

Rumours that Mattis's days as defense chief are numbered have circulated since a book by journalist Bob Woodward about Trump's chaotic White House said the general had questioned Trump's judgment, likening his understanding to that of a 10- or 11-year-old child.

"Of course, I don't think about leaving," Mattis told Pentagon reporters last month. "I love it here."



Trump's comments come as he eyes another cabinet shakeup.

Last week, his ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, announced her resignation, effective at the end of the year.

She gave no reason for the surprise move, but observers have noted that the ascension of John Bolton as national security adviser and Mike Pompeo as secretary of state have shifted the power dynamics on Trump's national security team.

The generals who once dominated security policy increasingly have appeared to be on the outs with Trump.

Lieutenant General HR McMaster was replaced by Bolton in April, while John Kelly, the White House chief of staff and also a retired four-star general, is reported to have lost influence with the mercurial president.

Mattis has been careful to avoid public conflict with Trump, but has nonetheless performed in ways that contrast sharply with his boss, emphatically defending the US commitment to its NATO allies and calling out Russia.

Earlier this month, as NATO announced its biggest military exercises since the Cold War, Mattis reassured allies of America's "iron-clad" commitment to the 69-year-old alliance.

The US, he told reporters in Paris, is "keenly aware of the dangers close to your home." While Bolton and Pompeo also have taken a hard line on Russia, Trump has often expressed a desire for better relations with Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

He used a NATO summit in July to berate allies as "delinquent" on defense spending.

In the "60 Minutes" interview, Trump alluded to upcoming changes in his cabinet.

"I'm changing things around. And I'm entitled to. I have people now on standby that will be phenomenal. They'll come into the administration, they'll be phenomenal," Trump said.

"I think we have a great cabinet. There're some people that I'm not happy with. I have some people that I'm not thrilled with. And I have other people that I'm beyond thrilled with," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A television journalist was injured when a group of unidentified people allegedly assaulted him near his house in south Mumbai early Sunday, police said.

Herman Gomes, working with a private TV channel, was returning home along with a friend in a taxi late Saturday night.

When he got out of the cab around 1.30 am on Sunday, he saw four to six persons waiting near his house in Gamdevi area, Deputy Commissioner of Police (zone-II) Dnyaneshwar Chavan told PTI.

The persons started abusing Gomes and later allegedly assaulted him, Chavan said.

The journalist was injured in the assault and based on his complaint, the Gamdevi police later registered a case under IPC sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 324 (voluntary causing hurt by dangerous weapons) and other relevant provisions, he said.

The motive behind the attack was not yet known, he said, adding an investigation was underway into the case.

Journalists' associations in the city condemned the attack and alleged that police did not file the victim's complaint promptly.

The Mumbai Press Club termed the attack on Gomes as a "dastardly act".

An association of crime reporters in the city, in a statement, demanded immediate arrest of the assailants.

It urged Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to take action against the police officers who allegedly delayed registration of the First Information Report (FIR) in the matter.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two persons were injured in an altercation over a road dispute in the communally sensitive Gomtipur area here Sunday, police said.

Five persons were arrested following the incident.

The trouble began after an auto rickshaw narrowly missed hitting a woman when she was crossing the road after stepping out of her car, police said.

The woman slapped the rickshaw driver and her two relatives who were travelling with her beat him up, said inspector C P Tandel of Gomtipur police station.

A group of men from the area, belonging to the minority community, came to the rickshaw driver's help and thrashed the two men, causing the duo injuries, the police officer said.

Former BJP MLA from the area Jitu Vaghela reached the spot following the incident.

He later alleged that when he asked traffic police to regulate the increasingly chaotic traffic in the area, a police constable abused him.

A group of locals led by Vaghela then protested outside Gomtipur police station and sought action against the constable.

"Around 11 am, a large group of people attacked a woman and beat up two others. I was called to intervene. I asked the police to take action to control the traffic and the encroachment in the area, but a traffic constable abused me," Vaghela later told reporters.

Police have registered a case of rioting and assault under the IPC against six men and arrested five of them, inspector Tandel said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tracey Crouch, the world's first minister for loneliness appointed by the UK government this year, is set to launch her first anti-loneliness strategy to combat the scourge of isolation.

The UK Government's research had found that the young people can be affected by loneliness more than the elderly, and she will unveil a plan on Monday that will feature a pledge by businesses to do more to help staff cope with the sense of isolation, according to Crouch.

The additional ministerial portfolio was created in January in memory of Opposition Labour MP Jo Cox - murdered by a right-wing fanatic in June 2016.

At the time of her death, Cox had been conducting research on the issue of loneliness, much of which has been adopted by the Conservative Party led government.

Crouch said the new government strategy would also aim to help new parents, who risk isolation after they get home with a new-born.

"Loneliness can affect anyone," she told The Sunday Times in an interview.

The government research shows that young people are often getting identified as lonely.

"Our statistics show that 16 to 24 year olds are identifying as lonely as often, or more often, than older people. When people see what they think is utter perfection behind social media filtering it affects them," she said.

The government is using a definition of loneliness as a "subjective, unwelcome feeling of lack or loss of companionship" which "happens when we have a mismatch between the quantity and quality of social relationships that we have and those that we want". That means it can touch even those with large families and many friends, she added.

The minister informed that she received thousands of emails and letters over the subject after she was appointed as the loneliness minister.

"When I was appointed the loneliness minister (in January) I got thousands of emails and letters but the one that sticks in my mind was from a 30-something single professional who had moved to London for her dream job," Crouch told the newspaper.

"She was doing brilliantly but said she had never felt more lonely and her bosses and colleagues had no idea that when she finally switches off she feels overwhelming loneliness. Businesses shouldn't be turning a blind eye to people working late," she said.

The minister said the new government strategy would also aim to help new parents, who risk isolation after they get home with a new-born.

"There are trigger points for loneliness like bereavement but a new baby is another," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Three university bodies in Manipur on Sunday condemned the alleged handcuffing of a jailed university professor while being taken to a hospital, a press release said.

The Joint Action Committee of the MUSU, MUSA and MUTA at an emergency meeting considered the action as an "insulting treatment of members of the university community," the press release issued by Manipur University Students Union, Manipur University Teachers Association and Manipur University Staffs Association said.

They also demanded immediate release of the 15 jailed students and teachers of the varsity.

Police confirmed that the professor had been handcuffed and rules were observed in this case.

"Irrespective of charges, an accused is handcuffed while being taken to a hospital," a police official said on condition of anonymity.

A MUSU office bearer said that Prof. Dorendrajit was handcuffed while being taken to Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIIMS) on October 11 and the academician's wife had brought it to their notice.

The professor had been taken to RIIMS after his health condition turned serious following complications from diabetes, the MUSU office bearer said.

The 15 people have been lodged in jail on the basis of an FIR registered on September 20 by the then acting vice-chancellor Prof. K Yugindro Singh, senior police officials said.

The then acting VC's FIR triggered a massive raid on the hostels and residential quarters located within the varsity, on September 21 midnight followed by condemnation and counter-reactions from students bodies.

In another related development, the National Human Rights Commission, has asked concerned authorities, to submit a detailed report on the raid after a case was filed by human rights activist Henri Tiphagne.

The letter, a copy of which is available with PTI, also said that if a detailed report is not furnished within a month, the Commission shall be constrained to invoke coercive process under Section 13 of the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993, for personal appearance of the concerned authority.

The university impasse began on May 30 after the MUSU took up agitation against then VC A P Pandey and was later supported by MUTA and MUSA.

The 85-day-long agitation was, however, suspended after an agreement was reached among the Union HRD ministry, the state government and the university on August 16 and normalcy had returned for a while. However, it was cut short after Pandey on October 1, assumed office and banned MUTA and MUSA, aggravating the situation once again.

On September 21, when K Yugindro Singh went to the university, he was allegedly gheraoed by students and teachers who allegedly forced him to sign a letter. Following this, he lodged an FIR with the police.

The police conducted a midnight raid on September 21 during which 89 students and teachers were arrested. Fifteen of them are still behind bars and the agitators have been demanding their release.

The Manipur High Court on Thursday suspended the acting vice-chancellor and registrar of Manipur University and appointed a new administrator in an effort to bring normalcy to the varsity, which has been on the boil since May 30.

Former state chief secretary Jarnail Singh has been appointed as the administrator who will discharge the duties of vice-chancellor (VC) as per the provisions of the Manipur University Act 2005.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)BJP chief Amit Shah Sunday accused the previous Congress-led UPA government of discriminating against Madhya Pradesh in allocation of funds.

He told a party workers' convention here that the UPA government had allocated Rs 1.34 lakh crore under the 13th Finance Commission, whereas the Narendra Modi government gave the state Rs 3.44 lakh crore as part of the 14th Finance Commission allocations.

He lashed out at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for asking what the NDA government has done since coming to power and claimed that the BJP would go to the public with its "account" of work.

"We go to the people with our account. The UPA had given Rs 1.34 lakh crore to MP under the 13th Finance Commission. But the Modi government has given an amount of Rs 3.44 lakh crore to MP under the 14th Finance Commission," Shah said.

"If funds allocated to various schemes (in the state) are included, Madhya Pradesh has got Rs 4.5 lakh crore from the Modi government," Shah claimed.

Taking a swipe at Gandhi, the BJP chief said, "During his visit to Madhya Pradesh, Rahul baba is asking the prime minister what his government has done in the last four and a half years. We do not need to answer him."



He asked Gandhi to give an account of the work done by "four generations" of his family instead of questioning the performance of PM Modi's government.

"People of Madhya Pradesh are asking him (Gandhi) to give an account of the work done by four generations of his family, including the work done by Nehru (Jawaharlal Nehru), his grandmother Indira Gandhi, his father Rajiv Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi," Shah said.

Speaking on the Assembly polls slated for November 28 in the state, Shah asked the Congress to let the people know about its "face" (chief ministerial candidate).

"Rahul Gandhi should clarify about which face he is depending on in Madhya Pradesh. The election cannot be won by depending on a raja (Digvijay Singh), maharaja (Jyotiraditya Scindia) and an industrialist (Kamal Nath). The BJP is going to fight MP elections under the leadership of Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who hails from a poor family," he said.

The BJP president also slammed Rahul Gandhi on the issue of illegal immigrants and alleged that "Rahul baba and company" were "sympathising" with the "intruders".

"The BJP government identified 40 lakh infiltrators by creating NRC (National Register of Citizens) in Assam. But Rahul baba and company raised a hue and cry, sympathising with the intruders," Shah said.

Shah said the BJP governments would drive "each and every infiltrator" out of the country after winning elections in 2018 (in MP) and 2019 (Lok Sabha).

Shah reached Bhopal Sunday evening on a two-day visit of poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A top American Senator on Sunday demanded action against Saudi Arabia if the country is found to be responsible for the disappearance of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was last seen inside a Saudi consulate in Turkey.

Saudi Arabia has denied the allegation and has said that the dissident Saudi journalist left its consulate in Istanbul.

The Saudi Arabian journalist was declared missing last week after he did not emerge from the Saudi consulate in Istanbul after 11 hours. Turkish authorities believe he was killed inside the consulate.

The United States has sought detailed information from Saudi Arabia on this issue. US President Donald Trump has said that he would soon be speaking with the Saudi King, but has opposed the idea of cancelling the mega USD 110 billion trade deal with the Saudis.

On Sunday Senators from Democratic party and Republican party sought tough action against the Saudis if the reports turned out to be true. The Senators pledged a strong Congressional response.

"I don't think we should continue as business as usual, until we know exactly what's happened here, because what we do know is this. He walked into that consulate, and he never came out," Republican Senator Marco Rubio told CNN in an interview.

"So, the only two things that could have happened is, he's alive and somehow still in there, or he's dead and the Saudis are the ones who did it. There's no other explanation for it, because if there was video of him leaving, they would have shown it by now," he said.

The Saudi denial on allegations of its role in the disappearance of Khashoggi rings hollow, former CIA Director John Brennan said, asserting that there has to be full accounting of it.

"If Khashoggi had disappeared in Turkey when he was at a hotel or a private residence, I think there is plausible deniability on the part of the Saudi government. But he disappeared when there is video evidence of him being at the consulate, the Saudi consulate, a diplomatic mission, under the full control of Saudi Arabia. So their denials ring hollow, very much ring hollow,"Brennan told NBC in an interview.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two top American Senators have asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to adopt a soft stance on data localisation, warning that India's policy on the issue will adversely affect American businesses in the country.

Data localisation is an act of storing data on any device that is physically present within the borders of a particular country where the data was generated.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in a circular in April, said all system providers will have to ensure that the entire data relating to payment systems operated by them are stored in a system only in India. It gave time till October 15 to comply with the mandate.

In a letter to Prime Minister Modi dated Friday, US Sentors John Cornyn and Mark Warner -- who also hold top leadership positions in their own parties -- have opposed the data localisation requirement of the Indian government.

"Data localisation requirements, such as those contained in the draft data protection bill and draft national e-commerce policy framework, will have negative impacts on the ability of companies to do business in India, may undermine your own economic goals, and will likely not improve the security of Indian citizens' data," they said.

Cornyn from the Republican Party and Warner from the Democratic Party are co-chairs of the powerful Senate India Caucuses.

When companies adopt high-quality privacy safeguards, the location of data has no bearing on whether the data is secure, they argued.

"In addition to effectively reducing data security, forced data localisation requirements create inefficiencies for both businesses and consumers, raising the cost of procuring and delivering data services including ones that local Indian businesses utilize on a daily basis, the Senators said.

"Ultimately, they also increase the cost, and/or reduce the availability of, data-dependent services," said the letter, a copy of which has been obtained by PTI.

The two Senators said that forced data localisation will also be counterproductive when it comes to India modernising its framework regarding law enforcement requests for data.

"Both the protection and security of data-as well as access to data for lawful purposes-can be enabled without a requirement that data be stored in a specific physical location. We encourage increased dialogue on these issues between law enforcement agencies in the US and India," the powerful Senators wrote.

The letter comes amidst reports that major American IT companies are up in arms against the latest Indian directive.

American financial companies are believed to have approached the administration against the RBI directive which, beginning October 15, requires them to store in India any payment-related data from transactions that take place inside the country.

India has rejected their request of mirroring.

On Friday, Deputy US Trade Representative and US Ambassador to the WTO Dennis Shea said that the US wants to prohibit data localisation to ensure that there is a free flow of information across borders.

"We want to have prohibitions on data localisation to ensure that there's free flow of information, free flow of data across borders, disciplines around countries requiring companies to give up their source code, permanent ban on taxation or duties on digital transmissions," Shea said.

Shea did not specifically pointed out India on the data localisation issue, but made his views pretty clear where the Trump administration stands on this issue.

Republican Strategist Andy Surabian, who is also a political adviser to Donald Trump Jr, wrote in BreitBart last week that if implemented, this policy will put an unnecessary burden on American companies and hurt consumers, who will endure higher costs and increased cybersecurity risks.

Meanwhile, mobile messaging platform WhatsApp has said it has built a system that stores payments-related data in India, in line with RBI's data localisation policy.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Voting opened Sunday for the by-election in 35 national and provincial assemblies in Pakistan amid heightened security, with over 600 candidates, including some political bigwigs, in the running.

The polling started at 8 AM and will continue until 5 PM.

The counting will start soon after closure of voting and result of every polling station would be announced on spot. However, the consolidated results would be announced by the Returning Officers.

Over five million registered voters about 2.3 million women and almost 2.7 million men will exercise their franchise. Also, the overseas Pakistanis will be voting for the first time in the by-polls.

Elections are being held in nine national assembly constituencies in Punjab and one each in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 24 provincial assemblies seats, including 11 in Punjab, nine in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, two each in Sindh and Balochistan.

Most of these seats were vacated by those candidates who had won on more than one seat during general elections on July 25. Prime Minister Imran Khan had won five seats and vacated four.

Thousands of soldiers have been deployed to provide security at 7,489 polling stations. The deployment of troops started on Friday and they will remain on election duty till October 15.

The Election Commission designated as many as 1,727 polling stations as 'highly sensitive' where extra troops were deployed and security cameras installed. They include 848 polling stations in Punjab, 544 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 201 in Sindh and 134 in Balochistan.

Soldiers have been deployed inside and outside of the polling stations in order to avoid any untoward incident.

Designated army officers have powers of a magistrate first class for summarily trial of those guilty of impersonation, capturing of polling stations or violation of other relevant provisions of the law.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray told his Chinese counterpart in a phone call on Saturday that Mexico's new trade deal with the United States and Canada will not impede economic relations with other countries, according to a foreign ministry statement.The pact set to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement outlines that if one of the partners enters a free trade deal with a "non-market" country such as China, the others can quit in six months and form their own bilateral accord.The mechanism would support U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to isolate ...By Andrew Torchia and Arshad MohammedDUBAI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia on Sunday warned against threats to punish it over last week's disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as European leaders piled on pressure and two more U.S. executives scrapped plans to attend a Saudi investor conference.Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist critical of Riyadh's policies, disappeared on Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Turkey believes he was murdered and his body removed. Saudi Arabia has denied that.U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened "severe ...If you live in Mumbai and wish to refuel your bar for the fiesta without having to brave the traffic, there is a piece of news you could raise your glasses to. Maharashtra government is reportedly planning to make home delivery of alcoholic beverages across the state legal.

The Maharashtra government is planning to introduce a policy that will legalise home delivery of liquor, according to a report by The Times of India. As of now, shops or third parties are prohibited to deliver alcohol directly to consumers. Talking to TOI, Minister of State for excise Chandrasekhar Bawankule said this move would be a game-changer for the liquor industry in Maharashtra.

Home delivery of liquor is primarily meant to cut down the cases of accidents that happen due to drunken driving. "The main objective is to reduce growing cases of drunken driving due to which there have been many accidents and resulted in great loss of lives," Bawankule told TOI.

After the policy is introduced, alcoholic beverages would be retailed across the state via national and international e-commerce website, similar to grocery and vegetable retail sector right now, the minister said.

Aadhaar will play an important role in this scheme of things. The sellers would be directed to take complete details of their buyers ordering the drinks asking for home delivery to make sure that they are of legal drinking age. The legal drinking age for beer in Maharashtra is 21, whereas for other alcoholic beverages it is 25 years.

The bottles of booze will be tracked using geo-tagging from their manufacture to sale. "The tagging would be done on the cap of the bottle. We can track the bottle all the way from the manufacturer to the consumer. It would help curb sale of spurious liquor and also smuggling," Bawankule was quoted by TOI.October 4, 2018  Ottawa, ON  Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Dr. Michael Strong, President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Tammy J. Clifford to the position of Vice-President, Research Programs, effective October 29, 2018.

Dr. Clifford is currently the Chief Scientist and Vice-President, Evidence Standards, at the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH), where she has served in a number of senior leadership roles over the past decade. She is also an adjunct professor with the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Clifford received her PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Western Ontario, and her BSc and MSc from McGill.

In the position of Vice-President, Research Programs, Dr. Clifford will provide leadership for the design, development, and administration of CIHRs funding programs and science policies. As a member of CIHRs executive team, she will work with Governing Council and Scientific Directors to help define and oversee the organization's strategic directions.

Dr. Clifford will replace Dr. Anne Martin-Matthews, who had been serving as Acting Vice-President since May 2017.news, latest-news

Business owners and cyclists say they are stunned by the absence of cycle lanes in plans for the upcoming Barton Highway duplication, warning the NSW government economic and health benefits will be lost without the lanes. The highway will be duplicated from the ACT border towards Murrumbateman as part of the first of four stages of safety improvements, with work expected to begin in the second half of 2019. While the duplication of the notorious stretch of road has been widely welcomed, the lack of cycle lanes in the plans is a sore point for many who see it as a missed opportunity. Wendy O'Dea, the president of local business group Makers of Murrumbateman, said the number of visitors to the village had increased in the past 10 years as Canberra's northern suburbs expanded. Mrs O'Dea, who owns Dionysus Winery, said the addition of cycle lanes to the highway would create cycle tourism opportunities and attract even more people to local businesses like the wineries and Robyn Rowe Chocolates. "At the moment, we're kind of limited to [visitors] in their cars or on tour buses," she said. "The Abode Hotel here hires bikes out and people love it because they get to ride between the wineries and have a great day out. "Some people drive in and then cycle, but [cyclists] at the moment tend to stick to the roads off the highway." Glenn Cocking, who helps people with disabilities cycle as part of Pedal Power's Fitability tandem cycling program, said he regularly rode up the Barton Highway. He described the current conditions for cyclists as "pretty rough and ready". "The verge is quite narrow and the traffic can be quite heavy and intimidating," Mr Cocking said. "[The duplication] is an opportunity to put in bike lanes. They're already changing things." Canberra Off-Road Cyclists vice-president Darren Stewart said the success of cycle trails in other wine regions including the Yarra Valley proved the potential for cycle tourism around Murrumbateman. Mr Stewart, who along with Pedal Power has written to the NSW government to lobby for a cycleway as part of the duplication, said the infrastructure would also encourage more people to get active by riding bikes. "It makes complete sense that while theyre doing this major infrastructure, this tiny bit extra gets put on," Mr Stewart said. Ross Hampton, who is developing a community-led plan for a network of cycle routes in the Yass Valley, said cycle lanes on the highway were crucial to lay the foundations for cycle tourism in the area. "We are on the edge of this massive growth corridor and we've got some of the best local businesses, but there has got to be a way to get out there without risking life and limb on the road," Mr Hampton said. In a community update released this month, the NSW government said a cycleway would be considered as part of the strategic business case for the Barton Highway. The business case is part of the third stage of upgrades, while duplication from the ACT border towards Murrumbateman is the first stage. A NSW Roads and Maritime Services spokeswoman said the government was "working with the Yass Valley Council to investigate options for improving safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders".

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/3ee4550a-d3e0-4540-85fd-d57abd851ff8/r0_223_4256_2628_w1200_h678_fmax.jpgnews, latest-news

Three deaths from suspected heroin overdoses in Canberra in one week has renewed calls for the so-called heroin antidote naloxone to be more widely available. The ACT is experiencing an opioid mortality epidemic as high or higher than during the previous epidemic of the late 1990s, according to the peak body for the drug and alcohol sector in Canberra. Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Association chief executive Carrie Fowler said the deaths this week were tragic and preventable. "Australia, like some other wealthy Western countries, is experiencing an epidemic of unintentional opioid-related deaths," Ms Fowler said. "In 2001 we were in the tragic situation where the National Heroin Overdose Strategy was developed after the epidemic had ended, because of failure of the bureaucrats and politicians responsible to act in a timely manner. We must not see this repeated in the ACT now." A life-saving medication known as naloxone is available at some pharmacies over the counter and by prescription. It is used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose by blocking opioid receptors in the brain. It is administered intramuscularly, has no associated high and isn't a drug of dependence. Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy manager Chris Gough said in the past few weeks, naloxone had been used to reverse the effects of overdose in the ACT and save lives, but more needed to be done to educate the community about the medication. "What we've heard anecdotally is there is some high purity heroin in Canberra," Mr Gough said. "Some other people would call it a bad batch, but in actual fact it is heroin that has a higher percentage of opioids within it." "The problem there is that the supply is in no way regulated, so you don't know what you're getting. When you have these increases in purity, people don't know until its too late." Mr Gough said while fentanyl use had been increasing in the ACT, there was no evidence to suggest it was behind the latest deaths. "I think it's just a slightly higher purity of heroin, certainly it's very concerning." Mr Gough said expanded availability of naloxone was one of the key areas he would like to see addressed "so we can save some of these needless deaths". He said it was important for anyone associated with drug users to be aware of critical times when they might be more susceptible to overdose, including people exiting the jail system who were unaware of the strength of drugs on the market. "We know these are periods that are high risk, and we should be educating people about them." Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy runs a take-home naloxone training program for drug users, family and friends to learn how to give a naloxone injection. Mr Gough said he was hopeful a nasal spray of the medication would be available by the end of the year, to make the process easier for those unfamiliar with intramuscular injecting. The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre's Drug Trends report 2018, released on Monday, found 8 per cent of the national sample of drug uses reported being resuscitated by naloxone by someone trained in a take-home naloxone program, while 3 per cent reported being resuscitated by naloxone obtained over the counter at a pharmacy. Use of heroin remained relatively stable among the report participants, with 54 per cent reporting use in 2018. One in five participants self-reported a non-fatal overdose in the last year. An increasing number reported knowing of and using naloxone. National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre program lead for drug trends Dr Amy Peacock said the trend toward greater use of drug forms described as higher purity was cause for concern. She said a positive finding from the report was increased awareness and use of naloxone. "Although ideally, in the future we would hope that everyone who participates [in the survey] knows about naloxone, can access it, and carries it with them in their day-to-day lives."

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/76d01282-78b6-4385-8c3d-94465d142376/r20_0_701_385_w1200_h678_fmax.jpgCountry

United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of ZimbabweOur Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.

Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here.

Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing.

You are our people. You Care. We Care2.Photo: The Canadian Press A security guard speaks with colleagues at the entrance of Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, Friday, Oct. 12, 2018. A senior Turkish official says Turkey and Saudi Arabia will form a "joint working group" to look into the disappearance of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi.

Turkish officials have an audio recording of the alleged killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi from the Apple Watch he wore when he walked into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul over a week ago, a pro-government Turkish newspaper reported Saturday.

The new claim published by the Sabah newspaper, through which Turkish security officials have leaked much information about the case, puts more pressure on Saudi Arabia to explain what happened to Khashoggi.

The writer, who has written critically about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, disappeared after he walked into the consulate Oct. 2. The kingdom has maintained the allegations against it are "baseless," though an official early Saturday on Khashoggi's 60th birthday acknowledged for the first time some believe the writer was killed by the kingdom.

Authorities recovered the audio from Khashoggi's iPhone and his iCloud account, the newspaper said. The journalist had given his phones to his fiancee before entering the consulate.

The newspaper also alleged Saudi officials tried to delete the recordings first by incorrectly guessing Khashoggi's PIN on the watch, then later using the journalist's finger. However, Apple Watches do not have a fingerprint ID unlock function like iPhones. The newspaper did not address that in its report.

An Apple Watch can record audio and can sync that later with an iPhone over a Bluetooth connection if it is close by. The newspaper's account did not elaborate on how the Apple Watch synced that information to both the phone and Khashoggi's iCloud account.

Turkish officials have not answered queries from The Associated Press about Khashoggi's Apple Watch.

Turkish officials say they believe a 15-member Saudi "assassination squad" killed Khashoggi at the consulate. They've also alleged that they have video of the slaying, but not explained how they have it.

Turkey may be trying to protect its intelligence sources through leaking this way, analysts say.

"Under normal circumstances, intelligence services would want to protect their sources, whether human or technical," Carrie Cordero, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for a New American Security, wrote recently. She formerly worked on intelligence matters for the U.S. government.

She added: "The Turkish government may need to reveal sources it does not want to reveal if the Saudi Arabian government continues to deny involvement despite evidence Turkey has in its possession."

Saudi Arabia has said it had nothing to do with Khashoggi's disappearance, without explaining or offering evidence of how the writer left the consulate and disappeared into Istanbul with his fiancee waiting outside. A Saudi-owned satellite news channel has begun referring to the 15-man team as "tourists," without providing evidence to support the claim. It echoes how Russia has described the men who allegedly carried out the Novichok nerve agent poisonings in Salisbury, England, in March.

Early on Saturday, the state-run Saudi Press Agency published a statement from Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud again denying the kingdom's involvement. This time, however, it acknowledged for the first time that Saudi Arabia was accused of killing Khashoggi.

"What has been circulating about orders to kill (Khashoggi) are lies and baseless allegations against the government of the kingdom, which is committed to its principles, rules and traditions and is in compliance with international laws and conventions," Prince Abdulaziz said.

Omer Celik, a spokesman for Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party, said that Khashoggi's disappearance will be "investigated strongly." A delegation from Saudi Arabia arrived in Turkey on Friday as part of a joint investigation into the writer's disappearance.

"Such an act is an attack on all the values of the democratic world. It's an act that will never be forgiven or covered up," he said. "This is not an act that Turkey would ever consider legitimate. If there are people who committed this, it will have heavy consequences."

Khashoggi's disappearance has put pressure on President Donald Trump, who has enjoyed close relations with the Saudis since entering office. Trump has promised to personally call Saudi Arabia's King Salman soon about "the terrible situation in Turkey."

Speaking to CBS' "60 Minutes" in an interview to be aired Sunday, Trump said of the Saudis: "They deny it. They deny it every way you can imagine."

However, Trump also said: "Could it be them? Yes."

Separately, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, who accompanied him to the Saudi consulate, the State Department said Friday. No details of the conversation were released.

In an interview Friday with the AP, Cengiz said Khashoggi was not nervous when he entered the consulate to obtain paperwork required for their marriage.

"He said, 'See you later my darling,' and went in," she told the AP.

In written responses to questions by the AP, Cengiz said Turkish authorities had not told her about any recordings and Khashoggi was officially "still missing."

She said investigators were examining his cellphones, which he had left with her.EPA looks to finish Pueblo smelter site cleanup in 2022

The Environmental Protection Agency has completed 90% of its soil sampling in residential areas in the Colorado Smelter Superfund site.President Moon Jae-in arrived in Paris on Saturday for a four-day state visit that will include a summit with French leader Emmanuel Macron.



Moon is currently on a Europe tour that will later take him to Italy, the Vatican, Belgium and Denmark. It marks Moon's first trip to France since he took office in May 2017.



Summit with French leader



Moon on Saturday vowed increased cooperation with France to address major global issues, such as climate change, while also stressing the need for joint efforts to denuclearize North Korea and establish lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.



"Day after tomorrow, I will hold a summit meeting with President Emmanuel Macron. (We) will hold in-depth discussions on key issues facing the international community, such as climate change, environment, terrorism and human rights, along with new growth strategies that will ensure the future," Moon said while meeting with some 200 South Korean residents in France.



The South Korean president arrived here earlier in the day on a four-day state visit. An official welcome ceremony for Moon will be held Monday, followed by the Moon-Macron summit that will mark the second of its kind since both leaders took office last year.



Moon's trip here comes amid his efforts to further accelerate North Korea's denuclearization process, which earlier hit a stumbling block after U.S. President Donald Trump called off a scheduled North Korea trip by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, citing a lack of progress in the process.



Denuclearization talks between the United States and North Korea resumed shortly after Moon made his first-ever trip to Pyongyang last month for his third bilateral summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.



Still, how soon the North will actually give up its nuclear weapons remains unknown, Moon noted earlier, saying the issue needs to be discussed between the U.S. and the North.



Pyongyang is said to be demanding timely rewards for denuclearization steps it has already taken or promised to take in the near future, while Washington insists on maximum pressure and sanctions against the impoverished state until the country fully denuclearizes.



"Most of all, I will ask France, which is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and a key member of the EU, to lend its support for denuclearization and lasting peace of the Korean Peninsula," Moon said of his upcoming summit with his French counterpart.



"I am confident a peaceful Korean Peninsula will soon come to us. I will build a Republic of Korea that you can be proud of," he added, referring to his country by its official name.



The South Korean president will head to Italy on Tuesday for official visits to the European state and the Vatican.



He is currently on a four-nation tour that will also take him to Belgium for the biennial Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit. (Yonhap)



Franklin Graham Tells Liberty University Students to 'Give It All' for Christ Despite Cost Christian Post Contributor | 14 October, 2018 by Leah MarieAnn Klett

Franklin Graham, the son of legendary evangelist Billy Graham and president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, told students gathered at Liberty University's Convocation to be willing to "give it all" for their faith  but there will be a "cost and price."

"You have to be willing to turn your back and give it all," Graham, who's also the head of Samaritan's Purse, said. "You have one life to live. Live it. Live it for Him, but there's a cost and price. And He requires you to make Him first in your life."

"We need an army of men and women who are willing to go and to follow the Lord Jesus Christ to the ends of the Earth," he continued. "Remember you have to love Him more than anything else in this world. No excuses."

While the cost of following Christ is high, it also brings about many blessings, the evangelist added.

"When you obey God's voice the blessing He pours out on you is incredible," Graham said. "But it starts with obedience. You got to give it all, no excuses. Just obey. That's what God wants."

Graham's message was part of Liberty's Global Focus Week, a semiannual event aimed at raising global awareness among Liberty University students, faculty, and staff.

The pastor was introduced by Liberty President Jerry Falwell, who highlighted the global impact of Samaritan's Purse.

"We love the Graham family," Falwell said. "What Franklin has done with Samaritan's Purse is nothing short of miraculous. I'm so honored that Liberty continues to partner with Samaritan's Purse, most recently with sending a team of students to help with flood cleanup in North Carolina."

A Samaritan's Purse mobile Emergency Relief Hospital was set up on campus for students to tour and talk with doctors and nurses from the organization who provided emergency medical care for those injured during the battle between Iraqi forces and the Islamic State terrorist group last year.

On Facebook, the 66-year-old Graham, whose three sons attended Liberty University, reflected on the day's events.

"What an incredible crowd of students this morning at Liberty University! I shared a message from the Word of God and told them God requires that you put Him first in your life, No. 1 above everything else," he said.

"Then it was great to tour the beautiful campus with our longtime friends the Falwells. Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty, Jonathan Falwell, pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church, and a steady stream of students toured the Samaritan's Purse emergency field hospital we have set up on campus, talking to our doctors and nurses who have served on the front lines. It was a great day  we are so grateful to them for hosting us."

Earlier, Graham's son Will, who's vice president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, said his time at the private college in Lynchburg, Virginia, was "very instrumental" in shaping who he is today.

Read more about Franklin Graham on The Christian Post.Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Bob Edens was blind. He had been for 51 years. In a sense, darkness was all he knew for his entire life. He had never seen a sunrise or sunset. He had no idea what the sky looked like, or even what "color" meant.

Yet one day, a miraculous surgery changed everything. For the very first time in his life, he saw.

"I would have never dreamed that yellow was so yellow," Bob said. He also made remarks like, "It's amazing to see a jet plane flying across the sky leaving a vapor trail."

Such little things we typically take for granted, like a plane's vapor trail etched across the sky or the color yellow, were wondrous to him.

"For those of you who have always seen, you'll never know how wonderful it is," Bob said. The profundity of that statement touched my soul, for I'd heard that same idea before  from the Apostle Paul.

Though he was sitting in a prison in Rome  his first Roman imprisonment but not at all the first of his persecutions  he wrote to encourage the young church at Ephesus. Paul reminded the Ephesians of the gift of enlightenment they had received in their faith, and how grateful he was for them and their new "sight":

"For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints ... " (Ephesians 1:15-18)

Remember the blind man Jesus healed in Jericho? According to the account written in Luke 18, the man said, "Lord, I want to see."

"Receive your sight," Jesus replied. "Your faith has healed you."

Luke tells us, "Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God" (Luke 18:43).

As we have been given new sight in Christ through our faith, let us walk rejoicing in the light of God's great grace and mercy. A let us live so others may get a glimpse of God in our lives and pray for him to open their eyes.Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

How is it that a nation known for its politeness has become so committed to killing its most vulnerable citizens?

In a horrifying scene from "The Man in the High Castle," Amazon Prime's sci-fi dystopian series where the Nazis won World War II and control more than half of North America, the son of a high-ranking Nazi officials discovers he has an incurable genetic disorder. Committed to the party and the cause, he turns himself in to the party's death doctors and saves the Reich from having to care for him.

His parents are devastated, but the public hails him as a hero. Sadly, the scenario is not as sci-fi as we might like to believe.

In 2016, Canada legalized "Medical Assistance in Dying also known as MAID. The terminology is, of course, a euphemism for euthanasia. To be eligible for MAID, persons must be at least 18-years-old and have a "grievous and irremediable" condition.

Like all such death-devoted legislation, terms like "grievous and irremediable" are moving targets. Descriptions used in the law include expressions like "serious and incurable," "irreversible decline," and sufferingboth "physical and psychological"that a person finds "intolerable."

Of course, nearly all of these words are subjective: What's "intolerable" to one person may not be to another. If Netherlands and Belgium are any indication, we can be sure that eligibility for MAID will, like gas, expand to fill whatever space is available.

Two recent stories illustrate why our fears are grounded in reality. The first story involves people with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. As of now, MAID "is not available to children or people with mental illnesses" and clarifies that anyone seeking to die by doctor's hands "must confirm their wish to proceed at the time of the assisted death."

One Ontario man in the early stages of Alzheimer's wants the law changed to permit an "advanced directive," since he will be unable to comply with the law's confirmation requirements later on.

The Alzheimer Society of Canada offered an obvious objection: "How will you protect [people with Alzheimer's]? ... to make sure that [they're] not vulnerable to decision-makers?" After all, it's possible that "someone could be transformed by dementia and become someone newwith a greater tolerance for incapacity and a different definition of a meaningful life."

The man from Ontario replied, "I have dementia. I'm still a Canadian citizen. I have full rights. I want those rights." And he's willing to sue to "protect" those rights. Since the right to MAID is, in large measure, a creation of the Supreme Court of Canada, I wouldn't bet against him.

The second story concerns an article in "The Journal of Medical Ethics," written by three Canadian doctors, which makes the case for extending MAID to minors. Children.

As Wesley J. Smith notes in National Review, the goal of these doctors is to "normalize" euthanizing children and "reduce the stigma" by calling the killing "a procedure." Accordingly, the authors emphasized the need to hide the identities of those killing children from the public. And, they argued against requiring parental permissionor even parental notification if it were against the child's wishes.

This is right out of "The Man in the High Castle."

As Smith asks, "Can you imagine visiting your sick child, only to learn that hospital doctors killed her because she asked to die and wanted you kept in the dark? The rage and agony would be unimaginable."

The rage and agony might be unimaginable, but the scenario isn't. It represents the logic and worldview that makes euthanasia possible: the belief that some lives are more worthy of life than others.

Once you accept that principle, people will eventually forget why they were originally repulsed by the idea of killing children and those with a disability. And when they arrive at the hospital only to find their loved one's room empty, they'll tell themselves, "Oh, well. He had his rights."

Resources

When Is It Right to Die? A Comforting and Surprising Look at Death and Dying

Joni Eareckson Tada Zondervan / 2018

Child Euthanasia without Parent Approval Pushed for Canada

Wesley J. Smith | National Review | October 2, 2018

Medical Assistance in Dying at a paediatric hospital

Carey DeMichelis, Randi Zlotnik Shaul, Adam Rapoport | Journal of Medical Ethics | 2018

Ontario man with dementia on crusade to plan his own death

CBC Radio | September 29, 2018

Originally posted at Breakpoint.How I've changed my mind about yoga

When I first started seeing yoga classes advertised in churches, I lamented, "Oh how blasphemous and lost is the modern church". My opinion was, that for a minister or congregation to allow that evil practice through their doors they must be backslidden indeed.

After all, Yoga is a well-known Hindu practice that seems unable to be divorced from its pseudo spiritual roots. It became a common New Age practice in the 1980s and has reached new heights of acceptance in the last decade with widespread implementation in the West.

While in the traditional scope it emphasizes connection with the 'divine' and moksha (liberation), in the West the tradition is largely forgotten and yoga has about the same spiritual equivalent of going to the gym.

What the body needs...

So, what changed my mind?

It was coming across a documentary on Fascia which opened my eyes.

Fascia is fibrous connective tissue which attaches, stabilizes, encloses, and separates muscles and other internal organs.

Because it connects everything together, when you stretch and exercise one part of the body it sends a ripple effect over the whole system. Which shows the benefits of working certain parts of the body at a time.

How this relates to Yoga explains how results of studies on the health benefits of Yoga have been mixed and inconclusive. Stretching and some poses of Yoga through the working of the fascia contribute to the health of the inner system.

The dangers

One or two yoga poses will generally not do any harm, but the sequences when used spiritually, it can be a gateway in a similar way to a Ouija board.

There are actually quite a few concerning testimonies out there of demonic experiences due to yoga. One lady was shocked when she had deliverance ministry and the priest pinpointed a 'yoga' attachment.

"I never went back to that class and to be honest, I haven't thought about it for more than a decade. But during one of our last prayer sessions with the priest who was leading us through deliverance prayers, he looked at me and asked if I had ever practiced yoga. I was a little surprised, but I figured it was a lucky guess since I was a 34-year-old white girl living in Denver, and I said yes".

We can't pretend that there have not been spiritual occurrences that have come from the practice.

Treading with caution

Thankfully regarding yoga, many original meanings and historicity have been lost. Unless you're doing a series of poses meant to achieve a higher spiritual state of being, most yoga stretches should be harmless and somewhat beneficial to the health of your body.

However, be wary of the intentions of yoga instructors. If you do decide to go to a class and they are treating it as a quasi-spiritual experience, just leave. If they are focused on the physiological side of your general well-being, that's great.

I used to do the yoga poses myself on the Wii Fit, and found it built up my flexibility and bodily strength, plus it was a good way to challenge myself. I have been to one class before and while I wouldn't go back due to taking the spiritual dimension of things very seriously, I certainly have learned not to condemn other brothers and sisters who go.

After all, "Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind" says Paul (Romans chapter 14, verse 5).

Courtesy of Press Service InternationalSlain Salvadoran bishop Romero and Pope Paul VI become saints

Pope Francis on Sunday made saints of two of the most contentious Roman Catholic figures of the 20th century  murdered Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero and Pope Paul VI, who reigned over one of the Church's most turbulent eras and enshrined its opposition to contraception.

In a ceremony before tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square, Francis declared the two men saints along with five other lesser-known people who were born in Italy, Germany and Spain in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Both Romero, who was shot by a right-wing death squad while saying Mass in 1980, and Paul, who guided the Church through the conclusion of the modernizing 1962-65 Second Vatican Council, were contested figures within and without the Church.

Both were naturally timid men who were thrust to the forefront of history by the convulsive political and social changes of the 20th century and both had a lasting influence on the current pontiff, Francis, Latin America's first pope.

In his homily, read with tapestries of images of the seven new saints hanging from St. Peter's Basilica behind him, Francis called Pope Paul "a prophet of an extroverted Church" who opened it up to the world. He praised Romero for disregarding his own life "to be close to the poor and to his people".

Romero, who had often denounced repression and poverty in his homilies, was shot dead on March 24, 1980, in a hospital chapel in San Salvador, the capital of the impoverished Central American country of El Salvador.

Romero's murder was one of the most shocking in the long conflict between a series of U.S.-backed governments and leftist rebels in which thousands were killed by right-wing and military death squads.

It was widely believed to have been ordered by Roberto D'Aubuisson, an army major and founder of the right-wing ARENA party. He died of cancer in 1992.

Romero consistently denounced violence by the Salvadoran military and paramilitary against civilians and urged the international community to stop the oppression.

In his final homily, minutes before he was shot in the heart, Romero spoke of spreading "the benefits of human dignity, brotherhood and freedom across the earth ...."

75,000 KILLED

The 1980-1992 war in El Salvador between the U.S.-backed army and the Marxist guerrillas of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), which later became the ruling party, left 75,000 dead and 8,000 missing.

Romero became an icon for Latin America's poor, appearing on T-shirts similar to those bearing the image of Che Guevara, but his sainthood cause ran into stiff opposition in the Vatican and among powerful conservatives in the Latin American Church.

Both feared that Romero had become too political in life and even more so in death.

The process languished for decades. Francis speeded it up after his election in 2013 and in 2015 the Vatican declared that Romero had died a martyr, killed out of hatred for the faith.

"His martyrdom continued (even after his death). He was defamed, slandered ... even by his own brothers in the priesthood and the episcopate, Francis said in 2015. "(He was hit by) "the hardest stone that exists in the world: the tongue."

"POPE HAMLET"

Paul VI, a shy man described by biographers as a sometimes indecisive and tormented Hamlet-type figure, guided the Church through the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, which had started under his predecessor, and the implementation of its reforms. He was elected in 1963 and died in 1978.

Francis often quotes Paul, showing that he is committed to the reforms of the Council, which allowed the Mass to be said in local languages instead of Latin, declared respect for other religions, and launched a landmark reconciliation with Jews.

Still today, ultra-conservatives in the Church do not recognize the Council's teachings and blame Paul for starting what they see as a decline in tradition.

Paul reigned in the 1960s when many men left the priesthood and vocations fell sharply in a turbulent era of social change that coincided with the sexual revolution and the widespread availability of the birth control pill.

Despite his many reforms, Paul is perhaps best known for his 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae (On Human Life), which enshrined the Church's ban on artificial birth control, saying nothing should block the possible transmission of human life.

The ban, which Paul issued against the advice of a papal commission, became the most contested Church ruling of the 20th century and is still widely disregarded by Catholics.

Paul also became the first pope in modern times to travel outside Italy to see faithful, ushering in a practice which has become synonymous with the papacy.

Paul is the third pope that Francis has made a saint since his election in 2013. The others are John XXIII, who died in 1963, and John Paul, who died in 2005.

Reporting By Philip PullellaEditing by Keith WeirTwo men are dead after a kayak overturned off Pirates Beach in Galveston Saturday night.

Galveston Beach Patrol identified the victims as 25-year-old Raul Olvera and 20-year-old Alan Perez Ferreyra.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to their families," Galveston Beach Patrol wrote in a statement.

SHIP CHANNEL BRIDGE: Motorcyclist's brother dies in East Loop crash

The two men had been living in the Galveston home of Olvera's brother for the past month, according to Galveston Beach Patrol. Saturday evening, they took a kayak out on the east side of Pirates Beach. Neither was wearing a life jacket, said Galveston Beach Patrol Chief Peter Davis.

The surf was unusually rough, with strong winds and choppy waters. "We were flying a red flag," Davis said, "which means adults who swim well shouldn't go above their waists in the water."

The kayak overturned shortly before 6 p.m. on Saturday evening, according to Galveston Beach Patrol. Olvera was submerged for approximately 10 minutes before being pulled to shore by bystanders around 5:55 p.m. The bystanders initiated CPR and called 911, and Olivera was transported to John Sealy Hospital ER, where he was pronounced dead at 7:01 p.m.

That night, emergency responders searched for Perez Ferreyra by jetski, boat and helicopter for several hours. Those participating in the search included Galveston's beach patrol, fire and police departments and emergency medical services, the United States Coast Guard and Jamaica Beach Fire Rescue.

His body was recovered around 3:30 p.m. Sunday close to the shore, officials said.

Before the incident, three people had drowned in Galveston in 2018. Davis said six to eight people drown in Galveston in an average year.

Galveston-based nonprofit Jesse Tree and the Beach Patrol Survivor Support Network are planning to visit the Houston men's families to offer counseling and assess their needs.A man driving a white van southbound in the northbound lanes of the Eastex feeder road swerved to avoid another car about 11 p.m. Saturday and crashed into a stand of trees near Rankin, Houston police said.

The driver got out of van and ran across the freeway for unknown reasons, officers said. He was struck and killed by a car in the main northbound lanes of Eastex. The hit-and-run driver never stopped.Kolton Purvis started cutting his neighbors grass in New Caney just as a favor when he was in high school. The hobby then developed into a business.

With others in the neighborhood watching, Purvis soon found himself with more clients during his junior year of high school. Eventually, he opened Cutting Edge Lawn Care to service his neighborhood.

I actually didnt plan on getting into lawn care, said the 20-year-old. It kind of just all happened at one time, and it was like a snowball effect. I was going to start needing more equipment and it just took off from there.

Purvis was recognized at the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce meeting on Oct 4. for being a successful new business that has recently joined the chamber.

The Chamber has been great, and it felt good to get recognized, Purvis said. The chamber has helped me a lot with my business and on how to network. It really is funny how everything has come together since high school.

During his junior year at New Caney High School Purvis was cutting grass with a friend early in the morning and after school.

As soon as the bell would ring for dismissal, Purvis would go home to grab the lawn care equipment and work until sundown.

It was waking up early, cutting grass, then school and after school we went back to work, Purvis said. It was a lot to handle, but after my senior year I found out that I could do this full-time.

More Information Contact info Phone number: Kolton Purvis 832-928-6919. Cutline for picture See More Collapse

After graduating from New Caney High School in 2017, Purvis dove into lawn care and started providing services to Houston, Humble, Spring, Conroe, Kingwood, Cleveland, Crosby, Porter, Shepherd, Splendora, Cypress and Huffman area.

The New Caney graduate went from having 10 clients in his neighborhood to now serving over 85 clients.

Cutting Edges services include aerating, ant poisoning, blowing, edging, fertilizing, grass installation, hedging, landscaping, mowing, mulch installation, pruning, roof cleaning, trimming, and weed poisoning.

Also, theres a referral process that can get you half off your next service and add up to a free service.

Purvis is looking to get Cutting Edge into more landscaping and designing for houses.

Purvis didnt go to college after high school and decided that he would still educate himself on how to run a successful business being an entrepreneur.

I took an online entrepreneur academy class and I read a lot of growth books, Purvis said. I did a lot of research on how to run a business. I made sure that I self-educated myself so that I could handle any situation.

Being only 20 years old Purvis wanted to make sure that he was in charge and is looking for his business to grow.

Were getting more into the designed phases now, Purvis said. I want to be able to show people how I can make their yards looks with some designs so they can see a picture right in their face. Were going to continue to provide a great service and make sure that our work is done correctly and are looking to grow even more with more clients.

marcus.gutierrez@chron.comMigrant workers rally in front of Seoul Finance Center in downtown Seoul, Sunday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk



By Lee Suh-yoon



Hundreds of migrant workers and civic activists rallied in front of Seoul Finance Center in Jung-gu, downtown Seoul, Sunday, demanding workers' freedom to change workplaces and denouncing government crackdowns on undocumented foreign laborers.



"We are not machines, we want human rights," the crowd shouted, as an opposing rally down the street called on the government to "kick out illegal migrant workers."



"The work of migrant workers is what keeps the bottom tier of the Korean economy going," Udaya Rai, head of the Migrants Trade Union, told the crowd. "We workers should be able to freely choose our workplace. But the Korean government does not see us as workers; they see us as disposable goods."



Protesters say Korea's Employment Permit System (EPS), enacted in 2004, has to go. Under this system, usually enacted by agreements between Korea and Southeast Asian countries, migrant workers sign a minimum three-year employment contract while still in their home country.



On arrival, they cannot change their workplace freely without submitting evidence of physical, sexual, or frequent verbal abuse by employers; and even this change is limited to three times over a period of four years and 10 months. To extend their working visa by one year and 10 months after three years, they need their employer's recommendation.





Korean Protesters call on the government to kick out undocumented immigrants in a rally in downtown Seoul, just down the street from the 2018 Migrant Workers Rally, Sunday. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk



Fears of injuries in an unsafe industrial workplace, or physical fatigue from long hours of manual labor are not valid reasons for applying for a change in workplace, according to the government.



"Without your boss's signature, you cannot change your workplace, even if it exposes you to a great amount of stress and dangerous tasks," Ojha Madhusudhan, a migrant worker from Nepal who is a general secretary at the union, said as he handed out red union vests and signs. "If you leave without the signature, then you are illegal."



Protesters also mourned the recent death of a Burmese migrant worker, who fell head-first out of the window of a makeshift cafeteria that was eight meters above the ground at a construction site in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, Aug. 22, while running away from a sudden police raid. Another migrant worker who witnessed the fall said he was not able to land on his feet because an officer grabbed his legs before the jump. He died of brain damage 17 days later.



Similar deaths have occurred in the past, mostly during sudden on-site police raids. Some 80 migrant workers have sustained injuries during these raids since 2008, according to the Ministry of Justice. Ten have died, most of them after falls.





Citizens sign petitions next to a small altar set up for a Burmese migrant worker who fell from a construction site while running away from a police raid and later died, during the 2018 Migrant Workers Rally, Sunday. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukA black SUV ran a red light southbound on Jones Road at Fallbrook and slammed into the side of a Toyota Scion about 9:30 p.m. Saturday, authorities say.

A passenger in the Toyota had to be rescued with Jaws of Life and was flown by Lifeflight helicopter to the hospital. The driver was taken to the hospital by ambulance in serious but stable condition.Just months after slashing the price of her Fort Worth mansion by $300,000, pop star Selena Gomez has finally managed to unload her Texas estate.

And it only took two years.

The Grand Prairie native took a hit with the sale. Multiple reports indicate she purchased the house for $3.5 million in 2015. She listed it for $3.49 million in 2016. After a few price reductions, she recently sold it for $2.7 million.

HUGE: Peek inside some of the largest Houston-area homes for sale now

Despite losing some money of the deal, this home reportedly holds some sentimental significance for Gomez. Her friends told Dallas real estate blog Candy's Dirt this was her first big purchase after rising to fame.

"Selena has owned other homes, but this property really was her first dream house," Ashley Cook, Gomez's friend, told the outlet. "She is so busy, she ended up only spending holidays there. Her work schedule takes her all over the place. But she really loved hanging out with her family in that media room."

A DEAL?: Peek inside Houston's luxury home foreclosures, including a mansion on River Oaks Blvd.

Beyond the media room, the sprawling 10,016-square-foot house also boasts a tennis court, putting green, saltwater swimming pool and fully equipped summer kitchen. Inside it features two master suites, a catering kitchen for entertaining and an 8-seat theater.

While Gomez may not have turned a profit on the sale of the Texas property, her real estate portfolio remains healthy. According to Architectural Digest, she's flipping some properties in California and is looking to turn a profit on at least one house.Fort Bend ISD officials are set to launch a one-year planning phase next month that administrators hope will ease current overcrowding at a number of campuses. Seemingly unavoidable, the process could prove a painful transition wherein thousands of students are rezoned away from familiar classmates to start over in unfamiliar schools.

Beth Martinez, chief of staff and strategic planning, outlined the plan at a recent board meeting. The discussions didnt elicit many smiles.

Step one involves organizing 20-member focus groups for various areas across the district with members to be picked through an application process. In December and January of 2019, the district will conduct online surveys to allow parents and students to weigh in.

Trustee Dave Rosenthal brought up an awkward moment from the bond planning process when the results of an online survey had to be re-calculated after hundreds of duplicated surveys with identical answers were submitted.

Are we going to do anything differently this time so we arent bombarded with fake data when it comes to online surveys? Rosenthal asked.

Martinez said she didnt have a solution other than to warn parents the districts computer system could detect if multiple surveys were submitted by the same computer and those answers would be disregarded.

The process of creating focus groups will begin next month when administrators plan to start accepting applications.

Trustee Kristin Tassin voiced concern that the selection process could create mistrust or draw complaints if three or four times the number of members picked apply for a focus group.

What is the evaluation criteria? Tassin asked.

Were looking for a cross representation of parents, community members, parents who have elementary school children and parents that have middle school children, Martinez said.

Tassin urged administrators to make the selection criteria as transparent as possible.

Once the focus groups are in place and the online surveys are complete, district officials will hold town hall meetings to allow people to share their opinions and learn how the process could affect their student.

With over 76,000 students enrolled in Fort Bend ISDs 80 campuses, its currently ranked the seventh largest school district in Texas and rezoning is expected to take a years worth of planning, officials say.

Currently, 10 schools are over 100 percent capacity. Percentagewise, Sullivan Elementary School is the districts most overcrowded campus at roughly 130 percent over audited functional capacity. During the bond planning process, it was discovered the capacity data for each school was in many cases, outdated, or worse, completely flawed. Over the summer, consultants from PBK Architects were hired to evaluate the schools and create updated capacity data.

Nine other schools are facing overcrowded classrooms as well this year:

Ridgemont Elementary: 121 percent over capacity

Holley Elementary: 114 percent over capacity

Walker Station Elementary: 111 percent over capacity

Commonwealth Elementary: 108 percent over capacity

Oystercreek Elementary: 107 percent over capacity

Madden Elementary: 105 percent over capacity

Sienna Crossing Elementary: 105 percent over capacity

Colony Meadows: 103 percent over capacity

Elkins High School: 101 percent over capacity

At the other end of the spectrum, two schools are at less than 50 percent of their audited functional capacity:

Mission Bend Elementary: 46 percent

Blue Ridge Elementary: 48 percent

Although its not yet critical, we plan to re-zone at First Colony Middle School and First Settlement Middle School (next year). We want to re-draw those boundaries in tandem, Martinez told trustees.

Administrators will also begin district-wide re-zoning to balance enrollment at the districts high schools, where several campuses are nearly full or are over capacity and two others have less than 60 percent utilization.

To end overcrowding at Commonwealth Elementary, district officials are currently looking to buy land, which is scarce in the Riverstone area. If that doesnt work out, classroom additions will be built at three other schools to make room for more students: Austin Parkway Elementary School, First Colony Middle School and First Settlement Middle School, Martinez said.

The district will be divided into four geographic areas during the planning process, agenda documents indicate.

The Sienna Plantation area and the southeast portion of the district would begin planning in the Fall of 2019 in anticipation of a new high school being built in that area in 2024-25.

The Fort Bend Tollway Corridor will also begin zone-change planning in Fall of 2019. The southeast portion of the district starts its planning phase in the Fall of 2020 and the southeast portion will go through re-zoning last with planning scheduled to begin in the Fall of 2022. Agenda documents note some decisions are pending inclusion in a future school bond.

Parents have complained that overcrowded classrooms are unsafe and make it difficult for teachers to manage large groups of younger students. The planned re-zoning process is expected to re-balance the schools and ease overcrowding.Hundreds of students, family members, school alumni, campus police, teachers and residents who support Willowridge High School and the middle and elementary students zoned there gathered for a festive block party hosted by Fort Bend ISD on Saturday, October 13. District officials say the event was a huge success, drawing a large crowd and providing a valuable opportunity for community bonding.

I was very pleased with how the block party came together, said Tyenise Blackmon, Fort Bend ISD coordinator of collaboration for communities who helped organized the event. We had sunshine and there were lots of fun things for our students. Everybody seemed to have a wonderful time, Blackmon said.Blog Archive Nov 15 (3) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (4) Nov 12 (5) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (4) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (3) Nov 05 (3) Nov 04 (3) Nov 03 (3) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (4) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (5) Oct 24 (2) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (5) Oct 17 (2) Oct 16 (3) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (4) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (4) Sep 30 (4) Sep 29 (5) Sep 28 (5) Sep 27 (2) Sep 26 (3) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (4) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (5) Sep 20 (3) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (4) Sep 17 (4) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (3) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (5) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (4) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (4) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (3) Aug 20 (5) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (4) Aug 13 (3) Aug 12 (3) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (4) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (3) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (2) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (5) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (3) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (3) Jul 16 (3) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (5) Jul 12 (5) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (3) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (5) Jun 28 (2) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (3) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (3) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (5) Jun 07 (3) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (3) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (4) May 28 (4) May 27 (3) May 26 (5) May 25 (4) May 24 (4) May 23 (4) May 22 (3) May 21 (5) May 20 (4) May 19 (3) May 18 (3) May 17 (4) May 16 (3) May 15 (6) May 14 (3) May 13 (3) May 12 (5) May 11 (4) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (4) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (3) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (5) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (6) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (4) Apr 16 (5) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (5) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (4) Apr 04 (4) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (4) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (4) Mar 28 (3) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (6) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (5) Mar 15 (3) Mar 14 (7) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (8) Mar 11 (6) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (6) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (3) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (5) Mar 04 (5) Mar 03 (7) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (6) Feb 25 (7) Feb 24 (4) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (7) Feb 21 (4) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (5) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (4) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (4) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (3) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (4) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (7) Feb 03 (9) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (9) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (6) Jan 29 (5) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (6) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (6) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (4) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (5) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (6) Jan 14 (7) Jan 13 (7) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (8) Jan 07 (11) Jan 06 (9) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (7) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (8) Jan 01 (8) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (6) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (7) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (5) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (5) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (6) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (6) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (5) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (6) Dec 02 (4) Dec 01 (5) Nov 30 (4) Nov 29 (6) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (4) Nov 25 (4) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (7) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (6) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (5) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (6) Nov 11 (6) Nov 10 (8) Nov 09 (8) Nov 08 (7) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (6) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (4) Oct 30 (3) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (2) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (5) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (6) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (5) Oct 15 (2) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (7) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (2) Oct 07 (7) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (8) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (6) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (4) Sep 24 (1) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (5) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (3) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (3) Sep 11 (3) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (5) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (4) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (4) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (4) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (4) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (5) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (4) Aug 07 (3) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (3) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (4) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (5) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (3) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (3) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (3) Jul 09 (4) Jul 08 (4) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (3) Jul 05 (5) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (4) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (5) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (5) Jun 07 (3) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (5) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (5) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (3) May 30 (5) May 29 (3) May 28 (4) May 27 (5) May 26 (7) May 25 (4) May 24 (4) May 23 (4) May 22 (6) May 21 (4) May 20 (3) May 19 (5) May 18 (4) May 17 (4) May 16 (5) May 15 (4) May 14 (4) May 13 (5) May 12 (4) May 11 (5) May 10 (6) May 09 (7) May 08 (3) May 07 (6) May 06 (4) May 05 (6) May 04 (6) May 03 (4) May 02 (4) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (4) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (6) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (5) Apr 22 (5) Apr 21 (7) Apr 20 (6) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (6) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (7) Apr 07 (4) Apr 06 (7) Apr 05 (6) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (6) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (6) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (5) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (6) Mar 25 (7) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (4) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (5) Mar 19 (4) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (3) Mar 15 (4) Mar 14 (5) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (5) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (5) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (4) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (6) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (5) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (3) Feb 29 (4) Feb 28 (4) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (5) Feb 25 (4) Feb 24 (5) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (5) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (4) Feb 19 (2) Feb 18 (5) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (4) Feb 15 (4) Feb 14 (4) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (5) Feb 11 (3) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (5) Feb 06 (5) Feb 05 (5) Feb 04 (4) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (2) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (6) Jan 26 (4) Jan 25 (3) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (3) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (4) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (3) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (5) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (3) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (1) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (5) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (3) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (3) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (4) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (3) Dec 06 (5) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (4) Dec 01 (5) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (4) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (5) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (3) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (5) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (5) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (3) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (1) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (3) Nov 03 (3) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (3) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (3) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (3) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (4) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (4) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (4) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (3) Oct 04 (4) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (4) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (4) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (3) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (5) Sep 20 (3) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (3) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (5) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (5) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (4) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (3) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (4) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (3) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (3) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (4) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (3) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (3) Jul 20 (3) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (3) Jul 16 (3) Jul 15 (4) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (3) Jul 12 (3) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (3) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (1) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (5) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (3) Jun 15 (3) Jun 14 (3) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (3) Jun 11 (4) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (3) Jun 06 (4) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (4) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (3) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (4) May 27 (6) May 26 (3) May 25 (3) May 24 (3) May 23 (3) May 22 (5) May 21 (3) May 20 (3) May 19 (3) May 18 (4) May 17 (3) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (4) May 13 (4) May 12 (5) May 11 (2) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (3) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (3) May 03 (3) May 02 (4) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (4) Apr 28 (4) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (5) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (5) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (1) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (3) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (3) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (4) Apr 11 (5) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (3) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (2) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (3) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (3) Apr 01 (7) Mar 31 (2) Mar 30 (2) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (6) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (4) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (6) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (4) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (3) Mar 18 (5) Mar 17 (3) Mar 16 (3) Mar 15 (4) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (6) Mar 12 (7) Mar 11 (4) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (3) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (3) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (3) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (4) Feb 28 (5) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (4) Feb 25 (4) Feb 24 (3) Feb 23 (3) Feb 22 (5) Feb 21 (5) Feb 20 (5) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (3) Feb 16 (4) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (6) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (3) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (6) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (6) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (3) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (6) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (4) Jan 27 (5) Jan 26 (4) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (3) Jan 23 (3) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (4) Jan 19 (3) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (3) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (4) Jan 12 (3) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (4) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (3) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (5) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (7) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (5) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (7) Dec 10 (7) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (4) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (5) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (5) Nov 28 (4) Nov 27 (5) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (4) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (3) Nov 14 (4) Nov 13 (5) Nov 12 (7) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (6) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (4) Nov 07 (4) Nov 06 (3) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (3) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (4) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (5) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (4) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (4) Oct 18 (3) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (4) Oct 12 (5) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (5) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (5) Oct 07 (6) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (3) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (4) Sep 29 (4) Sep 28 (5) Sep 27 (5) Sep 26 (5) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (5) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (4) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (4) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (4) Sep 10 (3) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (5) Sep 04 (4) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (5) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (6) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (5) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (7) Aug 22 (4) Aug 21 (6) Aug 20 (3) Aug 19 (7) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (4) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (6) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (4) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (5) Jul 28 (5) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (6) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (6) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (6) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (6) Jul 15 (4) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (5) Jul 09 (4) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (3) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (4) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (5) Jun 11 (5) Jun 10 (6) Jun 09 (5) Jun 08 (4) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (4) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (5) May 27 (3) May 26 (4) May 25 (3) May 24 (6) May 23 (4) May 22 (5) May 21 (5) May 20 (4) May 19 (5) May 18 (6) May 17 (6) May 16 (4) May 15 (4) May 14 (5) May 13 (4) May 12 (3) May 11 (4) May 10 (5) May 09 (2) May 08 (4) May 07 (4) May 06 (4) May 05 (4) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (5) Apr 26 (5) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (6) Apr 23 (6) Apr 22 (5) Apr 21 (6) Apr 20 (4) Apr 19 (4) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (5) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (8) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (6) Apr 07 (5) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (4) Apr 03 (6) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (7) Mar 30 (6) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (5) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (8) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (6) Mar 20 (5) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (5) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (5) Mar 13 (6) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (4) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (7) Mar 08 (4) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (4) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (4) Mar 03 (6) Mar 02 (3) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (7) Feb 27 (6) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (5) Feb 24 (8) Feb 23 (7) Feb 22 (8) Feb 21 (7) Feb 20 (7) Feb 19 (7) Feb 18 (5) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (6) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (5) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (7) Feb 11 (6) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (6) Feb 07 (5) Feb 06 (5) Feb 05 (4) Feb 04 (4) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (5) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (3) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (4) Jan 27 (3) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (4) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (5) Jan 22 (7) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (6) Jan 19 (3) Jan 18 (6) Jan 17 (5) Jan 16 (7) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (7) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (4) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (7) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (5) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (4) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (6) Dec 31 (5) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (7) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (6) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (5) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (4) Dec 17 (6) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (4) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (7) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (6) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (7) Dec 03 (6) Dec 02 (4) Dec 01 (4) Nov 30 (6) Nov 29 (4) Nov 28 (4) Nov 27 (7) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (4) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (5) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (5) Nov 17 (6) Nov 16 (7) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (5) Nov 13 (5) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (7) Nov 10 (6) Nov 09 (7) Nov 08 (4) Nov 07 (9) Nov 06 (7) Nov 05 (7) Nov 04 (7) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (6) Nov 01 (6) Oct 31 (7) Oct 30 (6) Oct 29 (7) Oct 28 (4) Oct 27 (7) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (3) Oct 24 (6) Oct 23 (10) Oct 22 (6) Oct 21 (5) Oct 20 (5) Oct 19 (5) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (5) Oct 15 (6) Oct 14 (7) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (5) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (6) Oct 09 (8) Oct 08 (6) Oct 07 (5) Oct 06 (4) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (5) Sep 30 (6) Sep 29 (5) Sep 28 (5) Sep 27 (6) Sep 26 (7) Sep 25 (6) Sep 24 (6) Sep 23 (6) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (5) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (6) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (7) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (7) Sep 09 (7) Sep 08 (7) Sep 07 (6) Sep 06 (5) Sep 05 (3) Sep 04 (6) Sep 03 (7) Sep 02 (6) Sep 01 (6) Aug 31 (5) Aug 30 (5) Aug 29 (4) Aug 28 (5) Aug 27 (5) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (8) Aug 24 (5) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (7) Aug 21 (7) Aug 20 (6) Aug 19 (7) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (4) Aug 16 (6) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (6) Aug 09 (6) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (4) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (6) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (5) Aug 01 (5) Jul 31 (7) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (7) Jul 27 (6) Jul 26 (4) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (5) Jul 23 (4) Jul 22 (4) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (5) Jul 18 (5) Jul 17 (5) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (5) Jul 12 (6) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (4) Jul 07 (7) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (5) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (4) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (5) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (3) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (3) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (4) Jun 17 (5) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (7) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (5) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (6) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (5) Jun 02 (5) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (4) May 30 (5) May 29 (5) May 28 (5) May 27 (8) May 26 (7) May 25 (7) May 24 (5) May 23 (2) May 22 (5) May 21 (4) May 20 (5) May 19 (5) May 18 (5) May 17 (5) May 16 (7) May 15 (7) May 14 (7) May 13 (5) May 12 (6) May 11 (8) May 10 (4) May 09 (6) May 08 (10) May 07 (8) May 06 (5) May 05 (6) May 04 (7) May 03 (7) May 02 (8) May 01 (6) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (10) Apr 27 (6) Apr 26 (5) Apr 25 (8) Apr 24 (7) Apr 23 (8) Apr 22 (6) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (10) Apr 19 (7) Apr 18 (7) Apr 17 (8) Apr 16 (5) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (9) Apr 13 (11) Apr 12 (8) Apr 11 (5) Apr 10 (10) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (5) Apr 07 (9) Apr 06 (10) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (7) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (5) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (7) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (8) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (7) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (8) Mar 17 (8) Mar 16 (3) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (6) Mar 12 (6) Mar 11 (7) Mar 10 (6) Mar 09 (8) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (9) Mar 04 (7) Mar 03 (6) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (7) Feb 28 (8) Feb 27 (7) Feb 26 (4) Feb 25 (9) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (6) Feb 22 (7) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (5) Feb 18 (5) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (4) Feb 15 (5) Feb 14 (8) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (4) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (6) Feb 09 (7) Feb 08 (6) Feb 07 (6) Feb 06 (6) Feb 05 (5) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (10) Feb 02 (9) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (8) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (9) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (5) Jan 26 (6) Jan 25 (7) Jan 24 (6) Jan 23 (6) Jan 22 (5) Jan 21 (7) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (5) Jan 17 (5) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (5) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (3) Jan 07 (5) Jan 06 (5) Jan 05 (6) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (5) Dec 25 (6) Dec 24 (7) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (6) Dec 19 (10) Dec 18 (9) Dec 17 (10) Dec 16 (8) Dec 15 (4) Dec 14 (6) Dec 13 (10) Dec 12 (6) Dec 11 (5) Dec 10 (6) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (8) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (6) Dec 04 (7) Dec 03 (7) Dec 02 (6) Dec 01 (9) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (9) Nov 28 (7) Nov 27 (6) Nov 26 (7) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (4) Nov 22 (7) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (8) Nov 18 (12) Nov 17 (8) Nov 16 (6) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (11) Nov 13 (11) Nov 12 (9) Nov 11 (6) Nov 10 (9) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (7) Nov 07 (7) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (8) Nov 04 (6) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (7) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (7) Oct 30 (6) Oct 29 (7) Oct 28 (4) Oct 27 (7) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (7) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (7) Oct 22 (7) Oct 21 (6) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (7) Oct 18 (6) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (8) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (6) Oct 13 (7) Oct 12 (5) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (8) Oct 09 (8) Oct 08 (7) Oct 07 (7) Oct 06 (7) Oct 05 (8) Oct 04 (6) Oct 03 (8) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (10) Sep 29 (7) Sep 28 (10) Sep 27 (10) Sep 26 (11) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (6) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (5) Sep 21 (8) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (6) Sep 18 (6) Sep 17 (7) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (6) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (7) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (10) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (3) Sep 08 (8) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (7) Sep 05 (8) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (6) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (6) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (4) Aug 28 (5) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (5) Aug 25 (9) Aug 24 (7) Aug 23 (8) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (9) Aug 20 (8) Aug 19 (7) Aug 18 (6) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (8) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (6) Aug 12 (5) Aug 11 (7) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (9) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (5) Aug 05 (6) Aug 04 (6) Aug 03 (7) Aug 02 (8) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (6) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (8) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (6) Jul 26 (9) Jul 25 (9) Jul 24 (7) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (7) Jul 21 (9) Jul 20 (6) Jul 19 (9) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (2) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (7) Jul 14 (7) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (4) Jul 10 (7) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (6) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (8) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (6) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (5) Jun 27 (6) Jun 26 (6) Jun 25 (7) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (5) Jun 22 (7) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (6) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (6) Jun 17 (5) Jun 16 (6) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (7) Jun 12 (8) Jun 11 (5) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (7) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (5) Jun 06 (7) Jun 05 (5) Jun 04 (6) Jun 03 (5) Jun 02 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (7) May 30 (4) May 29 (5) May 28 (1) May 27 (5) May 26 (8) May 25 (5) May 24 (8) May 23 (8) May 22 (7) May 21 (5) May 20 (6) May 19 (9) May 18 (5) May 17 (9) May 16 (7) May 15 (5) May 14 (11) May 13 (6) May 12 (13) May 11 (5) May 10 (7) May 09 (7) May 08 (8) May 07 (9) May 06 (6) May 05 (5) May 04 (2) May 03 (6) May 02 (7) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (5) Apr 29 (7) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (6) Apr 26 (10) Apr 25 (7) Apr 24 (5) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (6) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (10) Apr 16 (6) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (10) Apr 10 (6) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (10) Apr 07 (6) Apr 06 (6) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (4) Apr 03 (5) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (6) Mar 31 (5) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (8) Mar 27 (7) Mar 26 (9) Mar 25 (11) Mar 24 (10) Mar 23 (6) Mar 22 (8) Mar 21 (3) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (2) Mar 18 (9) Mar 17 (7) Mar 16 (6) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (6) Mar 13 (6) Mar 12 (10) Mar 11 (7) Mar 10 (8) Mar 09 (6) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (6) Mar 06 (7) Mar 05 (6) Mar 04 (10) Mar 03 (2) Mar 02 (8) Mar 01 (9) Feb 29 (11) Feb 28 (8) Feb 27 (6) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (8) Feb 24 (9) Feb 23 (12) Feb 22 (10) Feb 21 (11) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (5) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (9) Feb 16 (10) Feb 15 (8) Feb 14 (9) Feb 13 (8) Feb 12 (9) Feb 11 (7) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (7) Feb 08 (9) Feb 07 (7) Feb 06 (10) Feb 05 (10) Feb 04 (6) Feb 03 (8) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (6) Jan 31 (10) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (9) Jan 27 (7) Jan 26 (8) Jan 25 (8) Jan 24 (7) Jan 23 (6) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (10) Jan 19 (8) Jan 18 (6) Jan 17 (7) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (8) Jan 13 (8) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (6) Jan 09 (8) Jan 08 (4) Jan 07 (5) Jan 06 (6) Jan 05 (9) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (7) Jan 02 (6) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (9) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (2) Dec 27 (8) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (6) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (6) Dec 22 (8) Dec 21 (8) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (8) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (8) Dec 16 (7) Dec 15 (9) Dec 14 (7) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (4) Dec 11 (5) Dec 10 (6) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (5) Dec 04 (4) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (7) Dec 01 (7) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (5) Nov 28 (6) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (8) Nov 23 (2) Nov 22 (6) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (5) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (6) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (5) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (2) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (4) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (5) Nov 04 (6) Nov 03 (6) Nov 02 (5) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (6) Oct 30 (6) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (5) Oct 25 (8) Oct 24 (7) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (7) Oct 21 (5) Oct 20 (5) Oct 19 (5) Oct 18 (6) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (2) Oct 15 (2) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (6) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (6) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (5) Oct 07 (6) Oct 06 (6) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (8) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (6) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (9) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (4) Sep 24 (5) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (6) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (4) Sep 19 (5) Sep 18 (7) Sep 17 (6) Sep 16 (7) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (8) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (7) Sep 11 (8) Sep 10 (5) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (8) Sep 07 (5) Sep 06 (6) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (5) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (4) Aug 31 (5) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (5) Aug 28 (5) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (7) Aug 24 (6) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (6) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (5) Aug 19 (5) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (7) Aug 14 (8) Aug 13 (8) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (6) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (4) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (6) Aug 06 (7) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (6) Aug 01 (6) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (6) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (6) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (4) Jul 22 (5) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (2) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (8) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (5) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (5) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (7) Jul 10 (5) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (10) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (2) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (6) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (3) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (3) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (2) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (2) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (1) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (2) Jun 02 (2) Jun 01 (2) May 31 (2) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (5) May 27 (1) May 26 (1) May 25 (2) May 24 (2) May 23 (1) May 22 (2) May 21 (2) May 20 (3) May 19 (3) May 18 (2) May 17 (2) May 16 (2) May 15 (3) May 14 (2) May 13 (2) May 12 (2) May 11 (3) May 10 (3) May 09 (2) May 08 (3) May 07 (2) May 06 (2) May 05 (2) May 04 (2) May 03 (3) May 02 (2) May 01 (2) Apr 30 (1) Apr 29 (2) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (2) Apr 26 (2) Apr 25 (2) Apr 24 (2) Apr 23 (3) Apr 22 (4) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (2) Apr 17 (2) Apr 16 (2) Apr 15 (2) Apr 14 (2) Apr 13 (2) Apr 12 (2) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (2) Apr 08 (2) Apr 07 (2) Apr 06 (2) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (2) Apr 03 (2) Apr 02 (2) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (1) Mar 30 (1) Mar 29 (2) Mar 28 (2) Mar 27 (2) Mar 26 (3) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (2) Mar 23 (2) Mar 22 (1) Mar 21 (1) Mar 20 (2) Mar 19 (2) Mar 18 (2) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (2) Mar 14 (2) Mar 13 (2) Mar 12 (2) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (3) Mar 08 (2) Mar 07 (1) Mar 06 (2) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (3) Mar 03 (8) Mar 02 (2) Mar 01 (1) Feb 28 (2) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (1) Feb 25 (1) Feb 24 (2) Feb 23 (2) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (2) Feb 20 (2) Feb 19 (2) Feb 18 (2) Feb 17 (2) Feb 16 (2) Feb 15 (1) Feb 14 (1) Feb 13 (1) Feb 12 (2) Feb 11 (1) Feb 10 (2) Feb 09 (1) Feb 08 (1) Feb 07 (1) Feb 06 (1) Feb 05 (5) Feb 03 (1) Feb 02 (1) Feb 01 (1) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (4) Jan 28 (2) Jan 27 (5) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (3) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (4) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (2) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (5) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (5) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (4) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (4) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (1) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (5) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (4) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (6) Dec 14 (4) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (5) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (4) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (5) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (4) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (4) Nov 29 (4) Nov 28 (5) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (4) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (5) Nov 23 (4) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (4) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (3) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (4) Nov 06 (4) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (3) Nov 03 (2) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (4) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (3) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (3) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (6) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (4) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (3) Sep 26 (5) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (4) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (5) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (6) Sep 11 (6) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (4) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (4) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (4) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (3) Aug 20 (5) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (5) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (3) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (3) Aug 09 (4) Aug 08 (2) Aug 07 (2) Aug 06 (2) Aug 05 (2) Aug 04 (2) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (2) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (6) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (4) Jul 22 (4) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (5) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (5) Jul 09 (2) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (2) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (2) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (2) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (1) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (2) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (2) Jun 08 (2) Jun 07 (2) Jun 06 (2) Jun 05 (2) Jun 04 (2) Jun 03 (2) Jun 02 (4) Jun 01 (3) May 31 (4) May 30 (5) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (3) May 26 (4) May 25 (4) May 24 (2) May 23 (4) May 22 (4) May 21 (5) May 20 (6) May 19 (4) May 18 (3) May 17 (4) May 16 (5) May 15 (6) May 14 (4) May 13 (9) May 12 (4) May 11 (5) May 10 (5) May 09 (4) May 08 (3) May 07 (5) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (5) May 03 (1) May 02 (5) May 01 (7) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (5) Apr 28 (4) Apr 27 (1) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (4) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (3) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (3) Apr 14 (4) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (6) Apr 10 (1) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (1) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (4) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (1) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (4) Mar 28 (3) Mar 27 (4) Mar 26 (2) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (6) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (4) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (4) Mar 14 (3) Mar 13 (4) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (3) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (3) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (4) Feb 28 (2) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (3) Feb 25 (3) Feb 24 (4) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (3) Feb 21 (4) Feb 20 (4) Feb 19 (3) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (3) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (4) Feb 14 (3) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (3) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (4) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (3) Jan 29 (4) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (2) Jan 26 (4) Jan 25 (3) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (3) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (4) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (4) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (4) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (5) Jan 02 (4) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (2) Dec 29 (2) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (3) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (5) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (2) Dec 11 (6) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (6) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (4) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (4) Nov 30 (2) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (6) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (2) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (7) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (4) Nov 15 (6) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (2) Nov 06 (2) Nov 05 (2) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (2) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (2) Oct 24 (2) Oct 23 (2) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (2) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (2) Oct 17 (2) Oct 16 (2) Oct 15 (2) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (2) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (4) Oct 07 (4) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (6) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (7) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (5) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (7) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (5) Sep 09 (7) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (2) Sep 06 (7) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (4) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (2) Sep 01 (2) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (4) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (4) Aug 21 (4) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (2) Aug 16 (2) Aug 15 (5) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (10) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (5) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (5) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (5) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (5) Jul 23 (5) Jul 22 (7) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (5) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (5) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (3) Jul 12 (2) Jul 11 (2) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (2) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (2) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (2) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (6) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (6) Jun 27 (6) Jun 26 (6) Jun 25 (6) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (5) Jun 18 (8) Jun 17 (6) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (5) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (2) May 30 (2) May 29 (2) May 28 (2) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (3) May 24 (2) May 23 (2) May 22 (3) May 21 (5) May 20 (4) May 19 (2) May 18 (3) May 17 (3) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (5) May 13 (3) May 12 (4) May 11 (3) May 10 (4) May 09 (4) May 08 (4) May 07 (3) May 06 (2) May 05 (3) May 04 (4) May 03 (2) May 02 (3) May 01 (3) Apr 30 (3) Apr 29 (4) Apr 28 (2) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (2) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (2) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (4) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (7) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (10) Apr 15 (5) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (4) Apr 07 (7) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (7) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (5) Mar 31 (5) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (6) Mar 27 (5) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (6) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (4) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (6) Mar 18 (6) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (5) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (5) Mar 11 (4) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (2) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (3) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (4) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (2) Feb 23 (3) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (2) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (2) Feb 16 (3) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (9) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (7) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (4) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (2) Jan 27 (2) Jan 26 (3) Jan 25 (4) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (2) Jan 22 (2) Jan 21 (5) Jan 20 (4) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (4) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (3) Jan 11 (2) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (2) Jan 07 (2) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (2) Jan 04 (2) Jan 03 (2) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (2) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (2) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (2) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (2) Dec 21 (2) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (2) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (2) Dec 16 (2) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (2) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (5) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (2) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (4) Nov 29 (4) Nov 28 (2) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (2) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (2) Nov 22 (2) Nov 21 (2) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (3) Nov 18 (2) Nov 17 (2) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (4) Nov 13 (2) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (2) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (2) Nov 08 (2) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (6) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (7) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (4) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (2) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (2) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (2) Oct 18 (2) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (5) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (5) Sep 30 (2) Sep 29 (2) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (6) Sep 26 (2) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (2) Sep 22 (2) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (2) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (2) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (3) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (6) Sep 10 (2) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (5) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (2) Aug 30 (2) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (2) Aug 25 (2) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (3) Aug 18 (2) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (2) Aug 12 (2) Aug 11 (2) Aug 10 (2) Aug 09 (2) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (2) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (2) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (2) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (2) Jul 29 (2) Jul 28 (2) Jul 27 (2) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (2) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (2) Jul 21 (3) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (2) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (2) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (2) Jul 12 (3) Jul 11 (2) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (2) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (2) Jul 06 (2) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (2) Jul 03 (2) Jul 02 (2) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (2) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (2) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (2) Jun 19 (2) Jun 18 (2) Jun 17 (2) Jun 16 (2) Jun 15 (2) Jun 14 (2) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (3) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (2) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (2) Jun 02 (2) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (2) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (2) May 26 (2) May 25 (2) May 24 (2) May 23 (2) May 22 (3) May 21 (3) May 20 (2) May 19 (2) May 18 (4) May 17 (7) May 16 (2) May 15 (3) May 14 (4) May 13 (3) May 12 (4) May 11 (4) May 10 (4) May 09 (3) May 08 (2) May 07 (2) May 06 (2) May 05 (1) May 04 (2) May 03 (4) May 02 (3) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (1) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (2) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (2) Apr 25 (2) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (2) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (2) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (2) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (1) Apr 03 (1) Apr 02 (1) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (2) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (2) Mar 28 (3) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (3) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (2) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (4) Mar 20 (2) Mar 19 (3) Mar 18 (1) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (2) Mar 15 (1) Mar 14 (3) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (2) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (2) Mar 08 (1) Mar 07 (1) Mar 04 (2) Mar 02 (2) Feb 28 (1) Feb 24 (1) Dec 31 (4) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (3) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (3) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (3) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (3) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (2) Nov 15 (3) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (4) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (3) Nov 05 (5) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (3) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (4) Oct 30 (3) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (4) Oct 16 (3) Oct 15 (3) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (4) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (4) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (3) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (3) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (3) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (4) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (3) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (5) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (3) Aug 20 (3) Aug 19 (3) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (3) Aug 12 (3) Aug 11 (4) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (5) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (3) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (5) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (4) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (3) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (5) Jul 11 (4) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (3) Jul 01 (6) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (5) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (5) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (3) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (3) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (5) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (4) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (5) Jun 01 (3) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (3) May 26 (4) May 25 (4) May 24 (4) May 23 (4) May 22 (3) May 21 (3) May 20 (4) May 19 (3) May 18 (3) May 17 (4) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (1) May 11 (3) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (4) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (6) Apr 30 (3) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (5) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (3) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (4) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (3) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (3) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (3) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (3) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (3) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (3) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (3) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (3) Mar 18 (3) Mar 17 (3) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (3) Mar 14 (3) Mar 13 (3) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (3) Mar 07 (3) Mar 06 (4) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (3) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (3) Mar 01 (3) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (3) Feb 25 (3) Feb 24 (2) Feb 23 (3) Feb 22 (3) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (3) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (3) Feb 16 (3) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (3) Feb 13 (3) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (3) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (4) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (4) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (3) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (3) Jan 21 (4) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (5) Jan 17 (4) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (4) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (3) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (3) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (3) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (6) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (2) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (2) Nov 05 (2) Nov 04 (3) Nov 03 (2) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (2) Oct 30 (6) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (5) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (5) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (4) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (2) Oct 15 (3) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (2) Oct 11 (2) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (2) Oct 07 (2) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (3) Oct 04 (2) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (4) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (2) Sep 26 (2) Sep 25 (2) Sep 24 (1) Sep 23 (1) Sep 22 (2) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (1) Sep 19 (1) Sep 18 (1) Sep 17 (2) Sep 16 (1) Sep 15 (2) Sep 14 (2) Sep 13 (1) Sep 12 (1) Sep 11 (2) Sep 10 (2) Sep 09 (1) Sep 08 (1) Sep 07 (2) Sep 06 (1) Sep 05 (1) Sep 04 (2) Sep 03 (1) Sep 02 (1) Sep 01 (1) Aug 31 (2) Aug 30 (1) Aug 29 (1) Aug 28 (1) Aug 27 (1) Aug 26 (1) Aug 25 (1) Aug 24 (1) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (1) Aug 21 (1) Aug 20 (2) Aug 19 (1) Aug 18 (1) Aug 17 (2) Aug 16 (2) Aug 15 (1) Aug 14 (1) Aug 12 (1) Aug 09 (1) Aug 08 (1) Aug 07 (1) Aug 05 (1) Aug 04 (1) Jul 31 (1) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (5) Jul 28 (2) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (4) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (4) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (6) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (6) Jun 18 (5) Jun 17 (5) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (5) Jun 02 (4) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (4) May 30 (4) May 29 (4) May 28 (5) May 27 (5) May 26 (5) May 25 (4) May 24 (5) May 23 (4) May 22 (4) May 21 (3) May 20 (6) May 19 (4) May 18 (4) May 17 (4) May 16 (5) May 15 (3) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (3) May 11 (3) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (3) May 06 (3) May 05 (3) May 04 (3) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (3) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (6) Apr 12 (4) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (5) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (4) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (4) Apr 04 (6) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (4) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (5) Mar 28 (6) Mar 27 (5) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (4) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (5) Mar 16 (5) Mar 15 (3) Mar 14 (6) Mar 13 (4) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (7) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (4) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (4) Feb 28 (4) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (5) Feb 25 (4) Feb 24 (5) Feb 23 (5) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (7) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (5) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (8) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (3) Feb 06 (6) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (6) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (6) Jan 26 (6) Jan 25 (4) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (5) Jan 22 (5) Jan 21 (5) Jan 20 (5) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (5) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (4) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (5) Jan 05 (6) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (7) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (6) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (5) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (4) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (4) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (5) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (4) Nov 13 (4) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (4) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (4) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (5) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (3) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (5) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (2) Oct 19 (4) Oct 18 (2) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (4) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (6) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (2) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (4) Sep 17 (4) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (3) Sep 09 (3) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (6) Sep 04 (5) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (4) Aug 31 (4) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (2) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (2) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (3) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (2) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (4) Aug 12 (3) Aug 11 (4) Aug 10 (3) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (6) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (4) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (2) Jul 20 (3) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (3) Jul 15 (5) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (5) Jul 11 (4) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (8) Jul 08 (6) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (3) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (3) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (2) Jun 21 (1) Jun 20 (2) Jun 19 (2) Jun 18 (4) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (3) Jun 15 (7) Jun 14 (3) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (5) Jun 11 (4) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (5) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (4) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (3) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (3) May 26 (3) May 25 (4) May 24 (2) May 23 (4) May 22 (3) May 21 (2) May 20 (3) May 19 (2) May 18 (4) May 17 (4) May 16 (3) May 15 (2) May 14 (6) May 13 (4) May 12 (2) May 11 (3) May 10 (2) May 09 (3) May 08 (4) May 07 (4) May 06 (3) May 05 (3) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (4) May 01 (3) Apr 30 (2) Apr 29 (5) Apr 28 (2) Apr 27 (2) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (2) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (4) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (2) Apr 14 (4) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (5) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (4) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (4) Apr 04 (4) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (6) Mar 31 (2) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (4) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (4) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (3) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (3) Mar 17 (5) Mar 16 (2) Mar 15 (4) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (2) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (4) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (4) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (4) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (6) Feb 25 (4) Feb 24 (5) Feb 23 (5) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (2) Feb 16 (4) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (4) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (4) Feb 11 (3) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (2) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (4) Feb 03 (3) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (3) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (3) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (2) Jan 22 (3) Jan 21 (4) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (4) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (3) Jan 16 (2) Jan 15 (2) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (2) Jan 12 (3) Jan 11 (3) Jan 10 (2) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (2) Jan 07 (2) Jan 06 (2) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (3) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (1) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (2) Dec 29 (2) Dec 28 (2) Dec 27 (2) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (1) Dec 24 (2) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (2) Dec 20 (1) Dec 19 (2) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (2) Dec 16 (2) Dec 15 (4) Dec 14 (2) Dec 13 (1) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (2) Dec 10 (2) Dec 09 (2) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (2) Dec 06 (1) Dec 05 (2) Dec 04 (1) Dec 03 (2) Dec 02 (2) Dec 01 (2) Nov 30 (2) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (2) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (1) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (1) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (1) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (2) Nov 18 (2) Nov 17 (1) Nov 16 (1) Nov 15 (1) Nov 14 (1) Nov 13 (2) Nov 12 (3) Nov 11 (2) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (1) Nov 08 (2) Nov 07 (1) Nov 06 (2) Nov 05 (2) Nov 04 (1) Nov 03 (1) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (2) Oct 31 (2) Oct 30 (2) Oct 29 (4) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (2) Oct 25 (2) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (2) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (1) Oct 18 (3) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (2) Oct 15 (1) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (2) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (1) Oct 03 (2) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (1) Sep 29 (2) Sep 28 (1) Sep 27 (3) Sep 26 (3) Sep 25 (2) Sep 24 (1) Sep 23 (2) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (1) Sep 20 (1) Sep 19 (2) Sep 17 (2) Sep 16 (2) Sep 15 (1) Sep 14 (1) Sep 13 (1) Sep 12 (3) Sep 11 (1) Sep 10 (2) Sep 09 (2) Sep 08 (2) Sep 07 (1) Sep 06 (1) Sep 05 (3) Sep 04 (2) Sep 03 (1) Sep 02 (1) Sep 01 (2) Aug 31 (2) Aug 30 (1) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (2) Aug 26 (1) Aug 25 (1) Aug 24 (2) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (1) Aug 21 (1) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (1) Aug 18 (1) Aug 17 (2) Aug 16 (1) Aug 15 (2) Aug 14 (1) Aug 13 (1) Aug 12 (3) Aug 11 (2) Aug 10 (2) Aug 09 (1) Aug 08 (2) Aug 07 (1) Aug 06 (1) Aug 05 (1) Aug 04 (1) Aug 03 (2) Aug 01 (1) Jul 31 (2) Jul 30 (1) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (2) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (1) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (2) Jul 23 (2) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (1) Jul 20 (3) Jul 19 (2) Jul 18 (2) Jul 16 (3) Jul 15 (1) Jul 13 (2) Jul 12 (1) Jul 11 (2) Jul 09 (5) Jul 08 (1) Jul 07 (1) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (1) Jul 03 (2) Jul 01 (1) Jun 30 (1) Jun 29 (2) Jun 28 (2) Jun 27 (2) Jun 25 (2) Jun 24 (1) Jun 23 (2) Jun 22 (2) Jun 20 (1) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (1) Jun 15 (1) Jun 14 (3) Jun 12 (1) Jun 11 (1) Jun 08 (1) Jun 07 (1) Jun 05 (1) Jun 04 (1) Jun 03 (1) Jun 01 (1) May 31 (1) May 27 (2) May 25 (2) May 24 (1) May 23 (2) May 22 (1) May 21 (1) May 20 (2) May 19 (1) May 18 (1) May 17 (2) May 14 (1) May 13 (1) May 11 (2) May 10 (2) May 09 (1) May 07 (2) May 06 (1) May 05 (1) May 04 (1) May 03 (3) May 02 (1) May 01 (1) Apr 29 (1) Apr 28 (1) Apr 27 (1) Apr 25 (2) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (1) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (2) Apr 20 (1) Apr 19 (2) Apr 17 (1) Apr 15 (1) Apr 13 (1) Apr 10 (2) Apr 08 (1) Apr 07 (1) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (3) Apr 03 (1) Apr 02 (1) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (2) Mar 30 (1) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (1) Mar 25 (1) Mar 24 (1) Mar 22 (2) Mar 21 (1) Mar 20 (1) Mar 18 (1) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (1) Mar 14 (2) Mar 13 (4) Mar 12 (1) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (1) Mar 06 (4) Mar 05 (1) Mar 04 (1) Mar 03 (2) Mar 02 (2) Mar 01 (2) Feb 28 (2) Feb 27 (1) Feb 26 (1) Feb 25 (1) Feb 23 (2) Feb 19 (2) Feb 13 (1) Feb 12 (1) Feb 02 (1) Jan 31 (1) Jan 22 (1) Jan 18 (1) Jan 16 (1) Jan 09 (1) Jan 01 (1) Dec 20 (2) Dec 15 (1) Dec 13 (1) Dec 11 (1) Nov 30 (1) Nov 27 (1) Nov 20 (1) Nov 11 (1) Nov 10 (1) Oct 23 (1) Oct 20 (1) Oct 01 (1) Sep 30 (1) Sep 29 (1) Sep 24 (2) Sep 15 (1) Sep 13 (1) Sep 12 (1) Sep 08 (1) Sep 02 (2) Aug 31 (1) Aug 28 (1) Aug 27 (2) Aug 24 (1) Aug 21 (1) Aug 20 (1) Aug 18 (3) Aug 16 (1) Aug 15 (1) Aug 14 (1) Aug 11 (1) Aug 08 (1) Aug 07 (1) Aug 03 (1) Jul 27 (1) Jul 26 (1) Jul 24 (1) Jul 22 (1) Jul 21 (1) Jul 19 (1) Jul 15 (1) Jul 14 (1) Jul 13 (3) Jul 10 (1) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (1) Jul 06 (1) Jul 03 (1) Jul 01 (1) Jun 28 (1) Jun 24 (2) Jun 20 (1) Jun 19 (1) Jun 18 (1) Jun 15 (1) Jun 14 (2) Jun 11 (1) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (1) Jun 07 (1) Jun 06 (1) Jun 04 (2) Jun 03 (1) Jun 02 (2) Jun 01 (1) May 31 (3) May 30 (1) May 29 (1) May 28 (2) May 26 (1) May 25 (1) May 18 (1) May 17 (1) May 15 (1) May 09 (1) May 07 (2) May 02 (1) May 01 (1) Apr 30 (1) Apr 27 (1) Apr 26 (2) Apr 23 (1) Apr 22 (1) Apr 19 (1) Apr 18 (1) Apr 12 (1) Apr 11 (1) Apr 09 (1) Apr 07 (1) Apr 05 (1) Apr 01 (1) Mar 30 (1) Mar 27 (1) Mar 25 (1) Mar 22 (2) Mar 19 (1) Mar 18 (1) Mar 16 (1) Mar 15 (2) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (1) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (1)Translate My Blog List ESV Bible Search Search the ESV Bible

(e.g., John 1 or God's love)ERIE, Pa. -- Midway through another raucous arena rally last week, President Donald Trump offered a revealing aside about Rep. Lou Barletta, the Republican he recruited to jump into Pennsylvania's Senate race.

"I got him into this," Trump said, musing about what he called "the only bad thing" about Barletta's candidacy before thousands of supporters in red ball caps. "For the rest of his life, he could have been a congressman."

A moment later, any fleeting dismay about Barletta's looming unemployment had passed, but the riff was revealing. Polling shows Barletta well behind Democratic Sen. Robert Casey Jr. Indeed, it has become increasingly hard for Republicans to remain optimistic about the chances for him and other GOP candidates across the industrial Midwest.

Many Republicans running for governor or senator in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, including several who hitched their wagon to Trump's political movement, are behind in polls by double digits, a remarkable turnabout in swing states that were key to the president's 2016 victory.

If current polling averages hold, Democrats will maintain all their Senate seats in those states, pick up a handful of House seats and, in some cases, retake the governors' mansions. In nearby Iowa, a state Trump won by nearly 10 points, the Democratic candidate for governor was running about even with the Republican governor in a Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll. Polling this week found Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., trailing his Democratic opponent, Tony Evers.

The dramatic shift has forced political strategists to reevaluate their post-mortem lessons from the 2016 election, while raising new questions about Trump's staying power in 2020. Democratic strategists, who worried that Iowa and Ohio were slipping away from them in presidential years, are now heartened and have begun to return their attention to the traditional bellwethers.

"One false assumption that was made was that a Trump voter from the 2016 election was necessarily a Republican voter," said John Brabender, a GOP consultant who is working with Barletta. "We forget about the power of Hillary Clinton being on the ballot in 2016. If Hillary was on the ballot, Republicans would probably be doing better in all of these states."

There is a clear historical precedent for such a shift. Then-candidate Barack Obama swept the industrial Midwest in the 2008 elections, only to find his party battered in his first midterm contest two years later, when Republicans retook governorships in Ohio, Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin, along with Senate seats in Indiana and Wisconsin. Obama was nonetheless able to come back and win those same states, with the exception of Indiana, in his 2012 reelection.

Pollsters do not rule out Trump repeating that success in 2020, especially if the economy remains strong. "He could certainly do what Obama did," said Berwood Yost, the polling director at Franklin and Marshall College, which tracks Pennsylvania voters. "Trump's approval rating in our state is about the same place Obama's was in 2010."

Still, the short-term impact is dire for Republicans. After surprising the nation in 2016, Trump appears to be driving turnout this year that will largely benefit Democrats, as moderate voters, and particularly college-educated women, seek an outlet for their frustration with his policies and behavior. Trump's aggressive campaign schedule for Republicans in these states has so far failed to turn the tide.

"They thought they had unlocked some formula that would make them successful. But it was only Trump and only that year," Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said of the 2016 election. "What the Republicans are doing now isn't working for union members or struggling families. It's not working for young people. It's just not working."

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., who began the year as a leading target for conservative super PACs but is besting Republican challenger Leah Vukmir by about 10 points in recent polls, attributes her success to the return of an energized Democratic voting base, driven by issues like health care and sustained by how the party, in her view, has built a case that's bigger than just opposing Trump.

"The story in Wisconsin in '16 was actually a drop in voter participation that was unanticipated," Baldwin said. "I have seen in the past two years, especially among issues that are deeply personal like health care, people realizing what's at stake and they've been active and organizing. They are saying, 'No more sitting on the sidelines.' "

That same pattern is playing out in Michigan as well, where Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D, and the Democratic candidate for governor, Gretchen Whitmer, have both had comfortable margins in recent polling. Trump won the state by a whisker-thin margin of 10,704 votes in 2016.

"Everything I am seeing in my numbers is revolving not around his job approval but whether you view him favorably or unfavorably," said pollster Richard Czuba, who runs a statewide survey for the Detroit News and WDIV. "Donald Trump doesn't have an opponent and that is his problem right now. "

The result is an overall spike in voter enthusiasm in the state compared to 2016, and big swings in suburban areas such as Oakland County, the state's wealthiest region, outside Detroit. "We are finding it difficult to find college-educated women in Oakland County who will call themselves Republicans," Czuba said.

That has created reverberations in the race to succeed retiring Rep. Dave Trott, R, in Michigan's 11th district, which includes parts of the county. The district, which was drawn in 2011 to ensure Republican victories, voted for Trump in 2016 by more than four points, but recent polls have shown Democratic candidate Haley Stevens, a former Obama administration official, in the lead.

Her Republican opponent, Lena Epstein, co-chaired Trump's 2016 Michigan campaign and began the election cycle calling herself a surrogate for Trump, appearing on Fox News to praise the president's "abandonment of political correctness." She has since refocused her candidacy, dodging questions about her past commitment to join the conservative Freedom Caucus and casting herself as a bipartisan unifier.

"People don't always respect a woman in business," Epstein says in her most recent ad, which seeks to ride the coattails of the #MeToo movement. "I've been underestimated talked down to and dismissed."

John Yob, a consultant for Epstein, says the recent confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court has provided a late boost to the campaign, a trend that other Republicans hope could turn these races in the coming weeks.

"We have seen a significant six-point jump in polling since the Kavanaugh confirmation and would welcome the president to campaign for Lena anytime," Yob said, describing the campaign's private data.

But the Kavanaugh effect apparent in other parts of the country may not be enough to swing races here. In many of the Great Lakes states, candidates like Barletta who most tied themselves to the Trump agenda are still flailing. In Ohio, Rep. James Renacci, R, whose first Senate campaign ad was about his tight bond with Trump, has yet to come within 10 points of incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, in a major public poll.

"We have lost millions of members of our party in the last year," said John Weaver, a Republican adviser to Ohio Gov. John Kasich and a Trump critic, reflecting on how Trump's bid split the party. "A MAGA candidate who runs as a junior member of the walking dead and wins the primary is going to find themselves shot in the general election."

Complicating things further is the devotion of the Republican base to Trump's take-no-prisoners approach, which can make it dangerous for GOP candidates who seek to create some distance.

"When you talk to Republican primary voters, the number one issue is, 'Are you with Trump?' " said retiring Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., a Trump critic. "So, once you get through that, it's tough to pivot."

Trump's decision to renegotiate trade agreements with Mexico and Canada, and to start an escalating tariff war with China, have muddled the political fallout in the Midwest, even though the economic effects have been relatively pronounced. Rising steel and aluminum prices, falling soybean prices, and new restrictions on car imports have sparked a wave of headlines in the region about layoffs and struggling farmers.

But Democrats in the region have largely taken a nuanced approach to the same issues, with many candidates praising Trump's efforts to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. Brown, the Ohio Democrat who opposed NAFTA and other trade deals, has praised Trump's approach.

"Actually, that's one of the things I have more in common with Trump than many Republicans," Baldwin said with a chuckle when asked about her protectionist tilt on trade issues, which she said has countered the Republican case against her.

Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, a potential long-shot challenger of Trump in the 2020 presidential election, said the real driving force in this part of the country comes from a sense that the region is still not benefiting from the nation's overall economic growth.

Trump was able to win in 2016 by contrasting himself with Clinton, who was boasting of an economic resurgence under Obama, in the stock market and unemployment rate, that many voters did not feel in their daily lives.

"Now he is falling into that same line of argument and people are saying, 'Not so much,' " Ryan said. "There is no substantial change."North Korea's economy is in such dire straits that the reclusive nation can't afford to go back on a promise to Donald Trump to wind down its nuclear program, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said in an interview with Le Figaro.

Speaking to the French daily ahead of a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron, Moon explained why he believes North Korea's Kim Jong Un will deliver on the pledges made at his historic summit with the U.S. leader in June.

"North Korea's economy is in huge difficulty due to international sanctions," Moon said, according to a transcript distributed by his presidential office. "If it breaks the agreement, it will not be able to afford the retribution from the U.S. and the international community."

While North Korea's economy has been impoverished for decades, the international community is hungry for news about the impact of the latest round of United Nations sanctions. Last year, the Asian country was estimated to have suffered its biggest economic slump since 1997.

The U.S. wants to keep sanctions against North Korea in place until Kim completely unwinds his nuclear program, while Russia and China have argued against this hardline approach. South Korea has said it would consider easing its own sanctions on its neighbor to forge collaboration on railways and roads, while pledging not to undermine global attempts to punish the north's weapons development.

Ahead of his European visit, Moon was positive about North Korea's moves to scale down its weapons program, telling the BBC that Kim's nuclear pledge "includes everything" -- even giving up his existing arsenal. The South Korean president called on the U.S. to match the north's efforts with reciprocal measures to push the program forward.

Moon will also emphasize the importance of rewarding the north in his summit with Macron, Yonhap News reported, citing Le Figaro. Trump and Kim signed a vague agreement in June, which included an undefined pledge to "work toward complete denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula."

Moon is also due to meet Pope Francis on Thursday to deliver Kim's invitation for the pontiff to visit Pyongyang.Lunaticoutpost.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program , anaffiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.Amazon, the Amazon logo, MYHABIT, and the MYHABIT logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.Don't be a pest to the forum.No profanity in thread-titles or usernamesNo excessive profanity in postsNo Racism, Antisemitism + HateNo calls for violence against anyone..This website exists for fun and discussion only. The reader is responsible for discerning the validity, factuality or implications of information posted here, be it fictional or based on real events. The content of posts on this site, including but not limited to links to other web sites, are the expressed opinion of the original poster and are in no way representative of or endorsed by the owners or administration of this website. The posts on this website are the opinion of the specific author and are not statements of advice, opinion, or factual information on behalf of the owner or administration of LunaticOutPost.Com. The owners or administration of this website can't be hold responsible for content hosted on sites that posters link to in; including, but not limited to, posts, signatures, private messages and such. This site may contain content not suitable for minors and if you feel you might be offended by such content, you should log off immediately.This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Users may make such material available in an effort to advance awareness and understanding of issues relating to civil rights, economics, individual rights, international affairs, liberty, science & technology, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.In accordance with industry accepted best practices we ask that users limit their copy / paste of copyrighted material to the relevant portions of the article you wish to discuss (no more than 50% of the source material) provide a link back to the original articleIf you are a legal copyright holder or a designated agent for such and you believe a post on this website falls outside the boundaries of "Fair Use" and legitimately infringes on yours or your clients copyright please contact [email protected] This website is owned by :Marco ZwaneveldDrijfriemstraat 522516 XR The HagueNetherlands.I will not rent, sell, share or otherwise disclose your personal information to any third party.We might contact you from time to time regarding your purchases or the services (like forums and announcement lists) you have subscribed to.Some of the 3rd party advertisers on lunaticoutpost.com may use cookiesto track peformance and/or to serve relevant ads.If you wish to read more and/or opt out of such cookies, please visit: http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/"The Eugenics Crusade"

PBS American Experience

pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/eugenics-crusade

---

What if you could engineer the perfect baby?

Would you, if you could?

A century ago, a group of American scientists and reformers thought it was possible - and desirable. Their perfect baby was white, able-bodied, Christian. And the cause they embraced, eugenics, was used to justify incarceration, sterilization and even murder.

"The Eugenics Crusade," on American Experience on PBS stations at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday, tells the movement's sordid story.

A dangerous cocktail of pseudoscience and real science set the stage for the eugenics movement's popularity. As genetic science progressed at the turn of the 20th century, some scientists embraced the theory that things like a person's tendency to criminality was passed down from their parents. Reformers loved the idea that poverty, crime and deviance of all stripes could be bred out of future children.

Soon, the concept was used to support everything from immigration restrictions to "fitter family" competitions. Forced sterilization and institutionalization of people who were disabled, mentally ill, or thought to be sexually deviant or morally lacking followed.

Wide-ranging and sobering, the documentary highlights the movement's uncomfortable modern remnants. Take the term "moron" - it was once used to justify selective breeding.

The film also resurrects the largely forgotten story of Ann Cooper Hewitt, an heiress who was sterilized without her consent during an appendectomy. Cooper Hewitt, who had been a minor at the time of the operation, sued her mother, claiming she had orchestrated the sterilization to get her inheritance. The trial, which pitted a white, rich and attractive woman against her mother, attracted public attention in a way the majority of sterilization's victims never could.

Scientists eventually changed course on eugenics. But by then, the damage was done. The documentary, which was written and directed by Michelle Ferrari, shows how the movement became mainstream. Eventually, it spread elsewhere, including Germany, where it influenced Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler and set the stage for the Holocaust. But in its American incarnation, the film suggests, the eugenics movement was perfectly commonplace. What seems obviously evil today once seemed desirable, ordinary - to everyone but its victims.FORT EDWARD  Convicted sex offender Joel O'Keefe led police on a 13-day manhunt when he escaped from troopers in the mid-1990s. State prison officials took no chances when he violated his parole last week.

The Post-Star of Glens Falls reports O'Keefe was transferred into state custody Friday to await the outcome of the parole case. The newspaper attributed the information to Washington County Sheriff Jeff Murphy.

Felons accused of parole violations are usually held in local jails until their case is decided. Typically, they then complete their sentences in state prison.

O'Keefe, 57, was arrested Wednesday after police received complaints from women in Glen Falls and Saratoga Springs. Police say O'Keefe failed to notify his parole officer and acted inappropriately.

O'Keefe, a native of Easton, escaped from troopers in Ballston on Sept. 23, 1994. He was being taken from Washington County jail to Saratoga County jail when he took off from the back of a State Police car as it was stopped at a traffic light at Routes 50 and 67.

More than 200 troopers, correction officers, deputies and environmental conservation officers used police dogs, infrared equipment and heat-seeking helicopters to scour Saratoga County for O'Keefe.

O'Keefe, who had stolen a car in Saratoga Springs, drove to Salem in Washington County and then to Bennington, Vt., where police captured him at a Subway shop two weeks after his escape. He reportedly used bolt cutters he found in a barn to remove his cuffs, and purchased clothes at a Salvation Army store in Vermont.

The troopers were disciplined for handcuffing him in front and not behind his back after he complained that it was painful.

O'Keefe pleaded guilty to the June 27, 1994, first-degree burglary of a home in Round Lake where police said he raped a woman at knifepoint after locking her daughter in a closet. He had been charged with first-degree sodomy, first-degree sexual abuse and first-degree unlawful imprisonment.

The guilty plea to burglary resolved the case. O'Keefe was also serving time for several attempted escapes while in prison. Corrections authorities say O'Keefe used a water pistol painted black in a 2001 escape attempt as he was transported back to an Elmira prison from a medical appointment.

It couldn't be determined from authorities if he has a lawyer.BERLIN - Voters in the southern German heartland of Bavaria dealt a stinging blow Sunday to Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative allies, humbling a party that has governed for decades while boosting either political flank in an election defined by polarized opinions about immigration.

The dramatic loss of support for the Christian Social Union (CSU), sister party to Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), scrambled politics in a region that has been one of the most politically stable in Europe.

Votes for the Bavarian state parliament have rarely been competitive in modern lifetimes, with the CSU crafting a "laptops to lederhosen" approach that coupled its support for high-tech industry with its embrace of traditional culture. For decades, the CSU came as close as Western Europe gets to a state party.

That changed Sunday, with voters in the affluent region defecting en masse and redistributing their support to both ends of the political spectrum. The result won't end the CSU's 61-year streak in power, but it forces the party to bargain for partners. And it will almost certainly add to the strain on an already beleaguered Merkel, whose other coalition partner, the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), was also punished Sunday. The combined share of the vote won by the SPD and CSU was down more than 20 percent since the last election, in 2013.

"It's an earthquake," said Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, who leads the German Marshall Fund's office in Berlin. "People are dissatisfied with this so-called grand coalition. This is not the way they want things."

The results showed the CSU falling from nearly half the vote five years ago to 37.2 percent. The Green Party surged to second place, with 17.5 percent, and the far-right Alternative for Germany is set to enter the Bavarian parliament for the first time, with 10.2 percent.

The results sent a stream of green confetti raining down on jubilant Greens activists at the party's election-night headquarters. There was a similarly exuberant celebration among dirndl- and lederhosen-clad AfD supporters.

It was a different story for the CSU, with stern-faced Bavarian state Premier Markus Soder telling a quiet gathering of the party faithful that the result "isn't easy."

"We will accept it with humility. We will need to learn from it. We will need to analyze it precisely," he said.

Soder tried to put a brave face on the outcome, insisting that the CSU will continue to lead the state's government, despite a result that is the second-worst in the party's history. The CSU, he said, "isn't only the strongest party, but it received a clear mandate to govern."

The CSU has ruled out a coalition with the AfD, but could strike a deal to govern with one or more smaller conservative parties - or perhaps with the Greens.

The election was closely watched in Germany, and the results appear to fit a pattern seen both within the country and across the continent. Traditional centrist parties that once flirted with absolute majorities of the vote are withering. Niche and politically extreme parties are gaining as the electorate fragments into ever finer shards.

At the national level, that has meant a record seven parties in the parliament since elections last year, and a deeply dysfunctional governing coalition of three.

The Bavarian result, said Kleine-Brockhoff, confirms long-known struggles for Europe's center-left. But it also points to the difficulties ahead for the continent's center-right. "We're looking at the slow fragmentation of Christian conservatism," he said.

Sunday's result is likely to reverberate loudly in Berlin, where it will be seen as yet another blow to Merkel's once-mighty fusion of her CDU with its Bavarian sister.

Since the CDU/CSU faction disappointed in last year's vote, Merkel has seen her authority diminish at home and abroad as she struggled to cling to a job she has held for 13 years.

Yet the CSU's Sunday humiliation could also make Merkel's life easier in one respect: Her primary rival within the government, Interior Minister and CSU leader Horst Seehofer, is likely to face calls to resign.

Seehofer has provoked repeated clashes with his boss this year over immigration, and he nearly toppled the government this summer. His defiance of Merkel was widely seen as a deliberate CSU strategy to prove to Bavarian voters that the party could be just as tough on borders and security as its insurgent rivals in the AfD.

But if that was the aim, the effort fell flat. The CSU failed to pry right-wing voters back from the AfD, while more centrist and liberal supporters defected to the progressive-minded Greens.

"People who voted for them for 60 years aren't voting for them anymore. And it's because of their polarizing and inhumane politics," said Paul Knoblach, a 12th-generation Bavarian farmer.

Knoblach was among the CSU's longtime supporters and had volunteered for its campaigns. But on Sunday, at age 64, he ran for the state parliament for the first time. And he did it as a Green, a party that more than doubled its share of the vote Sunday by focusing on drawing a clear contrast with right-wing parties on the issue of refugees.

"If you follow the media, you get the impression that everyone's turning to the right, to racism. But it's not like this. Normal people just haven't been loud enough," said Eva Peteler, a Bavarian pro-refugee activist. "Now we're getting louder."

The AfD, known for its incendiary anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric, will also be getting louder in Bavaria. The last time Bavarians voted, in 2013, the party had just launched. Now the AfD will be in the parliament, putting it in 15 out of 16 German state legislatures. It is on course to join that last one later this month, with elections in the state of Hesse.

"The results show that trying to trick voters doesn't pay," said AfD leader Alice Weidel, referring to the CSU's rightward Bavarian shift.

The other big loser Sunday, the SPD, saw its vote halved since the last election, according to projected results, with about 10 percent. Party leader Andrea Nahles blamed "the poor performance of the grand coalition in Berlin."

The national government has been paralyzed this year by infighting between Seehofer and Merkel. The CSU was also split, with Seehofer and Soder often feuding.

In an interview with national broadcaster ZDF on Sunday night, the interior minister deflected when asked whether he would step down. But he said he would take his share of the blame for Sunday's outcome as long as others do, as well - a clear reference to Soder.

"As a party leader, I bear responsibility for this result," Seehofer said. "But it's a joint responsibility."

Close Merkel ally and CDU General Secretary Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, meanwhile, seemed to chide her CSU friends for emphasizing the problems with immigration when they could have been touting their successes.

The CSU, she said, had been "unable" to shift attention to "the very good situation of the state's security, the excellent position of its economy and job market."

The result, she said, was "a warning."

---

The Washington Post's Luisa Beck contributed to this report.Regarding Rethink rule on immigrant health care (Outlook, Oct. 6): No one should ever have to choose between feeding her family and staying in this country. But that is exactly the situation many people will find themselves in if proposed changes to U.S. immigration policy are permitted to proceed.

According to the new changes, a person can be denied permanent residency if they have been a recipient of SNAP benefits (commonly known as food stamps), Medicaid, federal housing assistance or other anti-poverty programs. This is just plain wrong.

The Trump administration must change course. And members of Congress and people across the country should stand up against this or any change that cuts families off from food and medical care.

Michael Solis, League City

Straight GOP

Regarding Hillary Clintons approval of incivility, and the Democrats overreach problem (Chron.com, Wednesday), I had been dreading the laborious process of completing my long mail-in ballot. Fortunately, the very timely remarks by Hillary Clinton and former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder about civility and acceptable conduct solved the problem completely. My ballot is already in the mail  straight Republican ticket.

William S. Bard, HoustonIf Sen. Ben Sasse is right  he has not recently been wrong about anything important  the nations most-discussed political problem is entangled with the least-understood public health problem. The political problem is furious partisanship. The public health problem is loneliness. Sasses new book argues that Americans are richer, more informed and connected than ever  and unhappier, more isolated and less fulfilled.

In Them: Why We Hate Each Other  and How to Heal, Sasses subject is the evaporation of social capital  the satisfactions of work and community. This reflects a perverse phenomenon: What has come to count as connectedness is displacing the real thing. And matters might quickly become dramatically worse.

Loneliness in epidemic proportions is producing a loneliness literature of sociological and medical findings about the effect of loneliness on individuals brains and bodies, and on communities. Sasse says there is a growing consensus that loneliness  not obesity, cancer or heart disease  is the nations number one health crisis. Persistent loneliness reduces average longevity more than twice as much as does heavy drinking and more than three times as much as obesity, which often is a consequence of loneliness. Research demonstrates that loneliness is as physically dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes a day and contributes to cognitive decline, including more rapid advance of Alzheimers disease. Sasse says, Were literally dying of despair, of the failure to fill the hole millions of Americans feel in their lives.

Symptoms large and small are everywhere. Time was, Sasse notes, Americans stocked their imaginations with the same things: In the 1950s, frequently 70 percent of television sets in use tuned in to I Love Lucy. Today, when 93 percent of Americans have access to more than 500 channels, the most-watched cable news program, Hannity has about 1 percent of the U.S. population. In the last quarter of the 20th century, the average number of times Americans entertained at home declined almost 50 percent. Americans are hyperconnected but disconnected, with fewer non-virtual friends than at any point in decades. With the median American checking (according to a Pew survey) a smartphone every 4.3 minutes, and with nearly 40 percent of those 18 to 29 online almost every waking minute, we are addicted to distraction and parched for genuine community. Social media, those tendrils of resentment that Sasse calls accelerants for political anger, create a nuance-free outrage loop for professional rage-peddlers. And for people for whom enemies have the psychic value of giving life coherence.

Work, which Sasse calls arguably the most fundamental anchor of human identity, is at the beginning of a staggering level of cultural disruption swifter and more radical than even Americas transformation from a rural and agricultural to an urban and industrial nation. At that time, one response to social disruption was alcoholism, which begat Prohibition. Today, one reason the average American life span has declined for three consecutive years is that many more are dying of drug overdoses  one of the diseases of despair  annually than died during the entire Vietnam War. People need to be needed, but McKinsey & Co. analysts calculate that, globally, 50 percent of paid activities  jobs  could be automated by currently demonstrated technologies. Americas largest job category is driver and, with self-driving vehicles coming, two-thirds of such jobs could disappear in a decade.

This future of accelerating flux exhilarates the educated and socially nimble. It frightens those who, their work identities erased and their communities atomized, are tempted not by what Sasse calls healthy local tribes but by political tribalism of grievances, or by chemical oblivion, or both. In todays bifurcated nation, 2016 was the 10th consecutive year when 40 percent of American children were born outside of marriage, America has two almost entirely different cultures, exemplified by this: Under 10 percent of births to college-educated women are outside of marriage compared to almost 70 percent of births to women with high school diplomas or less.

Repairing Americas physical infrastructure, although expensive, is conceptually simple, involving steel and concrete. The crumbling of Americas social infrastructure presents a daunting challenge: We do not know how to develop what Sasse wants, new habits of mind and heart ... new practices of neighborliness. We do know that more government, which means more saturation of society with politics, is not a sufficient answer.

Sasse, a fifth-generation Nebraskan who dedicates his book to the Kiwanis and Rotary clubs and other little platoons of Fremont, Neb. (population 26,000), wants to rekindle the hometown-gym-on-a-Friday-night feeling. But Americans cant go home again to Fremont.

Wills email address is georgewill@washpost.com.PARMA, Ohio -- A man turned himself in early Saturday in connection to a fatal stabbing Friday night, according to Parma police.

Police responded about 11:55 p.m. Friday to a home on the 6700 block of Parma's Brownfield Drive for a call about a stabbing, Sgt. Daniel Ciryak said.

Officers found Jason L. Masters in the basement with multiple stab wounds, Ciryak said. Police and fire personnel tried to give him first aid but were unsuccessful. Masters, 39, had died.

A 38-year-old man fled the scene before officers arrived, police say. He turned himself in about 1:45 a.m. at the Parma Justice Center, where he was taken into custody.

The suspect is currently being held in the Parma Jail, and police have not yet released his name.

To comment on this story, visit Saturday's crime and courts comment section.NORTHFIELD, Ohio - For years, Nancy Lavrich has attended the annual Ohio Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners awards banquet in Columbus. The retired nurse and horse breeder from Kirtland would enjoy the evening, sipping a cocktail, swapping racetrack tales, and then rising to her feet to accept a trophy for an absentee owner.

Next spring, when the "Best of the Buckeyes" awards are handed out, Lavrich may be heading back to her table with a trophy bearing the name not only of a horse she bred, but one she owns.

Altissimo, a 5-year-old gelded late bloomer who was unraced at two and without a stakes victory until this year, not only stamped himself the Buckeye State's best speedster, but also a candidate for Horse of the Year by winning Saturday's Best of Ohio Sprint by nine lengths at Thistledown.

Lavrich bred the son of Noble Causeway, but instead of selling him privately or in an auction ring, she hung onto Altissimo and watched him register his fourth stakes victory of the year, running the Sprint's six furlongs in 1:11 over a track labeled sloppy, the result of overnight rains.

The last good sprinter that Lavrich bred (but sold) was Rivers Run Deep, a winner of 20 of 44 starts and $1.1 million in earnings. He, too, was in the Sprint, a race he has won three times, but finished a distant third.

"I guess I've got the sprint mothers," said Lavrich. "The dams of both horses were good producers."

Altissimo, who Lavrich sold a piece of to Ron Zielinski just last week, has won five of seven starts this year and $255,875. Richard Zielinski trains Altissimo. His father, Ron Zielinski, became a partner on the Sprint champ in late summer.

"Altissimo might not be done for the year," said Richard Zielinski. "We're looking at the (Nov. 3) Cardinal Handicap at Mahoning Valley."

In other Best of Ohio races, all carrying $150,000 purses:

Mo Don't No, voted Ohio Horse of the Year the past two years, ended a four-race losing streak by romping by 12 lengths in the Endurance. It marked his third consecutive score in the 1-1/4-mile race.

Drillit was the easiest winner on the day, galloping by 16-1/4 lengths in the John Galbreath for two-year-old fillies. Diamond Dust was best in the Juvenile for freshman colts by four lengths.

Takechargedelilah captured the finale, the Distaff for fillies and mares. She rallied from well off the pace to catch Leona's Reward nearing the wire.CLEVELAND, Ohio - Author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas said it was possible that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents could walk into the Cleveland Public Library and arrest him at any moment.

Vargas, who outed himself as an undocumented immigrant in 2011 in an essay in the New York Times, said it is no joke. He asked his audience Saturday, at the main library's "Writers & Readers" series, to consider what it feels like to live in the United States with the knowledge that arrest and deportation could occur at any second.

Vargas produced and directed the movie "Documented: A Film by an Undocumented American" and wrote the book, "Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen." He is the founder and CEO of Define American, a non-profit organization that focuses on immigrants in America.

He asked the audience to consider the daily lives of the estimated 100,000 undocumented immigrants living in Ohio.

"Our understanding of them is built on lies coming out of Washington," he said. "Lies like saying that immigrants commit more crimes than non-immigrants. Statistically, that's just not true. Undocumented immigrants are always worried about being caught, and avoid breaking the law."

He said the other untrue belief is that undocumented immigrants cost taxpayers billions. He projected an enlargement of a $40,039 check he wrote to the IRS in 2015 and noted he had proof. He quipped that he pays so much in taxes that he should be a Republican.

"In Ohio, so-called undocumented immigrants paid $82 million in state and local taxes," he said. "Nationally, undocumented immigrants paid more than $100 billion to Social Security in the past 10 years. (Which they will not benefit from.) We are the ones keeping Social Security solvent."

Vargas was smuggled into the United States by relatives in 1993 from his native Philippines when he was a child and lived with his grandparents.

He said until he revealed his status in 2011, his life consisted of three things: lying, passing and hiding. He said to be an undocumented immigrant means lying to everyone about your background, watching others to learn how to pass for an American and hiding from immigration authorities.

"I felt like I had the word 'Illegal' written across my forehead," he said. "My relatives used to get more and more upset every time my name appeared in the Washington Post. My grandfather used to say he wished I would get a job as a janitor and marry an American woman."

Vargas, who said he also revealed that he was a homosexual around the same time as he revealed he was undocumented, said he made the revelation because he was tired of hiding.

"I honestly had no idea if I would be immediately arrested or not, I still don't," he said. "I could be arrested at your airport as I fly out to Chicago."

Vargas said his motivation was to make people aware that undocumented immigrants are just like everyone else and that legislation is needed to solve the problem.

"As far as I am concerned, I consider myself an American citizen just waiting for this country to recognize it," he said.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rep. Jim Renacci will meet tonight in Cleveland for the first of three planned debates in the ongoing Senate race in Ohio.

The debate has the potential become quite contentious after Renacci, a Republican, on Friday launched TV ads calling attention to unflattering details from Brown's 1986 divorce.

Brown's campaign responded by releasing a video from Brown's ex-wife in which she denounced Renacci for exploiting the issue. Brown's campaign also announced on Friday that Brown, a Democrat, had set a fundraising record for an Ohio Senate race.

The debate is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at the Westfield Studio in Playhouse Square. The moderators are Ann Fisher, a veteran journalist from WOSU public media in Columbus, and Russ Mitchell, an anchor for WKYC Channel 3 in Cleveland. Here's a live stream that will go live when the event begins:

The debate is organized by the Ohio Debate Commission, a nonpartisan collaboration between civic organizations, universities and media outlets. Cleveland.com/Advance Ohio is among the founding members of the Ohio Debate commission. C-SPAN has announced it will broadcast tonight's debate live. Organizers have suggested using the hashtag #OHSenDebate when posting about the debate on social media.

Brown and Renacci are scheduled to debate again in Columbus next Saturday, and once more in Oxford, Ohio on Friday, Oct. 26.

Polling in the race has been strongly in Brown's favor, with Brown leading by an average of 16 points in recent polls tracked by RealClearPolitics.

To read more about the Ohio Senate race, click here.Richard Cordray

If Ohio is to escape the second-class status that comes of having an undereducated workforce and a legislature with 20th-century thinking, the state's next governor must be able not just to inspire change but also to make it happen.

A mulish General Assembly that's likely to remain Republican-run and largely rural will need to be herded toward 21st-century solutions. And without a budget reset, the state's misplaced spending priorities of recent years chart a negative long-term course.

Republican Gov. John Kasich, ineligible to run again because of term limits, has been in many ways a good steward, notably in pushing through Medicaid expansion. But his budgets robbed localities of resources, failed to shore up school funding, rewarded the well-connected with tax breaks and overstuffed the state's rainy day fund while doing too little to stoke a broad economic transformation.

Meanwhile, the deadly opioid crisis, instead of abating, is still accelerating, further eroding local resources in children's services, drug treatment and rehabilitation, mental health services and in the state's courts and prison system.

So who is stepping forward to lead Ohio's needed transformation in policy, in action, and in leadership and priorities?

The two major-party contenders for governor are Democrat Richard Cordray, 59, of the Columbus area, who served as first director of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Republican Mike DeWine, 71, of Cedarville in southwest Ohio, Ohio's current attorney general and a former U.S. senator.

Nowhere are their contrasts more apparent than on health care.

Cordray argues forcefully for why Medicaid expansion has been good for Ohio, both on economic and human grounds; DeWine suggests he would need to make it "sustainable" via work requirements. Cordray chastises DeWine for not intervening in a Texas lawsuit that seeks to gut core protections in the Affordable Care Act, including on pre-existing conditions, arguing the interests of the many Ohioans at risk of losing their health coverage are on the line. DeWine -- who as attorney general has frequently intervened in multistate lawsuits -- says it's not needed in this case since the key arguments have already been raised.

Also on the ballot for governor are Green Party candidate Constance Gadell-Newton, 38, of Columbus, a self-employed attorney who advocates for local control of oil and gas drilling; and Libertarian Travis M. Irvine, 35, a filmmaker and journalist from Bexley, who favors reduced state spending and the legalization of marijuana, which he argues could help supplant opioids. Both are intelligent, engaged and well-meaning but neither is ready for the governor's mansion.

In the opioid plague, Ohio's local governments are first responders. Yet Kasich and the legislature have slashed Ohio's Local Government Fund, forcing Ohio communities, many in Northeast Ohio, to raise local taxes to replace lost state aid. And that erosion of local resources continues as the crisis begins to eat away at almost every aspect of local government spending.

During the endorsement interview, Cordray promised to restore that state aid; DeWine said he'd need to await more information on Ohio's finances next year, when the state's 2019-21 budget will be written.

Other issues also sharply divide the two men, but what really distinguishes Cordray from DeWine is a willingness to take risks.

Cordray wants to challenge convention; DeWine is comfortable with the status quo. Cordray would invest more in basic and higher education and crack down on charter schools that can't account for taxpayer money. DeWine promises transformative spending only on early-childhood education.

Republicans have been Ohio's governors for 24 of the last 28 years and have long led Ohio's Supreme Court and the General Assembly. Yet despite "jobs" bills and tax cuts, Ohio continues to lag economically and in other crucial areas.

DeWine is a truly good man who will gather good people around himself. Cordray's staff may be more prickly, like himself.

But a Republican General Assembly that at times has buffaloed John Kasich would be no less likely to buffalo Mike DeWine. Ohio's next governor must be a foursquare foe of business-as-usual at the Statehouse and a persuasive advocate for fresh approaches to Ohio's persistent problems.

That is why Ohioans should elect Richard Cordray governor on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Early in-person and absentee voting for the Nov. 6 election has begun. For more resources, consult the League of Women Voters' voters' guide.

Contending for Ohio governor on the Nov. 6 ballot are Republican Attorney General Mike DeWine, Democrat Richard Cordray, the Green Party's Constance Gadell-Newton and Libertarian Travis M. Irvine. DeWine, Cordray and Irvine were interviewed by the editorial board of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer on Oct. 4, 2018 as part of its endorsement process. Listen to full audio of this interview below:

Constance Gadell-Newton was interviewed separately by the editorial board of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer on Sept. 25, 2018 as part of its endorsement process. Listen to full audio of this interview below:

About our editorials: Editorials express the view of the editorial board of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer -- the senior leadership and editorial-writing staff. As is traditional, editorials are unsigned and intended to be seen as the voice of the news organization.

Have something to say about this topic?

* Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication.

* Email general questions about our editorial board or comments on this editorial to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com.

* Use the comments to share your thoughts. Then, stay informed when readers reply to your comments by using the "Follow" option at the top of the comments, & look for updates via the small blue bell in the lower right as you look at more stories on cleveland.com.An increasing number of older Americans prefer to have a mortgage on their home. Alistair Berg | Getty Images

If you're on Medicare, it's time to give your coverage a yearly checkup. The program's annual enrollment period runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, which is when you can make coverage changes that will take effect Jan. 1. During this autumn window, you can:  Switch to an Advantage Plan (Part C) from original Medicare (Part A hospital coverage and Part B outpatient coverage);

 Switch to original Medicare from an Advantage Plan;

 Move from one Advantage Plan to another;

 Move from one prescription drug plan (Part D) to another, or purchase one if you did not when first eligible. Experts say that even if you've been happy with your coverage, plans are continually modified, which makes it important to evaluate whether your current insurance is still the best option available. "Plans might change what medications are covered," said Elizabeth Gavino, founder of Lewin & Gavino in New York and an independent broker and general agent for Medicare plans. "Same with doctors  they might not still be considered in-network next year. "There also could be new plans in your area that are better than your current one," she said. "It's always important to review your options." It's worth noting that Medicare's fall open enrollment is different from your initial enrollment period, which is a seven-month window that starts three months before your 65th birthday and ends three months after your birth month. Generally speaking, everyone turning 65 must sign up for Medicare Parts A and  unless they meet certain exclusions  Part B during their initial enrollment period, or face a potential penalty. Also during that initial sign-up time, you can sign up for an Advantage Plan, which includes Parts A and B and, typically, a Part D prescription plan. They also often include additional coverage such as dental, vision or wellness programs. Separate rules apply for people who want a supplemental Medigap policy, which can only be paired with original Medicare. And while prescription drug coverage is optional, if you don't sign up when you first qualify for coverage and then change your mind later, you'll pay a life-lasting penalty unless you meet certain exclusions (i.e., you receive acceptable coverage through a union or employer). Here are some key things to keep in mind this year as you review your coverage. If, after evaluating your options, you determine that you want to stick with your current plan, you don't need to take any action.

New for 2019

If you pick an Advantage Plan during fall enrollment and realize afterward that it's not a good fit, you can make a change to your coverage between Jan. 1 and March 31. You'll be able to switch to either another Advantage Plan or to original Medicare and a stand-alone prescription plan. This is a change from the previous rule, which allowed you to switch from an Advantage Plan to original Medicare during a short early year window but didn't allow you to move from one Advantage Plan to another. "There could be circumstances like not knowing at the time you chose the plan that you'd need to see a specific doctor, and you discover in January that the doctor doesn't take your insurance," Gavino said. Be aware that while you can change your mind about your coverage several times during the fall open enrollment period, Gavino said, you can only make one change during the January-through-March window.

Also new next year: If you receive both Medicare and Medicaid  i.e., you are dually eligible  you will only be able to make one change during each of the first three quarters of the year instead of monthly, as previously was allowed. Another change applies to Part D drug plans: As of next year, people with high prescription costs no longer will be exposed to a coverage gap sometimes called the "donut hole." Basically, this is the gap between your drug plan's coverage limit ($3,820 for 2019) and your out-of-pocket maximum ($5,100 for 2019). At that point, catastrophic coverage would kick in and your share of the costs drops. Enrollees' share during that "donut hole" has been dropping over time from 100 percent. In a nutshell: Beginning next year, your share of brand-name drugs during that coverage gap will be 25 percent in 2019, down from 35 percent this year. For generics, your out-of-pocket share will be 37 percent, down from 44 percent in 2018. Additionally, monthly premiums for Part D prescription plans will be lower on average, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, falling to $32.50 in 2019 from $33.59 this year. However, high earners will pay more in 2019 for both Part D and Part B premiums. Those with incomes of $500,000 or more ($750,000 for couples) will pay surcharges that result in paying 85 percent of the cost, up from 80 percent in 2018.

What else might change

It's common for both Advantage Plans and prescription drug plans to change the specifics of their coverage from year to year. Modifications to your Advantage Plan could affect aspects such as your premiums, deductibles, copays, covered services, participating doctors and, assuming it comes with prescription drug coverage, which drugs are included on its formulary and what their costs are. Same for the stand-alone Part D prescription drug plans. Either way, you can check medication prices through the government's Medicare Plan finder. There can be broad variations in pricing and limits among plans, so make sure to comparison-shop. More from Personal Finance:

You can save a lot of money on health insurance, but should you?

Many investors don't know the difference between mutual funds and ETFs  here's why it matters

These donors do charitable giving better  here's what you can learn from them "Make sure your medications are on your plan's formulary and look at what the quantity limits are," Gavino said. "Each carrier has their own limits and it might be less than what you need  say they only allow 30 pills monthly, but you need 60." To make sure your doctor, hospital or other provider still participates in your plan, you have to check with the insurance company that offers it. You can either visit the provider's website or call. If you work with a Medicare agent, that person should be able to help you figure out what coverage is best for your personal situation. And, Gavino said, make sure the agent includes all plans available to you when evaluating your options  not just the policies they sell.

Watch for fraud

Also new: Medicare ID cards. If you haven't received yours yet, it should arrive by April 2019 as long as the Social Security Administration has your current address on file. Instead of your new card bearing your Social Security number  which scammers can use to commit fraud  it includes your new ID number, which is randomly assigned and unique to you.

Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesDemonstrators protest against the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be a Supreme Court Justice outside of the office of US Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, September 24, 2018. SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

In its closing arguments before the November midterm elections, the Republican Party is doubling down on the culture war. "The left" is more than just a threat to conservative policies, according to a new ad released Thursday by the Republican National Committee. Rather, according to the GOP group, it's "an unhinged mob" advocating incivility and even violence. Democrats and liberal commentators have been quick to decry the message as hypocritical, arguing that President Donald Trump himself has explicitly called for violence against his detractors. The RNC has made similar videos in the recent past. But the "mob rule" line of attack appears to have taken root among a growing number of Republicans in Congress, which opponents consider an appeal to Trump's loyal base of supporters. In taking this tack, the ad appears to signal an eleventh-hour shift in Republicans' political messaging, away from legislative issues and toward the cultural fissures dividing Americans.

"Clearly the ad is designed to appeal to Trump's base  no doubt about it," said Barbara Kittridge, founder of progressive strategy group Motive. "The GOP and Trump in particular tends to fan the flames of the culture wars as an attempt to rally the base." An RNC spokesman did not respond to CNBC's inquiries.

The 56-second ad, bathed in a red-orange tinge, links comments from Democratic leaders with the so-called resistance movement against Trump. In recent months, demonstrators have heckled Trump administration associates and GOP lawmakers in public, such as White House advisor Stephen Miller, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. During the multiple rounds of Senate hearings on Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination, protesters accosted senators in hallways and elevators. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Thursday on the Senate floor that "only one side was happy to play host to this toxic fringe behavior. Only one side's leaders are now openly calling for more." He added: "We will not let mob behavior drown out all the Americans who want to legitimately participate in the policymaking process." Trump repeated the "mob rule" line on Monday morning, tweeting a quote from right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro. Trump tweet Shapiro The president's charge echoes other Republicans' recent attacks on Democrats. In a radio interview Tuesday, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said, "I really worry that someone is going to be killed and that those who are ratcheting up the conversation  they have to realize that they bear some responsibility if this elevates to violence." GOP Rep. Dave Brat of Virginia said he was running against the "liberal mob" at a town hall event in May 2017  a characterization Democrats balked at. Reynolds tweet But Democrats and critics of the GOP have been quick to point out that Trump himself seemed to call for violence on multiple occasions during his campaign rallies. "Trump, more than any leading U.S. figure in recent memory, has actively tried to stoke civil conflict on as many fronts as possible," Greg Sargent, a liberal columnist at The Washington Post, wrote. Trump used such provocative language on the campaign trail in 2016. "If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously, OK? Just knock the hell," Trump said in February 2016. "I promise you I will pay for the legal fees. I promise, I promise." At two more rallies that month, Trump said of one protester: "I'd like to punch him in the face, I'll tell you." Of another, he said: "Try not to hurt him. If you do, I'll defend you in court. Don't worry about it." At a rally in North Carolina in March, one protester was sucker-punched by an attendee while being escorted out of the building. After he was elected, Trump appeared to encourage the increased use of violence among police officers, saying at a July 2017 speech: "When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just seen them thrown in, rough. I said, 'Please don't be too nice."

The RNC's attack ad shows footage of swarming protesters raging against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, spliced with soundbites from prominent Democrats, including former Attorney General Eric Holder, former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, California Rep. Maxine Waters and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Holder, who served under President Barack Obama, is seen in the video telling an audience in Georgia that former first lady Michelle Obama's oft-repeated slogan "When they go low, we go high" needs an update for the Trump era. "No, no. When they go low, we kick them," he said. But Holder's clarification was edited out of the RNC's video: "When I say we kick them, I don't mean we do anything inappropriate, we don't do anything illegal, but we have to be tough and we have to fight." In a tweet Thursday, Holder said to "stop the fake outrage." Holder tweet A clip of California's Waters from June follows, in which she urges supporters to "create a crowd" and "push back on" Trump administration officials if they are seen in public. The remarks sparked immediate condemnation from political leaders, including Trump, who labeled Waters, "together with Nancy Pelosi, the Face of the Democrat Party." A snippet from a recent Clinton interview  "you can cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about," she says  precedes Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ, urging a crowd to "get up in the face of some congresspeople." Republicans denouncing their opponents' rhetoric is far from a recent phenomenon. After Majority Whip Steve Scalise was severely injured by a shooter who stormed a Republican baseball practice in Virginia in June 2017, New York Rep. Chris Collins, one of Trump's earliest supporters in the 2016 election, appeared to blame Democrats for the near-assassination. The gunman's social media posts reportedly expressed fury at Trump's election, and suggest he chose his targets because of his political views. "The finger-pointing, the tone, the angst and the anger directed at Donald Trump, his supporters, really then, some people react to things like that, people get angry as well, and you fuel the fires," Collins said. The New York lawmaker has since pleaded not guilty to insider trading charges lodged by the Justice Department in August. He is continuing his re-election bid.

Desperate timesChinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai speaks at a reception celebrating the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) at the Chinese embassy in Washington D.C., the United States, on July 27, 2017.

Chinese officials, as well as diplomats from around the world, are confused about which officials in the Trump administration are driving policy decisions, China's ambassador to the United States told Fox News on Sunday.

In an interview on "Fox News Sunday," Ambassador Cui Tiankai said it's unclear to him whether President Donald Trump is listening primarily to hardliners like White House Director of Trade Peter Navarro, or relative moderates like chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

"Honestly, I've been talking to ambassadors of other countries in Washington, D.C., and this is also part of their problem," Tiankai told the network. "They don't know who is the final decision-maker. Of course, presumably, the president will take the final decision, but who is playing what role? Sometimes it could be very confusing."

China and the United States are embroiled in a months-long trade dispute, in which the world's two largest economies have slapped tariffs worth billions of dollars on each other's goods. At the heart of the dispute are U.S. allegations of Chinese theft of intellectual property and unfair trade practices, which Tiankai rejected in his interview.North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (R) walks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in (L) in September 2018 in North Korea. Pyeongyang Press Corps| Pool | Getty Images

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is sincere and really means to abandon nuclear weapons, South Korean President Moon Jae-in told a French newspaper, adding that the international community needed to reward him for that. Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump pledged at a landmark summit in Singapore in June to work toward denuclearization. But the agreement was short on specifics and talks have made little headway since, with the North refusing to declare its nuclear weapons and facilities or agree to a concrete timeline.

"This year I have discussed in depth with Kim for hours. These meetings have convinced me that he has taken the strategic decision to abandon his nuclear weapon," Moon told Le Figaro in an interview before a state visit to Paris. Moon is to meet President Emmanuel Macron on Monday. While Pyongyang has stopped nuclear and missile tests this year, it failed to keep its promise to allow international inspections of its dismantling of the Punggye-ri site in May, stirring criticism that the move could be reversed. But Moon said Kim was "sincere, calm and polite" and "felt frustrated by the international community's continuing mistrust." "It is now time to respond to these efforts that were hard to agree to," Moon said. "We need to assure Kim Jong Un that he took the right decision in deciding to denuclearize and we need to accompany him in his wish for a durable and solid peace."Students use the Waymo driverless vehicles to get to school. Source: Waymo

Pennsylvania regulators this week gave the nod to Aurora, an autonomous vehicle software company, to begin testing its prototypes on state roads, joining a growing list of states, from Alabama to Washington and, of course, California, that have approved public testing. Hundreds of self-driving vehicles are now plying U.S. roadways, and the numbers could climb into the thousands, perhaps even the hundreds of thousands, now that the U.S. Department of Transportation has updated guidelines, easing federal oversight in a bid to encourage automakers and tech companies like Aurora and Alphabet's Waymo to speed up development. "Our country is on the verge of one of the most exciting innovations in transportation," said Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao last month, speaking from Mcity, an autonomous vehicle test center operated by the University of Michigan. Just a week earlier, the House of Representatives, in a rare moment of bipartisanship, passed its version of the SELF DRIVE Act, which could result in as many as 100,000 self-driving cars taking to the road by 2021 or 2022, depending on how soon the Senate moves on its version of the bill. By then, several automakers, include Tesla, Nissan and General Motors, as well as Waymo, already hope to be either selling self-driving vehicles or at least using them in commercial ride-sharing services. Those services will need to find people willing to go along for the ride. And that may prove more difficult than the industry might hope  a potentially serious problem considering that, by various estimates, spending on autonomous technology will run as high as $100 billion over the coming decade. Waymo has been running a pilot program in the Phoenix area and earlier this year won approval from the state to turn it into a commercial venture. It has contracted with Jaguar and Fiat Chrysler to purchase as many as 60,000 vehicles over the coming years, with a goal of expanding the service to a number of other, as yet-unidentified U.S. cities. General Motors is planning to put a self-driving version of its Chevrolet Bolt EV into fleet testing in 2019. For those who prefer something a little more exotic, French automaker Renault revealed a driverless concept, dubbed EZ-Ultimo, at the Paris Motor Show last week. Measuring 224 inches nose-to-tail, or only slightly smaller than a conventional Mercedes-Maybach Pullman limousine, Ultimo is designed to be a "rolling palace," said Renault, where passengers sit in a circle and enjoy the amenities of a lounge on wheels. A study released at the beginning of the year by the Boston Consulting Group estimated that by the end of the next decade, fully 20 to 25 percent of the miles that Americans travel by car will be logged by fully driverless vehicles operated by ride-sharing services such as Waymo, Uber, Lyft and GM's Maven.

Selling Americans on self-driving vehicles

But, on a broader scale, it appears that Americans are far from sold on either the safety, or the benefits of self-driving vehicles. If anything, there's a deep distrust of the technology, with more than four out of 10 Americans saying they "would never ride" in a fully automated vehicle, according to a new study conducted in partnership by research firm J.D. Power and Associates and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, or NAMIC. The study found fully 15 percent of the American public "don't believe there will ever be an autonomous vehicle on the market, and 42 percent said they would never ride in a fully automated vehicle," according to Robert Lajdziak, a senior J.D. Power researcher and analyst. In an open letter to Sen. John Thune, a co-sponsor of the Senate's AV START Act, consumer and auto safety activist Ralph Nader accused the South Dakota Republican of "leading a reckless charge to open the floodgates for driverless cars before this nascent technology is shown to be safe." Nader, who came to prominence as the author of "Unsafe at Any Speed," a book that documented safety problems with the old Chevrolet Corvair, pointed to various recent incidents involving autonomous prototypes, including one that took the life of a pedestrian who was struck by an Uber test vehicle near Phoenix.

Source: Cruise

That crash, last March, occurred about the same time as a Tesla Model X, operating in semi-autonomous Autopilot mode, slammed into a highway barrier in California, killing its driver. At least two Americans are known to have been killed in crashes involving the use of the Autopilot system and federal safety regulators are in the midst of several ongoing investigations  even though Tesla CEO Elon Musk has, in recent weeks, been hinting an even more advanced version of the technology could be activated by the end of this year. Anecdotally, Tesla owners seem to be in love with Autopilot, YouTube is filled with videos of drivers demonstrating it in operation  frequently by engaging in stunts Tesla itself says the system isn't designed to handle.

Eliminating highway deaths

Proponents of autonomous vehicles  including Mark Rosekind, the former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chief  typically cite several reasons to put the technology on the road. That includes better use of existing highway infrastructure, as well as improved safety. Rosekind contends driverless vehicles could all but eliminate highway deaths. Considering more than 40,000 Americans die in crashes each year that would seem to be a big plus. But the Power/NAMIC study found that the public seems far more willing to accept frequent crashes with a human at the wheel than even an occasional one involving a driverless vehicle. Fully 56 percent of those surveyed would demand 100 percent safety before they would take a ride, and 60 percent said they'd demand the same level of safety before letting a family member step into a fully autonomous vehicle. "In other words," said Lajdziak, they would accept the possibility of "no accidents at all  before they would ride in one." The rather pessimistic attitudes that surfaced in the Power/NAMIC study are echoed by several other public surveys over the last year, but not all, and may reflect that "people's opinions have been swayed" by recent incidents, such as the fatal Uber crash, said Lajdziak. Meanwhile, there was a bright side to the report. Among those under 35, especially those living in urban areas where ride-sharing services have gained traction, "there's a general acceptance of new technology," the Power analyst said. Proponents, in general, are betting that as more vehicles using semi- and fully autonomous technology, never mind completely driverless products, take to the road, the comfort level will increase and more people will say they're willing to go for a ride. One thing that could help is the increasing availability of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, also known as ADAS. This includes features like blind-spot monitoring and lane-keeping assist. BMW's new Traffic Jam Assistant allows virtually hands-free operation at low speeds, and Cadillac's Super Cruise lets a driver take their hands off the wheel on well-marked limited-access highways. Nissan still requires a driver to keep hands on the wheel  albeit lightly, with the car doing most of the work of steering  with its ProPilot Assist. But it plans to increase the system's capabilities each year, until it goes fully autonomous early in the coming decade. In a response to Nader's letter, Thune wrote that, "Every year for decades, tens of thousands of travelers have lost their lives in crashes on U.S. roads. In 94 percent of these cases, human error is a factor. One day, self-driving vehicle technology should help drastically reduce this tragic loss of life." Proponents hope to prove, as more and more of these smart cars take to the road that they can co-exist with human driver, bicyclists and pedestrians, steadily improving safety as well as the flow of traffic on crowded urban environs. They will have an uphill battle. It's one thing to sell a skeptical public on the merits of a smartphone, another matter entirely when the new technology could potential put their life at risk.Steven Mnuchin Mike Blake | Reuters

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is still planning to attend an upcoming summit in Saudi Arabia despite the controversy over the disappearance of Saudi journalist and political dissident Jamal Khashoggi, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on ABC's "This Week." "Mr. Mnuchin will make up his mind as the week progresses and as new information surfaces," Kudlow said. His comments came shortly after Florida Senator Marco Rubio told CNN's "State of the Union" he believes Mnuchin should boycott the event. Rubio said the United States must confront Saudi Arabia or risk losing credibility on human rights, if allegations are proven true that the Saudi government orchestrated the killing of Khashoggi.

"If we do not take action, including potentially arms sales, as a result of this, if it turns out to be what they say it is, then we are not going to be able to with a straight face or any credibility confront Putin or Assad or Maduro in Venezuela or frankly confront the Chinese and their human rights violations," Rubio said on Sunday in an interview with CBS's Face the Nation. Khashoggi went missing after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on Oct 2. to retrieve documents for his forthcoming marriage. Turkish officials and his fiancee said he never came out. Turkish sources have said they believe Khashoggi was killed inside the building and his body removed, allegations that Riyadh dismisses as baseless. U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to get to the bottom of what happened in a separate CBS interview, due to be aired Sunday, and said there would be "severe punishment" if it were found Khashoggi was killed by the Saudi government. But Trump also told reporters on Saturday that the United States must balance the economic benefit gained from an ongoing $110 billion arms deal with the Saudi military when planning a response.The Lake Palace Hotel with tourist boats arriving and leaving in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. Tim Graham | Getty Images

From "glamorous camping" in Ladakh to opulent palace hotels in Rajasthan and from fancy train rides across the peninsula to village art appreciation walks, Indian holidays are being carefully crafted by professionals constantly thinking up ideas about how to wow wealthy travelers. "The world doesn't really know the possibilities that India has to offer," said PN Narayanaswamy of Travel Scope India, who began marketing India as a luxury destination in 1999. Today he says everyone wants a slice of the high-end pie, which constitutes about 3 percent of total world travelers. Of the 15.5 million who visited India in 2017, less than 10 percent were willing to spend upwards of $700 a day, said industry experts, who expect that market will double every three years. Millionaires, who typically fly in chartered planes and can afford to pay $1,000 a night for a hotel room with a view of the Taj Mahal, are not easy to lure year after year. Therefore, India has had to continuously repackage and remodel itself, experts said.

Offbeat luxury

One such reinvention is "offbeat luxury" that promises the traveler all the worldly pleasures along with a never-before-seen type of experience. Sample this: Your hand-crafted tents are pitched at an altitude of 11,800 feet somewhere in Ladakh and, as you sip your morning tea served by a personal butler, you gaze at some of the highest peaks in the region. Your day's activity could include a specially arranged polo match, rafting down the Zanskar river, lunch high in the Wari-La pass, and it could end with a visit by the village oracle.

Foreign tourists take part in white water rafting on India's Zanskar river. Manpreet Romana | AFP | Getty Images

Dinner would include the finest wines, of course, and a meal prepared by acclaimed chefs. All that would come at a cost of about $1,400 a night. "The purpose of the camp was to bring the hidden resources, the far-flung places in India to the luxury traveler," said Rajnish Sabharwal, chief operating officer of the The Ultimate Travelling Camp, the company that runs the Ladakh camp. It also runs luxury camps in the northeastern state of Nagaland and in the south at the UNESCO world heritage site Hampi, overlooking 14th century ruins. "Ladakh was viewed as a backpackers' destination till 'glamping' began five years ago. At the time, the most expensive hotel in the region was priced at $250," Shoba Mohan founder partner of RARE India told CNBC. Her company markets 63 properties that include palaces, luxury tents and wildlife lodges.

Designer holidays

Mohan is a great proponent of experiential and outdoor luxury holidays. "To see a snow leopard in the wild is a luxury in itself," she said. The hotels she markets are often set away from the "repetitive and regular routes." While the northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan continues to be a no-brainer when it comes to selling a destination to the high-end traveler  what with its palaces and forts and the concentration of some of India's highest-priced hotels  people like Mohan are looking to market little-known destinations within the state.

Chhatra Sagar reservoir and luxury tented camp oasis in Rajasthan, Northern India. Tim Graham | Getty Images

One such property is Chhatra Sagar, a tented accommodation built on the banks of a dam, between the two big cities and tourist hubs of Jodhpur and Jaipur. The former royals who own that place personally look after the guests. The food served is from the repertoire of their family recipes, which includes a dish made with locally grown fenugreek, which is available only 15 days in a year. "Today luxury is more curated and immersive. [You] hand-hold [tourists] through every stage of the experience," Karan Anand, head of relationships for travel company Cox & Kings, told CNBC. Experiences could range from a night walk by a trained herpetologist when on a wildlife safari, a classical dance performance specially choreographed for the guest or tea tasting with a sommelier, said those in the travel business.

Sampling India's vastness

India's cultural and geographical diversity is what makes it compete with other countries also vying for the top-dollar-paying traveler, experts said. "India as a destination figures 8th or 9th on a well-heeled traveler's list, after he or she has done Africa," said Narayanaswamy.

Aboard luxury train the Palace on Wheels in New Delhi. Ajay Kumar | The India Today Group | Getty Images

One way of sampling the range and vastness of the country is to take a 7-day journey on one of the luxury trains that run in different directions, like the Deccan Odyssey or the Palace on Wheels. Equipped with plush cabins, a gym and even a spa, those rides bring alive the old-world charm of train travel. "You stay onboard for seven nights and do not have to pack or unpack all the time. The train travels during the night and arrives at the destination in the morning. We then curate a sightseeing itinerary for the customer and, once done, the customer returns back to the luxurious train," said Anand.

Selling reality

"Tourists are usually just scratching the surface," said Narayanaswamy who said he wants to make his clients' India holiday "more local." One of his top-selling Indian experiences is the "Mumbai by Dawn" itinerary in collaboration with a group called No Footprints Mumbai. It involves roaming around the city between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. as neighborhoods wake up. "This means visiting the newspaper vendors, the fisherwomen and the fruit and vegetable markets as they set up the day for people before they get up," said Narayanaswamy. "This is followed by a breakfast in a Mumbai home." He claimed nine out of 10 people agree to take the morning trip.

Just the 1 percentTourists pose at the Taj Mahal. Tauseef Mustafa | AFP | Getty Images

Speaking to a small group of journalists two months back, Indian Tourism Minister KJ Alphons said that, if the country wanted earnings from foreign tourists to jump from $27 billion currently to $100 billion in the next five years, it would need China's help. Chinese tourists have not only become the largest group of travelers worldwide, but they're also increasingly spending more. Last year 145 million Chinese traveled abroad, according to the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute. Chinese tourist also spent $258 billion in 2017, almost double what their American counterparts did in the same year, according to data from the World Tourism Organization or UNWTO. So the fact that only 247,000 Chinese visited India in 2017 is now beginning to rattle Indian policymakers. With a recorded history two millennia old, India hosts more than 70 percent of the Himalayas, has a 7,500 km (4,660 miles) coastline and is home to the iconic Taj Mahal, to name a few of its attractions, yet it's losing out to smaller countries with much less to offer when it comes to attracting the Chinese, Indian tourism officials said. For example, 1.8 million Chinese tourists traveled to Indonesia in Southeast Asia, and even the United Arab Emirates has more than doubled arrivals from China over the past few years, Indian tourism ministry figures showed. "Tourism with China has just not taken off. Getting what, around 200,000 Chinese every year is peanuts," Satyajeet Rajan, director general for tourism at India's Ministry of Tourism, told CNBC.

How to crack the China market

The Indian government, looking to change these numbers, is aiming for at least 1 percent of the Chinese outbound market in 2019. "If you ask me, it can happen, 1.3 million to 1.4 million Chinese can visit India next year, we just need a strategy to crack the China market," said Rajan. And the way to do that is to "make the Chinese happy, give them their food and speak their language," added Rajan. He was on a recent four-city tour of China, accompanying his minister to meet with potential investors who could build hotels in India catering specifically to Chinese tourists and set up language institutes teaching Mandarin. Despite the relatively low numbers, India is a short-haul destination and Chinese carriers have 25 flights a week to Indian metros from different Chinese cities. Some blame it on the fact that rising political tensions from border skirmishes have had an impact, while others feel India has just not marketed itself aggressively in China. Rajan himself conceded that, while the UAE has wooed the Chinese by holding roadshows in 30 cities of China and sold itself as a shopping haven, India's marketing efforts have been relatively restricted. India is now looking to showcase its traditional embroidery handicrafts to Chinese shoppers and also target solo travelers outside of large tour groups. "Young guys, like those who work in Alibaba, we need to target them," said Rajan.

Can Bollywood help?

"There is a lack of awareness among the Chinese. They still think India is a poor country. They don't even know that we have world class hotels," Arun Anand of Midtown Travels, who has a marketing office in Beijing, told CNBC. He added that, in order to reach out to the Chinese, India should use the help of Bollywood because Hindi commercial cinema has become a huge draw in China over the past few years. "I use popular Hindi film music in my presentations to break the ice," Anand said. While China's connection with Bollywood can be exploited, one of the biggest lures of India  that it is the birthplace of the Buddha  has yet to translate into Chinese arrivals. "There are 200 million Buddhists in China but only 30,000 or 40,000 visit India," Ravi Banker who runs Genesis Leisure Consultancy said. Minister Alphons acknowledged that discrepancy, saying that "Sri Lanka [which is home to several Buddhist temples] is getting more Buddhist tourists when Buddha lived in India."

'Invite people now'At least another half dozen executives are expected to bow out Monday, CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin reported, citing sources.

The news came just hours after another top executive, Ford Motor Chairman Bill Ford, announced he too would not be attending the Future Investment Initiative (FII), also known as "Davos in the Desert," which is scheduled for Oct. 23 to 25.

Dimon, Fink, and Schwarzman spent the weekend trying to get the conference cancelled or postponed, the sources said, adding they reached out to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for cover and the Public Investment Fund, a sovereign wealth fund owned by Saudi Arabia and co-host of FII, with an appeal to put the conference aside.

The idea from Dimon, Fink, and Schwarzman was to give the Saudis 12 hours postpone it before they pulled out, the sources said.

At this point, the conference has not been postponed, but sources said there are questions within the Kingdom on whether they're going to have to cancel.

Mnuchin on CNBC Friday said he had still planned on attending the conference.

"We are concerned about what is the status of Mr Khashoggi ," Mnuchin told CNBC's Geoff Cutmore. "If more information comes out and changes, we could look at that, but I am planning on going."

On Sunday, top Trump economic advisor Larry Kudlow told ABC's "This Week" that Mnuchin told him Saturday night he still intends to go, "because of the importance of the issue of ending terrorist financing."

On whether Mnuchin will attend, a Treasury spokesperson told CNBC on Monday, "We will be evaluating the information that comes out this week."

Meanwhile, several executives and media outlets  including CNBC, Financial Times, CNN and The New York Times  have withdrawn from the event.

The Future Investment Initiative is designed to highlight Saudi Arabia's importance on the global stage, especially with investors.

The withdrawal of a major Wall Street CEO is a significant setback.

However, International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde was among those over the weekend who said they still plan to attend the event.

Khashoggi, a critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the Saudi royal family, was last seen Oct. 2 when he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Saudi Arabia has denied it was involved in Khashoggi's disappearance. Turkey has reportedly informed the U.S. that it has video and audio evidence showing Khashoggi, who wrote for The Washington Post, was killed inside the consulate.

Khashoggi had been living in the United States as a voluntary exile from Saudi Arabia.

 CNBC's Wilfred Frost, Andrew Ross Sokin, Yen Nee Lee, and Mike Calia contributed to this report.Vehicle owners have turned side streets into their own private parking space, thus blocking traffic flow. Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has filed a measure requiring prospective vehicle owners to show proof of parking space before they are allowed to buy new autos.

The Senate has started the process of ironing out the details of a bill which would require prospective vehicle owners to present proof that they have a parking space or garage for their new automobiles thus clear the side streets of obstructions. Senator Sherwin Gatchalian says his proposed measure Senate Bill No. 201, also known as the Proof-of-Parking Space Act, will help ease traffic congestion in the country. The lawmaker considers the bill to be quite relevant at this time, since this will instill a culture of responsible vehicle ownership among Filipinos. The concept really here is responsibility when you buy vehicles. We are now putting the responsibility on the car owners. If you buy cars, you have to make sure that you have a parking space for your own vehicle, Gatchalian said during the public hearing of SBN 201.I think this is quite relevant at this time because, if you try to pass the side streets to avoid traffic in major thoroughfares, there is a greater chance that youll get stuck in traffic due to the cars parked along the narrow streets, he added. The Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce, and Entrepreneurship has formed a technical working group to study the measure after receiving full support from different civil society and government representatives during the committees recent public hearing. LTO records showed that the numbers of registered motor vehicles from the year 2015 until 2017 reached 10,410,814. There are an estimated new 1,000 registrants each day, 600 of which are newly purchased vehicles.Under the Proof-of-Parking Space Act, individuals and businesses based in Metro Manila would only be allowed to purchase new vehicles after the execution of an affidavit confirming that they have acquired, either through purchase or lease, a parking space for the vehicle sought to be purchased. The bill also mandates the Land Transportation Office, Metro Manila Development Authority, and local government units to conduct frequent inspections of major and minor thoroughfares across the National Capital Region to remove illegally parked vehicles and to penalize vehicle owners who refuse to comply with the law. While Gatchalian says he recognizes the critical role of SBN 201 in the Duterte administrations push to solve the transportation crisis, he says it would be up to LGUs to lead the charge in implementing the proposed law. It is better to have a national policy so that the local governments may impose that national law. The local government are also quite sensitive to the comments of their own constituency. In this proposal, we are giving them ample time to locate their own parking spaces, the senator said. The present administration is in a good position to achieve real, tangible change by overhauling Metro Manilas outdated public transportation system. Alleviating the constant struggles of the commuting public should be one of governments top priorities, he added.Downing Street denies claim that Brexit deal is already done

As a pizza club of Brexiteer Ministers prepare to plan their next move. Is the Prime Minister preparing to join a customs union and a backstop with no escape clause?

Theresa May will seek the support of the Cabinet for her latest Brexit proposals on Tuesday before talks with EU negotiators in Brussels. Tonight Downing Street insisted: Negotiations are ongoing. It is not correct to say a deal has been done. The document, which emerged in the respected German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, breaks down a provisional timetable for Britains departure. Mrs May is already at loggerheads with 11 Cabinet big-guns fiercely opposed to tying Britain to EU customs rules indefinitelyMrs Mays plan is also fiercely opposed by the nine Democratic Unionist MPs propping up her minority government. DUP leader Arlene Foster described it as a dodgy deal foisted on her by others.  Sun on Sunday

The pizza club is chaired by Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom in her palatial room and regular attenders include International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt, Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey and Transport Secretary Chris Grayling  all staunch Brexiteers. The club has met secretly during moments of crisis in the Brexit negotiations to co-ordinate their approach to Mrs Mays strategy. But with at least three members prepared to quit the Cabinet if Mrs May does not agree to set a strict time limit on the UKs membership of a customs union at a crunch Brussels summit on Wednesday, tomorrows gathering has become critical to the Governments fate.  Mail on Sunday

63 Conservative MPs call for Britain to be able to quit the backstop  including Davis, Baker and Rees-Mogg

On Saturday night Brexiteer MPs sought to dispel claims by allies of Mrs May that they could be railroaded in the Commons with the help of rebel Labour votes. In a highly unusual show of strength, a letter attacking the Government over its Brexit forecasts was signed by 63 Conservative MPs, including David Davis , the former Brexit secretary, Jacob Rees-Mogg , the chairman of the European Research Group of Eurosceptic backbenchers, and Steve Baker , the former Brexit ministerSenior ministers have indicated this weekend that they could support a backstop that included a specific mechanism for the UK to withdraw, without relying on Brussels for permission to do so.

A

Davis to the Cabinet: rise up and take control

source close to one pro-Leave Cabinet minister said: Based on conversations this weekend there appears to be a glimmer of hope.

The cabinet committee that governs EU negotiations has barely met since July. Instead, the decisions seem to have been taken by an ad hoc group. Other cabinet members have been excluded from the decisions and, in some cases, even the briefings. It is time for cabinet members to exert their collective authority. This week the authority of our constitution is on the line. The EU has already offered us a Canada-style, zero-tariffs trade agreement, and Donald Tusk, president of the council, reinforced that offer last week. A good deal is clearly within our grasp. We must reset our negotiating strategy immediately and deliver a Brexit that meets the demands of the referendum and the interests of the British people.  Sunday Times

> Today:

Hammond prepares to curb pension tax relief in the Budget (again)

three to the annual amount that can be contributed.  Sunday Times

We will cut emissions to zero by 2050, says Perry

Philip Hammond, the chancellor, has signalled that he is targeting what he has called the eye-wateringly expensive perk to fund a 20bn cash boost to the NHS. Steve Webb, who was the Liberal Democrat pensions minister in the coalition and now works for the mutual insurer Royal London, has written a report warning that Hammond is highly likely to include measures to salami slice pension tax relief again. Since 2010 there have been six cuts to pension tax relief  three to the lifetime limit on pension pots that can be accrued with the benefit of tax relief and

Claire Perry, the energy minister, will announce the target tomorrow: the transport, aviation, farming and power industries will be ordered to comply. The UK emits about 500m tons of CO2 a year, mostly from using gas, petrol, diesel and coal, so reducing to zero would be a huge challenge. The plan pitches Perry against Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, who wants to expand airports and roads, hoping a surge in construction will create a post-Brexit economic boost. Perry will warn that the threat from climate change is the bigger issue, describing it as among the greatest global challenges ever faced.  Sunday Times

> Yesterday: Simon Clarke on Comment: The UK is well-placed to lead the world in the fight against climate change

Davies exposes knife loophole and Javid fills it

New Putin sanctions pushed for by Hunt

Thugs who use an offensive weapon to threaten people on private property are, astonishingly, immune from prosecution. The wording of the law as it stands says it is only an offence to do so in a public place, such as on the street. It means that brutal yobs who terrorise family members under their own roof  or even inside a school  with a blade or acid are not acting unlawfully. Home Secretary Sajid Javid ordered the law to be tightened before the Offensive Weapons Bill comes back before MPs tomorrow. The change will means threatening a partner with a knife during a domestic row will carry a sentence of a fine or up to four years in jail. The gap in the law was spotted by Tory MP Philip Davies as the Bill made its passage through Parliament.  Sun on Sunday

Plans to impose travel bans and asset freezes on Russian intelligence chiefs and their keyboard warriors will be signed off at a foreign affairs council meeting in Luxembourg tomorrow. Hunt plans to publish a paper detailing plans to crack down on the use of cyber-attacks by foreign states amid fears that the Russians had tried to disrupt the US presidential election and the Brexit vote in Britain. The document, which has been co-signed by Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Holland and Romania, shows how online operations are having an economic impact in Europe as well as attempting to undermine democracy.  Sunday Times



Mordaunt backs off over trans

Last years MOD losses

Mordaunt spoke strongly in favour of the reform when she introduced the proposals in cabinet in late June, according to another minister present. The minister told The Sunday Times: She said it was the defining moral and cultural issue of our time and that we must get this right now because we have failed to be on the right side of previous controversies. She said this was the equivalent of establishing gay rights in the 1980s. Nobody round the table made a fuss...Mordaunt appears to be retreating. She is now expected to shorten the time period for changing gender and keep the doctor involvement. Other ministers, including Liz Truss, Victoria Atkins and Sarah Newton, are said to be concerned by the plans to remove doctors from the process.  Sunday Times

Top brass in the Ministry of Defence wrote off almost 200 million of taxpayers cash last year  including 4.7million for a crashed sub. Costs of repairs on HMS Ambush were allowed to more than double after it hit a tanker off Gibraltar. And 1million of equipment could not be accounted for after a major refit of hunter-killer nuclear sub HMS Triumph. Among other losses buried in annual accounts were debts of 1million owed for training by two unnamed foreign countries. Ration packs worth 363,000 were ditched after changes in plans meant they would not be used before their expiry date. Lost gas canisters cost 3million and 1.2million in overpayments to military personnel were written off instead of being reclaimed.  Sun on Sunday

Andrew declares war on initials  Sunday Times

More than 30,000 troops are dangerously overweight  Sun on Sunday

Brokenshires plan to cap ground

Communities Secretary James Brokenshire will tomorrow launch a consultation on plans to improve the leaseholder sector for home owners. He will propose that ground rents for new leases will be capped at just 10. On average leaseholders pay more than 300 ground rent each year, with some paying as much as 700. While flats have often been sold with leases, until recently it was rare for houses to be offered on leasehold terms. But, over the past decade, housebuilders such as Taylor Wimpey, Bovis, Persimmon, Bellway and Redrow realised they could boost profits by selling on freehold rights to third-parties.  Sunday Telegraph

Latest health data Hancock initiative

New technology will target patients who wrongfully claim free drugs which costs taxpayers 256 million a year. Pharmacies will use new smart data-matching systems to see if an individual is exempt from charges before their medication is dispensed. Health Secretary Matt Hancock will today outline the tough new measures to halve prescription fraud. It is part of a wider crackdown on fraud in the NHS which should save taxpayers 300million by 2020. He said: Those who abuse the NHS and choose to line their own pockets with money that should be spent on patients and frontline care will no longer have anywhere to hide.  Sun on Sunday

McVey v HS2

Crouch: loneliness can affect anyone

Esther McVey, the Work and Pensions Secretary, told constituents that the final bill for the high speed rail line could exceed 100 billion  compared to a formal estimate of 56bn. Ms McVey is among at least half a dozen cabinet ministers who believe the Government should review the scheme to establish whether its completion would represent value for money, amid mounting concern over its cost, The Telegraph can disclose. She is currently separately believed to be engaged in a battle for additional Treasury funding to ease the roll-out of the Universal Credit benefit scheme. The disclosure of her comments comes after Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary, joined MPs calling for HS2 to be scrapped, with the savings spent at least in part on the NHS.  Sunday Telegraph

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Crouch said social media gave the young a feeling of loss when they saw perfect lives on Facebook and Instagram. Loneliness can affect anyone, she said. Our statistics show that 16 to 24-year-olds are identifying as lonely as often, or more often, than older people. When people see what they think is utter perfection behind social media filtering it affects them. The strategy will feature a pledge by businesses to do more to help staff cope with loneliness. Crouch said: When I was appointed the loneliness minister [in January] I got thousands of emails and letters but the one that sticks in my mind was from a 30-something single professional who had moved to London for her dream job.  Sunday Times

Thornberry attacks Hunt over Khashoggi

News in Brief

Equality committee says that companies are failing to tackle sexual harrassment in the work place  Sun on Sunday

Bank of England to print plastic 50 notes  Observer

Ban on gagging orders that silence harrassment victims  Sunday Times

Anjem Choudary asset freeze and travel ban  Mail on Sunday

Worst flooding in 20 years  Sunday Express

Royal wedding: official photos  Sunday Telegraph

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry, writing in todays Observer , slams the government for days of silence after the journalists disappearance. Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt did not comment until 9 October , saying he had demanded urgent answers from Riyadh. That was far too little, far too late, Thornberry says, comparing it with the governments rapid denunciation of the apparent killing of Ukrainian journalist Arkady Babchenko in May. Imagine for one second how the current Tory government would have reacted if either Russia or Iran had abducted  and in all likelihood murdered  one of their dissident, exiled journalists within the sovereign territory of another country, she writes.  ObserverStephen Booth is Director of Policy and Research at Open Europe.

Party conference season is over, and we are entering the final phase of the Article 50 Brexit negotiations with the UK and the EU still at an impasse over the formulation of the so-called Northern Ireland backstop. This week, the Prime Minister will face EU leaders at the European Council, and the risk is that the government rushes into a false compromise in Brussels that could well fall apart in Westminster. She must hold her nerve and remember her refrain that No Deal is better than a bad deal.

Both during the referendum campaign in 2016, and in the two years since then, we have seen wildly optimistic predictions by some about the economic benefits of leaving the EU. On the other side, we have also heard absurdly pessimistic predictions.

The most powerful arguments for and against EU membership have always largely been political, not economic. New research by Open Europe, to be published tomorrow, suggests that the trade effects on our economy of leaving without a preferential trade deal would be limited. The UK would continue to grow, but No Deal would have an effect equivalent to an average annual drag of -0.17 per cent on real GDP growth over the 13 years up to 2030.

We do not assess the short-term implications of a No Deal Brexit, which are difficult to predict. We estimate the impact of moving to a steady-state relationship whereby UK-EU trade is subject to tariffs, a customs border, and new non-tariff barriers. Our assumption is that aircraft would continue to fly to and from Europe, and that the EU would treat the UK like the United States of America rather than, say, North Korea.

We also show that the steps the UK could take  which do not require negotiation  unilaterally to liberalise our tariff regime and increase our openness to services and foreign investment could further reduce the economic impact of No Deal to an average reduction in growth of -0.04 per cent.

Our results are within the range of other Brexit estimates, and as the Office for Budgetary Responsibility noted in its review of the economic evidence on Brexit on Thursday: It is important to emphasise that any adjustment we do make to our potential growth forecast as a result of Brexit is likely to be relatively small compared to the degree of uncertainty surrounding the underlying path.

In other words, while Brexit will doubtless have a material effect on the UK economy it wont  in of itself  be the most important factor shaping our growth over the next decade or so, whether we leave with a deal or even without a deal. Far more important is the steps the Government takes after leaving the EU in its approach to planning, infrastructure, regulation, and immigration.

None of this is to say that a No Deal Brexit would be the optimal outcome of these negotiations and we should not understate the challenges facing individual businesses and government in preparing for this eventuality. A good trade deal would be preferable for several reasons. It would be wise, and in the interests of both parties, formally to preserve the most significant benefits of over 40 years of economic integration in a new agreement. Perhaps more importantly, a deal would provide a powerful political symbol of the UK and EUs commitment to continued cooperation as friends and allies in the future, not simply on trade but across a range of issues including security, foreign policy and global development. Thought of in these terms, a failure to reach a deal should be unthinkable in London and national capitals across Europe.

The Government should therefore continue to negotiate a comprehensive trade deal with the EU in good faith, but the reality is we are now in a delicate game of brinkmanship. The UK has put forward a generous proposal for the future relationship in a bid to resolve the border issue on the island of Ireland. The ball is now in the EUs court to respond with counterproposals. If it does not, the EUs current approach risks forcing the UK to make an unacceptable choice between preserving the Union and a permanent Brexit limbo. The UKs counterparts in Brussels are doing this because they are confident that it is the UK which will ultimately fold in these talks. The government must hold firm, wait it out until December if necessary, and force the EU to rethink its approach to the backstop. The issue was fudged at the last minute in December last year, and will need to be again. The UK certainly should not rush to sign a bad deal in the face of exaggerated fears over No Deal.ConservativeHomes first law of the Brexit negotiations is that if Theresa May can put off a difficult decision, she will. It is clear that the options she is mulling include staying in the Customs Union in all but name. This would suggest an end to her confidence and supply arrangement with the DUP, the loss of the Governments majority and the resignation of Cabinet Ministers.

So the easiest path to take is the one of least resistance. Put the moment of decision off. Let this weeks European Council pass. Search for compromise as Michel Barniers clock to tick on. This is the form: the Prime Minister postponed a customs decision earlier this year, setting up two Cabinet working groups whose conclusions she then studiously ignored.

But whatever she decides to do, one point is certain. Geoffrey Cox made it clear to the meeting of senior Cabinet ministers last week that, under the terms of the springs draft agreement and last winters joint report, no government could unilaterally resile from the backstop. And it has no end date. After all, the whole point of the backstop is for it to stand until or unless both sides reach a trade agreement. This was the issue at stake in David Daviss pre-Chequers row with May last spring: he was fobbed off with a vague aspiration, not a firm date.

So sooner rather than later  before many weeks are up, even if not this week  May must make her choice. To go with a customs union and the backstop would have a consequence which many are talking about; and another, no less crucial, which fewer have spotted. The first is that a UK-wide customs union would shipwreck a central aim of Brexit: agreeing transformational worldwide trade deals.

The second is that Northern Ireland would effectively remain in the Single Market. So even if the customs union agreement applied to the whole UK, one part of the it would be in the Single Market and the rest would not. This would break up the Union in much the same way that the Prime Minister claims her Chequers proposal was drafted to avoid. Lets think about what would follow.

The DUP sometimes bluffs, like others in politics. But it surely could not connive in the separation of Northern Ireland from Great Britain. At this point, May would lose her Commons majority. Penny Mordaunt, Andrea Leadsom, Esther McVey  all might quit. So could Dominic Raab, which would be the weightiest blow. Michael Gove is troubled. David Mundell would have to weigh the implications for Scotland. As for Liam Fox, what would be the point of him if his department couldnt effect trade deals?

Even if all of them clung to their jobs, the ERG would face a moment of truth. Would Brexiteers be willing to countenance membership of a non-time limited customs union from which future governments could not unilaterally escape? And would Conservative and Unionist MPs as a whole be willing to tolerate a Prime Minister who praised our precious union while at the same time dividing it?

If she lost a leadership ballot, or was so wounded that she had to resign, a candidate would surely stand on the platform that May pays lip service to: that no deal is better than a bad deal. He or she would argue that the EU sees backstops and concessions and resignations and the entire Article 50 process to date as a sign of weakness.

It would follow that he would put to the EU, say, the David Owen plan: transition followed by continued EEA membership followed by a Canadian-type deal. He would propose an end-date to any customs union of, for example, December 2021  the one agreed in outline between the Prime Minister and Davis. The backstop, together with the rest of the Withdrawal Agreement, would wither on the vine, since nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. And if the EU didnt agree to these terms, then there would be No Deal.

In short, this person would maintain that theres only one language the EU understands. So its preoccupied by the fear that Brexit Britain will be free to set its laws, tax and regulation as it pleases? (Hence the driving reason for its rejection of Chequers in Saltzburg: Barnier presented it to the EU27 as a plot to out-compete them.) Very well, then: let us make it clear that were prepared to do precisely that.

This person sounds a lot like Boris Johnson or perhaps Raab or maybe Mordaunt  though, in sense his or her identity is irrelevant: its the strategic plan that matters. He or she would probably win the leadership election. But readers will already have spotted the snag. You can change the leader, but you cant change the Commons.

There would be no majority for such a No Deal plan. Dominic Grieve and company have gained a reputation for leaving the kitchen when the heat sizzles up. But they would surely pile on the pressure for a Brexit postponement and a second referendum. They would not be alone. Panic would be up at the prospect of Britain crashing out. The pound would slide; investment would freeze. (Open Europes new report, by the way, suggests the medium to long-term effects of No Deal would be relatively minor: see Stephen Booth on this site today.)

The inevitable consequence, sooner or later, would be an election. But heres the problem for Johnson or whoever. Conservative MPs are petrified of another poll, especially those in marginal seats. They fear that a red tide will sweep them away. The more our putative leadership candidate hints at a poll, the lower his vote among his colleagues is likely to be.

We have said since the summer that the key question Tory MPs must ask themselves is: could any deal that May might put to the Commons be worse than the risk of No Deal (if truly unmanageable) or else No Brexit? Perhaps this is now the wrong question. Maybe the right one is: is the risk of No Brexit  or a Corbyn Government  worse than a No Trade Deal Brexit that also carves up the UK?

We have also agreed with Gove that, as we like to put it, Brexit is a film, not a photo  in other words, that it will develop over time. Where we are the day after Brexit is not where we will be after, say, ten years have passed. But whatever Downing Street may claim to the contrary, treaty commitments are treaty commitments. They cannot be torn up by one party without severe implications for its international standing  and any future treaties and agreements.

So, to pursue the analogy, Brexit might be a film  but a treaty with the backstop and a no-escape customs union enshrined in it would present us with a Groundhog Day film. Just as Phil Connors woke each morning in Punxsutawney to the realisation that hes trapped there, so the UK would face each new day a customs union by which it was constrained, and a backstop by which it was dismembered.

Here, then, is the looming choice for Conservative MPs. They are trapped between what one classically-minded Cabinet Minister calls the Scylla of the Customs Union and the Charybdis of No Deal. They are faced with either what is a dire form of Brexit, which risks populist backlashes UK-wideor the risk of No Brexit at all, or else a No Deal that, in the short-term, has the potential to paralyse the economy.

None the less, the choice is not inevitable. There is a glimmer of light. The Prime Minister could drop Chequers, and pursue a Canada-type trade deal, perhaps with Owens variant, thus boiling down the negotiating obstacles largely to one  the backstop. Maybe  just maybe  the EU would then be prepared to slap a unilateral escape clause on it, and so avoid the hard border in Ireland that its present approach, ironically, risks. If she tries to fudge a decision, why should the Cabinet have confidence in her, and why should anyone else?CORNWALL, Ontario  The second annual One Enchanted Evening Gala expected to draw 350 guests down the rabbit hole and into wonderland at Nav Centre on the evening of Saturday, Oct. 13.

With last years Great Gatsby themed event setting the bar high, many supporters of the Cornwall Community Hospital Foundation (CCHF) event admitted that their expectations were exceeded this year. After entering the gala through a keyhole door, guests were immersed in a grand room with fluorescent mushrooms exceeding 10 ft., Cheshire Cat smiles, mirrors, clocks and antique frames adorning the walls, as well as various other art installations inspired by Alice In Wonderland. Characters from the classic tale even greeted guests.

Every year we change the theme. We dont want people to get bored, so its all about reinvention, enjoying and celebrating the good health of our community, said Amy Gillespie, Executive Director of CCHF.

Tickets to the high-end Halloween fundraiser were $95 and entitled guests to three drinks, dinner and other extra services such as palm readings. All guests were entered into a draw to win a key that would unlock a $4,000 ring from Pommier Jewellers. A 10 to 12-piece orchestra serenaded guests while they could gamble and participate in a silent auction.

All proceeds that we get go to the urgent needs across the Cornwall Community Hospital (CCH), said Gillespie. Everything from upgrades to our Chemotherapy Unit to keep that service here, to cardiac monitors, mammography (equipment); really, the list never ends.

Last year, the CCHF was able to net $63,000 in funds raised. This year there was no fundraising goal but the hope of raising as much as possible. Gillespie said she doesnt think people always consider how the hospital never closes, so people are encouraged to support the equipment that is not supplied by the government.

I think that sometimes we think we are a small town but we can think big, admitted Gillespie. I think tonight is an articulation of how much care people have for each other and the community. We have such a giving and generous community that we at the Hospital Foundation truly feel thankful that people are here tonight supporting our hospital. I am excited for this year and many years to come.

Gillespie thanked everyone who made the evening possible, especially the talents of artist Richard Dancause who works at CCH.

We benefitted so much from people donating their time and things they were able to give us, said Gillespie.MARTINTOWN, Ontario  The Martintown Goodtimers hosted the second of three South Glengarry Municipal Council Candidate Sessions on Friday, Oct. 12 at 6:30 p.m.

The jam-packed Martintown Community Centre heard the platform of each trustee, council and deputy mayor candidatesbefore the floor was opened to audience questions.

Several candidates touched on the same, pressing issues faced within the municipality, primarily prioritizing the implementation of cellphone and internet service in the area, more affordable water and sewer rates, and the expansion of natural gas resources.

Almost every individual at the podium voiced their opinion over the poor cellphone and internet coverage in the area but only council candidate Sam McDonell detailed the ongoing process with the federal and provincial governments, stating he would add his voice to express the urgency of the improvement process.

Council candidate Joanne High stated that she believes the huge increase of water rates is a result of poor planning. It was reported in June that some residents saw their bills increase by 34 to 37 per cent. Coun. Trevor Bougie maintained that he was the only vote against this increase.

In July, council candidate Glenn Patton made a presentation to council calling for a temporary moratorium on raising the rate in specific areas of the municipality.

I see this as a result of poor planning. Things will be done better next time, said High.

Similar to the concern over cellphone coverage, natural gas expansion was mentioned by almost all candidates. Candidate Stephanie Jaworski emphasized that she would continue to lobby the government for infrastructure improvements, including this expansion.

The issue of insufficient forest cover was also raised by deputy mayor candidate Jacqueline Milner and council candidate Hanz Schulz. Milner raised concerns over how an Environmental Advisory Committee was never formed despite intentions in 2015.

Some audience questions became personal, involving particular salaries of individuals within the community. Others expressed outrage over permits to build in the community and a lack of support for local businesses.

After the brief debate, the public was encouraged to speak to candidates at their respective information tables.

On Oct. 22, South Glengarry can elect one deputy mayor, three councillors and one trustee.

The following is a list of candidates who attended the event:

Deputy Mayor candidates:

Ellery Lafave

Jacqueline Milner

Lyle Warden

Council candidates:

Hanz Schulz

Duncan Wightman

Stephanie Jaworski

Glenn Patton

Trevor Bougie

Jo-Ann Periard

Joanne High

David Small

Martin Lang

Sam McDonell

Trustee candidates:

Marshall Wilson

John DanaherJustice Secretary Menardo Guevarra denied allegations that his department was applying pressure on the Makati judge handling the coup detat case against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and said it was his allies who were guilty of that. Rep. [Gary] Alejanos allegations tend to impede the orderly administration of justice, unfairly cast aspersion on the integrity and professionalism of the Department of Justice and its state prosecutors, and contumaciously influence Judge [Andres Bartolome ] Sorianos decision-making process, he said, in a text message to reporters. The DOJ does not interact with the judge except through the pleadings filed and arguments raised in open court, the Justice secretary said. He added that his department has been very careful in observing the sub judice rule on the case while Trillanes allies have not. Guevarra issued the statement after Alejano said he received information that the government was pressuring Soriano to rule against Trillanes. The judge has conducted hearings and is expected to rule on the plea of the DOJ to issue an arrest warrant and hold departure order against Trillanes in the 2003 coup detat case after President Rodrigo Duterte voided the amnesty granted to the senator by the previous administration. Trillanes on Sunday said he hoped Soriano would do the right thing, despite the pressure.Soriano is set to rule on the Department of Justice motion for an arrest warrant and a hold-departure-order on Trillanes. Trillanes, a former navy lieutenant was among those who led the mutiny in Oakwood Premier Hotel in Makati City on July 27, 2003 and the Manila Peninsula seige on Nov. 29, 2007, both aimed at ousting then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Soriano had declared the case as deemed submitted for resolution after receiving evidence from both parties. Trillanes said they were able to demolish all the evidence presented by the DOJ to the court. The embattled senator, a constant critic of President Duterte, had branded defective all the DOJ evidence. He said the DOJ failed to present any witness who would say that he did not apply for an amnesty.BRIDGEPORT  Two Beardsley Zoo residents got a new home this weekend.

The zoo officially opened its The Natt Family Red Panda Habitat to the public on Saturday. The new habitat gives the zoos two red pandas  Rochan and Meri  more space to roam and play and gives visitors two new viewing areas.

Bob and Helen Natt, of Easton, contributed a substantial donation to make the new habitat a reality. That donation was matched by a grant raised by supporter donations from the Werth Family Foundation.

The outcome is beyond anything we expected. The habitat is absolutely gorgeous. Were very happy to have the opportunity to help the zoo, said Bob Natt, adding that a request from his grandchildren inspired his interest in helping build the habitat.

The new habitat has a section that goes indoors, which will be air conditioned during the warm weather. The yard of their new home is landscaped with bamboo. The zoo said Rochan and Meri eat aobut 2,000 bamboo leaves every day.

Beardsley Zoo Director Gregg Dancho said the new habitat enforces the zoos desire to put animal welfare first.

Rochan joined the Beardsley Zoo family in Oct. 2015, after initially expected to be a temporary visitor from the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston. Rochan is 4. The name means light in Hindi.

Meri joined Rochan in February from the Brandywine Zoo in Delaware. Meri is 3 and was named for Meriadoc Brandybuck, a character from J.R.R. Tolkeins The Lord of the Rings.The Supreme Court has approved the use of video conferencing to accept testimony from suspected terrorists, so they will not have to appear in person before the courts. In the last en banc session presided over by Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro before her retirement on Oct. 10, the Court adopted video conferencing to allow jailed persons with terrorism-related cases to face the courts from their detention cells. A pilot test of the new system, which will be used by the Court in Davao City, can also be used for detainees with grave medical conditions. The Court said the constitutional rights of the accused will be protected through procedural safeguards in the implementing rules to be released by the Office of the Court Administrator. In order to ensure that the accuseds constitutional rights are adequately protected, the counsel of the accused shall be present with the accused in the same designated room in the jail facility throughout the duration of the tele-hearing, the Court Administrator said.The latest measure adopted by the judiciary was approved specifically upon request of Davao City Jail Warden Supt. Grace Taculin, who cited security threats in the transportation of high-risk detainees with terrorism cases and with contagious diseases to the courts. The Bureau of Jail Management of Penology in Davao City manages three city jails with a total population of about 4,000 detainees. Hundreds of arrested members of Maute, Abu Sayaff, New Peoples Army and Moro Islamic Liberation Front are currently detained in Davao jails.Bridgeport Hope School's 7th Annual Harvest Festival at McLevy Green in downtown Bridgeport, Conn., on Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. The event, which raises money for the school, included live music performed by Abe Deshotel and Friends, a raffle, arts and craft, food and even a costume parade by the students.Search underway for missing western Pa. woman

Nancy Smith was reported missing near Johnstown and is now believed to be driving on Route 22."A withdrawal would be just right."

Pointless. This is how incoming Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Boy Locsin described the countrys decision to withdraw from membership in the International Criminal Court. It was Teddy Boy as the countrys Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York who served the Duterte administrations decision to withdraw in the midst of the undiplomatic efforts of the ICC prosecutors to investigate possible violations in the countrys war on drugs. In withdrawing from the ICC and the Rome Statute, then Ambassador Locsin noted: It is my duty to give you this.. a sad day but a day sure to come because human rights has been politicized. We resisted US pressure not to join until we finally signed on, only to have it weaponized against our democracy fighting an existential threat from the drug war. One recalls that on a number of occasions the then-UN Human Rights Chief and a number of UN employees particularly Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard tried to bamboozle the administration into submission on its intensified drug war using, among others, data from polluted sources. At one point, Callamard even went to the extent of practically calling the Duterte administration a dictatorship, a totalitarian state which has no regard for due process and the rule of law while she was in the Philippines as an academic. In that speech she delivered before so-called human rights advocates and academics at the University of the Philippines, Callamard went out of her way to harangue the administration for its so-called sins and human rights violations, freely claiming that it was an academic statement not a conclusion. And to think that she was being assigned to precisely investigate the situation. Wow. Then came another tirade from another rapporteur concluding that the Duterte war on drugs was a wholesale violation of the declaration on human rights. And they have not really begun any kind of official inquiry on the matter. Then came the statement of Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio during the hearings before the High Tribunal on the countrys withdrawal. The Senate minority group claimed was illegal and that President Dutertes action was tantamount to grave abuse of discretion.Senate Minority leader Frank Drilon insisted that the Chief Executive cannot by himself withdraw from a body and a convention which was concurred in by the Senate itself. Well, that seems to be ill-advised and a very narrow reading of executive action. In any event, one cannot but agree with Ambassador/Secretary Teddy Boy that indeed there is no point with our continued stay with the ICC. Even Justice Carpios contention that our withdrawal will lessen our capability to stand up against foreign aggressors (principally China) as we navigate our way in an increasingly highly polarized world did not wash as far as Teddy Boy is concerned. Said Teddy Boy: Aggression is a crime that ICC might pick up but only if the aggression is committed by an ICC member.. No serious offensive powerUS, Russia, Chinais a member of ICCso doubly pointless to stay.. And ICC picks and chooses those who it thinks are easy prey to prove its usefulness. Justice Carpio missed this point. What happened? Anyway, it is just right that we withdrew. And it is fitting that our incoming Secretary of Foreign Affairs was the one who submitted the letter of withdrawal. For if truth be said, this issue will continue to be one of the planks of the anti-Duterte tirades, here and abroad. They will surely get a mouthful from Teddy Boy.So bloody and extensive is President Putins record of aggression, not least in Syria and Ukraine, that an incursion into the empty deserts of North Africa might hardly seem worth noting.

Yet the discovery that Russia is moving troops and missiles into war-torn Libya has rightly caused alarms to sound throughout the capitals of Europe.

It is a step of huge significance, and one with potentially disastrous results for Western nations.

The discovery that Vladimir Putin, above, and his government is moving troops and missiles into war-torn Libya has rightly caused alarm. Russia  this time in the form of Rosneft, the huge oil company controlled by Putins sinister crony Igor Sechin  is interested in a slice of Libyas vast oil reserves, the largest in Africa

Libya has both oil and Mediterranean ports, and Russia is hungry for both  cause enough for concern, perhaps.

Yet the real fear for European governments is this: Libya, with its porous southern borders, has become the main jumping-off point for the hundreds of thousands of African migrants now seeking to cross the Mediterranean to the shores of the EU and, in particular, Italy.

More than half a million adults and children from Ghana, Senegal, Kenya and Nigeria, as well as war-ravaged Eritrea and Somalia, have made the perilous voyage in the last five years, the human cargo in a 6 billion-a-year trade more lucrative and less risky than smuggling drugs.

Contractors have also been seen in eastern Libya, near the border with Egypt, where they have been defending critical oil wells against Libyas many armed militias. They have also been training Libyan troops and providing intelligence for the Libyan army

Now, by establishing military bases in the port cities of Tobruk and Benghazi, Putin has raised the nightmare prospect that Moscow could soon take control of that migrant flow, turning it on and off like a tap. And that means threatening European governments who oppose him with outright political chaos in reply.

The Russian presence in Libya has been building for months. In the port cities, it comes in the shape of private military companies such as the Wagner and RSB groups, tough-guy contractors who, while not formally part of the Russian army, nonetheless work closely with Putins paramilitary GRU.

These contractors have also been seen in eastern Libya, near the border with Egypt, where they have been defending critical oil wells against Libyas many armed militias. They have also been training Libyan troops and providing intelligence for the Libyan army.

Libyan Red Crescent rescue workers carry the body of a drowned migrant on a beach after it was washed up in Tajoura, near Tripoli, the capital, earlier this year. It was Gaddafis sudden removal in 2011  thanks to a vainglorious attempt at regime change  that established Libya as the number one staging post for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa

Earlier this year, the Tunisian authorities took possession of a ship flying the Panamanian flag which was found to be carrying 24 containers of Russian military equipment and 66 Russian military transport vehicles. The ship was bound for Libya.

There are also plausible reports that Russian missile systems  thought to include the Kalibr anti-ship missiles and S-300 air defence missiles  are now established on Libyan soil.

Russia even has a tame Libyan warlord with his own National Army. Putin has for some time been cultivating 75-year-old Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar (a naturalised American who, after helping put Colonel Gaddafi in power in 1969, eventually fled to the US after the two men fell out).

Today, he is the main recipient of Russian arms and money, including notes printed on Moscow presses.

This is not the first time that Libyan migration has been used as a threat. In 2010, Gaddafi notoriously told then Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi that he could turn Europe black by simply deciding to loosen his control of the Mediterranean coastline.

Libyan forces loyal to the Government of National Accord guard from a position south of Tripoli, Libya, last month. At the same time it announced end of fights on the outskirts of Tripoli after the withdrawal of the fighters of Misrata, east of the capital

What will be the reaction of the white and Christian Europeans faced with this influx of starving and ignorant Africans? asked the dictator. We dont know if Europe will remain an advanced and united Continent or if it will be destroyed, as happened with the barbarian invasions.

To demonstrate his power, Gaddafi then encouraged tribal people smugglers in Libyas wild southwest with a 4 million bribe to focus on exporting fuel and flour southwards, rather than moving migrants northwards towards Europe. It worked.

Indeed, it was Gaddafis sudden removal in 2011  thanks to America, Britain and Frances vainglorious attempt at regime change  that established Libya as the number one staging post for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa.

If Gaddafis main aim was survival, Putin has a more expansive game to play, one that he hopes means a restoration of the power and influence that Russia enjoyed before the abject humiliation of the 1990s. First, there are the diplomatic objectives. Putin wants to boost his military presence on the EUs southern border.

Muammar Al Gaddafi in 1996. If Gaddafis main aim was survival, Putin has a more expansive game to play, one that he hopes means a restoration of the power and influence that Russia enjoyed before the abject humiliation of the 1990s [File photo]

Nato, he feels, has been encircling Russia, now he intends to give Europe a taste of its own medicine by establishing an emphatic presence in the Med. His navy has at present only one Mediterranean base, at Tartus in Syria. Another near Benghazi  less than 300 miles from southern Italy  would be a major statement of Russian sea power.

Serious money is a motive, too. Russia  this time in the form of Rosneft, the huge oil company controlled by Putins sinister crony Igor Sechin  is interested in a slice of Libyas vast oil reserves, the largest in Africa.

Libya currently produces about 700,000 barrels of oil per day, but the country could increase its output to 2.5 million if peace were eventually established.

Down the line, a continued Russian presence means Moscow would be in pole position to win lucrative contracts to rebuild the countrys shattered infrastructure and, of course, to gain a hugely profitable market for arms sales.

Aside from oil and gas, weapons are one of the few Russian products in demand from other nations. Russia had huge business interests with Gaddafis Libya and lost around $10 billion in oil and other contracts  including $3 billion for a railway project and a $4 billion arms deal  when he was deposed.

Part of Putins drive is his continuing fury at the Western military intervention that brought chaos to the Middle East and damaged Russian interests in the process.

Today, the Russian President is conspicuously helping stick the pieces back together. Moscow is involved in international talks regarding the futures of Afghanistan and Syria. It would like to present itself as the saviour of Libya, too.

Putin has established himself as a go-to man for the Middle East, so potentates from King Abdullah of Jordan and King Salman of Saudi Arabia to Israels President Netanyahu and Irans President Rouhani, visit the Kremlin to pay assiduous court.

Down the line, a continued Russian presence means Moscow would be in pole position to win lucrative contracts to rebuild the countrys shattered infrastructure and, of course, to gain a hugely profitable market for arms sales

Trump, it is worth noting, is yet to appoint ambassadors to Saudi Arabia or to Turkey, let alone to Libya.

On a more personal note, Putin was alarmed at the horrific fate of his fellow leader: after a six-month Nato bombing campaign, Gaddafi was shot in the head in a roadside culvert with a bayonet rammed into his backside.

Or as Russian officials put it, he was killed like a mangy old cur. That is not, presumably, how the Russian President thinks regional strong men should be treated.

Above all else, however, Putin is an opportunist. He seeks not just the lifting of sanctions against his country, but the continued destabilisation of Europe, which is why he has so avidly supported its separatist and nationalist parties. It remains a hugely successful tactic. The West, meanwhile, after years of diplomatic ineptitude and catastrophically wrong-headed intervention, seems unable to muster a response.

Should we co-operate with Russia and with other world powers to rebuild the shattered Libyan state? Might that at least help rein Putin in, however distasteful a partner he might seem? It is a dilemma we must now face.

Today, through a combination of Italian bribery and diplomacy, the Libyan coastline is at least partially secured.

But if, tomorrow, Russia really does seize control of the Libyan state and its vast reservoir of desperate migrants  one of the great destabilising forces facing Europe  the prospect for us all is terrifying indeed.The plight of young girls forced into child marriages in Malawi is thrown into stark relief in these harrowing stories from UNICEF.

The children's charity is working with the teenage girls - some of whom have suffered domestic violence, contracted AIDS and become mothers at a young age - as part of a project to help get more children into education around the world.

Adolescent birth rates in the southeastern African country are high, while 42 per cent of girls are married by the age of 18.

These compelling stories of young girls overcoming adversity and pursuing education are being shared as children around the UK get settled into the new school year.

Nelly (centre) pictured with her school friends. The teen became a mother for the first time aged just 15 when she was befriended by an older man at a local market, and the pair married. He later became abusive; after fleeing the marriage, Nelly is back at school

In many Malawian communities, gendered barriers to schooling for girls include domestic chores, sibling care, distance to schools, and lack of safety, transportation, and hygiene facilities.

Expectations to marry, the risk of pregnancy, violence, lack of access to dignified menstrual hygiene, and barriers to a quality education are just some of the obstacles that limit girls' lives and prevent them from reaching their full potential.

Around one in 10 girls under the age of 18 have experienced forced sexual intercourse or other unwanted sexual acts.

Violence against women in the home is frequently accompanied by violence against their children.

Evidence suggests that boys growing up in such homes are more likely to perpetrate violence, while girls are more likely to experience violence as adults later in life.

Nelly, 19, Namasimba

Nineteen-year-old Nelly is enrolled at Namasimba primary school. She is noticeably older than many of her classmates, but this is not uncommon in rural Malawi.

Nelly is the second child in a family of seven children living in Nkulumba village, some 2km away from Namasimba school where her siblings are also enrolled.

'My father died a long time ago and my mother struggles to support us,' said the teenager.

When Nelly was 15, she met a 21-year-old man at the market. He worked for an agricultural trading company so she believed he would take care of her and provide what she was lacking at home.

Without much of a formal ceremony, Nelly moved 900 kilometers away to the man's home in the north and few months later she gave birth to a baby girl.

Nelly (right) has returned to a friendly environment at school after her horrific ordeal that saw her being forced into a child marriage, later escaping to return to her family

Away from her family and friends, Nelly became easy prey to the abusive man. 'He would come home drunk and beat me. Sometimes he disappeared for days, leaving me and my daughter with nothing to eat,' recalled Nelly.

She eventually got a message to her mother, who borrowed money for the bus fare to get her daughter and granddaughter home.

A few weeks after Nelly's return, four women from the village came to visit her and her mother, and asked if she would like to return to school. She accepted, and her mother agreed to take care of her two-year-old baby.

The four women were members of a mother group, who work with teachers, parents and girls to promote girls' education.

With support from the partners, UNICEF (unicef.org.uk) is empowering existing community structures such as mother groups to promote girls' education.

This is being done within the UN Joint Programme for Girls' Education (UNJPE) in Mangochi and two other districts; Dedza and Salima.

Coming back to school after almost two years was scary, Nelly confesses. She was afraid she would be the oldest in her class and that it would be difficult to catch up with the lessons.

She was particularly dreading the reaction of the other kids at school: 'I was afraid they would laugh at me or tease me because I have a child now.

'But on the first day, the head teacher announced at assembly that anyone who would make fun of me because I am a mother would be disciplined, so I think that helped.'

Every Friday the women from the mother group come to Namasimba primary school to meet girls from standard 5 to standard 8, typically aged 13 to 19 years.

Edna, 18, Mangochi District

When Edna was just 15 years old and in grade 5 of primary school, she fell pregnant.

To avoid the social stigma associated with having a pregnant daughter out of wedlock, as well as the burden of supporting an additional child, Edna's mother, Enifa, took her to her boyfriend's house to formalise their marriage.

The boyfriend's family accepted responsibility, and Edna and her boyfriend started living as a married couple.

'I was married for two weeks only, but they were the longest two weeks of my life,' says Edna. 'I had been told that marriage is a good thing but I didn't like it at all. I missed home, I missed my mum and dad, and I wondered what my friends in school were doing.'

Edna's dad, Adam, did not want his young daughter to get married. However, Mangochi is a matrilineal society and the mother and her family have more influence over the household and are the final decision makers. Hence Adam was unable to convince his wife to change her mind.

Edna was married when she was 15 years old after falling pregnant (pictured with her baby). After escaping the marriage, she has returned to school and is carving out a future

Edna and her parents and baby at their home in Mkumbira village in Mangochi. She says she 'no longer bothers with boys' and pours her energy into school work instead

Feeling helpless, Adam sought the help of a Child Protection Worker in the area, Hendrix Kawinga. Hendrix advised him to present the issue to their group village headman, Mkumbira.

Mkumbira took the case to TA Bwanyambi, Head Chief for Chowe. At a meeting at the Chief's house, Edna's mother was given two choices: either to end her young daughter's marriage and pay a 5,000 Kwacha (5) fine, or let the marriage continue but pay a hefty penalty of 40, 000 Kwacha (41), as prescribed by the local decrees.

Since the family could not find the additional 35,000 Kwacha (36) Edna's mother went and fetched her daughter home.

Three years later, Edna's son is in kindergarten and she has almost finished primary school. Chief Bwanyambi is ready to support Edna's secondary school education, if she is selected.

'I no longer bother with boys, instead I focus on school work,' Edna says. 'I want to become a nurse like my step-sister, who works at the hospital where I gave birth.'This month, the catwalks have been awash with an array of nude palettes, with designers dressing their models in champagne and tan ensembles.

And the trend has not gone unnoticed, with the likes of Victoria Beckham, Bella Hadid and style veteran Madonna opting for earthy tones of late.

Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton were among the designers to feature the palette on their Spring/ Summer 2019 runways, while celebrities have been seen rocking the flattering tone on the showbiz circuit.

And one fashion expert has claimed the colour can make you look richer, without emptying your bank account.

Can camel make you look rich? The colour was spotted across the catwalks this month, with Kendall Jenner rocking an all-nude outfit as she stormed the Burberry runway

Meanwhile Alexa Chung wore a camel-coloured belted trench as she attended the Stella McCartney show during Paris Fashion Week last week

Celebs - and supermodels - have long been in the habit of wearing top-to-toe nude shades, as this 2015 snap of Gigi Hadid in New York demonstrates

Victoria Beckham, seen last month in her own label, is among the celebrities who have been spotted rocking nude and earthy tones- a trend popular on the catwalks this month

Celebrity stylist and designer Lucas Armitage told Femail: 'Nude and champagne tones visually always look chic and high-end, even if their origins are from more humble high street beginnings.

'Wearing head to toe nude is a bold move but one that creates a feeling of the "richness" due to the lightness of the tone.

'Essentially you're showing the world you have no reason to wear more practical darker colours which do not show up the wear and tear of everyday commuter life.'

Lucas added: 'Wearing champagne can be tricky to pull off and obviously you have to make sure you are not too clumsy with your morning coffee and avoid any spillages.

'This said, its a powerful look when executed properly and its great to see so many incarnations of champagne and nude on the high street making it a look achievable for all.'

Bella Hadid, pictured in Paris Fashion Week, is among the countless celebrities who have been spotted wearing nude and earthy tones - and fashion experts claim it can make you look rich

Karlie Kloss rocking the popular nude palette in Paris. Elsewhere Christian Dior and Christophe Guillarme both tuned into the ethereal take on the trend, dabbling with sheer textures and champagne hues for their Spring/ Summer collection

Louis Vuitton and Chloe both used terracotta colours in their collection, honing in on the trend for earthy 'rich' colours'

Bella Hadid was spotted wearing a terracotta shorts and jacket combo ensemble, as she visited the Roberto Cavalli showroom last month. An expert has told Femail the colour can make you look 'rich' without splashing the cash

Elsewhere Christian Dior and Christophe Guillarme both tuned into the ethereal take on the trend, dabbling with sheer textures and champagne hues for their Spring/ Summer collection

Fashion veteran Madonna was also spotted wearing a tan trench last week, as she attended a show during Paris Fashion Week

The colour was spotted across multiple catwalks this month, with Kendall Jenner rocking an all-nude outfit as she stormed the Burberry runway.

Meanwhile Alexa Chung wore a camel-coloured belted trench as she attended the Stella McCartney show during Paris Fashion Week last week, and Louis Vuitton and Chloe both used terracotta colours in their collection.

Elsewhere Christian Dior and Christophe Guillarme both tuned into the ethereal take on the trend, dabbling with sheer textures and champagne hues for their Spring/ Summer collection.A heavily pregnant mother-of-three is still reeling are being told her two-year-old son has a rare form of liver cancer.

The shock diagnosis came after Sydney-based Amy Hayward, 26, noticed her son Kaiser's increasingly 'bloated tummy'.

She took the toddler to be examined and was given the devastating news that Kaiser had hepatoblastoma - an extremely rare cancerous tumour which starts in the liver.

Due to mounting financial pressure, Ms Hayward and her partner Sirofa are unable to afford the cost of childcare and started a Go Fund Me page seeking donations for their growing family.

Speaking to FEMAIL, the distraught mum shared her story and the reality of living with a sick child, two healthy kids and another baby on the way.

Kaiser (pictured, aged two years and five months) was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer in August

'We took Kaiser to the doctors late August for a bloated belly that wouldn't go away,' she said.

'The doctors ran checks to see if he was lactose intolerant or allergic to anything else, all of which came back negative.

'I asked for an ultrasound to be done which showed an 11cm mass on his liver. The doctor referred us to a paediatrician and told us we would have to wait a month to be seen.'

Kaiser (left) has two siblings, Nyziah (right) who is five and Kingston who is 16 months old (centre)

An ultrasound revealed an 11cm mass on the toddlers liver (pictured, with mum Amy)

Ms Hayward's partner Sirofa (pictured) works when he can to support the family but cannot commit full time due to prohibitive childcare costs

WHAT IS HEPATOBLASTOMA? Hepatoblastoma is an extremely rare cancerous tumour which starts in the liver. The condition primarily affects children from infancy to roughly three years of age. Hepatoblastoma cells can spread to other areas of the body, most frequently the lungs, although this is rare. Prognosis and long-term survival can vary greatly from child to child, but prompt medical attention and aggressive therapy are important for the best prognosis. Continuous follow-up care is essential for a child diagnosed with hepatoblastoma because side effects of radiation and chemotherapy may occur, as well as second malignancies. Advertisement

Anxious about Kaiser's well-being, Ms Hayward took him to the emergency room for immediate blood tests and a thorough examination.

'The next day [August 31] we were taken into a room with multiple doctors and they told us they were sure this was cancer and ordered a biopsy.'

The result came back within days showing positive for hepatoblastoma.

Ms Hayward, who is also a mother to five-year-old Nyziah and Kingston, 16 months, was distraught.

'His only symptom was a bloated tummy.'

'His only symptom was a bloated tummy' - Ms Hayward

'We met with the doctors once more and were told he'd need chemo for a few months which would hopefully shrink the tumour to allow surgeons to operate.

'We are now on Kaiser's second round of chemo and are praying he will be able for surgery after this - if not, we will be forced to do another two sessions.'

In the future, doctors say Kaiser may require a liver transplant.

Kaiser has undergone two rounds of chemotherapy to date in hopes of shrinking his tumour

In the future, doctors have warned the child may need a liver transplant

'It's hard for us to be at the hospital with him because our Nyziah's twin passed away at the same hospital at eight days old.

'We also have Kingston and I'm currently seven months pregnant - it's hard to get help with the other kids as we have no family or real support system here in Sydney and can't afford to pay for childcare.

'Kaiser has been in hospital almost constantly since his diagnosis, which has meant I stay there most of the time too.

'My partner Sirofa tries to work when he can, but our financial situation is why my sister created our Go Fund Me page to help us get by day to day.'In recent times, a number of disturbing discoveries have been made at fast food outlets around Australia.

Pizza stores, chicken chains, Chinese and Indian restaurants have all been hit with hefty fines and store closure notices due to shocking breaches of hygiene or other breaches.

The worst violations include cockroach infestations, filthy machinery and equipment, rodent activity and even the use of pet food as meat.

FEMAIL look at some of the findings across the country.

In recent times, a number of disturbing discoveries have been made at fast food outlets around Australia (including at this Domino's pizza store in Lismore, New South Wales)

PIZZA

A Domino's store in New South Wales has been temporarily shut after shocking images emerged of hygiene breaches, mouldy ingredients and grey meat.

A former employee took photos inside the Lismore outlet and posted them in public Facebook group earlier this week.

The pizza chain's food safety team assessed the situation and closed the premises for an unspecified period pending a formal investigation.

The disturbing shots showed uncovered food left out in the open, dirty kitchen equipment and buckets of stagnant water in the preparation area.

The Facebook post attracted hundreds of comments from local Lismore residents, who branded the discovery 'absolutely disgusting'.

The outlet was temporarily shut after shocking images emerged of mould covered ingredients and grey meat

A former employee took photos inside the Lismore outlet and posted them in public Facebook group earlier this week

The disturbing shots showed uncovered food left out in the open

Dirty kitchen equipment and buckets of stagnant water were also photographed

The Facebook post attracted hundreds of comments from Lismore residents

Social media users branded the images 'absolutely disgusting'

INDIAN

An Indian restaurant in Perth also found itself at the centre of cleanliness controversy this year.

In late August, Daily Mail Australia reported the eatery had been hit with almost $14,000 in fines and court costs after pet meat was found in its kitchen.

A spokesman for the cafe said the issue arose when a chef with poor English bought 'lamb' from a wholesale producer recommended by a customer.

'We usually buy our lamb from reputable [suppliers] such as Woolworths or Coles,' he told the Armadale Community News.

But in this instance, mystery meat from the alternative provider arrived in a box labelled 'pet meat'.

The chef was unable to read it and began preparing the contents as if it was lamb, when a City of Gosnells food inspector entered the premises.

The restaurant claimed the wholesaler put the meat in a bag labelled for pets to avoid stricter food regulations, while the owner defended his business saying the meat was never served to customers.

A Perth cafe was hit with $14,000 in fines in late August after an auditor discovered pet food in the kitchen

The cafe claimed the product was actually lamb incorrectly labelled

CHINESE

A renovation crew got more than they bargained for while working at a Chinese restaurant in Perth in December 2015.

The construction team stumbled upon an infestation of cockroaches, which had last served food to customers just 48 hours previous.

The builders filmed the obscene filth and released pictures showing an army of cockroaches, huge amounts of spilled oil and fat splattered around the kitchen as well as a grime ridden oven.

A construction team stumbled upon an infestation of cockroaches and filthy conditions at a Chinese restaurant in Perth in late 2015

The builders filmed the obscene filth and released pictures of the preparation area

Old food packaging, dirty vegetable tins and empty alcohol bottles were littered around the restaurant's storage area

One of the tradesmen said it was clear the restaurant had not been cleaned in 'quite some time'

Old food packaging, dirty vegetable tins and empty alcohol bottles were also littered around the restaurant's storage area.

One of the tradesmen told WA News it was 'obvious the place had not seen the underwire of a brush for quite some time', adding he believed the condition of the shop resulted from years of neglect.

The workmen said they struggled to distinguish rotting vegetables from insect cocoons on the kitchen floor.A professor of American literature has questioned the passage read at Princess Eugenie's wedding describing a character as being 'from the wrong side of the tracks'.

Princess Beatrice read the excerpt from F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 classic The Great Gatsby at the wedding of her sister Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on Friday.

Eugenie said she was 'immediately' drawn to the passage describing Jay Gatsby's smile when she first read the Jazz Age novel shortly after meeting Jack eight years ago.

But Professor Sarah Churchwell, from the University of London, said she was 'surprised' by the choice of passage because it goes on to describe Gatsby as an 'elegant rough neck' whose style of speech is 'almost absurd'.

The passage read by Princess Beatrice at the wedding of her sister Eugenie on Friday (pictured at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle) described Jay Gatsby's smile as having 'a quality of eternal reassurance' - but the choice of reading has raised eyebrows

The passage goes on to describe Gatsby as a 'rough neck' and a fraud whose style of speech is 'almost absurd' (pictured: Leonardo DiCaprio in Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby, 2013)

Jack Brooksbank, who is European ambassador for Casamigos tequila, tied the knot with Princess Eugenie on Friday (the couple are pictured at their evening wedding reception at The Royal Lodge, Windsor)

The extract, said to capture both the theatrical quality of Gatsby's character and his charisma, reminded Eugenie of tequila salesman Brooksbank according to Reverend Philip Bromiley.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4 on Saturday, Professor Churchwell said: 'I have to say I was surprised that they would choose this passage.

'I mean Fitzgerald is an extremely beautiful writer, that's not news to anyone who knows his work and so you can see why you would be drawn on to this lovely passage about a wonderful smile.

'The problem is with what happens at the end of the passage when his smile disappears, and what the passage says is that when his smile disappears.

'The narrator Nick Carraway says: "I was looking at an elegant young rough neck, a year or two over 30, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd."

'And what he's saying is that this is the smile of a conman, who's insinuating his way into, or trying to insinuate, his way into the upper crust, and he's actually a rough neck.

'Now I understand from conversations I had yesterday that that's maybe not as well known a slang term in Britain as it is in the US. But I mean it's pretty clear that it's not flattering, it's an insult.

Professor Sarah Churchwell said of the passage, read by Princess Beatrice (pictured): 'So it's saying he's a fraud but he's got a beautiful smile and you think gosh is that really how you want to describe your groom on your wedding day?'

A professor of American literature has questioned the choice of passage from The Great Gatsby that was read by Princess Beatrice at the royal wedding yesterday (pictured: Beatrice and the Duchess of York waving to onlookers on the steps of St. George's Chapel)

'It's saying that he's uncouth, and that he's from the wrong side of the tracks and that he's vulgar and very possibly dodgy and thuggish, which is also what rough neck means.'

She added: 'I could totally see it as pulling the smile quotation thoroughly out of context and just letting it be a beautiful description of a smile.

'But to continue the passage, which is about this guy trying to insinuate his way into American aristocracy, and he's a fraud.

'So it's saying he's a fraud but he's got a beautiful smile and you think, gosh is that really how you want to describe your groom on your wedding day?'

Reverend Philip Bromiley, who conducted the wedding ceremony, argued that the passage deserved to be taken out of context because it was so beautiful.

The full reading from The Great Gatsby 'He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. 'It faced - or seemed to face - the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favour. 'It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey. 'Precisely at that point it vanished - and I was looking at an elegant young rough-neck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd. 'Some time before he introduced himself I'd got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care.' Advertisement

Princess Eugenie stands at the altar with Jack Brooksbank during the ceremony of their wedding at St. George's Chapel, Windsor on Friday

Here comes the bride: Eugenie (left) looks elated as she arrives at the chapel and is then escorted down the aisle (right)

Later on in the service, the Dean of Windsor drew on the passage once again for his sermon, saying: 'It was soon after she and Jack had first met that Princess Eugenie read The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald.

'One particular passage in which Jay Gatsby is described reminded her immediately of Jack. She decided that she wanted eventually to let Jack know how much those words had brought him to mind. That is why they have had a special place (as the second reading) in today's wedding service.

'The words that particularly reminded her of Jack concern Gatsby's smile. As we heard from the reading: 'It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it... It concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favour'.

'In doing so, they understand that marriage is something far more profound than any kind of "contract", as we usually understand it.

Radiant smile: Eugenie just can't stop smiling as she is walked down the aisle by her father, the Duke of York

The Duke of York walks his daughter Princess Eugenie down the aisle for her wedding to Jack Brooksbank at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle

The happy couple: Jack and Eugenie have wide smiles as they exchange rings during the ceremony at St George's chapel

The royals: Jack and Eugenie can been seen at the top of the altar while the rest of the royals including the Queen and Prince Charles sit behind them

The look of love: Eugenie looks over to Jack during the ceremony at St George's chapel. Jack looks ahead

Jack Brooksbank put the wedding ring on his bride Princess Eugenie's finger as they married today

'There are no conditions here; no limits. They offer each other an unqualified promise to be there for each other come what may. It is the unqualified nature of the promise that generates a feeling of security, the gift of "eternal reassurance".

'Well, a few years have passed, and Eugenie and Jack come here today to smile on each other, and to offer each other something like "eternal reassurance" and the promise of an 'irresistible prejudice' in each other's favour.'

The other reading was taken from St Paul's Letter to the Colossians chapter three, and was read by Jack's paternal cousin, Charles Brooksbank.

Other recitals included A Gaelic Blessing by the choir and the hymn Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.The cult of the superwoman is damaging to new mothers and could push them to return to work too soon, Mishal Husain has warned.

The BBC presenter said the pressures pushed her into doing everything at once as she tried to juggle her demanding career with raising three sons.

The 45-year-old had Rafael, 13, and twins Zaki and Musa, 12, within two years.

Miss Husain, who is married to lawyer Meekal Hashmi, described her life as intense after returning to work following the birth of her twins. She revealed that during this time she once changed a shopping delivery order from thousands of miles away in China only minutes before a live broadcast [File photo]

She admitted she could not have become a presenter on Radio 4s Today programme when they were younger because of the demanding schedule.

Miss Husains comments on the pressure many feel to be perfect while juggling work, motherhood and a personal life came at the Cheltenham Literature Festival.

I think the image, or the cult even, of the superwoman is deeply unhelpful, she said. You end up thinking Well, she seems to be managing it all, so why am I struggling?

Miss Husain also warned that unsociable working structures were blocking woman from taking top jobs after having children. Look at the job I do, she said. Imagine if the Today programme presenters job was structured around two presenters, five days a week' [File photo]

Miss Husain, who is married to lawyer Meekal Hashmi, described her life as intense after returning to work following the birth of her twins. She revealed that during this time she once changed a shopping delivery order from thousands of miles away in China only minutes before a live broadcast.

I look back and I think I did some mad things. Beijing Olympics, summer of 2008, I still had three children in nappies.

I remember sitting at the foot of the camera during a live position in Beijing and suddenly realising we were running out of nappies and I had just enough time to alter the supermarket delivery so more nappies were delivered to the house.

And I think, Really? I should have switched off. My husband really could have dealt with that. But I was probably trying to do everything at the same time.

Miss Husain also warned that unsociable working structures were blocking woman from taking top jobs after having children.

Look at the job I do, she said. Imagine if the Today programme presenters job was structured around two presenters, five days a week.

I would not be prepared to spend the vast majority of my week not having an evening with my family, not being able to go out in the evening. That would not be a job that would attract me and the same would be true of many other people.

Carey: I'm too tired to text! The Great Gatsby star Carey Mulligan, above [File photo] With her impeccable appearance on the red carpet and in public, Carey Mulligan looks to be juggling motherhood and acting with aplomb. But the Great Gatsby star, 33, has revealed looking after her two children leaves her too exhausted to even send a text. The actress, pictured, said she runs out of steam by 7.30 after cooking them dinner and putting them to bed, and finds it hard to keep in touch with friends. Miss Mulligan, who has three-year-old daughter Evelyn and 14-month-old son Wilfred with pop star Marcus Mumford, told The Sunday Times: Now I have children I just dont have the time to work relentlessly. She said she cant even send texts because she is always pushing a pram or holding a baby. Advertisement

Last years disclosure by the BBC of the pay of leading staff revealed that Miss Husain was only earning half the salary of her Today colleague John Humphrys.

He was given between 600,000 and 649,999 in the year to April 2017 while she earned between 200,000 and 249,000.

Miss Husain also told how she returned to work after her twins were born but did not go abroad until they were aged 18 months. When I went back to work, frankly I was quite grateful to be leaving the house and doing something else, she said.

But I said, I cant travel on breaking stories in other parts of the world any more. The first story I travelled on was when Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in December 2007. I suddenly thought Yes, I can leave them, theyre old enough, I can leave them for a few days, itll be fine.World's Oldest Comedian Lynn Ruth Miller is staging a two-day show where she talks about the benefit of getting old and being a comedian with a pension.

Octogenarian Lynn Ruth Miller is hauling her creaking bones and her bag of funny tricks for a two-day Manila show on Oct.18 and 19. Regarded as the worlds oldest female comedian, Miller is an Ohio-born funny woman who brings with her laughs about her advanced age and how sex is like at 85. I make aging sound like its fun, Lynn says of her brand of comedy.Dubbed the new Joan Rivers of Fringe Comedy at The Edinburgh International Fringe, Lynn is a regular at the San Francisco Punchline, The Stand in Scotland and The International in Dublin and is now chomping at the bit ready now to do her storytelling, cabaret and stand-up comedy throughout the world to prove that her aging has been amazing. She started her comedy career at 71. She made it to Las Vegas in Americas Got Talent in 2008, won Peoples Choice in 2009 Branson Comedy Festival, the finals in Bill Words Funniest Female Contest 2009 and semi-finals in the SF International Comedy Competition, the top 100 in Britains Got Talent and won both nights of the Texas Burlesque Festival without taking off anything that matters. She was the 2013 TO&ST winner for Grannys Gone Wild: best cabaret Edinburgh Fringe. That show was performed at the Soho Theatre in London in March 2014. In August, she performed her fourth solo show Not Yet Dead, a compilation of stories and songs about her life directed by Sarah Louise Young with songs written by Young and Michael Roulston to 4 and 5 star reviews.Now, for her first time in Manila, Lynn is treating Filipinos to two shows aptly called Aged to Imperfection (Oct. 18) and Barely Standing (Oct. 19). Im hoping to make everyone laugh, she says, as if it was any doubt that the woman who throws incontinence pads at the audience and makes jokes about the joys of aging (There are many joys to aging, for example, I wake up in the morning) could be anything but hilarious. Theres no more PMS. When I tell you Im going kill you, I mean it! she jokes. Join Prime i Events and Lynn Ruth Miller and dont miss the chance watching a woman whos barely standing crack jokes about her life, her age and everything in between. Catch Lynn Ruth Miller on Oct. 18 at the Relik Bar in BGC and on Oct.19 at the Union Jack Tavern in Makati City. The shows will be opened by ventriloquist Ruther Urquia and hosted by Aldo Cuervo. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and shows start at 8:00 p.m.. Tickets are available at Ticketnet (www.ticketnet.com.ph or call 911-555) at Ticketbooth at 887-5131 or by calling 0920-9717055 or 0917-5703057. Tickets are priced at P1,000 for advanced buyer and P1,250 at the door.Her books were the epitome of childhood innocence, but E Nesbits own life was anything but. She spent most of her adult years embroiled in a menage a trois, married to a man who had 15 other affairs, and had her own lovers from the bohemian literary set. Annabel Venning reports

Edith at her desk in 1903, at the height of her popularity

She was the author of such timeless books as The Railway Children, Five Children and It and The Phoenix and the Carpet  wholesome childhood adventures often set in the English countryside in a time of steam trains and straw boaters, complete with buns for tea, saintly mothers and devoted fathers. Edith Nesbit  who wrote as E Nesbit  remains one of the most popular childrens authors of all time, with millions passing on their love of her magical, wonderfully innocent stories to their own children.

Yet Ediths domestic setup was wilder and more extraordinary than any of her tales, as a new biography by Elisabeth Galvin reveals. Her life began conventionally enough in 1858, the youngest of six children brought up in middle-class comfort in a large house in a pocket of countryside in South London. But when Edith was four, her adored father died suddenly. She never got over this loss: the theme of absent parents recurs in her books. In The Railway Children the siblings are eventually reunited with their father, with Roberta shouting Oh! My Daddy, my Daddy! as she clings to him tightly, but for Edith, there would be no joyous reunion. A dislocated, unsettled childhood ensued, as her mother went abroad searching for a tuberculosis cure for Ediths elder sister Mary, leaving a lonely Edith farmed out to a series of boarding schools in England and Europe.

Ediths philandering husband Hubert; they married when she was seven months pregnant

A timid but talented child, she began writing poetry for magazines as a teenager to help the familys precarious finances. Her career had begun to take off when, aged 19, she became engaged to a young bank clerk. He made the mistake of introducing her to his charismatic colleague, Hubert Bland. Tall and handsome, Hubert oozed confidence and hid his cockney roots behind a sophisticated facade. He was both a social climber and a socialist, fiercely ambitious and utterly selfish.

Edith fell madly in love with Hubert, broke off her engagement and, disregarding her mothers warnings that Hubert was untrustworthy, let him seduce her. They married when Edith was seven months pregnant  a scandalous situation for a Victorian bride, so she had to hide away during her pregnancy. Even after the wedding they mainly lived apart, with Edith renting lodgings in Blackheath and Hubert remaining in Woolwich with his mother and her live-in companion, a young woman named Maggie Doran. Edith had no idea that during their courtship, Hubert had also been sleeping with Maggie, and proposed to her too. The two women gave birth to Huberts children within months of each other, but Edith had no idea of Maggies existence.

When she eventually discovered the truth, rather than raging at Maggie, Edith became friends with her. She did not blame Hubert either  at least not then  instead putting a brave face on the betrayal by adopting a bohemian attitude to life. She and Hubert declared that marriage was a bourgeois convention: they loved each other more deeply than anyone else, so it was inconsequential how many other people entered into the equation  although Huberts prodigious sexual appetite would put this to the test. His affair with Maggie continued for ten years.

Hubert had become an entrepreneur, but his business failed, leaving him penniless. Edith became the breadwinner, staying up late at night while her baby, Paul, slept to write love stories that she sold to magazines  just like Mother in The Railway Children  and paint handmade greetings cards. One day, pregnant again, cold, hungry and exhausted, she knocked on the office door of a Fleet Street magazine. The journalist who opened it was a Yorkshire woman named Alice Hoatson, who promised to look at her story.

This meeting changed both their lives. Alice not only accepted the story, she soon began staying the night with Edith whenever Hubert was away, helping her with her greetings cards and domestic chores. Edith was beautiful and extrovert, Alice was introverted and mouse-like, but they became best friends. Soon Edith introduced Alice to Hubert, who was now making a name for himself as a political journalist for socialist newspapers  he and Edith were founder members of the socialist Fabian Society. Edith and Hubert collaborated on several short stories, and a novel in which a woman named Alice becomes pregnant by her socialist lover, which turned out to be all too prophetic.

Ediths own lovers included George Bernard Shaw

After two more children, Iris and Fabian, Edith became pregnant for a fourth time. When the baby was stillborn, Edith was nearly deranged with grief and, shortly after, Alice moved in with the family to help her heartbroken friend. Edith couldnt have suspected that Alice was harbouring a terrible secret: she was carrying Huberts child, his fifth by three different women.

Alice confessed her pregnancy to Edith but at first did not name the father. A sympathetic Edith promised to help her friend conceal the pregnancy, as she had once done herself. To avoid scandal, she offered to adopt Alices baby and pass it off as her own in public. Alice agreed, and after she gave birth, in 1886, putting another mans name on the birth certificate, she and her daughter Rosamund became part of the Bland household.

According to Rosamund, it was not until six months later that Edith discovered the truth: There was, quite naturally, a hell of a scene. Edith threatened to throw out Alice and Rosamund, whereupon Hubert said in that case, he would go too. Edith backed down, and brought up Rosamund as her own.

Young poet Richard Le Gallienne, another of her dalliances, was captivated by Ediths unconventionality

It was my own fault, Edith wrote afterwards. I might have prevented the opportunity. But even if she had not introduced Hubert to Alice, she would never have had him to herself; he was a compulsive philanderer. In addition to Edith, Alice and Maggie, he had 15 lovers.

Edith and Hubert were generous and gregarious, gathering round them a circle of artists and writers including playwright Oscar Wilde and authors E M Forster and Joseph Conrad. They threw extravagant parties and held racy debates, including one about nudity which caused a scandal as it featured a young woman reclining naked on a tiger skin  probably Huberts idea.

So far, Edith had been rather a passive participant in free love, but she now began to even the score with Hubert, embarking on a series of romantic affairs with young writers whom she mentored. Some of these relationships may have been platonic rather than passionate, such as her fling with George Bernard Shaw, who she met through the Fabian Society. Shaw would be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925, but in 1886, when he and Edith struck up a relationship, he was a struggling writer, while she was striking, successful and sophisticated. They walked and talked late into the night, and she became entranced by him. But he was involved with several other women and Edith, angry that he would not consummate the affair, told him: You had no right to write the preface if you were not going to write the book.

Its likely her other lovers were less reserved. The young poet Richard Le Gallienne was captivated by Ediths beauty and unconventional style  she refused to wear a corset and cut her hair boyishly short, drifting around in flowing robes, her wrists jangling with bangles  and she contemplated leaving Hubert for him.

A young accountant, Noel Griffith, was the next to be dazzled by her, although he found her menage a trois with Alice and Hubert bizarre, observing that Alice seemed uncomfortable and that Edith found Alice irritating. The only real beneficiary was Hubert, who was very hot-blooded and abnormally sexual  which didnt stop him moralising about the importance of fidelity in his newspaper columns. Meanwhile, Edith let her children run wild, playing on the railway, and turned a blind eye to domestic chaos.

Ediths book The Story of The Treasure Seekers, published in 1899, was the turning point in her career. Unlike most Victorian childrens books, it wasnt pious or preachy but brilliantly captured how children thought and spoke. It made her rich and the family moved to a huge house in the country. Edith was thrilled to become pregnant again at 41 and distraught when she miscarried. Adding salt to the wound, Alice gave birth not long afterwards to a healthy son named John  fathered by Hubert, now a dad of six.

Edith's reputation (and fortune) was made in 1899 with The Story of the Treasure Seekers, and Five Children and It (1902) continued the success

Once again, Edith decided that she would rather share Hubert with Alice than not have him, so she adopted John as her own. While she had always treated Rosamund differently from the other children, she adored John.

But the strain of maintaining the happy family facade alongside their extravagant lifestyle began to take its toll. Edith chain-smoked and sometimes exploded in terrible rages. The only person who could calm her down was Hubert. Not even he, though, could help when the family suffered an unexpected, devastating blow. In 1900, 15-year-old Fabian had to have his tonsils removed under general anaesthetic. In the chaotic household, neither Edith nor Hubert had remembered that Fabian should not eat before the anaesthetic.

Hubert went to his bedroom to check on him and found his body cold and lifeless. He was thought to have choked on his vomit. Alice came running, followed by Edith who tried desperately to revive him, but it was no good. In her anguish, she screamed at Hubert, Why couldnt it have been Rosamund? The poor girl overheard and guessed there was some secret surrounding her birth. When she learned the truth, she never forgave Edith.

Edith and Huberts son Fabian, top, whose death at 15 spurred her most productive period of writing

Hubert and Alices children Rosamund, left, and John, right, with Alice

Edith descended into near madness in her grief and guilt. Her only remedy was to write at a ferocious rate. Over the next seven years she produced her greatest books, including Five Children and It, which became a trilogy, the characters based on her own children, while in The Railway Children, published in 1906, she depicted an angelic mother and a loyal father.

Overshadowed by his wifes success and distraught with grief, Hubert sought solace in Catholicism. Rosamund, desperate to escape the fraught domestic atmosphere  and what she termed the unfatherly attentions of Hubert  began an affair with the married writer H G Wells, a friend of her parents, and planned to run away with him. Hubert caught up with them at Paddington Station and promptly punched Wells, ending the elopement.

Ediths most famous novel The Railway Children was made into a film in 1970

Ediths career then began to falter, along with her health after years of smoking. Hubert too became frail, going blind and dying aged 59. He managed one last betrayal from beyond the grave, cutting Edith out of his will and leaving his money only to his children by Alice. Alice remained living with Edith for several years afterwards, and was still known as Auntie by Rosamund and John.

Ediths relationship with her children was strained and she seemed destined to end her days lonely and miserable. But she was rescued by a fellow socialist, a cockney barge captain named Tommy Tucker, who became her friend and then her second husband. They lived modestly and happily by the Kent seaside and she wrote, For the first time in my life I know what it is to possess a mans whole heart. She died in 1924 aged 65. In her will she divided her property between her own surviving children, Iris and Paul, ignoring Rosamund and John, to settle the score.

Edith found a soulmate in second husband Tommy Tucker

As a love-struck young girl, Edith had once doodled her name and Huberts, entwined in a notebook. Years later, she wrote in dark ink beside them, Deeply regretted.

It is a bitter postscript that speaks volumes. But without the misery caused by Huberts philandering and the subterfuge over his illegitimate children, and her own sorrow and guilt over Fabians death, perhaps Edith would not have been driven to create the cheerful fantasies into which she could escape, filled with loyal, loving families of happy children and devoted parents whose conventional domestic lives contrasted so poignantly with her own.Most teenagers plead penury. But not all. Last month, one lucky 18-year-old was presented with an Aston Martin for his birthday.

Before the young man could drive the car, it needed insurance  costing Mum and Dad a hefty 4,000 a year.

The insurer was Sabre Insurance Group. The company floated on the stock market last December, the shares are 261p and should deliver both steady growth and generous dividends over the coming years.

Targets: Customers range from Ferrari-driving sportsmen to 17-year-old first drivers

Sabre pursues policies that other companies steer clear of  expensive cars, young drivers, gritty inner-city locations  all fall within its remit.

Customers range from Ferrari-driving sportsmen to 17-year-old first drivers to Porsche-owning bankers with previous speeding convictions.

As a result, Sabre's average annual premium is 700 compared to a 400 average for the rest of the motor market.

Every week, the group sells around 40 policies costing more than 4,000 a year and some are substantially higher than that  30,000 being the largest premium in recent months.

Focusing on quirky or non-standard drivers has important benefits. Most of the UK car insurance market is intensely competitive, with companies chasing new business on price comparison websites, often at the expense of profitability.

Sabre is different. The group is utterly focused on making profits. Chief executive Geoff Carter does not chase business for the sake of increasing sales.

Instead, he ensures that the premiums offered reflect the risks that the group is taking.

Since the company insures drivers that rivals avoid however, it can afford to charge higher prices and still win business.

As a result, it is more profitable than many peers and is expected to pay chunky dividends to shareholders.

A trading statement last week suggested that the company is on track for a strong 2018, with Carter hinting at a special dividend too  extra cash on top of the regular payout.

Brokers expect profits of 63.7 million this year, rising to 67.6 million in 2019. An ordinary dividend of 14.6p has been pencilled in for 2018, putting the shares on a 5.6 per cent yield.

A special dividend will add even more to the payout. Next year's dividend is forecast at 15.3p and this may well be boosted by another special payment.

Sabre traces its history back to the 1980s and has been involved in the non-standard side of the motor market for decades.

That has allowed the group to build an incredibly large data base, used to make accurate predictions about claims. Carter runs an extremely lean base from Sabre's headquarters in Dorking, Surrey.

The office is devoid of frills and fancy and top-notch software helps to bring down costs and improve pricing decisions.

Sabre also generates 70 per cent of its business from brokers so it incurs lower marketing costs than many competitors.

The rest comes from divisions such as DriveSmart, which offers telematics car insurance and Go Girl, which appeals to young female drivers (traditionally much less risky than young males).

Looking ahead, Sabre is expected to flourish even if the economic environment deteriorates.

Motor insurance is compulsory and non-standard motorists will always need to drive.

Sabre also has less than 2 per cent of the UK market so there is plenty of room for growth and Carter hopes to expand to other vehicles, such as vans and taxis.John Clifton 'Jack' Bogle is probably a name you are not familiar with, even if you love your money and see yourself as something of an accomplished investor.

But 'we'  investors that is  have a lot to thank this American octogenarian for.

This is because he is the gentleman who invented the 'passive' investment fund  a low-cost way of buying exposure to the performance of a mainstream stock market such as the FTSE 100 or All Share Index.

It is a fund designed to track a specific market, plain and simple, with no deviation from the market other than to account for charges.

Passive investing is growing in popularity

Without it, most of us would now be paying much more for having our investments managed and be less well off in the future as a result. In a nutshell, he has democratised investing. Three cheers for Bogle.

There is no doubt that Bogle's smart invention sparked a revolution in retail investment. Today, millions of people, here and in the United States, now hold passive funds as a matter of course.

In the UK, investors use them as the backbone of their pensions, Individual Savings Accounts and investment portfolios.

They allow more of our money to be invested rather than eaten away in fund fees, giving us the opportunity to build bigger investment pots. Many financial advisers swear blind by them.

Bogle came up with his investment brainwave when he set up fund management company Vanguard in 1974 from humble offices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Although he has long since retired, Vanguard now has assets in excess of $5 trillion (3.8 trillion), making it the world's second-largest investment house behind BlackRock.

Its success has been firmly built on the rock of the index-tracking investment fund. Other investment companies  the likes of BlackRock, Fidelity and Invesco  have had no choice but to jump on the passive bandwagon.

While Vanguard has made huge waves in the United States, it is only in the past nine years that it has ventured across the Atlantic to sell its wares in the UK.

As a result, it has always been playing catch-up with other established index trackers  from the likes of HSBC and Legal & General.

Initially, it targeted financial advisers with lots of clients' money looking for a home.

John Clifton 'Jack' Bogle is probably a name you are not familiar with

But since May 2017, Vanguard has parked its tanks firmly on the lawns of both the traditional online investment platforms (the Hargreaves Lansdowns of this world) and the asset managers (such as Fidelity, JPMorgan and Schroders).

It now wants to manage our money via its online based 'personal investor' service.

Through the account, investors can buy into a range of Vanguard funds, most of them index-tracking.

They can select funds with fixed mixes of equity and bond exposure  so called 'life strategy' funds  ranging from cautious (20 per cent equity exposure) through to aggressive (all equities).

Alternatively, they can opt for 'targeted' retirement funds where the risk of the underlying assets lowers as the chosen retirement age approaches.

Last week, the money invested through this platform broke through the 1 billion barrier.

'It is a privilege to have attracted so much money in so short a space of time,' says Nick Blake, head of personal investing at Vanguard. 'It shows that if you do the right thing as a business then you will be successful.'

Vanguard says its main attraction is cost, pointing out that every pound paid in fund fees by an investor is a pound out of their future returns.

An investor cannot control the stock market but they can determine what they pay to invest. Minimising cost makes an enormous difference to long term investment success.

According to independent financial research company The Lang Cat, a 50,000 investment via Vanguard's online platform into one of its life strategy funds will result in a total annual charge of 185.

This compares with 560 if the same investment was made via the 'average' priced platform  940 in the most expensive.

'We want to stand up for the investor and offer them a fair deal,' says Blake. 'We also want to break new ground and show investors that it does not have to be difficult to engage with financial services companies.'

Attracting a younger audience

Vanguard is encouraged that 43 per cent of its 30,000 Personal Investor customers are under the age of 35 while one in three are investing monthly.

Also, it appears that it is attracting new investors, not just those keen to transfer existing assets.

Personal Investor is not yet the finished product. For example, there is no facility to invest into a personal pension although that is likely to be corrected by the New Year or just after. It also does not offer the breadth of investment choices that is available from a rival platform such as Hargreaves Lansdown.

But it has certainly shaken up the UK's fund management industry and the online platform market, shining the spotlight on the huge fees most players routinely take from investors' portfolios.

Some investment companies have responded positively by reducing fund charges.

Meanwhile regulators appear keen to make platform charges more transparent and transferring funds between providers easier  moves that would play into the hands of a low-cost operator such as Vanguard.

'We would like to think we have done our bit to bring down charges on some rivals' index funds and to increase competition in the online platform market generally,' says Blake.

'When it comes to investment get togethers, we are often Billy No Mates but when nobody is speaking to me, I always think back to what Bogle once said: 'In investing, realise that you get what you don't pay for. Whatever future returns the markets are generous enough to deliver, few investors will succeed in capturing 100 per cent of those returns, simply because of the high costs of investing. So pare them to the bone.'

'That is our mission and it comforts me. Striving for value for money. All the time.'The boss of stricken chain Patisserie Valerie came under fire from City advisory groups for his controlling influence at the firm just months ahead of a crisis that engulfed it last week.

Reports obtained by The Mail on Sunday show that Luke Johnson was told in January his 37 per cent shareholding conflicted with his other roles at the company, which include executive chairman and a key position on the audit committee.

The former Channel 4 chairman, who made his 260million fortune by building up companies such as Pizza Express, is battling to save the cafe chain this weekend after a scandal that saw Chris Marsh, his finance director, arrested and released on bail.

Luke Johnson was told in January his 37 per cent shareholding conflicted with his other roles at the company

Serial investor Johnson offered Patisserie Holdings a 20 million lifeline loan on Friday after the company uncovered 'significant, and potentially fraudulent, accounting irregularities'.

Following an investigation, the company announced that it had a net debt of 9.8 million, rather than net cash of 28 million as previously reported.

Johnson's funding package was designed to meet the immediate needs of the business. Patisserie Valerie will now be under pressure to pay up front for deliveries.

But its full funding requirement was still not known when the company said it had raised around 15.7 million from investors.

City advisory groups warned about Johnson months ago. Reports sent to investors advised he was not a suitable executive chairman of Patisserie Holdings because his major shareholding raised questions about his 'independence'.

They expressed concerns that Johnson had fingers in too many pies.

Glass Lewis and Pirc told investors to vote against Johnson at the annual general meeting of Patisserie Holdings in January.

Glass Lewis also raised concerns about Johnson's other commitments, which include chairing the Brighton Pier Group.

A friend of Johnson said: 'If Patisserie Valerie hadn't had a large and very committed shareholder as chairman, 2,500 people would have been out of work this weekend.'

In February, Johnson slammed 'corporate governance zealots' like Glass Lewis and ISS after the latter said investors should vote him off the board of Elegant Hotels Group.

He suggested the groups were not equipped to give such advice and compared them to 'eunuchs giving sex lessons'.

He added: 'Surely it is helpful to have an unpaid non-executive director with more than 25 years' experience in the hospitality industry, especially when there are millions of pounds at stake.'Serious Fraud Office investigators are said to be mulling a fresh probe into the 1billion fraud at stricken Halifax Bank of Scotland

Investigators at the Serious Fraud Office are mulling a fresh probe into the 1billion fraud at stricken Halifax Bank of Scotland, it has been claimed.

The agency is said to be reviewing allegations contained in an internal report on the scandal, produced for parent Lloyds Bank.

The report  known as Project Lord Turnbull  claimed directors, including then-chief executive Andy Hornby, knew criminal staff at the lenders Reading branch were wrecking companies for a profit.

It also said bosses at HBOS tried to cook the books to make losses appear lower after discovering the fraud had cost the bank at least 800million.

The SFO refused to comment.National Savings & Investments, the Government's savings bank, is one of the country's most trusted financial brands.

You could argue such an accolade is not a difficult one to achieve given the propensity of banks to mis-sell, estate agents to lie and insurance companies to play hard ball over claims.

But praise where praise is due. National Savings remains much loved  a national treasure that has chugged along in one guise or another for 157 long years.

And it probably will do so for another 157 provided the country does not go to hell in a handcart as a result of Jeremy Corbyn being voted into Number 10 and the guy next door, John McDonnell, plunging the country back into the dark ages with his madcap spending plans.

Every month, Premium Bond holders have the chance of winning a prize, anything from 25 to 1 million

Even when National Savings does horrible, illogical things such as cut savings rates when everyone else is raising theirs, it seems to get off somewhat lightly (apart from in the pages of The Mail on Sunday).

Even the fact that ultimately it is a tool of Government policy  a way for HM Treasury to raise money  does not put off customers who normally run a mile when confronted with an arm of Government (for example, those tax grabbing people at HM Revenue & Customs).

It really is a financial port in a storm  there for savers through rain, hail, sleet, snow and sunshine.

As Charles Dickens once said of it back when it was known as the Post Office Savings Bank: 'If this doesn't make people save, nothing will.'

And, of course, with its much-loved Premium Bonds a constant hit with savers, there is always the chance  a hugely unlikely one  that Agent Million will come knocking on your front door with news that you have just won one of two monthly 1 million prizes.

Today, 25 million of us, young and old, have a bit  or a lot  of money tied up in this Government savings organisation.

Some 157 billion, more than that saved through the country's largest building society Nationwide. Here are four reasons why National Savings should be part of your savings armoury.

NS&I really is a financial port in a storm  there for savers through rain, hail, sleet, snow and sunshine

1. All your money is protected

Until the financial crisis of 2008 knocked the country for six, everyone assumed that money saved in a bank or building society  even an Icelandic bank  was nigh on 100 per cent safe.

But Northern Rock's collapse  triggering queues of nervous savers outside the bank's branches desperate to get their money out  and that of Icesave put paid to that theory.

Although some good came out of these calamitous events with a remodelling of the savings safety net  the Financial Services Compensation Scheme  it now means there is a clear divide between savings with banks and building societies and those with National Savings.

Save with a bank or building society and a maximum 85,000 of your savings are protected.

Save with National Savings and all your money is underpinned by HM Treasury. As National Savings, not frightened to blow its own trumpet, likes to remind visitors to its website: 'We're 100 per cent secure.'

This absolute security is a big draw with savers.

2. You could win big with Premium Bonds

Talking of draws, there is nothing quite like the Premium Bond in today's savings market  although Halifax, part of the mighty Lloyds Bank, offers something vaguely similar (but much smaller in scope) with its monthly savers' prize draw.

Every month, Premium Bond holders have the chance of winning a prize, anything from 25 to 1 million, if computer 'Ernie' selects one of their bond numbers.

For those who like their history, Ernie was originally modelled on a computer developed by those brilliant codebreakers at Bletchley Park during the Second World War.

This month alone, Ernie awarded more than three million prizes, totalling close to 90 million. That is equivalent to an average annual prize fund rate of 1.4 per cent.

And yes, before you ask, the returns are tax-free (no need to let HM Revenue & Customs know).

Almost everyone I meet  friends, foes, relatives, financial advisers, even my normally indifferent boys (all in their 20s)  loves Premium Bonds.

In nearly all cases, it is all about the thrill of seeing an envelope lying on your doormat that is clearly not junk but containing a 'warrant' (don't panic, a glorified cheque) from National Savings. 25? Probably. 50? If you are lucky.

But it does not really matter. You feel a winner.

Anna Bowes is a director of Savings Champion. She spends her working life identifying best-rate savings accounts for clients  and saving her own money in such deals. Rather ineloquently, she calls herself a 'rate tart'.

But she admits to having a real soft spot for Premium Bonds. 'I love them,' she says. 'It is fun waiting to see if you have won a prize and how much it is.'

Next month, Premium Bonds are 62 years old. In December, Agent Million (whose identity is kept under wraps for security and confidentiality reasons) will knock on some lucky person's door and announce they are Ernie's 400th millionaire. It could be you.

You can buy the bonds online, over the phone or by post. You can even automatically reinvest any winnings.

Maximum holding is 50,000  a generous amount although currently more than 500,000 people hold bonds to this amount. Premium Bonds are the jewel in National Savings' crown.

3. Income bonds beat the High Street

Not every National Savings product has sex appeal. Far from it. In recent months, the organisation has done some really half-baked things.

These include cutting the amount new savers can hold in its guaranteed income and growth bonds from 1 million to 10,000 an issue.

It has also just cut its Direct Isa rate from one to 0.75 per cent despite the recent base rate rise. On the surface, these moves are indefensible but they reflect more the fact that the savings organisation is a victim of its own success.

This is because every year HM Treasury sets National Savings a target of net money it must raise from savers (new money minus withdrawals).

This year's target is 6 billion. One quarter in, it was already half way towards this target so it was inevitable it had to turn the tap off by cutting some rates and restricting inflows.

Of its products currently on sale besides Premium Bonds, probably income bonds are the pick of the bunch.

Despite being an arm of Government, National Savings is surprisingly modern and efficient

These pay monthly income on balances up to 1 million, equivalent to 1.15 per cent gross.

Far superior to anything comparable on the high street (so says Savings Champion's Anna Bowes) and attractive to wealthy people, given they can invest up to 1 million with full Government protection.

The same argument applies to Direct Saver, paying one per cent, where the savings limit is 2 million.

Patrick Connolly, a chartered financial planner with Chase de Vere, says Premium Bonds, Income Bonds and Direct Saver are perfect for 'older or retired clients who are more interested in the return of their capital than the return on their capital'.

4. Cutting edge appeal to younger savers

Despite being an arm of Government, National Savings is surprisingly modern and efficient.

Its chief executive, Ian Ackerley, is ex-Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays (don't hold that against him) and is constantly seeking to make the organisation more customer friendly.

Prompted by a new 'inspire and invest' strategy, Ackerley is looking to make National Savings appeal more to younger savers  through the use of apps and new products. Various strategies are being employed to get people interested in saving from an early age.

All Premium Bond holders can now check whether they are a prize winner via an app  and it will not be long before the same app will allow savers to buy more bonds and, in time, all National Savings products.

Through adverts, parents and grandparents are also being encouraged to gift Premium Bonds to children. Soon, this will be extended to adults who want to buy premium bonds on behalf of godchildren or children of close friends.

And you never know, Philip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer, may well use his Budget in just over two weeks' time to announce a new National Savings product. He did this in November 2016 when he unveiled a new investment bond.

I pressed Ackerley on the subject when I met him over green juice six days ago. Sadly, he remained tight-lipped.Manuel Noriega, the former military ruler of Panama who was ousted by a US invasion in 1989, has died aged 83, according to the country's President.

Juan Carlos Varela announced Noriega's death on Twitter late on Monday, and said his passing marked the closing of a chapter in Panama's history.

Noriega had suffered a brain haemorrhage following the first of two surgeries to remove a benign brain tumour in March.

The former dictator, who ruled the Central American nation from 1983 to 1989, was released from prison in January and transferred to house arrest in Panama for the first time in three decades ahead of his operation.

Scroll down for video

General Manuel Antonio Noriega speaks 1988 in Panama City during the presentation of colors to the San Miguel Arcangel de San Miguelito volunteer batallion. Panamanian authorities reported his death early on Tuesday morning

Recent sighting: Panamanian ex-dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega (in the red cap), arrives home after being placed under house arrest for three months in Panama City in January this year, just weeks before he was due to undergo surgery for a brain tumor

President Juan Carlos Varela tweeted early Tuesday morning: 'The death of Manuel A. Noriega Closes a chapter in our history; his daughters and their families deserve a burial in peace'

Noriega, who spied for the CIA before his drug trafficking and brutal regime sparked a US invasion in 1989, initially served a 17-year drug sentence in America and was later sent to face charges in France.

The final years of his life were spent in a Panamanian prison for murder of political opponents during his 1983-89 regime.

He accused Washington of a 'conspiracy' to keep him behind bars and tied his legal troubles to his refusal to cooperate with a US plan aimed at toppling Nicaragua's leftist Sandinista government in the 1980s.

In recent years Noriega suffered various ailments including high blood pressure and bronchitis.

In 2016, doctors detected the rapid growth of a benign brain tumor that had first been spotted four years earlier, and in the following January a court granted him house arrest to prepare for surgery on the tumor.

He is survived by his wife Felicidad and daughters Lorena, Thays and Sandra.

Following Noriega's ouster Panama underwent huge changes, taking over the Panama Canal from US control in 1999, vastly expanding the waterway and enjoying a boom in tourism and real estate.

Panamanian police officers enter the emergency section of the Santo Tomas Hospital in Panama City this morning

Mugshots years apart: Noriega, in a mugshot left in Miami in 1990 and right December 2011, taken at El Renacer penitentiary

Noriega arrives at Renacer prison, south east of Panama City, in December 2011; He was sent to France in 2010 and convicted in money laundering charges. The following year he was extradited to Panama where he was sentenced for disappearance of political opponents

Today the Central American nation has little in common with the bombed-out neighborhoods where Noriega hid during the 1989 invasion, before being famously smoked out of his refuge at the Vatican Embassy by incessant, loud rock music blared by U.S. troops.

Known mockingly as 'Pineapple Face' for his pockmarked complexion, Manuel Antonio Noriega was born poor in Panama City on February 11, 1934, and was raised by foster parents.

He joined Panama's Defense Forces in 1962 and steadily rose through the ranks, mainly through loyalty to his mentor, General Omar Torrijos, who became Panama's de facto leader after a 1968 coup.

FROM DICTATOR TO DETAINEE: NORIEGA'S TURBULENT PAST The late Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, who rose to power while working for the CIA, ruled ruthlessly 1983-1989 and was ousted by a US military invasion. Noriega, 83, died late Monday in a Panama City hospital as he was recovering from surgery to remove a brain tumor. Here are some notable moments of Noriega's life: February 11, 1934: Noriega is born to a poor family in Panama City's Guachimango district. He goes on to graduate from a military academy in Peru and embarks on a military career. 1968: Participates in a coup that ousts president Arnulfo Arias, and backs popular strongman general Omar Torrijos. Around this time Noriega reportedly goes onto the CIA's payroll. Torrijos makes him chief of Panama's military intelligence. 1983: Noriega takes command of the National Guard and becomes Panama's de facto ruler, two years after Torrijos dies in a mysterious plane crash. December 20, 1989: US forces invade Panama to oust Noriega, accusing him of drug trafficking. Noriega takes refuge in the Vatican embassy for 10 days, then surrenders to the US soldiers, who take him to the United States. 1992: A US court sentences Noriega to 40 years prison for drug trafficking. The sentence is later cut to 17 years. April 2010: Noriega is extradited to France, where he faces charges of laundering $3 million from the Medellin drug cartel through French banks. July 2010: A French court sentences Noriega to seven years in prison. December 11, 2011: France extradites Noriega to Panama, where he was sentenced in absentia to three 20-year prison sentences for the murder of opponent Hugo Spadafora and military commander Moises Giroldi, and for killing rebellious soldiers trying to overthrow him in what became known as the Albrook massacre. January 28, 2017: A Panama court agrees to temporarily release Noriega to house arrest to prepare for surgery to remove a benign brain tumor. The ex-dictator's family and lawyers say he has suffered strokes, respiratory problems, prostate cancer and depression. March 7, 2017: Doctors remove the brain tumor, but complications lead to cerebral bleeding. Following a second operation doctors put him in an induced coma. May 29, 2017: Noriega dies at the San Tomas public hospital. Advertisement

As Torrijos' intelligence chief, Noriega monitored political opponents and developed close ties with U.S. intelligence agencies guarding against possible threats to the canal.

Two years after Torrijos died in a mysterious plane crash in 1981, Noriega became the head of the armed forces and Panama's de facto ruler.

Noriega ruled with an iron fist, ordering the deaths of those who opposed him and maintaining a murky, close and conflictive relationship with the United States.

At the apex of his power he wielded great influence outside the country as well thanks to longstanding relationships with spy agencies around the world, said R.M. Koster, an American novelist and biographer of Noriega who has lived in Panama for decades.

US soldiers secure a position outside the Vatican embassy in Panama City when Noriega was seeking asylum during Operation Just Cause, on December 24, 1989. He only surrendered when the Americans played loud rock music for days

Merry christmas! The US invaded in an attempt to remove Noriega and bring him to the US for trial on drug charges; Noriega was extradited to the US and spent nearly 20 years in prison in Florida after being convicted on drug trafficking charges

US troops patrol the streets and clear debris in the area of the Panamanian Defense Force headquarters in Panama City during Operation Just Cause, on December 26, 1989

Noriega was considered a valued CIA asset and was paid millions of dollars for assistance to the U.S. throughout Latin America, including acting as a liaison to Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Noriega also helped the US seize drugs at sea and track money laundering in Panama's banks, and reported on guerrilla and terrorist activities.

Washington ultimately soured on him, especially after a top political opponent was killed in 1985 and Noriega appeared to join forces with Latin American drug traffickers.

Foes in the Panamanian military attempted several coups but failed, and their leaders were summarily executed by firing squad.

With the knowledge of U.S. officials, Noriega had formed 'the hemisphere's first narcokleptocracy,' a U.S. Senate subcommittee report said, calling him, 'the best example in recent U.S. foreign policy of how a foreign leader is able to manipulate the United States to the detriment of our own interests.'

The beginning of his downfall came in 1988 when federal grand juries in the Florida cities of Miami and Tampa indicted Noriega on drug-trafficking charges.

Initially he reacted with defiance, thumbing his nose at US economic sanctions designed to drive him from power. He famously waved a machete at a rally while vowing not to leave, and in 1989 he nullified elections that observers say were handily won by the opposition.

Noriega (pictured in 1989) helped the US seize drugs at sea and track money laundering in Panama's banks, and reported on guerrilla and terrorist activities

Washington ultimately soured on Noriega (pictured in 1989), especially after a top political opponent was killed in 1985 and Noriega appeared to join forces with Latin American drug traffickers

US President George H.W. Bush ordered the invasion in December 1989, and Noriega was captured and taken to Miami.

During the operation, 23 US military personnel died and 320 were wounded, and the Pentagon estimated 200 Panamanian civilians and 314 soldiers were killed.

Prosecutors accused Noriega of helping Colombia's Medellin cocaine cartel ship 'tons and tons of a deadly white powder' to the United States.

The defense cited court documents describing him as the 'CIA's man in Panama' and argued that the indictment 'smells all the way from here to Washington.'

Jurors convicted Noriega in April 1992 of eight of 10 charges. Under the judge's instructions, they were told not to consider the political side of the case - including whether the U.S. had the right to invade Panama and bring Noriega to trial in the first place.

During his years at a minimum-security federal prison outside Miami, Noriega got special POW treatment, allowed to wear his Panamanian military uniform and insignia when in court.

He lived in a bungalow apart from other inmates and had his own television and exercise equipment. He was said to be a TV news junkie and a voracious reader about politics and current events.

After completing his 17-year sentence in 2007, Noriega was extradited to France and received a seven-year sentence for money laundering.

Despite amassing great wealth, Noriega had worked hard to cultivate an image of a man of the people

FILE - In this July 5, 1986 file photo, Miss USA, Christy Fichtner, left, and Miss Panama, Gilda Garcia Lopez, salute while flanking General Manuel Antonio Noriega in Panama City. Pictured right is Miss Colombia, Maria Monica Urbina. A source close to the family of former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega said Monday, May 29, 2017, that he has died at age 83. (AP Photo/Jim Ellis, File)

George H Bush (second from right) and Manuel Noriega (right) are pictured during a meeting in Panama in 1983

But Panama wanted Noriega to return to face in-absentia convictions and two prison terms of 20 years for embezzlement, corruption and murder of opponents, including military commander Moises Giroldi, who led a failed rebellion on October 3, 1989, and Hugo Spadafora, whose decapitated body was found in a mailbag on the border with Costa Rica in 1985.

In mid-2011, France approved his extradition to Panama.

Despite amassing great wealth, Noriega had worked hard to cultivate an image of a man of the people.

He lived in a modest, two-story home in an upper-middle-class neighborhood in Panama City that stood in stark contrast with the opulent mansions customary among Latin American dictators.

'He would only say `hello' very respectfully,' said German Sanchez, who lived next door for 16 years. 'You may think what you like of Noriega, but we can't say he was anything but respectful toward his neighbors.'

'The humble, the poor, the blacks, they are the utmost authority,' Noriega said in one speech.

While some resentment lingers over the U.S. invasion, Noriega has so few supporters in modern-day Panama that attempts to auction off his old home attracted no bidders and the government decided to demolish decaying building down.

Late in life, the ex-dictator essentially had zero influence over his country from behind bars.

Manuel Noriega watches as U.S. Drug Enforcement Agents place chains around his waist aboard a C-130 transport plane in 1990

Manuel Noriega lived in a modest, two-story home in an upper-middle-class neighborhood in Panama City that stood in stark contrast with the opulent mansions customary among Latin American dictators. He is pictured with his daughter

Noriega (right) is pictured ahead of going on trial in Paris, France in 2010 accused of using French bank accounts to launder bribes from a Colombian cocaine cartel in the late 1980s

'He is not a figure with political possibilities,' University of Panama sociologist Raul Leis said in 2008.

'Even though there's a small sector that yearns for the Noriega era, it is not a representative figure in the country.'

In 2014, Noriega reportedly sued the makers of the computer game Call Of Duty after they named a treacherous character Manuel Noriega and also referred to him as Old Pineapple Face.

Noriega broke a long silence in June 2015 when he made a statement from prison on Panamanian television in which he asked forgiveness of those harmed by his regime.

'I feel like as Christians we all have to forgive,' he said, reading from a handwritten statement. 'The Panamanian people have already overcome this period of dictatorship.'

But for the most part Noriega stayed mum about elite military and civilian associates who thrived on the corruption that he helped instill - and which still plagues the Central American nation of some 3.9 million people, a favored transshipment point for drugs and a haven for money laundering.

'He kept his mouth shut and died for the sins of others,' Koster, the biographer, said in a 2014 interview. 'Nobody else ever went to prison.'

Meanwhile, families of more than 100 who were killed or disappeared during his rule are still seeking justice.It's the great prosperity divide of Australia.

While the big cities are getting richer and healthier, six million Australians who live outside them are increasingly broke, unemployed, and lacking in basic services.

Regional Australians have poorer education, 18 per cent less disposable income, almost 30 per cent less wealth - and even die on average two years earlier than their city cousins.

Some researchers even compare rural Australia to 'a third world country' with so few services available within a reasonable distance.

Regional Australians have less education, 18 per cent less disposable income, almost 30 per cent less wealth - and even die two years earlier (Hervey Bay in Queensland pictured)

There is also concern that Federal Government plans to force immigrants and refugees to live outside of major cities like Sydney and Melbourne, to ease overcrowding, will place even more pressure on already stretched services and infrastructure in regional areas.

The great divide between city and country has become so stark, Federal Parliament commissioned an inquiry by the Senate Economics References Committee into regional inequality.

More than 120 submissions to the inquiry detail the grim reality of living outside of Australia's cities in almost every facet of daily life.

Income and finances

Average household disposable income outside capital cities is just $880 a week, 18 per cent lower than in capital cities, Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows.

Net worth disparity was even greater, with families in capital cities having accumulated more than $1 million each - 29 per cent more than in the country.

Australians living in regional areas die two years earlier on average, and are more likely to suffer from obesity problems, which often leads to complications with diabetes

A Northern Territory Government survey noted that a basket of groceries cost $824 in remote stores, compared to $558 in district centre supermarkets.

They also had to drive much longer distances in areas with more expensive petrol, blowing out their transport bill to much higher than in the city.

The Garvan Research Foundation found about 39 per cent of people living in remote areas have low socio-economic status, compared to 24 per cent in regional areas and 17 per cent in major cities.

Unemployment

With jobs scarce and education less available, unemployment is more than twice as high in remote areas compared to the big cities.

Regional Australians are also more likely to live in single parent families, be on welfare, or work low-income, lower-skilled jobs.

Youth unemployment was almost double that of major cities at 20 per cent in many regions, and up to 65 per cent in parts of North Queensland.

Rates in outback Queensland doubled to 67.1 per cent between 2016 and 2018.

Indicators of inequality increased the farther away from the city people lived, with those in remote locations the worst off

Education

Other indicators of inequality increased the farther away from the city people lived, with those in remote locations the worst off.

Students were often forced to travel hours every day to school, or spend thousands every year on boarding schools.

Submissions by local councils, universities, and advocacy groups noted access to education was a major source of inequality.

Regional inequality in a nutshell Lower levels of education

Lower levels of employment and lower household incomes

Higher rates of inadequate housing

Higher occupational risks and hazards, including physical risks and workplace pressures and stressors associated with farming and mining

The need for more long-distance travel

Poorer access to fresh foods

Poorer access to health services Source: Garvan Research Foundation Advertisement

An independent Federal Government review earlier this year found a 'persistent relationship between location and educational outcomes'.

'The achievements of students from rural, regional and remote areas have in the main lagged behind urban students for decades,' it found.

Just two per cent of Year 3 students in cities are below the national minimum reading standard, but this rises to five per cent in outer regional areas.

Farther out, it jumped dramatically to 12 per cent in remote areas and 36 per cent in the most remote parts of the country, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.

Even more concerning was the percentage of children considered developmentally vulnerable in at least one area doubled from 21 to 42 per cent.

Beyond school, 64.1 per cent of 20-24-year olds have at least a Certificate III, dropping 8 to 12 per cent in rural and regional areas.

The University of Queensland noted offer acceptance rates for regional university students were noticeably lower than metro ones, indicating they couldn't afford to move to the city to study.

Health

Access to healthcare is one of the more glaring points of division between city and country, and pushes the people who live there into an early grave.

Life expectancy is more than two years fewer in regional areas than in cities, and residents are more likely to die prematurely from numerous medical conditions.

They included cardiovascular diseases, cancers, respiratory system diseases and diabetes, along with car accidents.

The total mortality rate per 100,000 people was 528 in cities, compared with up to 782 in remote areas.

People living in regional Australia have higher rates of arthritis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, blindness, deafness, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and mental health problems

Age-standardised rates demonstrated that Indigenous Aboriginals in very remote areas were 1.5 times as likely as Aboriginals in major cities to die prematurely

People living in regional Australia have higher rates of arthritis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, blindness, deafness, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and mental health problems.

Aboriginals living in remote areas are also more likely to have heart disease and diabetes than those living in non-remote areas.

Regional Australians were also in poorer health in general, and smoked more, drank heavily, exercised less, and were more likely to be overweight or obese and have high blood pressure.

The problem is far worse because there were so few doctors and other medical professionals working outside cities.

Submissions form the Australian Medical Association, state health bodies, and rural health professionals groups pointed to a lack of incentives and support for the shortage.

Regional Australians were also in poorer health in general, and smoked more, drank heavily, exercised less, and were more likely to be overweight or obese and have high blood pressure

The number of full time equivalent doctors per 100,000 people in major cities is 437, but only 272 in outer regional areas, and 264 in very remote areas.

'There is significant inequality between rural and urban populations,' the NSW Rural Doctors Network said.

'Unlike urban centres, health services contribute in a significant way to sustaining rural communities.'

Specialists were in even shorter supply with half as many GPs and almost three times as few dentists per capita than cities.

Lack of dentists means childhood cavities are 55 per cent higher for remote area children than for children in major cities, and the number of filled teeth in remote area children is also double that of city children,

Just 45 per cent of adults in remote areas visited a dentist in a year, compared to 63 per cent of adults in major cities.

'The difference in health outcomes is frightening,' a dentist with decades of experience around regional Australia told the National Rural Health Alliance.

So many maternity centres closed in remote areas that the number of babies born by the side of the road skyrocketed as mothers couldn't make it to their nearest one.

Life expectancy is more than two years fewer in regional areas than in cities, and residents are more likely to die prematurely from numerous medical conditions

As a result, regional Australians have access to a GP half as much as those in cities, a third as much to allied health professionals, and a fifth as much to specialists.

'On a daily basis, customers would come in for a drug they absolutely required, and we had to tell them it would not be available for several days,' a pharmacist in Albany, WA, said.

'On top of this, medications are usually much more expensive in regional areas. I have seen pensioners decide on the spot which medication they are going to sacrifice for a month because they simply cannot afford what they need.'

A patient from Gloucester, NSW, said he had to wait at least three months before he could have a simple laparoscopy.

'This is because there are only two doctors at the hospital doing this type of surgery. I am experiencing excruciating pain and cannot even get out of bed to go to school some days,' he said.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service found 201 Australian local government areas (coloured in red) did not have a single registered psychologist

Aged care is also under massive pressure as 34 per cent of people over the age of 65 living in regional and remote Australia.

Rates of mental health were also substantially higher, along with suicide, especially among young men aged 15 to 24 where it makes up 31 per cent of deaths.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service found 201 Australian local government areas did not have a single registered psychologist.

'There is a limited supply of specialist mental health professionals, with significantly fewer psychiatrists, psychologists and mental health nurses per head of population in remote and rural areas,' it wrote.

Infrastructure and services

Dozens of local councils said in their submissions they were buckling under the strain of providing services to dwindling populations.

Many councils in remote areas were unable to maintain even their gravel roads, especially after they were damaged by extreme weather.

Regional areas, even just in the northwestern slopes of NSW, do not have access to running water, sewer service, or sealed roads, Dr Joseph Drew and Professor Roberta Ryan from the University of Technology Sydney wrote.

Australians living outside the major capital cities are also more likely to be broke, having 18 per cent less disposable income

Basic services such as education, law enforcement, mail, and health required hours of travel to access, even inside National Party electorates previously held by former deputy prime ministers Barnaby Joyce and John Anderson.

'One could be mistaken for thinking [it was] in a third world country, rather than the electorate of the former Deputy Prime Minister,' they wrote.

'Also it is often the case that reliable grid electricity and telecommunications are not available to many rural and remote residents.

'Notably, all urban areas have access to this sort of infrastructure, including regions on the urban fringe.'

Local councils said lack of infrastructure made it difficult to attract and keep businesses in the area providing good and services along with jobs.

They all called for more engagement between levels of government, and more grants to improve infrastructure in the regions.

How will refugees live there?

The government's plan to force refugees and immigrants to move to regional areas and smaller cities was mocked by Dick Smith as unworkable due to the lack of jobs.

He claimed many Australians in cities would 'run' to smaller, less crowded and congested towns if jobs existed.

'You've got to be joking. They'll go to the country towns and there'll be no work and they'll go on the dole,' he said of immigrants forced to go there.

While mining towns (like Weipa in far north Queensland) were providing work, most regional areas had significantly higher unemployment

Rural Australians for Refugees, which advocated refugees moving to the country, was hesitant about plans to send them there on mass even before the plan was announced.

It warned against the lack of engagement with local communities in the 'apparent increasing efforts to locate refugee outside of metro areas'

'[This] appears without consideration of how the structures and general population may be affected,' it wrote.

'They are particularly concerned about the possibility of costs shifting onto communities, whether by intention or design.

'In circumstances where they are already struggling for equity in basic service delivery or because of infrastructure deficits and the tyranny of distance.'

It also said resettling groups of refugees without family or connections would put more pressure on the individuals and regional communities.

RAFR said when properly supported, refugees integrated better into regional areas than cities where they may find challenges finding affordable housing and have long commute times.

Shrinking regions

However, the Grattan Institute warned against trying to combat regional inequality by promoting economic growth in most regional areas.

It pointed out that Australia was becoming increasingly urbanised in a trend that was impossible to fight.

Eighty per cent of Australia's population lived in just one per cent of its land mass, and people from remote areas were moving closer to them.

Grattan argued this was a 'structural change' in Australia's economy, where service jobs jumped from 50 to 80 per cent of all workers in the past 50 years.

This was coupled with the closing of manufacturing plants and other blue-collar employment centres outside of mining.

It said governments wasted $2 billion trying to promote growth in regional areas, with very little to show for it.

'Governments cant push economic water uphill. But they can smooth the transition by ensuring our regions have access to good-quality services,' it wrote.

Grattan advised directing funds to bigger regional centres that were growing from people moving in from more remote areas.

Funding and investment would then be tied to population growth, though remote areas should still have better access to vital services.A 22-year-old Florida man has been ordered to stay at least 500 feet away from his mother at all times when he leaves police custody after being charged with domestic battery related to a dispute that began with a sausage feast.

Hermes Callejas-Gasperin was arrested and charged for the abuse at their home in Bradenton Monday, after he lashed out at his 41-year-old parent over dinner, reports The Smoking Gun.

The incident took place around 8pm when the accused got angry when his mother asked him 'to give her a few minutes due to being busy' before she whipped up a meal, states a document from the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.

Hermes Callejas-Gasperin was arrested and charged for the abuse at home in Bradenton, Florida Monday, after he lashed out at his 41-year-old mother over dinner (he is pictured left in a mugshot this week and right from a separate incident in June 2018)

It escalated when the unemployed man hurled the contents of a can at the victim after she 'bumped' into him as he ate in the kitchen.

The probable cause statement says one of the wieners hit the victim in her right eye and she was allegedly assaulted more when he pushed her backwards and she 'did not fall over'.

The unemployed man hurled the contents of a can of sausages at the victim after she 'bumped' into him as he ate in the kitchen

He also placed his hands around her neck without restricting her breathing.

'The defendant stated that he got mad, so he threw the remaining sausages at her,' the document explains. Callejas-Gasperin said he would not have reacted that way if his mother 'said sorry'.

Callejas-Gasperin's reported actions did not result in injury in the woman's eye or neck area. However the document that declares he violated the Florida State Statute notes his mother had taken pictures of bruises on her arms and legs she obtained from a separate altercation with him.

The misdemeanor saw him locked up in county jail where he remains on a $750 bond. When he gets out he must obey the rules of a restraining order.

It's not the first time the adult man has been in trouble for roughing up a parental figure.

Callejas-Gasperin said he would not have reacted that way if his mother 'said sorry' and is currently locked up on a $750 bond

Callejas-Gasperin was taken into custody earlier this year after a physical altercation with his stepfather.

After being found smoking weed on his front porch, the scrap led to him pleading no contest to misdemeanor marijuana possession and resisting police charges.

A June rap sheet from the Sarasota Police Department states he was arrested for trespassing after failing to leave a property upon request of the owner.Donald Trump heaped praise Saturday at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, crediting the veteran Kentucky lawmaker's political toughness during the ugly battle that concluded with Brett Kavanaugh becoming a Supreme Court justice.

'There's nobody tougher. There's nobody smarter. He refused to cave to the radical Democrats' shameful campaign of personal and political destruction,' Trump said at a political rally at Eastern Kentucky University before he called McConnell to the mic.

He lauded the Kentucky Senator for firmly backing Kavanaugh - despite allegations of sexual misconduct in his high school and college years - as part of Trump and McConnell's combined quest to populate the judiciary with conservative judges.

'We stuck with him all the way because we knew the facts,' Trump said, speaking of himself and McConnell.

'He stared down the angry left-wing mob. He never blinked and he never looked back and he got us a man who will be one of our great, great Supreme Court justices,' Trump said.

Donald Trump spoke at a political rally at Eastern Kentucky University Saturday where he praised Mitch McConnell for backing Brett Kavanaugh

'He's Kentucky tough,' Trump declared.

McConnell returned the compliment on stage and told the president to continue nominating judges and 'we'll keep confirming them.'

Democrats fiercely and vocally opposed Kavanaugh, opposition that hardened after Christine Blasey Ford accused him of sexually assaulting her when they were in high school. Other women accused him of other sexually inappropriate behavior.

Protesters swarmed Senate office buildings and hundreds were arrested in a futile attempt to intimidate a handful of holdout senators into voting against confirming Kavanaugh. Trump has taken to referring to Democrats who opposed Kavanaugh as an angry 'mob.'

The president flew to Kentucky to campaign for three-term Republican Rep. Andy Barr, who is facing a strong challenge from Democrat Amy McGrath, a retired Marine fighter pilot, in one of the country's most-watched House races.

Democrats have focused on the seat in their drive to regain control of the House.

'We stuck with him all the way because we knew the facts,' Trump said of Brett Kavanaugh, ignoring the sexual misconduct allegations against him

McConnell returned the compliment on stage and told the president to continue nominating judges and 'we'll keep confirming them'

Trump told the rally that a vote for Barr 'could make the difference between unbelievable continued success' or failure, and pleaded with his supporters to vote on November 6 to send more Republicans to Congress.

He tweeted before arriving in Richmond that Barr is a 'fantastic guy' whose vote is needed to make America great again. Trump said Barr is strong on crime, tax cuts, the military, veterans and the Second Amendment. 'Andy has my Strongest Endorsement!!!'

Former Vice President Joe Biden became the highest-profile Democrat to campaign for McGrath when he visited the state Friday night. Biden told a crowd in Owingsville that 'basic American values are under assault.'

'This is not hyperbole. This election is bigger than politics,' Biden said.

With just over three weeks before Election Day, Saturday's rally was part of an aggressive fall campaign push by Trump to energize Republicans and encourage them to help keep his legislative agenda moving forward by voting to keep the GOP in control of both houses of Congress.

Trump was rallying for Kentucky Republican Rep. Andy Barr, who is running against Democrat Amy McGrath for a seat in Congress in one of most watched races in the nationInvestors and home buyers are being enticed with household items in an attempt to persuade them to purchase property in Australia.

Travel vouchers and even cash discounts are also on offer as the market finally begins to show signs of cooling down.

Recent figures revealed the value of lending to investors in August was 20.5 per cent lower 12 months ago.

Savvy realtors in Australia are offering cash discounts, furniture and travel discounts in a bid to get people to purchase property

Some Australian realtors are offering furniture, cash discounts and even travel reduction to get investors to buy property

The sky-high cost of property in Sydney has seen realtors 'throw' in cash discounts and furniture to ensure their investors purchase property

In Sydney, investors at the Marrick and Co development in the trendy inner-west suburb of Marrickville, were offered a five per cent rental guarantee a year from savvy realtors.

Blinds, furniture and white goods were all part of the deal.

Further north on the Gold Coast, Cambridge Residences are pulling out all the stops for investors, offering a package worth $7,000, as well as waiving 12 months of body corporate fees.

A spokeswoman said developer's incentives were vital to stand out in the highly competitive Brisbane market.

'Other developers are doing the same thing,' she said. 'You need to meet the market.'

Realtors are offering white goods to investors to ensure they purchase property in Australia (stock image)

Other realtors are offering reduced furniture and blinds as a dangling carrot to potential investors (stock image)

Lauren Swann, a recent first home buyer in Brisbane, was given a blinds 'package' for her off the plan two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit.

'There was so much to consider  it is such a big decision,' she told The Australian.

'I still wouldn't sacrifice what I want in terms of the quality and the layout just for a few home extras.'

In the affluent Melbourne suburb Parkville, buyers have been tabled rental guarantees, cash discounts and even furniture to secure their purchase.

After years of astronomical prices, especially in Sydney and Melbourne, leading investment banking company Morgan Stanley recently forecast property prices in Australia could plummet by up to 15 per cent by the end of 2018  the biggest drop in decades.Advertisement

President Donald Trump has taken to the podium yet again speaking at a Make American Great Again rally in Richmond, Kentucky on Saturday.

In his speech he praised Mitch McConnell's defense of Judge Brett Kavanaugh and boasted about a 'terrific' relationship with Turkey's President Recep Erdogan.

'I'm thrilled to be back in the heartland with thousands of loyal, hardworking American patriots,' Trump said as he took to the stage.

He opened his speech talking about the start of a relationship with Turkey's 'terrific' President Erdogan following the release of pastor Andrew Brunson who was imprisoned there for two years and released on Friday.

'I want to thank President Erdogan of Turkey - he was terrific. We all worked together, it wasn't easy...we don't pay ransom. I want to thank the people of Turkey and I think we'll probably now really establish a terrific relationship with Turkey,' he said.

Trump spoke to a massive crowd in Richmond, Kentucky on Saturday evening saying he was confident the state would vote Republican in the upcoming midterm elections

He boasted about the start of a terrific relationship with Turkey's President Erdogan after pastor Andrew Brunson was released a Turkish prison, where he was incarcerated for two years, on Friday and returned to U.S.

Brunson was welcomed to the White House where he talked and prayed with the president earlier in the day on Saturday following his release from Turkish prison

Trump said it wasn't easy to get Brunson released but thanked Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, center, calling him 'terrific'

After the rally he tweeted about the feat of bringing Pastor Andrew Brunson back on American soil after he could have spent 35 years in a Turkish prison, but only served two years of the sentence

Brunson was welcomed to the White House where he talked and prayed with the president earlier in the day on Saturday.

Trump also touched upon the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh and praised 'Kentucky tough' Senator Mitch McConnell for helping him get through, dismissing the Democrat investigation into the president's nominee as a 'national disgrace'.

'America watched as we proudly sworn in the newest member of the Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh,' Trump said, dismissing the circus around his controversial nomination.

'There's nobody tougher. There's nobody smarter. He refused to cave to the radical Democrats' shameful campaign of personal and political destruction,' Trump said.

'He stared down the angry left-wing mob. He never blinked and he never looked back and he got us a man who will be one of our great, great Supreme Court justices,' he added.

McConnell briefly took the mic and nodded to the president saying 'we'll keep confirming them'.

Then Trump jumped into his political speech, echoing sentiments of his previous campaign rallies, praising Republican leadership and saying he was sure Kentucky would elect GOP candidates into Congress come the November midterm elections.

In his speech he also praised Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell calling him 'Kentucky tough' for his work in confirming Judge Brett Kavanaugh onto the Supreme Court

Trump rallied for Republican Rep. Andy Barr, who is running against Democrat Amy McGrath for a seat in Congress in one of most watched races in the country. Barr pictured at podium

Trump also welcomed Kentucky Senator Paul Rand to the podium calling him a 'special friend' at the Richmond MAGA rally

Waving to the crowds: In his speech Trump praised Mitch McConnell for his role in confirming Judge Brett Kavanaugh onto the Supreme Court

The president also rallied for Republican Representative Andy Barr who is running against Democrat Amy McGrath in the midterm election. Crowds at the rally pictured above

Trump urged the crowds to vote Republican in the upcoming midterm elections

The crowds stood and cheered for Trump as he waved hello and walked on stage for his passionate speech

In his speech he boasted about low unemployment rates and the strides he's made in his two years in office

After the rally Trump shared pictures from the rally thanking Kentucky for the warm welcome

'Were here tonight to talk about everything we've accomplished together in less than two year's time. And I'm here tonight to thank the people of Kentucky for 2016. We didn't have to wait too long for that,' he said.

'Under Republican leadership America is booming. It's thriving. America is winning again because we are finally putting America first,' Trump added as the crowds cheered and chanted 'USA'.

He pointed out how the unemployment rate dropped to 3.7 per cent, median household income reached an all time high, he eliminated job-killing regulations, and ended the war on 'clean and beautiful' coal during his two years in office.

'America is now the hottest country anywhere in the world...since my election we'e picked up 11.7trillion dollars,' he said.

The president rallied for Republican candidates ahead of the mid-term elections plugging Republican Representative Andy Barr whos going head-to-head with Democrat Amy McGrath for the Congress seat.

Barrs race is Kentucky is one of the most closely watched in the country even though hes running in a district that voted for Trump in the 2016 presidential election, according to CBS.

He welcomed Barr to the stage with a handshake and Barr commended Trump saying 'Mr. President, I'm with YOU'.

Trump went on to belittle Barr's opponent McGrath as an 'extreme liberal' chosen by Nancy Pelosi and Maxine Waters.

Massive crowds gathered outside of the Alumni Coliseum in Richmond, Kentucky for the Make America Great Again rally Saturday evening, a sea of red MAGA hats pictured lined up

Trump's aides threw MAGA caps to the audience inside the Alumni Coliseum at the Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond on Saturday evening

Fans carried signs saying 'Keep America Great' at the rally where Trump praised Republican leadership ahead of the midterm elections

Protest: As Trump drove up to the stadium, protesters waved banners and hand-made posters as his motorcade passed by

Supporters waved their own flags as well with banners that said Trump 2020

Protesters were there to rally for Amy McGrath - the Democratic opponent of Republican Representative Andy Barr who Trump rallied for Saturday evening during his speech

Trump smiled for the cameras after disembarking from Air Force One in Kentucky

The president spoke with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky (left) and Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin (right) at Blue Grass Airport in Lexington

Trump repeated facts he's announced in rallies past, focusing on the drop in unemployment rates among minority communities.

'We've created over 4.2million new jobs and lifted over 4million Americans off of food stamps,' he said.

He repeated that African American, Hispanic American and Asian American unemployment have reached its lowest levels in history.

He also shouted out his wife Melania calling her the 'most famous person in the family' following her work in Africa where she visited hospitals and orphanages on a trip dedicated to child welfare and healthcare.

'For the sake of our freedom and for the sake of our children we are going to work, we are going to fight, and we are going to win, win, win... We will always fight on to glorious victory,' Trump said to uproarious applause.

'Together we will make American wealthy again, we will make America strong again, and we will make America Great again,' he closed his speech, urging the Kentucky audience to vote for Andy Barr.A Greek Cypriot businessman whose $100,000 Mehajer-style flashy wedding in 2016 captured attention is accused of stockpiling $400,000 worth of steroids.

Andrew Constantinou was arrested on Wednesday after police raided his Panania residence, in west Sydney, and allegedly found 3kg of liquid steroids, 150 vials of steroids, and hundreds of packets of prescription medication.

The 36-year-old was allegedly spotted by officers trying to throw a suitcase full of the prescription drugs over his neighbour's fence during the raid.

A Greek Cypriot businessman whose $100,000 Mehajer-style flashy wedding in 2016 captured attention is accused of stockpiling $400,000 worth of steroids

Andrew Constantinou was arrested after police raided his residence and allegedly found steroids and hundreds of packets of prescription medication (pictured; his 2016 wedding)

Some of the vials of steroids that police allegedly discovered during the raid

Police searches of two other properties linked to the businessman allegedly discovered a horde of steroids.

The flashy 2016 wedding of Constaninou to Rachel Carter stopped traffic in the streets of Sydney.

The procession of Ferraris, Lamborghini, Rolls Royces, and gold-plated Harley-Davidsons, worth a total of $25 million, drove from the Pullman Hotel at Olympic Park to the Waterview Function centre.

Mr Constantinou was charged with drug supply and possession and is due to appear in Bankstown Local Court in December.

Constantinou's wedding in 2016 featured Harley Davidsons

The event reportedly cost hundreds of thousands of dollars

Police searches of two other properties linked to the businessman discovered a horde of steroids in all shapes and sizes

The flashy 2016 wedding stopped traffic in the streets of Sydney with a parade of luxury cars



A man who allegedly raped a woman he met on Tinder in Utah may have sexually assaulted three more women, investigators believe.

Logan Police say Wyatt Dean Martin, 21, faces charges including rape and kidnapping after he assaulted a woman, who he invited to his home after they met on the popular dating app Tinder.

The woman told police she was pressured to drink when she arrived at Martin's home, despite the fact that she had never tried alcohol prior to this encounter.

Sergeant Louise Speth with the Logan Police Department said two people called Logan Dispatch to report that they had also been sexually assaulted by Martin.

Wyatt Dean Martin faces charges including rape and kidnapping after he assaulted a woman

He claimed that a third person called Cache County Sheriff's Office to report an assault, the Idaho State Journal Reported.

Speth said police had spoken with two of the new possible victims, and the third would speak to investigators next week.

As soon as the investigations are completed, Speth said additional charges against Martin would be filed.

He asked anyone who may have had inappropriate contact with Martin to contact police.

According to the police report, Martin had been communicating with the victim on Tinder and Snapchat before meeting on September 22 when he invited her over to his house for a party.

The woman told police when she got there he pressured her into drinking a shot of whiskey.

This was the first time she had ever consumed alcohol, the police report stated.

The victim then said she took a small drink that she was told was sweet tea and was later told it contained alcohol [by Martin].

The victim said that she began to feel abnormal and felt far more intoxicated than the shot of whiskey and a small drink of the sweet tea would cause, the police report stated.

Martin met his alleged victim on the Tinder dating app and continued contact with her through Snapchat

From there, the victim told police Martin took her into his bedroom and began kissing her and removing her shirt.

She told police that she told Martin several times she did not want to have sex, but he did not listen.

She said she fought as Martin continued to assault her but froze in fear after he showed her a strap with hooks on it and threatened to tie her down if she didn't stop resisting.

After the alleged assault, the woman texted a male friend for help.

She told police that around the same time Martin took her phone and hung up on a call from one of her other friends.

Police say evidence secured at a hospital, as well as evidence collected at Martin's residence, corroborated the details of the victim's account.

Statements of the two friends she contacted by phone and by text that night also backed up the victims account of the night.

Police also say they listened in on a call between Martin and the woman, during which Martin said he couldn't remember the incident but then contradicted himself by mentioning details from the alleged attack.

Police also located marijuana, a shotgun and a high-powered rifle in Martin's bedroom.

During the investigation, Martin told police he had thrown some of the evidence into the trash.

Police later served a search warrant on his residence, where they say they retrieved evidence relating to the rape, drugs and firearms.

Local law enforcement agencies believe there could still be more victims who have not come forward yet.It'll mean swapping his Government-issue Glock pistol for 007s Walther PPK, but Bodyguard star Richard Madden is set to be offered the chance to replace Daniel Craig as James Bond, according to industry sources.

The Mail on Sunday understands that Bond producers are on the brink of approaching Madden, 32, to take arguably the most famous role in British film.

Maddens portrayal of a steely diplomatic protection officer in the BBC drama and his bedroom antics with Home Secretary Julia Montague, played by Keeley Hawes, made him the bookies favourite to be the next 007.

Richard Madden as David Budd, covered in blood in the finale of BBC One drama Bodyguard

It is understood that Barbara Broccoli, the executive producer at Eon Productions who has the final say on all Bond characters, is likely to approach Madden in the next few days.

A source said: Its seriously looking like he [Madden] is going to get the job. Not only is he on top of Barbaras list, but she is preparing to offer the role.

If confirmed, Maddens selection would end a year of speculation as to who will succeed Craig. There was talk that Mrs Broccoli, 58, would choose the first black Bond or even cast a woman. For a long time, Idris Elba, 46, was the frontrunner after his impressive performance in the TV series Luther.

Madden, 32, impressed film bosses so much he could be the next 007, according to industry insiders

Another star linked to the role was Tom Hardy, 41, who has appeared in big screen hits including Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant and The Dark Knight Rises. Old Etonian Tom Hiddleston, 37, was another contender.

The prospect of Emily Blunt, 35, playing the first female Bond was dismissed, with Mrs Broccoli recently ruling out James Bond becoming Jane Bond. In an interview, she said: Bond is male. Hes a male character. He was written as a male and I think hell probably stay as a male.Foreign fraudsters are masquerading as victims of domestic violence to trick officials into letting them stay in Britain.

Campaigners say hundreds of Britons, including a growing number of women, are being exploited by con artists who dupe them into marriage abroad  with the sole aim of returning to the UK to claim permanent resident status.

Once in Britain they pretend to be victims of domestic violence and use a loophole to fast-track residency applications.

Foreign men have been allowed to stay in the UK after fabricating domestic abuse claims their wives. File photo

The Mail on Sunday has seen evidence in a series of cases where foreign men have been allowed to stay in the UK after fabricating claims of domestic abuse  even when their wives have been cleared.

Three years ago, a report found the number of foreigners applying to stay in the UK as victims of domestic abuse had soared from 59 in 2002 to 1,224 in 2015.

Campaigners say they are now receiving reports of fabricated domestic abuse claims by those seeking to stay in the UK at the rate of one every day.

Cases seen by this newspaper include an adulterous foreign spouse who hauled his wife through the courts on domestic abuse allegations and has been allowed to remain in the UK.

In another case, a specialist cancer nurse and mother-of-two was brought to the brink of suicide by her already-married Iranian husband taking her to court on false abuse claims.

Yet another case involved a British woman who was raped by her already-married Pakistani husband who then claimed she had raped him.

All allegations against her were dropped but he was granted permanent residency on the basis of being a victim.

Under current immigration rules, foreigners who marry Britons have to wait five years before they are granted permanent rights to live and work in the UK.

Under current immigration rules, foreigners who marry Britons have to wait five years before they are granted right to live in the UK. File photo

However, rules known as the Destitute Domestic Violence Concession mean that, if the foreign spouse claims their partner has been abusive, Home Office officials are bound to consider their case and can award them Indefinite Leave To Remain (ILR) in as little as three months.

Even if they do not get ILR, fraudsters will often allege domestic abuse to delay efforts to deport them.

The report in 2015 by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration highlighted alarming failures by Home Office when it came to staff checking the validity of domestic abuse claims.

Investigators found that case workers relied too heavily on unverified evidence, such as letters from domestic violence charities, rather than interviewing the applicant themselves.

An analysis of 25 cases where approval to remain had been granted found the decision in 15 had been wrong and that in 16 cases, no approach for information about the abuse allegations had been made to police.

Kim Sow, from the victim support group Immigration Marriage Fraud Consultancy, established in 2013 to monitor cases and help victims, said: No fraudster should be left unpunished and no victim of fraud should have their lives totally destroyed by an unfair, unjust and discriminatory process.

'If the Home Office, police and Crown Prosecution Service continue failing to address the issue of immigration marriage fraud, an open door remains for fraudsters to enter the UK.

A Home Office spokesperson said: We take all allegations of immigration abuse very seriously and all cases will be thoroughly investigated.

However our priority will always be to safeguard victims of domestic abuse.Torrential rain, destructive winds and hailstorms have hammered northern NSW and Queensland for the past two days, but residents have been warned to brace for more.

There's no end in sight, as severe weather warnings with damaging winds and heavy rainfall are issued for Queensland's east coast, and New South Wales' north east.

The storms continue to lash the coast, with snow-like hail covering the streets and wild winds uprooting trees and tearing apart buildings.

Families have been warned to barricade themselves inside as more wild weather tears through the region.

Devastating storms are forecast for Australia's east coast, as residents have been enduring wild weather since the middle of the week

Floodwaters across a number of roads are preventing crews from restoring power to homes

Torrential rains and destructive wind has pelted Queensland (pictured) in the past three days

On Saturday, the Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe thunderstorm warning, with damaging winds and heavy rainfall predicted to hit parts of the Central Coast, Whitsundays, Central Highlands, Coalfields and Capricornia.

Large hail stones are also predicted to hit the region as the storm moves up and off the coast, BOM senior forecaster Gabriel Branescu said.

The heaviest rainfall for Queensland will occur between the Sunshine coast and the NSW border.

'Another area of heavier rain is up around Rockhamption and Saint Lawrence, mainly coastal restricted once again,' meteorologist from Weatherzone, Mr Hough, said.

On Monday, Queensland's far south east will see the heaviest rain, apart from coastal showers and storms near Townsville up to Cairns.

There have been strong wind warnings issued for the Sunshine Coast, Moreton Bay and the Gold Coast in Queensland.

Queensland's Far North experienced hailstorms on Saturday - a rare sight for the trpical area.

Residents between Innisfail and Cairns have been told not to drive unless it is completely necessary as the conditions are so bad.

New South Wales will also see more rain, as showers will continue to fall heaviest between Coffs Harbour and the Queensland Border.

Mr Hough told Daily Mail Australia that both states will be subject to damaging weather until at least Monday night.

Both inland NSW and Queensland won't see as much rain on Sunday, with most of the weather confined to the coast.

Queensland's Far North experienced their first hailstorms on Saturday, which is rare for the area

The dangerous weather has also brought down large trees in Narrabeen (pictured), in Sydney's northern beaches, as parts of the area are also closed due to flooding

The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe thunderstorm warning, with damaging winds and heavy rainfall predicted to hit parts of the Central Coast, Whitsundays, Central Highlands, Coalfields and Capricornia

'Monday could see a few showers pushing into the far west of NSW from around late morning, but it won't be a huge amount,' Mr Hough said.

'We might see the odd storm in that area on Monday, which could see some heavier showers if the storms develop later in the day.'

Wind warnings have also been issued from Byron Bay down most of the NSW coast extending to the Illawarra.

Meanwhile, dangerous surf conditions are expected to develop on the Gold Coast on Sunday and are forecast to continue through Monday before easing on Tuesday.

A hazardous surf warning is also issued for NSW, for the Byron Coast down through to the Illawarra Coast.

Residents between Innisfail and Cairns were warned not to drive unless it was completely necessary as the conditions were so bad

Some residents have begun the clean-up, anticipating it could last months, with every beach on the Sunshine Coast closed on Saturday

The dangerous weather has also brought down large trees in Narrabeen, in Sydney's northern beaches. Parts of the area are also closed due to flooding.

Forecasters have been keeping an eye on a complex low pressure system off the south east of Queensland, which could back track towards the coast on Sunday.

Queensland's storms began on Thursday, with more than 50 homes in the Central Queensland region of Gympie still without power.

Floodwaters across a number of roads are preventing crews from restoring the network.

The damage bill from Thursday's storms is still being assessed over the weekend but it is expected to be hefty, with crops wiped out, animals killed and roofs torn from homes.

Almost 1000 insurance claims for storm damage have been lodged in Queensland , with many more predicted to come

An 11-year-old boy remains in a critical condition in a Brisbane hospital after being pinned under a large tree during clean-up work at a private property at Coolabunia.

A young mother is also recovering from significant bruising after being forced to use her body to shield her baby when they were caught in the fury of the sudden hailstorm in a car in the same area.

Some residents have begun the clean-up, anticipating it could last months, with every beach on the Sunshine Coast closed on Saturday.

Almost 1000 insurance claims for storm damage have been lodged in Queensland , with many more predicted to come.

Mr Hough said conditions are forecast to improve on Tuesday.Campaigners have accused the makers of a new ITV drama of creating little more than an advert for activists who support children changing gender.

Butterfly, a three-part series that begins tonight, examines the emotional turmoil of estranged parents Vicky and Stephen as they seek to support Max, their 11-year-old son who identifies as a girl.

Butterflys Bafta award-winning writer Tony Marchant and actress Anna Friel, who plays Vicky, have lavished praise on Mermaids, a charity that supports transgender children and their families.

Campaigners have said that ITV's new show Butterfly staring Anna Friel (pictured) is an 'advert' for activists who support children changing gender

In the show parents Vicky (played by Anna Friel) and Stephen (Emmet J Scanlan) seek to support Max (Callum Booth-Ford), their 11-year-old son who identifies as a girl

In particular, they have paid tribute to chief executive Susie Green, who was a consultant on the programme. Mermaids has attracted controversy for calling for an end to the NHS age limit of 16 for prescribing sex-change hormones which can lead to infertility.

Transgender Trend, a group which is alarmed by the growing number of children changing gender, claims that Butterflys producers failed to seek their expertise and have created a one-sided narrative.

Spokesman Stephanie Davies-Arai told The Mail on Sunday: It appears the programme-makers have made an advert for trans activist groups like Mermaids, which would have the world believe that children denied drugs to change sex will self-harm or even commit suicide, despite there being no official figures to back this.

ITV made no effort to speak to any of the hundreds of parents in my group who believe they are doing the right thing by not validating their childs desire to be the opposite sex.

If they had done this, they may have discovered that many of these children suffer from other mental health conditions such as autism.

Group Transgender Trend have said by only speaking to charity Mermaids the show has created a 'one-sided narrative.' Pictured is the cast (left to right) Sean McGinley, Alison Steadman, Anna Friel, Callum Booth-Ford, Emmet J Scanlan and Millie Gibson

They may have discovered that, often in the case of girls, they develop a disdain for their own bodies during puberty  perhaps in response to the insane pressures young women are now under to have the perfect body. So the fear these parents have is their child is mistakenly believing they have been born in the wrong body when actually they have a very different problem.

Lily Maynard, who has personal experience of the issues raised in Butterfly, watched a preview of the opening episode with growing discomfort. Mrs Maynard allowed her then 15-year-old daughter to dress how she wished, but stopped her from taking cross-sex hormones at that age.

I was struck by the programmes acceptance of sexist stereotypes, she said. No one ever suggests that he might not need fixing and that the fault lies with the gender stereotypes valued by everyone around him.

The Mail on Sunday revealed earlier this year that a third of children referred to Britains only NHS gender identity service for under-18s have signs of autism. Among the general population, one in 100 is autistic.

A preview of the drama describes how Vicky allows Max, played by Callum Booth-Ford, to dress in girls clothing and supports a desire to be female, while trying to ensure the childs mental health is kept intact at all cost. But Stephen struggles to cope with views he doesnt understand and Maxs grandmother represents generational ignorance because she believes that Max is going through a silly phase.

The Red Production Company, which made Butterfly, said it consulted widely with experts, children and families about their experiences.

Ms Green said: Mermaids has never claimed that children denied cross-sex hormones may self-harm.A man set his own home alight and waited outside with a rifle for authorities because he was upset that his ex-wife had dated a firefighter.

Jason Hawkins, of Republican, Missouri pleaded not guilty on Wednesday during his arraignment on charges of arson, unlawful use of a weapon and resisting arrest, the Springfield News-Leader reports.

Police said that Hawkins, 35, had once been married to a woman who dated a firefighter.

Jason Hawkins (pictured) was charged with arson and unlawful use of a weapon over the fire

The house (pictured) was totally destroyed after Hawkins deliberately set it alight in July

My business is with (the firefighter), Hawkins allegedly told police.

According to court documents used to charge Hawkins with two felonies and a misdemeanor -arson, unlawful use of a weapon and resisting arrest -Hawkins admitted to setting the fire himself.

He allegedly said he filled a spray bottle with gas and oil to douse his home on West Mill Street with accelerant on July 7.

However the mixture was too thick to spritz, court documents said.

Hawkins then unscrewed the top, poured the mixture on the floor and set it alight.

When authorities responded to the home, which was fully engulfed in flames, Hawkins initially ignored the commands of officers to drop his rifle, according to court documents.

He eventually threw the rifle on the ground, documents say, and struggled with officers who tried to arrest him.

Hawkins (pictured) is seen brandishing a handgun in a picture he posted on social media

Firefighters in Republic work through the night to extinguish the fire started by Hawkins

At one point, Hawkins allegedly grabbed for a gun in an officer's holster. Hawkins does not have an attorney listed in online court records.

He has been held in the Greene County Jail since his arrest on July 7, according to the jail roster. Charges were refiled against him this week.

The house was totally destroyed by the fire and flames are still seen burning the morning after

In a statement at the time of the Fire, City of Republic said: 'Republic PD was first on scene and reported a fully involved house fire.

'About that same time the homeowner and pointed a rifle at the Police Officers in the street.

'The Officers advised the Fire Department staff do not enter the scene until they can secure the area and mitigate the situation'.

The homeowner was taken into custody after a brief struggle and detained at the scene.



'A State Fire Marshal was contacted and conducted an investigation of the fire scene.

'It was determined the fire was intentionally set. The homeowner was booked in the Greene County Jail on numerous charges related to the event.

Thankfully there were were no injuries to fire department staff or police officers, but they described the home as a 'total loss'.Campaigners have called on the Government to urgently review moves to let women take abortion pills at home after a study suggested it could double the rate of complications.

From the end of the year, women in England will be able to take the second of two abortion pills at home, rather than in a clinic.

The move has been described as more compassionate, but researchers found its introduction in Sweden coincided with a dramatic rise in complications such as infections and bleeding.

The second abortion tablet could be taken at home and not in a clinic - but those against the move say it could lead to complications

John Deighan, deputy chief executive of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said: This study appears to back what we have been saying all along  that home abortions are risky for women. We call on the Government to urgently review their decision.

Abortion has been a controversial topic across the United Kingdom for decades

More than 100,000 women a year in England have an abortion, with most taking pills.

The Department of Health and Social Care said the move would go ahead.Amber Schultz-White faces felony charges including lewd acts upon a child and unlawful sexual intercourse after a 15-year-old boy's parents 'found evidence' in August

A 28-year-old woman from California was arrested Friday on suspicion of having sex with a 15-year-old boy after his parents allegedly found evidence of the crime on their son's device.

Amber Schultz-White  who works at arts and crafts store Hobby Lobby - was taken into police custody during her shift at the store.

Her detainment followed an investigation from Visalia Police Department which began August 26 and found reason to believe the woman had engaged in sexual acts with the minor at least three times.

A statement on the law enforcement department's Facebook page said Violent Crimes Detectives discovered: 'Schultz also engaged in lewd conversations with the victim on social media.'

The woman was booked into the Tulare County Jail and is being held on $1.27million bail, reports KTLA.

'I do know that the parents had intercepted some messages between the suspect and victim and that's kind of what started this whole thing,' Lieutenant James Andrews explained.

Scroll down for video

The 28-year-old woman from California was arrested Friday at her job for arts and crafts store Hobby Lobby and is being held on $1.27million bail at Tulare County Jail

Visalia Police Department began the investigation in August and believe she engaged in sexual acts with the minor at least three times

Investigators reportedly found proof the relationship may have started in June.

Schultz lives near Mountain View Elementary School and Blain Park in a 200 block property located on East Evergreen Avenue - about 43 miles south of Fresno - reports Visalia Times-Delta.

'This is a perfect example for parents elsewhere to stay involved in their kids' activities including social media,' Andrews continued.

The story has left local parent Marilyn Malloy in shock and the mother-of-two  including a 14-year-old boy  told Your Central Valley she hopes the allegations are not correct.

Investigators reportedly found proof the sexual relationship may have started in June

Schultz lives near Mountain View Elementary School and Blain Park - about 43 miles south of Fresno according to a report

'It's very difficult being a parent because you constantly have to just be watching your kids even when you can't always be there,' Malloy said.

'I hope it's not true for everybody's sake and people can move on and go on with their life.'

It's unknown how Schultz met the teenage victim and his name is not being released.

Her employers declined to comment to Vasilia Times-Delta.

Schultz faces felony charges including lewd acts upon a child and unlawful sexual intercourse.David Davis urged the Cabinet to mutiny against Theresa May today amid signs that a Brexit deal could be close.

As Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab headed to Brussels for face-to-face talks with Michel Barnier, Mr Davis accused the PM of 'panicking' and making 'unacceptable' concessions to the bloc.

The scramble to strike a divorce agreement is entering its final frantic stretch before a crunch summit on Wednesday.

Mrs May is thought to be trying to break the deadlock by proposing a new 'backstop' arrangement for the Irish border.

The blueprint could mean the whole UK staying in the EU customs union 'temporarily' and accepting regulatory checks between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland.

But there is not expected to be any hard end date, and many Cabinet ministers and Tory MPs fear that in reality it would keep the UK subject to Brussels rules for good -wiping out any advantages from Brexit.

The ideas have also provoked fury from the DUP - which is propping Mrs May up in power - as they warned against any agreement that would risk splitting the UK.

The party's leader Arlene Foster is said to have had an angry showdown with the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier last week, and now believes no deal is the 'most likely' outcome.

Sources denied Mr Raab and Mr Barnier were putting the finishing touches to an agreement at their unschedule meeting this afternoon, insisting there were still difficult problems to resolve, including over the Irish border.

But there is growing optimism in Whitehall that the negotiations are heading towards some kind of deal.

In a further sign, EU ambassadors have been summoned for a hurriedly arranged briefing on progress this evening.

David Davis, pictured during the Conservative conference last month, said ministers should 'exert their collective authority' to thwart Mrs May's plans to keep Britain in the customs union

Theresa May, pictured at church in her Maidenhead constituency with husband Philip today) is hoping MPs will support her plans rather than allow Britain to leave with no Brexit deal

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab (pictured in Downing Street last week) is heading to Brussels for talks with Michel Barnier this afternoon

Senior No10 sources have played down reports coming out of Brussels that a divorce package has been settled, branding them 'classic EU' tactics designed to 'bounce' Mrs May into agreeing.

But the challenge facing the premier even if they do reach a deal was underlined by Mr Davis's intervention today.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock insisted this morning that he 'hoped' any backstop package would be 'time-limited'.

What would Theresa May's backstop deal mean? The PM's backstop proposal is designed to ensure there is no hard Irish border. It would see the whole of the UK stay in the customs union 'temporarily' until a wider trade deal is struck. Northern Ireland would effectively remain in the single market to avoid regulatory checks on the border with the Republic. The government's previous plan said that it wanted the UK to stay in the customs union until 2021 'at the latest'. But it is not clear whether the UK would be subject to rules that stop countries striking their own trade deals outside the bloc. It also remains to be seen whether free movement rules would still apply in Northern Ireland. The Common Travel Area already protects movement between Northern Ireland and the Republic. The blueprint would reduce friction on the Irish border but lead to greater checks across the Irish Sea. These would include health and sanitary inspections for animals and animal products. The backstop is designed to fall away when a wider trade pact is agreed - which Mrs May says should be based on her Chequers plan for a 'combined customs territory' with the EU. Advertisement

But he made clear that there were likely to be 'conditions' for when Britain will formally leave rather than a hard date.

'There are different ways that you can make sure that something is credibly time limited and that's what I want to see,' he told the BBC's Andrew Marr show.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Mr Davis said ministers should 'exert their collective authority' to thwart Mrs May's plans.

Amid open calls from some Eurosceptics for him to take over as 'interim' leader, Mr Davis said the behaviour of Downing Street suggested 'incipient panic' and Mrs May's strategy was 'flawed'.

'This is one of the most fundamental decisions that government has taken in modern times,' he said.

'It is time for the Cabinet to exert their collective authority. This week the authority of our constitution is on the line.'

Ministers including Andrea Leadsom, Penny Mordaunt and Esther McVey are considering quitting over Mrs May's Brexit plans.

Tory former leader Iain Duncan Smith told Sky News Sophy Ridge programme today that if ministers disagreed with the PM on 'fundamental issues' it was 'probably time you find yourself on the back benches.'

There has also been speculation that Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson could refuse to accept the plans because special arrangements for Northern Ireland could fuel the case for Scottish independence.

In a further sign of Tory discontent, some 63 Conservative MPs signed a letter slamming the Government's forecasts on Brexit, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Anne Marie-Trevelyan wrote in the newspaper that 'the idea of remaining in the customs union means simply delaying Brexit and causing the 17.4 million people who voted for it to lose faith in our democracy'.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the European Research Group of pro-Brexit MPs, warned that when it came to the backstop proposal 'temporary means eternal'.

Tory former leader Iain Duncan Smith told Sky News Sophy Ridge programme today that if ministers disagreed with the PM on 'fundamental issues' it was 'probably time you find yourself on the back benches.'

Eurosceptic MP Nadine Dorries praised Mr Davis's article and said he could be an 'interim leader' for the Tories

Eurosceptic MP Nadine Dorries praised Mr Davis's article.

'This is a significant intervention from DD. His position has always been, change the policy, not the PM. Getting May out and him becoming an interim leader may be the only way to deliver #Brexit and FTA,' she said.

Another Brexiteer MP Andrea Jenkyns said the government should 'go down fighting' rather than 'wave a white flag'.

Boris Johnson says May's deal could be worst humiliation since Suez crisis Boris Johnson has warned that Theresa May's Brexit concessions would be the biggest humiliation for Britain since Suez. The former foreign secretary ramped up his attack on the PM as negotiations with the EU reached a critical stage. In an article for the Belfast Newsletter, Mr Johnson reiterated his call for the whole concept of a backstop to be ripped up - saying it had been a mistake for Mrs may to agree to one in December. He compared Mrs May's compromises to the infamous Suez crisis in 1956, when Britain and France tried to regain control of the strategically vital canal using military force - but were later forced to make an ignominious withdrawal. The episode was seen as having hugely diminished the UK's global reputation, and forced the resignation of Tory PM Anthony Eden. Mr Johnson, who quit government over the summer, said Mrs May must abandon the 'backstop' along with her Chequers blueprint for future trade. Advertisement

'It is better to go down fighting and honouring the democratic decision of our British people... (than) to be long remembered for waving a white flag and surrendering to EU demands.

'All Brexiteers in Gov and on the backbenches its time to #StandUp4Brexit and finally #ChuckChequers.'

Mrs Foster is reported to have said that a no-deal Brexit was now the most likely outcome after talks with senior figures including Michel Barnier in Brussels.

The DUP's 10 MPs have kept Mrs May in power since she lost her Commons majority but the party has issued a series of threats to bring her down over Brexit.

However, there was a glimmer of light for Mrs May as a senior Labour figure appeared to leave the door open to abstaining in a vote on a package - and MPs broke cover to say they would support one.

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said Parliament was being offered a 'false' choice.

But she did not explicitly state that the party would vote against a deal.

'If she comes back with something that's just a fudge she's cooked up with Brussels... we're not voting for something that's essentially a bridge to nowhere,' Mrs Thornberry said.

Some 15 Labour MPs could back the PM in a Commons vote as they fear a backlash from constituents if they are seen to be blocking a Brexit deal.

Ruth Smeeth MP said: 'If the option is voting for the deal or voting for something that would mean no deal - well, I'm not prepared to vote for no-deal.'

Labour colleague Caroline Flint said: 'I believe if there is a reasonable deal that stops us crashing out with no deal, we shouldn't rule it out.'

DUP leader Arlene Foster, pictured in Brussels last week, is reported to have said that a no-deal Brexit was now the most likely outcome after talks with senior figures including Michel Barnier

The latest row has centred on the nature of a 'backstop' to keep the Irish border open if a wider UK-EU trade arrangement cannot resolve it.

The European Union's version, which would see just Northern Ireland remain aligned with Brussels rules, has been branded unacceptable by the DUP.

DUP leader says no-deal Brexit now 'most likely outcome' Theresa May's DUP allies have warned that no-deal Brexit is now the 'most likely outcome' amid deadlock over the Irish border. The party's leader Arlene Foster is said to be braced for negotiations to collapse after a furious row with the EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels. Mrs Foster - whose 10 MPs are propping up the PM in power - found Mr Barnier 'difficult and hostile' during a private meeting. An email leaked to the Observer says Mrs Foster was ready to block a Brexit deal. According to a private email exchange between senior UK officials, seen by the newspaper, Mrs Foster gave her views during a dinner with the leader of Conservative MEPs, Ashley Fox. The leaked email said Mrs Foster described the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Mr Barnier as 'difficult and hostile' and indicated 'the DUP were ready for a no-deal scenario, which she now believed was the likeliest one'. Advertisement

Mrs May's counter-proposal is for a 'temporary customs arrangement' for the whole UK, but Tory Brexiteers fear it would restricting Britain's freedom to strike trade deals around the world.

A leaked email reported in the Observer indicated Mrs Foster was ready to block a Brexit deal.

According to a private email exchange between senior UK officials, seen by the newspaper, Mrs Foster gave her views during a dinner with the leader of Conservative MEPs, Ashley Fox.

The leaked email said Mrs Foster described the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Mr Barnier as 'difficult and hostile' and indicated 'the DUP were ready for a no-deal scenario, which she now believed was the likeliest one'.

Meanwhile a German newspaper reported that a Brexit deal could be agreed by negotiators in Brussels in secret on Sunday before being presented to the British Government next week.

Internal documents, believed to be from the team working under chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier, had a timetable suggesting a deal could be reached today.

The document listed on its timetable for Sunday: 'Deal made, nothing made public (in theory)'.

According to the same timetable, the deal would be presented to the British government for approval on Monday ahead of the EU summit.The BBC is usually proud of its impartiality. But now it has found itself at the centre of a bizarre bias row  over coffee.

A senior producer complained to colleagues by email that staff buying canteen coffee were offered loyalty cards that earned free cups, but the scheme did not extend to other hot drinks.

Last night, Ruaridh Arrow said his email had been tongue in cheek, but with a serious purpose.

A senior producer complained that the canteen loyalty drinks scheme only included coffee and not other hot drinks

He claimed his intervention had forced the canteen management to roll over pretty quickly and allow discounts for all hot drinks.

Mr Arrows complaint followed a move from BBC2s Newsnight in London to an investigations role for BBC Wales in Cardiff, where he discovered the anomaly.

Last night the BBC said its catering facilities were run by private contractors and that the loyalty scheme was the responsibility of Groundhouse, the coffee brand of the Servest Food company.

Groundhouse could not be reached for comment.Chancellor Philip Hammond is fighting a war on two fronts after Tory MPs mobilised to block his raid on pensions.

As revealed by the MoS, Mr Hammond sees the 39 billion cost of pension tax relief as a pot of gold which could help fund a planned 20 billion-a-year boost for the NHS. But Tory rebels have warned him his plan lacks MPs support.

He is also arguing with No 10 over Mrs Mays pledge to end austerity, which he thinks is damaging to the Tory brand of fiscal prudence.Millions of shoppers had their faces secretly scanned by controversial high-tech cameras looking for criminals, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Every visitor to the Trafford Centre in Manchester over a six-month period was monitored by CCTV to see if they resembled anyone on a criminal watchlist.

In what is thought to have been the biggest UK pilot so far of so-called Automatic Facial Recognition (AFR) technology  which picks faces out of a crowd so that police can arrest that person  Greater Manchester Police supplied about 30 images of missing persons as well as suspects.

Every visitor to the Trafford Centre in Manchester over a six-month period was monitored by CCTV to see if they resembled anyone on a criminal watchlist (stock)

But the trial at the centre, which has 30 million visitors a year, was dramatically halted after Surveillance Camera Commissioner Tony Porter warned it was wrong to monitor so many innocent people in the hunt for a handful of suspects.

He said: The police were interested in a tool that could help identify people missing from home and people wanted for crimes. However, compared to the size and scale of the processing of all people passing a camera, the group they might hope to identify was minuscule.

How tech picks a face from crowd A camera at a pop concert in China spotted a wanted man in a crowd of 60,000 Facial-recognition technology is now so accurate that a camera at a pop concert in China spotted a wanted man in a crowd of 60,000. It works by CCTV cameras capturing the features of every person they see, then comparing them to images of known criminals or suspects stored on a watchlist. If the system thinks anyone in the live footage matches a person on the list, it sends out an alert and officers can move in. Advertisement

He said it was to the polices immense credit that they contacted him before proceeding further, adding: At this point the police have stepped back from engagement, having recognised that their approach is not currently proportionate.

While the trial at the Trafford Centre is thought to be the biggest test, other forces have used the technology at specific public events.

Scotland Yard used cameras to look out for known troublemakers at the Notting Hill Carnival, while South Wales Police has deployed AFR at more than a dozen public events including the Champions League final, rugby internationals and even an Elvis festival.

Silkie Carlo, director of civil liberties group Big Brother Watch, said: The lawless growth of facial recognition surveillance in this country is chilling. These identity checkpoints are being quietly rolled out in public places with almost no public awareness, in complete absence of any public debate or even a legal basis.

Greater Manchester Police confirmed it has had discussions about the potential use of CCTV systems and facial recognition.Hospitals have been ordered to reuse crutches, wheelchairs and walking frames after The Mail on Sunday highlighted a disposable culture costing millions (stock)

Hospitals have been ordered to reuse crutches, wheelchairs and walking frames after The Mail on Sunday highlighted a disposable culture costing taxpayers millions.

Our investigation revealed mountains of mobility aids, many of which appeared to be in near-pristine condition, languishing in skips across Britain.

Now the NHS is asking people to return their aids after Health Minister Stephen Barclay urged hospitals to do more to reuse them.

The NHS in England is thought to spend about 18 million a year on crutches, walking sticks and frames. A total of 3 million goes on crutches alone, which cost 17 a pair, but only a fifth are ever returned to medical staff.

Mr Barclay said many patients were hugely frustrated by not being able to return them, leading to extra cost and needless waste.

He recalled: My father had a hip replacement operation and had an armchair that was given as part of the recovery. And then the local NHS said to him, Oh, we dont need it back, just keep it. 

Mr Barclay added: Patients should be able to return the countless pairs of perfectly good crutches sitting unused in the corners of living rooms across the country and know they will be put to good use helping others.

Our investigation revealed mountains of mobility aids, many of which appeared to be in near-pristine condition, languishing in skips across Britain

Equipment will be checked to ensure it is still safe and usable before being re-issued.

Our investigation found patients were routinely turned away when they wanted to bring back costly items. Hospital staff often told them they could not reuse the aids, most of which are made of metal, for fear they might be defective or infected  and the NHS might get sued.

In some places, however, NHS managers set up collection schemes themselves. South West Yorkshire NHS Trust saved 330,000 a year by reusing equipment.The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were involved in a dramatic mid-air scare when a 40 million private jet taking them to a star-studded party was hit by lightning.

The luxury Dassault Falcon 7X aircraft was struck as it flew the couple to Amsterdam last month for the opening party of a posh members club.

At least 30 million volts surged through the fuselage after the bolt hit the nose cone  just inches from the planes vital radar navigation equipment.

After the scare on Friday, September 21, the aircraft, which costs about 20,000 to hire for a return trip to Amsterdam from the UK, landed safely at the citys Schiphol airport.

The luxury Dassault Falcon 7X aircraft was struck with lightning and the nose cone had to be replaced

The Royal couple then spent the evening with a host of celebrities including Eddie Redmayne, Nick Grimshaw and Jenna Coleman at the exclusive Soho House club in Amsterdam.

Sources at the airport said the jet was grounded for nine days as it underwent repairs and safety checks before being allowed to fly again.

Photographs of the grey jet, taken by a plane-spotter at Schiphol days after the strike, showed that it had been fitted with a new white nose cone.

The Mail on Sunday understands that Harry and Meghan boarded the jet at London Oxford Airport, about 12 miles from their Cotswolds home at Great Tew.

Harry and Meghan were on the way to a glitzy launch party of a private members club in Amsterdam when the plane was hit

Sources said it was paid for privately with no cost to the taxpayer.

The couple were the most eye-catching guests at the glitzy launch party hosted by Nick Jones, founder of the Soho House empire and husband of Desert Island Discs presenter Kirsty Young.

Insiders said the Royal couple happily mingled with stars including actor Douglas Booth and comedian Michael McIntyre, but did not join a conducted walking tour of the citys red-light district nor a canal boat trip.

The same aircraft they arrived on had been scheduled to return to Oxford on Sunday, September 23, but Swedish corporate-jet operators Industriflyg had to fly out a replacement from Stockholm to make the journey.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex resumed their Royal duties on September 24 when they attended an awards ceremony at Loughborough University.

Staff at London Oxford Airport, whose website boasts of making travellers feel like youre being treated like royalty, claimed they were unaware of the couple flying to Amsterdam.

It is believed Harry and Meghan were driven directly to their jet to avoid being seen.

Staff at the Jet Center at Schiphol, a terminal that deals exclusively with private jet passengers, were similarly tight-lipped, and a spokesman for Buckingham Palace declined to comment.Never mind fake news  Facebook is old news to anyone under the age of 30, according to new study.

The social media giant, which has more than 2.2 billion users worldwide, does not appear in a list of the top 50 brands as voted for by British youngsters.

A survey of 1,000 people under 30 found the top company was Netflix, followed by Amazon, YouTube, Apple, Google and budget fashion chain Primark.

At the bottom of the list was Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus, which secured just 0.4 per cent of the vote.

People under 30 see social media giant Facebook as old news, a new study revealed (stock)Female serial killer Joanna Dennehy has launched a legal bid to marry her lesbian lover in prison  and wants tax payer cash to do it.

Despite being inside for murdering three men in ten days in 2013, Dennehy, 35, will demand she gets to spend time with her jailbird lover.

Dennehy is in a segregation unit at Category A HMP Bronzefield after reportedly attempting to kill herself  along with her fiancee.

However, she has already contacted solicitors over her planned nuptials, it is reported.

To fund her bid to marry she is also applying for legal aid.

A source told The Sunday People: 'Dennehy's lover seems to go for killers. She's had another girlfriend in the past who was also inside for murder.

Dennehy and her new lover both attempted to take their own lives, it is reported, but still want to get married and stay together in jail

'Now the two are launching a legal battle to get the righ to spend time together, come what may.'

Prison bosses want her moved to a psychiatric unit but reports of a new legal battle would indicate she will put up a fight to remain with her girlfriend.

Joanna Dennehy killed three men and said it was 'fun' but now wants to get married and fight the prison system to stay with her lover, using taxpayer cash

Serial killer Joanna Dennehy was previously linked to other women in jail - despite luring men to their deaths using sex

The pair both attempted to take their own lives together in a strange suicide pact, it is believed.

Both were taken to hospital but returned to prison.

A source previously told The Sun: 'When the guards found them they were entwined on the floor, which was covered in blood.

'They think they need splitting up now to make sure it doesn't happen again.'

Dennehy, originally from Peterborough, is one of only two female prisoners serving a whole life sentence in the UK.

After killing Lukasz Slaboszewski, 31, a Polish national, her landlord and lover Kevin Lee, 48 and 56-year-old Falklands veteran John Chapman Dennehy called killing 'fun'.

Dennehy's victims: Lukasz Slaboszewski (left) and John Chapman were stabbed to death by the sick serial killer

Her victims' bodies were found in ditches in Cambridgeshire, with one of them being found in a sequined dress.

Dennehy was previously linked to another woman after reports she was 'besotted' with an ex-convict she met in her prison gym.

The killer was even handed a ring by former university lecturer Alexandra Crouzieres that led to the latter being banned from visiting Dennehy for three months.

Sources say Dennehy, 35, and 37-year-old Crouzieres, who was inside Surrey's Bronzefield womens jail for racially abusing a doctor and attacking three police officers, started an 'intense friendship' behind bars.

A prison spokesman said he could not comment on individual prisoners.More than 3,000 BBC radio staff could be hit by massive tax bills after being caught in an HMRC probe, the Corporations director general Lord Hall has admitted.

He revealed the number while giving evidence to MPs about the BBCs policy of urging workers to set up personal service companies (PSC) so they could be treated as freelancers.

The arrangement meant the BBC was able to save millions in National Insurance contributions, but now leaves 3,000 staff facing demands for unpaid tax over claims they wrongly classified themselves as self-employed.

More than 3,000 BBC radio staff could be hit by massive tax bills after they were urged to set up personal service companies (PSC) so they could be treated as freelancers (stock picture)

Lord Hall told MPs on the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee that thousands of staff had been affected by an HMRC decision last year to change its guidelines on which radio industry employees can have self-employed status.

Lord Hall revealed the information while giving evidence at the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee

He said a lot of the people affected are in local radio and not on high incomes. The number involved is higher than previous reports have suggested.

HMRC is demanding employees pay income tax at up to 45 per cent instead of using PCSs to pay corporation tax at 19 per cent.

Graham Webber, of tax dispute specialists WTT Consulting, said: The BBC clearly considers that 3,000 people are now in the sights of HMRC.

Of this number, 200 or so will be big name celebrities, the other 2,800 will be lesser paid and potentially face greater devastation as they wont earn so much.

Earlier this year, a host of top BBC presenters accused the Corporation of forcing them into an industrial-level tax avoidance scheme.

A tax tribunal found BBC officials had pressured stars to set up PSCs and many want it to pay the portion of the bills covering National Insurance contributions.Morocco busted 57 terrorist networks since 2015, the date Morocco established its counterterrorism agency known as BCIJ, often branded as the Moroccan FBI.

In an interview with Moroccos news agency Map, head of the BCIJ Abdelhak Khiame said Morocco continued its pro-active strategy by dismantling 183 terrorist networks since 2002.

Khiame noted that 57 networks were connected to the terrorist organization of IS, which has been recruiting foreign fighters from across the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.

Some 1666 Moroccans joined extremist groups in Iraq and Syria of whom 929 fought for IS, he said.

He said Morocco capitalizes on the close coordination between the different security services to counter terrorist groups.

Most recently, BCIJ dismantled a terrorist cell on September 18 leading to the arrest of 12 individuals in Casablanca and Tangier.

BCIJ is not only cracking down on terrorist groups but also addresses other security threats such as trafficking gangs including drug trafficking. Early in September BCIJ issued an international arrest warrant that led to the arrest of drug lord Victor Manuel Lemina Cores in Lima, Peru.The journalist believed to have been assassinated by Saudi Arabia may have recorded his final terrifying moments on his Apple Watch.

Reports claim Jamal Khashoggi, 59, recorded his own torture and murder on the device after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where he had gone to obtain paperwork to marry his fiancee.

Jamal Khashoggi, 59, recorded his own torture and murder on an Apple Watch, reports say

The gadget transmitted the audio to his iPhone which was in the hands of his fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, 36, who is said to have listened in horror as she waited outside.

If confirmed, the recording would represent the strongest evidence that Turkish authorities have to show that Mr Khashoggi was murdered inside the consulate.

The development came as President Trump last night said the US would inflict 'severe punishment' on Saudi Arabia if it was found to be behind Mr Khashoggi's disappearance and murder. In an interview for CBS's 60 Minutes, he said the Saudis had denied involvement in the disappearance of Mr Khashoggi on October 2 'in every way possible', but added: 'Could it be them? Yes. There's a lot at stake'.

However, he stopped short of committing to sanctions, saying: 'I don't want to hurt jobs. There are other ways of punishing.'

Pressure has been growing on the Saudi authorities, with MPs calling for the Government to downgrade its relationship with Saudi Arabia and global business leaders, including Sir Richard Branson, beginning to boycott the oil-rich kingdom.

Donald Trump has promised 'severe repercussions' if claims are proved to be true

Turkish government officials believe the Washington Post columnist was targeted by a Saudi 'hit squad' and his body dismembered, smuggled out of the consulate in black bags inside a Transit van and flown out of Turkey in a private jet.

There is suspicion he may have been killed for criticising the kingdom's Crown Prince and de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman. The Saudis have strenuously denied the allegations, but admit Mr Khashoggi did enter the consulate.

According to The Daily Sabah, a government-backed Turkish newspaper, Mr Khashoggi was so concerned about his safety that he set his Apple Watch to record mode before walking into the consulate.

It claimed his attackers tried to 'erase' the recording from his watch, not realising it had already been uploaded to his iCloud account.

Ms Cengiz had earlier called on President Trump to fully investigate her fiance's disappearance and Washington insiders claim the reported recording provides 'persuasive and gruesome evidence' that he was murdered. 'You can hear his voice and the voices of men speaking Arabic,' a source told the Washington Post, adding: 'You can hear how he was interrogated, tortured and then murdered.'

Tory MP Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, told Radio 4: 'We may be talking about downgrading diplomatic relations.'Parkland shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz, 19, pretended to still be a student at the high school where he's accused of killing 17 people in February, according to a computer science teacher.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School's Sandra Rennie told detectives the teenager came onto the grounds in August 2017 despite being excluded six months earlier and lied about having permission to enter.

He was carrying a backpack and mingling with other students at the Florida learning facility as normal when she spotted him and questioned him about his return according to an interview released by prosecutors Friday.

Scroll down for video

Parkland shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz pretended to still be a student at the high school where he's accused of killing 17 people in February

Teacher Sandra Rennie told detectives the teenager came onto the grounds in August 2017 despite being excluded six months earlier and lied about having permission to enter

Rennie said she welcomed Cruz back when he claimed he was allowed to continue classes on the first day back at school but immediately asked an administrator whether he was in her classes.

He had previously gotten angry when a computer prevented him from researching different types of hunting guns, South Florida Sun Sentinel reports.

'I was like oh Nik, you're back, and he's like: 'Yeah I'm back,' and I was like okay well good to have you back,' the transcript reads.

She said the administrator left to escort him off school grounds when they were alerted of his return.

Rennie recalled her engineering classes where he 'didn't make a lot of eye contact, kept his head down a lot'. She said the quiet student destroyed a class project so other students would not get a better grade while he regularly got Fs and was absent.

'Every, every semester he did, he did nothing, and if he did do something he didn't do enough to follow through and finish any assignment,' she said.

Cruz had been kicked out of other schools before he was transferred to yet another after Marjory Stoneman Douglas High due to his failing grades.

Newly-released records state the February 14 AR-15 gun massacre started with a security watchman seeing the suspect enter the premises with what looked like a duffel bag

Police reports also state Assistant Principal Winfred Porter ordered an evacuation after hearing the fire alarm and believing there was a gas leak

Rennie claimed other adults working at the school viewed him as' sneaky' and he was always in trouble in the lead-up to being asked to leave.

'He did not want to leave Stoneman. Did not want to go. He was so, he was so mad. He did not want to go,' Rennie claimed.

She added that she wasn't surprised to find the suspect was Cruz.

'I just felt like he was one of these kids that would just do something just to see what it was like to do it,' she added.

Nikolas Cruz's birth mother Brenda Woodward, 62, is pictured in an undated mugshot. She has been arrested 46 times including in 1998 when she was caught buying crack cocaine while six months pregnant with the Parkland shooter

Cruz was arrested on February 14 after murdering 17 people at Stoneman Douglas in Parkland

Newly-released records state the February 14 AR-15 gun massacre started with a security watchman seeing the suspect enter the premises with what looked like a duffel bag.

He was not intercepted before he took the lives of 14 students and three educators.

Police reports also state Assistant Principal Winfred Porter ordered an evacuation after hearing the fire alarm and believing an administration building control panel indicated there was a gas leak. Former Marine and campus monitor Elliot Bonner called a Code Red to lock down the school after hearing gunshots.

Nikolas and his half-brother Zachary, Brenda'a third birth child, are shown at their adoptive mother's funeral in 2017. Lynda died suddenly and Nikolas was struggling to cope with the loss when he committed mass murder

The documents also reveal Security Specialist Kelvin Greenleaf described the scene to armed sheriff's Deputy Scot Peterson as he watched footage from a video camera. However it's not known whether the images of Cruz inside the 1200 Building was in real time as it was described to law enforcement via radio.

Peterson was forced to resign after he was captured on camera staying outside the building as the event unfolded. He claimed he wasn't aware of where the shots were being fired.

Prior to the Valentine's Day shooting, Cruz had allegedly sent despicable Instagram messages to another schoolboy - who was not a victim of the shooting - he was competing with for a girl's attention.

'I will kill you!!!!! I am going to shoot you dead,' a police filing says he threatened in one message.

Nikolas was adopted as a baby by Lynda Cruz (pictured with him) and her husband Roger. Roger died in 2004

The 19-year-old is likely to be put on Florida's death row unless his attorneys find a way for him to be jailed for life instead.

Cruz was brought up not by his birth mother Brenda Woodward but by Lynda and Roger Cruz, a couple who adopted him and his half-brother Zachary when they were young. Both Lynda and Roger died before he committed the mass shooting.

Brenda has been in and out of jail and is currently living in Florida. She has never spoken about the shooting.

Before she had Nikolas, her first child, Danielle, was removed from her care and given to the state.

Danielle Woodward, 31, is Nikolas's half-sister. She was taken out of her mother's care as an infant then grew up with her grandmother but was forced to live on the street when she died. Danielle - who has never met Nikolas - was arrested for bringing a firearm to school as a teenager

Danielle, 31, began living in the streets when her grandmother, who eventually won custody of her, died when she was a teenager.

She is currently serving an eight-year sentence at the Lowell Annex prison in Ocala for attempted second degree murder of a police officer.

Records show that Brenda has been arrested 46 times in the past, mostly in Miami where she was well known to police as a one-woman crime machine.

The following year after Cruz was adopted at a few months old, Brenda gave birth to Zachary Cruz. He has a different father to Nikolas.

Lynda and Roger adopted Zachary when he was born and the two half-brothers grew up in Parkland.

Roger died in 2004. Lynda died in November 2017 and it was her death which, it is believed, set Nikolas' spiral towards mass murder in motion.

Zachary was arrested not long afterwards after disobeying orders to stay away from campus.

He is the only person who has visited Nikolas in custody.A manhunt is underway after a man died following a suspected assault at his home - which is believed to have been caused by an argument over cannabis.

Police found the body of a 46-year-old man, who is believed to be a foreign national, on Friday at his house in Para Vista, Adelaide, when they were conducting a welfare check.

They believe the victim was assaulted by a gang of people who entered the property sometime between late Monday evening and the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Scroll down for video

A manhunt is underway after a man died following an attack at his home in Adelaide (pictured) - believed to have been caused by an argument over cannabis

Cannabis plants were taken from the house, which are suspected to have been the reason why the house was targeted (pictured more plants removed from the house by police)

Cannabis plants were taken from the house, which are suspected to have been the reason why the house was targeted.

Officers have since removed hydroponic equipment, used to grow plants without soil, from the Carousel Street address.

While the exact circumstances of the man's death are yet to be confirmed, police said they are treating his death as suspicious.

A grey Mazda sedan, which police believe was also taken from the property on Monday night, was later found in a nearby suburb at 12.50am on Tuesday morning.

A police spokesman said: 'Police are focused on the movements of this car during the time between when it was taken and when it was later found by police.

Channel 9 has reported the man had been living at the address for about six months, while his landlord said he was the perfect tenant.

A resident told the network the neighbourhood was quiet and people thought it was 'going to be safe'.The student was attending LaGuardia Community College (pictured) when she alleges the harassment took place

A college professor allegedly offered a female student good grades if she agreed to 'make things easier' for herself by having sex with him.

A female undergraduate claims her human-anatomy professor at LaGuardia Community College, Hany Fam, offered her better grades in return for sex, a Brooklyn federal court lawsuit states.

In a lawsuit seen by the New York Post, the student who is in her forties and not named, claims she asked Fam for a meeting in October 2017 to discuss grades.

The married professor, 60, insisted they meet at her apartment, court papers say.

'Fearing that she would offend her professor and perhaps jeopardize her grade in his class, [she] finally relented,' the suit states.

Fam arrived at her Brooklyn apartment and gave her a bottle of wine and a kiss on the cheek, court papers say.

He sat on the couch and told her he was 'lonely' and had problems in his marriage, the suit claims.

He 'unbuttoned his shirt to reveal a scar and claimed to have a heart condition that left him with just a few years to live,' the suit claims.

The student 'got up and went to the kitchen, but Professor Fam followed her, leaned in to hug her, and told her to relax'.

After pouring two glasses of wine  which the woman claims she refused to drink  Fam said that he could make things much easier for her, and repeatedly asked if she would be hisfriend.

When the woman asked if friend was code for 'sex,' he confirmed it was, according to the lawsuit.

He suggested they meet once a week and told [her] it wouldnt be that hard for her because of his heart condition, court papers state.

The woman is being represented by Carrie Goldberg, who is backing at least two Harvey Weinstein accusers

Fam also said other professors have similar arrangements with students, according to the lawsuit.

When the student made 'unambiguous expressions of disinterest, the professor 'became aggravated and told Plaintiff that she was too uptight'.

On his way out, Fam handed her what appeared to be questions and answers for the following days scheduled quiz and told [her] to think about his offer.

The woman did not return to Fams class and reported him to the colleges Title IX office, which handles sexual harassment complaints.

The college concluded that Fam offered [her] a good grade in exchange for sexual favors, according to the lawsuit.

A LaGuardia spokeswoman told the Post the professor's last day in the classroom was the day the students complaint was filed on November 7 and that he was terminated on January 11, 2018.

Richard 'Ric' Curtis, an expert on illegal drug markets, was put on leave at John Jay Criminal College as he allegedly presided over a world of drug use and sex in a secluded building

Also placed on leave were (left to right): Leonardo Dominguez, Barry Spunt, Anthony Marcus

He is 'not eligible to work at LaGuardia any time in the future,' said spokeswoman Elizabeth Streich.

The public college located in Long Island City, which offers two-year degrees, also agreed to provide counselling for the woman.

It also offered to cover the costs of her course materials and re-enrollment in the class, but did not remove her 'withdrawal' from the class on her transcript.

The woman is being represented by Carrie Goldberg, the Brooklyn lawyer backing at least two Harvey Weinstein accusers.

She claims her life has taken a dark turn because of the emotional stress of the ordeal.

She 'has even felt unsafe in her own home because Professor Fam knows where she lives,' the suit states.

The plaintiff told the Post she wants to maintain her anonymity because she is scared of the repercussions.

Hes obviously not a nice person, so I dont know what lengths he might go to. Its scary for a single woman who lives alone.

The case comes after a series of allegations that professors at CUNYs John Jay College of Criminal Justice raped and tried to pimp out students and used and sold drugs on campus.

The case is now being probed by the Manhattan DAs office and the state Inspector General.

Formal sex-harassment complaints against four professors are being probed by the taxpayer-funded CUNY school and two alleged victims decided to go public.Photographs have emerged of the Portuguese woman who was filmed falling off a balcony of a high-rise building in Panama while trying to take a selfie on Friday.

Sandra Manuela Da Costa Macedo, 27, had just recently arrived to Panama where she had a job as a teacher, according to the Portuguese newspaper O Minho.

Macedo was a native of the northern Portuguese town of Aves. She is survived by two children.

Susana Cunha Barros, a Portuguese woman, posted a tribute on Facebook to Macedo.

Sandra Manuela Da Costa Macedo, 27, had just recently arrived to Panama where she had a job as a teacher

Macedo (white shirt) leans on the railings before attempting to take a selfie and falling in Panama

So long, Barros wrote in the caption above a photo of the teacher.

Sandra... thank you for your contribution in the education of my daughter Helena... Will always be remembered with great affection.

Macedo was filmed from afar as she tragically fell to her death from the 27th floor of a high-rise block while losing her balance taking a selfie.

She went over a balcony railing she was leaning against as she took the snap.

Sickening video footage showed her still holding the selfie stick as she plunged to the ground below.

An onlooker filming the tragedy shouted: 'She's mad, there she goes, look at her, look at her, she's fallen.'

Macedo was a native of the northern Portuguese town of Aves. She is survived by two children

A Portuguese friend wrote on Instagram: 'This woman was a very good friend of mine, a mother of two children. She was a teacher and she was in Panama to work in her chosen profession'

Paramedics rushed to the scene, a building called the Luxor Tower in a popular neighbourhood of Panama City called El Cangrejo after the alarm was raised just after 10 am local time yesterday.

The woman, initially identified as a Portuguese holidaymaker who had just arrived in Panama although a woman describing herself as a friend later took to social media to say she was a mother-of-two who had gone to the country to work as a teacher, was already dead when they arrived.

Construction workers on a neighbouring tower block are said to have yelled at her to get down from the railing she was half-sat on before her death plunge, but strong winds blowing at the time meant she couldn't hear their warning cries.

The Portuguese woman plummeted 27 floors and was pronounced dead on arrival of medics

The Luxor Tower in a popular neighbourhood of Panama City called El Cangrejo

Local reports said the incident was still under investigation, but police were focussing on the theory that a gust of wind may have knocked her off balance.

Panama's Fire Service published a warning on its official Twitter site after the tragedy which said: 'Don't risk your life for a selfie. It's more important to lose a minute in life than your life in a minute.'

A Portuguese friend wrote on Instagram: 'This woman was a very good friend of mine, a mother of two children. She was a teacher and she was in Panama to work in her chosen profession.

The parent of a student taught by Macedo posted a tribute to her on Facebook

Susana Cunha Barros, a Portuguese woman, posted a tribute to Macedo. So long, Barros wrote in the caption above a photo of the teacher. Sandra... thank you for your contribution in the education of my daughter Helena... Will always be remembered with great affection

'She was Portuguese and called Sandra. Let's pray for her.'

Another replied: 'It's sad to see a person like that, so full of life and wanting to look beautiful in a photo but not realising the place she's in is dangerous because of the wind.'

A recent study by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi found 259 people died while attempting to take a selfie between October 2011 and November 2017.

Findings were published in the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care.

The study said more than 72 percent of the deaths were men, and drowning was the most common cause of death during a selfie-taking attempt.Aldi has slammed supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths for their 'manipulative' loyalty programs, claiming they rob customers of $1,500 every year.

The German retailer has released a satirical advertisement directly targeting Coles' Flybuys and Woolworths' Rewards programs.

The short video tells consumers to switch to Aldi to save money, urging them to avoid getting 'sucked in by pointless points'.

In the commercial, a female customer, referred to by a number sequence, is awarded with a plastic loyalty card while being swarmed by uniformly dressed staff members.

Scroll down for video

Aldi has slammed supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths for their manipulative loyalty programs in new advertisement

The German retailer has released a satirical advertisement directly targeting Coles' Flybuys and Woolworths' Rewards programs (pictured)

Aldi claims customers can save more money by shopping at the discount supermarket, as a opposed to accruing points with loyalty programs.

Aldi has also launched a 'Loyalty Calculator' to show customers how long it would take to earn and redeem their points.

The average family would have to spend $15,000 at Coles and wait one year and seven months to be eligible to pay for a Tefal frying pan with their points.

The $60 pan is roughly the same amount of money the family could save by shopping at Aldi for two weeks, according to the discount supermarket.

If you spent an average of $275 on groceries a week, Aldi claims you could redeem a 13' Laptop 26 years and seven months later - after spending $382,000.

'It's not a mistake that the words 'loyalty' and 'scheme' are used together as they are a scheme; there is some sort of manipulation going on,' said Head of Customer Service Adrian Christie, news.com.au reported.

The short video urges consumers to switch to Aldi to save money, claiming 'don't get sucked in by pointless points' (pictured)

A female customer, referred to by a number sequence, is awarded with a plastic loyalty card for her shopping while being swarmed by uniformly dressed staff members (pictured)

Aldi has claimed their loyal customers save about $1,500 a year on their discount prices, with Mr Christie arguing the supermarket's approach to loyalty is to have low prices.

'We know people sometimes buy more than they need and what we say is we don't need that tomfoolery; what we don't try and do is mislead customers in any kind of way. We want to have a straightforward relationship and keep things simple,' Mr Christie said.

Psychology lecturer at the University of Tasmania Dr Rachel Grieve told news.com.au that people can become 'less rational' with their shopping.

'Our brains have particular neural networks that detect rewards and that can actually change our brain chemistry, with different neurotransmitters released in response to rewards. These are often pleasurable in nature,' Dr Grieve said.

Despite welcoming words like 'sisterhood' or 'member', loyalty programs are big businesses.

The Qantas Frequent Flyer program, one of the most popular in Australia, is worth $4.5 billion.

Alongside the new advertisement, Aldi has launched a 'Loyalty Calculator' to show customers how long it would take to earn and redeem their points (stock image)

Aldi has claimed that their loyal customers save about $1,500 a year on their discount prices with Mr Christie arguing the supermarket's approach to loyalty is to have good prices.

A Coles spokesman told Daily Mail Australia that Flybuys customers can earn points on a lot more than grocery shopping, with partners including Target, Kmart, Liquorland, NAB, Adidas, AGL, Medibank and EBay.

'Flybuys also regularly offers members bonus points. Just last week, flybuys members could earn 4000 points for spending $200 at Coles  the equivalent of ten per cent off their shop,' the spokesman said.

'Coles offers our customers quality and service unmatched by our competitors, including fresh seafood and delicatessen counters, hot roast chickens for just $9 each, and normal opening hours up to five and a half hours longer than some competitors.'

The spokesman also said Coles is one of Australias largest employers with over 115,000 team members across Australia.

A Woolworths spokesman said Australian shoppers are savvy and know value when they see it.

'There are 11 million members in our Rewards program and we work hard to offer them great value across their entire shop,' the spokesman said.

'We're also focused on making shopping simpler for our members with increasingly personalised and relevant bonus point offers across our wide range of more than 30,000 products.

'Our customers tell us they not only want good prices, but also a wide range of trusted brands, great fresh food and convenient shopping options.'Donald Trump Jr and girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle put their affections on full display at a surprise party for Lara Trump on Saturday evening.

The couple celebrated former TV host Lara Trump's 36th birthday at Harvest on Hudson in New York along with her husband Eric Trump, Don Jr's brother, and close friends.

Don Jr, 40, and Guilfoyle, 49, couldn't keep their hands to themselves as they goofed around together and Eric Trump wrapped his arm around the loved up couple.

A birthday celebration! Donald Trump Jr and Kimberly Guilfoyle spent the evening in New York City at a surprise party for Lara Trump on Saturday. The two couples pictured above

Eric Trump playfully wrapped his arm around his brother and Kimberly Guilfoyle at the party

Say cheese! The couple rang in Lara Trump's 36th birthday in style at the Harvest on Hudson restaurant in New York City on Saturday evening

Birthday Girl: Lara Trump looked lovingly at her husband as she was presented with a cake for her 36th birthday on Saturday

Make a wish! Eric shared a sweet Instagram photo of the two of them over her birthday cake

'Happy Birthday @laraleatrump what a beauty you are inside and out, so much love in the room for you sweetie a well deserved, fabulous party!!!' Guilfoyle posted on Instagram Saturday evening.

Lara was all smiles and posted her favorite snaps from the special night on Instagram to show off the surprise party.

In one picture she smiles lovingly at her husband Eric, 34, in front of a giant cake frosted with her name and lit with four candles, waiting to be blown out with a birthday wish.

On Friday Eric shared a loving Instagram post doting on his wife writing: 'Happy Birthday to my incredible wife @laraleatrump! BabyLuke and I love you more than ever!'

He shared a family photo posing with Lara and their one-year-old son Luke at a pumpkin patch.

Lara beamed surrounded by her friends and family and her surprise birthday bash in NYC

Loved up! Guilfoyle and Don Jr couldn't keep their hands off of each other during the party

Love birds! The two couples smiled for a sweet picture at the birthday bash

Okay now ladies! Lara smiled surrounded by her closest girlfriends at her 36th birthday party

Lara smiled for a picture with Lynne Patton (left) who heads the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in New York and New Jersey and pal Emily Aronson (right)

Lara Trump was a producer and host of Trump Productions Real News Update and formerly produced Inside Edition and went on to work as Trump's campaign adviser.

The North Carolina native dated Eric Trump for six years until they married at the Trump familys Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach in November 2014 and in September 2017 welcome their son Eric Luke Trump.

The two have been dutifully on the rode campaigning for Donald Trump and Republicans ahead of November's midterm elections.

Lara worked as one of President Donald Trump's campaign advisers, pictured above with from left to right Tiffany Trump, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and her husband Eric Trump

Just last week they campaigned in Pennsylvania for Representative Lou Barletta for Senate.

Eric shared a snap of the couple smiling with Barletta writing: 'He is an incredible guy and a great friend  we desperately need him fighting alongside @realDonaldTrump in Washington DC.'

Don Jr and Guilfoyle have been on a similar mission criss-crossing the nation campaigning for Republican candidates. The couple have spent a lot of time in Montana where they rallied for Senate candidate Matt Rosendale.

But the couple made sure to squeeze in some lay into their busy schedule, sharing photos of them shooting and fishing in Montana as Guilfoyle was healing from hand surgery after she hurt it playing trampoline dodgeball with her son and her boyfriend's kids.Patricio Medina (pictured) was found guilty of five charges related to the horrific rape and assault on his one-month-hold daughter who prosecutors said had endured 'living hell'

A man from Texas has been sentenced to 244 years in jail for raping his newborn baby during a meth-induced haze.

Patricio Medina, 27, admitted to a fellow inmate that he sexually assaulted his daughter in 2014, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald.

The inmate testified during a two day trial that began on Tuesday and ended with three 80 year sentences for Medina on Thursday.

He was convicted on one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child younger than six, two counts of injury to a child and two counts of endangering a child.

Police were called on March 14, 2014, to a home on Delano Avenue in Waco after getting a report of physical abuse on a one-month-old baby.

When they arrived, Medina admitted to police he had been using methamphetamine two days earlier.

Medina (right) was sentenced to three 80-year-sentences which will run concurrently

Medina, who is the child's father, told police he squeezed the girl's ribs causing them to break, shook her and when he got upset with the girl's mother, he crushed the child's body against his to cause injuries.

In addition to the injury to a child charges, a grand jury reindicted Medina on aggravated sexual assault of a child in March this year.

According to the McLennan County District Attorney's office, the jury sentenced Medina to 80 years in prison and fined him $10,000.

The baby's mother Lisa Montoya was charged with two counts of endangering a child

Medina must serve the full 80 years on the first charge before he is eligible for parole.

The child's mother, Lisa Montoya, was also charged with abandoning/endangering a child.

The affidavit states she put the child in imminent danger of death, bodily injury or physical or mental impairment by not reporting the abuse to the authorities.

Medina, who was first indicted in November 2015, has been held in the McLennan County Jail since April 2017 in lieu of $225,000 bond.

An unrelated family adopted the victim and her two siblings, prosecutor Gabrielle Massey said. The girl is now four and is doing well, she said.

The jury's verdict ensures that this toddler and all children will be safe from this predator for the next 80 years, Assistant District Attorney Gabrielle Massey said in a prepared statement.

Thanks to the work of CPS and Waco PD Crimes Against Children, the horrific first five weeks of this child's life will not prevent her from having a safe and happy future.

Prosecutors Jennifer Jenkins (left) and Gabrielle Massey (right) say Medina had made the first year of his baby's life 'a living hell' and had 'shattered her body in a sick sexual fulfillment'

Prosecutors Gabrielle Massey and Jennifer Jenkins had asked jury members for the life sentence on Thursday.

My question is what has he done to deserve anything less than life?, Massey asked jurors during sentencing Thursday.

What more horrific of a crime could there be for a man who is supposed to love and protect the life he brought into this world, and instead, he shatters her body in sick sexual fulfillment'.

During the abuse, the state said Medina broke his daughters ribs and legs and caused bruising all over the baby.

The fractures in the babys body were reported to be in various stages of healing, suggesting the abuse had continued for weeks.

'All that baby needed was love and safety. The man that was supposed to give that to her instead taught her the true horrors of the world,' Massey said. 'Thank God he did not kill her tiny body, but he killed her soul'.

Massey said the young victim had endured 'a living hell' in her short life at the hands of Medina.Elizabeth Smart, known nationwide as an activist and advocate for survivors of rape and sexual abuse, is also a doting mother.

On her Instagram page, a pregnant Smart posted a photograph of her and her two small children out and about on a beautiful Saturday.

'Trying to have a little fall adventure with my two cuties before number three comes!' Smart wrote in the caption of her Instagram post.

'And this was the closest I got to having everyone look at the camera.'

Smart lives in Park City, Utah with her husband, Matthew Gilmour, and their two children - Chloe, 3, and James, 1.

Smart, 30, became a household name in the United States when she was taken at knifepoint in 2002 from the bed she shared with her sister in Salt Lake City.

Elizabeth Smart, known nationwide as an activist and advocate for survivors of rape and sexual abuse, is also a doting mother. On her Instagram page, a pregnant Smart posted a photograph of her and her two small children out and about on a beautiful Saturday

Smart lives in Park City, Utah with her husband, Matthew Gilmour, and their two children - Chloe, 3, and James, 1

A passerby spotted her nine months later when she was walking down the street with her two captors, a homeless street preacher and his wife, and called police.

Smart was just 14 years old at the time she was kidnapped.

One of Smarts captors, Brian David Mitchell, was sentenced to life imprisonment.

His wife Wanda Barzee, 72, was released last month after serving 15 years in prison for kidnapping and unlawfully transporting a minor.

Barzee had been scheduled to be in prison until 2024 but was released after prison officials recalculated her sentence to account for time already served before going to state prison.

Smart said in an interview that Barzee's release posed a danger to the public.

'I do believe shes still a danger ... I am very concerned for the community, for the public, as much as I am for myself,' Smart told CBS This Morning.

A lawyer for Barzee, Scott Williams, said in a statement that it was 'unfair and counterproductive' to label Barzee as dangerous.

One of Smarts captors, Brian David Mitchell (left), was sentenced to life imprisonment. His wife Wanda Barzee, 72, was released last month after serving 15 years in prison for kidnapping and unlawfully transporting a minor

'There is no reliable evidence to support speculation that Ms. Barzee presently poses a threat of any kind to the community in which she resides, or any particular person,' Williams said.

He said Barzee cannot contact the Smart family or Mitchell.

Greg Johnson, administrative coordinator for the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole, said she will be supervised by U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services for five years.

In the interview, Smart described Barzee, who she said would encourage Mitchell to rape her, as 'evil and twisted.'

She characterized an apology letter Barzee wrote years ago as part of a plea deal as insincere.

Despite her concerns, Smart said she had forgiven her captor and moved on.

She is married with two children and expecting a third, and has become an advocate for preventing the sexual abuse and exploitation of children.Manager of a popular car and clothing business has been denied bail despite his brother and sister offering a $100,000 surety - even though his co-accused was released on bail in September.

Gold Coast Business Manager for Monstr, Scott Allan Stoneman, was charged in September with running a highly organised and sophisticated luxury car scam that allegedly netted $4.5million.

Stoneman was denied bail at Tweed Heads Local Court on Monday, despite his siblings offering $50,000 each on the condition he wouldn't breach bail.

Magistrate Geoff Dunlevy was hesitant and said he believed there was a chance the business owner would try to flee the country,The Gold Coast Bulletin reported.

Manager of a popular car and clothing company, Monstr (pictured) has been denied bail despite his brother and sister offering a $100,000 surety

His co-accused, business owner and Comanchero gang member, Shane Anthony Ross, was granted bail after having brain tumours removed in recent weeks.

The pair were extradited to New South Wales from Queensland and Ross was granted bail while Stoneman remained in custody.

The syndicate allegedly created fake documents to get loans for luxury vehicles and then on-sold them.

Stoneman and Ross allegedly made their millions by seizing 18 vehicles in total.

The alleged ringleader, Christian Nassar, is on the run after he allegedly rammed a police car on September 18.

Hilal Merhi and Mohamad Alameddine also face fraud charges in NSW in relation to the alleged scam.

The operation allegedly saw the group obtain loans for luxury cars and change the payment details to electronic payment system BPAY before making just three payments.

Stoneman's co-accused, business partner and Comanchero gang member, Shane Anthony Ross (pictured), was granted bail as he had brain tumours removed in recent weeks

Comanchero bikie Ross and Stoneman run Monstr Detailing, a professional detailing business, run out of the Gold Coast (stock image)

The cars, such as Mercedes and HSV Club Sports, would then be sold on at 'drastically reduced prices' it is alleged in court documents from police.

The charged men allegedly used fake details when securing the loans, making them impossible to trace.

Police allege the group thought that by making the three payments the finance company would be unable to file a report with the police as it would be deemed a civil dispute.

Ross and Stoneman's lawyer Marty Longhurst said Stoneman wouldn't communicate with Ross if he was released and worked for another company.

The alleged ringleader, Christian Nassar (pictured), is on the run after he allegedly rammed a police car on September 18

Magistrate Dunleavy said despite the large sum of money, he believed Stoneman remained a 'serious concern to the community'.

'I have serious concerns of him committing a serious offence or contacting the other co-accused,' he said.

Stoneman will appear at Campbelltown Local Court on November 21 along with Ross and Merhi.

Alameddine, however, will face fraud charges at Sutherland District Court on November 12.

Monstr Detailing is a professional detailing business that has serviced some of Australia's most well-known and luxurious car brands, its website states.Sierra Leones government has terminated a $400 million deal to build a new airport with Chinese labor and loans, Reuters reported.

The plan had repeatedly been criticized by international financial institutions for the additional burden it would place on Sierra Leones external debt. Sierra Leone has accumulated more than $220 million Chinese debt in the last 10 years.

According to a letter written last week by the countrys Minister of Transport and Aviation, Kabineh Kallon, the government would terminate the contract to build the airport as of the end of October, formalizing a decision announced in June.

The cancellation of the mega-project is the first time an African government has canceled an already announced, major China-backed deal.

Speaking to the BBC on Wednesday, Sierra Leones Transport & Aviation Minister Kabineh Kallon said the current airport would be renovated instead.

The new airport, which was due to be completed in 2022, was a flagship project of former President Ernest Bai Koroma. His successor, President Julius Maada Bio, had criticized the airport plan during his campaign as a sham project.

The Mamamah International Airport deal had been controversial for years, partly due to the lack of transparency about its terms,

Sierra Leone is one of Africas poorest nations, and is rated by the International Monetary Fund as being at moderate risk of debt distress.When the World Trade Center collapsed on September 11, 2001, so did a piece of the man who was largely responsible for overseeing its construction.

Leslie Robertson, the lead structural engineer who was one of the key designers of the Twin Towers, has a hard time returning to Lower Manhattan.

I find it very difficult to go there, the 90-year-old Robertson told the New York Post.

Seventeen years after that fateful day, Robertson is speaking out in a documentary, Leaning Out, which premieres Tuesday at the Architecture and Design Film Festival in New York this week.

It tells the story of a man with an illustrious career who became wracked with guilt over the destruction of one of his most high-profile professional triumphs.

After the collapse of the Twin Towers, Robertson was criticized by engineers and architects who say he didnt take the proper precautions into account.

Leslie Robertson, the lead structural engineer who was one of the key designers of the Twin Towers, has a hard time returning to Lower Manhattan

In the early 1970s, when Robertson and his firm, Worthington, Skilling, Helle & Jackson, began work on the Twin Towers, they were determined to build structures that could absorb impact from an airplane

The towers were designed [to withstand a] 707, he told the Post. At the time, the 707, which today is considered a mid-sized airliner, was the largest commercial aircraft around. The Twin Towers are seen in this file photo from 1979

In the early 1970s, when Robertson and his firm, Worthington, Skilling, Helle & Jackson, began work on the Twin Towers, they were determined to build structures that could absorb impact from an airplane.

The towers were designed [to withstand a] 707, he told the Post.

At the time, the 707, which today is considered a mid-sized airliner, was the largest commercial aircraft around.

A low-flying, slow-flying 707 heading for Idlewild.

Idlewild is the original name for John F. Kennedy International Airport.

But the planes that eventually brought down the Twin Towers were 767s, the wide-body jet airliner that can carry up to 23,980 gallons of fuel.

The 9/11 hijackers deliberately chose to target two flights originating in Boston and bound for Los Angeles with the apparent knowledge that the planes would be carrying a full tank of fuel.

Upon impact, both jetliners exploded after crashing into the North and South Tower that morning.

It took minutes for the burning fuel to melt the steel beams that supported the structures, resulting in their collapse.

When the Twin Towers opened in 1973, it was hailed as a glorious achievement.

In 1993, Islamic extremists detonated a bomb in the basement of the building. The structures survived the blast.

I was on television a lot [afterward], he said.

But the planes that eventually brought down the Twin Towers were 767s, the wide-body jet airliner that can carry up to 23,980 gallons of fuel

I was probably the only person on the planet who could really say that the buildings were safe  the only one who could say, Hey, take the subway, and go back to work in that building.

Following 9/11, I didnt appear on television for months.

I had nothing that I could say to people to make them feel better.

Robertson said he seriously contemplated quitting for good - what with the horror associated with his most prominent work too much to bear.

I thought I was really through, through, through, through - forget it! he says in the film.

Who is going to want this guy whose building got taken down by a simple airplane?

What was most wrenching was his meetings with the families of those who lost loved ones.

I got 1,000 letters from people, writing in support of my work, he said.

But I also had people come to my office who had lost someone there. They wanted to talk.

One teenage girl lost her brother, who worked at the Windows on the World restaurant on the top floors of the North Tower.

I did the best I could, Robertson said.

We agreed to meet in a park down at the end of Manhattan. It was very stressful  we hugged each other and cried.

In 1993, Islamic extremists detonated a bomb in the basement of the building. The structures survived the blast

[People] wanted me to somehow say [how their loved ones] died. I couldnt do that. I wasnt there.

An investigation by the Federal Emergency Management Agency cleared Robertson of any blame for the thousands of deaths.

His firm was even chosen to serve as structural engineers for the rebuilt 4 World Trade Center.

But he admits the trauma of 9/11 prevented him from working extensively on that project.

Despite the guilt, Robertson says architects should not design buildings out of fear.

Buildings should be built for people, not for attacks, he told The Post.

The untoward events of life will probably take place, but if we design for them, then life would be a horrible place to live in.

We have to think about life first.A New Jersey man has eaten pizza every day for the last four decades and the only other meal he'll enjoy is peanut butter sandwiches.

Mike Roman, 41, From Hackensack is such a fan of the Italian-inspired meal that he's chomped on the doughy stuff consistently since he was a child.

The man has pretty much been eating peanut butter sandwiches for lunch every day since he was in grade school and has switched between enjoying pizza for his mid-day meal when he felt like varying his food. But he will always make pizza his final meal of the day.

Mike Roman has eaten pizza every day for dinner for four decades and often for lunch

Roman (pictured with his wife of one year) admitted that he had pizza on honeymoon in Aruba

Roman (right) shared his story on a New Theory Podcast hosted by Tom La Vecchia (left)

He admitted in a New Theory Podcast hosted by Tom La Vecchia that despite sometimes toasting his bread or swapping bread for crackers, he regularly returned to munching pizza for most of his meals throughout his life.

The man even confessed he had to incorporate it into his dating life and told his potential girlfriends the deal in advance to let them know their choice of restaurant is limited.

'Look if we go anywhere it has to have pizza. It doesn't have to be a pizza spot,' he explained.

When asked if he's ever been asked to go to a sushi restaurant or take a bite of parmigiana, Roman said he'd never been faced with the problem with a love interest.

Roman prefers pizza without toppings and says he would only eat peanut butter sandwiches as an alternative

He added that even on his wedding a year ago night he devoured pizza. For his honeymoon in Aruba he did not deviate.

In New York City his favorite pies are from John's and Grimaldi's but his favourite kind comes with no toppings.

'Plain pizza, regular, thin crust, Margarita... anything that resembles regular pizza,' he said.

The pizza obsessive believes pizza in his home state New Jersey is just as good as in NYC.

Roman says he told dates they would have to go to a restaurant that served pizza

When questioned about whether he would still eat one with pepperoni on, simply removing the slices to enjoy it, he said he wouldn't.

'Pizza's got the four different food groups and I think peanut butter covers the fourth spot,' he joked.

His cholesterol has peaked over the years but he said it recently came back down and otherwise his health has been fine. He also reassured the host his bowel movements were 'fine to me'.

'Dinner to me is nothing that special. You gotta eat because you're hungry,' he explained.

He added that he's been the same way with his tastes in music and television shows.

One thing he would choose over pizza though, is sex.While thousands of families have been torn apart at the border, a special and brief semi-annual event called 'Abrazos No Muros', translating to 'Hugs Not Walls', reunites them for just three minutes.

Nearly 3,000 people attended the event held at the border in Sunland Park, New Mexico on Saturday, where 250 families met again after months, years, for some decades apart, for a precious and emotional reunion.

Moving photographs from the event see emotional parents pick up their children, husbands hug their wives, and families of all generations wrapped in a tearful embrace.

On Saturday the organization Hugs Not Walls reunited families separated at the U.S. - Mexico border for just three minutes. Relatives of immigrants pictured lining up in the city of Juarez, Mexico

Families members from Mexico wore white T-shirts while those coming from the U.S. side wore blue T-shirts. The families were separated by caution tape after the border gates opened

About 3,000 people - 250 families - arrived at the border to see their loved ones on Saturday

The meeting was initiated and called to an end with the blare of an air horn. In those precious three minutes families cried and shouted as they wrapped their arms around family members they haven't seen in years and in some cases decades

Father Daniel Martinez, who lives in Mexico, holds tight onto his daughter Daniela, who he hasn't seen in two years and lives in the U.S. as they were reunited for just three minutes

Border Patrol agents opened the door of the border gate before the start of the Hugs Not Walls event at the U.S. Mexico border in Sunland Park, New Mexico on Saturday

Finally reunited: Families members from Mexico, wearing white, hugged onto their relatives living in the U.S., wearing blue during the tearful three-minute reunion

Hugs for Walls started in the fall of 2016 and has since helped bring together thousands of families along the U.S.-Mexico border.

While the reunion may last for just three short minutes, families venture days in advance to the border for a the fleeting meeting.

The meeting usually takes place in the middle of the dry Rio Grande riverbed near downtown El Paso but was moved due to Trump's construction of an 18-foot wall.

Border Patrol agents opened up the fence at the border at 9am and allowed people from the U.S. side to walk through to the rural city of Juarez in Mexico. The people on the Mexican side of the border wore white T-shirts while those on the U.S. side wore blue as a mandated distinction.

The reunion was kicked of with the blare of an air horn and was called to an end minutes later.

The brief meeting was emotional for relatives on both sides of the borders. Hugs Not Borders is a semi annual event

A man from Mexico embraces his daughter living in the U.S. as a border patrol agent becomes overwhelmed with emotion

Back together: Families wrapped each other in their arms at the 'Abrazos No Muros' event

These women held tightly onto each other during their precious three minutes together

The event usually takes place in downtown El Paso but was moved to New Mexico this year due to the construction of an 18-foot border wall in El Paso

Never forget: Mother Guilliermina Pena, of Mexico, clutched onto her family members living in the U.S.

Throughout the three minutes Los Tigres del Norte's song 'America' played on repeat with the poignant lyrics: 'Todos son Americanos, sin importar el color' meaning 'We are all American, no matter our color.'

'I believe this is more symbolic than even before, because families hugging, crossing these walls  they overcame this wall,' Fernando Garcia, director of the Border Network for Human Rights, the group that operates Hugs Not Walls, said to the Los Angeles Times.

'People are able to see their families, embrace them and at least be together momentarily,' he added.

A woman named Ruby Almaraz of Colorado Springs, Colorado was the first in line and locked eyes with her father Jaime at the border fence. They hadn't hugged in 23 years as he was deported when she was a baby.

Along with her was her sister, mother and her 7-year-old daughter. Together they drove 12 long hours for the chance to see Jaime for three short minutes. It was the first time Jaime met his granddaughter in person.

At the site a giant sign saying 'Abrazos No Muros' aka 'Hugs Not Walls' was set up

A joyful day: David Aguero hugged his Mexican family members sporting White shirts during their brief reunion

Balloons of white and blue were brought to the emotional event on Saturday

The border: Border Patrol agents stood at the wall moments before the gate door was opened

At 9am the gate was opened and relatives from the U.S. side were brought over the Ciudad Juarez in Mexico

Till Next Time: Balloons were released above the border gate wall at the end of the three minutes

' It was amazing. I cant explain it,' she said the LA times after the meeting.

'I could. We were just so happy,' her daughter added.

A woman named Yadira De la Cruz arrived at Sunland Park with her family. It was the first time in four years she and her husband and children were able to see their uncles, brothers, cousins and parents who live in Mexico.

'The time was so short, but at least we could be together again. They hope that well all be together again soon,' she said.

A woman named Diana Moraga arrived to the border with her husband and her two young children. She left Mexico six years ago and hasn't seen her family since.

'I never thought I'd see them again,' she said. But in those three minutes her whole family kissed and hugged each other until she bade her mother goodbye with a final peck on the cheek.

The event previously was held at the border in El Paso but a four-mile stretch of fence was being removed from its place there and in its place an 18-foot high wall of steel bollard posts is set to be placed in a part of a $22million construction project expected to be completed in April 2019.

As the country grapples with tightening border controls and anti-immigration rhetoric coming from Washington, Hugs Not Walls tries to be a temporary solution for heartbroken families.

'This is not the solution to whatever immigration problems we have. This is a political statement,' Garcia said.A diver has revealed the terrifying moment he was charged and swiped by a five-metre great white shark during a fishing expedition with a friend.

Steve Oakes was swimming with his friend Matthias Grundl in 'brilliant underwater conditions' on Saturday morning at three mile reef, off the Western Australian coast, when he was charged and swiped by a fully grown female great white shark.

'My immediate thought was that it was some d**khead not knowing how to drive a boat, but became very apparent what had actually happened when it quickly turned to circle back,' Mr Oakes wrote in a post on the Impact Zone Spearfishing Facebook page.

Steve Oakes was swimming with his friend Matthias Grundl in 'brilliant underwater conditions' on Saturday morning at three mile reef, off the Western Australian coast, when he was charged and swiped by a fully grown female great white shark (pictured: the pair laughing off the incident afterwards)

Mr Oakes (pictured) said he was thankful to have such a calm and composed diving partner, following the threatening situation

'This is when it slowly began to circle myself three times within touching distance and it then moved on to circle Matt at the same distance before leaving.'

'I can comfortably say that Matt with his fins on was barely half the length of this thing.'

Mr Oakes said he was thankful to have such a calm and composed diving partner, following the threatening situation.

Once they were back in the boat the pair were able to laugh off the situation and successfully bagged a fish.

'The experience has given me an insane appreciation for those sharks, and couldn't of asked for a more composed and brilliant dive buddy!' the post concluded.

A shark warning has since been issued for the area of Centaur Reef, north west of Trigg Island (stock image)

A shark warning has since been issued for the area of Centaur Reef, north west of Trigg Island.

Divers are warned to yake additional caution in the area and keep informed of the latest detection and sighting information by checking the SharkSmart website.

If you see a shark, report it to Water Police.An Idaho Fish and Game Commissioner is being criticized by some after he shared photos of himself posing with a family of baboons and other animals he killed while hunting in Africa.

A spokesman for Governor C.L 'Butch' Otter's Jon Hanian told The Idaho Statesman in a story on Friday that the governor's office is looking into the matter involving Commissioner Blake Fischer.

Fischer and his wife shot at least 14 animals in Namibia, according to the photos and descriptions included in an email he sent to more than 100 recipients.

Blake Fischer posted a picture of a family of baboons he shot dead with a bow and arrow

Fischer (pictured) has been severely criticized over his action given that he is a member of the Idaho Fish and Game Commission and his judgement has been called into question

The animals included a giraffe, leopard, impala, sable antelope, waterbuck, kudu, warthog, gemsbok (oryx) and eland.

Fischer responded to the criticism by saying he didn't do anything illegal, unethical or immoral.

Former commission member Fred Trevey also called on Fischer to resign.

But Fischer: 'I didn't do anything illegal. I didn't do anything unethical. I didn't do anything immoral'.

A spokesman for C.L Butch Otter (pictured) called on Fischer to resign over the hunting trip

Most of the photos with the African animals are posed as standard big game hunting photos of the kind often seen in Idaho with deer, elk and mountain lions.

The photo causing some to question Fischer's judgment and ability to remain a commission member is one of him smiling broadly with four dead baboons propped in front of him, blood visible on the abdomen of the smallest baboon.

Fischer killed them using a bow and arrows.

'So I shot a whole family of baboons,' Fischer wrote below the photo in the emails he sent.

Keith Stonebraker, a former commission member, told the newspaper an apology by Fischer would satisfy him.

'They killed a whole family, including small baboons, and I think that's revolting," Stonebraker said. "It just puts a bad light on us'.

The commission Fischer serves on makes policy decisions concerning Idaho's wildlife, and it often manages game populations through hunting and fishing regulations.

Fischer took part in a hunting trip with his wife Namibia, according to the photos and descriptions included in an email he sent to more than 100 recipients

Those regulations are intended to require ethical behavior in the pursuit of wildlife. Some of Idaho's policies, such as on wolf and grizzly bear hunting, have been challenged in federal courts.

The commission has seven members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. Fischer was re-appointed this year, but he needs Senate confirmation.

Former commission member Fred Trevey called on Fischer to resign.

'Sportsmanlike behavior is the center pin to maintaining hunting as a socially acceptable activity,' he wrote in an email obtained by the newspaper through a public records request.Ondogo Ahmed, from north London, was found guilty of conspiracy to rape and disappeared from the UK whole out of prison on licence. He died in November 2013 fighting for ISIS in the city of Homs

The teenage accomplice of a gang rapist whose deportation was halted after plane passengers staged a mutiny, fled the UK while out of prison on licence to join ISIS.

Officials escorting Yaqub Ahmed on a flight from Heathrow to Turkey were forced to abandon his deportation when around a dozen holidaymakers who felt sorry for him angrily intervened shortly before take-off.

The passengers who thought they were doing a good deed were unaware that the man they were defending had been sentenced to nine years in jail for his part in a vicious gang rape of a teenage girl.

And that another member of his gang, Ondogo Ahmed (pictured right), from north London, later fought for Islamic State in Syria after disappearing from the UK while out of prison on licence.

Ahmed, 18 at the time, was given an eight-year sentence for his part in the gang rape of a 16-year-old girl in a flat in Crouch End, London in August 2007.

He was released half way through his sentence and ISIS registration files reveal that Ahmed crossed into Syria via Turkey on 2 August 2013 and took the nom-de-guerre Abu Yusuf al-Britani.

Ahmed, who is of Eritrean descent, was found guilty of conspiracy to rape and was one of the four young men who were jailed for a total of 62 years.

He was the youngest member of the gang of four rapists, who lured a 16-year-old girl into a flat in Crouch End and raped her.

Passengers helped Ahmed get kicked off the plane as he resisted being deported by the Home Office after serving a prison sentence for gang rape

Stunned plane passengers turned around to witness the commotion at the rear of the flight

Following his disappearance, police released an appeal for information about his whereabouts on 6 November 2013.

'Police in Islington are asking for help from members of the public to trace Ondogo Ahmed.

'Ondogo Ahmed is wanted on recall to prison for breaching his licence conditions by associating with one of his co-defendants. He is believed to still be in the N7 area,' the appeal read.

Ahmed and a fellow relative Bilal, were killed fighting for ISIS near the city of Homs on 10 November 2013, just over two months after joining the jihadi group.

He is thought to have been part of a group of at least five British men of Eritrean heritage from north London who have joined ISIS.

Yaqub Ahmed, 29, is one of a gang of rapists who brutally assaulted a young girl. The 16-year-old victim was gang-raped in a flat in New Orleans Walk in Crouch End on August 10

One of the key members is believed to be a British wannabe actor who fled to Syria and later starred in two ISIS propaganda videos.

Fasil Towalde, a 21-year-old student from Camden, London, was killed fighting in Kobane in 2014.

Towalde, of Eritrean heritage, was raised in a Christian family.

He converted to Islam when he was 16 and later travelled to Syria to join ISIS in December 2013.

The leaked ISIS documents confirm that Towalde entered Syria on 28 December 2013 and adopted the name Abu Abdullah al-Habashi.

Meanwhile Yaqub Ahmed is now believed to be in an immigration detention centre while officials try to place him on another flight out of the UK.

But this process could take months particularly if his lawyers use his temporary reprieve as an opportunity to appeal against his deportation.

He was released from prison after serving little more than four years, and lived in a halfway house in North London until recently.

Because he had been jailed for such a serious crime, the Home Office ordered his deportation, which led to him being placed on the flight to Istanbul last Tuesday afternoon.

He received a temporary reprieve because of the impromptu intervention of passengers.Three young girls in their early teens have been arrested following a blaze that ripped through an apartment building.

The three-storey building at the intersection of Peachey Road and Curtis Road at Munno Para, near Adelaide was well ablaze when police and fire crews arrived on Saturday around 4.45pm.

A family with a toddler were among a number of residents who were lucky to escape their homes as flames billowed from the building, according to 7news.

A teenager was also seen clambering down the side of the building, amid fears the apartment was about to collapse as parts of the building fell to the ground.

Several fire trucks were called in to control the inferno, which was brought under control after about an hour.

Two people were taken to the Lyell McEwin Hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.

The building was significantly damaged by the fire and traffic was diverted around the scene for several hours.

Fire cause investigators attended the scene.

Three girls have been arrested.

The trio, two aged 12, and one aged 13, from Smithfield Plains, were charged with arson and acts to endanger life.

A large smoke plume could be seen from the building that has offices on the ground floor and two levels of residential apartments (pictured)

They were bailed to appear in the Elizabeth Youth Court on 23 November.

The investigation is continuing and anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at www.crimestopperssa.com.au

Investigators are also appealing for anyone with footage (dashcam, mobile phone or CCTV) of the vicinity or fire to provide their details via Crime Stoppers.Australia's Agricultural Minister has hit out at the country's major supermarkets, calling their support of drought-stricken dairy farmers a 'farce'.

In a statement released on Sunday, David Littleproud said Coles' milk levy on their supermarket branded milk was an 'empty media stunt'.

He says the supermarket giants only signed up for the levy, which began in mid-September, in reaction to Woolworths' pledge to supplement dairy farmers.

But Coles has since hit back, claiming the politician should look up the facts before critiquing them.

Coles' milk levy is being slammed by Australia's Agricultural Minister as an 'empty media stunt'

Agricultural Minister David Littleproud says the levy implemented by Coles and Woolworths might not even go towards the farmers

The increase in Coles and Woolworths brand milk was designed to provide relief to farmers enduring what has been called the worst drought in a century.

In August, the entire state of New South Wales was declared in drought.

Subsequently, Woolworths increased the price of their one-litre self-branded milk from $1 to $1.10, pledging to donate the additional ten cents directly to affected farmers in Victoria, NSW, Australian Capital Territory and Queensland.

Coles followed suit, increasing the price of their three-litre Coles brand milk from $3 to $3.30.

But on Sunday, Mr Littleproud questioned whether the proceeds will even make it to the farmers.

'The result is a half-baked policy which only applies to Coles' 3-litre variety of their own milk brand  and may not even go back to the farmers who supply that tiny portion of drinking milk,' he said.

In September, both Coles and Woolworths increased the price of their own brand milk, pledging to donate the profits to drought-stricken dairy farmers

He also took aim at Woolworths and Aldi, the latter of which has not implemented a levy scheme.

'The big German can go and take a running jump if they can't be bothered to support Australian dairy farmers,' Mr Littleproud said.

While Woolworths and Aldi are yet to respond to the criticism, Coles has hit back, saying Mr Littleproud needs to check his facts.

'It is disappointing that the Minister has chosen to criticise Coles - which has already committed over $12million for drought relief - before becoming familiar with the facts,' a spokesman told News Corp.

The price increase is temporary, with Coles' (pictured) running until the end of the year

Before they raised the price of their milk, bitter dairy farmers urged consumers to boycott Coles until they did.

Joe Bradley, a Queensland dairy farmer, said Coles didn't support them.

'Don't shop at Coles, please, this is our one chance to survive,' he told Channel Seven's Sunrise.

The levy that has since been implemented is temporary, however.

Woolworths have committed to the ten cent surcharge until mid-October, while Coles' levy will continue until the end of the year.Gagging orders which allow employers to silence victims of workplace sexual harassment are set to be banned in the coming weeks - one year after the launch of the 'Me Too' movement.

Ministers are preparing to crack down on the non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that are ubiquitous in commercial transactions such as mergers and acquisitions - and are commonly used to protect company's confidential information and trade secrets.

However, NDAs can be used to keep allegations of wrongdoing out of the press. There are concerns such gagging orders have prevented thousands of complainants from speaking out.

They have also been used in politics, with figures revealing that the House of Commons spent more than 2.4million through NDAs over the past five years.

It is understood the new plans will see NDAs outlawed in Britain in cases where victims make complaints of sexual assault which are of a criminal nature.

Victims of sexual harassment will not be silenced anymore following government plans to ban non-disclosure agreements (stock)

What are non-disclosure agreements and why are they controversial? Non-Disclosure Agreements is a catch-all term for agreements that include confidentiality clauses  sometimes referred to as gagging clauses. They are meant to be used to stop confidential information like trade secrets leaking out when someone leaves a company or organisation. But they have sparked a storm of criticism as employers have often used them to cover up improper conduct and gag their former employees. They have also been used to cover up improper, discriminatory or even illegal behaviour. Parliament's Women and Equalities Committee, headed by Tory MP Maria Miller, is investigating how they work and whether they are being misused. Advertisement

Businesses are expected to face a new legal duty to protect staff from assault, groping and unsavoury humour.

A national database will also be launched for victims to report their experiences.

'The intention is to stop NDAs being used to stop the victims of sexual harassment from going to the police, and to introduce a new onus on employers to make it absolutely explicit to their staff that these agreements cannot be used in cases where a potential crime has been committed,' a senior Whitehall source told The Sunday Times.

'The consultation on NDAs will be launched as part of the domestic abuse bill, and follows a report by the women and equalities select committee, which called for new measures to tackle sexual harassment at work,' the source added.

Disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein deployed gagging orders to keep alleged victims quiet, it emerged, as dozens of women accused him of sexual harassment and assault. He denies all the allegations.

Among those to sign a confidential agreement was Zelda Perkins, a Briton who was an assistant to Weinstein in London.

She risked being sued by breaking the NDA to tell journalists that Weinstein harassed her.

Maria Miller (pictured), chairwoman of the Women and Equalities Committee, is investigating how non-disclosure agreements work and whether they are being misused

What is the #MeToo movement? The #MeToo movement began in October 2017 after actress Alyssa Milano followed a suggestion from a friend of a friend and tweeted: 'If youve been sexually harassed or assaulted write me too as a reply to this tweet.' The hashtag was tweeted nearly a million times in 48 hours. It came after activist Tarana Burke first began using the phrase a decade ago to raise awareness about sexual violence. Advertisement

Confidentiality agreements have come under more scrutiny in Britain amid the 'Me Too' movement around the world against sexual harassment and assault.

In Britain, 40 per cent of women and 18 per cent of men were sexually harassed in the workplace, from catcalls to sexual assault, polling firm ComRes found last year.

In March, Britain's Solicitors Regulation Authority, which regulates law firms, issued a warning notice about the improper use of NDAs and that such agreements should not be used to prevent people from reporting misconduct.

That was followed by a July report on workplace sexual harassment by the Women and Equalities Committee, which urged the government to 'clean up' the use of NDAs amid concern the agreements are being used to silence victims.Theresa May's DUP allies have warned that no-deal Brexit is now the 'most likely outcome' amid deadlock over the Irish border.

The party's leader Arlene Foster is said to be braced for negotiations to collapse after a furious row with the EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels.

Mrs Foster - whose 10 MPs are propping up the PM in power - found Mr Barnier 'difficult and hostile' during a private meeting.

The EU has been ramping up the pressure as it tries to forces Mrs May into more concessions over a 'backstop' to avoid a hard Irish border.

In public Mr Barnier has trenchantly demanded that the government accepts a 'backstop' that would see Northern Ireland stay within the bloc's jurisdiction for customs and single market rules.

DUP leader Arlene Foster, pictured in Brussels last week, is reported to have said that a no-deal Brexit was now the most likely outcome after talks with senior figures including Michel Barnier

Mrs Foster - whose 10 MPs are propping up the PM in power - found Mr Barnier (pictured in Brussels last week) 'difficult and hostile' during a private meeting

Mrs May and the DUP have flatly rejected that idea as it would effectively split the UK.

With just days to go until a crunch summit, Mrs May is thought to be trying to break the deadlock by proposing another 'backstop' arrangement.

Her blueprint could mean the whole UK staying in the EU customs union 'temporarily' and accepting some extra regulatory checks between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland.

But many Cabinet ministers and Tory MPs fear that in reality it would keep the UK subject to Brussels rules indefinitely and risk any advantages from Brexit.

David Davis calls for Cabinet mutiny over May's Brexit plan David Davis urged the Cabinet to mutiny against Theresa May today as he launched another salvo at her Brexit plans. The former Brexit Secretary accused the PM of 'panicking' and making 'unacceptable' concessions to Brussels. Writing in the Sunday Times, he said ministers should 'exert their collective authority' to thwart Mrs May's plans. Amid rumours of leadership manoeuvring, Mr Davis said the behaviour of Downing Street suggested 'incipient panic' and Mrs May's strategy was 'flawed'. 'This is one of the most fundamental decisions that government has taken in modern times,' he said. 'It is time for the Cabinet to exert their collective authority. This week the authority of our constitution is on the line.' It comes amid rumours that ministers including Andrea Leadsom, Penny Mordaunt and Esther McVey could quit over Mrs May's Brexit plans. Advertisement

An email leaked to the Observer says Mrs Foster was ready to block a Brexit deal.

According to a private email exchange between senior UK officials, seen by the newspaper, Mrs Foster gave her views during a dinner with the leader of Conservative MEPs, Ashley Fox.

The leaked email said Mrs Foster described the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Mr Barnier as 'difficult and hostile' and indicated 'the DUP were ready for a no-deal scenario, which she now believed was the likeliest one'.

Writing in the Belfast Telegraph on Saturday, Mrs Foster said she appreciated the risks of a no-deal Brexit but 'the dangers of a bad deal are worse'.

She added: 'The DUP's actions this week are not as some have suggested about 'flexing muscle'.

'This is no game.

'Anyone engaging in this in a light-hearted way foolishly fails to grasp the gravity of the decisions we will make in the coming weeks.'

Meanwhile, David Davis urged the Cabinet to mutiny against Mrs May today as he launched another salvo at her Brexit plans.

The former Brexit Secretary accused the PM of 'panicking' and making 'unacceptable' concessions to Brussels.

Writing in the Sunday Times, he said ministers should 'exert their collective authority' to thwart Mrs May's plans.

Amid rumours of leadership manoeuvring, Mr Davis said the behaviour of Downing Street suggested 'incipient panic' and Mrs May's strategy was 'flawed'.

'This is one of the most fundamental decisions that government has taken in modern times,' he said.

'It is time for the Cabinet to exert their collective authority. This week the authority of our constitution is on the line.'

It comes amid rumours that ministers including Andrea Leadsom, Penny Mordaunt and Esther McVey could quit over Mrs May's Brexit plans.

Theresa May, pictured at church in her Maidenhead constituency with husband Philip today) is hoping MPs will support her plans rather than allow Britain to leave with no Brexit dealLelectricite est devenue, de nos jours, un besoin dune importance majeure, et cela, dans tous les domaines dactivite. Que ce soit dans les maisons ou []Celebrity chef Neil Perry's restaurant group has paid out $1.6 million to workers after an internal investigation into the business's payroll showed significant underpayment of wages.

The company undertook a review of their finances in the wake of other high-profile claims in the hospitality industry of restaurants, including those associated with George Calombaris and Shannon Bennett, were underpaying staff.

The Rockpool Dining Group employs more than 2,400 people, including migrants and temporary residents, across Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, and manages payroll in excess of $100 million.

Celebrity chef Neil Perry's up-market restaurant Rockpool has paid workers more than $1.6 million after an internal review showed workers were owed wages

An internal review by Rockpool Group determined a number of employees had been shortchanged, with $1.6 million payments will be reimbursed.

'We are now notifying eligible employees of their personal outcomes, and will begin processing payments immediately,' a statement from the company read.

The announcement comes only months after Mr Perry insisted his businesses were all paying employees above award wage.

Mr Perry said the Rockpool Dining Group offered Australians and employees on working visas opportunities to learn and grow their skills in restaurants.

'It's a sad day when a few people try to undermine the amazing work of so many who contribute to making our restaurants great; especially when we operate fully within the employment laws of this country,' Neil Perry said (pictured)

Some chefs working for Rockpool Dining Group were allegedly earning $15 per hour some weeks

'It's a sad day when a few people try to undermine the amazing work of so many who contribute to making our restaurants great; especially when we operate fully within the employment laws of this country,' he said in a statement in July.

Annual salaries of all employees are required to be at least 25 per cent above minimum wage to cover reasonable overtime hours.

It also must be above what a staffer would be entitled to on an hourly rate.

The company admit they have fallen to the same trap other restaurants have across the board.

The claim centre on underpayments at two of the group's restaurants, including Sake (Sydney restaurant pictured)

The spokesperson said the company has implimented a number of intiatives to manage it's complex payroll system that spans multiple brands and locations.

'Like many businesses in the restaurant industry, the Group has had to work hard to replace and modernise legacy systems and procedures and that work continues,' it said.

Some chefs working for Rockpool Dining Group were allegedly earning $15 per hour some weeks, well below the minimum wage, while working up to 30 hours' unpaid overtime, according to a Fairfax Media investigation.

Separately, company emails seen by Fairfax tell workers how not to record the hours they worked.

Mr Perry sold Rockpool Dining Group in 2016, but remains involved as the group's chief brand and culinary director and a significant shareholder.Ministers are facing a Tory rebellion over plans to allow people to change gender without approval from a doctor.

Equalities minister Penny Mordaunt proposed a major overhaul of the process over the summer.

She said the current process, which requires consent from a doctor, was 'overly bureaucratic'.

Ms Mordaunt insisted she was determined that the state should not 'add to people's stress' when they were already going through a 'challenging' process.

A poll of MPs by ComRes found just 9 per cent of Conservatives believe people should be able to declare their own gender without medical consultation, while 69 per cent were opposed

But a ComRes poll of MPs has found that just 9 per cent of Conservatives believe people should be able to declare their own gender without medical consultation. Some 69 per cent were opposed.

More than half said transgender women should not get all the same legal rights as those born female.

Eight out of 10 said they were worried by the number of children wanting to change gender, and 56 per cent were against puberty-blocking drugs.

But the poll found 63 per cent of Tories were nervous of speaking out for fear of being branded 'transphobic'.

The findings suggest the government might have problems pushing the reforms through when they come before Parliament. A consultation is due to come to a close next week.

One minister told the Sunday Times that when Ms Mordaunt outlined the plans to Cabinet in June 'no one made a fuss'.

'She said it was the defining moral and cultural issue of our time and that we must get this right now because we have failed to be on the right side of previous controversies. She said this was the equivalent of establishing gay rights in the 1980s,' the minister said.

Theresa May said last year that the government would seek to 'streamline and de-medicalise' the process of changing gender, insisting the system must reflect that 'being trans is not an illness'.

Equalities minister Penny Mordaunt (pictured in Downing Street last week) proposed a major overhaul of the process of changing gender over the summer

The mooted reforms include scrapping medical tests and allowing individuals to self-identify their gender - as already happens in countries such as Ireland.

A YouGov poll for Pink News in July found there were considerable doubts among voters over the proposals to overhaul the Gender Recognition Act.

Just 18 per cent backed letting transgender people switch legal gender without approval from a specialist doctor.

And the figure dropped to 13 per cent among Conservative voters, according to the research.

A GEO spokesperson told MailOnline:

'Speculation in media over the weekend about the Gender Recognition Act is wrong. These are complex and sensitive issues. We know that many trans people find the current requirements overly intrusive and bureaucratic. We are consulting now because we want to hear people's views. The consultation is not yet closed.

'We have always made clear that any reform of the Gender Recognition Act will not change the exceptions under the Equality Act that allow provision for single and separate sex spaces. The consultation ends next week and we will look carefully at all the responses.'An ugly brawl broke out inside Melbourne's Crown Casino on the weekend leaving one man unconscious after he allegedly came to the defense of his girlfriend.

A patron filmed as the disgusting battle broke out about 4am Sunday morning which left a man in his 20s suffering head injuries and needing to be rushed to hospital.

Police alleged two men in the footage had been harassing the girlfriend of the man they attacked in the minutes leading up to the violent clash, Seven News reported.

An ugly brawl broke out inside Melbourne's Crown Casino on the weekend leaving one man unconscious after he allegedly came to the defense of his girlfriend

The clip showed at least dozen punches being thrown at the victim, who lay defenseless on the floor, before security guards intervened.

A woman understood to be the man's girlfriend then wedged herself between her partner and his attacker in an effort to protect him.

He passed out shortly after being put in a chokehold by an attacker.

The person filming the incident said several guards began 'screaming' afterwards with one ordering the camera man to stop filming and put his camera away.

The clip showed at least dozen punches being thrown at the victim, who laid defenseless on the floor, before security guards intervened (Crown Casino pictured)

The person filming the incident said several guards began 'screaming' afterwards with one ordering the camera man to stop filming and put his camera away

'He was screaming, I don't know what he was screaming about, I don't know who he was screaming to or what he was screaming at but i just saw him screaming,' he said.

The assault unfolded in the food court just metres from a major entrance into the casino where three guards were scanning the IDs of people entering.

Police have launched an investigation into the incident.

Crown Casino rules state photographing and filming inside the premises is prohibited.Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry today said she believes Saudi Arabia did murder a missing journalist.

Mrs Thornberry said 'on the balance of probabilities' it appeared that the Kingdom was behind the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.

And she demanded that the UK curbs trade ties with Saudi rather than ministers 'muttering' about how unhappy they are.

But Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt shot back that Jeremy Corbyn had not even managed to condemn Russia after the Salisbury nerve agent attack.

The row came amid signs Britain and the US will boycott a major Saudi trade conference.

The UK, France and German issued a joint statement tonight voicing 'grave concerns' and calling for a credible investigation into what happened.

A critic of the kingdom's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Jamal Khashoggi was living in self-imposed exile in the US and writing opinion pieces for the Washington Post before his disappearance

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry (pictured on the BBC's Andrew Marr show today) said she believes Saudi Arabia did carry out the murder

Mr Khashoggi, a critic of the Kingdom's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, vanished earlier this month.

He was living in self-imposed exile in the US and writing opinion pieces for the Washington Post, but has been missing since visiting the Saudi consulate in Turkey on October 2.

There have been claims the reporter managed to use his Apple Watch to record audio evidence of his own torture and murder. The Saudi authorities have insisted the accusations are baseless.

Amid a mounting backlash, Trade Secretary Liam Fox is thought to be considering whether he should attend a conference in Riyadh later this month dubbed 'Davos in the Desert'.

According to the BBC, US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is also mulling whether he should stay away from the event hosted by the Crown Prince.

Pressure has been growing on the UK government to take a tougher stance over the alleged killing.

In a joint statement tonight, Mr Hunt, France's Jean-Yves Le Drian and Germany's Heiko Maas said they were treating the incident with 'the utmost seriousness'.

'Defending freedom of expression and a free press and ensuring the protection of journalists are key priorities for Germany, the United Kingdom and France,' the three ministers said.

'In this spirit, light must be shed on the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, whose family has lost contact with him since October 2.

'There needs to be a credible investigation to establish the truth about what happened, and - if relevant - to identify those bearing responsibility for the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, and ensure that they are held to account,' they said.

'We encourage joint Saudi-Turkish efforts in that regard, and expect the Saudi Government to provide a complete and detailed response.

'We have conveyed this message directly to the Saudi authorities.'

Trade Secretary Liam Fox (pictured left in Downing Street last week) could boycott a major conference in Saudi. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt (pictured right) has voiced the UK's concerns about the case

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry today insisted Britain must apply the same standards to Saudi Arabia as it does to Russia.

Writing in The Observer, the Labour MP said: 'We must apply the same standards to countries such as Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt that we apply to Iran, Russia and Syria.

'Where any of them abuse human rights and breach international humanitarian law, we must be prepared to call it out in the same measure, rather than treating it as one rule for our supposed friends and another for our supposed enemies.'

Mr Hunt summoned the Saudi ambassador and telephoned his counterpart to make his concerns clear last week.

But Mrs Thornberry said this was 'too little, far too late'.

In response to her article, Mr Hunt tweeted: 'From the party whose leader wouldn't even condemn Russia by name after the first ever chemical weapons attack on British soil... we have been robust and will continue to be on this very troubling issue.'

Riyadh has faced a chorus of international calls to shed light on what happened to the journalist, and business leaders have already shunned the regime.

US President Donald Trump warned overnight that he is ready to punish the Kingdom if the allegations are proven.

In a sign of the international concern, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he wanted to know the truth about what happened and expressed fears such disappearances would happen more regularly and become a 'new normal'.

Mrs Thornberry today insisted Britain must apply the same standards to Saudi Arabia as it does to Russia

Commons Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat said yesterday that the UK should work with its allies on its response, and that International Trade Secretary Liam Fox should boycott the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh later this month if Saudi involvement in Mr Khashoggi's disappearance was proved.

'The first thing for us to do is for us to get together with our allies, the United States, the Europeans and others, to discuss very seriously what's going on,' Mr Tugendhat told BBC Radio 4's Today.

'The idea that we can treat Saudi as a normal state if it practises state-sponsored murder outside its borders is simply not true.'

He added: 'We may be talking about downgrading diplomatic relations, we may be talking about restricting support for certain areas.'

The Department for International Trade said: 'The Secretary of State's diary is yet to be finalised for the week of October 22, we will update on his activity in due course.'

Turkish officials have said he was killed on the premises and his body removed.

Saudi officials have denied the allegations as baseless.A 'greedy' married couple who stole 37,000 from parking metres to spend on lavish holidays have been jailed for a total of 66 weeks.

John Riley, 62, and Alan Shelton, 57, pilfered from The Mall Blackburn's multi-storey in Lancashire, where they had both worked for 19 years.

Manager of the car park Shelton and deputy manager Riley teamed up to steal the cash, with one opening the machines and the other acting as lookout.

John Riley, 62, (left) and Alan Shelton, 57, pilfered from The Mall Blackburn's multi-storey in Lancashire, where they had both worked for 19 years

They then splurged their spoils on luxury holidays costing almost 40,000, Preston Crown Court heard.

The pair manipulated transaction logs to avoid being caught, but their scheme was exposed after two anonymous whistleblower letters were sent to company bosses.

Prosecutor John Close said: 'Financial investigation officers discovered the pair had cash deposited in healthy bank accounts.

'The pair had also taken holidays totalling over 38,000 over a period of time and a wallet was found inside the home containing a number of holiday tickets.

'When asked how they could afford to live such a lifestyle, Mr Riley said his father had passed away leaving them some cash.'

Shelton (left) was manager at the multi-storey and Riley was deputy manager when they teamed up to steal the cash

Victim impact statements read out in court described how the actions of Riley and Shelton, who live in the town of Darwen, caused a 'climate of suspicion' at The Mall.

Judge Simon Newall said: 'You have caused damage, harm and distress in the lives and emotions and in some cases the health of people you have worked with.

'You have breached their trust over a long period of time.

'You had no other motive other than profit and personal greed - there were no exceptional circumstances.'

Shelton was jailed for 36 weeks and Riley for 30 weeks after they both admitted stealing the money.

Shelton (right) was jailed for 36 weeks and Riley for 30 weeks at Preston Crown Court

Philip Holden, defending Riley, said: 'We have here two men with good characters.

'My client is a hard-working and well-liked individual. The chance that he will reoffend or appear in front of a court ever again is very unlikely.'

James Hayworth, defending Shelton, said: 'This man is someone who has worked throughout his life.

'He is fundamentally a decent person who has let himself and others down.'Author and former spy John le Carre has denounced Etonians as a 'curse on the earth' and described ex-pupil Boris Johnson as 'perfectly encapsulating the school's sense of entitlement'.

Le Carre, 87, added he wasn't surprised to discover that alumni were caught up in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which saw the company embroiled in the harvesting of data from about 87million Facebook users.

'[Etonians are] an absolute curse on the earth, leaving that school with a sense of entitlement and overeducated cultural posturing perfectly encapsulated in our appalling former foreign secretary,' le Carre told The Sunday Times' Culture section, as he trained his sights on Mr Johnson.

The acclaimed thriller writer, whose real name is David Cornwell, is certainly familiar with the elite school in Windsor, Berkshire. He taught French and German at Eton for two years in the late 1950s.

Scroll down for video

John le Carre (left) has denounced Etonians as a 'curse on the earth' and attacked Boris Johnson for embodying all that was wrong with the boys' boarding school

Among the many famous Old Etonians are David Cameron, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, and actors Tom Hiddleston and Eddie Redmayne.

Le Carre, who was educated at Sherborne, a boarding school in Dorset, also attacked the 'amorality' surrounding the Cambridge Analytica fiasco, which involved two Old Etonians.

The data firm - which has since shut down - suspended its chief executive, Alexander Nix, after recordings emerged of him making a series of controversial claims, including boasts that Cambridge Analytica had a pivotal role in the election of Donald Trump.

This information is said to have been used to help the Brexit campaign in the UK.

Nigel Oakes, 56, the CEO of SCL, which founded Cambridge Analytica, also attended the school.

Le Carre, author of more than 20 novels including A Perfect Spy, The Little Drummer Girl and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, even likened the scandal to one of his espionage plots.

'We used to have agents of influence during the Cold War... Now we're dealing with Cambridge Analytica. At the centre of it all, amorality and, needless to say, Etonians,' he told The Sunday Times.

Famous Old Etonians include (l to r) David Cameron, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and actor Eddie Redmayne

As well as his writing career, le Carre worked for MI6 in the early 1960s after stints with the British Foreign Office in Germany.

His career ended prematurely when his cover was blown by another former British agent, Kim Philby, who defected to Moscow in 1963 and revealed the identities of scores of British agents, many of whom were subsequently killed.

Le Carre said he was contacted by a Russian intermediary in the mid-1980s who offered him a meeting with Philby shortly before the defector died, but he turned it down.

'I just couldnt do it. I said no,' le Carre said.Advertisement

The historic Drake's Island is on sale for 6million - with planning permission granted to transform it into a luxury Caribbean-style resort.

The six-acre former fortress has been used as a religious centre, a prison during the reign of Charles II and, most recently, as an adventure training facility which closed its doors almost 30 years ago.

But the island's owner, Dan McCauley, who purchased the land for 384,000 in 1995, has now put it up for sale for a guide price of 6million.

An artist's impression of the 10million Caribbean-style resort in development at the historic Drake's Island on the Plymouth Sound

The hotel, which will be made of a composite of pre-existing Grade II listed buildings and two new structures, will also contain a spa

Drake's Island, named after Sir Francis Drake, who set sail in 1577 to circumnavigate the globe, has been described as 'the jewel in the crown of Plymouth,' the Sunday Times reported.

Mr McCauley's son, Aidan, said: 'We want to see the place come back to life. It has to come back to life.'

His plea for rejuvenation of the island, which is just 600 yards from the mainland in the Plymouth Sound, may have already been answered.

There is planning permission for the island to be developed into a luxury hotel and spa, complete with conference facilities and an upmarket restaurant.

Planning permission for the extensive project was first put forward by Rotolok Holdings Limited two decades ago - and was granted last April

Planning permission, put forward by Mr McCauley's company Rotolok Holdings Limited, was granted last year to transform the Island's Grade II-listed Island House, Barracks Block and Ablutions building.

The company's vision is for a Caribbean-style resort, similar to its successful Sugar Ridge Resort in the paradise island of Antigua, the Plymouth Herald reported.

Rotolok is now able to begin work on the ambitious redevelopment after a maritime license was granted last month to repair the aging jetty.

Sean Swales, managing director, said: 'We started the jetty repair application process back in 2017 and so Im delighted we can finally start work to get safe access to the island.

'This will enable us to get the various experts and consultants onto the island to take the project forward.'

The main island accommodation will be formed by linking together the Grade II-listed Island House, Barracks Block and Ablutions buildings, with a total of 25 double and twin bedrooms inside.

A new contemporary structure would host a bar, reception, and restaurant - and a second new build would house a spa.

Drake's Island has been used as a religious centre, a prison during the reign of Charles II and, most recently, as an adventure training facility

The Island's battery is expected to become 18 suites with stunning views of the Plymouth Sound.

Developers also plan to transform the Governor's House into a cafe by the Mayflower 400 celebrations in 2020.

But due to the complexities of the development, and the fact the island currently has no electricity, an end date has not yet been proposed.

Plans for the ambitious project were initially put forward to councillors two decades ago.

Rotolok was finally granted permission in April last year after Natural England and the RSPB both dropped their objections after hearing how a colony of roosting egrets, which had held up the project for years, would be given a new home at Mount Edgcumbe.A group of thugs have escaped with just a fine after they attacked another commuter on a city-bound train.

This is the shocking moment one group brutalise another on the Gawler train line bound for Adelaide on Saturday night.

Despite the all-in brawl, only two of the thugs involved in the fight were fined for the attack, Seven News reported.

Scroll down for video

This is the shocking moment one group brutalises another on the Gawler train line bound for Adelaide on Saturday night

The mobile phone footage captures at least six men brawl on the carriage as concerned on-lookers plead for them to stop.

In the short clip, the men hurl punches at one another as one man shields his head in the midst of the action.

The wild brawl escalated out of control as one man was pushed up the wall of the carriage.

The mobile phone footage captures at least six men brawl on the carriage as concerned on-lookers plead for them to stop

Stunned on-lookers remain completely still as the brawl erupted and the men pull, punch and jump on one another.

According to one witness, the alternation began as verbal and then quickly turned psychical.

'One guy called out the other one and then punches started flying - it was crazy,' the witness said.

The men, aged 27 and 28, were slapped with an on-the-spot fine and were banned from public transport for 72-hours.A prisoner high on Spice died after he set himself on fire at a maximum security jail in the UK.

Convicted arsonist Kevin Hilton died on December 30 last year after torching himself in his cell in the segregation unit at HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire.

The 31-year-old prisoner, who was serving an indeterminate sentence for affray, was high on the zombie drug Spice when he set fire to himself.

His death is not the first fatality linked to the zombie drug and in the same month another inmate high on Spice, also in the segregation block, set fire to themselves but survived with burns injuries and remains in the jail.

Convicted arsonist Kevin Hilton, 31, died after setting himself at his cell in the segregation unit at HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire in December 2017. Pictured: Outside of the high security prison

Both incidents were revealed in a report into the 450-capacity jail by inspectors from the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) last week - which said that 'urgent action' was needed to stop Spice entering the jail.

The report also stated that violent attacks, many by prisoners high on Spice, had 'more than doubled' in the past year.

The report stated: 'The Board consider that increased availability and use of NPS (Spice) following the smoking ban is a major concern.

'Two prisoners in segregation set themselves on fire following Spice inhalation, sustaining life-threatening injuries.

'There have been a number of examples of prisoners debilitated by Spice on every wing; and several prison officers have been taken to hospital suffering from secondary Spice inhalation.

In the same month another inmate, who was also high on Spice, tried to set fire to themselves but survived with burns injuries

'Urgent and effective action is needed to prevent drugs entering the prison.'

The report continued: 'Whitemoor remains a safe prison compared to the national average but incidents of violence have more than doubled, particularly on staff.

'Availability and use of illegal drugs, in particular New Psychoactive Substances pose a significant hazard to prisoners and staff.

'Anecdotal evidence suggests that increasing use of Spice, and higher numbers of younger, more volatile prisoners are contributory factors; the proportion of younger, less experienced officers may also be having an effect.'

Inspectors called on the Prison Service to take prompt action, asking if the introduction of the smoking ban in prisons had contributed to the growth in the the use of dangerous alternative psychoactive substances.

They also asked:'Will HMPPS take urgent action to implement developing initiatives to stop the flow of NPS and other drugs into prisons?'

The report states that violence has increased by 121 per cent in the last year - compared to a rise of 16 per cent nationally.

In an annual report Elizabeth Moody (above), the acting prisons and probation ombudsman, said: 'It's completely out of control now in prisons it's so readily available'

An annual report report out last week by Elizabeth Moody, the acting prisons and probation ombudsman, said that Spice had spread to prisons, immigration removal centres and probation hostels.

She said using Spice was a 'new normal', adding: 'It's completely out of control now in prisons it's so readily available.

'Prisons are struggling with the consequences of bad batches of psychoactive substances, which can result in simultaneous multiple collapses of prisoners, unsustainable demand on prison resources, ambulances queuing up at the prison gate and, all too often, death.

'This destructive epidemic has become the 'new normal' in prisons.'

Speaking earlier this year, Glyn Travis, assistant general secretary of the Prison Officers' Association, said: 'The evidence is overwhelming - there is a very acute problem with spice.

'Prisons are awash with drugs and spice is now the cannabis of the 21st century.

'Spice has become a deadly drug, which causes violence, self harm and suicides - and our staff see it first hand.

'It a cocktail of chemicals that kills.

'Some of the acts of violence are not normal - there is no fear or recollection of what they have done (the prisoners high on Spice) - we are calling on the Government to do more.'

An independent investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman is due to take place into prisoner Kevin Hilton's death.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: 'The best way to keep staff and inmates safe is to keep drugs out of prisons.

'That is why we are spending an extra 40 million on safety and security measures including x-ray scanners, drug-detection dogs, better perimeter searches and phone-blocking technology.

'In addition, we're tackling the criminal gangs that smuggle drugs into prisons by investing an additional 14 million each year to cut off their ability to do business.'Roy Larner, 48, is in jail awaiting trial for possessing and intending to supply fentanyl

The 'Lion of London Bridge' who was hailed a hero for fighting off knife-wielding jihadis during the terror attack is in jail awaiting trial for possessing a Class A drug with intent to supply.

Roy Larner, 48, was repeatedly stabbed as he fought with Islamic terrorists who killed eight and injured 48 others in London Bridge and Borough Market last June.

However last month he was charged after being found with the powerful, and deadly, painkiller fentanyl - the drug linked to the death of Prince.

He arrested by police in Kent and will face trial at the end of the month.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice, told the Daily Star: 'Roy Larner is charged with one count ofpossessing a controlled Class A drug (fentanyl) with intent to supply.'

Mr Larner was hospitalised last June when he confronted the extremists.

He was released from hospital 12 days after the attack which left him with more than 80 stitches to his head, ear, arms and hands.

He was dubbed the 'Lion of London Bridge' after confronting Islamic terrorist in London Bridge last June

He confronted the terrorists after they came into the Black and Blue restaurant and bar armed with 'long knives'.

He said: 'They had these long knives and started shouting about Allah. Then it was, 'Islam, Islam, Islam'.

'Like an idiot I shouted back at them. I thought, 'I need to take the p**s out of these b******s.

'I took a few steps towards them and said, "f*** you, I'm Millwall'. So they started attacking me.'Olivia Nalwanga, 29, and her two-week-old son Zeus were last seen at 7.30am on Saturday

Police are urgently appealing for information after a young mother vanished from her home along with newborn baby.

Olivia Nalwanga, 29, and her two-week-old son Zeus were last seen in the Banchory Devenick area of Aberdeenshire at about 7.30am on Saturday.

Ms Nalwanga is described as being 5ft 4in with short dark hair in a dreadlock style.

Police have issued an appeal for information to help trace them.

She was last seen wearing knee-length leggings and carrying luggage and a brown pram.

In a statement on social media, the force said: 'Her disappearance is out of character and police want to ensure Olivia and Zeus are safe and well.

'Anyone with information that could assist us with our enquiries is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101.'

Meanwhile, police in Wick are appealing for information about a missing 24-year-old woman, saying they are concerned for her wellbeing.

Rosemary Henderson was last seen at about 8.30pm on Saturday in the Caithness town's Sinclair Terrace.

She is described as being white, around 5ft 5ins tall, with a slim build and blonde shoulder-length hair last seen tied in a pony tail.

She was wearing a white or cream puffer jacket, a grey animal print T-shirt, blue jeans and blue trainers.One of the world's most iconic steam trains took a special journey across England yesterday with the ashes of its owner inside the engine's firebox.

As the Flying Scotsman set off from King's Cross to York, the day marked a poignant moment in railway history for the train that once took tours across the world.

The 91-year-old's daughter, Penny Vaudoyer, was present at the start of the special journey, which began shortly after 10.30am, to pay homage to her father Alan Pegler- the man who saved the train from the scrapheap in 1963.

The Flying Scotsman took a special journey across England yesterday with the ashes of its owner Alan Pegler inside the engine's firebox. His daughter Penny Vaudoyer (above) was present to mark the momentous occasion

Penny Vaudoyer stands next to the engine her father brought and restored to full working condition

The steam engine made its final tribute to the man who brought this iconic train back to life in 1963

As the Flying Scotsman set off from King's Cross to York, the day marked a poignant moment in railway history for the train that once took tours across the world

In honour of his wishes Mr Pegler's ashes were placed inside the firebox of the train.

As the steam train travelled through Lincolnshire Mr Pegler's ashes were placed into the fire on the section of railtrack where the famous train broke the 100mph speed barrier in 1934.

The day also saw 478 passengers board the celebratory and poignant journey to toast the businessman who paid 3,000 for it to be rescued from the scrapheap.

British businessman Alan Pegler pictured standing in front of the engine at Kings Cross station in London

The railway enthusiast, who died in March at the age of 91, spent years trying to restore the train to its pristine condition

The steam locomotive set off from London's King's Cross yesterday with Alan Pegler's ashes in the engine's firebox

Daughter Penny Vaudoyer, told The Sunday Telegraph: 'Fulfilling his wishes has been tremendously important to me.

'It's been amazing because my father was somebody who dreamed of steam engines and was so passionate about their preservation. It's been very emotional.'

Alan Pegler, who was born in Retford, Nottinghamshire, had always had a passion for British steam locomotives and first saw the Flying Scotsman at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924, at the age of four.

After buying the iconic train, he transformed it into the spectacle it is today, taking it on tours worldwide, including America, Canada and Australia.

The railway enthusiast died in March 2012 at the age of 91.Prime Minister Scott Morrison has awarded his childhood local lifesaving club a $2 million handout, to restore it to its former glory.

Ahead of next week's by-election for former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's seat of Wentworth, the Liberal Party leader signed off on funding to replace the suburb's dilapidated beach clubhouse.

The document was officially signed by Mr Morrison's right hand man, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister for Infrastructure, Michael McCormack.

Mr Morrison grew up in the beachside suburb of Bronte, before relocating to Cronulla later in life

Liberal's Wentworth candidate for the by-election, Dave Sharma, hand-delivered the news at the Nippers Day festival on Sunday.

He advocated strongly for the funding, claiming the facility was too water damaged to be restored, and instead needed to be knocked down and rebuilt.

Mr Morrison grew up in the beachside suburb of Bronte, before relocating to Cronulla later in life.

Liberal's Wentworth candidate for the by-election, Dave Sharma, hand-delivered the news at the Nippers Day festival on Sunday

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has awarded his childhood local lifesaving club a $2 million handout, to restore it to its former glory

Mr Sharma is currently trailing Independant nominee Kerryn Phelps and Labour's Tim Murray, but the Prime Minister is hopeful they can retain their seat, and the Liberal party's one seat majority.

This is despite Mr Turnbull's unceremonious ousting from the top jop, which also led to his retirement from local politics, and his son Alex's recent endorsement of other political options in the upcoming by-election.

In a video shared to his Facebook, the former prime minister's son said the Liberal party had been 'taken over by extremists' and was in no state to lead the nation.

Liberal leader signed off on funding to replace the town's dilabidated beach clubhouse

'Don't vote for the Liberal party in the Wentworth by-election... this time, don't give the Liberals your vote.'

But Prime Minister Morrison said he was not worried about Alex Turnbull's political affiliations, and said there is no correlation between his views and his father's.

He said he could separate the views of family members, and that all individuals are entitled to their own opinions, political beliefs and ideals.

'He's an independent person in his own right. He's entitled to his own views, he's entitled to be wrong too, which I believe he is,' he said.A grandfather-of-25 who marched through a packed plane with his genitals exposed and slapped a senior US TV executive on the chest has been spared jail.

Hatam Hamad, 56, necked five glasses of wine then revealed his genitals on a British Airways flight from New Orleans to London last week.

He marched down the aisle and attacked father-of-two Joel Vilmenay, who was with his wife and young children.

A grandfather-of-25 who marched through a packed plane with his genitals exposed before slapping a senior US TV executive has been spared jail

Furious Mr Vilmenay, president of New Orleans TV channel WDSU, then confronted the Palestinian and American dual national - but he 'responded by grunting' and exposed himself to another passenger, a court heard.

Father-of-nine Hamad, who runs a family petrol station in New Orleans, was handed a six-week jail sentence at Uxbridge Magistrates Court on Friday, suspended for one year, after he admitted assault by beating.

Prosecutor Wendy Barrett said the incident unfolded about six hours into the British Airways BA224 flight on October 10.

Reading a statement from Mr Vilmenay, she said: 'He explains he was travelling with his wife and two children, aged eight and five, he had just taken his daughter to the bathroom and returned to his seat.'

Mr Vilmenay, who was not in court, added in the statement: 'After about five minutes a male, Mr Hamad, came down the aisle to me, directly to my chair where I was sitting with my kids.

'My daughter was awake and my son was asleep. This male had his penis out and exposed within three inches of my face.

Mr Hatam Awad Hamad leaves Uxbridge Magistrates Court

'At this time I felt shocked and then attempted to stand up and shouted at the male, 'what are you doing?'

He said Hamad refused to put his penis away and 'responded by grunting' before exposing it to another passenger.

Mr Vilmenay said: 'At this moment he used the back of his right hand and slapped me in the chest with some force.

'I was very concerned by what he might do to me and my family and the other passengers around us.'

Cabin crews were alerted to the incident on Aisle 23 and were forced to take Hamad to the back of the aircraft where he was guarded for the rest of the flight.

Miss Barrett said: 'Mr Vilmenay sat back down and was concerned obviously about his daughter being exposed to this behaviour.

'Cabin crew, once alerted, approached Mr Hamad. He had to be escorted to another part of the plane.

'Other passengers were moved from the very back row.

'Because of his behaviour a member of the flight crew stayed with him for the remaining period of the flight. Mr Vilmenay, he was made to feel angry, upset.'

His statement added: 'At the time I was shocked and felt threatened, I was very concerned for my son, daughter and wife.'

Miss Barrett said: 'Having been arrested for this incident by police who met the flight at Heathrow he was taken back to the police station and interviewed.'

Hamad initially denied the attack and told police he boarded the flight alone, drank 'five cups of wine' then went to sleep.

Miss Barrett said: 'He said he didn't get up, speak to anybody or touch anybody. He did explain he did not normally drink but was a nervous flier.'

He told police he had not drank alcohol for three months prior, adding: 'I'm not crazy, I did not do the things you say.'

Hamad, who has no previous convictions, initially pleaded not guilty at an earlier hearing but today admitted assault.

Miss Barrett said: 'There's a specific vulnerability experienced by passengers on board a flight.

Prosecutor Wendy Barrett said the incident unfolded about six hours into the British Airways BA224 flight from New Orleans to Heathrow on October 10 (stock image)

'When these events happen over 30,000 feet in the air, and people behave in an unpredictable and violent way, there's obviously that extra layer of fear caused to those involved in the incident and those who have to deal with him.'

Defending, Ranveer Authwall said it was 'a serious matter and he's fully aware of that.'

She said he has lived in New Orleans for 35 years and runs a petrol station and shop with his family of nine children and 25 grandchildren, who 'all reside together'.

He was en-route to Jordan with $25,000 in cash to build a house there, she said.

Miss Authwall said: 'Mr Hamad is anxious that he does not receive a custodial sentence. It's also going to have an impact on his family.'

Chair of the bench, Lyn Green said: 'We're going to send you to prison for a period of six weeks, however this period of being in prison will be suspended for one year.'

She added: 'There will be a compensation order for the victim of 600, a surcharge of 115 and costs of 85.

'You have pleaded guilty but there are a lot of aggravating features to this.

'You were in a restricted area on a plane, you used a member of crew for a substantial amount of time.

'There were children present when this occurred and you were under the influence of alcohol.'

A British Airways spokesperson said: 'We will not tolerate disruptive or abusive behaviour towards our customers and crew, and the appropriate action will always be taken.

'Our cabin crew moved Mr Hamad, reassured customers, and arranged for police to meet the aircraft.'Taxpayers will be hit with a 2million-a-year bill to protect notorious hate preacher Anjem Choudary.

The 51-year-old could be released on Wednesday 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 taxpayers will be stuck with the bill for funding the huge security operation needed to keep tabs on the Islamist, according to The Sunday Telegraph.

The 51-year-old could be released on Wednesday this week from the maximum-security Frankland Prison in County Durham after serving less than half of his five-and-a-half-year sentence

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

Choudary will be forced to abide by 25 separate conditions while out on licence, and the costs for keeping him safe are likely to exceed 2million a year.

The limits on his movement are thought to include an evening curfew, the wearing of a GPS electronic tag and a ban on visiting specific venues such as Regents Park Mosque in Central London, where he used to worship.

He will also be banned from communicating with a number of his former associates.

Choudary, led the banned terror organisation Al-Muhajiroun, whose disciples included London Bridge attacker Khuram Butt and the killers of Fusilier Lee Rigby  Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale.

'Toxic': Anjem Choudary was jailed in 2016 for publicly supporting the Islamic State

Even days before his release Choudary was still costing taxpayers even more cash.

His court case has cost more than 140,000 and an appeal against his original conviction cost 4,200.

It comes after it was revealed UN Security Council powers will be used to hit Choudary with an asset freeze and travel ban  and even force him to be subject to its arms embargo provisions'

The move, carried out with the close co-operation of French President Emmanuel Macrons government, means that each UN member state is legally obliged to freeze his financial assets, prevent him from entering their countries and stop any weapons reaching him.

It is believed that such draconian measures have only once been used before in Britain  and on that occasion the subject was Abu Hamza al-Masri, the hook-handed Egyptian cleric who preached Islamic fundamentalism and militant Islam from Finsbury Park Mosque in London before being extradited to America in 2012 and subsequently sentenced to life in prison.

A senior Government source said of the UN action against Choudary: This is a great coup for Jeremy and for Britain and shows we are serious about taking all necessary action to destroy Islamic State and its tentacles around the globe.



More than four million Australians are struggling to put food on the table, new research reveals.

The annual report by Foodbank shows nearly one in every five people have regularly struggled to afford food in the past twelve months.

To highlight the problem, a major tourist attraction, the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour, was shrouded in a black banner.

Australian icon the Big Banana (pictured) was shrouded in a black banner in solidarity

It comes as it's revealed more than four million Australians struggle to put food on the table

The banner was out on Sunday, reading: 'hunger in the country is a big problem.'

On top of those struggling to afford food at all, the report reveals three-quarters of Australians are eating less than before because of monetary constraints.

Foodbank Australia CEO Brianna Casey said parents are struggling to provide for their children.

'We know there are parents that are meal skipping regularly and routinely so that their children can eat,' Ms Casey told SBS.

The report also reveals that one in five children experience food insecurity, 18 per cent of all Australian children going to school without eating breakfast at least once a week.

Foodbank provides more than 700,000 Australians with food assistance on a monthly basis

Of the four million Australians struggling for food, one-third lived in regional areas.

The struggle of those living in rural areas comes as farmers endure what is being dubbed as the worst drought in a century.

Foodbank provides more than 700,000 Australians with food assistance on a monthly basis.

But the charity organisations is calling for more support from the government, saying they're seeing more people walking through their doors than ever before.

'Half of all our charity agencies report an increase in the number of people seeking much needed food assistance, and only 36 percent of charities say they are meeting the full needs of people they assist,' Ms Casey said.More than 1,000 people, including families and women carrying babies, have set off from Honduras towards the United States in a mass migration march.

Recent attempts at group crossings from Central American to the U.S. have tested PresidentDonald Trump's 'zero tolerance' stance on illegal immigration, as people fleeing violence and poverty defy threats of deportation.

Some 1,300 people joined the so-called 'March of the Migrant' on Saturday - just days after the U.S. urged Honduras' president to halt mass migration.

Some 1,300 people joined the so-called 'March of the Migrant' on Saturday from Honduras to the United States

Hondurans walk towards the US from San Pedro Sula, 180 kms north from Tegucigalpa, on Saturday after deciding to leave their country due to insecurity

The group plan to walk from San Pedro Sula in northern Honduras through Guatemala and into Mexico.

Once in Mexico, they plan to request refugee status to remain in the country or a visa to pass through to the U.S. border, organizer Bartolo Fuentes said.

'I believe we'll get to the United States. There's no work in Honduras, and you live in fear that they're going to kill you or your children,' said Fanny Barahona, 35, an unemployed teacher who walked with her nine-year-old son and carried a two-year-old daughter.

In April, media attention on a similar group of migrants, dubbed a 'caravan,' prompted Trump to press for tougher border security and demand such groups be refused entry.

Most in the caravan said they were fleeing death threats, extortion and violence from powerful street gangs.

The exodus started from the bus terminal in San Pedro Sula with the crowd trekking towards the border with Guatemala

Hondurans pray while they start an exodus towards the US from San Pedro Sula on Saturday

Once in Mexico, they plan to request refugee status to remain in the country or a visa to pass through to the U.S. border

More than 64 percent of Honduran households live in poverty, and San Pedro Sula has one of the world's highest murder rates.

'There is no work and so much violence that you can get killed walking down the street,' said Javier Solis, 25, who said he has not found work in a year and wants to enter the United States. On a previous attempt, he was deported to Honduras upon reaching Mexico.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence met with the presidents of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador in Washington on Thursday and told them the United States would be willing to help with economic development and investment if they did more to tackle migration, corruption and gang violence.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez said U.S. funding was declining, and he called on the United States to reunite migrant children with their parents after Washington's policy of separating families trying to cross the U.S.-Mexican border put Honduras under 'huge pressure.'

Among those making the trek were children being carried by their parents as families decided to leave due to insecurity and lack of employment opportunities

Some 1,300 people joined the so-called 'March of the Migrant' on Saturday - just days after the U.S. urged Honduras' president to halt mass migrationArchive footage from a nearly 20-year-old interview with ABC News has revealed that the wife of the president has been thinking about her role as first lady for the last two decades.

'I will be very traditional like Jackie Kennedy,' a 26-year-old Melania Knauss tells then-correspondent Don Dahler, in an interview that first aired on December 3, 1999.

'I would support him,' she said while dating then-boyfriend Donald Trump, who she later married in 2005, and adding, 'I will do a lot of social obligations.'

But the stark reality of the position may have turned out a bit differently than she expected, as at least up until now, both she and Jackie opted to stand by their men despite rampant cheating rumors.

While not giving much credence to those kind of stories, Melania divulged a few of her frustrations with the role of first lady in a new interview with 20/20's Tom Llamas, that aired on Friday.

Archive footage from a nearly 20-year-old interview with ABC News has revealed that Melania Trump has been thinking about her role as first lady since at least 1999

One of the unfortunate surprises that Melania divulged during her 20/20 interview was that certain groups she'd like to work with in her humanitarian efforts have opted not to collaborate with her.

'Its sad to see that organizations and foundations I want to partner with choose not to because of the administration and I feel they are choosing the politics over helping others,' she said in one clip of her interview on Friday.

When Llamas pressed her to name which organizations she was referring to, Melania refused to answer, instead channeling Jackie O. and keeping it classy.

'I would not talk about it,' she told Llamas. 'They know who they are.'

'I will be very traditional like Jackie Kennedy,' a 26-year-old Melania Knauss tells then-correspondent Don Dahler, in an interview that first aired on December 3, 1999. Then-Melania Knauss and Donald Trump are seen here in New York on January 11, 1999

'I would support him,' she said while dating then-boyfriend Donald Trump, who she later married in 2005 (pictured at their wedding), and adding, 'I will do a lot of social obligations'

While Jackie Kennedy may not have faced that particular challenge, the two women have more in common than extraordinary tact. They share a great sense of style, for the most part.

But outfit choices made by Melania have often struck up conversation, like the infamous 'I don't really care, do you?' jacket she wore to visit unaccompanied minor children at the Upbring New Hope Children's Shelter in McAllen, Texas, during the height of the family separation crisis on June 21.

When the first lady opted for the controversial look on the day, about 2,000 children remained separated from their families at the border, according to US Department of Homeland Security figures.

But the stark reality of the position may have turned out a bit differently than she expected, as Melania divulged her frustrations with role in a new interview with 20/20's Tom Llamas, that aired on Friday. Melania and her husband are shown here walking from Marine One on September 11 at the site of a new memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania where Flight 93 crashed during the September 11 attack in 2001

First lady Melania Trump has revealed that there actually was a message behind the infamous jacket with the words 'I really don't care, do you?' across the back, which she wore on June 21 in Texas, in an interview with ABC's 20/20

The mass separation was due to President Trump's administration cracking down on illegal entries in a way that criminalized what had previously been a civil infraction, which the president ended by executive order on June 20.

'It's obvious I didn't wear the jacket for the children,' she said, although she was criticized at the time for appearing tone deaf with the outfit selection.

Melanie told Llamas that the message was 'for the people and for the left-wing media who are criticizing me.'

When she opted for the controversial look of the day for her trip to Upbring New Hope Children's Shelter in McAllen, Texas on June 21 (pictured here leaving andrews Air Rorce Base on her way to Texas), about 2,000 children remained separated from their families

She added: 'I want to show them that I don't care. You could criticize whatever you want to say, but it will not stop me to do what I feel is right.'

But beyond the potential politics of her wardrobe choices, the first lady's style has been noted to bear a striking resemblance to looks worn by Jackie Kennedy during her time in the White House.

Melania is often seen in classic lines and solid color staples, reminiscent of the styles of the 1960s.

One pale blue outfit, in particular, worn by Melania during President Trump's inauguration on January 20, 2017, has often been featured side-by-side with an iconic image of Jackie Kennedy and her husband, at his inauguration in 1961.

Beyond the potential politics of her wardrobe choices, the first lady's style has been noted to bear a striking resemblance to looks worn by Jackie Kennedy during her time in the White House. Jackie Kennedy is shown at left in a red dress during the filming of a CBS News Special program called 'A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy,' in Washington, DC, on January 15, 1962. Melania Trump is shown at right in a red dress while leaving the dock after a boat ride on the Seine river on July 13, 2017 in Paris, France

One pale blue outfit, in particular, worn by Melania during President Trump's inauguration on January 20, 2017, has often been featured side-by-side with an iconic image of Jackie Kennedy and her husband, at his inauguration in 1961

President Kennedy (right) is shown with first lady Jackie Kennedy (left), in fur-trimmed suit designed by Oleg Cassini at his inauguration in 1961

Much like our current president, Jackie's husband was also widely considered a notorious ladies' man. President John F. Kennedy, Jr. was rumored to have had affairs with Marilyn Monroe, alleged mobster-liaison Judith Exner, and even a White House staffer, Priscilla Wear, just to name a few highlighted by People magazine.

What Jackie knew, and when, has long been the subject of speculation, as the Kennedys lived in a time when it wasn't acceptable to outwardly ask the first lady what she thinks of rumors that her husband is having affairs.

For better or worse, now is not that time, and we know exactly what Melania thinks about the stories.

Much like our current president, Jackie's husband was also widely considered a notorious ladies' man. Melania and the current president are shown together in an undated image featured in the 1999 ABC News special

'It is not a concern and focus of mine,' she told Llamas, speaking about whether the accounts about the president's alleged infidelities have put a strain on their marriage.

'I'm a mother and a first lady and I have much more important things to think about and to do.'

She's aware of what's being said, though, made apparent by the list she rattled off when asked what kinds of claims she had to endure.

'People say that I'm not happy in the White House, that I don't even live there and that I'm miserable in my marriage, that I'm out of touch,' she said. 'There are so many things I don't know where to start.'

She added: 'I know people like to speculate and media like to speculate about our marriage and circulate the gossip but I understand the gossip sells newspapers, magazines, getting advertisers and, unfortunately, we live in this kind of world today.'

Again, like Jackie, Melania hasn't said outright whether she thought the president had ever stepped outside the bounds of their relationship.A man who was wrongly accused of killing his wife is calling for 'the injustice to end' and for investigators to find her killer.

Barrister Lloyd Rayney was awarded more than $2.6 million in damages against the Western Australian government last year in one of the state's largest defamation payouts.

The payout came after he was publicly named by police as the prime and only suspect in the death of his wife Corryn Rayney in August 2007.

Evidence has since come to light places two violent sexual predators within just blocks of the Rayney's home at the time of the murder.

Corryn Rayney was last seen alive at her weekly American-style bootscooting class in 2007

Grim find: Police discovered a grave with Mrs Rayney's body buried in a diagonal position with the head in the lowest point

Corryn Rayney, 44, went to a boot-scooting class on August 7, 2007 and never returned home.

Her body was found days later in a sandy grave in Perth's King's Park.

In an interview with 60Minutes, Mr Rayney said there were holes in the investigation.

'It's now been 11 years, it's 11 long years, and someone has literally gotten away with murder,' he said.

'Nothing gets better until her killer is prosecuted.'

Convicted rapist Ivan Eades lived in the same suburb as the Rayneys and a cigarette butt covered in his DNA was found by police outside their house on the day Corryn disappeared.

Eades' cousin, violent paedophile Allon Mitchell Lacco, lived in an apartment near the Bentley Community Centre, where Ms Rayney was last seen alive.

On the day that Ms Rayney disappeared, phone records show that Lacco had allegedly used the phonebooth near the home.

When Lacco was pulled over by police the day after Ms Rayney's body was found, police found sand in the boot of his car, as well as a knife.

Violent paedophile Allon Mitchell Lacco (pictured left) and his cousin Ivan Eades (pictured right) lived near the Rayney home

A year later investigators tracked Lacco in Sydney, where they found a diary page for August 2007, the month Ms Rayney was killed, with map of Kings Park and the floor plan of the supreme court - where Ms Rayney was a registrar.

Lacco was interviewed by police but detectives did not take the investigation any further.

A resident of an apartment block near Kings Park also reportedly heard a loud scream from the park on the night Ms Rayney disappeared. Police reportedly discounted the claim.

Police based their case on Mr Rayney on the idea that his wife had been killed in their family home and driven in her body in her car to the park.

But their daughter was home at the time he supposedly killed her and their other daughter was expected home at any time.

Barrister Lloyd Rayney was awarded more than $2.6 million in damages in one of the largest defamation payouts in the nation's history

The losses were calculated based on 'billable hours' Mr Rayney missed out on charging clients in the three years between the press conference and the police charge

Mr Rayney said the case made no sense but the public had formed the opinion that he was guilty based on a police press conference where he was named the main suspect.

Mr Rayney says his life was changed forever from that day, saying his reputation will never survive the trial by media that he faced.

'(The police) did it for maximum humiliation, to cause me maximum embarrassment,' Rayney told 60 Minutes.

After the announcement Mr Rayney had his house egged, had sanitary waste tipped over him at a bar and was publicly vilified.

Three years after the press conference Mr Rayney was charged with murder, and two years after that he was acquitted.

Mr Rayney was awarded more than $2.6million in defamation damages. The damages include nearly $1.8 million in loss of income and $846,000 in damage to his reputation and distress.

He won an appeal and had charges of phonetapping thrown out of court.

His lawyer Martin Bennett said police did not follow the leads they had and had caused irreparable damage to Mr Rayney's reputation.

Corryn Rayney had been at her weekly American-style bootscooting class on the night she died

Loyal: Lloyd Rayney, 50, arrives at court for a previous hearing, flanked by his daughters Sarah and Caitlyn.

'This damage will continue for the rest of his career. It hasn't been expunged. All that occurs is peopleadjust their view to ''he must be very clever to get away with it''.'

Mr Rayney broke down in tears as he spoke about the moment he had to tell his daughters that their mum had been killed.

'We just put our arms around each other, I tried to comfort them but how do you comfort two girls who have lost their mum?'

Police have not confirmed whether they are investigating Allon Lacco or Ivan Eades in relation to the murder.

Locco is currently behind bars, waiting to be sentenced for unrelated charges, including assault. Eades' whereabouts in unknown.

Doctor Who is taking on racism with a new episode starring civil rights heroine Rosa Parks.

Time Lord Jodie Whittaker and her three assistants will set off to the Deep South in the third installment of the cult BBC show.

Parks famously refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Rosa Parks (right in 1986) will be played by Vinette Robinson (left) in the third episode of Doctor Who

Jodie Whittaker in tonight's episode of Doctor Who. She was the first female to ever be cast in the role

The courageous act led the African-American activist to be hailed as 'the first lady of civil rights' by the US Congress.

A letter she wrote in describing the 1957 bombing of her neighbour's home was recently auctioned off for more than 7,000 in New York.

Vera Drake star Vinette Robinson will takes on the role of Parks in the episode titled 'Rosa', which was written by acclaimed author Malorie Blackman.

It is rumoured to have been filmed in South Africa, like the second episode 'The Ghost Monument' to be aired tonight.

Whittaker and the cast of Doctor Who, who will be heading to Montgomery, Alabama, in the show's third episode

Whittaker was the first woman to ever be cast as Doctor Who.

While many praised the BBC and the show's writers for choosing a female actress, others slammed the decision as 'political correctness gone mad'.

'Rosa' will be aired on October 21 at 6.55pm in the UK and at 8pm in the US.Tech giants such as Telstra and Apple have warned the new 'anti-encryption' bill will lead to network problems, service faults and cause security concerns.

The Access and Assistance Bill, which was introduced to parliament by Peter Dutton last month, has been slammed by tech giants for being 'intentionally vague'.

The new legislation will allow authorities access to Australia's encrypted data - such as personal emails - to help trump criminal activity, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Telstra has warned new 'intentionally vague' encryption bill will lead to unintended network problems

Last week, Apple slammed the Morrison government claiming the legislation would allow the access to protected information and could cause serious security concerns

Since the bill was introduced to parliament, Telstra has warned of a ripple effect which could lead to 'service degradation, network faults, or other impacts on its business or non-target customers'.

In submissions to the federal Parliament, the leading telecommunication providers and tech giants supported the essence of the legislation but urged for more details about the bill.

Last week, Apple slammed the Morrison government claiming the legislation would allow the access to protected information and could cause serious security concerns.

'It will just weaken the security and privacy of regular customers while pushing criminals further off the grid,' Apple said.

'[It] could allow the government to order the makers of smart home speakers to install persistent eavesdropping capabilities.'

Following the submission from the international tech giant, Mozilla urged for more details to be released of the proposed bill.

Home Affairs Minister, Peter Dutton introduced the The Access and Assistance Bill to Parliament last month

'If these provisions are enacted into law, they will not only pose problems in themselves, but will also set a concerning precedent for other countries who may demand similar exceptional access powers and assistance from companies, including those in Australia,' the company said.

If the legislation is passed, The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security [IGIS] will oversee how ASIO and ASIS would use the powers.

The IGIS also added what areas needed more detail such as; how government bodies will make and record requests for information and what civil or criminal liabilities they will be able to offer the providers who have to access that information.

If the legislation is passed, The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security [IGIS] will oversee how ASIO and ASIS would use the powers (stock)

Since the legislation was put forward, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, and Google have fought back on the legislation claiming it poses a risk to public and personal safety of users.

Digital Industry Group (DIGI) managing director Nicole Buskiewicz said the new bill could create a vulnerability for everyday consumers.

As a spokesperson for the companies, Ms Buskiewicz said the new laws would make it 'easier for bad actors to commit crimes against individuals, organisations or communities'.

Under the proposed laws, people could face up to five years' in jail if they do not give their laptop password or mobile phone PIN to the authorities.

If Parliament passes the bill, tech companies will have to help authorities crack the encryption on users devices when told to help - or face up to $10 million in fines.

Australians could also be hit with a fine of more than $60,000 if you refuse to give up your password or phone pin.A row exploded after an English Councillor told a Scottish Councillor he 'couldn't understand his accent' and asked him to 'talk slower' at a council meeting in Kent last week.

Labour Councillor Alex Paterson called Tory Councillor Barry Kemp an 'ignoramus' when he interrupted him at the meeting.

Cllr Paterson, who moved to England from Glasgow 18 years ago, was furious before being calmed down by colleagues on the Tory-run council.

Labour Councillor Alex Paterson called Tory Councillor Barry Kemp an 'ignoramus' when he interrupted him at a council meeting in Medway, Kent last Thursday

While he was speaking about a new scheme to introduce voter IDs in next year's elections to Medway Council he responded to Cllr Kemp by saying he would happily speak at any speed which he was happy to keep up with.

Cllr Paterson later confronted Cllr Kemp and told him he should make an official apology, when the meeting was over.

He said: 'I went over to ask Cllr Kemp, on the basis he seemed to be having trouble following my speech in the meeting.

Cllr Kemp (pictured) asked Cllr Paterson to speak more slowly after he couldn't under his Scottish accent even though he moved from Glasgow 18 years ago

'His response was aggressive and he told me to stop pointing - at which point I decided I was going to tell him exactly what I thought of his remarks during the meeting.

'I told him that he was an ignorant man and I stand by those comments.

'If there's no apology from him for blatantly xenophobic and arguably racist remarks, then there will certainly be no apology from me responding to it.'

Cllr Kemp denied he was being 'xenophobic', adding: 'I couldn't understand what the Councillor was saying, so I asked him to speak slowly and he took exception to that.

'He came across, pointing fingers. He said he was outraged and made some very insulting remarks.

Cllr Paterson demanded an apology from Cllr Kemp when the meeting was over and said his remarks were Xenophobic but Cllr Kemp denied the accusations

'The fact is when he did speak slowly, I understood every word he said. I was upset with the way he approached me.

'I'm half-Scottish, so I can't see there is a xenophobic factor. Most of my relatives are Scottish, and when I go on holiday to Scotland I understand them perfectly.

'Even my uncle Jimmy in Glasgow when he has a pipe in his mouth, I can still understand him.'

Writing online, one person said: 'The Glaswegian accent is very well known to be difficult to understand to outsiders. Stop being so petty, you're adults.'

Another wrote: 'My father in law was from Glasgow and had lived in Kent for over 50 years, and I still couldn't understand what he was saying half the time!! Just had to hope I was nodding and smiling at the right moment.'Boris Johnson has warned that Theresa May's Brexit concessions would be the biggest humiliation for Britain since Suez.

The former foreign secretary ramped up his attack on the PM as negotiations with the EU reached a critical stage.

Mrs May is thought to be trying to break the deadlock by proposing a new 'backstop' arrangement for the Irish border.

The blueprint could mean the whole UK staying in the EU customs union 'temporarily' and accepting regulatory checks between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland.

Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson (pictured in London last week) ramped up his attack on the PM as negotiations with the EU reached a critical stage

Theresa May, pictured at church in her Maidenhead constituency with husband Philip today) is hoping MPs will support her plans rather than allow Britain to leave with no Brexit deal

But there is not expected to be any hard end date, and many Cabinet ministers and Tory MPs fear that in reality it would keep the UK subject to Brussels rules for good -wiping out any advantages from Brexit.

The ideas have also provoked fury from the DUP - which is propping Mrs May up in power - as they warned against any agreement that would risk splitting the UK.

In an article for the Belfast Newsletter, Mr Johnson reiterated his call for the whole concept of a backstop to be ripped up - saying it had been a mistake for Mrs may to agree to one in December.

He compared Mrs May's compromises to the infamous Suez crisis in 1956, when Britain and France tried to regain control of the strategically vital canal using military force - but were later forced to make an ignominious withdrawal.

The episode was seen as having hugely diminished the UK's global reputation, and forced the resignation of Tory PM Anthony Eden.

Mr Johnson, who quit government over the summer, said the government must abandon the 'backstop' along with Mrs May's Chequers blueprint for future trade.

The scheme which would see the UK effectively staying in the single market for goods while leaving for services, and collecting some taxes on behalf of the EU.

'The only way to put things back on the right track is to ditch the backstop and then to chuck Chequers,' Mr Johnson said.

Suez was seen as having hugely diminished the UK's global reputation, and forced the resignation of Tory PM Anthony Eden (pictured during the crisis)

The ex-Cabinet minister said Mrs May's 'fatal error' was to accept that the only way of avoiding a hard Irish border was for Northern Ireland to have the same trade regulations as the Republic.

'Instead, our government has accepted that argument, seemingly adding, wrongly, that to do otherwise would be a breach of the spirit of the Belfast Agreement,' he said.

'The government well understands how weak the backstop makes its future negotiating hand  which is why it has proposed Chequers.

'If we let this go it will be the greatest national humiliation since Suez.'One person is dead and another was injured after a shooting broke out on a Tennessee Navy base early Sunday morning.

An active shooter was reported at a recreational lodging area called the Navy Lodge near the Millington Navy base at 3am.

The shooter is now in custody with Millington police.

One person is dead and another was injured after a shooting broke out on a Navy base in Millington, Tennessee early Sunday morning

Authorities said the shooter's motive is currently unknown.

The name of the victims have not yet been released. The investigation is ongoing.

No active military members were involved in the shooting, according to Fox 13.

A gunman shot and injured two Army National Guard soldiers at the Naval Support Activity Mid-South base in Millington in October 2013.

Both injured soldiers suffered non-life threatening injuries and the shooter, who was identified as a National Guardsman, was taken into custody.

He reportedly had been fired and returned to the Army National Guard Recruiting center - less than a mile away from the Navy Lodge - where he shot two of his superiors.The Brexit divorce deal mooted by Theresa May will not include a hard date for leaving the EU customs union, a Cabinet minister admitted today.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock insisted the compromise on the 'backstop' to avoid a hard Irish border would be 'time-limited' and 'temporary'.

But he made clear that did not mean there had to be a fixed end date - saying that other 'conditions' could be included.

The comments will fuel growing anger among Tory Eurosceptics at what they see as Mrs May bowing to demands from the EU.

David Davis today urged the Cabinet to step in and stop the concessions going ahead - while Boris Johnson said he fears the worst national humiliation since Suez more than six decades ago.

In an apparent sign that a settlement of the divorce terms is close, Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab announced he was going to Brussels this afternoon for unscheduled talks with Michel Barnier.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock (right) told the flagship BBC political programme that he did not believe there were reasons for ministers to resign over Brexit

Theresa May, pictured at church in her Maidenhead constituency with husband Philip today) is hoping MPs will support her plans rather than allow Britain to leave with no Brexit deal

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab (pictured in Downing Street last week) is heading to Brussels for talks with Michel Barnier this afternoon

Mrs May is thought to be trying to break the deadlock by proposing a new 'backstop' arrangement for the Irish border.

The blueprint could mean the whole UK staying in the EU customs union 'temporarily' and accepting regulatory checks between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland.

But there is not expected to be any hard end date, and many Cabinet ministers and Tory MPs fear that in reality it would keep the UK subject to Brussels rules for good -wiping out any advantages from Brexit.

The ideas have also provoked fury from the DUP - which is propping Mrs May up in power - as they warned against any agreement that would risk splitting the UK.

The party's leader Arlene Foster is said to have had an angry showdown with the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier last week, and now believes no deal is the 'most likely' outcome.

David Davis, pictured during the Conservative conference last month, said ministers should 'exert their collective authority' to thwart Mrs May's plans to keep Britain in the customs union

Health Secretary Matt Hancock insisted the compromise on the 'backstop' to avoid a hard Irish border would be 'time-limited' and 'temporary'

Cabinet minister Matt Hancock insisted he wanted any customs backstop to be "temporary and time limited".

But asked if there would be a specific end date, he said: "There are different ways to ensure that something is time limited."

He suggested there could be conditions for "the point at the which arrangements come to an end".

Asked if there would be a "break" clause, Mr Hancock added: "There are different ways that you can make sure that something is credibly time limited and that's what I want to see."

What would Theresa May's backstop deal mean? The PM's backstop proposal is designed to ensure there is no hard Irish border. It would see the whole of the UK stay in the customs union 'temporarily' until a wider trade deal is struck. Northern Ireland would effectively remain in the single market to avoid regulatory checks on the border with the Republic. The government's previous plan said that it wanted the UK to stay in the customs union until 2021 'at the latest'. But it is not clear whether the UK would be subject to rules that stop countries striking their own trade deals outside the bloc. It also remains to be seen whether free movement rules would still apply in Northern Ireland. The Common Travel Area already protects movement between Northern Ireland and the Republic. The blueprint would reduce friction on the Irish border but lead to greater checks across the Irish Sea. These would include health and sanitary inspections for animals and animal products. The backstop is designed to fall away when a wider trade pact is agreed - which Mrs May says should be based on her Chequers plan for a 'combined customs territory' with the EU. Advertisement

The Health Secretary said he hoped there would be no Cabinet resignations over any proposed deal, saying there was 'absolutely no reason" for departures.

Senior No10 sources have played down reports coming out of Brussels that a divorce package has been settled, branding them 'classic EU' tactics designed to 'bounce' Mrs May into agreeing.

But a spokeswoman for the Brexit Department said: 'Brexit secretary Dominic Raab will be in Brussels this afternoon to meet with Michel Barnier.

'With several big issues still to resolve, including the Northern Ireland backstop, it was jointly agreed that face-to-face talks were necessary ahead of this week's October European Council.'

The challenge facing the premier even if they do reach a deal was underlined by Mr Davis's intervention today.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Mr Davis said ministers should 'exert their collective authority' to thwart Mrs May's plans.

Amid open calls from some Eurosceptics for him to take over as 'interim' leader, Mr Davis said the behaviour of Downing Street suggested 'incipient panic' and Mrs May's strategy was 'flawed'.

'This is one of the most fundamental decisions that government has taken in modern times,' he said.

'It is time for the Cabinet to exert their collective authority. This week the authority of our constitution is on the line.'

Ministers including Andrea Leadsom, Penny Mordaunt and Esther McVey are considering quitting over Mrs May's Brexit plans.

Tory former leader Iain Duncan Smith told Sky News Sophy Ridge programme today that if ministers disagreed with the PM on 'fundamental issues' it was 'probably time you find yourself on the back benches.'

There has also been speculation that Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson could refuse to accept the plans because special arrangements for Northern Ireland could fuel the case for Scottish independence.

In a further sign of Tory discontent, some 63 Conservative MPs signed a letter slamming the Government's forecasts on Brexit, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Anne Marie-Trevelyan wrote in the newspaper that 'the idea of remaining in the customs union means simply delaying Brexit and causing the 17.4 million people who voted for it to lose faith in our democracy'.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the European Research Group of pro-Brexit MPs, warned that when it came to the backstop proposal 'temporary means eternal'.

Tory former leader Iain Duncan Smith told Sky News Sophy Ridge programme today that if ministers disagreed with the PM on 'fundamental issues' it was 'probably time you find yourself on the back benches.'

Eurosceptic MP Nadine Dorries praised Mr Davis's article and said he could be an 'interim leader' for the Tories

Eurosceptic MP Nadine Dorries praised Mr Davis's article.

'This is a significant intervention from DD. His position has always been, change the policy, not the PM. Getting May out and him becoming an interim leader may be the only way to deliver #Brexit and FTA,' she said.

Another Brexiteer MP Andrea Jenkyns said the government should 'go down fighting' rather than 'wave a white flag'.

Boris Johnson says May's deal could be worst humiliation since Suez crisis Boris Johnson has warned that Theresa May's Brexit concessions would be the biggest humiliation for Britain since Suez. The former foreign secretary ramped up his attack on the PM as negotiations with the EU reached a critical stage. In an article for the Belfast Newsletter, Mr Johnson reiterated his call for the whole concept of a backstop to be ripped up - saying it had been a mistake for Mrs may to agree to one in December. He compared Mrs May's compromises to the infamous Suez crisis in 1956, when Britain and France tried to regain control of the strategically vital canal using military force - but were later forced to make an ignominious withdrawal. The episode was seen as having hugely diminished the UK's global reputation, and forced the resignation of Tory PM Anthony Eden. Mr Johnson, who quit government over the summer, said Mrs May must abandon the 'backstop' along with her Chequers blueprint for future trade. Advertisement

'It is better to go down fighting and honouring the democratic decision of our British people... (than) to be long remembered for waving a white flag and surrendering to EU demands.

'All Brexiteers in Gov and on the backbenches its time to #StandUp4Brexit and finally #ChuckChequers.'

Mrs Foster is reported to have said that a no-deal Brexit was now the most likely outcome after talks with senior figures including Michel Barnier in Brussels.

The DUP's 10 MPs have kept Mrs May in power since she lost her Commons majority but the party has issued a series of threats to bring her down over Brexit.

However, there was a glimmer of light for Mrs May as a senior Labour figure appeared to leave the door open to abstaining in a vote on a package - and MPs broke cover to say they would support one.

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said Parliament was being offered a 'false" choice.

But she did not explicitly state that the party would vote against a deal.

"If she comes back with something that's just a fudge she's cooked up with Brussels... we're not voting for something that's essentially a bridge to nowhere," Mrs Thornberry said.

Some 15 Labour MPs could back the PM in a Commons vote as they fear a backlash from constituents if they are seen to be blocking a Brexit deal.

Ruth Smeeth MP said: 'If the option is voting for the deal or voting for something that would mean no deal - well, I'm not prepared to vote for no-deal.'

Labour colleague Caroline Flint said: 'I believe if there is a reasonable deal that stops us crashing out with no deal, we shouldn't rule it out.'

DUP leader Arlene Foster, pictured in Brussels last week, is reported to have said that a no-deal Brexit was now the most likely outcome after talks with senior figures including Michel Barnier

The latest row has centred on the nature of a 'backstop' to keep the Irish border open if a wider UK-EU trade arrangement cannot resolve it.

The European Union's version, which would see just Northern Ireland remain aligned with Brussels rules, has been branded unacceptable by the DUP.

DUP leader says no-deal Brexit now 'most likely outcome' Theresa May's DUP allies have warned that no-deal Brexit is now the 'most likely outcome' amid deadlock over the Irish border. The party's leader Arlene Foster is said to be braced for negotiations to collapse after a furious row with the EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels. Mrs Foster - whose 10 MPs are propping up the PM in power - found Mr Barnier 'difficult and hostile' during a private meeting. An email leaked to the Observer says Mrs Foster was ready to block a Brexit deal. According to a private email exchange between senior UK officials, seen by the newspaper, Mrs Foster gave her views during a dinner with the leader of Conservative MEPs, Ashley Fox. The leaked email said Mrs Foster described the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Mr Barnier as 'difficult and hostile' and indicated 'the DUP were ready for a no-deal scenario, which she now believed was the likeliest one'. Advertisement

Mrs May's counter-proposal is for a 'temporary customs arrangement' for the whole UK, but Tory Brexiteers fear it would restricting Britain's freedom to strike trade deals around the world.

A leaked email reported in the Observer indicated Mrs Foster was ready to block a Brexit deal.

According to a private email exchange between senior UK officials, seen by the newspaper, Mrs Foster gave her views during a dinner with the leader of Conservative MEPs, Ashley Fox.

The leaked email said Mrs Foster described the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Mr Barnier as 'difficult and hostile' and indicated 'the DUP were ready for a no-deal scenario, which she now believed was the likeliest one'.

Meanwhile a German newspaper reported that a Brexit deal could be agreed by negotiators in Brussels in secret on Sunday before being presented to the British Government next week.

Internal documents, believed to be from the team working under chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier, had a timetable suggesting a deal could be reached today.

The document listed on its timetable for Sunday: 'Deal made, nothing made public (in theory)'.

According to the same timetable, the deal would be presented to the British government for approval on Monday ahead of the EU summit.A lawsuit challenging the use of race as a factor in U.S. college admissions is set to go to trial, with Harvard University being accused of discriminating against Asian-American applicants.

The trial is slated to start in Boston on Monday.

The lawsuit, which is backed by the Trump administration, could eventually reach the Supreme Court, giving the newly cemented five-member conservative majority a chance to bar the use of affirmative action to help minority applicants get into college.

'The case is critically important as it's really about diversity at colleges all across the country,' said Nicole Gon Ochi, an attorney at Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, who supports Harvard in the case.

The lawsuit will go to trial in Boston on Monday where Harvard University will face accusations it discriminates against Asian-American applicants

Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), founded by anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum, sued Harvard in 2014, contending it illegally engages in 'racial balancing' that artificially limits the number of Asian-American students at the Ivy League school.

The U.S. Justice Department, which launched a related probe of Harvard after Republican President Donald Trump's election, has backed the group, saying the university has not seriously considered alternative, race-neutral approaches to admissions.

Conservatives argue that affirmative action, which aims to offset historic patterns of racial discrimination, can hurt white people and Asian Americans while helping black and Hispanic applicants.

SFFA said that its analysis of Harvard admissions data shows that Asian-American applicants are less likely to be admitted than their white, Hispanic or black counterparts.

Harvard denies discriminating against Asian Americans, saying their rates of admission have grown significantly since 2010.

Harvard denies discriminating against Asian Americans, saying their rates of admission have grown significantly since 2010

Asian-Americans, who represent about 6 percent of the U.S. population, make up 23 percent of Harvard's current freshman class.

It notes that the Supreme Court has previously held that colleges have an interest in enrolling diverse groups of students and may consider race as one factor among many when reviewing applications.

The last time the nation's top court examined the issue was in 2016, when conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy joined the court's liberals to allow race to be considered in college admissions.

Kennedy's replacement, Brett Kavanaugh, could be more likely to vote to bar its use.

'This is one area where there could be a significant change by replacing Kennedy with Kavanaugh,' said Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute.

The Justice Department last month opened a probe into whether Yale University also discriminates against Asian Americans, and SFFA has a similar case pending against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on behalf of white students.

'A student's race or ethnicity should not be a consideration in university admissions,' Blum said.Chairman Luke Johnson (pictured) has made a 'huge personal commitment' to the business by swooping in with a 20million rescue package

Troubled cafe chain Patisserie Valerie reportedly had secret overdrafts totalling 10 million.

Credit facilities were set up with Barclays and HSBC, and 9.7m had been used by the time they were discovered last week, chairman Luke Johnson reportedly told The Sunday Times .

The company's future was thrown into question earlier this week after it uncovered allegedly fraudulent activity around its financial accounts and was served a wind-up order by the taxman over 1.14 million owed to HM Revenue & Customs.

Mr Johnson described the discovery as a 'bombshell' and said he had 'no inkling this was going to happen'.

'I've never had an experience like this in my career and I hope never to repeat it. It's certainly been the most harrowing week of my life,' he told the newspaper.

He pledged up to 20 million in new loans on Friday to rescue the company from collapse and saved around 2,800 jobs.

Mr Johnson said he felt as though he was 'in a nightmare that I'd wake up from' but that he felt a 'moral obligation' to preserve the company.

He added: 'We have, I would argue, preserved a lot of jobs and a good business.

Patisserie Valerie (pictured in Soho) has suspended its shares following the discovery of a reported 20million black hole in its accounts

'When companies go into administration, there's massive value destruction. Preserving a company, keeping it whole, matters.'

Another 15 million was raised through the issue of new shares.

Directors said that initial investigation showed that historical statements on the cash position of the company were misstated and subject to alleged fraudulent activity and accounting irregularities.

Mr Johnson (left) has a 37 per cent stake in Patisserie Holdings. Chris Marsh (pictured right), the finance director of Patisserie Valerie, was arrested last night. He has since been released

The group's finance director Chris Marsh, who was suspended from his role earlier this week, has since been arrested on suspicion of fraud, but was later released.

The Serious Fraud Office has opened a criminal investigation.

Patisserie Holdings, which owns additional brands such as Druckers, Philpotts and Baker & Spice, trades from more than 200 stores and also has a partnership with Sainsbury's, with branded counters present in the supermarket.NBC News issued a correction after President Donald Trump slammed the network for its coverage of his remarks at a rally where he talked about Civil War generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, charging the network with intentionally changing the meaning of his words.

'NBC News has totally and purposely changed the point and meaning of my story about General Robert E Lee and General Ulysses Grant. Was actually a shoutout to warrior Grant and the great state in which he was born. As usual, dishonest reporting. Even mainstream media embarrassed!' the president tweeted on Sunday morning.

NBC News issued a correction on Sunday afternoon.

'CORRECTION: An earlier tweet misidentified the general President Trump described as 'incredible' at a rally in Ohio. It was Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, not Gen. Robert E. Lee. An attached video clip lacked the full context for Trump's remark. Here is the full clip,' the network tweeted.

The president thanked the network for making it.

'Thank you to NBC for the correction!,' he wrote, retweeting the network's tweet.

Trump was echoing conservative commentators like Dinesh D'Souza, who criticized NBC News for posting a video on Twitter from the speech that only showed the first half of the president's remarks and not the full story he told about the generals.

At his rally in Lebanon, Ohio on Friday, Trump did praise Lee as a great general but went on to tout how Grant defeated him in the Civil War.

He also mentioned how Grant was from Ohio, the state in which he was speaking.

Trump thanked NBC News for the correction

CORRECTION: An earlier tweet misidentified the general President Trump described as "incredible" at a rally in Ohio. It was Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, not Gen. Robert E. Lee. An attached video clip lacked the full context for Trump's remark. Here is the full clip. pic.twitter.com/NZHj3Q2dHL  NBC News (@NBCNews) October 14, 2018

Trump drew criticism after he called Robert E Lee a 'great general' during his speech at a Make America Great Again rally in Ohio Friday night

Trump raised eyebrows on Friday with an informal Civil War history lesson in which he said President Abraham Lincoln (center) developed a 'phobia' of Confederate Commander Robert E Lee (left) and subsequently called on Ulysses S Grant (right) to lead the Union soldiers

But Trump slammed NBC News for its coverage of his remarks

'So Robert E. Lee was a great general and Abraham Lincoln developed a phobia,' Trump began, referencing the Confederate general who won many of the early battles against Lincoln's Union army. 'He couldn't beat Robert E. Lee.'

Trump continued the story by recounting how Lincoln found Grant who 'went in and knocked the hell out of everyone.'

He noted that some Grant critics said he shouldn't be in command because he reportedly had a drinking problem, but Lincoln stuck with him because he was winning battles.

WATCH: President Trump says "Robert E. Lee was a great general" during Ohio rally, calling the Confederate leader "incredible." pic.twitter.com/HhsLI1Mk05  NBC News (@NBCNews) October 13, 2018

Conservative commentators like Dinesh D'Souza also criticized the network

'He had a serious drinking problem but, man, was he a good general and he's finally being recognized as a great general,' he said. 'Grant is a great general and Grant came from right here.'

Grant was born in Point Pleasant, about an hour away from Lebanon, where Trump made his remarks.

Conservative commentators were quick to point out NBC's tweeted video only showed Trump's remarks where he called Lee a 'great' general but did not show his praise of Grant.

'Deliberately taken out of context. Trump is actually praising Grant for defeating the acclaimed Lee. But NBC pretends that Trump is praising the Confederacy #FakeNews,' D'Souza tweeted with the clip NBC posted.

And a descendant of Robert E Lee slammed Trump for praising the Confederate icon.

Robert E Lee IV, a great-great-great nephew of the Civil War general, took to Twitter on Saturday to speak out against the relative he called an 'idol of white supremacy'.

'Last night I was disheartened to hear Donald Trump, our president, make comments about Robert E Lee as a great general, as an honorable man,' he told his followers.

'These were far from the truth. Yet again our president is lying and showing his true colors, showing us that he supports an idol of white supremacy and of hatred.'

Robert E. Lee IV, a great-great-great nephew of the Civil War general, took to Twitter on Saturday to slam Donald Trump for praising the Confederate icon

'Robert E Lee fought for the continued enslavement of black bodies,' he continued. 'It was for states' rights yes, but it was for states' rights to own slaves.'

Lee IV went on to say that he was 'saddened' by the state of America.

'But I'm encouraged because we are going to work to end this,' he continued. 'We are going to vote.'

'We are going to show Donald Trump that white supremacy has no place in the parlors of our government.'

'We are going to show him who the people are and what really matters in this nation. I encourage you to vote, I encourage you to make your voices heard this November.'

This isn't the first time Lee IV has spoken out against his famous relative.

The pastor was invited to speak about his ancestor at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards after Heather Heyer was killed while peacefully protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Lee IV, a great-great-great nephew of the Civil War general, called his ancestor and 'idol of white supremacy'

Lee, a pastor, was invited to speak about the general at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards after Heather Heyer was killed while peacefully protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville

Members of various hate groups  including neo-Nazis, KKK, and white supremacists  were in Charlottesville to attend a 'Unite the Right' gathering and protest the removal of a statue of Lee.

Lee IV stood beside Heyer's mother on the MTV stage as he called his ancestor an 'idol of white supremacy, racism, and hate'.

'As a pastor, it is my moral duty to speak out against racism, America's original sin,' he told the audience.

'Today, I call on all of us with privilege and power to answer God's call to confront racism and white supremacy head-on.'

'We can find inspiration in the Black Lives Matter movement, the women who marched in the Women's March in January, and, especially, Heather Heyer, who died fighting for her beliefs in Charlottesville.'

Members of various hate groups  including neo-Nazis, KKK, and white supremacists  were in Charlottesville to protest the removal of a statue of Robert E Lee (pictured)

Just weeks after his short speech, Lee stepped down as pastor from his North Carolina church after facing backlash from his own community

Just weeks after his short speech, Lee IV stepped down as pastor from his North Carolina church after facing backlash from his own community.

Meanwhile, Trump was tweeting in defense of monuments that honored Confederate icons like Lee and Stonewall Jackson.

'Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments,' he wrote in one tweet.

'You can't change history, but you can learn from it. Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson - who's next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish!'

And Trump expanded on his praise for the general on Friday night in a bizarre tangent that includes claims that President Abraham Lincoln had developed a 'phobia' of the commander and subsequently sought help from General Ulysses S Grant.

The odd history lesson appears to have been Trump's roundabout way of praising Grant, a native Ohioan who is 'finally being recognized as a great general'.

'[Ohio] also gave you a general who was incredible. He drank a little bit too much. You know who I'm talking about right? So Robert E Lee was a great general,' he said.

'And Abraham Lincoln developed a phobia. He couldn't beat Robert E Lee. He was going crazy.

'I don't know if you know this story. But Robert E Lee was winning battle after battle after battle. And Abraham Lincoln came home, he said: 'I can't beat Robert E Lee.''

'And he had all of his generals, they looked great, they were the top of their class at West Point. They were the greatest people. There's only one problem  they didn't know how the hell to win. They didn't know how to fight. They didn't know how.

'And one day, it was looking really bad. And Lincoln just said: 'You', hardly knew his name. And they said: 'Don't take him, he's got a drinking problem.' And Lincoln said: 'I don't care what problem he has. You guys aren't winning.''

'And his name was Grant. General Grant. And he went in and he knocked the hell out of everyone.'

'He started to win. Grant really did  he had a serious problem, a serious drinking problem, but man was he a good general. And he's finally being recognized as a great general.

'But Lincoln had almost developed a phobia, because he was having a hard time with a true great fighter, a great general Robert E Lee. But Grant figured it out. And Grant is a great general, and Grant came from right here.'A pregnant woman who was forced to give birth to her dead baby after a lorry driver smashed into her says her 'guardian angel' daughter saved her life.

Nursery worker Louise Abbott, 28, was 25 weeks pregnant when a 'suicidal' lorry driver veered across the road and ploughed into her car near Cambridge in October 2016.

Doctors told Louise that the unborn child saved her from suffering fatal injuries due to the baby bump taking the impact.

Louise Abbott with baby Avery, who Louise gave birth to after losing her first born in tragic circumstances

However, baby Layla died in the impact from a fractured skull and traumatised Louise had to give birth to her because her own injuries prevent a cesarean.

In October 2017 former Lloyds banker Leroy Margolis, 29, was jailed for two years for causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Following the collision Louise and her husband, Laurence, 30, instructed expert serious injury lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to help support them and overcome the trauma.

Louise Abbott in hospital after the crash. The mother-to-be suffered serious internal injuries and was later forced to deliver Layla after she died in the impact from a fractured skull in October 2016

Louise has now received an undisclosed settlement from insurance to pay for the specialist therapies and support she is continuing to receive following her ordeal.

Louise, of Finchingfield, near Braintree, Essex, said: 'The crash, finding out Layla had died and then giving birth to her is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

'It is almost impossible to put into words the effect it has had on me and Laurence.

'We go through a full mix of emotions each day knowing that Layla should still be part of our family and thinking what if, even though the events were clearly out of our control.'

Doctors previously told her that she may never had children because of one of her ovaries 'had been rendered useless' as a result of her injuries.

However, she gave birth to a healthy daughter Avery by C-section last year in September.

Louise adds: 'At first we felt guilty because of Layla but Avery was not a replacement for Layla.

'Layla will also be part of our family. Avery will know all about her big sister but we will always be sad that they never got to meet each other and grow up with one another, forming the bonds and friendships sisters should.

Speaking previously, Louise said: 'Our baby (Layla) had little nails and hair and she was fully formed, fully developed, ready to be born the next day.

'But now, we know that without I might not be alive had it not been for the accident- and little Avery wouldn't have been born, and I wouldn't be here to have more children in the future.

Louise and Laurence Abbott, from Braintree, Essex, pictured on their wedding day. Louise has now received an undisclosed settlement from insurance to pay for the specialist therapies and support she is continuing to receive following the crash

'Because of the extra blood I had in me due to my pregnancy, and because Layla cushioned the bump, I wouldn't have lived had it not been for her.

'I will never forget those words, 'I'm sorry, your baby has died'.

'It's bittersweet. We've bought a special book to give to Avery, when she's old enough to understand that she once had a big sister, who just had to go to another place.'

Tracey Storey, Partner and specialist serious injury lawyer at Irwin Mitchell representing the family, said: 'It may have been two years since Layla's death but the pain and loss that Louise and Laurence continue to experience is still understandably extremely raw.

'While no amount of money will ever make up for what has happened, we are pleased that Louise has been able to access the support she needs so she, Laurence and their family can try and look to the future the best they can while never forgetting Layla.

'We would like to thank the insurers for the compassion and empathy they have shown all along in wanting to support the family.

'Baby Loss Awareness Week is an important time for reflection but also to promote the help available to families who have suffered the heartbreak of losing a child regardless of the circumstances.

'Layla's death also vividly highlights the need for drivers to take care at all times so other innocent road users don't have to suffer like Louise and Laurence have.'

Louise previously added: 'We're looking forward to the future with our beautiful baby girl, and we will always remember our little Layla in the future.'

Margolis, from Wandsworth, London, was also banned from driving for three years upon his release from jail.

The couple, of Essex, joined their legal team at Irwin Mitchell in using Baby Loss Awareness Week - which lasts from the 9 October to 15 October - to speak out about the support available to other families who have experienced the heartbreak of losing a child.Raymond Deidesheimer, 28, from the Bronx rescued this cat, who had been left in his carrier from a pile of trash on the side of the road that was due to be dumped into a garbage compacter, on Wednesday morning

A New York hero granted one mistreated feline a second chance to live his best nine lives on Wednesday.

Raymond Deidesheimer, 28, from the Bronx, spotted a cat in a pet carrier in a pile of trash on the side of the road on Wednesday morning, while walking his girlfriend to work.

Deidesheimer, who owns four cats of his own couldn't believe his eyes and immediately rescued the little one, promising out loud in a video he recorded of the moment he found the cat to take him home until other arrangements could be made.

With the help of his girlfriend and their friend, Deidesheimer got in touch with Little Wanderers NYC, a Bronx-based cat rescue group, which named the cat in honor of its savior and then took swift action to find the furry friend a new home with Kirsten Bramsen.

With the help of his girlfriend (pictured) and their friend, Deidesheimer got in touch with Little Wanderers NYC, a Bronx-based cat rescue group, who named the cat in honor of its savior and then took swift action to find their furry friend a new home with Kirsten Bramsen

Now Earnest Raymond the cat will live out his days at his new home.

'We adore him,' Bramsen told Little Wanderers, according to the group's latest Instagram update on the rescue. 'We will have an Importance of being Earnest Raymond site up soon.'

There are even plans for Earnest Raymond to have his own Instagram account.

But the story could have ended a lot differently for the lucky creature. On Saturday, the Bronx-based cat rescue shared a heartwarming update.

Raymond Deidesheimer (left) was walking his girlfriend (right) to work when they saw the cat

Now Earnest Raymond the cat will have a spot in the limelight fur-ever, as he lives out his days, as there are plans for him to have his own Instagram account

'We are happy to report that Raymond is happy in his home with Kirsten!' the group wrote.

'Saved from being thrown in the trash by @__bigray__ to being home on the couch with @bittersparkle! Rescue works! Raymond will be getting "the works" at the veterinarian soon!'

The group credited social media with helping them find a place for the cat at such short notice.

'Social media is a very powerful tool to rescue cats!' they wrote.

In a later post on Saturday, the organization wrote that Deidesheimer's actions were 'a reminder that good still exists in the world.'

The story could have ended a lot differently for the lucky creature, but on Saturday, the Bronx-based cat rescue shared a heartwarming update

'Saved from being thrown in the trash by @__bigray__ to being home on the couch with @bittersparkle! Rescue works!' the group posted on Instagram on Saturday

'Raymonds rescue story reminds us to keep pressing forward and doing good things!' the group said, thankful that it was able to bring Earnest Raymond and his new owner together

The group credited social media with helping them find a place for the cat an such short notice

'Raymonds rescue story reminds us to keep pressing forward and doing good things!' the group added.

Those who would like to further the mission of the animal rescue group can follow it on Instagram at @littlewanderersnyc.There was a glimmer of hope for Theresa May on Brexit today as a senior Labour figure dodged saying the party would definitely vote against a fudged deal.

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry appeared carefully to leave open the possibility that the Opposition will abstain if there is a crunch vote in the Commons.

The comments were softer than the previous line from shadow Brexit secretary Kier Starmer who said Labour 'will vote against' any deal that fails its six tests.

Meanwhile, more than a dozen of the party's MPs are thought to be ready to defy Jeremy Corbyn and vote with the government to avoid crashing out of the EU without any deal.

On the BBC's Andrew Marr show today, Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry appeared carefully to leave open the possibility that Labour will abstain if there is a Brexit deal vote

Theresa May, pictured at church in her Maidenhead constituency with husband Philip today) is hoping MPs will support her plans rather than allow Britain to leave with no Brexit deal

Mrs May is fighting to thrash out a divorce agreement with Brussels before a crunch summit on Wednesday.

She is thought to be trying to break the deadlock by proposing a new 'backstop' arrangement for the Irish border.

The blueprint could mean the whole UK staying in the EU customs union 'temporarily' and accepting regulatory checks between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland.

But there is not expected to be any hard end date, and many Cabinet ministers and Tory MPs fear that in reality it would keep the UK subject to Brussels rules for good -wiping out any advantages from Brexit.

The ideas have also provoked fury from the DUP - which is propping Mrs May up in power - as they warned against any agreement that would risk splitting the UK.

The opposition within her own ranks means even if she secures agreement with the EU Mrs May faces a major task to get her plan through Parliament.

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry complained that MPs were being offered a 'false' choice.

However, she did not explicitly state that the party - which has called for the UK to join a permanent customs union with the EU - would vote against a deal.

'If she comes back with something that's just a fudge she's cooked up with Brussels... we're not voting for something that's essentially a bridge to nowhere,' Mrs Thornberry said.

Mrs Thornberry defended the six tests set out by Sir Kier for a Brexit deal - including that it delivers the exact same benefits as membership.

Senior Labour MP Caroline Flint said on Sky News' Ridge on Sunday programme that she hoped her colleagues would support a 'reasonable' Brexit deal

In his speech to Labour conference last month, Sir Kier said: 'If Theresa May brings back a deal that fails our tests  and that looks increasingly likely  Labour will vote against it. No ifs, no buts.'

Senior Labour MP Caroline Flint said she hoped her colleagues would support a 'reasonable' Brexit deal.

'It's not about supporting Theresa May,' she told Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday.

'The problem is, we are now - those of us who want to get a deal - are sometimes stuck between a rock and a hard place between hardline Brexiteers who think we can waltz off without a deal and some hardline Remainers who, for their own reasons don't want a deal because they want to overturn the referendum results.'

Asked about speculation around 30 Labour MPs would be prepared to vote for a deal if it meant defying the whip, she said: 'I'm really not sure, but I think if a reasonable deal is on the table the question for some of my Labour colleagues is 'why wouldn't you support a deal, why would you stand along (with) Boris Johnson or Jacob Rees-Mogg who want us to crash out without a deal?'

Ruth Smeeth MP said: 'If the option is voting for the deal or voting for something that would mean no deal - well, I'm not prepared to vote for no-deal.'Australia's last prime minister to see through the entirety of his term has revealed why he believes the country has become the 'coup capital of the world'.

John Howard said social media had completely changed the national debate - and made it much harder to hold down the top political job.

In a society dominated by comments that were quickly shared, Mr Howard said it was no surprise the pace of the political news cycle had sped up.

John Howard (pictured) said social media and a changing dynamic in politics had made for a particularly trying time for those attempting to hold down the top job

'At the moment the pressures are for shorter periods, but that could alter'. The nature of politics has changed, social media has altered things quite a bit,' he told Nine News.

'But people will get used to handling social media and not feel they have to respond to everything immediately. Sometimes the best comment on somebody else's comment is to have no comment on that other person's comment.'

Mr Howard was confident his government left the country in better shape than when he was elected in 1996, but argued the same couldn't be said for leaders of today.

He said the people of Australia had a right to know more about those in charge and greater transparency would benefit them in the long run.

Mr Howard (pictured) was confident his government left the country in better shape than when he was elected in 1996, but argued the same couldn't be said for leaders of today

'Well I think the public has got a right to know more about the government, I was PM for almost 12 years. It's a long time. A lot of things happened during that period,' he said.

While many successes were celebrated by Mr Howard, one error of judgement left him on the receiving end of some very harsh criticism.

Following advice to don a bulletproof vest for an appearance in Sale, far east regional Victoria, became one of his most regrettable decision as leader.

He opted to wear the vest at a rally addressing the controversial gun control reforms in the days following Martin Bryant opening fire in Port Arthur, killing 35 people and wounding 23.

Following advice to don a bulletproof vest for an appearance in Sale, far east regional Victoria, became one of his most regrettable decision as leader (pictured wearing bulletproof vest)

Mr Howard conceded he 'should never have worn' the vest because he had 'never really felt unsafe in Australia', saying it was merely 'the stuff of politics'.

The country's 25th prime minister said during his time in parliament the moment of glory that stood out from the rest was in 1974 when he was sworn in.

He said it was 'very special' that he had been elected with only 1200 or 1300 people to have come before him in the national parliament since federation.A lorry driver has told how a surprise birthday meal for his wife was ruined because he wasn't allowed to wear his 300 trainers to a TOWIE star's restaurant.

Michael Farrell, 27, paid 50 to book a 'celebration package' at Elliot Wright's Marbella restaurant called Olivia's.

Staff emailed him on the day to make sure he adhered to the dress code and he replied with a picture of his black designer pump shoes worth 300.

Michael Farrell, 27, paid 50 to book a 'celebration package' at Elliot Wright's Marbella restaurant called Olivia's (pictured)

He got a reply saying they were 'classified as trainers' and that his booking would no longer stand if he wore them to the meal, reported The Sun Online.

Mr Farrell, from Manchester, begged the restaurant to reconsider and staff said they would make an exception.

But he had already told his wife Keelie about the fiasco and she cancelled the booking because she felt 'unwelcome.'

Because the pair had chosen to cancel, they were not offered a refund.

Mrs Farrell told The Sun Online: 'I've never heard anything like it in all my life. I had seen Olivia's on TV and always wanted to go.'

She added: 'Michael was absolutely devastated  he went to so much work making my birthday special but had to tell me my surprise was ruined'.

MailOnline has contacted Olivia's for comment.A four-day working week could become reality for the majority of British workers - thanks to robots.

As the automation of tasks, and artificial intelligence, continue to increase workplace efficiency, the benefits could be passed on to staff, a study has found.

The research, by the cross-party Social Market Foundation (SMF) thinktank, concluded that the benefits of 4IR - the 'fourth industrial revolution' - would see employees able to spend less time at work and more time with families and engaging in leisurely pursuits.

At present, UK employees work some of the longest hours in Europe.

This is partly driven by relatively low levels of productivity in the economy which means Brits have to work longer hours to produce the same amount of goods and services as their counterparts in France and Germany.

Scroll down for video

A four-day working week could become reality for the majority of British workers - thanks to robots. As the automation of tasks, and artificial intelligence, continue to increase workplace efficiency, the benefits could be passed on to staff, a study has found. (File image)

The research will boost shadow chancellor John McDonnell's plans to reduce the number of hours in the working week

SMF believes a four-day week could become the norm over the coming decades. If workforce productivity increased by 10%, it would be possible to maintain current incomes while reducing the typical working week of full-time employees from 42 hours to 38 hours.

A 30% productivity gain would allow the working week to be reduced to 32 hours  essentially ushering in the four-day working week.

The results of the study will come as welcome news to Frances O'Grady, general secretary of the TUC.

She said in September that Britain should use new technology to move to a four-day working week while keeping wages stable.

What is the Fourth Industrial Revolution? Economists tag the arrival of increasingly intelligent computers as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The first was said to be the shift from agricultural to urban societies; the second saw the widespread use of electricity and steel; and the third was the digital revolution when computers, the internet and mobile phones were developed. Advertisement

Ms O'Grady added that companies will make more money from machines, so they should allow employees an extra day off each week.

And John McDonnell will be equally pleased. He said a Labour government could bring in a four-day week under radical measures to overhaul the economy.

The shadow chancellor has bemoaned the fact that British employees work the longest hours in Europe.

'We are interested in the TUCs proposals in how the benefits of automation, robotics and AI of the fourth industrial revolution are shared with the workers, both in rewards and potentially a shorter working week. Work-life balance is increasingly coming on to societys agenda,' he told The Observer.

Scott Corfe, the SMFs chief economist who authored the report, said: 'Robots, AI and big data could dramatically change society for the better, addressing the UKs productivity crisis and creating more enjoyable work as mundane tasks are automated. If we manage this revolution properly, workers will get new choices, including whether to reduce their working week and having more leisure time,' according to the paper.

Mr McDonnell told the BBC's Sunday Politics show in early October that workers should get some of the benefits from the rise of automation and artificial intelligence.

He said: 'That might mean reducing hours of work. We are a long hours economy  we work the longest hours in Europe and yet we are less productive.

'The Germans and French produce in four days what we produce in five and yet we work the longest hours.'

He added: 'I think we are going to be exploring a whole range of issues around automation in particular. We will look at the working week because I think people are working too long.'

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady (pictured) used her speech to the organisation's annual gathering last month to call for a four-day working weekBritain and the EU are yet to agree a Brexit deal, chief negotiator Michel Barnier said tonight, despite last-gasp talks with Dominic Raab in Brussels.

Mr Barnier said that 'despite intense efforts, some key issues are still open' including measures to avoid a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Brexit Secretary Mr Raab spent around an hour and 15 minutes locked in discussions with Mr Barnier after making an unscheduled dash to the Belgian capital this afternoon.

The surprise announcement of the meeting fuelled rumours a deal was set to be done ahead of a summit of EU leaders on Wednesday.

But a joint Brexit department and Number 10 statement said a number of 'unresolved issues' remained following the talks.

The UK was 'still committed to making progress' at Wednesday's EU summit, the statement said.

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab (pictured at Tory conference earlier this month) is in Brussels for talks with Michel Barnier this afternoon

Theresa May, pictured at church in her Maidenhead constituency with husband Philip today) is hoping MPs will support her plans rather than allow Britain to leave with no Brexit deal

Sturgeon says MPs must not be 'railroaded' into accepting deal Nicola Sturgeon will warn MPs should not be 'railroaded' into accepting a bad or blindfold deal on Brexit on the grounds that no deal would be catastrophic. In a speech in London, Scotland's First Minister will say MPs do not have to fall for such a 'false choice' and there are other options. Ms Sturgeon is expected to say: 'The UK Government has spent two years asserting that no deal is better than a bad deal. 'However they will almost certainly try to railroad MPs into accepting a bad or blindfold deal on the grounds that no deal would be a catastrophe. 'They are threatening us with fire, to make us choose the frying pan. 'MPs do not have to fall for that false choice. Other options are available. Voting against a bad or blindfold deal isn't a vote for no deal. It would be a vote to open the door to a better deal. 'In fact if the UK Government comes back to Parliament with a bad or blindfold deal, voting against it is the only chance the Westminster parliament will have, to re-set the negotiations and think again.' In the June 2016 referendum, Scotland voted by 62 per cent to 38 per cent in favour of remaining in the EU. Writing in her foreword to the paper, Ms Sturgeon says: 'The Scottish Government, in line with the overwhelming vote for remain in Scotland, supports continued EU Membership. Remaining in the EU continues to be our strong preference. 'Nevertheless in December 2016 we set out a compromise plan to keep Scotland and the UK in the European Single Market and Customs Union to limit the damage of Brexit as much as possible. 'It is therefore simply incorrect for the Prime Minister to say that there is no alternative to Chequers. 'In fact, the UK Government's position is increasingly absurd. Insisting on pursuing proposals they have been told will not work while rejecting a plan that will.' Advertisement

The EU's negotiator said he would debrief the 27 remaining EU states and the European Parliament on the state of the negotiations.

The push for a settlement to the withdrawal package - which appeared to be following the choreography set out in a leak to a German newspaper yesterday - comes despite a furious backlash from Tories at concessions offered by Mrs May.

Sources had denied Mr Raab and Mr Barnier were putting the finishing touches to an agreement, insisting there were still difficult problems to resolve, including over the Irish border.

One said there was 'some progress' from the meeting but 'still more to be done'.

Former Brexit Secretary David Davis earlier accused the PM of 'panicking' and making 'unacceptable' compromises - urging the Cabinet to step in and overrule her.

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has said he fears the worst national humiliation since Suez more than six decades ago.

Mrs May is thought to be trying to break the deadlock by proposing a new 'backstop' arrangement for the Irish border.

The blueprint could mean the whole UK staying in the EU customs union 'temporarily' and accepting regulatory checks between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland.

But there is not expected to be any hard end date, and many Cabinet ministers and Tory MPs fear that in reality it would keep the UK subject to Brussels rules for good -wiping out any advantages from Brexit.

The ideas have also provoked fury from the DUP - which is propping Mrs May up in power - as they warned against any agreement that would risk splitting the UK.

The party's leader Arlene Foster is said to have had an angry showdown with the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier last week, and now believes no deal is the 'most likely' outcome.

Downing Street played down rumours that a divorce agreement could be finalised today.

A senior UK Government source played down reports that a deal had been done. 'It's very much in the EU's interests to make it look like there is a deal,' the source said, because it would then leave the UK looking 'like we are the ones being intransigent'.

There are still some 'big issues' to be resolved and 'Dominic has gone out there to try to resolve the outstanding issues'.

A spokeswoman for the Brexit Department said earlier: 'With several big issues still to resolve, including the Northern Ireland backstop, it was jointly agreed that face-to-face talks were necessary ahead of this week's October European Council.'

Politico reported three EU negotiators saying that a package had been agreed between officials.

However, other reports in Brussels said there was still not agreement on the Irish border issue.

Boris Johnson again used his his newspaper column in the Daily Telegraph to excoriate Mrs May's Brexit plan.

He said the EU's border backstop amounted to 'a choice between the breakup of this country or the subjugation of this country, between separation or submission.'

'It must be rejected, and it must be rejected now,' he wrote in Monday's edition.

Mr Barnier (pictured in Brussels last week) is due to meet Dominic Raab in Brussels later as negotiations gather pace

DUP leader Arlene Foster, pictured in Brussels last week, is reported to have said that a no-deal Brexit was now the most likely outcome after talks with senior figures including Michel Barnier

Health Secretary Matt Hancock sought to play down the potential for Cabinet resignations but was unable to say whether a fixed deadline for any customs arrangement would be written into a deal with Brussels.

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: 'There are different ways that you can make sure that something is credibly time limited and that's what I want to see.'

Internal documents, believed to be from the EU team working under Mr Barnier, were leaked in Germany on Saturday.

The Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper said they complained a rough schedule for the talks over the coming days.

It included a meeting between Mr Barnier and Mr Raab today that agrees the outlines of a deal.

The 'provisional timetable' and its content is said to have been presented to the EU ambassadors on Friday to make them aware of the EU's position.

Highlighted in red on Sunday, the papers say: 'Deal made, nothing made public (in theory)'.

If a package is agreed there would be an announcement made before the crunch summit of EU leaders in Brussels on Wednesday.

However, the paper stressed there were still outstanding issues over future trade relations.

A political declaration sketching out those terms is due to be agreed by the bloc's leaders next month, if the divorce package is complete.Advertisement

At least 22 people, including a number of children, were killed in Izmir, Turkey when a lorry carrying migrants plunged off a road, state media say.

The lorry crashed through a barrier and landed in an irrigation canal 20 metres (65 feet) below, in the western province of the country.

A further 11 people were injured in the crash and are being treated in nearby hospitals but their nationalities are unknown.

At least 22 people, including a number of children, were killed in Izmir, Turkey today when a lorry overturned

The open-top truck which was said to be travelling from Aydin to Izmir when it veered off the road about 8am local time

The scene is scattered with personal items belonging to the migrants who died in the crash while they travelled to Aydin

Video footage showed the mangled wreckage of the open-top truck toppled over in the canal.

The truck, which had been travelling from Aydin to Izmir, veered off the road about 8am local time in the Gaziemir district.

The destroyed truck can be seen upside down in a waterway with personal items scattered all around.

A state prosecutor has begun an investigation into the crash, and the truck driver could face arrest after hospital treatment, Anadolu said.

Turkey is a major transit point for migrants travelling from Syria and other Middle Eastern nations, as well as from countries further east and in Africa.

Security officers conduct a search and rescue operation after a truck fell 20m (65ft) into an irrigation canal below

The site was inspected by officials as personal defects were retrieved from the wreckage

A state prosecutor has begun an investigation into the crash, and the truck driver could face arrest after hospital treatment

More than a million migrants crossed into Greece during the peak year of 2015.

But the flow fell dramatically after the EU and Turkey signed an agreement to send back to Turkey migrants who did not apply for asylum or whose claim was rejected.

Nevertheless, the UN says more than 24,500 migrants have made the sea journey from Turkey to Greece this year, with 118 losing their lives.

Funeral vehicles carrying the dead migrants leave the site of the accident after the truck overturned in the western provinceA violent brawl broke out in Oregon between right-wing protesters and counter-demonstrators Saturday night.

Shocking footage shows members of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer holding American flags as they came face-to-face with masked left-wing demonstrators in black, some of whom identified as Antifa, before a massive fight ensued.

The opposing group confronted Patriot Prayer, which was holding a Flash March for 'law and order' as a response to Portland Police's 'hands-off' approach to last week's left-wing demonstration over the police shooting of a 27-year-old black man.

Video shows the first punches being thrown which quickly escalated into chaos that spilled out into the streets. Police now confirm that the demonstrators used pepper spray and were armed with 'hard-knuckled gloves, firearms, batons and knives.'

In less than a minute, anti-riot police appeared on the scene using foam bullets to control the crowd.

A violent fight between right-wing group Patriot Prayer and members of left-wing Antifa ensued Saturday night in Portland, Oregon

Video shows the two groups coming face-to-face before the first punches were thrown

Video shows a member of Patriot Prayer appear to throw the first punch before a masked protester in an army uniform begins to dispense what appears to be bear or pepper spray at the opposing group.

People are heard coughing and seen covering their faces as a result of the spray. Others attempt to record the chaos while remaining a safe distance away from the massive fight.

Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson is seen engaging in the brawl while wearing an orange shirt that reads: 'I hunt Antifa cowards.'

Gibson organized the three-hour demonstration to protest Mayor Ted Wheeler's handling of last week's left-wing demonstration.

The mayor came under fire over a viral video showing protesters blocking traffic and harassing drivers but said he supported the police's decision to not get involved.

The group expressed their anger after dozens of Antifa protesters got into ugly clashes with motorists and directed traffic during a march over the police shooting of Patrick Kimmons.

Kimmons, 27, was shot and killed by two Portland police officers on September 30 who responded to the sound of gunfire.

Kimmons' family say he was shot 10 to 15 times in the back and was unarmed, but police say both officers fired less than 10 times in total.

Gibson showed up Saturday with a large banner that read: 'Replace PDX Mayor'.

'Tell the cops to go in and do their job,' a Patriot Prayer demonstrator said through a megaphone ahead of the quarrel. 'What ever happened to protect and serve?'

Counter-protesters were heard chanting 'Black Lives Matter!'

Patriot Prayer was protesting the Portland Police's 'hands off' approach to last week's left-wing demonstration over the police shooting of a black man

Police say demonstrators were armed with firearms, batons and knives and one man is pictured dispensing pepper spray

Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson is seen engaging in the brawl while wearing an orange shirt that reads: 'I hunt Antifa cowards.'

Police said they had attempted to thwart the possibility of a clash Saturday by speaking with both groups ahead of time.

But amid growing tensions, Antifa members wearing all black confronted the Patriot Prayer group wearing MAGA hats and helmets.

The right-wing group reportedly chanted 'USA', while Antifa responded with 'go home Nazis'.

Portland police said officers used foam bullets to control the crowd.

'The Portland Police Bureau's objectives for today's events were to provide a safe environment for everyone, including participants, non-participants and bystanders,' Portland police chief Danielle Outlaw said in a statement.

'Officers responded to the scene and used less lethal munitions to break up the fight and prevent further violence,' she said.

Four people were treated for injuries but no one was taken to the hospital in an ambulance.

Four people were treated for injuries related to assaults but no arrests were made

A man in a helmet its seen quarreling with someone who appears to be a man from the opposing group during Saturday night's brawl

No arrests were made but police say they continue to investigate and urge any victim of the violence to come forward.

Saturday's incident in Portland mirrors a similar scene in New York City where several members of far right group Proud Boys kicked and pummeled a small group of antifascist protesters Friday night.

Proud Boys leader Gavin McInnes held a rally for around 50 people at the vandalized Manhattan GOP headquarters.

After the rally was over, a number of bare-knuckle fights broke out with the men wrestling one another on the sidewalk.

Three men were arrested.Angela Merkel's arch-conservative sister party in Bavaria has crashed to its worst result for 68 years in state elections, according to preliminary results, piling further pressure on the German Chancellor's beleaguered coalition.

The Christian Social Union (CSU), which has ruled the wealthy southern state almost single-handedly since the 1960s, is projected to lose its absolute majority after dropping more than 10 percentage points to register around 37 per cent of the vote.

The anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) won its first seats in the Bavarian parliament, scoring more than 10 per cent in spite of the CSU's efforts to fend it off with a hardline stance on immigration and law and order.

The Social Democrats, who are Merkel's coalition partners in Berlin, also slumped to a historic low with barely 10 per cent, as the Greens doubled their vote share to leapfrog them in second.

Members of the Christian Social Union await the results in Munich, as the ruling party slumped to a historic low in state elections in a result which piles further pressure on Angela Merkel

Alice Weidel and Katrin Ebner-Steiner of the anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD) react after the announcement of the first exit polls in Bavaria on Sunday evening

Green Party leaders Robert Habeck, centre, and Anton Hofreiter, right, react to the exit polls after their party surged into second place in Bavaria's state elections on Sunday

The results signalled a failure for the CSU's efforts to maintain its dominant position in the state in the face of the AfD's hardline rhetoric.

'Of course today is not an easy day for the CSU. We did not achieve a good result,' CSU state leader Markus Soeder told a gathering of his party.

'We accept the result with humility,' he said, adding that the CSU - which will need a coalition partner - nonetheless wanted to form a stable government as soon as possible.

Since Germany's mass migrant influx of 2015, the CSU has hardened its folksy beer hall brand with an increasingly aggressive anti-immigration and law and order rhetoric intended to stop its voters drifting to the AfD.

Bavaria became Germany's frontline state for a mass influx of mostly Muslim refugees and migrants, half of them from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

During the campaign the CSU has promoted crucifixes in school classrooms and opposed Islamic veils in public.

At the national level, its Interior Minister Horst Seehofer became Merkel's harshest internal critic, echoing the AfD's rhetoric about the more than one million refugee and migrant arrivals.

The poll result on Sunday showed that the tactic - and Seehofer's brinkmanship in Berlin, including threats to resign - have backfired badly.

Following Sunday's results Seehofer, 69, said: 'It was not a nice day for us', but both he and Soeder have indicated they will stay in their jobs.

AfD chair Alice Weidel (left) drinks beer with fellow party members after their party entered the Bavarian state parliament for the first time and was projected to reach over 10 per cent

Leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU) Horst Seehofer - a rival of the Bavarian state premier - reacts to the first exit poll in the state elections on Sunday

Top candidate of the Green party in Bavaria Ludwig Hartmann and co-leader of the Greens Robert Habeck celebrate with their supporters following a surge in support

Bavarian state premier Markus Soeder gives a TV interview to journalist Bettina Schausten

Soeder has recently pointed to turbulent 'Berlin politics' for the CSU's poor outlook, suggesting he is likely to point the blame at longtime rival Seehofer.

The exit polls leave them on course for their worst result in a Bavarian state election since 1950, while the AfD - which had never previously competed in one - are now represented in 15 of Germany's 16 state parliaments.

Profiting from the refugee backlash, the AfD took millions of votes in last year's general election to weaken all the mainstream parties.

The Free Voters, a protest party who could form a coalition with the CSU, were projected to come third in Sunday's Bavarian election with 11.5 per cent.

The Greens, who are also regarded as a possible coalition partner, more than doubled their share and attracted support from more liberal CSU voters.

'If you copy the far right, you lose,' said the Greens' national co-leader Annalena Baerbock.

The coalition arithmetic may hinge on whether the FDP clears the five per cent threshold to be eligible for seats, which was not certain from early exit polls.

For Merkel, who was largely spurned by the CSU during the campaign, the results will heighten tensions in her fragile coalition.

State premier Markus Soeder, left, shakes hands with Hubert Aiwanger of the Free Voters, who were projected to come third and could form a coalition with the weakened CSU

Markus Soeder (second right) speaks on German television after the results were announced

Supporters of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) look dejected as they watch exit polls at the Bavarian state parliament in Munich. Their party slumped to a historic low in the election

A screen shows the first projections according to German broadcaster ARD, with the CSU remaining in first place but losing its absolute majority with its lowest share for 68 years

Members of the Christian Social Union Party (CSU) react after the announcement of the first exit polls in the Bavarian state elections which saw the party suffer record losses

She forged the 'grand coalition' between her CDU - allied to the CSU - and the reluctant SPD after months of talks following the last nationwide election in 2017.

Across Germany, support for the CDU-CSU conservative union has dropped to an all-time low of 26 percent, according to a recent poll.

The 'bitter' losses in Bavaria reflect voter dismay over recent coalition infighting in Berlin, conceded the CDU's general secretary Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.

SPD leader Andrea Nahles conceded a 'bad result for the SPD ... and for all mainstream parties' that she said was partially due to 'the bad performance of the grand coalition in Berlin'.

For the SPD, who are projected to come fifth, the result is a further humiliation after they slumped to barely 20 per cent of the vote at last year's federal election.

A poll by public broadcaster ARD showed that most voters blame Berlin-based politicians for the CSU's poor performance.



Angela Merkel's arch-conservative CSU allies have suffered heavy losses in Bavaria today in a result which will pile further pressure on her coalition. She is pictured in Berlin last week

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer attends a television debate to comment on the results of the the regional elections. He has said he will stay on as leader of the CSU

Volunteers count the votes in Bavaria's state elections in Munich on Sunday evening

CSU state premier Markus Soeder (pictured), 51, as he cast his ballot amid high turnout from the 9.5 million eligible voters. His party slumped to its worst result for 68 years

Electoral officials sort ballot papers in Munich after the conclusion of voting in Bavaria

People dressed in typical Bavarian clothes cast their votes for regional elections in Bavaria at a polling station in Neukirchen, southern Germany

While 56 per cent saw Seehofer as the chief culprit, 24 per cent pointed to Merkel, followed by Soeder at eight per cent.

Seehofer has already declared he intends to stay on and 'complete my mission' as interior minister.

Another breakdown suggested that the Greens had come first in towns and cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. Early results showed them in the lead in Munich, the state's largest city.

Early results suggested the turnout, at 72 per cent, was the highest in a Bavarian state election since 1982.

It comes just two weeks before another dangerous vote, in the central state of Hesse, and ahead of a December Christian Democrats (CDU) congress where Merkel plans to run again as party chief.

'Merkel knows, no matter the election outcome, uncomfortable times lie ahead,' said the Sueddeutsche newspaper, predicting that a 'humiliated CSU will be looking for culprits ... and the name Angela Merkel will certainly fall'.

Merkel has been largely absent from the CSU election campaign, which in its final rally on Friday invited instead Austria's right-wing Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.A heart attack victim died after a string of blunders as paramedics were unable to use a broken second hand defibrillator.

Finally, when local councillor Trevor Moncrieff was rushed to hospital he was taken to the wrong one.

Then in another blunder they couldn't contact ambulance control to send a second ambulance because they didn't have a direct radio link.

Local councillor Trevor Moncrieff, above, was rushed to hospital, he was taken to the wrong one. Trevor's four devastated sons say the Amvale Medical Transport private ambulance then took their dad to the wrong hospital [File photo]

This led to hours of delay before he got the right surgery.

Trevor 's stunned son Matt was forced to do CPR on his 66-year-old father while the private paramedic working for East Midlands Ambulance Service tried to get the second-hand equipment to work.

It was then another 13 minutes before the crew decided back-up was needed. But they couldn't order it because the NHS ambulance trust they worked for did not give them radios and they could not reach the dispatcher by phone.

Trevor 's stunned son Matt, above, was forced to do CPR on his 66-year-old father while the private paramedic working for East Midlands Ambulance Service tried to get the second-hand equipment to work

So seven minutes later they asked Matt, 34, to call the Fire Brigade.

Firefighters attended with a defibrillator and restarted father-of-four Trevor's heart, but the nightmare went on.

He died five days later. His family sued EMAS, which admitted a second crew should have been sent as routine because the patient was in cardiac arrest.

Trevor's four devastated sons say the Amvale Medical Transport private ambulance then took their dad to the wrong hospital.

East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EMAS) disputes that claim.

EMAS - which covers 4.8 million people in six counties - claims the decision to take Trevor to Grantham was right as he needed the nearest A&E But his family insist Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham or Leicester Royal Infirmary - both with heart centres - were closer [File photo]

Trevor, who lived near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, was taken to Grantham in Lincolnshire, which does not have a specialist heart centre, before being transferred to Lincoln for surgery.

The Trust paid a 6,600 out-of-court settlement after its own probe into the 2014 tragedy. It has since dropped Amvale Medical Transport, whose motto is Safe, Reliable, Versatile.

But the family are now speaking out to stop others suffering as they did.

Trevor's loss was made even harder for them after a review of the case by Prof Stephen Brecker, a consultant cardiologist.

He concluded the ex-British Gas worker - who raised his boys alone after the death of wife Karen in 1997 - would almost certainly have survived with better care.

Son Michael, 31, said: 'I was hoping dad didn't stand a chance. It would have been easier to deal with. To find he was taken needlessly was a kick in the gut.'

Matt, 34, said he still has flashbacks to when he says paramedics lost a pin in the defibrillator's cable.

He said: 'I was giving my dad chest compressions while two paramedics were fiddling with the defibrillator. I was shaking. They were panicking.'

It was then another 13 minutes before the crew decided back-up was needed. But they couldn't order it because the NHS ambulance trust they worked for did not give them radios and they could not reach the dispatcher by phone [File photo]

EMAS - which covers 4.8 million people in six counties - claims the decision to take Trevor to Grantham was right as he needed the nearest A&E.

His family insist Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham or Leicester Royal Infirmary - both with heart centres - were closer.

The Trust's probe found Amvale had bought the Lifepak 12 defibrillator second hand and it had not come with guidelines stating crews should test cables every shift.

Amvale, whose contract with EMAS was not renewed last year, is one of more than 200 private ambulance providers.

A spokesman said: 'The Lifepak 12 may not have been new, but it was bona fide medical equipment firm and had been properly we can confirm the daily user test was conducted for this device before that day's shift started.'

EMAS chief Richard Henderson said: 'We no longer have a contract with the firm in this case.

'Private providers help us meet demand when the need arises. We have accepted responsibility for mistakes in 2014. Lessons were learned.'Advertisement

Pope Francis today made saints of Pope Paul VI and martyred Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero - who was shot dead by right-wing death squads after criticising El Salvador's military rule.

The Pope praised the two towering and controversial figures of the 20th-century Catholic Church as prophets who shunned wealth and looked out for the poor as he canonized them at a Mass in St Peter's Square before some 70,000 faithful, a handful of presidents and 5,000 Salvadoran pilgrims.

Many Latin Americans traveled to Rome to honor a man considered a hero while tens of thousands more Salvadorans stayed up all night at home to watch the Mass on giant TV screens outside the San Salvador cathedral where Romero's remains are entombed.

Thousands stayed up all night in San Salvador, El Salvador to watch live TV images from the Vatican where martyred Archbishop Oscar Romero was declared a Saint by Pope Francis today

A man cheers as he watches the canonisation: Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, was murdered as he celebrated Mass on March 24, 1980, in a hospital chapel

A day before he was killed, he had delivered the latest in a series of sermons demanding an end to the army's repression - sermons that had enraged El Salvador's leaders

Pictured: A portrait of Saint Oscar Romero is seen as Salvadorans venerate him for the first time after his canonisation

In a sign of the strong influence that Paul and Romero had on the first Latin American pope, Francis wore the blood-stained rope belt that Romero wore when he was gunned down by right-wing death squads in 1980, and also used Paul's staff, chalice and pallium vestment.

Paul, who was pope from 1963-1978, presided over the modernizing yet polarizing church reforms of the 1960s. He was the pope of Francis' formative years as a young priest in Argentina and was instrumental in giving rise to the Latin American church's 'preferential option for the poor' that Francis has made his own.

Francis also has a close personal connection to Romero, and like him lived through right-wing military dictatorships when Francis was in Argentina. Francis was responsible for eventually declaring Romero a martyr for his fearless denunciations of the military regime at the start of El Salvador's 1980-1992 civil war.

In his homily, Francis called Paul a 'prophet of a church turned outwards' to care for the faraway poor. He said Romero gave up his security and life to 'be close to the poor and his people.'

San Salvador, early morning October 14: The two banners hanging from the National Palace behind read in Spanish: 'The cause of all our illnesses are the oligarchy,' left, and 'May my blood be a seed for freedom'

Catholic faithful await the canonisation ceremony of the blessed Monsignor Oscar Romero in his hometown of Ciudad Barrios

Pope Francis elevated Pope Paul VI and Oscar Romero to sainthood, praising the two towering figures of the 20th-century Catholic Church as prophets who shunned wealth and looked out for the poor

And he warned that those who don't follow their example to leave behind everything, including their wealth, risk never truly finding God.

'Wealth is dangerous and - says Jesus - even makes one's salvation difficult,' Francis said.

'The love of money is the root of all evils,' he added. 'Where money is at the centre, there is no room for God or for man.'

For many Salvadorans, it was the culmination of a fraught, politicized campaign to have the church formally honor a man who spoke out for the rights of landless peasants and the poor at a time when the US-backed right-wing government was seeking to quash a leftist rebellion.

'We couldn't stay home on this historic day,' said Jose Martinez, who with his wife and two young children joined the crowds outside the San Salvador cathedral. 'I want my children to know Monsignor, our saint, that he was a great man who raised his voice to defend his pueblo, and for that they killed him.'

A nun takes pictures of a photo exhibit on El Salvador's martyred Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero

Romero's hometown of Ciudad Barrios: Almost immediately after his death, Romero became an icon of the South American left and is frequently listed as one of the world's most influential human rights campaigners

Romero's influence continues to resonate with El Salvador's youth as the country endures brutal gang violence that has made the Central American nation one of the world's most violent

Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, was murdered as he celebrated Mass on March 24, 1980, in a hospital chapel. A day before he was killed, he had delivered the latest in a series of sermons demanding an end to the army's repression - sermons that had enraged El Salvador's leaders.

Almost immediately after his death, Romero became an icon of the South American left and is frequently listed along with Martin Luther King Jr and Mohandas Gandhi as one of the world's most influential human rights campaigners. The United Nations commemorates the anniversary of his death each year.

But his popularity with the left led to a decades-long delay in his saint-making cause at the Vatican, where right-wing cardinals led by Colombian Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo warned that his elevation would embolden Marxist revolutionaries.

Eventually Pope Benedict XVI unblocked the cause and Francis saw it through to its conclusion Sunday.

Vatican City: Mass in St Peter's Square before some 70,000 faithful, a handful of presidents and 5,000 Salvadoran pilgrims

Dancers perform during the overnight vigil moments before the Vatican declared Oscar Romero a saint

Pictured: A woman waits all night to watch live TV images from the Vatican from San Salvador early this morning

Romero's influence continues to resonate with El Salvador's youth as the country endures brutal gang violence that has made the Central American nation one of the world's most violent.

Paul VI, for his part, is best known for having presided over the final sessions of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 church meetings that opened up the Catholic Church to the world. Under his auspices, the church agreed to allow liturgy to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than in Latin and called for greater roles for the laity and improved relations with people of other faiths.

Paul is also remembered for his two most important encyclicals, or teaching documents, which have had a profound effect on the church: One denounced the mounting inequality between rich and poor, and the other reaffirmed the Catholic church's opposition to artificial contraception.

Francis has also adopted the 'church of the poor' ethos that Paul embodied when Paul formally renounced wearing the bejeweled papal tiara.

Paul is also very important to Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, whom Paul made a cardinal in 1977. Officials said the 91-year-old Benedict was too weak to attend Sunday's canonization, so Francis paid him a visit on the eve of the Mass.

Portraits of the new saints hung on Saint Peter's Basilica along with those of five others, including an orphaned youth and a German nun.

'Paul VI spent his life for Christ's Gospel, crossing new boundaries and becoming its witness in proclamation and in dialogue, a prophet of a Church turned outwards, looking to those far away and taking care of the poor,' Francis said.

'It is wonderful that together with him and the other new saints today, there is Archbishop Romero, who left the security of the world, even his own safety, in order to give his life according to the Gospel, close to the poor and to his people,' he added.

Evelio Rivas holds a cross made of bamboo, symbolizing El Salvador's martyred Archbishop Oscar Romero

Hundreds of pilgrims from across Central America celebrated the impending canonization in El Salvador's capital.

The visitors, many in clothes printed with Romero's face, gathered in front of his tomb, in the crypt of San Salvador's central cathedral, and at the Hospital of Divine Providence chapel, where he was assassinated.

'We are arriving here to honour the memory of Monsignor Romero, who took his faith to the point of giving his life for what he believed was right,' said Francisco Navarro, a 51-year-old Honduran, at the chapel along with some 30 of his compatriots.

'Since before he was killed, he defeated his killers by forgiving them. Because he knew they were going to kill him,' added university professor Julia Lainez.

For a long time, efforts to recognise Romero met with heavy opposition from conservative Catholics and the Salvadoran right, who saw veiled Marxism in his sermons.

Catholic faithful look at candles dedicated to Romero in Ciudad Barrios, some 102 miles from San Salvador

But Francis - the first Latin American pope - beatified Romero as a 'martyr' in 2015, to popular acclaim.

Paul VI - who encouraged Romero in his struggle - was the first head of the Roman Catholic Church to attempt to reform the Vatican's powerful and unruly Curia, the church's governing body. It was a challenge Francis also took on.

Romero is praised for standing up for peasant rights in the face of a right-wing backlash which painted him as a radical supporter of 'liberation' theology in his small, impoverished central American nation.

On March 24, 1980, the man dubbed the 'voice of those without voice' was shot in the heart, killed by a single bullet as he prepared communion.

His killing came at the start of a bloody civil war which claimed some 75,000 lives.

Relics of each new saint were carried to the altar - part of a bone for Romero and the shirt Paul VI was wearing when he was stabbed in an assassination attempt at Manila airport in 1970.

Samantha Markle has claimed her father Thomas did meet with Prince Harry before the royal wedding despite his insistence they have never spoken face-to-face.

Speaking in a fiery interview with Irish television network RTE, Meghan Markle's half sister said Thomas, 73, who was unable to attend the royal wedding because of an illness, met his son-in-law in the run up to the big day in June.

However, Thomas Markle himself previously told Good Morning Britain a month after the royal wedding that he had never met the Prince, saying: 'Weve had interesting conversations on the phone. Hes a smart guy.'

When asked by Ray D'Arcy during Saturday's interview if her father had met Harry, Samantha said: 'Yes he did and I'm not at liberty to discuss the details of that, but they did.'

Samantha Markle said in an interview on Irish TV on Saturday that she had persuaded her father to take the staged photos

Samantha said her father had in fact met with Harry despite his claims a month after the wedding that he has never spoken with the Prince face-to-face

Samantha Markle turning up at the TV studios in Dublin for the interview with RTE on Saturday evening

She claimed that the chat between the pair had been 'Respectful' and 'positive' for both of them and that Harry was 'quite gentlemanly'.

'They did the right thing. When you're going to marry someone's daughter you want to ask appropriately and be respectful, and they both were,' Samantha continued.

'The public knew nothing about the meeting.'

Ms Markle did not say where or when the meeting had taken place.

She also seized the opportunity to defend her father over revelations he had staged photos in exchange for money just weeks before the wedding.

'It wasn't meant to suggest anything, he was really doing those things,' Samantha claimed.

'The paparazzi were out there taking horrible pictures. I said "You can't let them disparage you like this Dad, this is not you".'

In an interview with Good Morning Britain back in June Thomas Markle (pictured) said he had only ever spoken to Prince Harry on the phone

CCTV images from the internet cafe, however, showed Mr Markle working with a photographer to set up the shoot

'Just like when you pass out a business card, you have a right to be seen in the public as you really are.'

'So I said "Dad, have someone take photos of you so the world and the British royal family can see you as you really are, it's only right.'

A series of photographs, printed earlier this year, aroused suspicion after showing Mr Markle exercising in public, reading a book called 'Images of Britain', being measured for a suit, and looking up pictures of his daughter in an internet cafe.

But in May this year Thomas Markle was exposed after the Mail on Sunday published CCTV images showing him collaborating with a photographer, walking into the cafe with him and setting up the best angle.

'Everyone said, "Do you think it's wrong to stage photos?" I said, "No, I think it's wrong to disparage someone and purposefully take horrible photos and say horrible things about them that are not true".'

Samantha Markle visits Kensington Palace to hand a letter over to her half sister, Meghan Markle but is turned away

In an exclusive interview with DailyMailTV, Samantha Markle denied attempting to demand to see her sister and described the visit to the UK as a wonderful experience

Last week Samantha hit the headlines once again after turning up in London to give a letter to her half-sister the Duchess of Sussex.

Pictures taken outside Kensington Palace show her appearing to be turned away by a security guard.

But she said of the incident during Saturday's interview that 'it was all positive there was no negativity and no demands'.

'If I was rejected or shunned or turned away I would not have been quite so positive,' she said. 'It was not my goal to show up or get an invite and crash the gates I'm not that rude and tacky.

Samantha claimed she had been 'sightseeing' and that it was nothing like 'what the media made it out to be'.Haris Theoharis, mayor of Pythio, said the killing could have been extremists

Police said their hands had been tied and their throats slit in identical fashion

Three migrant women whose throats were slashed in a grisly and unprecedented murder along a key border crossing in northern Greece may have been targeted by jihadi extremists, Greek investigators said Sunday.

They said national security agents and homicide experts had been dispatched to the site of the crime scene, along the Evros border crossing, in northeast Greece, to probe the mystery killing that has sent shock waves across the nation and the country's intelligence community.

The bodies of all three women were found lined up in a field along the banks of Evros, last week. Their hands were bound to their backs and their throats, slit in identical fashion.

The Evros border crossing in northeast Greece where the mysterious killing took place last week

'All had deep, ragged slashes across their throats,' a senior official with knowledge of the investigation told the Daily Mail. 'The assailant was clearly experienced; someone who has performed this type of execution before.'

Local officials, including Haris Theoharis, mayor of the hamlet of Pythio, where the bodies were found, said the harrowing killings bore the hallmarks of jihadi extremists.

'This region has long been popular among migrants sneaking into Europe from Turkey,' said Mr. Theoharis. 'Most dead bodies we find are those of migrants who either drown or freeze in their pursuit to make the river crossing.'

'But this  this is, a jihadi-style execution and we are all alarmed.'

The identities of the victims and their nationalities have yet to be determined.

Still, a first set of autopsies performed both at the crime scene and at a state morgue in the city of Alexandroupolis, northern Greece, have debunked initial scenarios that the victims  two teenagers and a 30-year-old female  may have fallen victim to robbers or human smugglers over the payment for their illegal transfer.

'That theory has now been ruled out,' Pavlos Pavlidis, the lead state coroner told the Daily Mail on Sunday. 'Gold jewelry and precious personal belongings worn by the women were left untouched.

Syrians who live in Malakasa refugee camp, on the outskirt of Athens protest against the living conditions at the camp

He said none of the victims had also been sexually assaulted, fanning fears that race or religion could have sparked the brutal crime.

The grizly killing comes amid growing concerns here that ISIS sympathizers may be streaming into Greece amid a fresh upsurge in illegal migration, mainly along the Evros route.

With an estimated 55 refugee centres set up nationwide, including five on an equal number of Aegean islands, Greece has effectively become a holding pen for some 60,000 asylum seekers since the European Union and a number of Balkan states sealed their borders to fend off an unprecedented refugee crisis in 2015.

That same year, however, two terrorists implicated in the bloody Paris attacks reached France via Greece. Both used forged Syrian passports to enter the country, posing as refugees.Britain's vaping industry has been accused of targeting products at children by using cartoon packaging and flavours that resemble fizzy drinks to 'hook teenagers into addiction.'

Although e-cigarette liquids cannot be sold to anyone under 18 some of the colourful packaging used by companies appear to be aimed at a younger audience.

Several online retailers have been found to sell products that sound as if they could just as easily be found on the sweet aisle of a supermarket.

Some of these names which could appeal to children include Dinner Lady Strawberry Custard and Sparking Ice Orange Juice, reports the Sunday Times.

Britain's vaping industry has been accused of targeting products at young people by using cartoon like packaging and names that sound like sweets

Some of the names include Dinner Lady Strawberry Custard(left) and Sparkling Ice Orange (right) with the chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's English Pharmacy Board saying they are the 'vaping equivalent to alcopops'

Sandra Gidley, chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's English Pharmacy Board, said: 'These products are the vaping equivalent of alcopops and clearly designed to hook teenagers into an addiction.

'I would question what adults wouldn't be satisfied with all the products available already that don't have these quirky candy cane sweet names.'

Website Ubervape advertises Tuck Shop products next to a picture of sweets spilling out of a jar while five brightly coloured bottles are presented under a banner reading 'scrumdiddlyumptious'.

The product listing for the Tutti Frutti e-liquid says: 'Dinner Lady - Tuck Shop E-liquids attempt and succeed in creating flavours that will remind you of your favorite childhood candies.'

The UK Vaping Industry Association told MailOnline that 'flavours play an important role in incentivising smokers to switch to vaping' and are a 'key component of keeping vapers off smoking.'

E-liquid products sold on the www.vipelectroniccigarette.co.uk website were also branded as the 'vaping equivalent of alcopops' by Mrs Gidley.

The owner of the company behind the website is British American Tobacco (BAT) who have recently acquired the site that sells E-Fizz and Dinner Lady products.

The UK Vaping Industry Association told MailOnline that 'flavours play an important role in incentivising smokers to switch to vaping'

The company said that it has removed e-liquids manufactured by third parties from the website pending a review, reports the Sunday Times.

The Dinner Lady brand also told the Sunday Times that it 'delivered the best product while ensuring the safety of children'.

Pharmacy chair Mrs Gidley said the situation is a real 'hornets nest' and that while we believe vaping to be safe for now, the long term implications are not know.

She said: 'It's a real hornets nest. The Vaping industry isn't going to change its packaging or product names unless it is told to do so in legislation.

'We think the products are safe but we can't say for definite what the long term implications are.'

Vaping products must be registered with the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The e-cigarette liquid brands that were on the MHRA list last week included Jelly Babies, Snowy Candy Bears and Jam Doughnuts.

People under 18 cannot buy vaping products in the UK and the UK Vaping Industry Association said 'All of our members comply with the law'

A spokesperson for the UK Vaping Industry Association said: 'There are already strict regulations in place in the UK on selling or marketing vaping products to under 18s. All of our members comply with the law.

'Fortunately recent research from Action on Smoking and Health demonstrates that youth use of vaping products is very low, with just 2% of youths using vaping products at least weekly.

'Flavours play an important role in incentivising smokers to switch to vaping, which Public Health England recognises as at least 95% less harmful than smoking.'

A spokesperson for Ubervape said: Products such as Candy King and Dinner Lady's are, in my opinion, intended for nostalgia purposes. Their flavours are reminiscent of younger times of enjoyment.

There is only really one variant that separates e-liquids and that is the flavour. One of the essential ingredients is vegetable glycerine VG which is naturally sweet which means sweet based flavours are essential.

'With just the difference of a flavour to chose from, images illustrating the flavour and ingredients are essential.

I personally don't think the intent behind a lot of these brands is to appeal to children. It's to catch the eye of the consumer in an incredibly competitive market.

'We certainly have not marketed any of our brands to appeal to minors and we strictly prohibit the sale, of all our products at Ubervape, to under 18s.'

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'We are committed to protecting young people from the harmful effects of tobacco products, and have been clear that e-cigarettes are not harmless.

'That's why we have laws in place preventing the sale of e-cigarettes to under-18s, and local Trading Standards seize products when they are in breach of tobacco control legislation.'

MailOnline has also contacted www.vipelectroniccigarette.co.uk for comment.The foreign secretary has joined French and German ministers in demanding a 'credible investigation' into the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Jeremy Hunt today insisted that 'light must be shed' on the whereabouts of the reporter following his disappearance from the Saudi consulate in Istanbul this month.

In a joint statement Mr Hunt, his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian and Germany's Heiko Maas said whoever was responsible for Khashoggi's disappearance must be held to account.

Scroll down for video

Jeremy Hunt today insisted that 'light must be shed' on the whereabouts of the reporter following his disappearance from the Saudi consulate in Istanbul this month

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, vanished after entering the consulate on October 2 to obtain official documents for his upcoming marriage.

'Defending freedom of expression and a free press and ensuring the protection of journalists are key priorities for Germany, the United Kingdom and France,' the ministers said in a statement issued by the Foreign Office in London.

'In this spirit, light must be shed on the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi,' it said, indicating all three countries were treating the matter 'with the utmost seriousness'.

'There needs to be a credible investigation to establish the truth about what happened, and - if relevant - to identify those bearing responsibility for the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, and ensure that they are held to account.

Jeremy Hunt invited comparisons to Brexit when he shared a picture of himself and his fellow EU foreign ministers in the middle of a hedge maze

In a joint statement Mr Hunt, his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian and Germany's Heiko Maas said whoever was responsible for Khashoggi's disappearance must be held to account

While expressing support for joint Saudi-Turkish efforts to look into his disappearance, they said the Saudi government must provide 'a complete and detailed response', indicating that such a message had been conveyed 'directly' to Riyadh.

Turkish officials say they believe Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi mission and lurid claims suggesting he was tortured and even dismembered have been leaked to the media.

Following the statement, Hunt spoke to media at the foreign secretary's Chevening country residence, and challenged Riyadh to explain what happened to Khashoggi.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, vanished after entering the consulate on October 2 to obtain official documents for his upcoming marriage

'The country that can help us get to the bottom of this is Saudi Arabia,' he said.

'If, as they say, this terrible murder didn't happen then where is Jamal Khashoggi? That is what the world wants to know.

'If they have got nothing to hide then they will, and should, co-operate.'

Saudi Arabia warned Sunday it would retaliate against any sanctions imposed on the oil-rich kingdom over Khashoggi's disappearance, as the Riyadh stock market plunged on growing investor jitters.Advertisement

Amazing photographs from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Michael show a house that managed to emerge relatively unscathed while the other homes were left a pile of rubble.

The Sand Palace, a beachfront home in Mexico Beach, Florida, is still standing - though it did incur damage as a result of the storm.

The three-floor homes ground floor was destroyed, as was the staircase leading to the middle floor.

A few windows were knocked out and damage was also done to the shower.

The force of the hurricane also damaged the utilities, which will have to be redone.

But the physical integrity of the structure is largely intact - a far cry from the fate met by their neighbors.

Amazing photographs from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Michael show a house that managed to emerge relatively unscathed while the other homes were left a pile of rubble

The Sand Palace, a beachfront home in Mexico Beach, Florida, is still standing - though it did incur damage as a result of the storm

The Sand Palace, a beachfront home in Mexico Beach, Florida, is still standing - though it did incur damage as a result of the storm. The above photo is a stock image of the home

Russell King, a 68-year-old lawyer who lives in Cleveland, Tennessee, rents out the property whenever he and his family dont use it. The above photo is a stock image from inside the home

King fortified the home so that it would resist wind gusts of up to 250 miles per hour. The above image is an undated stock photo from inside the home

Though King wouldnt say how much money he spent to fortify his home, it is estimated to be in the area of $30,000. The property itself is assessed to be worth $400,000, according to The New York Times

We can clean this up in a month, said the home owner, Russell King, told The New York Times.

But other folks, I dont know. Look at what these people suffered.

King, a 68-year-old lawyer who lives in Cleveland, Tennessee, rents out the property whenever he and his family dont use it.

Like many in Mexico Beach, nobody could have predicted that a Category 4 hurricane would directly hit the town.

The three-floor homes ground floor was destroyed, as was the staircase leading to the middle floor. A few windows were knocked out and damage was also done to the shower. The hurricane also damaged the utilities, which will have to be redone

I said, Itll veer off. They always do. They go to Cancun or someplace, King said.

Unfortunately for the town, this did not happen.

Most of the homes built in Mexico Beach were constructed in the 1970s.

Since those days, hurricanes have become more powerful.

King took notice. Thats why last year when he finished building his dream home he made sure that it would be resistant to wind gusts as strong as 250 miles per hour.

Though King wouldnt say how much money he spent to fortify his home, it is estimated to be in the area of $30,000.

The property itself is assessed to be worth $400,000, according to the Times.

The home is built with reinforced concrete. It has also been elevated on tall pilings so that storm surge would pass underneath and do little damage.

We wanted to build it for the big one, he said.

We just never knew wed find the big one so fast.

King said he believes climate change is a major factor causing the increasingly destructive storms that will make it harder to live near the coasts in future decades.

'I believe the planets getting warmer and the storms are getting stronger,' said King.

'We didnt used to have storms like this. So people who live on the coast have to be ready for it.'

The hunt for missing people in the aftermath of Michael is now turning into a search for the dead as hopes of finding more people alive fades in the Florida Panhandle.

Crews with backhoes and other heavy equipment scooped up splintered boards, broken glass, chunks of asphalt and other debris in hurricane-flattened Mexico Beach on Sunday as the mayor held out hope for the 250 or so residents who may have tried to ride out the storm.

The death toll from Michael's destructive path now stands at 18 across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

So far there is just one confirmed death in Mexico Beach - a small town of about 1,000 people that took a direct hit from the hurricane and its 155 mph winds last week.

Marla Wood pulls a framed art piece out of the rubble of her damaged home from hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Florida on Sunday

The Wood family begins cleanup efforts among the debris of their damaged home from hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach

The toll is expected to rise as rescuers go door-to-door in coastal communities in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.

Mexico City Mayor Al Cathey estimated 250 residents stayed behind when the hurricane struck, and he said he remained hopeful about their fate.

He said search-and-rescue teams in the beach town had already combed areas with the worst damage.

'If we lose only one life, to me that's going to be a miracle,' Cathey said.

Five days after the monstrous hurricane, officials said the search and rescue missions had turned into one of recovery.

'We're going into recovery mode, unfortunately,' said Fire Chief Alex Baird of Panama City, one of the coastal Florida communities clobbered by the hurricane.

'At sunrise, we'll start again on our search,' Baird said. 'We hope that we'll find more (survivors), but it's more and more doubtful.'

Hampered by power and telephone outages, some rescue teams have been using cadaver dogs, drones and heavy equipment to hunt for people in the rubble.

Taylor Fontenot, founder of 50 Star SAR, a volunteer search and rescue organisation, said he will alert authorities when he finds corpses with his group's cadaver dog.

Jerry Register, a congregation member of St. Andrew United Methodist Church, hugs a fellow church member during Sunday service, outside the damaged church in Panama City

A man carries food and water past a building damaged by Hurricane Michael in Parker, Florida

Destroyed boats are caught up on embankments in Mexico Beach on Sunday after storm surges receded

Lavonia Fortner helps her father-in-law, John E. Fortner, search for memorabilia his wife collected in Mexico Beach on Saturday. His wife died in 2010 but his home was destroyed by the storm

'When we pulled into Mexico Beach, she was trying to jump out the window because she smelled so many bodies,' he said.

Search and rescue volunteers have already located hundreds of people reported missing last week.

On Saturday, rescue crews heard cries for help and crowbarred into a mobile home crumpled by the storm in Panama City, freeing a mother and daughter, both diabetics who had been trapped in a closet without insulin for two days and were on the verge of diabetic shock.

'We had another lady who was on her last tank of oxygen. No cell phone, no power, no nothing. There are people out here on dialysis, but there is no power,' Fontenot said.

A lack of food and water is among the most pressing issues for people reeling from the storm, said one volunteer who had been working in the Panama City area.

'There's people going through their neighbor's (destroyed) houses... to try to find some jelly for the sandwiches for the kids,' said Russ Montgomery, a volunteer with Project Greenlight from San Antonio, Texas.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long (left) and Florida Gov. Rick Scott (right) talk with the media in Mexico Beach on Sunday

Diane Hoa and Mark Bove sit by a torch as they prepare to spend their fourth night without power since Hurricane Michael damaged their home in Panama City

People walk amidst rubble in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach

Mike Jackson sifts through debris looking for remnants of his home which was destroyed in Mexico Beach

In door-to-door searches, teams comprised mostly of off-duty police officers and firefighters have found more than 520 of the 2,100 people reported missing since Michael crashed ashore near Mexico Beach on Wednesday as one of the most powerful storms in U.S. history.

'Volunteers are working side-by-side with first responders. They are cutting holes in roofs. They try to take a picture so we can call the family and tell them we made contact,' said Matthew Marchetti, co-founder of the Houston-based CrowdSource Rescue.

Florida Governor Rick Scott visited the damaged areas on Sunday with FEMA Administrator Brock Long.

President Donald Trump is expected to visit both Florida and Georgia early this week to inspect the damage, and the White House said late Saturday the president was fully committed to helping state and local agencies with the recovery.

Meanwhile, thousands of people are likely to be without power in Florida's Panhandle for at least another week.

Gulf Power officials announced Sunday that they expect to have power restored to 95 percent of those hit by Hurricane Michael by October 24 - or two weeks after the storm hit, leaving a trail of ruins across the region.

Gulf Power is the main utility serving most of the area devastated by the deadly storm.

Some areas -such as Panama City Beach- will get power restored in the next two days. But the electric utility said it will take longer for downtown Panama City and other towns closer to where Michael roared onshore.The Ecuadorian government has decided to partly restore communications for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

They were cut in March, denying him access to the internet or phones and limiting visitors to members of his legal team, after he criticised the country's friends from his embassy bolthole.

He has been living inside Ecuador's embassy in London for over six years.

The Ecuadorian government said in March it had acted because Mr Assange had breached 'a written commitment made to the government at the end of 2017 not to issue messages that might interfere with other states'.

The Ecuadorian government has decided to partly restore communications for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, after it decided to cut his phone and web access in March this year

Wikileaks said in a statement: 'Ecuador has told WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange that it will remove the isolation regime imposed on him following meetings between two senior UN officials and Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno on Friday.'

Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks editor-in-chief, added: 'It is positive that through UN intervention Ecuador has partly ended the isolation of Mr Assange although it is of grave concern that his freedom to express his opinions is still limited.

'The UN has already declared Mr Assange a victim of arbitrary detention. This unacceptable situation must end.

'The UK government must abide by the UN's ruling and guarantee that he can leave the Ecuadorian embassy without the threat of extradition to the United States.'

Mr Assange has been granted political asylum by Ecuador but believes he will be arrested if he leaves the embassy and extradited to the United States for questioning over the activities of WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks said Mr Assange has not entered into any form of agreement with Ecuador to restrict his speech or other rights.

His lawyers are considering his legal options and will make a statement in due course.

The WikiLeaks statement said the meetings were held in Ecuador between the president and the UN high commissioner for refugees Filippo Grandi and UN special rapporteur for freedom of expression David Kaye.

He has been living inside Ecuador's embassy in London for over six years. The Ecuadorian government said in March it had acted because Mr Assange had breached 'a written commitment made to the government at the end of 2017 not to issue messages that might interfere with other states'

It said: 'Concern over Mr Assange's situation has also been raised by other UN bodies, as well as Human Rights Watch (who was refused access to him), Amnesty International, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights, Ecuador's Permanent Human Rights Commission, and public protests

'Mr Assange was informed of Ecuador's decision hours after Mr Grandi and Mr Kaye met with President Moreno.'

President Moreno ordered Mr Assange's 'isolation' on March 28 in retaliation for giving 'opinions on the politics of friendly nations like Spain or the United States'.

The statement continued: 'Mr Assange had critically reported on the Trump administration's involvement in Yemen and Spanish police brutality. High level representations were made by the Trump administration and the Spanish government over Mr Assange, who was given political refugee status by Ecuador in 2012 over US attempts to prosecute him.

'The Trump administrations stepped up efforts to prosecute Mr Assange after WikiLeaks published the largest leak in the history of the CIA last year.

'The US has announced that it now considers Ecuador a 'strategic ally' and helped it secure a billion dollars in previously withheld loans.

'For almost seven months, Ecuador has kept Mr Assange in a regime that has been likened to solitary confinement by Human Rights Watch. Ecuador has prevented Mr Assange from receiving visitors other than his lawyers. It installed three sets of signal jammers in the embassy, to prevent Mr Assange from communicating using mobile phones or internet.

'The extrajudicial seven-month isolation of Mr Assange has interfered with his fundamental rights and the rights of his family. It has also prevented Mr Assange from working and giving public talks.

'Ecuador has also prevented all journalists from speaking to him during this time. Ecuador's President until last year, Rafael Correa, has denounced Mr Assange's treatment as 'torture' stating 'the government is basically attacking Julian's mental health'.

'Ecuador has informed Mr Assange that the government intends to continue Moreno's policy of restricting him from expressing his opinions under threat of expulsion.'President Donald Trump snapped at CBS News' Lesley Stahl after she read him a list of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's atrocities and asked him how he could love someone who's done such things.

'I'm not a baby. I know all these things,' Trump told her before going on to explain the two men get along well.

Stahl interviewed Trump for CBS' '60 Minutes,' which will air on Sunday night. She questioned him on a number of topics including missing Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi and turnover in his Cabinet.

President Trump said he and Kim Jong-Un have 'good chemistry'

He touted his interview with CBS News, which airs Sunday night

In a clip released Sunday afternoon, she asked him about his relationship with Kim and confronted the president with Kim's human rights record.

'I trust him. That doesn't mean I can't be proven wrong,' Trump told her.

Stahl proceeded to read to him what she called Kim's 'resume': 'He presides over a cruel kingdom of repression, gulags, starvation. Reports that he had his half-brother assassinated. Slave labor. Public executions. This is a guy you love?'

'Sure. I know all these things. I'm not a baby. I know these things,' Trump replied. 'I get along with him okay.'

Stahl then questioned Trump's comments that he made at a September campaign rally where he said he 'fell in love' with Kim, who sent him 'beautiful letters.'

'You said you love him,' she said to the president.

Trump defended his comment as a 'figure of speech.'

'No it's like an embrace,' Stahl said.

'Let it be an embrace. Let it be whatever it is to get the job done,' Trump replied.

'He's a bad guy,' Stahl countered.

'Let it be whatever it is. I get along with him really well,' Trump responded. 'I have a good energy with him. I have a good chemistry with him. Look at the horrible threats that were made. No more threats. No more threats.'

The president also claimed the United States was on the brink of war with North Korea when came into office.

'The day before I came in, we were goin' to war with North Korea. I sat with President Obama,' he said.

Stahl interrupted him to ask: 'We were goin' to war?'

'I think it was going to end up in war. And my impression is - and even in my first few months, I mean, that rhetoric was as tough as it could possibly get,' he said.

Trump touted the interview on Twitter.

'Will be interviewed tonight by @LesleyRStahl on @60Minutes @CBSNews at 7:30 P.M. Eastern. Enjoy!,' he wrote Sunday.

Trump previously has said he'd like a second sit-down with Kim, whom he first met in Singapore in July.

I trust him. That doesnt mean I cant be proven wrong, President Trump says of his relationship with North Koreas Kim Jong Un. I get along with him really well. See the presidents full interview with Lesley Stahl tonight at 7:30 ET/7 PT. https://t.co/UNHUaJhIIs pic.twitter.com/mwdWFlQB9h  60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 14, 2018

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he had a good meeting with Kim Jong Un in North Korea

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Pyongyang earlier this month to work on details with Kim.

After that meeting, Kim agreed to allow international inspectors to examine the country's nuclear testing site.

Pompeo also said he is 'close' to setting the date for a second meeting between the two men.

Since Trump and Kim met in Singapore, relations between their nations have stalled and questions have emerged about the accord they signed, which had no timetable and no measurable factors to show North Korea was denuclearizing.

Trump canceled Pompeo's planned trip to Pyongyang in August, citing little evidence that North Korea had followed through on any of its commitment to denuclearize.

But at the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York at the end of September, Trump indicated things were back on track.

'We have many things in store,' Trump said at the time, noting he had gotten a second letter from Kim requesting a meeting.Police have released CCTV stills of 17 men they want to trace in relation to the violence which erupted at a Free Tommy Robinson protest four months ago.

Hundreds of supporters of the former leader of the English Defence League and far-right activist descended on Whitehall in central London on June 9.

Nine arrests were made and several people were injured at the protest including five officers.

Police have released these pictures off 17 men they want to trace in relation to the violence which erupted at a Free Tommy Robinson protest four months ago

Some of Robinson's supporters threw bottles, metal barriers and traffic cones at police

Some of Robinson's supporters threw bottles, metal barriers and traffic cones at police.

Detective Constable Jonny Wise said: 'During this demonstration violent disorder broke out on the streets of central London, resulting in injuries to members of the public and numerous police officers.

'A post-incident investigation was launched, through which we have already identified a number of suspects as the result of a public appeal.

'We are incredibly grateful to the public for their help identifying individuals so far, and we are now issuing a further appeal for assistance in identifying the people in these images.'

Police blocked the road around Trafalgar Square during the protest.

It was was one of a number held in support of Robinson, who was jailed for contempt of court for using social media to broadcast details of a trial which is subject to blanket reporting restrictions.

Leeds Crown Court heard how he filmed himself and people involved in the case, in footage that was watched around 250,000 times within hours of being posted on Facebook.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, was sentenced to 13 months in jail on the same day as his arrest.

He was given 10 months in jail for contempt of court, and an additional three months for beaching a previous suspended sentence.

A police medic (left) suffered a nasty gash on his face after some of Tommy Robinson's (right) supporters clashed with officers

Robinson was later freed from prison after three leading judges quashed the contempt of court finding made at Leeds Crown Court.

The appeal court heard the hearing in which he was jailed was 'muddled' and 'rushed' and held five hours after his arrest.

Last month, a fresh contempt of court case against Robinson was adjourned by a judge at the Old Bailey.A newlywed was tragically killed in a freak flash flood while on his honeymoon in Costa Rica last week.

Josh Byrne, 30, and his wife, Bianca, were honeymooning on Friday in Playa Dominicalito when their car veered off a bridge and into a river.

They were able to get themselves out of the vehicle and climb onto the car's roof, according to the Boston Herald.

Newlywed, Josh Byrne (center with wife), 30, was tragically killed in a freak flash flood while on his honeymoon in Costa Rica last week

Josh and his wife were honeymooning on Friday in Playa Dominicalito when their car veered off a bridge and into a river

They were able to get themselves out of the vehicle and climb onto the car's roof. Josh's father and brother flew to Costa Rica to help search for their loved one. Searchers then discovered Josh's body on Saturday

Both decided to swim to shore, but Josh was swept away by flood waters, just days after marrying the love of his life on a farm in New Hampshire.

Josh's father and brother flew to Costa Rica to help search for their loved one. Searchers then discovered Josh's body on Saturday.

'It is with heavy hearts that we have concluded our search for Josh,' a statement from the family said.

'After working around the clock, our search and rescue mission ended today with the recovery of Josh's remains.'

The family created a GoFundMe account to cover costs for the logistics of proper recovery and services.

'Josh holds a special place in all of our hearts and will always be remembered for his helpful and caring demeanor, his ability to make friends in any setting, and his love for his wife, Bianca,' the family said.

Bianca and Josh met through Instagram in 2015 when they scheduled a play date for their dogs (one of their dogs)

A year later, Josh proposed (pictured) to her and the two were married on October 6

For the last 12 years, Josh worked at SJC Custom Drums, where he was a master craftsman at building drums. Josh is pictured at the drum shop

Bianca and Josh met through Instagram in 2015 when they scheduled a play date for their dogs.

A year later, Josh proposed to her and the two were married on October 6.

For the last 12 years, Josh worked at SJC Custom Drums, where he was a master craftsman at building drums.

The company said on Facebook: 'We are deeply saddened and completely devastated over the loss of our dear friend, brother, family member Josh Byrne.

'He undoubtedly played an incredible role in creating the culture and product as we know it today. His pride and work ethic was infectious. His even keel attitude allowed us to get through the many growing pains and transitions we have faced,' the company wrote.

'We were lucky to have Josh by our side for so many years, and we will cherish those memories forever.'Could this family wedding photo of the Duchess of York standing at Prince Philips shoulder be a metaphor for things to come?

For Philip, 97, it must have taken a great effort of will. For Fergie, perhaps, the hope of rehabilitation  the last time she appeared in the pictures of a formal Windsor family gathering was 27 years ago.

There were times during Princess Eugenies wedding ceremony when the Duchesss mobile face took on a pensive look.

Like any mother of the bride, her mind was dwelling on her daughters happiness.

Sitting in a front-row pew next to elder daughter Beatrice, with the Queen and Philip close behind, she was almost one of the family again.

Happy families: Could this family wedding photo of the Duchess of York standing at Prince Philips shoulder be a metaphor for things to come?

But for the Duchess, this was a day of added poignance. Today, she is 59. What woman entering her 60th year doesnt feel a need to be sure about her own future?

No one was more aware than Fergie herself that, among the 850 guests at her daughters wedding last Friday, the gossip wasnt just about Eugenie and Jack, but about Sarah and Andrew.

Could they be the next to make their marriage vows? What a royal wedding that would be.

For more than 26 years, the twists and turns of this divorced couple have been entertaining many as much as they have been infuriating Andrews father, Prince Philip.

Sarah Ferguson waving to crowds after marrying Andrew as they leave Westminster Abbey, London after their wedding ceremony

Sarah Ferguson and prince Philip were pictured together for the first time in 27 years

The manner in which they have lived virtually together almost as man and wife for many years is proof enough for most of their circle that one factor, and one factor alone, has stood between them remarrying  Prince Philip.

He has never forgiven the Duchess for humiliating his second son and embarrassing the family when pictures were published of her financial adviser John Bryan kissing her toes by a swimming pool in the South of France.

Just the other week when Fergie, together with her daughters Beatrice and Eugenie, was staying with the Queen, her morning departure was fixed with military precision for 10.30am prompt, 45 minutes before Philip was due to arrive  a gap calculated to be big enough to cope with any unforeseen delay.

In the past, when Fergie has been invited to tea with the Queen at Windsor Castle, he has made an excuse and left the room on the point of her arrival.

The Queen, it must be said, likes the Duchess.

The family were gathered for Princess Eugenie and Jack Brookbank's wedding on Friday

Despite her errors, extravagance and extraordinary ability to put her foot in it, she sees in Fergie a lively woman who has never lost her ability to make her favourite son happy.

And she is proud of the way Sarah has raised her daughters.

Indeed, of all the royals, the Queen is the most relaxed about Andrew sharing Royal Lodge  the Queen Mothers old home in Windsor Great Park  with his former wife.

More significantly, she is unlikely to raise any serious objections should they decide to remarry.

In the past, Andrew disdained the idea, saying that their untypical domestic arrangements for a divorced couple were intended to make life easier for their two daughters.

No doubt that is true. But their lives under the same roof over the past 12 years have drawn them closer than either expected, and if Andrew or Sarah did  separately or together  harbour thoughts of remarriage, it is hardly something that would be talked about in front of Prince Philip.

Horse riding after the wedding: Andrew (pictured ) shares Royal Lodge  the Queen Mothers old home in Windsor Great Park  with his former wife

Wedding bells: Fergie and Prince Andrew sat in front of Prince Philip and the Queen during the ceremony at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle

In fact, with the birth in April of William and Kates third child, Prince Louis, Prince Andrew dropped to seventh in line to the throne, freeing him from requiring the Queens permission to marry.

Under the Royal Marriages Act, 1772, this is only required for the first six in line. When Harry and Meghan have children, Andrew will drop even further.

As a senior courtier observes: It isnt as though they are young people jumping from one mistake to another. Prince Andrew and the Duchess are moving into their 60s, mature and experienced.

But, of course, they seem very happy as they are and no one can say that they ever will want to remarry.

It is generally accepted, however  despite their proximity in the wedding photographs  that if they did, no such decision could be taken while Philip is alive.

Putting on a front: Andrew and Fergie avoided their usually friendly displays to avoid taking away any attention from Eugenie and Jack

For the moment, what we are seeing is the significant process of Fergie carefully being slipped back into the royal cast of characters.

She has twice appeared in the court circular, once standing in for Andrew at Westminster Abbey at the memorial service for comedian Ronnie Corbett, and on an earlier occasion representing him at a thanksgiving for the industrialist and long-time Royal Family friend, Sebastian de Ferranti.

Then, in June, she was invited by the Queen into the royal box at Ascot for the fourth year running  quite a coup for a daughter-in-law who lost her HRH when the couple were divorced in 1996, by which time they had already been separated for four years.

Shes still not made it back into the carriage procession from Windsor Castle down the course, however.

Instead, as the carriages have gone by, the Duchess of York has performed the deepest possible curtsey to the Queen. Prince Philip has been absent.

And in the weeks that shes been helping to organise her daughters wedding, she used Prince Andrews apartment and office in Buckingham Palace.

Most significantly, the official photographs of the wedding party saw her placed right behind the Duke of Edinburghs left shoulder.

No one would have been surprised if Andrew had occupied that position, as it would have placed him between his daughter and his ex-wife.

Instead, we were given a glimpse of the latest step in a steady rehabilitation which stretches back to 2014 when the Queen pointedly allowed the Duchess to host a party for 200 at Windsor Castle to celebrate the 21st anniversary of her Children In Crisis charity.

At the same time, Fergie has become a very popular guest among royal staff, some of whom know her from those mere six years when she and Andrew were together after their 1986 marriage.

When leaving Balmoral after her August stay of several days, she wrote thank-you notes to each member of staff who looked after her. She also left each of them a keepsake gift of a key-fob.

Her tip  a traditional gesture in royal and country houses  was a generous sum deposited behind the staff bar.

Prince Philip and Sarah 'Fergie' Ferguson's long-running feud dates back to the early 1990s

To the domestic staff at the Queens Scottish home, who dont take to every member of the Royal Family, her thoughtfulness has made her a favourite.

It was at Balmoral that she last appeared in a family photo tableau in summer 1991.

To many, of course, the togetherness of Andrew and Fergie still seems incredible.

What had been an instant love match soon descended into a crumbling marriage of a young woman unable to cope with the restraints of royalty and a Prince whose judgment was often sadly lacking.

For the Duchess, being single and shorn of her HRH meant pursuit of success on her own terms, plunging into commercial enterprises which made her at first rich and then, when things were going wrong and she couldnt put a brake on her spendthrift lifestyle, close to bankruptcy.

Andrews problems grew out of his friendship with questionable billionaires. One of whom was American businessman Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted paedophile.

The friendship saw Andrew being accused of having sex with a 17-year-old sex-slave of Epstein (considered legally under-age in America).

The Prince vehemently denied her claim, which was part of his alleged victims legal action as a mature woman against Epstein, and a judge in Florida ordered it to be struck from the record.

With any other divorced couple, such crises would heap fuel on the bonfire of their broken marriage. But for the Yorks, the reverse happened.

When Fergies finances ran aground with debts in excess of 1.5 million, Andrew stepped in to cover most of it with his own money, plus the help of friends (who included Jeffrey Epstein).

While Andrew was suffering  and Palace officialdom shaking  from the sex claims in America, Fergies was the first voice heard defending him.

Prince Philip and the Duchess of York have avoided being in the same room as one another after a long fued

I wont stand by and have his character defamed, she stormed on American TV. I will not have one word said about him on any level.

She called the sex claims shockingly accusatory, adding: Hes a great father and humongously good man.

In the U.S., the Duchesss name linked to products can still sell; it has been used to promote slimming plans, tea and candles  and she travels there often.

When she comes home, it is to Andrew at Royal Lodge  though she has her own suite of rooms.

There is also, of course, the seven-bedroom Chalet Helora in that most chi-chi of Swiss ski resorts, Verbier, which was bought for 13 million four years ago and is in both their names.

Both have had other partners since they split. Andrew has been linked to actress Angie Everhart, model Alexandra Escat and businesswoman Amanda Staveley.

Andrew (pictured right) has been linked to actress Angie Everhart, model Alexandra Escat and businesswoman Amanda Staveley since the divorce

Fergie was romantically linked to Italian Count Gaddo della Gherardesca, Norwegian frozen foods tycoon Geir Frantzen and internet entrepreneur Manuel Fernandez, eight years her junior.

Nevertheless, guests in the Alps and Royal Lodge are amused to hear Fergie and Andrew refer to each other as husband and wife.

The Duchess has cheekily described their relationship as divorced to each other right now...weve never really left each other.

And as they sat together in St Georges Chapel exchanging smiles and whispered asides on Friday, who would have thought they had ever been apart.

So with one daughter happily married, could their remarriage really happen?

Frankly, no one knows. But wouldnt it be so very Fergie for the royal wife who lost her HRH title to get it back again?The exiled abbot of Ampleforth Abbey has begun a High Court bid to be reinstated after being cleared of hotly disputed child sex abuse allegations at Britains top Roman Catholic school.

Father Cuthbert Madden claims his human rights have been breached and that he should be allowed to return as head of Britains largest Benedictine community.

As abbot of Ampleforth Abbey, he was chairman of the governors at 35,000-a-year Ampleforth College, which has shared the same site as the abbey since 1803.

Cuthbert Madden, above, denied the claims, which dated back to the early 1990s when he was a schoolmaster at Ampleforth College. Father Madden, 63, is currently banned from wearing his dog collar and is living in a nunnery as he fights to return to his job at Ampleforth in North Yorkshire [File photo]

In August 2016 he voluntarily stepped aside from his responsibilities as abbot pending inquiries into allegations that he indecently assaulted four boys.

He denied the claims, which dated back to the early 1990s when he was a schoolmaster at Ampleforth College and included an accusation that he stroked a pupils thigh.

Within three months, police closed the inquiry after concluding there was no evidence of criminal behaviour by the abbot, who was interviewed by detectives. Yet nearly two years after being exonerated, he has not been allowed to recommence his duties.

Ampleforth College is attended by children from some of the countrys wealthiest Catholic families and former pupils include Downton Abbey creator Lord Julian Fellowes and actor Rupert Everett [File photo]

Father Madden, 63, is currently banned from wearing his dog collar and is living in a nunnery as he fights to return to his job at Ampleforth in North Yorkshire.

Now senior figures in the Catholic Church face being hauled before the High Court to explain why the abbot has been prevented from getting his old job back.

He is arguing in his High Court claim that a review panel has recommended his reinstatement but he remains wrongly excluded from his office. His lawyers claim his rights to a fair trial under the Human Rights Act have been breached.

Father Madden, who was elected abbot in 2005, is seeking up to 10,000 in damages, proceeds of which will go to charity. The four defendants include abbot president Christopher Jamison, leader of the English Benedictine Congregation, and the Catholic Trust for England and Wales (CATEW).

Ampleforth College is attended by children from some of the countrys wealthiest Catholic families and former pupils include Downton Abbey creator Lord Julian Fellowes, actor Rupert Everett and ex-England rugby star Lawrence Dallaglio. It has previously been linked with alleged widespread sexual abuse by priests.

In August the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) found Ampleforth was one of two Catholic schools that allowed a culture of appalling sexual abuse to flourish for decades. It said safeguarding the churchs reputation was put before the protection of children.

As abbot of Ampleforth Abbey, he was chairman of the governors at 35,000-a-year Ampleforth College, which has shared the same site as the abbey since 1803 [File photo]

A spokesman for Father Madden said: He has been investigated by the police and the church and neither found any evidence to support the allegations. IICSA was content to record without adverse comment that he would be restored to his position as abbot. An innocent man should not be treated as if he were guilty.

A spokesman for CATEW said: The Catholic Church has robust safeguarding procedures for the protection of children and the vulnerable and to ensure a fair process for those against whom allegations are made. We are unable to comment on cases which are the subject of legal proceedings.

A spokesman for Father Jamison, the abbot president, said safeguarding was an absolute priority for the Benedictines, but declined to comment further.Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson threatened to close a key RAF base in a blazing row with a fellow Cabinet minister.

He told Liz Truss to her face that he would axe RAF Marham in her Norfolk constituency unless she scrapped defence cuts.

The feud between the two has been going on for months and shows no sign of letting up.

Mr Williamson is fighting the Treasury over a 20billion black hole in the MoDs ten year equipment plan. One defence chief who witnessed one of Mr Williamsons anti-Truss outbursts said: His behaviour was abusive and out of all proportion' [File photo]

Last month, Mr Williamson told Miss Truss he intended to ban television cameras invited to RAF Marham to publicise a visit by her.

Marham is the new home of the RAF and Royal Navy F-35 Lightning, the most advanced fighter jet in the world. The first planes arrived in Norfolk in June.

The face to face spending clash between Mr Williamson and Miss Truss, both seen as possible Tory leaders, took place in the summer. He made similar threats aimed at her in other meetings with Ministry of Defence officials.

One said: He said lets give her some of her own medicine and move the F-35s or shut Marham so she can feel the pain of defence cuts for herself. He said the soldiers pay rise was paltry and she should be named and shamed for it in a letter to every soldier.

A Whitehall insider said: Liz was shocked by Williamsons aggression but stood her ground. He does not intimidate her.

The confrontation came after she publicly savaged unnamed male Cabinet ministers macho antics. She said: Those familiar with the 1984 film Gremlins will recall how the cute Gizmo, when fed after midnight, turned into a slime-soaked baddie Stripe.

In the same way, theres a tendency for governments and bureaucracy to multiply and exert further control. Before you know it Gremlins are everywhere.

Marham is the new home of the RAF and Royal Navy F-35 Lightning, the most advanced fighter jet in the world. The first planes arrived in Norfolk in June [File photo]

Friends of the Defence Secretary claim her Gremlin jibe was directed at him.

His baby-faced assassin image is fuelled by a Machiavellian style, youthful looks and the way that in his days as Tory chief whip, he kept a pet tarantula spider called Cronos in his Commons office.

Miss Truss, the MP for South West Norfolk, is not the first female target of his rants. Rattled by reports that Theresa May wanted to cut his budget, Mr Williamson cursed in private: I made her and I can break her.

What threats did Gavin Williamson allegedly make to Liz Truss? Mr Williamson made a series of other extraordinary threats to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury including: Switching its new fleet of F-35 Lightning warplanes to another base; Banning her from visiting the base if she refused to spend more on defence; Writing to all 80,000 members of the Armed Forces telling them their paltry 3 per cent pay rise was her fault Advertisement

Mr Williamson ran her campaign to become Prime Minister in 2016. Despite the Defence Secretarys threats, defiant Miss Truss went to Marham last month and spoke of her pride that she had won her campaign for the jets to be based there, which led to a 250million modernisation of the station.

She said: It is wonderful to see the aircraft here in South West Norfolk. Our expertise, engineering and training is a huge asset to the country.

Mr Williamson is fighting the Treasury over a 20billion black hole in the MoDs ten year equipment plan. One defence chief who witnessed one of Mr Williamsons anti-Truss outbursts said: His behaviour was abusive and out of all proportion.

Former Conservative defence minister Anna Soubry said last night: Mr Williamson needs to take off his macho bovver boots and grow up.

Miss Truss, above, went to Marham last month and spoke of her pride that she had won her campaign for the jets to be based there, which led to a 250million modernisation of the station [File photo]

But he was defended by former Conservative deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft, who said: I am aware that Gavin Williamson has taken a very robust position in relation to defence, arguing that Britain needs to spend more. If the UK wishes to retain all capabilities then clearly the existing budget is insufficient.

A spokesman for Mr Williamson said: We have invested 250million upgrading RAF Marham to ensure it remains the home base for the F-35 Lightning force for decades to come. There are no plans to shut it down

We are delighted the Treasury awarded service personnel a 2.9 per cent pay rise which has made a significant difference.

Miss Truss declined to comment.Esther McVey (pictured) told her constituents in Tatton, Cheshire, that HS2 could cost more than 100billion in last November

Theresa May is facing opposition from her cabinet over HS2 after it emerged a senior minister has warned the scheme could cost almost double official estimates.

Work and pensions secretary Esther McVey told constituents that the bill for Britains biggest ever infrastructure project could top 100billion, compared with the formal estimate of 56billion.

In comments made last November, but which have only just surfaced, the MP for Tatton in Cheshire accused the Government of writing a blank cheque for the high-speed rail scheme, scheduled for completion by 2033.

The first leg of the HS2 route, between London Euston and Birmingham, has already been formally signed off by Parliament.

Miss McVey is among at least half a dozen cabinet ministers who want the Government to review whether completing the scheme represents value for money for taxpayers, according to The Sunday Telegraph.

Speaking at a public meeting in her Tatton constituency, in comments reported by local newspaper the Winsford Guardian, she said: We need to look at the business case again.

The cost we believe might now be more than 100billion. There might be a business case for HS2 at 56billion but any cost? I dont think so. Weve asked HS2 Can you do it?. Weve written them a blank cheque, and of course they will tell you they can do it if you are writing them a blank cheque.

The first phase of the line between London and Birmingham is due to open in 2026

The first phase of the line between London and Birmingham is due to open in 2026.

The second phase linking up to Manchester and Leeds is due to be completed in 2033, although it has not been approved by Parliament.

Miss McVey said: Communication, technology, all these things are changing. Are people still wanting to move across the country, north to south? We need services across the north and we dont want that broken down by a high-speed railway to London. We need services across the north to come first.

The comments echo a chorus of criticism of HS2 from local campaigners, MPs, think-tanks and prominent rail experts.

The plans for the exterior of the new HS2 interchange at Curzon Street in Birmingham (HS2)

A report by government spending watchdog the National Audit Office last month revealed the estimated cost of buying land on the HS2 route between London and Birmingham has tripled in six years to well over 3billion. Rail expert Michael Byng has warned the scheme could cost up to 104billion  15 times more expensive per mile than the TGV in France.

Transport secretary Chris Grayling has repeatedly insisted the project is on time and on budget and will deliver huge benefits to Britains economy and rail passengers, including increasing capacity and taking strain off the rail network.

An HS2 Ltd spokesman said: HS2 will rebalance the economy by connecting over 25 towns and cities and nearly half of UK economic output. It is already creating thousands of jobs.A Georgia city is searching for a vandal who put googly eyes on a historic monument.

A post on the City of Savannah Government Facebook page asks: 'Who did this?! ... It may look funny but harming our historic monuments and public property is no laughing matter, in fact, it's a crime.'

Police spokeswoman Keturah Greene says officers are investigating the incident involving the Nathanael Greene Monument, which was reported Thursday.

Googly eyes were added to Revolutionary War hero's statue, but city leaders aren't laughing

Nathanael Greene was a major general in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, and is buried in Johnson Square near his monument

Greene was a major general in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, and is buried in Johnson Square near his monument.

'Everybody's calling them googly eyes,' police public information coordinator Bianca Johnson told BuzzFeed News of the objects stuck to the statue. 'I don't know what to call them. They're little craft store eyes.

'They didn't do any damage,' she said, 'but it is trespassing which is technically a crime, so we are going to be looking at the surveillance cameras and seeing what comes of it.'

The city is concerned that if the vandals aren't caught then further antics may occur

She continued: 'If we didn't do anything this thing could get out of hand.'

Criminal trespass is a misdemeanor offense in Georgia. However, if the damage is more than $500, it's a felony called criminal damage to property according to The Savannah Morning News.

Anyone with any information on the identity of the googly eye vandal should call the Savannah police tip line at 912-525-3124.Missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi may have been murdered because he knew too much about the Saudi royal family, one of his friends has said.

Political scientist Asiem El Difraoui said Khashoggi, who has not been seen since October 2, may have had inside knowledge about corruption, internal politics and links to extremism in the royal family.

Turkey claims the columnist was killed while visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, with authorities in Istanbul reported to have obtained audio and video recordings of the alleged murder.

Khashoggi's journalism was not a major threat to the Saudi government but his links to the country's spy agency may have given him too much information, Mr El Difraoui told German newspaper Die Welt.

Missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi, pictured in Switzerland in 2011, may have been murdered because he knew too much about the Saudi royal family, one of his friends has said

Political scientist Asiem El Difraoui (pictured) said Khashoggi, who has not been seen since October 2, may have had inside knowledge

Mr El Difraoui said: 'If he was murdered, I'd be surprised if his journalistic activities were the only reason.

'The Saudis own half of the international Arabic media. As a journalist and activist Khashoggi may have been uncomfortable for them, but not a real threat.

'But Khashoggi knew a lot. He was trusted with the most delicate issues in the kingdom and he was a member of the super-elite - he may have known too much.'

Asked for examples of what Khashoggi might have known about, he mentioned corruption, possible connections to extremism and 'the internal disputes and wrongdoing of the royal house'.

Mr El Difraoui said first met Khashoggi around the time of the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and he had remained a contact in the years since.

He said Khashoggi had met Osama bin Laden in the 1990s and tried to persuade the al-Qaeda leader to move away from militant activities.

Khashoggi had some sympathies for the Muslim Brotherhood, seeing it as a more moderate and democratic form of Islamism, Mr El Difraoui said.

The UK, France and Germany today demanded a 'complete and detailed response' from Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of the Washington Post columnist.

Jamal Khashoggi (right) arriving at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul on October 2. He has not been seen since and Turkey has accused Saudi agents of murdering him

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: 'What they need to do is co-operate fully with the investigations that the Turks are asking us to do and to get to the bottom of this.

'If, as they say, this terrible murder didn't happen then where is Jamal Khashoggi? That is what the world wants to know.

'If they have got nothing to hide then they will, and should, co-operate.'

US President Donald Trump has also threatened 'severe punishment' if authorities determine Saudi Arabia was behind Mr Khashoggi's disappearance.

The Saudi government has dismissed the allegations against it as 'baseless'.

A critic of Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Mr Khashoggi was living in self-imposed exile in the US and writing opinion pieces for the Washington Post before he vanished.

He visited the consulate on October 2 to obtain a document confirming he had divorced his ex-wife, in order to allow him to remarry.

Turkish officials have said he was killed on the premises and his body removed.Sickening allegations of a disabled girl under state care being sold to sex predators by another teenager are being investigated by police.

The victim was allegedly targeted by the 17-year-old while she was living in a high-risk residential unit in Melbourne's northern suburbs and driven to secluded meetings with men - some of whom were aged in their 40s.

The other teenager was allegedly then given cash for letting the men have sex with the girl - who has not been named to protect her identity.

Sickening allegations of a disabled girl being sold to sex predators by another teenager, some of whom were in their 40s, are being investigated by police (stock image)

The accused has been interviewed but released by police as investigations continue.

Victoria Police told The Herald Sun specialist detectives from the Fawkner sexual offences and child abuse investigation team were looking into the claims.

Police said it would be inappropriate to comment further on the investigation.

Speaking to the newspaper, Australian Childhood Foundation CEO Joe Tucci said society needed to better protect its most vulnerable young people.

He said: 'Were concerned about the level of exploitation kids in residential care are exposed to.

'It's unbelievable these kids have had to be taken away from their families to protect them and have been preyed upon.'

The claims come as Australian authorities fight to stem the tide of child sexual exploitation.

The Department of Health and Human Services issued a record 135 notices to 110 people between January and March of this year ordering them to stay away from children.

In a shocking report released last year by Anti-Slavery Australia, it was revealed seven new victims of child exploitation were being identified each day.



Lower Lough Erne is so inky black, it's like bathing in Guinness. Put your head under and you can't see a thing. It's nearly 200ft deep in places, apparently.

'Meet me in the middle,' says my boyfriend Rob, before launching off as I linger on the edge, toes turning white.

We're staying at Finn Lough resort in Northern Ireland. It's built around the lake (Lower Lough Erne) where you can kayak, swim or fish.

Great lake: Lower Lough Erne in Northern Ireland, where you can kayak, swim or fish

It's more tempting to plunge in as part of the spa trail  a Nordic-inspired experience where you tiptoe from cabin to cabin amid the woods. Salty to hot, hot to cold and back again. Rob thinks it an odd way to pass the time, but enjoys the refreshing lake dip.

The resort's bubble domes are popular, but we like our villa for its enormous window overlooking the water. And we can wander down for a swim to help justify the full Irish breakfast.

Not to mention delicious evening meals and gin from nearby Boatyard Distillery. One night we try the 'fire-pit experience' sitting by the lake watching the sky dapple into darkness.

Finn Lough is a wonderful spot from which to explore. You can hire bikes and pedal into Tullychurry Forest, where we see red admiral butterflies and not another soul.

Another day we climb Mount Cuilcagh (2,180ft), where a wooden staircase has been installed to protect the bog land and your feet. The top sits under cloud, but the views are exhilarating.

Driving in and out of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, through villages that sit astride both, you can see why the border is such an emotive issue in the Brexit negotiations.

Cosy: Finn Lough resort offers 'bubble domes', as well as villas overlooking the water

Soak it all in: The Nordic-inspired 'spa trail' experience features a hydro-pool hot tub

We're lucky with the weather so don't make it to Florence Court nor Crom, but both come recommended. Instead we head for the Wild Atlantic Way, under a two-hour drive from Finn Lough.

We follow the white squiggle sign to The Silver Strand in Malin Beg, a curved bay buttressed by cliffs, then Ardara, where we walk along the sand flats.

When we roll up at Magheroarty Beach, a near two-mile, dune-backed stretch in County Donegal, I know it's the one. The sand tapers to a point and catches the last of the light. We don't make it to the end because it's time for a drink.

The following day we take a windblown walk out on the cliffs near Dunfanaghy to Horn Head.

Gorgeous and, at Dunfanaghy beach, there's time for one last, brisk dip.Big draw: The Neptune Fountain with Torre degli Asinelli in the background

Most people consider Rome, Venice and Florence for Italian city breaks, but sleepy Bologna, the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region, makes for a perfect getaway for lovers of la dolce vita.

With ancient squares, magnificent medieval churches, bustling markets and a tower to rival Pisa, theres plenty to explore.

But Bologna, above all else, is a foodie paradise with delis and restaurants to satisfy the greediest of appetites

DAY ONE - MORNING

Head straight for Piazza Maggiore  the city revolves around this square. Here you will find the Basilica of St Petronio, deemed to be the tenth-largest church in the world (although measurements are contested). You cant miss the famous local meeting point  an outlandish fountain of Neptune.

AFTERNOON

Just south of the main square, a good lunch spot is 051 Zerocinquanto Bologna (051piazzamaggiore.it) which offers incredible pasta and hearty steaks.

Youll need to buy a 5 ticket from the tourist office on Piazza Maggiore to climb Torre degli Asinelli, which rises 320ft and leans westwards by more than 7ft.

Cafe culture: Visitors to the city are never short of places to eat and drink

Asinelli is next to a shorter tower, Torre degli Garisenda, which leans towards it. Charles Dickens once described them as bowing stiffly to each other. The 498-step climb is arduous but ultimately rewarding and youll be blown away by the views. Take your time wandering about the Basilica of St Petronio, dedicated to the citys 5th Century bishop and founded in 1390.

The intention was to build a bigger church than Romes St Peters Basilica but funds ran out. As a result of its partial completion, the outside looks a bit lopsided. Inside, marvel at the soaring pinkstone columns.

EVENING

Enjoy a stroll along ViadellIndipendenza, past the many fashion boutiques, to Via Voltuna and try dinner at Ninos, a traditional pizzeria which also specialises in seafood  from delicious ravioli stuffed with shellfish, or mussels and shrimp spaghetti (ristoranteninobologna.it).

DAY TWO - MORNING

Make the Basilica di Santo Stefano your first port of call. This intriguing cluster of churches dates from the 5th Century. A highlight is the Courtyard of Pilate, with an 8th Century basin representing where Pontius Pilate washed his hands after condemning Christ to death.

Its a winding walk from here along paved arcades  there are more than 25 miles of such pavements, making Bologna a great destination to visit come rain or shine  to Piazza Mercato.

It is home to more than 400 stalls and has been operating since 1251. You can pick up everything from hats and shirts to cured sausages for a euro or two.

Shoppers browse stalls in the Quadrilatero district

AFTERNOON

Go for a bite to eat at one of the many excellent delis and cafes in the tightly packed streets of the Quadrilatero district just west of Piazza Maggiore (good bolognaise sauces to be had, naturally).

If you want to take a few food presents home, try the wonderful Enoteca Gilberto, an old-fashioned grocery shop on Via Drapperie with ladders to high shelves overflowing with pickled delicacies, pastas, wines and sauces (drogheriagilberto.it).

Bologna is home to Europes oldest university, founded in 1088. And make time to look around the old quarter and view masterpieces by Raphael, El Greco and Titian at Pinacoteca Nazionale (pinacotecabologna.beniculturali.it).

EVENING

Order an aperitivo in the lively Quadrilatero area  the Bebi Bar on Vicolo Ranocchi is recommended  then dine at the elegant Buca San Petronio on Via deMusei (www.bucasanpetronio.it), which has a courtyard.She's the mother-of-two who has been a fixture of Australian television for over three decades.

And The Block co-host Shelley Craft has revealed how she maintains her slender frame.

Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph, the 42-year-old confessed that balance is key when it comes to health and fitness.

'These days I'm more conscious of having to work at it a bit more': The Block's Shelley Craft, 42, reveals the secret behind her trim figure. Pictured here in 2013

'These days I'm more conscious of having to work at it a bit more, but I don't kick myself for going off track,' she said, referring to her active lifestyle.

'I think for over 40s women or busy mums... fitness has to fit with your lifestyle or you're never going to stick to it,' she added.

Shelley revealed that she cleanses her body by fasting - but also allows herself to enjoy a sweet treat.

Balance: Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph , the TV host confessed that balance is key when it comes to her health and wellness upkeep Pictured left in 2014 and right in 2016. 'I fast a couple of times a week to give my body a break, but I also think ice cream can be good for your soul,' the blonde beauty said

'I fast a couple of times a week to give my body a break, but I also think ice cream can be good for your soul,' the blonde beauty said.

Shelley is a mother to daughters Milla, eight and Eadie, six, whom she shares with husband and Channel Nine cameraman, Christian Sergiacomi.

Speaking to TV Week Close Up magazine earlier this month, she explained that being a mother always comes first.

Motherhood: Shelley is a mother to daughters Milla, eight (top right) and Eadie, six, (botton right) whom she shares with husband and Channel Nine cameraman, Christian Sergiacomi

'If the girls turned around and said (Shelley's career) was too much, or they weren't coping, or if things get a little trickier as teenagers,' she said.

'Then that's a time to reassess,' she explained, adding that if TV does not have any opportunities, she would be willing to branch out in other industries.After The Bachelor's Nick 'The Honey Badger' Cummins dumped both finalists in the dramatic finale, the nation wanted answers.

A Current Affair even went ambush the former sportstar in Papua New Guinea to quiz him about why he refused to pick Sophie Tieman or Brittany Hockley.

And ahead of Nick revealing why he made that decision, on Channel Ten's The Sunday Project, host Lisa Wilkinson has taken to Instagram to slam ACA.

'Like some sort of dodgy electrician who'd been caught ripping off old-aged pensioners': Lisa Wilkinson took to Instagram on Sunday to (left) take a swipe at A Current Affair's ambush of Nick Cummins (right) ... as The Bachelor star gets set for The Sunday Project tell-all

Lisa shared a photo of herself alongside the reality star and took a swipe at the rival show in the caption as she spruiked the upcoming interview.

'So this week, The Bachelor, Nick Cummins, was bounced by A Current Affair after walking The Kokoda Track for charity, like some sort of dodgy electrician who'd been caught ripping off old-aged pensioners...' she penned.

'So tonight, on The Sunday Project, The Honey Badger will join us at the desk to answer your questions and, most particularly, once and for all the question so many feel he hasn't yet fully answered: why he walked away from choosing one final contestant in his (and their) search for lasting love...

'Maybe then, we can all get some sleep.'

Coming clean: Lisa added that The Honey Badger would back on The Sunday Project to finally reveal while he picked no one in the shock Bachelor finale

On Wednesday, A Current Affair reporter Reid Butler awkwardly confronted the former Wallaby and demanded answers following the shock season finale.

Nick did not seem keen to revisit the women's heartbreak however, snapping at the reporter: 'I'm copping enough cr*p from people like you!'

'Do you understand how upset those girls are?' the journalist asked, to which Nick appeared to chuckle and respond: 'you're kidding, aren't ya?'

Clearly unhappy by the reporter's intrusion to his boys' trip, The Honey Badger insisted he was 'just trying to have a peaceful break' and refused to talk further.

Caught off guard: On Wednesday night's edition of A Current Affair, reporter Reid Butler confronted Nick in Papua New Guinea to demand answers

Not the one! The Bachelor finalists Sophie Tieman (left) and Brittany Hockley were left heartbroken after they were both brutally dumped

Meanwhile, on this week's edition of The Sunday Project, Nick is set to return to the show after a ill-received interview on the show last week.

Nick was slammed by Bachelor fans following his original post-finale interview comments.

'To all the girls, I went through a lot a lot of stuff,' Nick said at the time.

'And I just want youse (sic) all to know, if I ever see you again I'll buy you a drink and say hello for old times' sake.'

The former footy player added that he'd change nothing about his time on the show despite walking away alone.

The Sunday Project airs from 6.30pm on Network TenHe's in Uganda to record his ninth studio album, Yandhi.

And Kanye West appears to have got into the music straight after arriving in the East African country on Friday with wife Kim Kardashian and their daughter North, five.

On Saturday, the 41-year-old was seen dancing to Immediately, Mystro's hit featuring Wizkid, in a video tweeted by Capital FM Uganda and retweeted by A & R/artist manager Bakulli, who rocked along with him.

Listening intently: Kanye West got into Immediately, Mystro's hit featuring Wizkid, in a video tweeted by Capital FM Uganda and retweeted by A & R/artist manager Bakulli on Saturday

The rapper appeared to be listening to the music in a tent set up outdoors with mesh walls to stop the insects coming in.

Wearing a beige hoodie and a white T-shirt with a graphic image on the front plus khaki pants, he rocked out to the catchy single.

Kanye and his family are staying in the five-star Chobe Safari Lodge in Uganda's Murchison Falls National Park.

Getting into the groove: The 41-year-old rapper started dancing to the hit in what appeared to be a tent with mesh to keep insects out

Family time: Kanye rocked out with Bakulli. He is in Uganda with his wife Kim Kardashian and their five year-old daughter North to record his ninth studio album, Yandhi

The lodge is every inch the luxury residence for the clan, with a stunning view of the River Nile in the northern part of the country.

Meanwhile, Kanye, who now wants to be known as Ye, is likely pleased to escape the furore that surrounded his Oval Office rant in support of President Donald Trump at the Whitehouse on Thursday.

Kim has apparently been receiving threats that have left her 'fearing for her family's safety' and her marriage 'under strain,' a source told RadarOnline.

'It has come to the point where she feels unsafe and fears for her safety and that of the kids.'

Telling the President that wearing a 'Make America Great Again' cap made him feel like Superman, he said he wanted a man to win the last election.

In his wide-ranging conversation Kanye also said he had been misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder and was simply 'sleep-deprived'.Red Wiggle Simon Pryce, 46, and his wife Lauren Hannaford, 32, have spoken out about Lachlan Gillespie and Emma Watkins' heartbreaking split.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Sunday, the couple, who tied the knot last year, said they continue to support Lachlan, 32, and Emma, 28, as the pair navigate their way through their separation.

'Emma and Lachy are dear friends and we wish them all the best,' the couple said in a statement.

EXCLUSIVE: 'They are dear friends': Red Wiggle Simon Pryce and wife Lauren Hannaford react to Lachlan Gillespie's heartbreaking split from Emma Watkins... as they reflect on marriage in the public eye

Lachlan and Emma, who attended Simon and Lauren's star-studded wedding last year, announced their shock split in July, after two years of marriage.

While being the public eye can be overwhelming for some couples, Simon and Lauren said their marriage is stronger than ever.

'We feel a lot of love and support from all over the world about our marriage so we don't feel any pressure from [fame],' Lauren said.

Separated: Lachlan and Emma, who are pictured at Simon and Lauren's star-studded wedding last year, announced their shock split in July, after two years of marriage

Support: Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Sunday, Simon and Lauren said they continue to support Lachlan, 32, and Emma, 28, as the pair navigate their way through their separation. 'Emma and Lachy are dear friends and we wish them all the best,' the couple said in a statement. Pictured L-R The Wiggles' Anthony Fields, Simon Pryce, Emma Watkins and Lachlan Gillespie in Sydney last year

'It's nice that people want to celebrate it as much as we do.'

Simon added: 'I love the fact that people want to come up and say 'hi' and have a chat on the street. People are always so supportive of Lauren and my relationship so [fame] doesn't add any pressure to our marriage at all.'

The couple met in 2011 after Lauren, a former gymnast, was asked to tour with The Wiggles as Dorothy the Dinosaur and they announced their engagement in 2015 before getting married in January last year.

Wedded bliss! The couple met in 2011 after Lauren, a former gymnast, was asked to tour with The Wiggles and they announced their engagement in 2015 before getting married in January last year

'We had an instant attraction and bond together. We were touring with The Wiggles and started training together and a beautiful friendship was formed,' Simon said.

FHIT entrepreneur Lauren said it's her dream to one day become a mum.

'We are excited about the idea of having a family,' she said.

'Our relationship continues to grow every day with love, respect and enthusiasm for each other. I feel so proud and excited when I refer to Simon as my Husband. I am so grateful to have met such an incredible man.'

Simon added: 'Lauren and I would love to have children one day. We are both excited about the idea of one day being parents.'Vicky Pattison has revealed that she is devastated Ant McPartlin won't be presenting I'm A Celebrity this year, as she offered her support to the troubled star.

The TV presenter, 30, said that she was one of the first people to text him when it emerged that he had a problem with drink and drugs, after striking up a friendship during their time in the Australian jungle.

However despite admitting that she will miss him on this year's show, she told the Sun that she completely backs his decision to take a step back and not film the 2018 series.

Devastated: Vicky Pattison has revealed that she is devastated Ant McPartlin won't be presenting I'm A Celebrity this year, as she offered her support to the troubled star

The Geordie native said: 'Ant and I are mates, I absolutely love him. I think I echo a nations sentiment when I say Im devastated he wont be doing the jungle.

'Its a show thats so synonymous with him and Dec. He will be missed  theres no two ways about it. And actually, I think hed like to hear that.'

Vicky added that she believes Ant, 42, and Dec, 43, make the show, meaning that last year he was rushed into returning due to the pressure surrounding him.

Pals: The TV presenter, 30, said that she was one of the first people to text him when it emerged that he had a problem with drink and drugs, after striking up a friendship during their time in the Australian jungle

She said that she didn't think it was fair on him just because the whole country was waiting for him to make a return to the show.

Ant admitted to an addiction to prescription drugs which he had kept hidden for two years following a knee operation.

The star was hospitalised after taking bills and forced to check into rehab, following these events in March Ant was arrested after crashing his car, before he was then readmitted to rehab.

Ant is currently taking time out indefinitely so he can wholeheartedly focus on his recovery, meaning that Dec will now co-host the show with Holly Willoughby.

Got his back: However despite admitting that she will miss him on this year's show, she told the Sun that she completely backs his decision to take a step back and not film the 2018 series

Vicky gushed that the presenting duo are two of her favourite people in the showbiz industry because of their genuine characteristics, adding that Ant should be given the time and space to recover.

Although I'm A Celebrity won't be the same for Vicky without Ant she assured that Holly will do a brilliant job and wished her luck.

Vicky, who rose to frame on the first series of Geordie Shore, reflected on her own time in the jungle, which saw her win the series - where celebs were ordered to

The former Geordie shore star most recently filmed a Channel 4 charity special of Celebrity Hunted alongside Kay Burley and ex-Olympian Louis Smith.

Vicky and her co-stars were ordered to ditch their mobiles for the show, which she admitted she struggled with due to being 'hooked' to her phone.

Sad loss: Vicky has gone through her own struggles over the last year after her best friend Paul Burns died aged 37 from a medical condition after a night out in June (pictured with Paul before his death)

She confessed that she tries to convince herself her phone is necessary for her like of work but she doesn't like how obsessed she has become and often worries over the amount of likes or followers she has.

Vicky has gone through her own struggles over the last year after her best friend Paul Burns died aged 37 from a medical condition after a night out in June.

Vicky, who was one of the last people to see him alive, has spent two weeks at a holistic bootcamp in Portugal in order to help with her grieving process.

She credits the Prestige bootcamps for helping her following the loss, she was able to put her bad thoughts into a healthy outlet until she finally felt like herself again.Jessica Mauboy's charged performance of We Got Love scored only 99 points at Eurovision last year, landing the country in 20th place.

But a dramatic new strategy will be deployed for Australia's participation in the 2019 Eurovision song contest.

On Sunday, SBS revealed Australia will open a brand new competition named Eurovision: Australia Decides, for selecting its entry into the iconic song contest.

Eurovision 2019: The dramatic new strategy for Australia's entry has been revealed... and you'll NEVER guess what it is

A talented performer and one song will be selected to represent Down Under in the annual competition, which will be held in Israel next year.

The lucky winner will be determined by a vote from a jury and members of the public, and will be hosted by comedian Joel Creasey alongside radio host Myf Warhurst, 45.

Speaking to SBS on Sunday, the 28-year-old Take Me Out host said: 'I can't wait to be part of the first ever Eurovision selection show in the Southern Hemisphere and find the next Aussie classic.

Bring it on! SBS has revealed Australia will open a brand new competition named Eurovision: Australia decides, for its entry into the iconic song contest

Past performances: Jessica Mauboy's charged performance of song 'We Got Love' scored only 99 points last year, landing the country in 20th place

'Up there with the likes of Farnsy's You're the Voice, Braithwaite's The Horses or my personal favourite, the seminal debut single from Bardot, Poison,' he gushed.

'It's over to you Australia  let's give Europe our best.'

In the past, Eurovision entries have been selected via recording companies.

'It's over to you Australia  let's give Europe our best': Stand up comedian and Take Me Out Host Joel Creasey (pictured) will host the competition alongside radio host, Myf Warhurst

Meanwhile, Australia's head of delegation for Eurovision, Paul Clarke, expressed the benefits of the new strategy.

'This process allows us to connect with all the songwriters in Australia and to say we're looking for innovative, dramatic pop music of whatever genre and to push them to come up with collaborations that are audacious and provocative,' he told The Sydney Morning Herald on Sunday.

'That's the kind of music that wins Eurovision.'He's the reality star who was thrust into the spotlight after appearing on dating shows The Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise.

But away from the cameras, Luke McLeod and his family have been facing some tough personal challenges.

In an interview with Daily Mail Australia, the 33-year-old revealed that his sister's husband has been battling cancer.

EXCLUSIVE Luke McLeod's hidden heartbreak: Bachelor in Paradise star reveals sad family news... after all but confirming he'll return for season two of the Fiji-based dating show

'[My sister] Rachael's husband  my brother in law  went through a bout of cancer earlier this year,' Luke explained.

Luke added that while his brother-in-law was 'doing ok' at the moment, the cancer battle was still 'fresh' for his sister.

The Sydney-based reality star said he was doing his best to support Rachael in her time of need.

'I'm just trying to just be there for her. All our family is really close and supportive and we're lucky to have that,' he said.

'I've got two other brothers as well and when you go through times like that you kind of rally together and help each other out and just keep spending time with each other.'

'I'm just trying to just be there for her': Luke revealed his sister's husband had gone through a bout of cancer earlier this year

Choking back tears, Rachael told Daily Mail Australia that she was especially appreciative of Luke 'just sending the odd text after a day of chemo'.

Continuing, Rachael said: 'Just as long as you're there for each other, that's all that matters.'

Speaking fondly of his sister and other siblings, Luke said that 'love' is the greatest trait his family shared.

'Love is the most important thing. It conquers all - I know that sounds a bit cheesy but if you put everything aside, everybody goes through ups and downs and has fights and so forth. If you just come back to love, it's all good,' he said.

'Love is the most important thing. It conquers all': Luke said he had a very close-knit and supportive family who band together in time of need

Luke last made an appearance on the small screen when he was looking for love on Bachelor in Paradise earlier this year.

And last month at the Cure Brain Cancer's Avant Garde Ball, the reality star all but confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that producers had been scoping out his interest in returning for season two.

'It's been a rollercoaster of a ride for me with ups and downs,' Luke admitted about his Paradise experience.

'It's got its great benefits in some ways - I've met some incredible people throughout the whole process. It's also really difficult in other areas as well,' he continued.

'So I don't know. I'm the sort of person who weighs up the situation at the time and if it feels right I'll do it and if it doesn't I won't.'

'It's been a rollercoaster of a ride for me with ups and downs,' Luke, who shared a romance with Lisa Hyde (pictured) on Bachelor in Paradise, refused to rule out returning for season two

Refusing to rule out the idea of returning altogether Luke cryptically added: 'Yeah, just wait and see.'

Questioned directly about whether he'd been approached by producers, Luke hesitated before stating 'I don't know if I can say that yet. I don't know if we can talk about this.'

Pressed again, Luke laughed as he said: 'I'm not allowed!'. However, Luke did confirm he is still currently single.

To donate to the Cure Brain Cancer foundation, click here.He's in Uganda, East Africa, to record his ninth studio album, Yandhi.

And Kanye West ensured he still touched base with his global fans on Saturday, engaging in a 10 minute discussion centering on 'mind control'.

The 41-year-old rapper took to Twitter's forgotten Periscope platform to remind his followers that he is 'the best living recording artist', it's social media that's made him 'look crazy', he has a Mensa IQ of 133 as well as to slam Sony/ATV for withholding his publishing rights.

Defining 'mind control' as: 'a modern day psychological Ayn Rand control thing', Kanye progressed to explain how social media was controlling the world.

'You know, when people try to influence you through social media and try to tell you what to do or if you post something that's like positive on Instagram and it gets taken down if it's not part of the bigger agenda, you know, that's mind control.'

The Gold Digger hitmaker then progressed to express the pain he feels when he's instructed by society what's right and wrong.

Speaking his mind: Kanye West had a lot to discuss when he went on a ten minute rant on Periscope on Saturday

'I just got back my IQ scores and they were Mensa level 133, 98 percentile, like straight up Tesla vibes and I feel like when people try and tell me what to do, I feel like they're touching my brain.'

Kanye further explained the painful feeling as someone cutting open ones scull and touching the brain.

And whilst speaking about his brain, he also hit out at the haters that continue to tell him he doesn't speak clearly enough.

'I've forgotten how to talk not clear, cause I'm so programmed to talk clear to sound so proper.'

Expressing himself: 'I just got back my IQ scores and they were Mensa level 133, 98 percentile, like straight up Tesla vibes and I feel like when people try and tell me what to do, I feel like they're touching my brain'

The truth: 'Social media told you that people didn't like me, but everybody loves me. Everybody loves Ye,' he announced

The Ni**as In Paris hitmaker also reminded the haters on Saturday that not everything's what it seems.

'Social media told you that people didn't like me, but everybody loves me. Everybody loves Ye,' he announced.

Kanye also added: 'I am the best living recording artist - we, rather, because the spirits flow through me.'

He also continued to once again speak about how social media can affect society in its 'mind control' ways confessing that he's 'not crazy' but suffers from sleep deprivation.

Family: Kanye didn't touch on reports that his marriage is up in the air, but express his frustration that his $60 million Hidden Hills home was still not finished (Pictured: Wife Kim Kardashian and children North, five, Saint, two, and Chicago, nine-months)

Calling them out! During his Periscope live stream that lasted for nearly 10 minutes, Kanye also took the opportunity to call out the world's leading music publisher, Sony/ATV for not letting him buy his publishing rights

The wife of Kim Kardashian has previously opened up about the deprivation he suffers after claiming he was initially wrongly diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

During his Periscope live stream that lasted for nearly 10 minutes, Kanye also took the opportunity to call out the world's leading music publisher, Sony/ATV.

'I want to buy my publishing from Sony/ATV and they said it's $8 million, $9 million,' revealed the music producer.

'And when I went to buy it, they told me no I couldn't buy my publishing. They told me I have the money to buy my publishing and it's just like the control.'

'Sony/ATV told me I couldn't buy my publishing. I got the money. So big John, Marty, whoever's involved, I need my publishing. I got the money. I'm not going to say the 's' word. I'm not Prince, I don't need to write it on my face.'

The late Prince infamously wrote the word 'slave' on his face in 1993.

Kanye: 'Sony/ATV told me I couldn't buy my publishing. I got the money. So big John, Marty, whoever's involved, I need my publishing. I got the money. I'm not going to say the 's' word. I'm not Prince, I don't need to write it on my face' - The late Prince infamously wrote 'slave' on his face in 1993

Seemingly feeling somewhat trapped of what he can and can't say, Kanye also brought up his recent Saturday Night Live appearance and the backlash he received after wearing a Make America Great Again cap and going on a rogue rant.

'I can't say what I want to say on SNL,' shared the fashion designer.

And whilst he didn't address reports that things are rocky in his marriage to Kim Kardashian, he shared that he was exhausted after a property they had purchased was still unfinished.

The couple moved into their $60 million Hidden Hills home in December 2017 despite renovations still taking place.

'One of the things they make you do when you got money is they make you buy a house,' he explained.

'Like I got this house, it's never finished. The house is just never finished. It's just costing money after money it's like this big plot.'

Keeping a low profile? Kanye, who now wants to be known as Ye, is currently in Ugunda following his Oval Office rant in support of President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday

Kanye, who now wants to be known as Ye, is currently in Ugunda following his Oval Office rant in support of President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday.

However, RadarOnline have reported that wife Kim has apparently been receiving threats that have left her 'fearing for her family's safety' and her marriage is 'under strain' following his appearance.

'It has come to the point where she feels unsafe and fears for her safety and that of the kids.'

Kanye, Kim, and their children North, five, Saint, two, and Chicago, nine-months, are currently staying in the five-star Chobe Safari Lodge in Uganda's Murchison Falls National Park.RZA, who's real name is Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, was at the center of a disturbance at a Los Angeles-area hospital early Saturday morning.

The member of the famous Wu-Tang Clan brought one of his sons to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for an unknown ailment, according to TMZ.

Apparently the 49-year-old rapper didn't approve of the treatment his son was receiving, and began berating the staff.

Trouble: RZA, who's real name is Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, was at the center of a disturbance at a Los Angeles-area hospital early Saturday morning

The recording artist reportedly got so loud and aggressive that the police were called, though by the time they arrived he had already calmed down and regained his composure.

While he was not arrested or cited, his son unfortunately remained in the hospital with an undisclosed medical issue.

Luckily, it must not have been too serious, as the Killa Beez rapper posted a video of himself apparently leaving town on Saturday evening.

The musician took to Instagram to share a post with the caption 'Into the wide blue yonder.'

Unexpected visitor: The member of the famous Wu-Tang Clan brought one of his sons to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for an unknown ailment

In the accompanying video clip, RZA appears in a black and snakeskin print jacket, glasses and a black ball cap.

He and another Wu-Tang member slowly make their way toward a waiting helicopter, and RZA can't help but smile, hopefully signalling that his son is doing alright.

While it was unclear if they were headed somewhere to put on a show, fans are no doubt floored that the group will definitely be performing at the famous Sydney Opera House in December as part of an Australian tour.

Get to the chopper! Luckily, his so's condition must not have been too serious, as the Killa Beez rapper posted a video of himself apparently leaving town on Saturday evening

In good spirits! He and another Wu-Tang member slowly make their way toward a waiting helicopter, and RZA can't help but smile, hopefully signalling that his son is doing alright

The '90s rap group, known for their songs Gravel Pit and Protect Ya Neck, will host two shows at the Sydney Opera House in December.

They will be performing their debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) in its entirely to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

The December shows will see members RZA, Method Man, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, U-God, Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck, GZA and Cappadonna all perform.He plays a geeky, balding coder in his new movie The Humming Bird Project.

But Alexander was back to his usual hunky self when he turned up for the European Premiere at the 62nd BFI London Film Festival on Saturday in the British capital.

The 42-year-old suited up in dark blue for the event, held at the British Film Institute's HQ on the Southbank.

Suited up: Alexander Skarsgard looked elegant in a dark blue two-piece at the the European Premiere of his movie The Hummingbird Project at the BFI London Film Festival on Saturday

He looked dashing in a black two-piece with a crisp blue shirt and black tie.

Alexander was joined by actress Anna Maguire, director-screenwriter Kim Nguyen and producer Pierre Even and, at 6ft 4in tall, towered over them all.

Missing from the line-up was the Swedish actor's co-star Jesse Eisenberg.

Elegant attire: The blue-eyed Swedish actor added a light blue shirt and black tie to his outfit

The pair play cousins and high-frequency traders who go up against their old boss, played by Salma Hayek, in an effort to make millions in a fiber-optic cable deal.

Meanwhile the Big Little Lies actor has hinted that he may be back for season 2 of the HBO drama...even though his character Perry Wright was killed off at the end of the first series.

Speaking on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Kimmel last month, he confirmed that he had been on the set but wouldn't say what he was doing.

Lining up: Alexander with actress Anna Maguire, director-screenwriter Kim Nguyen and producer Pierre Even

'Maybe I was acting,' the True Blood star conceded. 'I might just have been moral support.

'I might have made coffee for the ladies,' he suggested referring to Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman.

And Alexander also said he might've been there to help new-to-the-cast Meryl Streep with her acting, 'fine tune it a little bit,' he joked.She's been one of the many faces of cancer research after her grandfather passed away from the disease in 2006.

And Olivia Munn continued her support on Saturday night, attending F**k Cancer's first Annual Barbara Berlanti Heroes Gala in Burbank, California.

The 38-year-old showcased her enviable gym-honed physique in a gorgeous black $3,775 Zuhair Murad haute couture gown.

Standing up to cancer: Olivia Munn continued to show her support for cancer research on Saturday night, attending F**k Cancer's 1st Annual Barbara Berlanti Heroes Gala in Burbank, California

Olivia's intricately stitched lace ensemble featured strategically placed cut-outs with a high neck and full-length sleeves.

The Predator actress opted for simple black strappy heels and kept her accessories minimal to just a pair of dainty drop earrings.

Her brunette locks were styled out into loose waves and effortlessly flowed over her shoulders.

Stunner: The 38-year-old showcased her enviable gym-honed physique in a gorgeous black $3,775 Zuhair Murad haute couture gown

Racy in lace! Olivia's intricately stitched lace ensemble featured strategically placed cut-outs with a high neck and full-length sleeves

Fellow actress: At one point during the ceremony, Olivia was spotted with Crazy Rich Asians star Consance Wu

Ensuring all eyes were on the dress, Olivia's glam consisted of a dewy complexion, a sweep of blush for a healthy glow and a semi-matte nude lip.

Also opting for a black ensemble was former E! News anchor, Catt Sadler.

The 44-year-old was dressed in a Isabel Marant gown that was cinched in at the waist with a belt, hugging her curves.

Big moment: At one point Olivia was seen up on stage presenting the Vanguard award to F**k Cancer co-founder and friend Yael Cohen Braun

Gorgeous: Also opting for a black ensemble was former E! News anchor, Catt Sadler

Old friends: Good friends Olivia Munn and Catt Sadler had a little catch up during the Gala on Saturday night

Catt kept warm with a pair of sheer complimentary stockings and completed her look with $745 Christian Louboutin pumps.

Her accessories were minimal to just a pair of gold statement Chanel earrings.

The Emmy-winning journalist and mom-of-two had her short brunette tresses styled out and straight behind her ears and sported and radiant glam look.

Date night: The Emmy-winning journalist and mom-of-two had her short brunette tresses styled out and straight behind her ears and sported and radiant glam look. She was joined by boyfriend Nick LaKind

Family: Sisters Erin (left) and Sara Foster (right) were also in attendance at Saturday night's F**k Cancer event

Catt opted for smokey eyes and completed her dazzling Gala get-up with a bold red lip. She was joined by her boyfriend Nick LaKind.

Sisters Erin and Sara Foster were also in attendance at Saturday night's F**k Cancer event.

The pair both showcased their svelte physiques with Erin opting for a stunning blue dress and Sara in a pant suit.

The 90210 star kept things simple with a nude bodysuit underneath her powerful ensemble and complimented the look with pumps of the same shade.

Powerful: The 90210 star kept things simple with a nude bodysuit underneath her powerful ensemble and complimented the look with pumps of the same shade

Sister sister! Sara's blonde hair was voluminous and styled to one side while her comedian sister opted to slick hers back

Her blonde hair was voluminous and styled to one side while her comedian sister opted to slick hers back.

Morgan Stewart also showcased her incredible fashion-forward style on Saturday.

She wore a black satin shirt and teamed it with a pair of well tailored boot-leg trousers.

The Daily Pop star had her signature blonde locks out and straight with a dewy and youthful makeup look that was complete with a nude lip.

Fashionista: Morgan Stewart also showcased her incredible fashion-forward style on Saturday

Mama-to-be: Pregnant Yael, who is the CEO and Founder of the F**k Cancer organisation, stole the show in her black and gold lace mini-dress that drew attention to her bronzed lean and tanned legs. She was joined by her husband Scooter Braun

Manager of pop sensations Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, Scooter Braun, showcased his dapper look when he stepped out with his wife Yael for the Gala.

Scooter dressed in a white button-up shirt underneath a blue suit and had his hair slicked back.

Pregnant Yael, who is the CEO and Founder of the F**k Cancer organisation, stole the show in her black and gold lace mini-dress that drew attention to her bronzed lean and tanned legs.

She completed her look with strappy heels and had her golden locks out and styled naturally into beach waves.

She's glowing! She completed her look with strappy heels and had her golden locks out and styled naturally into beach waves

Popping! Aisha Tyler also put on a head-turning display when she graced the Gala red carpet on Saturday night

6'0! The age-defying 48-year-old dressed in a pink and black number that drew attention to her incredibly toned long lean legs. She was joined by Cassandra Jean and Chairman/Board Member Greg Berlanti

Fashion's top designer! Highly acclaimed fashion designer Rachel Zoe, 47, stepped out in one of her own gowns for the evening

Aisha Tyler also put on a head-turning display when she graced the Gala red carpet on Saturday night.

The age-defying 48-year-old dressed in a pink and black number that drew attention to her incredibly toned long lean legs.

She opted to have her locks slicked back and completed her glam with pink lip.

Highly acclaimed fashion designer Rachel Zoe, 47, stepped out in one of her own gowns for the evening alongside her husband Roger Burman.

Parents night out! Rachel was joined by her husband Roger Burman for the evening

Fits her like a glove! Her frock perfectly accentuated her trim frame with a modest v-neck and a pleated skirt

Her frock perfectly accentuated her trim frame with a modest v-neck and a pleated skirt.

The beauty accessorised with a dazzling clutch and a gorgeous diamond necklace. Roger was also dashing all suited up for the evening Gala event.

Arrow actor and Board Member Stephen Amell attended the event in a buttoned up grey suit and tie.

The star was also seen with a small pink ribbon broach on his jacket and was a special guest as the honoree of the Hero Award.

Honoree of the night! Arrow actor and Board Member Stephen Amell attended the event in a buttoned up grey suit and tie

Stephen was also seen with a small pink ribbon broach on his jacket and was a special guest as the honoree of the Hero Award. Pictured with Cassandra Jean and Sandra Bolt

Maisie Richardson-Sellers looked incredible at the Gala.

The 26-year-old U.K. born beauty opted for a gorgeous mini-dress that showcased a hint of her ample cleavage and long lean legs.

She teamed the look with lilac color heels and had her hair tied back off of her face.

What an ensemble! 26-year-old Masie Richardson-Sellers opted for a gorgeous mini-dress that showcased a hint of her ample cleavage and long lean legs

Candice Patton flashed her ample cleavage in a powerful suit dress on Saturday night.

The actress completed her look with a pair of black strappy heels and had her brunette locks slicked back into a wet look.

Fellow actress Tala Ashe brought color to the evening in a feminine Kimono style floral frock.

She means business! Candice Patton flashed her ample cleavage in a powerful suit dress on Saturday night

Beautiful: Fellow actress Tala Ashe brought color to the evening in a feminine Kimono style floral frock

Ready to party! Jewelry designer Jennifer Meyer also opted for floral and added drama with a biker jacket over the top

Top stars: Although neither were seen on the red carpet, The Hollywood Reporter revealed on October 5 that Ariana Grande and Kristin Chenoweth (pictured) were set to perform

She ensured all eyes remained on the orange and cream number with a simple makeup look and her hair out into loose waves.

Jewelry designer Jennifer Meyer also opted for floral and added drama with a biker jacket over the top.

Although neither were seen on the red carpet, The Hollywood Reporter revealed on October 5 that Ariana Grande and Kristin Chenoweth were set to perform.

Hitting the high notes! While Ariana appeared as if she declined the offer, Kristin did come through

Gorgeous: Kristen stunned in a black and white gown that showcased her incredibly lithe physique

Familiar face: The event was hosted by actor comedian Jeff Garlin

While Ariana appeared as if she declined the offer, Kristin did come through.

She stunned in a black and white gown that showcased her incredibly lithe physique.

Her blonde hair was styled back into a fancy up-do and her glam was radiant.

The event was hosted by actor comedian Jeff Garlin and Trevor Noah was also seen performing for attendees during the show.She's enjoyed an illustrious modelling career over the years; walking for the likes of Gucci, Saint Laurent and Victoria's Secret.

Now, Australian star Abbey Lee has spoken about the dark side of the modelling industry.

During an interview with Stellar Magazine on Sunday, the 31-year-old was quizzed about the treatment of models after she fainted on Alexander McQueen's runway in 2008 due to extreme exhaustion and an incredibly tight corset.

'There's not a lot of protection for young people': Australian star Abbey Lee revealed the dark side of the modelling industry in an interview with Stellar magazine and admitted 'she didn't stand up for herself enough.' Pictured at the Harper's Bazaar icons party on September 7, 2018 in New York City

'I didn't stand up for myself enough when I should have. It's a very tricky industry and there's not a lot of protection for young models,' Abbey Lee revealed.

'So if you don't know how to protect yourself, you can find yourself in situations where it would be nice to have somebody who's got your back. Sometimes when you're at an elite level, saying no or speaking out can be scary,' the lithe beauty said.

The model-turned-actress added she's always been one to push herself to the limit.

'I didn't stand up for myself enough when I should have': During an interview with Stellar Magazine on Sunday the 31-year-old admitted the modelling industry could be 'scary' Pictured at the Alexander McQueen show on October, 3, 2008 in Paris

'Sometimes when you're at an elite level, saying no or speaking out can be scary': Australian star, Abbey Lee has opened up about the dark side of the modelling industry. Pictured at the 2008 Victoria's Secret Show In Miami, Florida

Abbey Lee, who kicked off her modelling career at the ripe age of 15, also shed some light on why she decided to drop her surname, Kershaw, from her brand.

'The weird thing is, it's not just in the last few years. When I started modelling at 15, I liked the look and sound and feel of Abbey Lee. So on all my modelling cards, I've never had Kershaw printed,' she explained.

In 2015, Abbey Lee scored a breakout role in the film Mad Max: Fury Road and has since gone on to appear in films including, Gods of Egypt and The Dark Tower.

'On all my modelling cards, I've never had Kershaw printed': Abbey Lee, who kicked off her modelling career at the ripe age of 15 also shed some light on why she decided to drop her surname, Kershaw, from her brand. Pictured 2009 Victoria's Secret Show in New York

Earlier this year, Abbey Lee spoke about gender inequality in Hollywood, claiming there is still 'one female to every 10 men' getting roles.

Speaking to The Herald Sun, she said: 'For every script I get, a male actor friend will get five.'

'Every script with a female, there's one female to every 10 men. On top of that, there's the gender pay gap issue that's a huge problem worldwide.'

'In my workplace, I get paid less purely for that fact I am a female,' she continued.

Abbey rose to fame after winning the Girlfriend Model Search in 2004 and later moved to Sydney to pursue a runway career.

She has appeared in Vogue Australia and has posed in editorial campaigns for the likes of Anna Sui, Chanel, Gucci and Calvin Klein.Lili Reinhart and Cole Sprouse are a couple in real live and on-screen.

And on Saturday blonde beauty Lili shared a candid, shirt-free shot of her boyfriend and Riverdale co-star Cole, along with a simple message: 'I hope you dont mind.'

Hilariously, Sprouse himself responded himself, asking, 'are you dating?

Topless Cole: Lili Reinhart posted a topless shot of her boyfriend and Riverdale co-star Cole Sprouse on Instagram Saturday night

Who her message was aimed at was unclear, but it comes exactly one month after Sprouse posted a topless shot of Reinhart.

The shot Sprouse shared was posted on Reinhart's birthday, where called her, 'Both the birthday and the gift,' adding, 'My little muse, happy birthday my love.'

Reinhart's shot was taken on a beach, with Sprouse seen topless with a small black camera slung over his shoulder.

He was holding a tan hat and wearing dark khaki pants in the shot, while smiling and looking up towards the sky.

There had been rumors for quite some time that Reinhart and Sprouse were dating, but their relationship hasn't been confirmed until recently.

Topless Lili: The shot Sprouse shared was posted on Reinhart's birthday, where called her, 'Both the birthday and the gift,' adding, 'My little muse, happy birthday my love'

Ever since Riverdale premiered in January 2017, fans had noticed the chemistry between Sprouse's Jughead Jones and Reinhart's Betty Cooper.

Fans even dubbed the couple 'Bughead' early on in the first season, with Sprouse telling People in November that he would never 'confirm' his relationship with Reinhart.

Then again, he never denied it either, including during PaleyFest when a fan asked if they were dating, and he simply said, 'No comment.'

The happy couple: Ever since Riverdale premiered in January 2017, fans had noticed the chemistry between Sprouse's Jughead Jones and Reinhart's Betty Cooper

They were both spotted together in Hawaii over New Year's Eve, taking photos with fans that surfaced on social media.

In April 2018, Reinhart was spotted with Sprouse at LAX, when she was asked about her relationship yet again, stating, 'Isn't it obvious?'

They made their red carpet debut in May at the 2018 Met Gala in New York City.

Reinhart in Teen Vogue: In April 2018, Reinhart was spotted with Sprouse at LAX, when she was asked about her relationship yet again, stating, 'Isn't it obvious?'

In a July 2018 interview with Harper's Bazaar, Reinhart made it clear that she wasn't interested in opening up about her relationship.

'I'm not okay talking about my relationship,' she said. 'I'm not going to tell you my love story. That's just not appropriate right now.'

In August, she shared an Instagram photo of Sprouse, calling him, 'my love.'

'It seems as if the world would still be a stranger to me, if not for you. Im so thankful that our paths intertwined to form this beautiful adventure,' she continued.The World's Hottest Grandma is used to revealing her sensational curves online for thousands of fans to see.

But now Gina Stewart has revealed a side of herself rarely seen by the public in a series of exclusive family photos obtained by Daily Mail Australia.

The heartwarming images show the 48-year-old as a doting parent to her four children, which is a world away from the scantily-clad model that fans see online.

A different side: The World's Hottest Grandma Gina Stewart (L) has revealed a side of herself rarely seen by the public in a series of exclusive family photos (R) obtained by Daily Mail

Gina is a parent to James, 27, Casey, 25, Cody, 22, and Summer, four.

In one vintage photo from 1997, the Gold Coast grandmother frolics through a green pasture hand-in-hand with two of her young children and two young relatives.

Despite being taken over 20 years ago, Gina appears to have barely aged a day.

Flashback: In one vintage photo from 1997, the Gold Coast grandmother frolics through a green pasture hand-in-hand with three of her young children and a niece

Say cheese! The 48-year-old has also shared some sweet selfies with her youngest daughter, Summer

Other photos show the bombshell blonde laughing with her beloved youngest, Summer.

The mother-daughter duo smile and pout in selfies, while another image shows Gina cradling her little girl on a sandy Surfer's Paradise beach.

The busty granny has also revealed an old black-and-white photo of herself at the tender age of 19.

Peace! Just like her famous mother, little Summer (R) seems to love smiling for the cameras

Classic: The busty granny has also revealed an old black-and-white photo of herself at the tender age of 19

Gina has attracted criticism for her raunchy Instagram posts, many of which feature her naked or in various states of undress.

However, the 48-year-old recently revealed that there was a heartbreaking 'personal reason' why she strips down online.

Speaking to the Gold Coast Bulletin, the model claimed that her scantily-clad antics began when she entered the Miss Maxim modelling competition earlier this year to try and win $25,000 to help a friend who suffered a stroke.

Just like mum! Gina's stunning daughter Casey, 25, (L) is also a Gold Coast model

Backlash: Gina has attracted criticism for her raunchy Instagram posts, many of which feature her naked or in various states of undress

'At the end of the day I seriously don't know what all the fuss is about, it's unwanted attention,' she said, brushing off her international fame.

Gina is currently competing in the Maxim Cover Girl Competition for a chance to cover an upcoming issue of the men's magazine and win $25,000.

She explained to her fans last month that if she wins the $25,000 prize money she will be donating a portion of it to charity.

The stunner has already beat thousands of other women less than half her age and is quickly advancing towards the finals.He's returning to The Project on Sunday, to explain what really happened during the jaw-dropping Bachelor finale.

And Nick 'The Honey Badger' Cummins, 31, again defended himself on Sunday after he was accused of not telling contestants on the show how he really felt about them.

On Instagram, a fan asked why the former Wallabies star never expressed his feelings on The Bachelor.

'If I was allowed to tell them, the show would be very different': Nick Cummins explains why he never told Bachelor finalists how he felt despite them pouring their hearts out

'The only thing I felt sad about Lisa [Wilkinson] was that he expected the girls to be open about their feelings for him but he didn't give them the same privilege...,' the fan wrote.

Nick responded: 'If i was allowed to tell them, the show would be very different.'

In the caption of her post, Lisa promised that Nick will explain '... Why he walked away from choosing one final contestant in his (and their) search for lasting love.'

Shocking: During last week's shock finale, he infamously dumped both finalists Brittany Hockley (left) and Sophie Tieman (right) and chose to remain single

Criticism: The fan accused Nick of failing to express how he really felt about contestants

Response: Nick defended his actions and said he simply wasn't allowed to share his emotions

During last week's shock finale, he infamously dumped both finalists Brittany Hockley and Sophie Tieman and chose to remain single.

It comes after Nick returned to social media earlier this week following 10 days of silence while he completed the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea.

After landing back in Australia on Thursday morning - seven days after The Bachelor finale aired - he shared an update to his 511,000 followers on Instagram.

'G'day guys, I'm back 'out of hiding' from my Kokoda trip over there,' he began.

'I'm back out of hiding': It comes after Nick returned to social media earlier this week following 10 days of silence while he completed the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea

Nick then took a swipe at A Current Affair for claiming he'd been 'living the bachelor life' in Papua New Guinea while avoiding media scrutiny back home.

'I've been promoting [the trek] for charity for the last year. But well done to A Current Affair,' he added. 'Kokoda was awesome, get over there! Massive piece of history and highly recommend it.'

Nick was directly responding Channel Nine's flagship current affairs program after it featured him on Wednesday night's episode.

Having his say: Nick took a swipe at A Current Affair for claiming he'd been 'living the bachelor life' in Papua New Guinea while avoiding media scrutiny back home

He was ambushed at his hotel and asked about 'the mess he's left behind', referring to The Bachelor finale in which he chose neither of the two contestants.

After being confronted by journalist Reid Butler and ACA's camera crew, the former Wallaby looked stunned and said, 'Sorry?!'

Before his 'gotcha' moment, hidden camera footage showed the larrikin in relaxed spirits as he sipped cocktails and strolled around the resort in a white bathrobe.

It's believed A Current Affair's exclusive report was filmed shortly after Nick completed the Kokoda Trail walk.

Confrontation: Nick was ambushed at his hotel by ACA and asked about 'the mess he's left behind', referring to The Bachelor finale in which he chose neither of the two contestants

After the episode aired, Reid revealed that things escalated quickly during his confrontation with the Honey Badger.

The reporter even hinted on Thursday's Kyle and Jackie O Show that he was 'probably one question away' from things becoming physical.

'I think I was one question away from getting a... things escalated,' he said.

Reputation: Nick's public image as a likable Aussie bloke was shattered last week when he shocked the country by choosing no one in the Bachelor finale

Reid later said he was surprised by the awkwardness of his encounter with Nick because he assumed he was used to being in front of the cameras by now.

'It was a lot of more awkward and fiery than we were expecting. It was really, really full on,' he said.The Bachelor's Brooke Blurton is making the most of her fifteen minutes of fame.

On Sunday, the reality star and activist stepped out in style for the Prive Fashion Platform runway show in Perth.

The 23-year-old was the picture of perfection in a red and white cocktail frock with a low-cut neckline.

Red hot! The Bachelor's Brooke Blurton stepped out in style for the Prive Fashion Platform runway show in Perth

The brunette accessorised her red dress with matching lipstick and stilettos, and wore her hair back in a tight ponytail.

Brooke has been enjoying the limelight since appearing on The Bachelor.

Last week, she was spotted mingling with other reality TV rejects and Instagram models at a fashion event in Sydney.

Brooke dramatically quit The Bachelor during the show, walking out on Nick 'Honey Badger' Cummins after she'd made it to the final three.

Stunning: The brunette accessorised her red dress with matching lipstick and stilettos, and wore her hair back in a tight ponytail

The Indigenous beauty tearfully informed the hunk that she needed more 'reassurance' and 'certainty' from him.

'I came here to fall in love... I need a guy that knows what he wants and can tell me that's me,' Brooke said as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Nick, who wore a tailored black suit, gave Brooke his full attention as she told the curly-haired suitor: 'I need to go home.'

Seconds after receiving the news, the sportsman bowed his head in utter disbelief.

Fame: Last week, she was spotted mingling with other reality TV rejects and Instagram models at a fashion event in Sydney

The heartbroken lothario appeared to be on the brink of tears as he processed the devastating situation.

'I'm not going to stand in your way as much as I want to because my respect for you and how much I care for you outweighs the selfishness of me wanting you to be out here,' Nick sighed.

Then, at the show's finale, Nick made Australian history by dumping both Brittany Hockley and Sophie Tieman, and leaving the show a single man.It looked more young love than Youngblood for Ashton Irwin on Saturday.

The 5 Seconds of Summer drummer was pictured stocking up on homeware essentials in Los Angeles alongside a mystery female over the weekend.

Their slightly mundane outing came just hours after the 24-year-old performed to thousands of fans at the Greek Theatre in LA on Friday evening.

Scroll down for video

Moving in together? 5 Seconds of Summer's Ashton Irwin and mystery date coordinate their rocker looks as they shop for homeware in LA after he wraps up North American tour

The pair stopped at home decor store Pier 1 during their afternoon out, suggesting they could be shacking up together.

Ashton and his fellow Aussie band members Luke Hemmings, Calum Hood and Michael Clifford reside mostly in California following their global rise to fame.

Clutching a coffee each as they strolled the aisles, there was no sign of Ashton's superstar status as he happily blended in with fellow shoppers alongside his date.

Keeping it real: The 24-year-old's slightly mundane outing on Saturday came just hours after he performed to thousands of fans at the Greek Theatre in LA on Friday evening

Lots to buy? The pair stopped at home decor store Pier 1 during their afternoon out, suggesting they could be shacking up together

Ashton, who was born in Hornsby, a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, kept his look casual for their trip to the shops by wearing all black.

He looked ever the rock star in his dark skinny jeans, perfectly polished boots and quiff slicked back to reveal his chiseled facial features.

The star's mystery date looked equally as alternative with her jet black hair and over-sized AC/DC T-shirt acting as a dress.

He's just like us! Clutching a coffee each as they strolled the aisles, there was no sign of Ashton's superstar status as he happily blended in with fellow shoppers alongside his date

The evening before their outing Ashton and his 5SOS band mates wrapped up the North American leg of their current world tour.

After performing in LA, he wrote online: 'What an incredible tour. Thank you North America, you were amazing.

'The diversity in the audiences, the variety of people that came to see our show was mind blowing.

'It felt like a true step towards my ultimate dream of being a band for everyone.

'I love you all. See you soon Europe. Time for a bubble bath.'Nick 'The Honey Badger' Cummins, 31, fled Australia just days before The Bachelor's controversial grand finale went to air.

And it seems two time's a charm for the controversial reality star, as it's been revealed Nick pulled out of his highly-anticipated live interview at the last minute on The Sunday Project this week.

Daily Mail Australia can exclusively reveal that Nick's so-called 'live interview' with Lisa Wilkinson was actually pre-recorded an hour before the program went to air, after the reality star decided he didn't want to face a live audience.

'He's not in a good place': Nick Cummins' so-called 'live interview' on The Sunday Project was PRE-RECORDED... as producers ask the audience to 'act like it's actually happening right now'

During the Sydney recording of The Sunday Project, a Channel 10 crew-member approached the audience to explain that Nick had pre-recorded his interview that afternoon as 'he's not in a good place as a person' and is 'not doing well.'

'He decided last minute he didn't want to speak in front of an audience,' they explained.

According to a source, the crew member tried to level with the crowd by appealing to their emotions by telling them: 'We've all been in places where we're not doing well.'

Keeping it real! During his prerecorded interview, the former Wallabies star joined the hosts at the desk and revealed that he wasn't in love with any of the contestants and didn't want to fake it for the cameras

Further, Daily Mail Australia can reveal that a producer asked the audience to pretend Nick's interview was being filmed live.

'What we do want is for you to act like it's actually happening right now,' the producer explained, according to a source.

Prior to an ad break, the producer also joked to the audience: 'So were coming to a commercial break so lets pretend hes here!'

'Lets pretend hes here!' Footage of the interview played on screens for the audience to watch

Meanwhile, footage of the interview played on screens for the audience to watch.

During his prerecorded interview, the former Wallabies star joined the hosts at the desk and revealed that he wasn't in love with any of the contestants and didn't want to fake it for the cameras.

Nick's public image as a likable Aussie bloke was shattered last week when he shocked the country by choosing no one in the Bachelor finale.Simon Cowell has donated 50,000 to four-year-old Zac Oliver's crowdfunding page, after encouraging others to help too.

The music mogul, 59, posted a video message on Saturday ahead of the fundraising event Zacfest that is taking place in Telford Town Park on Sunday.

In it, he said: 'This boy is four years old and needs money to get him to America to get the help he needs.

Helping hand: Simon Cowell donated 50,000 to four-year-old Zac Oliver's crowdfund for his treatment of extremely rare cancer as he encourages others to help on Saturday

'So I want you please to go on Zac Oliver's JustGiving page and whatever you can donate will make a difference.

'And because I don't like well-known people telling people to do something and don't do anything themselves, I'm going to donate 50,000. We're going to get there.'

Zac has an extremely rare form of leukaemia called Near Haploid, which the NHS is currently unable to treat so his parents are aiming to raise 500,000 to take him to America for CAR-T therapy in Philadelphia.

Encouraging: In a video message, Simon said: 'This boy is four years old and needs money to get him to America to get the help he needs'

Fundraiser: Zac has an extremely rare form of leukaemia called Near Haploid, which the NHS is currently unable to treat so his parents are aiming to raise 500,000 to take him to America

His mother Hannah Oliver-Willets shared the video on her social media, and said to Simon: 'Thank you to Simon Cowell for doing such an amazing job at supporting our cause. I explained to Zac that Simon has helped to pay for his special medicine.

'Zac said 'thanks si' lol, little does he know exactly what this actually means and how much closer we really are to getting him to the US.'

So far, the family have raised 350,000 so far, with Simon's donation increasing it to 400,00 so that they are 100,000 away from reaching their goal.

You can support Zac at on his Just Giving page or by texting ZACH75 1 to 70070, while more information about the fundraising can be found on Zac's Facebook support page.

Grateful: His mother Hannah Oliver-Willets shared the video on her social media, and said to Simon: 'Thank you to Simon Cowell for doing such an amazing job at supporting our cause

Nearly there: So far, the family have raised 350,000 so far, with Simon's donation increasing it to 400,00 so that they are 100,000 away from reaching their goal

This comes after The Sun reported that Simon pampers his dogs Squiddly, Diddly and Freddy by flying them in a private plane.

According to the publication, the X Factor judge also ensure that his pet pooch's get their own reclining seats, organic food and mineral water served in porcelain dog bowls.

They travel with Simon regularly as he works in both Los Angeles and London, as well as an annual trip to the Caribbean, and on the flight the dogs get their own squeaky toys to play with, and bespoke jumbones.

Doting: This comes after The Sun reported that Simon pampers his dogs Squiddly, Diddly and Freddy by flying them in a private planeIt was his 47th birthday on Saturday.

And it seems comedian Sacha Baron Cohen definitely tucked into something tasty as the actor celebrated the grand occasion over the weekend.

On Sunday, Sacha's wife Isla Fisher, 42, shared a loving snap commemorating her husband's big day as he proudly posed alongside a huge chocolate cake and pal Sarah Silverman, 47.

Happy birthday Sacha! On Sunday, Isla Fisher, 42, shared a loving snap commemorating her husband Sacha Baron Cohen's big day as he proudly posed alongside a huge chocolate cake and pal Sarah Silverman, 47

Marking the occasion with an Instagram post showing the celebratory scene, Isla capture a glimpse of the cake which had the words 'happy birthday Sascha' penned in green icing along with eight candles.

The fiery-haired Australian actress captioned the post with a single heart emoji while making sure to tag Sacha and Sarah's Instagram pages.

Isla married Sacha in 2010 after the lovebirds met at a party in Sydney back in 2002.

His big day! Australian actress Isla, 42, shared the photograph of her husband and friend Sarah, 47, to Instagram on Sunday following their celebrations

The couple share three childrenOlive, 10, and Elula, eight, and Montgomery, three.

Discussing what life is like married to the British star, Isla previously joked on the Lorraine show when asked if he often comes home in costume.

'Of course he does, it's hard to drop the accent if you're doing it all day on set.

Family friend: Sarah and Island (pictured in 2017) helped the British comedian have a day to remember as he blew out his candles

'Obviously the kids get very confused. When they were tiny and The Dictator would be holding Elula, it was very strange!'

Australian stunner Isla also said that it becomes amusing to see her other half at home in his on-screen garbs.

'It's so funny to see Sacha as Nobby,' she said of his Grimsby role. 'He's one of my favourite characters he's played.'The Block's Kerrie Charter and Spence Thomson are often accused of playing it safe during their room reveals.

But on Sunday's episode, the pair were savaged after choosing to put up a bizarre psychedelic wall mural in their guest bedroom.

With a 'St Kilda' brief, Kerrie chose the laneway wallpaper in order to make the room more eclectic, not unlike the quirky inner city suburb itself.

Scroll down to video

'It was a gamble, it was a loss': The Block's Kerrie Charter and Spence Thomson were savaged by all three the judges for their 'psychedelic mural' in their guest bedroom on Sunday night

Kerrie and Spence started off quietly confident about their choice of wallpaper in the bedroom.

'I reckon the judges will really like it. We really like it. Everyone that comes in says they really like it,' Kerrie said.

This was echoed by Spence: 'Hey, it's St Kilda,' he said.

'It's giving me vertigo. Like, it's really messing with my head': The Block judge Darren Palmer was very unimpressed with the mural, saying 'it was like falling down a rabbit hole'

However, the choice was savaged by interior design expert Darren Palmer, who didn't hold back in his critique.

'To say that Darren found the huge laneway mural disconcerting would be the understatement of this series,' host Scott Cam told the shocked renovators.

Darren added: 'I feel like I'm falling down a rabbit hole.'

Alongside Darren, experts Shaynna Blaze and Neal Whitaker were similarly unimpressed with the risky choice.

Much better! The remarks were in stark contrast to the wallpaper chosen by Courtney and Hans, which judges Shaynna Blaze and Darren Palmer fawned over

'It's totally overwhelming, Darren,' Neale added.

'It's giving me vertigo. Like, it's really messing with my head,' Darren agreed.

Attempting to give them some credit, Shaynna said she was impressed the couple tired to 'push the envelope' with the artistic choice.

'Look, I've got to say, one thing about Kerrie and Spence that we've always said to them is that they've always played too safe,' Shaynna said.

Winners! Courtney and Hans were ecstatic after the critique of the judges, who felt their choice of decorating had more 'impact' fitting the 'St Kilda' brief perfectly

'And they have really tried to push the envelopes.'

After the judging, Kerrie was totally deflated.

'It was a gamble, it was a loss,' she said in a piece-to-camera.

The reaction to their mural was in stark contrast to Courtney and Hans, who opted for an 'Australiana' type of wallpaper for bedroom two.

Taking a risk with wallpaper delivered from London, Courtney and Hans were quietly confident calling their bedroom like a 'boutique hotel.'

Walking into the room, Shaynna was immediately impressed with the choice: 'Mm. More impact,' she said of the wallpaper.

Fellow judge Darren was also impressed.

'It's so eccentric because, if you actually look at what these animals are doing - they're having a party... It's a really beautiful choice,' he said.

Darren couldn't help but take a swipe at Kerrie and Spence: 'And a far better choice by comparison to next door,' he said.He's been tipped to become the new James Bond following Daniel Craig's final stint in Bond 25 in 2020.

And Richard Madden enjoyed time off from his work schedule with his girlfriend Ellie Bamber at celebrity hotspot The Chiltern Firehouse in London on Saturday evening.

The Bodyguard actor, 32, looked every inch the dapper 007 as he donned a classic grey suit, tied in with a crew neck jumper.

Glitzy night out: Richard Madden (L) enjoyed time off from his work schedule with his girlfriend Ellie Bamber (R) at celebrity hotspot The Chiltern Firehouse in London on Saturday evening

Living up to his suave status, the Ibiza star sported a pair of patent black boots, and carried his possessions in a luggage bag.

Meanwhile, Surrey native Ellie, 21, appeared to take fashion inspiration from the 70s as she slipped into quirky flare denim trousers, complemented with a paperbag waistline and a sleek belt.

Hunk: The Bodyguard actor, 32, looked every inch the dapper 007 as he donned a classic grey suit, tied in with a crew neck jumper

Looking good: Living up to his suave status, the Ibiza star sported a pair of patent black boots, and carried his possessions in a luggage bag

The Lady from the Sea actress finished off her look with a matching zip-up crop top, flashing a hint of her toned midsection.

Ellie ensured her blue colour scheme covered all bases of her outfit as she toted a navy clutch bag and sparkly pointed heels.

The Nocturnal Animals star wore her ginger locks in beach-style waves and displayed her naturally radiant complexion with minimal make-up.

Stepping back in time: Ellie, 21, appeared to take fashion inspiration from the 70s as she slipped into quirky flare denim trousers, complemented with a paperbag waistline and belt

Style savvy: The Lady from the Sea actress finished off her look with a matching zip-up crop top, flashing a hint of her toned midsection

Chic display: The Nocturnal Animals star wore her ginger locks in beach-style waves and displayed her naturally radiant complexion with minimal make-up

Meanwhile, Bond producers are reportedly on the brink of approaching Richard to take on the most famous role in British film.

The Scottish star's portrayal of a steely diplomatic protection officer in BBC drama Bodyguard and his bedroom antics with Home Secretary Julia Montague, played by Keeley Hawes, made him the bookies favourite to be the next 007.

It is understood that Barbara Broccoli, the executive producer at Eon Productions who has the final say on all Bond characters, is likely to approach Richard in the next few days.

New 007? Meanwhile, Bond producers are reportedly on the brink of approaching Richard to take on the most famous role in British film, James Bond

Exciting: The Scottish star's portrayal of a steely diplomatic protection officer in BBC drama Bodyguard made him the bookies favourite to be the next 007

Making moves: It is understood that Barbara Broccoli, the executive producer at Eon Productions who has the final say on all Bond characters, is likely to approach Richard in the next few days

A source said: Its seriously looking like he [Madden] is going to get the job. Not only is he on top of Barbaras list, but she is preparing to offer the role.

If confirmed, Maddens selection would end a year of speculation as to who will succeed screen star Daniel, 50.

There was talk that Barbara, 58, would choose the first black Bond or even cast a woman. For a long time, Idris Elba, 46, was the frontrunner after his impressive performance in the TV series Luther.

Details: 'Its seriously looking like he [Madden] is going to get the job. Not only is he on top of Barbaras list, but she is preparing to offer the role', a source said

Current James Bond: If confirmed, Maddens selection would end a year of speculation as to who will succeed screen star Daniel Craig (pictured in 2012's Skyfall)

Reports: For a long time, Idris Elba, 46, was the frontrunner after his impressive performance in the TV series Luther (pictured on September 24)

In the romance department, Richard recently touched cryptically on his relationship with Ellie in an interview with The Sun, revealing: 'I am sleeping with someone. I am very happy with someone.'

The couple are notoriously tight-lipped about their romance, but confirmed they were dating last August when they were pictured locking lips on a beach in Ibiza.

More recently they were seen looking cosy and holding hands at the Serpentine Gallery Summer Party in June this year.

Cheeky: In the romance department, Richard recently touched cryptically on his relationship with Ellie in an interview with The Sun, revealing: 'I am sleeping with someone'

Close: The couple are notoriously tight-lipped about their romance, but confirmed they were dating last August when they were pictured locking lips on a beach in Ibiza

Ellie is known for her role in the movie Nocturnal Animals, and will be seen next as Cosette in the BBCs adaptation of Les Miserables.

Their relationship comes after Richard split from Jenna Coleman in 2015 following a four-year on-off romance.

The following year, he was linked to Laura Whitmore and Suki Waterhouse. Suki famously shared the screen with Ellie in the 2016 Pride And Prejudice And Zombies.

Despite his bona-fide heartthrob status, Richard has admitted he wasn't always considered such a hunk.

Speaking out: Despite his bona-fide heartthrob status, Richard has admitted he wasn't always considered such a hunk

Beginnings: The actor confessed he was 'fat' and 'crushingly shy' while attending a 'fairly tough high school' in the town of Paisley in his native Scotland

The actor confessed he was 'fat' and 'crushingly shy' while attending a 'fairly tough high school' in the town of Paisley in his native Scotland.

'I was fat and shy. Crushingly shy, going to what was a fairly tough high school. Aggressive, masculine,' he told The Sun.

'I was a 38in waist when I was 12. I didn't wear denim until I was 19 because denim is hard to take up. My mum couldn't take my jeans up,' he added.

It's not the first time Madden has brought up his childhood, previously telling Flaunt magazine that if he weren't acting, he'd be a 'shy, fat kid living in Scotland with no girlfriend.'Nick 'The Honey Badger' Cummins, 31, appeared on The Sunday Project in a pre-recorded segment this weekend after pulling out of his live appearance at the last minute.

And according to the show's panel-member Tommy Little, Nick was so 'nervous' that he may have pulled out of the interview altogether if he wasn't able to prerecord the segment.

Daily Mail Australia can exclusively reveal that comedian Tommy addressed the audience prior to the interview segment, telling spectators: 'Honestly he's a beautiful man! It's the most depressed he's been. It was heartbreaking to see!'

'It's the most depressed he's been': Tommy Little (R) has revealed Nick Cummins' (L) had two assistants to support him through his pre-filmed interview on The Sunday Project. and has insisted that The Bachelor star was 'too nervous' to go on the show live

'He was genuinely so nervous... he wouldn't have been able to do the interview live I don't think. Otherwise he would have probably freaked out and said f**k on-air!' he added.

Tommy also revealed to the live audience that that there were two assistants with Nick who supported him throughout his interview.

Nick would often stop and ask them if his answer was OK, Tommy revealed.

During the Sydney recording of The Sunday Project, a Channel 10 crew-member approached the audience to explain that Nick had pre-recorded his interview that afternoon as 'he's not in a good place as a person' and is 'not doing well.'

'He decided last minute he didn't want to speak in front of an audience,' they explained.

According to a source, the crew member tried to level with the crowd by appealing to their emotions by telling them: 'We've all been in places where we're not doing well.'

Keeping it real! During his prerecorded interview, the former Wallabies star joined the hosts at the desk and revealed that he wasn't in love with any of the contestants and didn't want to fake it for the cameras

Further, Daily Mail Australia can reveal that a producer asked the audience to pretend Nick's interview was being filmed live.

'What we do want is for you to act like it's actually happening right now,' the producer explained, according to a source.

Prior to an ad break, the producer also joked to the audience: 'So were coming to a commercial break so lets pretend hes here!'

'Lets pretend hes here!' Footage of the interview played on screens for the audience to watch

Meanwhile, footage of the interview played on screens for the audience to watch.

During his prerecorded interview, the former Wallabies star joined the hosts at the desk and revealed that he wasn't in love with any of the contestants and didn't want to fake it for the cameras.

Nick's public image as a likable Aussie bloke was shattered last week when he shocked the country by choosing no one in the Bachelor finale.She's set to wed to her beau in the coming months after sparking a romance in the Love Island villa a year ago.

And Jess Shears was a vision in white as she joined her fiance Dom Lever at Libby Mae's Little Angels Circus Ball in Birmingham on Saturday evening.

The glamour model, 25, turned up the heat as she accentuated her killer curves in a sparkling wrap dress with a thigh-high slit to show off her lean legs.

Ethereal: Jess Shears was a vision in white as she joined her fiance Dom Lever at Libby Mae's Little Angels Circus Ball in Birmingham on Saturday evening

Continuing her eye-catching display, the TV personality enhanced her height in a pair of see-through stilettos and toted a grey chain-strap bag.

Jess opted for full-on glam as she wore her highlighted tresses in loose curls, while complementing her features with Kylie Jenner-style make-up.

Former career advisor Dom, 27, opted for a suave appearance as he rocked a dark plum skinny suit, a crisp white shirt and classic Oxford shoes.

Sharing a glimpse of the charity event with her fans, Jess took to Instagram to post a sweet snap of her and Dom wearing red noses.

Sizzling: The glamour model, 25, turned up the heat as she accentuated her killer curves in a sparkling wrap dress with a thigh-high slit to show off her lean legs

The event was held to help to save babies lives across the Midlands by raising funds to support all 18 neonatal units in the region.

Dom and Jess became engaged three months after getting together on last summer's Love Island and are set to marry in Greece, despite only having known each other for just over a year.

Similarly, the pair's families have yet to even meet, supposedly being introduced for the first time when the couple host a joint hen and stag party this summer in Dom's hometown Manchester.

Important cause: Sharing a glimpse of the charity event with her fans, Jess took to Instagram to post a sweet snap of her and Dom wearing red noses

Speaking of her engagement to the hunk, Jess previously said 'never in a million years' did she think she would meet Mr Right during her stint in the Love Island villa.

She told MailOnline: 'I kind of joked when I met with the producers that "you need to find me a husband" and I thought I was messing around.

'Within a few weeks of meeting Dom I just knew, people can say it's rushed but I didn't get the whole "you know when you know" saying until I met him and now I do.'

Intense: Dom and Jess became engaged three months after getting together on last summer's Love Island

Nice surprise: Speaking of her engagement to the hunk, Jess previously said 'never in a million years' did she think she would meet Mr Right during her stint in the Love Island villa

In a candid interview with OK! Magazine, the loved-up couple discussed their upcoming nuptials, with the brunette beauty revealing she plans to have three outfit changes on her big day.

'Im really excited, but its the most stressful thing ever. Dom freaked out when we were talking about signing all the legal documents after the wedding.

'He was like: "What, and then youre my wife, just like that? There will be two or three outfit changes. Im going full Beyonce.Filming began on the fifth, and final, season of Poldark in September.

And Aidan Turner was on hand to film an intense hanging scene, as he stepped onto a makeshift set in the Old Royal Navy College in Greenwich, London, on Saturday.

The actor, 35, looked sombre as he got into character as Ross Poldark and watched new character Ned Deapard (played by Vincent Regan) be hanged at the gallows.

Poldark SPOILER: Look away now! Aidan Turner got to work on set for an intense hanging scene as newcomer Vincent Regan stepped up to the gallows

The gruesome scenes saw Regan, 53, stand atop a black box as a noose was fitted around his neck as a menacing looking execution stood beside him.

Dressed in a white shirt, waistcoat, and trousers, as well as black boots, the actor put on a grim expression as filming got underway.

When the character stepped up to the gallows he could be seen wearing a red military jacket, suggesting that the character is likely a soldier.

Distressing: The gruesome scenes saw Regan, 53, stand atop a black box as a noose was fitted around his neck as a menacing looking execution stood beside him

Angry: While it's unclear why his character was being put to death, Ross was none too pleased as Aidan adopted an outraged expression while the actress beside him wailed in despair

Dark: Dressed in a white shirt, waistcoat, and trousers, as well as black boots, the actor put on a grim expression as filming got underway

Typical look: The unknown character is played by Kerri McLean, who wore a period costume typical of the 18th Century, as she wore a grey cape and bonnet over a beige checked dress

While it was unclear why his character was being put to death, it was clear that Ross was none too pleased as Aidan adopted an outraged expression when cameras began to role while the woman beside him wailed in despair.

The unknown character is played by Kerri McLean, who wore a period costume typical of the 18th Century, as she wore a grey cape and bonnet over a beige checked dress.

Aidan was back in his signature outfit, as he donned a black jacket over a grey waistcoat, a white shirt, and black trousers.

His long raven locks were styled into a curly mane, and he completed his ensemble with a black felt tricorn hat.

Military man? When the character stepped up to the gallows he could be seen wearing a red military jacket, suggesting that the character is likely a soldier

Menacing: The hangman wore an ominous looking outfit which paired a burlap shirt with a matching mask and black 3/4 length trousers

Onlookers: Aidan and Kerri were joined by a number of extras on set

Watching: The group of characters watched as the character was put to death

While they were unable to close off the area to the public, the crew did put up a sign so that passersby were aware that a gruesome scene was being filmed.

One Twitter user posted a picture of the sign, which read: Caution filming in progress distressing scenes ahead.'

But it wasn't all doom and gloom, as when the cameras stopped rolling the cast could be seen chatting away and laughing amongst each other.

Extras who were dressed as 18th-century soldiers could be seen looking at their phones as they waited for filming to resume.

Look away now! One Twitter user posted a picture of the sign, which read: Caution filming in progress distressing scenes ahead'

Catching up: But it wasn't all doom and gloom, as extras dressed as 18th-century soldiers could be seen looking at their phones as they waited for filming to resume

Dapper: Aidan was back in his signature outfit, as he donned a black jacket over a grey waistcoat, a white shirt, and black trousers

Looking good: His long raven locks were styled into a curly mane, and he completed his ensemble with a black felt tricorn hat

Talking about the upcoming series, writer Debbie Horsfield revealed it will be based between 1800 and 1810, which takes place in between Winston Graham's seventh novel, The Angry Tide and The Stranger from the Sea.

She said: 'In The Stranger from the Sea Winston Graham made many references to developments that happened in the 'gap' years. Much can also be inferred.

'There are, of course, also historical events and people of the time, both in Cornwall and in London.

'Series five will draw on all of these to follow the lives of the Poldarks, George Warleggan, the Enyses, and the Carnes in this intervening period.'

Having fun: When the cameras stopped rolling the cast could be seen chatting away and laughing amongst each other

New era: Talking about the upcoming series, writer Debbie Horsfield revealed it will be based between 1800 and 1810

What's to come? She said: 'In The Stranger from the Sea Winston Graham made many references to developments that happened in the 'gap' years. Much can also be inferred'

Exciting: She continued, 'Series five will draw on all of these to follow the lives of the Poldarks, George Warleggan, the Enyses, and the Carnes in this intervening period'

To which executive producer for Mammoth, Karen Thrussell, added: 'At Mammoth were all fans of the Poldark books and we hope our audience will continue with us on the next stage of the journey.

'We are confident that fans of the novels will appreciate the care with which Debbie Horsfield is continuing to adapt Winston Grahams saga. This will be the last series in the Poldark chronicle...for now.

'Who knows what the future may bring...'

And as well as the show's leads, several new stars are joining the cast as new characters, which haven't been revealed just yet.

This includes Kerri, Vincent, Lily Dodsworth Evans, Sofia Oxenham, Peter Sullivan, and Freddie Wise.

Distraught: Kerri could be seen running to Vincent's side after the hanging was complete

New blood: And as well as the show's leads, several new stars are joining the cast as new characters, which haven't been revealed just yet

Upset: Fans were understandably devastated by the finale of the fourth series of Poldark, when Ross was left shattered during after Elizabeth Warleggan (Heida Reed) died.

Devastating: Viewers saw a desperate Elizabeth take drugs to induce an early birth, in an attempt to persuade husband George that her son Valentine, was his and not Ross's

Fans were understandably devastated by the finale of the fourth series of Poldark, when Ross was left shattered during after his childhood sweetheart Elizabeth Warleggan (Heida Reed) died.

The fourth series of the hit BBC drama ended in tragedy when the popular character died shortly after the birth of her second child with husband George, leaving fans devastated.

Viewers saw a desperate Elizabeth take drugs to induce an early birth, in an attempt to persuade husband George (Jack Farthing) that her son Valentine, was his and not Ross's.

By trying to induce her second baby and have an early delivery, Elizabeth hoped her husband would be convinced her first child Valentine was also premature and end his suspicions for good.

The dangerous plan at first worked, and Elizabeth gave birth to a healthy baby daughter but soon after she was found collapsed and in pain and died holding George's hand.

Preparing himself: Aidan could be seen getting into character on set

Any prayers: A priest stepped up to the gallows to talk with Ned during the scene

Accepting his fate: In the scene, Ned could be seen looking downcast as the noose was put onShe recently confirmed her addition to the cast of The Hills reboot.

And it seems Mischa Barton is still celebrating joining the much-loved series, as she was spotted enjoying a casual dinner date with her beau, Australian millionaire James Abercrombie on Saturday night.

The pair dined out at popular eatery Craig's in West Hollywood, with the former O.C star, 32, favouring a sultry pair of leather trousers for the occasion.

Stepping out: Mischa Barton, 32, joined her Australian millionaire beau James Abercrombie for a dinner date at Craig's in West Hollywood, Los Angeles on Saturday night

Mischa cut a low-key figure as she stepped out in Los Angeles, favouring a casual ensemble that paired together her form-fitting trousers with suede boots and a patterned scarf.

She opted for a minimal make-up look to accentuate her natural features and left her lightened locks down in a swept over style.

Mischa was accompanied by James - heir to a $574 million fortune, thanks to his father Andrew Abercrombie, a former Victorian Liberal Party treasurer and Australia's richest businessman - in a rare appearance.

The model and Mischa first met at a party in Los Angeles and were first pictured together in Cannes in May last year, with Abercrombie's modelling agency confirming their relationship.

Romance: The model and Mischa first met at a party in Los Angeles and were first pictured together in Cannes in May last year

James cut a dapper figure in a grey shirt and cream crew neck jumper alongside Mischa as they enjoyed dinner out together.

Their appearance in LA comes after Mischa treated fans to a behind-the-scenes snap of herself cosying up to her Hills co-stars Audrina Patridge and Stephanie Pratt.

The actress had been filming alongside the reality stars for the new season and appeared to fit in perfectly as she playfully reference movie Mean Girls in the caption of her upload.

Mischa played on a famous quote made by 'The Plastics' in the 2004 hit and penned: 'On wednesdays we wear whatever we want... and you can totally sit with us.'

Exciting times! Mischa treated her Instagram followers to a behind-the-scenes snap of herself filming with Audrina Patridge and Stephanie Pratt for The Hills reboot

In the image she can be seen sandwiched between Audrina and Stephanie, with all three girls looking nothing short of glamorous.

Sporting an off-the-shoulder top, her tresses in soft curls and a printed headband, Mischa was positively glowing in the photo.

It seems she has hit it off with her co-stars, as former Made In Chelsea star Stephanie was quick to share the same snap via her own Instagram account and gushed: 'Hanging out in #TheHills.'

It was first announced The Hills would be making a return to MTV in August at the Video Music Awards, where some of the show's cast reunited to reveal the news.

It comes eight years after the show came to a close and will see the return of some of The Hills original stars 'alongside their children and friends'. According to MTV it will follow the stars' personal and professional lives while living in Los Angeles.

It's back! The Hills reboot comes eight years after the show came to a close and will see the return of some original stars 'alongside their children and friends'

New addition: Mischa confirmed her addition to the cast in October, stating: 'When MTV approached me with the chance to be a part of the reality show inspired by The O.C, it felt like the perfect opportunity for an irresistibly inviting new chapter'

Inspired by The O.C - a Fox Television series that followed the lives of a group of affluent teens living in Orange County, fans were delighted to hear news that Mischa herself - she played Marissa Cooper on the show - will be joining The Hills.

Mischa confirmed the exciting move via Instagram at the beginning of October, revealing: 'The secret's out. I'm joining the cast of The Hills.

When MTV approached me with the chance to be a part of the reality show that was inspired by The O.C, it felt like the perfect opportunity for an irresistibly inviting new chapter.'

Explaining why show bosses decided to snap the actress up for the new series, an insider told Page Six: 'She was around back in the day and went to all the clubs. She could make for good TV.'

Comeback: It was first announced The Hills would be making a return to MTV in August at the Video Music Awards, where some of the show's cast reunited to reveal the news

It's been a few years since Mischa appeared on television, with her more recent small screen credits including roles in Young Hollywood and the Freeform show Recovery Road.

She's set to have a busy year ahead, with credits in movies such as The Basement, Papa, and The Malevolent.

Meanwhile, The Hills reboot is going ahead with Audrina, Stephanie, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt and their baby Gunner as well as Jason Wahler, Frankie Delgado, Justin Bobby Brescia and Whitney Port all returning.

But stars Lauren Conrad, Kristin Cavallari, and Lo Bosworth will not be making a comeback. Kristin now stars on the E! reality series following her life in Nashville, Very Cavallari, with her commitment to her own show preventing her from rejoining The Hill cast.

The Hills: New Beginnings is set to premiere next year.Australian fans of Eminem could be in for an early Christmas present after the rapper's tour dates were seemingly leaked.

The musician, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, could return Down Under as early as February next year, according to a since-deleted article by News.com.au.

On Sunday, the website published several Australian tour dates promoting the album Kamikaze. However, the article was 'promptly removed' according to Tone Deaf.

Coming Down Under? Australian fans of Eminem could be in for an early Christmas present after the rapper's tour dates were seemingly leaked. Pictured in London on July 13, 2018

Eminem hasn't been Down Under since 2014, when he headlined the Rapture tour.

The tour will reportedly visit Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne between February 20 and February 24.

He is also expected to also visit Perth for the first time next year, performing at Optus Stadium in the WA capital.

Leaked? The musician, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, could return Down Under as early as February next year, according to a since-deleted article by News.com.au

It comes after the chart-topper released his new album Kamikaze to much acclaim and Billboard chart success.

The release also made headlines because Machine Gun Kelly and South African rapper Die Antwoord were targeted in diss tracks.

Eminem first rose to international fame in the late 1990s.

Broken embargo? On Sunday, the website published several Australian tour dates promoting the album Kamikaze. However, the article was 'promptly removed' according to Tone Deaf

His career took off with hits like The Real Slim Shady, Stan, and Lose Yourself.

Lose Yourself even won an Academy Award for Best Original song, the first of its genre to do so.

The track had featured in Eminem's semi-biographical film Eight Mile.

UPDATE: EMINEM'S TOUR DATES Within hours of the 'leak', Eminem's official tour dates were announced: Brisbane - Wednesday 20 February at QSAC

Sydney - Friday 22 February at ANZ Stadium

Melbourne - Sunday 24 February at the MCG

Perth - Wednesday 27 February at Optus Stadium

Wellington - Saturday 2 March at Westpac Stadium Tickets to Eminem's Rapture Tour go on sale at 2pm AEDT on Monday 22 October from Ticketek AdvertisementJack P Shepherd has reportedly landed a '250,000 salary deal' to keep him on Coronation Street after his tragic male rape plot.

According to The Mirror, the actor, 30, has been given a 30,000 pay rise for his award-winning portrayal of victim David Platt.

A source told the publication: 'His handling of the recent rape storyline has been moving and very well received by the audience. And his new deal is richly deserved.'

Racking it in: Jack P Shepherd has reportedly landed a '250,000 salary deal' to keep him on Coronation Street after his tragic male rape plot

In March, viewers were left devastated after Corrie villain Josh Tucker (Ryan Clayton) threw Jack's character David onto a bed in a semi-conscious state as he spiked his drink.

While nothing was shown on-screen, Josh could be heard undoing his trousers before closing the bedroom door, with the following episode showing David awake in Josh's bed.

'Jack is going nowhere for the next year and the executives are very happy', the insider commented.

Distressing: According to The Mirror, the actor, 30, has been given a 30,000 pay rise for his award-winning portrayal of victim David Platt

They elaborated: 'The bosses are aware that stars are keen to maximise their earnings and his new deal reflects their desire to keep top talent in the show.'

The Pudsey native is set to celebrate his 20-year anniversary on the show, after being first introduced on the cobbles in 2000. MailOnline has contacted Jack's representatives for further comment.

While many viewers branded the rape storyline 'uncomfortable,' Jack revealed that he's received plenty of praise from fans and victims' support groups for taking on the plot.

Tragic: In March, viewers were left devastated after Corrie villain Josh Tucker (Ryan Clayton) threw Jack's character David onto a bed in a semi-conscious state as he spiked his drink

Veteran: The Pudsey native is set to celebrate his 20-year anniversary on the show, after being first introduced on the cobbles in 2000

Speaking to the ITV soap's official blog, the actor recently detailed: 'People saying that they've enjoyed watching the storyline. Then they always hesitate and say, 'I shouldn't really say that as it's not something you should enjoy' but what they mean is that it's been a good topic and it needed to be addressed.

'It's interesting because when it was released in the press that we were going to do this storyline there was a lot of response with people saying it's disgusting, Corrie shouldn't be putting that on the screen, it's a family show.

'As soon as it went on screen people realised that you didn't see David get raped, all you saw was a door slamming shut and you knew what was going to happen after that. It let the audience use their own imagination.

'The storyline was more about the aftermath and the mental effect that happened with David. People got it and it was a good story, I think Corrie played it out really well.'Ant McPartlin revealed he has a picture of new girlfriend Anne-Marie Corbett as his phone screensaver.

The embattled TV presenter, 42, began dating Anne-Marie in the wake of his split from wife Lisa Armstrong, 41, and championing his new romance, Ant flashed a glimpse of his sweet phone background while stepping out in London on Thursday.

In the image, he and Anne-Marie can be seen putting on a cosy display as they cuddled up together.

Smitten with his new love: Ant McPartlin revealed he has a picture of new girlfriend Anne-Marie Corbett as his phone screensaver

Ant's background was visible as he reunited with close pal Declan Donnelly for a meeting in London.

He was seen arriving to the meeting in a silver Range Rover sporting an all-black ensemble, including a bomber jacket with leather sleeves and sunglasses.

Dec, meanwhile, was seen arriving to the offices by foot in a similarly casual getup. The star appeared in high spirits, undoubtedly still on cloud nine after welcoming his first child with wife Ali Astall.

Stepping out: The embattled TV presenter, 42, flashed a glimpse of his sweet phone background while stepping out in London on Thursday

Relaxed: Ant cut a casual figure as he was pictured arriving in London to meet with his close pal Declan Donnelly

Casual: He was sporting an all-black ensemble, including a bomber jacket with leather sleeves and sunglasses

Taking a break: Ant is currently taking an extended break from presenting and TV as he continues his recovery following a drink driving incident in April

Ali gave birth to the couple's daughter, Isla, a month ago, with Dec announcing his little girl's arrival on Twitter. He penned: 'Ali and I are thrilled to announce the arrival of our baby girl, Isla Elizabeth Anne, who was born just after 9 oclock this morning. Mother and daughter both doing well, Dad is head over heels! D x.'

Ant then shared a message on the presenting duo's shared account on the social media network that read: '

Welcome to the world baby Isla Elizabeth Anne. Cant wait for cuddles. I love you already!! Uncle Ant xxxxx.'

Back together: Dec, meanwhile, was seen arriving to the offices by foot in a similarly casual getup

Content: The star appeared in high spirits, undoubtedly still on cloud nine after welcoming his first child with wife Ali Astall

Sweet: On Isla's arrival, Dec took to Twitter to say he was 'head over heels' for his daughter

Not long now! The star is currently preparing to jet to Australia for the new series of I'm A Celebrity - he will be presenting for the first time without Ant

Ant's appearance in London come after he was spotted enjoying a date night with girlfriend Anne-Marie in the capital, after going public with his new love.

Anne-Marie had been both Ant and Lisa's personal assistant. Since learning of her relationship with Ant, Lisa has revealed she didn't know Anne-Marie and her ex-husband were dating until she saw pictures of them together in a newspaper.

Making her feelings quite clear on the matter, Lisa subsequently liked a tweet referencing her former friend and employee's romance with Ant. The post read: 'Me and hub are so supportive of you. Giving yr trust to a PA who has ripped your life apart: karma sweetie XX.'

In June, Lisa took to Twitter to criticise her ex-husband's new girlfriend of 'breaking girl code' by dating the troubled star. Lisa revealed to her 122,000 followers that she invited Anne-Marie into their marital home and the woman had been both hers and Ant's personal assistant.

Stepping back: Taking a year off from his TV commitments as he works on his health following a three-car collision in Richmond in April and previous stints in rehab

Woes: Troubled presenter Ant first sought rehab treatment in June 2017 after becoming addicted to prescription drugs and alcohol following a botched knee surgery in 2015

Trouble: He entered rehab for a second time in March after he was involved in a three-car collision in Richmond and was discovered to be over the limit behind the wheel

Ban: Ant pleaded guilty to drink-driving in April and he received a record-breaking 86,000 fine, as well as a 20-month ban from driving

She and Ant were together for 18 years - married for 12 years - and she posted a broken heart emoji upon hearing the news of his new romance.

Reports have since claimed that Ant's new girlfriend will be named in the divorce papers with estranged wife Lisa.

Ant announced he was divorcing Lisa back in January before forming a relationship with his personal assistant.

But the make-up artist is reportedly filing for divorce on the grounds of adultery, as the estranged couple are said to be close to coming to an agreement before they submit their papers.

A source told The Sun: 'Ant doesn't want to hurt Lisa  he just wants to bring it to an end as quickly and as painlessly as possible.

New romance: Ant's appearance in London come after he was spotted enjoying a date night with girlfriend Anne-Marie in the capital, after going public with his new love

Heartache: Ant's ex wife Lisa Armstrong has revealed she didn't know Anne-Marie and her ex-husband were dating until she saw pictures of them together in a newspaper

'He is on the verge of accepting his adultery but only very clearly on the technical basis that he has to  while making sure Lisa agrees that it only happened months after their separation.'

'These talks have been ongoing during recent days and they are bearing fruit, it was feared it would spark a battle royal between the two but they are working to put their differences to one side and an agreement is close.'

MailOnline contacted Ant's representatives for comment.

Split: She and Ant were together for 18 years and married for 12 years - Ant announced he was divorcing Lisa back in January before forming a relationship with his personal assistant

Drama: Lisa revealed to her 122,000 followers that she invited Anne-Marie into their marital home and the woman had been both hers and Ant's personal assistant

Following her split from the television personality, Lisa has revealed she's focusing on herself and her work. She spoke to Closer Magazine and admitted she's feeling great after taking time out to focus on her physical and mental wellbeing.

Lisa explained that she's dropped a stone in weight in recent weeks as she returns to work as the chief makeup artist and hair designer on Strictly Come Dancing for her 12th year.

'I don't know what the hell happened. I haven't had a personal trainer or anything like that,' Lisa says of her new slimmed-down look. 'It's all about being healthy and doing some exercise. You have to look after yourself as much as you can.'

Meanwhile, embattled TV star Ant - who recently revealed he is six months sober - is currently taking a year off from his TV commitments as he works on his health following a three-car collision in Richmond earlier this year.

All over: Reports have since claimed that Ant's new girlfriend will be named in the divorce papers with estranged wife Lisa - as Lisa is filing on the grounds of adultery, with the ex couple close to coming to a settlement

Ant said in a statement to MailOnline at the time: 'My recovery is going very well and for that to continue having spoken to Dec and ITV, I have made the decision to take the rest of the year off.'

He continued: 'Id like to thank both Dec and ITV for their continued support and I look forward to getting back to work in the new year.'

Troubled presenter Ant first sought rehab treatment in June 2017 after becoming addicted to prescription drugs and alcohol following a botched knee surgery in 2015.

He entered rehab for a second time in March after he was involved in a three-car collision in Richmond and was discovered to be over the limit behind the wheel.

Ant pleaded guilty to drink-driving in April and he received a record-breaking 86,000 fine, as well as a 20-month ban from driving.

Moving forward: Following her split from the television personality, Lisa has revealed she's focusing on herself and her work

The TV star will not appear on I'm A Celebrity's new series next month, with ITV confirming Holly Willoughby will join Dec out in Australia as Ant continues with his recovery.

It's claimed Holly was the channel's top choice to stand-in for Ant and they offered her a six-figure deal to take his place.

Her addition was confirmed in August, with Holly stating at the time: 'I couldn't be more excited to have been asked to stand alongside Dec for the next jungle adventure.

'I love Ant and want to send him my best wishes and support for a continued recovery. These are big shoes, not to fill, but just to keep warm for a little bit.

Dec added: "I am hugely grateful to Holly for agreeing to accompany me to Australia this year. She was at the top of my list and I'm thrilled she said yes.'

Standing in: The presenting star will join Dec for I'm A Celebrity as Ant McPartlin is currently taking a break from TV to continue his recovery after entering rehab

Since then, Holly has claimed she 'never wanted' to be offered a presenting spot on I'm A Celebrity. According to Daily Star, the mother-of-three said: 'It was a job I never wanted to be offered because no one ever wanted the day to come when it was Dec without Ant.'

The presenting duo have been co-hosts across their 20-year career in television, and only in the last two years has Dec had to helm certain series without Ant, with I'm A Celeb being the latest.

But Holly added: 'I told Ant that I would look after his show for him - because it's still his show - and I would look after Dec for him.'

Holly also said that she feels bad as she 'grew up' with the duo on TV, and that their families are all very close off-camera. She insisted, though, that she is 'taking a back seat' to Dec, who will be at the helm of the show in Ant's absence.

First: The presenting duo have been co-hosts across their 20-year career in television, and only in the last two years has Dec had to helm certain series without Ant

Holly is due to fly out to Australia in November, for the series that airs for three weeks, before the Christmas season. It's believed ITV offered the presenting star a 'six-figure deal' to join Dec on the show, with insiders claiming she was always the number one choice for Ant's stand-in.

They said: 'Shes so popular and shes got a great relationship with Dec, it was a no brainer. Hollys worth her weight in gold and the fee reflects that.'

Holly has since confirmed she will be taking her three children - Harry, nine, Belle, seven, and Chester, four, whom she shares with husband Dan Baldwin - to Australia with her.

The beauty explained that she did not accept the presenting role without Ant's blessing and insisted he was 'part of the discussion from the off'.Kerry Armstrong is one of the most iconic Australian actresses to grace our screens.

However the 60-year-old reveals that she was out of her element when the issue of Instagram came up during her appearance on the Australian edition of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! earlier this year.

Starring on the jungle based reality show alongside English Geordie Shore star Vicky Pattison and Australian model Simone Holtznagel, Kerry was forced to admit she had a lot less Instagram followers than her social media-savvy cast mates.

'Geordie Shore's Vicky Pattison had four million': Actress Kerry Armstrong (pictured) reveals the embarrassing moment she had to tell her I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! co-stars that she had just 28 Instagram followers

Speaking to Stellar magazine, the actress admits: 'I had to learn about Instagram! I think the British girl [Vicky Pattison] had four million followers; someone else had two million.

'Simone [Holtznagel] looked at me and said, 'How many have you got, Kez?' I said, '28.' And she said, 'Only 28,000?' I said, 'No... 28'.'

Vicky currently remains at four million Instagram followers, while Simone stands at just over 100,000.

Not as big: Starring on the reality show (pictured) alongside English Geordie Shore star Vicky Pattison and Australian model Simone Holtznagel, Kerry was forced to admit she had a lot less Instagram followers than her cast mates

Speaking to Stellar magazine , the actress admits: 'I had to learn about Instagram! [Vicky Pattison] had four million followers. Simone [Holtznagel] looked at me and said, 'How many have you got, Kez?' I said, '28.' And she said, 'Only 28,000?' I said, 'No... 28''

Kerry's follower count has improved somewhat since her appearance on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! reaching just over 2400.

It comes after news that the AFI winner will be the next fresh face in Ramsay Street.

The veteran actress from hit Australian shows such as Seachange, Prisoner and Lantana will move on to one the nation's most iconic soap operas - Neighbours.

Popular: Vicky Pattinson (pictured) currently remains at four million Instagram followers

Local talent: Simone Holtznagel (pictured) stands at just over 100,000 Instagram followers

Taking on the character of Alice Wells, Kerry will join the series which kickstarted the careers of stars like Margot Robbie, Liam Hemsworth and Kylie Minogue.

'Kerry is a legend of Australian film and television and we are honoured to have her in Neighbours,' the show's executive producer, Jason Herbison told Now to Love.

The award-winning actress will hit the screens as Alice in October.

Better! Kerry's follower count has improved somewhat since her appearance on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! reaching just over 2400

According to Kerry, her character's entrance will not be without drama as she will cause a rift in the street.

'Alice is a character who pushes every boundary and is a force to be reckoned with,' the actress said.

'There is a lot of encouragement [from producers] to see who she is and how far she can go.'Fabolous is no longer at odds with his girlfriend's father, despite threatening to shoot him.

The rapper was caught on tape in a heated exchange with Emily Bustamante and her dad in March.

But the two made amends the very next day, TMZ has reported.

Fixed: Fabolous has 'settled his argument' with Emily Bustamante's father after threatening to shoot him in a heated exchange

Nevertheless the 40-year-old two-time Grammy nominee is still facing 20 years in prison after being indicted on four felonies stemming from the incident, and the domestic violence that allegedly occurred earlier that month.

His 37-year-old stylist and shoe designer partner had alleged that the Bring It Back star punched her 'seven times in the face' causing 'severe damage' to two front teeth on March 7.

Three weeks later, Fabolous (born John Jackson) brandished scissors at Emily B and her father, threatening to kill them, while in the driveway of their Englewood home.

The Love & Hip Hop alum - who was only 21 when she began dating her Brooklyn-born beau in 2002 - has since made up with him and they share two sons Johan, 10; and Jonas, 3.

Trouble: Nevertheless the 40-year-old two-time Grammy nominee is still facing 20 years in prison after being indicted on four felonies stemming from the incident, and the domestic violence that allegedly occurred earlier that month

Fixed her smile: The 37-year-old stylist and shoe designer had first alleged that the Bring It Back star punched her 'seven times in the face' causing 'severe damage' to two front teeth on March 7 (pictured August 14)

According to TMZ, a grand jury concluded last week that the 40-year-old rapper committed one count of domestic violence, two counts of threatening to kill, and one count of weapon possession.

In New Jersey, felons receive up to five years in prison for each third-degree crime.

However, if the case goes to trial, Emily's father is now willing to testify on Fabulous' behalf, the site claimed.

'It's not your job to like me. It's mine,' the hot-tempered hip-hop star - who boasts 12.8M social media followers - wrote on Twitter Wednesday.

'You could give a ungrateful person the world & they'll complain bcuz you didn't gift wrap it!'

The hot-tempered hip-hop star wrote on Wednesday: 'It's not your job to like me. It's mine. You could give a ungrateful person the world & they'll complain bcuz you didn't gift wrap it!'Margot Robbie was low-key chic as she enjoyed a day off on Saturday.

The actress went unnoticed as she met with friends at the Angel City Derby in Culver City, Los Angeles.

Rocking Parisian style, the Australian born star wore a black sweater and beret with her blonde locks worn down.

Off-duty beauty: Margot Robbie is pictured out in Los Angeles on Saturday

Margot wore ripped jeans for the outing which saw her enjoy a day off from filming her new Quentin Tarantino movie Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

The 28-year-old Wolf of Wall Street star plays Sharon Tate in the flick which is centered around the Manson Family murders in 1969.

Tate was expecting husband Roman Polanski's child at the time she was brutally killed by members of the Charles Manson cult.

The star-studded film also features Leonardo DiCaprio, 43; Brad Pitt, 54; Emile Hirsch, 33; Lena Dunham, 32, and Margaret Qualley, 23.

Parisian chic: The actress went unnoticed in a black beret as she met with friends at the Angel City Derby in Culver City

Meanwhile, it's been revealed that Margot and costar Saoirse Ronan were deliberately kept apart on the set of Mary Queen of Scots.

Margot - who stars as Queen Elizabeth I - and Saoirse, 24 - who plays the Scottish royal - both appear in the new historical drama, but director Josie Rourke has revealed the unusual way she tried to create on-screen tension between the duo in a climactic seven-minute scene.

Speaking to metro.co.uk, Josie explained: 'Working with Margot and Saoirse - we worked with them differently than I would do in the theatre.

Casual cutie: Margot wore a black sweater with ripped jeans and ankle boots

'We kept them apart when they were doing that scene together. They only meet once in the film so the film drives towards this climactic scene.

'When they look each other in the eye during that scene, they're looking at each other as those characters for the first time and we managed to capture that on film in the most extraordinary way.'

Josie is best known for her theatre work, and the director is thrilled that she's been able to bring her usual approach to the big screen.

Reflecting on the dramatic final scene, she said: 'That's the amazing thing for me as a theatre director because I see these moments in rehearsals but when I show it to the audience for the first time in a theatre, we've already been through it in rehearsals.

'To capture the magic of that and the coming together in that moment and to have it immortalised is an incredibly wonderful thing.'Charlamagne Tha God might have just started a war with Kimye.

The Breakfast Club host was at #Culturecon in Queens, New York on Saturday and made some bold assertions about the marriage of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.

Amid new claims that the couple's 'marriage is under strain,' the 40-year-old mentioned in an interview that the pair might not have 'forever love.'

Kimye: Charlamagne Tha God told Us on Saturday that he didn't see Kim Kardashian and Kanye West lasting.

Charlamagne, who's real name is Lenard McKelvey, told Us that didn't have a great feeling about the power couple's relationship.

'I feel like I have a feeling about this,' he told the outlet. 'I don't see this going  I don't see this lasting, bro.'

He expanded: 'You can look at [Jay-Z] and [Beyonce] and say that's some forever love, like ride or die. You can look at Barack [Obama] and Michelle [Obama,] you know what I'm saying? I don't see [Kim and Kanye]  I don't know'

The Shook One author tried to explain his reasoning and said that the Calabasas couple's 'energies don't seem like they align.'

Fighting words: The radio host said he had a 'feeling' that the power couple would eventually split up

Neither Kim nor Kanye have responded to the comments by Charlamagne.

Kanye and the radio personality do have a relationship with one another, so the comments aren't totally out of left field.

In May, Yeezy sat down with Charlamagne for nearly two hours for an interview where he talked about a whole host of topics like his mental health,

Shortly after that interview, West went on TMZ Live for his infamous 'slavery was a choice' rant.

Ye later revealed that he was suffering from bipolar disorder, a diagnosis he told President Trump this week was incorrect.

During an Oval Office meeting with the Commander in Chief, the rapper said he was really just suffering from exhaustion.

White House visit: Last week Kanye made headlines during an Oval Office visit with the President where he explained that his bipolar disorder was just exhaustion

Threats: Radar reported that the couple has been receiving threats since the meeting and that their marriage is strained as a result

That meeting comes after a string of bizarre behavior from the rapper, including multiple social media rants and subsequent deletion of all of his accounts.

The 41-year-old Chicago native is currently with Kardashian, 37, and their children on vacation in Africa.

The trip comes after Kim was said to be 'horrified' by Kanye's headline-grabbing televised appearance alongside the President.

Kim has apparently been receiving threats that have left her 'fearing for her family's safety', and her marriage 'under strain'.

'It has come to the point where she feels unsafe and fears for her safety and that of the kids,' a source told RadarOnline.Joe Giuduce's 13-year-old daughter has joined the social media fight to keep him in the country.

With her dad facing deportation back to Italy upon his release from prison, Milania posted a heartbreaking message on Instagram on Sunday.

'My dad, who is the best dad in the world, needs to come home. We arent done fighting dad,' she captioned snaps of the pair together.

Sad: Joe Giudice's 13-year-old daughter Milania shares heartbreaking post about her dad's deportation: 'I cant imagine another day without you'

'I cant believe this is happening. I cant imagine another day without you. We are gonna do everything we can to fight this daddy!!

'I love you with all my heart buddy #heartbroken.'

The Real Housewives Of New Jersey star, who is serving out a three year prison sentence for fraud at FCI Allenwood in Pennsylvania, has been ordered to be deported back to Italy in 2019 after he finishes his prison term.

He shares three more daughters with wife Teresa: Gia, 17, Gabriella, 14, and Audriana, nine.

Fighting: 'My dad, who is the best dad in the world, needs to come home. We arent done fighting dad,' she captioned snaps of the pair together

It has been reported that Teresa will not follow her husband to Italy because their four daughters would face too much of a culture shock. Also challenging would be their lack of friends and family in the European country.

Earlier Joe made it clear he did not think it was right to send him back to Italy.

'I consider myself an American,' he began. 'I dont really know the laws there. I dont know s*** there. In order for me to go there it would be like an immigrant coming here and not knowing anything here.

Convicts: The couple pleaded guilty in 2014 to 41 counts of fraud. There were also unpaid taxes that totaled $200,000

'Besides eating pasta and making the sauce, I dont know anything in Italy.'

And when he first received the news, Joe said: 'I dont understand how I can be deported on this case. If you will, Ill tell you my side. I shouldnt even be here right now. I have to go back and tell my kids this, and theyve been waiting to hear from me.'

The couple pleaded guilty in 2014 to 41 counts of fraud. There were also unpaid taxes that totaled $200,000.

Teresa already completed her 15-month prison sentence; they were allowed to serve separately to avoid leaving their children without parents.A wedding is the perfect excuse to splash out on a designer outfit and show off the photos to all your friends afterwards.

But when youre a celebrity and the bash is a royal one, then it becomes the ideal opportunity to get a plug in for all those endorsements youve spent years carefully cultivating.

The guests at the marriage of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank certainly werent shy about promoting them, with a flurry of hashtags on Instagram identifying exactly where their dresses, shoes and handbags were from.

Robbie Williams and his wife Ayda Field, above, were resplendent in Armani and Gucci and tabbed up every one of their three outfit changes on Instagram. They found room to hashtag Gucci, Anna Mason London, Bulgari and their stylist Karl Willett

Eugenie made a subtle yet bold statement with her wedding dress for an important reason, to show her scar from an operation when she was younger

Demi Moore led the way. The Hollywood star, 55, signed up to Instagram on the day of the wedding, attracting 62,000 followers.

She uploaded a gushing video dedicated to designer Stella McCartney in which she twirled and danced in her wine-coloured custom dress saying: I felt so beautiful, like a Princess.

She also used the opportunity to thank milliner Philip Treacy for her hat, calling him a genius.

Naomi Campbell was also in a hashtagging mood, adding Philip Treacy, designers Ralph and Russo, diamond jeweller Samer Halimeh, stylist Robert Behar, make-up artist Hila Karmand and hair extension specialist Marcia Luvlocks to her wedding picture.

Meanwhile Robbie Williams and his wife Ayda Field were resplendent in Armani and Gucci and tabbed up every one of their three outfit changes on Instagram.

They found room to hashtag Gucci, Anna Mason London, Bulgari and their stylist Karl Willett.

Eugenie's stunning wedding dress was designed by Christopher De Vos and Peter Pilotto

The guests at the marriage of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank certainly werent shy about promoting brands, with a flurry of hashtags on Instagram identifying exactly where their dresses, shoes and handbags were from

Between the supermodels, pop stars and Hollywood A-listers, the reception also attracted controversy for some of its guests. Sure to raise an eyebrow were invites for Libyan Tarek Kaituni, once a confidant of Colonel Gaddafi and who helped broker secret meetings between Prince Andrew and the late dictator.

Also invited was banker Harry Keogh, who resigned in disgrace from Coutts, the 300-year-old private bank used by the Queen.

The 57-year-old left this year after allegations that he inappropriately touched young female staff and made lewd comments.

Also on the guest list was the Crown Prince of Bahrain, whose fathers regime has been heavily criticised for its track record on human rights, and Sheikh Hamad, Sheikh Suhaim and Sheikh Fahad  three rulers in the Gulf state of Qatar, where the human rights situation has also come under scrutiny.The morning after stepping back into his role as The Donald on SNL, Alec Baldwin was back on daddy duty.

Spotted out in New York City with family on Sunday, the 60-year-old actor cut a casual figure as he pushed one of his children in a stroller.

The 30 Rock star wore a somber expression as he cruised down a Manhattan block with his 2-year-old son Leonardo.

Daddy duty: Alec Baldwin was spotted on Sunday pushing his son in a stroller in New York after reprising his role as Donald Trump on SNL the night before

Alec kept it casual in a blue polo shirt and dark slacks with a pair of black leather loafers.

Leonardo hung out in the strolled as his papa pushed him wearing a blue and orange pair of sneakers, blue pants and a blue and orange coat.

The actor looked a bit on the tired side but, that's to be expected after a long night at work on Saturday Night Live and four children under the age of six.

The Departed star and his 34-year-old wife Hilaria have a brood of young children - Carmen, five, Leonardo, two, Rafael, three and baby Romeo, five-months.

Why so serious? The actor kept a somber expression on his face as he strolled with family

The night prior, the actor stepped into a familiar role and a whole lot of bronzer to transform into his Emmy nominated impression of the President of the United States.

Saturday Night Live's cold open this weekend began with a parody of Kanye West and Donald Trump's Oval Office meeting in which the president realizes that the rapper is 'a black version of himself'.

Baldwin delivered another spot-on Trump impression opposite Chris Redd as an unhinged West, who made back to back nonsensical statements about conspiracy theories and his beloved MAGA hat.

Recognizing that they wouldn't be able to top West's 10-minute rant, the writers chose to annotate the meeting with Trump's inner monologue.

Long night: It had to be a late one for the actor who spent Saturday night working into the wee hours on SNL and then came home to a house full of vibrant young children

'He doesnt listen to anybody but himself. Who does he remind me of?' Baldwin's Trump ponders as West chatters away.

Just after West says: 'Ive got a big brain and I used the best words,' Trump realizes: 'Oh my god, hes the black me!'

In addition to mockery on the long running sketch show, Kanye's visit to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has reportedly drawn ire directed toward the Kardashian West family.

Kanye, Kim and their children are currently out of the country in Africa and RadarOnline reported that the couple's marriage is 'strained' after they started receiving threats following the rappers meeting.

'He doesnt listen to anybody but himself. Who does he remind me of?' Baldwin delivered another spot on impression of Doland Trump on SNLPrime Minister Scott Morrison says his government will continue to look for ways to improve the mental health of young Australians, after significantly boosting funding for support centres across the nation.

Mr Morrison revealed on Sunday the federal government will spend an extra $51.8 million on Headspace, which runs 107 youth mental health centres nation-wide.

The funds, which will be rolled out from this financial year, will help the centres employ more staff, reducing wait times.

About $12.8 million of the money will go towards Headspace's online counselling and treatment programs.

The funding windfall comes as about one in four young Australians experience mental illness each year.

Mr Morrison says Headspace is one of the most successful mental health initiatives in the country, and is changing young people's lives.

"Headspace isn't just about getting counselling services. It's everything from helping young people get a job to supporting their physical activity to improving their relationships," he told reporters in Adelaide on Sunday.

"It is dealing with the whole person."

The prime minister said his government will continue to look at what it can do in this space, taking advice from advocates such as Headspace founding director Patrick McGorry.

"In fact, we are meeting in Canberra (on Monday) to talk about where to from here," Mr Morrison said.

"That is what we will continue to do as a government in this space."

Prof McGorry has stressed young lives depend on such support.

"We have a lot more work to do, and this is another brick in the wall," he said.Women gather for a rally and march at Chicago's Grant Park to inspire voter turnout ahead of November's midterm election

Thousands of people made their disdain for President Donald Trump heard Saturday at a rally and march in Chicago aimed at galvanizing support for Democrats in the upcoming November midterm elections.

A giant "Baby Trump" flew over the crowd. Trump was depicted as "El Diablo" on a high-flying flag. Demonstrators waved "Vote Blue" banners -- the message was unmistakable.

Angered by the bitter fight over new US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and what they called the "anti-woman agenda" of the Trump administration and the Republican Party, women -- and men -- descended on the Windy City's picturesque Grant Park.

The "March to the Polls" event -- which began in the downtown park and wrapped up after a two-blocks-long crowd marched to the center of the business district -- came just as voter registration deadlines neared in most states and early voting ramped up in more than a dozen states including Illinois.

Hillary Clinton appeared in a video message played on a giant screen, encouraging people to register to vote.

"Imagine being able to hold this administration accountable," Clinton said, echoing the general sentiment that the election is a barometer of Trump's popularity.

- Rally the millennials -

Saturday's demonstration included a street festival-like "Voter Village" where dozens of community groups and politicians set up booths to reach new voters and encourage political involvement.

"We wanted to lead into the midterms and encourage women to get out and vote," Jessica Scheller, head of Women's March Chicago, which organized the event, told AFP.

One protester created a sign that mocked a famous phrase by President Donald Trump that was unflattering to women

The loud crowd of thousands of men, women and even children, marched through downtown Chicago chanting "Vote them out!" Some were encouraged to head to early voting locations nearby to cast ballots.

Iyahna Wilson, a 19-year-old volunteer who assisted in the march, voted for the first time -- motivated by racial justice issues and gender rights.

"I never really thought that my vote was going to make a change," Wilson told AFP moments after she exited a downtown polling location, raising her hands up in celebration.

It is that mindset that organizers were fighting to change with an event they specifically aimed to take place in the runup to the midterm election.

"I would like women to take charge of the midterms," protester Sarah Sieracki told AFP.

The 23-year-old from the nearby Republican-dominated state of Indiana was the type of voter organizers were hoping to encourage to get involved.

She was carrying a "Grab 'em by the midterms" sign -- a play on an infamous remark made by Trump.

"Women need to vote. They need to get out," said Sieracki.

"We need to rally the young millennials and the people coming up, turning 18 (years old)."

- 'Women are angry' -

Some wore the pink 'pussy hats' that have become a symbol of women's rights and resistance against Donald Trump

The Chicago rally symbolized the political rancor generated by the partisan fight over Kavanaugh's confirmation despite sexual assault allegations and powerful testimony against him by his accuser Christine Blasey Ford.

All but one Senate Republican voted to confirm Kavanaugh to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court. All but one Democrat voted against.

Anti-Trump marches were scheduled later this month in other states, including the Republican strongholds of Texas, Georgia and South Carolina.

"It is infuriating to women to watch that display that we watched in that Senate committee hearing, and to see that that man was still confirmed," Scheller said.

"Women are angry. And we're starting to feel comfortable being angry."

Protesters in Chicago are trying to get out the vote -- polling stations are open in Illinois for early voting ahead of the November 6 election

Republicans currently hold the White House and both chambers of Congress, but many in the party fear anti-Trump voters will overwhelm the president's supporters in the elections, pushing the House -- at least -- over to the Democrats.

Most states allow early voting by mail-in ballot or at a limited number of polling stations, giving those unable to show up on Election Day a chance to vote.

Chicago organizers insisted their event did not favor any one party, even though funding came largely from trade unions and Democrat-aligned groups.

Previous women's protests have included plenty of anti-Trump rhetoric.

Protests in January shut down streets in dozens of American cities. In Chicago, hundreds of thousands marched.President Abdulla Yameen has asked the Supreme Court to annul results of the September election which he lost

The Supreme Court of the Maldives is to decide Sunday on President Abdulla Yameen's petition to overturn his defeat in last month's election, a move that could bring international sanctions.

The tiny Indian Ocean archipelago, which straddles the main east-west international shipping lanes, has seen political tensions escalate as Yameen jailed or exiled all his main opponents during his five-year rule.

After initially conceding defeat in the September 23 presidential election, Yameen mounted a challenge on Thursday asking the Supreme Court to annul the results and call a fresh vote.

Despite opposition fears of rigging in favour of Yameen who has ruled with an iron fist since 2013, the election was endorsed by the international community as free and fair.

Yameen was due to hand over power to the opposition candidate, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, on November 17, but the latest court action risks pushing the country back into unrest, the opposition has said.

However, the strongest warning came from the United States which said it will take "appropriate measures" if Yameen fails to ensure a smooth transition of power.

"The US is concerned by troubling actions" by Yameen "that threaten to undermine the will of the Maldivian people, and will consider appropriate measures against anyone who undermines a peaceful transfer of power in #Maldives," a State department spokesman, Robert Palladino, said on Twitter.

The United States had previously warned of targeted sanctions if Yameen's administration attempted to rig the September vote won by Solih, who secured 58.4 percent against Yameen's 41.6 percent.

The Supreme Court hearing is due to start at 1:00 pm (0800 GMT) in the upmarket tourist destination which is also at the centre of a tussle for influence between India and China.

Yameen has courted China's backing while the opposition has said it wants to renegotiate huge loans Yameen had taken from Beijing.

- Threat to stability -

Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, Colombo-based spokesman for the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), said the legal challenge was an attempt by Yameen to create unrest.

The country's Joint Opposition, which includes the MDP, has asked Yameen to withdraw the "blatantly unsubstantiated case, and to step aside and to facilitate a peaceful, and smooth transition."

Opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (C) unexpectedly won the election, securing 58.4 percent of the vote against President Abdulla Yameen's 41.6 percent

The opposition has also urged state institutions, including the courts and the security forces, to uphold the will of the people.

"Maldivians used the ballot to defeat the dictatorial regime. Yameen must not be allowed to perverse the hard-won opportunity for all Maldivians to attain meaningful democracy and stability," the Joint Opposition said in a statement at the weekend.

Apart from his political foes, Yameen has jailed the chief justice and another supreme court judge after accusing them of trying to topple him in February.

Yameen had initially suspended the court, parliament and the constitution when he declared a state of emergency when parliament was about to impeach him in February.

Three of the remaining supreme court justices have been restored, but the opposition has said they had no faith in the judiciary to deliver justice while Yameen remained in power.

However, several high profile political prisoners, including Yameen's estranged half-brother Maumoon Abdul Gayoom have been released on bail since the election results were officially announced a week after the vote.Under a deal reached in September by opposition backer Turkey and regime ally Russia rebels and jihadists in Syria were means to have pulled out heavy weapons from a planned buffer zone by October 10

A deadline passed Monday without jihadists leaving a planned buffer zone around Syria's last major rebel bastion of Idlib as set out under a Russian-Turkish deal.

The radical fighters were supposed to withdraw from the buffer as a final condition to implementing a Russian-Turkish deal to stave off a regime offensive on the northwestern region of Idlib.

The accord hung in the balance on the early hours of Monday, seven years into a grinding civil war that has killed more than 360,000 people and displaced millions.

Just hours before the cut-off time, Idlib's dominant jihadist vowed to continue to fight but did not give a clear position on the deal reached in the Russia resort of Sochi.

"We have not abandoned our choice of jihad and fighting towards implementing our blessed revolution," said Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance led by the jihadists of Al-Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate.

Idlib, the last rebel stronghold

"We appreciate the efforts of all those who strive inside and abroad to protect the liberated area," it said in an apparent reference to Turkey.

"But at the same time, we warn of the deceitfulness of the Russian occupier," it said of the regime's ally.

Under the accord, heavy weapons were meant to have been withdrawn from the horseshoe-shaped buffer by October 10 and radical fighters were meant to have left by Monday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had not observed any jihadists leaving the outlined demilitarised area by the time midnight struck.

And deadly mortar rounds fired late Saturday from the planned buffer, according to the Britain-based monitor, appeared to indicate the first part of the deal was not fully implemented either.

- Excuse for a fight? -

"The jihadists not withdrawing gives the regime and Russia an excuse to carry out a military operation at least within the demilitarised zone," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

HTS had likely "tried to gain time by neither explicitly refusing nor accepting the deal" between Russia and Turkey, he said.

Sam Heller, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, on Twitter said the HTS announcement appeared to be a "tacit agreement of the Sochi deal".

"HTS emphasizes its responsibility and flexibility (within limits), which seemingly adds up to a tacit acceptance of the Sochi deal," he wrote.

Late Saturday, "heavy mortar shells" were fired from the planned buffer area into regime territory, killing two soldiers, the Observatory said.

Rebels and jihadists had reportedly fulfilled the first part of the deal, with Turkish officials, armed factions and the Observatory reporting that the area was free of heavy-duty weaponry.

But the shells which Saturday hit an army position in Hama province appear to have violated the accord.

But it was unclear which groups fired the mortars late Saturday, it said, as both the Turkish-backed National Liberation Front and rival jihadist factions were present in the area.

The NLF -- which holds just under half of the Idlib region and has welcomed the accord -- did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment on the shelling.

- 'Vast ramifications' -

The lion's share of Idlib is held by HTS, as well as more hardline jihadists like Hurras al-Deen and Ansar al-Islam.

Those fighters also control more than two-thirds of the planned buffer zone and are supposed to withdraw by Monday.

Hurras al-Deen has publicly rejected the agreement, although it apparently withdrew its heavy arms from the area last week.

Syrian rebel-fighters with the National Liberation Front (NLF) stand on a hill overlooking regime-held areas in the northwestern countryside of Aleppo province on October 9, 2018

HTS, widely considered the most powerful force in Idlib, had quietly abided by the deal's first deadline and re-stationed heavy arms elsewhere.

But getting them to agree to the second part of the deal has proven more difficult.

In a recent report for the Turkey-based Omran Center, expert Nawar Oliver described HTS's approval as the deal's ultimate "test".

"If HTS acts as a spoiler to the agreement on the ground, this will probably lead to one of two scenarios: either Turkey and the NLF launch military action against HTS, or Russia will seize the opportunity with the support of the regime and its allies to enter Idlib," he said.

"The ramifications of that move could be vast," he added.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other top government officials have warned that the Idlib deal was only a "temporary" measure.

On Friday, residents around Idlib received warning messages on their mobile phones from the Syrian army.

"Get away from the fighters. Their fate is sealed and near," one said.Maldives President Abdulla Yameen lost heavily at elections in September

Maldives judges on Sunday heard a petition by strongman president Abdulla Yameen to have his recent election defeat annulled, potentially triggering US sanctions and plunging the archipelago into fresh turmoil.

Yameen lost heavily in the September 23 election to a little-known unity opposition candidate, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, despite his main rivals being in jail or in exile and the media in his pocket.

Under pressure from the US, Europe and India, which is seeking to counter growing Chinese influence in the strategically positioned 1,200-island honeymoon paradise, Yameen quickly conceded defeat and said he would leave office on November 17.

But even as Western countries breathed a sigh of relief, prisoners were released and opposition figures began returning from exile, Yameen last week filed a request for the Supreme Court to annul the result and call fresh elections.

A statement on Saturday by his Progressive Party (PPM) said the vote was the "most farcical election in living memory" with the organisation "abysmal", vote-rigging "rampant" and many people unable to cast ballots.

The United States -- which like the European Union threatened sanctions if the elections were not free and fair -- on Saturday warned it would react if Yameen, 59, does not go quietly.

"The US is concerned by troubling actions by outgoing president Yameen that threaten to undermine the will of the Maldivian people," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said on Twitter.

He added that Washington "will consider appropriate measures against anyone who undermines a peaceful transfer of power in #Maldives".

The situation is not dissimilar to 2013 when Yameen, estranged half-brother of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled the Maldives with an iron fist for 30 years until 2008, first became president.

Yameen's rival at the time Mohamed Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected president who is now in exile, beat him in the first round of elections but Yameen persuaded the Supreme Court to nullify the result.

A subsequent vote was then twice delayed, allowing Yameen time to forge alliances that helped him narrowly win a contested run-off.

- 'Blatantly unsubstantiated' -

Dozens of people queued up outside the Supreme Court on Sunday to get inside several hours before the hearing began. It started with the court allowing all opposition parties to have their say.

Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, Colombo-based spokesman for the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), said the legal challenge was an attempt by Yameen to create turmoil.

The country's Joint Opposition, which includes the MDP, has asked Yameen to withdraw the "blatantly unsubstantiated case, and to step aside and to facilitate a peaceful, and smooth transition."

Opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (C) unexpectedly won the election, securing 58.4 percent of the vote against President Abdulla Yameen's 41.6 percent

The opposition has also urged state institutions, including the courts and the security forces, to uphold the will of the people.

"Maldivians used the ballot to defeat the dictatorial regime. Yameen must not be allowed to perverse the hard-won opportunity for all Maldivians to attain meaningful democracy and stability," the Joint Opposition said in a statement at the weekend.

Apart from his political foes, in February Yameen jailed the chief justice and another Supreme Court judge after accusing them of trying to topple him.

Yameen had initially suspended the court, parliament and the constitution and declared a state of emergency when parliament was about to impeach him in February.

Three of the remaining Supreme Court justices have been restored, but the opposition has said they had no faith in the judiciary to deliver justice while Yameen remains in power.

However, several high profile political prisoners, including Gayoom have been released on bail since the election results were officially announced a week after the vote.

Yameen has since borrowed heavily from China under Beijing's Belt and Road initative for infrastructure projects that, like elsewhere around the Indian Ocean and beyond, have rattled India and Western countries.

The opposition has said it wants to renegotiate China's loans, although the experience of Sri Lanka, which last year leased to Beijing a new deep-sea port for 99 years, suggest this may not be easy.US student Lara Alqasem sits for a hearing at the Tel Aviv district Court on October 11, 2018

A US student barred from Israel over alleged support for a pro-Palestinian boycott campaign issued a last-minute request on Sunday to appeal the decision with the state's top court, her lawyer said.

Lara Alqasem's request came the day she was set to be deported from the immigration facility at Ben Gurion airport, where she has been held for 12 days.

On Friday, the Tel Aviv administrative court upheld the state's decision to prevent her from entering the Jewish state under a 2017 law barring supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Following her request to appeal, the Supreme Court issued a temporary order preventing her deportation, saying in a statement a panel would convene "as soon as possible this week" to decide whether to enable her to appeal.

Her lawyer, Yotam Ben Hillel, said he hoped the procedure would progress swiftly.

Alqasem landed at Ben Gurion on October 2, intending to study for a master's degree at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, but was not allowed to enter despite having a visa.

She chose to challenge the entry ban rather than return to the United States.

The Israeli academic year began on Sunday.

In March 2017, Israel's parliament passed a law banning the entry of supporters of the BDS movement, inspired by an international campaign against South Africa before the fall of apartheid.

Alqasem, reportedly of Palestinian descent, is said to have been president of a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine during her undergraduate studies at the University of Florida.

The group has supported boycott campaigns against Israel.

"Any self-respecting state defends its own interests and those of its citizens, and has the right to fight against the actions of a boycott... as well as any attacks on its image," the Tel Aviv court said in its ruling on Friday.A horseshoe-shaped demilitarised zone around Syria's opposition stronghold of Idlib is aimed at averting a massive government assault on the area, but its implementation has been riddled with challenges.

The buffer, agreed by regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey last month, was meant to be free of jihadists by October 15 but they continue to occupy the zone, throwing the deal into doubt.

Here is how the events unfolded:

- 'Bloodbath' -

After a string of Russian-backed victories this year, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad set his sights on Idlib, the largest piece of territory still held by Syria's beleaguered rebels.

For weeks, regime forces massed on the edges of the province, stepping up bombardment since early September and dropping leaflets calling on residents to surrender.

That prompted a chorus of international warnings against an offensive.

US President Donald Trump cautioned that "the world is watching", as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he feared a "bloodbath".

On September 10, the United Nations warned that an assault could create the century's "worst humanitarian catastrophe".

A day later, its Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that Idlib "must not be transformed into a bloodbath".

- Russia-Turkey accord -

On September 17, Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi and agreed to create a 15-20 kilometre (nine to 12 mile) buffer zone around the Idlib region.

According to the deal, the zone would separate rebel and regime zones and would be monitored by the two sponsor countries.

The buffer would include parts of Idlib province and the neighbouring regions of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia.

All factions in the planned demilitarised area were to hand over their heavy weapons by October 10, and radical groups were expected to withdraw by October 15, according to the agreement.

- Rebel, jihadist reactions -

On September 23, the National Liberation Front (NLF), a powerful Turkish-backed rebel alliance in Idlib, cautiously welcomed the deal.

But it later said it was opposed to the deployment of Russian forces in the buffer, and said Ankara promised them that patrols by Moscow would be dropped.

On September 29, Jaysh al-Izza, a formerly US-backed Syrian rebel group active in northern Hama province, rejected the deal and said the buffer should be carved out equally from rebel and regime zones.

The most powerful force in Idlib, an alliance known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that is led by former Al-Qaeda members, has not commented on the deal.

Hurras al-Deen, an even more hardline faction, has rejected it.

HTS, Hurras al-Deen, and other jihadists control more than half of the planned buffer zone, making their compliance key to the deal's success.

- Arms pullout -

Despite their different positions, rebels and jihadists were reported to have completed the first task of removing heavy arms on time.

On October 8, the NLF said it had finished withdrawing heavy weapons from the planned buffer zone.

The following day, on the eve of the deadline, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said HTS and "other less influential jihadist groups" also removed heavy arms from large parts of the demilitarised area.

On October 10, Turkey announced that the pullout was "complete".

- Deal threatened -

On October 12, Syria's army sent text messages to residents in the planned buffer area, telling them: "Get away from the fighters. Their fate is sealed and near."

The next day opposition fighters launched two mortar attacks on regime positions from within the buffer zone, killing two Syrian soldiers in Hama, according to the Observatory.

On October 14, hours before the second deadline for jihadists to withdraw, Idlib's HTS vowed to continue fighting.

"We have not abandoned our choice of jihad and fighting towards implementing our blessed revolution," said HTS.

The deadline for the jihadist withdrawal passed without any of the hardliners leaving the zone, a war monitor said.

On October 15, Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said the regime was waiting for its ally Russia to determine whether or not the Idlib deal was fulfilled.BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - On the outskirts of Colombia's capital red macaws share a nature reserve with ocelots and black-headed parrots. A white-crested harpy eagle whistles at schoolchildren who walk on a well-preserved trail.

The animals come from different regions of this ecologically diverse South American country. But most of them share one thing in common: They were rescued from animal traffickers.

As leaders in the fight against wildlife trafficking gather in London this week at the Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference, conservationists around the world are working to provide shelters to the thousands of animals that have been rescued from smugglers.

The Bio Parque La Reserva in the Colombian city of Cota is home to 50 species ranging from turtles to golden poison frogs, which are sought by collectors for their rare color.

Ivan Lozano, the reserve's director, said his organization helps formerly trafficked animals recover from their injuries and reintroduces some of them into the wild. But it also uses animals that can no longer live in their original habitats to teach visitors about different species and their role in the ecosystem.

"Our idea here is to change the behavior of younger generations toward these animals" Lozano said.

In this Oct. 4, 2018 photo, a Harpy Eagle gives an intense look at the camera, at its enclosure at the Biopark "La Reserva" in Cota, Colombia. The eagle was rescue one month ago by Colombian Air Force after it was shot by hunters. It is among the largest species of eagles in the world. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

To achieve this goal the Bioparque reserve opens its doors to hundreds of tourists and schoolchildren each week, for a fee of $6. Only guided visits led by the park's experts are allowed.

While Colombia lacks well-known species like rhinos or elephants that make world animal-trafficking headlines, the country is strongly affected by the trafficking of exotic snakes, parrots, frogs and three-toed sloths.

More than 23,000 animals were confiscated in Colombia from traffickers last year, and smuggling is a serious threat to species like the golden poison frog.

Lozano believes that education is one of the keys to reducing animal trafficking and that is why he has opened his reserve to visitors.

"We want people to realize that they too have a role in reducing the loss of our biodiversity" he said. "And we want to make scientific discourse more accessible."

In this Oct. 4, 2018 photo, a golden poison frog is seen inside terrarium at the Biopark "La Reserva" in Cota, Colombia. According to Ivan Lozano the owner of Biopark this frog is one of the most toxic on the planet. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

In this Oct. 4, 2018 photo, a Coati walks on a trunk at he Biopark "La Reserva" in Cota, Colombia. The Coati was rescue by Colombian police and handed over to the Biopark to be taken care of. T(AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

I this Oct. 4, 2018 photo, two scarlet macaws sit on a branch at the Biopark "La Reserva" in Cota, Colombia. The macaws where being sold at a market when to police took custody of them. They were eventual handed over to the park to be taken care of. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

In this Oct. 4, 2018 photo, a toucan sits on a branch at the Biopark "La Reserva" in Cota, Colombia. According to the manger of the park, at least half of the wild animals given to their care can not be returned to the wild because they are too domesticated. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

In this Oct. 4, 2018 photo, an owl stands on a tree brach at the Biopark "La Reserva" in Cota, Colombia, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. The owl is one of the many rescued wild animals that is on permanent exhibit at the park. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

In this Oct. 4, 2018 photo, a black headed parrot is seen at the Biopark "La Reserva" in Cota, Colombia, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. This species ranges from southern Colombia to northeast Peru, and across northern Brazil to the Guyanas, and northeast Venezuela. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

In this Oct. 4, 2018 photo, a southern crested Caracara stands on a post during an exhibition at the Biopark "La Reserva" in Cota, Colombia, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. The southern crested Caracara is a bird of prey in the family Falconidae, and is restricted to central and southern South America. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)PRAGUE (AP) - A conservative opposition party in the Czech Republic has won an election for a third of the seats in Parliament's upper house as the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Andrej Babis suffered a setback.

With nearly all the votes counted Saturday by the Statistics Office, the Civic Democratic Party won 10 of the 27 seats up for grabs in the 81-seat Senate in the two-round election.

Babis' ANO (YES) centrist movement and its coalition partner, the leftist Social Democrats, won only one seat each.

The opposition parties now control the Senate.

Parliament's lower house dominates the legislative process, but the Senate plays an important role in passing constitutional amendments and approving Constitutional Court judges.

The maverick Communist Party has no seat in the Senate for the first time after this election.AMSTERDAM, N.Y. (AP) - Mourners at a funeral for four sisters and their family members killed in a New York limousine crash were assured Saturday that their loved ones can still see their tears and feel their heartache.

On a damp, chilly day, hundreds of people packed the pews of an old brick church in Amsterdam at the service for eight of the 20 people killed last Saturday when the limousine they hired for a 30th birthday celebration crashed. The stretch limo barreled down a hill past a stop sign into another vehicle in the parking lot. All 17 passengers and the driver were killed, as well as two pedestrians standing in the parking lot.

"The question that is in the hearts of so many is: Why?" The Rev. O. Robert DeMaritnis told hundreds of mourners. "Why did these 20 individuals have to be taken from us so quickly and so unexpectedly?"

DeMaritnis spoke on an altar flanked by pictures of Allison King, sister Abigail Jackson and her husband Adam Jackson, sister Mary Dyson and her husband Robert Dyson, sister Amy Steenburg and her husband Axel Steenburg and his older brother, Richard Steenburg.

Urns containing their remains were placed beneath the pictures, with each of the three married couples sharing urns. Five teddy bears lay by the urns, one for each young child who lost a parent.

A week ago, the group - most of them in their 30s - was headed to a birthday party for Amy Steenburg at a local brewery in Cooperstown. DeMaritnis said he believes Amy and her friends were able to celebrate Amy's 30th birthday, but in their afterlife. He told mourners to take solace in their eternal life.

A unity urn with cremated ashes of Adam Jackson and Abigail Jackson is set in place as friends and family prepare for a funeral mass at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Amsterdam, N.Y., for eight of the 20 people killed in last Saturday's fatal limousine crash in Schoharie, N.Y., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

DeMaritnis married Amy and Axel Steenburg in June. He recalled them as a laughter-loving couple who made a sign asking wedding guests not to take pictures, because "we suggest that you live in the moment."

He had wondered why they never picked up the sign. Now, he said, he knew.

"That's what they're asking me to ask you to do today," DeMaritnis said, holding the sign aloft.

The sisters grew up in Amsterdam, a small upstate New York city, and many of the victims have deep ties to the area. The city has been stricken with grief amid a series of funerals.

Meanwhile, authorities continue to investigate the cause of the crash while prosecutors have charged the operator of the limo company, Nauman Hussain, with criminally negligent homicide, saying he allowed an improperly licensed driver to operate an "unserviceable" vehicle.

Thousands came together for a candlelight rally by the Mohawk River on Monday night, and thousands more attended calling hours Friday evening for the sisters and their family members.

"What good can come from this tragedy?" DeMaritnis asked the packed church as he spread his arms wide. "Take a look - thousands and thousands of people."

___

This story corrects the spelling of DeMaritnis.

This photo shows a church program for a funeral mass for eight of the 20 people killed in last Saturday's fatal limousine crash in Schoharie, N.Y., during a memorial service at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Amsterdam, N.Y., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

Friends and family attend a funeral mass for eight of the 20 people killed in last Saturday's fatal limousine crash in Schoharie, N.Y., during a memorial service at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Amsterdam, N.Y., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

Friends and family attend a funeral mass for eight of the 20 people killed in last Saturday's fatal limousine crash in Schoharie, N.Y., during a memorial service at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Amsterdam, N.Y., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

Friends and family attend a funeral mass for eight of the 20 people killed in last Saturday's fatal limousine crash in Schoharie, N.Y., during a memorial service at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Amsterdam, N.Y., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

Clergy arrive before the start of a funeral Mass for eight of the 20 people killed in last Saturday's fatal limousine crash in Schoharie, N.Y., during a memorial service at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Amsterdam, N.Y., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

New York Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., left, and New York Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, D-Rotterdam, attend a funeral mass for eight of the 20 people killed in last Saturday's fatal limousine crash in Schoharie, N.Y., during a memorial service at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Amsterdam, N.Y., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

Friends and family attend a funeral mass for eight of the 20 people killed in last Saturday's fatal limousine crash in Schoharie, N.Y., during a memorial service at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Amsterdam, N.Y., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

A woman cries after a funeral Mass for eight of the 20 people killed in last Saturday's fatal limousine crash in Schoharie, N.Y., during a memorial service at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Amsterdam, N.Y., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

Friends and family attend a funeral mass for eight of the 20 people killed in last Saturday's fatal limousine crash in Schoharie, N.Y., during a memorial service at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Amsterdam, N.Y., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

Friends and family arrive for a funeral mass for eight of the 20 people killed in last Saturday's fatal limousine crash in Schoharie, N.Y., during a memorial service at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Amsterdam, N.Y., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

Friends and family arrive before the start of a funeral Mass for eight of the 20 people killed in last Saturday's fatal limousine crash in Schoharie, N.Y., during a memorial service at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Amsterdam, N.Y., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

Friends and family arrive for a funeral Mass for eight of the 20 people killed in last Saturday's fatal limousine crash in Schoharie, N.Y., at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Amsterdam, N.Y., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

Friends and family attend a funeral Mass for eight of the 20 people killed in last Saturday's fatal limousine crash in Schoharie, N.Y., during a memorial service at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Amsterdam, N.Y., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

A urn with cremated ashes of Richard Steenberg is set in place as friends and family prepare for a funeral mass at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Amsterdam, N.Y., for eight of the 20 people killed in last Saturday's fatal limousine crash in Schoharie, Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

A urn with cremated ashes of Allison King is set in place as friends and family prepare for a funeral mass at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Amsterdam, N.Y., for eight of the 20 people killed in last Saturday's fatal limousine crash in Schoharie, N.Y., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

A unity urn with cremated ashes of Axel J. Steenberg and Amy L. Steenberg is set in place as friends and family prepare for a funeral mass at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Amsterdam, N.Y., for eight of the 20 people killed in last Saturday's fatal limousine crash in Schoharie, N.Y., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

A unity urn with cremated ashes of Robert Joseph Dyson and Mary E. Dyson is set in place as friends and family prepare for a funeral mass at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Amsterdam, N.Y., for eight of the 20 people killed in last Saturday's fatal limousine crash in Schoharie, N.Y., Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)CARRICKCARNAN, Ireland (AP) - The land around the small town of Carrickcarnan, Ireland is the kind of place where Britain's plan to leave the European Union runs right into a wall - an invisible one that's proving insanely difficult to overcome.

Somehow, a border of sorts will have to be drawn between Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and EU member Ireland to allow customs control over goods, produce and livestock once the U.K. has fully left the bloc.

That means the largely unpoliced and invisible Irish land border will become the boundary between the EU and the UK - raising vexing questions about trade and customs checks.

Of all the thorny issues in Brexit negotiations, this has been the toughest, because the challenge of keeping trade running smoothly is deeply entangled with questions of identity: what it means to be from Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland's Catholic and Protestant communities remain divided decades after 30 years of conflict claimed around 3,700 lives. The peace agreement signed in 1998 provides people with the freedom to identify as Irish or British, or both. It helped dismantle Northern Ireland's once heavily-policed and militarized border with Ireland - and the last thing people want now is a new one.

"The peace process took identity and borders out of politics. Brexit has put them slap bang back into the middle again," lamented Northern Ireland business and strategy adviser Conor Houston.

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, an Irish flag flies over the graves in a cemetery in Carrickcarnan, Ireland, just next to the the Jonesborough Parish located in Northern Ireland. The land around the small town of Carrickcarnan, Ireland is the kind of place where Britain's plan to leave the European Union walks right into a wall - an invisible one that is proving insanely difficult to overcome. Somehow, a border of sorts will have to be drawn between Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and EU member country Ireland to allow customs control over goods, produce and livestock once the U.K. has left the bloc. (AP Photo/Lorne Cook)

EU leaders and British Prime Minister Theresa May hope to make progress this week as the Brexit divorce saga comes to a critical juncture.

The Northern Ireland-Ireland border zig-zags all over the map. It cuts around properties, veers over roads and dodges villages. People cross it when they leave home to visit their doctor or go shopping. It's mostly only visible when the speed signs change from kilometers to miles.

The dividing line stretches for 500 kilometers (312 miles) and is dotted with over 250 official road crossings, more than on Europe's entire eastern flank.

A fine example of the Brexit conundrum is the Jonesborough Parish Church. A padlock secures the gate of this run-down Protestant place of worship in the U.K. An Irish flag flies in the cemetery next door, over the border. In the parking lot, a weather-beaten sign reads: "No EU Frontier in Ireland."

Not so long ago, 12 fortified watchtowers, 4 helicopter bases, a handful of army barracks and police stations dotted the countryside within a 10-mile (16-kilometer) radius.

Border posts stood for authority and made easy targets for paramilitaries. So police came to guard the customs officers. Then the army was called in to protect the police.

Some think that modern technology - drones and cameras - can defeat old enmities. Others suspect they would be used for target practice.

"For some, that will be seen as surveillance and a throwback to the troubles. Then you're going to have to decide how to protect those drones and cameras," said Peter Sheridan, a retired senior police officer with 32 years' experience in dealing with organized crime.

Still, Sheridan says politicians should not cave in to threats.

"We cannot be pressured into decisions by those who wield the biggest stick," he said.

About 65 kilometers (40 miles) to the north, in Northern Ireland's capital of Belfast, the barriers are far more visible. In many places, neighborhoods are still separated by high, graffiti-daubed "peace walls." Schools are mostly segregated.

The territory has the U.K.'s highest poverty, suicide and unemployment rates - and there are fears that Brexit might make things worse.

"The tensions just can't be underestimated and it's absolutely pervasive" in parts of Belfast, said Angila Chada from Springboard, a group working with unemployed Protestant and Catholic young people.

It's not all bad news. Trade - mostly in the agricultural and food sectors - has doubled in the last 20 years and Northern Ireland's economy has steadily improved. Still, even in the best Brexit scenario, Aodhan Connolly of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium notes there will be "a substantial new administrative burden."

More checks on goods crossing the border will mean more paperwork. That means delays, and delays create costs.

"There is very little wiggle room for business. These costs will get passed onto the consumer," Connolly told reporters during a visit to Northern Ireland organized by the Irish government. "It's literally death by a thousand cuts. The food prices will go up, the fuel will go up, the shirt on your back."

Creating a "hard border" - something all parties want to avoid - would make things worse.

On average, commercial vehicles cross the border 13,000 times each day. In the future, around 3,000 loads a day carrying beef, lamb, pork, poultry, eggs or dairy products might have to be stopped. Each check would take about 10 minutes, said Seamus Leheny from Freight Transport Association.

"We would have paralysis here on the border," he said.

Whether customs and other checks could be done away from the border - at airports, ports, factories or markets - remains to be seen.

In coming weeks, EU officials and the British and Irish governments must come up with a policy which guarantees that goods can be controlled without stifling the economy. Above all, the Brexit Irish border plan must respect the unique identities of Northern Ireland's people and not inflame tensions, as many fear it might.

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, a man walk past a section of one of the Northern Ireland "peace walls" in Cupar Way, Belfast. The land around the small town of Carrickcarnan, Ireland is the kind of place where Britain's plan to leave the European Union walks right into a wall - an invisible one that is proving insanely difficult to overcome. Somehow, a border of sorts will have to be drawn between Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and EU member country Ireland to allow customs control over goods, produce and livestock once the U.K. has left the bloc. (AP Photo/Lorne Cook)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, a man walk past a section of one of the Northern Ireland "peace walls" in Cupar Way, Belfast, Ireland. The land around the small town of Carrickcarnan, Ireland is the kind of place where Britain's plan to leave the European Union walks right into a wall - an invisible one that is proving insanely difficult to overcome. Somehow, a border of sorts will have to be drawn between Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and EU member country Ireland to allow customs control over goods, produce and livestock once the U.K. has left the bloc. (AP Photo/Lorne Cook)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, a long-abandoned unused customs shed seen next to the border between Ireland and Britain near Carrickcarnan, Ireland. The land around the small town of Carrickcarnan, Ireland is the kind of place where Britain's plan to leave the European Union walks right into a wall - an invisible one that is proving insanely difficult to overcome. Somehow, a border of sorts will have to be drawn between Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and EU member country Ireland to allow customs control over goods, produce and livestock once the U.K. has left the bloc. (AP Photo/Lorne Cook)

In this photo taken on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, the sun lights up the Jonesborough Parish located in Northern Ireland, just next to a cemetery located in the Irish side of the border near Carrickcarnan, Ireland. The land around the small town of Carrickcarnan, Ireland is the kind of place where Britain's plan to leave the European Union walks right into a wall - an invisible one that is proving insanely difficult to overcome. Somehow, a border of sorts will have to be drawn between Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and EU member country Ireland to allow customs control over goods, produce and livestock once the U.K. has left the bloc. (AP Photo/Lorne Cook)BERLIN (AP) - A German bus crashed into a metal post on a highway in southern Switzerland Sunday, leaving one woman dead and another 14 people injured, police said.

The bus was heading south with 25 people on board when the accident happened on the A2 highway at Sigirino, near Lugano - along a major route across the Alps from northern Europe to Italy.

It wasn't immediately clear what caused the bus to plow into the post, wrecking the front of the vehicle.

The bus had set off from the German city of Cologne on Saturday evening and was headed for Assisi in Italy, Johannes Huebner of bus travel group RDA, who was coordinating emergency plans for the company involved, told the German news agency dpa.

A group of young people and two drivers were on board, according to Ticino canton (state) police.

A police statement late Sunday said a 27-year-old German woman died of injuries sustained in the crash.

The accident site of a bus that crashed into signal post on the highway A2 in Sigirino, canton of Ticino, Switzerland, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. The A2 highway between Rivera and Lugano-North in is closed to the south. Several people were injured in the accident. (Gabriele Putzu, Ti-Press/Keystone via AP)

The statement said two people had serious but not life-threatening injuries, eight more had "medium" injuries and another four were lightly hurt.

The accident site of a bus that crashed into signal post on the highway A2 in Sigirino, canton of Ticino, Switzerland, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. The A2 highway between Rivera and Lugano-North in is closed to the south. Several people were injured in the accident. (Gabriele Putzu, Ti-Press/Keystone via AP)

The accident site of a bus that crashed into signal post on the highway A2 in Sigirino, canton of Ticino, Switzerland, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. The A2 highway between Rivera and Lugano-North in is closed to the south. Several people were injured in the accident. (Gabriele Putzu, Ti-Press/Keystone via AP)

The accident site of a bus that crashed into signal post on the highway A2 in Sigirino, canton of Ticino, Switzerland, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. The A2 highway between Rivera and Lugano-North in is closed to the south. Several people were injured in the accident. (Gabriele Putzu, Ti-Press/Keystone via AP)MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) - A Nicaraguan human rights group says two activists were forced off a plane for questioning by government officials in Managua amid rising tensions and detentions of dozens of anti-government protesters.

The non-governmental Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights said Sunday that indigenous rights advocate Lottie Cunningham was later allowed to board her flight out of the country but activist Haydee Castillo was taken to El Chipote prison for unknown reasons.

The detentions came just hours after police arrested 38 people at an anti-government protest that was broken up with tear gas. The government prohibited opposition protests several weeks ago.

More than 300 people have been killed since protests erupted in April calling for the resignation of President Daniel Ortega. Ortega said Saturday that those who continue to protest are "blood-thirsty."

Anti-government protesters are arrested and taken away by police as the security forces disrupt their march, coined "United for Freedom," in Managua, Nicaragua, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. Anti-government protests calling for President Daniel Ortega's resignation are ongoing since April, triggered by a since-rescinded government plan to cut social security pensions. Ortega said opponents will have to wait until his term ends in 2021. (AP Photo/Alfredo Zuniga)

A masked anti-government protester is arrested by police as security forces disrupt an opposition march, coined "United for Freedom," in Managua, Nicaragua, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. Anti-government protests calling for President Daniel Ortega's resignation are ongoing since April, triggered by a since-rescinded government plan to cut social security pensions. Ortega said opponents will have to wait until his term ends in 2021. (AP Photo/Alfredo Zuniga)

An anti-government protester is dragged away and arrested by police as security forces disrupt an opposition march coined "United for Freedom" in Managua, Nicaragua, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. Anti-government protests calling for President Daniel Ortega's resignation are ongoing since April, triggered by a since-rescinded government plan to cut social security pensions. Ortega said opponents will have to wait until his term ends in 2021. (AP Photo/Alfredo Zuniga)A car carrying migrants has collided with a truck in northern Greece  killing 11 people, police said.

Ten of the victims were believed to be migrants who crossed into the Greece from Turkey. The 11th person was the driver and a suspected migrant smuggler, police said.

Police said the car in which the migrants were packed had another vehicles number plates and is suspected of having been used for migrant trafficking.

The burnt out truck (Proininews.gr/AP)

The car had not stopped at a police checkpoint during its journey, but it was not immediately clear how close to the site of the crash that it happened.

Police said the crash occurred just after 5am local time near the town of Kavala.

The car, which had been heading to the main northern city of Thessaloniki, collided with a truck heading in the opposite direction and burst into flames.

All those in the car were killed. The truck driver, a 39-year-old Greek man, was treated for minor injuries in a hospital in northern Greece before being discharged.

Greek authorities have been seeing an increase in people illegally crossing the Greek-Turkish border in recent months.

Many are transported to Thessaloniki, where they head to police stations to be registered and apply for asylum.The family of a 21-year-old man who died in a landslide following torrential rain brought by Storm Callum have paid tribute to a beautiful son.

Corey Thomas Sharpling was killed near the village of Cwmduad in Carmarthenshire, west Wales, on Saturday, Dyfed-Powys Police said.

Mr Sharpling, from Newcastle Emlyn, was one of two people to die as Callum wreaked devastation across western parts and around coastal areas on Friday and Saturday.

Corey Thomas Sharpling, who died in a landslide,(Family Handout/PA)

Elsewhere, a 38-year-old man was swept away by rough seas in Brighton, East Sussex at about 1.30 am on Saturday.

He was found in water near Brighton Palace Pier and confirmed dead by paramedics, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said.

Mr Sharplings family paid tribute in a statement, saying : We are heartbroken at the tragic loss of our beautiful son Corey. Many knew his wit, charm and sense of loyalty and we take those things with us in our hearts.

A car is stranded in floodwater in Tonna near Aberdulais, Neath, South Wales (Ben Birchall/PA)

Callum eased on Sunday, with a band of rain making its way east and bringing a reversal of fortunes and cooler conditions.

Met Office meteorologist Luke Miall said: Into the afternoon and evening that rain will start to pull away into the North Sea but we do see another very heavy batch of rain coming across the south and south-east.

One or two showers to the far north west, but in between a slice of much clearer skies so a cold night to come, with some patchy frost and a few fog patches by dawn so it will be a chilly start to the new working week.

A bit of everything through the week ahead, here are all the details... pic.twitter.com/KZ6WHQgn8u  Met Office (@metoffice) October 14, 2018

Rain will persist in the South East, while the rest of the UK should see largely dry conditions on Monday.

The better weather will come as a relief to communities hit by Storm Callum, after rivers burst their banks, homes were flooded and power supplies were wiped out.

Wales bore the brunt of the wind and downpours, and people were urged to stay away from Carmarthen after the River Towy burst its banks.

About 100 sheep were washed away in the Carmarthenshire village of Pontargothi.

Other areas in the east and south-east of the UK escaped much of the storms wrath and enjoyed largely sunny, warm conditions.

Donna Nook in Lincolnshire reached 26.5C on Saturday, making it the warmest October day in seven years.As we pass through an era that is witnessing weakening of sincere, committed and selfless pursuit of new knowledge, a course correction is needed. Who else can guide us better in this endeavour than Swami Vivekananda?

The current state of Indian education system is a cause of concern on various fronts. It is very clearly visible in most learned narrations on education. It is indeed intriguing, and even amazing, that the real concern is not new  it is practically the same as it was articulated by Swami Vivekananda over a 100 years ago: Education which does not help the common mass of people to equip themselves for the struggle for life, which does not bring out strengthen and character, a spirit of philanthropy, and the courage of a lion  is it worth the name? Real education is that which enables one to stand on ones own legs.

That the current education system is weak on this front is universally known. It needs new insights and ideas. Every effort undertaken to reform the education sector  be it education policy, programmes, implementation strategy or articulation of outcomes  can derive immense benefit from the vision and philosophy of Swami Vivekananda.

Rabindranath Tagore once told French writer Romain Rolland: If you want to know India, study Vivekananda. In him everything is positive and nothing negative. Even today, if someone wishes to understand the Indian tradition of knowledge quest, its systems of creating, generating, disseminating and utilising knowledge, there would be no better resource and support than to read Vivekananda on what all he said about education, its goals, objectives, relationship to the growth of civilisations, human advancement and welfare of the people.

It would also indicate how and why the Indian civilisation advanced far ahead of others in comprehending the basics of human existence on planet Earth; queries on/before life and after life! Their contemplation was deep enough to let them internalise spirituality, human values and what could be the best and satisfying for any human being during his sojourn on earth. No one other than Swami Vivekananda has articulated with such a deep understanding the rise and downfall of India, the subjugation of its history, culture and heritage as a result of planned efforts to destabilise its time-tested traditional yet dynamic education system. Swami was active in a period characterised by rampant poverty, hunger, demoralisation of a slave nation, and people resigned to their fate.

The British had successfully achieved an attitudinal transformation amongst the English-educated Indian elite who were overwhelmed by the superiority of the West in every aspect, right from knowledge to culture to social systems! When Swami Vivekananda appeared on the scene, people were hesitant to even talk about independence. India needed someone to give a wakeup call; let people realise who they are; what they were missing; how they have been deprived not only of their material affluence but also of the sense of pride in their culture and heritage. Most importantly, how their minds have been made to drift away from their own people, people who were reduced to live in inhuman conditions, who had lost the will to resist injustice and humiliation. If resurgence was ever conceivable, it needed a messiah who knew India and Indians!

And knowing India was no easy task in view of the countrys diversity of every conceivable variety in men and material, spiritual and religious pursuits and systems of governance and delivering justice. Swamiji travelled across the nook and corner of the country, and what he saw, convinced him about the inherent unity of the Indian nation and its people. He also realised how India could play a leading role on the global stage in efforts to create a world of social cohesion and human dignity.

A well-known instance of comprehending and then connecting India is that of Adi Sankaracharya. He realised the need to travel around, and in his short sojourn on the planet Earth, he established shrines that strengthened the unity of minds of the people and also of the regions and places. One can also recall another example how Gopal Krishna Gokhale had advised Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to know India before beginning work in India after all the name and fame he had already earned in South Africa. He dutifully travelled every nook and corner of the country and developed an understanding that could not be matched by any of his political associates in freedom struggle.

Swami Vivekananda was quick to realise the cause of the decline of a great number of people who claimed to be the children of immortality; Amritasya Putrah! They had already understood that all this that is changeful in this ephemeral world must be enveloped by the lord! The query, in spite of all this and much more about national degradation, was answered by Swamiji. Attitude to false superiority played the most prominent role in the downfall of the children of god. While on the one hand, India boosted of Taxila, attracting learners from 60 nations, its social structure gradually declined, even a journey on seas was declared sinful and invited heavy penalties.

How can any system, social structure or a civilisation, maintain its dynamism if it isolates itself from the world outside? In 1894, Vivekananda said in his book, The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, To my mind, the one great cause of the downfall and the degeneration coming was the building of a wall of custom  whose foundation was hatred of others  round the nation, and the real aim of which in ancient times was to prevent the Hindu from coming in contact with the surrounding Buddhist nations. In the same piece he offered the solution: Give and take is the law, and if India wants to raise herself once more, it is absolutely necessary that she brings out her treasures and throws them broadcast among the nations of the earth, and in return be ready to receive what others have to give us. Expansion is life, contraction is death.

Finally, in this very piece he exhorted: We must mix with all the races of the Earth. The lamp that was lit by Swami has spread its light across the nation, across the communities and the entire world now realises and relishes Indias global presence. But mere travel around and outside, opening up the sea shores and airports alone is only one initial step. It alone is not sufficient to give Indians their due on the global stage.

If India is to stand up with its head high in the global community, it has to prepare its young generations, who are self-assured, confident, proud of their heritage, history and motherland, and are keen to prove that they are not inferior to anyone. It must make them believe that they all have the capability and potential to lead a global renaissance.

For a committed researcher and explorer, knowledge pursuit is a pious task. Indian culture and tradition links it to the individuals urge to gain better understanding of the forces of nature, and utilise that knowledge for the welfare of the people, humanity and that, too, without any distinction or selfish motive. He prays for one and all  men and women of all religions and faiths, of all colours and creeds. No distinction, every soul being divine.

The rishis and munis, saints and sages  they all created knowledge and disseminated it for the human welfare. Things have changed in the modern world and India and Indians are no longer exceptions. Now, knowledge quest is often pursued with the sole commercial considerations getting a patent earlier than others and takeover the market! Historical interventions impeded Indian knowledge traditions, and today, we are just copying the trends of much-glamourised globalisation.

However, as we are passing through an era of weakening of sincere, committed and selfless pursuits of new knowledge, a course correction is urgently needed. Essentially, it amounts to broadening of the vision of knowledge quest that India must articulate in the current-day idiom, accept and implement.

How to proceed to comprehend this change was so lucidly elaborated by Swami Vivekananda: Everyone born in this world has a bent, a direction towards which he must go, through which he must live, and what is true of the individual equally true of the race. Each race, similarly, has a peculiar bent, each race has a peculiar raison detre, each race has a peculiar mission to fill in the life of the world. Each race has to make its own result, to fulfil its own mission. Political greatness or military power is never the mission of our race; it never was and, mark my word, it never will be. But there has been the other mission given to us, which is to conserve, to preserve, to accumulate, as it were, into a dynamo, all the spiritual energy of the race, and that concentrated energy is to pour forth in a deluge on the world whenever circumstances are propitious. Can India not build the edifice of its new education for resurgent India on this outstanding postulate?

(The writer is the Indian Representative on the Executive Board of UNESCO)The role of Chinas Confucius Institute, which is overtly an intellectual institution, has now come under the scanner of the Indian covert agencies, which suspect that the institute is exploited by Beijing worldwide for Intelligence gathering. The establishment of one Confucius Institute centre in Mumbai University and efforts at setting up similar centres in Vellore, Sulur, Coimbatore and Kolkata has sent alarm bells ringing in the Intelligence community here.

The Chinese agencies efforts through Chinese businessmen to gain access to decision making levels in Indian establishments have also emerged as another area of concern, a senior Intelligence official said. Amid Chinas growing geopolitical ambition, the Indian Intelligence agencies are apprehending aggressive Intelligence gathering by Bejing.

The agencies are keeping a watch on the MoUs signed with Indian universities /colleges, student exchange programmes and attempts to manipulate the post-Dalai Lama situation in their favour. China has reportedly sought the custody of the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje from Washington. Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje deceitfully exited from India to the US in April last year.

Karmapa is the second most important leader in the Tibetan Buddhism hierarchy after Dalai Lama. China already has taken custody of another key Tibetan Buddhist leader Panchen Lama.

Union Home Ministry sources said Home Minister Rajnath Singh is seized of the threats emanating from Chinese penetration in Indian educational institutions and has sought a strategy to be put in place to deal with the challenge.

The Intelligence agencies have advised the States to keep a watch on the Chinese activities and inform the Central agencies for collation of data and remedial action.

The modus operandi of the Chinese Intelligence gathering apparatus globally is using amateurs and its expatriate community settled worldwide which is not only a big challenge to detect but also difficult to prove in a court of law. China is the most active nation involved in cyber espionage with formidable capabilities, an Intelligence official said.

The Chinese intelligence agencies are also known to be different from their counterparts in US and Russia wherein Beijing exploits its soft power for espionage activities under the cover of legitimate activities. Notably, China indulges in intelligence gathering through academics and scholars, business people and Intelligence operatives under official cover of diplomats, defence attaches and journalists, another official said.

India and China share a complicated relationship due to the lack of delineation of India-China boundary, lack of clarification of the Line of Actual Control, Beijings concern about presence of the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso in India and New Delhis concerns regarding post-Dalai Lama scenario.

The relationship is further complicated by Chinese support to Northeastern insurgent groups, increased Chinese interest in the Indian Ocean Region and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC, a part of BRI) which passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and growing Chinese influence in Indias neighbourhood especially Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Maldives, added the official.Trashes charges, threatens legal action, gives no indication of stepping down

Union Minister MJ Akbar on Sunday tried to brazen out the charges of sexual misconduct levelled against him by several women journalists and threatened them with legal action while giving no indication of stepping down from office. Akbar described the charges against him as false and fabricated and gave a political twist to the whole controversy by suggesting that this was part of an agenda as the charges came a few months before a general election.

As many as ten women journalists, who served under Akbar when he was the editor of a national daily, have narrated horrifying tales of sexual assault made on them by their boss. Soon after returning from a trip to Africa, the Minister of State for External Affairs issued a statement trashing the charges against him, saying accusations without evidence have become a viral fever among some sections.

However, with more and more women coming out against him and the Government facing flaks, Akbar has reasons to face sleepless nights.

Dismissing Akbars statement, Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi wondered how the BJP leader could try to hide behind the allegation of a political campaign against him.

I wonder how over a dozen women sharing their experiences can be claimed as political conspiracy? Bigger wonder is which constituency does his stepping down impact in elections? The only clear answer is that this government is actively protecting & promoting the sexual perverts, Chaturvedi posted on Twitter.

The Congress has also asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak his mind on the issue. The PMs silence is conspicuous. A PM who speaks on everything is silent on #MeToo. The silence raises questions on the dignity of the PMs office. The country has been waiting for days for Modi to clear his stand on this, Congress leader Anand Sharma said at a Press conference.

Describing the allegations of misconduct made against him false and fabricated, Akbar said, these were spiced up by innuendo and malice.

Accusation without evidence has become a viral fever among some sections. Whatever be the case, now that I have returned, my lawyers will look into these wild and baseless allegations in order to decide our future course of legal action, he said in the statement.

Akbar said even journalist Priya Ramani who started this campaign with a magazine article a year ago did not accused him of doing anything. She did not however name me as she knew it was an incorrect story. When asked recently why she had not named me, she replied, in a Tweet, Never named him because he didnt do anything. If I didnt do anything, where and what is the story? There is no story.

This was admitted at the very inception. But a sea of innuendo, speculation and abusive diatribe has been built around something that never happened. Some are total, unsubstantiated hearsay; others confirm, on the record, that I didnt do anything. Let me note examples. Shutapa Paul states, The man never laid a hand on me, he said.

Akbar then referred to Shuma Raha and pointed out that she too said he didnt actually do anything. One woman, Anju Bharti, went to the absurd extent of claiming I was partying in a swimming pool. I do not know how to swim, he said.

Another accusation was made repeatedly by Ghazala Wahab, in an effort to damage my reputation. She claimed that she had been molested in office, 21 years ago. This is 16 years before I entered public life, and when I was in the media. The only office where I worked with her was that of The Asian Age. A part of the editorial team then worked out of a small hall.

At the time concerned, I had a very tiny cubicle, patched together by plywood and glass. Others had tables and chairs two feet away. It is utterly bizarre to believe that anything could have happened in that tiny space, and, moreover, that no one else in the vicinity would come to know, in the midst of a working day. These allegations are false, motivated and baseless, he said.

Akbar went on to add, Wahab states that she complained to Veenu Sandal, who wrote features for the paper. Sandal has described Wahabs version as nonsense, in an interview to the Indian Express. Sandal has also said she has never heard, in 20 years, anybody accusing me of any such thing.

Akbar then went on to remind that both Ramani and Wahab kept working with him even after these alleged incidents. The reason why they remained silent for decades is very apparent: As Ramani has herself stated, I never did anything. This is the reason why no one went to the authorities for so long, because I had done nothing, he said.

Akbar ended his statement on threatening note saying, Lies do not have legs, but they do contain poison, which can be whipped into a frenzy. This is deeply distressing. As indicated above, I will be taking appropriate legal action.5 youths were gunned down in 1994 by Army

Seven personnel of the Indian Army, including a Major General, have been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Summary General Court Martial (SGCM) for their involvement in a fake encounter that had taken place in Assam in 1994.

I am extremely happy to see that justice is finally delivered in the infamous Dangari encounter case where five innocent youths were killed. The verdict of the court martial yesterday once again brought to the fore the neutrality of the Indian Army. It has proved that one must have faith in Indian judicial system, democracy and the discipline and neutrality of an institution like Indian Army, said Jagadish Bhuyan, who has been pursuing the case for the last 24 years.

The Army jawans from 18 Punjab Regiment had picked up nine youths and student leaders from different areas of Tinsukia district on February 18, 1994 for their alleged role in killing the general manager of a tea estate. The arrest caused widespread public outrage. The army branded them as Ulfa militants and gunned down five of them in what has now been established as fake encounters. Four others were released in a jungle.

The then All Assam Students Union leader Jagadish Bhuyan filed a habeas corpus petition in the Gauhati High Court the same month seeking to know the details of these youths. Based on the petition filed by Bhuyan, the Gauhati High Court ordered the Army to produce the nine at the nearest police station. Later, the Army produced five bodies at the Dholla police station.

The investigation of the case was later handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which filed a chargesheet against the seven Army personnel.

Following this, the Gauhati High Court asked the Army to go for a court martial, which was challenged by the Army in the Supreme Court.

Later, on the apex courts instruction, the Army started the process of holding the Summary General Court Martial (SGCM) of the encounter on July 16 and concluded the process on July 27. The Summary General Court Martial on Saturday awarded life imprisonment to Major General AK Lal, Col. Thomas Mathew, Col. RS Sibiren, Capt. Dilip Singh, Capt Jagdeo Singh, Naik Albindar Singh and Naik Shivendar Singh for the fake encounter killings.

We have waited for justice for the last 24 years. We thank the witnesses who deposed before the Army court during the court martial braving threat to their lives. We also thank the then AASU leader Jagadish Bhuyan who had been pursuing the case alone all these years, said Debashis Biswas, brother of late Debajit Biswas, one of the five victims of the fake encounter.Former Kendrapada MP Baijayant Panda has urged Ambassador of India to UAE Navdeep Singh Suri to take all steps for repatriation of Santosh Kumar Swain from Abu Dhabi to his village Kalanga Paika Sahi in Kordha district.

As informed by his family members, Swain is working under a contractor at Naithils General Contracting LLC, Abu Dhabi for the past eight to nine months. He had gone to Abu Dhabi through one local agent via direct interview. But he is working there in very a precarious condition as the contactor is not providing any food and adequate salary to him. His family has requested for assistance in returning to India, Panda mentioned in the letter.Three frontline leaders of Congress in Chhattisgarh are in constant touch with BJP central leadership to execute a meticulously planned strategy of the saffron party to either field weak candidates in at least nine to twelve seats or create a mutiny within the party to allow the BJP a free run in assembly polls next month.

The BJP has also strongly advised the Rs Congress friends to work out an idea similar to 2014 Antagarh assembly bypoll in which Congress candidate pulled out from contest hours before voting, allowing the BJP a complete walkover.

Two out of the three Congress leaders who have developed excellent rapport with the BJP in recent weeks, have also found names in the powerful Core Committee constituted on October 11 by Congress president Rahul Gandhi for Chhattisgarh. Congress has already lost its working president Ramdayal Uike to the BJP on Oct 13.

The three leaders, each one belongs to SC, ST and OBC categories, have been offering all kind of possible help to the BJP to achieve its 65-plus seats target in a 90-member assembly polls scheduled in two phases next month. The BJP is using recorded detailed telephonic conversation of the three Congress leaders as Rs bargaining chip to facilitate its wish to push through weak candidates in nearly a dozen seats mainly in Bastar and Surguja regions.

Two of three Congress leaders are also ready to walk into BJP fold if needed but they have been strictly advised to stay put in Congress but follow the BJPs command. Interestingly, none of the three is aware about each others Rs secret pact with the BJP. Chhattisgarh has a rich culture of Rs below the belt politics ahead of assembly polls which first began from states maiden assembly polls in 2003 when country was rocked by Rs cash-on-camera scam involving BJP veteran and then union minister of state for environment and forests late Dilip Singh Judeo when Ajit Jogi-led Congress was in power in Chhattisgarh.

Chhattisgarh is known for innovations in politics and in the most recent case, the CBI charge-sheeted Chhattisgarh Congress President Bhupesh Baghel late last month for his alleged role in a sleaze CD in which Chhattisgarh governments PWD Minister Rajesh Munat has been filmed in a compromising position. Baghel spent a few days in Raipur central jail in the case and presently on bail to lead Congress poll campaign.

Indias grand old party Congress is credited to be the inventor of Rs politics of inducement and intimidation for decades to win elections in states but now it is getting a taste of its own medicine in Chhattisgarh. Chhattisgarh was shamed in September 2014 during by-poll for Scheduled Tribe reserved Antagarh assembly seat in Kanker district when Congress official candidate Manturam Pawar pulled out from election in support of the rival BJP candidate Bhojraj Naag hours before voting.

The move of the Congress candidate had shocked entire state and intellectuals had described the case Rs a slur on democracy. Later an audio tape surfaced on public domain that presented a classic case how a faction of the Congress worked hand in glove with the ruling BJP to ensure a thumping win for the BJP candidate.

The embarrassed Congress had then suspended its high profile MLA Amit Jogi for allegedly fixing Antagarh by-poll through a financial deal with the BJP.Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani will formally invite Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to attend a function to unveil the Statue of Unity, deemed to be the tallest statue, at Kavedia in Gujarat.

The Gujarat Chief Minister and a 14-member delegation accompanying him will meet the UP Chief Minister at his official residence here on Monday morning.

Rupani has arrived in Lucknow with his team and will have a series of meetings, including an interaction with the Gujarati samaj in the state capital. He will also address the media to give details of the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He is expected to return to Gujarat on Monday evening.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patels statue, named as the Statue of Unity, will be unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 31.

During the meeting, both the Chief Ministers and their officials would discuss various issues, including attacks on north Indians in Gujarat after a rape incident.

Earlier, the UP Chief Minister had expressed his concern over the security of north Indians living in Gujarat after the violence.

The Chief Minister is also likely to reiterate his request for land for construction of Uttar Pradesh Bhawan at Ek Bharat Shresht Bharat complex which will come up near the Statue of Unity.

Yogi had earlier written a letter to Rupani demanding land for construction of UP Bhawan. In his letter on September 12, 2018, the UP Chief Minister had sought land around the Statue of Unity.

If Gujarat government gives land, the UP government will build a bhawan for the benefit of the people of Uttar Pradesh who visit Gujarat, he said.

Yogi further wrote: This is a great proposal of the Gujarat government to allow various state governments to build their own bhawans at Ek Bharat Shresht Bharat complex. This initiative is commendable.

Once complete, the Statue of Unity will be the tallest statue of the world. It is being built at a cost of Rs 2989 crore. The work for this project began in December 2015.Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal on Sunday announced a slew of incentives for Numberdars including doubling the monthly honorarium, providing them mobile phones and bringing them under the cover of Ayushman Bharat Yojna.

Making these announcements at the state-level Numberdar Sammelan organised at Mahavir Stadium in Hisar, the Chief Minister said that Numberdars would now get an honorarium of Rs 3,000 instead of Rs 1,500 per month, and it would be directly deposited in their accounts.

Numbardars from all over the state attended the conference.

The Chief Minister said the previous governments neither gave Numberdars due honour nor paid them according to their status. In order to enable them to have better communication facility, Numberdars would also be provided with a mobile phone. Necessary directions have been given to the Irrigation and Water Resources Department, he added.

Numberdars would also be covered under the Ayushman Bharat Yojna on par with the families identified by the socio-economic and caste census and given health insurance cover of up to Rs 5 lakh annually. For the convenience of people and Numberdars, the remand powers of revenue officers in the cases pertaining to revenue have been withdrawn, he said.

Manohar Lal said, once in three months, a training programme would be organised for Numberdars to make them aware and update them with new policies, rights and their duties. At every Tehsil head office, list of Jamabandi Nakal related to the respective Tehsil has been provided online to avoid the farmers any hassles, he said.

Haryana is the first state to give a transformed look to the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) besides decentralizing powers by constituting an Inter District Council. Today, representatives of PRIs and Urban Local Bodies in the state are well educated and this has helped in accelerating the pace of development, he said.

The Chief Minister further said that Haryana has bagged first rank and has been awarded under Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2018. Providing accountable and transparent governance is our priority. The Revenue Department work has been made online to avoid wastage of time and money and to put a curb on corruption, he added.

In 2014, chakbandi of 100 villages was pending out of which work in 50 villages has been completed. And, on the suggestion of panchayats, chakbandi may also be done again in the villages where it was done long back. The government has kept the target of zero inteqal. Four years ago, there were 4 lakh inteqals pending in the state but now only 20,000 cases are pending. These cases pertain to the disputes which would be scrutinized at government level, he added.

The Chief Minister also said thatwork on e-Khasra Girdawri had also been started through e-Tab for the Kharif crops 2018 under which Nakal Khasra Girdawri would be provided online.

He called upon the Numberdars to work dedicatedly in their respective areas and perform their duty responsibly. They should make people aware about the welfare schemes implemented by the State Government so that the benefits could percolate down to the last man standing in the queue, he said.

Expressing concern over pollution, he said, this problem aggregated with the burning of straw in the fields. He urged Numberdars to make the farmers aware about the adverse affects of straw-burning to curb this practice.

Now almost all families in Haryana have gas connection. However, in case anybody is left out, Numberdars should play a role in providing them connections, the Chief Minister added.

Speaking on the occasion, the Finance and Revenue Minister, Capt. Abhimanyu, said Numberdars played an important role in serving as a link between the government and the people.

With the passage of time and advancement of technology, working of the Revenue Department has undergone a big change. Even though most of the work is done online, the status of Numberdars remains relevant and the government is committed to further strengthening this institution. They should come forward and join the government in providing a transparent an answerable administration to the people of the state, he added.896357 MT paddy procured

Chandigarh: The government agencies and private millers have procured 896357 metric tonnes of Paddy in Punjab till October 13. A spokesman informed that out of the total procurement from various procurement centres in the state, the government agencies procured 867451 MT of paddy while 28906 MT has been procured by the millers. PUNGRAIN had procured 269667 tonnes, MARKFED 224536 tonnes and PUNSUP procured 181925 tonnes while Punjab State Warehousing Corporation and Punjab Agro Foodgrains Corporation procured 83556 and 95838 MT paddy respectively. The Centre government agency FCI has procured 11929 MT paddy.

GMCH to award for services in research

Chandigarh: Government Medical College & Hospital, Sector-32 here will observe its first Research Day on October 15, which happens to be the birthday of former President of India and Researcher of par Excellence Late APJ Abdul Kalam. VP Singh Badnore Governor Punjab & UT Administrator, will be the chief guest for the inaugural function of first annual research day of GMCH-32. The Administrator will also inaugurate Multidisciplinary Research Unit (MDRU) on the same day. MDRU has been set-up in GMCH with the financial assistance from Dept of Health Research (DHR), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Swami Smaranananda Giri addresses people

Chandigarh: Swami Smaranananda Giri General Secretary of the Yogoda Satsanga Society of India, YSS, addressed a large gathering at the Tagore Theatre here on the topic Winning the Battle of Life Through Meditation. Swami Giri emphasized the need for every individual, however much busy he or she may be, to take out time each day for meditation. There is no other way to combat the stresses and tensions of life that are a part and parcel of every persons life in this era, he said. Daily practice of meditation techniques can go a long way in ensuring inner peace and calmness, despite all obstacles in ones path, advised Swami Giri. A large number of eminent persons, young and old, of the tri-city attended the talk and some of them stayed back to receive basic guidelines on meditation techniques from Swami Giri.

Workshop on teaching reading skills on Oct 17

Chandigarh: British Council will conduct a workshop on teaching reading skills exclusively designed for IELTS trainers on October 17. The aim of the session is to equip IELTS trainers with effective methods, resources, practical ideas and activities that they can implement in their classrooms, and to direct them towards IELTS resources available at British Council. The workshops have been developed and certified by the British Council. The workshop will be organized on October 17 from 12 noon to 3 PM at 178 A, Elante Office Block here.

Valuers Association against MCA

Chandigarh: Valuers Association is against the arbitrary clauses in Companies (Registered Valuers & Valuation Rules) 2017 as notified by Ministry of Corporate Affairs without considering the objections sent by thousands of stake holders. Er. Kapil Arora, General Secretary, said new rules will lead to corruption & unethical practices resulting more NPAs. Since 2007 as per Act of Parliament, it is mandatory for all banks to get valuation from Valuers Approved. Unfortunately, the banks have empanelled fake/invalid degree holders as well as ineligible persons as valuers. Instead of sorting out this issue, the valuers are being forced to become member of Private Organisations and do course of 50 hours being conducted by them which clearly going against the directions of Supreme Court and UGC Act, he said.

SBI Home Loan Centre opened at Zirakpur

Chandigarh: SBI Home Loan Centre opened at VIP road Zirakpur will cater to the house loan needs of the customers of Zirakpur, Derabassi , Mohali and nearby areas. Thiscentre has been opened in view of the increasing demand of the builders and customers of this area. This will save considerable amount of time of the customers and all their home loan related needs will be taken care of under one roof, said CGM, Rana Aushutosh Kumar Singh after inaugurating the centre. He apprised customers the various new initiatives started by the bank for different strata of the society.

Dandiya Dhamaal 2018 in Omaxe

New Chandigarh: Dandiya performance by a renowned troupe from Gujarat was amongst the major attractions that enthralled thousands who had gathered in Omaxe New Chandigarh for the annual Dandiya Dhamaal Mahotsav in Omaxe New Chandigarh held during October 12-14. Omaxe celebrates Dandiya Dhamaal Mahotsav every year as part of its endeavour to bring the community together on this festive occasion in its township spread across hundreds of acres.

GHD to be celebrated

Chandigarh: With a view of adopting certain hygienic practices, Shri Krishna AYUSH University, Kurukshetra will celebrate Global Handwashing Day (GHD) on October 15 under Swachhta Hi Sewa campaign in which the Professors, staff and students of the university will also participate. The event would be organised in the university premises on the directions of the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Baldev Kumar. On this occasion, the employees and students would be made aware about correct hand-washing procedures and its benefits. Besides this, Swachhta Pakhwada would also be orgainised under Swachh Bharat Mission from October 16 to 30 in the university campus.This will be a Kumbh of a different kind in which farmers and agricultural scientists from across the country will brainstorm for three days in the state capital from October 26 to search avenues for increasing the income of the farming community.

The agri-meet  Krishi Kumbh-2018  will also be attended by Haryana and Jharkhand as partner states.

Chief Secretary Anup Chandra Pandey said that Uttar Pradesh had already organised UP Investors Summit 2018 and MSME conclave  One District One Product Summit and the Krishi Kumbh would be the third important summit that will give a boost to all the three sectors, particularly ODOP.

The aim is to promote modern agricultural techniques and diversification of crops which in turn help the farmers to double their income. Over 100,000 farmers, scientists, experts and entrepreneurs are expected to take part in this three-day event.

Manish Sharma, a senior official looking after the preparations for Krishi Kumbh, said that this event would include all aspects of rural economy, such as agriculture, horticulture, dairy, pisciculture, bee-keeping, food processing, animal husbandry and farm implements to provide a holistic picture to farmers for increasing their income.

The summit seeks to introduce farmers to the evolving dynamics of farming so that they may increase their earnings by tapping the vast potential in agriculture and post harvest management of crops, he said.

Sharma said that the Bharatiya Janata Party government always advocated diversification in the farm sector as Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath believed that in present day scenario, diversification in farm sector would lead to better profits to farmers.

The Chief Minister advocates that farmers should take up vegetable growing, fruit production, horticulture, pisciculture and dairy development other than conventional farming.

In a recent meeting with a delegation of Asian Development Bank, the Chief Minister had said: It is a beneficial effort to enhance agricultural production. Experts in this field should be roped in for wide ranging deliberations. This will also help the government in fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modis dream to double the income of farmers by 2022.

Sharma said the government was following the vision of the Chief Minister and the Prime Minister in totality to help the farmers to achieve the set target.

The need is to popularise Prime Ministers Crop Insurance Scheme and Prime Minister Agriculture Irrigation Scheme. Besides, soil health cards is helping farmers in knowing the nature of their soil, the official said.

He said through the use of new technology, food grain production had increased in Uttar Pradesh by two million tonnes (MT) and the state claimed to have surplus food grain inventory of 10 MT.

Besides, he said, the agricultural and horticultural production had been robust, including potato, which clocked a record output of 15.5 MT.The government will announce an ambitious plan aimed at cutting disposable plastic waste by 25 percent over the next decade while promoting environmentally friendly bioplastics made from plants, sources said Saturday.

By setting the goal, Tokyo aims to display its commitment to tackling environmental issues ahead of the Group of 20 summit in Osaka next June.

Japan produces the largest amount of plastic waste per capita after the United States and has lagged behind other countries in curbing the use of plastics.

The target will likely be added to a draft strategy on plastic waste reduction being prepared by the Environment Ministry. It will be submitted to a ministry panel on Friday and the strategy is expected to be compiled by the end of the year.

The use of bioplastic materials will be increased to around 2 million tons by the target year of 2030 from 70,000 tons in fiscal 2013, according to the sources.

Plastic bottles and packaging, which make up a large portion of plastic waste, totaled 4.07 million tons in 2016, according to the ministry. Overall plastic waste data including for straws and stirrers were not available.

Businesses voiced concerns about negative economic repercussions and the feasibility of the target.

It costs less than A1 to produce a plastic straw but around A13 for a paper straw, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Bioplastics are also more expensive than conventional plastics.

On the goal of boosting bioplastics by nearly 30 times by fiscal 2030, a government official said, aIt is very ambitious and would be really tough to achieve.a

Among other goals, the government aims to raise the proportion of recycled and reused plastic to 60 percent of all household and industrial waste. In fiscal 2016, the figure stood at 53 percent for household waste.

The Environment Ministry also plans to set targets for the reuse of all plastics including electronic appliances and automobile parts.Bar Assn seeks return of bike unconditionally

Umarkote Bar Association member Md Husain has alleged that a team of the Chandhandi police misbehaved him using slang language during a vehicle checking on Friday evening.

Husain was returning home after Friday prayer in his bike when he was stopped by a team of police and MV officials on Chandahandi-Jharigam Main road. As asked by them, Hussain produced all documents. However, the team took his bike on the plea that he was not wearing a helmet then.

When I protested saying MV checking after sunset is illegal, they verbally abused me and booked me in a false case, alleged Husain.

Basing on his complaint, the Umarkote Bar Association called a meeting here on Saturday and condemned the act of police. The association threatened to take bold steps if the cops dont not withdraw false case and release his bike unconditionally.

Lawyers are now protesting attack on a lawyer of the Orissa High Court. This incident would add fuel to the fire, said association president Prasant Kumar Sahu.Night patrolling staff saved a life of a 38 year-old man who was found lying injured in Govindpuri area of Delhi. The police have also arrested a man who attempted to murder him.

Our night patrolling team on 6 October at about 11 pm reached near Pocket 4, Kalkaji Extension when they saw one person lying behind parked cars in an isolated dark spot. The person identified as Jayant Haldar was semi-conscious and severely bleeding, having injuries on his neck and head following which he was immediately rushed to the AIIMS for treatment, said Chinmoy Biswal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), South east district.

On the way to hospital, the injured informed police in dizzy state, that Kabir had assaulted him. The doctors in the hospital stated that if there would have been delay of five more minutes, then it would have been difficult to save the life of the injured. During investigation, police team collected a broken bottle of alcohol from the spot having blood stains on it. Crime team was also called on spot, who inspected the crime scene and finger prints on alcohol bottle were lifted. Finally going through voter list, one person with the name Kabir living in the area was shortlisted, said the DCP.Three years after two Sikh protestors were killed in police firing during a peaceful protest against sacrilege incidents that shook the state, a sea of humanity, including political and religious leaders, Sikh preachers, common people, converged at Bargari to send out a clear message to the Congress-led Punjab Government  punish those guilty or meet the same fate as the Akalis.

Political leaders, including those from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), along with Sikh preachers, came together to observe third anniversary of Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan firing incidents  an event organised by parallel jathedars. Meanwhile, the Congress leaders, including Cabinet Ministers and party MLAs, attended the bhog ceremony of the two protestors while declaring that perpetrators of the firing incidents would be behind bars soon.

During the anniversary event, the protesters demanded action both in the sacrilege cases as well as subsequent police firing that led to the death of two civilians. All the speakers lashed out not only at the former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal holding him responsible for police firing, but also at the ruling Congress and the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh for delaying action against the guilty, especially the Badals.

The main speakers included Bargari Morcha leaders Dhian Singh Mand and Sant Baljit Singh Daduwal, AAP MP and state unit president Bhagwant Mann, AAP MLA and the Leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha Harpal Singh Cheema, AAP rebel MLA Sukhpal Khaira, Lok Insaaf Party head and MLA Simarjit Singh Bains, Punjab Vidhan Sabhas former deputy speaker Bir Devinder Singh, former MP Jagmeet Singh Brar and Apna Punjab Party head Sucha Singh Chhotepur, among others. While SAD stayed away from the event, its rebel leader Bhai Manjit Singh joined the function, and remained present on the stage.

Mand, the parallel jathedar of Akal Takht who is sitting on Bargari Morcha since June 1, demanded that the accused in Bargari sacrilege and Behbal Kalan firing be arrested.

A spate of sacrilege incidents shocked the state, that was followed by subsequent police firing incidents at the peaceful protesters on October 14, 2015, killing two Sikh protestors  Krishan Bhagwan Singh and Gurjit Singh  at Behbal Kalan village in Faridkot.

Khaira, addressing the gathering, insisted that the Bargari Morcha should take the form of a dharm yudh morcha (a protest of morality). He also demanded that the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) be ordered immediately to rid the khalsa panth (Sikh community) from the control of a select few.

Announcing that he would raise the issues of Behbal Kalan firing and Bargari sacrilege everyday in the Parliaments forthcoming winter session, Bhagwant Mann said that SAD MP and Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal opposed him when he raised the issue in the House.

Also taking on the Chief Minister, he said: Capt Amarinder is also equally responsible as he is delaying the action. The Congress and Akalis are playing a friendly match. They both held rallies on October 7 to divert attention from the core issue.

Terming Behbal Kalan firing as the biggest attack on the Sikh community in 21st century, the former Congressman Jagmeet Brar said that Bargari Morcha has showcased the best example of being a supporter of communal harmony in the state by conducting two major events peacefully.

Lashing out at Capt Amarinder for rejecting his Cabinet Ministers demands to give justice in sacrilege and firing incidents, Chottepur cautioned the Chief Minister that the people would not allow him to enter their villages like the Akalis if he failed to deliver justice.

In same tone, AAP MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan said that the Government has to deliver justice otherwise, it will face the same fate as Akalis. It has been dragging its feet to take action against the accused police officers and the Badals who were indicted in Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report.

Earlier, a protest was staged at Kotpaura by the Sikh preachers, and AAP leaders to observe the third death anniversary of Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan firing victims wherein the victims families also participated demanding justice at the earliest.

A Sikh preacher Harjinder Singh Majhi, who also lead the protest in October 2015, along with leaders present in the protest read out an open letter in which he accused senior Badal of misusing Sikh institutions to nurture his political career, holding him responsible for Operation Bluestar and black days in Punjab.

PERPETRATORS OF FIRING INCIDENTS TO BE BEHIND BARS SOON: BAJWA

Under mounting pressure from all quarters to act punish those guilty for Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan firing incidents, Punjab Cabinet Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa on Sunday declared that the accused would be behind bars soon.

Bajwa, along with his cabinet colleague Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria and some Congress leaders including MLA Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon, MLA Harminder Singh Gill, former MLA Muhammad Sadiq, attended the barsi (death anniversary) of two Sikh youths killed in the police firing in 2015.

They first attended the barsi of Krishan Bhagwan Singh at his native village Behbal Kalan, and then attended the barsi of another killed youth Gurjit Singh at his village Sarawaan.

Punjab Government is duty bound to give justice to the victims of Behbal Kalan and Bargari firing incidents and the perpetrators would be behind the bars very soon. Due to some legal issues connected with the probe, the matter is facing delays. But those responsible for the horrendous happening would face the law, said Bajwa during the event.

Bajwa said that the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh wanted to ensure punishment to those behind the incident without leaving any room for loopholes.

He also made it clear that any officer trying to save his skin by resorting to legal impediments would see the government removing all such loopholes so as to make sure that nobody responsible for the firing incident gets away scot free.

Bajwa, in Sarawaan village, said that the previous Badal government had revived the memory of Jallianwala Bagh massacre by resorting to firing upon those protesting in a peaceful manner against the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib.The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Haryana Police has been constituted to investigate the Saturday shooting in which an Additional Sessions Judge wife and his son were attacked by the personal security officer of the Judge. The incident left wife dead while the son is battling for his life. Even as the highly placed sources in the Haryana Police on condition of anonymity said that the head constable was allegedly enraged as the mother-son duo used to pass "taunts" over his alleged conversion to Christianity.

The team will be headed by the Deputy Commissioner of police (East), Sulochna Gajraj including three Assistant Commissioner of police (ACP) and four inspector rank officials. Several top officials of the Haryana police visited the crime spot on Sunday and sought detailed reports from the concerned officials.

The department on Sunday dismissed Mahipal, the accused head constable, from service with immediate effect under Article 311 (2) of the constitution of India.

Meanwhile, the local court on Sunday sent the 32-year-old Mahipal Singh, the former personal security officer (PSO) of additional sessions Judge Krishan Kant Sharma in connection with the case on four days of police remand. The investigation team had sought seven days of police remand.

Earlier on Saturday the police had questioned the accused and had reportedly indicated that he might be mentally unstable. However, the police have not found any medical history or any medicine from his possession and it is reportedly being assumed that the accused is mentally stable.

Highly placed sources said the accused head constable had converted to Christianity around a week before the incident. The judges son and wife reportedly used to taunt Mahipal over his change of religion. Sources within the police department said this is also being regarded as one of the possible reasons behind the terrible incident. The accused claimed to have visited Church, Temple and Mosque.

The SIT will find out the motive behind the incident as throughout the day the police officials were unable to disclose the mystery behind the crime.

Also, a team of a medical board on Sunday conducted the autopsy of the Judge Krishan Kants wife Ritu (37) who was shot in the chest twice in the incident later on Saturday night succumbed to her injuries at the hospital.

The cause of death of the victim was excess bleeding and shocked. The body has been handed over to the family after the medical examination, Doctor Deepak Mather, who conducted the autopsy, said.

Meanwhile, the teenaged boy Dhruv (17) who was shot twice in the head and once in the shoulder is still critical and is on life support at the Medanta Hospital.

We took him on remand and after the questioning, we will be able to say anything about the motive behind the crime, SIT head Sulochna Gajraj told reporters on Sunday.

She said a preliminary investigation has revealed that the PSO lost his cool after he was reportedly admonished for not taking out the car from the parking. However, the police said that the motive behind firing is not clear yet.

The accused is keeping changing his statement he told us that he was worried and has some tensions. The further questioning into the matter is on. We are investigating the matter from all possible angles, the DCP, said.There is some mystery behind the incident. During the probe, we will disclose the actual facts behind the mystery as what was actually happened before the incident, Gajraj said.

The probe team said, The accused told them he has eliminated the Shaitan and his mother.

Meanwhile, the DCP said Yes, he had been speaking about Shaitan and it seems to his habitual word and was also talking about several religions.

A case was filed against the PSO on the complaint of additional sessions judge Krishan Kant Sharma at Sector-50 police station. On Saturday at about 3.30 pm while I was in the court complex during the course of my duty hours, I received a phone call my PSO Mahipal and he told that he had shot my wife Ritu and son Dhruv, the Judge claimed in the First Information Report (FIR) to the police.

Earlier on Saturday, Wife and son of the Additional District and Sessions Judge of Gurugram local court were shot at and injured in full public view by their Personal Security Officer at Arcadia Market in South City-II.

The culprit was arrested within two hours of the incident on the Gurugram-Faridabad Road.Dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi's 149th Birth Anniversary and to emulate his principles of simple living and oneness among the students, Sarala Birla Public School (SBPS) organised a Social Science Exhibition- 'Reverberations' on the school premises. Different exhibits which included various charts and models were put up by the students of Std. KG to V along with the help of their mentors.

The models included the French Revolution, Swachhta Abhiyan, the Seven Wonders of the world, Haldighati Battlefield, working in Coal Mines, working of Bangle Industries, working of Wind Mill and Solar Panel, Volcanoes, Jog Fall, tribal weapons etc. The working of the models and the charts were explained by the students which were highly appreciated by all the visitors. A book fair was also organised on the school premises which added value to the event.

School Head Personnel & Admin. Pradip Varma praised the sincere effort of the students and teachers and said that through such exhibitions students learn things practically in addition to the theoritical knowledge. Principal Paramjit Kaur appraised the magnificent work done by the students. She further added that such exhibitions will help to lift up the spirits of the students to do excellent work in future too.The BJP rebel Yashwant Sinha will not be contesting on the AAP ticket from the New Delhi seat in the upcoming Lok-Sabha elections due next year but would rather campaign against the Modi Government across the country, said Delhi AAP convener Gopal Rai on Sunday.

Halting talks of rebel BJP leaders Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha being roped in to contest Lok Sabha polls on its tickets, the AAP Sunday announced Brijesh Goyal and Rajpal Solanki as partys in-charges of New Delhi and West Delhi Parliamentary seats for the election. The Sinhas, who are bitter critics of the Modi government, have grown close to the Aam Aadmi Party, extending support to the party on various issues and sharing platforms with its leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on many occasions.

There were talks with Yashwant Sinha for him to contest from New Delhi seat but he has expressed willingness to campaign against the Modi government across the country. There were no talks about Shatrughan Sinha being the party candidate, Delhi AAP convener Gopal Rai said at a press briefing.

The party had already announced its in-charges for five of the seven parliamentary constituencies in Delhi. The candidature of all the seven in-charges will be formalised later, Rai said. Party sources said the in-charges will be ultimately the candidates on the respective seats. However, they also said last minute changes could take place as some of the in-charges were too new faces without much political experience.

The announcement of the in-charges on the remaining two seats in Delhi halted, for the time being, speculation that the AAP might ally with the Congress for the 2019 election.During checking of vehicles as part of the election Model Code of Conduct enforced in state, a team led by Tehsildhar seized total of Rs 3 lakh cash from two different vehicles at Janakpur of Baikunthpur in Koriya district. The persons keeping the cash were unable to show any documents related to source of cash.

As per information received, at Bharatpur-Chanti barrier of Janakpur area in Koria district, a team led by Tehsildhar were holding vehicle check during evening hours. They had stopped a Innova car passing through the barrier at around 5.30 pm.

In the normal car, Rs 1 lakh cash was found. The car owner Vishwaraj Singh during interrogation said that he is a businessman. He is going to Kotadol to Shahdol. But he could not give satisfactory reply on the cash in hand and could not produce any documents related to it. After which, Tehsildhar initiated seizure action.

Similarly, at 6.30 pm, near Manendragarh tri-square, one innova car was stopped for inspection. The driver Santosh Kashyap had kept around Rs 2 lakh. He also could not produce any documents related to cash. He said that he was going to Janakpur to Chirmiri. Tehsildhar made the seizure of cash.

In both cases, after seizure for necessary action, the cases have been forwarded to district level committee for further action.

Manmohan Singh, Tehsildhar, Bharatpur-Janakpur of Koriya district said that the election team and police has made three points for checking. The first point is Chanti, second is Kotadol Neur and third is Manendragarh Tri-square.

On seizure of cash, he said that the two caught, one owner and the other driver did not have any cash related documents to prove the source of cash. They also could not give satisfactory reply also. As per the directive of Election Commission of India, it has been forwarded to district electoral officer office for further action.BJP seeks stern action, lodges complaint with Civil Lines Police station, Raipur

After an uproar over using a distorted map of India in the official Twitter handle of the Chhattisgarh Congress party, BJP leaders filed a complaint with the Civil Lines police station here. Meanwhile, the Congress has regretted the mistake and withdrawn it.

Condemning the incident of using distorted map of India in the Twitter handle of Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee, Bharatiya Janata Party state president Dharamlal Kaushik sought stern action.

Kaushik said that Congress party which has divided the country is still keeping its ideology alive and the live example is the distorted Map of India used in the official Twitter handle. One part of Kashmir has been removed. He termed it is a criminal act and purely falls under sedition.

He alleged that the fire of division is spreading from Kashmir to JNU and other areas of country due to which anti-national slogans are being raised. It is due to policy of appeasement being followed by the oldest party of country. The AICC president has also been backing such elements, he said.

He said BJP has lodged a complaint with police station and party demand that those responsible for it should be booked under the relevant sections, so that it is not repeated again.

Station House Incharge, Civil Lines Yadu Mani Sidar when contacted confirmed that BJP party leaders have registered a complaint regarding the distorted map of India in which some part of the Kashmir has been left out. It has been in official Twitter handle of state Congress party.

He further said that the complaint has been forwarded to cyber cell and further investigating.

Congress in a statement in a tweet has said that we regret that incorrect map was uploaded in the twitter handle. We strongly believe in integrity and unity of the country. The said objectionable tweet has been removed from the handle. American Consumer News, LLC dba MarketBeat 2010-2021. All rights reserved.

326 E 8th St #105, Sioux Falls, SD 57103 | U.S. Based Support Team at [email protected] | (844) 978-6257

MarketBeat does not provide personalized financial advice and does not issue recommendations or offers to buy stock or sell any security.



Our Accessibility Statement | Terms of Service | Do Not Sell My Information



 2021 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. To see all exchange delays and terms of use please see disclaimer. Fundamental company data provided by Zacks Investment Research.Airbus SE designs, manufactures, and distributes aerospace products and solutions in the Netherlands and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Airbus, Airbus Helicopters, and Airbus Defence and Space. The company's Airbus segment develops, manufactures, markets, and sells commercial jet aircraft of approximately 100 seats; and regional turboprop aircraft and aircraft components, as well as provides aircraft conversion and related services. Its Airbus Helicopters segment develops, manufactures, markets, and sells civil and military helicopters; and provides helicopter related services. The company's Airbus Defence and Space segment designs, develops, delivers, and supports military aircraft, such as combat, mission, transport, and tanker aircraft; and provides unmanned aerial systems and their associated services. It also offers civil and defense space systems for telecommunications, earth observations, navigation, science, and orbital systems; missile systems; and missile and space launcher systems, as well as services around data processing from platforms, secure communication, and cyber security. The company was formerly known as Airbus Group SE and changed its name to Airbus SE in April 2017. Airbus SE was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Leiden, the Netherlands.

Read MoreKB Financial Group, Inc. engages in providing financial services through its subsidiaries. It operates through the following segments: Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, Other Banking Services, Credit Card, Life Insurance, Investment and Securities business. The Corporate Banking business segment provides services such as loans, overdrafts, deposits, credit facilities and other foreign currency activities. The Retail Banking business segment offers services such as private customer current accounts, savings, deposits, consumer loans and mortgage loans. The Other Banking business segment provides services relating to banking business besides corporate banking and retail banking services. The Credit Card business segment offers services such as domestic as well as overseas credit and debit card operations. The Investment and Securities business segment provides services such as investment banking and brokerage. The Life Insurance business segment provides products such as life insurance and wealth management. The company was founded on September 29, 2008 and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea.

Read MoreOshkosh Corp. engages in the design, manufacture, and market of specialty vehicles and vehicle bodies. It operates through the following segments: Access Equipment, Defense, Fire & Emergency, and Commercial. The Access Equipment segment consists of JerrDan and JLG, which manufactures aerial work platforms; and telehandlers that are used in construction, industrial, institutional, and general maintenance applications to position workers and materials at elevated heights. The Defense segment produces tactical wheeled vehicles; and supply parts and services for the United States military and other militaries around the world. The Fire and Emergency segment sells commercial and custom fire vehicles; simulators and emergency vehicles primarily for fire departments, airports and other governmental units; and broadcast vehicles for broadcasters and television stations. The Commercial segment includes McNeilus, CON-E-CO, London, Iowa Mold Tooling Co., Inc (IMT), and Oshkosh Commercial. The company was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Oshkosh, WI.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of NOV: AG Holding UK, APL France SAS, APL Management Pte Ltd, APL Norway AS, APL do Brasil Ltda., ASEP Group Holding B.V., ASEP Otomotiv Sanayi Ticaret Ltd., Ackerman Holdings C.V., Ackerman Holdings GP LLC, Ackerman International Holland B.V., Advanced Production and Loading, Advanced Wirecloth, Aggregate Plant Products Co., American Pipe and Construction International, Ameron B.V., Ameron Holdings Pte. Ltd., Ameron International, Ameron International Corporation, Ameron Pole Products LLC, Ameron Polyplaster Industria E Comercio de Tubos Ltda., Ameron Singapore Holding, Ameron Singapore Poly Holdings Pte. Ltd., Ameron Trading Holdings Pte. Ltd., Andergauge Limited, Andergauge Redback, Andergauge USA, Arabian Rig Manufacturing Company, Axiom Process Limited, Belco Manufacturing Company, Big Red Tubulars Limited, Bondstrand Ltd., Bowen Downhole Inc., Bowen Downhole LLC, Brandt Interests, Brandt Oilfield Services (M) Sdn. Bhd., C.M.A. Canavera S.R.L., CJSC Fidmash, CJSC Novmash, CSI Inspection, Camco Drilling Group Limited, Chemineer, Coil Services Middle East LLC, Containment Solutions, Containment Solutions Services, Couoperatie Intelliserv Holding U.A., Couoperatie NOV NL U.A., Danco AS, Denali Incorporated, Denali Management, Devin International, Dreco Canada L.P., Dreco DHT, Dreco Eastern Europe ULC, Dreco Energy Services ULC, Dreco International Holdings ULC, Dreco LLC, E.C. Motors, Elmar Far East Pty Ltd, Enerflow Industries, Enerpro de Mexico, Environmental Procedures LLC, Ershigs, Fabricated Plastics Acquisitions Limited, Fabricated Plastics Limited, Fiber Glass Systems, Fiber Glass Systems (Qingdao) Composite Piping Co., Fiber Glass Systems Holdings, Fiber Glass Systems Oman L.L.C., Fiber Glass Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Fiberspar, Fiberspar Australia Pty. Ltd., Fiberspar Corporation, Fiberspar Linepipe Canada Ltd., Fibra Ingenieria y Construccion S.A., FidService, Fjords Processing (Shanghai) Co., Fjords Processing 1 AS, Fjords Processing AS, Fjords Processing Australia Pty Ltd, Fjords Processing France SAS, Fjords Processing Korea Co. Ltd., Fjords Processing Limited, Fjords Processing UK Ltd., Fryma S.a.r.l., GOT German Oil Tools GmbH, GP USA Holding LLC, GPEX, German Oil Tools (Middle East) FZE, Grant Prideco (Jiangsu) Drilling Products Co., Grant Prideco (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Grant Prideco AB TCA Holding LLC, Grant Prideco European Holding, Grant Prideco Holding, Grant Prideco III C. V., Grant Prideco Inc., Grant Prideco Jersey Limited, Grant Prideco L.P., Grant Prideco Mauritius Limited, Grant Prideco Netherlands B.V., Grant Prideco PC Composites Holdings, Grant Prideco S. de R.L. de C.V., Grant Prideco USA, Grant Prideco de Venezuela, Greystone Technologies Pty. Ltd., GustoMSC B.V., GustoMSC U.S., Hebei Huayouyiji Tuboscope Coating Co., Hitec AS, Hydralift AmClyde, Hydralift France SAS, Hydralift Holdings UK Limited, Inspecciones y Pruebas No Destructivas, IntelliServ Norway AS, Intelliserv, Intelliserv GP Holdings LLC, Intelliserv International Holding, Intelliserv LLC, Interval LLC, JiangYin Tuboscope Tubular Development Co., Merpro Group Limited, Merpro Products Limited, Merpro Tortek Limited, Midsund Bruk AS, Mono Group Pension Trustees Limited, Mono Pumps New Zealand Company, Monoflo NOV S.A.I.C., Moyno Inc., Moyno de Mexico S.A. de C.V., NKT Flexibles I/S, NOV (Asia), NOV (Barbados) Holding SRL, NOV (Barbados) SRL, NOV (Caymans), NOV (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., NOV - Oil Services Angola LDA., NOV APL Limited, NOV ASEP Elmar Mexico, NOV Africa Pty Ltd, NOV Australia Pty Ltd, NOV Azerbaijan LLC, NOV Brandt Europe France, NOV Brandt Oilfield Services Middle East LLC, NOV CV1 GP LLC, NOV CV2 GP LLC, NOV Completion Tools AS, NOV Completion Tools LLC, NOV Completion and Production Solutions Korea Ltd., NOV DH de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., NOV DHT Canada Holding ULC, NOV Denmark Cooperatief U.A., NOV Downhole Argentina, NOV Downhole Bolivia S.R.L., NOV Downhole Colombia, NOV Downhole Comercializacao de Equipamentos para Petroleo Ltda., NOV Downhole Congo, NOV Downhole Eurasia Limited, NOV Downhole Europe B.V., NOV Downhole Germany GmbH, NOV Downhole Italia S.R.L., NOV Downhole Kazakhstan, NOV Downhole Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., NOV Downhole Pty Ltd, NOV Downhole Thailand, NOV Dreco GP LLC, NOV EU Acquisition SNC, NOV Elmar (Middle East) Limited, NOV Elmar NL B.V., NOV Elmar Pte. Ltd., NOV Enerflow ULC, NOV Eurasia Holding LLC, NOV European Holding LLC, NOV Expatriate Services, NOV FGS Malaysia Sdn Bhd, NOV FGS Singapore (Pte.) Ltd, NOV Fiber Glass Systems Fabricacao De Tubos E Conexoes Ltda, NOV Flexibles Equipamentos E Servicos Ltda., NOV Flexibles Holding ApS, NOV Floating Production AS, NOV Fluid Control B.V., NOV GEO GP LLC, NOV GEO LP1 C.V., NOV GEO LP2 C.V., NOV GP Holding L.P., NOV GP1 Holding LLC, NOV Gabon SARL, NOV Germany Holding GmbH, NOV Ghana Limited, NOV Grant Prideco Drilling Equipment Manufacturing LLC, NOV Grant Prideco Drilling Products Middle East FZE, NOV Grant Prideco L.L.C., NOV Holding Danmark ApS, NOV Holding Germany GmbH & Co KG, NOV Holding Germany Management GmbH, NOV Holdings B.V., NOV Hydra Rig Pte. Ltd, NOV India Private Limited, NOV Intelliserv UK Limited, NOV International Holdings C.V., NOV International Holdings GP LLC, NOV Intervention & Stimulation Equipment US LLC, NOV Intervention and Stimulation Equipment  Aftermarket Comercio de Equipamentos e Servicos Ltda., NOV Kenya Limited, NOV Kostroma LLC, NOV Kuwait Light & Heavy Equipment Repairing & Maintenance Co., NOV LP (Trading), NOV MSI Pipe Protection Technologies Inc., NOV MSI Pipe Protection Technologies Mexico, NOV Mexico Holding LLC, NOV Middle East FZCO, NOV Mission Products UK Limited, NOV Mozambique Limitada, NOV NL Mexico Holding B.V., NOV Netherlands Finance Holding C.V., NOV Netherlands Finance Holding LLC, NOV North America I/P, NOV Oil & Gas Services Egypt (S.A.E), NOV Oil & Gas Services Uganda Limited, NOV Oil and Gas Services Ghana Limited, NOV Oil and Gas Services Namibia (Proprietary) Limited, NOV Oil and Gas Services Nigeria Limited, NOV Oil and Gas Services South Africa (Pty) Limited, NOV Oilfield Services Tanzania Limited, NOV Oilfield Services Vostok LLC, NOV Oilfield Solutions Ltd., NOV Park II B.V., NOV Process & Flow Technologies AS, NOV Process & Flow Technologies Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., NOV Process & Flow Technologies Pte. Ltd., NOV Process & Flow Technologies UK Limited, NOV Process & Flow Technologies US, NOV Rig Solutions Pte. Ltd., NOV Romania, NOV Saudi Arabia Co. Ltd., NOV Saudi Arabia Trading Co., NOV Services Ltd., NOV Servicios de Personal Mexico, NOV Subsea Products AS, NOV TV2 LLC, NOV TVI LLC, NOV Tanajib Kuwait for Services and Maintenance of Oil Rigs Refineries and Petrochemicals, NOV Tuboscope Italia S.R.L., NOV Tuboscope Middle East LLC, NOV Tuboscope NL B.V., NOV Tubulars and Connectors Ltd., NOV UK (Angola Acquisitions) Limited, NOV UK Finance Limited, NOV UK Holdings Limited, NOV UK Korea LP, NOV Wellbore Technologies Norway LLC, NOV Wellbore Technologies do Brasil Equipamentos E Servicos Ltda., NOV Wellsite Services Germany GmbH, NOV Worldwide C.V., NOV-BLM SAS, NOVM Holding LLC, NOW Downhole Tools, NOW International LLC, NOW Nova Scotia Holdings LLC, NOW Oilfield Services, NQL Holland B.V., National Oilwell (U.K.) Limited, National Oilwell Algerie, National Oilwell DHT, National Oilwell Middle East Company, National Oilwell Services de Mexico, National Oilwell Varco (Beijing) Investment Management Co. Ltd., National Oilwell Varco (Thailand) Ltd., National Oilwell Varco Algeria, National Oilwell Varco Almansoori Services, National Oilwell Varco Bahrain WLL, National Oilwell Varco Belgium SA, National Oilwell Varco Denmark I/S, National Oilwell Varco Egypt LLC, National Oilwell Varco Eurasia, National Oilwell Varco Guatemala, National Oilwell Varco Guyana Inc., National Oilwell Varco Hungary Limited Liability Company, National Oilwell Varco Korea Co., National Oilwell Varco MSW S.A., National Oilwell Varco Mexico, National Oilwell Varco Muscat L.L.C., National Oilwell Varco Norway AS, National Oilwell Varco Peru S.R.L., National Oilwell Varco Petroleum Equipment (Shanghai) Co., National Oilwell Varco Poland Sp.z.o.o., National Oilwell Varco Pte. Ltd., National Oilwell Varco Rig Equipment Trading (Shanghai) Co., National Oilwell Varco Romania S.R.L., National Oilwell Varco Solutions, National Oilwell Varco UK Limited, National Oilwell Varco Ukraine LLC, National Oilwell Varco de Bolivia S.R.L., National Oilwell Varco de Chile - Servicios Limitada, National Oilwell Varco do Brasil Ltda., National Oilwell de Venezuela, National-Oilwell Pte. Ltd., National-Oilwell Pty. Ltd., PT Fjords Processing Indonesia, PT H-Tech Oilfield Equipment, PT NOV Oilfield Services, PT National Oilwell Varco, PT PROFAB INDONESIA, Pesaka Inspection Services SDN.BHD., Pipex Limited, Pipex PX Limited, Pipex Structural Composites Limited, Pridecomex Holding S. de R.L. de C.V., Pridecomex TA Industries, Procon Engineering Ltd., Profab Engineering Pte. Ltd., Profab Services Pte Ltd, Quality Tubing FSC, R&M C.V., R&M Canada Cooperatief U.A., R&M Energy Systems Australia Pty Ltd., R&M Energy Systems de Argentina S.A., R&M Energy Systems de Venezuela, R&M Environmental Strategies, R&M Singapore Holding LLC, R&M UK Holding LLC, RE.MAC.UT. S.r.l., RHI Holding LLC, ReedHycalog, ReedHycalog International Holding, ReedHycalog LLC, ReedHycalog UK Limited, Robannic Overseas Finance A.V.V., Robbins & Myers, Robbins & Myers (Suzhou) Process Equipment Company Limited, Robbins & Myers B.V., Robbins & Myers Foundation, Robbins & Myers GP LLC, Robbins & Myers Holdings, Robbins & Myers Holdings UK Limited, Robbins & Myers Inc, Robbins & Myers Italia S.R.L., Robbins & Myers N.V., Rodic S.A. de C.V., Romaco S.a.r.l., STAR Sudamtex Tubulares S.A., STBH2O TUNISIE, STSA, Screen Manufacturing Company Unlimited, Seabox AS, Slip Clutch Systems Limited, Smart Drilling GmbH, Soil Recovery A/S, South Seas Inspection, Subseaflex Holding ApS, T-3 Energy Preferred Industries Mexico, T-3 Energy Services, T-3 Energy Services Cayman, T-3 Energy Services Cayman Holdings, T-3 Energy Services India Private Limited, T-3 Energy Services Mexico, T-3 Investment Corporation IV, T-3 Mexican Holdings, TVI Holdings, Telluride Insurance Limited, Tianjin Grant TPCO Drilling Tools Company Limited, Tube-Kote, Tubo-FGS, Tuboscope & Co. LLC, Tuboscope (Holding U.S.) LLC, Tuboscope Brandt de Venezuela, Tuboscope Machining Services AS, Tuboscope Norge AS, Tuboscope Pipeline Services Inc., Tuboscope Services, Tuboscope Vetco (Deutschland) GmbH, Tuboscope Vetco (France) SAS, Tuboscope Vetco (Oesterreich) GmbH, Tuboscope Vetco Canada ULC, Tuboscope Vetco Capital Limited, Tuboscope Vetco Moscow CJSC, Tuboscope Vetco de Argentina S.A., Tubular Coatings Solutions Ltd., Tucom Composites Polyester Sanayi Ticaret Ltd., Varco BJ B.V., Varco CIS, Varco Canada ULC, Varco I/P, Varco International de Venezuela, Varco L.P., Varco US Holdings LLC, Vetco Coating GmbH, Vetco Enterprise GmbH, Vetco Saudi Arabia Ltd., Visible Assets, Wilson International, Woolley, XL Systems, XL Systems Antilles, XL Systems Europe B.V., XL Systems International, voestalpine Middle East Free Zone Establishment, voestalpine Tubulars Corporation, voestalpine Tubulars GmbH, and voestalpine Tubulars GmbH & Co KG.JPJ Group plc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an online gaming company in Japan, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Spain, rest of Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Jackpotjoy and Vera&John segments. It offers bingo, slots, casino, and other games through Jackpotjoy, Starspins, Botemania, Vera&John, Costa Bingo, InterCasino, Solid Gaming, and other brands. The company was formerly known as Jackpotjoy plc and changed its name to JPJ Group plc in June 2018. Jackpotjoy plc was incorporated in 2016 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreSAdzucker AG produces and sells sugar products in Germany, rest of Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Sugar, Special Products, CropEnergies, and Fruit. The Sugar segment produces and sells sugar, sugar specialty products, molasses, and animal feed to food industry, retailers, and agriculture markets, as well as offers by-products of sugar. The Special Products segment produces functional food ingredients, including inulin, oligofructose, Isomalt, and Palatinose, as well as rice starches, rice flours, rice proteins, and wheat proteins for food, animal feed, non-food, and pharmaceutical sectors. This segment also offers frozen and chilled pizzas, frozen pasta dishes and snacks, baguette, and sauces and dressings; starches, sweeteners, animal feed; and portion packed foods and non-food products to hotels, caterers, and restaurants. The CropEnergies segment produces fuel-grade ethanol, rectified spirits, protein-based food and animal feed, and liquid CO2 to oil and pharmaceutical companies, food and animal feed producers, and beverage and cosmetics producers. The Fruit segment produces fruit preparations for the dairy, ice cream, bakery, and food service industry; and fruit juice concentrates, pure juices and purees, fruit wines, natural aromas, and beverage bases for beverage industry. It is also involved in agricultural activities; and cultivation of wheat, sugar beet, corn, chicory, rapeseed, soybean, and other products. The company was founded in 1837 and is headquartered in Mannheim, Germany. SAdzucker AG is a subsidiary of SAddeutsche ZuckerrAbenverwertungs-Genossenschaft eG.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.: 2235158 Alberta Limited, A.J. Amer Agency, AHC Digital LLC, AIX Limited, AJG Coal LLC, AJG Financial Services LLC, AJG Meadows LLC, AJG North America ULC, AJG RCF LLC, AJGRMS of Louisiana LLC, ARM RE Ltda., AVIATION INSURANCE SERVICES, AVRECO, Ace IRM Insurance Broking Group, Acumus Holdings Limited, Acumus Interco Limited, Acumus Ltd, Adams & Associates International, Adaptive Marketing LLC, Adco General Corporation, Advanced Benefit Advisors, Aequus Trade Credit, Affinity Marketing Group, Ahrold Fay Rosenberg, Aires Consulting Group, Alesco Risk Management Services Limited, Alize Limited, Allied Claims Administration Inc., Alternative Market Specialists, Altman & Cronin Benefit Consultants, American Freedom Carriers Inc., American Security Services Corp., American Wholesalers Underwriting Ltd, Andrew-Anthony Insurance Agency, Anthony Hodges Consulting Limited, Antrobus Investments Limited, AquaSurance, Argentis, Argentis Financial Group Limited, Argentis Financial Management Limited, Argus Benefits, Armstrong/Robitaille/Riegle, Artex (SAC) Limited, Artex Cedar Hill, Artex Corporate Services (Malta) Limited, Artex Corporate Services Limited, Artex Holdings (Gibraltar) Limited, Artex Holdings (Malta) Limited, Artex Insurance (Guernsey) PCC Limited, Artex Insurance (Tennessee) PCCIC Inc., Artex Insurance Brokers (Malta) PCC Limited, Artex Insurance ICC Limited, Artex Intermediaries Ltd, Artex Risk Solutions (Bermuda) Ltd, Artex Risk Solutions (Cayman) Limited, Artex Risk Solutions (Gibraltar) Limited, Artex Risk Solutions (Guernsey) Limited, Artex Risk Solutions (International) Ltd, Artex Risk Solutions (Malta) Limited, Artex Risk Solutions (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Artex Risk Solutions (UK) Limited, Artex Risk Solutions Inc., Arthur J Gallagher (Norway) Holdings AS, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (AUS) Ltd, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (Bermuda) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (Illinois), Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Insurance Brokers of California Inc., Arthur J. Gallagher (Aus) Pty Ltd, Arthur J. Gallagher (Bermuda) Holding Partnership, Arthur J. Gallagher (Life Solutions) Ltd, Arthur J. Gallagher (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Arthur J. Gallagher (U.S.) LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher (UK) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Asesoria S.A.C., Arthur J. Gallagher Australasia Holdings Pty Ltd., Arthur J. Gallagher Brokerage & Risk Management Services LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Broking (NZ) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Financial Services Professionals Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Group Quebec ULC, Arthur J. Gallagher Holdings (UK) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Insurance Brokers Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Latin America LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Management (Bermuda) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Real Estate Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services (Hawaii) Inc., Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services Inc., Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services of Utah Inc., Arthur J. Gallagher School Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Service Company LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Services (UK) Ltd, Ashmore & Associates Insurance Agency, Atlantic Risk Management Corp., Atrex Insurance (Cayman) SPC Limited, Avantek Pty Ltd, Axe Insurance PCC Limited, BIS Insurance Services, Baker - Tillys employment benefits solutions, Ballard Benefit Works, Bankers Financial Benefits, Barmore Insurance Agency, Behnke & Co. Inc., Bellisle Pty Ltd, Belmont Associates Consultants, Belmont Insurance Holdings Limited, Belmont International, Belmont International Limited, Benefit Development Group, Benefit Management Group, BenefitLink Resource Group, Benefits Planning & Insurance Agency, Benefits Unlimited, Bennett & Shade Co., Bergvall Marine, Bergvall Marine A.S., Besselman & Little Agency, Big Savings Insurance Agency Inc., Blenheim Park Ltd, Blenheim Park Services Limited, Blue Holdings Pty Ltd, Blue Horizon Insurance Services, Blue Water Benefits, BluePeak Advisors, Blueleaf Consulting Pty Ltd., Bluewater Incorporated Cell Insurance Company, Bollinger Inc., Bollinger Insurance Services Inc., Bowen Miclette Britt & Merry of Arkansas Inc., Brendis & Brendis, Brim AB, Broker Benefit Services, Brokerage Professionals, Brown Hobbs & McMurray Insurance, Bultman/Bell Associates Inc., Burkwald & Associates, Burns-Fazzi Brock & Associates, Bushong Insurance Associates, C&B Consulting Group, CGM Gallagher Insruance Brokers (Trinidad & Tobago) Limited, CJM Solutions Inc., CMA Solutions LLC, Cairnstone Financial, California Insurance Center, Capital Bauer Insurance Agency, Capitol Benefits Group, Capsicum CRLA LLP, Capsicum Re Brasil Participacoes Ltda, Capsicum Re Latin America Corretora De Resseguros Ltda, Capsicum Reinsurance Brokers Bermuda Limited, Capsicum Reinsurance Brokers Miami Inc., Carefree Marketing Inc., Carpenter Cammack & Associates, Cashan & Co., Castle Insurance Associates, Centennial Insurance Agency, Charity First Insurance Services Inc., Charles Allen Agency, Charter Lakes Insurance Agency, Chris Schroeder Insurance, Christie-Phoenix, Cintran Claims Canada Limited, Classic Insurance Services, Cleaveland Insurance Group, Cohen & Lord Insurance Brokers, Cohn Financial Group, Coleman Group Holdings Limited, Coleman Holdings Limited, College and University Scholastic Excess Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Commercial Insurance Brokers, Complete Benefit Alliance, Complete Financial Balance, Complete Financial Balance Pty Ltd, Consolidated Casualty Specialties LLC, Construction Risk Solutions, Contego Underwriting Limited, Contego Underwriting Ltd, Continental Excess & Surplus, Convergence Risk Services Ltd, Copper Mountain Assurance Inc., Cornwall & Stevens Co., Corporate Benefit Advisors, Corporate Life Consultants, Countrywide Accident Assistance Limited, Coverdell & Company Inc., Coverdell Canada Corporation, Cowles and Connell, Craig M. Ferguson & Co., Crist Elliott Machette Insurance Services, Crombie Lockwood (NZ) Limited, Davis-Poston & Associates, Denman Consulting Services, Detlefs Johnson & Partners, DiBrina Group, Dickinson & Associates, Discount Development Services L.L.C., Discovery Benefit Solutions, Dodson-Bateman & Co., Donald P. Pipino Co. Ltd., E. S. Susanin Inc., EHE Holdings LLC, EHS Holdings Limited, Elantis Premium Funding (NZ) Limited, Elantis Premium Funding Limited, Elite Benefits Insurance Marketing Services, Employee Benefits Analysis Corp., Employee Benefits of The Carolinas, Encore Insurance & Bonding, Everett James, Evolution Risk Services Limited, Evolution Technology Services Limited, Evolution Underwriting Group, Evolution Underwriting Group Limited, Evolution Underwriting Limited, Excel Insurance Services, FYI Direct Canada Corporation, FYI Direct LLC, Farallone Pacific Insurance Services, Fenchurch Faris Limited, Fidelity Benefits & Insurance Services, Financial Profiles Inc., Finergy Solutions Pty Ltd, First Agency, First Iowa Insurance Agency, First Premium Inc., First Premium Insurance Group, Fish & Schulkamp, Fishermans Insurance Services, Foley Healthcare Limited, Fortress Financial Solutions Pty Ltd, Fortress Insurance LLC, Foundation Strategies, Fox Lawson & Associates, Franklin-Case Agency LLC, Fraser MacAndrew Ryan Limited, Friary Intermediate Limited, Fuller & O'Brien, G.S. Chapman & Associates Insurance Brokers, G.S. Levine Insurance Services, GBS (Australia) Holdings Pty Ltd, GBS Administrators Inc., GBS Insurance and Financial Services Inc., GBS Retirement Services Inc., GBS Specialty Markets LLC, GGB Finance 1 Limited, GGB Finance 2 Limited, GGB Finance 3 Limited, GGB Finance 4 Limited, GPL Assurance, GPL Assurance Inc., Gabor Insurance Services, Gale Smith & Co. Inc., Gallagher (Bermuda) Insurance Solutions Ltd., Gallagher - Grace/Mayer Insurance Agency, Gallagher Bassett Aires Inc., Gallagher Bassett Canada Inc., Gallagher Bassett Insurance Services Ltd., Gallagher Bassett International Ltd., Gallagher Bassett NZ Pty Ltd., Gallagher Bassett Services Inc. , Gallagher Bassett Services Pty Ltd., Gallagher Bassett Services Workers Compensation Victoria Pty Ltd., Gallagher Benefit Services (Canada) Group Inc., Gallagher Benefit Services (Holdings) Limited, Gallagher Benefit Services Inc., Gallagher Benefit Services Management Company Limited, Gallagher Benefit Services Pty Ltd, Gallagher Benefits Consulting Limited, Gallagher Bomford Couch Wilson, Gallagher Burgess, Gallagher Canada Acquisition Corporation, Gallagher Caribbean Group Limited, Gallagher Clean Energy LLC, Gallagher Communications Limited, Gallagher Community Clinic RPG LLC, Gallagher Consulting Ltda, Gallagher Corporate Services LLC, Gallagher Coyle, Gallagher CyberRisk, Gallagher Energy Risk Services Inc., Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC, Gallagher Holdings (UK) Limited, Gallagher Holdings Bermuda Company Limited, Gallagher Holdings Four (UK) Limited, Gallagher Holdings Three (UK) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (Barbados) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (St. Kitts & Nevis) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (St. Lucia) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (St. Vincent) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers Jamaica Limited, Gallagher International Cash Management s.r.l., Gallagher International Holdings (US) Inc., Gallagher Investment Advisors LLC, Gallagher Inwest Group, Gallagher Koster, Gallagher Lambert Group, Gallagher Madison Risk & Insurance Services, Gallagher Mauritius Holdings, Gallagher Mississippi Brokerage LLC, Gallagher RE Colombia Ltda Corredores de Reaseguros SA, Gallagher Risk & Reward Limited, Gallagher Risk Group LLC, Gallagher Risk Placements Pty Ltd, Gallagher SKS, Gallagher Service Center LLP, Gallagher-Tarantino, Galtney Group, Game Day Insurance Inc., Gardner & White Corp., Gardner Marine Agency, Garza Long Group, Gatehouse Consulting Limited, Gault Armstrong Kemble Pty Ltd, Gault Armstrong SARL, Giles Group, Giles Holdings Limited, Giles Insurance Brokers, Gillis Ellis & Baker Inc., Goodman Insurance Agency, Grandy Pratt Co., Greenseed Alternative Mangaers Platform Ltd, Grossman & Associates, Group Benefits of Arkansas, Group Insurance Associates, Gruppo Marcucci, HLG Holdings Limited, HMG-PCMS Limited, HPF Investments LLC, HR Owen Insurance Services Limited, Hagan Newkirk Financial Services, Hagedorn & Company, Hardman & Howell Benefits, Harlequin Insurance PCC Limited, Hartstein Associates Inc., Healthcare Professionals Purchasing Group LLC, Healthcare Risk Solutions, Heath Lambert Group Ltd., Heath Lambert Limited, Heath Lambert Overseas Limited, Heiser Insurance Agency, Henderson Phillips Fine Arts Insurance, Herbruck Alder & Co., Heritage Insurance Brokers (CI) Limited, Hesse & Partner AG, Hesse Consulting, Hexagon ICC Limited, Hexagon Insurance PCC Limited, Hill Chesson & Woody, Hogan Insurance Services, Home & Travel Limited, Honour Point Limited, Horseshoe Corporate Services Ltd, Horseshoe Fund Services (Cayman) Ltd, Horseshoe Fund Services Ltd, Horseshoe Fund Services USA Inc., Horseshoe ILS Services UK Ltd, Horseshoe Insurance Advisors US LLC, Horseshoe Insurance Advisory Ltd., Horseshoe Insurance Services Holdings Ltd, Horseshoe Insurance Services Holdings US Inc., Horseshoe Management (Gibraltar) Limited, Horseshoe Management (Ireland) Ltd, Horseshoe Management Ltd., Horseshoe PCC Limited, Horseshoe Re Limited, Horseshoe Services (Cayman) Ltd, Horseshoe Services (Pty) Ltd, Horton Insurance Agency, Housing Authorities Services Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Human Resource Management Systems, I-Protect Underwriting Pty Ltd, IBIS Advisors, IBS Reinsurance Singapore Pte Ltd, ILS Fund Services Ltd., ISG International, ITI Solutions, Igloo Insurance PCC Limited, Independent Benefit Services, Independent Fiduciary Services, Ink Underwriting Agencies Limited, InsSync Group Pty Ltd, Inspire Underwriting Limited, Instrat Insurance Brokers, Instrat Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd, Instrat Integration Holdco Pty Ltd, Insurance Acquisitions Holdings Limited, Insurance Associates Inc., Insurance Dialogue Limited, Insurance Dialogue Ltd., Insurance Plans Agency, Insurance Plus Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Insurance Point, Insurance Risk Managers of Missouri Inc., Insure My Villa Limited, Insure Pty Ltd, Integrated Healthcare Strategies, InterNational Insurance Group, InterPacific Underwriting Agencies, Intermountain Financial Benefits, Interstate Insurance Underwriters, JPGAC LLC, James F. Reda & Associates, James R. Weir Insurance Agency, Jenkins and Associates, Joe E. Martin Inc., John P. Woods Co. Inc., Jones Brown, Jones Brown Group Inc., Jones Brown Insurance Solutions Inc., Joseph Distel, Joseph James & Associates Insurance Agency, Just Landlords Insurance Services Ltd, KDC Associates, KRW Insurance Agency, Kahl Insurance Services, Kaler Carney Liffler & Co. Inc., Kane Group - Insurance Management Operations, Kelly Financial, Kent Kent & Tingle and RBS, Keyser Benefits Corp., Kingspark Enterprises Pty Ltd, L&R Benefits, LSG Insurance Partners, Learn About Money Limited, Lewis & Associates Insurance Brokers, Leystone Insurance & Financial, Life Plans Unlimited, Lincoln Financial Management, Longfellow Financial, Lucas Fettes Limited, Lucas Fettes and Partners Limited, Lutgert Insurance, MA Underwriting Pty Ltd, MDM Insurance Associates, MG Advanced Coal Technologies-1 LLC, MGA Insurance Services, MRS Holdings Ltd., Madison Scott & Associates, Managed Healthcare Solutions, Mannequin Insurance PCC Limited, Marchetti Robertson & Brickell Insurance, Marine Insurance Service, Martin Gordon & Jones Inc., McDowall Associates Human Resource Consultants, McIntyre Risk Management, McLean Insurance Agency, McNeary, McPherson Benefits Group, McRory & Co., Mecacem Insurance SPC Ltd, MedInsights Inc., Melton Insurance Associates, Memberworks Canada LLC, Merit Insurance, Metcom Excess, Metzler Bros. Insurance, Meyers-Reynolds & Associates, Mid America Group, Midwest Surety Services, Mike Henry Insurance Brokers, Mike Henry Insurance Brokers Limited, Mike Henry Insurance Funding Limited, Miller Buettner & Parrott, Miller-Harrison Insurance Services, Milne Alexander Pty Ltd, Minvielle & Chastanet Insurance Brokers, Monument Insurance (NZ) Limited, Monument Llc, Monument Premium Funding Limited, Mortgage Insurance Agency, Murphy Consultants, Mutual Insurance Services, NationAir Aviation Insurance, National Administration Co., National Ethics Association, National Transportation Adjusters, Nelson/Monarch Insurance Services, Nicoud Insurance Services, NiiS/Apex Group Holdings, Nonprofit Insurance Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Noraxis Capital Corp, Nordic Forsakring & Riskhantering AB, North Alabama Insurance, Nourse Insurance Brokers, O'Gorman & Young, OAMPS (UK) Limited, OAMPS Gault Armstrong Pty Ltd, OAMPS Limited, OAMPS Special Risks Ltd, Offshore Market Placements Limited, Optimum Talent, Orb Financial Services, Orb Financial Services Limited, Osprey Insurance Brokers Limited, Oval Group, Oval Healthcare Limited, Oval Insurance Broking Limited, Oval Limited, Oval Management Services Limited, Oxygen Insurance Managers, P2 Group, PEN Insurance Management Advisors Ltd, PT IBS Insurance Broking Service, Pacific Insurance Agency, Palmer Atlantic Insurance, Palmer Atlantic Insurance Ltd, Palmer Atlantic Risk Services Ltd., Park Row Associates, Parkstar Enterprises Pty Ltd, Parmia Pty Ltd, PartnerSource, Pastel Holding (NZ) Company, Pastel Holdings Pty Limited, Pastel Purchaser (NZ) Limited, Pastel Purchaser Pty Limited, Pavey Group Holdings (UK) Limited, Pavey Group Holdings Limited, Pavey Group Limited, Pearson Dunn Insurance Inc., Pen Underwriting Canada Limited, Pen Underwriting Group Pty. Ltd., Pen Underwriting Limited, Pen Underwriting Pty Ltd, Persing Dyckman & Toynbee Inc., Personal Advice Services Pty Ltd, Petty Burton Associates, Pointer Insurance Agency, Portmore Insurance Brokers (Wilshire) Limited, Portmore Insurance Brokers Limited, Potter-Holden & Co., Powell Insurance Agency, Premier Insurance Services Inc., Premier Risk Services, Premium Finance Corporation, Preston-Patterson, ProSource Financial, Professional Agents Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Professional Claims Managers, Proinova AB, Proinova Agency AB, Pronto California Agency LLC, Pronto California General Agency LLC, Pronto Florida Claims LLC, Pronto Florida General Agency LLC, Pronto Franchise LLC, Pronto General Agency Ltd, Pronto General Agency Management LLC, Pronto Holdco Inc., Pronto Holding California LLC, Pronto Holding Florida LLC, Pronto Insurance Agency of Laredo Inc., Pronto Premium Finance LLC, Property & Commercial Ltd., Property Insurance Initatives Limited, Property and Commercial Limited, Protected Insurance Company, Protection Plan Association Inc., Protek Group Limited, Providium Consulting Group, Ptarmigan Underwriting Agency Limited, Ptarmigan Underwriting UK Limited, Purple Bridge Claims Management Limited, Purple Bridge Finance Limited, Purple Bridge Group Limited, Purple Bridge Investments Limited, Purple Bridge Online Services Limited, Purple Bridge Publishing Limited, Quantum Underwriting Solutions Limited, Quillco 226 Limited, Quillco 227 Limited, R. L. Youngdahl & Associates, R.G. Speno Inc., R.W. Scobie, RA Rossborough (Guernsey) Ltd., RA Rossborough (Insurance Brokers) Ltd, REGENCY Group inc., RGA Referencing Limited, RGA Underwriting Limited, RIL Administrators (Guernsey) Ltd., RJ Dutton Inc., RSM Insurance Services Limited, Reassurance Holdings Inc., Rebholz Insurance Agency, Reid Manson Ltd., Reimbursement Services, Rentguard Limited, Reward Management Limited, Reynolds & Rodar Insurance Group, Riley & Associates, Rio 587 Limited, Rio 588 Limited, Risk & Reward Group, Risk Management Partners Limited, Risk Placement Services Inc., Risk Planners, Risk Services (NW) Limited, Risk Services (NW) Ltd., Risk Solutions Group Limited, Robert A. Schneider Agency, Robert Keith & Associates, Roberts & Roberts Insurance Service, Robinson-Adams Insurance, Rossborough Healthcare International Ltd, Rossborough Insurance (IOM) Ltd., Rossborough Insurance Services Ltd. (Jersey), S. A. Freerks & Associates, SEG Insurance Ltd, SGB-NIA Insurance Brokers, SHILLING Ltd, SKANCO International, SMERI AB, SRS Underwriting Pty Ltd, Secure Enterprises Pty Ltd, Securitas Re, Sellers Group, Sentinel Indemnity LLC, Septagon Insurance PCC Limited, Shuford Insurance Agency, Sigma II Insurance Agency, Sinclair Billard and Weld Limited, Sobieski & Bradley, Solid Benefit Guidance, Spanjers Insurance Agency, Spataro Insurance Agency, Specialised Broking Associates, Specialty Risk, Stackhouse Poland, Stackhouse Poland Bidco Limited, Stackhouse Poland Group Limited, Stackhouse Poland Holdings Limited, Stackhouse Poland Midco Limited, Stackouse Poland Limited, Stanton Group, Stark Johnson & Stinson Inc., Steel Agency, Strata Solicitors Ltd, Strategic Health Plans Corp., Strathearn Insurance Brokers, Strathearn Insurance Brokers (Qld) Trading Trust, Strathern Insurance Group Pty Ltd, Strathern Integration Holdco Pty Ltd, Strathern Unit Trust, Strong Financial Resources, Summit Insurance Group, Sunday and Associates, Sunderland Insurance Services, Super Advice Corporate Services Pty Ltd, Taylor Benefits, Texas Insurance Agency, Texas Insurance Managers, The BeneTex Group, The Buchholz Planning, The Chapman Group, The Commonwealth Consulting Group, The Daniels Group Inc., The EHE Group LLC, The EHE Insurance Agency LLC, The Eagle Insurance Agency LLC, The Eriksen Group, The Forker Company, The Gleason Agency, The Great Lakes Agency, The HR Group, The Hawk Agency, The Human Capital Group, The Lance Group, The Levitt/Kristan Co., The MW Bagnall Company, The Old Greenwich Consulting Group, The Parks Johnson Agency, The Plus Companies Inc., The Presidio Group, The Producers Choice, The Rains Group, The Splinter Group, The Titan Group, The Treiber Group, The Woodsmall Companies Inc., Title & Covenant Brokers Ltd., Title Investments Limited, Tom Sherwin Insurance Agency, Total Reward Group, Total Rewards Group (Holdings) Limited, Towle Agency, Transwestern, Tri-State General Insurance Agency, Triad Insurance Agency, Triad USA, Tribeca Strategic Advisors, Trinder & Norwood, Trip Mate, Trissel Graham & Toole, Tropp & Co., Tudor Risk Services, Tyloma Holdings Limited, Uni-Care Inc., Unison Inc., Universico Group, Unoccupied Direct Limited, V2V Holdings LLC, VEBA Service Group, Vasek Insurance Services Limited, Velo ACU LLC, Velo Holdings Inc., Verbag AG., Vertrue LLC, Victory Insurance Agency, Vincent L. Braband Insurance, Vital Benefits, Voluntary Benefits Solutions, W. E. Kingsley Co. Inc., WM. W. George & Associates, Walker Taylor Agency, Welling Associates, Wesfarmers Insurance - Insurance Brokerage Operations, Western Benefit Solutions, White & Company Insurance, Whitehaven Insurance Group, William Gallagher Associates Insurance Brokers, William H. Connolly & Co., Williams Insurance Agency Inc., Williams-Manny Insurance Group, Winn & Company Insurance Brokers, Wischmeyer Benefit Partners, Woodbrook Underwriting Agencies, Woods & Grooms, WorkCare Northwest, Worksite Communications, Y. S. Liedman & Associates, YOA Capsicum Reinsurance Broker Limited, Zenor Limited, Zuber Insurance Agency, and e3 Financial.The following companies are subsidiares of IQVIA: 159 SOLUTIONS, 159 Technology Solutions Private Ltd, AHM Global Operations Inc., AHM Global Services LLC, AHM Logistics Inc. (Canada), AIECO IT Solutions India Private Ltd., ALIMED Egeszsegugyi Szolgaltato Kft., Advanced Health Media LLC, Advanced Health Media Services, Aileron Solutions, Albatross Financial Solutions Limited, Appature, Ardentia International Limited, Ascott Sales Integration, Asesorias IQVIA Solutions Chile Limitada, Asserta Centroamerica Medicion de Mercados, BUZZEOPDMA LLC, Battaerd Mansley Pty. Ltd., Benefit Canada, Benefit Holding, BioFortis, CDS - Center de Service SAS, COORDINATED MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, CRM Health Korea Ltd., CSD Health Korea Ltd., Cambridge Pharma Consultancy, Cambridge Pharma Consultancy Limited, Cegedim Venezuela C.A., Cenduit (India) Services Private Company Limited, Cenduit Limited, Cenduit Mauritius Holdings Company, Clinical Financial Services, Clinical Lab Minority Shareholder Limited, Coordinated Management Holdings L.L.C., Cote Orphan, Cote Orphan Consulting UK Limited, DATA NICHE ASSOCIATES, Datadina Ecuador S.A., Dataline Software Limited, Datec Industria e Comercio, Dimensiions Healthcare LLC, Drug Dev Inc., DrugDev, DrugDev Limited, EA Institute L.L.C., ENTERPRISE ASSOCIATES, EPS Research Limited, EPS Software Limited, Epernicus, Forcea NV, Foresight Group International UK LTD, Foresight Group Japan G.K., Foresight IT Solutions Consulting India Private Limited, GRACE DATA CORPORATION, Global Crown Investment Limited, HIGHPOINT SOLUTIONS, Hospital Marketing Services Ltd., Hotel Lot C-8B, IMS (GIBRALTAR) HOLDING LIMITED, IMS (UK) Pension Plan Trustee Company Limited, IMS AB, IMS CHINAMETRIK INC., IMS HEALTH GROUP LIMITED, IMS HEALTH KOREA LTD, IMS HEALTH KOREA LTD., IMS HEALTH PUERTO RICO INC., IMS HEALTH TAIWAN LTD., IMS Health (Australia) Partnership, IMS Health Analytics Services Private Limited, IMS Health Bangladesh Limited, IMS Health Bolivia S.R.L., IMS Health Cyprus LTD, IMS Health Egypt Limited, IMS Health Information Solutions Argentina S.A., IMS Health Information Solutions Australia Pty. Ltd, IMS Health Information Solutions India Private Ltd., IMS Health Information Solutions Japan K.K., IMS Health Lanka (Private) Limited, IMS Health Networks Limited, IMS Health Pakistan (Private) Limited, IMS Health Paraguay SRL, IMS Health Surveys Limited, IMS Health Technology Solutions (China) Co. Ltd., IMS Health Technology Solutions Australia Pty. Ltd, IMS Health Technology Solutions Colombia Ltda., IMS Health Technology Solutions Holdings AB, IMS Health Technology Solutions Hungary Ltd., IMS Health Technology Solutions India Private Ltd., IMS Health Technology Solutions Japan K.K., IMS Health Technology Solutions Kazakhstan, IMS Health Technology Solutions LLC, IMS Health Technology Solutions Sweden AB, IMS Health Technology TUNISIA, IMS Health Tunisia sarl, IMS Health Uruguay S.A., IMS Health de Venezuela C.A., IMS Holdings (U.K.) Limited, IMS Hospital Group Limited, IMS Information Solutions Medical Research Limited, IMS Information Solutions UK Ltd., IMS International (Proprietary) Limited, IMS Market Research Consult (Beijing), IMS Meridian Limited, IMS Meridian Research Limited, IMS Republica Dominicana, IMS SOFTWARE SERVICES LTD., IMS Technology Solutions UK Limited, INTERCONTINENTAL MEDICAL STATISTICS INTERNATIONAL, IPP Informacion Promocional y Publicitaria S.A. de C.V., IPP Technology Solutions Mexico SA de CV (FKA Cegedim Mexico SA de CV), IQVA Romania S.R.L., IQVIA (Thialand) Co. Ltd., IQVIA AB, IQVIA AG, IQVIA AG (Mexico Branch), IQVIA AG (UK Branch), IQVIA Adriatic d.o.o. za Konzalting, IQVIA Asia Pacific Commercial Holdings LLC, IQVIA Beteiligungs-gesellschaft mbH, IQVIA BioSciences Holdings LLC, IQVIA CHINAMETRIK INC., IQVIA COMMERCIAL FINANCE INC., IQVIA COMMERCIAL INDIA HOLDINGS CORP., IQVIA COMMERCIAL LICENSING ASSOCIATES LLC, IQVIA COMMERCIAL SERVICES LLC, IQVIA COMMERCIAL TRADING CORP., IQVIA Clinical AB, IQVIA Commercial Deutschland GmbH, IQVIA Commercial GmbH & Co. OHG, IQVIA Commercial I LLC, IQVIA Commercial Software GmbH, IQVIA Commercial Sp. z.o.o., IQVIA Commerical Consulting Sp. z.o.o., IQVIA Consulting Solutions bvba, IQVIA Consulting and Information Services India Private Limited, IQVIA Finance Ireland Designated Activity Company, IQVIA GOVERNMENT SOLUTIONS INC., IQVIA Healthcare QFC branch, IQVIA Hellas Technology Solutions S.A., IQVIA Holdings France SAS, IQVIA IES (UK) Limited, IQVIA IES Brasil Ltda., IQVIA IES Europe Limited, IQVIA IES European Holdings, IQVIA IES Italia S.r.l., IQVIA IES OY, IQVIA IES Overseas Holdings Limited, IQVIA IES Portugal, IQVIA IES Portugal Unipressoal Ltda., IQVIA IES Puerto Rico Inc., IQVIA II Technology Solutions Portugal, IQVIA INC., IQVIA INFORMATION MEDICAL STATISTICS (ISRAEL) LTD., IQVIA Information, IQVIA Information Solutions (China) Co., IQVIA Information Solutions GmbH, IQVIA Informations Solutions France SAS, IQVIA Istanbul Saglik Hizmetler Arastirma ve Danismanlik Limited Sirketi, IQVIA Korea Co. Ltd., IQVIA LTD, IQVIA Market Intelligence LLC, IQVIA Marktforschung GmbH, IQVIA Maroc SARL, IQVIA Mauritius Holdings, IQVIA Medical Communications & Consulting, IQVIA Medical Development (Dalian) Co., IQVIA Medical Education Inc., IQVIA Medical Radar AB, IQVIA Operations France SAS, IQVIA PHARMA Inc., IQVIA Partners AS, IQVIA Pharma Services Corp., IQVIA Pharmaceutical Marketing Services Ltd., IQVIA Phase One Services LLC, IQVIA RDS (India) Private Limited, IQVIA RDS (Pty.) Limited, IQVIA RDS AG, IQVIA RDS Argentina S.A., IQVIA RDS Asia Inc., IQVIA RDS Austria GmbH, IQVIA RDS BT Inc., IQVIA RDS Brasil Ltda., IQVIA RDS Bulgaria EOOD, IQVIA RDS Canada ULC, IQVIA RDS Chile, IQVIA RDS Colombia S.A.S., IQVIA RDS Consulting Inc., IQVIA RDS ESTONIA OU, IQVIA RDS East Asia Pte. Ltd., IQVIA RDS Eastern Holdings GmbH, IQVIA RDS Finland OY, IQVIA RDS France SAS (formerly, IQVIA RDS Funding LLC, IQVIA RDS GesmbH, IQVIA RDS GesmbH Greek Branch, IQVIA RDS Guatemala S.A., IQVIA RDS Holdings, IQVIA RDS Hong Kong Limited, IQVIA RDS ISRAEL LTD., IQVIA RDS Inc., IQVIA RDS Ireland (Finance) Ltd., IQVIA RDS Ireland Ltd., IQVIA RDS Italy Srl, IQVIA RDS Latin America LLC, IQVIA RDS Latvia SIA, IQVIA RDS Magyarorszag Gyogyszerfejlesztesi es Tanacsado Kft., IQVIA RDS Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., IQVIA RDS Moscow, IQVIA RDS Novosibirsk, IQVIA RDS Panama Inc., IQVIA RDS Peru S.r.l., IQVIA RDS Philippines Inc., IQVIA RDS Poland Sp. Zoo, IQVIA RDS Pty. Limited, IQVIA RDS Slovakia s.r.o., IQVIA RDS Spain, IQVIA RDS Spain S.L., IQVIA RDS St. Petersburg, IQVIA RDS Support Sarl, IQVIA RDS Switzerland sarl, IQVIA RDS Taiwan Ltd., IQVIA RDS Transfer LLC, IQVIA RDS UAB, IQVIA RDS UK Holdings Ltd., IQVIA RDS and Integrated Services Belgium NV, IQVIA RDS d.o.o. Beograd, IQVIA SOLUTIONS ASIA PTE. LTD., IQVIA SOLUTIONS CANADA INC., IQVIA SOLUTIONS JAPAN K.K., IQVIA SOLUTIONS OPERATIONS CENTER PHLIPPINES INC., IQVIA SOLUTIONS PHILIPINES, IQVIA SOLUTIONS PHILIPPINES, IQVIA Services Japan K.K., IQVIA Solutions (NZ) Limited, IQVIA Solutions (Pty.) Ltd., IQVIA Solutions Argentina S.A., IQVIA Solutions Australia Holdings Pty. Ltd., IQVIA Solutions Australia Pty. Ltd., IQVIA Solutions B.V., IQVIA Solutions Belgium S.P.R.L., IQVIA Solutions Bulgaria EOOD, IQVIA Solutions Colombia S.A., IQVIA Solutions Consulting Myanmar Company Limited, IQVIA Solutions Denmark AS, IQVIA Solutions Enterprise Management Consulting (Shanghai) Co., IQVIA Solutions Finance B.V., IQVIA Solutions Finance UK I Ltd., IQVIA Solutions Finance UK II Ltd., IQVIA Solutions Finance UK III Ltd., IQVIA Solutions Finance UK V Ltd., IQVIA Solutions Finland OY, IQVIA Solutions Global Holdings UK Ltd., IQVIA Solutions GmbH, IQVIA Solutions HQ Ltd., IQVIA Solutions Holdings (Pty.) Ltd., IQVIA Solutions Hong Kong Limited, IQVIA Solutions Ireland Limited, IQVIA Solutions Italy W.r.l., IQVIA Solutions Kazakhstan LLC, IQVIA Solutions LLC, IQVIA Solutions Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., IQVIA Solutions Norway AS, IQVIA Solutions Pharmaceutical SRL, IQVIA Solutions Portugal, IQVIA Solutions Regional Pte. Ltd., IQVIA Solutions Services Ltd., IQVIA Solutions Sweden AB, IQVIA Solutions UK Investments Ltd., IQVIA Solutions UK Limited, IQVIA Solutions a.s., IQVIA Solutions del Peru S.A., IQVIA Solutions do Brasil Ltda., IQVIA Solutions s.r.o., IQVIA Solucoes de Tecnologia DO Brazil Ltda., IQVIA Staff Services Sp.A., IQVIA TRANSPORTATION SERVICES CORP., IQVIA Technology Services Ltd., IQVIA Technology Solutions Egypt LLC, IQVIA Technology Solutions Finland OY, IQVIA Technology Solutions Poland SP. z.o.o., IQVIA Technology Solutions Romania Srl, IQVIA Technology Solutions S.R.O. Branch Bulgaria, IQVIA Technology Solutions Ukraine LLC, IQVIA Technology Solutions s.r.o., IQVIA Technology and Services AG, IQVIA Tibbi Istatistik Ticaret ve Musavirlik Ltd. Sirketi, IQVIA Trading Management Inc., IQVIA World Publications Ltd., IQVIA Zagreb d.o.o., Iasist Holdco Limited, Iasist Potugal, Iasist SAU Agencia en Chile, Iasist Sociedad Anonima Unipersonal, Impact RX, Infocus Health Limited, Infopharm Ltd., Innovex Holdings I LLC, Innovex Merger Corp., Innovex Saglik Hizmetleri Arastirma ve Danismanlik Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Innovex Saglik Urunleri Pazarlame ve Hizmet Danismanlik Anonim Sirketi, Institute of Medical Communications NCO, Interstatistik AG, Kun Tai Medical Development Hong Kong Limited, Kun Tuo Medical Research & Development (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Laboratorie Novex Pharma Sarl, Laboratorio Commuq Pharma SL, Linguamatics, M&H Informatics (BD) LTD., M-TAG Australia Pty. Ltd., MED-VANTAGE, MG Recherche, Mecurial Insights Holding Pty. Ltd., Mecurial Insights Pty. Ltd., Mercados Y Analisis, Meridian Research Vietnam Ltd., Nordisk Medicin Information AB, Novella Clinical LLC, Novella Clinical Ltd., Novex Pharma Gmbh, Novex Pharma Laboratorio S.L., Novex Pharma Limited, Nuevo Health Pty Ltd, Onkodatamed GmbH, Operaciones Centralizadas Latinoamericana Limitada, Optimum Contact Limited, Outcome Sciences LLC, PILGRIM SOFTWARE HOLDING B.V., POLARIS MANAGEMENT PARTNERS LLC, POLARIS SOLUTIONS LLC, PR Editions S.A.S., PT IMS Health Indonesia, PT Quintiles Indonesia, Penderwood Limited, PharmARC Consulting Services GmbH, PharmARC Inc., Pharma Deals Limited, Pharma Strategy Group Ltd., Pharmadata s.r.o., Pharmaforce, Pilgrim Quality Solutions EMEA BV, Pilgrim Software Asia PVT, Polaris Solutions BV, Polaris Solutions Ltd., Primeum IQVIA SAS, Privacy Analytics Inc., Professional Pharmaceutical Marketing Services (Pty.) Ltd., Pygargus AB, Q Squared Solutions (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Q Squared Solutions (India) Private Limited, Q Squared Solutions (Quest) LLC, Q Squared Solutions (Quest) Limited, Q Squared Solutions (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Q Squared Solutions B.V., Q Squared Solutions BioSciences LLC, Q Squared Solutions China (Quest) Limited, Q Squared Solutions China Limited, Q Squared Solutions Expression Analysis LLC, Q Squared Solutions Holdings B.V., Q Squared Solutions Holdings LLC, Q Squared Solutions Holdings Limited, Q Squared Solutions K.K., Q Squared Solutions LLC, Q Squared Solutions Limited, Q Squared Solutions Proprietary Limited, Q Squared Solutions Pte. Ltd., Q Squared Solutions S.A., Q2 Metrics, Q2 Solutions, QIMS Pharma Services SA DE CV, QUINTILES MEXICO, QUINTILESIMS EUROPEAN HOLDINGS II C.V., Qcare Site Services, Quintiles B.V., Quintiles Benin Ltd., Quintiles Clindata (Pty.) Limited, Quintiles Clindepharm (Pty.) Limited, Quintiles Clinical and Commercial Nigeria Limited, Quintiles Commercial ApS, Quintiles Commercial Germany GmbH, Quintiles Commercial Rus LLC, Quintiles Commercial South Africa (Pty) Limited, Quintiles Commercial US. Inc., Quintiles Costa Rica S.A., Quintiles Czech Republic, Quintiles Denmark, Quintiles East Africa Limited, Quintiles Egypt LLC, Quintiles Enterprise Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Quintiles Finance Sarl, Quintiles Finance Uruguay, Quintiles GmbH, Quintiles Holdings S.a.r.l., Quintiles IMS European Holdings C.V., Quintiles Lanka Private Limited, Quintiles Latin America Inc., Quintiles Luxembourg European Holding, Quintiles Luxembourg European Holding S.a.r.l., Quintiles Luxembourg France Holdings SARL, Quintiles Medical Development (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Quintiles Netherlands, Quintiles New Zealand, Quintiles Norway, Quintiles Phase One Clinical Trials India Private Limited, Quintiles Russia LLC, Quintiles S.a.r.l., Quintiles Site Services, Quintiles South Africa (PTY.) Limited, Quintiles UK (Japan Holdings) Limited, Quintiles Ukraine, Quintiles Vietnam, Quintiles West Africa Limited, RX India LLC, Radar Acquisition Blocker, Redsite Limited, Reportive SA, STI Technologies Limited, Schwarzeck Verlag GmbH, Secureconsent, Shanghai IMS Market Research Co. Ltd., Source Informatics Limited, Spartan Leasing Corporation, Statfinn Oy, Strategique Sante, THE AMUNDSEN GROUP, Targeted Molecular Diagnostics, Tarius A/S, Temas Srl - Societa Unipersonale, TforG Connect BVBA, Themis Limited, UAB IQVIA Commercial, VALUEMEDICS RESEARCH, VCG&A Inc., and iGuard.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.There is not enough analysis data for American Premium Water.

3.9 Community Rank

Outperform Votes American Premium Water has received 24 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)

Underperform Votes American Premium Water has received 17 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)

Community Sentiment American Premium Water has received 58.54% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about American Premium Water and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe HIPH will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe HIPH will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

Previous

Next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..CF Industries Holdings, Inc. engages in the manufacture and distribution of nitrogen fertilizer. The firm owns and operates nitrogen plants and serves agricultural and industrial customers through its distribution system. It operates through following segments: Ammonia, Granular Urea, UAN, AN, and Other. The Ammonia segment produces anhydrous ammonia, which is company's most concentrated nitrogen fertilizer product as it contains 82% nitrogen. The Granular Urea segment produces granular urea, which contains 46% nitrogen. The UAN segment produces urea ammonium nitrate solution, which is a liquid fertilizer product with a nitrogen content from 28% to 32%, is produced by combining urea and ammonium nitrate. The AN segment produces ammonium nitrate, which is a nitrogen-based product with a nitrogen content between 29% and 35%. The Other segment includes diesel exhaust fluid, nitric acid, urea liquor and aqua ammonia. The company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Deerfield, IL.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Exxon Mobil: AKG Marketing Company Limited, Aera Energy LLC, Al-Jubail Petrochemical Company, Ampolex (Cepu) Pte Ltd, Ancon Insurance Company Inc., Barnett Gathering LLC, Barzan Gas Company Limited, Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Celtic Exploration Ltd., Coral FLNG S.A., Cross Timbers Energy LLC, Ellora Energy Inc., Esmeroon Oil Transporta Imperial Oil Limited, Esso (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Esso Australia Resources Pty Ltd, Esso Deutschland GmbH, Esso Erdgas Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 15) Limited, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 17) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Angola (Overseas) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Chad Inc., Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Offshore East) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, Esso Exploration and Production UK Limited, Esso Global Investments Ltd., Esso Italiana S.r.l., Esso Nederland B.V., Esso Norge AS, Esso Petroleum Company Limited, Esso Raffinage, Esso Societe Anonyme Francaise, Exxo Holdings Inc., Exxon Azerbaijan Limited, Exxon Chemical Arabia Inc., Exxon International Finance Company, Exxon Luxembourg Holdings LLC, Exxon Mobile Bay Limited Partnership, Exxon Neftegas Limited, Exxon Overseas Corporation, Exxon Overseas Investment Corporation, ExxonMobil (China) Investment Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil (Taicang) Petroleum Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil Abu Dhabi Offshore Petroleum Company Limited, ExxonMobil Alaska Production Inc., ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., ExxonMobil Australia Pty Ltd, ExxonMobil B Resources Company, ExxonMobil Capital Finance Company, ExxonMobil Capital Netherlands B.V., ExxonMobil Central Europe Holding GmbH, ExxonMobil Cepu Limited, ExxonMobil Chemical France, ExxonMobil Chemical Gulf Coast Investments LLC, ExxonMobil Chemical Holland B.V., ExxonMobil Chemical Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil China Petroleum & Petrochemical Company Limited, ExxonMobil Development Africa B.V., ExxonMobil Development Company, ExxonMobil Egypt (S.A.E.), ExxonMobil Exploracao Brasil Ltda., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway AS, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Romania Limited, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Tanzania Limited, ExxonMobil Finance Company Limited, ExxonMobil Financial Investment Company Limited, ExxonMobil France Holding SAS, ExxonMobil Gas Marketing Europe Limited, ExxonMobil General Finance Company, ExxonMobil Global Services Company, ExxonMobil Golden Pass Surety LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Company Holland LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Norway AS, ExxonMobil Hong Kong Limited, ExxonMobil International Services SARL, ExxonMobil Iraq Limited, ExxonMobil Italiana Gas S.r.l., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Ventures Inc., ExxonMobil LNG Services B.V., ExxonMobil Lubricants Trading Company, ExxonMobil Oil Corporation, ExxonMobil PNG Limited, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical BVBA, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical Holdings Inc., ExxonMobil Pipeline Company, ExxonMobil Production Deutschland GmbH, ExxonMobil Production Norway Inc., ExxonMobil Qatargas (II) Limited, ExxonMobil Qatargas Inc., ExxonMobil Ras Laffan (III) Limited, ExxonMobil Rasgas Inc., ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, ExxonMobil Russia Kara Sea Holdings B.V., ExxonMobil Sales and Supply LLC, ExxonMobil Technology Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Funding Ltd., Fujian Refining & Petrochemical Co. Ltd., Golden Pass LNG Terminal Investments LLC, Golden Pass LNG Terminal LLC, Gulf Coast Growth Ventures LLC, Imperial Oil Limited, Imperial Oil Resources Limited, Imperial Oil Resources N.W.T. Limited, Imperial Oil/Petroliere Imperiale, Infineum Italia s.r.I., Infineum Singapore Pte. Ltd., InterOil Corporation, Jurong Aromatics Corporation Pte Ltd, MPM Lubricants, Marine Well Containment Company LLC, Mobil Australia Resources Company Pty Limited, Mobil California Exploration & Producing Asset Company, Mobil Caspian Pipeline Company, Mobil Chemical Products International Inc., Mobil Corporation, Mobil Equatorial Guinea Inc., Mobil Erdgas Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Mobil Exploration & Producing Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil International Petroleum Corporation, Mobil Oil Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil Oil Exploration & Producing Southeast Inc., Mobil Oil New Zealand Limited, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Mobil Producing Texas & New Mexico Inc., Mobil SerLimited, Mobil Venezolana De Petroleos Inc., Mobil Yanbu Petrochemical Company Inc., Mobil Yanbu Refining Company Inc., Mountain Gathering LLC, Mozambique Rovuma Venture S.p.A., Palmetto Transoceanic LLC, Papua New Guinea Liquefied Natural Gas Global Company LDC, Permian Express Partners LLC, Phillips Exploration LLC, Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (II), SPI Limited, Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Company Ltd., Saudi Yanbu Petrochemical Co., SeaRiver Maritime Inc., South Hook LNG Terminal Company Limited, Tengizchevroil LLP, Terminale GNL Adriatico S.r.l, Trend Gathering & Treating LLC, Wolverine Pipe Line Company, XH LLC, XTO Delaware Basin LLC, XTO ENERGY, XTO Energy Canada, and XTO Holdings LLC.iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF's stock was trading at $62.18 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 (Coronavirus) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, IJJ stock has increased by 82.0% and is now trading at $113.17.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.There is not enough analysis data for Hudson's Bay.

4.3 Community Rank

Outperform Votes Hudson's Bay has received 521 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)

Underperform Votes Hudson's Bay has received 295 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)

Community Sentiment Hudson's Bay has received 63.85% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Hudson's Bay and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe HBC will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe HBC will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

Previous

NextThe following companies are subsidiares of Illinois Tool Works: A V Co 1 Limited, A V Co 2 Limited, A V Co 3 Limited, ACCU-LUBE Manufacturing GmbH - Schmiermittel und -gerate -, AIP/BI Holdings Inc., Accessories Marketing Holding Corp., Advanced Molding Company Inc., Allen Coding GmbH, Allen France SAS, Alpine Automation Limited, Alpine Engineered Products, Alpine Holdings Inc., Alpine Systems Corporation, Anaerobicos S.r.l., AppliChem GmbH, Arylux Hungary Elektromechanikus Alkatreszgyarto Kft, Avery Berkel France, Avery India Limited, Avery Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avery Weigh Tronix, Avery Weigh-Tronix (Suzhou) Weighing Technology Co. Ltd., Avery Weigh-Tronix Finance Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Holdings Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix International Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix LLC, Avery Weigh-Tronix Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Properties Limited, Azon Limited, B.C. Immo, Beijing Miller Electric Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Berkel (Ireland) Limited, Berrington UK, Brapenta Eletronica Ltda., Brooks Instrument (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Brooks Instrument B.V., Brooks Instrument GmbH, Brooks Instrument KFT, Brooks Instrument Korea Ltd., Brooks Instrument LLC, Buell Industries Inc., CAPMAX Logistica S.A. de C.V., CCI Realty Company, CFC Europe GmbH, CS (Australia) Pty Limited, CS (Finance) Europe S.a.r.l., CS Mexico Holding Company S DE RL DE CV, CSMTS LLC, Calvia Spolka z Ograniczona Odpowiedzialnosci, Capital Ventures (Australasia) S.a r.l, Capmax Logistica S.A. de C.V., Celeste Industries Corporation, Coeur, Coeur (Shanghai) Medical Appliance Trading Co. Ltd, Coeur Asia Limited, Coeur Holding Company, Coeur Inc., Compagnie Hobart, Compagnie de Materiel et d'Equipements Techniques-Comet, Constructions Isothermiques Bontami C.I.B., Crane Carrier Company, Despatch Industries, Diagraph Corporation Sdn. Bhd, Diagraph ITW Mexico S. de R.L. De C.V., Diagraph Mexico S.A. DE C.V., Dongguan Ark-Les Electric Components Co. Ltd., Dongguan CK Branding Co. Ltd., Dorbyl U.K. (Holdings) Limited, Duo Fast de Espana S.A.U., Duo-Fast Korea Co. Ltd., Duo-Fast LLC, E.C.S. d.o.o., ECS Cable Protection Sp. Zoo, ELRO (Holding) AG, ELRO Grosskuchen GmbH, ELRO-WERKE AG, Elga Skandinavian AS, Elro Group, Eltex-Elektrostatik-Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Envases Multipac S.A. de C.V., Eurotec Srl, FEG Investments L.L.C., Fasver, Filtertek, Filtertek De Mexico Holding Inc., Filtertek De Mexico S.A. de C.V., GC Financement SA, Gamko B.V., Gun Hwa Platech (Taicang) Co. Ltd., HOBART Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Hartness International, Hobart (Japan) K.K., Hobart Andina S.A.S., Hobart Brothers International Chile Limitada, Hobart Brothers LLC, Hobart Dayton Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Hobart Food Equipment Co. Ltd., Hobart Foster Belgium, Hobart International (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Hobart Korea LLC, Hobart LLC, Hobart Nederland B.V., Hobart Sales & Service Inc., Hobart Scandinavia ApS, Hobart Techniek B.V., Horis, ILC Investments Holdings Inc., ITW (China) Investment Company Limited, ITW (Deutschland) GmbH, ITW (EU) Holdings Ltd., ITW (European) Finance Co. Ltd., ITW (European) Finance II Co. Ltd., ITW (European) Finance III Co. Ltd., ITW (Ningbo) Components & Fastenings Systems Co. Ltd., ITW AEP LLC, ITW AOC LLC, ITW Aircraft Investments Inc., ITW Alpha Sarl, ITW Ampang Industries Philippines Inc., ITW Appliance Components EOOD, ITW Appliance Components S.A. de C.V., ITW Appliance Components S.r.l.a, ITW Appliance Components d.o.o., ITW Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, ITW Australia Property Holdings Pty Ltd., ITW Australia Pty Ltd, ITW Automotive Components (Chongqing) Co. Ltd., ITW Automotive Components (Langfang) Co. Ltd., ITW Automotive Japan K.K., ITW Automotive Korea LLC, ITW Automotive Parts (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, ITW Automotive Products GmbH, ITW Automotive Products Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Bailly Comte, ITW Befestigungssysteme GmbH, ITW Belgium, ITW Brazilian Nominee L.L.C., ITW Building Components Group Inc., ITW CER, ITW CP Distribution Center Holland BV, ITW CS (UK) Ltd., ITW Canada Inc., ITW Celeste Inc., ITW Chemical Products Ltda, ITW Chemical Products Scandinavia ApS, ITW Colombia S.A.S., ITW Construction Products (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Construction Products (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., ITW Construction Products AB, ITW Construction Products AS, ITW Construction Products ApS, ITW Construction Products CZ s.r.o., ITW Construction Products Italy Srl, ITW Construction Products OU, ITW Construction Products OY, ITW Contamination Control (Wujiang) Co. Ltd., ITW Contamination Control B.V., ITW Covid Security Group Inc., ITW DS Investments Inc., ITW DelFast do Brasil Ltda., ITW Delta Sarl, ITW Denmark ApS, ITW Dynatec, ITW Dynatec Adhesive Equipment (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., ITW Dynatec GmbH, ITW Dynatec Kabushiki Kaisha, ITW EAE B.V., ITW EAE Mexico S de RL de CV, ITW EF&C France SAS, ITW EF&C Selb GmbH, ITW Electronic Business Asia Co. Limited, ITW Electronic Components/Products (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Electronics (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., ITW Epsilon Sarl, ITW Espana S.A., ITW FEG Hong Kong Limited, ITW FEG do Brasil Industria e Comercio Ltda., ITW Fastener Products GmbH, ITW Finance Designated Activity Company, ITW Finance Europe S.A., ITW Fluids and Hygiene Solutions Ltda., ITW Food Equipment Group LLC, ITW France Finance Alpha S.A.S., ITW GH LLC, ITW GSE ApS, ITW GSE Inc., ITW Gamma Sarl, ITW German Management LLC, ITW Global Investments Holdings LLC, ITW Global Investments Holdings Y Compania Sociedad en Comandita por Acciones, ITW Global Investments II Inc., ITW Global Investments Inc., ITW Global Tire Repair Europe GmbH, ITW Global Tire Repair Inc., ITW Global Tire Repair Japan K.K., ITW Graphics (Thailand) Ltd., ITW Graphics Asia Limited, ITW Graphics Italy S.R.L. in liquidazione, ITW Great Britain Investment & Licensing Holding Company, ITW Group France (Luxembourg) S.ar.l., ITW HLP Thailand Co. Ltd., ITW Holding Quimica B.C. S.L. Sole Shareholder Company, ITW Holdings Australia L.P., ITW Holdings I Limited, ITW Holdings II Limited, ITW Holdings III Limited, ITW Holdings IV Limited, ITW Holdings IX Limited, ITW Holdings Inc., ITW Holdings UK, ITW Holdings V Limited, ITW Holdings VI Limited, ITW Holdings VII Limited, ITW Holdings VIII Limited, ITW Holdings X Limited, ITW Holdings XI Limited, ITW Hungary Finance Beta Kft, ITW ILC Holdings I Inc., ITW IPG Investments LLC, ITW Imaden Industria e Comercio Ltda., ITW India Private Limited, ITW International Holdings LLC, ITW Invest Holding GmbH, ITW Ireland Holdings Unlimited Company, ITW Ireland Unlimited Company, ITW Italy Finance Srl, ITW Italy Holding Srl, ITW Japan Ltd., ITW Korea LLC, ITW LLC & Co. KG, ITW Limited, ITW Lombard Holdings Inc., ITW Lys Fusion S.r.l., ITW M FILMS II LLC, ITW MH LLC, ITW Meritex Sdn. Bhd., ITW Metal Fasteners S.L., ITW Mexico Holding Company S. De R.L. de C.V., ITW Mexico Holdings LLC, ITW Morlock GmbH, ITW Mortgage Investments II Inc., ITW Mortgage Investments III Inc., ITW Mortgage Investments IV Inc., ITW Netherlands Administration BV, ITW Netherlands Beta B.V., ITW Netherlands Finance Alpha BV, ITW New Universal LLC, ITW New Zealand, ITW Novadan Sp. Z.o.o., ITW PPF Brasil Adesivos Ltda., ITW Packaging Technology (China) Co. Ltd., ITW Participations S.a r.l., ITW Pension Funds Trustee Company, ITW Performance Plastic (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids Japan Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids Korea Limited, ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids OOO, ITW Performance Polymers (Wujiang) Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers ApS, ITW Performance Polymers and Fluids Group FZE, ITW Peru S.A.C., ITW Philippines Holdings LLC, ITW Poly Mex S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Polymers Sealants North America Inc., ITW Pronovia s.r.o., ITW Pte. Ltd., ITW Qufu Automotive Cooling Systems Co. Ltd., ITW Real Estate Germany GmbH, ITW Residuals III L.L.C., ITW Residuals IV L.L.C., ITW Rivex, ITW SMPI, ITW SPG Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Simco-Ion (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., ITW Slovakia s.r.o., ITW Spain Holdings S.L., ITW Specialty Film LLC, ITW Specialty Films France, ITW Specialty Materials (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., ITW Spraytec, ITW Sverige AB, ITW Sweden Holding AB, ITW Test & Measurement Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, ITW Test & Measurement GmbH, ITW Test and Measurement Italia Srl, ITW Test and Measurement Services Industry and Trade Ltd., ITW Texwipe Philippines Inc., ITW Thermal Films (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW UK, ITW UK Finance Beta Limited, ITW UK Finance Delta Limited, ITW UK Finance Gamma Limited, ITW UK Finance Limited, ITW UK Finance Zeta Ltd., ITW UK II Limited, ITW Universal II LLC, ITW Welding, ITW Welding AB, ITW Welding GmbH, ITW Welding Products B.V., ITW Welding Products Group FZE, ITW Welding Products Group S. DE R.L. De C.V., ITW Welding Products Italy Srl, ITW Welding Products Limited Liability Company, ITW Welding Produtos Para Solgdagem Ltda., ITW Welding Servicios Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Welding Singapore Pte. Ltd., ITW de France, ITW do Brasil Industrial e Comercial Ltda., Ideal Molding Technologies LLC, Illinois Tool Works (Chile) Limitada, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) Nederland B.V., Illinois Tool Works Norway AS, Impar Comercio E Representacoes Ltda., Industrie Plastic Elsasser GmbH, Inmobiliaria Cit. S.A. de C.F., Innova Temperlite Servicios S.A. de C.V., Innovacion y Transformacion Automotriz S.A. de C.V., Instron (Shanghai) Ltd., Instron (Thailand) Limited, Instron Brasil Equipamentos Cientificos Ltda., Instron Foreign Sales Corp. Limited, Instron France S.A.S., Instron GmbH, Instron Holdings Limited, Instron International Limited, Instron Japan Company Ltd., Instron Korea LLC, International Leasing Company LLC, International Truss Systems Proprietary Limited, Isolenge - ITW Sistemas de Isolamento Termico Ltda., KCPL Mauritius Holdings, Kester, Kester Components (M) Sdn. Bhd., Kleinmann GmbH, Krafft S.L., Loma Systems, Loma Systems (Canada) Inc., Loma Systems BV, Loma Systems sro, Lombard Pressings Limited, Lumex Inc., Lys Fusion Poland Sp. z.o.o., M&C Specialties (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., M&C Specialties Co., MAGNAFLUX GmbH, MEHB Holdings Limited, MGHG Property LLC, MOA Enterprises Inc, Manufacturing Avancee S.A., Meritex Technology (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Meurer Verpackungssysteme GmbH, Miller Electric Mfg. LLC, Miller Insurance Ltd., NDT Holding LLC, NOVADAN APS, Norden Olje AB, North Star Imaging Europe, North Star Imaging Inc., Nova Chimica S.r.l., Orbitalum Tools GmbH, PENTA-91 OOO, PR. A. I. Srl, PT ITW Construction Products Indonesia, Pacific Concept Industries Limited (Enping), Panreac Quimica S.L., Paslode Fasteners (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Peerless Machinery Corp., Penta Dnepr LLC, Penta Sever OOO, Penta Volga OOO, Polyrey, Premark FEG L.L.C., Premark HII Holdings LLC, Premark International, Premark International LLC, Prolex Sociedad Anonima, QSA Global Inc., Quimica Industrial Mediterranea S.L., Ramset Fasteners (Hong Kong) Ltd., Rapid Cook LLC, Refrigeration France, S.E.E. Sistemas Industria E Comercio Ltda., ST Mexico Holdings LLC, Sealant Systems International Inc., Sentinel Asia Yuhan Hoesa, Shanghai ITW Plastic & Metal Co. Ltd, Simco (Nederland) B.V., Simco Japan Inc., Societe de Prospection et dInventions Techniques  SPIT, Speedline Holdings I Inc., Speedline Holdings I LLC, Speedline Technologies GmbH, Speedline Technologies Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Speedline Technologies Mexico Services S. de R.L. de C.V., Stokvis Celix Portugal Unipessoal LDA, Stokvis Danmark ApS, Stokvis Holdings S.A.R.L., Stokvis Promi s.r.o, Stokvis Prostick Tapes Private Limited, Stokvis Tapes (Hong Kong) Co. Limited, Stokvis Tapes (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes (Taiwan) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes BVBA, Stokvis Tapes Benelux B.V., Stokvis Tapes Deutschland GmbH, Stokvis Tapes France, Stokvis Tapes Italia s.r.l., Stokvis Tapes Limited, Stokvis Tapes Limited Liability Company, Stokvis Tapes Norge AS, Stokvis Tapes Oy, Stokvis Tapes Polska Sp Z.O.O., Stokvis Tapes Sverige AB, Stolvis Holdings II S.A.R.L., Technopack Industria Comercio Consultoria e Representacoes Ltda., Teknek (China) Limited, Teknek (Japan) Limited, Teksaleco Ltd., The Miller Group Ltd, Thirode Grandes Cuisines Poligny, Tien Tai Electrode (Kunshan) Co. Ltd., Tien Tai Electrode Co. Ltd., Unichemicals Industria e Comercio Ltda., VR-Leasing Sarita GmbH & Co. Immobilien KG, VS European Holdco BV, Valeron Strength Films B.V.B.A., Veneta Decalcogomme S.r.l., Versachem Chile S.A., Vesta, Vesta (Guangzhou) Catering Equipment Co. Ltd, Vesta Global Limited, Viltronics Soltec, Vitronics Soltec B.V., Wachs Canada Ltd., Wachs Subsea LLC, Weigh-Tronix Canada ULC, Weigh-Tronix UK Limited, Wilsonart International Holdings LLC, Wynn Oil (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd., Wynn's Automotive France, Wynn's Belgium BVBA, Wynn's Italia Srl, Wynn's Mekuba India Pvt Ltd, ZF TRW (Engineered Fasteners and Components), and Zip-Pak International B.V..JPMorgan Chase & Co. is a financial holding company. It provides financial and investment banking services. The firm offers a range of investment banking products and services in all capital markets, including advising on corporate strategy and structure, capital raising in equity and debt markets, risk management, market making in cash securities and derivative instruments, and brokerage and research. It operates through the following segments: Consumer and Community Banking, Corporate and Investment Bank, Commercial Banking, and Asset and Wealth Management. The Consumer and Community Banking segment serves consumers and businesses through personal service at bank branches and through automated teller machine, online, mobile, and telephone banking. The Corporate and Investment Bank segment offers a suite of investment banking, market-making, prime brokerage, and treasury and securities products and services to a global client base of corporations, investors, financial institutions, government and municipal entities. The Commercial Banking segment delivers services to U.S. and its multinational clients, including corporations, municipalities, financial institutions, and non profit

Read MoreJohn Wood Group PLC, together with its subsidiaries, provides consulting, project management, and engineering solutions to energy and built environment worldwide. It operates through four segments: Asset Solutions Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia; Assets Solutions Americas; Technical Consulting Solutions; and Investment Services. The company offers operations solutions, including maintenance, modifications, commissioning and decommissioning, and aftermarket services, as well as industrial services, such as painting, insulation, scaffolding, rope access, E&I, asbestos removal, and civil and earthworks services; engineering, procurement, and construction management; plant operations and life extension; technology solutions; supervision and management services; fabrication and inspection services; and construction and field services. It also provides environment and infrastructure solutions comprising environmental studies and compliance, environmental remediation, public infrastructure, and geotechnical and materials services; clean energy solutions; mine planning and design, mineral processing and metallurgy, mineral resources and project assessment services; and automation and control solutions, such as asset protection and facility and process automation solutions, as well as simulation, learning, and virtual systems. In addition, the company offers subsea and export systems, including subsea, umbilical, riser, and flowline design, as well as planning, design, and development of marine terminals and pipelines; and hull and marine services. It serves oil and gas, infrastructure, industrial and manufacturing, mining, power, and government sectors. John Wood Group PLC was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Aberdeen, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreGoldman Sachs Group, Inc. engages in global investment banking, securities, and investment management, which provides financial services. It operates through the following business segments: Investment Banking, Global Markets, Asset Management, and Consumer & Wealth Management. The Investment Banking segment serves public and private sector clients around the world and provides financial advisory services, help companies raise capital to strengthen and grow their businesses and provide financing to corporate clients. The Global Markets segment serves its clients who buy and sell financial products, funding and manage risk. The Asset Management segment provides investment services to help clients preserve and grow their financial assets. The Consumer & Wealth Management segment helps clients to achieve their individual financial goals by providing a wealth advisory and banking services. The company was founded by Marcus Goldman in 1869 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Read MoreBank of America Corp. is a bank and financial holding company, which engages in the provision of banking and nonbank financial services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth and Investment Management, Global Banking, Global Markets, and All Other. The Consumer Banking segment offers credit, banking, and investment products and services to consumers and small businesses. The Global Wealth and Investment Management provides client experience through a network of financial advisors focused on to meet their needs through a full set of investment management, brokerage, banking, and retirement products. The Global Banking segment deals with lending-related products and services, integrated working capital management and treasury solutions to clients, and underwriting and advisory services. The Global Markets segment includes sales and trading services, as well as research, to institutional clients across fixed-income, credit, currency, commodity, and equity businesses. The All Other segment consists of asset and liability management activities, equity investments, non-core mortgage loans and servicing activities, the net impact of periodic revisions

Read MoreNational Bank of Canada engages in the provision of commercial banking and financial services. It operates through the following segments: Personal and Commercial, Wealth Management, Financial Markets, US Specialty Finance and International (USSF&I), and Other. The Personal and Commercial segment involves in banking, financing, and investing services offered to individuals and businesses as well as insurance operations. The Wealth Management segment focuses on the investment solutions, trust and lending services, and other wealth management solutions offered through internal and third-party distribution networks. The Financial Markets segment includes banking and investment banking services and financial solutions for large and mid-size corporations, public sector organizations, and institutional investors. The USSF&I segment comprises specialty finance expertise activities of subsidiary ABA Bank, which offers financial products and services to individuals and businesses; and activities of targeted investments in certain emerging markets. The Other segment encompasses treasury activities such as asset and liability management, liquidity management and funding operations, certain no

Read MoreiShares MSCI Israel ETF's stock was trading at $45.06 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 (Coronavirus) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, EIS shares have increased by 76.6% and is now trading at $79.5850.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.New Jersey Resources Corp. is a holding company. The firm provides safe and reliable natural gas and clean energy services, including transportation, distribution, asset management and home services. It operates through the following segments: New Jersey Natural Gas, NJR Clean Energy Ventures, NJR Energy Services, NJR Midstream, and NJR Home Services. The New Jersey Natural Gas segment provides regulated retail natural gas service to residential and commercial customers in central and northern New Jersey. The NJR Clean Energy Ventures segment invests in, owns and operates solar projects. The NJR Energy Services segment manages a diversified portfolio of natural gas transportation and storage assets and provides physical natural gas services in the U.S. and Canada. The NJR Midstream segment serves customers from local distributors and producers to electric generators and wholesale marketers. The NJR Home Services segment provides heating, ventilation and cooling service, sales and installation of appliances services to its customers, as well as solar installation projects, and is the primary contributor to home services. The company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Wall,

Read MoreiShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF's stock was trading at $38.50 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, EFV stock has increased by 35.4% and is now trading at $52.13.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. American Consumer News, LLC dba MarketBeat 2010-2021. All rights reserved.

326 E 8th St #105, Sioux Falls, SD 57103 | U.S. Based Support Team at contact@marketbeat.com | (844) 978-6257

MarketBeat does not provide personalized financial advice and does not issue recommendations or offers to buy stock or sell any security.



Our Accessibility Statement | Terms of Service | Do Not Sell My Information



 2021 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. To see all exchange delays and terms of use please see disclaimer. Fundamental company data provided by Zacks Investment Research.There is not enough analysis data for Revolution Bars Group.

5.0 Community Rank

Outperform Votes Revolution Bars Group has received 285 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)

Underperform Votes Revolution Bars Group has received 83 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)

Community Sentiment Revolution Bars Group has received 77.45% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Revolution Bars Group and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe RBG will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe RBG will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

Previous

NextThe following companies are subsidiares of Sherwin-Williams: Acquire Sourcing LLC, CTS National Corporation, Comex North America Inc., Compania Sherwin-Williams S.A. de C.V., Contract Transportation Systems Co., Dongguan Lilly Paint Industries Ltd, Duron, EPS (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., EPS B.V., Geocel Holdings, Geocel Limited, Guangdong Valspar Paints Manufacturing Co Ltd., Inver East Med S.A., Inver France SAS, Inver GmbH, Inver Industrial Coating SRL, Inver Polska Spoka Z O.O, Inver Spa, Invercolor Bologna Srl, Invercolor Ltd, Invercolor Roma Srl, Invercolor Torino Srl, Invercolor Toscana Srl, Isocoat Tintas e Vernizes Ltda, Isva Vernici Srl, Leighs Paints, M.A. Bruder & Sons, Omega Specialty Products & Services LLC, Oy Sherwin-Williams Finland Ab, PT Sherwin-Williams Indonesia, PT Valspar Indonesia, Paint Sundry Brands, Pinturas Condor S.A., Pinturas Industriales S.A., Piton Paints Limited, Plasti-Kote Co. Inc., Plasti-kote Limited, Productos Quimicos y Pinturas S.A. de C.V., Quest Automotive Products UK Limited, Quetzal Pinturas S.A. de C.V., Ronseal (Ireland) Limited, SWIMC LLC, SWIPCO  Sherwin Williams do Brasil Propriedade Intelectual Ltda, Sherwin Williams Colombia S.A.S., Sherwin-Williams (Australia) Pty. Ltd., Sherwin-Williams (Belize) Limited, Sherwin-Williams (Caribbean) N.V., Sherwin-Williams (Ireland) Limited, Sherwin-Williams (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Sherwin-Williams (Nantong) Coatings Technology Co. Ltd., Sherwin-Williams (Nantong) Company Limited, Sherwin-Williams (S) Pte. Ltd., Sherwin-Williams (Shanghai) Limited, Sherwin-Williams (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Sherwin-Williams (Vietnam) Limited, Sherwin-Williams (West Indies) Limited, Sherwin-Williams Argentina I.y C.S.A., Sherwin-Williams Aruba VBA, Sherwin-Williams Automotive Mexico S.de R.L.de C.V., Sherwin-Williams Balkan S.R.L., Sherwin-Williams Bel Unitary Enterprise, Sherwin-Williams Benelux NV, Sherwin-Williams Canada Inc., Sherwin-Williams Cayman Islands Limited, Sherwin-Williams Chile S.A., Sherwin-Williams Coatings India Private Limited, Sherwin-Williams Coatings S.a r.l., Sherwin-Williams Czech Republic spol. s r.o, Sherwin-Williams Denmark A/S, Sherwin-Williams Deutschland GmbH, Sherwin-Williams Diversified Brands Limited, Sherwin-Williams France Finishes SAS, Sherwin-Williams Italy S.r.l., Sherwin-Williams Norway AS, Sherwin-Williams Paints Limited Liability Company, Sherwin-Williams Peru S.R.L., Sherwin-Williams Pinturas de Venezuela S.A., Sherwin-Williams Poland Sp. z o.o, Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings, Sherwin-Williams Realty Holdings Inc., Sherwin-Williams Services (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Sherwin-Williams Spain Coatings S.L., Sherwin-Williams Sweden AB, Sherwin-Williams UK Coatings Limited, Sherwin-Williams do Brasil Industria e Comercio Ltda., Spanyc Paints Joint Stock Company, Syntema I Vaggeryd AB, Taiwan Valspar Co. Ltd., The Sherwin-Williams Acceptance Corporation, The Sherwin-Williams Headquarters Company, The Sherwin-Williams Manufacturing Company, The Sherwin-Williams US Licensing Company, The Valspar (Asia) Corporation Limited, The Valspar (Australia) Corporation Pty. Ltd., The Valspar (Finland) Corporation Oy, The Valspar (France) Corporation S.A.S., The Valspar (France) Research Corporation SAS, The Valspar (Malaysia) Corporation Sdn Bhd, The Valspar (Nantes) Corporation S.A.S., The Valspar (Singapore) Corporation Pte. Ltd, The Valspar (South Africa) Corporation (Pty) Ltd, The Valspar (Spain) Corporation S.R.L., The Valspar (Switzerland) Corporation AG, The Valspar (Thailand) Corporation Ltd., The Valspar (UK) Corporation Limited, The Valspar (Vietnam) Corporation Ltd., The Valspar Corporation, The Valspar Corporation Limitada, UAB Sherwin-Williams Baltic, Valspar (India) Coatings Corporation Private Limited, Valspar (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd., Valspar (Uruguay) Corporation S.A., Valspar (WPC) Pty Ltd, Valspar Aries Coatings S. de R.L. de C.V., Valspar Automotive (UK) Corporation Limited, Valspar Automotive Australia Pty Limited, Valspar B.V., Valspar Coatings (Guangdong) Co. Ltd., Valspar Coatings (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Valspar Coatings (Tianjin) Co. Ltd, Valspar D.o.o Beograd, Valspar Industries (Ireland) Ltd., Valspar Industries (Italy) S.r.l., Valspar Industries GmbH, Valspar LLC, Valspar Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Valspar Paint (Australia) Pty Ltd, Valspar Paint (NZ) Limited, Valspar Powder Coatings Limited, Valspar Rock Company Limited (Japan), Valspar Specialty Paints LLC, and ZAO Sherwin-Williams.Analysts argued that the continued drawdowns in oil stockpiles, even though we are past the summer driving season, are a result of increased USA crude oil exports, which have been supported by the widening differential between USA benchmark WTI prices and the global benchmark, Brent crude.

Brent crude futures edged up 13 cents to $80.39 a barrel by 0042 GMT.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 11 cents at $71.08 a barrel, after falling 3 percent in the previous session to the lowest since September 21.

Iranian crude exports dropped down further in the last week, as per an industry source and the tanker data, since customers are looking for alternatives before the start of the US sanctions.

The crude oil inventories of the United States was up 6.0 million barrels for the week ending October 5.

Goldman Sachs reckons US shale oil production can continue to increase by 1 million bpd every year until 2021 at the earliest, according to a new report by the investment bank.

Figures released Thursday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration revealed crude inventories climbed by six million barrels in the week leading up to October 5, compared with analyst expectations for an increase of 2.6 million barrels. India is Iran's top oil client after China.

The Islamic Republic exported 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude in that seven-day period, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

The International Energy Agency, the West's energy watchdog said in its monthly report that the market looked "adequately supplied for now" and trimmed its forecasts for world oil demand growth this year and next.

Companies turned off daily production of about 670,800 barrels of oil and 726 million cubic feet of natural gas by midday on Tuesday, according to offshore regulator the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).

Saudi Arabia and Libya increased output last month by 108,000 bpd and 103,000 bpd respectively, more than offsetting the 150,000-bpd decline from Iran to 3.447 million bpd, as reported by secondary sources.

Several of the world's biggest trading houses expect USA sanctions on Iran to keep oil prices high, with crude staying above $65 and possibly breaking above $100 in the medium term.

Early in the session, crude rose as global equities were set for their biggest daily gain in almost a month. USA light crude CLc1 was down 15 cents at $74.81.

The cartel believed that the slowing economic growth and the increase of the world oil supply, led by the U.S. shale output rise are the reasons of oil demand decrease.

"The enhanced volatility in the market in general is spilling over into energy, as investors are reducing risk", said Rob Thummel, managing director at Tortoise, which manages $16bn (13.8bn) in energy-related assets.Despite the measures being taken, Sheehan said the federal government is continuing to work towards the complete repeal of all USA tariffs of Canadian steel and aluminium. While Canada and the USA reached a deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement this month, the metals tariffs are slated to be dealt with separately.

In a statement, the agency said that Mexico also regrets that these measures are taken when both countries have made progress in trade negotiations that will promote greater regional integration.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government faces continuing trade tensions with the USA, which hit Canada, the European Union and other nations with tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum this summer. "They will simply pass on the 25-per-cent retaliatory tariffs to their Canadian customers".

China and other steel producers that have also been hit with American tariffs are looking for markets to dump their steel that otherwise would have been shipped to America and Canada is a logical dumping ground for those products.

"The government is requesting that the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) conduct an inquiry to determine whether final safeguards are warranted".

"We have discussed safeguards with the government for a very long time, and feel like there is significant evidence" in favour of it, said Joseph Galimberti, president of the Canadian Steel Producers Association.

The surtax on steel plates and other products could "jeopardize" megaprojects in Newfoundland, which relies nearly exclusively on foreign steel, primarily from Europe, Goldman said.

Two other sources directly familiar with the talks on metal quotas between Washington and Ottawa said the export limit the United States sought on aluminum would have caused investment in the industry to plunge. Our position remains clear and firm: "These tariffs are entirely unjustified", Adam Austen, a spokesman for Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland, said in an e-mail on Thursday.The Shenzhen Composite plunged 6.07 percent to end at 7524.09.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.91 per cent, or 23.45 points, to 2,606.91, while the Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, added 0.19 per cent, or 2.46 points, to 1,296.36.

The Hang Seng Index is likewise down 3.89 percent as of 2pm today, while Taiwan's Taiex index has suffered the largest decline amongst Asian indexes today, hovering just above 6.2 percent since 11.30am. -China trade spat on the country's economy and its markets.

The benchmark Hong Kong equity gauge has tumbled 16% this year as fears of a trade war between the U.S. and China spurred an exodus from what was the world's best performing market as recently as January.

BAIC Motor Corp. was one of Thursday's biggest decliners in Hong Kong, heading for its worst ever loss on concern Mercedez-Benz AG may raise its stake in the company.

Chinese stocks also fell severely on Monday, earlier this week.

If you thought the losses on Wall Street were massive overnight, take a look at the scoreboard below of how Chinese stocks are faring on Thursday. Trading volume stood at 288.6 million shares worth 6 trillion won (5.3 billion USA dollars). That previous fall in stock prices has largely been attributed to the consequences of the ongoing trade war with The United States.

The Shanghai stock index is below its 50-day moving average and below its 200-day moving average.Mahindra is finally ready to replace the ageing SsangYong Rexton with its second-gen global model, the G4 Rexton, on 19 November, 2018.

Mahindra is finally ready to replace the ageing SsangYong Rexton with its second-gen global model, the G4 Rexton, on 19 November, 2018. The soon-to-be flagship Mahindra SUV, which is codenamed the Y400, is yet to receive its official name. Moreover, the SsangYong SUV will now come with a Mahindra badge as announced at the 2018 Auto Expo in February.

The second-gen Rexton will be locally assembled at Mahindras Chakan plant with CKD kits imported from SsangYongs (Mahindra sub-brand) facility in South Korea. The full-size, body-on-frame SUV will have its own space in Mahindras revamped dealerships.

Like the international-spec SsangYong G4 Rexton, the Mahindra Y400 will be powered by a BSVI-ready 2.2-litre, 4-cylinder diesel engine which produces 180PS of power and 420Nm of torque. The engine is mated to a Mercedes-Benz-sourced 7-speed automatic transmission and is unlikely to come with a manual.

Full-size, body-on-frame SUVs have become significantly feature rich of late and the Y400 will be no exception. Its expected to pack HID headlamps, LED DRLs, electric sunroof, dual-zone climate control, ventilated seats, 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system, nine airbags (segment-first), electric parking brake and brown leather upholstery, among others.

The rebadged SsangYong G4 Rexton will rival the likes of the Toyota Fortuner, the Ford Endeavour, Isuzu mu-X and the ageing Mitsubishi Pajero Sport. It is expected to be priced between Rs 25 lakh - Rs 30 lakh. Monocoque SUVs such as the new Honda CR-V, Volkswagen Tiguan and the Mitsubishi Outlander are also positioned in a similar price band.

Also Read: Nissan Terra Diesel With Seven Seats Revealed

Disclaimer: This article has not been edited by Deccan Chronicle and is taken from a syndicated feed. Photos: CarDekho.Lockheed Martin today hosted an Aerospace and Defence (A&D) Start-up Supplier Conference in Bengaluru, with 9 start-ups and 6 University teams in attendance for the very first time.

Panel discussion on Ecosystem Support for Aerospace & Defense Start-ups in India

Tier 1 Lockheed Martin suppliers interacted with Aerospace & Defence Start-ups, government officials, and university students to discuss global partnership opportunities and India Innovation Growth Program (IIGP) initiatives.

Phil Shaw, Chief Executive, Lockheed Martin India addressing the Conference

This conference has been a wonderful forum for relevant IIGP start-ups to interact with Aerospace and Defense Tier1 suppliers to create market access opportunities, said Dr. Vivek Lall, Vice President of Strategy and Business Development, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, adding, Strengthening public-private partnerships in India is a key priority for us.

The Oct. 12 event featured a panel discussion - Ecosystem Support for Aerospace & Defense Start-ups in India- and a display of Indian university team projects. Representatives from industry, as well as Department of Science and Technology and MoD partner iDEX incubator leadership, also interacted with the university teams and start-ups to explore mentorship opportunities.

Speaking at the event, Phil Shaw, Chief Executive, Lockheed Martin India Pvt. Ltd., said that, By bringing together established organisations and start-ups in the aerospace and defence sector to explore what is within the realm of the possible, Lockheed Martin seeks to further incubate innovation, and contribute to the enhancement of Indian industrial capability. Alongside our industrial ventures in India, todays activity represents yet another way we continue to support the Make In India, Skill India and Startup India initiatives.

The day culminated with presentations and Q&A by selected start-ups and Tier 1 Supply Chain Managers.

Lockheed Martin and the IIGP

Lockheed Martin has supported the IIGP since 2007, in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology (DST). Lockheed Martins partnership with the DST is one of the longest running public-private partnerships in the world. Tata Trusts also joined the team and has been lending its support since 2017.

The goal of IIGP is to promote an ecosystem that enables startups to take their ideas to market through commercialization. During its first decade, the IIGP produced over 350 successful commercial deals and is credited with generating more than USD $900 million in cumulative revenue. This year, more than 2,000 applications from start-ups, and more than 700 applications from universities, were submitted to the IIGP from all parts of the country.

The IIGPs success is a testament of dedication and support of the programs implementation partners, including the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Indo-U.S. Science & Technology Forum (IUSSTF), IIM Ahmedabad's Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE), and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay.

About Lockheed Martin

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 100,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

Disclaimer: This article has not been edited by Deccan Chronicle and is taken from a syndicated feed. Photos: NewsVoir.The absolute top-end products are monsters and are quite costly. But we have products at different price points also to meet the demands of casual gamers.

Hyderabad: With the gaming ecosystem in the country growing exponentially, semiconductor company AMD expects its products will be able to meet demand across multiple price points, a top comapany official said.

Responding to a question about the gaming computers costing a fortune, Mr Andrej Zdavkovic said: The absolute top-end products are monsters and are quite costly. But we have products at different price points also to meet the demands of casual gamers.

Meanwhile, CII on Sunday announced formation of the Indian Digital Gaming Society comprising various stakeholders. IDGS will provide platform for the young start-ups and youths to unleash their creativity and contribute towards digital economy of the country. Digital Gaming sector will open up new avenues of skilling and help create more job opportunities in India, the chamber said.A transgender startup, a podcast on sexual reproductive health for rural girls, an e-magazine on disability, sexuality and gender make it big at the annual affair to promote gender sensitivity

Gender based reporting in Pakistan, Nepal & Mauritius also awarded this year

Laadli of the Century award presented to Madam Coomi Wadia, the veteran and famous woman Choir Conductor of India

The Lifetime Achievement Award awarded to Padma Bhushan Dr. Prabha Atre, renowned Indian Classical Vocalist from Kirana Gharana for her contribution to music

There is a world which we all don't know, Making small contributions to our society through gender sensitive media campaigns, by not so-called mainstream media; be it blogs on mental disability, podcasts on sexual reproductive health for ragpickers, a transgender Startup YouTube channel on busting myths on lives of Transgender persons and more alike creating an impact were awarded at the annual South Asia Laadli Media & Advertising Awards for Gender Sensitivity 2017 which is popularly known as Laadli Media Awards, spearheaded by Population First.

Chief Guest Veteran Indian Journalist Mr. Shekhar Gupta and A. L. Sharada Director Population First awarding Winner from Aa Ee Anjali Youtube Channel

33 awards were presented in different categories, including three international awards, to media professionals who have displayed exemplary sensitivity in reporting on gender issues in the presence of Chief Guest Veteran Indian journalist Mr. Shekhar Gupta who opined, "Laadli is doing a wonderful job since last 16 years creating a platform to showcase gender sensitive reporting and its contribution is highly rewarding. In 1977, very few women were there in media and journalism but these days it's about 8 women to 2 men. This is a big change which has come around. They are there because they are good not as a favour from anyone. '#Metoo' is an important campaign. In work spaces sexual harassment is used to leverage power over someone which is wrong. We should learn to respect woman as adults. The campaign is also an opportunity to bring about a power balance in social and professional equations and in society."

Rachna Mudraboyina, Founder of Transvision, Transgender startup, shared, "Aa Ee Anjali is raising sensitivity towards transgender persons in the country by providing correct information about transgender community by initiating a dialogue to reduce the whole perception of the transgender persons in the country. This award is very special as it boosts the morale of all the communities who need a voice. We want to reach to wider audience and looking at funding from corporates". AaEeAnjali is a YouTube channel from Telangana.

Shreya Ila Anasuya of Skin Stories, the e-magazine Founder opined, "We are not a main stream news media. And when we are recognised by Laadli, it proves our work was going in the right direction. We deal with mental and physical disability through our magazine."

One more non-conventional media vehicle that won an award was Pocketshalla for the Podcast which is working on sexual reproduction and health issues for teenage girls in rural villages. Ayesha Lovely George of Pocketshalla shares, "We connect rural girls to counsellors and doctors. We are also making an effort to help students from local schools in their struggle with bullying, harassment, sexuality etc with our podcast which is based on two friends discussing issues."

Dr. A. L. Sharada, Director, Population First, shares, "From a mere 100 entries in 2007 to more than 1700 entries in 2018, Laadli Media Awards have come a long way in acknowledging the medias contribution in women empowerment and gender issues. The increasing volume of discussion in public domain on gender issues is an indication that we are witnessing the beginnings of change."

The highlight this year was the Laadli of the Century award which was presented to Madam Coomi Wadia, the veteran and famous woman Choir Conductor of India who shared, "This is the first award ever I received in my own country though I received many awards abroad and I am very happy to receive it for my 50 years contribution to performing choir globally." The Woman behind the Screen Award was posthumously awarded to Late Kalpana Lajmi for her contribution to Indian Cinema and for her courage to make meaningful women-oriented films. The Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Dr. Prabha Atre, renowned Indian Classical Vocalist from Kirana Gharana for her contributions to the field of music.

These one of its kind awards on gender sensitivity - has crossed borders by inviting entries from South Asian nations with the support of International Advertising Association (IAA). This year the awards did receive entries from Mauritius, Nepal and Pakistan. South Asia Laadli Media Awards felicitated (1) Himanshu Devi Marchurchand from Mauritius, who has been consistently covering issues related to gender equality, poverty, politics and the repercussions of latest international developments, (2) Tooba Masood from Pakistan, who has been passionately writing on women related stories for the past 3 years, and (3) Durga Karki from Nepal, who has produced a radio show on gender related issues in Radio Sagarmatha.

The Big Winners

South Asia Laadli Media & Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity 2017 for the category Best Advertisement  Grand Prix was given to Lowe Lintas #EveryWomansRight- an initiative by Astral Pipes on building toilets for rural women.

South Asia Laadli Media & Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity 2017 for the category Best Advertisement  CSR went to FCB India for Sindoor Khela - a social media campaign on gender equality in the traditional festivities.

South Asia Laadli Media & Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity 2017 for the category Best Advertisement  Product was received by The Wombs - Saregama Carvaan - The Perfect Gift for Your Mother.

South Asia Laadli Media & Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity 2017 for the category Best Advertisement  Service was given to Coverfox.coms Cover Karo, Kaam Aayega, ft. Taapsee Pannu.

South Asia Laadli Media & Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity 2017 for the category Best Advertisement  Corporate had gone to Ceat Tyres - #ThingsThatHappenAtWork - Gender Bias.

South Asia Laadli Media & Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity 2017 for the category Best Advertisement - Digital was received by Mahindra and Nanhi Kalis - #LadkiHaathSeNikalJaayegiand Samsung Technical Schools CSR Initiative - 'We care for the girl child - #SapneHueBade.

South Asia Laadli Media & Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity 2017 for the Feature Film' category was awarded to one of the most appreciated film Lipstick under my Burkha.

South Asia Laadli Media & Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity 2017 for the Special Edition' category was presented to The News Minute for their edition titled Talking Gender.

South Asia Laadli Media & Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity 2017 for the Books category was received by Nalini Jameela and Reshma Bharadwaj for Romantic Encounters of a Sex Worker (Non Fiction), Sanam Maher for The Sensational Life and Death of Qandeel Baloch (Non Fiction) and Anita Kumar for Cappuccino Confessions (Fiction).

South AsiaLaadli Media & Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity 2017 for the category Campaign was given to Campus Politik for the topic Sexual Harassment Redressal Mechanism in Colleges.

South AsiaLaadli Media & Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity 2017 for the Theatre category was awarded to Saat Teri Ekvees - a set of monolgues with the underlying theme of desire.

The jury for the South Asia Laadli Media Awards includes prestigious editors, writers, advertising and media professionals like K. V. Sridhar, Deepa Gahlot, Sathya Saran, ParmeshShahani, Dolly Thakore, Meena Menon, Toral Shah, JerooMulla, Pia Benegal, S. V. Sista and Mohammed Khan.

About Population First

Population First is a non-profit organization whose objective is to work towards gender sensitive and social development-oriented health and population programs. Laadli, the girl child campaign anchored by Population First, was launched in the year 2005 and engages in various activities such as the Media Awards, Fellowships, Gender Sensitization Workshops for media professionals, advertisers, scriptwriters etc.

Disclaimer: This article has not been edited by Deccan Chronicle and is taken from a syndicated feed. Photos: NewsVoir.LONDON: Scientists have succeeded in wiping out a population of caged mosquitoes in laboratory experiments using a type of genetic engineering known as a gene drive, which spread a modification blocking female reproduction.

The researchers, whose work was published on Monday in the journal Nature Biotechnology, managed to eliminate the population in less than 11 generations, suggesting the technique could in future be used to control the spread of malaria, a parasitic disease carried by Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes.

It will still be at least five to 10 years before we consider testing any mosquitoes with gene drive in the wild, but now we have some encouraging proof that were on the right path, said Andrea Crisanti, a professor at Imperial College London who co-led the work.

The results mark the first time this technology has been able to completely suppress a population. The hope is that in future, mosquitoes carrying a gene drive could be released, spreading female infertility within local malaria-carrying mosquito populations and causing them to collapse.

Gene drive technologies alter DNA and drive self-sustaining genetic changes through multiple generations by overriding normal biological processes. The technologies can be very powerful, but they are also controversial, since such genetically engineered organisms released into the environment could have an unknown and irreversible impact on the ecosystem.

The technique used in this study was designed to target the specific mosquito species Anopheles gambiae that is responsible for malaria transmission in sub-Saharan Africa.

The World Health Organization has warned that global progress against malaria is stalling and could be reversed if momentum in the fight to wipe it out was lost.

The disease infected around 216 million people worldwide in 2016 and killed 445,000 of them. The vast majority of malaria deaths are in babies and young children in sub-Saharan Africa.

Crisantis team designed their gene drive to selectively alter a region of a so-called doublesex gene in the mosquitoes, which is responsible for female development.

Males who carried this modified gene showed no changes, and neither did females with only one copy of it, he explained in the study. But females with two copies of the modified gene showed both male and female characteristics - they failed to bite and did not lay eggs.

The experiments found the gene drive transmitted the genetic modification nearly 100 percent of the time, and after 7-11 generations the populations collapsed due to lack of offspring.

Crisanti said the results showed that gene drive solutions can work, offering hope in the fight against a disease that has plagued mankind for centuries.

He added, however, that there is still more work to be done, both in terms of testing the technology in larger lab-based studies and working with affected countries to assess the feasibility of such an intervention.

But Mariann Bassey, a campaigner with the environmental group Friends of the Earth Africa, said the technique was risky.

To solve the malaria crisis, we should focus on the least risky and most effective solutions, not experiment with ecosystems with little regard for the potentially new environmental and health consequences, she said in a statement.LOS ANGELES: Playboy founder Hugh Hefners trademark black silk pajamas and red smoking jacket are going up for sale as part of an auction of his belongings, including his complete set of Playboy magazines.

Juliens Auctions said on Friday the sale would also include Hefners white captains hat, a custom 1974 Monopoly board game including a Playboy bunny playing piece, his Playboy bunny logo cufflinks, 2016 passport and his Bible.

Hefner, who helped usher in the 1960s sexual revolution with his magazine and nightclubs, died in September 2017 at age 91. He left his property to his foundation, which is putting some of the items up for sale.

All the proceeds from the Nov. 30-Dec. 1 auction in Los Angeles will go to Hefners foundation, which was set up in 1964 to advocate for civil liberties, including LGBT rights and the legalization of medical marijuana.

My father lived an extraordinary life as a publishing, social and cultural pioneer and left a legacy that his foundations will perpetuate, his daughter, Christie Hefner, said in a statement.

The dozens of items up for sale include one of Hefners signature pipes (estimated to sell for $2,000 to $3,000), his personal copy of the first, 1953 issue of Playboy with Marilyn Monroe on the cover ($3,000 to $5,000), a 1946 Wurlitzer jukebox with 24 original albums ($10,000 to $20,000), and a 2007 limited edition set of 48 Playboy prints ($20,000 to $30,000).

Hefners pajamas and smoking jacket, which became a symbol of his Playboy mansion parties in Los Angeles, are expected to fetch up to $2,000 and $5,000 respectively.

In 2016, Playboy magazine did away with full frontal nudity, but that policy was reversed a year later.

The Playboy Clubs, heavily criticized by feminists, closed in 1991, but a New York venue reopened in September, complete with women waitresses wearing corsets, fluffy tails and rabbit ears.Over a dozen women journalists, who worked with MJ Akbar have accused him of sexual harassment during his days as an editor. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Union Minister MJ Akbar, who arrived in India today morning, released a detailed statement refuting sexual harassment allegations against him raised by over a dozen women journalists.

However, the junior foreign minister did not indicate any decision to step down from his position in the cabinet, contrary to media reports.

"The allegations of misconduct made against me are false and fabricated, spiced up by innuendo and malice. I could not reply earlier as I was on an official tour abroad," Akbar said.

Akbar further said his lawyers will look into these "wild and baseless" allegations, and questioned why this storm has risen a few months before a general election.

He added, "Lies do not have legs, but they do contain poison, which can be whipped into a frenzy. This is deeply distressing. I will be taking appropriate legal action."

In the lengthy and detailed statement, the minister specifically replied to allegations made by women journalists.

Scribe Priya Ramani's allegations found the first mention; she was the first one to publically accuse Akbar of misconduct.

Speaking about Ramani's allegations in an article for Vogue India, Akbar said, "Ramani began this campaign a year ago with a magazine article. She did not, however, name me as she knew it was an incorrect story."

When asked recently why she had not named me, she replied, in a Tweet: "Never named him because he didn't 'do' anything." If I didn't do anything, where and what is the story? There is no story. This was admitted at the very inception," noted the statement.

MJ Akbar also went on to cite other examples in the statement. Akbar said, "Let me note examples. Shutapa Paul states, "The man never laid a hand on me." Shuma Raha says, "I must clarify, however, that he didn't actually 'do' anything". One woman, Anju Bharti, went to the absurd extent of claiming I was partying in a swimming pool. I do not know how to swim."

Calling out journalist Ghazala Wahab's allegations as an 'effort to damage his reputation', Akbar said, "Wahab claimed that she had been molested in office, 21 years ago. This is 16 years before I entered public life, and when I was in the media industry."

Contrary to Wahab's description of Akbar's office, the statement noted that at the said time he had a "tiny cubicle". Akbar went on to say, "The only office where I worked with Ghazala Wahab was that of The Asian Age. A part of the editorial team then worked out of a small hall. At the time concerned, I had a very tiny cubicle, patched together by plywood and glass. Others had tables and chairs two feet away."

"It is utterly bizarre to believe that anything could have happened in that tiny space, and, moreover, that no one else in the vicinity would come to know, in the midst of a working day. These allegations are false, motivated and baseless," added Akbar.

The minister further explained how the women who accused him continued to work as his colleagues after the alleged incidents.

"It is pertinent to remember that both Ms Ramani and Ms Wahab kept working with me even after these alleged incidents; this clearly establishes that they had no apprehension and discomfort. The reason why they remained silent for decades is very apparent: as Ms Ramani has herself stated, I never did anything," said MJ Akbar.

(With inputs from ANI)President Donald Trump said in an interview with 60 Minutes that the Saudis could be behind the disappearance of missing journalist and Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi, and if so, the USA would inflict "severe punishment".

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, top Turkish authorities have told US news organizations that they believe Khashoggi was assassinated at the consulate on orders from Saudi Arabia's royal court.

Khashoggi, a journalist for the Washington Post, disappeared earlier this month after he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul for routine paperwork.

Asked if Khashoggi was killed on the order of the Saudi government, Trump replied: "It's being investigated, it's being looked at very, very strongly, and we would be very upset and angry if that were the case".

Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee to the Saudi journalist who has been missing for almost two weeks, has written an obituary-style op-ed on Jamal Khashoggi, which was published Saturday by the New York Times.

Commons Foreign Affairs Committee chairman MP Tom Tugendhat said the United Kingdom must consider its relations with Saudi Arabia if the state ordered Khashoggi's murder.

The country's Foreign Minister, Mevut Cavusoglu, said Saudi Arabia was not yet co-operating with the investigation.

Trump also told CBS News that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman denied any connection to Khashoggi's disappearance in a telephone call. "In the not too distant future I think we'll know an answer", Trump tells Stahl.

"My comment is we all want information", Mnuchin said, "so let's wait and see what information comes out in the next week". Trump promised to personally call Saudi Arabia's King Salman soon about 'the awful situation in Turkey'.

Trump added the matter was especially important "because this man was a reporter". "From where we sit, we don't see any demand for Saudi equities at all".

The Saudi minister, in the first ministerial reaction to the accusations about Khashoggis killing, said he welcomed the cooperation between his country and Turkey to clarify the circumstances of the disappearance.

At a White House event with USA pastor Andrew Brunson, who arrived in Washington after being freed in Turkey, Trump said China and Russian Federation would be ready to swoop in and get the business.

The apparent murder of Washington-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi has raised concerns about the role of the Saudi government.

Turkish officials claim to have tapes of Saudi operatives torturing and murdering Mr Khashoggi, possibly recorded by the journalist's own Apple Watch.

In written responses to questions by the AP, Cengiz said Turkish authorities had not told her about any recordings and Khashoggi was officially "still missing".

She said investigators were examining his cellphones, which he had left with her.

The President said that Cengiz wrote "a attractive letter" to him and first lady Melania Trump and that they would welcome her.

Saudi Arabia is under intense pressure to resolve the issue as stocks fell 7% on the Saudi stock exchange, with investors panicking at the possibility of a long-term rupture in Saudi relations with the west.Chennai: With rising Bengali population in the city and their biggest festival Durga puja knocking on their doors, DC speaks to major Bengali associations in the city to know what is in store this year.

South Madras Cultural Association, known to be the biggest puja organizers in the city, is celebrating its 40th Sharadotsav. Located in Besant Nagar, this year the puja will have Dr K. Shridhar, head of neurosurgery, Global Hospitals, as the chief guest, and Md Shakeel Akhter, IPS, Additional Director General of Police, Armed Police, as the guest of honour for the inaugural ceremony at 6 pm on October 15.

Since all the pre-puja days (Chaturthi and Panchami) fall in the weekend this year, cultural programmes have been scheduled to start on the October 14, says Bhaswar Mukherjee, president, SMCA.

Regarding footfalls, Mukherjee expects 1 lakh darshanarthis/ visitors during 4-5 days.

As for what is special this year, Mukherjee reveals how the concept of sindoorkhela is being made open to all women this year. Generally this particular ritual is restricted to married women. But this time, on Dasara, Sindoorkhela will be open to all women. The aim is to foster inclusiveness. Women who have lost their husbands and members of LGBTQI community among others can participate, soak themselves in all the festivities and enhance the flavour of puja. There will be food stalls from Kolkata to serve authentic Bengali food and sweets. Free Prasad will be served to all.

Bengal Association, T Nagar: This oldest Bengali association in the city is organising its 85th puja. All women will get to participate in the vermilion ritual. With the ever-increasing members of the organisation, Soumya Guha Thakurta, secretary of the association, says,

This year were giving opportunity to all members. Around 100 members are participating when the figure usually hovers around 40-50 every year. And inclusiveness is another thing in mind. To integrate more Tamil people into the festival, we felicitated five first generation women entrepreneurs on Mahalaya (Oct 8). We dont have any commercial motive behind this. Its purely social. We are looking forward to facilitating more in the upcoming puja days.

Thakurta goes on,  This year we are aiming for a plastic-free puja. There will be 10-15 tumblers for water. Water cans, paper and glasses will also be at your disposal. However, 500 ml water bottles will also be made available for those who prefer bottled drinking water. Were aiming to involve maximum volunteers to serve water to guests in paper and glass cups, during bhog time. Even for parcels, were planning to use aluminum foils inside cloth bags, instead of polythene bags.

Thakurta expects 15,000-20,000 footfalls this year. Were having 14 cooks over from Kolkata to make us delicious Hilsa and other mouth-watering Bengali cuisines.

Among all the cultural programmes, there will be Naari- a performance to be put up by Tilottama, the ladies wing of the association. They will portray women in six situations- six incident scenes from movies. The idea is to show how women deal with different circumstances.

Their puja will be kickstarted by Anandamela, an event where all women members cook different Bengali delicacies at home and bring it to the association for sale.

Dakshin Chennai Prabashi Cultural Association:

This puja, which is popular among IT sectors on OMR , is stepping into its 5th year. With a budget of approximately `16 lakh, this year the puja will take place in Shri Umadri Mahal in Sholinganallur, opposite Sathyabhama university.

Sanjay Dhol, executive member of DCPA, says,

This year we are going to have a 12 feet durga idol adorned in daker saaj.

The association has also arranged to bring several Durga Puja magazines, exclusive to West Bengal.

And this year were again bringing out our club magazine Sharodotsav, 2018 with several members, irrespective of age, contributing write-ups. First year we got hardcopies. Then it was only softcopy for the subsequent years. This year, were again having hardcopies, says Sanjay.

Just like many other puja associations, this puja too has an artisan from Kolkata (Kishori Pal for DCPA) come over to make the idols. Although it is a comparatively young puja, Sanjay expects 1,500-2,000 visitors due to the prime location this year. Were getting enormous response on social media.

Dakshini Society, Anna Nagar:

This puja, at the Community Hall in Central Revenue Staff Quarters in Anna Nagar, is having its 24thyear of celebration. When we first started, it was only 15-16 families and now we are more than 100, shares Somojit Ghosh, president of the club. We are like a close-knit family. Ghosh claims the cultural programmes are strictly restricted to only members of the club. The organisers are having an event management team take care of the decor part.The letter comes as relations between Washington and New Delhi are strained over multiple issues, including an Indo-Russian defence contract, India's new tariffs on electronics and other items, and its moves to buy oil from Iran despite upcoming US sanctions. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Two US senators have called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to soften India's stance on data localisation, warning that measures requiring it represent "key trade barriers" between the two nations.

In a letter to PM Modi dated Friday and seen by Reuters, US Senators John Cornyn and Mark Warner - co-chairs of the Senate's India caucus that comprises over 30 senators - urged India to instead adopt a "light touch" regulatory framework that would allow data to flow freely across borders.

The letter comes as relations between Washington and New Delhi are strained over multiple issues, including an Indo-Russian defence contract, India's new tariffs on electronics and other items, and its moves to buy oil from Iran despite upcoming US sanctions.

Global payments companies including Mastercard, Visa and American Express have been lobbying India's finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India to relax proposed rules that require all payment data on domestic transactions in India be stored inside the country by October 15.

The letter is most likely a last-ditch effort after the RBI told officials at top payment firms this week that the central bank would implement, in full, its data localisation directive without extending the deadline, or allowing data to be stored both offshore as well as locally - a practice known as data mirroring.

"We see this (data localisation) as a fundamental issue to the further development of digital trade and one that is crucial to our economic partnership," the US senators said in the letter that has not been previously reported.

PM Modi's office did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Localisation Push

Other than the RBI proposal, India is working on an overarching data protection law that calls for storing all critical personal data in India. E-commerce and cloud computing policies are also being developed.

The letter also raised concerns on the draft data protection bill and e-commerce policy framework that called for stringent localisation measures.

These measures have unnerved some tech companies who fear it will increase their infrastructure costs, hit their global fraud detection analytic platforms and affect planned investments in India at a time when more and more Indians are going online and using digital payments.

US lobby groups, that represent companies such as Facebook Inc, Amazon.com and Alphabet Inc-owned Google, have also voiced concerns about the proposals.

Shamika Ravi, a member of PM Modi's economic advisory council, had earlier told Reuters that the moves were in the "long-term strategic and economic interest" of the country.

The senators added that any concerns related to "protection and security" as well as access to data for lawful purposes were possible without restrictions on physical location, according to the letter.

Government sources have previously told Reuters though, that stringent data localisation measures were essential for gaining easier access to data during investigations.

The measures in India come at a time when countries around the world are announcing stringent rules to regulate how firms store data and protect privacy, in the aftermath of Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal.The Malaysian delegation met ministers and officials in India and explored whether certain features of the Aadhaar system can be adopted in Malaysia. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Taking a cue from India's Aadhaar initiative, Malaysia wants to bring changes in its national identity card system for target delivery of welfare schemes and government subsidies to avoid duplicity and fraud.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Kuala Lumpur in May, offered Malaysia's Premier Mahathir Mohamad collaboration on matters in which India has expertise, including the Aadhaar initiative, Malaysia's Minister of Human Resources M Kula Segaran told PTI.

With the Malaysian Cabinet agreeing to the collaboration, Kula Segaran led a delegation comprising officers of the country's central bank, the finance ministry, the economic affairs ministry, and human resources ministry, to India last week.

The delegation met ministers and officials here and explored whether certain features of the Aadhaar system can be adopted in Malaysia.

"We met UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey... We have identity cards (known as MyKad), but with the (introduction of an Aadhaar-like) system, the primary aim is to avoid duplicity of payments and fraud and to target specific groups," Kula Segaran said.

India: A briefing session at Rumah Malaysia hosted by High Commissioner Dato' Hidayat Abdul Hamid.



Here I was briefed on Aadhaar System, Visa, Training for Entreprenuership (specialist in entreprenuership under the scope of HRDF) near Gujarat, Pravasi in Varnarasi in Jan 2019. pic.twitter.com/oggOTIZM3i  M. Kula Segaran (@mkula) October 8, 2018

Asked if Malaysia was exploring if it can link identity cards to bank accounts like in the Aadhaar system for target delivery of welfare schemes and subsidies, he answered in the affirmative.

Replying to a query on whether Malaysia could face problems of opposition of the people over privacy concerns just like India did, Kula Segaran said there was such a possibility and work was on to identify what would be a "workable" format to adopt from India.

He, however, said that there should not be much of a problem in Malaysia as identity cards with personal information have been there for decades.

"You put my ID card number, you will get my details, where I was born, who is my mother, who is my father," he said, adding that the issue that needs to be addressed in Malaysia is the target delivery of welfare schemes and government subsidies.

"Now, we have fuel subsidy in my country. Everybody gets fuel subsidy. We want to target certain groups and give it to them, not to others. We have different groups like B40 -- those who earn a household income of less than 3,990 Malaysian ringgit," Kula Segaran said.

The other intention is to make the delivery of subsidies cashless, he said. "Right now we send cheques or we give cash. No need of that if you follow the Aadhaar system, and it comes directly into your account," he said.

There are multiple subsidies provided by the Malaysian government such as fuel, low-income group, single mother, etc for which it will be useful, he added.

India recently witnessed an acrimonious debate over Aadhaar's merits and demerits. A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court last month while quashing some contentious provisions of the Aadhaar Act, held that Aadhaar would remain compulsory for filing of Income Tax returns, allotment of Permanent Account Number and for availing facilities of welfare schemes and government subsidies.The incident, as narrated by journalist Herman Gomes, happened outside his house around 1:30 am on Saturday. Gomes said that the miscreants were waiting outside his home. (Photo: ANI)

Mumbai: A television journalist was injured when a group of unidentified people allegedly assaulted him near his house in south Mumbai early on Sunday, police said.

Herman Gomes, working with a private TV channel, was returning home along with a friend in a taxi late on Saturday night. When he got out of the cab around 1.30 am on Sunday, he saw four to six persons waiting near his house in Gamdevi area, Deputy Commissioner of Police (zone-II) Dnyaneshwar Chavan told PTI.

The persons started abusing Gomes and later allegedly assaulted him, Chavan said.

"I was attacked by four people out of nowhere. You can see my condition. I have got six stitches on my right eye. All I can say is, these people were waiting for me for a long time. It was not a last-minute provocation. They stood ready for the attack. They thrashed my friend as well and took away his mobile phone," Gomes told ANI.

Based on the journalist's complaint, the Gamdevi police later registered a case under IPC sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 324 (voluntary causing hurt by dangerous weapons) and other relevant provisions, he said.

The motive behind the attack was not yet known, the police said, adding an investigation was underway into the case.

Journalists' associations in the city condemned the attack and alleged that police did not file the victim's complaint promptly. The Mumbai Press Club termed the attack on Gomes as a "dastardly act".

An association of crime reporters in the city, in a statement, demanded immediate arrest of the assailants. It urged Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to take action against the police officers who allegedly delayed registration of the First Information Report (FIR) in the matter.Singh is expected to review the situation on the border and assess the progress in various infrastructure projects. (Photo: File | PTI)

New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh will celebrate Dussehra and perform 'shastra puja' in Bikaner along the highly sensitive Indo-Pak border, officials said Sunday.

Perhaps this is for the first time that a senior minister of the central government will conduct 'shastra puja' or worship of weapons along India's border with Pakistan, with whom India fought full scale wars.

The home minister will celebrate the Dussehra festival with the jawans of the Border Security Force (BSF) posted in Rajasthan's Bikaner along the Indo-Pak border on October 19, a home ministry official said.

Singh will also perform the 'shastra puja' at the Border Out Post (BOP) located at the forward areas. 'Shastra puja' is part of the 'Dussehra' festival which is celebrated for the victory of Lord Ram over Ravana.

During the two-day visit, the home minister will arrive in Bikaner on October 18, stay the night at the BOP, before celebrating the festival with the jawans on October 19, the official said.

Singh is expected to review the situation on the border and assess the progress in various infrastructure projects.

He will attend a 'Bada Khana' (feast with the jawans) and address the security personnel, another official said.

The 3,323-km-long Indo-Pak border is considered to be highly sensitive. Even though the border in Rajasthan is peaceful, the border guarding forces of the two countries often engaged in massive firing in Jammu and Kashmir, leading to loss of human lives and properties.

Last year, the home minister had celebrated Dussehra at Joshimath in Uttarakhand along the Sino-Indian border.BENGALURU: In a major revelation till date in Sandalwood, Kannada actress Sangeetha Bhat on Sunday came out with details of her ordeals during her ten-year stint in the industry.

Sangeetha, who acted in movies such as Preethi Geethi Ityadi, Eradane Sala and Dayavittu Gamanisi, said that they are neither wild allegations, nor made to gain sympathy. The actor said she only wanted everyone to know why she decided to quit the film industry.

In a three-page letter, she has shared several incidents of sexual misconduct, abuse and harassment, including the one when she was just 15!

She names a casting director, woman hairdresser, popular directors, producers and actors, including a star, in the letter, which she made public on Sunday.

Sangeetha said that she has mentioned just a few of several incidents that have haunted her for years and she finally gathered courage to share them. She said that she was suffering from depression and is still being treated for it.

She said that she had to hide her marriage to save her career and now that she has decided to quit the industry 'for good', she would continue to act in theatre and short-films.

After the revelations, Sangeetha remained unreachable. She requested the media, family and friends to respect her privacy and not to discuss the issue with her further.Bengaluru: Panic gripped Agrahara Dasarahalli on Sunday morning after an armed, six-member gang hacked to death a 64-year-old school principal in broad daylight on the school premises under Magadi Road police limits.

The deceased, Ranganath Nayaka, a resident of Housing Board Colony near Rajajinagar, was a retired RBI employee, and had started Havanur Public School in 2003 after his retirement.

On Sunday morning, he was sitting in his chamber along with two others and was allegedly discussing a property dispute when the gang attacked him around 10 am.

The police identified four of the assailants as Prasad, Shrinivas, Muniraj alias Babli, and Mahesh. The investigation revealed that Nayaka and school administrative staff had called a meeting with one Rajashekar.

Babli, the accused

As they were discussing the property issue, the gang barged into his office and attacked him. Lokesh Gowda, an administration employee, and Yathish, an assistant, who rushed to help him, too were attacked. The two sustained stab injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital.

Was it a contract murder?

The police said that Nayaka had bought the land to build the school in 2003. The land also had a portion of a house belonging to one Gangamma.

Nayaka had approached a court and got a demolition order recently. Two days ago, BDA officials with police protection demolished the portion of the house. Gangammas sons, Prasad and Mahesh, were in a bitter battle with Nayaka over the land. Angry that their house was demolished, they allegedly planned to eliminate Nayaka and gave a supari to Bablis gang, which has several cases of murder registered against them, a police officer told Deccan Chronicle.

But the police are yet to ascertain the angle of contract murder and are questioning Babli. A case has been registered at the Mahalaxmi Layout police station.New Delhi: Senior journalist Vinod Dua became the latest from the media industry to be called out for alleged sexual harassment, with filmmaker Nishtha Jain saying he stalked her for several days.

In her Facebook post published Sunday, Jain said Dua, who she had met in 1989 for a job interview, allegedly told her a lewd sexual joke before she could even settle down. After she told him the salary she was expecting, he allegedly told her Tumhari aukat kya hai? (What is your worth?) Later, Dua would allegedly go on stalking her, and even slobbered all over he face on one occasion, she said.

One night as I came down to the parking, he was there. He said, he wanted to talk to me and asked me to enter his car. Assuming that he wanted to apologise for his behaviour, I entered the car but before I could even settle down he began slobbering all over my face. I managed to get out and get into my office car and leave. I spotted him again in the parking in the coming nights (sic), Jain wrote in her post.

In the post, Jain also called out Dua for lashing out against actor Akshay Kumar last year for allegedly passing lewd comments against his daughter and comedienne Mallika Dua.

Recalling the controversy and slamming Dua for alleged hypoc-risy, Jain said, When I read about his outrage against Akshay Kumars sexist words to his daughter Mallika Dua, I said to myself hes obviously forgotten that he was no less sexist, no less misogynist, no less creepy a sexual harasser, potential rapist. If he did to me, Im sure he would have done it to other women.Hyderabad: Self-medication in India has doubled from 23 per cent in 2006 to 41 per cent in 2016, according to a study carried out across 22 centres in the country where consumers, doctors and chemists were interviewed. The study found that the categories of acidity, constipation, headaches, cold, cough and fevers had the highest self-medication.

Lack of time to visit the doctor, high consultation fees and increased reliance on internet-based solutions has been found to be the main reasons for self-medication. Despite the high numbers, 74 per cent of the consumers complained that the labels do not give enough information about the medical products.

Greater urbanisation, higher levels of education and awareness have played a major role in the rise of self-medication among people.

A senior doctor explained, The rising cost of simple healthcare expenses, longer waiting period at clinics and failing public health systems are making people opt for self-medication wherever possible. There is a culture of home remedies rooted in traditional systems which cant be denied.

For this reason, the World Health Organisation (WHO) insists on responsible self-medication as a part of self-care which is being acknowledged as an integral part of primary healthcare. While responsible self-medication is being acknowledged as a valuable tool in the West, in India, accepting over the counter (OTC) drugs requires a change in the regulatory framework and equally strict monitoring to ensure that there is no misuse.

OTC drugs are medicines sold directly to a consumer without a prescription from a healthcare professional.

A. Vaidheesh, the president of the Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India, explained, Access to safe and affordable medicines is important in OTC policy. This requires a well-regulated OTC guideline in place and the right kind of patient awareness. To set this up, a framework is very important as presently there is no classification of OTC drugs.

With more consumers becoming digitally savvy, it has been found that 49 per cent of the internet users use the digital media to either read information on health or use it before visiting a doctor.

A senior healthcare professional in a renowned hospital explained, The digital platform has taken over for the internet savvy generation who check and recheck before visiting the doctor. Similarly, once a disease or even a minor ailment is diagnosed, people read up and see if there are options to treat it at home.

Chemists have for long been giving away medicines which according to them are harmless and a cure for small ailments. But the need for the OTC policy will open that category as non-dangerous and help monitor those drugs which are scheduled as dangerous and must be on prescription only.

Dr Hari Kishan, senior general physician, explained, "Unchecked self-medication poses a danger to patient safety and negatively impacts health outcomes. The easy availability of antibiotics is a case in point which shows the rising antimicrobial resistance in the country. It is very important that apart from a regulatory framework, there are proper checks and controls done to ensure that it is not misused.New Delhi: Minister of state for external affairs M.J. Akbar on Sunday refused to step down from his post and denied allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by several women.

Hours after returning to New Delhi on Sunday morning after an official visit to Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea, he termed these as viral fever, saying that they were false and fabricated, spiced up by innuendo and malice, adding that he would be taking appropriate legal action.

He further said, Lies do not have legs, but they do contain poison, which can be whipped into a frenzy.

Mr Akbar added, A sea of innuendo, speculation and abusive diatribe has been built around something that never happened.

Implying a political motive behind the allegations, he wondered why the storm had risen a few months before the elections. There had been considerable speculation over the past few days whether Mr Akbar would resign or not in the wake of the allegations, particularly as Mr Akbar had not reacted for a few days.

Sources said Mr Akbars decision to not resign was taken after consulting the top BJP leadership and after he explained his side of the story on the sexual misconduct allegations levelled against him. There was a growing feeling within the BJP that the #MeToo campaign was turning into an effort to malign the party and if Mr Akbar were to resign, it would have give ammunition to the Opposition ahead of the crucial polls. Mr Akbar is a Rajya Sabha member belonging to the BJP.

In a statement, Mr Akbar said: The allegations of misconduct made against me are false and fabricated, spiced up by innuendo and malice. I could not reply earlier as I was on an official tour abroad. Accusation without evidence has become a viral fever among some sections. Whatever be the case, now that I have returned, my lawyers will look into these wild and baseless allegations in order to decide our future course of legal action.

Mr Akbar added: Why has this storm risen a few months before a general election? Is there an agenda? You be the judge. These false, baseless and wild allegations have caused irreparable damage to my reputation and goodwill. Lies do not have legs, but they do contain poison, which can be whipped into a frenzy. This is deeply distressing. As indicated above, I will be taking appropriate legal action.

Several women journalists, including Ghazala Wahab, Priya Ramani, Shutapa Paul and Shuma Raha, had made allegations of sexual harassment against Mr Akbar.

In his statement, Mr Akbar said: Ms Priya Ramani ... did not however name me ... When asked recently why she had not named me, she replied, in a tweet: Never named him because he didnt do anything. If I didnt do anything, where and what is the story? There is no story.At least 22 migrants, including children, were killed on Sunday when a truck carrying them overturned in Turkey's Izmir province, state-media Anadolu agency reported.

The driver is among five people who have been seriously injured with 11 hurt in the crash in the Gaziemir district, near the airport south of Izmir city as the truck was travelling from Aydin. Details of the incident were not immediately available.

Nine of those injured were children, DHA said.

The local prosecutor's office has launched an investigation, according to the report.

The mangled wreckage of the open-topped truck lay toppled over in a canal, some 20 meters below a highway from which it apparently fell after crashing through a barrier, video and photos published by Anadolu showed.

It was not clear where the migrants were from.

Turkish media reported the driver was among the injured and said in his initial statement to police that a vehicle had swerved in front of him.

Numbers have fallen since but people are still undertaking what is a highly perilous journey.

The emergency services are battling to recover the dead and help wounded people trapped underneath the truck, as forensics examine the site.

DHA said that the vehicle was headed for the coast of the Izmir region, from where the migrants planned to take inflatable dinghies, which had been packed into their vehicle, to Greece's Samos island.

A deal with the European Union in 2016 to send those migrants back to Turkey significantly curbed the number of border crossings but many desperate migrants still attempt the journey.Islamabad: Pakistan army has warned that Pakistan will hit back 10 times if India attacked once. Chief military spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor said the surgical strike was a myth and India was running lies to discredit Pakistan. He warned Pakistan would launch 10 if India launched one surgical strike. We have the power to retaliate within 10 minutes if any adventure is carried out. There should be no doubt about that, he asserted.

Speaking to reporters at the Pakistani High Commission in London, he said: We have our hands full on the eastern and western border; the army is having to maintain the security of the country. Army has its own stringent mechanism of accountability and its the most robust and toughest. It happens at various levels and no one is above accountability.

He emphasised that army believed only democracy is the way forward and as an institution, Pakistan army has provided full support to democratic institutions. We will work to make sure that democracy continues in Pakistan, said Asif Ghafoor, who is accompanying Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa on his visit to the United Kingdom.Generally, permission for political and religious events at Bison Polo and Parade Grounds venues is denied, but BJYM got the nod from the defence ministry.

Hyderabad: A large part of Secunderabad should be prepared for traffic snarls on October 27 and 28 as the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) will be holding its National Convention at the Bison Polo and Parade Grounds.

When the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) had held a political event here in 2015, there was a huge traffic jam for hours and traffic moved slowly afterwards too.

Generally, permission for political and religious events at these public venues is denied by the officials, but these parties got the nod from the defence ministry.

The state BJP members wrote to the Ministry of Defence and got the nod from the ministry on October 12.

The next day the Local Military Authority accorded permission for the event.

Around 50,000 delegates are expected to attend the National Convention of the BJYM on the 27th and on the 28th a public meeting will be held here to be addressed by the BJP national president Amit Shah.

Some 1,50,000 people are expected for that event, said Manohar Reddy, secretary of the state unit of the BJP.

Armymen have not been complimentary on social media about military grounds being used for political purposes.

One Rohit Agarawal, who worked with the four significant domains of the Indian Army, tweeted: Holding political rallies inside a Cantt is WRONG. The designs behind opening of Cantts becoming clearer And we have impotent senior officers who dont dare to take a stand. Disgusted

When the TRS held a public meeting at the Parade Grounds in April 2015, there were awful traffic jams and slow movement of traffic all along the Begumpet stretch as the two grounds are situated in the centre of the city.

In April 2018, when the Telangana Jana Samiti asked for permission to use the grounds, they were denied.

The Telangana State Ex-Servicemens Welfare Association was also denied permission to use the Parade Grounds to commemorate Kargil Day in 2018.Hyderabad: Aiming to influence voters on a mass scale, caretaker Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is contemplating penning a letter addressing one crore households in the state about the number of benefits delivered at the doorstep by his government.

In a shift of strategy, the TRS chief is said to have hit upon the letter-writing exercise as he believes that beneficiaries would remember a letter more and translate their gratitude into votes.

TRS sources say that about 2.5 crore people had benefited from Rythu Bandhu, Kanti Velugu, Asara pensions etc. It is this segment that Mr Rao is planning to address, they said.

The party is going ahead with the slogan of growth and development. Mr Rao addressed the needs of every community, and he issued government orders releasing funds. Mr Rao had provided for finance corporations, community bhavans, artisan tool kits, sheep for shepherds, a TRS leader said.

Writing letters to the electorate before the elections is not a new phenomenon. On previous occasions, TD chief N. Chandrababu Naidu too had dashed off letters.The TRS nominated 105 candidates immediately after the dissolution of the Assembly, and they had to start their campaign right away.

Hyderabad: The upcoming Assembly elections will be the most expensive for candidates, who have had to endure a long gap between the dissolution of the Assembly and the polling date.

The campaigning period for the Assembly elections is usually less than 30 days, but this time it has stretched to 90.

The TRS nominated 105 candidates immediately after the dissolution of the Assembly, and they had to start their campaign right away. Each candidate is spending about Rs 1 lakh per day now.

A candidate said, At present, about 200 workers follow us during the campaign. We have to provide breakfast, lunch and dinner in addition to liquor. We have to pay to hire the vehicles.

Those wanting a ticket from the Congress and other Opposition parties are luckier, because they have not had to open their purse strings yet.

Right now, only the chosen candidates are campaigning in their constituencies. Once the election notification is issued on November 12, the canvassing will intensify for the December 7 election with other parties announcing their candidates.

Once candidates have filed their nomination papers, they will have to campaign at mandal-level, and provide vehicles and pay for other expenses of their followers. The daily expenditure can reach Rs 3 lakh, which they have to pay themselves. Political parties are assessing the total election expenditure for each candidate to be about Rs 10 crore. If a candidate in any constituency is rich, his/ her rivals may have to fork out Rs 15 crore to Rs 20 crore to compete.

According to the Centre for Media Studies (CMS), in the recent Karnataka Assembly elections the money spent by various political parties and their candidates was in the range of Rs 9,500 crore to Rs 10,500 crore, which is more than twice what was spent in the previous Assembly election in the state in 2013. The upcoming assembly elections are expected to create a record in terms of election expenditure.

According to Section 77 of the Representation of Peoples Act 1951, every candidate has to keep a separate and correct account of all expenditure in connection with the election and has to submit it to the Election Commission.

The total of the said expenditure shall not exceed such amount as prescribed. But it is a well-known fact that candidates fudge the figures and submit expenditure details as per the cap decided by the Election Commission.Britains first OSA became law in 1889 after a temporary clerk in the Foreign Office had learnt by heart, and sold to a London evening paper, the 11 clauses of the Anglo-Russian treaty negotiated at the 1878 Congress of Berlin. Stiffer laws were passed.

Myanmars civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyis charge that the two Reuters reporters convicted under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act (OSA) and sentenced to seven years in prison were not jailed for their journalism but because they had been handling official secrets reveals the kind of ignorance that comes naturally to ones inebriated with the first taste of power.

Educated in England, she could not be ignorant of its prolonged debate on journalistic freedom and official secrecy. There is scarcely a journalist of any repute who has not at some point handled documents marked SECRET by a civil servant.

This fundamentally important issue was addressed as far back as 1952 in a classic editorial by the Times (London). Lord Derby, due to become prime minister, lectured the press  a sport which people in power still play  to be responsible. The editorial declared the independence of the press in language and argument that would endure.

It said: We cannot admit that its (the press) main purpose is to share the labours of statesmanship ... The purposes and the duties of the two powers are constantly separate, generally independent, sometimes diametrically opposite.  To perform its duties with entire independence, and consequently with the utmost public advantage, the press can enter into no close or binding alliances with the statesmen of the day, nor can it surrender its permanent interests to the convenience of the ephemeral power of any Government.

The first duty of the press is to obtain the earliest and most correct intelligence of the events of the time, and instantly, by disclosing them, to make them the common property of the nation. ... The responsibilities of the two powers are as much at variance as their duties. For us, with whom publicity and truth are the air and light of existence, there can be no greater disgrace than to recoil from the frank and accurate disclosure of facts as they are. We are bound to tell the truth as we find it, without fear of consequence  to lend no convenient shelter to acts of injustice and oppression, but to consign them at once to the judgment of the world.

Britains first OSA became law in 1889 after a temporary clerk in the Foreign Office had learnt by heart, and sold to a London evening paper, the 11 clauses of the Anglo-Russian treaty negotiated at the 1878 Congress of Berlin. Stiffer laws were passed.

Colonial rulers in India enacted the OSA in 1889 and later in 1923. But while Britain reformed its law in 1989, India did not. However, even in the high noon of the Raj, Indias press asserted a right to reveal information of public interest even if it was classified as secret. In October 1889, Amrit Bazar Patrika published the full text of a memorandum by foreign secretary H.M. Durand, dated May 6, 1888, opposing the British resident in Kashmir s Plowdens proposal to annex Gilgit. The paper teasingly wrote that viceroy Lansdowne would find the original document in the Foreign Office.

The publication was used as a pretext for a secrets law, the Indian Official Secrets (Amendment) Act, 1904. It was trenchantly criticised in the Imperial Legislative Assembly by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Ashutosh Mukherjee and others. He said: The proper and only remedy worthy of the British government is not to gag newspapers as proposed in this bill but to discourage the issue of confidential circulars ... The criticism of the Indian press is the only outward check operating continuously upon the conduct of a bureaucracy possessing absolute and uncontrolled power.

The press will breach official secrecy once it smells official deception. Clive Ponting, assistant secretary in the Ministry of Defence sensed official deceit on the sinking of Argentinas warship, ARA General Belgrano, during the Falklands War. He gave two documents to MP Tam Dalyell, a critic of the government. He was prosecuted for breach of the OSA. It was admitted that national security was not damaged. In his charge to the jury, justice McCowan directed it to construe the interests of the state as being synonymous with those of the government. The jury rejected this and acquitted Ponting.

In the Pentagon Papers case, too, the US Supreme Court ruled in favour of the New York Times in June 1971 because the papers exposed more than 20 years of official deception on the Vietnam War. There is, of course, a case for protecting official secrets; but in the interests of the nation  not those of the government.

The Press Council of India proposed this amendment: Nothing shall be an offence under the section if it predominantly and substantially subserves public interest unless the communication or use of the official secret is made for the benefit of any foreign power or in any manner prejudicial to the safety of the state.

Without it, the law would violate the fundamental right to free speech.

By arrangement with Dawn

B08US President Donald Trump recently warned that India would find out sooner than you think in what ways Washington is contemplating to punish it for signing a contract to purchase the S-400 anti-missile system, and now his administration is sending its top envoy on Iran, Brian Hook, to persuade this country not to go ahead with petroleum purchases from Iran.

While the US seeks that India (and other countries) end buying all oil from Iran by November 4, petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan said last Monday that the two state refiners had placed orders for Iranian oil for the month of November. The die is thus cast. The US will either have to come to a reasonable negotiation of the matter with Iran or go ahead and sanction India.

Regionally, Iran is far too important for India to ignore it. With Iran, from the Indian perspective, it is oil plus other strategic considerations such as the Chabahar port and the transportation corridor that can open up via Central Asia all the way to Russia through Europe.

In any case, India  unlike the US of Mr Trump  does not see Iran as an evil doer and source of instability in West Asia. Mr Trump has signed up with Saudi Arabia to sell armaments worth $110 billion and is playing his politics accordingly since the Saudis and the Iranians have traditionally nurtured mutual hostility. But New Delhi has had good ties with both over a long period of time, and there is no reason why this should change to please any single world power.

Mr Trump has threatened West Europe, Russia, China and now India with sanctions for dealing favourably with countries Washington does not like. That means, the US is busy working on sanctions against all the major world players, thus advocating a world order of confrontation rather than cooperation. This can cause disorder in the heavens.

B08The statement by M.J. Akbar, minister of state for external affairs, upon his return Sunday from Africa where he had gone on official work, becomes a shaming moment for the government he serves. For the rest of the country, Mr Akbars response to the #Me Too campaign, which made it possible for at least 15 women, starting October 8, to assail him on the social media for being a sexual predator, can only be called cringe-worthy.

The junior minister called the allegations fabricated. He said he is consulting lawyers to challenge the accusations against him in court. He said the accusations had come just months before a general election, and blatantly implied that those questioning him had political motivations, as if 15 different women of various backgrounds and ages could have a political agenda. He has asked the people to be the judge of this.

Since thats the tack the minister has chosen, it will be fascinating to see if he shows the gumption to follow through on his threat of going to court. However, asking the people to sit in judgment, which evidently means to vote for his party, and expressing the intention to go to court are very different things.

Mr Akbar should make a clear choice  the peoples court or a judicial forum? If he now equivocates on going to court, his credibility may be further impaired.

Conceivably too, the Supreme Court could lift the burden of choice off Mr Akbars shoulders by treating the testimonies of the 15 women on the social media as a public interest litigation as this issue is one of great public interest, indeed of national importance. The point simply is whether a person facing allegations of being a sexual predator should be in the Union council of ministers. Does the Prime Ministers prerogative of keeping ministers extend to retaining those accused of falling over moral red lines?

Speaking constitutionally, should the PM keep as minister someone whose moral scruples are suspect, as alleged? Honeytraps being a fact of life, does vulnerability attach to such a minister?

But its more than an individuals fate that concerns us here. The mere fact that Mr Akbar has chosen to issue the kind of statement he has evidently means he has a green signal from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In effect, that means continuing the tradition of this government to brazen it out, unconcerned with public opinion. We saw this in the matter of external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan CM Vasudhare Raje in the Lalit Modi case. Nor did heads roll when diamond merchant Nirav Modi vanished from the country after stealing millions from Punjab National Bank, or for that matter Vijay Mallaya. No Union minister faced any heat.

The governments slogan of Beti bachao, beti padhao! rings hollow today. It might as well be just Beti bachao!The plane was said to have rocked on impact, but the shaking was brushed off as minor, and panic set in among the 136 passengers only when the Dubai ATC refused to let the plane land and it had to be rerouted to Mumbai. (Representational image)

Its a wonder that an Air India Express Boeing B737, which hit a very low airport perimeter wall at Tiruchy while taking off, flew on to Dubai with the pilots blissfully unaware of what had occurred. The plane was said to have rocked on impact, but the shaking was brushed off as minor, and panic set in among the 136 passengers only when the Dubai ATC refused to let the plane land and it had to be rerouted to Mumbai. Confident that all systems were go on board, the experienced pilots, with over 3,000 flying hours each, saw no reason to change course. They have been derostered, and an inquiry is on. But thats what we hear after every aviation scare. What the investigation must clearly establish is whether it was overloading of aircraft or pilot failure in reading the takeoff point.

Tiruchys incident is the opposite of what happened to the AI flight on September 11 when all systems failed and the pilots had to land blind in Newark in the most testing conditions of low visibility, which makes us wonder what modern fly-by-wire aviation is all about. Would it be too much to seek positioning of cameras on the wings or fuselage to check underbelly, landing gear and wheel and tyre conditions? An aircraft with a hole in the underbelly can still make it and we often hear of safe landings even after engine failure events. Modern aviation is so safe the odds of fatality in a crash have lengthened considerably since the Wright Brothers showed us how to fly. An eventful AI flight reminds us theres work to be done to make flying even safer.In the last lap of the Narendra Modi sarkar before the 2019 general elections, the government is effecting a major revamp of the national security architecture. Over the past few months, the government has constituted the Defence Planning Committee (DPC), increased the budget for the National Security Council secretariat, and reconstituted the Strategic Policy Group (SPG) to assist the National Security Council. With three deputy national security advisers, a military adviser and a dedicated think tank to study China, these measures aim to lay down Indias defence strategy to meet current and future challenges.

According to sources, these changes are the outcome of a comprehensive review of the national security structure ordered by the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) last year. The reaction to these measures has been decidedly mixed. Much of this tends to look at the rise of NSA Ajit Doval, who has emerged even more powerful after the government decided to bring back the SPG. Earlier the group was chaired by the Cabinet secretary, but now Mr Doval has replaced P.K. Sinha who will now report to him on this issue!

It is perhaps the first time in the country and since the creation of the post of NSA in 1998 that senior most bureaucrats, the three chiefs of the armed forces are reporting to an ex-IPS officer (Mr Doval). The appointment of two more deputy NSAs instead of just one in the previous arrangement too, make Mr Dovals role even more powerful than before, say most insiders.

Though some would argue that since the NSA holds the rank of minister of state and is therefore above the Cabinet secretary in the pecking order, it certainly is still a bit strange to have the head of the national civil service report to the NSA. If the NSA is so indispensable to the Modi sarkar, wouldnt it be better to simply include him as a member of the Union Cabinet? Some even fear that the sudden revival of the SPG may invest too much power in the NSA, creating an eventual imbalance at the top.

All these are of course matters of debate. But is there enough time for the DPC to show what it can achieve before we are overtaken by next years election fever? Seems unlikely, but there is no doubt that Mr Doval is now at the heart of the Modi sarkars bid to firm up Indias security framework for the long haul.

DGP appointments: Cms seek review

For once, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh and his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar are on the same page. Both leaders are seeking a review of the Supreme Court order stating that the Union Public Service Commission will now have a major say in the selection of director generals of police of all states, except Delhi, Arunachal Pradesh and Puducherry, who will continue to be appointed by the Centre.

The chief ministers feel that the federal structure will be threatened if the UPSC presents a panel of three senior officers, from whom the chief minister can select the DGP. Since law and order is a state subject, they claim the appointment of the DGP  who looks after law and order  has to be with the state government.

Mr Singhs argument is that Indian Administrative Service and Indian Police Service officers assigned to a state are posted under the control of the state government. Since the state government is answerable to the public and the state legislature, it should have complete discretion in selecting a person in whom the chief minister has absolute confidence.

Of course, this practice has often resulted in the appointment of favourites and long extensions for the officer, which upsets the hierarchy, causing other worthy officers to lose their chance to get the top post.

B09When Mark Twain was asked about heaven and hell, he said: I prefer heaven for the climate, and hell for the company! Im not sure what you prefer, and why. Personally, Id choose heaven both, for its climate and company. On Sunday, Pope Francis raised two more saints  Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Oscar Romero  to the heavenly company.

Nowadays, when bishops, pastors and godmen are accused of sexual aberrations or financial scams, the media delights in stripping them bare. Not to be outdone, the public announce and renounce their sins in sordid detail, often adding masala. But, unbeknownst to us, there are wonderful folks who live saintly lives, sacrificing everything to serve God and others. Saints Paul VI and Oscar Romero can be numbered among those.

I have vague childhood memories of Pope Paul VI visiting Mumbai in 1964  the first ever by a pope. He said: India is the cradle of great religions, the home of a nation that has sought God with a relentless desire, in deep meditation, silence and prayer. Rarely has this longing for God been expressed with words so full of the spirit many centuries before Christ: From the unreal lead me to the real; from darkness lead me to light; from death lead me to immortality. This prayer belongs to all times; it should rise from every human heart. Paul tirelessly strove for dialogue among religions and disciplines.

While that white papal figure remains etched in childhood memory, a black-robed archbishop, Oscar Romero, fascinated me, later. Championing the cause of poor peasants forced to work under inhuman, unjust conditions by repressive regimes, he was accused of being a violent Marxist. He said: I never preach violence, except the violence of love, which left Jesus nailed to a Cross  the violence that we must each do to ourselves to overcome our selfishness.

Romero renounced the love of power and unleashed the power of love. He preached: I cry out against injustice, but only to say to the unjust: Be converted! Of himself he said: I am Gods microphone. His prophetic words were seen as a threat to the unjustly rich and powerful who had him murdered on March 24, 1980. Fittingly, the UN declared his martyrdom-day as International Day for the Right to the Truth of Victims of Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims.

In 2007, when a priest asked then Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio  now, Pope Francis  his opinion about Romero, he said: To me, Romero is a saint and a martyr If I were pope, I would have already canonised him. He did that yesterday.

Climatic conditions apart, wouldnt you want to get to heaven to relish such company?A Taliban spokesman, while announcing details of Friday's meeting, the second in less than three months, said that US special envoy for Afghan peace Zalmay Khalilzad led his delegation and Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, who heads the Taliban's "political office" in the Gulf state, led his six-member team in the talks.

The meeting with Khalilzad and other American officials took place in Doha on Friday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement sent to journalists.

The Taliban had reportedly met with USA officials in July after an unprecedented ceasefire in June which fueled hopes that negotiations could bring an end to fighting. Khalilzad was in the Afghan capital Saturday meeting with President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, AP reported citing the embassy as its source.

The Office of the President, ARG Palace, in a statement said Ambassador Khalilzad presented a report regarding his recent trips to the regional countries and emphasized that the United States is prepared for an all-out support to an Afghan-led peace process and efforts are underway in this regard.

The United States and the Taliban held a new round of direct talks this week in Qatar, where the two sides agreed to continue the dialogue process to promote a negotiated settlement to the 17-year-old war in Afghanistan.

The group has long called for bilateral talks with the United States, but Washington has repeatedly refused, insisting the process must be Afghan-led.

A spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Kabul declined to comment. "They were demanding to directly meet with the U.S. for a long time and they finally got it", said Afghan political analyst Atta Noori. "This is something that will be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned, but supported by the US government", she said. Khalilzad arrived in Kabul from Qatar, winding up his first official trip since being named special envoy. A Taliban official who was part of the four-person delegation to that meeting said it produced "very positive signals". Taliban officials want the withdrawal of American forces and a government in Kabul that reflects the group's view.

Afghan-born Khalilzad, a high-profile former USA ambassador to Kabul, Baghdad and the United Nations, is known as a blunt negotiator with hawkish foreign policy views.The Titli of #MeToo has reached India with a bang, claiming several wickets. Every day some woman is coming out with new allegations against some celebrity that she was violated years ago or even decades ago. The allegations may be true, may be not. But these may not stand legal scrutiny in the absence of conclusive proof. It does not mean that it should be rubbished as humbug. Everything is not proved in a court of law, often because of inefficient and lax investigation and prosecution. So many criminals are acquitted. It is heartening that the Union minister for women and child development has announced the formation of a committee to investigate these allegations. The job is arduous but it is hoped that the committee will do a thorough investigation and report how the world lies.

These revelations are not new. The casting couch is not a new phenomenon. However, the real challenge before society is its perception about sex and sexuality, which is undergoing a sea change. Allegations of sexual harassment keep tumbling out at an alarming frequency. The sexual revolution of the 1960s in the United States disabused society of the traditional notion of sexuality conferring greater freedom. It brought about a profound societal change. Sex became more socially acceptable and was unshackled from the strict boundaries of marriage. In 1969, there was a marked increase in pre-marital sex, teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. However, there seems to be a volte-face as sexual freedom is garrotted. Any expression of love, much less sexual interest, unless reciprocated, is fraught with the danger of ruining lives.

However, allegations were accepted in case of Brett Kavanaugh, who was appointed a judge of the US Supreme Court after being confirmed by the Senate with one of the narrowest margins in the countrys history. His candidature was challenged as he faced allegations of sexual assault by women. Christine Blasey Ford was the first to accuse him. But the incident dated back to 1982, according to her own admission, when she was 15 and Mr Kavanaugh was 17. It is inscrutable why she kept mum for 36 long years. Anita Hill shot into prominence in 1991 when she accused US Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. She was distrusted because she brought the allegation after a delay of 10 years and also because she had followed Mr Thomas to a second job and continued contacts with him and also gave him a ride to an airport. She clarified that she had met him on two occasions, once to get a job reference. Ms Hill countered that she spoke up as she felt an obligation to inform people about the character of a person being considered for appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court. This sounds logical, but going to someone for a job reference who had assaulted her sexually raises questions about her credibility. However, Wall Street Journal reporters Jane Mayer and Jill Abramson wrote a book after interviewing many women who alleged that Mr Thomas often subjected them to sexually explicit remarks, and concluded that Mr Thomas had lied during his confirmation process. Vinta Nanda also admitted to have gone to Alok Nath for a second time even though earlier she was allegedly raped. And then she was raped again. Will any woman go to her rapist again? And then should it be called rape?

No society is sexless or strictly monogamous. Extra-marital relations have been common in every age and community. Galileo Galilei, a pious Roman Catholic, fathered three children out of wedlock. His daughters Virginia and Livia, born in 1600 and 1601 respectively, could not be married off due to their illegitimate birth. So they were forced to embrace religious lives and the convent of San Matteo in Arcetri accepted them and they remained there till death. Francesco Petrarch (14th century), one of the earliest humanists and poet of Renaissance Italy, was a bachelor because the Church did not let him marry, but he had two children with an unknown woman or women. Queen Elizabeth was the illegitimate daughter of Henry VIII. She is said to have physical relations with her ministers and so was infamous. She promised to marry both the French King as well as the Spanish King, but backed out later, saying that she was wedded to England. This enhanced her stature immeasurably and she became hugely popular.

Karl Marxs most authoritative biographer David McLellan, in his book Karl Marx: His Life and Thought, has written that Marx had an illegitimate son with his maid Helene Demuth, who gave birth to a baby on June 23, 1851. Bernard Shaw suffered immense trauma lifelong by the suspicion that he may not be the son of his declared father, but of his mothers paramour John Henry George Lee. Lord Curzon remains unpopular with feminists because of his virulent opposition to female suffrage, but he preferred the company of women, and they adored his. Married women were wild for him, and according to reliable accounts, he was a virile and passionate lover. At least one irate husband threatened to name him in a divorce case. Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir had live-in relations. But Sartre had many other affairs and Simone de Beauvoir had a fling with American novelist Nelson Algren, but the association could not last long as she could not stay back in the US.

Such examples are galore. But now complaints of sexual harassment are rising by leaps and bounds. It has gathered momentum after the #MeToo movement which became viral in October 2017 as a hashtag used in the social media to highlight the prevalence of sexual harassment of women at the workplace. It is true that there is no dearth of philanderers and they must be pinned down. However, demonising men in general may not be the best solution to a vexing problem. Many young boys are now consuming huel (human fuel). They avoid nutritious food and are abstemious as they dont want to be sexually virile. MGTOW (Men Going Their Own Way), a pseudonymous online community of men, has started to caution men against serious romantic relationships with women, especially marriage. Males are being excoriated for sexually abusing women. Guilty men must be punished severely, but will they be subjected to fair trials, or is a complaint enough? Italian actress and director Asia Argento, one of the first to publicly accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault and who became a leading figure in the #MeToo movement, has herself been charged with paying hush money to her accuser Jimmy Bennett, a young actor and rock musician. He alleged that she had sexually assaulted him in a California hotel room years ago when he was only two months past 17, and she was 37. The age of consent in California is 18. He played her son in the movie and was there for the shoot. Argento quietly arranged to pay $380,000 to him.

It is true that many women still cannot muster the courage to complain that they were assaulted sexually. But the possibility of false complaints also cannot be ruled out.This week's Soyuz rocket launch was aborted but Russia said the next manned mission to the International Space Station could be brought forward. (Photo: AFP)

Russia said it was likely to bring forward the flight of a new manned space mission to the International Space Station but postpone the launch of a cargo ship after a rocket failure that forced two crew members to make an emergency landing. It was the first such incident in Russia's post-Soviet history  an unprecedented setback for the country's space industry.

Russian cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin and US astronaut Nick Hague sped back to Earth when the Soyuz rocket failed shortly after launching from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soviet-designed Soyuz rocket is currently the world's only lifeline to the International Space Station and the accident will affect the work of the orbiting laboratory.

"We will try to bring forward the launch of a new crew," Sergei Krikalyov, executive director of the Russian space agency, told reporters. He said the next unmanned cargo ship could go into space later than planned. The next Soyuz launch had been scheduled to take a new three-person crew to the ISS on December 20 and a Progress cargo ship had been set to blast off on October 31.

Veteran cosmonaut Krikalyov said that "in theory" the ISS could remain unmanned but added Russia would do "everything possible not to let this happen." A space walk planned for mid-November has also been cancelled, he said. The crew had planned to examine a hole in a Russian spacecraft docked at the orbiting station.

Thursday's aborted launch took place in the presence of NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine who was visiting Russia and Baikonur this week. The incident was a huge embarrassment for Moscow, which has recently touted plans to send cosmonauts to the Moon and Mars. All manned launches have been suspended and a criminal probe has been launched. The Kremlin said experts were working to determine what caused the rocket failure.

"It is impossible to draw any conclusions now," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Ovchinin and Hague escaped unharmed and returned to the Star City training centre outside Moscow.

"The Russian cosmonaut and American astronaut are feeling fine," the Russian space agency said. Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said the pair were likely to go into space in the spring.

"The guys will fly for sure," Rogozin said on Twitter, posting a picture of himself with smiling Ovchinin and Hague. The crew appeared to stay remarkably calm despite being subjected to strong deceleration forces.

"That was a quick flight," Ovchinin said calmly during the emergency landing.

Industry experts say the country's space industry has suffered so many mishaps that a serious accident during a manned mission was simply a matter of time. Russia has lost cargo spacecraft and numerous satellites in recent years.

The failed launch earned scathing criticism from the usually pliant Russian media. "The breakup of the Soyuz," Kommersant broadsheet said in a frontpage headline. Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily wrote: "The space industry crashed in a couple of minutes." But observers also said the astronauts survived thanks to the reliability of the Soviet-era rocket's rescue system, which returned them safely to Earth despite the launch failure.

"As strange as it may seem, the accident at Baikonur only confirmed the reliability of the Russian rocket," said opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta. But it added that Russia's state space industry probably could not be saved "in its current form."

Industry experts say Russia should follow in the footsteps of the United States and Europe and develop commercial space launches. In May, Putin tapped Rogozin to manage the space agency in a move that analysts said spelt trouble for the sector.

Rogozin has complained of problems with NASA and has suggested that a hole on the ISS could be the result of sabotage. There have been only two similar aborted manned space launches in the history of the Soviet space programme.

In 1983, Vladimir Titov and Gennady Strekalov survived a fire during launch in Kazakhstan. In 1975, Oleg Makarov and Vasily Lazarev made a successful emergency landing in the Altai mountains after problems during booster separation.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.Amazon and Flipkart are locked in a battle to dominate an Indian e-commerce market tipped, within a decade, to be worth $200 billion annually, according to Morgan Stanley. (Photo: AFP/ Representational image)

US online giant Amazon said its festive season sale in India had got off to a strong start, with three times the number of people signing up to shop in the first two days compared to last year.

Amazon and homegrown Indian rival Flipkart, owned by Walmart, kicked off competing sales events, jostling to grab shoppers in Indias October-December festive season when households make most big-ticket purchases.

We are particularly excited by the three times higher new customer and Prime sign ups, Amit Agarwal, Amazons India head said, adding the site is becoming the destination of choice for existing and new customers across India. The comment comes after Flipkart chief Kalyan Krishnamurthy, late, told Reuters Amazon was losing relevance in the country.

Amazon and Flipkart are locked in a battle to dominate an Indian e-commerce market tipped, within a decade, to be worth $200 billion annually, according to Morgan Stanley.

Agarwal said the companys push on attractive credit facilities, product insurance and a Hindi-version of its mobile website were among measures paying off this time around. Amazons Great Indian Festival sale will go on till October 15, while Flipkarts version Big Billion Days ends a day earlier.

Amazon, which already has over 100 million registered users in India, is making a deeper push in the countrys small towns and cities in a bid to attract another 100 million customers by investing in infrastructure and partnering with local players for quicker deliveries. Its Prime loyalty program, which offers free delivery, early access to deals during sales and free music and video streaming, has helped Amazon win tens of millions of clients, making India its fastest-growing Prime market globally. Flipkart now offers a similar scheme.

Large appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines as well as TVs are selling in huge numbers in this years sale, Agarwal said, with fashion products becoming the largest selling category.

Neither company gave specific sales numbers, but said their festive sales will break last years record as competition intensifies after Walmarts acquisition of a controlling stake in Bengaluru-based Flipkart this year.

Amazon remains the most visited, most transacted, most trusted online marketplace in India, Agarwal said. We look forward to maintaining this momentum for the rest of the holiday season.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.A motorcycle carrying explosives detonated among supporters of Nazifa Yousefibek, a female candidate for the province of Takhar. Most of the 22 killed and 36 wounded were civilians. (Representational image | AP)

Kabul: The death toll in a bomb attack on an Afghan election rally has risen to at least 22 people, officials said Sunday, as the country braces for more violence ahead of the October 20 poll.

Dozens of people were killed or wounded in parliamentary election-related attacks across Afghanistan on Saturday as militants step up attacks on the ballot.

A motorcycle carrying explosives detonated among supporters of Nazifa Yousefibek, a female candidate for the northeastern province of Takhar, provincial governor spokesman Mohammad Jawad Hejri told AFP.

Most of the 22 killed and 36 wounded were civilians, he said.

Provincial health director Hafizullah Safi put the death toll slightly higher at 23.

In the western province of Herat, two gunmen attacked the campaign office of a candidate in Injeel district, killing two people, provincial governor spokesman Jailani Farhad said. A nine-year-old boy and a security guard died in the attack and two others were wounded.

Violence related to the long-delayed legislative vote has killed or wounded hundreds of people in recent months.

At least nine candidates have died so far, most of them in targeted killings, according to the Independent Election Commission.Dubai: Saudi Arabia warned on Sunday it will respond to any threats against it as its stock market plunged following President Donald Trumps warning of severe punishment over the disappearance of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi.

Mr Trump made a point of visiting the kingdom on his first overseas trip as president and has touted arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

But both the White House and the kingdom are under mounting pressure as concern grows over the fate of the veteran journalist, who hasnt been seen since he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

Already, international business leaders are pulling out of the kingdoms upcoming investment forum, a high-profile event known as Davos in the Desert.

The kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether by threatening to impose economic sanctions, using political pressures or repeating false accusations.Tiruppur, Indias knitwear hub known for its cluster units, seems to be crumbling slowly.

The multi-crore industry, which faced the brunt of demonetisation and GST, is staring at near existential crisis with many garment manufacturers opening their units in far-away Ethiopia and neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka that provide free access to major markets like the US and EU (European Union).

In the past six months alone, four well-known garment manufacturers who excelled in the sector for decades together have opened their factories in Ethiopia, which offers excellent infrastructure facilities to those starting their businesses, while one has gone to Sri Lanka. While a few manufacturers went to Bangladesh in the past, many are now turning to another neighbour  Sri Lanka, which has a geographical advantage over others since the flying time from Coimbatore to Colombo is just 70 minutes.

Why are they shifting?

Most manufacturers who have opened their factories in foreign countries cite cheap labour, free market access to EU and US, readily available infrastructure facilities and absence of red-tape as major reasons for their move.

In India, they say, lack of support from government machinery and too much of red tape hinders smooth running of businesses.

The move comes even as the industry, which was growing at more than 10% every year, reported a 7% dip for the first time since 2011, resulting in loss of a whopping Rs 2,000 crore. The exports, which were valued at Rs 26,000 crore in 2016-2017, fell to Rs 24,000 crore in 2017-2018 and the domestic sales stood at around Rs 18,000 crore.

India does not have free market access to EU and the US  major buyers of garments  and this puts manufacturers in Tiruppur at a disadvantageous position since entry tax is levied once goods reach the destination countries. While Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have free access to the EU, Ethiopia offers free access to both the EU and the US  making these countries better clients for buyers.

The latest trend of companies from Tiruppur opening their units in foreign countries is alarming as it hurts the Indian industrial climate and the economy. This industry would thrive as long as mankind exists and there should a holistic approach towards saving this industry here in India, Raja M Shanmugham, President of Tiruppur Exporters Association, told DH.

Shanmugham said the problems faced by the knitwear industry in Tiruppur have been capsulated by countries like Uganda, Ethiopia, and Kenya who are eyeing the lucrative garment market. Trade and Industry delegations from these countries visited Tiruppur in the recent past with assurances that they want to build new Tiruppurs in their respective countries. Garment manufacturers want free access to EU and other major markets and ask the government to conclude FTAs and operationalise them. They also want the incentive duty drawback restored back to the earlier percentage of 7.6 which was reduced to 2%.

S Balasubramanian, Managing Director of Jay Jay Mills, spoke in detail about hurdles being faced by manufacturers in servicing a customer in India and says despite serious civil unrest that is quite common in African countries, factories dont lose their working day unlike in India. Customer service is paramount for us. We went to Sri Lanka way back in 1998 and launched a factory in Bangladesh in 2009. Only a few months back, we went to Ethiopia mainly because of free market access to the US. Since a majority of our buyers are in the US, we decided to move to the African country to serve our customers much better, he told DH. Opening factories in far-away countries brings in a lot of exposure to garment manufacturers and allow them to learn better market practices that prevail across the globe, he said. It is quite easy to do business in countries like Ethiopia where they have dedicated export processing zones besides the lucrative free access status, he added.

R Rajkumar, Managing Director of Best Corporation which has set up a factory in Hawassa in Ethiopia, told DH that while the labour cost in Tiruppur is $150 to $200 (between Rs 11,000 to Rs 15,000) a week, it is just $75 (Rs 6,000) in Ethiopia. While in India, they hire separate labour for stitching packing and so on, in foreign countries they train their labour to multi-task, saving much more on the cost involved.

Plug and play model

In Ethiopia, the government keeps ready the infrastructure for the garment manufacturers  all they have to do is to go with their machines, hire employees, train them and have their factory up and running. The plug and play model is what attracts manufacturers like us. We dont have to go through the hassles of looking for land, constructing a building and get permissions. Everything is done by the Ethiopian government and all we have to do is to start our operations once we are there, he said. Rajkumar, who launched operations in Hawassa in Ethiopia a couple of months ago, says they are running the show currently with 500 machines in two shifts.

Our plan is to have a total of 2,000 machines and we will reach the capacity gradually. Though there are challenges in training the labour, the infrastructure available makes us forget everything else, he said.

Only the factories have shifted to foreign countries, but the raw materials are still produced in Tiruppur and taken to these nations, the manufacturers say. N M Ravichandran, a partner of Santex Inc that has opened a factory near Kandy in Sri Lanka, says free market access to the EU lured him to the neighbouring country.

Since it is a customer-driven industry, all we need to keep in mind is the needs of our customers. We launched just four months ago, and we are very happy with the way things are moving, Ravichandran said.

Another advantage that Ravichandran cites in having a factory in Kandy is that they could employ Tamil-speaking people in their factories.

In Tiruppur, we need to hire labour separately for stitching, packing and so on. But in Sri Lanka, we have trained our employees in multi-tasking and they do almost everything which works into our advantage, the exporter said. Shanmugam also rued the indifferent attitude of those in power and bodies that represent industries towards Tiruppur and its clusters. When ambitious entrepreneurs go and propose innovative ideas and seek some support, we are looked at as if we seek alms from them. That attitude has to stop if Tiruppur has to remain relevant in the global market, the president of TEA said.Members of two to three pro-Hindu outfits, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, stopped the staging of a play on discrimination faced by the LGBTQI community on Saturday.

The play named Shiva was being staged at Jagriti in Whitefield on Saturday. It was directed by Dayasindhu Sakrepatna and the play had already done 15 shows.

On Saturday morning, the right-wing outfits entered the theatre and prevented its staging, claiming it was offensive and hurt their religious sentiments.

Around 50 members belonging to at least three pro-Hindu outfits had earlier submitted a petition with the DCP Whitefields office objecting to the play as it was named Shiva, whom they worshipped.

The police then tried to reason with both the parties. The bone of contention was only the name of the play and there were arguments over changing its title.

The Whitefield DCP had deployed three policemen at the venue. But later, another faction of a pro-Hindu outfit created a ruckus after which the play was stopped. The organisers announced that it had been postponed.

Members of the VHP led by Girish Bharadwaj and two other pro-Hindu outfits numbering around 50 came to the station and objected to the play as it was named Shiva. We had to reason with the organisers, who decided to postpone the show, said DCP Whitefield Abdul Ahad.Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday chose the environs of defence undertaking HALs corporate office here to step up his attack on the BJP-led Centre on the Rafale deal, vowing to fight on the streets of India on the issue.

Im saying very clearly that corruption has taken place, there are kickbacks, that Rs 30,000 crore has been given to Anil Ambani and snatched from these people (HAL). Their future and the defence of the country are being destroyed, Rahul told reporters after spending over an hour interacting with HAL employees at the Cubbon Park premises near the companys corporate headquarters at Minsk Square.

The event was seen as Rahuls attempt to garner support over the Rafale deal on the back of which the Congress has mounted an attack on the Modi administration ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Rahul has accused the BJP-led Centre of striking a deal with France to favour Ambanis Reliance Defence, whereas the previous Congress-led UPAs deal favoured HAL.

Ahead of the event, however, the Karnataka BJP launched a salvo at the Congress chief for misleading people on the Rafale deal.

Asked if the Rafale deal would be tweaked if the Congress came to power, Rahul said: The question is not what will happen if the Congress comes to power. We are committed to the public sector and we believe in HAL. The question is, why was 30,000 crore given to Anil Ambani when all the HAL people here have given their life for the country. Why was the order taken away from them? Why is HAL being destroyed to help Ambani?

He said Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman insulted, hurt and questioned HAL for which she owed an apology. The defence minister rushed to France to try and cover it up. But there cant be a cover-up. The truth is coming out, he said. We will fight this on every street in India. We will stand with the HAL, with the Air Force and with every person to fight this.

Rahul refuted Nirmalas claim that the Centre had not proposed Anil Ambani as Dassaults partner in the deal. Shes lying. The ex-president of France has clearly said that Modi himself, the Government of India told him to give the contract to Ambani. Now, documentation has come out that Dassault was told, if you want the contract, it has to go to Anil Ambani, he said.A 64-year-old man who is the president of a school was hacked to death by six assailants inside his school at Agrahara Dasarahalli in Magadi Road on Sunday morning.

Police swung into action to arrest the prime accused within five hours of the incident. Search is on for the others involved in the murder, said to have been triggered by a property dispute.

Ranganath Nayak, a resident of Housing Board Colony near Rajajinagar and a native of Pavagada, bought Maruthi Public School from his friend in 2003 after retiring as an assistant manager in RBI. He rechristened it Havanur Public School.

DCP (west) Ravi D Channannavar identified the prime accused as Muniraju alias Babli (25) who has five cases against his name in several city police stations.

On a tip-off, Magadi Road police inspector R Hemanth Kumar and his team tried to capture the accused near Kirloskar Poultry Road near Mahalakshmi Layout but Muniraju assaulted police constables Naveen and Srinivas with deadly weapons.

The inspector fired thrice in self-defence, injuring Muniraju on the legs. Police later shifted Muniraju to Victoria Hospital.

Channannavar said a murder case has been registered at Magadi Road police station against Prasad, Mahesh, Srinivas, Muniraju and others. Another senior police officer said the incident took place around 10.30 am on Sunday when Nayak and school administrative staff were having a meeting with his neighbour Rajashekar over a property issue. The six assailants barged into the meeting room and assaulted Nayak.

His administrative staff Lokesh Gowda and assistant Yathish rushed to his rescue but they were also attacked. Gowda and Yathish escaped with stab injuries and were admitted to a nearby hospital.

Preliminary investigations revealed that a property attached to Nayaks school premises was under dispute. It was alleged that one of his neighbours, Gangamma, encroached on a portion of the land and the dispute was before the court.

Even as the dispute remained at the court, Gangamma died and her sons Prasad and Mahesh followed the case.

Recently, the court ruled in favour of Nayak and ordered the authorities to demolish the disputed building. This prompted the two men to hold a grudge on Nayak.

Police suspect that Prasad and his gang planned the murder and have formed a special team to nab the missing accused. They also believe Muniraj was hired to kill Nayak, though they are yet to ascertain the motive.

All angles being probed

Police are probing all possible angles.

Nayaks friend and an eyewitness to the incident Anjanappa said everything happened in a flash. He called me to his school on Sunday morning to discuss the disputed land. I went with my friend Mallesh, Anjanappa said.

As we were discussing the issue, the gang burst in and attacked Nayak. I tried to rescue him, but the gang pushed me away. They hacked Nayak and fled the spot, he added.Lakes will soon become seasonal waterbodies as unplanned and unbridled development, coupled with reduced green cover, will turn Bengaluru a dead city, IISc professor T V Ramachandra warned on Friday.

Delivering a talk on Lessons of Unplanned Urbanisation: Bengaluru (A dying city with burning and frothing lakes), Ramachandra presented the findings from the Centre of Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to make his case.

According to the study, the citys urban cover will spread over 98.5% of the area by 2025 leaving a dismal amount of greenery which will not be able to provide for oxygen for all.

The day is not far when people have to pack an oxygen bottle for their child along with food and water bottle. But people highlighting this are still receiving death threats from those destroying the environment, he said.

Also Read | It's time to get building green and affordable

Health issues

Ramachandra said the effect of the bad environment was already visible in society as health issues have soared.

Earlier, only one in 1 lakh people suffered a kidney failure. But now it has come to one in 500 people. Children are suffering from bone marrow cancer. What else do we need to understand the importance of protecting our surroundings, he asked.

Ramachandra opined that the Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority should not have been repealed. The lakes have been handed over to the minor irrigation department which will not do anything, he said.

Also Read | Green cover shrinks as urbanisation takes toll on Bengaluru

He said the government has strong legislative backing in Wetlands Rules 2010 but their implementation remains poor.

Pumping unprocessed sewage water and dumping garbage into lakes goes on unchecked. Destruction of lakes will continue till people correct their own behaviour, he said.

Prof Ramachandra, who had warned in 2016 that Bengaluru would be unliveable in five years, has been an outspoken critic of the nature of Bengaluru's growth and development. He has called out the lack of political will and public participation to ensure that India's Silicon Valley doesn't become unsustainble or unliveable in the near future.

Know about sustainable living | It's time to go green in BengaluruThe Virginia Joint Commission on Health Care has requested public comments by close of business on October 15 concerning several policy issues, including one option that would recommend the introduction of assisted suicide legislation. Its called Policy Option 2, worded as follows:

Introduce legislation to amend the Code of Virginia to include a Medical Aid-in-Dying statute that mirrors Californias EOLOA statute, with the following additions: a. when informing patient of alternative to MAID, attending physician must include information about any possible treatments for the underlying disease, b. attending physician must attest that patient enrolled in hospice or was informed of EOL services, c. if patient is in nursing facility, one witness may be person designated by facility, d. adopt rules to facilitate collection of information regarding compliance, e. provide an online guidebook and establish training opportunities for medical community to learn about the MAID process and medications that may be used (NOTE: Language will be provided to members and placed on the JCHC website 5 business days prior to the November Decision Matrix meeting)

On October 11, NDY President Diane Coleman submitted a comment (to jchcpubliccomments@jchc.virginia.gov) which began:

I am submitting this comment as a person with an advanced neuromuscular condition who uses breathing support 18-19 hours a day. I have personal experience with misdiagnosis and the uncertainty of terminal predictions by doctors. I am also the founder and President of Not Dead Yet, a national disability rights group, with members in Virginia, that opposes legalization of assisted suicide because it is discriminatory and poses unacceptable dangers to elders and people with disabilities with or without terminal diagnoses.

This comment uses the term assisted suicide for several reasons. Merriam Webster defines suicide as The act or an instance of taking ones own life voluntarily and intentionally. As the AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs stated in its report on the issue this year, The terms aid in dying or death with dignity could be used to describe euthanasia or palliative/hospice care at the end of life and this degree of ambiguity is unacceptable for providing ethical guidance.[i] Assisted suicide proponents understandably prefer to call it aid in dying because it polls better. They attempt to justify the name change by asserting that the person is already dying. While some may be dying, others are not. More importantly, with assisted suicide, the cause of death is not a disease, but a lethal overdose.

My Personal Story of Mistaken Prognosis . . .

To continue reading the NDY comment, go here.

On October 12, Bruce Darling submitted a comment on behalf of ADAPT which stated:

As an organization working to ensure disabled peoples right to build our lives in the community, legislation making it legal for physicians to help end our lives is deeply troubling to ADAPT. While the proponents of this legislation will tell you that it is not about disabled people, only people with terminal illness, let me assure you that every single person who qualifies under that definition is a disabled person. Not every person with a disability is terminally ill, but every person who is terminally ill is or will eventually become a person with a disability. There is no person with a terminal prognosis who does not also have, or acquire, an impairment which significantly affects their ability to perform a major life function (such as eating, sleeping, toileting, or walking). Accordingly, physician assisted suicide is only provided to people with disabilities, by definition. This is discrimination. People with disabilities have fought hard for the right to live as equals, to live and receive services in the community, to have equal access to housing and transportation and employment opportunities. In an ableist society, these rights are continually denied to us. Yet this same society wishes to extend to us the right to end our lives. Equal rights, means equal access to suicide prevention, not the false compassion of suicide assistance.  Assisted suicide is not about relieving the suffering of the dying: it is an expression of the most toxic and deadly form of ableism, which holds that life with a disability is not worth living. The lives of people with disabilities, whether terminal or non-terminal, do matter, and are worth living. (Emphasis added.) To continue reading the ADAPT comment, go here. If you would like to submit your own comment by October 15 at close of business (even just saying that you oppose Option 2), and/or support NDYs and ADAPTs comments, please email jchcpubliccomments@jchc.virginia.gov.

[i] REPORT OF THE COUNCIL ON ETHICAL AND JUDICIAL AFFAIRS 5-A-18, Page 2, https://www.ama-assn.org/sites/default/files/media-browser/public/hod/a18-ceja5.pdfA Taliban delegation has met with US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Qatar to discuss ending the Afghan conflict, the militant group said Saturday, the first time either side has officially confirmed talks.

The direct negotiations -- a longstanding Taliban demand -- were held as Khalilzad seeks to coordinate efforts with regional countries, including Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, to convince Afghanistan's largest militant group to engage in talks.

The meeting with Khalilzad and other American officials took place in Doha on Friday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement sent to journalists.

Taliban and US negotiators discussed a "peaceful end to the invasion in Afghanistan", Mujahid said, referring to the US-led intervention in 2001 that toppled the Taliban regime.

But the group made clear that the presence of foreign forces in the country was a "big obstacle" to peace.

Both sides "agreed to continue such meetings", he added, without providing further details.

A spokesman for the US embassy in Kabul declined to comment on the Taliban's statement.

In July, the Taliban reportedly met with US officials, including Alice Wells, the senior official for the State Department's Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs.

Neither side would go on the record to confirm that meeting, but there has been speculation since then that more talks were planned.

The reported July meeting followed an unprecedented ceasefire involving Afghan security forces and the Taliban in June, which fuelled hopes that fighting could be brought to an end after 17 years.

But a wave of attacks by the Taliban and the Islamic State group in recent months has poured cold water on the nascent optimism for peace.

The Taliban's decision to issue a statement on the meeting suggests it sees the talks with Khalilzad as a propaganda win, analysts said.

The group has long called for bilateral talks with the United States, but Washington has repeatedly refused, insisting the process must be Afghan-led.

But under pressure to break the impasse with the group, Washington appeared to change tack in June when US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said his country was prepared to "participate" in talks.

"The meeting is a success for (the) Taliban. They were demanding to directly meet with the US for a long time and they finally got it," said Afghan political analyst Atta Noori.

"Although they have not agreed on anything... they could bypass the Afghan government."

The Taliban statement was issued as Khalilzad returned to Kabul after a regional trip that began with his first visit to Afghanistan since his appointment last month as US envoy.

On Monday, he met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and other senior leaders in Kabul.

On the same day, the Taliban issued a statement vowing to target government security forces in upcoming parliamentary elections, which the United States is helping to finance.

Afghan-born Khalilzad, a former US ambassador to Kabul, Baghdad and the United Nations, is known as a blunt negotiator with hawkish foreign policy views.

Fluent in Pashto and Dari, Khalilzad's experience as a foreign policy operative in the country dates back to the 1980s, when he served as an adviser to the Reagan administration.Seven army men, including a major general, have been sentenced to life imprisonment in a court martial, 24 years after they had reportedly killed five local youths in eastern Assams Tinsukia district in a fake encounter for being suspected Ulfa militants.

The court martial also recommended for dismissal of their services.

An army officer confirmed the development saying the sentence was pronounced on Saturday.

A summary general court martial at Dinjan army camp in Tinsukia, had recently convicted Maj Gen A K Lal, Col Thomas Methew, Col R S Sibiren, Capt Dilip Singh, Capt Jagdeo Singh, Naik Albindar Singh and Naik Shivendar Singh.

The Supreme Court in 2012 had asked the army to decide the mode of trial a court martial or judicial trial for the seven who were charge sheeted by the CBI in the reported fake encounter case registered in the Guwahati High Court in February, 1994. The high court registered the case based on a complaint of fake encounter filed by Jagadish Bhuyan, now a BJP leader and then vice-president of Tinsukia district unit of All Assam Students Union.

The army personnel from 18 Punjab Regiment based in Dholla in Tinsukia district, still an Ulfa stronghold, had picked up nine youths from different locations between February 17 to 19 soon after Rameswar Singh, general manager of a tea company, was killed by suspected Ulfa militants.

Fearing that the nine youths could be killed by the army, Bhuyan had filed a habeas corpus (a petition to produce an arrested person before a court or a magistrate) in the Guwahati High Court on February 22, 1994.

The court asked the army to produce the nine immediately before the nearest magistrate, but on the same night the army claimed that five Ulfa militants had been killed inside Dibru Saikhowa reserve forest in an encounter. The five deceased were Prabin Sonowal, Pradip Dutta, Debajit Biswas, Akhil Sonowal and Bhaben Moran.

The Army had tortured the five youths so badly that they could not be produced before the magistrate. So the army men took them to the forest and killed five of them, while four were released. So, I filed a petition in the high court the next day, following which, the court registered a case. And after several hearings, a CBI inquiry was ordered. The seven army persons were found guilty, and a court martial was ordered. But the army moved the Supreme Court against the order. The Supreme Court also upheld the high court order, Bhuyan said on Sunday.

This has not just given justice to the five families, but has also glorified the sanctity of our democracy, judiciary and the discipline of our defence forces. This has again proved that those playing mischief with our democratic values ultimately get the punishment, he said.

Debasish Biswas, elder brother of Debajit, one of the deceased, told DH on Sunday that the judgment came as a relief. Finally, we got justice and we thank all who stood behind us when we made rounds of the police stations, army camp and courts for justice, he said.

Assam has seen widespread protests against the fake encounter.Will Minsk Square or the Cubbon Park corner be a new sought-after venue for political meetings, protests or campaigns is the question doing rounds in the city after the AICC president Rahul Gandhi held an interaction with the former HAL employees.

Rahul Gandhi showed the way by addressing a gathering of retired HAL employees on Friday. The question was certainly lingering in the minds of the members of Cubbon Park Walkers Association who took objection to such a meeting that could pave way for other meetings, posing a threat to serene environs of the citys major lung space.

The organisers, KPCC, had taken permission from the BBMP and the DCP for security and traffic arrangement, but did not involve Horticulture department or the Cubbon Park Walkers Association, who are working towards preserving the green space of the central business district.

Rahul Gandhi has shown the way for others to make Minsk Square a venue for political or protest meetings in future, says S Umesh, advocate and president, Cubbon Park Walkers Association.

When there are other places such as Kanteerava Stadium, Chinnaswamy Stadium, Freedom Park, I am not clear why Minsk Square was chosen for such a meeting, he wondered.

Politicians should think of preserving environment on priority. They should be aware of the requirements of a particular venue, how much parking space needs to be arranged for their convoy, security personnel vehicle.

One should take public opinion before conducting such political meetings in the future as it could have adverse effects on the parks flora and fauna, Umesh added.Theres nothing special about the skyrocketing cost of special education, according to a new report.

The local share of money designated to special education in school districts has continued to rise while state funding has decreased, creating increasingly inequitable learning environments across the Commonwealth, according to the Education Law Center.

A report released on Oct. 9 by the Philadelphia-based firm says children with disabilities are being shortchanged due to underfunding by the state for special education programs. Taking a look at school district and state contributions to special education for school years from 2008-09 to 2016-17, the ELC says the states portion has dropped from one-third to less than one-quarter in that timeframe.

In the meantime, 83 percent of school districts have had their own share of expenditures increase, with 53 districts reporting increases of 20 percentage points or more.

Pennsylvanias growing reliance on locally designated funding to provide needed services for students with disabilities is unsustainable, read a portion of the report. It forces local school boards to choose between raising additional revenue to meet funding gaps, spreading limited resources across a range of programs, and/or reducing needed services and supports for students with disabilities. It exposes families to local tax increases and service cuts.

In Delaware County, Upper Darby School District has had their expenditures for special education more than double in the studied timeframe, from approximately $20 million to $41.8 million. As a percentage, the districts share has increased from 57 to 77 percent.

The rising costs of special education services over the years is mainly attributed to the increase in the number of students served, with just over 1,500 students serviced as of March 2009 to just over 2,500 students served at the end of the 2017-2018 school year, said Upper Darby Acting Assistant Superintendent Edward Marshaleck. In addition, the cost of services, tuition, legal fees and settlement costs have risen over the years to reflect the level of the specific services or resources and the cost of the provider.

On the opposite end of the county, Garnet Valley has had their special education expenses almost double. Additionally, they are tied with Haverford for being the county school district that contributes the most money to special education at 86 percent.

Garnet Valley Superintendent Marc Bertrando said special education accounts for approximately 20 percent of the districts budget, and that while the expenses have increased by triple-digit percentages, the state and federal IDEA subsidies have only increased 23 and 17 percent, respectively. The state and federal money was covering 28 percent of the districts costs but is now down to 14 percent as of 2016-17.

The federal government needs to make good on its promise to fund IDEA (the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), especially as the rate of mandated provisions, compliance regulations, and litigation continue to rise, said Bertrando. When IDEA was enacted, the government promised to subsidize 40 percent of the costs to educate special education students. Unfortunately, we receive less than 4.9 percent.

Consequently, federal and state funding allocations need to increase particularly for students who have low incidence disabilities and cost districts extraordinary amounts of money.

The Arc of Pennsylvania Executive Director Maureen Cronin said the intent of special education funding was not to have it be done district by district due to variances among them all.

It really is a federal and state program with the investments of local tax funds, but not a large majority of it (investments) going to local school districts, she said.

The Arc is the organization that successfully sued the state back in the early 1970s to establish a free public education for children with mental retardation, and, come present day, for all children with disabilities. Congress passed a law in 1975 ensuring such an education, eventually leading to what is now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Even with legislation ensuring that special education students get free education like their basic education peers, the state hasnt been keeping up with the costs.

The ELCs report says that a districts share has increased from 62 to 71 percent, while the states share has decreased from 32 to 23 percent. Their contributions have increased just $72 million to $ 1 billion total in the reports surveyed timeframe. At the same time, expenditures for special education services have increased from $3 to $4.5 billion

Federal fund contributions to districts budgets have stayed stagnant at over 5 percent.

Here is how county districts special education expenditures have increased from 2009 to 2017 and their respective decreases in state share percentages per the ELC report: Chester-Upland, $23.2 to $38.3 million, 22-15 percent; Chichester, $9 to $13.3 million, 23-17 percent; Garnet Valley,$9.8 to $19.3 million, 15-9 percent; Haverford, $15.3 to $23.3 million, 15-10 percent; Interboro, $8.6 to $10.7 million, 23-20 percent;

Marple Newtown, $11 to $14.6 million, 14-12 percent; Penn-Delco, $7.5 to $9.1 million, 24-21 percent; Radnor, $11.1 to $15.3 million, 23-19 percent; Ridley, $12.1 to $17.4 million, 23-19 percent; Rose Tree Media, $10.2 to $13.5 million, 18-14 percent;

Southeast Delco, $11 to $16.2 million, 20-16 percent; Springfield, $7.3 to $12.6 million, 21-13 percent; Upper Darby, $20 to $41.8 million, 35-18 percent; Wallingford-Swarthmore, $10 to $12.8 million, 19-16 percent; and William Penn, $13.3 to $21.9 million, 29-20 percent.

Cronin says the states contribution should be proportionate because districts dont get money back for providing special education services; the state does when schools develop more independent persons who dont have to rely so much on social services like Medicaid when they finish school.

The adult systems benefit by the savings, so the state should be paying a larger share because of that, she said.

It is because of a lack of state contributions, says Cronin, that it appears that special education costs are ballooning for district.

You have people walking away thinking that its a drain on their system, when in fact it really isnt a drain, she said. If its done well, the whole community benefits.

Needs of students drive the costs, said Springfield School Districts Director of Special Education Kristin Nash.

If a person has more needs, it will cost more because of the increase in services needed to meet those needs, she said. We need to continue to collaborate with state legislation and advocate for the necessary funding to meet this legal mandate and ethical responsibility.

Out-of-district placement, 1:1 paraprofessional support, transportation, contracts for behavior and mental health services are some of the common costs attached to educating a special needs child in a district, not to mention the legal costs for litigation matters.

The simple answer is that special education is highly mandated, regulated, and litigated, so more students equate to more costs, said Garnet Valleys Bertrando.

Upper Darbys Marshaleck also made note about everything his district has to comply with in serving thousands of special education students.

The Upper Darby School District strictly follows the Federal and State laws governing special education and provides the proper supports and services to all students who have such a need, including state mandates for caseloads requirements which results in the need for more staff, he said. All of the supports and services come with a substantial cost, especially with a diverse and large population of students with needs that are often unique and complicated.

Education funding for public schools by the state has generally trended toward, so districts arent just hurting with special education expenses. The Pennsylvania School Board Association reports that the states share of basic education funding has fallen from approximately 50 percent in the 1970s to 22 percent at present day. Special education funding has also dipped from the state, even since 2008-09 to 32.3 to 23 percent.

The state has both a moral and legal obligation to better educate and support children with disabilities. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a state education agency has an obligation  independent of the local district  to ensure a fair and appropriate education (FAPE) for students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment, reads the end of the ELC report. This obligation involves ensuring that school districts and other local educational agencies comply with state and federal requirements applicable to children with disabilities.

Students with disabilities are entitled to an education that is specially designed to meet their needs, modifies instruction and materials, and provides the necessary related supplemental aids and services to accommodate their unique learning needs in the most integrated setting  independent of how much those supports and services cost.President Donald Trump holds up a chart of military hardware sales as he meets with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (far left) in the Oval Office in March. Photo: Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images

President Trump has newly vowed that Saudi Arabia will be severely punished if it is found to have killed Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi  the sternest response yet from his administration on the ongoing crisis  but Trump has not offered any details about what the punishment would entail, and has repeatedly signaled that the U.S. will keep selling arms to the Saudis no matter what.

International pressure has continued to build on the Saudis in the wake of Khashoggis disappearance and alleged assassination on October 2. On Sunday, the U.K., France, and Germany called for a credible investigation into Khashoggis disappearance, and to identify those bearing responsibility and ensure that they are held to account. Sunday also saw the biggest drop in the Saudi stock market since 2014, thanks to the growing international pushback, which has apparently prompted investors to fear the Khashoggi crisis will lead to economic sanctions.

Some foreign companies and executives have already shunned a high-profile upcoming investment conference they had originally planned to attend in the Kingdom, suggesting the business-world blowback may also inflict damage on the Saudis. (Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin is still planning to attend the summit, despite some pushback from Republican senator Marco Rubio on Sunday.) Companies in the U.S. defense sector, however, are worried about some blowback of their own, and have been expressing their concerns about losing the Saudis business to the White House.

But the pressure is also building in Congress, where bipartisan alarm over Khashoggis death, as well as ongoing frustration, mostly from Democrats, over Saudi Arabias unapologetic bombing of civilians in Yemen, seems headed in the direction of legislative action, including the possibility of sanctions against the regime.

Turkeys government, which has been slowly leaking its evidence regarding Khashoggis alleged assassination through the Turkish media, has been unsuccessfully trying to pressure Saudi Arabia, a chief rival in the region, to admit what happened. On Saturday, a Turkish paper close to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reported that one of the pieces of evidence the government possesses is an audio recording of Khashoggis death captured by his Apple Watch, then recovered by Turkish authorities. They have also said they have video evidence of the assassination, but have not released that or any other evidence officially. Instead, the New York Times reported on Saturday, Turkey believes the U.S. is the only country with enough leverage to get the Saudis to acknowledge Khashoggis fate.

In the week since the news emerged of Khashoggis alleged death and dismemberment inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Trump has expressed mostly requisite concern over the prominent Saudi critics disappearance (though the president also felt it important to emphasize that Khashoggi was not a U.S. citizen, and thus not worth so much U.S. attention). Trump has also displayed a continued reluctance to assign blame to the Saudi regime, sounding a little like he has when shrugging off the U.S. intelligence communitys conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential elections. (In this case, U.S. intelligence reportedly intercepted chatter about a Saudi plot to detain Khashoggi, but he was not warned of the possible efforts.)

In a new 60 Minutes interview, the president called the alleged crime terrible and disgusting and said his administration was looking at the incident very, very strongly. If Saudi Arabia was behind the alleged murder, a conclusion Turkish authorities seem to have evidence to back, Trump said his administration would be very upset and angry, and there would be severe punishment. He acknowledged that the regime could be guilty, but stressed that, as of this moment, [the Saudis] deny it, and they deny it vehemently. Later Saturday, he added that he and his advisers expected to soon see the recordings of the assassination Turkish authorities say they have obtained, and that the Saudis would face very powerful consequences if guilty.

"There will be severe punishment." In his first 60 Minutes interview since taking office, President Trump tells Lesley Stahl that if Saudi Arabia is found to be responsible for journalist Jamal Khashoggi's death, there will be consequences. https://t.co/BRZfIPHbNY pic.twitter.com/s6X98AylBR  60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 13, 2018

At the same time, Trumps son, Donald Jr.  who has no official role in the his fathers administration but has become a right-wing pep squad leader on social media  has helped spread a partisan attack on Khashoggi falsely suggesting he was an Islamic extremist and that the media has been duped into overplaying his disappearance. Those lines of thinking happen to closely align with Saudi propaganda pushing back on the allegations, and the hawks who support the Saudis are promoting them too:

This is a clarifying moment in DC and some neocons are telling on themselves pic.twitter.com/6EttFhNrPc  Ishaan Tharoor (@ishaantharoor) October 14, 2018

The Saudis, who have repeatedly denied they did anything to Khashoggi, yet have provided zero evidence to support their claim that he left the consulate the same day he arrived, attempted to threaten other world powers on Sunday  vowing to retaliate if countries tried to impose economic sanctions. The Saudi economy plays an impactful and active role in the global economy, a government statement read. The Saudis did not specifically identify any foreign governments in their threat, but nonetheless promised that if any attempt to punish Saudi Arabia was made, the regime will respond with a larger action.

when your pr team sounds like the autoreply of a global oligarchy bot pic.twitter.com/HlKxGApQxD  C.J. Chivers (@cjchivers) October 14, 2018

The Saudis recently acted to break off all ties with Canada after it merely criticized the regime, but such bluster wont likely work against the U.S. What may work, as Akbar Shahid Ahmed has pointed out at HuffPost, is the considerable influence Saudi Arabia has worked to build in the U.S.  including its investment leverage and relationship with the U.S. business community, its considerable lobbying and PR power, and its potential ability to make U.S. lawmakers fear job losses should any arms deals be held up or cancelled.

On that last point, President Trump seems to already be convinced. He has repeatedly bragged about the big arms deal he signed with the Saudis last year, and has cited it again and again when responding to the Khashoggi crisis. In the new 60 Minutes interview, he noted the importance of protecting Americas defense firms and claimed the U.S. had to beat out Russia and China to win the right to continue to sell billions in arms to the Saudis  and cant afford to lose that business moving forward. When speaking with reporters on Saturday at the White House, Trump added that while he intended to punish the Saudis if necessary, it would be very foolish to cancel the arms deal, since wed be punishing ourselves.

Riyadh couldnt have written better talking points. While Saudi-backed bots appear to have made unwavering trust in Saudi Arabia a social media trend, an op-ed published on the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya news site insists that if the U.S. imposes sanctions on Saudi Arabia, it will stab its own economy to death. The Saudis could artificially increase the price of oil to cripple the U.S. economy, the op-ed argues, or change the countrys oil-trading currency to the yuan, or stop exchanging intel with the U.S. And if that all wasnt enough, it continued, punishing Saudi Arabia could also hand over the Middle East to Iran, or allow Russia to tighten its grip on Syria, which are pretty dramatic threats for an innocent, reform-minded, Iran-hating regime to consider making  and its not like any of these moves would just anger, or impact, the U.S.

Then again, its not hard to imagine some inhabitants in the White House nodding along with such a list, and Trump may not need much convincing if he wants to believe.

Focusing back on the defense-sector impact, it is certainly true that U.S. history is full of questionable and reprehensible foreign-policy decisions in defense of U.S. corporate interests, but no president has ever expressed such naked devotion to the idea. Trump has also made it continuously clear that sees himself as a historically powerful and successful president, yet somehow he also seems to believe that a relatively small monarchy with a GDP nowhere near as high as the U.S., and of diminished strategic value in the Middle East beyond its oil reserves, possesses some kind of important leverage over America.

The Saudis may indeed hold some kind of sway over Trump or his son-in-law, Jared Kushner  who is a friend of Saudi Arabias de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (or MBS). But country to country, the U.S. holds the leverage, and while sanctions are one available option, ceasing to be Saudi Arabias primary weapons dealer is undoubtedly the biggest and easiest stick. It wont instantly reduce the regimes militarily capabilities, though if the U.S. also stops providing mission support to Saudi warplanes, that would definitely decrease or end the regimes ability to strike targets in Yemen. Forcing the Saudis to eschew U.S. weapons in favor of Russian or Chinese ones would also require a long, arduous, and expensive makeover of their entire military, since U.S., Russian, and Chinese military tech is hardly interchangeable.

Fuad - a nurse - was in a medical tent treating victims of #Saudi airstrikes when he became one himself. #Yemen pic.twitter.com/7ZEaCHAeQw  Orla Guerin (@OrlaGuerin) October 14, 2018

Up to now, President Trump has either looked the other way, shrugged off, or wholeheartedly endorsed the escalating aggression of MBS and the Saudi regime, who have done everything they can to cultivate a strong relationship with the impressionable president, and have even brushed off Trumps flamboyant, base-pleasing comments about how badly the Saudis need America and him to survive. Trump has gotten played, and if Saudi Arabia is found to have harmed Khashoggi, then repeatedly and vehemently lied about that, including to the U.S.  there need to be consequences. And if Trump ultimately decides that cutting weapons sales to the Saudi regime is off the table because it will negatively impact the U.S. defense industrys bottom line, that is not only a moral disaster, but a fundamental misunderstanding of U.S. power.By Ken Hemphill

Times Guest Columnist

The claque of pseudo-conservationists supporting Carlinos sprawling 47-acre regional shopping center (eight acres bigger than the Springfield Mall) added a new member last week. In this latest smear against Save Marple Greenspace (and me) printed in the Times on Oct. 10, the letter writer openly shilled for the monster with misleading, inaccurate, inflammatory, and accusatory language. According to the writer, Im some sort of professional anti-development agitator because of my conservation advocacy. He seems not to realize that its his quality of life, tax bills, environment and property values that would be affected by a shopping center and traffic jams visible from geosynchronous orbit.

The three different advocacy groups I volunteer for are not standing up to developers because were anti-development, but because were anti-destruction. Save Marple Greenspace, Neighbors for Crebilly, and the Beaver Valley Preservation Alliance are all working to preserve land that has special importance to me. I didnt just live in close proximity to each place; all have been heavily subsidized by taxpayers who would get nothing back in return except for quality of life impairments and increased taxes to pay for substantial new services necessitated by higher density.

In 2013, I teamed up on Save the Valley and started the Beaver Valley Preservation Alliance in my town of Concord to fight an outrageous development proposal slated for a wildlife refuge everyone believed was already preserved. One of the developers  a board member for the Woodlawn Trustees (the land owners)  wanted rezoning to build 450 houses on taxpayer-subsidized land that had been open to the public for 50 years. Woodlawns ownership was heavily subsidized through a bogus Pennsylvania conservation program called Act 319, the penalty for leaving being nothing more than the last seven years of rollback taxes. Enrolled in the program since 1974, Woodlawn pocketed millions in taxpayer subsidies and paid back a few thousand.

In July of 2015 I was invited to be an admin for an abandoned Facebook page called Save Marple Greenspace and started to work with residents in Marple to oppose the destruction of the taxpayer-subsidized Don Guanella forest, which is across the street from where I grew up. I was appalled that the archdiocese I gave weekly donations to would so callously allow this last large forest in eastern Delco to be razed without any regard for taxpayers, the community, parishioners, wildlife, downstream communities, or their own churchs and pontiffs teachings. I tried to use what I learned in Beaver Valley to raise awareness of the forests intrinsic value and to point out the quality of life threats of losing it.

In 2016 I joined with Neighbors for Crebilly in Westtown Township to fight Toll Brothers plan to destroy Crebilly Farm, including a large swath that saw action during the Battle of the Brandywine, Americas first 9/11. This farm, too, was heavily subsidized by taxpayers through Act 319 (receiving a 90 percent reduction of the lands assessed value). In 1992, I lived in a former Quaker meetinghouse on Birmingham Road, a stones throw from Crebilly Farm. As a grad student at West Chester University, I frequently rode my bicycle up New Street  past Crebilly Farm and its iconic vistas  to attend classes in the borough.

In each of these cases, taxpayers were compelled to subsidize land ownership of very wealthy organizations and families. Crebilly Farm is owned by the Robinson Family, heirs to the Acme Markets fortune. The land in Beaver Valley was owned by the formerly tax-exempt Woodlawn Trustees who had been charged by their founder with gathering up the rough land north of Wilmington and protecting it for future generations. Taking in nearly $5 million each year in rents from 450-plus housing units in Wilmington, they claimed they needed the money when they sold out to their own board member. The forest at Don Guanella was bought by the tax-exempt archdiocese and subsidized for a century by Delco taxpayers. Ironically, now that the county has deemed the property taxable, the diocese is now arguing in court that Don Guanellas 213 acres are only worth $10 million! This fact didnt stop Peter Miller from telling the township at a public meeting that the rear 139 acres (100 of which are unbuildable) are worth $25 million.

A quick word about the revisionist history regarding the county planning departments revise and resubmit recommendation for Millers by-right residential plan, the cudgel he and others had hoped would force Marple to approve their regional shopping center. For the writer to cite the planners indication that the plans conformed with the residential zoning reveals that he doesnt understand zoning or the land development process. A 100-acre swamp might lie within an R-2 zoning district, but that doesnt mean a single house could be built there even if on paper zoning permitted 100 houses. Regardless of what DGs nominal zoning is, development is not permitted in wetlands or streams, on very steep slopes or floodplains. Millers proposal for 232 houses is simply preposterous.

McCarthy should know that county planning made the same zoning comments about Beaver Valley. Those developers  abandoning their rezoning request in the face of enormous opposition  later submitted a by-right plan of 162 houses for 240 acres in a one acre zoning district. However, by invoking the Pennsylvania Environmental Rights Amendment (among many other things) the Beaver Valley Conservancy demonstrated to the court that that plan would cause irreparable environmental harm. Consequently, the townships approval was reversed. Save Marple Greenspace intends to make similar arguments (among other things) to save the Don Guanella forest and weve formed a large coalition with the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Crum Creek Neighbors, and the Darby Creek Valley Association to retain the services of a land use and environmental attorney as well as other environmental professionals to defend this special watershed against Millers residential bludgeon.

In the end, the writers concern for the forest is rather suddenly manifested. In the three years of SMGs existence, hes never donated to help the preservation effort, attended any of our meetings, posted comments to our Facebook page, volunteered to distribute flyers, attended a fundraiser, contacted us in any way, or written any letters to the editor in support of saving the forest prior to his factually challenged hit job on SMG. With no demonstrated past concern for the forest, its clear that support for Millers regional shopping center is just another scream from the Wegmans at all costs crowd. Impugning my character and motives to advocate for something that would so obviously harm the quality of life of Marple and Springfield residents clearly shows whose motives are suspect. By advocating for 23,000 new vehicle trips, the letter should remind us to be wary of anyone who attacks those working to protect open space, the communitys character, history, and quality of life.News

Reports: Former DME employees went hunting, fishing with city vendors

DRC file photo Exhaust systems are shown at the Denton Energy Center.

Businesses hoping to curry favor with Denton Municipal Electric employees have offered hunting and fishing trips; tickets to the World Series, Super Bowl and Indianapolis 500; luxury box seats to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo; a chance to ring the trading bell on Wall Street, and more.

Two former employees connected to the deal to bring Denton a new $265 million power plant accepted two of those offers , according to recorded interviews from July 2017. The Denton Record-Chronicle obtained those recordings after multiple attempts using state open records laws to secure documents in the matter.

Mike Grim, DMEs former executive manager for power supply and legislative and regulatory affairs, went quail hunting with a representative from Burns & McDonnell, but only after the company had won a $100 million contract to build the plant, he said. Former DME employee Jim Maynard, energy project development manager, went on a salmon fishing trip with representatives from both Burns & McDonnell and Wartsila, the engine manufacturer that won the other $100 million contract in the project. The fishing trip occurred before DME solicited bids to build the plant. Maynard said he paid his own way.

The two men were interviewed for several hours by Deputy City Manager Bryan Langley and an outside attorney, Julia Gannaway. City leaders brought in Gannaway, a contracting expert, to help investigate the timeline of events leading up to the contract awards. After the interviews, the two men sued the city claiming they did nothing wrong and then amended their claim to include wrongful termination after they were fired. Langley terminated both men following the recorded interviews, citing an inability to trust them. Their case was scheduled for trial in January, but they have asked a Dallas District Court judge for an April 2019 trial date instead.

Their attorney, Robert Goodman, of Dallas, did not return a message requesting comment. Grim and Maynard also did not return calls requesting comment.

Beginning in late 2015, DME touted the $265 million project as one that would allow the citys electric department to negotiate better renewable energy contracts for ratepayers while also being able to sell electricity to the grid when demand  and prices  was high. Hundreds of residents wrote cards and letters opposing the power plant. They cited concerns about the cost and the environmental impact of reinvesting in fossil fuels after walking away from coal-fired power. In summer 2016, the City Council narrowly approved the project in a 4-3 vote.

The power plant began operations in July. Located west of Denton Enterprise Airport on Jim Christal Road, the plant is expected to make money this year, but the latest financial projections show the plant operating in the red once bond payments begin.

For most of his four-hour interview in 2017, Grim fielded questions about how the project was developed, including how contract specifications were determined, how confidentiality agreements were negotiated, how the contracts went out for bid and how the bids were scored. Near the end of the interview, Gannaway asked Grim whether he had accepted gifts from vendors. Grim gave a long list of items he had refused, including tickets to major sporting events and a chance to ring a trading bell on Wall Street. He did not acknowledge going on a quail hunting trip with Brian Elwell, a business development officer with Burns & McDonnell, until Gannaway specifically questioned him about it.

In the recording, Grim said he took a day off after the contract was awarded and went on the hunting trip with another former DME employee. Grim said he couldnt recall the hunting property name or who owned the lease. He said the owner provided the shotgun and that he paid Elwell for his share of the excursion, but he couldnt remember how much.

There was no contract at stake, Grim said.

He called the outing just a business relationship.

I did it on my own time, he added. I dont think theres anything the matter with it.

Grim didnt share that view of Maynards salmon fishing trip on the Columbia River, however. He said he was angered that Maynard joined Elwell and a Wartsila employee before the project specifications were developed and DME sought bids for the power plant.

Elwell did not return a call for comment.

In his two-hour interview, Maynard said he, too, had refused other offers of tickets, box seats and hunting trips. When Langley pressed Maynard about the fishing trip, Maynard offered some details.

The excursion came at the end of a Wartsila business conference in Portland, Oregon, in August 2015.

I went fishing with a couple of guys who already had a boat rented, he said.

He said he paid for his share and that he told Grim about the trip when he got back.

He said he didnt see the harm, indicating he wanted to go salmon fishing because he didnt think he would ever be back in the area again.

The fishing trip didnt sway anybodys opinion on anything, Maynard told Langley and Gannaway.

Both employees were placed on leave at the end of their interviews and were subsequently fired.

In the wake of the discovery, the city overhauled its purchasing department and its employee ethics policy. Today, vendors risk losing any business relationship with the city if they offer gifts to city employees.

City Manager Todd Hileman said its important that the city government be clear with its employees and vendors alike about whats expected in the new ethics policy. This is particularly true when it comes to sending projects out for bid, evaluating those bids and awarding contracts, he added.

We owe it to our employees and our vendors to understand what the rules are  with the publics trust being the end goal, Hileman said.

Employees are reading the policy and asking questions about whether they can accept thank-you gestures or other support from the community, such as bottled water on a hot day.

If someone brings water, thats customer service, Hileman said.

But the city draws the line when it becomes product promotion. Employees are not allowed to endorse products, Hileman said.

At the same time, the policy doesnt need to be written so tightly that employees arent able to use common sense, Hileman said, although he considered it a good thing that employees are studying the policy and asking questions of the citys new compliance officer.

They want to know exactly where the lines are, and thats very positive in terms of our [workplace] culture, Hileman said.

New issues are still emerging, including things he and the City Council hadnt thought of when the policy was first drafted, Hileman said.

He said he plans to bring the citys purchasing and employee ethics policy back to city leaders for further refinements in December.DRAPER  The three massive stages built for U2's 360 Tour have been called a lot of things. Bono referred to it as the Space Station. Its other nickname, the Claw, became a little more common. A Los Angeles Times reporter once called it an extravagance with a big carbon footprint and an even bigger price tag.

Whatever you call it, Drapers Loveland Living Planet Aquarium will soon call one of those three stages home when it becomes the centerpiece of the aquariums Science Learning Campus expansion. The aquarium announced the news in April, and will host a private groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 17. According to a museum representative, Wednesday's ceremony will include a visit from the Draper City Fire Department, which will extend one of its fire ladders more than 100 feet in the air and shoot water even higher to demonstrate just how tall the Claw really is (165 feet). The expansions new plaza is set to open in July 2019.

How does an aquarium in Utah go about buying a world-famous U2 stage? And once they do, how do they actually make it useful? We spoke with some of the aquarium staff about the 190-ton undertaking.

A tall order

When U2 concluded its 360 Tour in 2011, it wasnt clear what would become of its three stages, which were used at different locations throughout the tour. Each one is 165 feet tall, and Brent Andersen, Loveland Aquariums founder and CEO, said the stages took approximately 10 days to set up and disassemble for any given show, hence the need for three  tour crews would leapfrog ahead of the tour dates to construct the stages, so the band could maintain a normal tour schedule. Each of the three identical stages bears a strange resemblance to the villain's underwater lair in the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. Repurposing or disposing of a single stage was a major undertaking. But three? Thats a tall order.

Andersen said plans for an aquarium expansion originated in late 2014/early 2015. He and other aquarium staff wanted a learning center that could expand the aquariums educational mission  Something that had elements for everybody, whether they were 2 years old or 92 years old, Andersen said.

Part of that, he added, was some type of iconic, eye-catching monument. That monument serves a purpose beyond bragging rights: Studies show that when people are in a position of awe or wonder, theyre more open to learning.

And the things they learn when theyre in that state, they stick with them longer, and theres a much more lasting connection, said Ari Robinson, the aquariums creative director.

Writing about the Claw, the aforementioned L.A. Times reporter said it changes the architecture of the live concert. It not only puts the stadium audience closer to the band, it cuts holes in the fourth wall between star and fan, creating a feeling of immersion and communal connection that's startling in such a huge venue.

Andersen had read about U2 wanting these stages to be reused as community gathering spaces. Placing a model of the Claw on the aquariums existing expansion site, Andersen and the aquarium staff realized it fit perfectly.

Its this big structure, but its very aesthetically pleasing. Robinson said. And I think it really does inspire that awe and wonder in people.

Its physical and visual fit is one thing, but for the Claw to work financially and logistically was another matter entirely. Could this temporary concert space become a permanent structure in a climate like Utah, and could it be done with the aquariums budget?

Andersen said aquarium staff coordinated with Live Nation, which owned the Claw, as well as Stageco, a Belgian construction company that built the stage, and Atelier One, a British engineering firm that first engineered it, to work through the many what-ifs. Since the stages traveled to places like California and Tokyo  places that were high-risk from a seismic standpoint  the stages are far sturdier than people might realize. Andersen said the structural modifications needed for one to become a permanent structure in Draper are pretty minimal.

Transporting the Claw from its current home in Colorado isnt cheap  It takes 30-something truckloads just to get it here, Andersen remarked  but the aquarium isnt building a new monument from scratch, which he said saves them a lot of money.

And from an environmental standpoint, thats us being able to recycle 190 tons of steel, Robinson added.

As for how much the aquarium paid for it, they wont say. According to a press release, theyre raising $25 million to create the entire Science Learning Campus. Andersen said theyve already raised $9 million for Phase 1, which includes the Claw and its accompanying plaza.

When will those 30-something truckloads bring the Claw to Draper? That depends. Andersen said it could be late fall of this year, or spring 2019, depending on weather conditions. Once its transported, though, itll only take about 10 or so days to put it up, Andersen said. If youre gone for a week, there it is. They had to design it that way for the tour.

A stage, a beacon, a discovery vessel

According to a press release, the entire Science Learning Campus will include an 80,000 square-foot learning center, which will contain a five-story Asian cloud forest habitat and endangered species conservation center, interactive science stations, new indoor and outdoor animal exhibits, laboratories, classrooms and a banquet and conference center.

Itll also boast an Eco Command Center, which will have escape rooms, simulators and team building activities. This will all be underground, right beneath the Claw. Andersen seems particularly excited about this part. Visitors can go on virtual reality missions, with the Claw as their all-purpose virtual transport.

And now this is a discovery vessel, he explained. So it can fly, it can go under water, go into a volcano, go into the center of the earth, can shrink down into the size of a cell, go bigger and explore, it can go forward in time, it can go backward in time.

Its the kind of grand construction Andersen himself would have loved as a kid. When he was 5 years old, Andersen got a Time Life book from his grandmother called The Sea. From that point on, Andersen said he wanted to be a marine biologist. Getting todays youth interested in STEM careers (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) remains one of the aquariums foremost goals.

That book set me on a path, and here we are, a lot of years later  and this is the result, he said. So if we can have the same kind of impact, where just a tiny fraction of the kids who come in decide to pursue something, we might not see the full impact for 10, 20, 40 years, but cumulatively, thats going to add up.MURRAY  In the few weeks leading up to November's general election, supporters of a ballot initiative for education funding are redoubling their efforts to gain public approval, hitting the streets Saturday to go door to door.

Voters will be asked if they support raising the gas tax by 10 cents to generate dollars for public education. That increase would raise an estimated $180 million in the first full budget year.

The question, while non-binding, would stimulate action by the Utah Legislature in a special session should it gain voter support, said Utah Education Association President Heidi Matthews.

Matthews said Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, who has given his nod of support to the effort, would call a special session to pass legislation enacting the tax provision.

Herbert's public education adviser, Tami Pyfer, spoke at a Saturday rally outside the UEA's headquarters in Murray, indicating she was there on her own time and dime, but stressed the importance of the ballot question.

"He (Herbert) is all in on education. He supports your effort. I support your effort."

Voters remain split on the issue, however. A UtahPolicy.com poll showed 50 percent of Utahns support raising the gas tax for education, while 47 percent of those polled say they are opposed.

The ballot question is the result of a compromise struck between lawmakers and backers of the former Our Schools Now initiative, which sought a sales and state income tax boost to garner an additional $700 million for education.

Matthews on Saturday said the ballot question is not perfect, but rather the result of hard work over more than two years to direct more dollars to the classroom.

Our Schools Now had sought a "filet mignon" solution to public education funding, and the ballot question is meatloaf, she said.

"But it is darn good meatloaf," she added. "This is a good, collaborative step toward progress."

The rally brought out Eric Brown, a member of the executive committee of the National Education Association, who energized the crowd with a passionate speech about education.

"We are not going to apologize for the great public education all students deserve," he said. "Let's make this the year of education in Utah."SALT LAKE CITY  In a hall near the historic Palacio San Martin of Argentinas Cancilleria tucked into the heart of Buenos Aires, the director of the Centre for Interfaith and Cultural Dialogue at Griffith University in Perth, Australia came to the podium last month and posed a question:

"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," Brian Adams said, as he addressed the hundreds of faith leaders at the G-20 Interfaith Forum.

There were smart people in the room, including Deseret News reporter Kelsey Dallas, whose stories from the conference were reported not just in our news columns, but in dozens of newspapers in South America eager to have her content, but less eager to commit reporters to the conference. Her stories reflect the strong desire of those concerned with faith, policy, law and most notably, human suffering to contribute solutions to the world's major problems by putting people, not party or power, first.

Every major faith from six of the world's seven continents were there. But will the world listen to people of faith and allow their voice in the public square?

In another hotel ballroom, this time in downtown Salt Lake City Friday night, Arthur Brooks, the noted author, New York Times columnist and head of the conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute, stood and addressed people of faith, elected officials (those are not mutually exclusive), and those who put time and money behind defending the U.S. Constitution and its values.

He said it's time to reject conventional wisdom and find a new way of problem-solving. He said the biggest problem in politics  and this comes as no surprise to anyone reading a newspaper or turning on a television  is polarization. Both sides of the political aisle seem to have contempt for one another. And if you have contempt for someone who has different views than you do, then you have no starting point for problem-solving because you believe they're worthless, he said.

Brooks then told the crowd, gathered for the Sutherland Institute annual gala, that it's time for a "revolution of love." He said, "Contempt is the enemy of unity."

Back in Argentina, the faith leaders would put it this way: Love your enemies.

Can faith in God and faith in a cause coupled with a love of others really solve the world's problems? Society has become more secular.

Given the state of the nation and the world, it certainly is worth a try.

Consider climate change and the warming of the planet. It is debated in terms of politics and little progress is made to solve the problem because people in power want winners and losers. Those gathered in Argentina want good stewardship of the earth.

As Kelsey reported: "Rabbi Bergman and other speakers urged faith groups to lead the way to a more meaningful discussion about environmental degradation. People of faith can talk about our moral obligation to protect the environment, replacing facts and figures with the faces of those who are suffering, like farmers in South America or people who live on the flooded coast of Japan."

Only weeks after the rabbi offered those remarks, a landmark report was issued by the United Nations' scientific panel on climate change.

The report from the United Nations scientific panel on climate change sounds a dire warning and says there will be worsening food shortages, fires and a die-off of coral reefs as soon as 2040, as the New York Times reported.

The call is for worldwide economic changes.

So governments will negotiate and talk about it. But imagine if people with a faith-based belief system were engaged in finding the solution from a position of having stewardship over the earth. And imagine if love replaced contempt in developing strategies, so that the only winner would be the best idea to help the planet, rather than who came up with the idea, or who can leverage climate change for political power.

Brooks spoke of "gratitude" for what we have as a key part of replacing contempt with love. These are not soft concepts. Consider: What is more motivating to changing behavior than faith in something and a love for someone? Marshall that and a problem as big as the world itself can be addressed and solved.

Government leaders will head to Argentina at the end of November to tackle world trade issues, food shortages and shared global economic interests. "The Group of Twenty (G20) is a leading forum of the world's major economies that seeks to develop global policies to address todays most pressing challenges," its mission statement says.

Those attending would do well to include the work of those who were at the site last month motivated by the simple goal of helping people, because whether one believes in God or not, those who share a belief that we are all God's children tend to want to look out for their brothers and sisters.

What's more motivating than that?SALT LAKE CITY  Bill and Ted played an integral role in shaping how Jenny Wilson thinks about politics.

No, not those loveable slackers who travel through time assembling historical figures for their high school history presentation in the 1989 science fiction film, "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure."

Bill, in this story, is Bill Orton, the late three-term Democratic Utah congressman for whom Wilson worked as chief of staff.

Ted is her father, Ted Wilson, who served as Salt Lake City mayor for nine years and ran Democratic campaigns for U.S. Senate and Utah governor.

Jenny Wilson, 53, recalled being in her dad's office one day as a 10- or 11-year-old during a meeting with the police chief over violence at a gay bar. The mayor, she said, told the chief it had to stop.

"I remember that day how I felt and how my dad handled that and it became, I think, really very key to my sort of advocacy and my interest in serving the community," she said.

Orton's influence on her was more "tactical," she said. Wilson gained an understanding of the ins and outs of Congress while working for Orton in Washington, D.C., which she said has helped her draft her own policy proposals.

Wilson said she believes it's critical for the state to have a Democrat in its congressional delegation, which has had six Republicans since 2014. She said she expects the political pendulum to swing back and forth for the rest of her lifetime.

"None of us know whats around the corner," she said. "We need to have someone on other side of the aisle to fight for Utah."

Wilson and Republican Mitt Romney are seeking to replace retiring seven-term GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch. Constitution Party candidate Tim Aalders, Libertarian Craig R. Bowden and Independent American Reed C. McCandless are also on the ballot.

A Salt Lake County Council member since 2005, Wilson said she strives to be a people person and bridge builder like her dad. She has worked across the aisle on ethics reform and open space preservation. She pushed through an initiative to provide health benefits to the partners of LGBT county employees, and co-founded the Jordan River Commission, which works to preserve, protect and responsibly develop the river corridor.

It took Wilson three tries to get the domestic partner benefits ordinance passed.

"She would not back down," said her husband of 18 years, Trell Rohovit.

Rohovit described Wilson as a tireless and compassionate advocate for the community who wants to connect with and understand people. Win or lose, he said, she pushes ahead with what she believes is right.

"She is tough as nails. She will not be bullied," he said.

Sandy City Councilman Chris McCandless said he has worked with Wilson on a variety of issues, including open space preservation. The two of them formed the Jordan River Commission a few years ago.

"We just got tired hearing people talk about some day the Jordan River Parkway is going to connect from Utah Lake to the Great Salt Lake," he said at a Wilson campaign event.

McCandless said the trail is now linked largely due to Wilson's efforts to pass open space bonds and work in a bipartisan way.

"Even though I'm a Republican, I stand side by side with Jenny as she has with me on numerous issues," he said.

McCandless said it's not about which party people belong to, but it's about the "American party," and Wilson can bring both sides together in Utah and Washington.

Despite her busy schedule, Wilson is a "fantastic" mother to the couple's two boys, Zach, 16, and Max, 13, Rohovit said. Her work ethic and dedication to public service sets an example for their sons, he said. They understand her commitment and gain from it.

"Win or lose, her kids are already really impressed with her. They understand you can't win if you don't try," Rohovit said.

Washington, Wilson said, needs a new generation of leaders who understand what is going on at the local level, adding she has spent her "entire adult life" working on issues.

"To me, this is just about who will best serve our state," she said.

As a fifth-generation Utahn who is a descendent of Orson Pratt, an early apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Wilson said she has a great connection to the state.

"I take that heritage as a source of pride, and I really felt that is what brought me into this," said Wilson, who was raised in the faith but is no longer practicing.

Like her father, the East High School and University of Utah graduate (she also has a master's of public administration from Harvard) now finds herself facing an uphill battle running for Senate in the heavily Republican state against its favorite adopted son, Romney.

When she jumped into the race more than a year ago, Wilson figured she'd be taking on a "wounded" Hatch, who hadn't yet decided to retire and whose popularity was slipping, or running for an open seat. Ted Wilson lost to Hatch in 1982.

Wilson acknowledged that after Romney filed to run in February, her campaign "felt somewhat impossible" at first. But, she said, she didn't expect people on doorsteps to question why Romney would run and whether he's a Utahn.

"The more people are hearing from me, the more we see people moving my way," she said.

Wilson, who was the first woman elected to the Salt Lake County Council, would also be the first female U.S. senator from Utah should she win next month.

Rohovit said Wilson would bring a wide spectrum of the state's needs to Washington and battle to improve Utahns' lives, both urban and rural, on issues such as opioid abuse, the environment, jobs and social justice.

To have that opportunity, though, Wilson needs to make up a wide margin in the polls.

Wilson said her political experience, heritage and connection to Utah and its residents provides a great foundation for her to serve in the Senate.

"I think I can rely on that. Its also something I think will serve me well if I win this election," she said after last Tuesday's debate. "I feel very empowered to be standing here with a month to go, and I feel like Im a good choice."

Where she stands

Immigration

Comprehensive, compassionate and family-centered reform, a path to citizenship for DACA "Dreamers."

Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid

There are ways to reform and save money but not on the backs seniors and poor people.

Health care

Reform the Affordable Care Act but continue to cover pre-existing conditions and children up to age 26 on their parents' insurance.

National security

Challenge now is to balance defense spending and diplomacy. Diplomacy is missing with President Donald Trump.

Tariffs

Congress far too willing to let president have his way on "reckless" policy that is hurting workers and agriculture.SALT LAKE CITY  New pages in the not-so-secret life of Mitt Romney aren't easy to come by in his nearly two decades of being in the public eye, including two failed presidential runs, several books and a documentary film.

A campaign staffer says people don't know that the former Massachusetts governor is funny  in a dad-joke sort of way.

His stiff hair begs to differ. Romney's public persona doesn't exude jocularity.

But his friend Kirk Jowers says Romney can be funny because he's "so up to speed on current events and so clever that he really can say some hilarious things that are topical and that just hit it straight."

Jowers, a longtime Romney supporter, said everyone who worked on his presidential campaign regrets that that side of him never really came out or was covered enough for people to see.

Romney hasn't done anything during his U.S. Senate campaign to change that. He faces Democratic Salt Lake County Council member Jenny Wilson to replace retiring GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch. Constitution Party candidate Tim Aalders, Libertarian Craig R. Bowden and Independent American Reed C. McCandless are also on the ballot.

Asked to reveal something about himself that people might not know, Romney doesn't go to his apparently hidden sense of humor. He offers that he was an English major in college, acknowledging that, too, is in the public record. Consequently, he said, he loves to read and write.

Right now he's reading a C.J Box mystery novel, his bedtime "sleep candy." He's also into biographies. Currently, it's a tome on John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States.

Adams, Romney says, did a "most unusual thing" in that after serving a term as president, he was elected to the U.S. House from Massachusetts, "and he accomplished more as a congressman than he did as president."

That's not quite Romney's story. He fell short of winning the White House in 2012 and now wants to be a senator. He said he didn't dwell on the loss or try to figure where he could have scraped up a few more votes. He moved on and decided he didn't want to sit around, though at 71 he could have.

"I would have rather been president. I didnt win that election, but Im going to fight for the things I care about, and I believe I can make a difference for Utah and the for country," Romney said.

Ann Romney, his wife of 49 years, has been behind him, even nudging him along. She convinced him to take the job running the 2002 Winter Olympics.

"I always push Mitt into everything. It's like 'the poor guy,'" she said at campaign event earlier this year.

Her influence came into play in the decision to run for Senate.

"You just know what's right. I know this is going to be good. It's going to be good for Utah; it's going to be good for us," Ann Romney said.

A documentary titled "Mitt," which debuted at Sundance in 2014, chronicles Romney's 2008 and 2012 presidential bids, giving a glimpse into him and his family's life on the campaign trail. Romney initially resisted the idea of having cameras tag along, but his wife liked it.

Romney watched the film twice. He said he liked it the first time because he enjoyed seeing his family on the screen. He didn't like it the second time because of "the finish. I already knew what was there."

Romney, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said his parents, George and Lenore Romney, his faith, and religious, political and business leaders have shaped his political philosophy. George Romney headed American Motors and served as governor of Michigan and ran for president in 1968.

At the core, he said, is that people are sons and daughters of God, and freedom is God-given.

"There is an effort afoot in the world to remove those freedoms and substitute government for freedom, not so much in our country but others," he said, listing Russia and China, as well as jihadists "hellbent" on replacing freedom with authoritarianism.

Romney, who graduated from BYU and moved to Holladay after the 2012 election, said his cultural and literal roots are in Utah. He is a descendant of Parley P. Pratt, an early leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and one of the first pioneers to reach the Salt Lake Valley.

If he wins the election, he said he would continue to live in Utah when the Senate isn't in session, though the 36-member Romney clan, including fives sons and daughters-in-law and 24 grandchildren, would continue to spend a week in August at Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire.

Though he has campaigned since February, including a primary election, some voters still question where Romney stands with President Donald Trump.

At a recent campaign event in Orem, a woman asked, "I wonder when you go to Congress  are going to be a Never Trumper in Congress and be an obstructionist to the Trump agenda?"

"No," Romney replied flatly, before reciting his usual answer that he would support Trump when his policies are good for Utah and the country.

"If one expected you to do whatever the president wants, why, you wouldn't elect a senator. You'd say we'll just let the president do whatever he wants. But the president needs to listen to others and hear their concerns," he said

Allowing it might sound hyperbolic, Jowers said the Republican Party has never needed a defining voice like it needs now.

"President Trump has the Republican stage almost all to himself right now and will continue to be the dominant voice. But Mitt Romney is the one person with the national profile and media and even international interest that could at times amplify President Trump but at other times could provide a critically needed counterpoint," he said.

When a reporter suggested Romney could be like the late Sen. John McCain, Romney wasn't having it, saying no one could replace the Arizona Republican.

"I belive that I will speak my views as well from time to time. I don't think I'll be able to do what John McCain did," Romney said after a debate last week. "I will do my best for the people of our state."

Where he stands

Immigration

Tighter border security, e-verify for employers and legal status for DACA "Dreamers" and that they "get in line" if they want citizenship.

Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid

Must preserve the programs for people in their late 50s and older but should consider raising the retirement age one or two years for younger people.

Health care

Republicans and Democrats must come together to ensure all American have access to health care and good health insurance and can't be denied for pre-existing conditions.

National security

China and Russia pose the greatest longterm threat. Need to maintain strong defense to ensure U.S. stays ahead.

Tariffs

Opposes long-term, high tariffs but they can be used as negotiating tool to work out more fair deals.Knox Desmond, 3, left, and Lacy Desmond sit on a backyard swing during the Deseret News Home Show at the Mountain America Exposition Center in Sandy on Saturday. The home show continues Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Clint Harp from HGTV's "Fixer Upper" shared his experience in carpentry and home improvement Friday and Saturday. Utah TV host and blogger Brooke Graham will moderate a panel discussion showcasing the creative ideas of local designers at noon Sunday. This year, the show features the Holiday Marketplace filled with unique gifts and home goods for every season.

See the world through the eyes of award-winning photojournalists. Click through the gallery above to view the unique images our visual storytellers captured today. Follow the official Deseret News Instagram account for more photographs and videos from the staff.EUREKA, Juab County  Sheriff's deputies have arrested a man for investigation of murder after they say he left a Sandy woman stranded last week during a camping trip.

Cody Alexander Young, 42, was booked into the Juab County Jail Saturday night for investigation of murder in the death of Jan Pearson-Jenkins, 64.

Friends of the woman's brother, Jace Pearson, discovered what is believed to be the body of Pearson-Jenkins on a sagebrush hillside Saturday about a mile from where the two of them are believed to have gone camping on Oct. 4 in the Silver City area of Juab County.

"Cody was reported to be in somewhat of a relationship with Jan," a Juab County Jail report states.

"The female was nude, and three articles of clothing were found on the ground near her. The female had marks and bruising on the back and legs as well as a mark on her head. It appeared the body had been exposed to the elements for some time," the report states.

The body was sent to the Utah State Medical Examiner's Office to be positively identified, said Juab County Undersheriff Brent Pulver.

Pearson said Young sent him text messages on Oct. 5 saying the two had been in an argument and that he left her in the Silver City/Eureka area.

Sandy police, who were investigating the incident as a missing persons case after family members contacted them on Oct. 8, provided the Juab County Sheriff's Office with GPS coordinates from where the victim was allegedly dropped off that evening, Pulver said.

Pearson-Jenkins did not have a cellphone nor her purse, and she was not dressed for inclement weather, investigators said.

Searches for Pearson-Jenkins were unsuccessful as were attempts to locate or contact Young. But during a coordinated search effort Saturday with the sheriff's office and the victim's family and friends, a campsite was located "where evidence was found indicating this was where the individuals were camping," Pulver said in a statement.

About an hour later, Pearson's friends on ATVs located the body about one mile from that campsite.

"The events that occurred, I think, were miraculous. I think we were led to find Jans body, Pearson said. We dont know all the whats but we wont worry anymore about where she is.

About two hours after the body was found, rangers at Yuba State Park spotted Young and his van near Yuba Lake, about 45 miles from the campsite. He was questioned by detectives and later arrested in connection with Pearson-Jenkins' death, the undersheriff said.

Young told investigators the two had been camping and looking for rocks.

"Cody stated that on Thursday (Oct. 4), a conversation regarding money and repair work that had been performed at Jans mothers residence came up. Cody and Jan got into an argument resulting in Cody placing Jans belongings outside the van and telling her they were 'done,'" the report states.

"Cody stated he eventually told Jan he would give her a ride home, at which time Jan thanked him. Cody also stated that the pair smoked meth that night."

Young said they got into another argument the next day, Oct. 5, and "he did not feel comfortable being around Jan any longer," according to the report. He told police he locked the doors of his van and drove away as she tried to open the driver's door about 4 p.m.

Young said he contemplated returning to get Pearson-Jenkins, but decided to contact her brother instead.

Pearson said the texts he received were bizarre.

It rambled on, it was 55 pages of text messages that basically talked about their crazy relationship, he said, adding that they had apparently argued over money and work that his sister had hired him to do at their mother's house.

Young wouldn't answer questions about what Pearson-Jenkins was wearing or about the conditions in the area, Pearson said. Young only talked about how poorly life had treated him and how "brutal" Jan had become in their relationship, he said.

Pearson said he met Young a few weeks ago when he did some drywall work at his mother's house, where Pearson-Jenkins also lived. He said he knew Young had a substance abuse problem but appeared "lucid and coherent" that day.

I didnt have any bad vibes about him when I met and talked with him, but I had no idea that he and Jan had a romantic relationship. I just thought it was someone she met through a mutual friend, a down-on-his-luck kind of guy, Pearson said.

Young, who police say is homeless and lives in his van, said he stayed in a Nephi parking lot for two days after leaving his girlfriend behind. "Cody stated he was hurting and needed to remove himself from the situation," deputies wrote in the report.

He allegedly said he then went to the Yuba Lake area, where he remained until he was found on Saturday. Young also said he had read news reports about his missing girlfriend.

"He stated that he had thought that something bad could have happened to Jan. Cody stated that he had received a link to a news report showing that Jan was missing, and law enforcement was actively searching for him. Cody made no attempt to contact law enforcement," the report states.

"Cody would not admit to any physical violence between him and Jan. Cody admitted that he was aware that by leaving Jan something might possibly happen to her," according to the report.

Deputies arrested him, saying in the report that he "knowingly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death to another, thereby caused the death to another."

Pearson said his sisters had a master's degree in nutrition from Utah State University and in addition to working for the Veteran's Administration in San Diego, she taught nutrition in college in Utah.

Substance abuse caused her to make poor choices, but she was kind and creative and lived a productive life. She ran marathons and was an avid skier, he said. She lived with and cared for their 93-year-old mother.

"I dont know if she had a decision that Friday night, if she was forced, if she voluntarily left, we dont know," Pearson said. "If she chose to leave the van that was her last poor final choice, but we dont know yet."

Contributing: Sean Moody, Dennis RomboyDixie State womens swim team posted five event wins and combined for one school record and 14 all-time program marks at the Pepperdine Malibu Invitational held Friday and Saturday at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool.

Junior Hannah Hansen accounted for two of the Blazers five event wins with victories in the 100-yard breast (1:06.64, No. 8 all-time at DSU) and 200 breast (2:26.58), while freshman Rebecka Anderson touched the wall first in the 200 back (2:10.62). Sophomore Miriam Gonzalez also tied for first place in the 50 free (24.82) and teamed up with junior Audrey Hyde, senior Phebe James and freshman Kelsea Wright to win the 200 free relay (1:39.55, No. 5 all-time at DSU).

Freshman Gretchen Hyer notched DSUs lone school-record-breaking performance at the meet by one-tenth of a second with a third-place time of 2:15.41 in the 200 fly. In addition, Wright collected runner-up honors in the 100 free (53.56, No. 8 all-time at DSU) and 200 free (1:55.49, No. 7 all-time at DSU), as did Gonzalez in the 100 breast (1:08.20). In addition, Hansen took third in the 200 IM (2:14.62, No. 9 all-time at DSU), Anderson placed third in the 1,000 free (11:00.16, No. 5 all-time at DSU) and sophomore Megan Ruppenthal was third in the 200 back (2:11.93).

Three other relay tandems also posted top-three event results, including the second-place 400 medley team of freshman Kenzie Chesler, sophomore Hannah Bodkin, Hansen and Ruppenthal (4:05.97, No. 5 all-time at DSU). Meanwhile, the 200 medley relay team of junior Sydney Anderson, Bodkin, Hansen and Gonzalez placed third at 1:51.94 (No. 10 all-time at DSU), and Chesler, Hyde, Ruppenthal and Wright combined for a third-place finish in the 400 free relay (3:37.81, No. 5 all-time at DSU).

Dixie State will close its 2018 fall slate at the Colorado Mesa-hosted A3 Performance Invitational from Nov. 16-18, in Grand Junction, Colorado.On October 15, 1868  150 years ago today  Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution was formally organized. This Utah department store began as a small wholesale cooperative in Salt Lake City and eventually expanded to incorporate well over 100 branches, playing a significant role in Utah's economy for more than 100 years.

In honor of this sesquicentennial anniversary, here's a look back at six things you may not know about ZCMI.

Pioneer colonizer and Latter-day Saint prophet Brigham Young organized the institution and was its first customer.

In "ZCMI," a history of the mercantile company, Martha Sonntag Bradley describes the circumstances that led to ZCMI's founding.

Nearly two decades after settling in the Salt Lake Valley, a breach had developed between Latter-day Saint business leaders and "gentile" merchants. Brigham Young and other church leaders feared those who opposed the church were attacking its members though price gouging. To combat this, Young encouraged Saints to boycott these merchants in 1865 and thereby "ceas(e) to pad the pockets of those who sought destruction on the church," Bradley writes.

By 1868, these trade tensions were complicated by the looming completion of the transcontinental railroad and the new business it would certainly bring, Bradley notes. In order to shore up the Saints' economic independence, Brigham Young introduced the concept of a mercantile cooperation entirely owned and operated by Latter-day Saints at the church's October 1868 general conference.

In "Great Basin Kingdom," historian Leonard Arrington records Young's simple stated goal for the new institution: "To bring goods here and sell them as low as they can possibly be sold and let the profits be divided with the people at large."

On Oct. 15, 1868, the proposed mercantile cooperation was formally organized and funded during a meeting of prominent Utah church and business leaders in Salt Lake's City Hall, according to Bradley.

Brigham Young was elected president, Bradley writes, and on March 1, 1869, Young made the first ZCMI store purchase in its first headquarters in downtown Salt Lake City's Eagle Emporium: $1,000 worth of goods for his large family.

Early ZCMI experienced great success and quickly expanded.

The institution's sales totaled over $1.25 million in its first year. By 1870, 150 cooperative branches were established throughout Utah territory and as far away as Idaho, Nevada, South Dakota and Wyoming, according to Bradley.

Bradley also notes that in the 1870s and '80s, ZCMI sales represented about one third of the total expenditures in Utah.

Each branch displayed a "Holiness to the Lord" sign above its front door and sold goods, often produced by Latter-day Saints, at standardized low prices.

The main downtown Salt Lake City location was consolidated into a department store in 1876 and expanded and modernized in three major phases ending in 1901. The sprawling structure, with its impressive three-story cast iron facade, welcomed customers in that location for 130 years.

ZCMI sold everything  from clothing and carpet to wagons and machinery.

In its early days, coal oil lamps lit the main Salt Lake City location and customers deposited their payments in large black kettles, which were periodically hauled away by clerks for counting.

As the institution grew, ZCMI established its own factories. The "Big Boot" shoe factory opened in 1870 and manufactured 83,000 pairs of shoes each year. In 1872, ZCMI opened a clothing factory as well, producing its own line of work clothes, including the famous ZCMI "Mountaineer" overalls. According to Bradley, these overalls quickly grew popular and cultivated a broad consumer base from Canada to Mexico.

Fashion became a major part of ZCMI's brand, particularly in the post-WWII era, and the institution served as "an arbiter of taste and style" for many, according to Bradley. In 1940, Mademoiselle magazine chose ZCMI as one of its college fashion headquarters, Bradley writes. ZCMI frequently staged fashion shows (hosted by Vogue and other prestigious brands) and even Ms. and Mr. ZCMI contests.

ZCMI is often referred to as the first department store in America.

Bradley traces this title to a 1933 book called "Famous First Facts" by author Joseph Kane. She explains that there are at least five other contenders for this title, including Macy's and Marshall Field, but notes that ZCMI's claim is "particularly convincing."

According to Bradley, the world's first department stores originated in Paris during the 1850s when companies like "Au Bon Marche" sold goods as varied as an international bazaar. This same unique structure, "where several individual merchants pooled their resources and retained management of their separate areas," defined ZCMI from its earliest days in rustic and remote Salt Lake City, Bradley writes.

While ZCMI may or may not be America's first department store, it can boast a variety of other firsts.

The organization was the country's first department store to establish its own clothing factory. Bradley notes it was "one of the first stores in the West to use women as salesclerks," the first company in Salt Lake City to employ delivery wagons and, in 1920, the first to have its own motorized fleet of delivery automobiles.

Other notable innovations include ZCMI's escalator, which in 1946 was the first to be installed in the Western United States, according to Bradley. ZCMI was also famous for its elaborate light displays, first introduced only two years after the invention of the electric light bulb, Bradley writes.

ZCMI's headquarters officially closed in 2007, but memories of the institution that long resided at the heart of Utah business and culture remain.

After many decades of success, financially troubled ZCMI agreed to sell the department store chain to St. Louis-based The May Department Stores Co. in 1999, although its stores remained closed on Sundays and retained the ZCMI name.

In 2001, all ZCMI locations except the flagship Salt Lake City department store were rebranded as Meier & Frank, and in 2005 they became Macy's.

Finally, in 2007, the beloved Salt Lake City ZCMI mall was demolished to make way for the new City Creek Center shopping destination.

In the midst of ZCMI's decline, some looked back fondly at ZCMI of decades past, reminiscing about afternoons spent prom dress shopping or riding the escalators. Older Utahns recalled the days when a trip to ZCMI was a special event that called for their Sunday best.

While ZCMI's glory days have long passed, a reminder of the pioneer-era department store still stands in downtown Salt Lake today. City Creek shoppers can glimpse the historic ZCMI facade, restored and installed on the west face of Macys, harkening back to the early days of Utah industry.Google seems to be testing a new feature called Explore on Chrome for Android devices, reports Android Police. When finished and implemented, the feature should present itself on the New Tab page when you open the Chrome browser. As the name suggests, it will present to the user a number of new websites relevant to the users tastes. Its unclear at the moment if Google will tailor its suggestions based simply on regions or on users browsing habits as well. Knowing Google, the latter is expected to happen.

The feature is currently in testing phase but can be enabled on the browser. Do note that any content you see may not be the same as on the final version. To enable the new Explore feature, fire up Chrome browser on your Android smartphone and navigate to the URL, chrome://flags to land in a page called Experiments. In the search box, type explore to find a flag item called Explore websites. Click on the combo box below the name and set the value to Enabled. Relaunch Chrome. On the New Tab page you should now be able to see the Explore section.

Its unclear at the moment if Google will even choose to retain this new feature under test. As with many such flag-enabled features, it could well never make it to the browsers New Tab page by default. It certainly seems like a way to get people into browsing more though. If at all the feature is completely ready and functional, you can expect the Explore section to suggest you pages youd like to visit and information youd like to find. Train schedules you might want to access quickly and travel websites youve not visited before are some examples.

Whats also unclear at the moment is if Google will choose to implement this new Explore feature in the iOS version of Chrome as well. Currently the Explore flag does not appear in the PC version of Chrome, meaning that Google is counting on only smartphone users to use such a content-discovery feature. And anyway, in a world where there are seemingly more smartphone users than PC users, such a move only seems right.

Inline image courtesy: Android PoliceMicrosoft has rolled out an update to fix an issue that caused some audio problems on machines running Windows 10 version 1803 or above. The company released Windows Update KB4468550 which removes the driver that the company had rolled out incorrectly automatically from systems. Some users who reportedly installed the update suffered an issue that left their machines completely mute.

An Intel audio driver was incorrectly pushed to devices via Windows Update for a short period of time earlier this week. After receiving reports from users that their audio no longer works, we immediately removed it and started investigating. If your audio broke recently, and you're running Windows 10 version 1803 or above, please check to see if the incorrect driver was installed. To regain audio, we recommend you uninstall the driver, the company said in a statement.

Those who havent got the update can manually install it. To do this, type Device Manager in the search box, find and expand Sound, video, and game controllers, and see if there is a yellow triangle with an exclamation point on the Realtek device. From the View menu, choose Devices by connection and look at the parent device - this will be called something like Intel SST Audio Controller (Intel Smart Sound Technology driver version 09.21.00.3755), Microsoft said on its blog post. When you right-click the controller device and choose Properties, you should get a dialog like below. Click on the Driver tab as shown.

If the driver version is 9.21.0.3755, you have the driver that was sent to you incorrectly. Click Uninstall Device. You will get a popup asking if you want to remove the driver too. Check the checkbox as shown, so the driver will be removed. Then click Uninstall., the company said. When the driver is uninstalled, you need to reboot your system. Your audio (speakers and headphones) should work properly.

This development comes just a few days after the company started to roll out the new 2018 Windows 10 October Update to its Insiders. Microsoft had paused the Windows 10 October Update (version 1809) after users who had installed the latest software on their machines reported that their data including profiles, photos, videos and documents were being deleted automatically after the update. The company later announced that it has identified that issue as well and has fixed it.Donegal TD, Joe McHugh has been appointed Minister for Education and Skills, replacing Richard Bruton, as part of a series of ministerial changes made in the wake of the resignation of Denis Naughten.

McHugh had been the Government Chief Whip as well as serving as Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach and Minister of State for the Gaeltacht and the Islands. He takes over from John Bruton in Education and Skills, who has been appointed to replace Denis Naughten.

The announcements were made by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, after the fall out and controversy involving the National Broadband Plan procurement process.

McHugh will work with Mary Mitchell OConnor, who, since last year, has served as Minister of State for Higher Education.

Speaking on Highland Radio, Deputy McHugh said he was delighted to take on the role after getting the call from Taoiseach.

"From someone who has spent quite a considerable part of my career in the education system I'm really, really looking forward to the challenge ahead. So subject to Dail approval on Tuesday and hitting the ground running and building on the reform programme that Ricahrd Bruton has been working on."

McHugh, a former Secondary School teacher, said he would draw on his experiences there. "I know the pressures that teachers are under and I know the pressures that students are under," said the new Minister, who added that students were facing a different type of future, with new roles being created all the time.The Donegal Railway Heritage Centre in partnership with the FabLab Ballyshannon, are hosting a special Modern Modelling event, as part of 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage. The event brings the art of modelling together with the modern technology of 3D printing, presenting our unique railway heritage in Donegal in a new innovative way.

Niall McCaughan, Manager of Donegal Railway Heritage Centre stated: We are committed to preserving, maintaining and restoring County Donegals railways, rolling stock and built heritage for the benefit of the public at local, national and international level. Our heritage centre at the Old Station House, Tyrconnell Street, Donegal Town houses railway artefacts, rolling stock, photographs, historical documents and various diorama showcasing engines, buildings and railway layouts from times past.

In order to modernise and improve how we record and promote this heritage, this innovative project sought to digitise the main buildings, rolling stock and larger exhibits at the heritage centre. This has allowed our railway heritage to be presented in a new way, facilitating the production of 3D printed models of the centres buildings and exhibits and allow interactive computer visualisation of the digital models.

In this way the culture and history of the Donegal railways becomes more accessible allowing people to connect with this heritage in a new way: one that increases participation and understanding and preserves the past in a modern format. The project will help conserve Donegals railway heritage through the process of recording and storing the existing artefacts and buildings into the digital domain and then presenting this information to visitors and online, connecting people, now and in the future, with their heritage and giving them a better appreciation of it.

On Saturday 20th October, they are having a special launch event at 2pm which will include a talk and live demo of 3D printing, as well as an opportunity to see the 3D printed models of the railway stock and station. The event is free to attend.

This event is generously made possible through the generous support of Creative Ireland, Donegal County Council and the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

For more information, please contact manager@ donegalrailway.com or Tel: 074 972 2655 or check us out on Facebook or at www.donegalrailway.comPlease allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.

Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.

If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider subscribing to our ePaper and/or free daily Newsletter .

Support our mission and join our community now.NHS patients are being let down by a global health innovation system which fails to deliver the treatments they need at prices that government can afford, according to a new report led by Professor Mariana Mazzucato, Director of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP), in collaboration with STOPAIDS, Global Justice Now and Just Treatment.

The report, The People's Prescription: Re-imagining health innovation to deliver public value, warns that health innovation is being hampered by a drive for profit and calls for a major overhaul of the system to ensure that more drugs and treatments are developed for critical health needs. Crucially it addresses both the rate and the direction of innovation.

Although innovation in health is vital for the development of drugs used by the NHS and healthcare systems around the world, the report finds that the current system for developing drugs incentivises high prices and delivers short-term returns to shareholders, rather than focusing on riskier, longer-term research which leads to critically needed therapeutic advances.

The authors warn that the high prices of medicines are causing severe patient access problems worldwide with damaging consequences for health and wellbeing. The solution is not as simple as demanding lower prices but to understand how the characteristics of the system must be overhauled, from the dynamics of patents which are hurting transparency and collaboration to the ways in which corporate governance hurt innovation.

With the system 'fundamentally broken', the report maps out fault lines and recommends new concrete policy actions to deliver public value for the greatest health need.

Last year, NHS England spent 1bn on medicines that had received public investment, while spending on drugs is rising at five times the rate its budget is rising.

Key points include:

Research and development priorities are not determined by public health needs. The system ignores diseases - such as tuberculosis - that are most prevalent in developing countries. Meanwhile, more than half of approved medicines in recent years offered no additional health benefits.

The number of new drugs approved against research and development (R & D) spend has declined from around 40 drugs per $1bn of R & D in the 1950s to less than 0.65 drugs per $1bn spend this century, representing a huge drop in innovation and productivity.

Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly focused on maximising short-term financial returns to shareholders, rather than funding health advances in the public interest. The 19 pharmaceutical companies included in the S&P 500 Index in January 2017 (and listed 2006-15) spent $297bn on repurchasing their own shares between 2007-16--61% of their combined R&D expenditures in this period.

Professor Mariana Mazzucato said: "The diagnosis looks bleak for the health innovation system; it's expensive and unproductive and requires a complete transformation. We have a situation now where the NHS is a huge buyer of drugs and the UK government is a significant investor in the development of new treatments, yet big pharmaceutical companies are calling the shots.

"In the year of the 70th anniversary of the NHS, this is an ideal time to take stock and rethink the system with a move towards a model that prioritises long-term public value above short-term corporate profits."

As an immediate policy action, the report calls on governments to pursue their legal right to procure affordable generic versions of patented medicines if companies refuse to drop their prices to levels affordable to national health systems such as the NHS. These legal rights are known as Flexibilities within the World Trade Organisation's TRIPS rules (Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights). This could mean huge savings for the NHS. For example, evidence shows that the prices the UK pays for some cancer medicines could be reduced by between 75% and 99.6% if they could be procured as generics.

Intellectual property rules should also be reformed to make vital medicines more affordable and open to innovation, with patents only issued to truly innovative technology.

Long-term recommendations include:

A mission-oriented approach to improving health outcomes, where governments can set the direction of health innovation by focusing the energy of state, civil society and the private sector on clearly articulated public health goals.

Changing how corporate governance works; rethinking the role of the public sector and improving the structure of the private sector.

Better deals through conditionality; governments should be able to negotiate better deals as the main investors in new treatments, instead of rewards being disproportionately shared with the private sector.

Conditionality would also prevent the public from paying twice for medicines. A treatment for prostate cancer - Abiraterone - was discovered by the Institute for Cancer Research (ICR), which receives 38 per cent of its funding from charities and the UK Medical Research Council, and 14 per cent from other government funding. The NHS then spent 172 million on the drug between 2014 and 2016, following five years of negotiations when the price was set just below NICE's upper limit of acceptable costs. By the end of 2017, Johnson & Johnson had made around 1.9 billion in sales and the ICR had earned just 137 million.

Mission-oriented research and innovation involves strategic decision making in both governments and business through purpose-led missions. This approach focuses on problem-specific challenges, which many different sectors interact to solve. The focus on problems, and new types of collaborations between public and private actors to solve them, creates the potential for greater spillovers than a sectoral approach. It was this approach that put a man on the moon, and lay behind the creation of the internet and entire new sectors like biotechnology.

Heidi Chow, Senior Campaigns Manager, Global Justice Now, said: "A pharmaceutical industry that makes billions in profits without providing the affordable medicines that people need is one of the scandals of our time. It's easy to feel that there is no alternative, but in fact there are a whole host of alternatives that are already working in a number of countries. It is time to scale up what's working, and drop what's not so that people here in the UK and around the world can access the effective treatments they need."

Saoirse Fitzpatrick, Senior Advocacy Adviser, STOPAIDS, added: "We have to face the reality that our current system for developing medicines is not matching people's health needs. If we carry on with business as usual then we are going to end up bankrupting patients and health services with high priced drugs and wasting precious financial resources on copycat medicines which do nothing but add to the pharmaceutical industry's profits.

"We know there are other models out there, we need governments to work from this evidence base and build an alternative system for health innovation that gives us the medicines people need at prices we can all afford."

Diarmaid McDonald, Lead Organiser, Just Treatment, said: "NHS patients, like those who lead Just Treatment, have had their access to vital medicines delayed or denied because of the unaffordable prices charged by the industry. Sadly these high prices are not going away - they lie at the heart of our current medical innovation system. Until governments follow the recommendations in this report and set about creating a pharmaceutical system that puts patients and public health at its core, our health and our health systems will continue to suffer as pharmaceutical profits continue to soar."

###

The report was produced with further support from King's College London, Drugs for Neglected Diseases, Knowledge Ecology International, I-MAK, Medicines Law & Policy, Open Society Foundations, European Public Health Alliance, Innogen, Medecins Sans Frontieres, Access Campaign and independent researcher Christine Berry.

The authors acknowledge funding from the Open Society Foundations (OSF Grant OR2017-33335).

Download: The people's prescription: Reimaging health innovation to deliver public value

Notes to Editors

For more information or to speak to the researchers involved, please contact:

Mathew Hanratty, UCL Institute of Innovation & Public Purpose. T: 07741 670 980. E: m.hanratty@ucl.ac.uk

or

Kate Corry, UCL Media Relations. T: +44 (0)20 3108 6995, E: k.corry@ucl.ac.uk

Professor Mariana Mazzucato, Andrea Laplane, Tiziana Masini, Victor Roy, UCL Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose; Heidi Chow, Global Justice Now; Saoirse Fitzpatrick, STOPAIDS; Diarmaid McDonald, Just Treatment; Ellen 't Hoen, Medicines Law & Policy, The people's prescription; Reimagining health innovation to deliver public value, will be published here on Monday 15th October at 00:01 UK time, 19:01 Sunday 14th October EST, and is under a strict embargo until this time.

About UCL (University College London)

UCL was founded in 1826. We were the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to open up university education to those previously excluded from it, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. We are among the world's top universities, as reflected by performance in a range of international rankings and tables. UCL currently has over 39,000 students from 150 countries and over 12,500 staff. Our annual income is more than 1 billion.

http://www.ucl.ac.uk | Follow us on Twitter @uclnews | Watch our YouTube channel YouTube.com/UCLTV

About The Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP)

The Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) is a department within University College London (UCL) and part of The Bartlett faculty, known internationally for its radical thinking about space, design and sustainability.

IIPP's mission is to change how public value is imagined, practiced and evaluated to tackle societal challenges and achieve economic growth that is more innovation-led, sustainable and inclusive.

Our research and teaching programmes aim to shape a dynamic and bold public sector driven by public purpose. Markets can be shaped by purposeful policy making. Markets can be designed to deliver public value.

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/iipp

About STOPAIDS

STOPAIDS is a membership network of 70 organisations with a thirty-year history of engagement on international development and HIV and AIDS. We convene and unite UK civil society and shape UK leadership in the global response to HIV and AIDS. Our advocacy work addresses systemic issues critical to that response, including access to affordable medicines.

http://www.stopaids.org.uk

About Global Justice Now

Global Justice Now campaigns for a world where resources are controlled by the many, not the few. We champion social movements and propose democratic alternatives to corporate power. Our activists and groups in towns and cities around the UK work in solidarity with those at the sharp end of poverty and injustice.

http://www.globaljustice.org.uk

About Just Treatment

Just Treatment is a patient-led campaign fighting to secure fair and affordable access to medicines on the NHS, and to bring about a medical innovation system that prioritises the lives of patients and public health over the profits of pharmaceutical companies. http://www.justtreatment.orgPrivacy Settings

This site uses functional cookies and external scripts to improve your experience. Which cookies and scripts are used and how they impact your visit is specified on the left. You may change your settings at any time. Your choices will not impact your visit.

NOTE: These settings will only apply to the browser and device you are currently using.San Antonios Office of Sustainability is seeking feedback on its proposed strategies to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the city as it develops its Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, set to be approved this spring.

Low turnout at an open house on Saturday highlighted one of the ongoing challenges: improving engagement and interest in a plan that needs residents to take their own actions to be effective.

The city expects to have a draft plan available for public comment in January and to finalize the plan by March. The Office of Sustainability will host 10 open houses to discuss the plan and collect feedback on the proposals this month, a series that started Saturday at Young Womens Leadership Academy.

The steering committee developing the plan has identified buildings and transportation as the largest factors to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.

Forty-seven percent of the citys carbon emissions come from energy use in buildings, UTSA professor and committee member Lindsay Ratcliffe said. Thirty-eight percent of emissions are tied to transportation, due in part to the citys sprawl and reliance on cars, she said.

More Information Upcoming Open Houses Wednesday, Oct. 17: Schaefer Library, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18: Eco Centro: 5:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23: Ozuna Library Palo Alto College, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25: Mission Library, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 29: John Igo Library, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30: SA Food Bank, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2: Urban Ecology Center, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3: Bazan Library, 12:00-2:00 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8: NE Service Center, 5:30-7:30 p.m. More information is available at SAClimateReady.org See More Collapse

Cutting those emissions requires relying less on fossil fuels, committee co-chair Femi Osidele said.

Strategies for cutting emissions from buildings range from implementing building codes to create structures that require less energy, to offering rebate programs for retrofitting spaces to use more efficient appliances.

By cutting the demand for electricity, CPS Energy can provide a larger percentage of power from renewable sources and natural gas, decreasing their reliance on coal, CPS Carla De La Chapa said.

The companys Flexible Path also outlines a plan to reach 50 percent of power generated by renewable energy sources by 2040, with a decrease in the use of coal and natural gas, she said.

Strategies proposed to lower transportation emissions include increasing the charging infrastructure for electric cars to make them more appealing to buyers, and the possible implementation of a a group purchasing program to make those vehicles less expensive.

Public transportation currently makes up only one percent of overall transportation-related emissions, with more than half coming from private transit passenger vehicles.

The plan will focus on reducing single-occupancy vehicle use, which could include making neighborhoods more walkable and centered around regional transit hubs, with public transportation between the hubs, Ratcliffe said.

Saturdays session attracted few attendees from outside the committee, most of whom were already interested in the issue.

Im really passionable about sustainability and climate change, said Estella Cota-Trevino.

She was impressed by the strategies provided, but worried that the potential costs of the changes could deter residents from supporting the plan, if not addressed.

Bill Sweet, a retired scientist, called the strategies barely adequate, but a small step in the right direction.

I care about my grandchildren, and other peoples grandchildren, he said, and if climate change is not addressed, they will have a horrible end of their lives.

While the effects of reduction on a city level may be small when considered on a global scale, everybody has to do their tiny little piece, and every city has to do their little piece, Sweet said.

City Council member Ana Sandoval pointed to the increased intensity of storms and the rising frequency of flooding fueled by climate change as ways San Antonians are affected, whether they realize it or attribute that to fossil fuel usage.

She encouraged the committee to find events throughout the city to attend, to reach people who arent likely to seek out an Open House to learn about the plan.

The city has so much potential for greenhouse gas savings, she said. The gains are to be had here.

LTeitz@express-news.net | @LizTeitzA former MD Anderson Cancer Center scientist has been arrested on allegations he possessed child pornography on a computer hard drive, a charge he and his attorney emphatically denied Friday.

Keping Xie, a researcher in pancreatic cancer, resigned from MD Anderson in April, some three months after University of Texas-Houston police launched their investigation. He was arrested Aug. 20, according to Harris County court records.

I expect him to be cleared of all the allegations, said Nathan Mays, Xies attorney. Once the evidence has been sufficiently examined, it will show that Dr. Xie never intentionally or knowingly possessed any unlawful images.

Xie and Mays also dismissed as ludicrous media reports that the FBI is investigating the cancer researcher for possible espionage on behalf of China. Mays said the FBI showed no interest in talking to Xie when he offered to answer any questions they might have. Mays said the report this week by NBC News was the first Xie and he heard of the suggestion.

The charge is absurd, said Xie, 56. Ive been in Houston 29 years with one institution, MD Anderson, where I didnt do anything but search for the cure for cancer. Ive never committed any espionage.

In a statement, MD Anderson said it is not aware Xie has stolen any intellectual property.

A spokeswoman for the FBI said they could neither confirm nor deny whether they are conducting investigations.

Xie is accused of possessing five child pornography images. Free on a $25,000 bond, he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted of the third-degree felony of possession of child pornography. He has surrendered his passport after appearing last month in front of state District Judge Denise Collins.

Mays said the thumbnail-sized images, located in a recycle bin on an external hard drive, havent been accessed since they were placed there in 2013. He said how they got there is a mystery and added that a computer forensic analyst he hired said it is not uncommon for such images to be accidentally downloaded.

The case dates to January, when a computer security officer, using a program to watch what Xie was doing on his MD Anderson computer, saw the researcher appear to alter a restaurant receipt using Photoshop. He referred the matter to the University of Texas at Houston police to investigate as a possible case of tampering with a government record.

Xie agreed to cooperate with the investigation and consented to a search where police took more than 80 electronic devices out of his home and lab, including laptops and external hard drives, Mays said. The police also had a judge sign a search warrant at 1 a.m. to search Xies computers in case he refused.

That data, about 40 terabytes, contained years of test results and other work, including those of his assistants, said Mays.

UT police hired an outside firm to conduct a forensic investigation of the data as part of their investigation of tampering with a government record.

In March, that firm notified UT police that they suspected five images to be known child pornography. The police at UT took that report to the Internet Crimes Against Children unit at the Houston Police Department, where a detective said he believed the images were child pornography.

But HPD did not seek charges and instead sent the case back to the UT police department  unusual, Mays said, because HPD typically arrest suspects once child pornography is detected.

Theyre the local experts in this field, Mays said.

In June, the UT police got another search warrant to search Xies computers again but found nothing new, according to court documents. Two months later, Xie was arrested.

HPD referred questions to the UT police, who referred questions to MD Andersons administration. It issued a statement noting only that Xie resigned in April and faces charges in Harris County district court for possession of child pornography as a result of a criminal investigation conducted by the University of Texas Police Department at Houston and the Houston Police Department.

Mays said Xie resigned because he was humiliated by the charges, stressing his complicated relationship with an institution he successfully sued in 2011 to gain tenure. Xie said he was tired of being put under the microscope.

Xie applied for a job as chairman of the department of interdisciplinary oncology at the University of Arizona in late 2017 and was hired in July 2018. He was placed on administrative leave after the school learned of the charges against him, said a spokesman.

Keping Xie came to the University of Arizona in July before the university was aware of any allegations or charges made against him, Chris Sigurdson, vice president of communications, said in a statement. Upon learning of the charges, Xie was immediately placed on administrative leave and directed not to come to campus.

Mays said Xie hadnt told Arizona officials of the investigation because he didnt expect anything to come of it.

This child pornography charge is the second against an MD Anderson professor in the last few years. Dr. Dennis Patrick Hughes, a pediatrician, was charged with possession of child pornography in June 2015 and sentenced to seven years in prison in December 2016.

In that case, MD Anderson immediately reached out to Hughes patients to share the news. There was no such disclosure of the allegations against Xie, said an MD Anderson spokeswoman, because he is no longer employed by the institution and never was involved in patient care.

todd.ackerman@chron.com

twitter.com/chronmed

brian.rogers@chron.com

twitter.com/brianjrogersCayden Marsalvo carefully considered his options, looking over a brand new box of chalk.

The 3-year old settled on black, using it to scribble a stem on the green apple hed drawn on the damp bricks of Houston Street.

Nearby, in the middle of the intersection of Houston and Soledad, 5-year-olds Jacob Guevara and Angelina Tamez drew an ambulance.

They take care of people, Guevara said, his hands and knees covered in red and white chalk dust.

They were part of a second wave of artists turning Houston Street and Main Avenue into works of art, after a sudden downpour in the middle of Saturdays 15th annual Artpace Chalk It Up turned masterpieces into colorful puddles.

While many of the murals, including those by the 70 school groups competing against each other, were left soggy and blurred by the rain, those who stayed took to the streets again when the skies cleared.

Cole Jimenez, 24, who used blue and white chalk to write your voice matters on the bridge over the river, said the festival highlighted how everyone can participate in creating art.

She wanted to leave a small, encouraging message for people walking by, she said.

Bryan Naylor, 29, Jimenezs boyfriend, left a practical note, drawing Early Oct. 22-Nov. 2 in bright colors to remind people to participate in the upcoming elections.

He was excited to see so many young people downtown, participating in something more than just nightlife, he said.

Others drew animals, abstract patterns or professed their loyalty to the Spurs on the pavement. Professional artists and local companies also contributed murals to the temporary canvas.

Its amazing to see different people and their creativity, said 9-year-old Alejandra Salas, as she drew flowers, a globe and the words we are the world.

Carolina Carrizales, 14, a student who had arrived in the morning to compete with her classmates, stayed until the end of the festival, working on a detailed drawing of Lady Gaga and a rainbow set of wings with the lyrics from her song Born This Way.

Shes one of my inspirations, she said of Lady Gaga. I just wanted to put her out there.

The winner of the student competition, which several schools waited eagerly to hear, wont be announced until later this week. Event chairwoman Alexandra Cavazos asked teachers to email pictures of their creations, because many were ruined by the rain before they were judged.

Thank you for being resilient, she told the smaller, but still eager crowd who waited out the storm.

Not even rain can wash us away, Councilman Roberto Trevino said.

LTeitz@express-news.net | @LizTeitzA man recovered Friday after being swept away by the floodwaters of the Sabinal River was identified as Patrick Ojeda by the Uvalde County Sheriffs Office.

Ojeda, who was in his twenties, was found dead about one mile from the bridge he was swept from Wednesday, according to the sheriffs office. He was driving a truck when it stalled in the water on FM 187. Rescue crews began searching and Ojeda was found Friday morning.Those who donate blood or platelets at South Texas Blood & Tissue Center locations will get free breakfast tacos from Las Palapas restaurants during October.

The special offer includes a Las Palapas coupon for two free breakfast tacos and one FREEquent buyers card that donors may present at any of the restaurants. The offer for one free taco is valid when presenting the card.

Officials said the summer months saw a 20 percent drop in donations of blood and its urgent to replenish supplies.

Dr. Samantha Gomez Ngamsuntikul, STBTC associate medical director, said donors dont give blood for food or a T-shirt, but its a good way to say thanks.

Weve had some great local partners in the past, Ngamsuntikul said, and we hope our donors enjoy this small token of our appreciation.

Donors with O-negative and O-positive blood are encouraged to schedule a donation appointment.

According to the STBTC, more than 600,000 units of O-negative are used in emergencies every year in emergencies in addition to procedures that range from cancer treatments to surgeries.

To donate blood, donors must present photo identification, birth date and last four digits of his or her Social Security number. Anyone 17 and older may donate, but must weigh at least 110 pounds and be in general good health. Potential donors younger than 16 must have a consent form signed by a parent and weigh at least 120 pounds.

Donors are encouraged to eat a good meal and hydrate before and after the donation.

For more information or to make an appointment, call 210-731-5590 or visit https://southtexasblood.org/.

Vincent T. Davis is a reporter in the Greater San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | vtdavis@express-news.net | Twitter: @vincentdavisChainsaws whined in the air Saturday morning as volunteers cleared a long-lost African-American graveyard on the Northeast Side.

Among the sweat-drenched workers was retired Air Force Maj. J. Michael Wright, who had a link to the clean-up project. In the late 1990s hed walk his two children to Northern Hills Elementary and wonder who owned the property near Uhr Lane and Higgins Road.

His concern about the overgrown lot in his subdivision led to historians learning that the 1.4 acre lot was the Hockley Cemetery, part of Wetmore, an black enclave, near the San Antonio International Airport.

Wright and fellow volunteers cut through decades-old growth to find softballs, rusted beer cans and a buried boot. Then they saw possible signs of the past  a headstone piece and a grave marker.

Wright had his eye on touching a back fence he couldnt see for years.

Its exciting, he said. People kind of forgot about it. It was hidden and surrounded by houses on three sides.

More than 100 volunteers took part in the clean up hosted by the San Antonio African American Community Archive Museum. The Hockley Cemetery, along with the Winters Family Cemetery and Griffin Cemetery, were once part of African-American settlements on the outskirts of Bexar County.

Historian and landscape architect Everett L. Fly said the Center for Archaeological Research, at the University of Texas at San Antonio, will use GPS equipment Monday to take readings at the site. The project, estimated to take a year, will include genealogical research and a proposal for ground-penetrating radar to determine how many graves are at the site.

This is groundbreaking, he said, but it also shows us how big the gap is. All of the work that San Antonio does with historic preservation culture and in 300 years this is the first time weve recovered an African-American site.

In 2014, Wright contacted Bexar County archivist David Carlson who found deeds and historical data connected to the cemetery. Documents showed that Jane Warren, a black woman owned the land and had her own cattle brand YOK, a trademark embroidered on caps organizers gave to volunteers.

When Warren sold the property, the sale didnt include the cemetery. Fly said one of Warrens descendants authorized the work.

Wright emailed Fly copies of the archives. That led to exacting research with help from the San Antonio Conservation Society, the Citys Office of Historic Preservation and the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation.

Word of the project drew workers for 2-hour shifts from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. College fraternity and sorority members stacked piles of brush beside high school students. Mothers and children dragged branches from the property.

Nicole Carr, an assistant professor of English at Texas A&M-San Antonio, worked beside Victoria Burris, one of her students.

This is a good community turnout, Carr said. People are coming out to be part of the change that we talk about, that we want to see happen.

Burris, 21, said she plans to keep up with the progress at the Hockley Cemetery Clean Up Facebook page.

It felt humbling, Burris, 21, said. Were bringing back identities of people that was erased by nature.

Director of the African American Studies Program at UTSA, Karla D. Broadus, planted orange flags on spots bearing possible graves.

If we can show the enrichment, then maybe other people will come out, Broadus said. This is a wake up call.

During a lunch break, volunteers gathered behind the site at Northern Hills Elementary School, where former District 10 Councilman Mike Gallagher thanked the workers and organizers.

This is a historic moment for our part of San Antonio, he said. I want this history to be a part of history again.

Melanie Winters Brooks has relatives buried in the three cemeteries. Standing at the site with her husband, Mike she the site was proof her family left their footprint in Bexar County.

By noon, the volunteers had cleared a wide swath through the dense foliage.

Eddie Strait hacked away at tall branches. He joined the crew along with his wife, Jennifer and sons, Marquail and Josiah, to remember African-Americans who settled the land.

When people say Remember the Alamo you dont hear much about people of color, he said. But just knowing we were here at that time is very impactful to me and my family.

Vincent T. Davis is a reporter in the Greater San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | vtdavis@express-news.net | Twitter: @vincentdavisThe fire unions proposed changes to the city of San Antonios charter will be found toward the end of the ballot, but they are of the highest importance and arguably carry the greatest local impact for voters.

We strongly recommend voters reject all three proposals, which are masked as populist local governance but are really tools for the fire union to have its way with the city in a prolonged contract dispute.

Thats not just our take. Chris Steele, the fire unions president, has said this in a recently released recording.

These proposals are all about the unions contract  not about whats best for the public. Collectively, the proposed charter changes risk the citys Triple-A bond rating, could make it much more difficult for the city to attract the best and brightest talent, and could open the door for small interest groups to hijack city governance.

To support these proposed changes is an act of self-sabotage. A vote for these changes is a vote to make San Antonio a less competitive, more volatile city. Its a vote to either raise local taxes and fees or slash services.

Proposition A would reduce the signature threshold for referendums from 75,000 to 20,000 and allow for referendums on appropriations, taxes, utility rates, zoning and other concerns.

Proposition B would limit the terms of future city managers to eight years and cap compensation to 10 times the lowest paid city employee.

Proposition C would give the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association the sole right to declare an impasse in negotiations with the city, sending the matter to arbitration.

On the surface, each of these propositions has a certain appeal, but a deeper reading reveals serious flaws.

Lowering the signature threshold to 20,000 is not a pathway for the citys residents to have a greater voice in local governance, as some have argued. Its really a pathway for special interests to undercut the public by placing items on the ballot without demonstrating some amount of broad community support or interest.

It would essentially make decisions by the City Council, big or small, open to repeal by special interest. This would create incredible financial uncertainty because any tax or utility rate could be unwound by citizen initiative. This is why the ratings agencies have warned voters about a possible downgrade.

It also undercuts elected officials. The reality is that voters already have a direct say in local governance by choosing the mayor and City Council representatives. If voters dont like whats happening at City Hall, they can vote out incumbents.

Proposition B likely sounds appealing to many voters, especially anyone who is upset about City Manager Sheryl Sculleys base compensation of $475,000. But this proposition does not affect her compensation. It is for future city managers.

While we understand why some voters have concerns about a public official earning so much, a salary cap only limits the applicant pool of future city managers. Why would we do that? An aside, while Sculleys compensation is a frequent point of community strife, she has saved taxpayers millions of dollars through the citys Triple-A bond rating, which is a reflection of her financial prowess.

Term limits would effectively turn future city managers into lame ducks when they reach their sixth year of service. Again, how does the community benefit from something so arbitrary? If a city manager is dynamic, it would be in the publics interest to retain that person longer than eight years. If that person is not hitting the mark, the mayor and council can make a switch.

Proposition C is a giveaway to the fire union. It would not apply to other unions and is designed simply to give the fire union leverage over the city. Bear in mind, in four years, the fire union has never negotiated with the city over a new contract. Not once. Proposition C would codify this, allowing the union to never negotiate with city management.

For comparison, the San Antonio Police Officers Association negotiated a very favorable contract with the city that included a 3 percent lump sum bonus, a wage increase of 14 percent over four years and minor, but necessary, cost shifts on health care.

For those who have grievances with the priorities at City Hall, or believe Sculley makes too much money and has held her post for too long, or simply want to show support for the fire union, there are better ways to address those concerns.

These propositions are reckless and could do long-term harm to city government.

Voters would be wise to reject all three.Air Serbia is expected to launch operations between Belgrade and Brac in mid-May 2019, which would make the island its fifth destination in Croatia. "Over the past few years we have held a number of talks with Air Serbia with the aim of establishing nonstop flights to Belgrade. The short length of the runway, which was extended last year, was one of the obstacles but no longer poses a problem to our cooperation", Brac Airport's General Manager, Tonci Peovic, said. He added that the airline is expected to introduce two or three weekly seasonal flights from the Serbian capital with an ATR72 aircraft.





The General Manager recently held talks with the Serbian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, Rasim Ljajic, to discuss the route's potential. "Air Serbia would cover the leisure market from Belgrade which consisted of 20.000 arrivals to Brac and Hvar this year, ethnic travel to cater for the needs of a large number of families, as well as transfer traffic due to Air Serbia's excellent connectivity to the Middle East and the United States", Mr Peovic said. Serbian tour operators have also requested for Air Serbia to introduce services to the Croatian island in 2019. A letter of intent by agencies was submitted to the Serbian carrier earlier this year in which agencies committed themselves to purchasing seventy seats per flight.





Brac Airport handled a record 29.003 passengers during the first three quarters of the year, representing an increase of 37.8% on the same period in 2017. "In addition to Air Serbia, we are also in talks with a further ten carriers for flights in 2019, however, at this point, it is too early to comment on planned new routes", Mr Peovic said. He added, "We are very optimistic about next year, especially since we plan to begin the second phase of our expansion project, which includes the additional extension of the runway, as well as the terminal building". The island airport intends on extending the runway from the current 1.760 metres to 2.400 metres, and widening it from thirty metres to 45 metres. Last year, Brac Airport lengthened its runway by 320 metres, allowing it to handle jet-engine aircraft. The airport has also outlined plans to expand its terminal building in order enable it to handle three aircraft such as the Boeing 737-800 or the Airbus A320 at the same time. The project is expected to be completed by 2021.Ormat Technologies, Inc. operates as a holding company. The firm engages in the provision of geothermal and recovered energy power business. It operates through the following segments: Electricity, Product and Energy Storage. The Electricity segment focuses in the sale of electricity from the company's power plants pursuant to PPAs. The Product segment involves in the manufacture, including design and development, of turbines and power units for the supply of electrical energy and in the associated construction of power plants utilizing the power units manufactured by the company to supply energy from geothermal fields and other alternative energy sources. The Energy Storage segment consists of battery energy storage systems as a service and management of curtailable customer loads under contracts with U.S. retail energy providers and directly with large commercial and industrial customers. The company was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Reno, NV.

Read MoreiShares MSCI Austria ETF's stock was trading at $15.26 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, EWO shares have increased by 71.1% and is now trading at $26.11.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF's stock was trading at $25.60 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, EWU stock has increased by 30.7% and is now trading at $33.45.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.The following companies are subsidiares of Mohawk Industries: A&S Energie NV, A&U Energie NV, Aladdin Manufacturing Corporation, Aladdin Manufacturing Of New York LLC, Aladdin Manufacturing of Alabama LLC, Alsace Logistique S.A., Avelgem Green Power CVBA, Avon Pacific Holdings Ltd, B&M NV, BGE Mexico S. de R. L. de C.V., Berghoef GmbH, Berghoef-Hout B.V., Bienes Raices y Materiales del Centro S. de R.L. de C.V., C.F. Marazzi S.A., Canterbury Spinners Ltd, Carpet Foundation Ltd, Cevotrans BV, Ceramus Bahia S/A  Produtos Ceramicos, DT Mex Holdings LLC, DTM/CM Holdings LLC, Dal Italia LLC, Dal-Elit LLC, Dal-Tile Chile Comercial Limitada, Dal-Tile Colombia S.A.S., Dal-Tile Distribution Inc., Dal-Tile Group Inc., Dal-Tile I LLC, Dal-Tile Industrias S. de R.L. de C.V., Dal-Tile International Inc., Dal-Tile Mexico Comercial S. de R.L. de C.V., Dal-Tile Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Dal-Tile Operaciones Mexico S. De R.L. De C.V., Dal-Tile Peru SRL, Dal-Tile Puerto Rico Inc., Dal-Tile Services Inc., Dal-Tile Shared Services Inc., Dal-Tile Tennessee LLC, Dal-Tile of Canada ULC, Daltile, Daltile, Dekaply NV, Durkan, Dynea NV, Eliane Argentina Sociedad Anonima, Eliane S/A - Revestimentos Ceramicos, Emilceramica India Pvt Ltd., Emilceramica S.r.l, Emilgermany GmbH, Emilgroup Asia Ltd, Explorer S.r.l., F.I.L.S. Investments Unlimited Company, Feltex Carpets Ltd, Feltex Carpets Pty Ltd, Feltex New Zealand Ltd, Fibremakers Australia Pty Ltd, Flooring Foundation Ltd, Flooring Industries Limited S.a r.l., Flooring XL B.V., Floorscape Limited, Godfrey Hirst & Co Pty Ltd, Godfrey Hirst (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Godfrey Hirst Australia Pty Ltd, Godfrey Hirst Group, Godfrey Hirst NZ Ltd, Hytherm (Ireland) Limited, IVC BVBA, IVC Far-East Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., IVC France S.a r.l., IVC GROUP LIMITED, IVC Green Power NV, IVC Group, IVC Group GmbH, IVC Luxembourg S.a r.l., IVC Rus OOO, IVC US Inc., International Flooring Systems S.a r.l., International Vinyl Company - Vostok OOO, KAI Group, KAI Keramica Ltd, KAI Mining EOOD, KERAMA CENTER OOO, Kerama Baltics OOO, Kerama Export OOO, Kerama Marazzi OOO, Kerampromservis (LLC), Khan Asparuh - Transport EOOD, Khan Asparuh AD, Khan Omurtag AD, Koninklijke Peitsman B.V., Kraj Kerama OOO, MG China Trading Ltd., MI Finance SRL, MUD (Holding) Brazil Ltda., Management Co EAD, Marazzi Acquisition S.r.l., Marazzi Deutschland G.m.b.H., Marazzi France Trading S.A.S., Marazzi Group, Marazzi Group F.Z.E., Marazzi Group S.r.l., Marazzi Group Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Marazzi Iberia S.L.U., Marazzi Japan Co. Ltd., Marazzi Middle East FZ LLC, Marazzi Schweiz S.A.G.L., Marazzi UK Ltd., Mohawk Assurance Services Inc., Mohawk Australia Pty Ltd, Mohawk Canada Corporation, Mohawk Capital Finance S.A., Mohawk Capital Luxembourg SA, Mohawk Carpet Distribution Inc., Mohawk Carpet Foundation Inc., Mohawk Carpet LLC, Mohawk Carpet Transportation Of Georgia LLC, Mohawk Commercial Inc., Mohawk ESV Inc., Mohawk Europe BVBA, Mohawk Factoring II Inc., Mohawk Factoring LLC, Mohawk Finance S.a r.l., Mohawk Foreign Acquisitions S.a r.l., Mohawk Foreign Funding S.a.r.l, Mohawk Foreign Holdings S.a r.l., Mohawk Foreign Investments Inc., Mohawk Global Investments S.a r.l., Mohawk Holdings International B.V., Mohawk Industries Inc., Mohawk International (Europe) S.a r.l., Mohawk International (Hong Kong) Limited, Mohawk International Capital N.V., Mohawk International Financing S.a.r.l, Mohawk International Holdings (DE) LLC, Mohawk International Holdings S.a r.l., Mohawk International Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk International Netherlands B.V., Mohawk International Services BVBA, Mohawk KAI Luxembourg Holding S.a r.l., Mohawk KAI Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Capital S.A., Mohawk Luxembourg Financing S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Holdings S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Investments S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Pacific S.a r.l., Mohawk Marazzi International BV, Mohawk Marazzi Russia BV, Mohawk New Zealand Limited, Mohawk Operaciones Mexicali S. de R.L. de C.V., Mohawk Operations Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk Pacific Investments S.a r.l., Mohawk Resources LLC, Mohawk Servicing LLC, Mohawk Singapore Private Limited, Mohawk Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Mohawk Unilin Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk United Finance B.V., Mohawk United International B.V., Mohawk Vinyl Financing S.a r.l., Molber Beheer B.V., Monarch Ceramic Tile Inc., P.F. Onroerend Goed B.V., PF Beheer B.V., Pergo, Pergo (Europe) AB, Pergo Holding BV, Pergo India Pvt Ltd, Polcolorit S.A., Premium Floors Australia Pty Limited, RR Apex LLC, Rata International Pty Ltd, Recubrimientos Interceramica S. de R.L. de C.V., Riverside Textiles Pty Ltd, S.C. KAI Ceramics SRL, Sibir Kerama OOO, SimpleSolutions USA LLC, Soft Step (Australia) Pty Ltd, Spano Group, Spano Invest BVBA, Spano NV, Stroyagromekhzapchast ChaO, Stroytrans OAO Orelstroy, Summit Wool Spinners Ltd, The Flooring Federation Ltd, Tiles Co OOD, Unilin (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Unilin ApS, Unilin Arauco Pisos Ltda., Unilin BVBA, Unilin Beheer BV, Unilin Distribution Ltd., Unilin Distribution Ukraine LLC, Unilin Finland OY, Unilin Flooring India Private Limited, Unilin Flooring SAS, Unilin GmbH, Unilin Holding BVBA, Unilin Insulation BV, Unilin Insulation SAS, Unilin Insulation Sury SAS, Unilin Italia S.R.L., Unilin North America LLC, Unilin Norway AS, Unilin OOO, Unilin Panels SAS, Unilin Poland Sp.Z.o.o., Unilin SAS, Unilin Spain SL, Unilin Swiss GmbH, Unilin s.r.o., World International Inc., Xtratherm, Xtratherm Limited, Xtratherm S.A., and Xtratherm UK Limited.iShares MSCI Thailand ETF's stock was trading at $63.83 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 (Coronavirus) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, THD shares have increased by 23.5% and is now trading at $78.82.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.iShares MSCI Switzerland ETF's stock was trading at $35.66 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, EWL shares have increased by 42.3% and is now trading at $50.75.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.The following companies are subsidiares of Ingersoll Rand: 211 E. Russell Road LLC, Air-Relief, Belliss & Morcom Brasil, Belliss and Morcom, Boardwalk Enterprises, Charm Merger Sub Inc., CompAir, CompAir (Hankook) Korea Co. Ltd., CompAir Acquisition (No. 2) Ltd., CompAir Acquisition Ltd., CompAir BroomWade Ltd., CompAir Canada, CompAir Finance Ltd., CompAir GmbH, CompAir Holdings Limited, CompAir Holman Ltd, CompAir International Trading (Shanghai) Co Ltd, CompAir Korea Ltd, CompAir South Africa (SA) (Pty) Ltd., CompAir UK Ltd, CompAir USA, Consolidated Distribution Holdings Ltd., DV Systems Inc., Emco Wheaton, Emco Wheaton GmbH Branch, Emco Wheaton Gmbh, Emco Wheaton UK, Emco Wheaton USA Inc, Enza Air Propriety Limited (South Africa), GD Aria Holdings #2 Limited, GD Aria Holdings Limited, GD Aria Investments Limited, GD First UK Ltd, GD German Holdings GmbH, GD German Holdings I Gmbh, GD German Holdings II GmbH, GD German Investments GmbH, GD Global Holdings, GD Global Holdings II, GD Global Holdings UK II Ltd., GD Global Ventures I B.V., GD Global Ventures II B.V., GD Global Ventures III B.V., GD Industrial Products Malaysia SDN. BHD., GD Investment KY, GD UK Finance Ltd., Gardner Denver (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Austria GmbH, Gardner Denver Bad Neustadt Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Belgium NV, Gardner Denver Brasil Industria E Comercio de Maquinas Ltda., Gardner Denver CZ + SK sro, Gardner Denver Canada Corp, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Ltd., Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Ltd. - US Branch, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Ltd., Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Ltd. - US Branch, Gardner Denver Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Engineered Products India Private Limited, Gardner Denver FZE, Gardner Denver Finance II LLC, Gardner Denver Finance Inc & Co KG, Gardner Denver France SA, Gardner Denver France SAS, Gardner Denver Group Services Ltd, Gardner Denver Group Svcs Ltd, Gardner Denver Hoffman, Gardner Denver Holdings, Gardner Denver Holdings Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Investments Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Ltd, Gardner Denver Iberica, Gardner Denver Industries Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd. Branch, Gardner Denver International, Gardner Denver International Ltd., Gardner Denver Intl Ltd Middle East Regional Rep Office, Gardner Denver Investments, Gardner Denver Italy Holdings S.r.L., Gardner Denver Japan, Gardner Denver Kirchhain Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Korea, Gardner Denver Korea Ltd, Gardner Denver Ltd, Gardner Denver Ltd South Africa, Gardner Denver Ltd., Gardner Denver Ltd. Branch (Ireland), Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co, Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Gardner Denver Nash Brasil Industria E Comercio De Bombas Ltda, Gardner Denver Nash Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Nash LLC, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd., Gardner Denver Nederland BV, Gardner Denver Nederland Investments B.V., Gardner Denver Oberdorfer Pumps, Gardner Denver Oy, Gardner Denver Petroleum Pumps, Gardner Denver Polska Sp z.o.o., Gardner Denver Pte Ltd., Gardner Denver S.r.l., Gardner Denver Schopfheim GmbH, Gardner Denver Schopfheim Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Schweiz AG, Gardner Denver Slovakia, Gardner Denver SudAmerica S.r.l., Gardner Denver Sweden AB, Gardner Denver Taiwan Ltd., Gardner Denver Thomas, Gardner Denver Thomas GmbH, Gardner Denver Thomas Pneumatic Systems (Wuxi) Co., Gardner Denver Thomas Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver UK, Gardner Denver Water Jetting Systems, Garo Dott. Ing. Roberto Gabbioneta S.r.l., Hamworthy Belliss & Morcom, ILMVAC (UK) Ltd., ILS Innovative Labor Systeme, ILS Inovative Laborsysteme GmbH, Indonesia Foreign Trade Representative Office, LeROI, LeRoi International Inc, MP Pumps Inc., Mako Compressors, Nash, Nash Elmo, Oina VV, Oina VV Aktiebolag, Robuschi, Rotary Compression Technologies, Runtech Systems, Runtech Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Runtech Systems Inc., Runtech Systems OY, Shanghai CompAir Compressors Co Ltd, Shanghai Compressors & Blowers Ltd., Syltone, TCM Investments, TIWR Real Estate GmbH & Co. KG, TODO AB, Tamrotor Marine Compressors AS, Thomas Industries, Thomas Industries Inc., Tri-Continent Scientific, Welch Vacuum Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zinsser Analytic, Zinsser Analytik GmbH, and Zinsser NA.iShares Latin America 40 ETF's stock was trading at $22.49 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, ILF shares have increased by 11.6% and is now trading at $25.11.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.Valley National Bancorp is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of retail and commercial banking services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Lending; Commercial Lending; Investment Management; and Corporate and Other Adjustments. The Consumer Lending segment consists of residential mortgage loans, automobile loans and home equity loans, as well as wealth management and insurance services. The Commercial Lending segment includes the floating rate and adjustable rate commercial and industrial loans as well as fixed rate owner occupied and commercial real estate loans. The Investment Management segment refers to investments in various types of securities and interest-bearing deposits with other banks. The Corporate and Other Adjustments segment represents the income and expense items not directly attributable to a specific segment. The company was founded on November 12, 1982 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Read Moreby Anthony Cervino | Vikings Correspondent | Sun, Oct 14th 5:31am EDT

ESPN's Adam Schefter is reporting Vikings RB Dalvin Cook (hamstring) is expected to play, but only for "about half" the offensive snaps if he does, in Week 6. (Adam Schefter on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact:

While Cook was always likely to play on Sunday, his potential limited role will deflate his fantasy value. As a result, expect to see a lot of a struggling Latavius Murray against the Cardinals. While the Vikings running game has been atrocious, their get-right matchup with the Cardinals could begin to change their fortunes. However, despite the fact that Cook could be on the field, I'm not sure he is startable in fantasy, especially if you can afford o sit him until he is fully healthy. While Cook is a risky, workload-dependent Flex option in Week 6, this could be a game in which Murray returns back-end RB2 value. Arizona is surrendering the most FPPG to opposing running backs through five games.A farm consultant has analysed the preliminary results and forecast returns this year for contract farms following the best harvest result for five years in 2017.

The early indications from preliminary results returns for the 2018 harvest on combinable cropping contract farms within Fisher Germans analysis are showing significant variation in output and returns, according to farm consultant Tom Paybody.

Spring crops have been most affected by the drought conditions, with both spring barley and spring bean yields 50 per cent below budgeted expectations in some areas.

Increased prices have mitigated the reduced yields to some extent but in most cases a proportion of the harvest was sold forward before harvest and the recent peak of prices.

For the contract farming agreements in the sample, the 2017 harvest was the best result for five years. Data demonstrates that returns are, of course, intrinsically linked to the price of feed wheat.

There will be many agreements, particularly on heavier soils with a majority of winter cropping where the 2018 result will continue the upward trend. Others, with a predominance of spring cropping, or lighter soils will unfortunately show poorer returns than 2017.

While Fisher German expect the range in output per hectare to be exaggerated for the 2018 harvest, the extent of the range of results in previous harvests is wider than might be expected.

In 2016, total output ranged from 687/ha to 1,308/ha and in 2017 from 894/ha to 1,565/ha.

The range in input costs per hectare is influenced to a degree by cropping mix and situation, but the management of purchasing decisions has a significant influence. Many of the contract farms with the highest output per hectare have some of the lowest input costs per hectare.

Similarly, it is expected the variance for the 2018 to be predominantly influenced by cropping and soil type, recent history shows that in fact the same contract farms tend to produce the highest outputs - and indeed margins - year after year, regardless of cropping mix.

The best performing agreements are those where there is a long-term commitment from both farmer and contractor, enabling both parties to implement practices to make long term improvements to soil health and structure.

The extreme weather experienced during the 2017-18 season has tested even the most resilient of systems, but it should come as no surprise that the best performing sites are those with well drained heavy soils.

These were able to cope with a wet winter without restricting crop root growth, which then enabled these crops to buffer against the drought conditions experienced in late spring and summer.

Fisher German data shows that the returns to the contractor, even in the poor years of 2015 and 2016, have been 400 and 384 per hectare which would still allow for a small profit margin in most situations.

Returns in 2017 of 477 per hectare represent a good year for contractors showing that there is merit in agreements being structured to incentivise good performance.

Returns to the farmer for the same period with the inclusion of subsidy payments have been 291 per hectare in 2015 and 299 in 2016. 2017 figures show a sharp increase to 424 per hectare, with the average for 2018 forecast to be similar in most cases.

The average across the four years being similar or slightly favourable to Farm Business Tenancy rents. In many cases the farmer is also supplementing their income with Environmental Stewardship income outside of a contract farming agreement.

The impact that Brexit and ensuing policy changes have on the structure of contract farming agreements is uncertain.

What is clear is that from a farmers point of view, entering into agreements with progressive contractors with high levels of attention to detail and the economies of scale to co-ordinate purchasing of inputs and employ the highest skilled labour and technology, will enable their farming enterprises to be as resilient as possible.The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you, we are excited to offer 4 weeks FREE Digital & Print access to all subscribers new and returning alike.

We are dedicated to continuing providing reliable, high quality journalism. This is possible with the trust and support of our subscribers in the community we are proud to serve.Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release

SubCategory Select Sub-CategoryUn tournoi historique marque par le triomphe portugais

Le Portugal simpose au terme dun parcours impressionnant

Le Japon et lEspagne completent le podium

La Bolivie cree la surprise dans une competition riche en buts

Le Tournoi de Futsal feminin des Jeux Olympiques de la Jeunesse, Buenos Aires 2018 constituait une premiere a double titre car il marque les debuts de la discipline sur la scene olympique et constitue la premiere competition de futsal feminine organisee par la FIFA. Le Portugal entre donc dans lhistoire en decrochant la medaille dor, de meme que le Japon et lEspagne en sadjugeant respectivement largent et le bronze. Les trois equipes medaillees ainsi que la Bolivie et la Thailande sont apparues un cran au-dessus des cinq autres selections engagees dans la competition. Presente comme lun des favoris dans la course a lor, le Portugal na pas failli a sa reputation, comme en temoignent ses performances impressionnantes. Les Portugaises ont remporte leurs six matches, inscrit 57 buts (soit une moyenne de 9,5 buts par match, 0,08 de plus que la moyenne du tournoi). Imperiales en defense, elles ont conserve leurs cages inviolees a trois reprises, signant par la meme occasion un nouvel exploit.How Film-Making Happened To Zoya

Zoya revealed in one of her interviews, "Growing up, I obviously loved the movies but I wasn't sure if I wanted to make them because the '80s were so bad. I thought maybe I'll go into advertising." So, while she was still studying at St Xavier's College, she started working at adman Adi Pocha's Script Shop. However, watching Salaam Bombay! changed the trajectory of her career. At 21, Zoya worked with Mira Nair on Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love before heading to New York University (NYU) for an advanced diploma course in filmmaking. "Once I came back from NYU, I was ready to make my first film," Zoya reveals.

Zoya As A Kid

Zoya's mother Honey Irani was quoted as saying in an old interview with Rediff, "As a child, Zoya was very sensible but I would have a hard time with Farhan. He was a brat. When we would travel abroad, I would take them to a toy shop and ask them to select two toys each, as I could not afford more than that. Zoya would select her toys and come out. But Farhan could never make a decision and never come out of the shop. I would literally have to drag him out! Even late nights. I would let Zoya go for late night parties but never allowed Farhan because I could trust Zoya to do certain things and come home by 10pm but if I asked Farhan to come home at 10pm, he would come home at 4am! So I never allowed him to go. He would get very angry and complain that I let Zoya go even though she's a girl, but not me. There would be tension in the house. But Zoya was a responsible child so I could rely on her.

When Zoya was small, she would complete whatever you gave her to do, without any mistakes."

She Is A Wanderlust

"I try to go to a new country at least once every year. There is so much to see in the world. It really opens your mind up. It makes you come out of the little hole you are in where you think that your problems and the Hindi film industry is everything. I love food, seeing new places and trying new things."

Zoya On The Film Which Moved Her

"A work that really moved me was Starry Nights by Van Gogh in MoMA, New York -- I had chills. I had a physical reaction to the painting -- my heart just flew out of my chest... And I started crying. I still don't know what it was -- but I just felt him."Last year, actor Dileep was expelled from AMMA shortly after being arrested in connection with the actress assault case. And, as expected, this created a great deal of buzz in the industry. Following this, the Ramleela actor spend nearly 50 days in custody before getting bail. A few months ago, he was taken back in to the organisation much to the shock of the attacked actress. The move was also criticised by a few members of the Kannada film industry. All in all, it became a major embarrassment for AMMA.

With the controversy in full swing, in August, AMMA met the Women In Cinema Collective(WCC) and tried to sort out the matter. Now, nearly two months later, WCC has spilled the beans on the minutes of the meeting and claimed that it was an 'eye wash'.

During a press conference, Parvathy, Padmapriya and Revathy claimed that AMMA was trying to shield Dileep and had refrained from giving any clear answers about the actor's standing in the organisation.

The ladies also claimed that the AMMA members kept finding fault in the WCC and admonished its members for not attending the AMMA meetings. Apparently, WCC even played a voice clip of the survivor and this left the AMMA members speechless.

The WCC went on to add that AMMA kept changing the rules to suit the organisation's needs and even spoke casually about the survivor. The ladies also implied that AMMA was 'duping' them and had taken no action following the victim's resignation.

Parvathy, Revathy and Padmapriya also said that President Mohanlal claimed that he was on the survivor's side but added he needed to check with the entire executive body before taking action.

While speaking about #MeToo , the WCC said that even though people in Bollywood are taking a stand against sexual harassment, those in Mollywood are still working with the accused.

This is a developing situation and it will be worth watching what happens next.A few days ago, the noted dubbing artiste Chinmayi claimed that the legendary poet Vairamuthu had once sexually harassed one of her close friends. She also shared a few messages that her friend had sent her about Vairamathu. Post this, she opened up about her own experience with the poet and claimed that he had once threatened to end her career. These revelations created a great deal of buzz in the industry and left everyone in a state of shock.

Now, the former Bigg Boss Tamil Season 2 contestant Aishwarya Dutta has expressed her views on the controversy. In a passionate tweet, she said that Chinmayi needs to be praised for speaking out against sexual harassment in the workplace. While speaking about the #MeToo movement, she said that it is important for women to join hands and the workplace safe.

"As a women and actor i fully support #MeToo ! More power to you both @Chinmayi and @Samanthaprabhu2 ! Strong ladies who truely inspired me. Lets join hands and make this field a safer place Hats off #MeeTooIndia #Metoomovement #Chinmayi," she added

In case you did not know, as part of the #MeToo campaign, women are naming and shaming sexual predators. So far, besides Vairamuthu, the likes of Radha Ravi, Raghu Dixit and the Kaala actor Nana Patekar have been accused of harassment.

Sri Reddy's Comments About Chinmayi And #MeToo Are Quite Hard-hittingFrom Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As...We are dealing with wood pellets A1, ash  0,7% max. We sell to France, Germany and Greece. Specify reasonable price for 15 kg packing, volume needed. Product photo and certificate required.Reuters

Jack Ma, executive chairman of Chinas Alibaba Group Holding, said on 13 October he plans to open an institute to train thousands of tech entrepreneurs in Indonesia, where he is already an adviser to the government on e-commerce.

Ma did not say when the Jack Ma Institute of Entrepreneurs would launch, but said the aim was to train 1,000 tech leaders a year over the next 10 years.

Were giving a lot of opportunities for young Indonesian people to learn, Ma told reporters after meeting Indonesian ministers on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings being hosted by Indonesia.

The co-founder of Alibaba, Chinas biggest e-commerce firm, said it is important for Indonesia to invest in human capital because only when people improve, when peoples minds change, when peoples skills improve, then we can enter the digital period.

Indonesia has a shortage of trained engineers in technology and the institute will also train hundreds of developers and engineers on cloud computing to help make Indonesian businesses more digital-savvy.

The country is a key market for Alibaba, whose cloud computing arm Alibaba Cloud launched a data center in Indonesia in March.

Ma said his company would continue to invest not only on e-commerce, but also cloud computing, logistics and...infrastructure in Indonesia, while also helping local businesses to grow.

Indonesian Communications Minister Rudiantara told Reuters in September that Indonesia was partnering with Ma to look into ways to harness Alibabas businesses to increase its exports, particularly to China.

McKinsey estimated in a report released on 20 August that the value of Indonesias e-commerce market will surge to at least $55 billion (42 billion) by 2022 from $8 billion in 2017.

On 12 October, Ma told a panel discussion at the IMF and World Bank meetings that the internet is designed for developing countries, with great opportunities in Africa also.Reuters

Two US senators have called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to soften Indias stance on data localisation, warning that measures requiring it represent key trade barriers between the two nations.

In a letter to Modi dated Friday and seen by Reuters, US Senators John Cornyn and Mark Warner  co-chairs of the Senates India caucus that comprises over 30 senators  urged India to instead adopt a light touch regulatory framework that would allow data to flow freely across borders.

The letter comes as relations between Washington and New Delhi are strained over multiple issues, including an Indo-Russian defence contract, Indias new tariffs on electronics and other items, and its moves to buy oil from Iran despite upcoming US sanctions.

Global payments companies including Mastercard, Visa and American Express have been lobbying Indias finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India to relax proposed rules that require all payment data on domestic transactions in India be stored inside the country by 15 October.

The letter is most likely a last-ditch effort after the RBI told officials at top payment firms this week that the central bank would implement, in full, its data localisation directive without extending the deadline, or allowing data to be stored both offshore as well as locally  a practice known as data mirroring.

We see this (data localisation) as a fundamental issue to the further development of digital trade and one that is crucial to our economic partnership, the US senators said in the letter that has not been previously reported.

Modis office did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Localisation Push

Other than the RBI proposal, India is working on an overarching data protection law that calls for storing all critical personal data in India. E-commerce and cloud computing policies are also being developed.

The letter also raised concerns on the draft data protection bill and e-commerce policy framework that called for stringent localisation measures.

These measures have unnerved some tech companies who fear it will increase their infrastructure costs, hit their global fraud detection analytic platforms and affect planned investments in India at a time when more and more Indians are going online and using digital payments.

US lobby groups, that represent companies such as Facebook Inc, Amazon.com and Alphabet Inc-owned Google, have also voiced concerns about the proposals.

Shamika Ravi, a member of Modis economic advisory council, had earlier told Reuters that the moves were in the long-term strategic and economic interest of the country.

The senators added that any concerns related to protection and security as well as access to data for lawful purposes were possible without restrictions on physical location, according to the letter.

Government sources have previously told Reuters though, that stringent data localisation measures were essential for gaining easier access to data during investigations.

The measures in India come at a time when countries around the world are announcing stringent rules to regulate how firms store data and protect privacy, in the aftermath of Facebooks Cambridge Analytica scandal.American defense contractors are making good on their promise to boost sales overseas. That diversification should come in handy as the Pentagon budget slows and domestic growth becomes more challenging.

U.S. contractors totaled $55.66 billion in foreign military sales in the recently completed government fiscal year, a 33% gain over prior-year totals, according to a report released by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

While these numbers tend to fluctuate year to year, the industry has a bit of a winning streak going. Last year's $41.93 billion total was a 24.8% increase over fiscal 2016, and with the current administration focused on streamlining the sales process and encouraging further orders, there's reason for optimism that the trend can continue into the new year.

The details

The 2018 total includes about $4.42 billion funded by the Defense Department and $3.52 billion funded by the State Department along with pure foreign government buys. The deals include large aircraft and equipment sales, including Boeing (NYSE:BA) deals to sell surveillance aircraft in Asia, as well as increased global interest in U.S. missile and missile defense. Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) and Raytheon (NYSE:RTN) have had success selling the Patriot missile defense system and the THAAD anti-ballistic defense system.

President Donald Trump and White House officials have been very vocal in pushing NATO members and other allies to increase defense spending, with the administration last April rolling out a "Buy American" program that eased restrictions on foreign sales and encouraged certain U.S. diplomats to take a more active role in facilitating sales.

Those moves were not without controversy, with human rights advocates and arms control proponents worrying about more sophisticated weaponry falling into more hands. Many career State Department officials have balked at the idea of serving as an outside sales force or advocates for U.S. corporations.

But despite the protests, the push seemingly is having the desired effect. In fiscal 2018 government officials cleared about $70 billion in potential foreign deals. While many of those have not yet been negotiated and confirmed, it gives the contractors a powerful pipeline to use to keep the winning streak going.

Military officials said that there are 14,556 foreign sales "open cases" currently being considered by the DSCA for equipment ranging from spare parts to new aircraft.

"There has never been better cooperation between industry and the interagency," Lt. Gen. Charles Hooper, director of the DSCA, said during a conference in Washington where the sales total was announced. "In my experience there has never been a time where there has been as much alignment, and as much cooperation."

Why it matters

The United States is, by far, the world's top military spender, accounting for $610 billion of the $1.74 trillion spent in 2017, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Still, it is dangerous to be overly reliant on one customer. A period of Washington budget battles earlier in the decade froze defense spending and sent defense shares tumbling, causing contractors to look overseas for growth.

Among U.S. contractors Raytheon, with its mix of advanced armaments, electronics, and defense systems, has been a leader in foreign sales, but others including Lockheed, Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC), and General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) have also made international growth a priority.

There are risks to the more aggressive White House stance. Calls by the U.S. for NATO allies to increase spending could help to revitalize a somewhat dormant European defense sector, potentially creating domestic alternatives for big-ticket purchases that would have otherwise been expected to go to U.S. titans.

But with Pentagon officials already signaling that they expect their budget to be flat in fiscal 2020 after two years of exceptional growth, that foreign slice of the pie is only going to grow in importance in the years to come. Foreign sales leaders like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon currently generate 30% or more of their revenue from international sales and are seeking to increase that percentage over time.

With defense shares trading near 10-year highs in terms of earnings and sales and Pentagon growth expected to slow, these companies are going to need new sources of revenue in the years to come to sustain the rally.

The fiscal 2018 foreign sales totals are a good sign for the industry. Assuming those totals are indeed repeatable, the case for buying into the sector even at these inflated levels is a lot easier to justify.By some measures, the global oil market is the strongest it has ever been. Demand recently reached a landmark level of 100 million barrels per day (BPD). Meanwhile, producers were able to pump out enough oil to meet demand despite a range of supply issues around the globe.

Yet there are increasing concerns about whether producers can continue pumping enough crude to meet demand, especially with output from Venezuela falling off a cliff while supplies from Iran are in decline due to U.S. sanctions. Those factors lead some market watchers to believe that a supply crunch could occur in the coming years, which would push crude prices even higher. That's why President Trump and the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) have called on OPEC to increase its supplies to keep a lid on prices, which are starting to grow out of hand.

OPEC, however, has resisted those calls because it sees a much different oil market up ahead, which was clear by the organization's most recent monthly report.

What OPEC sees in the oil market

OPEC predicts a few worrisome trends. First off, it anticipates slower demand growth up ahead. While it believes that oil demand will rise by about 1.54 million BPD this year, that's 80,000 BPD less than last month's estimate. Meanwhile, it sees demand increasing another 1.36 million BPD in 2019, though that's 50,000 BPD less than its prior forecast. Those numbers aren't all that different from the IEA's projections in its latest monthly oil market report. The agency projects demand growth of 1.3 million BPD in 2018 and 1.4 million in 2019, and these estimates are 110,000 BPD lower than its previous view for those years. Both organizations toned down their demand growth expectations due to the impact that higher oil prices and trade war concerns are having on global economic growth.

However, what has OPEC most worried is supplies, though its concerns differ from those of other oil market watchers. The IEA is among a growing number of forecasters that's increasingly worried that there won't be enough oil to meet demand in the next year. "The market has been reacting to perceptions of a possible supply shortage," says OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo. OPEC, on the other hand, sees things differently, and according to Barkindo, "The market remains well supplied." Furthermore, the organization's internal projections for 2019 "clearly show a possible rebuild of stocks [oil storage level]." That's why OPEC doesn't see the need to boost its output right now.

OPEC leaders aren't the only ones not worried about whether there will be enough oil supplies. The CEO of French oil giant Total (NYSE:TTE), Patrick Pouyanne, also believes "the market is well supplied." Total's CEO also noted that "inventories [storage level] are continuing to grow" and that "prices are high not because of demand but because of political issues."

How to invest amid the oil market's current uncertainty

If the IEA is right, then oil prices could continue surging over the next few months, potentially topping $100 a barrel if supply issues develop. That could cause the global economy to slow, which would hurt demand in the long run. On the other hand, if OPEC's view is correct, oil prices could cool off because there would be too much crude on the market once again. Those differing views could make the oil market a challenging one for investors in the next year.

However, many oil companies set their operations up to prosper in these very conditions. Take U.S. oil giant ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), which restructured its business so that it can thrive as long as oil is above $50 a barrel. At that price point, ConocoPhillips can generate enough cash to pay its dividend and invest in the new wells necessary to grow its production at a 5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2020, which would boost its cash flow at a 10% CAGR. Meanwhile, with oil well above that level, the company is producing a gusher of cash flow, which it's using to buy back its stock. ConocoPhillips has authorized a $15 billion repurchase program, which could retire as much as 20% of its outstanding shares in the next few years.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) is another oil company set to thrive at lower oil prices. The company recently completed its low oil price break-even plan, which will allow it to pay its high-yielding dividend, as well as maintain its current production rate, on the cash flows it can produce on $40 oil. Meanwhile, with crude above that level, Occidental Petroleum has the funds to grow production and buy back stock: It plans to repurchase as much as $2 billion in stock over the next year and a half.

Built for whatever the market throws their way

Two of the most-watched oil market reports offer very different views of what to expect in the coming months. So oil prices could be entering a very volatile period. While those ebbs and flows will likely take oil stocks on a wild ride, top-tier producers like ConocoPhillips and Occidental Petroleum should thrive no matter what happens in the coming year.About Me Scott Because prophetic scriptures are found throughout the bible, it is obvious that a comprehensive, systematic approach would be useful, if not necessary, for the understanding of prophecy. Past prophecies have been fulfilled in a literal manner, as confirmed by the dating of these writings and historical records of confirmation. These past prophecies also serve as a model of how to interpret future prophecies. A literal view of prophecy clearly indicates a certain sequence of events will occur within a single generation, concluding with the Tribulation and Second Advent and these events will be obvious. The prophetic signs appear to be present in this generation and we believe these signs are revealed in the news from around the world. View my complete profileNews

ACLU says county's bail fixes don't go far enough

GALVESTON

Seven months after being accused in federal court of running an unconstitutional bail system, Galveston County leaders say theyve made reforms to ensure poor people spend less time in jail before seeing a judge and chance to go free.

Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union said Friday, however, the reforms dont go far enough  and that a federal court still needed to intervene and place requirements on the bail system to prevent people from being unfairly treated.

There is nothing to suggest its absolutely clear the allegedly wrongful events could not be reasonably expected to reoccur, said Christopher Odell, a lawyer for the civil rights group.

United States District Court Magistrate Judge Andrew Edison in coming weeks will decide whether to dismiss the civil rights groups lawsuit, which was filed in April, or to allow the case to move forward.

Edison on Friday heard from lawyers representing the county, its district court judges, its magistrate judges and the Galveston County District Attorneys Office, who argued the lawsuit should be dismissed for a variety of reasons, including that the county already had made changes to address the issues at the center of the lawsuit.

The ACLU accused the county of operating a bail system that unjustly harms indigent people accused of crimes. It sued the county on behalf of Aaron Booth, 36, who was arrested in April on charges of possession of a controlled substance.

The court systems initial processing infringed on Booths due process civil rights, the ACLU asserts.

The county failed to appoint Booth an attorney before setting his bail and did not determine his financial ability to pay the bail, according to the lawsuit.

Booths initial bond was set at $20,000. He spent nearly two months in the county jail before he made bail, according to court records. He pleaded guilty to the drug charge in August, and was sentenced to 100 days in jail and ordered to pay about $1,000 in fines, according to court records.

When it filed the lawsuit, the ACLU asked for an injunction and an order for the county to promptly appoint a defense attorney and for the county to implement the least restrictive means of setting bail on people who have been arrested.

SYSTEM CHANGES

County lawyers said Friday the bail system had been changed in ways to address problems raised by the lawsuit.

The county has hired more employees to interview people about their financial situation and their ability to pay bail before they go before a magistrate judge, attorneys said. The county also has hired more magistrate judges and increased the number of magistrate hearings it holds each day to process arrested people more quickly, the county said.

The district attorneys office has stopped using a written guide to recommend bail for certain offenses, attorneys said.

In August, the county published new bail guidelines that, among other things, advise magistrate judges to consider what amount the arrestee could reasonably pay. It also requires a second bail hearing, with a defense attorney present, if an arrested person hasnt been released within 48 hours

The countys district court judges in September approved changes to a plan that determines how a person is defined as indigent and how defense attorneys are assigned to cases.

In an Oct. 3 filing, attorneys for the district judges argued the new systems rendered Booths claims moot.

This new system provides all that is required by the Constitution, the attorneys wrote.

NOT ENOUGH

Odell, the ACLU attorney, said the changes do not adequately address the problem and criticized the countys August guidelines.

It is an author-less document that has been put forward to try to convince this court that the problems have been resolved, he said.

In court on Friday, he pointed to depositions taken from local judges, who said under oath they were not aware of, or were not following, countys new bail guidelines.

Without a court order, its possible the problems with the old system could happen again, Odell said.

County attorneys argued the judges depositions were taken before the new systems went into place and it didnt matter whether the judges agreed with or followed the guidelines written by the county.

The linchpin of plaintiffs case is that the district courts havent signed off on this policy, said Joe Nixon, the attorney representing Galveston County. It doesnt matter one wit whether they do or they dont.

The county has done all it can do to address the issues, Nixon said. He suggested the ACLU should have sued the state over its laws regarding bail, rather than pursuing action against the county.

Every single defendant has said Im not liable under your cause of action because of a specific legal reason, Nixon said. Lumping it all together is just a way to try to confuse or misguide the court.

Edison did not make any ruling about the case on Friday. He tentatively set a date for another hearing in December, but said that it might not be needed if he chooses to dismiss the case.Human Rights Concerns Persist in Eritrea, Months After Peace Deals

By Salem Solomon October 12, 2018

In signing a historic peace deal with Ethiopia and cooperation agreements with Djibouti and Somalia earlier this year, long-isolated Eritrea gained fresh opportunities to re-emerge on the world stage.

Eritrea, however, now faces renewed pressure from human rights groups, which want the government to release or account for thousands of political prisoners it is believed to be holding, some of whom have been held incommunicado for 17 years.

Human Rights Watch said this month that the recent arrest of Eritrea's former finance minister, Berhane Abrehe, was a troubling sign that the government is continuing to clamp down on critics.

"There was hope that change would come for Eritrea's many political prisoners after Eritrea and Ethiopia made peace this year, ending three decades of enmity," the group's East Africa director, Maria Burnett, said in a press release. "But, Berhane's arrest shows nothing has changed. Jailing critics in Eritrea remains the norm."

Political prisoners

Ciham Ali Abdu is among those believed to be in detention. In December 2012, Ciham attempted to cross Eritrea's border into Sudan. Without a required exit visa, Ciham, then 15, had violated Eritrean law. She was caught and detained.

Six years later, her whereabouts and health remain unknown.

Ciham is not unlike many young Eritreans who have fled or attempted to flee the country to seek economic opportunities or escape oppression. Hundreds of thousands of Eritrean refugees have scattered around the world, according to the United Nations.

But Ciham is also a U.S. citizen. She was born in Los Angeles. Her father, Eritrea's former minister of information, fell out with the country's authoritarian leader, Isaias Afwerki, in 2012, putting Ciham's family at risk and prompting them to leave.

Releasing Americans imprisoned overseas has been a priority for President Donald Trump's administration. It is not clear whether the U.S. government has taken steps to push for Ciham's release.

In an email response to questions from VOA, a State Department spokesperson said the government was aware of reports of Ciham's detention, but did not confirm whether the United States had determined that Ciham is imprisoned, or if specific efforts had been made to secure her release.

The spokesperson said the U.S. remains cautious about its bilateral ties with Eritrea, due, in part, to concerns about governance and human rights violations.

The Eritrean government did not respond to multiple requests from VOA to comment on Ciham's case or HRW's report.

Regional pressure

HRW's Burnett told VOA it's not only the United States' responsibility to bring about change in Eritrea. The group is urging countries in the region to put diplomatic pressure on the Eritrean government.

"It's critical that countries in the region and the donor countries who are interested in working with Eritrea begin to raise this issue of releasing political prisoners so that free expression can come to Eritrea," Burnett said.

The U.S. is optimistic about the positive role Eritrea can play in further strengthening regional peace. Eritrea has brokered peace between other regional players, resisted violent extremism and can draw on a history of self-reliance to emerge as a regional leader, the State Department spokesperson told VOA.

That potential has not yet changed things for the political prisoners, activists and journalists who remain detained.

In a video advocating for the release of prisoners, HRW interviewed family members, including some who have not seen loved ones for 17 years.

"They often don't know where the person is being held or under what conditions. But also the toll that this has taken on their families, to have a loved one absolutely vanish like that into detention for such a long period of time, and to have no idea where the person is  it's taken a huge toll," Burnett said.

"Parents have lost children, and children have lost parents. And it's a situation which simply must end," she added.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Taliban agrees to continue talks with US

Iran Press TV

Sat Oct 13, 2018 10:32PM

Afghan militant group Taliban have announced they will continue the so-called peace talks with the United States, insisting however that no tangible agreement has been reached in a first round of meeting in the Qatari capital of Doha.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement on Saturday that continuing with the talks was mutually agreed in the Doha meeting a day earlier between representatives of the group and delegation led by veteran US diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad.

"Both sides spoke (about) an end to the occupation and a peaceful solution to the Afghan issue ... Both sides agreed to continue meeting in the future," said Mujahid, without elaborating.

Other Taliban sources described the Friday discussions as "detailed", saying head of Taliban's Qatar office Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanakzai, led the group's delegation to the talks.

"It was an introductory meeting in which an eight-member US delegation held a detailed meeting with members of our political office," a senior Taliban member said.

Another Taliban official, requesting anonymity, said the talks were focused on US military presence in Afghanistan, which the militants say is a main impediment to peace.

It said Khalilzad, an Afghan-born US diplomat and a former Washington envoy to Kabul, had requested a six-month ceasefire to be announced by the Taliban before parliamentary polls on October 20.

A Taliban source said the group asked in return for a mechanism that would lead to the release of militants from Afghan jails.

"Neither side agreed to accept the other's demands immediately, but they agreed to meet again and find a solution to the conflict," said the source, adding that Khalilzad had called for the formation of special committees that could facilitate the release of prisoners.

Reports said Khalilzad was in Kabul on Saturday to brief Afghan President Ashraf Ghani about his 10-day tour of four countries, namely Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, that could play a role in peace efforts on Afghanistan.

However, Washington, which appointed Khalilzad special envoy for peace in Afghanistan, did not confirm his meeting with the Taliban in Doha. It only said in a statement that "All citizens of Afghanistan must be a part of this reconciliation process", clearly a sign that Washington was approving of the talks with a group that has been its main enemy in Afghanistan for the past 17 years.

The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to topple a government led by the Taliban. The administration of US President Donald Trump is struggling to find a way out of the costly conflict as the Taliban has managed to reassert itself in several provinces by taking control of key areas.

Kabul blames Taliban for the bulk of more than 8,000 deaths in Afghanistan since the start of 2018. It says the group has also managed to dissuade people from participating in the upcoming general elections.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





At least 16 killed in Somalia bombings

Iran Press TV

Sat Oct 13, 2018 06:00PM

At least 16 people have been killed in Somalia in bombings that targeted a restaurant and a coffee shop, police say.

The blasts took place in the southwestern city of Baidoa, where the bombers walked into the two locations and detonated their vests within minutes of each other, according to witnesses.

"The number of the dead we have confirmed from the two blasts is 16 and nearly twenty others were wounded, some of them seriously. Nine people died in the second blast and seven in the first," said Abudulahi Mohamed, a police official in Baidoa.

"The targeted locations are populated by innocent civilians so that all of the victims were civilians, and the number of the dead can increase anytime because of the wounded," he added.

Mohamed Adam, another police official, gave the same toll.

"I saw fifteen dead bodies at the hospital, all of them collected from the scene of the attacks. Many worried people poured into the hospital looking for their relatives," said Abdi Hassan, a relative of a patient who was wounded in the blast.

The explosions came a day before the first anniversary of a truck bombing that left more than 500 dead in Mogadishu, the worst-ever attack in Somalia which was blamed on the al-Shabab terrorist group.

The al-Qaeda-linked militant outfit, which has long sought to topple Somalia's Western-backed government, was forced out of Mogadishu by African Union forces in 2011.

However, the terrorist group still wields control in large parts of the countryside, and every now and then carries out attacks against government, military, and civilian targets in the capital as well as regional towns.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Yemeni navy unveils new domestically-manufactured Mersad sea mine

Iran Press TV

Sat Oct 13, 2018 03:15PM

Yemeni naval forces have unveiled a domestically-designed and -manufactured sea mine that can target and destroy military vessels of Saudi Arabia and its regional allies, which have intruded into Yemen's territorial waters in the strategic Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The Mersad (Ambush) naval mine was introduced for the first time in a documentary entitled "Sea of Fire" and broadcast on Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah television network on Thursday evening.

The documentary showed that Yemeni naval forces had sophisticated anti-ship and coastal defense systems in their inventory, which are entirely domestically-manufactured.

It further showed the scenes of an Emirati HSV-2 Swift hybrid catamaran in flames after being targeted by Yemeni forces off the coast of the Red Sea port city of Mukha in southwestern Yemen on October 1, 2016.

On Wednesday, Yemeni naval forces, backed by fighters from Popular Committees, reportedly targeted a Saudi military vessel in a missile attack off the coast of the country's northwestern province of Hajjah.

A military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told al-Masirah television network that the gunboat was targeted with a guided missile in waters near the port city of Midi.

Meanwhile, at least 17 civilians lost their lives and more than 20 others sustained injuries when Saudi fighter jets launched an airstrike against Gabal Ras area in Yemen's western coastal city of Hudaydah on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating military campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing the government of former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the country's popular Houthi Ansarullah movement.

The aggression has killed some 15,000 people and injured thousands more.

More than 2,200 others have died of cholera, and the crisis has triggered what the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Bomb blast kills over dozen Afghans at election rally

Iran Press TV

Sat Oct 13, 2018 11:29AM

A bomb attack at an election rally in northeastern Afghanistan has claimed the lives of over a dozen people and left above 30 wounded.

Officials have put the number of fatalities at 13 but medics say the toll could rise even higher.

They said the explosion occurred when a motorbike - laden with explosives - went off near the gathering of supporters of a female election candidate in the northeastern province of Takhar.

Among the victims were both civilians and security forces.

Khalil Aser, the provincial police spokesman, said the attack took place before the candidate, Nazefa Yusoufi Beg, arrived at the rally.

The attack was the latest in a series of explosions targeting election campaign rallies. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack but the Taliban has already vowed to disrupt the long-delayed parliamentary vote scheduled for October 20.

The Taliban said in a statement on Monday that it had called on its followers to target security forces on the election day.

The militant group is largely believed to be trying to block the vote which it describes as "bogus" and a "malicious American conspiracy."

The polls were originally set to be held in 2015 following presidential elections the year before but were repeatedly pushed back due to security fears and logistical problems.

Preparations for the ballot have been in turmoil for months and there has been widespread speculation about whether the vote would go ahead.

An Interior Ministry official, however, said earlier that the government's security preparations would prevent the Taliban from following through on its threat.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





US new point man on Afghanistan meets with Taliban in Qatar: Report

Iran Press TV

Sat Oct 13, 2018 06:24AM

US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad has reportedly met with the Taliban representatives in Qatar in an effort to bring the militant group to the negotiating table.

Citing a person familiar with the meeting, The Wall Street Journal said Khalilzad met with the Taliban officials in the Qatari capital Doha on Friday.

It was not clear what the two sides discussed, according to the report.

This is the second time in the past four months that US officials have held direct talks with the Taliban amid reconciliation efforts 17 years after the US invasion.

The State Department declined to comment on the meeting.

"We can't confirm specific meetings or the content of diplomatic conversations," said a State Department spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Special Representative Khalilzad held a number of meetings with a wide range of stakeholders as part of his trip to explore how best to reach a negotiated settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan," the spokesperson added.

Washington's point man, Khalilzad, who is on his first trip as the special representative, also met with Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, on Friday to discuss ways of achieving peace and stability in Afghanistan, Qatari media reported.

Last week, Khalilzad met with President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul. He also held talks with Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, as well as representatives of a variety of political groups, key civil society organizations including the High Peace Council, and Afghan media, according to the US embassy in Kabul.

The United States which has reportedly agreed to participate directly in talks with the Taliban, appointed Khalilzad, former US ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan, as the special envoy to the country in September to lead the reconciliation efforts with the Taliban.

The meeting in Qatar came ahead of this month's parliamentary elections, with the Taliban saying Kabul had requested to help conduct peaceful elections.

The Taliban have generally insisted on negotiating only with the United States, saying they will not enter talks if US troops leave the country; otherwise, they will make Afghanistan "another graveyard" for foreign forces.

Taliban's five-year rule over at least three quarters of Afghanistan came to an end following the US invasion in October 2001 but 17 years on, Washington seeks truce with the militants as it prepares for a long haul in the country.

The militants have overtaken several districts in a spate of brazen attacks in recent months, including Ghazni which was briefly overtaken by the militants last month, jolting the government in Kabul because the central city is close enough to the capital.

The militants are also fighting Daesh terrorists who have managed to establish a foothold in Afghanistan and recruit some of Taliban members who switched sides.

Afghanistan's former president Hamid Karzai has accused the US of propping up Daesh and using it as a "tool" for its own agenda in the country.



NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Bomb Kills At Least 22 At Election Rally For Afghan Woman Candidate

RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan October 13, 2018

Afghan officials say at least 22 people have been killed -- including civilians and members of the Afghan security forces -- by a bomb that exploded at an election campaign rally for a woman who is running for parliament in the northeast of the country.

Ahmad Jawad Hijri, a spokesman for the governor of Takhar Province, said 36 people were wounded in the attack in Rustaq district.

He earlier told RFE/RL that the death toll could rise because many of the wounded were in critical condition.

Khalil Aser, a spokesman for the provincial police chief, said at least 32 people were wounded by the blast.

Aser said an explosives-laden motorcycle had been parked near the rally and was detonated before Nazefa Yousufi Beg arrived to speak to voters ahead of Afghanistan's October 20 elections.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Taliban militants are active in the area and have claimed previous attacks in Takhar.

Bek is one of 417 women contesting seats across the country, more than ever before.

Takhar, a province bordering Tajikistan, has long been a hotbed of the Taliban insurgency.

In the western province of Herat, gunmen attacked the election campaign office of a candidate, killing a security guard and a child, said Jailani Farhad, a spokesman for the Herat governor.

President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attacks in a statement, saying that the enemies of Afghans cannot weaken the will of the nation.

U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan John Bass condemned the violence, and called on the Taliban to do the same.

"If the group [the Taliban] is serious about the peace process it will do the same and punish those responsible," he said in a tweet.

With reporting by Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/bomb-kills-at-least-12-at-election- rally-for-afghan-woman-candidate/29541616.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





NATO Supreme Commander: US Carrier Off Norway's Coast Puts Russia 'On Notice'

Sputnik News

17:08 13.10.2018(updated 17:19 13.10.2018)

The USS Harry Truman, a 104,000 ton Nimitz-class aircraft carrier capable of deploying some 90 combat and support aircraft, has entered the North Sea in preparation for Trident Juncture, a series of drills which are expected to become the largest alliance exercises in the region since the Cold War.

NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe Curtis Scaparrotti has characterized the deployment of the USS Harry Truman in the North Atlantic "a demonstration of our capabilities" to Moscow.

"We are ready and we are trained and we will protect the Atlantic," Scaparrotti said, speaking to Sky News.

Pointing to Russia's efforts to modernize its military, the general noted that the alliance needs "to continue to increase" its "capabilities and to train so that we remain dominant in war-fighting capabilities. Strength is how we deter conflict, and our job is actually to prevent [it] and we will do that with a strong alliance," he said.

Accusing Russia of conducting "illegal activities" and engaging in "malign influence below the level of war," Scaparrotti said he was "glad" that the US was "calling it out because we need to put them on notice."

Escorted by nine other warships, the massive US carrier will deploy some 49 jets in the upcoming Trident Juncture drills, which are expected to run between October 25 and November 7 in and around Norway. The drills, NATO's largest in the region since the Cold War, will involve some 50,000 troops from NATO countries, as well as Finland and Sweden.

The USS Harry Truman's deployment for the drills will be the first time a US aircraft carrier has been deployed to the Norwegian Sea since 1987.

Last week, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Moscow has no reason to consider the drills provocative. Earlier, Norwegian opposition politicians indicated their concerns regarding the carrier's deployment, calling the decision "unwise in relation to Russia," and warning that it may affect Oslo's traditionally good relations with Moscow.

Commissioned in 1998, the USS Harry Truman has been deployed in multiple US military operations around the world, including Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and Operation Iraqi Freedom, i.e. the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Over the last several years, Russia has committed substantial resources to modernizing its navy, coastal defenses and air defenses, as well as arming navy cruisers, missile boats and other vessels with cruise missiles such as the Kalibr, capable of striking targets at ranges up to 2,500 km away from the Baltic and Black seas and the Pacific Ocean.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Taliban, US Agree to Sustain Direct Dialogue on Afghan Peace

By Ayaz Gul October 13, 2018

The United States and the Taliban held a new round of direct talks this week in Qatar, where the two sides agreed to continue the dialogue process to promote a negotiated settlement to the 17-year-old war in Afghanistan.

A Taliban spokesman, while announcing details of Friday's meeting, the second in less than three months, said that U.S. special envoy for Afghan peace Zalmay Khalilzad led his delegation and Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, who heads the Taliban's "political office" in the Gulf state, led his six-member team in the talks.

Taliban representatives told the American delegation the presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan is a "major" obstacle to a way of finding the "real" peace, said Zabihullah Mujahid in a statement he sent to media, including VOA.

"Afghanistan is an Islamic nation, having its own Islamic values and culture. It is imperative to keep those in mind for finding a genuine and inclusive Afghan solution," he quoted Taliban chief negotiator Stanikzai as emphasizing to American interlocutors.

There was no immediate U.S. reaction to Saturday's assertions by the insurgents.

Washington has neither confirmed nor denied the Qatar meeting, which came amid a renewed push by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table for peace talks with the Afghan government.

The U.S. last month appointed Afghan-born Khalilzad as its special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation. He began his official trip to the region a week ago that took him to Kabul, neighboring Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

"I think any time we're there on the ground we're making headway," State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters on Thursday when asked whether Khalilzad was making any progress in the Afghan peace talks. "This is something that will be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned, but supported by the U.S. government," she said.

Khalilzad met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul Saturday and briefed him on his trip to the four nations, including Qatar, the presidential office said. It added that the U.S. envoy reiterated Washington's support for "Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process."

The U.S. embassy, in a Saturday statement, said Khalilzad returned to Kabul for "follow-up" meetings with the Afghan leadership and civil society representatives to hear their "views and priorities" on a settlement to the conflict. It did not mention anything about the U.S. envoy's meeting with the Taliban.

"The United States shares the aspirations of all Afghans for a peaceful Afghanistan where all Afghans see themselves included. All citizens of Afghanistan must be a part of this reconciliation process," the statement quoted Khalilzad as saying.

In late July, Alice Wells, the State Department deputy assistant secretary for South and Central Asia, met Taliban officials in Doha for "preliminary" discussions amid persistent insurgent demands for direct negotiations with Washington. Taliban spokesman Mujahid at the time had described the talks as "productive and positive."

The U.S. has long maintained that it is ready to facilitate and sit at the table as an observer but any peace talks with the Taliban will have to be an Afghan led and Afghan owned process for achieving a sustainable solution.

The Taliban refuses to engage in direct talks with the Kabul government, dismissing it as "stooges of America. The insurgent group has been calling for direct talks with the U.S., blaming Washington for starting the Afghan war.

A U.S.-led international coalition ousted the Taliban from power in 2001 for harboring al-Qaida leaders who allegedly plotted the September 11 attacks on American cities that year. The Taliban currently controls or contest nearly half of Afghanistan and it continues to inflict heavy casualties on Afghan security forces, bringing more territory under its control.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Two Blasts in Somali Town Kill at Least 15

By Mohamed Olad Hassan October 13, 2018

Two blasts in the Somali town of Baidoa on Saturday killed at least 15 people and injured more than 30 others.

The South West State information minister, Ugas Hassan Abdi, said, "The attacks were carried out by two suicide bombers wearing explosive belts." He said officials were still assessing the casualty figures.

The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group, which controlled Baidoa between 2009 and 2012 before being driven out by Ethiopian-backed government forces, claimed responsibility for the attacks.

A survivor told VOA's Somali service that a suicide bomber threw a grenade at a busy restaurant, killing at least five people and injuring several others.

"A young man rushed to us and hurled a grenade at a crowded restaurant. He was shot before he detonated a suicide belt he was wearing," said Aden Nur.

Minutes after the first attack, another suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into the Bilan Hotel nearby.

The assaults came as the city prepares for next month's election of the head of the country's South West State. The former No. 2 leader of al-Shabab is among the candidates. The Somali government said it would block him from running for the post because he was still under U.N. sanctions.

Baidoa is about 240 kilometers (150 miles) northwest of Mogadishu, where residents remember last year's attack that killed hundreds of people.

Memorial monument

On Oct. 14, 2017, a truck loaded with explosives barreled down a busy street in Mogadishu. The explosives were detonated, killing nearly 600 people and injuring hundreds. It was the deadliest terror attack in Africa's history.

A monument honoring the victims was lit up in red on Friday in preparation for a ceremony on Sunday. In a cabinet meeting, the Somali government said security would be tightened in the area to allow residents to commemorate their fallen family members and friends.

The shock of the Oct. 14 attack still troubles the city's residents, Somalis across the country, and the country's diaspora communities around the world.

Abdullahi Ali Mohamed and his wife had two small kiosks at the blast site. He was among the many unconscious and critically wounded survivors taken to Turkey for treatment. He lost his wife that day in the blast but did not find out until a month later.

"I regained consciousness in a Turkish hospital a month later. That was when I was told that my wife died in the blast. She was vending at one corner of the junction the last time I saw her," said Mohamed.

Five months after his recovery, he went back to Mogadishu. He said he tried to stay away from the site for the first few days to avoid painful memories, but he had to return to establish his kiosk business.

"When I came back, I had to pay my rents, bills and debt that piled up during the months I had been away. I had to pay for the milk for my two kids and I could not get an alternative job or source of income. Therefore, I came back to the same site where I lost my wife and had a dreadful and shocking life experience," he said. "One must never despair of life."

A 'dark day' of painful loss

Abdi Hassan Ali, one of the business owners at the blast site, left his business hours before the blast. He lost his older sister, Faisa, who replaced him for the shift.

"It was a dark day, a day that will remain fresh in my memory. The day I lost my older sister, who was my tower of strength," he said. "The fact that I did not find the remains of my sister and that I rebuilt my business location keeps troubling me."

Blast survivor Issa Ali Duhulow is still running his business at the site. He said, "I am survivor. Allah saved me from the blast. I got shrapnel injuries, but I've recovered from them and I'm back to business. Life goes on."

Abdullahi Mohamed Ali, who was in charge of the National Intelligence and Security Agency at the time of the attack, told VOA Somali, "It was a very painful moment in my life, and still a never-vanishing scar is somewhere in my brain. The pictures, the human remains, the blood and extent of the devastation we saw as first responders were extremely horrific."

Mogadishu's mayor at the time, Taabit Abdi Mohamed, still wears a red arm band to mourn the victims. He says he will keep it on until Sunday's memorial activities end.

"The painful and the ugly terror attack did not only hurt Somalis but also touched the hearts of all human beings in the world," he told VOA.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Yemeni missile hits gathering of Saudi-backed forces

Iran Press TV

Sun Oct 14, 2018 06:37AM

A ballistic missile fired by Yemen's Army and popular Houthi Ansarullah movement has hit a gathering of Saudi-backed militants in Sana'a province, the country's Military Information Center said on Sunday.

The Zelzal-2 missile was fired at a military base in the Harib area of Nihm District early Sunday, "precisely" hitting its target.

"A number of militias were killed or injured and some of their military vehicles were destroyed in the missile attack," the Military Information Center said.

The missile attack came a day after Saudi warplanes targeted two buses in the town of Jabal Rass in Yemen's al-Hudaidah Province.

Yemen's Health Ministry put the death toll at 19, including women and children, up from 15 reported earlier by Yemen's al-Masirah television network.

Thirty others were reported wounded after the attack hit the vehicles, which were carrying refugees.

Saudi Arabia has launched thousands of airstrikes on Yemen in the past three years, some of which have hit hospitals, schools and markets, killing hundreds of civilians while bringing Riyadh little closer to military victory.

Hundreds of Saudi soldiers have been killed in Yemen's retaliatory mortar and missile attacks across the rugged southern border.

As many as 15,000 people have died in the conflict so far, and millions face potential famine and disease because of disruption to food and medical supplies as a result a Saudi-led blockade.

Around 22 million civilians, or 75 percent of Yemen's population, require humanitarian aid, according to latest UN data. The conflict has caused the worst cholera outbreak in modern history, with over 1 million reported cases.

The Houthi movement and its allies in the Army that control northern Yemen have vowed to fire more missiles into Saudi Arabia unless it stops bombing the impoverished country.

Last year, the Houthis fired missiles at Riyadh in retaliation. Saudi Arabia responded by shutting Yemen's airports and ports, a blockade that the United Nations said raised the prospect of mass starvation.

The Houthis and their allies control the north of Yemen, including the capital Sana'a. Saudi Arabia and its proxies have been fighting on behalf of a former government with a foothold in the south.

Western countries support Saudi Arabia which depends on service contracts with US and British arms companies to keep its planes flying.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





U.S. Envoy Briefs Afghan Leaders On Peace Effort After Meeting Taliban

RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan October 14, 2018

KABUL -- The U.S. envoy on an Afghanistan peace initiative has met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul, a day after he held talks in Qatar with Taliban leaders.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the Afghan-born U.S. adviser and former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, briefed Ghani and Abdullah on October 13 about his meetings with senior ministers and top diplomats in four countries as part of a diplomatic mission aimed at bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table.

Since Khalilzad last visited Kabul on October 4, his tour has taken him to Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.

A statement sent to journalists on October 13 by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Khalilzad met Taliban representatives on October 12 in Qatar's capital, Doha, to discuss ending the Afghan conflict.

Mujahid said the Taliban representatives told Khalilzad that the presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan was a "big obstacle" to peace and that both sides "agreed to continue such meetings."

Another senior Taliban member said the U.S. envoy had asked the Taliban leadership to declare a cease-fire in Afghanistan for six months, in time for the planned October 20 parliamentary elections.

"Both sides discussed prospects for peace and the U.S presence in Afghanistan," another Taliban official said.

The Taliban in exchange are seeking the release of their fighters from Afghan jails and the removal of foreign troops currently aiding Afghan security forces.

"Neither side agreed to accept the other's demands immediately, but they agreed to meet again and find a solution to the conflict," said a Taliban official who asked not to be identified.

A statement about Khalilzad's diplomatic tour released by the U.S. Embassy in Kabul did not confirm his meeting with the Taliban.

"The United States shares the aspirations of all Afghans for a peaceful Afghanistan where all Afghans see themselves included. All citizens of Afghanistan must be a part of this reconciliation process," Khalilzad said, according to the embassy statement at the end of his four-nation tour.

Khalilzad was appointed in September as President Donald Trump's special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation as part of renewed efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table.

A statement from the Afghan president's office on October 13 said Khalilzad told Ghani and Abdullah that the United States was "ready to do anything to help with the peace process," but insisted the process should be led by the Afghan government.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and The Wall Street Journal

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-envoy-briefs-afghan- leaders-on-peace-effort-after-reportedly -meeting-taliban/29541645.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





UN Worker Among Sharp Increase in DRC's Ebola Caseload

By Paul Alexander October 12, 2018

A U.N. employee in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has tested positive for Ebola, the first such incident during the current outbreak, according to the head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission.

"I am writing today to inform you that my leadership team and I have regretfully just received news that a U.N. colleague based in Beni has tested positive for Ebola and is now receiving the necessary medical treatment," Leila Zerrougui wrote in the letter obtained by the Reuters news agency.

Zerrougui said the employee had not been to work for several weeks and that officials were tracing the person's contacts.

The news came after health officials warned that the rate of new Ebola cases had more than doubled since September.

Rise in cases a concern

The sharp rise has health officials concerned that the situation in eastern DRC Is at a crossroads.

Either the outbreak is getting worse, or local residents are finally responding to education campaigns and government edicts and are no longer resisting health workers.

The death toll stood at 125 as of Friday, out of 201 reported Ebola cases (166 confirmed and 35 probable), according to the DRC's health ministry.

This outbreak, the country's 10th, initially was reported Aug. 1.

"The fact that we see more cases could also be a positive sign," said Tarik Jasarevic, a spokesman for the World Health Organization, speaking by phone from Geneva on Thursday. " We have seen in the past that sometimes people would hide sick ones or would actively run away" from aid workers charged with tracing the contacts of infected patients  a step essential to curbing the deadly disease's spread.

Attack keeps workers inside

But insecurity is complicating the health community's response in the outbreak's epicenter in the North Kivu region, where more than 100 armed opposition groups operate, and more than 1 million people have been displaced.

The jump in reported cases follows a Sept. 22 armed attack in Beni, a town near the border with Uganda and the center for aid efforts. Eighteen people died, including 14 civilians, according to the army.

Jasarevic said WHO health workers were forced to stay indoors for two full days following the attack.

"Operations were hampered by the insecurity," Jasarevic said. " And not only because of the [health] teams not being able to go out, but also because of the reaction of the population."

Red Cross volunteers attacked

Other violence has impeded aid work in the region. Last week, three Red Cross volunteers on an Ebola burial team were attacked and injured while conducting their duties in the northeast city of Butembo, according to the DRC Red Cross. It said, in a statement, that two of the volunteers were being treated for serious wounds.

The Red Cross statement reminded people that the body of an Ebola victim is highly infectious and requires careful handling. The Ebola virus spreads through contact with bodily fluids.

In addition, some families have refused to allow aid workers to check on and treat potential patients, and other victims have fled, raising the possibility that the virus could spread to neighboring Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan.

Jasarevic said local people's "reaction to the Ebola response is sort of linked to their reaction to the general insecurity, basically thinking that if all these authorities, including international actors, are not able to provide security, how it would be then possible for them to try to control the outbreak?"

The WHO initially had predicted the disease possibly could be brought under control within three months, thanks in part to a vaccine that has proven effective for people who have been exposed but haven't shown symptoms, and new treatment drugs for people who have contracted Ebola.

But Peter Salama, WHO's executive director of the health emergencies program, said Thursday that the response timetable needed revision.

"We anticipate that now we'll be looking at least another three or four months in order to really stem this outbreak, with a strong focus again on Beni and surrounding areas," Salama said at a Geneva news conference.

This report originated in VOA's English to Africa service. VOA's Carol Guensburg contributed.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Travis AFB poised to deliver after Hurricane Michael

By Master Sgt. Joey Swafford, 60th AMW/PA / Published October 13, 2018

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) -- Within hours of Hurricane Michael's landfall on the Florida Panhandle, a Travis Air Force Base, California, C-17 Globemaster III, with a crew from the 21st Airlift Squadron and the 860th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, took off to support civil authorities in humanitarian relief operations.

The C-17 staged at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, after departing Travis AFB to be able to quickly deliver search and rescue capabilities to the affected area when called upon.

Though the call never came, the C-17 crew knew it was vital to be ready.

"Readiness to me is being prepared at all times for anything," said Staff Sgt. Leroy Algiene, 21st C-17 AS loadmaster. "We have to be so ready if something happens short notice and you're not there within a certain time bad things can happen. Always being prepared and always ready to go is essential."

When responding to humanitarian relief efforts, Travis AFB's ability to be constantly ready allows aid to reach its destination when needed.

"It's important to respond quickly because the longer you delay you're losing a lot of critical time," said Maj. Nathan Masdon, 21st AS C-17 pilot. "Humanitarian missions or search and rescue missions are very time critical, so time is of the essence."

Travis AFB Airmen are able to stay ready through training, exercises and real-world missions.

"My training prepares me to be ready at all times," Algiene said. "Constantly having currency items where I have to go into simulators and small exercise is where we practice over and over. Having repetitions in your belt helps you constantly stay ready and helps get the plane off the ground so quickly."

"Pilots, in general, go through a lot of training," Masdon said. "There is a year of basic pilot training, and then you have your specialty platform training just for your aircraft. I think for C-17 pilots and probably all pilots it goes beyond just the training. Most of the experience comes when you start going out and doing day-to-day worldwide operations and all the experience that you're gathering sets us apart as American pilots, just the amount of experience we get because we are so involved in worldwide operations around the globe."

"The feeling of being able to help is awesome," Algiene said. "Part of the reason I wanted this job is to travel and help people. I was part of hurricane relief efforts in the past, and when you bring a team in with water and food to help somebody that's been through devastation, it is a pretty rewarding feeling."

To some, the short notice might be an obstacle to overcome, but for the C-17 crew, it was business like usual.

"Daily, weekly we're flying all around the globe 24/7 and are ready to go at a moment's notice," Masdon said. "I think times like this is when the American people see how strong our global reach is."

The C-17, tasked to deliver the search and rescue capabilities was one of three Travis AFB aircraft that have responded to civil authorities requests for assistance. The base also sent two Critical Care Air Transport Teams to Scott AFB, Illinois to aid in humanitarian relief operations.

Travis is used to supporting humanitarian relief operations. Last year in the wake of Hurricane Irma and then Hurricane Maria C-17s and C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft from Travis transported more than 500,000 pounds of water, Meals-Ready-to-Eat, medical supplies and search and rescue teams. The aerial port, the largest on the West coast, certified and processed the cargo for airlift, at one point processing an entire mobile air traffic control center and later a 45,000-pound generator that provided air fidelity in St. Thomas and Puerto Rico.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Al-Qaeda Affiliate Reportedly Using Iran As Transit Point For Banned Exports

RFE/RL October 13, 2018

An Al-Qaeda-linked militant group is using Iran as its main transit point for illegal charcoal exports from Somalia, enabling the group to earn millions of dollars in profits, a report to the UN Security Council seen by media says.

According to a report cited by AFP and Reuters on October 12, since March, the main destination for the illegal shipments has been ports in Iran, where the charcoal is packaged into white bags labelled "Product of Iran."

The United Nations has banned Somali charcoal imports since 2012 to cut sources of revenue for Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda affiliate that generates revenues for its Islamist insurgency by levying taxes on charcoal production in the regions it controls.

The UN estimates that, despite UN sanctions banning such exports, Somalia produced some 3.6 million bags of charcoal in 2017 for export, generating some $7.5 million in revenue for Al-Shabaab.

The report called Iran a "weak link" in implementing the UN's charcoal ban, and also cast blame on countries such as Ghana and the Ivory Coast for allowing charcoal traffickers to "exploit weaknesses" in their certification processes.

The illegal shipments that arrive in Iran usually carry certificates that falsely state that the Somali charcoal originated in Comoros, Cote d'Ivoire, or Ghana, the unpublished UN report says.

The document identifies Iranian ports in the Kish and Qeshm free zones as the main destinations of the Somali charcoal shipments since March 2018.

From there, the charcoal is sent on "Iran-flagged dhows" to ports in the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Dubai, and elsewhere, where it is mainly used for cooking and smoking shisha water pipes, the report says.

The Iranian mission to the UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The report says Iran became a transit point for the illegal Somali shipments after Oman tightened its customs procedures.

The report provided to the UN council was drafted by a UN group of experts tasked with monitoring sanctions on the Somali militants.

Al-Shabaab militants have vowed to overthrow the Somali government, which is backed by the UN and a 20,000-strong force from the African Union stationed in the country.

While Al-Shabaab was pushed out of Mogadishu in 2011 and lost many of other bastions, they still control vast rural areas in the country.

In addition to earnings millions from charcoal sales, Al-Shabaab is making millions annually by imposing tolls on vehicles in areas where they have checkpoints and through taxes on businesses, agriculture, and livestock, the report says.

All this "generates more than enough revenue to sustain its insurgency," it says.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/al-qaeda -affiliate-al-shabaab-somlia-reportedly-using-iran-transit-point-illegal-charcoal- shipments-earning-millions-dollars/29541307.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Soyuz-FG Launch Vehicle Assembly Suspended As Part of MS-10 Probe - Source

Sputnik News

13:05 13.10.2018(updated 17:54 13.10.2018)

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - All works with the Soyuz-FG booster that has been prepared for the launch of the Progress MS-10 cargo spacecraft have been suspended because it may have the same defects as the Soyuz-FG that failed on Thursday and it may help the investigation into the incident, a source in the space industry told Sputnik on Saturday.

"The Soyuz-FG rocket designed for the launch of Progress MS-10 has been already assembled into a stack [the first and second stages of the rocket] at the Baikonur [cosmodrome] A considerable number of checks have already been made. All works with the rocket have been suspended and not because launches have been forbidden  it is not prohibited to make preparations after all  but because it may have the same defects as the rocket that malfunctioned and it could help the investigation," the source said.

The Progress MS-10 cargo spacecraft is still being prepared for the launch to the International Space Station (ISS) in November after the failed liftoff of Soyuz MS-10, however, the stowage of cargo has been suspended, a source in the space industry told Sputnik on Saturday.

"The experts of the RSC Enegiya are preparing the cargo for the launch to the ISS, however they stopped loading them on the spacecraft because it is obvious that they will have to stow it all over again: some of the equipment will not be needed at the station any more and some things will be required to be urgently delivered by the Progress to the station," the source said.

According to the source, the suspended launches of the Soyuz-FG boosters do not affect the preparations for the spacecraft's launch because it takes two months to prepare a cargo spacecraft for the flight and it requires only two weeks to prepare a launch vehicle.

"They will continue to prepare the spacecraft and if the ban on launches has not been lifted by the moment [the spacecraft] has to be filled up with fuel, it will be put into a storage mode and they will wait for the permission for the launch," the source added.

Trucks with debris of the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle have departed from the Kazakh city of Zhezqazghan and are expected to arrive at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the night to be later sent to the Russian city of Samara, a source in the rocket and space industry told Sputnik on Saturday.

"The found fragments of the launch vehicle, which may be of interest to the members of the emergency commission and the investigation, have been put on flatbed trucks, and the convoy with the wreckage of the rocket has already left Zhezqazghan for Baikonur. In the middle of the night, the convoy is expected to arrive at the cosmodrome," the source said.

It is planned that a cargo plane will arrive from Samara to Baikonur on Sunday. The fragments of the rocket will then be loaded into the plane and transported to Samara for examination.

The launch of the Progress MS-10 cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) was scheduled to take place on October 31, however, the launch was postponed to November following the failed liftoff of the Soyuz MS-10 on Thursday that used the same booster.

An accident occurred during the liftoff of a Soyuz-FG launch vehicle carrying the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft with two new members of the International Space Station (ISS) crew on board  Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin and NASA astronaut Nick Hague.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





North Korea Seeking to Expand Ties With Russia - Foreign Minister

Sputnik News

09:09 13.10.2018(updated 09:11 13.10.2018)

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said that Pyongyang is seeking to expand ties with Moscow in 2019.

"The Korean side plans to further expand bilateral ties in 2019, when we will celebrate the 70th anniversary of signing of the agreement on economic and cultural cooperation, so that traditions of friendship and good neighborliness could be passed down from generation to generation," Ri said on Friday at an event in Pyongyang marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between North Korea and Russia as quoted by the Russian embassy's press service.

The minister noted that North Korea highly appreciates the fact that the Russian government supports Pyongyang's efforts aimed at stabilization of the situation on the Korean peninsula.

Earlier, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has expressed willingness to develop strategic relations with Russia at meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and upper house speaker Valentina Matviyenko.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





German Army's Newest Assault Rifles Fail Tests Amid Equipment Shortages  Report

Sputnik News

14:10 14.10.2018

The leak from the German military has revealed that none of the firearms submitted as possible replacements for the G36 rifle meet the army's standards. This has compounded the German Defense Ministry's existing supply problems.

The first pre-contract tests of the newly-developed assault rifles have revealed that none of the models presented by competitors for the state contract meet the standards of the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, German news outlet Die Welt reports.

The newspaper cited an insider report published by the German Defense Ministry's procurement office (BAAINBw), which reads that "in contrast to expectations, the presented assault rifles have failed to meet the requirements." The military body has given competing gun makers until February 15, 2019 to address the weapons' flaws. This has stalled the revamp project initiated by German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen by at least 8 months, raising the cost of the procurement process by some $870,000.

The German military is planning to buy 120,000 new assault rifles, which would cost approximately $290 million. With the cost of support materials factored in, this sum would top $463 million.

The bidding process was set up in April 2017 after the defense minister from Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union decided to replace the G36 assault rifles the Bundeswehr has been armed with since 1996; the goal was to introduce more advanced guns by 2021.

According to the newspaper, von der Leyen criticized the current G36 model for its insufficient accuracy in extreme weather conditions such as heat or fire, which was contested by the rifle producer, industry giant Heckler & Koch. The court sided with the manufacturer, ruling that the G36 didn't have any of the faults which the defense ministry had hoped to address.

State auditors have also called into question the submitted rifles' penetration power, claiming the firearms don't meet the Bundeswehr's requirements, as specified in the RFP. According to the BAAINBw letter, the potential contractors have submitted only 5.56-millimeter-caliber models, while some forces require rifles capable of firing 7.62-millimeter rounds. If the military planners confirm this, the contest might be revised, which could move the revamp deadline forward even further.

Earlier this year, the German newspaper Handelsblatt reported that the Bundeswehr plans to allocate more than 450 million euros ($546 million) to the modernization of its armed forces in 2018 alone.

The move came amid reports that the German army has been suffering equipment and staff shortages, including issues with Tornado combat jets and Leopard 2 tanks, which are in a poor and "outdated" state.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





ICJ defining $2 billion asset of Iran

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Oct 13, IRNA -- The International Court of Justice once again voted in favor of Iran after the country's victory in a recent lawsuit against the US concerning the treaty of amity signed between Tehran and Washington in 1955; the court ruled that a sum of $2 billion belonging to Central Bank of Iran (CBI) to be unfreezed.

A few days after the International Court of Justice voiced its verdict on Iran's interim request for breach of the US-violation of Mutual Treaty of Amity, the court was set up to investigate the second Iranian lawsuit, which had been filed prior to a renewed sanctions complaint.

The Hague-based International Court of Justice after a few weeks of reviewing Iran's complaint about the August US sanctions, endorsed some of Iran's requests for a final vote to suspend anti-Iran sanctions on pharmaceutical, medical, and aviation sectors on October 3.

On June 15, 2016, the Islamic Republic of Iran filed a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the dispute regarding the violations by the United States government of the treaty of amity, economic relations and consular rights between Iran and the United States, signed on August 15, 1955, by both parties and has been binding on June 16, 1957.

Iran's lawsuit states, 'The United States has adopted a number of legislative and administrative measures that have an impact on the interests and assets of Iran and Iranian institutions, Including the Central Bank of Iran, with the view that Iran is a supporter of terrorism (a position strongly rebutted by Iran) and contrary to the treaty of friendship and through the implementation of judicial proceedings against Iran.'

After reviewing and issuing on Iran's interim verdict case regarding the resumption of US sanctions and violations of the 1955 Amity Treaty, the International Court of Justice at The Hague held a four-day public hearing on seizure of $ 2 billion of Iran's property by the United States, and the violation of the treaty of friendship at the Hague Peace Palace in the Netherlands.

American lawyers also said the seizure of the property of the Iranian Central Bank in the United States for what 'claimed compensation for damages of the US soldiers who were killed in Lebanon' as justifiable.

Iranian lawyers filed a lawsuit against Washington over violation of the treaty of amity through unlawful seizure of $2 billion of Central Bank of Iran's assets.

The lawmakers blasted the US for evading accountability in a bid to accuse Iran of supporting terrorism.

The verdict is definitive, binding, and non-appealable. The United States announced that it would abandon the treaty of friendship, after issuing the verdict

9455**2050

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





'It's Not Helpful': US Warns India Against Buying Iran Oil, Russian S-400s

Sputnik News

12:40 13.10.2018

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump promised that India will soon see his decision on punitive measures after New Delhi moved to purchase advanced S-400 air defense systems from Russia.

The US government is "very carefully" reviewing India's decision to continue buying oil from Iran and purchase Russian S-400 missile systems, according to US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.

"Certainly when we hear about things such as purchasing [Iranian] oil or the S-400 systems, it's not helpful," she added.

Nauert noted that she had earlier seen reports of India continuing to buy oil from Iran, a topic which she said was discussed during US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to India last month.

"The President had addressed it  I believe it was just earlier today  which he was asked about, that question about whether or not India would buy oil from Iran after sanctions are reimposed. And the President said  and I'm not going to get ahead of the President, certainly  but he said we'll take care of that," she said.

Nauert's remarks came after US President Donald Trump pledged that India "will soon find out" his decision on launching punitive measures under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) after New Delhi decided to spend more than $5 billion on S-400 air defense missiles from Russia.

When asked exactly when India would find this out, Trump said: "You will see. Sooner than you think."

Although countries which do business with US "adversaries" are subject to sanctions under CAATSA, Trump has the right to grant a waiver to India; therefore, Washington could opt to effectively overlook the weapons deal with Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sputnik last week that Russia and India had inked a historic $5.4 billion deal on the supply of the S-400 Triumf air defense missiles to New Delhi. The agreement was clinched during President Vladimir Putin's visit to India for talks with the country's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In a separate development, Indian Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that New Delhi would continue importing crude oil from Iran next month.

"Overall with regard to those sanctions that will take effect on November 4th  and you're referring to the oil sanctions for Iran and countries that choose to continue purchasing oil from Iran  we have had conversations with many partners and allies around the world about those sanctions," Pradhan pointed out.

Earlier, Indian oil refiners reportedly placed a contract for 1.25 million metric tons of Iranian crude to be imported in the month of November.

In September, India and Iran inked a key agreement that would allow them to skirt US sanctions on Iran's energy sector, which will come into effect on November 4. Under the deal, the Indian government will would make payments for oil shipments from Iran in rupees, while the Islamic Republic could use these rupees to pay for imports from India.

On May 8, Trump announced the US's withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), vowing to impose the "highest level" of sanctions on Tehran. He also urged countries to stop buying Iranian oil from November 4 and threatened to use sanctions against those which refuse to do so.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





President Rouhani: US defeated against Iran righteousness, prudence

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Oct 14, IRNA -- It is common knowledge that legally and politically speaking, the US has been defeated by breaking international commitments and Iran was victorious, said Iran's president on Sunday.

'Their final goal is to delegitimize the Islamic Establishment. And they have started with a mental war and an economic war to delegitimize us,' said President Hassan Rouhani, speaking at a ceremony marking beginning of the academic year in Iran.

Saying that Iran can pass through the situation with unity and solidarity, President Rouhani said, 'We can defeat the US in many fields; some may say, 'That's just a rhetoric. How can you defeat the US with such a power and political and economic leverage all around the world?''

'I have a question for them: Has the US been politically victorious against Iran in the past few decades or has it been defeated?'

Saying that only a few countries have supported the US exit from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as Iran Deal, he added, 'The conservative ones just express sorrow, the more explicit ones say the US made a mistake, and the most explicit ones say the US violated the law.'

'US President Donald Trump intended to exploit the United Nations Security Council to harm Iran and prove his policies against Iran; what response did he receive? All the other 14 members of the UNSC defended the JCPOA, and hence, Trump failed.'

'The US president, whose country hosts the UN, issues visas for the other countries officials who enter it and is also the rotating head of the UNSC, left the council empty-handed.'

Saying that it was due to Iran's righteousness and prudence, he said the US expected Iran to announce its exit from the deal, then they could take Iran's case to the UNSC again, the entire world would support the US and Iran would have been alone.

Saying that there has been no government in the US more hostile than the current administration of the US against Iran and the Islamic Establishment, he said, 'Iran showed prudence, didn't haste, and unhurriedly announced that we wait a few weeks to see what other countries will do.'

'We will quit the deal whenever we want. Quitting is easy, like bringing a wall down; building it is hard.'

He said that the JCPOA is not important per se, but 'The national interests and security is of significance.'

Referring to the nationalization of oil industry in Iran during Mosaddeq's premiership, he said the UK filed a complaint against Iran at The Hague, but the court voted in favor of Iran.

'This time Iran filed a complained, which was victorious.'

Saying that the problem is that the US quit the international multilateral deal without any reason, he added the judge between us is the secretariat of the UN and above that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

'They both say that the US has made a mistake and Iran is righteous here. Politically speaking and in the eye of the international institutions and public opinion, we have been successful.'

President Rouhani said that if European companies terminate their cooperation with Iran, they will be fined by the European courts, and if continue with that, they will be fined by the US; 'Such an issue is unprecedented in the relations of the European Union and the US.'

Reminiscing his visit to New York to participate in the UN General Assembly, Rouhani quoted an important European country's prime minister as saying, 'Had I been told five years ago that one day I would support Iran in its fight with the US, I would have said, 'That's impossible. We are US allies, our securities and economies are interwoven.''

Now the US and the EU are countering each other. 'When Trump wanted to hold a meeting with the UNSC members, Iran, China, Russia and the EU held a meeting to counter US policies, which is a big happening, said the Iranian President.

Though the EU cannot convince European companies to work with Iran, all the governments are with Iran, he added.

9417**1771

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Rohani Accuses United States Of Seeking Regime Change In Iran

October 14, 2018

Iranian President Hassan Rohani says the United States is seeking regime change in Tehran.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the beginning of the new academic year at Tehran University on October 14, Rohani accused the U.S. government of employing tactics such as psychological and economic warfare to spark a change of leadership in Iran.

In the speech, broadcast live on state TV, Rohani also said the United States is raising questions about the legitimacy of the Islamic republic as a means to pursue regime change.

"Reducing the legitimacy of the system is their final goal," he said.

The U.S. administration has been ratcheting up pressure on Tehran since President Donald Trump decided in May to pull the United States out of a 2015 nuclear deal that lifted sanctions in exchange for curbs on Tehran's nuclear activities.

The United States also reimposed sanctions against Iran, with a second round targeting Iran's oil sector due to take effect on November 5.

The deal with six world powers provided Iran with some relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program.

The others who signed the pact  Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China  have vowed to remain in the deal.

The move was harshly criticized by Iran.

Rohani has said that the pressure from its rival has strengthened national unity in the country.

Based on reporting by Reuters and Mehr

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/rohani-accuses-united-states-of -seeking-regime-change-in-iran/29542632.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Arab States Support Terror Inside Iran - Intel Ministry

Sputnik News

13:10 14.10.2018(updated 13:13 14.10.2018)

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Iranian intelligence officers have neutralized a terrorist group in the country's western province of Kermanshah, the Ministry of Intelligence said on Sunday.

The Iranian forces held a counter-terrorism operation on Saturday, during which two militants were killed, while several others were detained, the ministry announced.

During the operation, the Iranian forces seized a number of weapons, grenades and a significant amount of ammunition, as well as some documents.

"The documents indicate that Arab countries support the actions of the terrorist group inside the country [Iran]. In addition, the documents contain an operational plan of the group for carrying out terrorist attacks in the province of Kermanshah," the authority said.

Earlier this year, the reports stated late August that Iranian security forces have neutralized two terrorist cells who were affiliated with "the hostile countries" in the western provinces of Kermanshah and Kurdistan. The first cell reportedly consisted of 12 members and all of them were arrested, while two members of the second cell were killed and another two were captured. The terrorists were said to have been planning acts of terrorism and sabotage.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Iran Accuses US of Regime Change Attempt, Downplays Effect of Sanctions

Sputnik News

12:20 14.10.2018

Tensions between Tehran and Washington escalated after President Trump announced the US's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and the reinstatement of anti-Iranian sanctions in early May.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has accused the US of using psychological and economic warfare in order to instigate regime change in Iran.

"Reducing the legitimacy of the system is their final goal. When they say getting rid of it, regime change in their own words, how does regime change happen? Through reducing legitimacy, otherwise a regime doesn't change," Rouhani pointed out during a speech at Tehran University.

Touching upon the upcoming US sanctions against Iran's oil and gas sector, Rouhani stressed that they "will have no effect" given that "the US has already done whatever it wanted to do."

He also suggested that the Islamic Republic will manage to overcome the anti-Iranian sanctions through "unity and integrity."

On Tehran's ties with the Trump administration, Rouhani said that "in the past 40 years there has not been a more spiteful team than the current US government team toward Iran, Iranians and the Islamic Republic."

"There was a time when there was one person who had enmity. The rest were moderate. Now [] the worst have gathered around each other," he stressed.

Earlier, Rouhani claimed that the US is "more isolated than ever" over the anti-Iranian sanctions.

On August 7, the White House announced the re-introduction of the first phase of the anti-Iranian sanctions, slapping restrictive measures penalizing trade with Iran involving the sale of currency, sovereign debt, cars, aircraft, gold and other metals.

Washington is poised to add Iranian oil and gas to the sanctions during the second phase, due to be reintroduced in November as part of US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Trump announced the move in early May, pledging to reinstate anti-Iranian sanctions, including those which prevent other countries from doing business with the Islamic Republic.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Japan Plans to Buy 20 More F-35A Fighter Jets Amid New Defense Plan - Reports

Sputnik News

17:16 13.10.2018

TOKYO (Sputnik) - Japan plans to include 20 US-made advanced stealth F-35A fighter jets in its new medium-term defense plan for the 2019-2023, Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Saturday.

Japan intends to have 42 such fighter jets in its Air Self-Defense Force by 2024 fiscal year, the Japanese newspaper stated. The new defense plan, which will be formed by the end of 2018, prescribes the additional purchase of 20 more such aircraft and all of them must be deployed in Japan by 2028 fiscal year, the publication said.

The newspaper said citing government sources that procurement of F-35A jets is necessary to deter the growing military activity of China.

The fighter jets will be stationed at bases located in Miyazaki, Ibaraki and some other prefectures.

The F-35A is the most lightweight and low-cost version of the F-35 fighter jet. Earlier, the government of Japan planned to deploy 10 such aircraft during the financial year which began on April 1, 2018.

Japan's decision to purchase more jets comes following the state government's approval of the largest budget in the country's history for the next fiscal year (starting from April 1, 2018) in the amount of 97.7 trillion yen ($897 billion) announced late last year. Defense spending increased 1.17 percent year-on-year to 5.19 trillion yen ($47.6 billion). The military budget increase was explained by North Korea's growing activity in the development of its nuclear and missile programs, as well as Tokyo's intention to improve its anti-missile defense.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Saudis yet to cooperate in Khashoggi probe: Turkish foreign minister

Iran Press TV

Sat Oct 13, 2018 05:31PM

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says Saudi Arabia is not cooperating with the investigation into the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident Saudi journalist who is suspected of being killed during a visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul earlier this month.

"We have not yet seen cooperation on this subject and we want to see it," Cavusoglu told reporters during a visit to London on Saturday.

He said that the Saudi government must allow Turkish officials to enter its Istanbul consulate to probe Khashoggi's disappearance.

The Turkish foreign minister said that there was a consensus on forming a joint working group with Saudi officials over the case of Khashoggi, who has not been seen since entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

He made the remarks two days after a Saudi delegation including senior royal Prince Khaled al-Faisal arrived in Turkey for a joint investigation into the case.

International pressure mounts on Saudi Arabia as Riyadh has failed to prove it is not behind the disappearance of the government supporter-turned-critic.

Turkey's investigation into the disappearance of Khashoggi has revealed recordings made on his Apple Watch, which synced with his iPhone being carried outside the consulate by Khashoggi's fiancee.

The recordings purportedly indicated that the prominent Saudi journalist was tortured and killed at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, according to the Turkish Sabah daily.

Senior Turkish officials have previously been quoted as saying that Khashoggi was wearing a black Apple watch when he entered the consulate and that it was connected to a mobile phone he left outside.

Sabah cited "reliable sources in a special intelligence department" as saying that Khashoggi is believed to have turned on the recording feature on the phone before entering the consulate.

According to the paper, Saudi intelligence agents had realized after the killing that the phone was recording and they used Khashoggi finger print to unlock it, deleting some files but not all of them.

The recordings were subsequently found on his phone, the paper said.

Khashoggi, a Virginia-based critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's policies, entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 for some paperwork regarding his divorce, but never exited the mission.

News of his disappearance broke out after Khashoggi's Turkish fiancee, who was waiting outside the diplomatic building, called the police.

The Washington Post, to which Khashoggi contributed as a columnist, has said the Turkish government had told US officials it had audio and video recordings showing how Khashoggi was "interrogated, tortured and then murdered" by a 15-member Saudi security team inside the consulate before his body was dismembered.

The suspected assassins had made a mysterious one-day trip from Riyadh to Istanbul the day Khashoggi vanished at the consulate.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Turkey obtains recordings of Khashoggi's murder: Paper

Iran Press TV

Sat Oct 13, 2018 07:51AM

Turkey has obtained recordings indicating that prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was tortured and killed at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, a Turkish newspaper reported on Saturday.

The recordings were made on his Apple Watch which synced with his iPhone being carried outside the consulate by Khashoggi's finacee, the pro-government Sabah daily reported.

"The moments when Khashoggi was interrogated, tortured and murdered were recorded in the Apple Watch's memory," the paper said.

Senior Turkish officials have previously been quoted as saying that Khashoggi was wearing a black Apple watch when he entered the consulate and that it was connected to a mobile phone he left outside.

Sabah cited "reliable sources in a special intelligence department" as saying that Khashoggi is believed to have turned on the recording feature on the phone before entering the consulate.

According to the paper, Saudi intelligence agents had realized after the killing that the phone was recording and they used Khashoggi finger print to unlock it, deleting some files but not all of them.

The recordings were subsequently found on his phone, the paper said.

On Thursday, a Saudi delegation including senior royal Prince Khaled al-Faisal arrived in Turkey and the two sides agreed to form a joint working group at Riyadh's initiative to investigate the case.

Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif on Friday praised the joint investigation with Turkey as he broke a deafening silence on the murder, condemning what he called "lies and baseless allegations" against the kingdom.

"What has been circulating about orders to kill him are lies and baseless allegations," he was quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) as saying in a statement.

According to Turkish sources, the initial assessment of the police is that Khashoggi, an outspoken critic of the Saudi regime, has been deliberately killed inside the consulate.

Former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Robert Jordan told CBS News Friday he was "95 percent certain" that Saudi Arabia killed Khashoggi.

"I have seen no explanation from the Saudis as to how we could see video of Jamal going into the consulate, but not coming out," said Jordan.

"Their explanation that their closed circuit TV is only a live feed and not recording makes no sense at all and would be absurd in terms of security tradecraft."

Asked if he had any reason to doubt reports that Saudi agents killed Khashoggi, Jordan replied, "I'd say it's about 95 percent certain."

Khashoggi, a Virginia-based critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's policies, entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 for some paperwork regarding his divorce, but never exited the mission.

News of his disappearance broke out after Khashoggi's Turkish fiancee, who was waiting outside the diplomatic building, called the police.

The Washington Post, to which Khashoggi contributed as a columnist, has said the Turkish government had told US officials it had audio and video recordings showing how Khashoggi was "interrogated, tortured and then murdered" by a 15-member Saudi security team inside the consulate before his body was dismembered.

The suspected assassins had made a mysterious one-day trip from Riyadh to Istanbul the day Khashoggi vanished at the consulate.

America's 'commercial' concerns

The US initially opted to remain silent, but after the news of the incident became viral, President Donald Trump brazenly said Thursday that he was not willing to throw away billions of dollars in military deals with Saudi Arabia.

Major US weapons companies have contacted the administration to express concerns about the fate of lucrative arms exports to the kingdom over Khashoggi's suspected murder.

Reuters quoted a senior US official as saying Friday that the contractors were worried Congress would stall billions in weapons sales to Riyadh.

However, Trump described Washington's relations with Riyadh as "excellent" and made it clear that whatever the outcome of the inquiry into the disappearance of Khashoggi, the US would not forgo the arms deals.

"What good does that do us?" Trump asked. "This took place in Turkey and to the best of our knowledge, Khashoggi is not a United States citizen."

Businesses boycott Riyadh summit

Global business leaders, however, said they were reassessing their ties with Saudi Arabia and boycotting the Future Investment Initiative conference due in Riyadh on October 23-25.

The president of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, said he would not be attending the upcoming event. The Financial Times, Bloomberg, CNN and CNBC have also withdrawn as media sponsors of the summit.

British billionaire Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group, said that he was halting talks over a $1 billion investment by Saudi Arabia in the company's space ventures.

Additionally, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that he might not attend the Riyadh investment conference.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Ankara Blames Saudis for Lack of Cooperation in Probe Into Journo Disappearance

Sputnik News

21:57 13.10.2018(updated 21:59 13.10.2018)

ANKARA (Sputnik)  The Saudi authorities are not cooperating on the investigation into the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and in particular, are not letting Turkish prosecutors to the consulate building, Turkish Foreign Minister said on Saturday.

"Saudi Arabia must cooperate so that prosecutors and experts can enter the premises of the consulate to investigate the case. We still do not see cooperation to ensure a thorough investigation and clarify this issue. We'd like to see that," the foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters as quoted by Daily Sabah.

He also added that there was an agreement with Saudi authorities on the formation of the joint working group regarding the case.

Khashoggi, known for his criticism of Saudi Arabia's policies, has been working for The Washington Post. The journalist went missing in Turkey on October 2. According to his fiancee, Khashoggi was invited to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul but never left the diplomatic mission's building. The Washington Post reported that Turkey had shared with the United States audio and video recordings suggesting the journalist had been murdered in the Saudi consulate.

In its turn, Saudi Arabia denied any involvement in the disappearance of Khashoggi, saying that the journalist had left the consulate. Riyadh is investigating into the journalist's disappearance together with Ankara.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





A Look Into US-Saudi Defense Deals at Stake as Spat Over Khashoggi Deepens

Sputnik News

19:39 13.10.2018(updated 19:40 13.10.2018)

Tensions between Riyadh and Washington over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi from a Saudi consulate in Istanbul have led to questions about the future of the defense partnership between the two nations.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, President Trump vowed to "get to the bottom" of Khashoggi's disappearance, emphasizing that Washington would be "very upset" if Saudi authorities had him killed, as his fiance and Turkish investigators have claimed. Riyadh vehemently denies the charges. However, Trump also did his best not to jeopardize the billions of dollars in arms deals with the Kingdom. "I'll tell you what I don't want to do. Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon, I don't want to hurt jobs. I don't want to lose an order like that," Trump said, emphasizing that there were "other ways of punishing" Riyadh if the allegations about Khashoggi's murder were confirmed.

Deal Details

But just how big are the defense orders at stake? This week, the US president repeatedly mentioned a figure of $110 billion from the US-Saudi arms deal signed in May 2017.

However, also this past week, the Pentagon revealed that Riyadh had actually only signed "letters of offer and acceptance," i.e. official purchase agreements, on less than 15 percent of that figure, or $14.5 billion, with these purchases either approved by Congress or still in the process of being approved.

According to the Congressional Research Service, the US and Saudi Arabia have purchase agreements on the following items:

- 115 M1A2S tanks by General Dynamics Corps

- PAC-3 Patriot missile systems produced by Raytheon

- UH-60 Blackhawk and CH-47 Chinook helicopters manufactured by Sikorsky Helicopters and Boeing Vertol, respectively

At the same time, some $3 billion in upgrades to Saudi Arabia's military communications infrastructure and command-and-control, training packages for troops and pilots, as well as a proposal on the delivery of THAAD missile systems worth up to $15 billion have yet to be finalized despite preliminary approval from Congress, with Riyadh passing up a 20 percent discount deadline on the Lockheed missile system last month.

Speaking to the Associated Press, Brookings Institution senior fellow Bruce Riedel emphasized that President Trump's talk about $110 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia are "just not true," with "very little" actually changing hands so far during his administration. Shortly after the arms agreement was announced, Riedel called the touted deal "fake news,"

pointing out that many of the contracts were "intended sales," often serving as what "the defense industry things the Saudis will be interested in someday," with the firmer deals often going back to the Obama administration.

Notwithstanding the apparent limitations of Trump's much-touted $110 billion arms deal, there is no doubt that Riyadh has historically been one of the top buyers of US weapons. Between 2009 and 2016, the two countries signed over $65 billion in congressionally-approved weapons deals. That trend followed decades of massive arms deals, with Saudi Arabia buying over $68 billion in arms from the US in the 1980s and 1990s, and spending tens of billions more during the administration of George W. Bush.

Can Congress Stop Sales?

Throughout this period, Congress has never permanently blocked arms sales to the Kingdom. Today, despite threats by some lawmakers from both parties to introduce sanctions against the Kingdom over the Khashoggi case, others seem ready to continue doing business with Riyadh, citing the long-standing alliance between the two countries and the jobs the expected contracts are expected to bring defense contractors in some states.

Last week, 22 senators from both parties sent the president a letter directing

the administration to open an investigation the journalist's disappearance, with the administration given 120 days to conduct an investigation, identify the accused, and determined whether sanctions against any individual are warranted.

Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi national journalist working for The Washington Post, went missing in Istanbul on October 2 after visiting the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Riyadh to prove that it had nothing to do with the incident amid suspicions by Turkish investigators that Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate. Saudi Arabia has denied and condemned all claims of orders to kill the journalist as baseless accusations, and authorized Turkish officials to access the consulate building to investigate the case.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Trump Vows 'Severe Punishment' if Riyadh Behind Journalist's Disappearance

Sputnik News

14:52 13.10.2018(updated 12:38 14.10.2018)

Saudi Interior Minister Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz has reportedly condemned claims circulating in media outlets about orders to kill missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi on the part of the authorities, saying they were lies and baseless allegations.

US President Donald Trump commented on the possibility of halting military sales to Saudi Arabia over the missing journalist case, saying that "there are other things" Washington can do to address the issue.

Earlier, in an interview with CBS, President Donald Trump pledged "to get to the bottom" of the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, warning that if the Saudi authorities are behind all this, the US would inflict "severe punishment" on them.

"As of this moment, they deny it and they deny it vehemently. Could it be them? Yes," Trump said, adding that the matter was especially important "because this man was a reporter."

He also said that Washington "would be very upset" if the Saudi authorities had murdered the journalist and that he does not want to hurt US jobs by stopping military sales to Saudi Arabia.

"I'll give you an example  they are ordering military equipment. Everybody in the world wanted that order. Russia wanted it, China wanted it, we wanted it. We got it, and we got all of it, every bit of it. [] I'll tell you what I don't want to do. Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon, I don't want to hurt jobs. I don't want to lose an order like that. And you know what, there are other ways of punishing, to use a word that's a pretty harsh word, but it's true," Trump pointed out.

The remarks came after Trump told reporters that he will call Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud concerning the disappearance of Khashoggi, saying that it is a serious problem and that US officials are looking "very hard" to get answers.

Earlier, he signaled his unwillingness to support a move to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia in response to the disappearance of Khashoggi.

When asked whether he would consider halting arms sales to the kingdom, Trump said, "Not in favor of stopping a country from spending $110 billion, which is an all-time record and letting Russia have that money There are other things we could do."

Earlier, Saudi Interior Minister Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz condemned media claims about orders to kill Khashoggi on the part of the authorities as lies and baseless allegations.

He praised Saudi-Turkey cooperation in the case, voicing Riyadh's commitment to finding out the truth about the disappearance of Khashoggi, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

His remarks came amid speculations that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud had allegedly sought to bring Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia and detain him there. Moreover, Turkish media claimed that the journalist had ostensibly been killed in the Saudi embassy.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for his part, called for Riyadh to prove that they had nothing to do with the incident. According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Saudi Arabia has authorized Turkish officials to access the consulate building in relation to the disappearance.

Khashoggi, who had recently been working for The Washington Post, went missing in Turkey last week. According to his fiancee, Khashoggi was invited to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 but hasn't left the diplomatic mission's building since then.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Saudi Interior Ministry Denies Reports Alleging Murder of Journalist Khashoggi

Sputnik News

03:01 13.10.2018(updated 03:54 13.10.2018)

Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, has been missing since October 2, when he visited the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, to obtain documents needed for his upcoming marriage.

The journalist's fiancee stayed outside the consulate building waiting for Khashoggi for hours before being told by one of the Consulate General's employees that the journalist had already left. According to media reports, Turkish investigators believe the journalist was murdered inside the consulate.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry welcomed Turkey's decision on Friday to agree to conduct a joint investigation into the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi. According to the Anadolu news agency, a delegation from Saudi Arabia has arrived in Ankara to take part in a joint probe. Saudi officials are reportedly expected to meet with their Turkish counterparts over the weekend.

Meanwhile, Saudi Interior Minister Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef slammed Friday allegations regarding the death of Khashoggi as "lies," stressing that the accusations of murder plot were targeting the Saudi government, Reuters reported.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier that the Saudi authorities' comments were unconvincing and called for Riyadh to prove that they have nothing to do with the incident. According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Saudi Arabia has authorized Turkish officials to access the consulate building in relation to the disappearance.

According to media reports, the Turkish authorities have informed US officials that they have audio and video recordings that prove that the missing Saudi journalist was killed inside the consulate.

Khashoggi's disappearance has led officials and business leaders to drop out of some of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's large projects.

Several American companies and business leaders have pulled out of an upcoming The Future Investment Initiative conference in Saudi Arabia as questions mount over the disappearance of Saudi journalist. Moreover, Bloomberg, the New York Times, the Financial Times, CNN and CNBC all have cut their ties with the conference.

On Wednesday, former US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said that he had suspended his advisory role on the board of Saudi Arabia's planned mega business zone, NEOM, until more is known about what happened to Khashoggi.

According to Reuters, the possible murder of a high-profile critic of Saudi crown prince has cast a long shadow over Saudi Arabia's global image and it could have significant implications for Middle East politics.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Trump Pessimistic About Fate of Missing Saudi Journalist

By VOA News October 13, 2018

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday said it was "not looking too good" for the fate of missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, suggesting he might have been killed.

Khashoggi, whose writings have been critical of powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has been missing since entering the country's consulate in Istanbul Oct. 2.

"I think we would've known by now. That was our first hope. Our first hope was that he was not killed, but maybe that's not looking too good ... from what we're hearing," Trump told journalists at the White House.

Trump also said United States would be "punishing itself" if it halted military sales to Saudi Arabia, even if it was proved that Khashoggi had been killed.

In excerpts of an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes that were released Saturday, Trump said, "We're going to get to the bottom of" the Khashoggi case, "and there will be severe punishment" if he has been killed.

Trump said that "nobody knows yet, but we'll probably be able to find out" if bin Salman ordered the killing of Khashoggi. Trump added that the U.S. "would be very upset and angry if that were the case."

Media reports said Khashoggi might have recorded his own death on his Apple Watch.

The accounts said Khashoggi turned on the sound recording capability on the device as he entered the Saudi consulate, where he went to get a document he needed for his upcoming marriage.

The watch was reportedly connected to Apple's cloud computing service and the cellphone that he left with his fiancee before he entered the consulate. His fiancee said she waited for Khashoggi to come out of the consulate, but he never left.

The reports said the watch recorded not only Khashoggi's interrogation and torture but also his slaying.

Khashoggi, a U.S. resident, has written columns for The Washington Post that have been critical of Saudi Arabia.

The Post reported earlier this week that the Turkish government told U.S. officials it had video recordings that proved Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate.

Saudi officials have denied any involvement in Khashoggi's disappearance and said he left the consulate shortly after entering. The Saudi interior minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, called the reports that the government ordered Khashoggi killed "lies and baseless allegations."

A group of 15 Saudi men reportedly flew to Istanbul the day that Khashoggi went to the consulate. Media reports said the men were in the consulate when Khashoggi was there. The men stayed at the consulate for a few hours and then took flights back to Saudi Arabia.

Turkish officials were working to determine the identities of all the men.

One member of the group, according to CNN, was identified by Turkey's official Anadolu news agency and the Sabah newspaper as Salah Muhammed al-Tubaiqi, who the media outlets said was listed on an official Saudi health website as head of the forensic medicine department at the Interior Ministry.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Rajasthan cabinet decides to reduce petrol price by Rs 4 per litre, diesel by Rs 5 per litre.US would be 'punishing itself' if it halts Saudi arms sales: Trump

Iran Press TV

Sun Oct 14, 2018 05:02AM

President Donald Trump says the United States would be "punishing itself" if it halted weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, as pressure mounts on him to take action over the suspected murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul.

"I actually think we'd be punishing ourselves if we did that," Trump told reporters on Saturday at the White House, adding, "There are other things we can do that are very, very powerful, very strong and we'll do them."

Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and a US resident, disappeared on October 2 after visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Turkish authorities believe he was tortured and killed inside the building by a team of Saudi operatives who removed his dismembered body.

Trump, who has forged close ties with Saudi Arabia, has come under pressure at home and abroad to punish Riyadh if investigations show the regime had Khashoggi killed.

Trump did not say what measures his administration would take if Saudi Arabia is found to be responsible, but he made clear any punishment would not involve suspending the arms deals.

He further defended a $110 billion arms deal he announced with Riyadh last year, insisting that the deal was worth 450,000 jobs inside the US.

"If they don't buy it from us, they're going to buy it from Russia or they're going to buy it from China," said the president. "Think of that, $110 billion, all they're going to do is give it to other countries, and I think that would be very foolish."

Major US military contractors, including Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon Co, are among the beneficiaries of Washington's cozy ties with Riyadh and would suffer huge losses if contracts with Saudi Arabia are suspended.

In recent days, Democrats and Republicans in Congress have demanded severe consequences if Saudi Arabia is proven to be behind the disappearance of Khashoggi.

Even before that, some lawmakers had placed "holds" on at least four military deals with Saudi Arabia over the kingdom's military aggression in Yemen.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Scores of Daesh killed in army's operations in Sweida Badyia

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Oct 13, IRNA -- Units of the Syrian Arab Army enhanced deployment points deep in the rocky cliffs adjacent to al-Safa hills in Sweida eastern Badyia (desert), inflicting heavy losses on Daesh (ISIS) ranks and equipment.

SANA's reporter in Sweida said that army units continued their military operations against Daesh movements and fortified positions in the rocky cliffs area as the army's artillery and warplanes directed intensive strikes against Daesh, destroying their fortified points, dens, arms and munitions.

A number of Daesh terrorists were killed as a result of the army's strikes, the reporter added.

The reporter said that the army tightened grip on Daesh and clashed with a number of them who tried to infiltrate towards one of army's points in the cliffs in a desperate attempt to break the siege imposed on them by the army, killing and injuring many of them.

1396**1396

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Syrian Militants Partially Withdraw Weapons From Idlib - Militia Commander

Sputnik News

10:30 14.10.2018(updated 10:33 14.10.2018)

HAMA (Syria) (Sputnik) - Militants of illegal armed groups in the south-west of the Syrian province of Idlib comply with the ceasefire regime and partially withdrew heavy weapons from the demilitarized zone on the border with the province of Hama, Nabil, the commander of the Christian militia of Al-Suqaylabiyah city, told Sputnik.

"There is information that armed terrorist groups fulfill the conditions of the agreement. It is also confirmed by some video and photo materials that they publish. According to our sources, there is a partial [weapons] withdrawal. Turkey confirms this through its media. We can say that this is partially true. But the withdrawal is not full, and there is still time for the full implementation of the agreement before October 15," Nabil said.

According to the commander, there have been no violations of the ceasefire regime in the area over the past several days.

On Wednesday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said that all heavy weapons had been withdrawn from the newly-formed demilitarized zone in Idlib.

On September 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to set up a demilitarized zone in Idlib along the contact line of the armed opposition and the government forces by October 15. The withdrawal of heavy weaponry is part of the agreement.

The agreement, in particular, envisaged a speedy withdrawal of heavy weapons by October 10 from the demilitarization zone, which will run along the perimeter of the de-escalation zone to a depth of 15 to 20 kilometers (9 to 12 miles). Russian military police and Turkish forces will be patrolling the demilitarized zone in Idlib along the contact line between the armed opposition and the government troops.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Iran's Revolutionary Guards Vow to Keep 'Effective' Presence in Syria

Sputnik News

09:19 14.10.2018(updated 09:38 14.10.2018)

Tehran has repeatedly insisted that Iran has limited its assistance to Syria in the fight against Islamist extremists to the provision of military advisers, and that no regular forces are present.

Iran's military advisory presence in Syria will be in place as long as the Islamic Republic finds it "effective and useful," in line with the demands of Damascus, according to Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif, spokesman for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

Speaking to the Iranian news agency Press TV, Sharif underlined that since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, Tehran has adhered to international norms in supporting Damascus.

"This fabricated crisis has been led from abroad with the purpose of instigating insecurity in Syria and creating a safety margin for the Israeli regime," he pointed out.

Sharif described the outcome of the Syrian war as a "big loss" for Israel, which he said had to face a skilled Syrian Army while unsuccessfully trying to topple President Bashar Assad's government.

Sharif's remarks came about a week after IRGC deputy commander Hossein Salami said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "soon will have no choice but [to] flee into the sea."

"They are not at the level of being a threat for us; Hezbollah is enough for destroying them," Salami said. Accusing Tel Aviv of deceiving the world about Iran, he also blamed Israel for acting as a "political mannequin" in the US shop window.

In another development last week, Netanyahu pledged that Israel would "continue doing what it takes to defend itself" and "continue blocking Iran's attempts to use Syria and Lebanon as its forward bases to launch attacks on Israel."

In September, Netanyahu claimed that Tel Aviv had discovered a second secret nuclear facility in Tehran, vowing that Israel would "never" accept the efforts of "a regime that calls for our destruction to develop nuclear weapons." Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif responded by saying that Israel was the "only regime in our region with a secret and undeclared weapons program, including an "actual atomic arsenal."

Tensions between Iran and Israel reached a boiling point in recent months over the conflict in Syria. In September, a senior Israeli military official admitted that the Jewish state had struck over 200 targets in Syria over the past year and a half. Israel justified the attacks by claiming that their objective was to eliminate a suspected Iranian military presence in the Arab country.

Tehran and Damascus have rejected such charges, insisting that although Iran has military advisers assisting Syria in its fight against Islamist extremists, no regular forces are present. Damascus has repeatedly pointed out that assistance from Iran and the Lebanese militant movement Hezbollah has been approved by Syria's internationally recognized government.

Iran categorically refuses to recognize the Jewish state; Tehran severed all diplomatic and commercial relations with Israel after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and has repeatedly declared that what it calls the "Zionist regime" would disappear if it went to war with the Islamic Republic.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Erdogan vows to root out terror nests east of Euphrates

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Oct 13, IRNA -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey's military could soon launch a new operation across the border into northern Syria, in zones held by a Syrian Kurdish group that Ankara lists as a terrorist organization.

'God willing, very soon ... we will leave the terror nests east of the Euphrates in disarray,' Erdogan said at a military ceremony honoring Turkish commando soldiers, according to hurriyetdailynews.com.

Erdogan's statement is renewing a threat to expand Turkey's military operations into areas east of the Euphrates River held by the US-backed YPG.

Turkey launched incursion into Syria in 2016 and 2018, into areas west of the Euphrates, pushing Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants as well as Kurdish YPG fighters from the border area.

Speaking about the economy, Erdogan said that Turkey continues to maintain investments.

'Being exposed to some speculative attacks in the economy recently does not change the fact that we are the world's 13th largest country in terms of purchasing power parity and ranked 17 in terms of national income,' he added.

8072**1396

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





American Pastor Back In U.S. After Release From Turkish Custody

RFE/RL October 13, 2018

An American evangelical pastor held for two years in Turkey has arrived in the United States, a day after a Turkish court ordered his release despite sentencing him to three years in prison on terrorism-related charges.

Andrew Brunson landed at a military base outside Washington and then traveled to the White House to meet with President Donald Trump.

The U.S. leader told him "we've been negotiating long and hard" for his release and that "we do not pay ransom in this country."

"From a Turkish prison to the White House in 24 hours, that's not bad," Trump said.

Brunson told Trump that "you really fought for us."

Earlier, Trump thanked Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had resisted the demands of Trump and other high-level U.S. officials for Brunson's release.

Erdogan responded to Trump on Twitter, saying that "as I've always emphasized, the Turkish judiciary made its decision independently. I hope the U.S. and Turkey will continue its cooperation as it befits two allies."

On October 12, a court in western Turkey convicted Brunson on terrorism-related charges and sentenced him to three years in prison. But the court ordered his release after taking into account time he had already served while awaiting trial and his good conduct.

Brunson's detention since October 2016 caused a diplomatic crisis between Washington and Ankara -- leading the United States in August to impose sanctions on its NATO ally, double tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum imports, and withhold delivery of 100 F-35 fighter jets.

He was charged with links to Kurdish militants and the U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is blamed by Ankara for a failed coup attempt in 2016.

Brunson, who had lived in Turkey for more than two decades, rejects the charges.

Washington says he was unjustly held as part of a wide-scale crackdown on political opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that followed the failed coup.

With reporting by AP, Reuters. and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/american-pastor -flying-back-to-u-s-after-release-from- turkish-custody/29541408.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





What Comes Next As Ukrainian Orthodox Church Pushes For Independence From Moscow?

Robert Coalson October 13, 2018

The striving of many Ukrainian Orthodox believers to gain independence for their national church from the Russian Orthodox Church has been simmering since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

But in many ways, the decision by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople to recognize the independence, or autocephaly, of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church marks just the beginning of a process that could take many more years to unfold.

Rather than settling the contentious matter, the one-page document issued on October 11 raises new questions and creates the potential for even greater conflict.

Prospects For Unity

Currently there are three Orthodox churches in Ukraine: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC+MP), which recognizes the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church; and two breakaway churches -- the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC+KP) and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC).

The Moscow-loyal church controls some 12,000 parishes, while the Kyiv Patriarchate boasts about 5,000 and the UAOC nearly 1,000. According to a poll released in mid-September, of those polled who named themselves as Orthodox, 45.2 percent claimed allegiance to the Kyiv Patriarchate, while only 16.9 percent to the Moscow Patriarchate; 2.1 percent were for the UAOC and 33.9 percent were "just Orthodox," without a specific congregation.

Following the October 11 decision, Ukrainian Patriarch Filaret said an inclusive process aimed at unifying Orthodox believers in Ukraine would be launched to form a united, local autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

"We've waited patiently for a long time, and we can wait a bit more," Filaret said in Kyiv on October 11. "But the unification will only be voluntary. Those who want it will take part in the Unification Council. Those who don't want it, won't be a part of the unified Ukrainian Orthodox Church."

The Kyiv Patriarchate called on leaders of the other two Ukrainian Orthodox churches to join the process and contribute to the planning of the Unification Council.

Given the Moscow Patriarchate's uncompromising opposition to the Ecumenical Patriarchate's decision -- one spokesman for the Russian church called it "catastrophic," while another described it as an "attempt to distort history for political reasons" -- it is unlikely that representatives of the Moscow-loyal Ukrainian church would participate in any unification process. A spokesman for the Moscow-loyal church told the Russian state TASS news agency on October 12 that it would not participate in any council organized by the Kyiv Patriarchate, which it said "is not a legitimate church organization."

And if a united Ukrainian Orthodox Church is eventually given a "Tomos," or document of autocephaly from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, a large number of individual churches in Ukraine could still continue to pledge loyalty to the Russian Orthodox Church. Politicians in Ukraine have already drafted legislation that would rename the Moscow-loyal church as "the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine," a move that the church itself opposes and the Kyiv Patriarchate supports.

At the same time, even if the Moscow-loyal Ukrainian church refuses to join an autocephalous Ukrainian church, individual parishes would likely attempt to switch. More than 70 Moscow-loyal parishes have already joined the Kyiv Patriarchate since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out in 2014.

A spokesman for the Kyiv Patriarchate told Current Time TV, which is a joint project of RFE/RL and VOA, "If it takes half a year or a year or three years or five, it doesn't matter."

Politics And Religion

On October 12, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reasserted Moscow's intention to "protect the interests" not only of ethnic Russians and Russian speakers in Ukraine but of Orthodox believers as well, adding that it would do so only through "political and diplomatic" means.

Peskov also said that "Russia's secular authorities cannot intervene in inter-church dialogue." "They have never done so, and they never will," Peskov said.

This is disingenuous, many Ukrainians say, arguing that the Russian Orthodox Church has been integrally intertwined with the Russian government for centuries.

Many priests of the Moscow-loyal Orthodox Church in Ukraine have refused to hold funerals for Ukrainian soldiers killed in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, a war that the International Criminal Court ruled in 2016 was "an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation." Moscow-loyal priests have also justified Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.

"This is an issue of our independence," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on October 11. "This is an issue of national security. This is an issue of our statehood. This is an issue of global geopolitics. This is the collapse of Moscow's centuries-old claims for global domination as the Third Rome."

"The independence of our church is part of our pro-European and pro-Ukrainian policies that we've been consistently pursuing over the last four years," he added.

National Security

Poroshenko's assertion that the seemingly religious issue is a matter of "national security" touches on the perception in Ukraine that the Moscow-loyal church has been part of a hybrid war waged by Russia against Ukraine since 2014.

According to Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, hybrid war is characterized by "long-distance, contactless actions against the enemy...throughout the entire depth of his territory."

It aims "to create a permanently operating front through the entire territory of the enemy state." Its tools are "the broad use of political, economic, informational, humanitarian, and other nonmilitary measures -- applied in coordination with the protest potential of the [local] population."

Ukrainian lawmaker Dmytro Tymchuk said in June, when the issue of a Tomos for a Ukrainian church seemed nearly settled, that "in the administration of the Russian president,... it was decided to activate preparations for carrying out further destructive actions."

"Using this opportunity, the Russian special services...and the fifth column in Ukraine plan to activate centrifugal forces and to generate and inflame internal conflict situation in this process," Tymchuk told Current Time.

Who Gets The Monasteries?

Besides the spiritual and patriotic, there is also a decidedly earthly dimension to the issue: Who will get the property?

The October 11 statement from the Ecumenical Patriarchate specifically ended with an appeal to "all involved parties that they avoid the appropriation of churches, monasteries, and other properties, as well as every other act of violence and retaliation."

Attention has immediately been focused on Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and Pochayiv Lavra, two ancient monasteries that are prominent Orthodox shrines. Kyiv Patriarch Filaret has said "they are Ukrainian shrines and they cannot belong to a Russian church."

Both monasteries are legally the property of the Ukrainian government. However, pro-Russian former President Viktor Yanukovych turned them over to the Moscow-loyal Ukrainian church under a free, 50-year lease. Legal experts say the government could revisit those agreements.

Property issues will come to the fore across the country. Under Ukrainian law, property belongs to individual parishes and they have the right to choose whom to follow and take the property with them.

"Losing property is never taken calmly," Moscow-based religious scholar Andrei Desnitsky told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service. "Imagine a village church.... If a new [national church] is created, some people will say, 'Let's switch,' and others will say, 'No, we are staying [with the Moscow church].' It is obvious that the side that loses this dispute -- either in court or by force -- will say that the other side 'seized' the property."

"When a divorce is started and both sides are accusing one another, it is impossible to share property in a peaceful way," he added. "Most likely there will be many cases that will be called 'property seizures.'"

Violence Ahead?

Although the Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian government have said this process can be carried out gradually and peacefully, there are genuine concerns that there could be violence.

"One of the points of [the October 11 decision] calls for the peaceful resolution of all problems...," Ukrainian religious scholar and lawmaker Viktor Yelenskyy said. "This, of course, is not in the plans of the Moscow Patriarchate. They are constantly talking about clashes and blood and so on. In this way, they reveal the scenario of their future actions. We know they are very talented at stirring up interethnic...and inter-church disputes."

Moscow Metropolitan Ilarion, head of external relations for the Moscow Patriarchate, said on October 11, "Of course, Orthodox believers will defend their holy places, and there could be bloodshed."

Ivan Varchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, told RFE/RL that law enforcement had already been speaking to officials in the Moscow-loyal church to warn them about the serious penalties for incitement to violence.

Russia's Kuban Cossack community wrote an open letter to the Ecumenical Council declaring its "unanimous support" for the Moscow patriarch and its readiness "to step up to the defense of the unity and integrity of our Fatherland and our Mother-Church."

Asked whether there could be violence in Ukraine over the autocephaly issue, Moscow-based political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin was unequivocal.

"I think not only could there be, but there will be," he said. "But it will be done so that it can't be proven that it was initiated by Moscow. They will support any extremist force -- it doesn't matter if they are far right or far left."

Ukrainian analyst Volodymyr Fesenko agreed.

"Provocations will come from various Ukrainian organizations, but they will be prodded by the Russian secret services," he said.

Written by Robert Coalson based on reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian and Russian services and Current Time TV

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/what-comes- next-as-ukrainian-orthodox-church-pushes-for- independence-from-moscow-/29541835.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address





Blog Archive November 2021 (38) October 2021 (67) September 2021 (59) August 2021 (56) July 2021 (57) June 2021 (66) May 2021 (63) April 2021 (75) March 2021 (73) February 2021 (61) January 2021 (69) December 2020 (62) November 2020 (62) October 2020 (70) September 2020 (51) August 2020 (52) July 2020 (60) June 2020 (57) May 2020 (79) April 2020 (56) March 2020 (52) February 2020 (50) January 2020 (69) December 2019 (58) November 2019 (64) October 2019 (44) September 2019 (49) August 2019 (71) July 2019 (71) June 2019 (71) May 2019 (67) April 2019 (74) March 2019 (85) February 2019 (64) January 2019 (73) December 2018 (66) November 2018 (81) October 2018 (87) September 2018 (66) August 2018 (76) July 2018 (84) June 2018 (86) May 2018 (64) April 2018 (83) March 2018 (78) February 2018 (69) January 2018 (69) December 2017 (82) November 2017 (87) October 2017 (89) September 2017 (77) August 2017 (75) July 2017 (76) June 2017 (90) May 2017 (86) April 2017 (59) March 2017 (61) February 2017 (82) January 2017 (92) December 2016 (90) November 2016 (80) October 2016 (75) September 2016 (95) August 2016 (104) July 2016 (93) June 2016 (96) May 2016 (98) April 2016 (99) March 2016 (113) February 2016 (82) January 2016 (98) December 2015 (113) November 2015 (94) October 2015 (93) September 2015 (98) August 2015 (97) July 2015 (105) June 2015 (103) May 2015 (95) April 2015 (100) March 2015 (102) February 2015 (93) January 2015 (114) December 2014 (110) November 2014 (103) October 2014 (105) September 2014 (96) August 2014 (96) July 2014 (112) June 2014 (119) May 2014 (109) April 2014 (116) March 2014 (117) February 2014 (109) January 2014 (116) December 2013 (117) November 2013 (121) October 2013 (125) September 2013 (93) August 2013 (115) July 2013 (110) June 2013 (102) May 2013 (115) April 2013 (113) March 2013 (119) February 2013 (108) January 2013 (119) December 2012 (132) November 2012 (115) October 2012 (121) September 2012 (115) August 2012 (124) July 2012 (102) June 2012 (121) May 2012 (121) April 2012 (127) March 2012 (130) February 2012 (112) January 2012 (131) December 2011 (129) November 2011 (118) October 2011 (118) September 2011 (110) August 2011 (138) July 2011 (146) June 2011 (139) May 2011 (144) April 2011 (127) March 2011 (140) February 2011 (116) January 2011 (134) December 2010 (133) November 2010 (136) October 2010 (148) September 2010 (128) August 2010 (155) July 2010 (129) June 2010 (138) May 2010 (152) April 2010 (161) March 2010 (119) February 2010 (149) January 2010 (155) December 2009 (177) November 2009 (171) October 2009 (176) September 2009 (159) August 2009 (156) July 2009 (170) June 2009 (157) May 2009 (185) April 2009 (179) March 2009 (183) February 2009 (170) January 2009 (181) December 2008 (189) November 2008 (183) October 2008 (164) September 2008 (164) August 2008 (177) July 2008 (179) June 2008 (170) May 2008 (191) April 2008 (175) March 2008 (195) February 2008 (162) January 2008 (188) December 2007 (187) November 2007 (189) October 2007 (194) September 2007 (156) August 2007 (194) July 2007 (163) June 2007 (176) May 2007 (190) April 2007 (177) March 2007 (192) February 2007 (165) January 2007 (170) December 2006 (182) November 2006 (177) October 2006 (185) September 2006 (180) August 2006 (156) July 2006 (160) June 2006 (177) May 2006 (173) April 2006 (157) March 2006 (158) February 2006 (146) January 2006 (144) December 2005 (135) November 2005 (138) October 2005 (128) September 2005 (141) August 2005 (136) July 2005 (133) June 2005 (119) May 2005 (143) April 2005 (52)sacw.net - 14 October 2018

The turbulence and turmoil that has haunted Kashmir for the past twenty-three years holds all of us, as a people, accountable for the degeneration of our politics and society. While it is important for us to condemn, question, and seek redress for the human rights violations in Kashmir, it is also important for us to construct a politics that will enable the rebuilding of our pluralistic polity and society. The more we allow the depoliticization of Kashmiri society, the more subservient we become to forces that do not have Kashmiras best interests at heart. Today, mainstream as well as separatist politicians in the state have been discredited. The alternative is not the dismantling of the stateas political structures and institutions of governance but the creation of a viable political structure, one is which, as my colleague, historian David Ludden points out, aa popular politics of mass mobilization is merged with institutional politics of governance promoting demilitarization and democracy.a Kashmir cannot afford to lose yet another generation!

A point that I have made in several forums, and most recently in my interview with Natana Delong-Bas for Oxford Islamic Studies Online is that the foundation of Kashmiri nationalism was laid in 1931, and this nationalism recognized the heterogeneity of the nation. It was not constructed around a common language, religion, culture, and an ethnically pure majority. This process of Kashmiri nationalist self-imagining is conveniently ignored in the statist versions of the histories of India and Pakistan. Here, I also point out that there are some purportedly "subaltern" versions of the history of Kashmir which, in their ardent attempts to be deconstructionist, insidiously obliterate the process of nation-building in Kashmir in the early to mid-decades of the twentieth century, inadvertently feeding off statist and oftentimes right-wing versions of history. In romanticizing militant resistance in Kashmir, such versions fail to take into account the tremendously difficult task of restoring the selfhood of a degraded people, and also the harsh fact that a political movement which does not highlight the issues of governance, social welfare, and the resuscitation of democratic institutions ends up becoming obscurantist. In trying to espouse anti-establishment positions, some of us tend to ignore the dangers of obscurantism and the growth of a conflict economy, in which some state and well as non-state actors are heavily invested.

It would be relevant to mention that the partition of India in 1947 into the dominions of India and Pakistan along religious lines enabled divisive forces of violence and brutality to rip the common anti-colonial, cultural legacy to pieces. [1] At the time, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah harbored the mirage of an independent Jammu and Kashmir. But he believed, in the interests of expediency, that provisional accession to India was a better option than unconditional accession to Pakistan. He felt that the political voice and socioeconomic interests of Kashmiris would be greatly threatened and diminished by the plutocracy of Pakistan, which was predominantly feudal. The successful implementation of the land to the tiller program by the Sheikh Abdullah-led state government in Jammu and Kashmir would have been a pipe dream in a country like Pakistan, which was ruled by the feudal aristocracy.

The adefining moment in Jammu and Kashmirs post-Indian independence historya came in 1950 when disenfranchised peasants awere freed from the shackles of landlords through a law that gave them ownership rights on the land they tilled. . . . The sweeping land reforms under the Big Landed Estates Abolition Act passed on July 13, 1950, changed the complexion of Kashmiri society. The historical image of the emaciated local farmer in tatters, with sunken faces and listless eyes, toiling to fill the granaries of landlords changed overnight into one of a landowner who expected to benefit from the labor he had put in for generationsa (Ahmed, F.). This program emphasized the necessity of abolishing exploitative landlordism without compensation and enfranchising tillers by granting them the lands they worked on. Many policy makers in the Indian subcontinent, political scientists, and economists have acknowledged the effectiveness and rigor of land reforms in Jammu and Kashmir.

Before I proceed any further, it would be pertinent to briefly digress on the pluralistic polity of Jammu and Kashmir. The various ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups in Jammu & Kashmir, Kashmiri Muslims, Kashmiri Pandits, Dogra Hindus, Ladakhi Buddhists and Shiaite Muslims, comprise the pluralistic population of the state. According to the Census of India, 2001, Muslims constitute the predominant religious group of the state at 67.0%, Hindus at 29.6%, Sikhs at 2.23%, Buddhists at 1.16%, Christians at 0.14 %, and others form the remaining part. The reality of Kashmir was vacillating even in 1947, because Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah tried to create unity where none existed. The disparate groups have been unable to nurture a shared cultural and historical legacy that would enable them to fashion a cultural alterity to that of the Indian or Pakistani nationalist ones. But due to the regional sentiments that are becoming increasingly religionized, the ideology and rhetoric of a shared cultural and historical past have been unable to garner public support and mobilization for reconstruction and nation-building. The signifiers of nationhood in Jammu and Kashmir, flag, anthem, and constitution, have thus far not been able to move beyond a nebulous nationalist self-imagining. Now more than ever, the three regions of the state are at daggers drawn about the future political configuration of the state. This doleful truth was forcefully brought home to me at several conferences held in India and the United States.

A group of Kashmiri Pandits, for example, advocates the creation of a separate homeland for its community within the Kashmir Valley. The predominantly Hindu province of Jammu sees its unbreachable assimilation into the Indian Union as the only way to safeguard its future. However, of the original six districts of Jammu, the three predominantly Muslim ones, Poonch, Rajouri, and Doda, would, in all likelihood, align themselves with the predominantly Muslim Kashmir Valley. In the Ladakh region of the state, predominantly Buddhist Leh, which has always been critical of the perceived discrimination against it, has zealously been demanding its political severance from the rest of the state and pushing its demand for Union Territory status within the Indian Union. Where-as the predominantly Shiaite Kargil district in the Ladakh region does not perceive a jeopardized cultural and linguistic identity and advocates retention of its political alignment with the rest of the state.

In 1989 several armed separatist groups that owed allegiance to Pakistan surfaced in the Kashmir Valley as well, and for them Sheikh Mohammad Abdullahas political ideology was anathema, which they sought to raze to the ground. There remains, however, a contingent in Kashmir that continues to believe in the efficacy of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullahas policies and apotheosizes him as the symbol of Kashmiri nationalism. It is pertinent to mention that as a consequence of Indiaas greatly fortified counter insurgency operation in Jammu and Kashmir, the state is a highly militarized zone.

I firmly believe that in order to address wider political, socioeconomic, and democratic issues in the Kashmir at this critical juncture requires rethinking decision-making between India and Pakistan, state and non-state actors as well as between between state and society.

Perhaps it is time to seriously consider a new regional order which would be capable of producing cross-economic, political, and cultural interests among the people of the region. Women in civic associations and in government can lead the way toward a peaceful pluralistic democracy and support international negotiations for a sustainable peace in the region.

Nyla Ali Khan is a faculty member at the University of Oklahoma is the author of Fiction of Nationality in an Era of Transnationalism, Islam, Women, and Violence in Kashmir, The Life of a Kashmiri Woman, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullahs Reflections on Kashmir, and the editor of The Parchment of Kashmir. She is editor of the Oxford Islamic Studiesa special issue on Jammu and Kashmir. She can be reached at nylakhan[at]aol.comSanto Silvestro says he doesnt believe in leaving anything to chance.

Every day, Silvestro said, he or his fleet manager inspect the vehicles that have gone out from his Hoyt Livery or Crosstown Limousine, both in New Canaan.

Im here seven days a week, Silvestro said last week. Im out looking for dents, checking the tire pressure ... if I see a something wrong even it its a tail light out, that car does not go out until its repaired.

The Silvestro family, which has owned Hoyt Livery, also known as Hoyt Limousine, since 1987, maintain their own body and repair shops  New Canaan Auto Body and New Canaan Auto Repair, on the same Cross Street site.

The deadly crash of a re-manufactured Ford Excursion  a so-called super stretch limo  in upstate New York that killed 20 on Oct. 7 has sounded warning bells in the heads of brides and grooms scheduling parties and receptions, parents preparing for proms and others, including state. Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, who sits on the General Assemblys Transportation Committee.

That crash has left questions about the vehicle and the driver, Boucher said. We need to determine if our laws are well-written as to the qualifications of drivers and the inspection of these vehicles.

In Connecticut, limousine services using vehicles carrying fewer than eight passengers are only required to be inspected once by the Department of Transportation, and thats when the company is applying for a license.

If they dont pass inspection, they are not licensed, said Kevin Nursick, a DOT spokesman. They have to pass before they can do business.

He said the majority of vehicles inspected are sedans and SUVs, not stretch limousines. And he added vehicles operating under services like Uber and Lyft are not inspected at all.

Thats another problem Boucher said the Transportation Committee needs to look at.

Stretched out

Vehicles carrying eight or more passengers in the state must be inspected every six months by Connecticuts Department of Motor Vehicles.

Stretch Limousines operating in Connecticut can only do so if they are specifically certified by the factory manufacturer to be altered in such a way, and only if the modifications are or were performed by a factory-approved establishment, Nursick explained. These vehicles would also be inspected by CTDOT prior to service. Vehicles not meeting this criteria are immediately rejected, and cannot be registered for livery use in Connecticut.

But DOTs requirements only extend to vehicles garaged in Connecticut and transporting passengers within the state. Additional requirements for commercial motor vehicles traveling into and out of Connecticut fall under the regulations of the U.S. Department of Transportations Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

The Silvestros said they never operated with any super stretch limos. They sold their two conventional stretch limousines two years ago because their wasnt much call for them.

A reputable company really needs to be careful, Silvestro said. Any time you take a car, chop it in half and add a piece  how safe can it be?

Federal and state investigators in New York are attempting to determine the cause of the catastrophic upstate crash. Published reports claim the 2001 Ford Excursion, modified into a stretch limousine, ran a stop sign, struck a parked sport utility vehicle and rolled down an embankment. The 17 passengers and driver were killed, along with two pedestrians.

Safety measures

Nationally, there were 28 fatal crashes  and 39 total deaths  involving large limousines from 2008 through 2017, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That compares with nearly 318,000 fatal crashes and nearly 347,000 total fatalities in crashes involving all types of vehicles during that period.

Of the 39 fatalities, 24 were occupants of large limousines, while 15 of those killed were pedestrians or in other involved vehicles.

The administration, through its Fatality Analysis Reporting System, defines large limousines as as automobiles with more than four side doors or a stretched chassis with sections added within its wheelbase to increase length and passenger/cargo carrying capacity.

The term does not refer to regular-sized automobiles that might be chauffeuring passengers like a town car. It also does not refer to utility-truck-based limousines, such as the Cadillac Escalade, Hummer, or Suburban limousines.

Silvestro said each of his cars is equipped with a hammer to break glass and seat belt cutters. His vehicles also have fire extinguishers and flares. Newer vans have push-out glass on the sides and the roof, Silvestro said.

Our drivers have been trained in safety procedures, he said. I personally hire them. They have been with us anywhere from five to 23 years.

He said his insurance company requires periodic safety inspections of his vehicles, more than the state requires.

If Im told by a driver that something doesnt sound right in a vehicle, its coming off the road, said Linda Silvestro, of their family owned businesses. Were in the business of transporting people  thats precious cargo; I want to be able to put my head on the pillow every night and go to sleep knowing we did the right thing.More than 300 bridges in Connecticut  carrying 4.3 million vehicles daily  are considered structurally deficient.

Highways in the Bridgeport-Stamford area are so congested motorists waste 49 hours a year in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

And 62 percent of Connecticuts major roads are in such poor condition they cost motorists $681 annually in vehicle repairs, according to TRIP, a national transportation think tank.

Given those challenges, the three men seeking to replace Gov. Dannel P. Malloy could be making transportation the centerpiece of their campaigns. But instead, these candidates for governor are offering mostly modest plans to fix the states infrastructure mess.

From an economic growth perspective, transportation is the number one issue, said Joseph McGee, vice president for policy at the Business Council of Fairfield County. The state has to invest in transportation infrastructure. The lack of investment is holding back economic growth. It cant take an hour to get to work. Companies will just leave, and we are seeing that.

Democrat Ned Lamonts transportation plan includes highway tolls on heavy cargo trucks, which he says will bring in an estimated $350 million annually and help pay for expanding airports, fostering economic development around train stations, faster Metro-North service and expanded bus connections.

Republican Bob Stefanowski opposes tolls and is pushing a plan that relies on unspecified budget cuts and savings, and reorganizing the states bonding priorities, to free up money for transportation projects.

Independent candidate Oz Griebel favors statewide tolling and would re-establish a transportation strategy board to choose projects supported by the private and public sectors.

No easy fix

Solving the states transportation needs is not an easy task, as Malloy found out.

And paying for it is even harder.

Perpetual budget deficits, reduced gas tax receipts and dwindling federal money has made funding big transportation improvements  without a new revenue source such as tolls or a larger diversion of the state income tax  more than challenging.

Malloy proposed a sweeping $100 billion, 30-year plan to ease congestion and improve the states aging transportation system.

The outgoing Democratic governor had some wins  the more than 100 year old Walk rail bridge in Norwalk is being replaced, I-84 in Waterbury was reconfigured and a new rail line between Hartford and New Haven is exceeding expectations.

But much of his plan remains unrealized, including widening the most congested sections of Interstates 95 and 84.

McGee said offering long lists to solve the transportation problem sounds productive, but a governor must also push projects through the legislature.

You can come up with a $100 billion plan, but its getting things done that counts, McGee said.

James Cameron, founder of the Commuter Action Group and a Hearst Connecticut Media columnist, said he doesnt see much of a transportation plan from the three gubernatorial candidates.

Almost none of them is talking about transportation, Cameron said. How can we create jobs, stop people from moving out of state, encourage entrepreneurs or do anything to save our economy when we are in a literal and political gridlock?

Cameron added the candidates mostly pay lip-service to one of the most critical issues facing the state.

Highlights of candidates transportation plans Democrat Ned Lamont Highway tolls for big trucks only Fix roads and bridges Faster commuter rail service, with added WiFi and rail connections to Bradley airport Transit-oriented development Encourage public/private partnerships Republican Bob Stefanowski No highway tolls Encourage public/private partnerships, including investment Embrace zero-based budgeting, use spending reductions for transportation Eliminate waste, streamline approval process Reduce bonding for unnecessary projects Independent candidate Oz Griebel Pilot program to toll express lanes around Hartford, then spread tolling statewide Reestablish the state Transportation Strategy Board Cancel $10 million state study on tolls Reduce Metro North travel time between New Haven and New York Launch barge service to move containers from New York-New Jersey to ports in Bridgeport, New Haven and New London See More Collapse

Toll or not

Stefanowksi, along with his Republican counterparts in the General Assembly, is firmly against highway tolls.

Connecticut taxpayers already have the second highest tax burden per capita in the nation, Stefanowski said in a prepared statement. The candidate declined requests to be interviewed by Hearst Connecticut Media.

Neds plan to put up tolls will only serve to increase that burden, forcing more families and businesses to leave our state, he said, adding the state can borrow money through bonds and avoid tolls or tax increases.

Lamont said Stefanowskis approach means little spending on transportation and predicted he would do considerable damage to Connecticuts economy.

Major projects simply will not happen, Lamont said in a prepared statement. He also declined to be interviewed.

Metro-North service will continue to deteriorate, Lamont said. His Trump-like tax experiment will all but guarantee ending state investments in transportation, ultimately driving businesses away.

Griebel said he would immediately begin a pilot toll program in the Hartford area on existing high vehicle occupancy lanes. That tolling could be spread across the state, he said.

The congestion is significant, Griebel said in an interview, adding toll revenue will help rebuild the states transportation system.

The region from New Haven down must be kept as a viable corridor, Griebel noted.

McGee said Stamford employers are increasingly seeing workers come from New Haven, Hartford and the towns and cities in between.

No one likes tolls, McGee conceded. But we are going to need more options. The lack of investment in infrastructure has hurt the states ability to grow. It was not addressed for the last eight years. There is no question we need another revenue source for transportation.

Different approaches

Lamont and Griebel both support a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November that would place a lockbox on transportation funds and prevent lawmakers from diverting those funds to other uses.

Stefanowski opposes the lockbox, saying its not an effective solution because lawmakers in the past diverted money from similar lockboxes

Much like Malloy, Lamont sees a link between highway gridlock, aging rail systems and economic growth.

Lamont wants faster rail service, private sector and public partnerships to lessen the cost of construction, increased bus connections, linking the new Hartford rail line to Bradley International Airport and increasing daily round trips between New Haven, Hartford and Springfield, Mass.

When it comes to revitalizing Connecticuts economy and fixing the states fiscal crisis, investing in 21st century infrastructure is critical, Lamont said.

Other than revenue from truck tolls, however, Lamont did not offer specific ways to pay for his transportation improvements.

Stefanowski sees overspending and taxes as the cause of the states fiscal and economic woes.

He said greater efficiency and savings, reduced overall spending, streamlining project approval times, partnering with financial institutions and the private sector and prioritizing will free up money for transportation work.

Weve seen the state continue bonding for projects that are not absolutely necessary, and which wont pay dividends through economic growth, even though the state is in dire financial straits, Stefanowski said.

We would immediately begin to develop a clear strategy to fund our priorities, such as school construction and transportation, and adhere strictly to that plan until our budget is in better shape, Stefanowski said.

That pitch mirrors the Republican caucus plan that pledges $1 billion annually over the next 30 years for transportation improvements without tax increases or tolls.

Malloy and the majority Democratic lawmakers have said the GOP plan offered by legislators cannot produce the revenue it claims.

Lamont said decades of underinvestment in transportation can no longer be ignored.

Were in a competition with the world for jobs, and right now, employers view our rail, roads and infrastructure as a fundamental impediment, Lamont said.

That means we have a simple choice: we can either move into the future with a modern transportation system that will attract companies and grow jobs, or we can go backward by disinvesting, he said.

bcummings@ctpost.com



Haiti - ALERT : Risk of WhatsApp hacking





The Monitoring Center of the Digital Observatory in Haiti (OBNH) was informed on October 12 of the existence of a significant security breach, concerning WhatsApp, the multiplatform instant messaging application of more than 1 billion of person every day.



This breachallows malicious individuals to take control of the application by responding to a simple video call by opening a door in the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) [which is also responsible for how applications communicate on the internet] from which a malicious code can be injected into the RAM of the user's device, which makes it possible to take control of it.



The OBNH recommends users to update WhatsApp without delay on their device, to fill this gap and avoid any danger of hacking, a new version of WhatsApp is already available for this purpose.



HL/ HaitiLibre





















Haiti - FLASH : Weapons cargo to Haiti seized in Miami





On Friday, Patrick Germain (45), a resident of Evanston, Illinois, pleaded guilty to attempting to illegally export firearms and ammunition to Haiti.



Germain confessed to trying to export to Haiti via Miami, 16 handguns, 5 rifles and ammunition, according to the US prosecutor's office.



Germain built a crate, filled it with firearms and ammunition and hid the crate in a van, prosecutors said. The van was delivered to a shipping company in Miami, but law enforcement officials seized the weapons before being shipped to Haiti.



Patrick Germain incurs a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and will appear on January 29, 2019, to know the length of his sentence.



SL/ HaitiLibre

















Published on 2018/10/14 | Source

Hangeul or the Korean alphabet is enjoying newfound popularity for labels and store signs.

Advertisement

At the start of globalization, English or French words were heavily favored over indigenous Korean shop names and labels as they were deemed more exotic and sophisticated. But that has changed, and now Hangeul is considered cooler both at home and in other parts of Asia. This is mainly due to young people who have embraced Korean pop culture.

The Namchon Country Club in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province had planned to change its name to something more English-sounding when it carried out renovations two years ago since all its competitors were using faux-posh foreign names like Trinity and Hillside. But management eventually decided to stick to the original name, and it paid off.

Designer Choi Sung-hee said, "People now think names or logos with big-sounding foreign words or phrases are embarrassing and outdated".

Only three years ago a major newspaper complained that more than half of the store signs in university areas were in foreign languages. Now all that has changed. A quick stroll through the alleys near Seoul National University reveals many more signs in Korean than in foreign languages.

Kim Eun-kyul, a 26-year-old student, said, "Many people of my generation have traveled abroad a lot and are able to speak foreign languages, so we feel it's cooler to see plain Hangeul than foreign languages used badly or wrongly".

Lee Yang-in, a 31-year-old cafe owner in Itaewon, Seoul, said, "Hangeul signs are easy to understand and are pretty much self-explanatory. Plus they look cute and simple, so young people like it very much. It's not a marketing strategy riding on patriotism, it's a trend and style".Published on 2018/10/13 | Source

In the famously pre-fab world of Korean pop music, a group coming together of their own accord is a rare article. The members of THE ROSE gravitated toward each other like magnets, drawn together by their love of rock music and performing. In the year since their debut, THE ROSE has had remarkable success both at home in South Korea and overseas with their singles, "Sorry" and "Like We Used To".

Advertisement

At the inaurugal K-EXPO in New York City, the Lady Miz Diva had an exclusive chat with Sammy (Woosung), Leo (Dojoon), Dylan (Hajoon), and Jeff (Jaehyeong) about the roots and blooming of THE ROSE.

K-EXPO NYC 2018

THE ROSE

The Lady Miz Diva: It's been a little over a year since THE ROSE debuted. What has the year been like?

Sammy: It's been crazy. So many things happened. We went on a European tour, an American tour, South America, and North America, both. We had a whole bunch of shows in Korea, and we have upcoming shows -- another year of tours.

I mean, everything all around -- it's been a crazy year. We are so thankful for everything, our fans, and the things that we could do because of them. So, yeah, thank you.

LMD: Organic is not a word we associate with modern Korean music, yet THE ROSE Rose seems like a very organic group.

All: Oooohh!

Leo: Organic, that's a good word.

Dylan: Thank you.

LMD: Please tell us about the roots of THE ROSE?

Leo: Ah -- the roots

LMD: I understand you all met busking?

Leo: Busking might be one of our roots, because when we started music, we really had a lot of chance to busk, or to stand in front of people. That's, I think the main root. We got into the music through British pop, which we really loved. Maybe Coldplay and The Script.

Sammy: The Beatles!

Leo: And The Beatles -- is our root.

LMD: What was it in each other's performance styles that you admired that brought you together?

Sammy: I think the main thing was when we first met, we weren't looking into crazy music. I mean, like these days, there is so much music -- we respect it, too -- there's all this music with all these synth sounds, like EDM. We really wanted to give people and show people our original instruments. For example, we wanted to let them hear our just guitar, drums, bass, piano, with vocals.

Back when there were a bunch of bands coming out in America and Britain, they had original sound: Just with the band, that they could just sing and perform without any electrical devices. We just wanted to do that, ourselves. I think that was our main common thing we had together.

Leo: And the organic word is a really great describing word for us, because we really want to give the organic sound to own organic instruments to other people all around the world.

LMD: I appreciated the Beatles reference in the Like We Used To video, and I heard Coldplay when I first heard "Sorry". Then I found out you have actually covered Coldplay's "Yellow". Besides The Beatles and Coldplay, who are your musical influences?

Sammy: For me, when I was younger, it was Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, right. Way back then.

Leo: As a band, maybe The Script. And lately, The 1975; they are a British act. We think that The 1975's music can actually affect us. We think they're really cool.

LMD: Tell us about the process of songwriting. How does a song begin?

Sammy: That's a really difficult question, because it's so different for each song. I mean, it's not one thing -- where we have routine that we do when we write songs. It just comes to us.

Like, for example, someone could just be like, "I've got this melody", and we hear it and we'll say, "That's okay, let's put a subject into it", and, "Let's go with this kind of guitar lines", and, "Let's put this kind of bass line". It's just so different; it's just inspirational.

Leo: But we definitely have the flame, the spark. When somebody sparks it, we all come up and give it the fuel, and make it bigger.

LMD: So one person starts it, and then everybody else adds their piece?

Sammy: Mostly, because we never get together and say

Sammy and Leo: "Let's write a song!" {Laugh}

Sammy: We don't say, "We're gonna write a song, and it's going to be about this". No, we would never do it like that. Whenever we're just hanging out, it's like, "Hey, listen to this; I came up with a guitar line", and someone will say, "Hey, that's the cool guitar line. What if I put something like this on it?"

LMD: Well, there's a famous story about how back when The Rolling Stones were a cover band, their manager locked Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in a room and wouldn't let them out until they had written an original song.

Leo: We could do that, like one day. It would be interesting. We could get a room and say, 'Let's don't get out unless we have 10 songs out.'

Sammy: Yeah, but all those songs would be about how much we hate that room. 'Did someone lock this thing? Like Mick Jagger?' No, we would definitely curse that person out  with our music.

LMD: The group has already traveled across Europe. Tell us about the reaction you've received outside of Korea?

Jeff: We are so surprised and interested at how very passionate the overseas fans are.

LMD: What do you think international fans are connecting to?

Sammy: Our music, definitely. And one thing is, we can definitely speak English. But the biggest thing is our music.

Leo: What we really feel happy about with our overseas fans is that they really look up to our songs and music --and we really feel it that way.

Sammy: They memorise the Korean lyrics: That was crazy. They know all of it.

LMD: I think when people think of Korean pop music, they think of singing, dancing, non-instrumental groups. What is it like to be a rock band in the middle of the popularity of KPop?

Sammy: I mean, we do feel like when we see other dance groups and the kind of music they do; we do feel like we know what works in Korea, but we don't want to take that route. We definitely don't want to take the route of what's in right now. What music is in is not the music we're going to do.

Leo: Obviously, we respect them for it

Sammy: No, no, no, of course, we respect them for it. We know that it's working. We know why it's good. But at the same time, we have something that we think is good, and that we think is going to work, so we are just going to keep going with that. And they inspire us, because when we see that, it's better to listen to different things.

For example, they have this in their music, we'll try that with our music. We'll put that instrument in, and see what we could come up with. So, the stuff like that, but we would never try to put our color away.

Leo: But we are really open to meet other groups, and talk, and get along. Because while doing that, we might get an idea about what's going to happen, and what is happening with us. It's a really good opportunity for us to get along.

LMD: What is the ultimate goal of THE ROSE?

Sammy: You know, just to share our music, to stay together as a band, have fun, enjoy.

Leo: I think our ultimate goal is saving THE ROSE. Saving THE ROSE and the Black Rose {Their fanbase}. THE ROSE is out now, and eventually we're going to do something. Like a flower, you've got to keep giving water, and sunshine, and nutrients; we have to do that. We've gotta do that in order to save THE ROSE and the Black Roses. So, that's our ultimate goal.

Original article on The Diva Review:

http://www.thedivareview.com/K-EXPO_2018_The_Rose_Exclusive_Interview.htm

The Diva Review on Facebook:

facebook.com/TheDivaReview

The Diva Review on Twitter:

twitter.com/TheDivaReview

The Diva Review on Instagram:

instagram.com/theladymizdivaPublished on 2018/10/14 | Source

Clockwise from left, a French fan holding a placard supporting Kai of K-pop band EXO, a T-shirt with a Korean slogan sold on global online marketplace Etsy, and a British magazine cover featuring Korean letters.

Advertisement

More and more Europeans and Americans are learning Korean and taking an interest in Korean culture.

The number of schools in France that teach Korean and students learning it is growing quickly. Korean is taught as a second foreign language in some 17 primary and secondary schools there, and last year it became a subject on the baccalaureat, the school-leaving exam before university.

Six French universities also teach Korean studies, up from four last year, and competition for places is 10:1. Some 1,412 people applied to the Korean program this year at Universite Paris-Diderot (Paris-VII), which admits only 130 students. Universite Paris-Dauphine (Paris IX), which admits 150 students to the Korean department, had 1,360 applicants.

The main reason seems to be the global appeal of K-pop, which then puts students on to other aspects of Korean culture they might find intriguing. Overseas fans can now often be seen singing along at K-pop concerts.

A 22-year-old girl from Cincinnati was among 40,000 fans who went to see boy band BTS in New York earlier this month, where they gave a sold-out concert at Citi Field Stadium. "I started taking Korean lessons after writing down BTS' song lyrics verbatim", she said.

According to a recent study by the U.S. Modern Language Association, interest in foreign languages is down across the board, but Korean bucks the trend.

The number of U.S. college students learning Chinese fell 11 percent, German 16 percent and Japanese 5 percent between 2009 and 2016. But over the same period, the number of students learning Korean increased 65 percent, though admittedly from a low starting point.

"Korean uptake in U.S. universities rose by almost 14 percent between 2013 and 2016, while overall language enrolment was in decline", the BBC reported.

In 2016, 14,000 people studied Korean in the U.S., behind Spanish, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Arabic, Latin and Russian but still just in the top 10.

In Germany, Freie Universitat Berlin, Universitat Hamburg, Universitat Bonn and Tubingen Universitat have set up Korean language departments, while Universitat Heidelberg, Universitat zu Koln and Universitat Leipzig now offer Korean language classes.

In the U.K., the Center of Korean Studies at University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies admits 40 students a year and the competition rate is usually 4:1. The University of Central Lancashire opened a Korean studies program in 2016 and, to the surprise of school officials, had more than 100 applicants in the first year, compared to 20 to 30 in the long-established Chinese and Japanese programs.

The venerable university of Edinburgh in Scotland also plans to open a Korean studies program.

Duolingo, the world's No. 1 online language learning service, started a Korean course last year due to soaring demand that drew more than 200,000 subscribers as soon as it started.

Growing numbers of foreign students are coming to Korea to study the language. According to Statistics Korea, 30,000 foreigners came to Korea last year to study Korean.

Park Gil-sung, a sociologist at Korea University, said, "Consumers of the Korean Wave do not just enjoy the content, but are showing interest in Korea as a country and in the Korean language too".Published on 2018/10/14 | Source

Korea's shipbuilding industry is expected to overtake China to regain the No. 1 spot in the depressed shipbuilding market for the first time in seven years.

Advertisement

According to the U.K.'s Clarkson Research Services on Wednesday, Korea accounted for 45 percent or 9.5 million compensated gross tons of global shipbuilding orders in the first nine months of this year.

China came in second place with 31 percent or 6.5 million CGT. China seems to have reached the limits of its technological prowess for now, clearing the way for Korea to regain the lead.

But conditions remain tough. Global shipbuilding orders in the first nine months stood at about 21 million CGT, just half of the 41 million CGT in 2013.

And amid mass layoffs, unionized workers at Hyundai Heavy Industries decided to down tools for four hours a day at some workplaces starting Thursday and spreading throughout the company on Oct. 17 and 18. Workers are protesting the decision to lay off 2,000 laborers at the marine plant division.

"It's too early to say the shipbuilding industry is recovering, because new orders are still a trickle compared to past boom cycles", said Lee Eun-chang at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade. "But it's a good sign that Korean shipbuilders won orders to build LNG tankers and ultra-large carriers, which require higher levels of technology".Published on 2018/10/14 | Source

/Newsis

A strong won and cheap airfares have resulted in Koreans spending a record W32 trillion overseas last year, according to the Bank of Korea (US$1=W1,130). That is an increase of 9.3 percent from a year earlier.

Advertisement

The figure does not even include online shopping on overseas websites like Amazon and Alibaba or spending on business trips, meaning most of it occurred on holiday or during overseas study or training.

The amount is expected to increase further this year due to a weak Japanese yen and other factors encouraging Koreans to spend money overseas.

Overseas spending still accounted for only 4.2 percent of the total private consumption of W759.9 trillion, but the growth rate surpassed the increase in income and domestic consumption, thereby contributing to the economic slump.

According to the BOK, disposable income increased 14 percent and domestic private consumption 10.2 percent compared to three years ago, but overseas spending rose 39.4 percent.

The central bank in a recent report blamed the strengthening won and cheap flights. Last year, budget carriers accounted for 38 percent of total outbound tourism, and the exchange rate fell 11 percent from W1,208 to the U.S. dollar early last year to W1,071 by the end of 2017.

The Japanese yen also weakened from W1,036.8 to W949.1 per 100 yen over the same period. Those trends are continuing, raising expectations that Koreans will spend even more money overseas.

The number of Koreans traveling to Japan is skyrocketing due to the increasing affordability of products and services there. A total of 5.22 million Koreans visited Japan from January to August of this year, compared to 5.8 million Chinese.

Read this article in KoreanPublished on 2018/10/14 | Source

Shin Seung-hyun, CEO of Funtastic Korea, said she was inspired to start her own business after hearing about the travel needs of her many international friends.

Advertisement

Funtastic Korea is a travel website for foreign visitors to Korea, and it offers a choice of over 400 tour programs in various languages including Korean, Chinese, English, Japanese, and Thai.

Its services range from selling discounted tickets to popular destinations such as Nami Island, Lotte World, and Everland amusement parks to offering various other tour programs. They include a visit to Gyeongbok Palace in hanbok or traditional Korean dress, a bar crawl in the trendy Hongik University area, a trip to long-established Korean restaurants and making one's own K-pop studio album and music videos.

She took a typical elite course, graduating from a top foreign language high school and then going on to Seoul National University, Korea's most prestigious university, where she studied business administration. She felt stifled by what was expected of her for the future: getting a high-paying job at a sought-after company, marrying at a suitable age and having a good family life.

She learned to think outside the box after spending a year as an exchange student at Kyushu University in Japan when she was a sophomore. "In Japan I had a chance to make friends with people from all over the world. I watched my friends freely pursuing their goals and constantly thinking 'outside the box'. I started to wonder whether what everybody else wants is really what I want", she said.

Shin wanted to work in the tourism industry, and was confident in foreign languages as she spent part of her elementary school years in the U.S. and majored in Chinese in high school. "I made a lot of foreign friends in Japan, and was able to make more as I tried to help exchange students coming to my school. Among my 1,500 friends on Facebook, 700 are international friends. I think I guided over 100 teams of foreign friends who visited Korea. Most of them loved seeing daily life in Korea, rather than being shuttled around famous tourist sites", she said.

Shin launched the Funtastic Korea website in June 2013. "At first, I focused on discovering good tour programs and put them on our website. Then I tried to help foreigners deal with difficulties they encounter in Korea. Ultimately, I would like Funtastic Korea to be a platform that provides all the necessary services that foreigners need when they travel or live in Korea".

Recently, she started Indiway, a global service that sells tour programs to Australia, Cambodia, Japan, Taiwan, the U.S., and Vietnam. "I strive to maintain our free, nomad spirit, even if the company continues to grow bigger and bigger".New York State Department of Health Warns of Potential Measles Exposures in Rockland, Westchester Counties and New Jersey

International Traveler with a Confirmed Case of Measles Visited Multiple New York and New Jersey Locations

ALBANY, N.Y. (October 13, 2018) - The New York State Department of Health today announced that an international traveler returning from Israel who has been confirmed to have measles visited multiple venues in New York State and New Jersey, potentially exposing others to measles between October 4th and October 11th.

Anyone who visited the following locations in New York or New Jersey may have been exposed to measles:

Congregation Bais Elazer, 26 Voyager Court, Monsey, NY on 10/4/2018 between 8:00 am and 11:00 am

Mia's Reflexology, 191 South Main Street, New City, NY on 10/4/2018 between 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm

Lifetime Gym, 10 Van Riper Road, Montvale, New Jersey on 10/5/2018 between 8:30 am and 12:00 pm

Wesley Kosher, 455 Route 306, Monsey, NY on 10/5/2018 between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm

Congregation Borov, 2 Parker Road, Monsey, NY 10/5/2018 between 6:45 pm and 9:45 pm 10/6/2018 between 9:00 am and 1:45 pm

Costco, 50 Overlook Blvd., Nanuet, NY on 10/7/2018 between 1:30 pm and 5:00 pm

Care 365, 1 Main Street, Monsey, NY on 10/8/2018 between 10:00 pm and 12:00 am

Westchester Medical Center Emergency Room, 100 Woods Road, Valhalla, NY on 10/11/2018 between 3:45 am and 4:15 pm

These times reflect the period that the infected individual was in these areas and a two-hour period after the individual left the area, as the virus remains alive in air and on surfaces for up to two hours.

Individuals are considered protected or immune to measles if they were born before 1957, have received two doses of measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine, have had measles disease, or have a lab test confirming immunity. Individuals who are not immune to measles and were exposed are at risk for developing measles. Preventive treatment for measles is recommended for those without evidence of immunity as follows: MMR vaccine can be given to eligible exposed individuals within 72 hours of exposure OR immune globulin can be administered within 6 days of exposure.

All individuals who were exposed to measles, particularly those without immunity or who are not sure if they have been vaccinated, should contact their health care provider if they develop measles symptoms. Symptoms include a fever, rash, cough, conjunctivitis or runny nose. Symptoms usually appear 10-12 days after exposure but may appear as early as 7 days and as late as 21 days after exposure.

To prevent the spread of illness, the Department is advising individuals who may have been exposed and who have symptoms consistent with measles to contact their health care provider, a local clinic, or a local emergency department before going for care. This will help to prevent others at these facilities from being exposed to the illness.

Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus that is spread by direct contact with nasal or throat secretions of infected people. People first develop a fever, then may have a cough, runny nose and watery eyes, followed by appearance of a rash. People are considered infectious from four days before to four days after the appearance of the rash.

The single best way to prevent measles is to be vaccinated. Individuals should receive two doses of MMR vaccine to be fully protected. If a person is unsure if they are immune they should contact their healthcare provider. Typically, the first dose of MMR vaccine should be given at 12-15 months of age and the second dose should be given at four to six years of age (age of school entry), although individuals may also be vaccinated later in life. In New York State, measles immunization is required of children enrolled in schools, daycare, and pre-kindergarten. Since August 1990, college students have also been required to demonstrate immunity against measles.

The state Department of Health will issue a health advisory to health care providers to notify them of the potential exposures. Health care providers should report all suspected cases of measles to their local health department.

More information about measles can be found at https://www.health.ny.gov/publications/2170.pdf.AN actor and writer from Swyncombe has won an award for an advert about cancer research.

David Chistie-Miller, 27, scooped best script at the Cannes Corporate Media and TV awards for Meet the scientists.

He and co-writer, producer and director Will Holloway, of Voop Productions, also won a silver in the charity film category for Cancer Researchs Stand Up To Cancer campaign.

Their advert highlights the importance of funding the scientific research into the disease.

Mr Christie-Miller said: It was a complete shock winning the award considering it was one of the first pieces Ive done on screen.

It was great fun and lovely meeting so many amazing people from around the world who have done some amazing projects.

He became involved in the film last year after receiving a call from his former boss at headhunting company Heidrick & Struggles in London, where he worked for four years, who put him in touch with Mr Holloway.

At the time, he was one half of a double act called Avocado in a sketch show called Definitely Maybe Not at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Mr Christie-Miller said: They were looking for someone with a background in comedic writing and acting. I went to Voops offices in Fulham and worked with Will on writing the script. We were talking about what we wanted to get across and keeping it comedic, which is quite difficult on a cancer research advert.

Mr Christie-Miller was given the leading role after a screen test and filming took place at the University of Warwick, near Coventry, the Velodrome in London, the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow and University College London. Mr Holloway then spent months editing the footage.

The viral video about the charitys work is now on video platforms

YouTube and Vimeo.

Mr Christie-Miller said: It was important to talk about where the money is going for this particular charity.

I think people sometimes wonder where the money is going and they want to see action and change.

For people who have lost loved ones, its important to show that everything is being done to end this disease. Hopefully, it will raise a lot of money as well.

Mr Christie-Miller, who was educated at the Oratory Prep School in Goring Heath, spent two years in Paris under the tuition of Philippe Gaulier, a French master clown, learning his craft.

He will perform three shows in London next week with Avocado.

To see his video. visit https://vimeo.com/240509309?ref=

em-v-share or www.youtube.com/

watch?v=2mjc-jia1suSeguin, TX (78155)

Today

Areas of patchy fog early. Some clouds this morning will give way to generally sunny skies for the afternoon. High 83F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies. Low 59F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. "Unstitching Scarlet Letters? Prosecutorial Discretion and Expungement" | Main | "How Statistics Doomed Washington States Death Penalty" 

The now-famous, drug-dealer-serving-LWOP grandmother Alice Marie Johnson, who was granted clemency three months ago by Prez Donald Trump, has authored this lengthy new Fox News opinion piece headlined "President Trump freed me from prison  Im glad he wants to give other nonviolent offenders their freedom." Here are excerpts:

On June 6, I walked out of prison as a free woman after serving almost 22 years of my life sentence on a first-time nonviolent drug conviction, thanks to a decision by President Trump to commute my sentence to time served. I was thrilled to hear the president say this week that he is looking to give early release to additional nonviolent prisoners like me....

I can never thank the president enough. He heard my voice, gave life to my hope and promise to my future. I am a 63-year-old grandmother who just wants to live in peace and enjoy my family. There is zero chance I will ever break the law again....

Many other nonviolent offenders in federal prisons today are  like me  no danger to society, and I look forward to having President Trump and members of his administration examine their cases. Many of these men and women have spent long years in prison and deserve to receive clemency or a commutation of their sentences from the president.

Freeing these offenders early would be an act of justice and mercy, as granting me my freedom was. And early release would save taxpayers the cost of feeding and housing these people for years after they have paid their debt to society.

When President Obama began granting clemency to nonviolent offenders near the end of his presidency, he gave hope to thousands of people like me. By 2016, I was 20 years into my life sentence.

My path to prison began at a time in my life when I faced some desperate choices. I made a terrible decision to participate in a drug conspiracy  a decision I very much regret.

But during my two decades in prison, I accomplished an extraordinary rehabilitation  writing plays, volunteering in the prison hospice, becoming an ordained minister and mentoring to young women in prison. By 2016 I was a new woman living a new life, even if it was a life I thought was destined to be lived only behind bars.

President Obamas clemency initiative gave me hope. I had been told not to hope, not to dream, because I would never be set free. As his presidency came to a close, President Obama began releasing hundreds of other nonviolent offenders, and I became sure I would be released as well. My prison warden, captain, case manager and vocational training instructor all recommended I be granted clemency.

Unfortunately, I was left behind. President Obama left office without giving me the chance to start a new life. And I learned that putting your hope in one man is a mistake, because when that hope dies, you think all your hope has to die. When I received the denial letter from the Office of the Pardon Attorney, I was devastated. I dont know why my request was denied, because no explanation was given. But that decision left me so disappointed.

My petition met all the criteria for clemency. I had reformed my life in prison and I felt it should have been clear to anyone that I would contribute to society if I was released. But President Obama left, President Trump arrived and I was told again to give up hope. I didnt.

I kept fighting for myself because I know that hearts can change, and no matter what administration is in power, you have to be willing to come to the table, sit down and talk about whether you can find common ground.

Thankfully, Jared Kushner and others working for President Trump have worked to keep clemency and criminal justice reform alive. They can see that not every person who makes a mistake deserves for that mistake to define the rest of their life. They know that hope is important, but it must also be turned into meaningful change....

I did not leave prison bitter. I love America and believe in the inherent goodness of the American people and the possibility of redemption. Now it is President Trump who can make history if he takes the opportunity to go further than any president before him by giving second chances to thousands of people who just need someone to hear them.

The president has a power that the Constitution grants to him alone to both show mercy and deliver justice for people who were given excessively long sentences for crimes involving no violence. The people who deserve to be freed are those who have long since recognized their mistakes and who have rehabilitated themselves during their time in prison.

I will never forget what President Trump did for me. He changed my life and gave me the opportunity to fulfill my potential, and now he has the chance to do the same for thousands more.New COVID cases surge in Tri-State; 25 die last week from illness

The number of new reported COVID cases surged last week in the Tri-State area, with some counties reporting a more than 95% increase. Some prosecutors and some conservatives push back on momentum for federal criminal justice reforms | Main | Alice Marie Johnson urges Prez Trump to free "thousands more" federal prisoners like her 

October 14, 2018

"Unstitching Scarlet Letters? Prosecutorial Discretion and Expungement"

In this post last week, I noted a New York Times article headlined "Convicts Seeking to Clear Their Records Find More Prosecutors Willing to Help." A helpful reader made sure I also posted about this article on SSRN with the title of this post authored by Brian Murray. Here is its abstract:

Criminal record history information pejoratively brands those who contact the criminal justice system, whether they were guilty or not. In theory, the remedy of expungement is designed to mitigate the unanticipated, negative effects of a criminal record. But the reality is that prosecutors  driven by a set of incentives that are fundamentally antithetical to expungement  control many of the levers that determine who is able to obtain expungement. The disjunction between the prosecutorial mindset and the minister of justice ideal could not be starker and the consequences can be significant. Prosecutors, as agents of the state, can either argue forcefully for the retention or deletion of such information, dramatically affecting the situation of an arrestee or ex-offender given the pervasive web of collateral consequences associated with a criminal record. This discretion, as it relates to theories of punishment, prosecutorial discretion overall, the ethical responsibilities of prosecutors to do justice, and public policy interests, has been grossly under-analyzed despite the serious implications it has for the prosecutorial role within the criminal justice system and for reentry efforts. While many scholars have paid attention to how prosecutorial incentives conflict with the theoretical responsibilities of prosecutors in charging, plea-bargaining, and post-conviction situations involving innocence, none have provided a theoretical framework focused on the role of the prosecutor during expungement. Many of the complicated incentives that undermine holistic prosecution during those earlier phases exist during the expungement process as well. But scholarly responses to those incentives are not adequate given the range of considerations during the expungement phase. As such, this Article argues that scholarly discussions related to prosecutorial discretion need to extend their focus beyond the exercise of prosecutorial judgment pre-trial or the questions of factual and legal guilt. Given that the primary role of the prosecutor is to do justice, this Article calls for increased attention to the exercise of discretion after the guilt phase is complete, specifically in the context of expungement of non-conviction and conviction information. In doing so, it hopes to provide a framework for exercising such discretion, and to initiate additional conversation about the role of prosecutors during the phases following arrest and prosecution.

October 14, 2018 at 11:10 AM | Permalink

Comments

Within the last few years, I have seen an interesting local case at the intersection of the law of pardons and the law of expungement. A Kentucky man was convicted of a felony in 1958, but then lived a crime-free life until 1975, when he received a full pardon from then-Kentucky Governor Wendall Ford (who went on to become a U.S. Senator). Despite his pardon, the man could not buy a gun because his 1958 felony conviction remained in the NCIC system, so he could not pass a firearms background check. Unlike more modern pardons, which expressly do not restore the pardonee's gun rights, the 1975 pardon did restore his right to bear arms. Thus, he filed a Petition for Expungement in the Circuit Court of Fayette County. Ray Larson, then the Fayette Commonwealth's Attorney, opposed the expungement, on the grounds that there is no Kentucky law that provides for expungement based upon a pardon! The Circuit Judge ruled in the pardonee's favor, so the Commonwealth's Attorney appealed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals, where he won and the Circuit Court's expungement order was overturned. It seems truly perverse that even where a pardon restored gun rights, as a practical matter the pardonee still can't legally buy a gun because his 1958 felony conviction remains in the NCIC system.

Posted by: Jim Gormley | Oct 14, 2018 3:59:17 PM

Post a commentHowever, there have been some hiccups along the way.



According to the World Health Organization, tuberculosis ranks the ninth cause of deaths in the world. The Southeast Asian country has the burden of tuberculosis; in 2017, the country had 126,000 tuberculosis infections and over 13,000 people died of the disease.

Vietnam was ranked 12th among the tuberculosis drug-resistance high-burden countries, with a prevalence of smear-positive tuberculosis of 89 per 100 000 population.

HCMC is one of localities with high tuberculosis infection cases with annual fresh cases making for 15 percent of the whole countrys total cases. Twenty percent of them are immigrants. The city is also the place with high number of multi-drug resistance tuberculosis cases.

Director of Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital cum head of the anti-tuberculosis program Dr. Nguyen Huu Lan said that project For a Vietnam without tuberculosis case is being piloted in the city to enhance capacity of discovering tuberculosis infected people in the community

The project comprises of screening those who contact with tuberculosis patients and testing those who are at high risk of contracting the disease by advanced equipment to help save time. However, Dr. Lan said that resources for research and prevention task is little. Many private establishments made half-hearted participation in the program; plus there has been personnel shortage because of lack of funding.

Dr. Lan pointed out that just 377 non-public clinics join the program in the public-private-partnership format. Notwithstanding, merely one private clinic provide treatment and transfer samples for testing while others just send tuberculosis to public infirmaries for further treatment.

Meanwhile, averagely 25,000 tuberculosis patients are discovered in public and private medical facilities annually making up 16  19 percent of total fresh cases yearly.

According to the National Anti-Tuberculosis program, though more tuberculosis are discovered, the system has neglected tuberculosis senior people.

Therefore, the campaign  Actively detect and manage tuberculosis people in HCMC set treatment target to help end the disease including over 60 percent people receiving an X-ray and over 90 percent people undergoing Xpert testing. Moreover, the target aims to cure more than 90 percent patients.

Districts 12, Go Vap and Binh Chanh health sector often leave out tuberculosis in carrying out the program  Proper care of tuberculosis patients launched by the municipal Public Health Association and Pham Ngoc Thach hospital under the sponsor of FIT.

Because tuberculosis patients undergo long treatment, the Public Health Association has called for support and its appeal receive contribution from international organizations such as StopTB, IRD which provide funding and new techniques to diagnose fresh infection cases to manage.

According to Chairman of the Public Health Association Dr. Le Truong Giang, the World Health Organization has verified that screening, diagnosis, and treatment are the most important task in ending the disease.

To strengthen screening effectiveness, the Public Health Association and the ZTV project management board in co-ordination with peoples committees in districts launched a campaign  Take initiative in detecting tuberculosis patients and treating them from now to September, 2019 in districts 12, Go Vap and Binh Chanh.

Mr. Giang said that with the progress in the medicine, tuberculosis is not incurable disease any longer yet it is still a problem in the world. Ending the disease requires the efforts of all people. Peoples awareness of the disease should be raise to curb discrimination against tuberculosis patients.

By THANH AN - Translated by UYEN PHUONGA doctor belonging to Scheduled Tribe community has alleged that he was beaten up by relatives of two patients who wanted them to be treated by an upper caste person, police said on Sunday.

Garha police station in-charge S Khan said Dr Geetesh Ratre has complained that the incident took place on Friday when two women injured in an accident were brought to the government-run Subhash Chandra Medical College here around 7:30pm.

Dr Ratre was on duty in the Emergency department and he directed the medical staff to start treatment immediately. However, a mob of about a dozen people, comprising relatives and acquaintances, reached there and asked Dr Ratre his name and caste, Khan said, quoting the complaint.

When Dr Ratre told him that he belonged to a Scheduled Tribe community, the accused started demanding that only an upper caste doctor treat the two injured women, the police official said.

An altercation ensued over this, during which Ratre was manhandled, Khan said, adding that the people then took away the two injured women from the hospital.

On the doctors complaint, we have registered a case against these people under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for allegedly using casteist remarks and under relevant section of the IPC for obstructing a government staff from doing his duty, the police official said, adding a search is on to nab the accused.T-Series chairman Bhushan Kumar on Saturday filed a police complaint against an unknown person for levelling sexual harassment allegations against him, reported ANI. Kumar had earlier denied the charges while his wife, actor-producer Divya Khosla Kumar had defended him saying people were against Lord Krishna too.

As part of Indias #MeToo movement, an anonymous account had emerged on Twitter earlier this week in which an aspiring actor claimed Kumar demanded sexual favours from her in exchange of signing a three-film deal. Kumar, in a statement to PTI, had dismissed the allegations as malicious.

Divya tweeted her defence of her husband, writing, My husband has got TSeries where it is today purely on basis of extreme hard work. People even stood up against Lord Krishna whos praiseworthy. Though #MeToo movement is meant to clean up the society, its sad that some people have started misusing it.

On Friday, he lodged a complaint at Mumbais Amboli police station, stating that the person was posting offending remarks and statements against him on social media. My name has been falsely dragged in the MeToo movement, which is currently sweeping the countrys landscape, the complaint, dated October 12, stated. The post makes serious allegations against me that three years back, I had offered an aspiring actress to sleep with me in lieu of a role being offered in my films and when she refused, I dropped her from the films.

The producer also stated that the Twitter handle disappeared minutes after uploading the post.In the ongoing #MeToo movement, many big names, including Vikas Bahl, Subhash Ghai, Nana Patekar, Alok Nath and Sajid Khan, among others have been accused of harassment. Aamir Khan also walked away from T-Series film Mogul after an old complaint of molestation against its director Subhash Kapoor resurfaced.Actor Simran Suri has accused director Sajid Khan of sexual harassment, making her the fourth woman to level #MeToo allegations against the filmmaker. On Friday, actor Rachel White, assistant director Saloni Chopra and journalist Karishma Upadhyay had spoken of the harassment at the hands of Khan as Indias #MeToo movement gathers momentum.

I kept thinking all these years @whitespeaking to talk about this a## @SimplySajidK and what stopped me was that nobody would listen. He did exactly the same with me while he was casting for Himmatwala. Called me to his juju house and asked me to strip, Simran wrote on Twitter.

I kept thinking all these years @whitespeaking to talk about this a## @SimplySajidK and what stopped me was that nobody would listen. He did exactly the same with me while he was casting for Himmatwala. Called me to his juju house and asked me to strip. https://t.co/BSNnMFjv9K  Simran Suri (@29simran) October 12, 2018

Speaking to Indian Express, she added that Sajid was casting for 2012s Himmatwala when he called her for an audition to his house. He was on his treadmill, wearing an undershirt. He said, See, my body is so good! I was wondering why a man, who is supposed to be in a professional meeting, wearing sandos! I felt really weird. After some time, he asked me to strip. I was shocked but he said, I am the director. I will have to see your body, she is quoted as saying in the report.

She said that Sajid pulled down her top and when she protested, asked her to keep his voice down as his mother was in the adjacent room. Simran said she left his home and deleted his number. While the director called her again, she abused him and told him off.

After the #MeToo allegations against Sajid, actor Akshay Kumar announced his decision to cancel the shoot of his directorial Housefull 4 until further investigation. Sajid later stepped down as director of Housefull 4, and tweeted, In the wake of the allegations against me and the pressure being put on my family, my producer and the stars of my film Housefull 4, I must take the moral responsibility of stepping down from my directorial post, till the time I can allay the allegations and prove the truth... I request my friends in the media to kindly not pass judgment till the truth is out.The income-tax (I-T) department on Saturday said it has found documents that show senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and state transport minister Kailash Gahlot had evaded tax worth Rs 120 crore  a claim that was denied by the minister.

Calling it a deliberate act of spreading disinformation, Gahlot alleged that the I-T raids at the 16 properties linked to him were conducted at behest of the Central government to cover up the I-T departments failures.

The I-T department told news agency IANS on Saturday that documents recovered from the ministers premises show office boys, peons and employees had been extended loans and were holding equity worth ?70 crore in several shell companies.

The amount of tax evasion by Gahlot is a conservative figure as of now. We have also detected several benami properties in the names of employees and a huge piece of land in the name of a driver. There is also evidence of Gahlots investment in a property in Dubai, a senior I-T department official, requesting anonymity, told the news agency.

From one shell company director, loans and entries of about Rs 20 crore were spotted and large-scale investments in properties through General Power of Attorney (GPA) were discovered, the official said. In the last three days, I-T sleuths had raided 16 properties belonging to Gahlot and his family across Vasant Kunj, Paschim Vihar, Najafgarh and Gurugram.

Gahlot, who holds the portfolios of transport, law, revenue, information technology and administrative reforms in the Delhi government, denied all claims of tax evasion. He called the raids a deliberate act of spreading disinformation at the behest of the Central government with a view to cover up the abysmal failure of the I-T department.

The I-T officers purportedly searched Gahlots flat for around 60 hours but could only recover Rs 11 lakh, the amount which has been duly accounted for in his books. Another sum of Rs 24 lakh was admittedly related to the family of Gahlots elder brother, read a statement issued by the ministers legal team.

It also stated that rumours are being spread of recovery of unaccounted jewellery worth Rs 2 crore. The truth is that jewellery belonging to Gahlots wife (assessed at current market rate) of Rs 28 lakh (duly accounted for) was found along with jewellery worth Rs 41 lakhs (duly accounted for) belonging to his mother-in-law, the statement said.

With regard to shell companies, Gahlots team said the minister was a successful lawyer till he filed his nomination as an Assembly candidate in 2015. He has no direct control over the working of these companies. No documents of these companies were found at the residence of Gahlot, it said.

Gahlot, who was originally scheduled to leave for China on Friday as part of a study tour for electric buses, had to cancel the trip due to the raids. Officials of the transport department and the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) left for the tour on Friday night.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) meanwhile slammed the AAP government and sought Gahlots resignation. Failure of Arvind Kejriwal to take action in the case of corruption by his ministers Gahlot, Satyendar Jain and former minister Asim Ahmed Khan indicates his involvement in corruption and proves that the chief minister completely lacks morality. BJP demands that Kejriwal should immediately dismiss Gahlot and Jain, said Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari.He didnt get an opportunity to face a bullet for his country while in service (air force) but he laid down his life at his workplace to save others. This is how Santosh Sharmas son Aryan chooses to remember his father.

Forty-five-year-old Sharma, a cashier with the Corporation Bank in Chhawla, was shot dead during a dacoity at the bank on Friday.

The family says that the soldier in Sharma, who retired as a junior warrant officer of the Indian Air Force, never gave up on any situation and it was this attitude that led to his death.

Aryan (16) said his father was one of the most disciplined and courageous men he has ever come across. Aryan and his father had made plans for Saturday, the day this reporter spoke to him. They were to go shopping for a laptop  a birthday gift for the boy who would turn 17 on October 27. But all that changed on Friday, leaving Aryan trying hard to come to grips with his fathers death.

Jyotibhushan, Sahrmas brother-in-law said Sharma always talked about pride and honour. It is not tough to believe that he would have fought the robbers. The bank manager also told us that Sharma was the last one left when everyone else was rushing to the managers cabin and to the bathroom to keep themselves safe. He had always been like that  he always ensured the others safety. The defence person in him was always alive, Jyotibhushan, a software engineer in Greater Noida, said.

Aryan, who is in class 11, said, He taught us to never bend. I am sure he would have fought the gunmen and that was why he alone was shot. If the dacoits had to kill, they would have killed others too and not just my father.

On Friday morning, Sharma had dropped him to school before going to the bank. While returning from school around 4pm, Aryan saw his mother and sister rushing somewhere on the scooter. I called out to them but they did not hear me. I had no clue. It was only later that I was told that my dad had been shot by robbers. When I went to the Rao Tula Ram hospital, I found out that he was already dead, Aryan said. Sharmas wife was not in a condition to talk.

Sharma is survived by his wife and two children  Aryan and his younger sister Aashi (12), a class 7 student.The plant, located in Trung Mau and Phu Dong communes of the suburban district of Gia Lam, is invested with almost VND5 trillion ($214.1 million ) in the first phase by the Duong River Surface Water JSC.



In this phase, it will provide about 150,000 cub.m. of water per day for about 3 million people in northeastern and southern areas of Hanoi, industrial parks along Road 179, and some adjacent areas in Bac Ninh and Hung Yen provinces.

The plant is hoped to help the capital city gradually replace polluted underground water with surface water to serve local demand.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Chairman of the municipal Peoples Committee Nguyen Duc Chung applauded the investors efforts to put the plant into use ahead of schedule, adding that it will help improve the living standards and health of local residents.

He asked the company to continue harnessing resources to raise the factorys daily capacity to 300,000 cub.m. of water in the second phase, and prepare to increase the output to 600,000 cub.m. by 2020 and 900,000 cub.m. by 2022.

He also requested relevant agencies, especially the municipal Department of Construction, to instruct districts, businesses and residents to use water from this factory so as to gradually reduce the use of groundwater.

Also at the ceremony, work on the second phase of the plant began.

VietnamnewsTelangana state level police recruitment board (TSLPRB) has declared the result of the examination to recruit Stipendiary Cadet Trainee (SCT) Police Constable (PC) civil and some other equivalent posts. The preliminary written test (PWT) to fill 16,925 tentative vacancies was conducted on September 30 from 10am to 1pm.

The PWT was of three hours duration and carried a maximum of 200 marks. The exam was objective in nature and carried 200 questions of intermediate standard. The questions were to test your knowledge of English, arithmetic, general science, history of India, Indian culture, Indian national movement, Indian geography, polity and economy, Current events of national and international importance, Test of reasoning / mental ability, contents pertaining to the state of Telangana.

Candidates who have applied for the exam can check their result by clicking here.

The minimum marks to be secured by the candidates in order to qualify in the Preliminary Written Test is 40% for OCs, 35% for BCs and 30% for SCs / STs / Ex-Servicemen. Questions in the Paper were objective in nature and set in English, Telugu and Urdu languages. Candidates had to answer the questions on an OMR answer sheet using Blue / Black Ball Point Pen only.

Telangana SCT PC 2018 result: Steps to check

1) Visit the official website of Telangana state level police recruitment board

2) Click on the link for Download PWT result

3) Key in your registered mobile number and password

4) Click on sign in

5) Take a printout of result and save it on your computer

Note: TSLPRB has also issued a write-up with the result which can be checked by clicking here.The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) has issued the admit card for provincial civil service (PCS) general/special, ACF (assistant conservators of forests) and RFO (range forest officer) combined preliminary examination 2018. The examination will be held on October 28 in two shifts: one in the morning from 9:30am to 11:30 m and from 2:30pm to 4:30pm in the afternoon.

Candidates can download their admit card for UPPSC Provincial Civil Service Exam 2018 by clicking here..

Candidates must bring their admit cards to the examination centre. Those who do not have their photograph visible on the admit card must bring two photographs along with their Id proof to the examination venue.

The commission has proposed to fill 831 vacancies under general recruitment through the examination.

UPPSC will hold a preliminary examination for shortlisting candidates for admission to the main (written) examination. The final selection will be made on the basis of total marks obtained by the candidates in main (written) examination followed by the interview.

Steps to download the admit card UP PCS prelims 2018:

1) Visit the official website of UPPSC

2) Click on the link for admit card download in the important alerts section on the top of the homepage

3) Enter your registration number, date of birth and gender and download the admit card UP PCS (Provincial civil services) prelims:

4) Click on the link for download admit card

5) Take a printout and save the admit card displayed on the screen

Note: Visit UPPSCs official website regularly for latest updates about the exam.A day after the wife of an additional sessions judge died and their son has been struggling for his life after being allegedly shot by their personal security officer (PSO), motive behind the shooting was still not completely clear, police said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the accused Mahipal Singh, 32, a head constable, who was arrested on Saturday evening was terminated from the police department and sent to police custody for four days by a city court on Sunday, Subhash Boken, spokesperson of Gurugram police.

Due to the sensational crime, the accused has been terminated from the police department under Article 311 (2) of the Indian Constitution, said Boken. Boken said the mental condition of the accused seemed stable and reports of his being mentally unstable were just rumours.

On Saturday, Singh who had taken Ritu Garg (38) and Dhruv (18) for shopping, allegedly shot them near Arcadia market in Gurugrams Sector 49, and escaped in the judges car, as people looked on.

Later, he called up the judge, Krishan Kant and told him that he had shot them. He was arrested from Gurugram-Faridabad road about two hours later.

During interrogation, Singh said Ritu and Dhruv were devils and that was why he had shot them, deputy commissioner of police (crime) Sumit Kuhar.

When police asked why he was terming them as devil, Singh said devil means dirty people. He was aggressive during initial hours of interrogation, the DCP said.

According to the FIR filed on Saturday late night based on the judges statement, Dhruv had asked for the keys to the car, after he came back from shopping and Singh got angry about it.

Singh shouted at the duo and without any provocation fired at Ritu and later at Dhruv who came to rescue her, the FIR said.

Police has formed a Special investigation team headed by DCP Sulochna Gajraj to probe the incident.

Meanwhile, Ritus autopsy was done by a board of doctors on Sunday morning.

She died due to excessive bleeding. There was one fatal bullet injury on right side of the chest, said Dr. Deepak Mathur, one of the three doctors who conducted the post-mortem.

The accused told police during interrogation that he was ill treated by Dhruv, who used to make him do personal errands, Kuhar said.

The accused and his wife often used to fight and had estranged relationship for last two years. He had phoned his mother too after he shot Ritu and Dhruv,?he said.

The accused told police that the judges family used to make him clean faeces of their dog, a police officer privy to the case said.

 He said that There is no difference between a cop and a dog, the officer, said.

A case under section 307 of the India Penal Code?(Attempt to murder) and section 27 of the Arms Act was registered at Sector 50 police station.

Police deny entry to accuseds flat

At flat number 601 on the sixth floor of Tower B in Police Lines, a government society for police officers in Gurugram, there were at least six police officers who denied anyone from meeting the family of the accused.

We have orders from our senior officers not to allow anyone to meet the family, said one of the officers on duty. How can you, a male, come to a house where there is only woman? asked another female police officer who was on civil dress.

Finally, police opened the door after multiple requests and the mother of the accused, while still inside the house, said she has nothing to talk and the door was closed immediately by police officers who were on duty.

Singh lived with his wife, two daughters and mother and his wife is a writer and a few of her songs are also popular on YouTube.The wife of a judge who was shot by his personal security officer (PSO) in one of the busiest markets in Gurugram in broad daylight on Saturday afternoon, succumbed to her injuries late in the night, police said.

She died due to excessive bleeding. There was one fatal bullet injury on right side of the chest, said Dr. Deepak Mathur, one of the three doctors who conducted the post-mortem Sunday morning.

Ritu Garg (38) and her 18-year-old son Dhruv were shot by additional sessions judge Krishan Kants PSO Mahipal Singh (32). Ritu was hit on the chest.

Ritu Garg died at 11:05 pm after her condition deteriorated. Excessive bleeding was the major cause of death. Her blood pressure was low and blood was also found in her lungs, deputy commissioner of police (crime) Sumit Kuhar said.

Dhruv who was shot in the head is also battling for his life.

Dhruv is critical. A major blood vessel had bust after the bullet hit his head. He is on ventilator, Kuhar said.

Mahipal allegedly shot the mother and son with his service revolver. The accused was arrested two hours later from Gurugram-Faridabad Road. He had been the judges personal security officer since April 2017.

According to the family members of the judge, Ritu Garg would be cremated in Hisar later Sunday.

A case under section 307 of the India Penal Code (Attempt to murder) and section 27 of the Arms Act was registered at Sector 50 police station. Police said they will add other charges to the FIR today.

Krishan Kant the told police that he had received the call from his PSO informing that he had shot his wife and son. When his colleague called his wifes number, someone else picked the call and informed that they were admitted in Park Hospital and have been shot. He also said that his wife told him that she had asked Mahipal to wait in the parking lot before heading for the shopping complex.

The PSO got irritated when Dhruv asked for car keys and took out his service revolver and shot at him and his wife, Kuhar said. Kant gave a written statement on Saturday night.

Police are investigating the motive behind the murder and have constituted an SIT.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ONChris Evans last day as Captain America on the sets of Avengers 4 may have been an emotional day but the last line he said as the super soldier was really stupid. While attending the ACE Comic Con (via Comic Book) this weekend, the actor said that the final line he spoke as Captain America was nothing special.

It was something really stupid, it was something really dumb. Which I also probably cant give away, Evans said. While he refused to give any big spoilers, he did reveal some details, Well, you know, it was reshoots, so youre doing these little picks and pops, and its just little things that they need. It might have been a line to Paul Rudd. He wasnt there, but it was a stupid line. The line wasnt memorable to me [laughs]. The day was more memorable than the line.

Earlier set photos from Avengers 4s reshoots showed Evans on set with Paul Rudd and Scarlett Johansson. While the line itself was not memorable, Captain Americas fans need not worry. It would hardly be the last line that the Cap says during the film.

Chris Evans wrapped his final performance as Captain America last Thursday and termed his last shooting day on Avengers 4 as an emotional day. The 37-year-old actor had thanked his colleagues and fans for his eight years as Captain American, saying it has been an honor.

Officially wrapped on Avengers 4. It was an emotional day to say the least. Playing this role over the last 8 years has been an honor. To everyone in front of the camera, behind the camera, and in the audience, thank you for the memories! Eternally grateful.  Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) October 4, 2018

Officially wrapped on Avengers 4. It was an emotional day to say the least. Playing this role over the last 8 years has been an honor. To everyone in front of the camera, behind the camera, and in the audience, thank you for the memories! Eternally grateful, he had written. Evans first joined the Marvel cast in 2010. He has starred in three Captain America films, including 2016s Captain America: Civil War, as well as numerous team-up films.

Evans tweet has received 275,000 retweets and over 1.1 million likes in less than one day. Among those who have responded are Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne The Rock Johnson. Im not crying. Im weeping. Theres a difference, Reynolds wrote in his trademark manner. The Rock, meanwhile wrote, What a run you had brother. Congrats on breathing life into such an iconic character. Keep on keepin on. Iron Man Robert Downey Jr had also reacted, sharing a meme from Toy Story.

Avengers 4 will release in May 2019.The Rohtak police on Saturday booked around 250 students of Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) under serious charges such as attempt to murder and rioting.

The case has been registered a day after the students clashed with police during their ongoing protest against the indirect form of student union elections in Haryana universities that are scheduled to take place on October 17.

The students threw glass bottles and pelted stones on police. That is why Section 307 was also added in the FIR, said Devender Kumar, SHO of the PGIMS police station. Other Sections include 146, 147, 148 and 149, he added.

The SHO said 22 students have been named in the FIR while more than 200 are unknown and currently being identified through video recordings of the incident.

Among those named are two girls and president of Indian National Students Organisation Pradeep Deswal, he added.

Nine out of 11 student unions were protesting against the government over indirect form of elections that are to take place in Haryana universities after a gap of over two decades.

The student unions had blocked the campus on Friday when police intervened and resorted to lathicharge. Around two dozen students were injured and many were detained by police to prevent any untoward situation.

Meanwhile, the student unions continued their protest against the government on Saturday and burnt effigies of MDU vice-chancellor (V-C) Bijender Punia for letting police enter the campus and rough up the students.

Meanwhile, Dr Ambedkar Students Federation of India state president Jagroop Singh Chirania accused the administration of the Chaudhary Devi Lal University (CDLU), Sirsa, of rejecting genuine nomination papers of various students.

He said they have sent a memorandum to the Haryana governor in this regard.

Students bodies to boycott polls

CHANDIGARH Various student organisations on Saturday announced to boycott the indirect student body polls scheduled to be held on October 17 across Haryana.

Talking to mediapersons, National Students Union of India (NSUI) state president Divyanshu Budhiraja said students demanded direct polls in colleges and universities of Haryana, while the state government was preferred indirect polls so as to manipulate results in the favour of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarathi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the ruling BJP.

The NSUI is the student wing of the Congress, which is in opposition in Haryana.

Divyanshu, who was accompanied by representatives of several student bodies, said the Indian National Students Organisation (INSO), the student wing of Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), namely and the Students Federation of India (SFI), backed by CPI, have decided to boycott the polls among other organisations.

He said they will also hold demonstrations against the government on October 17.Kashmiri students studying in Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) have threatened to leave for their homes on October 17, if the sedition charges against three of them are not dropped.

In a letter to AMU vice-chancellor, AMU students union former vice-president Sajjad Rathar said, If this vilification does not stop, more than 1,200 Kashmiri students will leave for their homes in the Kashmir Valley on October 17 as a last option.

Terming the slapping of sedition charges as vendetta, Rathar said, The option of holding Namaaz-e-Janaza (prayer meeting) in absentia was dropped after the AMU authorities did not give the permission.

If no prayer meeting was held as confirmed by all official agencies, the slapping a case of sedition against three Kashmiri students is simply a vendetta, harassment and denial of justice, he said.

The letter was handed over to AMU Proctor Mohsin Khan in presence of large number of Kashmiri students at his office on Saturday night.

AMU spokesman Shafay Kidwai, however, denied the Kashmiri students charges of harassment and stressed that no innocent would be framed. Prof Kidwai also made it clear that there is zero tolerance for any anti-national activity on AMU campus.

Three Kashmiri students of AMU were booked on sedition charges for allegedly for raising anti-India slogans and trying to hold a prayer meeting for Hizbul Mujahideen commander Manan Bashir Wani on October 12 (Friday).

Twenty seven-year-old Wani, pursing a PhD course in Allied Geology at the AMU, had quit the university and joined militant ranks in January this year. He was killed in an encounter at Shatgund village in Handwara area of north Kashmirs Kupwara district on Thursday.

Aligarhs senior superintendent of police Ajai Sahni said police took the action (on October 12) after a video surfaced, showing the three Kashmiri students raising anti-India slogans.

Prof Kidwai said show cause notices have been issued to nine students for trying to hold an unauthorised gathering Thursday. A three-member inquiry committee has been set up to probe the incident. It will submit a report in the next 72 hours, he said.

The three students were suspended from the AMU earlier.

Some AMU students from Kashmir had on Thursday (October 11) gathered near Kennedy Hall on the campus to hold funeral prayers for Wani, following which the varsity staff and the students union leaders had rushed to the spot and tried to stop them.

A heated exchange erupted between the students union leaders and the Kashmiri students and they finally moved out of the area, Kidwai said, adding three Kashmiri students were suspended for trying to hold the unlawful gathering.

He said the university has made it clear that it has a zero tolerance policy for any act which could even remotely be described as anti-national.

AMUSU president Faizul Hasan had told PTI that he had always championed the cause of freedom of speech but any act of treason or terror was unacceptable to the students union.

He said they will not allow the university to be defamed by any person who indulges in such unlawful activity.

BJP lawmaker from Aligarh, Satish Gautam said those who tried to hold a prayer meeting for Wani on the AMU campus should be expelled.

Kashmir MLA detained for holding protest in solidarity with AMU students

Langate MLA Sheikh Abdul Rasheed was detained on Sunday for taking out a protest march here in solidarity with Kashmiri students of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), who were booked on sedition charges.

Talking to reporters before the march, Rasheed said offering funeral prayers for anyone, including Wani, was not a crime but a fundamental religious obligation.

The AMU administration has filed charges of sedition against Kashmiri students only under pressure from local BJP leaders just to polarise the issue and gain electoral dividends. Whatsoever is being attributed to the students is absolutely false and baseless, he alleged.

The MLA said Kashmiri students are being targeted only for the reason that they are Kashmiris and being a Kashmiri has become a crime in India.

Every Kashmiri stands with the students who are being subjected to mental torture and harassment not only at the AMU but everywhere in India. We demanded withdrawal of FIR against the students and seek revocation of suspension orders of the students who have been accused of raising anti-India slogans, Rasheed said.The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of UP Police probing the alleged murder of Apple executive Vivek Tiwari, took the two accused constables to the crime spot early Sunday to recreate the sequence of events.

The police carried out a similar exercise on October 2 in the presence of Sana Khan, the sole eyewitness of the case.

The accused constables who are now in police custody were brought in an SUV and were questioned about the incident by Inspector General of Police (Lucknow Zone) Sujit Pandey who is heading the SIT.

The officer was accompanied by Inspector Mahanagar Vikas Kumar Pandey who is the Investigating Officer (IO) of the case. The exercise began at around 1:52 am. We wanted to see the conditions that would have been there at the time of the incident. So we decided to hold this exercise around the same time the incident occurred, explained Pandey.

The shooting took place around 1:30 am on September 29 when constable Prashant Chaudhary along with another constable - Sandeep Kumar aka Sandeep Rana- on a police motorcycle intercepted the SUV of Vivek Tiwari and allegedly shot him dead in cold blood with his service pistol.

The SIT team arranged a similar SUV and police motorcycle for recreating the scene. The accused constables were brought to the crime spot in another SUV that was kept some 60 metres from the scene of shooting.

A team of forensic unit, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Lucknow Kalanidhi Naithani along with other officials and a large number of constables were also present at the spot. The forensic team took measurements and photographs during the exercise.

Rana, the constable who accompanied Chaudhary was bought first to the crime spot at around 2:05 am. Once the sequence of events was recreated as per his statements, the main accused Chaudhary was asked about his version at 2:30 am and the sequence was recreated once again.

The SIT did not allow the accused constables to step out of the vehicle they were brought in. We kept the constables inside the vehicle to avoid and disturbance or legal tangle later, said the IG.

The officer shared the details of the sequence with the IO, SSP and members of the forensic team after the recreation. The exercise lasted for around 50 minutes after which the accused constables were taken to Gosaiganj police station.

The SIT was formed to probe the case following a severe backlash after the shooting. Vivek Tiwari (38), was returning from a launch event of new IPhones with his former employee Sana Khan when the incident occurred. The accused constables came from the opposite direction towards Viveks SUV and shot at him. The bullet pierced Viveks chin but he managed to drive the SUV for around 350 metres before colliding with a pillar at an underpass of Shaheed Path. He was rushed to the hospital where he succumbed to his injury.

Prashant Chaudhary initially claimed that he opened fire in self defence but later changed his statement claiming the shot was fired accidentally.In what could be a blow to the Congress and Nationalist Congress Partys (NCP) plan of forming a grand Opposition alliance against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in next years Lok Sabha elections, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is likely to join hands with the Republican Party of India (RPI) in Maharashtra. After a meeting between its leaders on Saturday, BSP and RPI have agreed to explore possibilities for forging an alliance.

The Mayawati-led party has already announced that it would not have any alliance with the Congress in the Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan Assembly elections slated in November and December.

The likelihood of an alliance between Mayawati and RPI chief Rajendra Gawai assumes more significance given that Prakash Ambedkars Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh and Asaddudin Owaisis All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen will tie-up in Maharashtra for Lok Sabha polls.

Gawai met Suresh Sakhare, BSPs state unit president, and Pramod Raina, BSPs Maharashtra in-charge, on Saturday. The RPI chief is also likely to meet Mayawati in Lucknow soon to discuss seat-sharing and other modalities for the alliance.

We [BSP and RPI] are exploring possibilities of coming together for the Lok Sabha polls. We had initial level talks in which I have proposed to contest in 10 Lok Sabha constituencies. The proposal will be presented before the BSP chief, Gawai said.

However, Gawai clarified that he has kept his options open and is not just in talks with BSP. This doesnt mean we have decided not to forge alliance with Congress and NCP. We have kept all our options open. As RPI chief, I am in talks with both sides  Congress-NCP and BSP.

The BSP, on the other hand, was cautious and Sakhare denied meeting Gawai. When asked about allying with CongressNCP, Sakhare said, I am just a BSP worker. The decision has to be taken by the BSP chief.

The RPI-BSP combine may attract significant number of Dalit voters, especially in Vidarbha region. BSP has a sizeable vote bank in all 10 Lok Sabha constituencies in 11 districts of the region. In 2014, BSP had polled over 90,000 votes in four constituencies, while on four seats, they had polled around 50,000 votes.

Gawai, too, has a significant presence in Amravati. In 2009, he had 2.52 lakh votes, but in 2014, he could poll only 56,000 votes.

To counter the ruling BJP, the Congress and NCP have declared to forge a pre-poll alliance in 2019. They are making joint efforts to form a mega alliance by getting smaller parties into the fold. State Congress president Ashok Chavan seemed hopeful and said they dont want division of secular votes and were trying to bring all the secular parties on board. We believe that RPI-Gawai will join us for the polls..., he said.Mizoram chief minister Lal Thanhawla said on Sunday that the Congress will romp back to power in Mizoram with over 30 seats. The state will vote on November 28.

We will get more than 30 seats, said Lal Thanhawla, who has been the CM of the state since 2008.

The Congress leader said he will be contesting from two seats in the 40-member assembly, including his home turf Serchhip and Champhai South. He earlier served as chief minister from 1984 to 1986 and then again from 1989 to 1998 before the Congress won again in 2008.

There is no anti-incumbency in Mizoram. I have not seen any anti-incumbency, he told HT. Because of our economic programmes, our growth is among the best in the country In terms of GDP, we are above the national average. We are the least malnourished state in the country, he said. Reacting to the two high profile exits from the party including that of his home minister, the 76-year-old Lal Thanhawla claimed it will have no impact. Their exit is most welcome. The Congress workers are happy, he said.

R Lalzilriana, the former home minister, and Lalriana Sailo, a sitting MLA who has earlier served as health minister, joined the Mizo National Front (MNF).

Zoramthanga, president of the MNF and a former chief minister, said the Congress will be reduced to less than 10 seats. To see change they have to have maximum votes. Unless they get more votes and more seats than I have how can they effect change, said Lal Thanhawla. With the BJP claiming that Mizoram, the last Congress citadel in the region will fall leading to a Congress-Mukt Northeast, the chief minister was dismissive. We shall see. The BJP has no chance in Mizoram, he said.

The BJP and the MNF have said they will contest the assembly elections separately. The MNF is part of the North East Democratic Alliance, which is headed by the BJP. How can they deny they have no alliance, said Lal Thanhawla. Targeting the misrule of the Congress, the opposition claims bad condition of roads and lifting of prohibition will be the two key issues that will lead to change in the state. People who are saying roads are bad, they have not ventured out of Mizoram. They have not seen any other state, the chief minister said, adding that prolonged rains continue to batter Mizoram even in October and some roads may not have been repaired.

On the likelihood of prohibition being a key poll issue as the opposition and the powerful church are in favour of it, he said, Under the influence of Church I imposed prohibition from 1997 to 2014. It was a total failure. People who advocate total prohibition they do not care once it is imposed.

Nobody helped us except our small excise force. And because of that smugglers, illegal breweries, spurious alcohol was available in abundance in entire Mizoram, he said.At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos are preparing for their launch to the International Space Station.

Their journey to the station will begin with a lift off at 4:40 a.m. EDT Thursday (2:40 p.m. in Baikonur). Live launch coverage will begin at 3:30 a.m. EDT on NASA Television and the agency's website. At the time of launch, the space station will be flying over NE Kazakhstan at 254 statute miles.

The two will join Expedition 57 Commander Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency, NASA Flight Engineer Serena Aunon-Chancellor and Roscosmos Flight Engineer Sergey Prokopyev, who arrived at the station in June.

The crew members of Expedition 57 will continue work on hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science aboard the International Space Station, humanity's only permanently occupied microgravity laboratory.

On-Orbit Status Report

Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Anomaly: Shortly after Crew wake, the Crew reported all lights were off on the WHC Control Panel and the associated power switch was in the off/tripped position. Attempts to reactivate WHC were not successful. The crew then performed troubleshooting steps in order to isolate the problem to the WHC Pump Separator. The Pump Separator was successfully replaced with an onboard spare. WHC is now operating nominally.

Lighting Effects: A crewmember recorded Light Meter readings for an empty crew quarter compartment. The Lighting Effects investigation studies the impact of the change from fluorescent light bulbs to solid-state light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with adjustable intensity and color and aims to determine if the new lights can improve crew circadian rhythms, sleep, and cognitive performance.

Electro-static Levitation Furnace (ELF): Crew replaced the Gas Bottle for ELF as ground teams discovered that the previous bottle is currently depleted. ELF is an experimental facility designed to levitate, melt and solidify materials by containerless processing techniques using the electrostatic levitation method. With this facility thermophysical properties of high temperature melts can be measured and solidification from deeply undercooled melts can be achieved.

Actiwatch Spectrum: The Actiwatch Spectrum hardware was setup for checkout and then stowed by the ISS crew. The Actiwatch Spectrum is a waterproof, nonintrusive, sleep-wake monitor worn on the wrist of a crewmember. The device contains an accelerometer for measuring motion and color sensitive photodiodes (a photodetector capable of converting light into voltage) for monitoring ambient lighting. Together, these capabilities enable the Actiwatch Spectrum to be used to analyze circadian rhythms, sleep-wake patterns, and activity.

Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments (ACME) / Electric-Field Effects on Laminar Diffusion (E-FIELD) Flames: The crew replaced the Manifold 4 bottle and the ground will be downlinking files from ACME test points and monitoring the bottle pressure. For E-Field Flames an electric field with voltages as high as 10,000 volts is established between the burner and a mesh electrode. The motion of the charged ions, which are naturally produced within the flame, are strongly affected by a high-voltage electric field. The resulting ion-driven wind can dramatically influence the stability and sooting behavior of the flame. Conducting the tests in microgravity allows for great simplifications in the analysis, enabling new understanding and the development of less polluting and more efficient combustion technology for use on Earth.

Life Support Rack (LSR): The crew prepared the O2 generator, performed the Red Helium Camera setup, and performed a meter reading. LSR is a Technology Demonstrator for Closed Loop Air Revitalization. LSR captures carbon dioxide from cabin air and recovers 50% of its oxygen for use by the astronauts. LSR operates for a minimum of one year on the International Space Station to demonstrate the robustness of the technology for future Exploration Missions.

Aerosol Samplers: All Sampler drawers were closed and stowed. The Samplers have individual drawer-like surfaces covered with sticky carbon tape that will capture aerosols in the ISS air. Aerosols are small particles suspended in the air. In the Earth's atmosphere they include soot, dust, pollen and a wide range of other natural and human-made materials. Because smoke and dust do not move in microgravity the way they do on Earth, aerosols in the ISS air pose hazards for crewmembers. The Aerosol Samplers investigation collects airborne particles in the ISS cabin air and returns them to Earth so scientists can study the particles with powerful microscopes.

Completed Task List Activities:

None

Ground Activities:

All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

WHC Troubleshooting

Two-Day Look Ahead:

Thursday, 10/11:

Payloads:

JAXA PCG Canister Install (JAXA)

Team Task Switching Survey (NASA)

Food Acceptability (NASA)

BCAT Camera Activity (NASA)

Actiwatch Donning (NASA)

Myotones Hardware Gather (JAXA)

BER Express Rack 10 Locker Removals (NASA)

NanoRacks Platform 3 Relocate (NASA)

Z-book Software Loads for LSG (NASA)

PS-120 Junction Box Install for LSG (JAXA)

Systems

56S Launch and Docking

ISS Safety Briefing

Friday, 10/12:

Payloads:

JAXA PCG Canister Installation (JAXA)

Actiwatch Spectrum Data Retrieve Ops (NASA)

Myotones Measurements (JAXA)

Sextant Payload Operations-6 (NASA)

Systems:

Tool Configuration in preparation for EVA October 19

Emergency Roles and Responsibilities review with all crewmembers

Today's Planned Activities:

All activities are complete unless otherwise noted.

Record COP24 script

EVA Procedure Review for Suit IV

International Procedure Viewer Tablet Questionnaire

Spacetex-2 questionnaire filling

Visual inspection and leak check, using US leak detector ULD in the orbital compartment [] of Soyuz 739. Report to MCC during comm pass

Record UN Forum Script

Record VDE Summit Script

Handover Big Picture Words Review

PAO Deferred Release Message for Task List for FE-6; 2018 MassChallenge Awards

Sextant Navigation Payload Proficiency

IMS Delta File Prep

Photo and Video Recording about life onboard the ISS

Preparation of Reports for Roscosmos Web Site and Social Media

Visual Inspection and Leak Monitoring Using US ULD Leak Detector in Soyuz 739 Orbital Module. Report to MCC

ECON-M. Observation and photography

TIME Perception experiment (Deferred)

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (RGN) Wastewater Storage Tank Assembly (WSTA) Fill

mobiPV Setup

ABOUT GAGARIN FROM SPACE. HAM Radio Session with CosmoFest Vostochny Festival in Blagoveshchensk

Life Support Rack Air Water Management Drawer Preparation

JEM Airlock Depressurization

Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) - Manifold 4 Bottle Replacement

XF305 Camcorder Setup

Electrostatic Levitation Furnace(ELF) Gas Bottle Unit (GBU) Replacement

Imagery 8K Life Support Rack Record

Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) - Upper Rack Doors Closing

Lighting Effects Light Meter Setup

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Fill Part 3

Lighting Effects Light Meter Readings

Magnetic 3D Bioprinter. Installation of - Thermostat #02

Health Maintenance System (HMS) Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Tool for Windows (WinSCAT) Test

Test File Downlink from Central Post Laptop using Software Telemetry

Crew Quarters Outfitting for New Crewmembers

Lighting Effects Light Meter Stow

JEM Airlock Vent

IMPACT. Take Photographs of Impact #1 Tray from the Window of DC1 EV Hatch 1

JEM Airlock Vent Confirmation

Actiwatch Spectrum HRF Rack 1 Setup

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (RGN) Wastewater Storage Tank Assembly (WSTA) Fill

Kazbek Fitcheck (Soyuz #739)

Environmental Health System (EHS) - Formaldehyde Monitoring Kit (FMK) Stow Operation

Actiwatch Spectrum HRF Rack 1 Swap

 Set Replacement

Aerosol Passive Samplers Hardware Stowage

ISS HAM Columbus Pass

mobiPV Stowage

Actiwatch Spectrum HRF Rack 1 Stow

HTV Transfer Operations (Deferred)

Life Support Rack Oxygen Generation Drawer Preparation

Replacement of the Urine Receptacle () and Filter-Insert (-) in the ACY (Aborted)

 Activation Post-R&R (Deferred)

Support Oxygen Generator alignment

HTV Cargo Operations Conference (Deferred)

ISS HAM Radio Power Down in Service Module

ISS HAM Radio Power Down in Columbus

USOS Window Shutter Close

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.A Delhi police head constable was shot dead by three unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants in Uttar Pradeshs Meerut district Sunday evening, police said.

The incident occurred at around 4 pm in Kharkoda area, when the policeman, identified as Sarabjeet (he used his first name only) and posted at Delhis Sultanpuri police station, was returning from a function in Kabatta village with his family.

The criminals chased his car and opened fire, police said, adding that a bullet pierced Sarabjeets neck.

Passersby informed the police about the incident and the injured policeman was taken to a hospital where he was declared brought dead. Senior officials also rushed to the crime scene.

Police said the reason for the attack was still to be ascertained.Uncertainty, insecurity and squalor hangs over slums in Balapur, Hafeez Baba Nagar, Pahadishareef, Mir MominPahadi and Kishanbagh in the old city of Hyderabad. This has been home to over 4,000-odd Rohingyas for the last seven years.

Living in sub-human conditions, these Rohingya Muslims have been living under the fear of being deported back to their country. We do not know when we get to hear from the authorities asking us to pack up and return to Myanmar. We have been spending sleepless nights thinking what would happen to us tomorrow, says 38-year old Muhammad Fareed, who is working as daily-wage labourer.

Recent statements by leaders have added to their fear. Launching the partys election campaign on Wednesday, the BJP president Amit Shah, addressing a massive rally in Karimnagar, declared that the Centre will take steps to identify each and every Rohingya migrant, including those settled in Hyderabad and parts of Telangana and send them back to their country, as they posed a major security threat to the nation.

Firebrand BJP legislator from Hyderabad, T Raja Singh also demanded that if Rohingyas did not leave India respectfully, they should be gunned down to make the country safe.

The Rohingyas settled in Hyderabad are now reconciled to the fact that they might be told to go back sooner or later. We dont mind going back to our country, provided the international community shall ensure safety and security there. We want restoration of democracy in Myanmar, so that we can enjoy freedom. We dont want to go there just to be massacred and tortured, says 51-year old Hameedulla Haq, who has been eking out his livelihood by selling clothes. His wife does the tailoring at the Balapur settlement.

Most of the Rohingya Muslims fled their native place of Rakhine in northern Myanmar, following 2011-12 violence in which thousands of Muslims were allegedly massacred by the Myanmar military and radical Buddhist monks.

We havent faced any problems from Telangana government. The local police have also not been troubling any of us, says Fareed.

Hyderabad Deputy Commissioner of Police (North Zone) Amber Kishore Jha told HT that he was yet to receive any orders from the Centre to evict them. We have multiple wings under the police department. Maybe, one such wing might be making enquiries about Rohingyas, Jha said.For someone who is a firebrand communist, the name Sitaram does not quite fit. That his parents named him is a given but there were enough opportunities available for him to change it to something else. Yet he retained it even while dropping the caste title in his name. I was named Sitaramarao, after my grandfather, but I dropped the caste appendage and carried on with my name. So Sitaram it has remained. In any case as Shakespeare said what is in a name? says CPI(M)s Sitaram Yechury.

But Yechury was not so comfortable with retaining the sacred thread that had been bequeathed to him when he was barely eleven years of age. He let it cling to his skin for nearly a decade before hanging it in his hostel cupboard amid unwashed clothes. When he went home for vacation his father thought he had lost it and offered to give him his, as is the tradition. Without meeting his eye, Sitaram minus Rao mumbled that he had put it away, skipping the detail of where he had actually put it.

To tell my father that it was hanging in my cupboard would have been blasphemy, he says.

Of student politics and the Emergency

A Telugu-speaking Brahmin, Yechury spent the early years of his life in Andhra Pradesh. Till he left his home for Delhi and later St. Stephens college for Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Yechury was like any normal student. A regular kind of guy whose goal was to study, excel in academics and land a job.

Instead he took to politics, starting off as a student leader.

Being the first generation of post Independence youth, political awareness was there but the churning began during my JNU days, Yechury recalls.

During the Emergency, he went underground. He was twice lucky. Once when his father was in hospital and Yechury was spending nights taking care of him. The cops looked everywhere but not at the hospital, the most unlikely place for anyone to hide, Yechury remembers.

But when the doctors told him to take his dad home, Yechury developed cold feet. It was both good and bad news. Good because my father was well enough to go home and bad because my hiding place, the hospital, was gone. I did not want to go home.

Expectedly, the next morning the cops came to get him but luck was on his side yet again. The SHO who arrested him made a mistake and instead of charging him under MISA he charged him with a bailable offence. Taking advantage of this, Yechury got out soon enough, while the poor cop got it in the neck, as it were.

Tryst with the 70s

That Yechury is a smoker is well known. During breaks between daily proceedings of the Parliament session,Yechury is among the few who would make a dash to the smoking room. What, however, is little known is how he got into the habit.

I belong to a generation where smoking was associated with manliness. There was not a single film, Hollywood or Bollywood, where the protagonist did not dangle a cigarette between his fingers. So if you had to graduate from being an adolescent to a man, the first step was to start smoking.

Yechury says that he took his first drag way back in 1971. And that was the beginning of a habit that continues to date.

Politics has taken away his me-time, but he does try and snatch moments to listen to songs by Shamshad Begum like Kajra mohabbat wala, even while he eats out of a dabba, his chapattis rolled in newspaper. He couldnt care less about the clothes he wears or his socks having a hole. Having converted his official residence into a party office, Yechury lives in Vasant Kunj where even as an MP he has queued up at a water-tanker when the taps went dry.

The years in Parliament

Trivia apart, Yechury emerged from the shadows, during his two terms in the Rajya Sabha. As member, he was counted among the best speakers raising substantive issues and often putting the government on the mat. Yechury soon emerged as the face of the party.

So when his partys Central Committee voted against him getting a third term, it was dubbed as a historic blunder, quite similar to CPI(M) blocking Jyoti Basu to head the United Front government in 1996. Yechurys absence in the Upper House, apart from reducing numbers, would rob the Rajya Sabha of one of its most effective and forceful speakers. For the CPM, it has been a sure setback.

Apart from the principle of not letting anyone get a third term, it was internal rivalry that did Yechury in. In the past decade, Yechury had emerged as the face of his party and one who has friends across the board. In fact, his friendships within the Congress Party have been a subject of much debate, with many dubbing him as pro-Congress - a charge that Yechury dismisses as utter rubbish.

Nationalist Congress Partys D.P.Tripathi once compared Yechury to former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao terming him a polyglot because he can speak Telugu, Tamil, Bangla, Hindi and English. Yechurys fluency in Hindi, in fact, has been a surprise to many. The ease with which he gave speeches in Parliament led many to ask whether he had engaged a tutor to master the language.

The House conundrum

Till he did not take oath as a Rajya Sabha member, Yechury did not even know what House meant. In Parliament parlance, House is a terminology used for the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. But when he was asked to go to the House to take his oath he was puzzled. I was wondering why they were asking me to go home, he reminisces.

Another time Atal Bihari Vajpayee asked him why he was not being seen in the House. If Yechury was puzzled, Vajpayee too was ignorant that Yechury was not an MP at that time. Yechurys first brush with Parliament was in 2005 as a member of the Rajya Sabha. And he has not looked back since.

Unlike some of his party colleagues who are comfortable reading Lenins Collected Works over and over again,Yechury neither hurls nor shouts Lenin, a strong point with those not ingrained in Communism. Neither does he carry his partys philosophy on his sleeve. Instead he uses his skill to make others see his point of view and warm up to the ideology.

Why should I hurl Lenin at everyone? The point is I say what Lenin said and find that more effective. One should be able to argue with facts and put the opponent in a position that he no longer finds it tenable to hold on to the position he is holding.

That Yechury is smooth with words is a given. This coupled with his unwired mind and candid manner has won him friends across party lines. If there are enemies, and there are several, they are because they grudge his rise and rue the fact that Yechury is here to stay.On October 8, in a Durga Puja pandal of Santoshpur Lake Pally (SLP), a community festival in south Kolkata, Shree Muhuri Ghatak, a transgender woman, drew the eyes of the goddess, considered a sacred act that symbolises infusing life in the idol.

Even a few years ago, involving a transgender person in such a solemn act would have been quite unthinkable. We have involved transgender persons in every stage of the puja calendar  from khuntipuja that marks the beginning of the making of the pandal to immersion, said Somnath Das, general secretary of the SLP committee.

This is a unique initiative where Bengals biggest festival is becoming a platform to educate people against discrimination of any sort, said Ghatak, who has become the brand ambassador of this 61-year-old community puja.

Though we were toying with the idea of spreading awareness of LGBTQ rights, the Supreme Court verdict of September 6 vindicated our stand and emboldened us to go full steam ahead, said Das.

Ghatak is not the only one. Megh Sayantan Ghosh, the first transgender lawyer in West Bengal, drew the eyes of the idol in Jodhpur Park Cultural Association in south Kolkata and Torpedo Welfare Society in Howrah.

Just as the goddess does not discriminate between her children, we need to spread the message that irrespective of gender and sexual identity, human beings should be respected, said Ghosh.

Syed Tanveer Nasreen, professor-in-charge, department of womens studies in University of Burdwan describes these as imaginative use of the festival for positive sensitization.

The entire community has been relegated to the fringes of the society. The puja committees have taken a bold step to involve LGBTQ members to spread the message that discrimination has to end fast, said Nasreen, who thinks the association of the goddess with community members sends a powerful message to the common people.

Going a step forward, there are examples of the goddess being worshipped as Ardhanarishvara  a composite androgynous of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. This puja has been organised by Ranjita Sinha, member of the West Bengal Transgender Development Board, and her associates on the Gokhale Road in south Kolkata.

I have deliberately chosen this year to organise the Puja to celebrate the Supreme Court verdict that relived Indians of the baggage of British colonial legacy. The goddess as Ardhanarishvara is a significant symbol of our movement against gender discrimination, Sinha said.

Significantly, the idol makers for the Gokhale Road puja are all trans-men or trans-women. They got the chance to showcase their creative talents, said Sinha.

During community pujas in north Kolkata from October 16 to 18, transgender persons, dressed up like Durga and her daughters Lakshmi and Saraswati, will showcase the theme of gender-equality at the pandal. This puja is being organised by Anandam, an NGO working for the community welfare and Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, a body set up in 1995 that works for the rights and welfare of sex workers.

Sintu Bogai, the general secretary of Anandam, said, With the long awaited Supreme Court verdict finally decriminalising same sex relations, this is the perfect year for this particular theme. We have crafted the slogan Amio Nari, Tumio Nari (I am a woman, so are you).

Pratyay Gender Trust that is putting together the Ardhanarishvara puja is finding it difficult to organise funds. However, to celebrate the Supreme Court verdict, we are organising the puja in a modest way, said Pratyay representative, Anchal.

Bengal had always been a centre for movement against section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalised same-sex relationship. In July 1999, the first gay pride walk in the country was held in Kolkata. In mid 2015, the government appointed Manabi Bandopadhyay, a transgender, as the principal of Krishnagar Womens College, the first in the country.Weve all had several bouts of influenza or the flu, which causes headaches, runny nose, cough and muscle pain. This viral infection is self-limiting, with severe illness lasting for two to three days and most people recovering within a week after using non-prescription medicines for fever and pain.

Its not considered a serious illness because it rarely causes hospitalisation in healthy people and kills causing complications and co-infections and aggravating existing illnesses. The cause of death is rarely recorded as influenza. It kills up to 650,000 people every year, estimates the World Health Organisation, with most deaths occurring from pneumonia, heart or brain inflammation and circulatory shock from organs not getting enough blood or oxygen.

2018 marks the 100th anniversary of 1918 influenza pandemic popularly known as Spanish flu, which infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide  about one-third of the planets then population  and killed between 20 million to 50 million people, including in India. The only decade in which Indias population did not register a decadal growth is 1910-1920, according to the Census of India, with experts attributing the reversal in population growth to increased deaths from the flu.

Highly Contagious

The flu spreads easily among people in close contact or in contained spaces, such as classrooms, offices and public transport. On September 5, an Emirates Airline flight from Dubai was quarantined for hours at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York after 100 passengers and crew members complained of cough and fever. Suspecting they could have a serious respiratory illness called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), all the ill passengers were tested for a range of diseases. They were diagnosed with influenza, no one had MERS.

In 2018, India has confirmed 5,651 cases and 464 deaths from H1N1, the predominant flu strain across states, till October 7.

The influenza virus has a quicksilver ability to mutate to evade the bodys immune systems and infect more easily. If the mutation creates a brand new virus that can spread infection from people to people and against which humans have no immunity, pandemics occur, like the H1N1 pandemic in 2009-10 that spread across continents within weeks.

Unlike in the temperate zones where the flu virus circulates and infects in the coldest season twice a year (once each in the winters of the northern and southern hemispheres), infection continues year-round in the tropics and subtropics after peaking in the winter months.

Vaccine Protection

Young children, older people, pregnant women, or people with weakened immune systems, should get vaccinated against the flu at start of winter every year, recommends the WHO, which evaluates and recommends vaccines against the dominant influenza viruses that are projected to cause the most disease.

The recommendations are made in February/March for the following influenza season in the northern hemisphere and in September for the southern hemisphere because six to eight months are needed to produce and approve vaccines. For the northern hemisphere, the recommended vaccine for 2018-19 is a quadrivalent vaccine containing A/Michigan (H1N1), A/Singapore (H3N2), B/Colorado; and B/Phuket viruses.

The vaccine is safe as the viruses are inactivated, and though some people may feel feverish for a day or two after vaccination, it does not cause influenza. Some people may get the flu even after getting vaccinated because the vaccine does not protect against the dozens of flu viruses causing infections, but vaccination lowers the severity of disease and the risk of associated complications.

The best time to get vaccinated is in October before the start of the flu season in India, where it peaks in February and March. It takes about two weeks after vaccination for the antibodies to develop and protect against infection, and the effect lasts for about a year.Implementation of the central governments ambitious vehicle scrapping policy, which proposes to impose a cap of 20 years on the life of all commercial vehicles, may be delayed further. The reason: reluctant state governments.

In a federal set-up like Indias, it is extremely difficult to give effect to any policy unless state governments are on board, explained a senior official at the ministry of road transport.

...so we are going through a consultative process with the states. We had written to the states asking their views, so it may take a few months to go through that; they have not responded yet, the senior official said on the condition of anonymity.

The policy, which was to be sent to the Cabinet for approval earlier this year, has faced multiple roadblocks.

Hindustan Times reported in July that the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) on July 9 returned the Cabinet note sent by the road transport ministry with a raft of directions, including more active consultations with states, before it is implemented.

The PMO also directed that the scheme be made voluntary and linked with incentives which should originate from manufacturers.

The vehicle scrapping policy is partly aimed at improving air quality by replacing older, polluting vehicles with environment-friendly and fuel-efficient ones.

India has 700,000 trucks, buses and taxis manufactured before December 31, 2000 that contribute 15-20% of vehicular pollution, according to an analysis by AT Kearney based on data from the Central Pollution Control Board and Union road ministry emission norms. According to the study, trucks and buses account for just 2.5% of the total fleet, yet they contribute over 60% of pollution.

The ministry had expected 350,000 vehicles to be scrapped in the next two to three years if the scheme, welcomed by vehicle makers, received the Cabinets green signal.

The fact that five states are due to go to the polls in November-December, followed by the general election in 2019, may be one reason for the delay in states responding.

Some states are not happy. States have to be the implementing agency and they are going to be as much part of the implementation, like the Motor Vehicle Act though its a central act, a second ministry official said, also on the condition of anonymity.

Ninety percent of functionality and implementation is with the state and any state in a federal set-up would be zealous about maintaining its own independence. Consultations with them are still going on, now that elections have been announced, its moving at an even slower pace. Discussions on incentives is taking a lot of time. Therefore, only after consultation will we be able to take it forward, another ministry official said.

An official at the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers said vehicle scrapping centres need to be in place before the policy is implemented.

...if you start scrapping vehicles tomorrow, where will you send them for scrapping, he said on the condition of anonymity. Either way, scrappage is already happening but the incentive scheme is yet to come and I think there is some discussion that is still required in this. Getting states on board is part of our political system. GST (goods and services tax) took nine years to implement because of the states, and in a democracy, decisions will take time.

The government has also issued a notification mandating implementation of Bharat Stage -VI (BS-VI) emission norms from April 1, 2020, skipping an intermediate stage, for all vehicles. Vehicle emission standards were introduced for the first time in India in 2000.

From what I know, the combined effect of the incentives, along with the policy, will be quite huge. Given the current fiscal situation of the central government as well as the states, I doubt how much new incentives can be passed on to the users, said Kushal Singh, a partner at consulting firm Deloitte India.

Another issue is that with the advent of GST, the financial condition of the states has virtually remained the same and didnt improve the way it was predicted with GST coming in. Therefore, expecting the states also to give some incentives at this point of time may be a Herculean task. My guess is that it will take more time for the policy to be announced.Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik on Sunday said that his administration has taken up the issue of the well-being of Kashmiri students studying in Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) with the Uttar Pradesh government.

The governors assertion came a day after three Kashmiri students of AMU were booked on sedition charges for allegedly raising anti-India slogans and trying to hold a funeral prayer meeting for Hizbul Mujahideen militant Manan Bashir Wani on October 12.

Wani, a former PhD scholar of AMU who left research to join militancy in Kashmir, was killed in an encounter with security forces in north Kashmir on Thursday.

During an interaction with youth at Sheri Kashmir International Convention Centre, the governor assured that his administration has taken up the concern for well-being of Kashmiri students studying in AMU with their administrative counterparts in Uttar Pradesh, an official spokesman of the J-K government said.

Kashmiri students studying in AMU have written a letter to AMU vice-chancellor denying the charges and threatened to leave the University en masse from October 17 if the sedition charges against the three of them are not dropped.

According to news agency PTI, AMU students union former vice-president Sajjad Rathar has written that if this vilification does not stop, more than 1,200 Kashmiri students will leave for their homes in the Kashmir Valley on October 17 as a last option.

Terming the slapping of sedition charges as vendetta, Rathar has said, The option of holding Namaaz-e-Janaza (funeral prayer) in absentia was dropped after the AMU authorities did not give the permission.

The issue has flared up tempers in the Kashmir Valley.

Independent legislator from Langate Sheikh Abdul Rasheed, also known as Engineer Rashid, was detained after trying to take a protest march in Srinagar in solidarity with Kashmiri students of AMU.

They just want to harass the Kashmiri students. I dont know whether the students have offered prayers of Manan Wani or not. Even if they have, it is not a crime but a religious obligation, Rashid told HT in the evening after he was let off by police.

Moderate separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq condemned the sedition charges on Kashmiri students and demanded an end to the harassment of Kashmiri students.

The government spokesman quoting the governor said that to ensure the welfare of students from Jammu and Kashmir studying in other parts of the country, liaison officers will be designated for areas having higher number of students from the state.

These officers will act as a point of contact in these states for the students to get their concerns presented and addressed, he said.

The governor stressed on the importance of youth in the peace process of J-K.

It is very important that the youth are given momentum in right direction to channelize their creative, intellectual and innovative energies and talents in a productive manner, Malik was quoted as saying.

Conveying the commitment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure free and fair elections in the state, governor Malik urged students to partake in the democratic process as leaders and as participants to shape the new future for the state.Tamil Nadu is known for anti-Hindi agitations both before and after Indias independence. Yet, according to census data, Tamil Nadu recorded the highest increase in the number of people reporting Hindi as their mother tongue between 2001 and 2011, among all southern states, Gujarat and Maharashtra. This one statistic captures the phenomenon of Indias changing linguistic landscape, the result of migration for economic reasons.

Cultural barriers do not seemingly inhibit economic integration in India. The 2016-17 Economic Survey published by the ministry of finance contained estimates of migration in the 20-29 year age group between 2001 and 2011.

While states in the Hindi-speaking belt, such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan, had the highest net outflow of migrants, Tamil Nadu and Kerala recorded the highest migrant inflow during the period. The survey says that in absolute terms, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar had a net migrant outflow of 5.83 million and 2.63 million people (in the 20-29 age-group) respectively, while Tamil Nadu saw the largest net inflow at 1 million.

Reading these numbers with per capita income level of states shows that inter-state migration in India primarily takes place from poor to rich states (See Chart 1). These migration trends find a striking parallel in the changing composition of the languages spoken across states, according to the recently released language data from Census 2011. The percentage of people reporting Hindi as their mother tongue increased across 30 of 36 states and Union Territories in the period 2001-2011.

The total population in the Hindi-speaking states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkand, Chattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi increased by a measure of 21% between 2001 and 2011. In the same period, the population reporting its mother tongue as Hindi in the major migrant destination states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat, increased by 45%. To be sure, the absolute share of Hindi speakers in these states is still very low compared to that of native language speakers. (See Chart 2)

It needs to be underlined that a Tamil or a Gujarati person, who has picked up Hindi as a second or third language, will not show up in the data on persons with Hindi as their mother tongue. Therefore, this statistic is a good indicator of persons from Hindi-speaking states moving to non-Hindi states.

In addition to the larger nationwide narrative, there are changes in linguistic composition observed within states that help understand flashpoints around identities regionally. If we consider the case of Gujarat, in 21 of 26 districts (count in 2001), the percentage of people reporting Hindi as their mother tongue increased between 2001 and 2011; 23% of Surats population reported Hindi as their mother tongue in 2011, a nearly 10 percentage point increase from 2001. (See Chart 3)

Migration flows within India are inevitable, and are a result of the demographic divergence between the poorer, more populous Northern states and the more prosperous Southern and Western Indian states. However, the social and cultural implications of this trend are uncertain. For instance, are the recent clashes in Gujarat a specific and isolated event, or are they indicative of more turbulent times ahead?Integrated Battle Groups (IBG)  smaller, meaner, self-contained fighting units of the Indian Army comprising of elements of air power, artillery, amour etc  are now a reality. The biennial Army Commanders Conference that concluded in today in New Delhi cleared formations of the IBGs.

As against the somewhat antiquated fighting formation of corps  each comprising 8-10 brigades, with a brigade having 3-4 battalions of 800 fighting men each - an IBG is likely to have just about 6 battalions.

In addition, more sweeping changes, for instance, right-sizing of the 1.3 million strong Indian Army, having language skills with men and officers being trained in different languages  both Indian ones like Urdu and foreign ones like Mandarin, Dari, Pashto etc have been accepted at the Army Commanders Conference.

The changes will be implemented progressively in a phased manner, the Indian Army said in a statement issued this evening. The Hindustan Times earlier reported that Indian Army was shifting gear to form IBGs, changing the way the Indian Army fights its enemies.

Currently, brigades are the smallest formations that are committed to battle and corps the largest. The IBGs, on the other hand, are smaller and more flexible allowing faster mobilization and more flexibility to the army.

The reorganization of the fighting elements and right-sizing of the Indian Army will, however, be preceded by test-bedding or a series of exercises to validate the concept so that implementation is smooth and effective, the Indian Army said. Not every corps, division or brigade will be replaced by an Integrated Battle Group. The terrain, threat perception and options available to the enemy will go into deciding whether an IBG will replace the current structure, a senior officer said.

The Indian Army is battling a bulge in its revenue expenditure, leaving less and less for capital purchases. Right-sizing of the Indian Army is likely to reduce manpower by 100,000 to 150,000 men, leading to saving of Rs 7000 crore every year that is now spent on pensions and salaries.

The right-sizing exercise will lead to merges some verticals or do away with those that are redundant. For example, separate wings like the Directorate of Perspective Planning and Directorate General of Weapons and Equipment will be merged. Similarly, serving officers will no longer work at the National Cadet Corps, which will instead be run by retired officers.

Moreover, significantly, to cut revenue expenditure, the Army wants to use retired or passed-over officers at the service headquarters instead of civilian employees. Appointing civilians at service headquarters started in the 1960s so that officers and men could be at the front. The civilian component in the service headquarters, however, eats into the budget of the forces.Khushwant Singh wrote at lengths on Sahibs who loved India. But not much is known about the videshinis that did the same.

While Annie Basant and St Teresa made invaluable contribution to the Indian society in their own ways, there are several stories of women who came from the West and made India their home.

At a session titled Margot and other European Videshinis, a panel discussed the lives of 10 such women, who contributed significantly to the development of India.

They immersed themselves into the Indian culture. Their significant impact and influence cant be denied and most of them were not even British, said author Ian Magedera, who has written about nine such women in his book Indian Videshinis.

Talking about the lives of European women who came to India, Ian added, It all started in 1893, when Annie Besant came to Tuticorin and many European women followed closely, who then identified themselves as Indian. He adds that all nine women had one thing in common  natural affinity to India. Interestingly, they were all supported by men, he pointed out.

On the motivation behind his stories, Ian said, Women were always seen as an integrated support system and it was important that their stories be told.

Author and historian Reba Som brought to light the life of Sister Nivedita which she also highlighted in her book Sister Nivedita of Swami Vivekananda. She viewed India on her own terms and respected the country for its traditional values.

Talking about the relationship between the two, Som recounted how it changed from love from Niveditas side to seeing him as her father.

She also went on to describe her life after Vivekananda where she helped those in need.

Quoting Sister Nivedita, she threw light on her project on nationalism, and said, There will never be a solution until the truth is soughtpatriotism is note learnt in books, It is what seizes the whole being. Som also spoke at length on Sister Niveditas relationship with Rabindranath Tagore and shared an anecdote when she categorically refused to teach Tagores daughter English.Stonebridge Excel fetched the highest price during the opening session of the 2018 London Selected Yearling Sale.

Selling as Hip #24, trotting-bred filly Stonebridge Excel sold for $187,000 to Bill Donovan of Delray Beach, Florida with Rick Zeron signing the sales slip. Stonebridge Excel (Muscle Mass - Armbro Vanquish) is a half-sister to world champion, multiple stakes winner and stallion Manofmanymissions.

"She's a really, really nice filly. I looked her over, Bill Donovan looked her over...he was very interested in her. I was too. I watched her videos and looked her over and thought she was just outstanding. A great big long body, and I think by having the Muscle Mass out of the mother instead of the Yankee Glide, it's going to enhance this filly's career."

Zeron spoke the importance of having a stallion like Muscle Mass back in Ontario given the success the stallion has had on the Grand Circuit this year.

"It's an honour to have him back. There were a couple of Muscle Masses selling in Kentucky [at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale] and Ake Svanstedt just looked at me once and said 'I wish he was back in New York' so I'm extremely happy to have him back in Canada."

On the pacing side, David Menary was the most interested in Hip 66, Shelton Seelster. A yearling from the first crop of former Menary pupil Hes Watching out of a sister to Little Brown Jug winner Mr Feelgood, Shelton Seelster was the highest priced pacing-bred yearling of the opening session, fetching a bid of $130,000.

A total of four yearlings hit the six-figure sales mark on Saturday. Pacing-bred filly Shiraz Seelster (Bettors Delight - Shakai Hanover) was a $107,000 purchase by Millar Farms of Stouffville, Ont. The bidding wasn't chilly on Stonebridge Icicle (Bettors Delight - Glacier Express) as Blake MacIntosh went to $100,000 to successfully obtain the sharp yearling filly.

In front of a capacity crowd at the Metroland Media Agriplex, a total of 100 yearlings sold during the first session for gross sales of $2,870,000. That number substantially tops the $2.48 million gross from the 2017 sale with fewer yearlings sold. The average for the first day came in at $28,700, up 31 percent from the first-day 2017 average of $21,793.

Among stallions with multiple yearlings offered in the first session, Muscle Mass boasted the biggest average. His five yearlings averaged $67,000, while Bettors Delight was best among pacers with 10 yearlings averaging $55,600.

Important Links:Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), an outfit of women in the Malayalam film industry trained its guns on actors body Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) and its president, superstar Mohanlal on Saturday for allegedly for going soft on the accused in the actor assault case and failing to stand with the victim.

The WCC was formed to work as a pressure group after the attack on the actor in February 2017.

WCC members including Revathi, Padmapriya and Parvathy who addressed the press in Kochi, reeled out complaints against AMMA office-bearers and criticized the unresponsive attitude of its office-bearers including president Mohanlal.

They expressed serious reservation over the way AMMA office-bearers were shielding the accused actor Dileep.

Revathi said that AMMA was continuing its apathetic stand to the survivor at a time when the nation and its film industry were extending support to women in the #Me Too campaign. She attacked Mohanlal for allegedly backing Dileep.

They are trying to support the accused and not the survivor, Revathy alleged.

The status of the accused in AMMA is still not clear. More than the victim office-bearers are interested to protect the accused, said Padmapriya adding # Me Too campaign had begun in Malayalam cine industry last year when the actor came out boldly to narrate her ordeal.

The WCC alleged that the AMMA was being evasive about its decision to reinstate Dileep who is accused of being the mastermind behind the abduction and assault of the actor last year.

Dileep was expelled from AMMA soon after his arrest in the assault case but was taken back after his release on bail in October 2017. Three actors - Geetu Mohandas, Remya Nambisan and Reema Kallingal - had quit the organization in August to protest the decision to reinstate him.

The woman actor was allegedly abducted by a gang and assaulted in a moving car in Kochi last year for three years before being set free. The attackers had threatened to release a video of the assault if she approached police. But she filed a complaint, and five months later police arrested Dileep on charges of hiring a criminal gang to settle personal scores with her.

The WCC opposed the re-entry of Dileep vehemently but many members of AMMA wanted Dileep back saying he was expelled without any notice and it was unfair to keep him out for long.

At the WCC press conference, Archana Padmini revealed that she had to face harrowing experience from an actor on the sets of a Mammootty-starrer film. She said despite several complaints, the accused actor was still busy while she was thrown out of many projects.

Revathi also recollected an incident that a 17-year-old actor knocked on the doors of her room at midnight years ago with a plea to save her. However, she did not reveal the actors name. We want such horrific incidents should be averted. We want AMMA more transparent and responsible, she said their campaign has just begun and more incidents will be highlighted in the coming days.Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is likely to return to Goa on Sunday from Delhi where he has been undergoing treatment for pancreatic ailment at the All India Institute of Medial Sciences (AIIMS) for a month, a BJP leader said.

Parrikar was admitted to the AIIMS on September 15.

If things go according to plan, the special flight will touch down at Goas airport around 10 am after which the Chief Minister will be taken to his private residence, a BJP leader who did not want to be named.

Parrikar met his cabinet colleagues on Friday and discussed the redistribution of portfolios in view of his inability to continue discharging his duties. He has reportedly agreed to give up of all but a few portfolios.

There has been no official word about the Chief Ministers health as yet.

On Saturday, the Congress on Saturday demanded that Parrikar step down and it be given a chance to prove its majority.

The state is headless, governance is paralyzed, administration is crippled, there is complete breakdown of authority and the rule of law has collapsed. People are feeling cheated with absolutely no policy and direction and Goa is in chaos, state Congress president Girish Chodankar said while addressing a press conference in Delhi.

We wish Manohar Parrikar a speedy recovery and a long life, but his ailment cannot be an impediment to the aspirations of the people of Goa, Chodankar added.

The 62-year-old Parrikar has been ailing since mid-February and has been treated at different hospitals including those in Goa, Mumbai and the US.Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar was shifted to his residence back in the state on Sunday afternoon from New Delhis All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) after being treated at the hospital in the capital for almost a month.

Parrikar, who is being treated for a pancreatic ailment, was flown to his home state on board a special plane. He landed in Panaji at around 2.30pm and was shifted to a waiting ambulance to be moved to his private residence at Dona Paula amid tight security. A team of doctors from the Goa Medical College and Hospital has been put on standby to attend to the chief minister.

His health has improved over the last 15 days. His treatment is over; he should rest now. He can undergo future treatment in Goa, North Goa MP and Union minister of state for Ayush Shripad Naik said.

An official at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: His condition deteriorated yesterday and he had to be admitted to the ICU (Intensive Care Unit). He was then discharged today, but he is still unwell and would need regular follow-up.

He said that he would like to be treated in Goa, closer to home, said the doctor treating Parrikar.

Parrikar was briefly shifted to the ICU at AIIMS after his condition deteriorated but doctors agreed to release him as planned after his health improved on Sunday.

Parrikar, who met his Cabinet colleagues in Delhi on Friday, discussed redistribution of portfolios in view of his inability to continue discharging his duties.

An official announcement of a change in portfolios is likely after October 19, a government official said.

Parrikar has visited the US thrice this year to get treatment for his pancreatic ailment, according to officials.

On Saturday, the Congress alleged that the administration in the state was crippled due to Parrikars absence.

The state is headless, governance is paralysed, administration is crippled, there is complete breakdown of authority, rule of law has collapsed, people are feeling cheated with absolutely no policy and direction and Goa is in chaos. We wish Parrikar a speedy recovery and a long life, but his ailment cannot be an impediment to the aspirations of the people of Goa, state Congress president Girish Chodankar said.

The Congress remains the single largest party in the Goa assembly with 16 members. The BJP, with 14 members, relies on the support of two regional parties  the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and the Goa Forward Party  with three members each, besides independent MLAs to achieve majority in the 40-member House.

The Congress has been demanding Parrikars resignation on account of his prolonged illness. Some Congress legislators in Goa had met Governor Mridula Sinha on September 19 to stake claim to form the government on the pretext of being the single-largest party in the state.

Parrikar had been flown to Delhi on September 15 after he had a conversation with BJP president Amit Shah.

He had been admitted to the old private ward at AIIMS under a team of doctors headed by Dr Pramod Garg, professor of gastroenterology at the hospital. This was after Parrikar returned to Goa on September 6 after his third visit to the US for the treatment of his pancreatic ailment.

Leaders of the ruling BJP and its allies have ruled out any change in leadership in the coastal state.

The cabinet ministers have decided to meet without the chief minister at the secretariat every week to review the situation in the state, a move seen as a means to prevent the Congress from capitalising on the current political situation.

(With inputs from agencies)Union minister Shripad Naik said Sunday there has been an improvement in Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikars health but he needs to take rest after returning to his state from New Delhi.

Parrikar was Sunday discharged from the AIIMS, New Delhi, where he was undergoing treatment for pancreatic ailment since September 15, and is likely to return to his home state, sources said.

Naik dismissed any possibility of dissolution of the Goa Assembly and expressed confidence that the Parrikar-led government will complete its term.

Questions over the stability of the Goa government have been raised by the Opposition Congress because of Parrikars illness.

Parrikar will be arriving in Goa this evening by a special flight. From the airport, he will directly go to his private residence at Dona Paula, a senior official in the Chief Ministers office said Sunday.

Naik, the Union AYUSH minister, said it is okay if Parrikar undergoes treatment in Goa but he needs to take rest.

There has been an improvement in his health compared to what it was when he was flown to AIIMS last month, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader told reporters here at the sidelines of a function.

The minister said he had met Parrikar on Friday.

I got the news that he is coming back but I cant believe that he is returning. His health is improving and he was expected to stay at the AIIMS for a few more days, he said.

Naik, who is part of the Goa BJPs core committee that met Parrikar in Delhi on Friday to discuss about the development in the state, said there was no proposal or possibility of dissolution of the state Assembly.

This government will complete its tenure of five years, he asserted.

State Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said elaborate arrangements have been made at Parrikars private residence where a team of doctors from the state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital will take care of his health.

Parrikar had Friday held meetings at the AIIMS with party leaders as well as allies to discuss ways to ensure that his government functions normally.

He is expected to shed many of his portfolios after Dussehra, according to ministers who met him in the hospital.

The core committee is the BJPs key decision-making body in Goa, comprising senior leaders like Parrikar, Naik and party state chief Vinay Tendulkar, among others.

In the 40-member Goa Assembly, the Parrikar-led government has the support of 23 MLAs.

These comprise 14 BJP MLAs, three each from the Goa Foward Party and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) as well as three Independents.

The Opposition Congress is the single largest party in the state Assembly with 16 MLAs.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)Union minister MJ Akbar arrived in Delhi Sunday morning amid calls for his resignation over allegations of sexual misconduct by several women over the last few days but refrained from speaking on the claims.

There will be a statement later on, Akbar told reporters as he came out of Delhi airport, news agency ANI reported.

#WATCH Delhi:Union Minister MJ Akbar returns to India amid accusations of sexual harassment against him, says, "there will be a statement later on." pic.twitter.com/ozI0ARBSz4  ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2018

The opposition Congress has demanded his resignation after he was accused of sexual harassment by many women journalists who had worked with him when he was an editor.

Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah said that he was not in a position to comment on Akbar as the claims against the Union minister needed to be looked into.

Its difficult to comment on something that comes on a website. One can put anything on a website. So, this needs to be checked. If that is true or false, whether such an incident happened or not, Shah said in an interview to ETV on Friday.

Several union ministers have expressed solidarity with victims of sexual harassment, without mentioning Akbar, but minister for women and child development Maneka Gandhi has asked for an investigation against him.

The minister of state for external affairs was in Nigeria when his name came up in a #MeToo thread on social media earlier this week.

Government sources say a final call will be taken by the Narendra Modi government on whether to retain him as minister or concede to the demand for his removal.Two days after a 32-year-old man from Bihar was found dead by the roadside in Surat, the police on Sunday refuted rumours of a hate crime saying the man died in an accident. Incidents of attacks on Hindi-speaking migrants were reported in some districts of Gujarat earlier this month after the rape of a 14-month-old girl in Sabarkantha district and arrest of a worker from Bihar for the crime.

Surat is believed to have the highest number of migrant workers among all cities in Gujarat.

However, Surat police commissioner Satish Sharma Sunday said the evidence showed that the deceased, Amarjit Singh, died after his motorcycle hit a tree.

After Singhs body was found in Khatodara area Friday night, it was suspected that someone might have attacked and murdered him.

Evidence gathered so far shows it was a case of accident. Preliminary forensic examination shows it was a motorcycle accident. The motorcycle hit a tree. Statements of the people who took him to hospital also corroborated it, the commissioner said.

As to the missing mobile phone of the deceased, Sharma said somebody might have stolen it after the accident.

We have not reached any final conclusion and are investigating the case from all angles, he said.

He also said that while a news portal in Bihar claimed that it was a murder and stated that Singh was 15 years old, it did not seek Surat polices version.

The deceased was 32 years old, Sharma said.

Not a single incident of Gujaratis attacking non-Gujaratis have taken place in Surat, he said, adding that the three recent cases, where complainants were non-Gujaratis, were routine crimes and twenty people were arrested.

The victims in these cases continue to live in the same locality as before, which shows these were not hate crimes, the police commissioner said.

Singhs family had claimed that he was murdered. His brother Rakesh Singh had said that Amarjit received a call around 10 pm Friday after which he left house to meet someone.Hindutva has nothing to do with any religion. It is purely a political ideology, said Congress leader Shashi Tharror at the start of a discussion on his book Why Am I A Hindu on the second day of the Khushwant Singh Literature Festival in kasauli on Saturday.

The author-politician, who donned the hat of a spiritual guru, gave an insight to his idea of Hinduism, which he said couldnt be matched with Hindutva.

Interlocutor Rajiv Mehrotra, who is a writer and TV producer, asked as to why he avoided the suffix ism in his book title, Tharoor said, Certain people say Hinduism is a Western construct, so I speak of Hinduism through- out the book, but not in the title. Though it is there in the book, I found it useful to speak of Hinduism in contradistinction to Hindutva, which he said has nothing to do with the religion.

At his session titled, Tharoorisms on Hinduism, he added that the fundamental element that makes Hinduism a unique religion is that there are no fundamentals. We have no single sacred book, no single religious hierarchy. There is no faith on the planet that allows such diversity of interpretation and practice as Hinduism. And that is its essence and great strength.

On the much-debated idea of what secularism means, Tharoor said, he would prefer to use terms diversity and pluralism for the country doesnt even meet the definition given by Western dictionaries.

A self-professed Vivekananda bhakt, Tharror said, he was greatly inspired by him. Tolerance is a patronising idea. On the other hand, Vivekananda said Hinduism taught the world tolerance and acceptance. Hindutva, with its narrow bigotry, is a violent assault on the basic tenants of what every Hindu should be brought up to believe is precious about his faith, he said. While school taught me tolerance was a virtue, Vivekanandas take on it taught the world not just tolerance but acceptance, he said. He added that Hinduism has to be much more than Hindutva and said,  You can be a religious person if you are morally and ethically on the right path. He reiterated that righteous conduct was the real dharma.

On being on the Ram Temple, the politician said the matter was subjudice, but added that he would want a temple to be built there but not after having demolished somebodys place of worship.

As Mehrotra asked him on the Modi-led government, Tharoor said the Centre had failed completely quoting the failure of demonetisation, rising fuel prices and the rising intolerance.

Shifting focus on his personal life, Tharoor said he practiced gyaan yoga, to read as much as one can, to keep his mind on track. I am utterly hopeless at yoga. I would even look worse than Modi if I tried to practice it and so took refuge in gyaan yoga, he said which left the audience in splits.

Besides indulging in philosophical gyaan, Tharoor also gave audience a dose of his Tharoorism, when he shared the anecdote of how he announced his new book The Paradoxical Prime Minister on Twitter, using the word, Floccinaucinihilipilification, leaving the audience impressed.The shooting of the wife and son of an additional sessions judge by the judges personal security officer, in one of the busiest markets in the city in broad daylight, has raised several questions on public apathy.

Eyewitness accounts and videos shared on social media showed that passersby were mere spectators to the shooting incident, which left 38-year-old Ritu Garg and her 18-year-old son, Dhruv, lying in a pool of blood. While Ritu succumbed to her injuries late Saturday night, her son remained critically injured.

As per the videos of the incident, at least 40 people stood by as the head constable attempted to put the unconscious boy into the car. Raj Kumar, an auto driver, said, I was standing across the road from the spot of the shooting. I was scared because the police officer was pacing back and forth holding a gun.

One of the eyewitnesses said people were confused and assumed that the police officer had responded to a theft incident.

I was waiting after parking my car on the other side when I noticed some commotion. I turned around and saw a policeman shooting at a woman who came from the inside. She was screaming. I thought the police officer, in uniform, was chasing a snatcher, Nisha Singh, a resident of Malibu Town, Sector 47, said. He (the accused) left the spot for a few minutes before returning to put the boy in the car but people were too shocked to react, added Singh.

Read: Felt possessed, guard who shot judges wife, son tells police

Harish Singh, a service boy of a nearby fast food eatery, said he was smoking at the spot when he saw the policeman take out his revolver and shoot the boy and a woman. People were scared to intervene because he looked angry and returned after appearing to flee. He had a gun and had fired multiple shots. No one wanted to take a chance on their own lives. The bystanders were waiting for him to leave before helping the victims, he said.

Sweta Sharma, who works at an MNC, said it seemed that the policeman was looking for another person to shoot at. He stayed there for a few minutes and was staring at people. Everyone was maintaining a safe distance, scared that he might go rogue, said Sharma.

It was only after the accused fled from the spot that people rushed to help out the victims. Three men came forward and took them to a hospital 1.5 kilometres away in an autorickshaw. The accused drove away in front of hundreds of people but no one came forward to catch him, said a police officer.

Changing statement

Twice in the past, the judges family had complained to police about the personal security officers odd behaviour. Police officers familiar with the probe said the accused, during questioning, told police he was suffering from depression and was mentally disturbed because of certain menial household chores that his family members had asked him to do.

DCP (crime) Sumit Kuhar said the accused had converted to Christianity five days ago. He had been watching some videos on religion for couple of months. He has been changing his statements repeatedly, he said.Social media posts of political parties and groups in poll-bound Telangana will come under the election commissions scanner to check for any objectionable content under the model code of conduct, state chief electoral officer Rajat Kumar has said.

An agency had been appointed in Telangana to help the CEO on social media issues and the EC at the national and the state level is in touch with companies such as Google and Facebook, which have assured cooperation in cases of violation of the model code of conduct (MCC), he said.

Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in Telangana on December 7.

We are working out the matrix right now on how to control social media (content violative of MCC)... we will put some key words which indicate violation of MCC... an appeal or an offer of money with catch phrases. we will scan through various websites, the CEO told PTI.

The official said Telangana director general of police M Mahendar Reddy has also offered help of the Cyber wing in taking action in cases of violation of the code.

The source will be identified and action will be taken against him under the relevant sections of IPC and cyber crimes also, he said.

According to him, the guidelines for social media are exactly same as that of print and electronic media.

Hyderabad police commissioner Anjani Kumar said they will keep an eye on bulk messaging sent through social media or the traditional way with a mala fide intention.

Besides monitoring, a Facebook page under the name chief electoral officer Telangana has been created to update news and initiatives by the EC to reach out to voters.

The page had already clocked over 9.70 lakh views as of October 11, Kumar said.

Around 90 per cent of followers are less than 34 years of age and majority of whom are below 24, he added.Ten people of a family were killed while four others were injured when an SUV collided with a moving truck in Chhattisgarhs Rajnandgaon district in the wee hours of Sunday, police said.

The accident took place on the NagpurRaipur highway near Somani village of Rajnandgaon district.

The victims, belonging to Durg district, were returning from Maa Bamleshwari temple in Dongargarh town after offering prayers on the occasion of Navratri, said Kamalochan Kashyap, superintendent of police (SP), Rajnandgaon.

According to the police, the SUV seemed to have been overtaking another vehicle when the accident took place. The truck driver fled the spot, they added.

Police rushed to the accident site but nine of them died on the spot, while one succumbed to injuries in the hospital, said the SP.Woodbine Mohawk Park hosted eight $225,000 Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Super Finals, one for each division of two and three-year-old Standardbreds, during its Saturday, October 13 program.

Louis-Philippe Roy won a total of three Super Finals during the card, which helped him lay claim to the Lampman Cup title as the leading driver in the Ontario Sires Stakes program for 2018. For more on Roys achievement, click here.

Links to Trot Insiders comprehensive, race-by-race recap of Super Final Night  which includes video replays, race analysis and post-race comments  appear below.

Smoke And Mirrors Upsets Soph Filly Trot

The Richard Nifty Norman-trained Kadabra filly Smoke And Mirrors made front after favourite Sorceress Seelster broke into the first turn and coasted to a 1:55.3 lifetime-best victory to take the $225,000 OSS Super Final for three-year-old filly trotters at odds of 16-1....read more

Forbidden Trade Threads Way To OSS Win

Driver Bob McClure launched 9-5 co-favourite Forbbiden Trade three wide into the stretch and lunged quickest to the wire between Only For Justice rallying wide and Southwind Avenger fighting at the rail to narrowly take the $225,000 OSS Super Final for two-year-old colt and gelding trotters in 1:56.2....read more

Summer Charm Charges To Frosh Filly Shocker

Surging through a seam at the rail off a pocket trip, Summer Charm shot past her competition in the final eighth and dashed to a 1:52.3 victory at odds of 28-1 in the $225,000 OSS Super Final for two-year-old filly pacers....read more

Hp Titania Runner Sails In Frosh Filly Trot

Race-favourite Hp Titania Runner ranged into competition from third over through the stretch and held off a late bid from Champagne Jane to take the $225,000 OSS Super Final for two-year-old filly trotters in 1:57.4....read more

Run Director Dominates Soph Colt Trot

Challenging leader Stormont Ventnor rounding the final turn, Run Director ducked into the pocket rounding the final turn and popped back out in the stretch, surging past Stormont Ventnor to take the $225,000 OSS Super Final for three-year-old colt and gelding trot....read more

Keystone Concrete Catches Competition In Colt Pace

Metro Pace winner and 1-5 favourite Stag Party tried to hold command through the stretch but gave way as Keystone Concrete catapulted through the center of the course to catch pocket-popping Bettors Wish and claimed victory in the $225,000 OSS Super Final for two-year-old colt and gelding pacers....read more

Percy Bluechip Powers To OSS Score

Taking control early, 3-5 favourite Percy Bluechip wired her competition to take the $225,000 OSS Super Final for three-year-old filly pacers....read more

Jimmy Freight Fires For OSS Win

Richard Moreau-trainee Jimmy Freight flushed first over heading to the half, ground towards pacesetter Backstreet Shadow, hooked wheels with the leader briefly in the stretch and slid to a 1:50.2 victory in the $225,000 OSS Super Final for three-year-old colt and gelding pacers....read more

To view Saturday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.After Maharastra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, influenza A (H1N1) or swine flu has also surfaced in Tamil Nadu with five cases confirmed so far. The state government however said there was no need to worry as all necessary precautions were being taken to prevent its spread.

The confirmed cases are a doctor and his family in Tirunelveli district and a man from Thogamalai near Trichy. Five other people in Vellore, Nilgiris and Tiruppur districts were also admitted to hospitals with swine flu-like symptoms.

According to sources, a 45-year-old male doctor in the Tirunelveli government medical college hospital was admitted with symptoms of A (H1N1) on Friday.

While the doctors tested his family members, they found that his wife and his parents also had swine flu, a senior doctor told Hindustan Times.

State health minister C Vijayabaskar however claimed that there are only four cases are serious now as the patient in Trichy had been treated in the local government hospital and was stable.

We have instructed all the regional joint directors and district deputy directors of the health and family welfare department to monitor the issue. As of now, there are only four cases admitted in the Tirunelveli government medical college hospital, he told the media.

Vijayabaskar also claimed that there was no outbreak of the disease in Tamil Nadu and it came from other states.

We have enough stock of medicine to combat swine flu in the state. There are about 12 lakh tables are available with the health department to respond to cases, he added.

Director, public health and preventive medicine, K Kolandaswamy said: In order to avert the spread of the A (H1N1) virus, the government is taking several precautionary measures. We are supplying tablets to doctors, nurses, and attendants of patients. So, people need not worry over this issue.

He said it is stage C which is complicated and needs to be treated in hospitals, and a majority of cases are not of this stage.

As of now, only four cases of swine flu and others are just under treatment in Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Vellore and Chennai, he said.

Kolandaswamy advised people who were suffering from a mild fever with throat pain to go to a doctor immediately.

Also, it is good for people who are travelling out frequently to do a common check-up, he said.

Kolandaswamy also said that the government has opened a public health control room at Chennai to extend help to the patients.-

If people are having the symptoms of fever, diarrhoea and jaundice, they can contact it, he added.In a last-ditch effort to avert a showdown with devotees, the Travancore Dewasom Board (TDB) has called another meeting on Tuesday with Sabarimala tantri (supreme priest), Pandalams erstwhile royal family and Ayyappa Sewa Sangh.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is spearheading the campaign against the Supreme Court order, has rejected the talks offer. However, the tantri and erstwhile Pandalam royals said they will announce their decision later.

We are confident the issue will be sorted out amicably. We will hear all stakeholders patiently. We dont want to make it a political issue. At the same time we will convince them about our limitations, said A Padmakumar, TDB president.

With just three days left for the temple to open for monthly poojas (Oct 17) mass protests have left the state government worried.

We dont expect much from the TDB president who is a puppet in the hands of the ruling CPI(M), said BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai. He said the government had wasted enough time by challenging devotees and making provocative statements.

The government should have taken everyone into confidence once the verdict was out. Instead, it made some provocative statements like deployment of women police and officials that angered devotees. I feel the government is responsible for the present mess, said one of the three tantris Mohanaru Kandararu.

Meanwhile, the BJP-led NDAs Long March, which started last week from Pandalam in protest against the state governments decision to implement the top court order without going for a review, reached Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.

Actor-turned-MP Suresh Gopi flagged off the rally here at Alamkode. Each BJP worker will fight till his final drop of blood is shed to protect the sanctity of the centuries old tradition of Sabarimala, Pillai said addressing the rally. The march, which criss- crossed the southern districts of the state, would conclude before the state Secretariat, the administrative hub in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday

Hundreds of activists of Antarashtriya Hindu Parishad (AHP) also took out a rally, urging the state and central government to address the concerns of the devotees. AHP president Pravin Togadia called for strike in the state on October 18 if the Left government implements the apex court order.

A group of Yuva Morcha activists took out a march to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayans residence at northern Kannur district. Police blocked the agitators by putting up barricades a few kilometers away from the residence. On September 28, a five-judge Constitution bench, headed by then chief justice Dipak Misra, lifted the ban on the entry of women of menstrual age into the shrine.

(With inputs from PTI)To the British, iconic leader Subhas Chandra Bose was an enemy and traitor, but Downing Street considered reconciling with his legacy in 1993 during the India visit of then prime minister John Major, who was the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations.

Newly released classified documents at the National Archives show the occasion was considered appropriate to reconcile with Bose in the way the British had with others who rebelled in former colonies, such as Aung San in Myanmar and Nelson Mandela in South Africa.

Major visited New Delhi in January 1993, when India was dealing with the aftermath of the Babri mosque demolition at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. He was the first British premier to be invited as the chief guest since 1947 and the visit was seen as the West showing confidence in post-Ayodhya India.

Proposing the gesture of reconciliation during the visit, Alan Rosling, special advisor in Downing Street, wrote to Rodric Braithwaite, Majors foreign policy advisor: (Prime Minister PV Narasimha) Rao has gone out his way to resurrect Bose as a figure to counterbalance the Nehru mantle.

We are quite happy to rehabilitate other ex-colonial leaders who fought us. Aung San had a comparable career to Bose but that is forgotten. Mr Mandela is forgiven his armed struggle(My) experience of India is that such a gesture would be welcomed as closing an uneasy chapter in Indo-British relations.

The idea was that Major could capture massive publicity and goodwill in India by signalling the reconciliation with Bose, whose Indian National Army aligned with the Japanese and fought British forces in Myanmar and the northeast during World War 2.

The proposal, however, was opposed by Foreign Office officials, including the then British envoy to India, Nicholas Fenn, who strongly advised against the attempt at retrospective reconciliation with Bose, a controversial figure in Indian history.

JS Smith of the Foreign Office wrote: A move to rehabilitate Bosewould be likely to provoke protests in Britain of the kind that dog our relations with Japan and be met with more bafflement than enthusiasm in India.

An official identified only as RP wrote to JS Wall, private secretary in Downing Street, in a letter dated November 16, 1992: The Bose thing is very tricky. Indian troops (the Indian National Army) raised by Bose fought against us in India and somethought they were traitors. If  but only if  this is no longer true would this be doable.

Major, chosen as the chief guest at the Republic Day event as a gesture of thanks for signing the India-UK extradition treaty in 1992 and his pro-India remarks on the Kashmir issue, did not signal any revision of the British view of Bose as a traitor during the visit.Furious at a criminal case lodged against him on the orders of a local court in Buxar earlier this month, Union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Saturday cautioned the judiciary not to fuel conflict with the legislature.

If you allow confrontation, you must remember that as public representatives, we make the law, and you are its custodian. Do not allow anyone to make a mockery of law because democracy will not survive if you allow it to happen, Choubey said while speaking at a programme to release the analytical report of National Health Profile-2018 in Patna.

The Union minister of state for health and family welfare vented his anger after a court in Buxar ordered the filing of an FIR against him and two others, including Congress MLA Sanjay Tiwari and civil surgeon Dr KK Lal on a private complaint by a woman. The minister said he would not seek bail as he did not require one.

A Buxar woman, Kiran Jaiswal, had lodged a criminal complaint against the minister after she found a wellness centre closed a day after Choubey had inaugurated it on September 15. The minister, in his inaugural speech had claimed that the wellness centre would function 24x7. However, the woman found it closed when she visited there to consult a doctor at 11pm on September 16, prompting her to lodge a complaint against the minister for making false claims. The police registered an FIR on October 5.

At Patna on Saturday, Choubey appealed to chief justices of high courts and the Supreme Court to guard against such acts. He also urged them to use their wisdom to not only improve the system but also punish those within the system who were trying to misuse it.

Choubey said it was the first time in India that an FIR had been lodged against a Union minister for a wellness centre he had inaugurated as part of the Prime Ministers programme (read Ayushman Bharat), which the Prime Minister had inaugurated. He said the matter had reached the Prime Minister.

If any murder takes place in a district, do you lodge an FIR against the superintendent of police (SP) or the district magistrate (DM)? he asked the audience. Tell me how can a Central minister come into picture if a wellness centre is closed a day after its inauguration? How can a public representative be faulted for the fault of administrative officials? he wondered.

Choubey said he respected the judiciary, the judges as well as the executive and would continue to do so, but hoped for proper coordination among them. However, if any official is found to be tarnishing the image of the government, every attempt should be made to identify and punish the culprit, he added.

Choubey also appealed to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to find who was responsible for the closed wellness centre and take action within 48 hours.

He warned corrupt officials not to try to tarnish the Ayushman Bharat health coverage scheme for the poor, failing which they would not be spared.

Choubey also lashed out at a section of the media for carrying reports that he could face a jail term up to three years if convicted in the case. He said he had yet not responded to such news reports, which he called frivolous and baseless.BJP national president Amit Shah alleged on Sunday that infiltrators were the vote bank for the Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). But for the BJP it was an issue of national security. He added that the BJP government will expel every infiltrator from the country after winning the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

Shah was addressing a BJPs booth level workers meeting at Hoshangabad, 70 kilometers south of Bhopal. He is on a two-day tour to Madhya Pradesh.

He said, Mai MP ki janata ko vachan dene aaya hun. Aap 18 aur 19 ka chunav jeeta dijiye. 2019 ka chunav jeetne ke baad desh me se ek ek ghuspaithiye ko chun chun kar bahar nikaalane ka kaam BJP ki sarkar karegi (I have come here to make a promise to the people of Madhya Pradesh. You elect the BJP in 2018 assembly and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. After 2019 elections the BJP government will expel from the country each and every infiltrator).

Speaking about the governments efforts to release the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, Shah said the BJP had identified 40 lakh infiltrators in the state but Congress leaders like Digvijaya Singh and Rahul Gandhi were asking what they (infiltrators) would eat and drink.

He made an appeal to the party workers to ensure a massive victory of the party in poll-bound states including Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan in 2018, he added that the party win all the elections in the next 50 years from panchayat to the parliament.

BJP is the biggest party in the world with 11 crore members, it started its journey in 1950 with just 11 members. The partys growth could be possible due to several party leaders and workers sacrifices. Still party workers were killed in West Bengal and Kerala. The party workers of entire country are looking at you for a massive victory in Madhya Pradesh, said Shah.

Polling for the 230-seat state assembly in Madhya Pradesh is to be held on November 28 and counting of votes will take place on December 11.

Reacting to Shahs speech, state Congress spokesperson Bhupendra Gupta said those who had got sensitive airbase of the country inspected by the ISI should not talk about the national security. The Congress had always done what was required to be done for the countrys internal security.

Rahul Gandhi to visit from Monday

Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be on a two-day election campaign in Gwalior-Chambal region in the state on October 15 and 16, as per Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee.

According to state Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi, during his two-day tour Rahul Gandhi accompanied by state Congress president Kamal Nath and election campaign committee chief Jyotiraditya Scindia will address six public meetings and hold two roadshows while campaigning for the party in Gwalior, Datia, Sheopur and Morena districts.Manvendra Singh, son of former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh, finally made his future political course clear, 22 days after he quit the BJP on whose ticket he was elected an MLA from Sheo in 2013.

In an exclusive conversation with HT, Mavendra confirmed on Sunday that he will join the Congress. Until now, there were only speculations about joining the grand old party of India.

Asked if his wife, Chitra Singh, and mother, Sheetal Kanwar, will also join the party, Mavendra said, Ped paudhe sab (even trees and plants). But asked to clarify if this included Jaswant Singh, he said no.

That statement (about trees and plants) was in jest, he said, adding that his brother will also join and the entire family will support the Congress.

Manvendra announced his exit from BJP on September 22 during the Swabhiman Rally called by him to salvage the Rajput pride. Rajputs are unhappy with the BJP since it denied ticket to Jaswant in 2014 general election to contest from Barmer-Jaisalmer Lok Sabha seat.

The community has expressed displeasure with the party for some other issues, too.

The Sheo MLA did not specify when he will join the Congress but unconfirmed reports suggest it could happen on October 17.

Manvendra is keen to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Icksha hai, he said cryptically when asked if he wanted to contest for a Lok Sabha seat. There have been speculations that the Rajput leader will seek a Congress ticket for his wife, Chitra Singh, for the assembly election.

Manvendra denied this. Theres been no discussion on this. Charcha hi nahi hui, he said. Asked if the party offered her a ticket, will she contest, he said, I havent seen the future.

By quitting the BJP, the Jasol (their native village) family ended four-decade-old association with the BJP. Jaswant Singh was one of the founders of the party in 1980.

The familys disillusionment with the BJP began in 2014 and continued until Manvendra quit the party. Jaswant Singh contested as an Independent candidate in 2014 and lost to BJPs Col Sonaram Choudhary.

During the Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra, CM Vasundhara Raje skipped Sheo from her itinerary.

Reacting to Manvendras announcement, AICC general secretary in charge of Rajasthan Avinash Pande said, Not only (Manvendra) Singh but many other senior leaders are also in touch with Congress and want to join, but party will take a decision after thinking on them.

BJP spokesperson Mukesh Pareek said BJP gave ticket to Manvendra and now if he has made up his mind to join the Congress, then that is his call. People of all communities have faith in the BJP, he said, indicating that the Rajputs were not unhappy with the BJP.A TV journalist, who was allegedly assaulted by unidentified persons near his house in south Mumbai early Sunday, has termed the attack pre-planned.

Herman Gomes, working with a private TV channel, was returning home along with a friend in a taxi late Saturday night.

When he got out of the cab around 1.30 am on Sunday, he saw four to six persons waiting near his house in Gamdevi area, Deputy Commissioner of Police (zone-II) Dnyaneshwar Chavan told PTI.

The persons started abusing Gomes and later allegedly assaulted him, Chavan said.

The journalist was injured in the assault and based on his complaint, the Gamdevi police later registered a case under IPC sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 324 (voluntary causing hurt by dangerous weapons) and other relevant provisions, he said.

The motive behind the attack was not yet known, he said, adding an investigation was underway into the case.

Gomes told reporters that it was clearly a pre-planned attack as those involved had come prepared, pointing out that the attackers had a knuckle-duster as well.

They hit me in my eyes, which caused bleeding. I have received six stitches around my eyes. They also attacked my friend, he said.

Journalists associations in the city condemned the attack and alleged that police did not file the victims complaint promptly.

The Mumbai Press Club termed the attack on Gomes as a dastardly act.

An association of crime reporters in the city, in a statement, demanded immediate arrest of the assailants.

It urged Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to take action against the police officers who allegedly delayed registration of the First Information Report (FIR) in the matter.The Maharashtra government has put on hold the circulation of a book meant for supplementary reading in its schools after opposition parties objected to the books description of Sambhaji, the son of warrior king Shivaji, as an alcoholic.

The book Samarth Shri Ramdas Swami, which is about the 17th-century poet-saint Ramdas, has a sentence that reads Sambhaji Raja was found to be inebriated and in the grip of vice. It was provided to government-run schools under the states Ekbhashik Purak Wachan Pustak Yojna, a part of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

Ashok Chavan, Maharashtra Congress president, and Dhananjay Munde, a National Congress Party (NCP) leader and leader of opposition in the legislative council, demanded withdrawal of the book and an apology from the Maharashtra education minister Vinod Tawde.

On Saturday, Munde demanded action against the author and Nagpur-based publisher of the book. He also asked Tawde to resign from his post.

Such incidents are occurring regularly as the state government ascribes to the thoughts of Manusmriti. How does a text which is defamatory to Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj crop [in the books provided by the government] in the first place? And how does the government tolerate it? Munde asked.

Sambhaji Brigade, a Maratha organisation, had submitted a written complaint to the state education commissioner on Thursday, claiming that the book makes unsubstantiated and derogatory claims about Sambhaji.

In a letter to issued education officers on Friday, the Maharashtra State Council of Education Research and Training said books are not to be issued to students until the state resolves this issue after consulting a committee of experts in history. Copies of the books present in schools are to be kept in the custody of headmasters, read the letter.A couple was beaten up, stabbed and their throats slit by unidentified assailants on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday in Jamalpur village of Greater Noida. The situation in the village remained tense all day as aggrieved relatives and villagers refused to cremate the bodies until the perpetrators are caught.

Another couple, who lived 200 metres away from the victims house, was also attacked in a similar manner. However, the accused fled the scene after those two raised the alarm, attracting the attention of villagers.

A heavy police force was deployed in the village since Saturday morning even as senior police officers spoke to the victims family to ascertain the motive behind the double murder.

The incident took place around 1am Saturday. Azad Singh alias Kalu (63) and his wife Vedvati Devi (56) were sleeping in their ancestral home in Jamalpur village when they killed. Azad Singh retired as a cashier from the Delhi Jal Board and the couple divided their time between Delhi and Greater Noida homes.

My uncle and aunt had come to the village a few days ago after a relative of ours died. We believe around four men attacked them while three others kept watch outside. My uncle had a licensed pistol but it is missing, Gagan Singh, Azad Singhs nephew, said.

Another couple, Sudhir Singh and Shobha, who lives near Azad Singhs house, was also attacked around 2am. The men locked up Sudhirs mother in a room and started beating up the couple. Sudhir started shouting for help and when neighbours gathered, the assailants fled. The two were rushed to a private hospital, Gagan said.

The crime scene at Singhs house, meanwhile, as left police perplexed as the assailants did not take anything valuable but had rummaged through the shelves and cupboards.

Although no cash or jewellery was stolen, the attackers left the almirah, table drawers and lockers open. Azad Singh and his wife had taken most of their stuff to their Delhi home a few years ago and used their ancestral house only occasionally. We are yet to ascertain the motive for the crime as it could be a case of personal vendetta or robbery. Their relatives have not been able to tell us of any vendetta, Vineet Jaiswal, superintendent of police (rural), said.

The police have lodged a case of murder against unidentified persons and roped in five teams to probe the murders.

The deceased couple was distantly related to Varun Bhati, a para athlete who won bronze for India in the Jakarta Paralympics. Earlier, rumours had spread that the couple was Bhatis grandparents. They were distantly related to Bhati and were not his grandparents, Jaiswal clarified.

Till Saturday night, villagers of Jamalpur refused to cremate the bodies until the perpetrators were caught.

We have deployed a police force in the village keeping in mind the tense situation. It is too early to comment on who the assailants were, Dharmendra Sharma, station house officer, Greater Noida police station, said.

Jewar MLA Thakur Dhirendra Singh met the kin of the victims on Saturday and assured them of a fair and swift probe. The incident in Jamalpur village is heart wrenching. We are with the family. I have instructed the police to act swiftly and take strict action against the perpetrators, he said.It was another thrashing for Haryana Steelers, this time at the hands of Puneri Paltan. Paltan won 45-27. As a result Puneri Paltan climbed to the top of Zone A. As for Haryana it was another mauling just 24 hours after being taken to the cleaners by U Mumba. Steelers have now lost three games in a row and are struggling. Nitin Tomar scored 10 points, while Rajesh Mondal chipped in with 8 to help secure the win. Vikas Kandola was Steelers main man with 11 points.

It was an evenly contested affair in the first few minutes of the match as both teams were tied at 5-5 after seven minutes. Puneri Paltan then shifted gears with Nitin Tomar getting into the act. Tomar scored three points in two raids as Puneri Paltan inflicted an all out to lead 13-7 after 12 minutes.

Rajesh Mondal then scored with a two-point raid to give Puneri Paltan 15-10 lead after 15 minutes. Haryanas star man Monu Goyat had a quiet first half which affected the teams performance. At the end of the first half Puneri Paltan enjoyed an eight-point lead with the score 19-11 in their favour.

Vikas Kandola made a super raid in the 30th minute as Haryana Steelers cut the deficit to 20-31. Puneri Palta were in no mood to surrender any advantage as they pocked tackle and raid points at regular intervals. With just over five minutes left Puneri Paltan led 34-23.

Puneri Paltan were exemplary in both attack and defence. While Haryana Steelers scored 20 raid points compared to Punes 21, it was the tackle points which let them down. Puneri Paltan scored 16 tackle points wheres Haryana scored just four.

In the last five minutes, Puneri Paltan kept their composure and kept on picking raid and tackle points. Haryana left themselves a mountain to climb and eventually fell short as they crashed to 27-45 defeat.

The brave moments of the match came from Akshay Jadhav who was imperious in defence and earned a high five for himself.

In the next round of matches Bengal Warriors will take on Telugu Titans while Haryana Steelers play Jaipur Pink Panthers.Challenging leader Stormont Ventnor rounding the final turn, Run Director ducked into the pocket rounding the final turn and popped back out in the stretch, surging past Stormont Ventnor to take the $225,000 OSS Super Final for three-year-old colt and gelding trot.

Perfetto trotted for the lead while Henderson Seelster parked in third to the quarter with Stormont Ventnor and Run Director also wide through a :28.2 opening quarter. Henderson Seelster soon cleared control before yielding to Stormont Ventnor heading to a :57.3 half.

Run Director progressed into second marching around the final turn but could not clear Stormont Ventnor to three-quarters. Driver Sylvain Filion angled to the pylons to draft behind the pacesetter past the 1:25.4 panel as the top two widened away from the rest of the competition. Stormont Ventnor continued to lead into the stretch as Filion patiently brought Run Director back outside and soon edged to the lead heading to the wire. Stormont Ventnor settled for second with another 10 lengths back to Jula Downton taking third from Chief Justice.

He doesnt really get out of there that quick, Filion said after the race. You got to be a little careful leaving the gatehe could maybe jump it off if you push him too hard. So I was just taking it easy out there and he raced good. We were out there the whole mile so I thought maybe if we could duck in behind Phil [Hudon on Stormont Ventnor], brave him up and give him another shot in the lane and he just responded real good.

Winning his sixth race from 16 starts, Run Director has earned $394,955 for owners Thomas and Elizabeth Rankin. Benoit Baillargeon trains the Kadabra colt and paid $3.30 to win.

Theres no quitting in him, Baillargeon said after the race. He loves to race and he triesit doesnt matter, hell try anybody. You saw him down the lanehe was three deep in the first turn then got two deep and between me and you he wasnt perfect tonight. I told Sylvain before the race Ive seen him worse but Ive seen him better. But a good horse is a good horse and he overcame it.

Baillargeon said Run Directors next stop may possibly be the Breeders Crown at Pocono Downs with the eliminations next week.

We might take a shot, Baillargeon said. Ill see how he comes out Monday.Anil Shirole, member of Parliament from Pune and Ajay Kumar, airport director, Lohegaon airport have submitted a proposal to the central government to give international airport status to the Lohegaon airport. The international airport status will help start operations of international airlines (like Qatar Airways, Emirates, among others) from Pune.

Currently, the Lohegaon airport facilitates international travel to only two locations (Dubai, Frankfurt) through Indian airlines via three flights.

Shirole and Kumar announced this decision during a press conference held on Saturday.

Kumar said, The airport administration has submitted a proposal to the central government and asked them to give international airport status to the Lohegaon airport. The existing infrastructure at the airport is enough to allot it this status. Once the international airport status is alloted, it will help us start operations of international airlines from Pune. Many airlines are willing to start service in Pune.

A new building connected to the existing building will be constructed in 42,000 sq metre area. It would have aircraft parking bays and multilevel vehicle parking facility. The new building will consist of five escalators, a waiting lounge and an affordable canteen. Lohegaon airport would be connected to the metro and Maharashtra metro rail corporation limited (Maha-Metro) is currently preparing a project report for the same, said Kumar.

Kumar said that a new executive lounge for 100 commuters would start at the existing building within the next three months.

A total of 800 crore has been sanctioned by the central government for the Lohegaon airport, added Shirole. He said that the work for the new building worth 358 crore would start in the next two weeks.

The remaining amount would be utilised once the airport authorities get 30 acres more from private land owners. The land owners have already agreed to give up their land and the land acquisition talks are in its final stages, said Shirole.

Shirole said, Lohegaon airport initially had a land holding of 26 acres. In Apirl 2018, additional defence land of 16 acres was provided for airport development. Still, we need 35 acres more for building the cargo parking, administrative building and for residential purpose.

Lohegaon airport hosted 35.96 lakh passengers in the year 2013-14. In 2017-18, the passenger number increased to 81.64 lakh.

More international flights from Pune

Ajay kumar, airport director, Lohegaon airport, said that more international flights are going to start from the airport during the upcoming summer holidays. The international flight to Singapore will start soon, but more flights to Singapore and Bangkok are expected to start by April 2019, he said.President Donald Trump hinted that US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis may be planning to quit his administration, and described the former U.S. Marine Corps general as sort of a Democrat.

In an excerpt from a 60 Minutes interview that will air in full Sunday on CBS, Trump talked about the level of turnover in his administration after almost two years, and suggested there could be more to come.

There are some people that Im not happy with. I have some people that Im not thrilled with. And I have other people that Im beyond thrilled with, the president said, according to a transcript provided by CBS.

Mattis hasnt told me that he plans to leave, Trump said, and didnt directly answer the question of whether hed like the Pentagon chief to depart.

I had lunch with him two days ago. I have a very good relationship with him. It could be that he is. I think hes sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth, Trump said. He may leave. I mean, at some point, everybody leaves. Everybody. People leave. Thats Washington.

Mattis was one of Trumps first cabinet picks after the 2016 election. He was long seen as a force for stability in foreign policy in an administration that has had to manage crises from North Korea to Syria under a president who prides himself on his unpredictability.

But the Pentagon chief has been on the defensive after excerpts from author Bob Woodwards book Fear painted the publicly taciturn military man as being critical of Trump in private.A pair of $5,000 eliminations for the Maritime Breeders Stakes for two-year-old pacing colts and geldings garnered the spotlight during Sundays (Oct. 14) 11-race live program at Truro Raceway.

Despite a seven-hole start and having been hindered by interference off of the starting gate, the Darryl Maclean-trained and Marc Campbell-driven Notorious ($7.40) put forth a convincing win in the first elimination (Race 6). The brown son of Malicious came first-up in the third quarter and went on to record a two-length victory in 2:00.2.

After opening splits of :30.2 and 1:01.2, Campbell launched his gelded mount first up and was within a nose of the leading A Grand Terror (who was driven by Gilles Barrieau) at the 1:31 three quarters pole. Continuing to excel off of his head of steam, Notorious went on to record the victory, which was his fifth win in what was his eleventh career start. He has now banked over $32,000 and has finished off the board just once.

After having worked out a two-hole trip through the fractions, the Adam Merner-driven Dusty Lane Cortez held on for second. A Grand Terror, who had also suffered interference early on, held on for a game third after having been tested twice in the mile.

Notorious is owned by Darryl Maclean and Gordon Maclean of Winsloe, P.E.I. and Shirley Symes of Springhill, Nova Scotia.

The second of the Maritimes Breeders Stakes elims (Race 9) was also captured by an off-the-pace attacker, as the Robert Phillips-trained and Marc Campbell-driven Purple Poet ($5.30) came first-up in the second quarter and excelled off of an overland trip to score a two and three-quarter-length victory in 2:00.

Campbell and the Stonebridge Terror colt were fifth after their Post 6 start, but were on the move in good time, as they tipped for a shot at the point after the :29.2 opening quarter. Campbell and Purple Poet raced just off the flank of Woodmere Bolt (Earl Smith) as the half-mile timer flashed to life in 1:01.

Smith continued to play hardball in the third quarter, as he still had Campbell and Purple Poet on the outside by the time he clicked off the third clock in 1:30.4.

Purple Poet would not be denied, though, as he and Campbell shot to a two and a half-length lead at the head of the lane and went on to post the two and three-quarter-length victory.

Woodmere Bolt held on to finish second/ Mall Peen Hammer (Kenny Arsenault), who had started from Post 8 and raced second over, finished third, four lengths in arrears of the victor.

Purple Poet, who is a homebred of Kevin Harvey (of Hammonds Plains, NS), has now won four of 11 starts and over $16,000 in purses.

The co-featured Winners Over Pace, which was programmed as Race 10 and offered a purse of $1,675, was won by the Paul Langille-trained and Gilles Barrieau-driven Preceptor ($3.20) who turned a pocket trip into a 10-length romp in 1:57.4. The five-year-old Vintage Master gelding is owned by Rosanne Langille of Lower Onslow, NS.

The afternoon card proved to be a successful one for trainer George Rennison, who made three trips to the winners circle. Gilles Barrieau and Marc Campbell each recorded driving triples.

To view the harness racing results for Sunday at Truro, click the following link: Sunday Results  Truro Raceway.It's become common to see "Florida Man" in headlines describing the most absurd acts. The heated state is the home of the instigator of another terrifying incident. This time, the "Florida Man" flew all the way to Chicago to complete his heinous act.

According to the Miami Herald, Justin Foster made his way to Chi-Town in August to confront his ex-girlfriend's new lover. Foster is said to have hit the new boyfriend in the head with a tire iron after spotting him on the street. He then carved initials into the victim's leg and cut off his penis, which he threw over a fence before leaving the unnamed man lying in a pool of his own blood. It is unclear whether the two men had any interaction prior to this violence.

The victim was later found by a passerby and rushed to the hospital. Officials claim the man sustained permanent brain damage from the attack. Foster allegedly fled the scene and headed back to Tallahassee, where he was arrested and brought back to Chicago.

Foster was initially being held in jail with no bond. A judge has granted him one of $1 Million on Thursday. If someone is willing to post that substantial amount of money for him, the alleged d*ck-chopping assailant can be released as he awaits trial.Kanye West has caused yet another media storm thanks to his White House visit. While some, like Azealia Banks, are in favor of the rapper's efforts, many others are speaking out against this political association. Ice-T is part of those who believe Kanye West has no business dealing with president Donald Trump.

Ice-T took time to give his opinion concerning the infamous meeting. He makes it clear that he ain't here for it.

"There's no way in God's earth that I would meet Donald Trump. I don't see the sense in talking to someone who you obviously can't change their mind, who obviously already has their opinion about us, you know, being the Black community or whatever. I don't see any use in it. Trump will take advantage of you. He'll use you. He'll use you for his photo op. You'll put on his hat for a minute, throw it to the side and he's back to his bullsh*t."

The rapper insists he is nothing like Kanye West and his relationship with CoCo shouldn't be compared to that of the Wests. His view on the current climate differs greatly from Ye's.In August it was reported that Queen Latifah was set to receive the Marian Anderson Award for philanthropy in Philadelphia at this year's annual ceremonies. However, in a new development, the organization has revealed that Latifah will not be accepting the award this year due to "personal reasons."

"The Marian Anderson Award will be rescheduling its 2018 Marian Anderson Award Gala originally scheduled for November 20, as Queen Latifah is unable to accept this year due to personal reasons," writes the foundation. "We look forward to honoring her in the future. A new date and other details will be announced shortly. Single tickets for the November 20 Gala Concert will be honored on the new date."

Queen Latifah was expected to join the ranks of past recipients that include Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou, Jon Bon Jovi, Dionne Warwick, Elizabeth Taylor, and Patti LaBelle to become the youngest ever to receive the award. It would have arrived on the heels of her hosting gig on BET's annual Black Girls Rock awards show in which notable Black women are honored and recognized.

"Queen Latifah is an excellent role model and clearly a well-deserving recipient of this prestigious honor," Mayor Jim Kenney told the Philadelphia Enquirer previously. "I can't think of anyone more vibrant and responsive."Tekashi 6ix9ine is known for bringing an air of tension with him whenever he touches down, but tonight (October 13), his reputation got him banned. As reported by TMZ, Tekashi was turned away at the Nassau Coliseum after attempting to meet up with 50 Cent for Bellator 208: Fedor vs. Sonnen. 50 serves as Bellator's brand ambassador, but sources claim he wasn't in the building yet. The same sources claim it wouldn't have mattered if the G-Unit leader was there either way. Removing the ban on Tekashi is apparently out of 50's reach.

TMZ reports that Tekashi's ban stems from the shooting at Barclays Center. The incident, which involved Tekashi's crew and Casanova's crew, ended with a gunshot being fired and the rainbow-haired rapper being banned from Barclays. The same company that owns the Nassau Coliseum owns Barclays, a fact that most likely slipped Tekashi's mind when he attempted to enter the building.

Sources close to Tekashi responded to the ban, telling TMZ, "It is unfortunate a venue would take it upon itself to treat a person unfairly based on allegations. What happened tonight at the Nassau Coliseum is disappointing." For live updates on the match between Fedor Emelianenko and Chael Sonnen, head over here.The photo-finish camera surely came in handy on Sunday (Oct. 14) at Hippodrome 3R during opening-round action of the Quebec Plus Series for three, four and five-year-old pacers.

The programs featured dash (Race 5) saw Encore Panic and driver Jocelyn Gendron shoot to the early lead after Flashjack Soleil went off-stride behind the starting gate. Courage (driven by Simon Delisle) grabbed the two-hole spot and the leaders raced that way to the opening quarter mile in :27.3.

As the leaders came to the half mile in :57.3, Determinant and driver Tyler Jones came first-over and towed Classic Terror (Pascal Berube) second over.

Then, at the three-quarters in 1:28, Berube sent Classic Terror three wide. Hercule J M (Pierre Luc Roy) was following the flow and then came four-wide around the final turn.

The final quarter proved to be a race to the finish which saw Encore Panic and Gendron hold on to win by a long nose in 2:00.1. Determinant was a game second and held off Hercule J M by a nose for third place.



It was a cavalry charge down the stretch at H3R, as Encore Panic (#5) won by a long nose along the inside

The victory was the fourth seasonal win for Encore Panic ($14.20). The four-year-old gelding by Artistic Fella posted a lifetime mark for trainer Francis Richard and owner/breeder Brian Paquet of Quebec City.

For the driver Jocelyn Gendron, the win was one of his three victories on the afternoon card.

The second division of the Quebec Plus Series (Race 11) belonged to Lune Bleu and driver Pierre Luc Roy, as they led from start to finish and produced a new lifetime mark of 1:58.3. Ernie Panic (Francis Picard) tried as he could, but could not catch Lune Blue and had to settle for second. Somebeachbythesea (Richard Veilleux) finished third. The victory was the fifth win of the year for the three-year-old filly by Big Jim. She is trained by Maxime Velaye for owner/breeder Guy Corbeil of Mirabel. She paid $4.40 to win.

The co-featured Preferred Trot (Race 3) saw R Rkadabra and driver Francis Picard shoot out to a four-length lead. Past the opening quarter mile in :28, R Rkadabra spread out the field with Holiday Party (Pascal Berube) second past the half mile marker in :57.4. Then the action heated up in the backstretch as Seeyou Men and driver Stephane Brosseau started up first-over but right before the three-quarters in 1:28.2. Pascal Berube left the two-hole, came first-over and forced Brosseau and Seeyou Men to go three-wide around the final turn. Once starting down the stretch, Seeyou Men showed he was the strong horse, as he pulled pulling away with a two-length triumph in 2:00.1. Holiday Party was second with R Rkadabra third.

A six-year-old gelded son of Muscle Mass, Seeyou Men is a former track record holder and Quebec-Bred Champion. The victory was his sixth seasonal win for trainer Daniel Martin. He is co-owned by Catheline Pelletier of Mirabel and breeder Chantel Gravel of St-Cyrille-De-Wendover. He paid $4.20 to win.

Live racing at Hippodrome 3R will resume with the continuation of the Quebec Plus Series. For more information, visit quebecjockeyclub.com.

To view the harness racing results for Sunday at H3R, click the following link: Sunday Results  Hippodrome 3R.

(With files from the Quebec Jockey Club)After taking extended time off, HBO is set to deliver the third season of their hit drama True Detective. The series serves as an anthology, with different actors taking the lead role in each season. The first season of True Detective placed Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in the driver's seat, as the two stars chased a killer over a 17-year span. The second season followed Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams, and Vince Vaughn as they worked in cooperating criminal justice offices to find a common killer. Now, the third season will be taken over by Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali. He will play Wayne Hays, a state police detective from Northwest Arkansas.

HBO released the first trailer for True Detective's third season in August, but failed to bless fans with a premiere date. The trailer highlights Ali during three different stages of his life, revealing that there will be enormous time jumps tied into a decades-long investigation. The sprawling plot is what made the series a hit in the first place. True Detective's Instagram page finally graced the world with an official release date this weekend. "Starring @mahershalaali, #TrueDetective returns January 13, 2019 on @hbo," reads the caption for a post that features the talented actor in character.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BozKhChBuwB

The potential donation that arrived at an Arizona campaign office Thursday had all the markings of a grass-roots, feel-good politics story - at first.

Two young men, who said their names were Jose Rosales and Ahmahd Sadia, had shown up at the Flagstaff campaign office of Rep. Tom O'Halleran, a Democrat who is running for reelection to represent northern Arizona.

They claimed they were from nearby Northern Arizona University, and were eager to volunteer. They had also brought along a jar of small bills and coins - totaling $39.68 - that they said wanted to donate to O'Halleran's campaign.

That's when things grew odd.

The pair filled out a campaign contribution form, marking down "Northern Arizona University Communist Party" as the source of the funds, according to O'Halleran campaign manager Ryan Mulcahy.

"Once they filled out the forms, they became oddly insistent on getting a receipt for the contributions," Mulcahy told The Washington Post. "They were told the only way you can get a receipt is [by] email. So they ended up crossing out the email they had written down and writing in another one."

Meanwhile, Mulcahy said, a staff member in O'Halleran's campaign office recognized the two young men from social media as being affiliated with the Arizona Republican Party. Shortly after the pair left, O'Halleran's finance director, Lindsay Coleman, drove over to the local Arizona GOP office to return the donations.

Her suspicions were almost immediately confirmed upon entering the GOP office, in an awkward exchange that was captured on video.

"Do you have, um, are there two young Republicans named Ahmad or Jose?" Coleman asked a receptionist.

"I don't believe so," someone in the GOP office told her.

Photo by Derek.cashman on Wikimedia Commons

"Oh, OK. Well I'm here, because two young gentlemen right here" - at this point Coleman pointed to a man who stepped out from a room in the office - "made this contribution to our campaign--..."

A bearded man at the GOP office pointed at the man and seemed to correct Coleman: "This is Oscar."

Without missing a beat, Coleman continued: "And Oscar, who gave a donation under the name of Jose..."

The camera panned back to Oscar/Jose, who had abruptly turned back around and reentered the room from which he had emerged moments earlier. The door closed.

Still speaking loudly, Coleman pointed out it was illegal to falsify contribution information to the Federal Election Commission and said she would likely be filing a report with the police. Then she called back out toward the closed door: "Um, Oscar, I have your cash! And I'd like to return it to you, please!"

Oscar/Jose emerged yet again.

"Yep," he said.

Coleman handed him an envelope with the attempted campaign donation.

"Here you go, Oscar. Us returning your funds that you just made to our contribution to our campaign under the name of Jose Rosales, claiming to be with 'NAU Young Communists' when you are in fact with the NAU Young Republicans and your name is Oscar," Coleman told him. "I don't know if you heard me, but it is illegal to falsify donation information to the FEC, so thank you for your support but we cannot accept your funds."

"Okay, yeah," Oscar/Jose said, as Coleman walked away, smiling.

O'Halleran's campaign posted video of the encounter to YouTube on Friday. Mulcahy said he suspects O'Halleran's opponent, Wendy Rogers, was behind the attempted campaign donation, saying it "fits in particularly well" with her attempts to paint O'Halleran as a far-left extremist.

Polls show the race is leaning slightly in favor of O'Halleran, who was first elected to the office in 2016.

Rogers's campaign has denied involvement in the attempted donation, calling it "juvenile."

"We are focused on defeating Tom O'Halleran and the Democrats this November and don't have time for juvenile pranks," Wendy Rogers campaign spokesman Spence Rogers told the Guardian. "We are more concerned about exposing Tom O'Halleran's open borders liberal record."

Mulcahy pointed out that the same person who appeared in the video trying to avoid Coleman has also appeared in recent photos from Rogers' campaign. Though other outlets have identified "Oscar/Jose" as an NAU student, The Post was unable to reach that student early Saturday morning.

"Obviously contributing to Tom pretending to be communists - it's almost like they're trying to set something up," Mulcahy said. "I just think this was really, really misguided attempt ... to try to embarrass Tom and to try to embarrass the campaign."

The Arizona GOP did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Saturday morning.

The Arizona Republic reported Friday that the two young men had been a staff member and a volunteer for the Arizona Republican Party, and that neither were working there anymore.

Mulcahy said O'Halleran's campaign has not filed a police report but have not ruled out taking legal action.

"We're taking everything into consideration on the best way to move forward," Mulcahy said. "At the end of the day, the two gentlemen who conducted this were low-level campaign volunteers. I'm sure encouraged to do this by someone more senior. ... We would like to see those people be held accountable."Gregory Arths artwork, at a cursory glance, might pass for ordinary paintings. His subjects include city skylines, human portraits and Star Wars robots donning Western attire.

Upon closer inspection, however, Arths work is anything but ordinary. Circuit boards and random hardware bits jut out from the canvas, forming what Arth describes as his circuit board art  collage-type pieces made up of paint and tech hardware-type stuff, Arth said.

STAR POWER: K-pop group performs at Korean Festival Houston

My idea of this is the ubiquitousness of tech nowadays, and how it's really taken over the world, he said. We don't even realize it sometimes. And that's kind of the idea.

Arth and 284 other artists are displaying their work at this weekends Bayou City Art Festival, a two-day, biannual showcase of art from around the country. Artists this year hailed from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, and Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia, and dozens of cities in between.

About 15,000 to 20,000 people typically attend, requiring about 700 volunteers, said Roger Bare, executive director of the Art Colony Association, the nonprofit festival producer. Tickets  general admission costs $15  and sponsorships fund the festival, with some proceeds going to local nonprofits.

Organizers ensured that attendees found their preferred art medium without much effort. Within less than half a block of Bagby Street, for instance, booths displayed paper collages, jewelry, leather handbags, porcelain dishes, oil paintings, stained glass lamps and photo galleries. The jumbled layout was intentional, Bare said.

The festival, held downtown in the fall and at Memorial Park in the spring, covers several blocks of Bagby, Walker, McKinney and Lamar streets, surrounding City Hall and Hermann Square. Sam Houston Park hosts food trucks, a childrens creative zone and, on Sunday, a Halloween costume contest. The judging criteria, Bare said, are best and most creative.

So, totally subjective, he said, laughing.

On Bagby Street, Denver-based Dolan Geiman, 41, exhibited paper collages made up of paper gathered from abandoned churches, missions, warehouses and other spaces spread across the southwest U.S.

I'll go in and kind of sweep up all these old papers, whether it's an old handwritten letter or a receipt, Geiman said. Anything that's paper is fair game for me.

Many artists at the festival produced their work out of a hodgepodge collection of parts and materials. Robert Nehring, 57, creates sculptures out of parts gathered from scrap yards, flea markets and rummage sales, generally shaping each work around a single piece.

I start out with a piece of metal, Nehring said, pointing to a unique-looking nearby figure with shoulders made out of pot handles.

I found the pot handles and I'm like, 'Oh, those would make great shoulders, Nehring said. And then I go from there.

Terri Vogl, 59, lives in San Antonio and creates acrylic paintings that depict plants and farm animals, among other things. Her subjects include friends llamas and alpacas, and animals at petting zoos.

The range of work on display Saturday in part traces back to the artists childhood experienes, with some saying they were highly influenced by early life.

Geiman, the paper collage creator, said he sometimes tries to weave tales into his work from the stories his dad would tell around the campfire in native Virginia.

Tucson-based Adam Homan, 47, makes sci-fi fantasy-type steel sculptures influenced by his childhood interest in Japanese animation and Star Wars. And when Vogl creates her farm paintings, she thinks of visits to her grandparents farm in Columbus, Texas, as a kid.

I just have so many good memories from that, she said. I guess that's where my love of all this comes from.

jasper.scherer@chron.com

twitter.com/jaspschererSome of the robots that filled the George R. Brown Convention Center  alongside Legos, 3D printers and drones  this weekend were getting ready for battle.

Dinnertime, a robot owned by 11-year-old Austin resident Claire Caldwell and her father, Mark, had sharp red metal forks as hands and an anime face with scars, drawn in red and black marker.

The goal is either to knockout your opponent or try to get points in either control, damage or aggression, said Caldwell, who has been battling robots for about a year with her father.

The father-daughter team took its latest creation to the Houston Maker Faire, an event where builders, designers, scientists and engineers can show off their latest hobbies, experiments and projects.

You can create whatever you can dream up, and you see all these different people that are very passionate about their creations, said Andy Lynch, a board of director of Innovation Spark, the nonprofit that runs the fair. Theyve built up these amazing Lego displays or robots, and it will lead to the next idea, the next collaboration for younger generations.

Lynch, 33, said the fair has registered makers from elementary school to adults and college students from Houston, Austin and Louisiana. Visitors could learn how 3D printing works, watch a Lego train circle a Lego city and see Ponytrap, a band with custom-made robots that drum.

We really just want to raise the awareness of how to get involved with your local makerspace, how to come up with the ideas and find the tools and the resources that are nearby you so you can take that idea into a reality, he said.

Makerspaces have boomed in popularity in the past decade. In a 2016 study by the National League of Cities, 26 percent of cities have makerspaces. The study also said that makerspaces have the ability to bring back production and innovation to cities.

Lynch, who has been running the Houston Maker Faire for the past six years, said a makerspace is like a gym, but for tools and building projects.

Imagine having a huge warehouse with lots of different tools and equipment that you can use, he said. It will just give you a lot more opportunity than what you have in your normal garage.

While Dinnertime, a 30-pound steel and aluminum robot, was preparing for battle, 6-year-old Charlotte Watson was driving a miniature combat bot the size of an iPhone with a remote control.

Her father, Andrew Watson, is a contractor at Johnson Space Center and works on NASAs space robot, Valkyrie. The 37-year-old League City resident said he loves that his daughter is interested in robots and believes that exposing her to technology will give her the option to go into a STEM field when she gets older.

Charlotte, who was wearing a sparkly skirt and a shirt that said How to Draw a Rocket, was transfixed on her purple robot as it ran over other robots in the makeshift clear battle dome.

Shes crushing it and having the time of her life, Watson said. Were going to have to build one of these at home.Its a familiar story line making an encore in Texas elections: Latinos are center stage as the protagonists who will lift a blue wave of Democratic candidates into office and disrupt a half century of Republican dominance.

But after the votes are counted, the discussion turns to an anticlimactic disparagement in which Hispanics, again, become the scapegoat of the Democratic Partys unrealized election hopes.

Every two years, the Democrats find some sort of factoid that they stay on and convince themselves that this is the year that will make Texas competitive, said Chris Wilson, a Republican strategist and former research director for Ted Cruzs 2016 presidential campaign. But every two years, it falls flat.

Behind this ebb and flow, there are striking miscalculations of Latino participation, experts say, and an acute neglect of this electorate by both parties. If Democrats have overestimated the power of the Latino vote to turn Texas competitive overnight, Republicans are underestimating it in a fast-changing time that some analysts consider unprecedented.

Renee Cross, senior director of the University of Houstons Hobby School of Public Affairs, says Texas politics today are a perfect storm for the growing Latino population.

A set of unique conditions have begun to crystallize into more Hispanic participation in Texas. Among them, the end of the Latino friendly Republican Party from the ex-Texas Governor and then-President George W. Bush era, a backlash from President Donald Trumps zero tolerance immigration policies, motivation with Latina candidates in top state tickets, and unparalleled innovative mobilization efforts led by Latinos themselves, Cross and other experts say.

I want to make sure that we are electing people that are going to push legislation to better the well-being of immigrants and people of color, said 24-year-old Naiyolis Palomo, an immigrant from Cuba residing in Houston who voted for the first time in this years primaries after becoming a naturalized citizen in December. I had a lot of pride when I went to vote. Becoming American and voting is a privilege that I take very seriously,

This year, Latino voters have Democrat ex-sheriff Lupe Valdez at the top of the ballot running against Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. Two other woman candidates, state Sen. Sylvia Garcia from Houston and Veronica Escobar from El Paso, are running as Democrats and aspire to become the first Latinas from Texas to represent their state in the U.S. Congress.

And results of the mobilization are beginning to show in areas such as Harris County.

Earlier this year, Hispanic voters here set a record for their turnout in primary mid-term elections. Their turnout was at least 85 percent higher than in any other non-presidential primary since 2002, and more significantly, 164 percent higher than in the last mid-term primary in 2014, according to data of Spanish-surname voters provided by Hector de Leon, director of voter outreach of the Harris County Clerks office.

Its taking years (for Latinos) to get all set for elections, said Tony Diaz, a Houston activist and writer who teaches Mexican-American studies at Lone Star College. Its like with grammar  It takes time to learn, but then it becomes natural.

Diaz said that one of the strategies mobilizers are applying is certifying young people, as Texas requires, to be able to register others, which they have been doing at parties and quinceneras and wherever they go.

The growth between the last two primaries did not favor GOP candidates as much as Democrats. Republicans were able to increase the Latino turnout by a hefty 50 percent in that period, but it pales to the 300 percent increase of Hispanics who voted for Democratic candidates in Harris Countys primaries.

Overall in the state among all groups, though, Republicans had a higher turnout. While Latinos are furthering their own blue wave and setting records, its unlikely that they alone can turn Texas competitive.

Neither Democrats nor Republicans are doing a good job investing in Latino voters, said Bernard Fraga, a political science professor at Indiana University and author of The Turnout Gap, published by Cambridge University.

Olivia P. Tallet

November results could be a wake-up call, he said. At the very least, November is going to be a test, particularly for Democrats, to understand that they have to invest time and money on this group in Texas if they really want changes.

Miscalculating the Latino vote

One of the main miscalculations in assessing the Latino vote has been comparing the share of the Hispanic vote with their share of the population, which led to a conclusion that they have a shockingly low electoral participation, said De Leon, the countys voter outreach director.

A popular misconception is assuming that because 39 percent of the Texas population is Hispanic that their electoral participation should be of similar proportions. In reality, fewer than 5 million of Texas 11 million Hispanics are eligible to vote. Thats only 20 percent of the state population and about 30 percent of all registered voters.

In addition, national exit polls have misled the public about the Latino participation in elections by drawing conclusions from non-representative samples, according to several analysts, including Matt Barreto, a political science professor at the University of California Los Angeles and co-founder of Latino Decisions. That is one of the reasons why, in the last presidential elections, exit polls significantly undervalued the Latino vote, as did a subsequent U.S. Census survey of the results that estimated a dismal increase of the Hispanic turnout by only 2.2 percent compared to 2012.

An actual count of Spanish surnames by the Texas Legislative Council, based on the Secretary of State voting records, later revealed that the Latino vote grew more significantly in every measure between 2012 and 2016. While the eligible Hispanic population increased by 15 percent, the surname count showed that their voting registration rose by 20 percent, and their turnout, by nearly 30 percent, much higher than exit poll assessments.

These numbers also expose a possibly overlooked pattern: Latinos are registering and voting at significantly higher rates than their population is growing.

In Harris County, Latino voter turnout jumped from 46 to 53 percent between the last two (presidential) elections. De Leon said, contributing more than half of the overall increase in the 2016 turnout.

Another Texas

Bush courted the Latino vote like no Republican before, experts say, and they rewarded him with unprecedented support for a Republican with 35 and 40 percent of their vote in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, respectively.

When George W. Bush was governor, he appointed more Latinos to positions than have ever been appointed in the history of the state of Texas, (including) Supreme Court justices, district court judges, secretary of state, and the list goes on, said Republican Harris County Treasurer Orlando Sanchez, who has held several elected positions in the Houston area for over two decades.

LISTEN to President George W. Bush's giving a full speech in Spanish language:

READ President George W. Bush speech in English or Spanish

Sanchez said that although the Democratic Party had more Hispanic candidates in the primaries this year, a higher percentage of those running as Republicans won in the primaries.

The message to the Republican (Party) is, it helps you to recruit more minorities, which is the message that I have been trying to deliver to the Republican Party for 25 years, he said. You need to do more in my community.

Texas also pioneered the Texas Dream Act, signed by then-Gov. Rick Perry in 2001, that allowed non-citizen students to pay in-state tuition for higher education.

But those Latino-friendly days are over, and state GOP leadership today is taking a different tack. They have passed laws including the anti-Sanctuary Cities SB-4, targeting undocumented immigrants and forcing local police to comply with requests from federal immigration authorities. They led a multistate lawsuit in 2014 against an expansion of DACA, an Obama-era program providing temporary protection against deportation for immigrants brought to the country illegally when they were minors.

And Republicans demanded President Trump cancel DACA, which he did, and have continued challenging it in court against attempts to save it, even though most Americans support the program.

The Texas Dream Act is a good example of the changing times, said Mark Jones, a Baker Institute political researcher and Rice University professor.

When it was passed in 2001, it had near-unanimous support among Republicans  but in 2017, supporters of the Texas Dream Act had to fight pretty plausibly hard from passing a repeal in the Senate, Jones said.

The difficulty for that strain of the Republican Party is that they are seen by a majority of Texas Latinos as being anti-immigrant and anti-Latino, Jones said.

Alejandro Trevino, a spokesperson for Abbotts re-election campaign, disagrees.

Gov. Abbott has made it a priority to reach out to Hispanic voters and build meaningful relationships within the community, Trevino said.

Trevino emphasized that, as with all voters, Hispanics want leaders who deliver results for the economy, education and safe communities.

Texas is number one in jobs created by Hispanic business owners, he said. The values the governor is fighting for are the same values shared by so many in the Hispanic community, including a commitment to faith, freedom, and family.

New strategies

The number of progressive-leaning Latino organizations working to mobilize the Texas electorate is increasing. While Texas Hispanics have been usually ignored by parties as non-worthy investments in a solidly Republican state, they are now appearing in focus among priority regions.

My biggest lesson in 2016 is that neither party is truly dedicated to enfranchising the Latino community, said Maria Teresa Kumar, president and CEO of Voto Latino, one of the national organizations working to mobilize Latino voters in Texas, particularly millennials and residents with low-election participation.

While over 27 million Hispanics in the U.S. are eligible to vote, about 60 percent are under the age of 33, Kumar said. Young voters, in general, tend to be less active in elections, with the chances of participation increasing as they graduate, marry, have children and become homeowners, said Renee Cross.

De Leon said that, in Harris County, about 50 percent of Latino registered voters are between 18 and 39 years old.

Carlos Duarte, Texas director of Mi Familia Vota (My Family Votes), said besides implementing innovations in social media and smartphone applications, the organization is reaching out in person.

We have been going classroom by classroom in high schools and community colleges to educate students in understanding the connections between the things they care about and the power of using their vote to elect officials that can do something about it, Duarte said.

The big news, he said, is that, after we have been building the base working with Latinos for years, Texas is now on the map of nonprofits paying attention to them and investing resources. I have never seen this kind of enthusiasm here before.

olivia.tallet@chron.com

Twitter: @oliviaptalletRipped off: Migrants not paid for work Trapped between the Rio Grande and border checkpoints, Sandro Garcia Moreno is among thousands of undocumented immigrants being ripped off by unscrupulous employers.

Ripped off: Migrants not paid for work Trapped between the Rio Grande and border checkpoints, Sandro Garcia Moreno is among thousands of undocumented immigrants being ripped off by unscrupulous employers.

McALLEN  Sandro Garcia Moreno feels trapped in the Rio Grande Valley. He hides in a small, linoleum-floored bedroom with the curtains drawn, his refuge from his former employers, who he says threatened to kill him.

He wants to find work to the north but fears hell be caught and deported. At night he lies alone in bed, swiping through cellphone photos of his wife and daughter, who fled back to Mexico for their own safety.

An undocumented, low-wage worker, Garcia Moreno won a federal labor complaint two years ago against Pollos Medina, a chain of three barbecue restaurants in Mission.

He and co-worker Jose Arciga Garcia won a $108,000 judgment when the restaurant was found in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which entitles all workers, regardless of immigration status, to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and overtime pay.

READ ALSO: A good bet: hiring employees with disabilities

Their case was one of thousands filed against employers in the Rio Grande Valley, a national hotbed for wage theft. In the past 10 years, the Labor Department has investigated more than 1,350 wage theft cases in the region, resulting in payments of more than $8.5 million in back pay, records show.

As far as I know, it has been an epidemic in the Valley forever, said Kathryn Youker, an attorney with Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid. It just is sort of a facet of daily life down here.

The Valleys underground workforce of undocumented immigrants is a key component of the economy and a prime target of unscrupulous employers who pay less than the minimum wage, deny overtime pay, threaten to turn complaining workers over to the Border Patrol and sometimes beat their employees, police reports and court records indicate.

Since the Labor Department began keeping public records in 1984, three of the five cities with the highest number of wage theft investigations are in Texas. And eight of the top 20 ZIP codes in the country with the most investigations are in South Texas. Five of them are in the Rio Grande Valley.

Violations are most pronounced in the service industry(including restaurants), agriculture and among domestic workers.

A native of Durango, Mexico, Garcia Moreno grilled chickens 12 to 15 hours a day, six days a week on a large black barrel grill in front of Pollos Medina.

They started at 40 (dollars a day) and then lowered me to 30 because there were no sales and they were starting out, Garcia Moreno said, but once they began to sell more, they were going to give us less hours and higher wages. And no, it was the reverse, they gave us more hours and lower wages and more hard work.

Workers at Pollos Medina werent given breaks, according to Garcia Moreno and court records. When time allowed, one chicken was split between four or five workers, and they were expected to eat on the job. On average, each worker made $2.50 to $3.50 an hour.

Pollos Medina, which since has closed, was owned by Blanca Medina, her husband, Francisco Garcia, and their son.

Garcia Moreno and other workers said Medina called her all-immigrant staff names like muertos de hambre (worthless beggars) or marranetes (fat pigs). Medina would scream at the workers, sometimes throwing trash at female employees and demanding they clean it up.

Garcia Moreno said Garcia bragged that he knew Mexican hit men and could kill a man and get out of here.

READ ALSO: San Antonio software startup adds new tool, looks to hire

Francisco Garcia did not respond to requests for comment. Blanca Medina said in an interview that her family had been done a great injustice.

Listen, we are Christian people and we are leaving it to God, she said. God is the one who knows. We know that it is an injustice but we do not want to touch the subject. We have a lawyer. He is the one in charge.

When asked whether she paid her employees as little as $30 a day for 12 or more hours of work, Medina said, it is a lie. Talk to the lawyer, he will explain. We can tell you nothing. God bless me.

Their lawyer, Florencio Lopez, did not respond to requests for comment.

Garcia and his wife frequently threatened to call immigration and, for Garcia Moreno, when thoughts of protesting or leaving came to mind, memories of Garcias proclaimed Tamaulipas sicario (hit man) connections usually followed.

Thats typical, those types of threats, said Hector Guzman, director of Fuerza Del Valle Workers Center in Alamo, where Moreno first turned for help. Thats a key factor in the whole anti-migrant sentiment, the xenophobia, the whole, Oh, you are undocumented, you have no rights. That type of attitude feeds into the exploitation and low wages that were seeing in the Rio Grande Valley.

Its a plantation mentality, he said. I have these workers that work for me, I can do whatever I want with them.

Two-to three-dozen workers a month turn to Fuerza Del Valle with exploitation claims. Most of them complain about wage theft, defined as an employer failing to pay workers the full wages to which theyre legally entitled. Some say they have been held against their will, beaten or sexually violated.

A 2017 report by the Economic Policy Institute found that, in the 10 most populous states, about 2.4 million workers lost $8 billion to minimum wage violations in 2016. The report found violations are most egregious in Texas and Pennsylvania, where the average victim is cheated out of more than 30 percent of his or her earned wages.

It is not primarily an undocumented worker issue, said Tsedeye Gebreselassie, a senior staff attorney at the National Employment Law Project. But undocumented workers suffer from higher rates of wage theft than the workforce as a whole.

READ ALSO: Ikea hiring more than 200 for San Antonio-area store

According to the Pew Research Center, of the hundred largest U.S. metro areas, the McAllen/Edinburg/Mission area has the highest number of undocumented immigrants per capita in the nation, accounting for 10.2 percent of the population of more than 806,000 residents.

Wage theft often is an early symptom of the more severe problem of labor trafficking, a form of modern-day slavery where workers are forced or coerced to perform labor or services.

More than 230,000 labor-trafficking victims are estimated to reside in Texas, a 2016 University of Texas study found.

Its very common for employers to threaten to call immigration, said Rosa San Luis, a community organizer with Fuerza Del Valle, especially when workers try to reclaim unpaid wages. If you raise your voice, I will take you to Border Patrol. I know where you live.

People who arrive in the Valley and cant get beyond the checkpoints are just stuck here, Youker said, referring to Border Patrol checkpoints on highways north of the border. I think a lot of employers realize that and have set the wages so low.

The oppression and the fear, they are one, because we are undocumented, said San Luis. We live in a military zone. We are invisible to the system.

Garcia Morenos take: It is a prison here.

We had no life

Garcia Moreno had been working at Pollos Medina for less than a month when Medina and Garcia asked his wife, Gloria Hernandez, to start cleaning their house every day. Soon, Medina insisted that, after the housework was done, Hernandez had to pull a full evening shift at Pollos Medina.

Thats when the whole problem started, Garcia Moreno said.

Their day would begin around 6:30 or 7 a.m., rising to prepare breakfast for their 7-year-old daughter and take her to school. By 9 a.m., Garcia Moreno was at Pollos Medina and Hernandez was cleaning.

In the early afternoon, he would pick up their daughter at school and take her to the restaurant, where they would remain until around 10 or 11 p.m.

We had no life, Garcia Moreno said. They gave us a day of rest, it was a Tuesday or a Monday, but there was nothing we could do with the salary they gave us.

One day in September 2014, Medina asked Garcia Moreno to stay late and work a private party. They were going to give me $15 to work from 11 to 2 in the morning, he said.

Garcia Moreno agreed. He thought it would be easy. When the time came, he saw the party was to be huge with dozens of chickens to prepare and cook.

No, he said. Im not going to stay.

Voices were raised. Medina spat insults. Garcia Moreno stood his ground. Francisco Garcia picked up a shovel. He approached from behind and, according to court records and the accounts of both Hernandez and Garcia Moreno, struck him across the back, then again, and again. He collapsed. He said the blows kept coming and he could hear his wife and daughter pleading.

READ ALSO: H-E-B to hire hundreds of employees for new digital HQ in Austin

They thought he was their property, Guzman said. How dare you not want to work?

After the beating, Garcia Moreno fled with his daughter. Hernandez stayed to work the shift.

Garcia Moreno quit but Hernandez stayed. The family needed the money. In turn, she became the focal point for Garcia and Medinas rage. They frequently threatened to send the police to arrest and deport her husband if he didnt come back to work.

Francisco Garcia was a friend of Alton Police Chief Enrique Sotelo, who frequently came to Pollos Medina and ate privately with Garcia, Hernandez said. They posted the photos of a hunting trip together on Facebook. Sotelo was fired from the police force last year amid an investigation of sexual harassment.

About a month after Garcia Moreno quit, he was followed home by an Alton police officer, cited for failure to use a turn signal and arrested in front of his daughter as she got off the school bus. As an undocumented resident, he did not have a valid drivers license. Arrested in front of his house, he begged the officer to call his wife to come pick up their daughter.

He was fined $443, almost twice his former salary of $225 a week at Pollos Medina. Moreno was followed home again on Feb. 8 by an Alton police officer, cited for failure to use a turn signal and arrested for failure to provide a drivers license. This time, he was held overnight.

When my wife called, they lied and told her Id been turned over to ICE, he said. Hernandez called Carlos Moctezuma Garcia, an immigration lawyer, who brokered Morenos release the following morning.

Moctezuma Garcia contacted Hector Guzman at Fuerza Del Valle, who asked Pollos Medina employees if they could corroborate Garcia Morenos accusations of low wages.

When 20 employees showed up, Guzman, Moctezuma Garcia and Efren Olivares of the Texas Civil Rights Project began building a wage theft case.

I remember that they all were very scared, Guzman said.

Slowly, that number dwindled to five, then two employees - Garcia Moreno and Arciga. Hernandez did not sign on to the case. She did, however, quit her job at Pollos Medina. Arciga could not be reached for comment.

On April 14, 2015, officer Joby Garza of the Mission Police Department responded to a harassment complaint filed by Hernandez.

READ ALSO: Indoor go-kart facility, bar hiring more than 300 workers in San Antonio

According to Garzas report and Hernandezs account, Hernandez had been at her new job at Blankita Pasteles, a cake shop in Mission, when Blanca Medina showed up. Medina insisted Hernandez come back to work at her restaurant. She threatened to have Hernandez deported and to have her husband arrested by placing narcotics in his vehicle if she didnt comply with Medinas wishes.

The victim further stated she felt that what the suspect is doing to her and her family was harassing (in) nature due to the fact that they cant afford any incidents with the police, officer Garza wrote. The victim then stated that the suspect had gone to her residence  several times prior verbally threatening the victim and her family in the same manner as this incident. The victim also stated that her husband had been arrested and taken to jail for threats the suspect has made against her in the past to keep working at the suspects restaurant.

Alejandra Garcia, owner of Blankita Pasteles, remembers Medinas visits.

Twice she came here, Garcia said, and afterward (Hernandez) was crying. The Alton police were friends of theirs. For this reason, (Hernandez and Moreno) were very afraid.

Weeks later, Hernandez returned to Pollos Medina.

Threats escalate

The wage case was filed July 20, 2015. Soon after, police reports state, Medina threatened to plant narcotics on Garcia Moreno. On Oct. 9, 2015, Garcia Moreno was leaving his new job when he saw a man in a Land Rover parked next to his minivan.

Hey, my truck is dead, the man said. Garcia Moreno drove him to a gas station. When exiting the station, he was pulled over by Palmview police officer Mario Alberto Ochoa, who since has been fired on unrelated charges of engaging in organized criminal activity.

You are nervous, Ochoa said. Im going to check the van. He looked inside, asked Garcia Moreno to get out and, according to Garcia Moreno, handcuffed him.

I advised Mr. Garcia (Moreno) to stand in the rear of his vehicle or where he had full view of my search procedure, Ochoa wrote in his incident report. Mr. Garcia (Moreno) was advised at any moment during my search process he could terminate the search process.

He tells me, I found something in your truck, Garcia Moreno said, An expert is coming; hes going to check if its drugs. And no, no expert ever arrived, the tow truck arrived.

Garcia Moreno was arrested.

Hernandez was at Pollos Medina when it happened. Shed been there all day. In the morning, she said, Medina had said to her, Listen, they saw your husband. They saw your husband acting very weird in his minivan.

I mean, like, she was already warning me, Hernandez said. I told her, I dont think so because he went to work.

Garcia Moreno spent four nights in Hidalgo County Jail. The confiscated substance, which Ochoa had described in his report as crystal meth, was sent to a police lab for analysis.

When it came back, said Olivares, the civil rights lawyer, the case was dropped.

Garcia Moreno was released at 4 a.m. He had to climb in through a window at home because Hernandez, at Moctezuma Garcias recommendation, had left with their daughter to avoid possible retaliation by Medina and Garcia. Mother and daughter took refuge at Mujeres Unidas, a shelter for victims of domestic violence.

READ ALSO: San Antonio-area school districts hiring more than 1,000 positions

The family moved to a new home, but Medina and Garcia found them. The threats continued.

Garcia Moreno recorded one phone call with Medina.

Come to my side and nothing will happen to you, she told him. Then, speaking of Garcia Morenos co-plaintiff Arciga, were going to cut his tongue out as soon as we catch him.

Hernandez was working long hours. Medina would give her Monster energy drinks to keep her awake.

They gave me pills to give me more energy, Hernandez said. I stirred them with the Monster and afterword began to suffer a lot of anxiety.

She would wake up at night, her hands sweating and start to cry. The problem escalated to panic attacks that required four hospitalizations.

My hands would tremble, Hernandez said. I could not be in a closed place. I would cry for everything. I could not concentrate.

She took their daughter back to Mexico. Garcia Moreno stayed. He moved again. He persisted with the case and, eventually, along with Arciga, won the judgment against Medina and Garcia.

Lawyers for Garcia Moreno and Arciga repossessed two vehicles from the Pollos Medina owners valued at $20,000. The remaining $88,000 of the judgment remains unpaid. Pollos Medina has closed, but Medina and Garcia have opened new businesses. Records show they own multiple properties in Mission.

How do we solve this wage theft problem? Guzman asked. We need organized people that are suffering this to point the direction. The victims need to lead the movement.

At the municipal level people dont think about low-paid workers, unpaid workers, and what the city can do, he said. The city could shut these operations down.

Said Rosa San Luis, God, were not asking for anything extraordinary, just basic human rights and dignity. It seems that, in many ways, we are not worthy of dignity.

Out of work and hiding

In September 2017, Medina and Garcia discovered Garcia Morenos whereabouts. They came to his house and knocked on the door. Garcia Moreno shouted that hed called the police. After they left, he fled.

Garcia Moreno later rented a small three-room apartment. He blacked out the windows and took the first job he was offered, cooking chicken on an open-air grill at a new establishment named Snack Shack.

They told me they were just starting out so they could only pay me a little, Garcia Moreno said, but they were going to pay me more.

Soon after his car broke down and he couldnt afford to fix it. Garcia Moreno moved into the office of Snack Shack.

In September, he said, he quit because of long hours, low pay and poor living conditions.

In Mexico, Hernandez lives with their daughter.

She misses her dad, Hernandez said. There are so many changes for her. She failed a year of school.

A few months ago, she said, she had to change their phone number after an anonymous caller threatened to kidnap her if she didnt return to Texas.

Garcia Moreno took his savings and moved into the small, linoleum-floored bedroom with the curtains drawn. Afraid to be seen walking around town, he spends his mornings looking for day labor work on Facebook and asking would-be employers if they can pick him up.

He has applied for a visa, to which all of his hopes are now attached.

On a recent evening, Garcia Moreno sat outside his apartment sharing bits of his dinner with a stray dog.

See, he said, pointing at the dog as it disappeared with a sliver of chicken wing, he has more rights here than I do.

***

Mara Esquivel contributed to this report.

lwhyte@express-news.net

Subscribe

Real news. Real trust. Real community. Subscribe to the San Antonio Express-News to support quality local journalism.



Here's what gets me about progressives.

They never seem to realize that they are the majority. Yet on issue after issue, the polling consistently shows that they are.

Abortion? Sixty-four percent of Americans support Roe v. Wade.

Guns? Sixty-seven percent want stricter laws.

Taxes? Sixty-one percent say the rich need to pay more.

Health care? Fifty-six percent want government to ensure coverage to all Americans.

But it's not just opinion polls. It's also presidential polls. Republicans have won the popular vote only once since 1992.

So liberals could have the world they say they want  with sensible gun laws, immigration reform, universal health care, reproductive rights, healing of the planet  if they only had the wit, the will and the courage of their convictions.

Instead, we have a world of weekly mass shootings, children in cages, the Affordable Care Act barely escaping repeal, Roe v. Wade endangered and a dire new United Nations report forecasting planetary catastrophe. Also: Brett Kavanaugh was just confirmed to the Supreme Court.

He is a man credibly accused of attempted rape and blackout drunkenness, a man who, under pressure, demonstrates the temperamental restraint of a sugar-addled toddler two hours past nap time. Yet he sits now on the highest court in the land.

That didn't just happen. Rather, it was the capstone of a long-term scheme to reshape the judiciary as a right-wing rubber stamp. Maybe you remember how Republicans stole a seat on the high court by refusing to give a hearing to President Obama's nominee. Now, with the mostly party-line vote that shoved Kavanaugh through, the court suddenly seems less a disinterested referee of democracy than a partisan tool, its legitimacy sacrificed on an altar of political expedience.

But what's going on here is bigger, even, than the court. Consider the Census Bureau projection that, within about 25 years, America will no longer be a majority white nation, but rather, a nation in which no racial group is numerically superior. Consider the visceral terror of many in the white majority as Others  blacks, Muslims, LGBTQ, Hispanics  rise and demand voices. Consider the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, the corresponding rise of voter suppression, the use of gerrymandering to neuter black ballots, mass incarceration and rising hostility toward immigrants from the south.

Consider all those factors and the true shape of things becomes clear. Like Afrikaners in apartheid South Africa, conservatives seek to enshrine minority rule, to ensure that, even as they decline as a percentage of the population, the forces of white patriarchy, of racial, religious and cultural homogeneity maintain their stranglehold on power.

And with apologies to Malcolm X, they are willing to do so by any means necessary. The question is: What are the rest of us willing to do in response?

Are we willing to play the long game as conservatives have?

Are we willing to play with the ruthlessness and calculation they've shown?

Are we willing to organize, to meet at the intersection of our manifold causes, concerns and lives?

Nov. 6 will give us the beginnings of an answer. Until then, one can only hope.

Progressives are the larger of the two main ideologies in American politics. Yet they were just forced to watch in impotence as conservatives reshaped the top court by an act of sheer political thuggery. The lesson should be clear. It's great to have size on your side.

But it's how you use it that counts.

Pitts is a columnist for The Miami Herald. Write to him at lpitts@miamiherald.comYes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain.

Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred.

For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here.Manhattan Beach Chamber president to resign to take on new role in Redondo BeachImperial Valley News Center

Dark Web Administrator Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Narcotics Trafficking and Money Laundering

Washington, DC - A French national who was serving at times as an administrator and senior moderator on one of the largest dark web criminal marketplaces was sentenced to 20 years in prison Monday, after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to launder money.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Departments Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Adolphus P. Wright of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Miami Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Robert F. Lasky of FBI Miami Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Michael J. De Palma of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the announcement.

Gal Vallerius, aka Oxymonster, 36, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. in the Southern District of Florida on Aug. 28. Judge Scola sentenced Vallerius to serve 240 months in prison. Vallierius forfeited 99.98947177 bitcoin and 121.94805811 bitcoin cash.

According to the court record, including the agreed upon factual proffer, beginning in or around November 2013 a criminal online marketplace known as Dream Market began operating on the Tor dark web network. Dream Market was designed to promote and facilitate the anonymous sale of illegal items. In time, the Dream Market website became one of the largest dark web criminal marketplaces. All of the items and services on Dream Market were offered for sale in exchange for Bitcoin and other peer-to-peer crypto-currencies.

According to the agreed upon factual proffer, Vallerius first participated in the conspiracy by becoming a vendor on Dream Market. As a vendor, he sold Oxycodone and Ritalin under the moniker Oxymonster. Shortly thereafter, Dream Market employed the defendant who acted at times as an administrator and senior moderator. In these positions, he played a role supporting the daily illicit transactions between buyers and vendors on Dream Market, such as trafficking in narcotics, and the laundering of illicit proceeds using virtual currencies, Dream Markets tumblers and the dark web.

This investigation and prosecution was carried out by members of the South Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force. The South Florida HIDTA, established in 1990, is made up of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies that, cooperatively, target the regions drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. The South Florida HIDTA is funded by the Office of National Drug Control Policy which sponsors a variety of initiatives focused on combatting the nations illicit drug trafficking threats.

The prosecution is a result of the ongoing efforts by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. The OCDETF mission is to identify, investigate, and prosecute high-level members of drug trafficking enterprises, bringing together the combined expertise and unique abilities of federal, state, and local law enforcement.

The investigation was conducted by DEA Miami Field Office and Paris Country Office, FBI Miamis Cyber Task Force, IRS-CI Miami Field Office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations Miami and Atlanta Field Offices, U.S. Customs and Border Protections Field Operations Atlanta, U.S. Postal Inspection Services Miami Field Office, the Department of Justices Office of International Affairs, Europol, Special Operations Division (SOD), Finnish National Police, Finnish International Judicial Administration of the Ministry of Justice, Dutch National Police, French Ministry of Justice and the Direction Interregionale de la Police Judiciaire as well as the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Georgia. The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney C. Alden Pelker of the Criminal Divisions Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Juan A. Gonzalez and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank R. Maderal of the Southern District of Florida.Imperial Valley News Center

Chinese Intelligence Officer Charged with Economic Espionage Involving Theft of Trade Secrets from Leading U.S. Aviation Companies

Washington, DC - A Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) operative, Yanjun Xu, aka Qu Hui, aka Zhang Hui, has been arrested and charged with conspiring and attempting to commit economic espionage and steal trade secrets from multiple U.S. aviation and aerospace companies. Xu was extradited to the United States Tuesday.

The charges were announced Wednesday by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Benjamin C. Glassman, Assistant Director Bill Priestap of the FBIs Counterintelligence Division, and Special Agent in Charge Angela L. Byers of the FBIs Cincinnati Division.



This indictment alleges that a Chinese intelligence officer sought to steal trade secrets and other sensitive information from an American company that leads the way in aerospace, said Assistant Attorney General Demers. This case is not an isolated incident. It is part of an overall economic policy of developing China at American expense. We cannot tolerate a nations stealing our firepower and the fruits of our brainpower. We will not tolerate a nation that reaps what it does not sow.



Innovation in aviation has been a hallmark of life and industry in the United States since the Wright brothers first designed gliders in Dayton more than a century ago, said U.S. Attorney Glassman. U.S. aerospace companies invest decades of time and billions of dollars in research. This is the American way. In contrast, according to the indictment, a Chinese intelligence officer tried to acquire that same, hard-earned innovation through theft. This case shows that federal law enforcement authorities can not only detect and disrupt such espionage, but can also catch its perpetrators. The defendant will now face trial in federal court in Cincinnati.



"This unprecedented extradition of a Chinese intelligence officer exposes the Chinese government's direct oversight of economic espionage against the United States, said Assistant Director Priestap.



Yanjun Xu is a Deputy Division Director with the MSSs Jiangsu State Security Department, Sixth Bureau. The MSS is the intelligence and security agency for China and is responsible for counter-intelligence, foreign intelligence and political security. MSS has broad powers in China to conduct espionage both domestically and abroad.



Xu was arrested in Belgium on April 1, pursuant to a federal complaint, and then indicted by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Ohio. The government unsealed the charges today, following his extradition to the United States. The four-count indictment charges Xu with conspiring and attempting to commit economic espionage and theft of trade secrets.Attorney General Sessions Delivers a Statement on Behalf of the United States at the London Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference 2018

London, United Kingdom - Thank you, Foreign Secretary, Your Royal Highnesses, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of President Donald Trump, I would like to express our nations sincerest appreciation to Her Majestys Government for hosting this important conference, and for the leadership of the Royal family.

The United States views the poaching and trafficking of protected wildlife as a threat to good governance, a threat to the rule of law, and a challenge to our stewardship responsibilities for this good earth.



It is the rule of law that forms the foundation for liberty, safety, and prosperity.



Poachers, wildlife smugglers, and black market merchants are operating all over the world. Their criminal acts harm communities, degrade our institutions, destabilize our environment, and funnel billions of dollars to those who perpetrate evil in our world.



These criminals must and can be stopped. Future generations must not say that the nations of the world sat back or responded with action that was too little or too late, while great species disappeared forever.



President Trump fully supports strong prosecution of those involved in the illegal wildlife trade, as do I.



Criminal networks engaged in this illegal trade cross borders, transport their illegal goods worldwide too freely, and sell them to the highest bidder. The only time criminals care about borders is when they hide behind them. It is our job to stop them.



At the Justice Department, we are fighting transnational organized crime, including wildlife trafficking, the value of which is estimated to exceed $20 billion annually. In some markets, just one kilogram of rhinoceros horn can sell for as much as $70,000.



We are continuing to fight hard to ensure that illicit wildlife products are not sold in America, and we strongly support the actions of other nations to close their marketplaces too. We cannot allow the illegal extermination of entire populations of species. To the contrary, we must use our God-given resources and legal institutions to advance and defend the survival, not the annihilation, of Gods majestic creatures.



So, we are determined to make sure our country is neither a market nor a safe haven for these criminals.



This includes joining together to make it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, for poachers and smugglers in one country to be immune from prosecution by fleeing to other nations. It cannot be that a person who commits a serious wildlife crime in one country can simply run to other countries and be safe from law enforcement.



In the United States, we are proud of our longstanding commitment to defend wildlife. The U.S. government made its first major commitment to the preservation of wildlife almost 120 years ago, with the passage of the Lacey Act, which prohibits the import, export, and sale of protected wildlife in the U.S. if the law of the foreign nation was violated. Though we have made many advances since then, the Lacey Act remains among our nations most powerful weapons in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade.



Over 100 years ago, President Theodore Roosevelt decried the reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things and urged us to see our duty  to restrain an unprincipled present-day minority from wasting the heritage of [] unborn generations. To him, the movement for the conservation of wildlife  [was] essentially democratic in spirit, purpose, and method.



Our law enforcement team is determined to honor this heritage. Just two months ago, a New York man pleaded guilty to exporting to Thailand dozens of packages containing skulls, claws, and parts from African lions, tigers, and other protected species.



The value of his shipments exceeded $150,000. He is now headed to prison.



Also this year, a California resident was sentenced to prison after he was caught selling black rhino horns to an undercover agent posing as a taxidermist.



Early in my own career as a federal prosecutor, I prosecuted poachers.



There is no doubt that President Trump takes this issue seriously. Within the first month of his presidency, he issued an Executive Order specifically recognizing wildlife trafficking as a dangerous form of transnational organized crime, together with drug and gun trafficking.



He directed the U.S. to use all the tools at our disposal to disrupt and dismantle these despicable organizations.



The U.S. Government is committed to the fight to end wildlife trafficking  an effort that currently involves 17 departments and agencies that make up the Presidents Task Force on Combating Wildlife Trafficking. I am proud to say that all three co-chairs of the Presidents task force  the Interior Department, the Justice Department, and the State Department  are represented here at this conference.



Since our nations gathered in London in 2014, the United States has dedicated more than $370 million specifically to combating wildlife trafficking.



In 2016, the U.S. Congress passed the END Wildlife Trafficking Act to further strengthen coordination among federal agencies.



Today, U.S. agencies have devoted resources to address every dimension of this problem, from strengthening enforcement by training rangers, investigators, and prosecutors; to improving practices and capabilities at ports; to efforts to reduce demand for wildlife products; and to supporting other conservation efforts.



The U.S. led the world in imposing a near-total nationwide ivory ban, and we have been pleased to see other nations imposing their own bans. We hope that more will follow.



Many countries have declared wildlife trafficking a serious crime and have instituted stronger penalties. We encourage more countries to do so.



But we still have a very long way to go.



The United States will fund more than $90 million in counter-wildlife trafficking programs and projects in the coming year.



We will continue our efforts to disrupt these criminal networks, and we look forward to partnering with others.



We will redouble our efforts to root out the corruption that protects wildlife trafficking.



We will work to cut off the flow of the illicit proceeds of wildlife trafficking, including through the work of multilateral organizations such as the Financial Action Task Force Global Network.



For their part, U.S. intelligence agencies are enhancing capabilities to gather, share, and leverage intelligence about wildlife traffickers.



The Department of the Interior, led by Secretary Ryan Zinke, will continue strategically placing Senior Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent Law Enforcement Attaches at American Embassies, increasing the current number from 7 to as many as 12.



These highly trained and experienced criminal investigators will be on the front line, working with our foreign partners to fight wildlife trafficking in source, transit, and destination regions of the world.



We are tackling this problem head-on in our trade agreements. Just last week, the United States, Mexico and Canada announced a new trade agreement to replace NAFTAthe U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. That agreement includes the strongest provisions to combat wildlife trafficking of any trade agreement in history.



In addition, with funding from the State Department, the Department of Justices overseas training and capacity building offices will continue to make wildlife trafficking a priority.



For example, we recently placed an expert Justice Department prosecutor as a Resident Legal Advisor in Laos to enhance the capacity of Southeast Asian countries to combat illegal wildlife trafficking.



Later this month, I am personally convening at the Department of Justice an expert forum to focus on countering the illegal wildlife trade.



We will continue to engage the private sector, especially the technology sector, to reduce online/cyber sales of illicit wildlife.



And with the transportation sector to stop the illegal shipment of illicit wildlife.



We will seek to change consumer behavior at home and abroad about illegal wildlife products, to seize proceeds of illegal wildlife trafficking. And to use our diplomatic outreach to foster greater international cooperation in this arena.



Again, on behalf of the United States, I extend appreciation to Her Majestys Government and the Prime Minister, Theresa May, and the Royal Family. This international gathering is a fabulous opportunity to learn what the nations of the world are doing to solve this vexing problem, to learn from each other, and to re-affirm our commitment to battle the illegal wildlife trade vigorously. Our nation sees ending the poaching and trafficking of protected wildlife as a worldwide conservation imperative.



The United States, under the strong leadership of President Trump, is proud to join in this noble and worthy cause.



Thank you.DOJ Requires CVS and Aetna to Divest Aetnas Medicare Individual Part D Prescription Drug Plan Business to Proceed With Merger

Washington, DC - The Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it is requiring CVS Health Corporation (CVS) and Aetna Inc. (Aetna) to divest Aetnas Medicare Part D prescription drug plan business for individuals in order to proceed with their $69 billion merger. The proposed divestiture to WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (WellCare), an experienced health insurer focused on government-sponsored health plans, including Medicare Part D individual prescription drug plans, would fully resolve the Departments competition concerns.

Todays settlement resolves competition concerns posed by this transaction and preserves competition in the sale of Medicare Part D prescription drug plans for individuals, said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Departments Antitrust Division. The divestitures required here allow for the creation of an integrated pharmacy and health benefits company that has the potential to generate benefits by improving the quality and lowering the costs of the healthcare services that American consumers can obtain.

The Departments Antitrust Division, along with the offices of five state attorneys general, today filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to enjoin the proposed transaction, along with a proposed settlement that, if approved by the court, would fully resolve the Departments competitive concerns. The participating state attorneys general offices represent California, Florida, Hawaii, Mississippi, and Washington.

CVS, the nations largest retail pharmacy chain, and Aetna, the nations third-largest health-insurance company, are significant competitors in the sale of Medicare Part D prescription drug plans to individuals, together serving 6.8 million members nationwide.

According to the Departments complaint, the combination of CVS, which markets its Medicare Part D individual prescription drug plans under the SilverScript brand, and Aetna would cause anticompetitive effects, including increased prices, inferior customer service, and decreased innovation in sixteen Medicare Part D regions covering twenty-two states. The complaint alleges that the loss of competition between CVS and Aetna would result in lower-quality services and increased costs for consumers, the federal government, and ultimately, taxpayers.

Under the terms of the proposed settlement, Aetna must divest its individual prescription drug plan business to WellCare and allow WellCare the opportunity to hire key employees who currently operate the business. Aetna must also assist WellCare in operating the business during the transition and in transferring the affected customers through a process regulated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The settlement also includes, consistent with other settlements, several provisions designed to improve the effectiveness of the decree and the Divisions future ability to enforce it.

CVS, headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, operates the nations largest retail pharmacy chain, owns a large pharmacy benefit manager called Caremark, and is the nations second-largest provider of individual prescription drug plans, with approximately 4.8 million members. CVS earned revenues of approximately $185 billion in 2017.

Aetna, headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, is the nations third-largest health-insurance company and fourth-largest individual prescription drug plan insurer, with over two million prescription drug plan members. Aetna earned revenues of approximately $60 billion in 2017.

As required by the Tunney Act, the proposed consent decree, along with the Departments competitive impact statement, will be published in the Federal Register. Any person may submit written comments concerning the proposed settlement within 60 days of its publication to Peter Mucchetti, Chief, Healthcare and Consumer Products Section, Antitrust Division, Department of Justice, 450 Fifth Street NW, Suite 4100, Washington, DC 20530. At the conclusion of the 60-day comment period, the court may enter the final judgment upon a finding that it serves the public interest.This is a story about unhappy American Airlines employees. And, it's also about what you can learn in our country's courthouses.

It's amazing what you find when you check out companies and the lawsuits they're involved in.

And sometimes, it's things like newly filed amended complaint (.pdf) in a lawsuit that a group of American Airlines employees filed against their own airline (among other defendants), in which they accuse American's management of creating "a public health crisis," and of flat-out fraud.

The case is about the uniforms that American Airlines rolled out in 2016. According to the lawsuit, they're toxic and unsafe, and have resulted in literally "thousands" of health complaints by American Airlines employees.

Last year, a judge let the lawsuit go forth against the uniform manufacturer, but said it would need to revised to keep American Airlines in the suit as well. And the amended complaint, filed earlier this month, delivers--with extremely blunt and accusatory language.

It claims there's been "a concerted effort--at the highest levels of American's corporate organization--to fraudulently cover up the dangers posed by these uniforms ... [f]rom the first wear test in 2015 to this day."

And, the plaintiffs say that "American's upper level management ... continues to pretend the uniforms are safe, and and to portray anyone who dared to complain as an isolated incident, overly sensitive, or a malingerer."

Unfortunately, there's nothing unusual about unhappy American Airlines employees. Think of the American Airlines flight attendants who picketed their own airline's headquarters in August, calling their new scheduling policy "cruel" and "disastrous."

Or the American Airlines employees who told me after I wrote about that policy, that their airline was: "unacceptable," "ridiculous," "inhumane," "horrible," and "suitable for robots."

Heck, go back more than a decade, to the infamous "Man, I Hate American Airlines" email that the CEO of The Ladders, Marc Cenedella, sent to 4 million subscribers.

It basically describes his experience watching an especially sour American Airlines flight attendant going about her job while wearing a button that read, "I Have No Idea Why I Work Here."

More than 10 years later, it seems like a lot of American Airlines employees still feel the same way. And it brings me no joy to write about this kind of thing. In fact, it's perhaps the saddest thing about this whole story.

American Airlines is one of the big four, and by some measures the largest airline in the world. It would be better for everyone if it were run in a way that inspired widespread pride among its employees, instead of these kinds of issues.

Hey, at least they're getting new uniforms to replace the ones they say made them sick. Maybe that's a start.

I asked American Airlines for comment on the amended complaint. Here's their response:Absurdly Driven looks at the world of business with a skeptical eye and a firmly rooted tongue in cheek.

They're the country cousins.

That's how I heard one airline executive describe regional airlines.

Yet they're the country cousins who deliver a lot of profit to their big city owners.

One of the ways big airlines do that, say some employees of regional airlines, is to pay those employees very little.

Take employees of American Airlines-owned, Texas-based Envoy Air.

They're currently negotiating a contract from which they hope to get what their union calls "a living wage."

As one long-time Envoy employee told me:

I know several agents that are giving plasma. They're working 2 to 3 jobs to survive and the only thing that Envoy tells us is 'if you want American wages go work for American.'

She claims, however, that management tells employees that working for Envoy is a stepping stone to working for American. In practice, that's not the case.

In some of the Envoy stations wages are, employees say, absurdly low. An Envoy employee revealed:

Do you think the public or passengers would like to know a person making $9.40 an hour is searching their aircraft for bombs, guns and knives?

I suspect they would. I suspect they might even be surprised.

After 30 years of service, say employees, they might still expect a salary of around $16 an hour.

It's hard work. Employees describe working conditions as very difficult, especially in winter months, Says one employee:

The daily stress of turning an aircraft within 25 minutes when you have a handicapped person, an aisle chair, an unaccompanied minor or just people who need personal assistance is unbelievable.

Some might say that this is just part of the job the employees signed on for. Yet they're frustrated that negotiations with the airline are dragging on and fear the airline is deliberately stringing them along.

And even Congress has begun to wonder why pay is so low.

Naturally, I asked Envoy for its view of this apparently fractious situation.

Chris Pappaioanou, the airline's Vice President, Labor, Legal and Employment, offered an alternative perspective:

Envoy and the CWA [Communications Workers of America] have been engaged in what are known as Section 6 negotiations. We believe the pace of these negotiations is normal -- particularly in light of the fact that this is the first contract for the Passenger Service Agents and initial agreements typically take longer to finalize than subsequent amendments.

Pappaioanou told me that all that remains to be agreed are "purely economic open items."

Indeed, the impression I get from Envoy employees that these purely economy open items are making them openly scream in public places.

After all, they say, workers at another American-owned regional carrier, Piedmont, went to mediation in order to get their recently-agreed contract.

What, though, about the bomb-checkers being paid $9.40 an hour?

Pappaioanou insisted:

The current work rules and compensation for the Passenger Service Agents reflects the legal 'status quo' obligations that are imposed on employers during bargaining under the RLA [Railway Labor Act].

Yes, these are railway workers. Didn't you know?

Envoy's management sounds giddily optimistic about an agreement, so much so that it doesn't see the need for mediation. Pappaioanou again:

Because we believe both parties have continued to narrow open issues without the assistance of a mediator, we do not believe there is any need to initiate that process.

And as for the idea that Envoy employment is a stepping stone to working at American, he insisted Envoy and American are separate airlines, adding:

There is no formal path to employment between entities, absent applying as any other interested party.

Recently, I wrote about a former pilot with another American-owned regional carrier, PSA. He said that he'd sometimes make a flight late because he was so desperate to get food.

The impression one gets is that life at these airlines isn't entirely similar to picknicking. Indeed, Envoy employees tell me staff turnover is high.

Still if, as Envoy's management claims, American and Envoy are separate airlines and negotiations are going well, you'd think everyone would be happy.

Why, then, have I bumped into a petition entitled: Tell CEO Doug Parker: Envoy Agents Deserve a Living Wage?

Parker is the CEO of American Airlines and, as the petition's creators declare:

American Airlines hides behind the Envoy logo to pay us poverty wages. By paying us so little, the company can maximize their profits, raking in millions for executives like American Airlines CEO Doug Parker who took home $12.2 million last year.If you ever wonder whether you have the personality to be a successful entrepreneur, you have come to the right place. That's because Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) research published in January 2016 reveals a powerful insight -- startup success depends in part on a founder's ability to create professional networks and those who have open, extroverted personalities in their networks eventually produce better ideas for startups and teams

The GSB researchers studied more than 100 entrepreneurs who attended a June 2014 boot camp in New Delhi. They found that networks of peers help entrepreneurs generate ideas, find talented cofounders, and gain the skills they need to scale businesses.

Their research also found that networks could be especially useful in attempting to boost entrepreneurship in emerging markets, where entrepreneurs don't yet know the norms of startup life. GSB research also found that matching people with specific traits -- extroversion and openness -- makes networking easier, and eventually produces better ideas.

The GSB researchers asked teams of entrepreneurs to develop startup ideas for the Indian wedding industry. And they found that the quality of the ideas got better from people, especially those open to new ideas, after they were paired with extroverted people.

In a nutshell, if you are open and extroverted, you have an edge when it comes to turning your idea into a successful business. If you are closed and introverted, you may have more difficulty unless you can find a cofounder who is the opposite -- or you can train yourself to be more open and extroverted.

My interviews with hundreds of founders have taught me that when it comes to hiring cofounders, they look for people who pass two tests: they believe they will enjoy working with him or her, and the potential cofounder has excellent skills in a field that the startup needs to succeed and which the founder lacks.

The GSB researchers found that entrepreneurs could gain different insights about potential cofounders from three kinds of interactions.

1. Direct Collaborations

Direct collaborations -- working intensively on a team together -- resulted in the most information about potential cofounders. More specifically, such collaborations revealed the strength of the interpersonal fit and the potential cofounder's talent.

Indeed such benefits of direct collaboration help explain why many of the CEOs I've interviewed started companies with people they worked with successfully in prior companies.

The benefits of direct collaboration suggests that a founder who is networking to find potential cofounders should collaborate on a project before asking them to join the startup's executive team.

2. Indirect Relations

Indirect connections -- having a shared friend or acquaintance -- yield more information about a potential cofounder's interpersonal ability, but not talent, according to the GSB researchers.

The insights that such indirect connections yield regarding a potential cofounder's interpersonal ability help explain why so many of the CEOs I interviewed like to be introduced to people through a shared connection. After all, if a trusted third party makes the introduction, the risk of a poor cultural fit is reduced.

But before hiring such a person, the founder must supplement the information about interpersonal skills by investigating the potential cofounder's talent in the specific function that the cofounder will lead.

Such talent can be tested through interviews where the candidate participates in a simulation of their job coupled with deep interviews with people who have worked in similar professional settings with the candidate.

3. Short conversations

Finally, short conversations revealed insights a potential cofounders' abilities, but not their interpersonal skills, the GSB researcher found.

It is easy to see how such conversations could come from brief networking meetings with potential cofounders. But to discern a good personality fit, the entrepreneur might invite candidates to a dinner with the executive team or to participate in a company event -- such as a softball game or white water rafting trip.An Emmy-winning sound mixer has died on the set of a new Tom Hanks film after falling from a two-storey building.

James Emswiller, 61, was taking a smoke break on a balcony in between filming Fred Rogers biopic You Are My Friend when bystanders heard a noise before discovering he had fallen.

Police confirmed that Emswiller passed away after being taken to Pittsburgh's UPMC Mercy hospital in a serious condition.

According to AP, shooting on the film has been shut down while authorities investigate. Sony released a statement, calling the incident a devastating tragedy.

The studio is investigating the matter, it reads. Our thoughts and prayers are with Jims loved ones, friends, and colleagues.

Reports based on witness accounts say that Emswiller was alone on the balcony taking a cigarette break when he may have suffered a medical emergency resulting in his fall from the balcony.

The best films of 2018 (so far) Show all 17 1 /17 The best films of 2018 (so far) The best films of 2018 (so far) The Guardians From its slow-burning beginning, The Guardians develops into an epic melodrama. Its a wartime story in which, for a change, the men are relegated to supporting roles. It follows in a tradition of French rural family sagas like Jean De Florette or Manon Des Sources. The landscapes and the changing seasons play as much of a part in the story as the main characters. The best films of 2018 (so far) Dark River Dark River offers little such consolation. It has some lyrical and delicate moments but the mood is generally overwhelmingly bleak and lugubrious. Incest and abuse dont leave much space for any comic interludes. This is a powerful film with a grinding intensity about it. Light relief it isnt but Dark River still has quite an impact. Alamy The best films of 2018 (so far) Zama Late on in Argentinean director Lucrecia Martels startling, highly original new feature, Zama, a character who has just had both his arms cut off, is advised to shove your stumps in the sand  if you dont bleed out, youll survive. Its a grisly, darkly humorous moment in a film that continually surprises us with both its brutality and its lyricism. The Match Factory The best films of 2018 (so far) The Breadwinner The most dispiriting aspect of this otherwise enrapturing Oscar-nominated animated feature is that its storyline still seems so current. The film depicts an Afghan society in which women dont have a face. It is set during the Taliban rule, which lasted from the mid-1990s until late 2001, but this doesnt feel like a period piece. Seventeen years after the Taliban were ousted from power in Afghanistan following the US invasion, the plight of women in the country appears hardly to have improved. GKIDS The best films of 2018 (so far) BlacKkKlansman Spike Lees work sometimes risks sensory overload. He fires off so many different ideas and storytelling styles that audiences can become bamboozled by his scattergun approach. BlacKkKlansman is one of his very best films because the digressions are as entertaining as ever but dont get in the way of the main story. AP The best films of 2018 (so far) Early Man Much of the pleasure in Aardman films has always lain in their gently ironic, Alan Bennett-like humour. They take very exotic characters and subject matter but then deal with them in a matter-of-fact fashion. They make a virtue out of their own relative modesty. Early Man isnt the flashiest animated feature that youll see this year but it is certainly the most likeable. The best films of 2018 (so far) Isle of Dogs Like all of Wes Andersons work, Isle Of Dogs is very stylised, very offbeat and characterised by its extremely dry and often ironic humour. This Japanese-set stop-motion fable is also gorgeous to look at  packed full of intricate visual detail. It deals with some weighty themes (ethnic cleansing, fascism and corruption) but does so in an idiosyncratic fashion. The best films of 2018 (so far) Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri Writer-director Martin McDonagh has a host of award-winning plays behind him but his movies havent always lived up to his stage work. This one certainly does. It shares some of the dark and nihilistic humour found in McDonaghs previous film, Seven Psychopaths. The best films of 2018 (so far) A Quiet Place In an era of wearisome poltergeist movies, haunted house stories and torture porn, A Quiet Place is a refreshingly pared-down and very original affair. Director John Krasinski relies on editing, sound effects and off-screen action to crank up the tension. We do see the creatures from time to time, sometimes even in extreme closeup. They are very grotesque, bigger versions of the polyp-like succubus which exploded out of John Hurts stomach in Alien. However, the most terrifying moments here come when the humans are waiting for them to appear, desperately hoping that they wont. Paramount Pictures The best films of 2018 (so far) Lady Bird Lady Bird is one of the best American coming-of-age films since Barry Levinsons Diner. Written and directed by Greta Gerwig, it offers an utterly winning mix of humour, poignancy and sharp-eyed social observation. Gerwig approaches her subject matter with the same tenderness and affectionate irony with which the adolescent Lady Bird regards Sacramento. Gerwig also shows Lady Birds heroism as the young heroine strives against the odds to become the very best version of herself she can be. A24 The best films of 2018 (so far) Phantom Thread If Phantom Thread is indeed Daniel Day-Lewiss final film as an actor, he is going out on a wondrously bizarre note. This must be the oddest film in his career, one in which he gives a typically commanding but very idiosyncratic performance. Almost everything here is jarring  but generally in a very positive way. The best films of 2018 (so far) First Reformed It is not so long ago that Paul Schrader seemed to be giving up on cinema. The American writer-director (whose credits include Taxi Driver, American Gigolo and Affliction) had taken to making movies like the sour Hollywood satire The Canyons with Lindsay Lohan and the cartoonishly violent Dog Eat Dog, shot cheaply, aimed at a VOD audience. The former had a montage of closed-down movie theatres. In interviews, Schrader struck a gloomy note about the future of the industry. This is why First Reformed is so refreshing. This is not just Schraders best film in a very long while. It is also a re-affirmation of the directors belief in the medium. Rex The best films of 2018 (so far) The Happy Prince Oscar Wilde goes to ruin in Rupert Everetts debut feature as director. Everett also wrote and stars in the film, giving a grandstanding performance as the Irish writer at the end of his life, after his release from prison, where he has been doing hard labour for gross indecency. This is a moving and surprising biopic that squeezes out every last drop of pathos from its subject matter. BBC Films The best films of 2018 (so far) Black Panther Black Panther is not only one of the most entertaining recent superhero films but has an intelligence and a political dimension that such inchoate offerings as Suicide Squad and Justice League completely lacked. It is an action movie which touches on Pan-Africanism and which owes as much to Malcolm X as it does to Batman or Captain America. Marvel Studios/Disney The best films of 2018 (so far) Sicilian Ghost Story Sicilian Ghost Story is a genre-bending affair that combines elements of teen romance, gothic psycho-drama and political thriller. It is loosely based on a true story of a boy called Giuseppe Di Matteo whose father, an ex-member of the Sicilian Mafia, turned grass against his erstwhile associates. The Mafia responded by kidnapping Giuseppe and keeping him in captivity for nearly 800 days. Altitude The best films of 2018 (so far) First Man First Man is all about understated heroism. Its affecting precisely because Armstrong (played with quiet intensity by Ryan Gosling) doesnt feel the continual need to boast about his mission. The film is a tearjerker but a very subtle one. AP The best films of 2018 (so far) Dogman Dogman is one of the best Italian films of recent times, a modern day neo realist fable that bears comparison with the great work of Fellini, Rossellini, De Sica et al. Its main character, the dog groomer Marcello (Marcello Fonte), is a wonderful creation: loveable, vulnerable, seedy and comic all at the same time. Curzon Artificial Eye

Emswiller has a prolific career in sound mixing. He won an Emmy in 2015 for his work on Queen Latifah series Bessie and has worked on high-profile titles including Avengers Assemble, The Fault in Our Stars and Foxcatcher. His next credit was on Richard Linklater film Where'd You Go, Bernadette starring Cate Blanchett.

Hanks stars as US TV personality Fred Rogers in the new biopic opposite The Americans star Matthew Rhys and Chris Cooper. Diary of a Teenage Girl director Marielle Heller is overseeing its production.

The film is currently set to be released in the UK on 1 November 2019.Dir. Felix Van Groeningen; Starring: Steve Carell, Timothee Chalamet, Maura Tierney. Cert: 15, 120 mins

Brad Pitts acting career may have had its wobbles recently but his record as a producer is exemplary. Beautiful Boy, made through Pitts production company Plan B, is a moving, insightful and very delicately observed drama about a dad whose son is a crystal meth addict. High-flying journalist David Sheff (Steve Carell) loves Nic (Timothee Chalamet) more than everything but cant stop him destroying himself.

Beautiful Boy is based on two memoirs, one written by the father and the other by the son. The title comes from John Lennons song about his son, Sean, from his last album, Double Fantasy. Carell gives his finest performance since Foxcatcher as the doting but perplexed and tormented father  and looks bound to be in the running for awards again.

Transcending its own grim subject matter, the film deals in sensitive and subtle fashion with the plight of the father. It is never judgmental about the son either. Belgian director Felix van Groeningen is far more interested in probing away as deeply as he can into the psychology of his two tortured protagonists than in delivering the usual ups and downs found in more conventional family melodramas. The film has a deliberately open-ended quality.

David Sheff simply cant work out what has happened to Nic. There are moments that I look at him, this kid that I raised, who I thought I knew inside and out, and I wonder who he is, Sheff confesses his bewilderment at the start of the film. He is a model parent who will do anything for his son. Nic is popular, good looking and has been accepted by every college to which he has applied. The riddle, which the film acknowledges as impossible to solve, is how and why Nic set off on such a self-destructive path in the first place.

Casting Chalamet as Nic was a very clever move. The young actor from Call Me by Your Name and Lady Bird has a natural charm and charisma. He still engages an audiences curiosity and sympathy even when his behaviour is at its most selfish and erratic. Nics a bit of a rebel, a loner who reads Charles Bukowski, likes David Bowie and draws his own morbid cartoons. Hes also good with children, excellent company at the dinner table and very affectionate. If he steals from kids piggy banks and behaves with extreme selfishness, its himself he seems to hurt the most. He is in a cycle. The more he uses drugs, the more he does things he is ashamed of  and the more he uses so he doesnt have to face the shame.

Films to watch before you die Show all 35 1 /35 Films to watch before you die Films to watch before you die Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) With this update and upgrade of the 1930s serial adventure, Steven Spielberg turns what could have been pastiche into a practically perfect film. Harrison Fords daring archaeologist is almost always out of his depth but has impeccable underdog charm, and Douglas Slocombes casually stunning cinematography is matched by one of John Williams's finest scores. Indy is ultimately irrelevant to the entire plot, interestingly, but his indefatigable effort to do the right thing still inspires. HO Rex Films to watch before you die Spirited Away (2001) Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki's films delight kids with their bright colours, imaginative characters and plucky heroines (usually). But there's meat to their bones for adults to digest, especially in this towering fantasy epic. As young Chihiro takes a job in a mysterious bathhouse peopled by spirits in order to save her parents, viewers can explore everything from deeply rooted interpretations of traditional Japanese myth to Miyazaki's fascination with Western filmmaking and the Second World War. And visually its unparalleled. HO Toho Films to watch before you die Avengers (2012) Yes, but hear us out: Avengers is a grand experimental film. Marvel risked four popular franchises on this superhero throw of the dice, something never attempted in cinema history. They won, and made the fizzing chemistry of the unlikely gang who must save us from aliens look easy. But the failure of every Marvel imitator since makes clear how impressive this billion-dollar gamble really was, and how difficult it is to tell character-driven stories in blockbuster cinema on this scale. And as a bonus, it has a Hulk. HO Marvel Studios Films to watch before you die The Shining (1980) Stanley Kubricks creep-show classic is remembered for the indelible images of that violent finale chase, but its reputation and influence stem from the slow-winding tension that precedes it. Jack Nicholson is the struggling writer whose sanity frays over a winter season at an isolated and haunted hotel; Shelley Duvall plays his increasingly desperate wife. Touching on questions of domestic violence as well as delivering a ghost story for the ages, this will get under your skin and stay there. HO Warner Bros/Hawk Films/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Films to watch before you die Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) One of those remakes that justifies remakes, Philip Kaufmans beautifully skilful spin on the McCarthy-era alien-clone thriller translates it wickedly to the psychobabble age of the 1970s, with a bit of post-Watergate panic thrown in. Donald Sutherlands lugubrious health inspector is a nicely grumpy enemy of the pod people, and the hysteria ratchets up masterfully. PS Films to watch before you die The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) Wes Anderson's meticulously mannered and beautifully composed films are not to all tastes, but when combined with a cast of this calibre and a more-than-usually heartfelt script, they are capable of magic. Gene Hackman plays the disgraced patriarch of a family of geniuses, making one last attempt at redemption. With a whos who of Hollywood in support, its a story that is as bizarre, hilarious and moving as family life itself. HO Buena Vista Pictures Films to watch before you die Lawrence of Arabia (1962) David Leans First World War epic about TE Lawrence remains a filmmaking milestone, the movie that Steven Spielberg rewatches before starting each new film. Its genius is to combine huge scale battles  notably the attack on Aqaba  with psychological insight into the toll that the war took on Lawrences mind. The white-led casting of Arab characters is appalling to modern eyes, but with its daring, dazzling filmmaking it remains one to watch despite that. HO Rex Films to watch before you die Bicycle Thieves (1948) A devastating portrait of the poverty trap, Vittorio De Sicas neo-realist masterpiece remains all too relevant. Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani) is offered a desperately-needed job  but it requires a bicycle, and when his is stolen he and his son resort to desperate measures to get it back. Shot with non-professional actors who lived in circumstances close to that of their characters, this is a study in compassion and empathy. HO Rex Features Films to watch before you die Farewell My Concubine (1993) Spanning five decades of Chinese history, this sprawling epic follows two stars of the Peking Opera from harsh childhood training through the perils of the Second World War, the Communist takeover and the Cultural Revolution. Director Chen Keige drew on his own experience of the Cultural Revolution to shape this groundbreaking, tormented romance both between Zhang Fengyis Ziaolou and Leslie Chengs Dieyi, and between Ziaolou and his former prostitute wife Juxian (Gong Li). HO Miramax Films Films to watch before you die Tokyo Story (1953) Pauline Kael thought that the basic appeal of movies was the kiss kiss bang bang of action and romance, but Yasujiro Ozu demonstrates that film is capable of much more in this quiet family drama. Its a simple story about two elderly parents visiting their adult children, only to find that the younger generation is busy with other things. But its also a meditation on the passing of time, and on grief, and on the constant push towards the new that will break your heart every time you watch it. HO Rex Features Films to watch before you die Double Indemnity (1944) If we have learned anything from film noir, it is that murder pacts never work out well for both parties. Thats certainly the lesson when Fred MacMurrays infatuated salesman offers life insurance to Barbara Stanwycks femme fatale Phyllis against her unloved husband. The scheme gives way to a riveting stew of suspicion and paranoia, with Stanwycks ruthless determination warping MacMurrays Neff out of all recognition as director Billy Wilder tightens the screws. HO Rex Features Films to watch before you die Days of Heaven (1978) Terrence Malicks second, and for many, greatest film is a mesmerisingly gorgeous love triangle set in the Texas Panhandle in 1916, loosely based on an Old Testament parable. Richard Gere and Brooke Adams are the lovers who pose as brother and sister to fool a rich, dying farmer (Sam Shepard). Nestor Almendross astounding magic-hour photography rightly won an Oscar, and Linda Manz supplies heartbreaking, plainspoken narration as Geres younger sister. PS Paramount Pictures Films to watch before you die Citizen Kane (1941) The problem with calling something the greatest film ever made is that it begins to sound like homework. Forget that: beyond all the technical dazzle and ground-breaking filmmaking Orson Welless masterpiece has red blood in its veins and a huge beating heart. Whats more, its portrait of a thrusting, occasionally demagogic tycoon and the hollowness at the heart of his success remains as relevant as it ever was, and the suggestion that America might be susceptible to media manipulation all too believable. HO Films to watch before you die Les Enfants du Paradis (1945) Marcel Carne's immortal saga about a 19th-century Parisian theatre company  often called the French Gone with the Wind  has a swooning romanticism but majors in heartbreak, too. Among this ensemble, brilliantly played by some of the best Gallic actors of their day, hopes rise and are shattered, and jealousy mounts among all the acolytes of a courtesan called Garance. It looks back to mime and stagecraft as essential components in the prehistory of cinema, while also being great cinema. Rex Features Films to watch before you die Rear Window (1954) Whether you see it as Alfred Hitchcocks celebration of voyeurism or simply one of the most nail-biting thrillers ever made, its a superb example of the Master of Suspense at work. James Stewarts photographer, laid up with a broken leg, becomes obsessed with the lives of his neighbours and suspects one of murder. The unusually vulnerable hero  as in Vertigo  increases the stakes and ensures that simple brawn wont save the day, while Hitchcock ratchets up the tension unbearably by putting Grace Kellys plucky girlfriend in the lions mouth. HO Films to watch before you die It Happened One Night (1934) Claudette Colbert's eloping heiress and Clark Gable's hack on his uppers warily team up on a Greyhound bus, only to aggravatingly fall for each other. Frank Capra's evergreen romcom all but invented the love-hate formula that's one model for silver screen chemistry, hoicking up Colbert's skirt to flash a leg when they need to hitch-hike, and dismantling Gable's smarmy defences. The biggest hit of its day for a reason, it was also the first ever film to win the big five at the Oscars. PS Films to watch before you die Hoop Dreams (1994) The trials of young black basketball hopefuls in Chicago tell us volumes, from their upbringing to all-or-nothing career rimshots, about the opportunities otherwise denied them. For these portraits of inner-city poverty, gliding between frustration and triumph, Steve Jamess epic of ghetto realities has been influential on every sports doc that has come in its wake. The Academys documentary branch will never quite live down failing to nominate it. PS Kartemquin Films Films to watch before you die The Apartment (1960) This blistering Billy Wilder and IAL Diamond script is a demonstration of just how dark a love story can be get without tipping entirely into bitterness, a standing rebuke to every lazy, schmaltzy comedy going. While the entire cast is stellar and Shirley MacLaine was never better, its worth ignoring them all and just watching Jack Lemmons meek office worker CC Baxter. Every gesture and glance is flawless; he carries entire scenes without a word. HO Rex Films to watch before you die Paris, Texas (1984) In Wim Wenders's Palme d'Or winning trek through America's byways, Harry Dean Stanton plays a wreck of a man who's gone missing, found wandering silently through the Texan wilderness. He travels hundreds of miles to reconcile with his ex (Nastassja Kinski), whom he finds, oblivious to who he is, on the other side of a Houston peepshow window. Culminating unforgettably with this long-take tete-a-tete, it's a shattering quest for redemption, eerily scored by Ry Cooder. Films to watch before you die Before Midnight (2013) Celine (Julie Delpy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke) have settled down since the two earlier films in Richard Linklaters essential trilogy, Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004), but the problems in their lives  self-inflicted by now  only keep proliferating. Trenchantly pushing them into full-on battle-of-the-sexes territory, the film squares them off for a bitterly adult dissection of a long-term relationship, asking stark questions about love, compromise and lasting the course. PS Films to watch before you die Le Mepris (1963) Other Jean-Luc Godard films are punchier, ruder, more experimental. But this is his most lavish, measured, and sad: an elegiac fantasy of filmmaking, as a loose adaptation of the Odyssey grinds to a halt on Capri, with Jack Palance as the brash American producer trying to sell art by the yard. Meanwhile, the screenwriter (Michel Piccoli) and his beautiful, bored wife (Brigitte Bardot) tussle and reconcile in an incessant, pained ballet. PS Films to watch before you die Casablanca (1942) Some films strain under the weight of greatness; Casablancas quality bubbles through. Against the backdrop of the Second World War, two former lovers reunite though everything in the world is pulling them apart. Bogarts Rick hides a huge heart under a thin veneer of cynicism; opposite him Ingrid Bergmans luminous Ilsa would melt an iceberg. Packed with quotable lines and brimming over with impeccable cool, here we are, still lookin' at you, kid. HO Films to watch before you die A Trip to the Moon (1902) Georges Melies pioneered many of the visual and special effects techniques that have formed the backbone of fantastical filmmaking ever since, and he pushed them all to their limits in this turn-of-the-century tale of a rocket trip to the moon to meet the strange creatures who live upon it. Witty touches and a real sense of story mean that this is still entertaining more than a century later, and if the effects are less awe-inspiring now, theyre still beautifully designed and executed. HO Rex Features Films to watch before you die His Girl Friday (1940) A screwball comedy of substance, Howard Hawks's remake of The Front Page is an objectively odd mix of high stakes and high comedy. Yet it works because the machine-gun dialogue is so quick that there's never a moment to question whats happening (the great screenwriter Ben Hecht, who co-wrote the original Broadway play, worked on it uncredited). Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell, as the warring editor and star-reporter trying to work together long enough to land the story of the year, remain the standard by which all on-screen chemistry should be judged. HO Films to watch before you die The Conversation (1974) Francis Ford Coppola slipped this paranoid masterpiece in between the first two Godfathers, though it was left to his wizardly editor Walter Murch to resolve the plot in post-production. Gene Hackman, never better, plays Harry Caul, a loner surveillance expert called upon to pry into a situation he doesn't fully understand, and winding up dangerously complicit in murderous malfeasance. No other film managed to foreshadow Watergate quite so uncannily. Paramount Pictures Films to watch before you die Blow Out (1981) John Travolta's Z-movie sound man, out recording one night, accidentally tapes what turns out to be a political assassination. Brian De Palma hit peak ingenuity and gut-punch profundity with this stunning conspiracy thriller, mounted with a showman's elan but also harrowing emotional voltage from its star. Its one of the most delirious thrillers of the 1980s, with a bitterly ironic pay-off thats played for keeps. PS Filmways Pictures Films to watch before you die City of God (2002) Theres a deep contradiction at the heart of this acid-bright portrait of the violence in Rios favelas. On one hand these child hustlers and teen gangsters have an intense lust for life, an exuberance displayed in dance and play and love; on the other, they value life cheaply and take it without a qualm. Director Fernando Meirelles and co-director Katia Lund cast a talented band of local kids to give it authenticity and then punctuated their story with Scorsese-esque violence that still shocks. HO Films to watch before you die Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) The diverging romantic fortunes of Hannah (Mia Farrow), Lee (Barbara Hershey) and Holly (Dianne Wiest, who won an Oscar, as did Michael Caine) provide an ideal structure for Woody Allen to check in on a midway state of adulthood, when there's already a sense of disappointment about squandered promise, but still much to play for. It hits the miraculous sweet spot between all Allens modes and tones. PS Moviestore/Rex Films to watch before you die Raising Arizona (1987) The Coen Brothers had already established a ghoulish signature style with Blood Simple, but here they showed us how funny they could be, in a zig-zagging kidnap farce which manages the difficult feat of being both zany and adorable. Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter are the unlikely couple whose abduction of a spare newborn quintuplet, Nathan Jr, causes all hell to break loose. PS 20th Century Fox Films to watch before you die Cache (2005) This looks and acts like a thriller, but in reality Michael Hanekes exploration of colonialism, guilt, paranoia and privacy cares more about subtext than about scares or mystery. A well-to-do Parisian family are tormented by the arrival of surveillance tapes of their lives, but its not clear who could be sending them or why, leading patriarch Georges (Daniel Auteuil, never better) to confront his own past sins. As a subversion of genre and viewer expectation, there are few to match it. HO Rex Films to watch before you die The General (1926) Orson Welles suggested that Buster Keatons silent Civil War comedy might be the greatest film ever made, and who are we to argue? Keatons Johnny Gray is a key figure on the railroads of the Confederacy, but he and his engine, The General, must go above and beyond to defeat a Union spy. Ignore the dodgy politics and focus on the sublime physical comedy of Keatons beautifully composed routines. Youll come out wondering if movies even need sound. HO Rex Films to watch before you die The Babadook (2014) The Babadook is a black, hunched pop-up book monster who raps on your door three times before paying a visit. And you cant get rid of him. Widowed mum Amelia (brilliant Essie Davis) cant remember reading his book to her emotionally disturbed misfit of a son (Noah Wiseman) before. Jennifer Kents thoughtful Australian chamber shocker, a feast of inventive design, claws its way into you and leaves scratch marks. PS Films to watch before you die When Harry Met Sally (1989) Is it impossible for men and women to be purely platonic? It is according to Harry, in this beautiful, brainy comedy about two neurotic New Yorkers who become friends and then more. Directed by Rob Reiner and written by wonderful Nora Ephron, it's a paean of sorts to Woody Allen's early films, with razor-sharp observations about sex and dating ("I'll have what she's having"). It's still the pinnacle of both Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan's careers. Columbia Pictures Films to watch before you die Inside Out (2015) Toy Story revolutionised animation; Up and Wall-E vie for the best opening of any film this century, but for sheer audacity Pete Docters head-trip must prevail. As a little girl struggles to adapt following a family move across country, her emotions go on a madcap adventure through the mind itself. Whats dazzling here is that two completely separate films unfold at once. Kids watch brightly coloured sprites on a quest; adults watch a psychologically dense depiction of how we think and feel. Its wonderful. Getty Films to watch before you die True Romance (1993) Disinterred from a script Tarantino wrote in the mid-Eighties called The Open Road  the same screenplay that also spawned Natural Born Killers  Tony Scott's True Romance is a pulpy, hyperviolent twist on a damsel-in-distress fairytale, with a plinky-plonky score that is based on Badlands. Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette are the lovers on the lam, chased by Christopher Walken's suave mafioso. Bombastic, brash  and totally brilliant. Rex

Its a relief that the screenplay (co-written by van Groeningen and Luke Davies) doesnt reach for the usual cod psychological explanations for Nics addiction. David may be divorced but that isnt the reason his son had started injecting. There is no record of abuse of trauma in Nics childhood. The flashbacks show him as a doe-eyed and adorable child, basking in his fathers affection. At first, he takes the drugs seemingly simply because he enjoys the euphoria they induce in him. As he puts it, they take the edge off stupid everyday reality.

Sheff uses his investigative journalistic skills to try to make sense of his sons condition. He studies the science of addiction and consults all the experts he can find. He thinks that kindness, patience and hard work can solve the problem. As played by Carell, he is rational in the extreme but still seems delusional. Why, Nic, why? he asks but there is no ready answer. He cant live his sons life for him.

One aspect of Beautiful Boy that occasionally rankles is the cosy affluence of David Sheffs world. His home in the woods looks like something out of a Sunday supplement. He is based in California but always had the time and money to drive or fly across the country whenever Nic needs bailing out. Van Groeningens focus is so fiercely on the father and son that relatively little attention is paid to Nics mother and step-mother, who are little more than ciphers.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

In his first English-language film, the Flemish director is working with his regular collaborators, cinematographer Ruben Impens and editor Nico Leunen. He may have Pitt as producer and major stars in his cast but Beautiful Boy takes the same unrelentingly intense approach to character as his earlier Belgian films like the Oscar-nominated The Broken Circle Breakdown and The Misfortunates (released in France with the wonderful title, La Merditude des choses). It also has a lyricism, raw emotion and a sense of mystery that you simply wont find in any other movie about drug abuse recovery plans.

Beautiful Boy has a gala premiere at the London Film Festival this weekend. Its UK release is on Friday 19 JanuaryBritains brown hares could be wiped out after a deadly infection spread from rabbits threatens this already vulnerable species, experts have warned.

Over the past month, scientists have been inundated with reports of dead or dying hares, particularly in the east of England, prompting them to launch an investigation.

Early examinations suggest the animals are victims of myxomatosis, a virus introduced to the UK in the 1950s to control rabbits, which killed 99 per cent of the population.

University of East Anglia experts issued an appeal with local wildlife trusts last week to get to the bottom of the cause of the mysterious deaths.

The death of any animal is obviously distressing but were asking people to try and photograph these hares to help us understand what is happening, said university biologist Dr Diana Bell.

Getting good images of the bodies of these hares, along with their exact location, is crucial for us to rule out or identify possible diseases.

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

Since issuing their public plea, the team has received an overwhelming number of responses and have concluded that myxomatosis is the likely cause.

Dr Bell told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that the disease has the potential to wipe out the hare population, and that the hundreds of cases she was aware of were likely the tip of the iceberg.

From the photographs that have been sent in to me weve definitely got a jump of myxomatosis to hares, she said.

East Anglia is considered a vital location for the brown hare, which has declined by more than 80 per cent across the country over the past century and has nearly vanished entirely from the southwest.

Recommended At least fifth of British mammal species could be gone in a decade

Intensification of agriculture and hunting have both been implicated in the decline of this iconic mammal, which now numbers around 700,000 across the country.

Myxomatosis, which is spread via bloodsucking insects, has been recorded in these animals only on rare occasions, and the experts are concerned about the additional pressure it will place on remaining hares.

The reports of hare deaths are obviously of great concern, especially considering the importance of the populations in this region, said Ben McFarland, head of conservation at Suffolk Wildlife Trust.

While they continue to monitor hare populations, the experts urged the public to continue sending their images of sick or dead hares to Dr Bell.

 Chris Packham explains why The People's Walk for Wildlife is important

British mammals in general are thought to be facing unprecedented losses, with many popular species such as hedgehogs and water voles declining by up to two-thirds over the past two decades.

Populations of brown hares alpine cousins, mountain hares, have plummeted by 99 per cent in parts of the Scottish Highlands since the 1950s.

These trends are part of a general trend identified by conservationists as land change, pesticide use and climate change have pushed around 15 per cent of UK wildlife to the verge of extinction.Perched on a cliff above Greenlands Helheim glacier, I try calling my wife in New York on a satellite phone. Before I can leave a message, an explosion breaks the Arctic silence.

More explosions follow.

I run across a muddy tundra to a video camera on a tripod overlooking the glacier and rip off the trash bag Ive been using to protect it. I hit record as fast as I can focus.

Recommended Arctic expert discovers methane fuelled lake in Alaska

The popping sounds morph into a low rumble. Over the next half hour, the ice breaks apart and a four-mile-wide chunk tumbles into the sea in a process called calving  one rarely witnessed on this scale.

As a Reuters photographer, I have captured erupting volcanoes, the aftermath of hurricanes and tornadoes, and war, but I have never felt so small. It was a poignant end to a months-long project examining climate change in Greenland.

The idea was to follow scientists conducting climate research. They have had the computational power to understand global warming for only a few decades, and the numbers are sobering. But where does the data come from?

To find out, we turned to a team of scientists flying out of Iceland affiliated with a Nasa project named Oceans Melting Greenland. They aim to understand how warming oceans are melting the islands ice from below.

We also spent time with New York University oceanographer David Holland, who was there on a separate research project and also witnessed the Helheim glacier calving.

Glacier collapse shows climate impact Show all 20 1 /20 Glacier collapse shows climate impact Glacier collapse shows climate impact An iceberg floats in a fjord near the town of Tasiilaq Reuters Glacier collapse shows climate impact Meltwater pools on top of the Helheim glacier near Tasiilaq Reuters Glacier collapse shows climate impact Safety officer Brian Rougeux works with student Febin Magar to assemble a radar dome while working in a science camp on the side of the Helheim glacier Reuters Glacier collapse shows climate impact Airplane Mechanic, David Fuller, left, works with a local worker to move a Nasa Gulfstream III during a pre-flight inspection before a flight to support the Oceans Melting Greenland research mission Reuters Glacier collapse shows climate impact Meltwater pools on top of the Helheim glacier Reuters Glacier collapse shows climate impact Earth Science Flight Programs Director at Nasa, Eric Ianson, looks out at the Greenland ice sheet Reuters Glacier collapse shows climate impact Glacial ice is seen from the window during the Nasa flight Reuters Glacier collapse shows climate impact Oceanographer David Holland's science camp on the side of the Helheim glacier Reuters Glacier collapse shows climate impact An iceberg floats in a fjord near the town of Tasiilaq Reuters Glacier collapse shows climate impact A large crevasse forms near the calving front of the Helheim glacier Reuters Glacier collapse shows climate impact Safety officer Brian Rougeux uses a drill to install antennas for scientific instruments that will be left on top of the Helheim glacier Reuters Glacier collapse shows climate impact Tabular icebergs float in the Sermilik Fjord after a large calving event at the Helheim glacier Reuters Glacier collapse shows climate impact Radar Engineer, Ron Muellerschoen, monitors data collection inside a NASA Gulfstream III flying above Greenland to measure loss to the country's ice sheet Reuters Glacier collapse shows climate impact GPS tracking equipment is left on top of the Helheim glacier REUTERS Glacier collapse shows climate impact Sunshine lights up the Helheim glacier Reuters Glacier collapse shows climate impact A glacial terminus above the east coast of Greenland REUTERS Glacier collapse shows climate impact Student Febin Magar watches as leftover wood burns in a research camp Reuters Glacier collapse shows climate impact Tabular icebergs float in the Sermilik Fjord after a large calving event Reuters Glacier collapse shows climate impact Oceanographer David Holland repairs a broken GPS module at his research camp Reuters Glacier collapse shows climate impact An iceberg floats in a fjord near the town of Tasiilaq Reuters

I realise the scale of this work while aboard a Nasa research aircraft with principal investigator Joshua Willis and other scientists, at 40,000 feet (12,192 metres), looking out at the seemingly infinite white horizon of the Greenland ice cap.

The plane banks and loops above the craggy cliffs and rock faces of eastern Greenland that are slowly being ground to dust by immense glaciers.

I joined the Nasa team for a week in March in Keflavik, Iceland. Each day we took off from icy runways and flew over Greenlands coast, as scientists Tim Miller, Ron Muellerschoen, and David Austerberry collected a seemingly endless stream of numbers, symbols, and letters on their computers from radar data on glacier formations.

NYUs Holland has been studying Helheim and another glacier named Jakobshavn for more than a decade.

This June, I went along as he visited the Helheim glacier, near the seaside village of Tasiilaq, with a population of about 2,000. Remarkably, it has managed to become something of a tourist destination, an accomplishment with just two hotels, both of which sometimes serve whale meat.

Transportation here is limited to boat or helicopter in the summer and dog sled in the winter. In the summer, the sun sets for only a couple of hours each day.

Holland is gathering data on seismic activity, temperature and wind, along with timelapse pictures.

For both journalists and scientists, climate change is difficult to document. It most often happens imperceptibly  a tenth of a degree increase in temperature, a few less inches of rain, a slowly melting ice sheet.

Thats why it was so overwhelming to watch billions of tons of ice collapse at all once. Suddenly it didnt feel like a small or distant problem.

ReutersWhen Theresa May called a surprise election last year Labour rushed out a manifesto which proved remarkably popular. There was, however, a hole at its heart. Plans to renationalise the rail, water and parts of the energy industry had a backward-looking feel, and Labour had nothing to say about the new oligopolies such as Facebook, Google, Amazon and Netflix.

That is one reason why Jeremy Corbyn was keen to take on the digital giants in his speech to the Edinburgh Television Festival in August, proposing that the BBC receive a digital licence fee funded by a tax on tech companies or internet service providers. The Labour leader, who said his party faces greater hostility from the mainstream media than weve probably ever had before, inevitably faced media criticism for some of his ideas  not least in respect of a proposed expansion of public service journalism, funded by tech firms, which sceptics doubted would be free from political interference.

But Corbyns proposals on the tech multinationals were well timed and reflect a changing public and political mood. In July, Facebook was fined the maximum 500,000 by the UK Information Commissioner after its data was harvested by Cambridge Analytica. Meanwhile, Vote Leave was fined 61,000 and referred to the police after the Electoral Commission ruled that it exceeded its 7m spending limit by channelling 675,000 through pro-Brexit youth group BeLeave. It must be added that it denies the claim. Close UK weather: The latest Met Office forecast

The week ahead is expected to hold a mixed bag of weather but with no significant disruption after Storm Callum faded away on Sunday.

Wales faced the worst flooding the country had seen in decades as the storm swept across the UK over the weekend.

It claimed the lives of at least three people as rivers burst their banks and entire towns were flooded.

Recommended Three dead as rain and high winds brought by Storm Callum continue

The storm eased on Sunday, with a band of rain making its way east, bringing a reversal of fortunes and cooler conditions.

Met Office forecaster Steven Keates linked the rain to a weather front wrapped around Storm Callum and remnants of Hurricane Leslie, which battered Portugal and Spain with 125mph winds.

According to the forecaster, Sunday night is generally expected to be cloudy with outbreaks of rain, some heavy at times, but temperatures are to remain in double figures.

Monday morning will be murky and there will be some rain around but it will feel warmer in the sunshine.

Most of the country will see temperatures around 14/15C, according to the Met Office, but places in the South East such as Kent could get up to 18C.

It will be murky on Monday morning. The day will start off quite cold but temperatures will recover in the sunshine, said Mr Keates.

There could be a few coastal showers and temperatures a little below freezing in some places around Scotland, but on Monday, aside from a few showers, it will be a nice day with light winds for the rest of the country.

Once Mondays rain is out of the way, this coming week will be colder compared to last week.

Storm Callum causes flooding in Wales Show all 15 1 /15 Storm Callum causes flooding in Wales Storm Callum causes flooding in Wales A stranded vehicle sits in flood water in a car park next to the A4077 at Crickhowell PA Storm Callum causes flooding in Wales People watching waves crash against the harbour wall at Porthcawl, South Wales PA Storm Callum causes flooding in Wales The River Neath rises high to the main road PA Storm Callum causes flooding in Wales A car stranded in floodwater in Tonna near Aberdulais, Neath, South Wales, where an amber weather warning is in force across the region as heavy rain is caused flooding PA Storm Callum causes flooding in Wales People check floodwater blocking the road to the Aberdulais Royal British Legion club PA Storm Callum causes flooding in Wales The Adberdulais tinworks and waterfall centre entrance is flooded PA Storm Callum causes flooding in Wales A man inspects a flooded golf driving range in Aberdulais PA Storm Callum causes flooding in Wales The River Neath bursts its banks in Aberdulais PA Storm Callum causes flooding in Wales A Land Rover drives through a flooded section of the A4077 through Crickhowell PA Storm Callum causes flooding in Wales The River Neath covered in foam from the Aberdulais waterfall PA Storm Callum causes flooding in Wales A stranded vehicle sits in flood water on the A4077 PA Storm Callum causes flooding in Wales PA Storm Callum causes flooding in Wales The River Neath rises high to the main road PA Storm Callum causes flooding in Wales PA Storm Callum causes flooding in Wales PA

There will be some rain around this coming week and it will be windy on Tuesday and Wednesday, particularly for Scotland.

There could be some fog around Tuesday morning in the South, added Mr Keates.

In general there will be a mixed bag of weather but nothing particularly disruptive.

People were urged to stay away from the town of Carmarthen, in Wales, after the River Towy burst its banks during Storm Callum.

Authorities also told members of the public to stay at home, to avoid floodwaters and to keep away from exposed or coastal areas.

Corey Thomas Sharpling died after a landslide near the village of Cwmduad in Carmarthenshire, west Wales on Saturday.

The 21-year-olds family paid tribute to him in a statement, saying: We are heartbroken at the tragic loss of our beautiful son.

Another man was killed when he was swept away by rough seas in Brighton.

Emergency services also pulled two people from a marina in Wales on Friday night during the storm but one of them, a 32-year-old man from Penarth, died shortly afterwards.

A woman who was rescued with him was released from hospital without any injuries.

Clean up operations were underway in Wales on Sunday according to Dyfed-Powys Police, although flood waters continued to disrupt travel and a number of bridges in south Wales remained closed.

See below how we covered this story liveCitizen input important to end teacher shortage A ddressing Michigans teacher shortage is an urgent challenge facing public education and many school districts in Lapeer County and...

READER FEEDBACK My son deserved the same honor Many people in Lapeer treated my son who served in Vietnam like dirt. I...

SOUND OFF Appreciated veteran Salute Thank you, County Press for your Salute to Veterans (12- page special section published in Wednesday, Nov....

Building Brands Basics One of the few positives that came out of the pandemic was that for nearly 18 months no one asked... Close Michel Barnier: Border checks in Irish Sea will increase ten-fold when Britain leaves EU

A Brexit deal has not been struck despite intense efforts in Brussels on Sunday, Michel Barnier has said.

Reports claimed a negotiator-level agreement had been reached and Dominic Raab, the UK Brexit secretary, made a snap trip to Belgium to meet with Mr Barnier.

But the EUs chief negotiator later tweeted: We met today @DominicRaab and UK negotiating team. Despite intense efforts, some key issues are still open, including the backstop for IE/NI to avoid a hard border.

Mr Barnier said he would debrief the 27 remaining EU states and the European Parliament on the state of the negotiations.

No further negotiations are planned before European leaders including Theresa May meet for a further summit in Brussels on Wednesday, according to a senior EU diplomat.

Despite constructive and intensive negotiations, several key issues remain unresolved, one senior EU diplomat said. No further negotiations are planned ahead of the European Council. The EU negotiator will brief the leaders who will then assess the progress so far.

Mr Barniers announcement immediately deflated speculation of a breakthrough in the difficult negotiations, following Mr Raabs surprise trip to Brussels and the summoning of ambassadors to a meeting at EU headquarters.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Both sides had indicated they want to sign off on a draft withdrawal agreement to set out the terms of Britains divorce from the EU.

One of the most pressing issues is the Northern Irish backstop, a mechanism to avoid a hard border.

The EUs version of the backstop, which would see just Northern Ireland remain aligned with Brussels rules, has been called unacceptable by Ms May and is loathed by her DUP allies.

Ms Mays counter-proposal is for a temporary customs arrangement for the whole of the UK, but Tory Brexiteers fear this could become an open-ended position which would prevent free trade deals with countries around the world.

Brexit casualties Show all 10 1 /10 Brexit casualties Brexit casualties Andrea Jenkyns - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary at the ministry for housing, communities and local government role May 2018 - The Morley and Outwood MP said: We want to see a new relationship with Europe, with a new model not enjoyed by other countries  nothing that leaves us half-in, half-out. And in order to achieve this, we need to leave the customs union. Ms Jenkyns also said she wished to dedicate more of her time to Parliaments influential Exiting the European Union select committee, after a series of unbalanced reports produced by MPs PA Brexit casualties David Davis - Resigned from Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union role July 2018 - quit following a major row with May over her plans for post-Brexit relations with the EU. Davis resignation letter said: As you know there have been a significant number of occasions in the last year or so on which I have disagreed with the Number 10 policy line, ranging from accepting the [European] Commissions sequencing of negotiations, through to the language on Northern Ireland in the December Joint Report. At each stage I have accepted collective responsibility because it is part of my task to find workable compromises, and because I considered it was still possible to deliver on the mandate of the referendum, and on our manifesto commitment to leave the Customs Union and the Single Market. I am afraid that I think the current trend of policy and tactics is making that look less and less likely. He went on to argue that the general direction of Ms Mays policies would leave the UK in at best a weak negotiating position, and possibly an inescapable one. AFP/Getty Brexit casualties Steve Baker - Resigned from Minister at the Department for Exiting the European Union role July 2018 - Mr Baker, a key Tory figure in the Leave campaign, was David Daviss main lieutenant at Dexeu, and was hailed as courageous and principled by other Brexiteer Tories as he also left. Reuters Brexit casualties Boris Johnson - Resigned from Foreign Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. In his resignation letter to the prime minister, Mr Johnson said: "On Friday, I acknowledged that my side of the argument were too few to prevail and congratulated you on at least reaching a Cabinet decision on the way forward. "As I said then, the government now has a song to sing. "The trouble is that I have practised the words over the weekend and find that they stick in the throat." Reuters Brexit casualties Conor Burns - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary to Foreign Secretary role July 2018 - A Brexit supporter who worked alongside Boris Johnson stated in his resignation letter: I've decided it's time to have greater freedom. I want to see the referendum result respected. And there are other areas of policy I want to speak more openly on. Rex Brexit casualties Chris Green - Resigned from Department for Transport role July 2018 - The Bolton West MP said: "Parliament overwhelmingly decided to give the decision of whether to leave or remain in the European Union to the British people and they made an unambiguous decision that we ought to leave. "I have always understood the idea in 'Brexit means Brexit' is that the final deal should be clear to me and my constituents - that we have, in no uncertain terms, left the European Union. Twitter Ads info and privacy "The direction the negotiations had been taking have suggested that we would not really leave the EU and the conclusion and statements following the Chequers summit confirmed my fears. "I recognise that delivering Brexit is challenging, however I had hoped at tonight's meeting that there would be some certainty that my fears were unfounded but, instead, they have been confirmed. "I have been grateful for the opportunity to serve as Parliamentary Private Secretary and it is with regret that I offer my resignation with immediate effect." PA Brexit casualties Maria Caulfield - Resigned from Conservative Party vice-chair for women role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. Lewes MP warned that the direction of travel did not fully embrace the opportunities that Brexit can provide. Ms Caulfield said in her letter to the PM: The policy may assuage vested interests, but the voters will find out and their representatives will be found out. This policy will be bad for our country and bad for the party. The direct consequences of that will be prime minister Corbyn. PA Brexit casualties Ben Bradley - Resigned from Conservative Party vice-chair for young people role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. The Mansfield MP said: I admit that I voted to Remain in that ballot. What has swayed me over the last two years to fully back the Brexit vision is the immense opportunities that are available from global trade, and for the ability for Britain to be an outward looking nation in control of our own destiny once again. I fear that this agreement at Chequers damages those opportunities; that being tied to EU regulations, and the EU tying our hands when seeking to make new trade agreements, will be the worst of all worlds if we do not deliver Brexit in spirit as well as in name, then we are handing Jeremy Corbyn the keys to No10. PA Brexit casualties Robert Courts - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. MP Mr Courts said: I have taken a very difficult decision to resign my position as [parliamentary private secretary] to express discontent with the Chequers [plans] in votes tomorrow. I had to think who I wanted to see in the mirror for the rest of my life. I cannot tell the people of Woxon that I support the proposals in their current form. Getty Brexit casualties Scott Mann - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. "I fear elements of the Brexit white paper will inevitably put me in direct conflict with the views expressed by a large section of my constituents. I am not prepared to compromise their wishes to deliver a watered-down Brexit. "The residents of North Cornwall made it very clear that they wish to have control over our fishery, our agricultural policy, our money, our laws and our borders. I will evaluate those principles against the Brexit white paper and ensure that I vote in line with their wishes." Rex

David Davis has told Tory MPs they should trigger a leadership contest to topple Theresa May unless she drops her Brexit plan this week.

The former Brexit secretary, who resigned over the PMs Chequers proposal in July, hopes to trigger a leadership contest if she refuses to budge before Wednesdays crunch EU summit.

Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, has also hinted she would resign if the Brexit deal gives Northern Ireland special trading terms with the EU.

The failure of the meeting between Mr Raab and Mr Barnier was described as a setback by Irelands ambassador to the UK, Adrian ONeill.

He suggested that a special EU summit in November could be used as an emergency meeting to discuss a no-deal Brexit rather than signing off any agreement.

Time is running out, there is no doubt about that, Mr ONeill told BBC Radio 4s Westminster Hour. In all member states preparation for all eventualities are ramping up quite significantly.

I think if at this weeks European Council meeting there isnt some way forward, well then I think we will probably see people could decide to avail of the opportunity for the November meeting to focus on preparations for a no-deal outcome.

But I dont think we are there yet, there is still a lot of negotiating to be done.

Mr ONeill added: I suspect on all sides there is still a deep determination to try and move forward.

Additional reporting by agencies

See below how we covered this story liveBritains Brexit minister has made a surprise trip to Brussels to hold talks with the European Unions chief Brexit negotiator.

Dominic Raab will meet with Michel Barnier later on Sunday, a spokesman for the Department for Exiting the European Union said.

With several big issues still to resolve, including the Northern Ireland backstop, it was jointly agreed that face-to-face talks were necessary ahead of this weeks October European Council, they added.

The announcement of Mr Raab and Mr Barniers talks is likely to fuel speculation that a deal may be close.

Ambassadors for the 27 member states of the EU have also been summoned to a meeting on Brexit in Brussels on Sunday, diplomatic sources told Reuters.

The meeting will involve representatives for the EUs member states excluding Britain.

Theresa May will head to Brussels on Wednesday for a summit in which both sides want to sign off on a draft withdrawal agreement to set out the terms of Britains divorce from the EU.

The issue of the Northern Irish backstop  a mechanism to avoid a hard border  is at the heart of the troubles facing Ms Mays leadership.

The EUs version of the backstop, which would see just Northern Ireland remain aligned with Brussels rules, has been called unacceptable by Ms May and is loathed by her DUP allies.

Ms Mays counter-proposal is for a temporary customs arrangement for the whole of the UK, but Tory Brexiteers fear this could become an open-ended position which would prevent free trade deals with countries around the world.

Brexit casualties Show all 10 1 /10 Brexit casualties Brexit casualties Andrea Jenkyns - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary at the ministry for housing, communities and local government role May 2018 - The Morley and Outwood MP said: We want to see a new relationship with Europe, with a new model not enjoyed by other countries  nothing that leaves us half-in, half-out. And in order to achieve this, we need to leave the customs union. Ms Jenkyns also said she wished to dedicate more of her time to Parliaments influential Exiting the European Union select committee, after a series of unbalanced reports produced by MPs PA Brexit casualties David Davis - Resigned from Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union role July 2018 - quit following a major row with May over her plans for post-Brexit relations with the EU. Davis resignation letter said: As you know there have been a significant number of occasions in the last year or so on which I have disagreed with the Number 10 policy line, ranging from accepting the [European] Commissions sequencing of negotiations, through to the language on Northern Ireland in the December Joint Report. At each stage I have accepted collective responsibility because it is part of my task to find workable compromises, and because I considered it was still possible to deliver on the mandate of the referendum, and on our manifesto commitment to leave the Customs Union and the Single Market. I am afraid that I think the current trend of policy and tactics is making that look less and less likely. He went on to argue that the general direction of Ms Mays policies would leave the UK in at best a weak negotiating position, and possibly an inescapable one. AFP/Getty Brexit casualties Steve Baker - Resigned from Minister at the Department for Exiting the European Union role July 2018 - Mr Baker, a key Tory figure in the Leave campaign, was David Daviss main lieutenant at Dexeu, and was hailed as courageous and principled by other Brexiteer Tories as he also left. Reuters Brexit casualties Boris Johnson - Resigned from Foreign Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. In his resignation letter to the prime minister, Mr Johnson said: "On Friday, I acknowledged that my side of the argument were too few to prevail and congratulated you on at least reaching a Cabinet decision on the way forward. "As I said then, the government now has a song to sing. "The trouble is that I have practised the words over the weekend and find that they stick in the throat." Reuters Brexit casualties Conor Burns - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary to Foreign Secretary role July 2018 - A Brexit supporter who worked alongside Boris Johnson stated in his resignation letter: I've decided it's time to have greater freedom. I want to see the referendum result respected. And there are other areas of policy I want to speak more openly on. Rex Brexit casualties Chris Green - Resigned from Department for Transport role July 2018 - The Bolton West MP said: "Parliament overwhelmingly decided to give the decision of whether to leave or remain in the European Union to the British people and they made an unambiguous decision that we ought to leave. "I have always understood the idea in 'Brexit means Brexit' is that the final deal should be clear to me and my constituents - that we have, in no uncertain terms, left the European Union. Twitter Ads info and privacy "The direction the negotiations had been taking have suggested that we would not really leave the EU and the conclusion and statements following the Chequers summit confirmed my fears. "I recognise that delivering Brexit is challenging, however I had hoped at tonight's meeting that there would be some certainty that my fears were unfounded but, instead, they have been confirmed. "I have been grateful for the opportunity to serve as Parliamentary Private Secretary and it is with regret that I offer my resignation with immediate effect." PA Brexit casualties Maria Caulfield - Resigned from Conservative Party vice-chair for women role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. Lewes MP warned that the direction of travel did not fully embrace the opportunities that Brexit can provide. Ms Caulfield said in her letter to the PM: The policy may assuage vested interests, but the voters will find out and their representatives will be found out. This policy will be bad for our country and bad for the party. The direct consequences of that will be prime minister Corbyn. PA Brexit casualties Ben Bradley - Resigned from Conservative Party vice-chair for young people role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. The Mansfield MP said: I admit that I voted to Remain in that ballot. What has swayed me over the last two years to fully back the Brexit vision is the immense opportunities that are available from global trade, and for the ability for Britain to be an outward looking nation in control of our own destiny once again. I fear that this agreement at Chequers damages those opportunities; that being tied to EU regulations, and the EU tying our hands when seeking to make new trade agreements, will be the worst of all worlds if we do not deliver Brexit in spirit as well as in name, then we are handing Jeremy Corbyn the keys to No10. PA Brexit casualties Robert Courts - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. MP Mr Courts said: I have taken a very difficult decision to resign my position as [parliamentary private secretary] to express discontent with the Chequers [plans] in votes tomorrow. I had to think who I wanted to see in the mirror for the rest of my life. I cannot tell the people of Woxon that I support the proposals in their current form. Getty Brexit casualties Scott Mann - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. "I fear elements of the Brexit white paper will inevitably put me in direct conflict with the views expressed by a large section of my constituents. I am not prepared to compromise their wishes to deliver a watered-down Brexit. "The residents of North Cornwall made it very clear that they wish to have control over our fishery, our agricultural policy, our money, our laws and our borders. I will evaluate those principles against the Brexit white paper and ensure that I vote in line with their wishes." Rex

It comes after the former Brexit secretary, David Davis, urged a Cabinet revolt against the prime ministers Brexit strategy.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, sought to play down speculation that some of his colleagues might quit over the Brexit plans, but was unable to say whether a fixed deadline for any customs arrangement would be written into a deal with Brussels.

The Conservative MP told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show: There are different ways that you can make sure that something is credibly time limited and thats what I want to see.

The Tory partys vice chairman, James Cleverly, told Sky News Sophy Ridge on Sunday that Cabinet ministers should use their position to influence Brexit policy rather than resign.

They should use that position to put their ideas forward, I would suggest thats a much more constructive and helpful way of influencing the direction of the negotiations with the EU, he said.

Ms Mays Brexit plan has also been questioned by some opposition Labour Party MPs, further dimming the prime ministers hopes of winning parliamentary backing for any Brexit deal she reaches with EU officials.Ruth Davidson has deepened Theresa Mays troubles by hinting she will resign if the Brexit deal gives Northern Ireland special trading terms with the EU.

The Scottish Tory leader said she could not support such an agreement, in a joint letter also signed by David Mundell, the Scottish secretary.

Having fought just four years ago to keep our country together, the integrity of our United Kingdom remains the single most important issue for us in these negotiations, the pair wrote.

The letter, obtained by The Scotsman, provides evidence to back up reports that both Ms Davidson and Ms Mundell are prepared to resign if the prime minister refuses to back down.

It was revealed as Dominic Raab, the Brexit secretary, headed to Brussels to try to break the deadlock in the talks, with just three days until a crunch summit of EU leaders.

Under Ms Mays plan  also opposed by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)  Northern Ireland would effectively stay in the EU single market as part of the backstop to avoid a hard Irish border.

The Tories in Scotland are under pressure because the SNP has already questioned why such an arrangement is not being offered to Scotland as well.

Ms Davidson and Mr Mundell will fear it will bolster the case for independence north of the border, if the backstop creates distinct single market terms for Northern Ireland only.

The letter says: Any deal that delivers a differentiated settlement for Northern Ireland beyond the differences that already exist on all Ireland basis (eg agriculture), or can be brought under the provisions of the Belfast Agreement, would undermine the integrity of our UK internal market and this United Kingdom.

Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Show all 14 1 /14 Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Internal divisions in the Conservative Party have exploded into a bitter public row over Boris Johnsons disgusting criticism of Theresa May. Some senior Tories furiously denounced the former foreign secretary after he accused the prime minister of having wrapped a suicide vest around Britain Reuters Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Sajid Javid, Home secretary Sajid Javid, the home secretary, rebuked his former cabinet colleague and said: I think there are much better ways to articulate your differences. He told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show that the public wanted politicians to use measured language BBC/PA Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide But other MPs leapt to Mr Johnsons defence, as dividing lines ahead of a possible leadership contest begin to take shape. The Uxbridge MP has repeatedly criticised Ms Mays Chequers plan and used a newspaper article on Sunday to suggest it amounted to wrapping a suicide vest around the British constitution. His latest salvo at the prime minister prompted immediate condemnation, with one minister publicly vowing to end Mr Johnsons career over the matter PA Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Alan Duncan, Foreign minister Alan Duncan, a foreign minister who worked in Mr Johnsons team for two years, wrote on Twitter: For Boris to say the PMs view is like that of a suicide bomber is too much. This marks one of the most disgusting moments in modern British politics. Im sorry, but this is the political end of Boris Johnson. If it isnt now, I will make sure it is later. Getty Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide James Brokenshire, Housing secretary Housing secretary James Brokenshire added his voice to the criticism, calling Mr Johnsons comments wrong He said: I think he is wrong on this...I think the tone that he has used isnt right and I think that we just need to be very focused on actually moving forward with the Chequers plan. AFP/Getty Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Zac Goldsmith But as Tory hostilities spilled over into open public warfare, Richmond Park MP Zac Goldsmith, an ally of Mr Johnson, hit back at Mr Duncan. He wrote: There are a number of possible motives behind this tweet, but given its author, we can be certain principles arent one of them. Getty Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Jacob Rees-Mogg Senior Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg told The Independent he thought Mr Johnsons suicide belt accusation was little more than a characteristically colourful catchphrase. He added: I agree with the sentiment. The criticism of Boriss wording merely serves to highlight his point. It means more people hear of Boriss criticism of Chequers and many will agree with him. Reuters Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Nadine Dorries Nadine Dorries, another Brexit supporter, said Mr Johnsons opponents were terrified of his popular appeal, adding: Dont underestimate the vitriol thatll be directed towards Boris today. He delivered the Leave vote, Remainers and wannabe future PMs hate him. If Mr Johnson became leader and prime minister he would deliver a clean and prosperous Brexit, she said Rex Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Andrew Bridgen Andrew Bridgen said Ms May was to blame for her leadership problems. Asked if Mr Johnson had put a bomb under her leadership, Mr Bridgen said: I think that Theresa May did that herself when she put forward the Chequers proposals without consulting widely prior to that. Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Steve Baker, former Brexit minister Steve Baker, the former Brexit minister, warned Ms May the Conservatives faced a "catastrophic split" if she did not jettison her Chequers plan. Mr Baker, who quit the government in July over the scheme, said: When negotiating, the prime minister needs to demonstrate her intent and also her power to deliver. "If we come out of conference with her hoping to get Chequers through on the back of Labour votes, I think the EU negotiators would probably understand that if that were done, the Tory party would suffer the catastrophic split which thus far we have managed to avoid. But he insisted he did not want a change in the Conservative leadership, saying Brexiteers did not want to be in a position of conflict with our own prime minister Reuters Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Tom Tugendhat The deep divisions on the Tory benches were laid bare as Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the Commons foreign affairs committee and is a possible leadership rival to Mr Johnson, also hit out at the former foreign secretary. Recalling how he encountered a suicide bomber in Afghanistan during his time in the army, Mr Tugendhat told Mr Johnson to grow up. He said: A suicide bomber murdered many in the courtyard of my office in Helmand. The carnage was disgusting, limbs and flesh hanging from trees and bushes. Brave men who stopped him killing me and others died in horrific pain. Some need to grow up. Comparing the PM to that isnt happy. PA Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Alistair Burt Alistair Burt, another Foreign Office minister who worked in Mr Johnsons team, said: Im stunned at the nature of this attack. There is no justification for such an outrageous, inappropriate and hurtful analogy. If we dont stop his extraordinary use of language over Brexit, our country might never heal. Again, I say, enough. AFP/Getty Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide It comes amid that Ms Mays former aides drew up a dossier on Mr Johnsons sexual encounters with the aim of undermining his leadership prospects. The document was compiled in 2016, when the Uxbridge and South Ruislip MP was seen as the main rival to Ms May in her bid to enter No 10. Downing Street and Conservative Campaign Headquaters (CCHQ) both denied having leaked the 4,000 word memo after it was circulated around Westminster AFP/Getty Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Mr Johnson confirmed that his 25-year marriage to wife Marina had ended AP

And it adds: We could not support any deal that creates a border of any kind in the Irish Sea and undermines the union or leads to Northern Ireland having a different relationship with the EU than the rest of the UK, beyond what currently exists.

The resignation of the popular Ms Davidson  who has led a Tory revival in Scotland and successfully softened the partys image  would be a huge blow to the prime minister.

The threat emphasises how Ms May now faces cabinet opposition to her backstop plan for two separate reasons, ahead of a showdown on Tuesday.

The rest of the nine ministers challenging it fear the entire UK will be locked into the EUs customs union for many years to come, unless the backstop has a legal end date.

The Independent revealed on Friday that Andrea Leadsom, the Commons leader, is prepared to resign if Ms May compromises further.

Esther McVey, the work and pensions secretary, Penny Mordaunt, the international development secretary, and Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, are also on resignation watch.

On Friday Dominic Raab, the Brexit secretary, insisted the backstop  the key hurdle to a withdrawal agreement  must have an end date or it would be rejected by parliament.

But Mr Mundells and Ms Davidsons opposition is to the linked proposal for Northern Ireland to retain EU regulations on goods and agriculture, with checks on flows across the Irish Sea.Theresa May will not insist on an end date for the UK staying in the EU customs territory, a cabinet minister has admitted  raising the risk of resignations within days.

Instead, looser conditions could be set to try to convince pro-Brexit Tories that the country will not be locked into a union for many years to come, Matt Hancock said.

The health secretary also insisted he saw absolutely no reason why Tuesdays crunch cabinet meeting would spark walkouts over the plan  but admitted he could not rule that out.

Up to nine cabinet ministers are believed to oppose the prime ministers backstop proposals, to avoid a hard border in Ireland, unless they include a set date for the UKs escape.

Without that legal guarantee, it would leave the EU to decide whether as-yet-unproven technology has produced an alternative solution  and the UK unable to sign its own trade deals indefinitely, they fear.

Asked whether there would be an end date, Mr Hancock said only: The proposal is that it will be temporary and time-limited.

Pressed a second time, on the BBCs Andrew Marr Show, he replied: There are different ways to ensure that something is time-limited. For instance, you can set conditions under which  at the point at which  the arrangements come to an end.

He added: There are different ways that you can make sure that something is credibly time-limited.

The government is believed to be pushing for a review clause that could bring an end to the backstop, but its legal strength is unclear and the EU could reject the idea outright.

Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Show all 14 1 /14 Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Internal divisions in the Conservative Party have exploded into a bitter public row over Boris Johnsons disgusting criticism of Theresa May. Some senior Tories furiously denounced the former foreign secretary after he accused the prime minister of having wrapped a suicide vest around Britain Reuters Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Sajid Javid, Home secretary Sajid Javid, the home secretary, rebuked his former cabinet colleague and said: I think there are much better ways to articulate your differences. He told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show that the public wanted politicians to use measured language BBC/PA Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide But other MPs leapt to Mr Johnsons defence, as dividing lines ahead of a possible leadership contest begin to take shape. The Uxbridge MP has repeatedly criticised Ms Mays Chequers plan and used a newspaper article on Sunday to suggest it amounted to wrapping a suicide vest around the British constitution. His latest salvo at the prime minister prompted immediate condemnation, with one minister publicly vowing to end Mr Johnsons career over the matter PA Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Alan Duncan, Foreign minister Alan Duncan, a foreign minister who worked in Mr Johnsons team for two years, wrote on Twitter: For Boris to say the PMs view is like that of a suicide bomber is too much. This marks one of the most disgusting moments in modern British politics. Im sorry, but this is the political end of Boris Johnson. If it isnt now, I will make sure it is later. Getty Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide James Brokenshire, Housing secretary Housing secretary James Brokenshire added his voice to the criticism, calling Mr Johnsons comments wrong He said: I think he is wrong on this...I think the tone that he has used isnt right and I think that we just need to be very focused on actually moving forward with the Chequers plan. AFP/Getty Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Zac Goldsmith But as Tory hostilities spilled over into open public warfare, Richmond Park MP Zac Goldsmith, an ally of Mr Johnson, hit back at Mr Duncan. He wrote: There are a number of possible motives behind this tweet, but given its author, we can be certain principles arent one of them. Getty Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Jacob Rees-Mogg Senior Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg told The Independent he thought Mr Johnsons suicide belt accusation was little more than a characteristically colourful catchphrase. He added: I agree with the sentiment. The criticism of Boriss wording merely serves to highlight his point. It means more people hear of Boriss criticism of Chequers and many will agree with him. Reuters Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Nadine Dorries Nadine Dorries, another Brexit supporter, said Mr Johnsons opponents were terrified of his popular appeal, adding: Dont underestimate the vitriol thatll be directed towards Boris today. He delivered the Leave vote, Remainers and wannabe future PMs hate him. If Mr Johnson became leader and prime minister he would deliver a clean and prosperous Brexit, she said Rex Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Andrew Bridgen Andrew Bridgen said Ms May was to blame for her leadership problems. Asked if Mr Johnson had put a bomb under her leadership, Mr Bridgen said: I think that Theresa May did that herself when she put forward the Chequers proposals without consulting widely prior to that. Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Steve Baker, former Brexit minister Steve Baker, the former Brexit minister, warned Ms May the Conservatives faced a "catastrophic split" if she did not jettison her Chequers plan. Mr Baker, who quit the government in July over the scheme, said: When negotiating, the prime minister needs to demonstrate her intent and also her power to deliver. "If we come out of conference with her hoping to get Chequers through on the back of Labour votes, I think the EU negotiators would probably understand that if that were done, the Tory party would suffer the catastrophic split which thus far we have managed to avoid. But he insisted he did not want a change in the Conservative leadership, saying Brexiteers did not want to be in a position of conflict with our own prime minister Reuters Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Tom Tugendhat The deep divisions on the Tory benches were laid bare as Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the Commons foreign affairs committee and is a possible leadership rival to Mr Johnson, also hit out at the former foreign secretary. Recalling how he encountered a suicide bomber in Afghanistan during his time in the army, Mr Tugendhat told Mr Johnson to grow up. He said: A suicide bomber murdered many in the courtyard of my office in Helmand. The carnage was disgusting, limbs and flesh hanging from trees and bushes. Brave men who stopped him killing me and others died in horrific pain. Some need to grow up. Comparing the PM to that isnt happy. PA Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Alistair Burt Alistair Burt, another Foreign Office minister who worked in Mr Johnsons team, said: Im stunned at the nature of this attack. There is no justification for such an outrageous, inappropriate and hurtful analogy. If we dont stop his extraordinary use of language over Brexit, our country might never heal. Again, I say, enough. AFP/Getty Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide It comes amid that Ms Mays former aides drew up a dossier on Mr Johnsons sexual encounters with the aim of undermining his leadership prospects. The document was compiled in 2016, when the Uxbridge and South Ruislip MP was seen as the main rival to Ms May in her bid to enter No 10. Downing Street and Conservative Campaign Headquaters (CCHQ) both denied having leaked the 4,000 word memo after it was circulated around Westminster AFP/Getty Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Mr Johnson confirmed that his 25-year marriage to wife Marina had ended AP

Negotiations are continuing in Brussels in the hope of reaching a deal that Ms May can take to the cabinet on Tuesday  and to EU leaders in Brussels the following day.

The Independent revealed on Friday that Andrea Leadsom, the Commons leader, is prepared to resign if Ms May compromises further.

Esther McVey, the work and pensions secretary, Penny Mordaunt, the international development secretary, and Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, are also on resignation watch.

Also on Friday, Dominic Raab, the Brexit secretary, insisted the backstop  the key hurdle to a withdrawal agreement  must have an end date or it would be rejected by parliament.

Earlier, former Brexit secretary David Davis said the plan was completely unacceptable and urged cabinet ministers to rise up to exert their collective authority.

Labour MPs have told The Independent that up to 15 of their colleagues are prepared to defy Jeremy Corbyn and vote for the prime ministers deal, if it is reasonable.

But Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, condemned the idea of a ridiculous binary choice between Ms Mays agreement and crashing out of the EU.

I think its false, she told the same programme, insisting a blind Brexit  with no details of future trading rules  would be unacceptable.

If she comes back with something thats just a fudge shes cooked up with Brussels, we are not going to vote for it. Were not voting for something thats essentially a bridge to nowhere.David Davis has told Tory MPs they should trigger a leadership contest to topple Theresa May unless she drops her Brexit plan this week, The Independent can reveal.

The former Brexit secretary wants the prime minister to be presented with an ultimatum that her party will seek to remove her if she refuses to budge before Wednesdays crunch EU summit.

If she stands firm, Tory MPs will immediately trigger a leadership contest by sending in the required 48 letters calling for a vote of confidence in her, he is warning ministers.

Recommended Davidson hints she will quit if Northern Ireland given special terms

The dramatic ramping-up of pressure on Ms May  to switch to seeking a looser, Canada-style trade deal  comes as the chances of a breakthrough in the Brexit talks over the next few days faded.

Dominic Raab, the Brexit secretary, suddenly arrived in the Belgian capital for face-to-face talks with Michel Barnier, the EUs negotiator, prompting a flurry of excitement that a deal was close.

But Mr Raab went home within hours and Mr Barnier tweeted that despite intense efforts, some key issues are still open, in particular how the proposed backstop can guarantee no new hard border in Ireland.

It appeared that no further talks would be held between officials before the summit, when the prime minister will issue a make-or-break appeal directly to fellow EU leaders to save the negotiations.

Now The Independent understands that Mr Davis has told friends: If she doesnt move, the Tory party will lose its patience. They will put the 48 letters in calling for a leadership election.

Back home, the prime ministers troubles deepened as:

* Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, and Scottish secretary David Mundell, hinted they would resign if the Brexit deal gives Northern Ireland special trading terms with the EU

* Up to nine cabinet ministers, including Mr Mundell, prepared to challenge the prime ministers backstop plan at a meeting on Tuesday

* The number of letters calling for the vote of confidence, sent to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, was reported to have reached 44  just four short of the total needed

* A cabinet minister admitted Ms May will not insist on an end date for the UK staying in the EU customs territory  increasing the risk of resignations on Tuesday

* The EU said it would stage a no-deal Brexit summit in November, to prepare for the UK crashing out of the bloc, unless the UK delivered decisive progress this week

Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Show all 14 1 /14 Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Internal divisions in the Conservative Party have exploded into a bitter public row over Boris Johnsons disgusting criticism of Theresa May. Some senior Tories furiously denounced the former foreign secretary after he accused the prime minister of having wrapped a suicide vest around Britain Reuters Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Sajid Javid, Home secretary Sajid Javid, the home secretary, rebuked his former cabinet colleague and said: I think there are much better ways to articulate your differences. He told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show that the public wanted politicians to use measured language BBC/PA Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide But other MPs leapt to Mr Johnsons defence, as dividing lines ahead of a possible leadership contest begin to take shape. The Uxbridge MP has repeatedly criticised Ms Mays Chequers plan and used a newspaper article on Sunday to suggest it amounted to wrapping a suicide vest around the British constitution. His latest salvo at the prime minister prompted immediate condemnation, with one minister publicly vowing to end Mr Johnsons career over the matter PA Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Alan Duncan, Foreign minister Alan Duncan, a foreign minister who worked in Mr Johnsons team for two years, wrote on Twitter: For Boris to say the PMs view is like that of a suicide bomber is too much. This marks one of the most disgusting moments in modern British politics. Im sorry, but this is the political end of Boris Johnson. If it isnt now, I will make sure it is later. Getty Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide James Brokenshire, Housing secretary Housing secretary James Brokenshire added his voice to the criticism, calling Mr Johnsons comments wrong He said: I think he is wrong on this...I think the tone that he has used isnt right and I think that we just need to be very focused on actually moving forward with the Chequers plan. AFP/Getty Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Zac Goldsmith But as Tory hostilities spilled over into open public warfare, Richmond Park MP Zac Goldsmith, an ally of Mr Johnson, hit back at Mr Duncan. He wrote: There are a number of possible motives behind this tweet, but given its author, we can be certain principles arent one of them. Getty Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Jacob Rees-Mogg Senior Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg told The Independent he thought Mr Johnsons suicide belt accusation was little more than a characteristically colourful catchphrase. He added: I agree with the sentiment. The criticism of Boriss wording merely serves to highlight his point. It means more people hear of Boriss criticism of Chequers and many will agree with him. Reuters Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Nadine Dorries Nadine Dorries, another Brexit supporter, said Mr Johnsons opponents were terrified of his popular appeal, adding: Dont underestimate the vitriol thatll be directed towards Boris today. He delivered the Leave vote, Remainers and wannabe future PMs hate him. If Mr Johnson became leader and prime minister he would deliver a clean and prosperous Brexit, she said Rex Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Andrew Bridgen Andrew Bridgen said Ms May was to blame for her leadership problems. Asked if Mr Johnson had put a bomb under her leadership, Mr Bridgen said: I think that Theresa May did that herself when she put forward the Chequers proposals without consulting widely prior to that. Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Steve Baker, former Brexit minister Steve Baker, the former Brexit minister, warned Ms May the Conservatives faced a "catastrophic split" if she did not jettison her Chequers plan. Mr Baker, who quit the government in July over the scheme, said: When negotiating, the prime minister needs to demonstrate her intent and also her power to deliver. "If we come out of conference with her hoping to get Chequers through on the back of Labour votes, I think the EU negotiators would probably understand that if that were done, the Tory party would suffer the catastrophic split which thus far we have managed to avoid. But he insisted he did not want a change in the Conservative leadership, saying Brexiteers did not want to be in a position of conflict with our own prime minister Reuters Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Tom Tugendhat The deep divisions on the Tory benches were laid bare as Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the Commons foreign affairs committee and is a possible leadership rival to Mr Johnson, also hit out at the former foreign secretary. Recalling how he encountered a suicide bomber in Afghanistan during his time in the army, Mr Tugendhat told Mr Johnson to grow up. He said: A suicide bomber murdered many in the courtyard of my office in Helmand. The carnage was disgusting, limbs and flesh hanging from trees and bushes. Brave men who stopped him killing me and others died in horrific pain. Some need to grow up. Comparing the PM to that isnt happy. PA Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Alistair Burt Alistair Burt, another Foreign Office minister who worked in Mr Johnsons team, said: Im stunned at the nature of this attack. There is no justification for such an outrageous, inappropriate and hurtful analogy. If we dont stop his extraordinary use of language over Brexit, our country might never heal. Again, I say, enough. AFP/Getty Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide It comes amid that Ms Mays former aides drew up a dossier on Mr Johnsons sexual encounters with the aim of undermining his leadership prospects. The document was compiled in 2016, when the Uxbridge and South Ruislip MP was seen as the main rival to Ms May in her bid to enter No 10. Downing Street and Conservative Campaign Headquaters (CCHQ) both denied having leaked the 4,000 word memo after it was circulated around Westminster AFP/Getty Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Mr Johnson confirmed that his 25-year marriage to wife Marina had ended AP

The growing Brexiteer revolt appeared to have succeeded in preventing Ms May signing off on a weekend agreement that could lock the UK into the EUs customs territory indefinitely.

Cabinet ministers fear that, without a legal end date, the EU will be left to decide whether as-yet-unproven technology has produced an alternative solution to avoid the need for border checks in Ireland.

And that in turn would leave the UK unable to sign its own trade deals for years to come  to Leave supporters, a key prize of Brexit.

Until now, Mr Davis has insisted he is campaigning to change the plan, rather the prime minister, heaping praise on Ms May when he resigned in July.

However, a switch to seeking a Canada-style trade deal  unless accompanied by an Irish backstop  would be rejected immediately by EU and would almost certainly collapse the talks altogether.

The 69-year-old Mr Davis is not interested in being a caretaker prime minister who would finalise a deal with the EU and then stand down, The Independent understands.

He has told friends: I have had five people this week contacting me and trying to get me to run. Some are saying they want an interim prime minister, but nobody wants to be an interim prime minister.

It wouldnt work. You would be a lame duck from day one. We need a powerful prime minister to lead the negotiations.

However, Mr Davis is also confident he could beat Boris Johnson in a leadership contest. Boris is easy, he joked to friends. The battle is never between favourites.President Donald Trump confirmed on Saturday that he is considering a new family separation policy at the US-Mexico border because he believes the administration's earlier move to separate migrant children from parents was an effective deterrent to illegal crossings.

Asked to respond to a report in The Washington Post that the administration is weighing a new family-separation policy, Mr Trump told reporters, "We're looking at everything that you could look at when it comes to illegal immigration."

Mr Trump said the soaring number of illegal border crossings is "a terrible situation" and argued that family separations likely would help scare away some undocumented migrants from trying to enter the United States.

"If they feel there will be separation, they won't come," Mr Trump said.

Mr Trump made his comments to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One for his trip to Kentucky, where he was scheduled to headline an evening campaign rally.

Mr Trump attributed the rise in illegal border crossings to the robust economy.

"We have people that are trying to get into our country because of how well our country is doing," Mr Trump said. "You know, in the old days, when the country wasn't doing well, it was a lot easier. Now everybody wants to come in, and they come in illegally, and they use children. In many cases, the children aren't theirs. They grab them, and they want to come in with the children."

Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Show all 14 1 /14 Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Immigrant children, many of whom are separated form their parents, are housed in Texas' tent city Reuters Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border A two-year-old Honduran asylum seeker cries as her mother is searched and detained near the US-Mexico border Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Undocumented migrants ride on the top of a freight train referred to as the beast, or La Bestia Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border A cage inside a US Customs and Border Protection detention facility in Texas Reuters Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US Border Patrol Academy All new agents must complete a months-long training course at the New Mexico facility before assuming their posts at Border Patrol stations, mostly along the US-Mexico border Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US-Mexico border fence A group of young men walk along the Mexican side of the US-Mexico border fence in a remote area of the Sonoran Desert Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US-Mexico border fence in the US Man looks through US-Mexico border fence into the US in Tijuana, Mexico Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US-Mexico border fence US Border Patrol agent Sal De Leon stands near a section of the US-Mexico border fence while stopping on patrol on in La Joya, Texas Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border US Border Patrol Academy US Border Patrol instructor yells at trainees after their initial arrival to the academy Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Memorial service in Guatemala Families attend a memorial service for two boys who were kidnapped and killed in San Juan Sacatepequez, Guatemala. Crime drives emigration from Guatemala to the United States, as families seek refuge from the danger Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Arrests on the border Undocumented immigrants comfort each other after being caught by Border Patrol agents near the US-Mexico border Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Detention holding facility A boy from Honduras watches a movie at a detention facility run by the US Border Patrol Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Mexican farm workers Mexican migrant workers harvest organic parsley at Grant Family Farms in Wellington, Colorado Getty Undocumented immigration across the US-Mexico border Mexican family in Arizona A Mexican immigrant family sits in the living room of their rented home in Tuscon, Arizona. The family that Arizona's new tough immigrant law had created a climate of fear in the immigrant community. Getty

The president later added: "You have really bad people coming in and using people. They're not their children. They don't even know the children. They haven't known the children for 20 minutes. And they grab children and they use them to come into our country."

In August the country saw a 38 per cent increase in the number of migrants arrested and charged with illegally crossing the border, Department of Homeland Security officials said.

The Post first reported on Friday that the White House was actively considering plans to again separate parents and children at the US-Mexico border. Senior administration officials noted, however, that they are not planning to revive the chaotic forced separations carried out by the Trump administration in May and June that spawned an enormous political backlash and led to a court order to reunite families.

One option under consideration, according to the report, is for the government to detain asylum-seeking families together for up to 20 days, then give parents a choice: Stay in family detention with their child for months or years as their immigration case proceeds, or allow children to be taken to a government shelter so other relatives or guardians can seek custody.

The Washington PostBlack-clad fighters promised the group of penniless Iraqi farmers together they would conquer all the lands to Burma. The attentive teenagers from al-Jazirah, an area west of Tikrit, Saddam Husseins hometown, did not know where Burma was but it sounded far away.

After years of punishing droughts, which had blasted their lands and livelihoods, they did not really care. Their real interest was in the salaries of more than $400 a month.

This was early 2014. But for years, residents of this area and others in Iraqs northern Saladin governorate had noticed strange men in religious garb visiting the rural areas during difficult farming seasons. It seemed that whenever the droughts struck the visitors would appear, sometimes dishing out food, sometimes money, sometimes agricultural supplies.Britain, France and Germany have issued a joint statement telling Saudi Arabia they were treating the case of the missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi with the utmost seriousness.

The foreign ministers of the three countries demanded an investigation into Mr Khashoggis disappearance and called for a detailed response from Saudi Arabia.

There needs to be a credible investigation to establish the truth about what happened, and  if relevant  to identify those bearing responsibility for the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, and ensure that they are held to account, the foreign ministers said in the joint statement.

We encourage joint Saudi-Turkish efforts in that regard, and expect the Saudi government to provide a complete and detailed response. We have conveyed this message directly to the Saudi authorities.

The statement, by UK foreign minister Jeremy Hunt, Frances Jean-Yves Le Drian and Germanys Heiko Maas, made no mention of potential actions the countries might take.

It comes after Saudi Arabia vowed to retaliate to possible economic sanctions taken by other countries after Donald Trump warned of severe punishment over the disappearance of a Saudi journalist.

The kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether through economic sanctions, political pressure or repeating false accusations, it said in a statement.

The kingdom also affirms that if it is [targeted by] any action, it will respond with greater action.

Saudis ministry of foreign affairs also tweeted that it was steadfast and glorious in response to what it called false accusations. It added: Demise is the outcome of these weak endeavours.

Saudi Arabia has been under pressure since Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Riyadh, disappeared nearly two weeks ago after visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

Turkish officials have said they fear Saudi agents killed and dismembered Mr Khashoggi after he entered the consulate and a Turkish newspaper has reported that Mr Khashoggis alleged torture and death may have been recorded on his Apple Watch.

The kingdom has called the allegations baseless, but has offered no evidence to show the writer ever left the consulate.

However Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud adopted a more conciliatory tone in a phone call with Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday, according to the Saudi state press agency.

The king thanked Mr Erdogan for welcoming the Saudi proposal to form a joint working group to discuss the disappearance of Mr Khashoggi and stressed the strength of the relationship between the two countries, it was reported.

 CCTV footage shows Jamal Khashoggi entering Saudi embassy in Istanbul

Saudi Arabia also received support from Egypt, which said it was monitoring developments with concern and warned against the case being exploited politically.

Egypt stresses the importance of revealing the truth of what happened in a transparent investigation, the countrys foreign ministry said in a statement.

Saudi Arabias crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has aggressively pitched the kingdom as a destination for foreign investment, but Mr Khashoggis disappearance and suspicions he may have been targeted over his criticism of the crown prince have led several business leaders and media outlets to back out of an upcoming high-profile investment conference in Riyadh.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

Mr Khashoggis fiancee said those behind his disappearance must be held accountable and punished to the full extent of the law.

Hatice Cengiz said Mr Khashoggi was a patriot. Writing in The New York Times, she said: Jamal spoke up against oppression, but he paid for the Saudi peoples demand for freedom with his own life.

She added: Oppression never lasts forever. Tyrants eventually pay for their sins.

Mr Hunts statement came after shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, criticised the UKs response to Mr Khashoggis disappearance.

The Labour MP said there had been nothing but pusillanimous mutterings from Mr Hunt over the disappearance of the Saudi writer.

He is being outdone by Donald Trump, whoever would have thought that? she said.

Theyre playing catch-up with Donald Trump when it comes to condemnation of this and actually taking action and being prepared to stand firm.Officials in Turkey have re-named the street in Ankara where a new US embassy is being built Malcolm X Avenue, after the US civil rights leader.

It is the latest in a series of politically charged street names in the countrys capital.

Malcolm Xs legacy has fierce supporters and critics in the US, where his views are often interpreted as radical.

Some critics maintain that the activists work, some of which was focused on black nationalism, was anti-US in nature.

The street was given the name of US Muslim politician and human rights defender Malcolm X, about whom President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, We will make his name live on in Ankara, Ankaras municipality said in a statement released on Saturday.

Recommended Pastor Andrew Brunson meets with Donald Trump and prays for him

Last month Mr Erdogan met Malcolm Xs daughters during a visit to New York.

It is not the first time Ankaras street names have been altered for the sake of political symbolism.

In February the city renamed the street outside the current US embassy Olive Branch, the name of one of Turkeys military campaigns in Syria, where it is at odds with Washington over US support for forces led by the Kurdish YPG militia.

Last December the mayor of Ankara ordered the street of the UAE mission to be renamed after the Ottoman former governor of Medina, after a row between the nations about the state of the holy city under Ottoman rule.

Reports of the latest name change were published in Turkish state media and come during a turbulent time in relations between Turkey and the US.

A major rift between the two nations appeared to have cooled on Friday after Turkey released US pastor Andrew Brunson, who had been detained for two years in the country, after repeated sanctions and complaints from Washington.

Mr Brunson was arrested for alleged links to political groups including a banned movement related to exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen.

US president Donald Trump hailed the pastors release as a tremendous step towards improving relations between the two countries.

He also denied any link between the release and the disappearance of US based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Recommended US pastor freed from from prison in Turkey after two years

Turkish officials believe that Mr Khashoggi was killed by a team of people inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, though Saudi Arabia denies this.

Mr Trump has warned of severe consequences for the kingdom if Turkeys account is found to be accurate.

Additional reporting by agenciesDo you remember the euphoria in Ireland in 2015 when the results of the Irish referendum on equal marriage came in? The vote was conclusively in favour of allowing same-sex couples to marry. Australia followed suit in 2017. Earlier this year Ireland then voted again and chose overwhelmingly to overturn the abortion ban.

There are questions about whether referendums are the solution to these knotty human rights issues. For many LGBT+ people, the fact that their rights were to be voted upon at all seemed wrong. Similarly, a womans autonomy doesnt belong in a ballot box.

And what happens when your side doesnt win? Last Sunday Romania went to the polls to decide whether the law should make clear that marriage is only between a man and a woman. The odds were stacked against the LGBT+ community, but the vote was invalid because only 20 per cent of voters turned out to vote.

A spokesperson from the main European LGBT+ organisation, ILGA, neatly summed up the outcome of the botched poll: The referendum once again showed how vulnerable the [LGBT+] community is, in the absence of proper legal recognition of same-sex partnerships and families. It was a close shave in Romania, but elsewhere, the LGBT+ community hasnt been so lucky.

In 2013 a referendum held in Croatia supported banning same-sex marriage; 700,000 people had already signed a petition demanding a vote. In a country with a population of 4 million thats intimidating, and, not surprisingly LGBT+ people were left vulnerable to hatred and bigotry. Something similar happened in Slovakia in 2015 where 90 per cent of voters sought to ban same-sex unions. But, like Romania, a low turnout invalidated the referendum.

Slovenias parliament was set to introduce equal marriage, but a petition of 400,000 people, supported by Pope Francis, forced a referendum in 2015 whereby the proposed bill defining marriage as a union of two adults was rejected.

This snap survey of the role of referendums in relation to marriage equality highlights the risks associated with them. But what is a referendum? I hazard a definition. It is an official opinion poll, a true sample of what the public thinks on a single question during a short period of time.

French politicians scuffle over same-sex marriage legislation Show all 10 1 /10 French politicians scuffle over same-sex marriage legislation French politicians scuffle over same-sex marriage legislation france-protest4.jpg AFP French politicians scuffle over same-sex marriage legislation france-protest-10.jpg AFP French politicians scuffle over same-sex marriage legislation france-protest2.jpg AFP French politicians scuffle over same-sex marriage legislation france-protest3.jpg AP French politicians scuffle over same-sex marriage legislation france-protest5.jpg AFP French politicians scuffle over same-sex marriage legislation france-protest6.jpg AFP French politicians scuffle over same-sex marriage legislation france-protest7.jpg AP French politicians scuffle over same-sex marriage legislation france-protest8.jpg AFP French politicians scuffle over same-sex marriage legislation france-protest9.jpg AFP French politicians scuffle over same-sex marriage legislation france-protest1.jpg AFP

Making an opinion poll a mandate for government policy, especially where that policy relates to human rights, is an abrogation of government responsibility. If it turns out not to have been in the interests of the country, whos to blame? The government or an opinion poll?

There are also strong arguments that referenda are merely an expression of majoritarianism, devoid of checks and balances. In the recent Brexit referendum, 37 per cent of the electorate voted to leave the EU. The rest either voted remain or didnt vote. Its hard to fathom in what way the outcome of that referendum represents the public will when 63 per cent did not vote to leave the EU. Could the death penalty be restored on 37 per cent of the vote? Or the recriminalisation of abortion or homosexuality?

The problem with referendums  certainly without extensive safeguards  is that they can use the veneer of democracy to undermine a democratic society. Referendums and human rights do not mix.

Which leaves us with that vital question, how do you secure these fundamental rights?

Except for Australia, all these cases occurred in EU member states. Arguably it is these issues which prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the EU is not a federal entity. But does the EU offer a solution? Member states make their own laws. As long as those laws dont impede the EUs four freedoms of goods, services, capital and people, member states can act with relative impunity.

But they are all bound by the European Convention on Human Rights (which is nothing to do with the EU), and the Strasbourg-based court (ECHR) that decides cases under that convention is clear that while equal marriage is not (yet) protected, civil partnerships are. Therefore, despite dragging the LGBT+ community through the indignity of referendum, there are now same-sex civil partnership guarantees in Slovenia and Croatia.

And then theres the single market. The genius of that single market is that it has taken the sting out of many of these essential human rights issues. Huge strides have been made for equality through the effective functioning of the single market. For example, the court of the EU has held that you cannot discriminate against married same-sex couples in the enjoyment of their free movement rights, even in countries that do not permit equal marriage.

 Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Litigation can be useful, as this case shows, but you need to compare it with the UK Supreme Courts gay cake case last week which held that a baker could refuse to bake a gay mans pro-equal marriage cake. That case did not engage EU law, but it highlights the risks associated with litigation. Legislation can work, but it tends to focus on compromise and not rights.

Perhaps the best guidance for delivering rights comes from the EU and its Charter of Fundamental Rights. Its a remarkable document, comprehensive, dynamic and nimble all at the same time. The charter is now bedding down, and it will be interesting to observe how human rights grow and flourish in the EU over the years to come.

But we in the UK will be onlookers. A cabal of Conservatives and the DUP (with a few stragglers) chose to remove the charter from UK law post-Brexit. The UK could have been informing human rights protection within the EU and beyond, but instead our priorities will be elsewhere, and more worrying, no doubt there will be attempts by some, most notably in the Brexiteers ranks, to prove you dont really need human rights at all.The thorny problem of how to ensure Brexit does not mean frontier checks between Ireland and Northern Ireland is among issues holding up a deal on Britain's withdrawal, EU negotiator Michel Barnier said on Sunday.

Tweeting after he met British Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab following a weekend of talks between officials, Barnier said: "Despite intense efforts, some key issues are still open, including the backstop for IE/NI to avoid a hard border."

The EU insists that Britain give assurances that, in the event future negotiations fail to ensure a UK-EU trade deal which can avoid a hard border, the British province of Northern Ireland should remain inside the EU's economic rules. British Prime Minister Theresa May and her allies in Belfast reject that.

In statement on Sunday, Britain's Brexit ministry said that Britain and the European Union have made progress "in a number of key areas" in Brexit negotiations, but there remain a number of "unresolved issues relating to the backstop".

"The UK is still committed to making progress at the October European Council," a spokeswoman for the ministry said in a statement.

Earlier on Sunday, Brexit negotiators failed to seal a deal on Britain's divorce terms, EU officials said, after a flurry of meetings in Brussels to try to move the talks forward before British Prime Minister Theresa May arrives for a summit later this week.

With less than six months until Britain leaves the European Union, Britain's Brexit minister Dominic Raab met EU negotiator Michel Barnier and the ambassadors of the 27 other member states were separately summoned to a meeting.

But despite some reports, senior EU sources said negotiations had yet to produce a final deal for leaders to approve this week, and some signalled that more meetings would be necessary to get agreement on the withdrawal terms.

The ambassadors were also told there was as yet no agreement with Britain, two EU diplomatic sources said.

Raab had raced to Brussels after the two sides "jointly agreed that face-to-face talks were necessary" on the "big issues still to resolve".

One of those was a "backstop" to prevent a return to controls on the border between the British province of Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. This arrangement has strengthened opposition to May's plans after her Northern Irish allies accused the bloc of trying to annex the province.

Britain's biggest shift in foreign and trade policy for decades is also dividing the prime minister's Conservative Party, with critics, such as Raab's predecessor, pressing May to change her strategy.

David Davis, who resigned as Brexit minister in July, accused the government on Sunday of accepting "the EU's language on dealing with the Northern Ireland border".

"This is one of the most fundamental decisions that government has taken in modern times. It is time for cabinet members to exert their collective authority," wrote Davis, who campaigned for Britain to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum.

"This week the authority of our constitution is on the line," he said in an article in the Sunday Times.

Davis also pressed May to abandon her Brexit proposal, which involves staying in a free trade zone with the EU for manufactured and agricultural goods. The bloc "has rejected it. The public does not like it. Parliament will not vote for it," he wrote.

LOBBYING

So far, May has shown little appetite to change tack, trying to persuade Conservative lawmakers and those in the opposition Labour Party to vote for any deal based on her plan.

Lobbying of May from all sides has increased in recent weeks as London and Brussels edge closer to an agreement on a draft withdrawal treaty to cover the divorce terms, a transition period and a solution for Northern Ireland.

Preventing any return of a "hard" border in Ireland has become one of the major obstacles, with Brexit campaigners fearful that a backstop with expiry date will keep Britain inside a customs union with the EU indefinitely.

May insists any customs arrangement as part of the backstop must be temporary, but the EU has refused to set an end date.

Health minister Matt Hancock suggested the backstop could be temporary without such a date, an argument that may fall flat with some eurosceptic lawmakers who are calling for May to "chuck Chequers", her Brexit plan named after her country residence.

"There are different ways to ensure that something is time limited," Hancock told the BBC. "For instance, you can set conditions at the point at which the arrangements come to an end."

Even if May reaches a withdrawal agreement, she will struggle to get it through parliament and may find opposition from the small Northern Irish party which props up here minority government to other legislation such as the budget.

"I fully appreciate the risks of a 'no deal' but the dangers of a bad deal are worse," Arlene Foster, head of the Democratic Unionist Party, wrote in the Belfast Telegraph newspaper.

"This backstop arrangement would not be temporary. It would be the permanent annexation of Northern Ireland away from the rest of the United Kingdom and forever leave us subject to rules made in a place where we have no say."UK Prime Minister Theresa May faces a potential Tory mutiny over Brexit as talks continued in Brussels to reach a deal ahead of a crunch summit.

UK Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and the European Unions Michel Barnier were holding talks on Sunday ahead of the meeting of EU leaders on Wednesday.

The talks come as former Brexit secretary David Davis urged a Cabinet revolt against the Prime Ministers strategy.

Tory MP Nadine Dorries suggested that Mr Davis should be installed as interim leader, claiming that was the only way to secure the kind of free-trade deal Brexit demanded by Eurosceptics.

Allies of Mr Davis said he has been contacted by several Tory MPs urging him to run for the leadership.

The announcement of Mr Raab and Mr Barniers talks on Sunday fuelled speculation that a deal may be close  potentially leading to a flashpoint for Mrs Mays premiership.

With several big issues still to resolve, including the Northern Ireland backstop, it was jointly agreed that face-to-face talks were necessary ahead of this weeks October European Council, a Department for Exiting the European Union spokesman said.

The issue of the Northern Irish backstop  a mechanism to avoid a hard border  is at the heart of the troubles facing Mrs Mays leadership.

The European Unions version of the backstop, which would see just Northern Ireland remain aligned with Brussels rules, has been called unacceptable by Mrs May and is loathed by the DUP.

Mrs Mays counter-proposal is for a temporary customs arrangement for the whole UK, but Tory Brexiteers fear this becoming an open-ended position which would prevent free trade deals with countries around the world.

Cabinet minister Matt Hancock sought to play down speculation that some of his colleagues might quit over the Brexit plans, but was unable to say whether a fixed deadline for any customs arrangement would be written into a deal with Brussels.

He told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show: There are different ways that you can make sure that something is credibly time limited and thats what I want to see.

Theres absolutely no reason for a cabinet re-shuffle to occur says Health & Social Care Secretary @MattHancock #marr pic.twitter.com/TyDvPvmBWa  BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) October 14, 2018

Tory vice chairman James Cleverly told Sky News Sophy Ridge on Sunday that Cabinet ministers should use their position to influence Brexit policy rather than resign.

They should use that position to put their ideas forward, I would suggest thats a much more constructive and helpful way of influencing the direction of the negotiations with the EU, he said.

This is a significant intervention from DD. His position has always been, change the policy, not the PM. Getting May out and him becoming an interim leader may be the only way to deliver #Brexit and FTA



Cabinet mutiny threatens to kill PMs Brexithttps://t.co/kK9LOshNNU  Nadine Dorries (@NadineDorries) October 14, 2018

Writing in the Sunday Times, Mr Davis, who quit in July over Brexit, said: It is time for the Cabinet to exert their collective authority. This week the authority of our constitution is on the line.

The newspaper said at least nine ministers want Mrs May to change course when the Cabinet meets on Tuesday.

Speculation about possible resignations has centred on Andrea Leadsom, Penny Mordaunt and Esther McVey, but the report also indicated that Scottish Secretary David Mundell and Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson could quit because of the sensitivity of the issue in relation to calls for Scottish independence.

Mrs Mays own position also appeared in jeopardy, with as many as 44 letters demanding a vote of no confidence reportedly submitted to the Conservative 1922 Committee  just four short of the number required to trigger a ballot.

Critics of the Prime Minister believe that the threshold could be passed by Wednesday depending on the nature of her approach to the Brexit talks.

Ms Dorries said that Mr Davis had always focused on changing the policy, rather than the Prime Minister.

But she added: Getting May out and him becoming an interim leader may be the only way to deliver Brexit and FTA (a free-trade agreement).

Mr Davis is understood to be prepared to run if there is a leadership contest.

The Northern Irish situation is a particular headache for Mrs May because her minority administration depends on the votes of the 10 DUP MPs.

According to a private email exchange between senior UK officials, seen by the Observer, DUP leader Arlene Foster has indicated her party was ready for a no-deal scenario, which she now believed was the likeliest one.

Mrs Mays hopes of getting a Brexit deal through Parliament could depend on the actions of Labour MPs, with former minister Caroline Flint telling Sky she would back a reasonable deal.

I think if a reasonable deal is on the table the question for some of my Labour colleagues is why wouldnt you support a deal, why would you stand along (with) Boris Johnson or Jacob Rees-Mogg who want us to crash out without a deal?

But shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry told the BBC: We said we wanted a meaningful vote and we cant see why we should have, on the one hand Theresa Mays nonsense and on the other hand a no deal, because thats what theyre threatening us with.

If she comes back with something thats just a fudge shes cooked up with Brussels were not voting for something thats essentially a bridge to nowhere.Patisserie Valerie, the British cafe chain rocked by an accounting scandal and the arrest of its finance boss, has been saved thanks to 20m ($26m) of loans from its chairman, the entrepreneur Luke Johnson.

Patisserie Holdings said last Friday that Johnson had stumped up loans, giving it the breathing space to raise 15.7m in a heavily discounted placing announced later in the day.

The new equity and debt injection helped save 2,500 jobs and stave off the company's collapse, after it was plunged into crisis on Wednesday, when accounting irregularities emerged and Britain's tax office said it was owed 1.14m.

The cafe chain revealed the extent of its problems on Friday when it said it needed 20m immediately to prevent its collapse, warning that core earnings for the current financial year would likely be 12m, 60pc lower than consensus.

Patisserie Valerie said earlier on Friday that its suspended finance director Chris Marsh had been arrested and released on bail. Britain's anti-fraud agency said separately it had opened a criminal investigation into an unidentified individual in connection with the scandal.

Patisserie Holdings and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) declined to comment further. Marsh did not reply to a request for comment.

Patisserie Valerie traces its roots back to 1926 when Belgian-born Madame Valerie opened a shop in London's Soho district. The business was bought by Johnson's private equity firm Risk Capital Partners in 2006. Johnson, the executive chairman of Patisserie Valerie and owner of 37pc of the company, made his name building the Pizza Express restaurant chain.

The suspended finance director Marsh, who joined the company in 2006, was an integral part of its growth. Patisserie Holdings had just eight stores in 2008 and now operates more than 200 across Britain, and two in Ireland, focused on Franco-Belgian cakes such as mille-feuilles and eclairs.

Shares in the company have been suspended from trading since last Wednesday, when it announced a "material shortfall" between its reported accounts and its true financial health.

The placing took place shortly after it was announced, with shareholders committing the funds ahead of giving their formal approval for the conditional portion of the fundraising at an EGM scheduled for November 1.

Some 31.5 million ordinary shares were placed with institutional investors at a price of 50 pence per share compared with a pre-suspension share price of over four pounds.

That followed Johnson's provision of a 10m interest-free loan for three years, and a bridging loan for up to 10m, which is due to be repaid following receipt of the proceeds of the placing.

"Based on the current information available to them, the directors believe that upon completion of this equity and debt fundraising, the group will be able to continue trading in its current form for the foreseeable future," the company said in a statement.

The Financial Reporting Council, which polices accounting in Britain, said it was looking into the case too.

"We ... will give full consideration as to whether further action is appropriate as more facts become available," it said.

Reuters'Oscar night for tax consultants" came and went but the devil will be in the detail coming in the Finance Bill. That's due to be published later this month and for the past couple of years has been signed into law by the President on Christmas Day so there's a bit to go yet.

The Budget mentions two anti-avoidance provisions for companies. According to its summary of Budget measures document, the Government expects not one cent in tax from either of these provisions. Why? Because this is exactly where taxpaying companies don't want to be and indeed the numbers suggest that they won't put themselves in harm's way. Therefore, these measures are deterrents, ie the "you can look but don't touch" kind of tax law.

The first measure comprises the introduction of the Controlled Foreign Companies rule, which allows us to tax other countries' money where the respective foreign company (controlled back home) exists to engage in certain non-genuine arrangements with an essential tax-advantaged purpose. Readers will recall that was the subject of my previous column.

The second was the introduction of the new 'exit tax' for companies and that was unexpected. This means that, for example, when a company leaves Ireland it will be deemed to have disposed of and reacquired all its remaining assets. This is a tax based on "imagine land" facts, in that no disposals of assets actually occur but the company pays the tax as if it did. The aggregate of chargeable gains and losses arising will be subject to Capital Gains Tax. The glass-half-full view is that the rate to be applied isn't the normal CGT 33pc rate but rather a 12.5pc rate.

This was brought about because of the EU's Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD), which we have no choice but to comply with. Here's the thing: the ATAD says that the exit tax has to be in Member State's tax laws by December 31, 2019 and it should apply from January 1, 2020; we brought it in at midnight on Budget night this year. We've complied with EU law almost a year and a quarter ahead of schedule.

The detail of both provisions will be fleshed out as part of the upcoming Finance Bill. I've previously said in this column that our tax law doesn't have to be the swot in the planet's international tax class. That said, I'm reminded of the line from a movie I saw years ago "When all else fails, we don't." All you have to do is look at the Corporate Tax roadmap to see how far we've come since the dark days of the crisis.

Arguably, the more intriguing side of the Budget was what wasn't in it. I've previously written about the Tax Strategy Group's (TSG) Budget 2019 papers. The TSG is a government think tank chaired by the Department of Finance with its membership comprising senior persons from a number of Civil Service offices. The group spoke of potential changes to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) and I'll get to that in a second.

Reliefs from CGT, similar to those brought about back in 2012, albeit for landlords this time, were being mooted right up to minutes before the Minister took to his feet last Tuesday.

The speculated relief was a reduction in a landlord's CGT bill where he acquired a property with a tenant in situ and where the landlord held on to that property for a number of years.

The minister said nothing on this, so will we see it as part of the Finance Bill? However, he did increase the landlord's interest deduction against rental income to 100pc of the interest from January 1, 2019, thereby making renting less costly for that owner and making it more attractive to stay or enter the rental market.

But back to the TSG: It estimated as part of its Budget 2019 capital taxes document that, absent "behavioural change", a 1pc reduction in the CGT rate would lessen the tax yield by about 34m annually. However, behaviours will of course change when tax goes down.

High CGT rates can lead to people holding assets too long, which can stifle economic growth by blocking the beneficial shifting of resources from lower to higher value uses. This can hurt small startup companies because investors may have a reduced incentive to sell investments in favour of newer companies' offerings.

The TSG argued that reduced CGT can encourage entrepreneurship. Low taxes can encourage outside investment because the incentive for taking risks on young companies is a possible gain years from now.

Granted, the TSG recognised the possibility of an initial rise in tax revenue from a CGT rate reduction but argues that it might be transitory based only on the increased sell-offs immediately after the change. A reduced rate may also bring forward asset sales which would have happened anyway. Jam today is better than jam tomorrow.

The TSG suggested moving to a 30pc rate over one or two Budgets or moving to a 25pc rate over a two- or four-year period. Its "alternative" to changing rates involves a more targeted approach, saying that if the specific policy option aim is to improve the environment for the formation or maintenance of business activity then changes at a sectoral level may be more appropriate.

The group suggested a change to 'entrepreneur relief', which right now allows a 10pc CGT rate on chargeable gains arising on a disposal of qualifying business assets up to a lifetime limit is 1m.

Suggested options include increasing the lifetime limit to between 5m and 15m with a resulting cost of between 49m and 56m in a full year. The paper notes that the cost to the Exchequer of introducing a 15m lifetime limit is lower than the cost of a 3pc reduction in the overall rate. The UK's current limit is miles ahead of our current one. I had previously suggested in this column combining the TSG suggestions. The Minister didn't say anything on the TSG's suggestions, but he did continue the startup regime for companies for another three years until 2021.

This was a steady-as-she-goes Budget (albeit with some surprises, some by omission) and maybe the Finance Bill's detail will make some waves.Jameson-owner Irish Distillers is to invest more than 150m in its whiskey sites in Cork and Dublin, the Sunday Independent can reveal.

The company will pour 130m into expanding and upgrading its distillery in Midleton and its maturation site in Dungourney in east Cork. The company's flagship whiskey is in double- or triple-digit growth in more than 80 markets. Another 20m will go into its bottling plant in Clondalkin.

In an exclusive interview, newly-appointed Irish Distillers' chief executive Conor McQuaid said the investment will facilitate the company's growth over the coming years.

"This 150m investment in Midleton, Dungourney and Fox & Geese [the bottling plant] reflects the growing international success of our whiskey portfolio," he told the Sunday Independent.

"With a tradition dating back to 1780, we have been distilling in Midleton since 1975 and we are delighted to confirm our commitment to this tradition, and at the same time continue to embrace progress, delivering new and innovative expressions of Irish whiskey."

Eight new maturation warehouses will be built with the funding, each holding 16,800 casks. More land will also be purchased as part of the development of Dungourney. A mechanical evaporator, used to expand output, will be added to the Midleton site. A third mash filter and new fermenters will also be installed at the distillery. A new office building will be completed in July 2019.

McQuaid also stated that the company was looking at deals for a number of smaller whiskey brands. He also confirmed that a new premium whiskey, Red Spot, will be launched next month. Red Spot will be third in the company's line of high-end whiskeys following on from Green Spot and Yellow Spot.

Although the company is investing heavily in Irish whiskey, McQuaid criticised Health Minister Simon Harris's decision to add cancer warning labels to alcohol products in Ireland.

"I am very disappointed that the minister has put forward and supported the addition of cancer warning labels on brands, iconic brands of Irish whiskey," he said.

"It's just unfortunate that the discussion and the conversation got hijacked in that way and got very much focused on cancer warnings.

"These are iconic products of Ireland. They are quality products that we are putting into the international marketplace."Vodafone enterprise director Regina Moran praised the role of hubs like the Ludgate in Skibbereen in getting businesses online. Photo: David Conachy

In the week that Ireland's rural broadband problems were once again centre stage, Vodafone's new enterprise director, Regina Moran, is extolling the benefits of high speed connectivity outside of urban areas.

Since leaving a global vice president role at tech firm Fujitsu to take the Vodafone role six months ago, Moran has been visiting some the so-called gigabit hubs around the country established by Vodafone in partnership with Siro.

She has already seen the opportunity that the initiatives have brought to local areas. Among them is Ludgate in Skibbereen, Co Cork.

"There's art dealer called Morgan O'Driscoll and he's now able to have live auctions internationally, because he's got one to two seconds upload for very high resolution pictures," says Moran.

But Moran has come around to the view that while high-speed connectivity is essential for communities, such access in all homes may not be essential.

"He didn't need that in his personal home," she said. "He was able to go to a hub to do that, to create that business. So I think it's mind-set, thinking what are the possibilities that do exist and maximising those possibilities."

She believes that Vodafone/Siro, which had at one stage been in the National Broadband Plan process, and other operators all have a part to play in rural connectivity. "I don't think it's one size fits all. I think all of us working in this space are making strides and if I look at the strides that have been made in the last, say, five years, it is significant. Now it's not where we need to be and we all need to continue, but I do think we are making progress."

Moran, who started off her career as an engineer, is now focusing on what major new technological advancements will mean for business customers. The two main developments that will impact businesses in the short- to medium-term are 5G and the internet of things (IoT).

"When I came here we talked about what is the purpose of enterprise in Vodafone and why do we exist? What we've said is we want to 'partner', which is a very important word, with our customers to help them realise their connected ambition.

"And what is people's connected ambition? It encompasses what's available currently, but also what's available in two years' time, three, five years' time, because businesses have to think not only where we are, but where are we going?

"We were first with narrow band IoT to the market in Ireland and we've got 50 trials underway. So, what are those trials doing? They're saying 'What is the use case? What is the application that sensor technology and this very high-speed connectivity can give?'."

The practical opportunities for business are many. "If you're a company that on a regular basis has to check things to see if products such as cannisters are empty or full you can scan your whole estate instead of sending somebody to check. Or things like is the bin full or empty? Is there a leak?," she says.

For Moran, the move into Vodafone following 32 years with the same company, which went through a number of owners before Fujitsu took over, was a big decision.

She had been CEO of Fujitsu Ireland, then CEO of Fujitsu Ireland and UK and more recently held a global role at the company.

"I guess it's a bit like the old Robert Frost poem - two roads diverging in a yellow wood - I kind of had an option to do a new global role actually with Fujitsu," she said. "I started thinking about maybe doing something back in Ireland and then a number of people approached me, Vodafone being one of them.

"The Vodafone brand in Ireland is a very strong brand, a very purposeful brand. I like the value system, it's very consistent, actually, with my previous company in terms of value system, and that's important to me."

Moran said she welcomed the fact that the number of senior roles for women in tech had grown. "When I started out there wasn't that many female leaders in the technology spaces. It's brilliant now - there's so many. I think it's 63pc of Anne O'Leary's [CEO of Vodafone Ireland] team, is female."

But given that she was in the minority as a female engineer in the early days, she is very focused on bringing more young women into Stem (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths).

"I still don't believe we're attracting enough female talent, enough girls into those disciplines, which I think if you look at the way technology and connectivity is everywhere now, you know, there's no longer a technology sector. It's every sector."

She thinks that an aversion to Stem subjects can happen from an early age.

"I think it's from grassroots up, if you like. From four or five-year-olds, up. There's a kind of a polarisation that seems to happen very early on and I think we need to educate people more - parents, teachers, schools.

"I used to think it happened later, but if a girl doesn't choose science at the age of 12, you're kind of checking out."

Given Moran's previous CEO roles at Fujitsu, does she have any interest in the Vodafone top job?

She doesn't rule anything out but said she is currently very much focused on her new role at the telco giant.Enterprise Ireland has secured five new foreign direct investments (FDI) for significant food projects so far this year, bringing approximately 300m in valuable investments to regional locations, with the creation of 280 new jobs.

These projects were secured against strong competition from other countries.

Many factors drove Ireland's success, not least the joined-up thinking that supports the growth of our food industry and the supply of high-quality raw materials.

In addition, Ireland offers a strong food-technology and research infrastructure.

Enterprise Ireland has the remit to attract FDI from the global food industry into Ireland.

Within that portfolio, there are around 60 multinational corporations, employing over 10,000 people. These companies account for exports in the region of 4bn a year, or 35-40pc of all food exports.

In recent years, extra resources have been invested in projects from companies in the global food industry that do not yet have a presence in Ireland.

Attracting new organisations is a huge challenge in a competitive market and projects can take many years to land.

Enterprise Ireland also works intensively with multinationals to expand their operations - by, for example, adding new functions such as R&D, or extra production capacity to an existing location.

Food FDI is of great economic importance, as it generally results in the purchase of large quantities of raw materials locally, with the effect of supporting jobs in primary production in Ireland.

This is particularly true of the new projects secured this year, each of which was based on additional manufacturing capacity and involved no overseas job losses.

Glanbia Cheese, a joint venture between US company Leprino Foods and Glanbia, is constructing a mozzarella plant in Portlaoise, Co Laois, with a production capacity of 45,000 tonnes a year. It will be the most sophisticated cheese plant in the world and the largest mozzarella plant in Europe. Not only is this 130m investment creating 78 jobs, each kilo of cheese requires 10 litres of milk and so the plant will also support thousands of Irish dairy farms.

Norway's largest dairy company, Tine, is building Ireland's first cheese wheel manufacturing facility in partnership with Dairygold. Tine will produce its proprietary Jarlsberg cheese at the 25,000-tonne facility to be located beside Dairygold's plant in Mogeely, Co Cork.

Two of the other new food FDI projects secured this year show how important Ireland's membership of the EU is to companies on a strong growth path.

Crust & Crumb, a UK manufacturer of chilled pizzas, pizza bases and flat breads, is building a new state-of-the-art factory in Ballyconnell, Co Cavan. The company describes the new 5m project as essential to its survival after Brexit.

Since announcing the expansion in Cavan, Crust & Crumb has succeeded in attracting around 6m in orders as a result of its new EU presence. The facility is expected to be operational by December and will employ around 80 people.

UK dairy nutrition company Volac is investing 3.3m in a new purpose-built finishing and packing facility in Mullagh, Co Meath, to produce milk replacers in Ireland. Volac has strong ambitions to double its turnover internationally and reach 200m (228m) in the next five years. Using Irish raw materials, the new facility in Mullagh will enable Volac to meet the growing needs of milk replacer customers in the domestic and overseas markets. All the calf milk replacer used in Ireland is currently imported. The project will create up to 16 high-quality manufacturing jobs.

This year has been exceptionally good for food FDI so far. Enterprise Ireland's team of five in the Food FDI division are working to maintain this momentum. The pipeline of new projects from around the world, including China, looks just as promising as the success enjoyed to date.Virtual reality (VR) technology is slowly but surely revolutionising gaming and other digital entertainments by making them more like real experiences. But a big indication of its potential to do the same with distance education is the success of Waterford-based Immersive VR Education.

It has built a platform for VR content that can be used in schools, colleges, universities, research centres and corporate training to teach any subject in a virtual environment.

The firm has won several awards for content, grown to 34 employees and become a publicly listed company on the London and Irish stock exchanges - all in just under four years.

Set up in 2014 by a husband and wife team, David and Sandra Whelan, they started out focusing on what looks to be a significant gap for educational content in the burgeoning VR content industry.

David, a software engineer by profession, had bought one of the first virtual reality handsets through a Kickstarter campaign. "When he tried and got to know it and he could see that VR was going take off down the line," said Sandra.

With a background in web design, David set up a website reviewing virtual reality content. "We used to get indie game developers to send us their games, and Dave would review them. We would do write-ups and when we were doing that, David started going 'it all seems to be games, shooters and things like that. There's not much there in terms of education'."

David thought he could do better and came up with the idea of creating a 'feelgood' historical VR experience, starting with the Apollo 11 spacecraft that took the first men to the moon. "Apollo 11 was the obvious one. I mean it wasn't a tragedy, it wasn't a war, it wasn't anything like that," said Sandra. "It's really, really positive and it will get kids so excited and interested in learning more through virtual reality. It appeals to the adults as well as kids."

Although he quickly realised his limitations in pure VR content development, they scraped together enough money to commission a developer to work with them on building it.

This started them on the funding journey, which began with the local enterprise office, who then put them in contact with the Waterford Institute of Technology's TSSG (Telecom Software Systems Group) incubator.

This led to David getting a place on the Enterprise Ireland-backed entrepreneur programme New Frontiers, which paid a wage of 15,000 over six months while Sandra stayed in her job as a logistics manager at a local company until she joined him full-time.

"It meant he was able to dedicate about six months of his life to creating business plans proving basically the business model for the company," said Sandra.

In mid-2016, before they pitched successfully for the Competitive Start Fund with Enterprise Ireland (and later won High Potential Start Up status), they had come to a fork in the road regarding their business model.

By this stage they had successfully launched Apollo 11 (which has now since sold more than 130,000 units and generated1.4m in sales, mostly from the US), and were developing its second in the series about the Titanic.

"We learnt very quickly that investors won't back you on what could essentially be a one-hit wonder. At the time when we went to get investment, we couldn't pitch Apollo 11."

So they looked more closely at how people could use VR for their benefit in an educational setting, and they realised that a large percentage of people who participated in online distance education didn't finish their courses.

"I think they get bored trying to engage with the content because it's words on a screen or they're looking to videos or something like that, so we thought there must be a way where people can start getting more engaged in all of this kind of content."

But instead of creating and selling more VR content in-house like Apollo 11 and Titanic, they opted to build and eventually license a platform not unlike Mooc (Massive Open Online Course), giving developers the tools to make their own VR content, something that would make the business more scalable.

The result, named Engage, is designed to work with leading VR headsets like the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Windows Mixed Reality. Educators can use it to create interactive virtual classrooms that can instruct up to 40 people simultaneously, offering avatar interaction that enables instructors to observe and provide feedback on a student's work in real time.

Researchers at Oxford University were among the earliest adopters of the platform, which is currently available free, but only for a limited period.

While they were successful in winning 1.3m in funding from Enterprise Ireland, Kernel Capital Venture Funds and Suir Valley Ventures towards the end of 2016, they later decided to publicly list the company. The listing on both Dublin's Enterprise Securities Market and the AIM in London last March brought the company significant attention.

"The reason we decided to go with the IPO in the first place was that we could see how fast the industry was moving," said Sandra. They could have opted to just "plod along and try and do our best with this platform" or develop something that they felt had the potential to "actually change the way education is being taught".

"VR headsets are becoming more plentiful as there's so many new companies popping up all over the place. If we wanted to stay at the forefront, we had to be in a position to be able to scale quickly." The alternative, she said, was to devote far more time that they wanted to in fundraising.

Having said that, it ended up taking some 10 months to prepare for the IPO, and involved a team of some 30 different people and hundreds of documents. "David will tell you that the one thing we've learnt in business is that everything takes longer than you think."

Now, almost six months on, Immersive VR Education has achieved a market value of nearly 30m. It's a far cry from early 2016, when David and Sandra were flying by the seat of their pants financially and were even close to closing down - only to be saved by the sales success of Apollo 11 that was launched a few weeks later.

"You know, looking back on it now we realise how fortunate and how lucky we are to be in the position that we're in now, because there is a lot of luck involved. Lots of people have worked just as hard as we did but they just don't have the break or the time was not right."

Sandra and David have three girls aged 10, 13 and 16, and say they have never had any childcare, but they split the school runs between them and their kids often hang around the office. "Even though we were working really, really long hours we were still getting to see the children." And in the last year or so, Sandra says they've made a point of bringing them along, where possible, to overseas business trips, doubling them up as short holidays.

While they can't give too much away regarding future plans being a publicly listed firm, Sandra speaks of their aim to make Engage as ubiquitous as Skype. "We want it to become that popular, that mainstream."On my way through Dublin Airport last week, I bought a Clarins moisture gel. In conversation with the salesperson, she extracted from me that I was on my way to Riyadh. So I ended up also buying a sunscreen. In a very friendly way, The Loop in Terminal 2 got more of my money.

As I shared previously, the fundamental levers that drive sales for all type of retailers are in this formula.

Retail Sales Formula: F x C x A = S

'Footfall' (the number of customers entering the store) multiplied by 'conversion' (the percentage of those that actually buy rather than just browse) multiplied by 'average transaction value' (ATV), equals sales.

After doing the hard work that's required to attract customers into your shop in the first place (covered two weeks ago), your next two priorities should be conversion (covered last week) and ATV. Increasing the average transaction value is often quite easy. Yet bizarrely, it's an ongoing challenge for retailers the world over

Put Your People First

Most importantly, your sales people have an important role to play in increasing ATV.

1 Give yourself and your people the skills to up-sell. When a customer asks to see a product, don't just show one item. Offer them two to three options across the good-better-best spread (see below). A professional salesperson will skilfully encourage and up-sell to a customer by talking up the added benefits. The beauty houses are masters at this, so go and mystery-shop some and they'll tell you how they do it if you just ask.

2 Aim to link-sell a second item to every customer. As soon as the customers commit to buying what they came in for, only then should you suggest that they also buy a related item. Using a non-pushy phrase 'just so you know, we have a fabulous bracelet to match those earrings' is a gentle way of introducing the idea to a customer. Be careful and don't be greedy. Make the additional item an easy and small decision for the customer. If you link-sell an extra item to every fifth customer (to the value of say 15pc of their primary purchase), that adds 3pc to your overall sales.

3 Introduce a competition in your team and incentivise your team to link-sell. Keep it short and focused - perhaps for a week or a weekend. You can measure this with even the most basic till systems. Make it fun and non-threatening.

4 Ensure your salespeople have great product knowledge. When your team has a greater knowledge of the products (than the customers with phones in their hands) and the best sellers, they will speak with more confidence about the product.

5 Revisit your commission structure. If you do pay commission, refresh how you structure it. For example, if you're paying a set percentage rate across all products, where is the incentive for your people to sell higher margin product?

Focus on your Product Mix

The fashion industry is structured around seasons, so those retailers are forced to plan their product mix twice a year. For other sectors where the product ranges are more continuous (such as with pharmacy, food, homewares, some gifts, technology), they can fall into a rhythm of simply replenishing out-of-stocks. Consequently the buyers don't get to lift their heads enough above the daily grind to give adequate consideration to their buying. Replenishing continuity stock is not buying. Buying requires preparation, planning, curating, negotiating and then ordering.

1 Plan your product mix and price architecture. Mindful of your brand positioning and margin expectations, select a range of brands (and products within those brands) that spread from 'good' to 'better' to 'best'. For example, Arnotts in Dublin have frying pans from Tefal (good), Stellar (better) and Fissler (best). This gives them an appropriate selection for their chosen customer base. It also gives the sales associates more choice to up-sell.

2 Remove the recession mindset. There is now more disposable spend and while customers are savvier post-recession, they do spend when they feel they're getting value. Customers are more conscious too that 'when you buy cheap, you buy twice'. Don't be afraid to introduce higher priced merchandise into your selection.

3 Stop discounting. I completely understand the pressures that come with being an independent retailer. When sales are not hitting target and cash-flow gets tight, panic and stress can set in. A knee-jerk reaction is to start discounting, which plays havoc with your image, ATV and your margin. This should be a last resort after you have tried all the other things that successful retailers do. In a project with Ann Summers (which has very aggressive online competition) we increased ATV by reducing discounting activity. Exclusive product was just one enabler of that.

The Last Word

I've been privileged to consult with and train some of the most iconic retailers around the world. From food to fashion, luxury to mass, multiple site to department stores. Every one of them is challenged in the same way with the pace of disruption and change in the industry. But regardless of their size, sector, scale and balance sheet, there are common themes that shine through the more successful ones.

With an underlying passion for giving great customer experiences, every single one uses the FCA model detailed here over the last three weeks. Each one is investing in their stores and yes, they each have an online presence of varying sorts. They also have belief and confidence that they can effectively compete in their bricks-and-mortar stores.

But for me, the most significant attributes are that they embrace change and are proactive. They work on their business, not just in it.





Cast study: Customer-first jewellers are outstanding in their field

Business: Fields Jewellers

Set up: Retail division established in 1981

Turnover: 25.3m

No of employees: 200

Location: 14 stores in Ireland, plus online presence

The jewellery business is one of the sectors most impacted by online in Ireland, according to Lorraine Higgins of Retail Excellence Ireland. The possible reasons for this include the availability of colours and sizes, the quality of imagery (360-degree close-up rotations), better download speeds, and more branded ranges that are easy to compare. Nevertheless, Im delighted to see that we have an established Irish company continuing to invest in physical stores.

The Retailer

Fields Jewellers are Irelands largest multi-site jewellery and watch retailer. With 14 stores around Ireland and an online store, the company has grown organically by focusing on the mid-range customer. The business was originally founded in the 1940s by the Obernik family. Tony and Nicky Obernik since developed the wholesale businesses of Solvar and Emarno and subsequently founded a retail division in 1981. That now trades as Fields Jewellers. In 2007, the company acquired Fraser Hart, a well-established UK-based retailer with 40 stores. Headquartered in Dublin, the combined entity is a formidable force in the sector, with the customer being at the heart of all decision-making.

Gail Banim, its marketing and e-commerce director assured me that the online platform is a significant portal for communicating with a changing customer. Although our website is an extra store and needs to be thought of like that, we see it as a key enabler for drawing footfall to our physical stores, she said. We know that when we attract customers to our stores, we can wow them with great customer experiences. And thats one of our differentiators. Gail is planning lots of omni-channel experiences, such as click and collect and booking of in-store appointments.

People First

Clearly Fields have a strong emphasis on maximising average transaction value (ATV). I met with people director Sarah Murtagh and found that she and I are very like-minded. In her five years with the company, she has led a culture change that genuinely puts people first. For many organisations this is a cliche, but not so in Fields case. For example, all management meetings now have people at the top of their agenda.

Fields have invested widely in training. All of our managers are undergoing in-house training in situational leadership, which gives them the skills to better engage with our people, she said.

All of the store teams have been trained on the outstanding service model. This is the Fields way of carefully matching our products to a customers needs, said Sarah. I experienced it first-hand this week when I mystery-shopped the Jervis Centre store. I had great banter with the girls as we chatted about watches. I was most impressed with how they established my needs using open-ended questions and then used an iPad to show a wider offering. Another example of people first is that each morning before a store opens, the managers brief their teams on new products, product knowledge, sales targets, other news and points for action. Aside from informing the teams it motivates them to prioritise customer experience and to use the skills they have learned.

Product Mix

Fields have a very structured approach to buying merchandise, headed up by Natasha Gregory. In addition to general jewellery she and her team want Fields to be destination stores for engagement rings, bridal and ear-rings. Within these categories they have given much consideration to how they can differentiate from online and maximise ATV.

In terms of good-better-best engagement rings, they have ranges from 1,000-6,500. The good range is a core offering at entry-price level. The better range is a collection curated by Irish designer Kathy de Stafford. This is a range exclusive to Fields that cannot be compared online. There is also a wonderful in-store experience where customers can design their own ring.

Fields also have watches across the price spectrum, from entry level to luxury. Even though branded watches have tighter margins and some of the lower priced brands are available online generally, Fields believe that they are instrumental in attracting customers into the physical stores to try them on.

Fields of Gold

I do appreciate that not every retailer has the scale to negotiate exclusive product ranges, as Fields can. But it should inspire retailers to delve deeper as they explore the marketplace. Perhaps you might be able to negotiate exclusive styles or even colours within branded ranges for your town?

As a best employer in retail, Fields have a very low turnover of people. This is testament to the people-first culture. I have seen this first-hand in organisations too many times over the years, for it to be a coincidence. Good managers and salespeople can make or break an organisation.

Sting sings about walking in fields of gold. Pardon the pun, but thats what makes Fields a great success. Like all great retailers, they too have a relentless focus on the three pillars that drive sales, FxCxA=S.Budget 2019 didn't put much money back into our pockets. Much of the focus of Finance Minister Pascal Donohue last Tuesday was on housing and health - with little left in the pot for anyone else. Many of us will only be better off to the tune of about 5 or 6 a week next year as a result - and some of us won't be any better off at all. Here are some areas where we're still losing out financially and which the Budget could have tackled better.

SQUEEZED MIDDLE

The 750 increase in the amount which people can earn before getting hit for the higher rate of income tax has not addressed the issue of high income tax rates kicking in too early "in any substantive way", according to Pat O'Brien, tax director with Ernst & Young (EY). Budget 2019 increased the amount that a single person can earn before paying the higher rate of tax from 34,550 to 35,300 - and from 43,550 to 44,300 for married couples where only one spouse is working.

"The biggest issue for those on median incomes remains the rapid progression to the 40pc top income tax rate," said O'Brien. "The proposed increase of 750 to 35,300 does little to address this. By comparison, a single individual in Britain would have to earn more than 46,350 (52,845) before paying the higher tax rate when personal allowances are taken into account. Working people will still reach the highest income tax rate on relatively modest levels of income."

Average Irish earnings stand at about 38,700, according to the latest official figures - so people on an average wage will still get hit for the higher rate of income tax next year, despite Budget 2019.

KIDS' INHERITANCE

Many children will still get stung for inheritance tax bills of tens of thousands of euro or more over the next year because the only change introduced by Budget 2019 in this regard was a token one.

Last Tuesday's Budget increased the value of gifts or inheritances which children can get tax-free from their parents over their lifetime by 10,000 - to 320,000. "This exemption could have been increased more without much damage to the State finances," said Michael Gaffney, a tax expert with KPMG. "I think increases in house prices, combined with the passing of the baby boomer generation, means the yield from inheritance tax will be higher than expected."

In early 2009, a child could inherit up to 542,544 from his parents over his lifetime - and the rate of inheritance tax charged back then was 22pc. On top of the dramatic reduction in the amount which can be inherited by children tax-free since then, the rate of inheritance tax charged today is 33pc.

"In early 2009, a child inheriting a family home valued at 500,000 would pay no inheritance tax - compared with an inheritance tax liability of just under 60,000 today," said Alison McHugh, director of private clients with Deloitte. "The Government needs to make a bolder move to increase the inheritance tax threshold so they are brought more in line with where they were ten years ago. With the average asking price for a Dublin home being about 375,000, most transfers of family homes to a single child will be within the inheritance tax net."

LOST TAX BREAKS

A raft of tax breaks, such as the reliefs on trade union subscriptions, bin charges and medical expenses, have been either abolished or curtailed since the first austerity budget. These reliefs were worth hundreds, if not thousands, of euro to taxpayers.

Given that employment is at record highs, and that Ireland is forecast to record the highest economic growth in Europe this year, surely Minister Donohoe could have found room to reverse some of the tax break cuts of recent years.

One of the most valuable tax breaks was the relief on medical expenses. Before 2009, you could claim back 41pc of the cost of certain medical expenses in tax relief.

That tax relief was chopped to 20pc in 2009 and it has remained at that rate since. The GP visit card has helped alleviate the cost of doctor visits for many elderly - and for the parents of children under the age of six. However, many people are still facing crippling medical bills. An increase in the rate of tax relief on medical expenses would help people cope with those bills - or afford quicker medical attention.

Budget 2019 changes in the Drug Payment Scheme, a Government scheme which can help curtail medical bills, will certainly help those who regularly face high medical expenses. This scheme is aimed at individuals and families who don't have a medical card and who normally have to pay the full cost of their medication.

From this January, the cost of buying prescribed drugs or medicine under the Drug Payment Scheme will be no more than 124 a month - as under Budget 2019 the monthly cap will be cut from 134 to 124. Ten years ago however, the cap was set at 90 - so there is still much room for improvement here.

There have been plenty of other changes to our tax system in recent years which have taken money out of our pockets. The tax relief on bin charges was abolished in 2011. Given that many households have seen a substantial increase in their bin charges since, a restoration of that tax relief would help ease the pressure on households.

In 2011, the tax relief on professional subscriptions was abolished. This tax relief was available to workers whose role required them to be members of a professional body and who paid an annual subscription to retain their membership. "Restoration of the relief for professional subscriptions would have been welcome," said O'Brien. "This issue affects a vast range of employments from human resources to finance to IT. For many workers, being in membership of a professional body is the modern equivalent of the 'tools of the trade'."

DRIVERS

Workers who have been given electric cars or vans by their employers could face a tax bill next year, depending on the value of the electric vehicle. This is due to changes in the way benefit-in-kind - the tax which employees pay on non-cash benefits received from their employer - is treated for electric vehicles.

In 2018, employees did not have to pay any BIK if they had a company car which was also an electric car, regardless of the value of the vehicle - because a 0pc BIK rate was in place for electric cars or vans. In Budget 2019, Minister Donohoe extended the 0pc BIK rate for electric vehicles for a period of three years. However, he also put a cap of 50,000 on the original market value of electric vehicles which qualify for this rate. No such cap was in place in 2018. This 50,000 cap means that many employees will now face a BIK bill - unless their employer gives them an electric car worth less than 50,000.

To truly encourage the takeup of electric cars, the Minister should consider removing this cap.

From this January, buyers of new diesel cars will face a higher Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) bill than they did previously - due to the 1pc VRT surcharge introduced under Budget 2019.

"For those workers who commute long distances, diesel cars remain the optimum choice and many are forced to upgrade their car due to high annual mileage," said Robert Dowley, partner with KPMG. "The 1pc VRT surcharge on diesel cars will have an impact when they upgrade their car."

PARENTS

The cost of sending a child to college has become one of the biggest financial challenges facing many parents. The total bill could come to more than 50,000 - if the child is living away when home and attending college for more than four years. At 3,000 a year, the student contribution charge alone accounts for about a quarter of the college bills faced by parents, according to the latest cost of student living survey by the Dublin Institution of Technology.

The student contribution charge has increased steadily over the years -with some of the biggest hikes occurring during the recession and in the early Noughties. Twenty years ago, the charge (whose name has varied over the years) was only 330. The tax relief on tuition fees allows parents to claim back up to a fifth of the cost of the student contribution charge, but only for any second or subsequent children in third-level education.

Many parents therefore lose out on the chance to claim this tax relief - particularly if the age gap between their children is wide or if they have only one child. Were it possible to claim the tax relief on the student contribution charge for the first child in third-level education, this could make this tax break more accessible to parents - and ease the burden of college bills. To prevent the tax relief becoming a runaway bill for the Government, a limit could be put on the amount of relief claimed by the same family.

Another change in recent years which has put parents at a disadvantage is the taxation of maternity pay. Since July 2013, State maternity pay has been taxed. State paternity pay, introduced in late September 2016, is also taxable.

Despite the upcoming increases in maternity and paternity pay, Irish parents would find it very hard to make ends meet if relying solely on those benefits during maternity or paternity leave. For this reason, the taxation of this benefit seems unfair - particularly for those who don't get their State maternity pay topped up by their employer when on leave. (Employers are not obliged to pay women who are on maternity leave).

For stay-at-home parents, next year's 300 increase in the home carer tax credit is welcome.Budget 2019 also had some good news for those families with two parents who work outside the home: more of these families are set to get childcare subsidies next year. This is due to an increase in the maximum net income a family can earn to be eligible for subsidies under the Affordable Childcare Scheme.

However, "in our view, this change does not go far enough to encourage parents back into the workforce where they are faced with expensive childcare costs", said McHugh. "The Government should consider the introduction of a child tax credit such that all parents - whether working in or outside the home - will be treated equally."

As the old cliche goes, a lot done, more to do...

BUDGET PICKS

PENSIONERS

State pension to increase by 5 a week from March 2019.

Full Christmas bonus to be paid this December.

SELF-EMPLOYED

Extension of the Jobseeker's Benefit scheme to self-employed from late 2019.

The earned income tax credit to increase by 200 to 1,350.

PARENTS

Two weeks' paid parental leave for each parent - from November 2019.

Home carer tax credit to increase from 1,200 to 1,500.

WORKERS

National minimum wage to rise from 9.55 an hour to 9.80 an hour from the start of next year.

Small cut in the Universal Social Charge for earnings of between 19,874 and 70,044.

An increase of 750 in the income tax standard rate band - from 34,550 to 35,300 for single individuals; and from 43,550 to 44,300 for married one-earner couples.

HOTELS, HAIRCUTS & EATING OUT

The price of eating out - and staying in hotels - is set to increase next year due to a 50pc rise in the Vat rate on tourism activities. Hotels and restaurants will have to charge 13.5pc Vat next year. The cost of a haircut is also likely to increase.

CIGARETTES

A 50c increase in the excise duty on a packet of 20 cigarettes.Aviation-leasing company Stellwagen has vowed to "vigorously prosecute" three former executives that have set up a new rival entity.

Howard Millar, Edward Hansom, and Edward Coughlan all face High Court civil proceedings by Stellwagen, which were initiated shortly after they tendered their resignations in September 2017.

The US-Irish company has alleged the trio used company secrets to establish another aviation-leasing company. That claim is denied by all three men.

On Monday, it was announced to the London Stock Exchange that Millar, a former Ryanair chief financial officer, will head up Sirius Aircraft Leasing Fund. The entity aims to raise 250m through a flotation on the market. Media reports suggested that no further legal action was due against Millar, or Hansom and Coughlan who are both executives in the new firm.

However, in a letter sent by Stellwagen's lawyers to Liberum, the company sponsoring the flotation, it is made clear that the aviation firm intends to continue pursuing the trio.

"Contrary to those reports, which are apparently based on self-serving statements emanating from the defendants and/ or Sirius, our clients intend to vigorously prosecute the proceedings and pursue their full entitlement to damages", legal representatives said in a document seen by the Sunday Independent.

Stellwagen's founder, Douglas L Brennan, has claimed that the trio were behind the unlawful and clandestine misuse and distribution of commercially-sensitive and highly-confidential material acquired by them during their employment.

He claimed there was clear evidence of a concerted effort by the defendants to divert highly valuable business away from the company.

The three former executives have all denied the claims made by the Stellwagen founder.

Investigations by a forensic IT company found evidence of an "Airgreen" in Millar's download folder, the High Court heard last October.

Airgreen was the name given to a business venture that proposed to raise $100m in equity. In the Stellwagen letter, the company informs Liberum that it may hold documentation and records relevant to Airgreen and the ongoing proceedings.

"You should ensure to retain all documents and records relating to your involvement with the defendants in Airgreen Capital and the subsequent establishment of Sirius as this material may become the subject of an application for discovery at a later date," it read.

Sirius Aviation Capital Holdings, which acts as an advisor to the fund, said "No comment" when contacted last week.A well-known British short seller has taken a position in Irish company First Derivatives (FD) and issued a highly-critical note on the firm.

A letter to investors from Shadowfall Capital and Research - headed by Matthew Earl, who is dubbed the 'Dark Destroyer' in the industry - hit out at several aspects of First Derivatives (FD), which describes itself as "a leading provider of products and consulting services to some of the world's largest finance, technology and energy institutions." The company - based in Newry, Co Down - employs 2,000 worldwide.

"FD describes itself as a software company, however, in our view, FD demonstrates the characteristics of a low-margin consultancy business," said Shadowfall.

"Our research into the company leads us to believe that its historical profits have been significantly bolstered either by one-off factors that have little to do with the day-to-day operations of the business, or by capitalisation accounting treatment that has shielded costs from its P&L."

Shadowfall also questioned how much the company was spending on research. "For a purported software business, we are surprised to find that FD spends quite so little on its research and development."

The note also questioned the nature of some of the businesses that FD is investing in, claiming they included "highly speculative start-ups".

It also predicted more dilution for shareholders of First Derivatives. The company, headed by CEO Brian Conlon, declined to comment on the report.

Last February, Shadowfall became embroiled in a dispute with IQE, a Welsh technology company whose designs are used in the iPhone. Shadowfall had raised concerns about corporate governance, while IQE claimed the report was misleading.It was tough for junior leaders to exercise control in thick bush, where hand signals could not be seen and shouts were inaudible above a cacophony of exploding grenades, automatic fire, screams of pain Photo: Francoise De Mulder/Roger Viollet/Getty Images

The fall of Saigon to the communist Viet Cong and North Vietnamese in 1975 marked the end of a brutal 30-year conflict in which both French and US forces had been humiliated, as some people saw it, by peasant revolutionaries. It produced in America a long period of soul-searching that found expression in some impressive anti-war literature and a host of brilliant films, such as Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket and Born on the Fourth of July.

Then came two events that altered the mood: the collapse of the Soviet Empire, and the successful US military ventures in Kuwait and Iraq. Suddenly, there were no more mea culpa books and films. America and capitalism could feel good about themselves again.

The post-9/11 invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq changed all that, and the time is now right for a proper historical overview of the most significant conflict since World War II and Max Hastings' epic new history will surely set the benchmark for years to come.

One of the overarching themes of Hastings' book is that neither side emerges from the story with much credit. Many in the West - particularly Left-wing intellectuals - were quick to assume that if their own country " had embraced a bad cause, the other side's must be a good one". Yet, as Hastings points out, the North's victory in 1975 "caused the South Vietnamese people merely to exchange oppression by warlords and landlords in favour of even harsher subjection to disciples of Stalin".

By taking a long view of the conflict, Hastings demonstrates that nothing in history is inevitable. Vietnam's subjection to communism, for example, might have been averted if France, its original colonial overlord, had announced its intention to quit the country in 1945, while at the same time embarking upon "a crash transition process to identify credible indigenous leaders and prepare them to govern, as did the British before quitting Malaya".

Instead, still smarting from the humiliation of the Nazi wartime occupation, the French tried to regain control of Vietnam by defeating the communist Viet Minh insurgents, thus inaugurating a decade-long "dirty war" that cost 90,000 French lives and ended in humiliating defeat.

Not that Vo Nguyen Giap, the Viet Minh commander, had it all his own way. If he had been a Western general, writes Hastings, his succession of crippling defeats in 1951 would have cost him his job. But, crucially, he retained the confidence of his political chief, Ho Chi Minh.

Moreover, the significance of Giap's greatest victory - at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 - was the beginning of the end for the French, who had launched it with the "explicit purpose of bringing the Viet Minh to battle", and then lost by "epic bungling". Within a year, the French had withdrawn from Vietnam and the country was partitioned near the 17th Parallel between the communist North and the pro-West South.

The French experience in Vietnam should have served as a warning. It was ignored because, for the US, much bigger Cold War issues were at play. As early as 1947, Harry S Truman had told Congress that it must ever be US policy "to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressure". This so-called Truman doctrine was chiefly directed against international communism, particularly in Vietnam where, from 1950, the US was paying for France's war.

As France faced defeat at Dien Bien Phu, Dwight Eisenhower coined the term "domino theory" to explain that if Vietnam was lost to the communists, the rest of south-east Asia would "go over very quickly". He even appealed to British PM Churchill to support the intervention by evoking their countries' shared endeavours in World War II. But Churchill would not bite. Having failed to save India for herself, he said, Britain was not about to save Indo-China for France.

Video of the Day

Instead, successive US governments took a unilateral decision to support South Vietnam, first with money, then with troops, to prevent a communist takeover. One of the great counterfactuals of the war is: would the US have sent combat troops to Vietnam if John F Kennedy had not been assassinated in November 1963?

The answer, says Hastings, is yes. There is, he writes, "overwhelming" evidence "that the president's thinking was dominated by the requirements of his forthcoming re-election campaign", and that, as Kennedy put it to a friend: "I can't let Vietnam go to the Communists and then go and ask [American voters] to re-elect me."

Kennedy had already authorised the dispatch of 16,000 US "advisors", and it was their presence in Vietnam, says Hastings, that tied the hands of his successor, Lyndon B Johnson.

Hastings is excellent on the motivations of politicians and generals on both sides. But he also charts the grim experience of war through the eyes of Viet Cong guerrillas, NVA soldiers, American grunts and Vietnamese civilians. I haven't read a better description of the challenges GIs faced in trying to stay alive in an unfamiliar environment than the 12 pages that Hastings devotes to the subject: "It was tough for junior leaders to exercise control in thick bush, where hand signals could not be seen and shouts were inaudible above a cacophony of exploding grenades, automatic fire, screams of pain and fear."

He reminds us that American troops won victories and inflicted heavy casualties on their opponents - particularly during the communist Tet Offensive of 1968. Yet this success was pyrrhic because it convinced many Americans, appalled by the carnage, that the war had to end. That it took another five years, and cost a further 22,000 American lives, before the last US soldier was withdrawn from Vietnam was because Johnson's successor, Richard Nixon, did not think it was politically viable to abandon the South Vietnamese until he had agreed some form of political settlement with the communists. That the deal was unenforceable - and ultimately doomed South Vietnam - was not Nixon's concern.

Was the whole war pointless, as many believe? Not quite, says Hastings, as it may have saved Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and even Australia from communist domination.

"Yet in Vietnam, the American commitment was fatally flawed", writes Hastings, because it was founded "not upon the interests of the Vietnamese people, but instead on the perceived requirements of US domestic and foreign policy".

Hastings was one of the last war correspondents to be helicoptered out of Saigon as the city was about to fall. This personal experience lends colour to his account, but never compromises its objectivity. He has written many excellent histories, but this may be his best.

Exhaustively researched and superbly written, it is both a balanced and authoritative account of how and why the war unfolded as it did, and a gripping narrative on what it was like to take part. No villain - and there were many - escapes Hastings' censure; no political viewpoint emerges unscathed. This is history as it should be: objective, immersive and compelling.Richard Madden has been backed to be the next James Bond (Ian West/PA)

Richard Madden is reportedly close to being offered the role of James Bond.

The 32-year-old actor is said to have impressed Bond bosses with his performance in the BBC drama series Bodyguard, and he is now being eyed to replace Daniel Craig as 007.

A source told the Mail on Sunday: "It's seriously looking like he is going to get the job."

Barbara Broccoli, the executive producer at Eon Productions, will have the final say on who will become the next Bond and was reportedly impressed by his turn in the hit BBC series.

Expand Close Keeley Hawes and Richard Madden in Bodyguard (World Productions/Des Willie) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Keeley Hawes and Richard Madden in Bodyguard (World Productions/Des Willie)

The insider added: "Not only is he on top of Barbara's list, but she is preparing to offer the role."

Daniel Craig is currently filming his fifth Bond movie after which he will depart the franchise.

Expand Close Keeley Hawes and Richard Madden (Isabel Infantes/PA) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Keeley Hawes and Richard Madden (Isabel Infantes/PA)

Madden played Sergeant David Budd, who was tasked with protecting the home secretary, in the series, which gripped viewers right up to the unbearably tense finale.

Born in Scotland, he began acting at the age of 11 and appeared in many theatre productions before landing the lead role in BBC series Hope Springs in 2009. The following year he starred in Chatroom before landing the role for which he is now best known, as Robb Stark in HBO's Game of Thrones.

He has also appeared in Channel 4's Sirence and the BBC's Birdsong and he played Prince Kit in Disney's Cinderella. Fans will also have spotted him in TV series Medici: Masters of Florence and Netflix film Ibiza as well as the 2014 series Klondike.

In 2016 he starred opposite Idris Elba in Bastille Day. Elba is one of several other well known actors - including Tom Hiddleston, Jamie Dornan, and Tom Hardy - who have been linked to the role of Bond in recent years.

Video of the Day

However, Idris claimed earlier this year that the world isn't ready for a black Bond.

The London-born actor explained: "I think in England we have reached that stage [of having a black James Bond] because culturally we're sort of a lot more diverse but the rest of the world is not like that and I think there is a real sort of stigma.

"It's like, 'Oh he's black, can he do it because he's black?'"

Idris also rejected claims that people would be more accommodating to the change because of recent historical moments, such as Barack Obama becoming America's first black President.

He explained: "Obama can be President because he's a very smart man and I'm sure he had same feelings like, 'Well, I'm not the first black President, I'm Obama. I'm the first Obama.'

"So for me you know I don't like to make a big deal of it, the point is that it's a great rumour. If it was to ever happen, I think it would be the will of a nation."If you were to come across a description of a late 18th-century musician as "an admirable young composer of Vienna" whose productions are "in general excellent, abounding with solidity, good taste, correct harmony", you'd imagine the critic had Mozart in mind. But you would be very much mistaken.

Charles Burney, whose General History of Music was the benchmark in the English language when it was published in 1789, was thinking of somebody else entirely - somebody you've probably never heard of.

I hadn't either, until I found myself listening to one of his keyboard concertos on the radio the other day, and trying to figure out who exactly might have written it.

Leopold Kozeluch, that's who. He was a composer-pianist, and it turns out he was every bit as big as Wolfgang Amadeus in his day.

While Burney was singing his praises in London, in Leipzig a German dictionary of musicians was dubbing Kozeluch "the most popular living composer among young and old alike, and that with absolute justification".

Kozeluch was born in what is now the Czech Republic, and came to Vienna to further his career.

He made quite an impact, being much sought after as a teacher. He was a popular performer, too.

And he played a part, however indirectly, in the development of one of the most significant collaborations in contemporary opera.

In his memoir Reminiscences, the Irish tenor Michael Kelly recalls meeting Mozart for the first time at one of Kozeluch's concerts. That's an indication in itself of just how much of a draw Kozeluch must have been.

Mozart and Kelly would become firm friends, playing billiards together and swapping musical ideas.

Video of the Day

Mozart thought very highly of Kelly, and cast him in two different roles in the premiere of his Marriage of Figaro in 1786.

The paths of Kozeluch and Mozart clearly led in similar directions. When Mozart left Salzburg for Vienna, Kozeluch was offered his old job. He turned it down, and Joseph Haydn's younger brother Michael was appointed instead.

Following Mozart's death in 1791, it was Kozeluch who succeeded him as Vienna's court composer.

So where did it all go wrong for the Bohemian musician? Mind you, he wasn't the only one to disappear from view.

Obviously, the competition was intense. The elder Haydn was a huge presence. There was Beethoven. Not to mention Mozart himself. Schubert struggled to get a look in. He took to song-writing to make ends meet. It was only after his early demise that his talents as a symphonist were finally recognised.

It may have been Mozart's early passing, just short of his 36th birthday. It may simply have been his prolific output which meant there was a Mozart piece for virtually every occasion and every taste.

Posterity can be cruel. You've only to think back across the recent past to come up with names from the field of popular music who have vanished without trace.

Kozeluch had fallen into that category. But a compilation released last year by the English pianist and conductor Howard Shelley - "a rescuer of lost musical souls", as Gramophone magazine put it - has played an important part in returning him to the mainstream.

The CD (Hyperion CDA68154), which teams Shelley with the London Mozart Players in performances of three of Kozeluch's 22 concertos, showcases the elegance and good humour of the music.

More humour than the Financial Times mustered when describing Kozeluch as "Mozart with the genius switch turned off", though the paper did concede that Shelley and the orchestra made a persuasive case for the music.

With the second sentiment, I wholeheartedly concur. Welcome back, Leopold Kozeluch. Well worth a listen.

George Hamilton presents The Hamilton Scores on RTE lyric fm from 10am each SaturdaySamantha Markle has claimed that her father Thomas Markle never received a formal invite to his daughter Meghans wedding to Prince Harry in May.

The 74-year-old had been expected to attend but it was reported that he could not fly to England for the big day due to health issues.

Samantha (53) who is Meghans half-sister and has not spoken to her since 2015, claims that her father was asked to lay low in the run up to the wedding.

I think he was just asked to lay low and it was sort of assumed that if your health permits that youd go but there was no formal invite and I think thats what confused the public, Samantha told Ray DArcy on Saturday nights Ray DArcy Show.

Expand Close Samantha Markle on The Ray D'Arcy Show / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Samantha Markle on The Ray D'Arcy Show

I think he was a little bit hurt and confused but simultaneously he was dealing with failing health and he had a heart attack.

She said Thomas had met Harry once, prior to the wedding and she said it was quite positive and Prince Harry as quit gentlemanly [and] my father was.

They did the right thing - when youre going to marry someone's daughter you want to ask appropriately and be respectful and they both were, contrary to any media speculation.

She added that the meeting was very warm.

However, the rift between Samantha, Thomas and Meghan has escalated in recent months as both her father and sister have given interviews to the media about Meghan and, at one point, Samantha posted disparaging tweets about her sister, labelling her a duchAss in one.

I did apologise for that, and publicly, she said. Because that happened at a time when there was so much water under the bridge, there was so much hurt. I had watched my father be ignored and our whole family be publicly insulted whether we spoke or not.

Video of the Day

She said she felt that Kensington Palace could make a public statement, please respect the Markle family and I was kind of hurt that they didnt. However, she said she was out of line to post the tweet.

Having worked in the media, Samantha said she felt she could handle the attention and interviews, but now feels that the Markle family should have been briefed in the beginning on how to handle the media.

Although she said she would never blame the British Royal Family for not doing so, as its not their responsibility, she said we had no idea what to expect and wished they had had better communication from the beginning.

Speaking about the staged paparazzi photos of her father which surfaced before Meghan and Harrys wedding, Samantha admitted they were her idea, and were designed to have her father represented in a positive rather than disparaging way in the media.

She said he has had no contact with Meghan since the wedding but said she does not blame Meghan or feel hurt by that. However, she feels Meghan may be believing stories which she claims are not true in the media.

If theres a rift its between all members of the family and the family has to come together and give each other the benefit of the doubt and at least have a meeting of minds and separate fact from fiction, did you say this? Did you say that? No, yes, no, yes and gee, wow, I had no idea but we havent had an opportunity to do that.

Samantha attempted to reach out to Meghan by hand-delivering a letter to Buckingham Palace last week.

Its all positive, she said. There was no demand. There was no negativity. As you can see in the photos Im smiling so I guarantee if I was rejected or shunned or tunred away I wouldnt have been quite so smiley.

She added, It was not my goal to show up and get an invite and crash the gates. Im not that rude and tacky but I thought, at a minimal, I can get a letter through and sight see so it was never anything the media made it out to be.

Samantha says she hopes for a happy ending and that is why she has not finished writing her book about Meghan, which is not, she says, a slamming tell-all.

You can watch the full interview with Samantha Markle on The Ray D'Arcy Show on the RTE Player HEREI'm sitting on a fold-down chair on a narrow corridor backstage at the Wales Millennium Centre. On either side of me, a handful of other journalists are silently reading their notes or fiddling with recording equipment. I bounce one foot nervously, and take a last look at the questions scribbled in my notebook. There's a rumble of footsteps approaching and, suddenly, the door to my right bursts wide and three figures stride through it.

"Walk of shame!" quips a cheery Gary Barlow as they march past. My face flushes. I try to smile while simultaneously trying not to gawp. "The doctor will see you now," says Mark Owen in a mock Vincent Price tone, before disappearing into the interview room. The corridor falls silent again, aside from the hammering of my heart. After 15 years of working as a journalist and editor, I thought that I had mastered remaining nonplussed when meeting celebrities. But I've just met Take That - and suddenly I'm a teenager again.

Earlier this year, an analysis of Spotify data for The New York Times identified that the songs you love as a teen are the songs that you'll love forever. The study found that, on average, women find their favourite songs at age 13, for men it's 14. I was still a year shy of my 13th birthday when, in 1993, I fell in love with Take That.

It was the televised 'poll winners' party' from now defunct teen music mag Smash Hits that did it. Robbie swung his floppy hair about. Jason challenged Will Smith to a dance off. Howard played the guitar. Mark's performance of Babe was almost drowned out by the screams of the audience. Gary accepted the award for 'Best Group In The World'. I recorded the show on VHS, Sellotaped the corners so it couldn't be wiped, and watched it on repeat. My friends and I learned their Relight My Fire dance routine and argued constantly about which of us got to be Lulu in our lip-synch performances.

Expand Close The young stars of the show. Photo: Matt Crockett / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The young stars of the show. Photo: Matt Crockett

In 1995, Take That released the anthem that, for me, encapsulates my teenage years - Never Forget. I've belted it out, hands in the air, with those same friends at our school graduation, our debs, in nightclubs, on holidays, at 21st birthdays, at 30ths, and more recently at weddings. The song seems to be about us - the giddiness and adventures, the friendship and support of having been teenage girls together that we'll never forget.

It's around that sentiment that new stage musical The Band has been built. The show, which comes to Dublin's Bord Gais Energy Theatre next month, has been widely assumed to be 'Take That the musical' but in reality it's the fans that are the subject of a sweet and moving narrative.

The story begins in 1992, where five 16-year-old girls are hatching a plan to meet the boyband they're obsessed with. Later, we see them in the present day - grown up and grown apart, but still smiling when those familiar songs come on the radio. It would ruin the show to delve further into the storyline, but it's a tale of decent folk navigating personal traumas and learning the value of life-long friendships. The Band's writer, Tim Firth, is also the man behind Calendar Girls, which will give you an idea of the tone.

The songs are, of course, by Take That - who I've come to Cardiff to meet on the first night of The Band's UK and Ireland tour. Starstruck nerves still jangling, I'm ushered into a dressing room where Mark Owen, Howard Donald and Gary Barlow are seated in a semi-circle. In the background, lots of people are milling about, but the three seem totally at ease in the centre of a whirlwind.

They're immediately warm and chatty - asking about my flight and the weather in Ireland. To my right, sits Gary, looking groomed in a black velvet bomber jacket. He has a surprisingly small frame with delicate features, and looks youthful and fresh. When he speaks his voice is disconcertingly familiar - with that distinctive Manchester drawl that turns 'us' into 'uzzzz'. Howard, on the other hand, is a quieter and more imposing figure sitting dead ahead of me. He's wearing a green trucker's cap and a scruffy beard, his gaze intense and arresting. On the left, Mark wears one of his trademark fedoras. He's relaxed and upbeat, playing with his beaded bracelets as he chats away.

The musical is a tribute to the fans, so I begin by asking whether the trio felt that they owed something to their audience for their years of devotion? "Lots of money," Howard says with a booming laugh, before Gary answers more seriously. "We constantly feel that," he says. "I always say when I'm on the social media thing, without the fans, there's no us. So when the idea of this came up - and the idea that the show was not actually going to be about us but about the fans - I was like: 'Yeah!'"

Expand Close Five To Five on stage as 'The Band'. Photo: Matt Crockett / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Five To Five on stage as 'The Band'. Photo: Matt Crockett

Video of the Day

Take That's presence at the theatre this evening is a top secret matter. After the show, they've planned to surprise the audience by joining the cast on stage for the encore. Despite it all being hush-hush, when we arrived hours earlier we passed a small knot of women silently standing guard at the stage door. One was clutching a TT tote bag that looked as though it had been treasured since the 1990s. Others had programmes from the musical ready to be signed. It was clear that these were the Take That faithful who track the group's every move. Do they have fans who've followed them since the very beginning?

"Yeah, lots!" answers Mark.

"There's lots of people on the front row that you recognise," Howard elaborates. "I think it's amazing. Not only from the 1990s but when we came back second time, one of the big things was that there were still people there who showed interest in us. Even from Robbie leaving, from Jason leaving The support and the strength - they've been there for us."

Perhaps because of their many ups and downs, they've often said from the stage that the fans are an integral part of Take That. "That's because we feel it," Gary says convincingly. "They are it really. We're like the channel," Marks adds.

They certainly seem able to channel each other. After each of my questions, there's a split second of a pause where a look passes between the bandmates. It's as though the answer, and who is going to give it, is decided by some sort of shared consciousness. It's a synergy born of 30 years of working together, and it's fascinating to watch.

I ask whether, over the years, they've been told what their songs mean to real people. They glance and then Howard quips: "Yeah, they say they don't like any of them!" All three laugh heartily. "We obviously have songs that people have related to over the years, old ones and new ones as well," Mark continues. "I know Rule The World is a ceremonial song for weddings, and A Million Love Songs too. Somebody came up to me not too long ago and said that they had Rule The World at a funeral as well. We're very lucky that these songs connect. That's what you want to do when you're writing a song, to make a song that connects."

Do they know when they've written a song that it's going to be a big one? "Oh, I'm not sure about that," says Gary. "I'd like to say yes but I'm not sure. I think when we're writing, we're lucky because there's a number of us, so if we're all feeling good about it that's usually a good sign."

Has any song ever really surprised them with the reception it's gotten? "A few have surprised me when they've not done well!" says Gary - cue more raucous laughter. "A few songs have done better as time has gone on. That Cry record we had, I think people would fail to tell you when it was out, but at the gig it goes down the best of any of the songs, and you just think, 'I don't get it'. These songs were much bigger hits, but then people go crazy to that song."

The Band features a host of tracks from the three decades of their back catalogue, from Pray to Shine to The Flood. Tim Firth, a long-time friend of Gary's, was mainly responsible for narrowing down which songs fit his story. "I think when you've got a story it just picks the music it needs, and gets rid of the ones it doesn't need eventually," Gary says.

It may be their songs, their dance routines and their logo, but there is not one mention of Take That in the musical itself. Instead, the girls rave only about the unnamed members of "the band". The teenage popstars that appear on stage were found through BBC TV contest Let It Shine. The group that eventually won a place in the cast is, in reality, called Five to Five. Was it difficult for Take That to hand their songs over to a cast and let them make them their own? "Not at all, it's beautiful to watch," Gary answers.

"When you hear Five To Five, their voices and how amazingly they sing those songs, it kind of puts us to shame a little bit!" Howard says.

"It made us step our game up a little bit," laughs Mark.

"We all went back to singing lessons!" Gary adds.

Surely it has to be weird watching a mini version of yourselves on stage? "I don't see them like that," Gary insists. "And actually, the audience don't either. They always say that we love the music but they've not replaced you."

Despite the passage of time, it seems that nothing can replace Take That for their fans. Since they reformed in 2006 - as a foursome and later a trio - they've released five albums and toured constantly, including two stops at Croke Park. Last week they announced a Greatest Hits tour to mark their 30th anniversary, which comes to Dublin in April 2019. The audience will largely be made up of women who've loved them since the 1990s, many now with their own daughters in tow. And, of course, me and my friends with our hands in the air, singing Never Forget.

In the meantime, we can relive our days of giddy teenage infatuation - still going strong for me it would seem, as I turn puce when someone offers to take a photo of me with Gary, Mark and Howard - at The Band.

"I'm just proud of the whole thing," says Gary. "Especially when we watch the show because it's not just what goes on on stage. There's people off the stage, people moving the show from place to place. It's a big company and I'm proud that it's happened because of us, and that it's after all these years. Because there's not many bands, you can probably count them on one hand, that have had a musical written about them. I just feel proud that it's been us."

'The Band' runs at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre from November 6-10. Tickets are priced from 21, book at bordgaisenergytheatre.ieThe Kinahan cartels younger cohort have been dealt a double blow with gardai seizing drugs, cash and cocaine mixing agent in separate raids.

Officers stormed a Drimnagh property on Thursday, targeting a close teenage associate of Kinahan cartel figure Gareth Chubb.

They seized 100 grams of a substance believed to be mixing agent for cocaine, as well as more than 2,000 in cash, though the target of the raid was not in the house.

No arrests were made.

Senior sources said gardai were targeting the new younger breed of criminal heavily involved with the Kinahan cartels day-to-day operations in the capital.

TARGET

The Garda Emergency Response Unit used specialist equipment to break down a reinforced door in the raids.

In July 2017, Chubb (31), a close associate of the target of this weeks raid, was cleared by a Dutch court of the attempted manslaughter of a drug dealer who tried to sell him baking soda instead of cocaine.

However, he was jailed for six months for possession of a loaded gun he pulled out at an Amsterdam cafe during the terrifying incident.

Close associates of Chubb were also targeted by gardai in a series of raids in Dublins south inner city in March last year when around 10,000 and five GPS tracking devices were seized by officers.

Thursdays operation was the second successful bust by local gardai against up-and-coming teenage members of the cartel in just six days.

On Friday last week, gardai seized around 2,500 worth of crack cocaine and heroin when they carried out two simultaneous raids on properties in the Lissadell area of Drimnagh.

Two teenagers were arrested, including a young man who has close links to cartel kingpin Liam Byrne.

The man has previously been described by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) as a trusted lieutenant of the international crime gang.

A male relative of this lieutenant was busted throwing the drugs out of a window of a house in the area when it was raided by uniformed officers.

However, it is understood Byrnes close associate has taken responsibility for the drugs haul even though nothing was found in the property in which he lives.

It seems some kind of drugs swap or transaction had taken place before gardai arrived at the two houses, a senior source said.

The fella that has taken responsibility is becoming a bigger and bigger player in the drugs scene.

Like his close associate, Liam Byrne, he has a love for big, flashy cars and the high life. He is a big target for gardai.

Byrne (36) is currently in exile in the Birmingham area and gardai chiefs have classified him as being the leader of the Byrne Organised Crime Gang (BOCG).

The High Court was told the career criminal was heavily involved in drug trafficking and violent crime and described the evidence for this as extensive and detailed.

THUGS

The Herald has previously revealed a group of a dozen young men closely associated with members of the Kinahan cartel have been described as the next generation of lieutenants in the capital.

The group of 12 young men and teenagers from the Crumlin/Drimnagh area are described as being extremely loyal to cartel member Byrne and other key associates like Chubb and Liam Roe.

At least six of the group, who are all in their late teens or early 20s, were present at the Regency Hotel when a five-man hit squad armed with handguns and automatic weapons entered the premises and opened fire in the February 2016 bloodbath which led to the murder of cartel figure David Byrne.

Among the so called next generation is Crumlin man Lee Gibson (20), who was investigated as part of the CABs major probe into the mob.

The CAB outlined in a High Court affidavit: He is involved in the day-to-day business of the organised crime group (OCG) and through the investigation into the business it has been established that he has been involved in the importation and registration of several vehicles.

Lee Gibson travels to the UK and Spain at the behest of this OCG and has been stopped in the company of senior members of this OCG on a regular basis, the CAB said.

In mid-August, officers from the Crumlin Drugs Unit arrested a 25-year-old south inner city man when they seized cocaine with an estimated value of 64,000, along with 14,000 of cannabis herb.

Gardai also seized 7,500 in cash. Less than a fortnight later  on the same day cartel member Fat Freddie Thompson was jailed for life for the murder of David Daithi Douglas  gardai in the locality made another significant cocaine seizure.

Operations targeting these young criminals will continue in the coming weeks, a senior source said last night.

ABROAD

They will not be allowed to get too big for their boots and will be taken down, the source added.

The generation of younger dealers has taken over because many of the cartels main players are now living on the run abroad or are locked up in prison. These include cartel boss Daniel Kinahan (left), who has not left Dubai now for more than a year.The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) has passed information on two solicitors to the Law Society after becoming concerned about the work they were carrying out for clients who were targets of the bureau.

The agency is understood to have referred the cases of two solicitors in recent months to the society, which is the regulatory body for the legal profession.

However, the Law Society has indicated that it will not be taking further action on foot of the information from the bureau.

In a statement to the Sunday Independent, it said there was "insufficient legal and factual basis" to take disciplinary proceedings.

The offices of professional advisers are frequently raided by the CAB during its investigations into white-collar crime and money-laundering, but this is routinely to secure files and paperwork related to their suspects and does not reflect on the professionals involved.

However, in one exception, bureau officers criticised an accountant whose clients included suspected members of a gang linked to the Kinahan-Hutch feud.

The accountant's offices were raided as a part of a wider probe into the gang's finances but bureau officers claimed in an affidavit that the accountant was "evasive, unprofessional and unco-operative".

One of the country's biggest law firms, Matheson, has launched an app called Dawn Raid, which advises companies on how to prepare for and react to searches, warning that Irish and EU regulators can now forcibly enter a business or home, demand information and seize records.

An article in the latest issue of the Law Society Gazette informs readers that "any business fearing a dawn raid on suspicion of white-collar crime" can get help from the app, which is "a tool for crisis management and training".

The app gives "step-by-step guidance for how to behave during a raid, and awareness training of raid protocol ahead of time. There will also be push-button access to Matheson lawyers embedded in the tool".

In a statement to the Sunday Independent, Law Society director general Ken Murphy said: "The CAB has provided information to the Law Society about two solicitors. These were not complaints.

"Upon investigation, neither of these matters were referred to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal as there was insufficient legal and factual basis to take disciplinary proceedings.

"For legal reasons, the Law Society is unable to comment further."Trinity College Dublin has received the backing of a 100 million loan over a period of 30 years from the world's largest internationally owned public bank.

The loan, from the European Investment Bank, will contribute to four major developments at the university including the expansion of the school of law, the refurbishment of the arts block, a new student accommodation hall and an engineering and technologies initiative.

A new student hall which will accommodate 300 students will be built as part of the development.

The 30-year loan from the worlds largest internationally owned public bank will be used by Trinity alongside other sources of financing, including philanthropic donations.

Vice President of the European Investment Bank, Andrew McDowell, said: "New investment is crucial to continually strengthen research, educational excellence and world-class innovation, as well as provide students with skills for the 21st century.

"The impact of visionary investment can be seen here at Trinity College, the largest university beneficiary of European Investment Bank support in Ireland, where we have provided more than 245 million for new investment over the last decade."

Earlier this year, one of Irelands wealthiest families gave 25m to Trinity College Dublin in what is the single largest donation from Irish philanthropists in the history of the State.

Leading industrialist, Dr Martin Naughton and his wife Carmel, are providing the funding towards the new E3 Institute in Engineering, Energy and Environment to be built on the Trinity campus.

The donation by the Naughton Foundation is meeting almost half the 60m cost, with a further 15m committed by the Department of Education, while other private funding is also forthcoming.The team investigating the CervicalCheck crisis will travel to America within weeks to examine the outsourcing of Irish smear tests by a Texas laboratory to labs in Honolulu, Florida and Las Vegas.

Dr Gabriel Scally's damning report on the screening controversy revealed how smear tests contracted to be read by Clinical Pathology Laboratories (CPL) in Austin, Texas, ended up being dispatched to other smaller laboratories.

Scally's team is to return to CPL to find out the "exact number of samples that were subcontracted to laboratories and the locations of those laboratories".

A cytopathologist assisting Dr Scally told the Oireachtas health committee last week that many of the labs to which the tests were subcontracted "no longer exist and many were very small".

Dr Karen Denton also said that the same smear tests could been sent for analysis to two different locations. "We have further inquiries to make regarding the governance and accreditation of all of these services," she said.

CervicalCheck didn't know about the outsourcing, and Dr Scally said the news came as a "complete shock" to the HSE.

The HSE stopped using CPL in 2012, and Dr Scally expressed his confidence in the laboratories currently contracted by the service.

A surge in legal actions since the CervicalCheck crisis emerged in April has had a huge impact on negotiations with two of the three laboratories contracted by the HSE to analyse smear tests.

The HSE has been in protracted talks with Quest, in the US, and Med Lab, in Dublin, to renew the contracts, which are due to expire this weekend.

The talks faltered over who should take liability for the false negative results in the screening process.

Reports that the State had secured provisional arrangements with the laboratories this weekend went unconfirmed by the HSE.

According to reports yesterday, the State is proposing to take into the public sector screening staff that are currently working for one of the contracted laboratories, Med Lab in Dublin, while negotiating new terms and fees with Quest Diagnostics in the US.

Meanwhile, an independent support group for women affected by the CervicalCheck crisis is due to be launched in Dublin today.

The group has been named 221 after the number of women with cervical cancer who were impacted by the crisis. Twenty of the women have since died.

It was set up by several of the families affected, but principally Vicky Phelan, who exposed the CervicalCheck crisis earlier this year, Lorraine Walsh, who also received incorrect smear tests results, and Stephen Teap, whose wife Irene died last year.

The Irish Cancer Society, the Irish Patient's Association and the Marie Keating Foundation also assisted in the set-up.

The group aim to address the practical needs of women with cervical cancer and the families of women who have died of the disease. Around 140 of the affected women attended an information day last month, organised by the support group. Workshops were held on bereavement, psychosexual issues, fertility and dealing with symptoms post-treatment.

A steering group overseeing the implementation of Dr Scally's recommendations also agreed last month that an expert group should be set up to look at the best way of helping and supporting women who are seeking fertility treatment.

Dr Scally told last week's health meeting that screening programmes should compensate people for errors that have serious consequences in a non-adversarial way.

The next phase of his work is focusing on the decision to outsource the reading of smear tests, the original tendering process and the accreditations of the laboratories.

He said he was not content with the system of accreditation of laboratories or the original tendering process. He said he was concerned with laboratories that "might have wanted to take part in the tendering process but which did not".IRISH troops serving in the Golan Heights will return home on Tuesday.

Some 119 soldiers were due to return on Wedensday, but due to a paperwork error had to remain in Syria.

They have been on the UN peace keeping mission for the last six months.

It is understood that the delay was caused by an error at the Lebanese embassy in London when the UN mission in Lebanon, Unifil, was incorrectly written on a form as the intended destination of the troops, instead of Undof.

Mark Keane, the president of Pdforra, the representative association for soldiers, sailors and air crew, called on Defence Minister Paul Kehoe to explain how the error had occurred and had not been spotted earlier.

General secretary Ger Guinan described the delay as "devastating" for the troops. "I have been overseas on four missions and the last week before you return home is an anxious one. You are high on adrenalin because you know you are going home. It is going to be extremely difficult for those troops to get back into mission mode for the next two weeks," Mr Guinan said.Paul Doherty, who is suffering from Lyme Disease, at home with Helene in Cromane. Paul is hoping through an online 'Go FundMe' campaign to get to Germany for life-changing radical treatment

An Irishman is preparing for a "radical" treatment plan that will raise his body temperature to 42 degrees in the hope of beating Lyme disease.

Paul Doherty from Cromane, Co Kerry contracted the disease 30 years ago following a tick bite in Castlecove.

At the time, Paul thought nothing of the bite, but his partner Helena Hammond told the Kerryman that the effects of the small bite have been "debilitating".

"If he went out and did something for a day, such as cutting the grass or fishing which he loved to do, it would take him two full days of doing nothing just recover his energy levels and get over the pain," Helena said.

"Now, 10 years after his diagnosis, it takes seven to eight days to get back to normal.

"If you are sitting at home all day looking at four walls and in the pain that he is in, it would be hard not to feel depressed. This disease affects you both physically and mentally," she said.

Helena said that the only treatment that Paul is currently receiving for his Lyme disease is pain medication and that even with this, he is currently at the maximum amount allowed by doctors.

The couple are now hoping to raise 30,000 for radical treatment in a clinic in Germany.

The potentially life-changing treatment on offer at the specialist clinic in Bad Aibling in Germany is Paul's last realistic option of beating this disease, Helena admitted.

The treatment Helena describes is risky, but she said that if there is a chance it can help Paul, they are willing to try it.

"What they are going to do is they are going to heat Paul's body up to 41.6 degrees Celsius which is obviously quite dangerous because it can potentially damage his heart and his brain but it is hoped that at that temperature, the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria will die," she continued.

In the week leading up to the treatment, Helena said that Paul will be monitored closely and will have to come off all painkillers and undergo a number of tests and procedures.

"He will be monitored the whole time and, hopefully, we can kill all the harmful bacteria in his body," she said.

A GoFundMe page has been set up and, even if people cannot donate to Paul's cause, Helena hopes that people can fully understand the real danger of ticks and how prevalent Lyme disease.

"Some of these ticks in Killarney National Park are the size of a pin head and most people after being out in Killarney, they would not even think to check themselves for bites. People need to be aware of the reality of this disease and how damaging it can be," she said.

You can donate to Paul's GoFundMe page hereAn Irish solicitor forced to pay 345 for a small scratch on a vehicle that he claims wasn't caused by him has slammed the lack of regulation of the car rental market in Europe.

Kieran Cummins, from Co Meath, rented a car from company Drivalia at Valencia Airport in Spain last July.

His experience was bad from the beginning, after he was charged a late arrival fee of 35 because his flight from Ireland was delayed.

When he returned the vehicle ten days later, the hire company alleged that there was a mark above the tail light and deducted 345 from Mr Cummins' credit card.

Expand Close Drivalia says customers will not be charged if the scratch is under 10mm / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Drivalia says customers will not be charged if the scratch is under 10mm

Mr Cummins said the car was parked up for the majority of its hire and had only been driven to and from the resort where he was staying, which clocked up a total of 286km.

"I made it clear that I was not responsible for this mark. The person checking the car ignored my protestations and kept using an obviously well rehearsed mantra that it was 'nothing personal' and that I could claim it back on my insurance," Mr Cummins told Independent.ie.

"I told him this would take days of my time. He told me I would have to pay 345 for this and said that if I didn't agree to pay it, that he would deduct it from the blocked money (1,250) on my credit card. He kept saying this was part of the contract I signed. The contract wasn't even available in English. They told me then it was in English on their website.

"I don't normally take the add-on insurance from the broker or the hirer, but I hadn't had a holidays in years and sought to eliminate any possibility of hassle. There is absolutely no point in this insurance when the operators still block a deposit from a consumer's credit card."

Expand Close Kieran Cummins was charged 345 for a tiny scratch above the light, which he insists he didn't cause / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Kieran Cummins was charged 345 for a tiny scratch above the light, which he insists he didn't cause

A Drivalia staff member used a ruler to measure the tiny mark over the rear light and alleged it was in excess of 10mm so there would need to be money paid for the "damage".

The company's policy says the customer will not be charged for a scratch under 10mm.

"The mark was a tiny little flake on the paintwork. This was so small that even with a forensic assessment of the car prior to the hire, it is unlikely to have been picked up and wasn't," Mr Cummins said.

He contacted the insurance company he took out cover with to report the incident and to claim back the money he was charged.

Mr Cummins urged the insurance company to investigate the incident and said he would be happy to highlight his experience to "raise awareness to help others".

He asked a number of questions about the regulation of car rental companies and received the following response from a customer service specialist at Questor Insurance Services Limited.

"Unfortunately car hire companies are not required to be regulated and although we are aware of the situation, we are unable to get involved due to our own regulations."

Read More

Mr Cummins has since contacted the Spanish Embassy and is also calling on the Irish government to start looking into the car rental market.

"I should have been able to come home from my vacation and resume my business. Instead, my holiday was destroyed and I ended up writing reports and filing complaints with all concerned. It would have been far cheaper for me to have arranged alternative transport to the holiday destination.

"I am a solicitor qualified in Ireland, England and Wales with a special interest in human rights and social justice. I feel obliged to highlight sharp practices and campaign for regulation where it is necessary".

Drivalia has been contacted for comment.

Horror car rental experiences have become common among Irish tourists travelling across Europe, particularly at airport branches.

Independent.ie previously highlighted experiences customers had with company Green Motion at UK airports.

Ryanair's car hire provider, CarTrawler, subsequently suspended the services of Green Motion due to a spike in customer complaints, insisting it would resume its services when it improved its customer service.

Businessman Stuart Summerfield, from Co Sligo, provided pictures of his rental car which showed no visible damage to the vehicle, but yet he was charged 1,205 (1,371) by Green Motion for an alleged dent on the driver's door.

Expand Close A Green Motion staff member pointing out the perceived damage to the car rented by Stuart Summerfield / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp A Green Motion staff member pointing out the perceived damage to the car rented by Stuart Summerfield

Green Motion later refunded Mr Summerfield the full amount after he highlighted his experience in the media.

A Green Motion spokesperson said the refund was a "gesture of good will".Cabinet ministers have been warned to avoid unnecessary contact with their British counterparts over fears it will cause division among EU member states ahead of crucial Brexit negotiations, the Sunday Independent can reveal.

The Government's Brexit team recently launched 'Operation Caution' after it noticed an increasing number of unsolicited contacts from UK ministers when the Dail returned after the summer recess.

Government ministers were instructed to implement a "hive mentality" and resist unwarranted advances from British ministers who may seek to influence their views on Brexit.

The Government feared British ministers were aiming to use diplomatic back channels to unravel EU solidarity as the final days of Brexit negotiations approached.

Details of the high-level strategy come as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar prepares for crunch Brexit talks with EU leaders on Wednesday.

Last night, ministers were also warned to expect "scare stories" from the UK as Brexit talks entered the final stages.

Meanwhile, the future of the confidence and supply agreement has become entangled in the negotiations after Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin insisted the Government should not be collapsed until a final Brexit deal is ratified by the British parliament.

It is understood details of the highly secret Operation Caution were relayed to ministers on different occasions at Cabinet and separately at Fine Gael ministerial meetings.

Ministers were told to "show loyalty" to the EU negotiating team and deflect any advances from British counterparts seeking bilateral meetings which could be seen as disloyal.

"We need to make sure we don't get caught in the middle and make sure we are not seen to be advocating for the UK," a source said.

Irish ministers were instructed to always direct their British counterparts to the EU's negotiating team if they were being pitched suggestions on a Brexit deal.

Britain has launched a Europe-wide diplomatic offensive in recent months which the Government believes is aimed at sowing seeds of division among EU member states.

Tanaiste Simon Coveney travelled to Poland in recent weeks to show solidarity with Mateusz Morawiecki's government over fears British diplomats had targeted the country's Eurosceptic administration.

Mr Coveney has been central to Ireland's Brexit negotiations and briefed colleagues on Operation Caution on several occasions.

Meanwhile, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier is reported to have offered a last-minute olive branch to Theresa May which would see Britain's transition period for leaving the EU extended to three years.

This would give the British prime minister more time to strike a trade agreement with Brussels and bring her hard Brexit-supporting colleagues on board with the deal.

However, there are increasing doubts in the Irish government over Mrs May's ability to agree a Brexit deal in time for the EU Summit in Brussels.

Last night, a senior Fine Gael minister questioned when a Brexit deal would be ratified by the House of Commons, which is when Fianna Fail believes an election should be called.

The minister said Fianna Fail would have to accept a two-year extension to the deal or face going to the polls before the end of the year.

"We will not accept some case-by-case basis nonsense," the minister said.

However, a senior Fianna Fail figure said: "Brexit is the priority for the country" and insisted that renewing the confidence and supply deal would be discussed next week.

The talks come as the Taoiseach was forced to announce a Cabinet reshuffle yesterday morning after Communications Minister Denis Naughten resigned over his contacts with US businessman David McCourt who is part of consortium bidding for the State's broadband licence.

The move saw Richard Bruton replace Mr Naughten as Communications, Climate Action and Environment Minister. Joe McHugh will replace Mr Bruton as Education and Skills Minister, while Sean Kyne was appointed Chief Whip and Minister for the Gaeltacht and the Islands.

Meanwhile, Galway East TD Sean Canney will become Minister of State at the Departments of Rural and Community Development and Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment.

The Government shake-up means that the Taoiseach will now be relying more than ever on the support of Independent TDs during key Dail votes.

Fine Gael ministers were last night highlighting this as a reason why Mr Varadkar should cut and run if Brexit negotiations are concluded by November's EU summit. However, the Government does not want to risk further instability during the final weeks of Brexit negotiations.

Ahead of Wednesday's EU Summit, British negotiators are seeking a temporary UK-wide customs arrangement as part of the backstop deal which will underpin the withdrawal agreement.

This would see the UK continue to abide by EU rules on food and agriculture but not on financial services.

To date, Michel Barnier has rejected this proposal and insisted that any new customs arrangement linked to the backstop must be specific only to Northern Ireland.

A future customs union between the UK and EU could be agreed separately as part of the final 'future relationship' deal.

Mr Barnier's proposal of an extension of the transition period from two to three years has already come in for criticism from hard-line Brexiteers who say it will cost Britain billions of euro and tie the country to the EU indefinitely.RTE gave it a build-up usually reserved for big sporting clashes such as Conor McGregor's recent UFC showdown in Las Vegas. In the event, the first live presidential debate between all six candidates on Radio One's Saturday With Cormac O hEadhra wasn't quite as belligerent as that now notorious clash, but at times it did threaten to go that way.

Proceedings had barely got under way before the other contenders were piling in to Michael D Higgins over his salary; his use of the Government Learjet to make short hops up to Belfast; the expenses of the Office of the President, including 3,000- a-night hotels.

On TV, this could have easily looked like the big sporty boys in the playground ganging up on the weedy, bookish kid.

In reality, of course, Michael D is more like the headmaster, and should have been better prepared to be put on the spot.

He didn't come across as match fit at all, floundering frequently and taking refuge, as is his wont, in pretty-sounding waffle.

"The appropriate way to do this is a way that is appropriate," he even said. Well, you can't argue with that.

O hEadhra lost control of the debate at times, but there were six people in the studio, and only an hour to deal with the issues each of their candidacies has raised. It was impossible to satisfy everyone, but he did have one slyly killer question to the President: "When did you realise that value for money could be better?" Ouch.

The only other time Higgins sounded that uncomfortable was when admitting that he might now, with the benefit of hindsight, "reword" his statement hailing Cuban communist dictator Fidel Castro on his death as a "giant amongst political leaders".

He didn't need to win, though. He has the advantage of being in pole position.

It was his rivals who needed to make a splash.

Most of the running was done by Donegal businessman Peter Casey, who came across like an excitable Jack Russell, nipping at the President's heels whenever he got the chance.

During the discussion on presidential expenses, Casey went so far as to complain: "Even your dog grooming bills are covered."

There's a man who doesn't have his finger on the sentimental pulse of the dog-loving Irish. Bringing up the President's age was a low blow too.

Casey's fellow Dragon's Den cohorts struggled to be heard as loudly. It was easy to forget that Gavin Duffy was there at all, whilst Sean Gallagher, who came within a whisker of winning in 2011 until RTE and Sinn Fein together banjaxed his campaign at the last moment on false, indeed faked, pretences, sounded lacklustre, as if already resigned to defeat.

If anyone needs the fillip that an appearance on Claire Byrne Live on RTE TV tomorrow would bring, it's Gallagher, but he still insists he won't be there. Nor will Michael D.

It's going to be like Hamlet without the Prince. Or the King. Sinn Fein's Liadh Ni Riada will no doubt seize the opportunity to present herself as the big fish in the small pond of candidates. Yesterday she oscillated between a desire to come across as a serious heavyweight, and wanting to play the radical challenger to the "cosy consensus".

She was less specific about what she could do in office.

"For me, it's about Irish unity," was how she began her final pitch. Er, no, it isn't.

She also declared that Palestine would be "one of the first countries I'd visit", momentarily forgetting that she wouldn't be allowed to leave the country without the approval of the Government.

The final candidate was independent Joan Freeman, founder of Pieta House, as she pointed out practically every time she spoke - and to be fair, if you've got a unique selling point flaunt it.

She seemed confused about the constitutional role of the President, but does it matter? It's about electing a head of state, not a professor of jurisprudence. That's why the President has a Council of State, to guide them through the legal maze.

The President's job is to waft around the world, waving and giving speeches.

This first debate between all six candidates most likely won't have inspired enough people to switch horses.

A discussion about their values and characters would have been more insightful, instead of this fractious descent into the politically charged nitty-gritty.

Michael D remains on course to return to the Aras on a metaphorical Learjet of apathy and sycophancy. Ni Riada's champion work in taking out the other candidates will serve only to make his victory more convincing.

It's 2011 all over again.Planning ahead: President Michael D Higgins consults a member of his staff at his campaign office in Dublin as he prepares his bid for a further seven years in Aras an Uachtarain. Photo: David Conachy

He has come through the first debate of this presidential campaign largely unscathed and remains on course to return to the Park for the next seven years.

Now, in an interview in the Sunday Independent, President of Ireland Michael D Higgins speaks openly about a range of issues, from his lack of privacy to his stay at a 3,000-a-night hotel.

And, for the first time, he chats about his friendship with Kevin McCarthy, while defending his role in Aras An Uachtarain.

Mr Higgins's controversial appointment of Mr McCarthy - from driver to executive assistant - has been the subject of much interest. Most notably it has been met with accusations of 'cronyism' but Mr McCarthy was also at the centre of controversy after it emerged that an adviser to the President, Mary Van Lieshout, allegedly quit amid tensions surrounding the level of access he had to the President. Ms Van Lieshout later said her parting with Mr Higgins was "amicable".

Mr McCarthy made headlines on another occasion when the President's office was forced to deny the executive assistant lived in Aras an Uachtarain. A Sunday newspaper had previously reported that he had lived there since early in the presidency.

Expand Close Michael D Higgins with Kevin McCarthy. Photo: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Michael D Higgins with Kevin McCarthy. Photo: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin

But today the President says Mr McCarthy deserves his position in the Aras and describes his contribution as "invaluable in making the presidency work".

Sitting in his campaign headquarters on Dublin's Dame Street, he muses over accusations that he has avoided difficult topics. "I find it somewhat amusing sometimes when people say Michael D Higgins hasn't been answering hard questions. Michael D Higgins has been answering hard questions for decades," he says.

Speaking about Mr McCarthy, the president explains how the pair first met and says his qualifications and his work speaks for itself.

"Kevin McCarthy and I were both members of the Labour Party... and I was [running] my campaign and doing a mixture of arrangements, sometimes [using] the bus, sometimes the train, sometimes I was trying to manage events as separated as Wexford and Donegal. [And remember Kevin] is somebody who is both a graduate in business and corporate studies and who is also a post-graduate in internationalisation. And he had worked in a constituency office in this constituency.

Expand Close The presidents wife Sabina. Photo: Lorcan Doherty / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The presidents wife Sabina. Photo: Lorcan Doherty

"He said 'I will drive you' and that's why I am not comfortable about people asking [about Kevin McCarthy and] dragging him [into this campaign]. He is not the candidate in this election. I would treat anybody who has worked for any of the other candidates with respect. It is very important that he be treated with respect."

He added: "He is just a person who generously offered and, at the request of the Labour Party, was hired him to drive me, and that's what there is to it. And there is no more to it than that. And his work in the Aras has been invaluable in making the presidency work, and the best people to test that with are the people who have dealt with him. He is efficient. He is courteous. He has a knowledge of protocol that is excellent. So what else is there to say?"

He says his team have supported him all the way through his presidency because they believe in him: "I think that you know there were people who worked for me back in the day who were doing it because they supported my values and that is very important because quite frankly the choice of people I have on October 26 is in relation to one's values."

Asked if Mr McCarthy is a friend he says: "Of course he is, but I have many friends. And I have more than one friend in the Aras. I don't quite understand what you're asking me. Of course we have remained friends. But I have people who worked with me for decades who [know] it is the nature of these things - particularly if you have been in things together. The other part of it is: I think one has to retain friendships and respect them and that is very much our relationship.

"He does a job and he does it very well. I have a different job and I intend to do it well and there are others who work with us and that is how it is."

He continues: "There are many [friends in the Aras] and we just get on with it and he has his own life. But I do think he should be let to live his own life as well without undue intrusion. I am the candidate after all."

In 2014, President Higgins travelled to Lanzarote for a holiday to prepare for the year ahead.

His wife, Sabina, remained at home due to a previous engagement (the day after our interview the President sent a message to say she was picking up a lifetime achievement award from the Renmore Pantomime and Musical Society in Galway).

The President's holiday was not funded by the taxpayer; Mr Higgins paid for it himself. Mr McCarthy travelled to work for the President. He did so at his own expense, to be of assistance to Mr Higgins.

The President explains why he was invaluable on the trip.

"I don't have keyboard skills and I was preparing three or four very big speeches at the time. I hadn't very good skills in relation to the internet, and I was writing the speeches and I needed someone who would type them. Someone who was going to be able to communicate them back for further references to Aras an Uachtarain and he did all of that and we were accompanied by security staff and so forth.

He explains: "He paid for it [his own travel expenses] because it wasn't work. It was more that I needed space in which to get the work done.

He continues: "One thing you should ask me about is, because you read my work I know, is that if you look at the Aras website and you see the speeches I've given and the amount of work that goes into them, and you see my published book, my ideas matter and you'll see the change I made in relation to presidential visits for all, where for example in the Australian case I gave a lecture in the University of Sydney, I gave one to the London School of Economics, the Sorbonne, New York University - that's because of the person who I am. So that when the visit is over you've something substantial for the people to get engaged in and I was setting up the speeches... that would be important for the presidency."

RTE comic Oliver Callan was asked by the broadcaster to tone down his satirical sketches of the President. His work caused the president's friend, the Abbot of Glenstal Abbey, Mark Patrick Hederman, to go on national radio to complain about the comic. Asked for his thoughts on this, President Higgins said: "I think I appreciated what he (Mark Patrick) was saying at the time but I'm not going to get involved."

Meanwhile, on the subject of the economy, Mr Higgins laments that, in the first years of his presidency "the country was in a very broken state".

He describes how he and Sabina spent their time "visiting communities, where you had so many disappointed expectations, you had parents who made sacrifices for their children's education on the assumption that they would move into professional occupations and that security, and suddenly all of this had evaporated for so many of them and then you had a cut in income of about a fifth across the public service".

He adds: "It was very important for [Sabina and I] to be able to go out and share the atmosphere."

He says "you identify with people in moments of vulnerability" and recalls how "people were asking the question, 'Why did this happen?'"

The issue is put to him, given that he mentioned that Ireland went through such a hard time, that he stayed at a hotel that cost 3,000 a night.

He says: "I have answered that question."

Can you remember the hotel?

He initially replies: "No." Then he corrects himself.

"I do, I remember you looked out and you saw the lake, that's about all I remember about it."

He highlights the 1980s as a time when he stayed "in a camp in Somalia with a mosquito net over me" and "in Mogadishu, I stayed in Africa in different circumstances" and asks: "Do you really think all of the things that we've said so far, that I am the kind of person that would ask for a particular hotel?"

The question is then put to him: "You say 'I never asked to stay [in a particular hotel', I never organised it' but surely you would look around, when you get into an extravagant hotel like that, and a little voice at the back of your head would niggle and say 'the taxpayer is paying for this'.

Did your moral conscience kick in, did you never ask any questions [of the people booking the hotels]?"

He replies: "I haven't contravened any moral principle." He explains: "Switzerland doesn't provide security for incoming heads of State. It has to be provided by the person travelling who is the visitor - that makes the number of people who have to be accommodated go up."

Explaining the procurement process he says: "The ambassador, they get quotations, there are only three hotels that could meet the requirements and they picked, I think, the second one. That has nothing to do with me."

Can he understand how a 3,000-a-night hotel might feed the idea that he is 'living the high life' or that he is a president that is out of touch with people?

"I have always understood, for goodness sake, that is why it is one of the things that doesn't faze [me] for this reason: I have always had to go to people's doors and I have always had to stand for election - this is where I differ from the other people in a certain respect.

He says: "If you have to put your character on the line as I have, regularly at every level since 1969, I have almost 50 years' [experience] then you are open to every question.

"But what I can't control is, what I can't control, is a totally malignant construction being put on it - and you work for a newspaper - and you have been trained now in a position of press ethics where if somebody said something about somebody you know, you could write to the editor and you could reply.

"We are now in a new atmosphere where somebody can in fact fire something out into the system without taking any note of the consequences of where it falls and that means that you it's the world we are living in now, it is one that, it is wonderful that we are able to communicate so much better, but with it also has come the danger of the total irresponsibility in relation to character assassination and character destruction."

Well, I hope you don't think [that this journalist] is part of that?

"Not at all. I wouldn't dream of suggesting it. I am just setting the context that you don't really what one has to be awfully careful about is that one doesn't absorb both the malignant elements of that which is unaccountable and present them as 'the ordinary' because they are not 'the ordinary' and you and I know that very well. But it is something neither of us could protect ourselves against in an infinite way in the future."

Moving on, does he feel he fits into the category of 'a Champagne socialist'?

"No."

Why?

"It is just untrue."

Can you explain to me?

"I think it is so obviously untrue. I live where the Constitution suggests the President of Ireland should live in Dublin. I live where my predecessors have lived. That's it."

Turning to his marriage of almost 50 years, the President's face lights up when discussing his wife Sabina.

Asked for his definition of 'love' he says: "Love is, above all else, unselfishness and I would say particularly in many senses, unselfishness to the point of unquestioned trust."

He goes on to say that it is "the deepest form of friendship and responsible intimacy".

He also describes how the couple "have allowed each other space where, very much in my case, I keep pushing on with seeking to unravel intellectual questions".

Describing Sabina as "a beautiful person" he says the secret to a happy marriage is "allowing each other to respect each other's instincts.

"For example, if some people are approaching a particular period of time or set of events in an aesthetic way, another person might be over-rationalising something."

He continues: "Curiously, when I was speaking about this before, I regard 'cold reason' as insufficient. You have to be able to reason - as I would put it in one of my pieces - to the music of the heart."

Asked if being the President of Ireland is an isolating job, he says: "The big change in my life, is that I don't have privacy any more." Describing this loss of privacy as "part of the job", he says: "It was a matter of just getting used to it."

He adds: "It is a great privilege to be President of Ireland but also what I am not free to do is move on the spur of the moment in response to something that might interest me.

"Obviously I have a special protection unit [and they] have an obligation to look after me even during an election."

He explains: "If we go on holidays for example - we haven't now this last 18 months - but if Sabina and I go abroad on a fortnight's holidays, we are accompanied by a special protection unit. They are in the same hotel as us and that is the way it is. What you do is that you just get on with it."

At 77 years of age he says: "At this stage, every day is important to me and I am very, very lucky I have many interests. I am interested in writing, I am interested in reading and probably I would say that one of my responses to the change in structure of my time is that I have read more economics probably in the last seven years than I had in the previous seven."

Asked what his childhood self would say to him if he met Michael D Higgins today as President he replies: "He would say 'keep questioning. Regard nothing as inevitable and stay listening to people'."

On October 26, the people will make their voice heard and the President is on course for another landslide victory.At first glance, it seems like a typical male environment as the sight and sounds of bantering blokes combine with the burr of bandsaws reverberating around the busy workshop floor.

Listen more closely, however, and it soon becomes apparent that as far as these guys are concerned, their creative efforts are as much about promoting wellbeing as producing beautifully crafted wooden objects.

Based in Sandyford, Co. Dublin, the Fine Woodworking workshop being undertaken by a group of older men in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown could equally be called 'wellbeing through well-doing'. The participants are all members of local Men's Sheds, who use woodwork to express themselves creatively - and in the process boost their mental and physical health. The spacious premises, provided by St John of God Hospital for the Sandyford branch of Men's Sheds, has become a woodwork hub for Men's Shed members throughout the county.

"The workshops take three-and-a-half hours each, and then we sit down and have a cup of tea," says 72-year-old Frank Hedderman. "This is our talk time. Men don't often talk about personal stuff, but here we do. We share all kinds of things that we'd never bring up anywhere else And we have a laugh too.

"We're delighted to get out of the house. It's better than sitting around twiddling our thumbs. The camaraderie between us is tremendous."

As an area with a higher than average ageing population, the project is a good fit for Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, according to Maire Davey, Assistant Arts Officer with DLR Council.

"We try to engage everybody in the arts, but it's challenging to get a group of older men together and consequently, social isolation is a growing problem," she says. "That's why we devised a programme with the HSE to work with Men's Sheds as a means of 'social prescribing'; ie using social interaction to improve physical and mental health.

"Studies show that the arts can have a positive impact on people's wellbeing and when the Men's Sheds expressed an interest in woodworking, we were happy to support them. As well as the Fine Woodwork course, led by the renowned Chaim Factor of Hill Picket Studio, they're also involved in a Craftmakers project, which will culminate in an exhibition in the Municipal Gallery, dlr LexIcon in April 2019."

The project facilitator is artist Orlaith Ross, who describes it as "connecting communities through art and design".

The initiative also has the wholehearted support of the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Josepha Madigan.

"This is a terrific project which celebrates and showcases the wealth of creativity within our communities and its importance to our personal and collective well-being," she says. "In partnership with the Local Authorities and as part of the all-of-Government Creative Ireland Programme, groups all over the country are forging new and exciting ways of connecting with each other and developing new and exciting initiatives such as this one in Sandyford".

"The men came up with three core strands they want to explore - the time and skill involved in craftmaking; the local landscape; and how poetry can capture the imagination," says Orlaith.

They're now curating their own exhibition, which is supported by the Creative Ireland Programme.

Through this Programme, Ross says "more and more people are learning to appreciate how amazing Irish culture is, and how it enriches all our lives."A newly-launched heritage project is set to bring the landscape and traditions of West Sligo to life this coming Halloween weekend.

The brainchild of civil servant, avid musician and Irish language promoter Teresa McGuinness, 'Gaeilge Galore ar an Turas Mor' brings Irish language and heritage on tour for locals and visitors alike.

Expand Close Lorna McGuinness, Oisin McGowan, and Carla Scott, some of the Sligo musicians involved in the An Turas Mor initiative, at Split Rock. Photo: James Connolly / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Lorna McGuinness, Oisin McGowan, and Carla Scott, some of the Sligo musicians involved in the An Turas Mor initiative, at Split Rock. Photo: James Connolly

Earlier this year Teresa won an award for a project on Bliain na mBan, commemorating 100 years since Irish women won the right to vote. Now she's turning her attention to Bliain na Gaeilge, a scheme which celebrates and engages people in the Irish language. As a lifelong Irish language enthusiast, Bliain na Gaeilge is close to Teresa's heart.

"I've been promoting Irish language, music and culture since I was a child," she says. "Now my 17-year-old daughter Lorna is equally involved, and together we came up with the idea for 'Gaeilge Galore ar an Turas Mor.'"

Setting out at 2pm on Bank Holiday Monday October 29th, An Turas Mor is a free bus tour of six iconic historical sites of West Sligo, with narration by two local historians.

"The tour will blend together the history, culture, beauty, myth and music that abound in Sligo," says Teresa.

"We'll be speaking Irish and encouraging passengers to 'Feach amach!' at various sites on the way. Everyone will get a booklet with Irish translations of place names and a little about their history."

The tour will be followed by a session of traditional Irish music, song and dance, with more than a cupla focail thrown in for good measure.

The initiative has grabbed the attention of Sligo's Creative Ireland Programme organisers, and receives support through the programme at local level.

"This project showcases the wealth of archaeology and mythology that's abundant in Sligo," says the county's Creative Ireland co-ordinator Donal Tinney. "Having put out an open call for Bliain na Gaeilge to the community, we got a great response from people who hadn't previously engaged with arts grants.

"This idea, which is rooted in Dromore West, brings the landscape, language and heritage to life for a new audience."

Through the initiative, local historian Carmel Gordon will share her knowledge of the origins of place names as well as the history, legend and folklore attached to them.

Attractions on the tour include Split Rock, Easkey Castle, Rathlee Tower, Enniscrone Castle, Black Pig and the Mermaid Stones in Enniscrone.

Known locally as 'Fionn's Stone,' Split Rock is a massive granite boulder split in two, which lies in a field a mile and a half east of Easkey in West Sligo.

"The village of Easkey is named after the river originally known as 'Iascaigh' as it was once teeming with fish," Carmel says.

"In the mid-1800s, two tonnes of salmon were said to have been exported from the river to England every week. Now you would be hard-pressed to find a fish in it.

The townlands around the village also have their roots in the Irish language.

"Curraghnagap is from the Irish meaning 'The wet place of the tree stump,' so-called after a forest was cut down. Aderavoher comes from 'Ait dha bhothar,' or 'the place of two roads', and Bunowna derives its name from 'Bun an abhainn' or 'bottom of the river', Carmel says.

Easkey is in the Barony of Tireragh or 'Tir Fhiachrach' - Fiachrach's land. Fiachrach was one of the O'Dowd clan that ruled the area from Ballina to Ballisodare.

"They also ran a Bardic school for the noblemen's children, where one of the last of the great Irish scholars, Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh, documented the genealogy of the Gaelic lords. One evening in 1671, on his way to Dublin, Dubhaltach was murdered by a young buck called Crofton at an inn in Skreen," she recounts.

These are just some of the stories in store for passengers on board Gaeilge Galore ar an Turas Mor. After the event, participants are invited to submit their own drawings or paintings of their favourite sites to be displayed at an art exhibition at Dromore West Community Centre a few weeks later.

In a further exercise to promote the Irish language, names of everyone who submitted an artwork will then be put into a draw, for two places at a local Gaeltacht summer school for children.

"An Turas Mor is going to be a fantastic event, and it's all free, thanks to the support of Creative Ireland and local volunteers," says Teresa McGuinness.

"We've booked a 153-seater bus, and if that fills up, we'll have mini buses lined up to follow. It's going to be a fantastic day, and we look forward to welcoming everyone on board, but you need to book in advance so that we know how many buses we need."

To book a place on the An Turas Mor call 086 876 5545 after 6pm.At a time when weather headlines were dominated by dire water shortage warnings, this past summer might not have seemed like the greatest time to undertake an art project focused on measuring rainfall.

But whether it's a drought or a deluge, there's a small army of weather observers who make it their daily business to collect data for Met Eireann from privately installed rainfall stations throughout Ireland.

Expand Close Brother James O'Hare recording rainfall. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Brother James O'Hare recording rainfall.

Kildare artist Martina O'Brien is so fascinated by the idea that 500 volunteer observers follow the same rainfall measurement routine at the same time every day that she was inspired to make it the focus of her project - working title: 'Quotidian', meaning 'daily'.

She admits that the drought made her work problematic but, undeterred, Martina persevered with her project, which takes a creative look at a small community of data-collecting volunteers in Kildare and how their work fits into the far bigger picture of global climate change.

"In this technological era, where almost everything is computerised, many people might be surprised to learn this daily ritual is performed offline," she says. "The observers painstakingly record the measurements by hand and send their findings monthly by postcard to Met Eireann. Their figures are compiled with other data to provide accurate weather forecasts and, on a larger scale, help inform planetary scale systems of climate observation.

"The value of high quality observations from this tiny, almost hidden community to meteorologists and climatologists cannot be overstated. From an artist's perspective, I want to capture how this human role fits in with the eventual automation of weather observation, and ultimately has a part to play in assessing global climate change that will impact the entire planet."

County Kildare's seven weather observers will meet each other for the first time on November 19th next when Martina brings them together with Masters students of geography and climate change in Maynooth University. It's the first in a series of events, which will culminate in an exhibition at the Illuminations Gallery in the university. This will include multi-screen video portraits of the seven weather observers, accompanied by artworks and a limited edition publication.

"Martina works with groups of people you wouldn't necessarily associate with visual arts," says Kildare Arts Officer Lucinda Russell. "This is an exciting Creative Ireland project, because it brings science and art together by throwing a lens on an age-old tradition that might otherwise get missed."

It's that very intersection between two seemingly disparate disciplines that Creative Ireland Director Tania Banotti describes as the "secret sauce" which makes creative community projects so worthwhile.

"The sheer variety of creative collaborations we're seeing is incredible," she says. "This specific project in Kildare links meteorological matters with the environment and climate change, which is the single biggest challenge facing society today. It's a critical issue for the next generation, which forces us to ask ourselves, how do we discuss this issue with schoolchildren?

"With two State-run weather stations in Athy and Lullymore, it's a subject of great interest in Kildare, but it's got a far broader reach, nationally and globally. Art and science may seem at first to be complete opposites, but by putting them together, one brings something special to the other. The visual artist brings an extra insight to the scientific work, and the science informs the artistic work."

One of the observers taking part in the project, Brother James O'Hare, doesn't know quite what to expect when the routine, methodical work of gathering data about rainfall is expressed as an art form.

"My approach is wait and see," says the 89-year-old.

The former teacher and principal of the Salesian-run agricultural and horticultural college in Warrenstown, Co. Meath, Brother O'Hare has been recording weather conditions for 48 years.

"In the past, these recordings were done in Garda stations, but the information became less reliable as the work of gardai became more onerous," he says. "As crime levels increased, they had less time for weather observations.

"It's a simple procedure. I taught in Warrenstown for 43 years, and the college was very dependent on weather conditions. Moisture, temperature, wind speed, rainfall all of these things have a bearing on the growth of plants and the predictability of yields, and in dry weather, you'd need to know whether irrigation were required. I recorded figures from climatological stations, using a range of thermometers."

Three years ago, the Salesians sold the Warrenstown college and Brother O'Hare moved to the order's secondary school in Celbridge.

"All I do now is measure rainfall," says Brother O'Hare. "I do it every day between 9.50 and 10am, and once a month I transcribe the daily recordings on to a chart for the Met Office. It's routine work that has to be done at the same time each day; you can't afford to deviate. I'm a small cog in a big wheel, but if I make a contribution to society, however small, I'm happy to do it.In the trenches: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar makes his way through a life size replica of a World War I trench at Cavan County Museum, Ballyjamesduff yesterday morning. Photo: Lorraine Teevan

You can chalk it down as the week in which the nation was set on a course for the next general election.

The abrupt and unexpected exit of Independent Communications Minister Denis Naughten on Thursday afternoon was the tin hat on it all. Once the immediate shock of his departure abated, it became clear that we are less likely to see a polling day before Christmas - the question will be how long into the new year can the current strange administration continue?

The Taoiseach had no option but to seek the resignation of the likeable and decent Mr Naughten. He had engaged in personal contact with someone bidding for a potentially lucrative national contract and it did not look good. Fianna Fail has now moved to dampen the prospects of a late November or early December election. The irony is that Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe delivered a politically clever Budget on Tuesday, all elements of which will pass through parliament in due course.

However, the Dail numbers have gone very tight and it could within a short while become very problematic. Bear in mind that this minority hybrid Coalition, led by Fine Gael, propped up by various Independents, and operating by grace of Fianna Fail, never had a great margin of error in this Dail of 160 TDs.

In the past fortnight Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's Government lost one Fine Gael backbencher, Peter Fitzpatrick, of Louth. It also lost the frequent support of Independent TD for Clare, Dr Michael Harty.

As he exited, Mr Naughten said he would consider what future support to give his old Government colleagues "on a case-by-case basis". There would be no great surprise if a rather bruised Mr Naughten became scarcer at Leinster House for a time, recommitting to constituency matters.

To get something through the Dail, the abstention of Fianna Fail's 44 TDs is required. Then the Government needs to muster a total of 57 TDs.

The current Government reading is 54 TDs, comprising 49 Fine Gael deputies, the four Independent Alliance ministers, and Independent Minister Katherine Zappone. They more usually also have Tipperary Independent Michael Lowry, and often have a variety of other Independents to give them quite a cushion.

But nothing can be taken for granted when a contentious issue arises - and everything is compounded now that the so-called confidence and supply deal with Fianna Fail is once again up for grabs. Hence the Taoiseach's arguments, made twice in recent months, that something should be done to secure more stability, maybe even an early election.

The opening moves in the two big parties' confidence and supply talks have begun with another episode of "leak that letter". Previously, the Taoiseach sent a chunky missive after a meeting with the Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, and then promptly published it.

Yesterday, it fell to Mr Martin to fire off a note, and then circulate it to the media. This time the Fianna Fail leader was seeking to buy a chunk of time and also calm things down.

In his letter Mr Martin urges the Taoiseach to agree that no election be called, whatever the outcome of their talks on the future of confidence and supply, until the legislation to underpin Budget 2019 in enacted, and Brexit is sorted out. That would mean an EU-UK Brexit deal being agreed - and then ratified by the UK and European parliaments.

The first half of the Brexit thing is now looking quite likely; the EU has a long history of doing deals in a culture which is part of its very raison d'etre. But whether Theresa May can get ratification looks far less assured and also could take time, maybe even into 2019.

There were some in Fine Gael who felt a good vibe from a whole series of EU meetings and summits in the coming weeks could facilitate Mr Varadkar going to the polls. There has been intense talk in Leinster House around this "November or December" scenario for weeks now.

But much of this Fine Gael hawkishness was based on a solid year of opinion polls showing it 10 points clear of Fianna Fail.

Now another Red C poll, this time for Paddy Power bookmakers, has cut Fine Gael's lead to 5pc. It is just one poll - but it offers encouragement to Fianna Fail, who will say: "Take another three points off that one and we're leading."

Broadband failures over the last seven years of Fine Gael-led governments might be a rich seam for Fianna Fail to mine in the forthcoming general election.

It might yield more votes than housing and health problems for which it is deemed by some to be complicit.

More disturbing news this week, including Emma Mhic Mhathuna's funeral and the Charleton Tribunal findings, remind us of the real work to be done. An election yielding a government with a clear majority would be a boon.Looking at any image of Sharon Tate, the viewer is struck not only by the symmetrical proportions of her exquisite face and her tranquil expression, but also by a latent vulnerability in her immense brown eyes and wide, warm smile. The appalling and arbitrary nature of her death has defined Sharon's memory in popular culture since 1969, but now her murder - which shocked Hollywood and halted the frenzied momentum of the Swinging Sixties - is the least important narrative in a new exhibition that aims to restore her to her rightful place as a pop culture icon and muse for designers, artists and film-makers who are still inspired by her magnetism today.

The Sharon Tate show at the Newbridge Museum of Style Icons is one of the most intriguing exhibits in its history, spanning a collection of personal possessions, fashion and photographs that belonged to the actress and model, which were retrieved from her home by her father after her death. The items are a selection from over 100 to be auctioned by Julien's of Hollywood on November 17, from the estate of Tate, which has been guarded by her sister Debra since 2000. The auction has been the source of acute interest from collectors, museums and the general public due to the tragic circumstances of Tate's death on August 9, 1969, when the actress and four others were brutally murdered by the Manson Family at her home on 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, LA.

Martin Nolan, the executive Director of Julien's, has managed many auctions in his career but has rarely seen the levels of interest generated by the Sharon Tate auction. He explains: "People are fascinated by Sharon Tate. She represented the Swinging Sixties. There was that terrible, terrible, tragic day when she was robbed from her family, from the world, but we're not focusing on that at all. We're focusing on 26 years of a fun life, an amazing life, that she enjoyed and we're looking at her legacy. I think Newbridge are brave to be the first to put their hands up and say they would do it. It is a museum of 'style icons' and Sharon Tate was a style icon and continues to be one."

He adds: "Debra, her younger sister, is finally letting go because she realises she can't continue to take care of these items forever and she also wants people to be re-introduced to Sharon, to see who she was, learn more about her, see all the amazing life and fashion statements." Debra has stated previously: "I wanted to give a flavour of the person behind the scenes - that is why I put in almost everything."

Expand Close Past perfect:US Actress Sharon Tate and film director Roman Polanski after their wedding in Chelsea register Office in 1968 / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Past perfect:US Actress Sharon Tate and film director Roman Polanski after their wedding in Chelsea register Office in 1968

Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of Sharon Tate's death and already revived interest in her is building, prompted by the three films slated for release in 2019, about or featuring the actress. These are Michael Polish's Tate with Kate Bosworth, Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood starring Margot Robbie, and Daniel Farrand's The Haunting of Sharon Tate, featuring Hilary Duff.

Sharon Tate was eight-and-a-half months pregnant and married to the film director Roman Polanski at the time of her death. Together they had been the epitome of cool - a cosmopolitan 1960s couple with homes in LA and London, a social circle that encompassed Hollywood, music, aristocracy and the art world, and a bohemian lifestyle that reflected a blend of Swinging London, West Coast liberalism and the hippy revolution of the era. Peter Evans the photojournalist said of them: "Cool, nomadic, talented and nicely shocking they became part of the anti-Establishment establishment. They became rich but never regal."

Sharon Tate was the oldest child of a military family and had the typical transitory lifestyle of a "military brat". She was quiet and reserved as a child and teen, despite winning numerous beauty pageants. Described by her family as shy and lacking in self-confidence, she nevertheless had presence and an aura of poise and elegance.

As she matured, her striking beauty drew attention and while living in Verona, Italy, she appeared as an extra in a number of American films. Subsequently she moved to LA in 1962 to pursue a career in film and was put under contract to producer Martin Ransohoff, who planned to groom Sharon to become a major star in the mould of Marilyn Monroe.

Despite Ransohoff's ambitious plans and Sharon's willowy, brown-eyed, blonde beauty, her career stalled initially, but she eventually won her first significant film role in Eye of the Devil with David Niven and Deborah Kerr. After shooting, she remained in London, enjoying its buzzing atmosphere and nascent fashion scene. It was there that she met Roman Polanski, an upcoming Polish film director, whom she married in 1968.

Although each was reported to be unimpressed with the other on their initial meeting, Polanski cast Tate in his film The Fearless Vampire Killers. A romance blossomed during filming in Italy and on return to London, they became a glittering couple on the Sixties social scene.

Video of the Day

Tate, as a young woman who loved fashion, fell in love with the vibrancy and colour of the city. The free-spirited, irreverent and uninhibited fashions of Carnaby Street were to be a major influence on her own look and she quickly absorbed London street style as epitomised by leather jackets, mini-skirts and go-go boots. Sharon's make-up to complete her look comprised thick false eyelashes, darkly outlined lips and straight, ash-blonde hair.

London's youth fashion revolution was reflected in Tate and Polanski's wedding at Chelsea Registry Office in January 1968, a snapshot of their glamorous world. The bride's dress, which features in the Julien's exhibition at Newbridge (estimate $25,000 to $50,000), was an ivory silk moire, puff sleeved, high-necked style with a fitted bodice, dainty rows of small buttons at the cuffs, blue ribbon trim and an extremely abbreviated mini skirt. Tate said of the dress, which later became one of the defining images of the Sixties: "It's Renaissance until you get below the knee."

Other notable garments from Sharon's wardrobe, which will be on display at Newbridge, include a black floral lace Christian Dior mini-dress worn by Tate to the London premiere of Polanski's film Cul-de-Sac in 1966 (estimate $15,000 to $30,000); Tate's chocolate sheer silk Alba gown worn to the Golden Globe Awards in 1968 (estimate $4,000 to $6,000, pictured left) and Tate's chocolate mink swing coat by Fuhrman's Beverly Hills (estimate $20,000 to $40,000).

The most tragic element of her story is that her murder catapulted her onto front pages across the world and conferred on her a degree of fame she never achieved through her work. While her family very understandably want to retrieve the sister and daughter they cherished from the grotesque circumstance of her murder and the media frenzy around the trial of Charles Manson and his murderous disciples, for most her name will always be associated with one of the era-defining crimes of modern America.

Joan Didion wrote after her murder that Tate's death ushered the end of the 1960s with a stark finality: "Many people I know in Los Angeles believe that the Sixties ended abruptly on August 9, 1969; ended at the exact moment when word of the murders on Cielo Drive travelled like bushfire though the community, and in a sense this is true. The tension broke that day. The paranoia was fulfilled."

Polanski later stated: "It reinforced my faith in the absurd."

While this exhibit offers a fascinating glimpse into the celebrity culture of the Sixties, Hollywood, Swinging London and the fashion of the era, it also cannot but prompt reflections about the tragedy of Sharon's murder. But superseding this, the exhibit of her intimate possessions restores not only her human face but also her status as a free spirit and a woman who loved life, not merely a victim of an infamous crime.

The Sharon Tate exhibition runs at the Newbridge Museum of Style Icons until October 25. Book at newbridgesilverware.comOut of step: Seann Walsh and Katya Jones getting floury on Strictly last night. Many online fans felt they got sympathy votes from the judges. Photo: PA

As far as celebrity cheating scandals go, it was hardly what you'd call high stakes.

A Strictly Come Dancing couple, he a middling comedian, she a professional dancer. A few grainy photos of them snogging outside a pub. Two grovelling Twitter apologies.

Yet, the scandal that erupted last week after comedian Seann Walsh and his married dancing partner, Katya Jones, indulged in a supposedly one-off kiss, was one befitting of an A-list affair.

Last week, tabloids published images of the pair indulging in a passionate kiss outside a London pub. That evening, both issued apologies via their Twitter accounts. While Jones stated that she loves her husband and that "this is not a reflection on our relationship", Walsh made no mention of his girlfriend of five years, actress Rebecca Humphries.

A tabloid story that should have been met with a raised eyebrow and a muttered "well, that's the Strictly curse", as the page is turned and the story all but forgotten, has instead been caught up in a maelstrom of fiery TV debates, concerned statements from women's charities, heated opinion columns and demands for the couple to be removed from the show, forcing the BBC to shift into crisis-control.

Expand Close Well-timed response: Actor Rebecca Humphries / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Well-timed response: Actor Rebecca Humphries

It was widely reported that the pair were initially billed to dance a salsa or rumba on last night's show, typically sensual Latin American dances, but were instead given a jaunty Charleston, a routine with far less physical contact and sexual tension.

In the wake of the scandal, re-watching their performance of the paso doble from the previous week makes for uncomfortable viewing. The traditional Spanish routine sees the male dancer portray a bull fighter while the woman is either the cape or the bull - in both instances, he passionately pursues her. Walsh and Jones's dance was Matrix-themed, with both clad in black leather. Ooph.

What prevented this from being just another quickly forgotten piece of gossip was the eloquent and ever-so-slightly caustic response from Humphries the following day. In an open letter posted to her Twitter account, Humphries addressed the scandal that had engulfed her private life, while at the same time deploying an extraordinarily damning character assassination of her now ex-boyfriend.

Video of the Day

Each sentence drops a new detail that, when read in full, creates a narrative far darker than the drunken snog it was initially framed as.

"It's incredibly good of Sean(n) and Katya to apologise in the media. I have received nothing other than the support of my family, friends, and a host of strangers on the internet who all wanted to make sure I was OK.

"Those pictures were taken on October 3. It was my birthday. I was alone at home when Sean(n) texted at 10pm saying the two of them were going for one innocent drink.

"We spoke and I told him, not for the first time, that his actions over the past three weeks had led me to believe something inappropriate was going on. He aggressively, and repeatedly, called me a psycho/nuts/mental. As he has done countless times throughout our relationship when I've questioned his inappropriate, hurtful behaviour."

Humphries goes on to encourage other women who feel "worthless and trapped" by their partner to seek help and leave, as she had just done, taking the couple's cat with them. It is these few lines that have given rise to a wider discussion about emotionally abusive partners and the gaslighting of women.

Whether or not we believe Walsh to be one of these men, it is irrefutable that women are so often told to ignore their instincts. Whether they are cast as a 'hysterical harpy' or nagging wife, women's fears that they are being treated either unfairly or immorally are so often laughed off.

While this has been a devastating time for Humphries, it is clear that the vindication that has arisen from this is something of a salve for her heartbreak and humiliation. That nagging sense that Walsh was manipulating and untrustworthy have been proven not just to Humphries, but the world at large.

In a week that saw Brett Kavanaugh elevated to the US Supreme court because the testimony of Christine Ford was not sufficient evidence to prove he sexually assaulted her, perhaps we find it heartening that at least one woman who was wronged has been publicly vindicated. When a woman's distressing story of an alleged sexual assault is not enough, a few grainy photos of another's cheating boyfriend are suddenly deeply satisfying. It is iron-clad proof that Humphries is not a 'psycho' and Walsh is absolutely a liar.

Perhaps this is why we have been transfixed on the unfolding scenario, why we won't allow it to become yet another piece of tabloid fodder, why Walsh is being cast as so much more than a lousy boyfriend.

Debate rages as to whether Walsh has become a scapegoat or whether his behaviour is indicative of a far more pervasive attitude towards women.

Walsh, of course, is entirely aware of this. Last Wednesday, he appeared alongside Katya on It Takes Two, the behind-the-scenes spin off that accompanies Strictly each week. It was the first time the pair had addressed the situation on camera. Again, Katya's priority was to shield her husband from the scandal, while Walsh seemed to want to do the same thing for himself.

"I'm not perfect, far from it. Our relationship wasn't perfect, that doesn't mean I wanted it to end the way it finally did," he said.

"It's also important for me to say that the people that know me the most, that love me, they know I am not the person I'm being portrayed as. I'm still sorry for what I did, but it's very important for me to get that out there."

Fans have been divided, with some outraged the couple are still allowed on the show while others feel the pair have been painted as villains for what was a genuine moral transgression.

The lure of Strictly for mid-level personalities like Walsh is this audience - it is hoped that after a stint on the show their star will rise. Despite having to don some regrettable costumes, the trade-off is worth the garish sequins. Unfortunately for Walsh, Strictly has drawn him the wrong type of attention and it is possible that his behaviour could result in an earlier exit from the show.

Humphries's career, on the other hand, may well benefit from the whole sorry scenario. She has been thrust into the spotlight for a horrific reason, but as a wronged woman she has masses of viewers on side already. She's a talented performer, as well as wry and funny. In fact, she has all the makings of a crowd favourite. Who knows, perhaps next season she could be tempted to take to the dance floor?A burnt out truck on a field behind a small chapel, next to a motorway, following the collision near Greece's northern town of Kavala yesterday. Photo: AP

A car carrying migrants collided with a truck in northern Greece yesterday, killing 11 people, police said.

Ten of the victims were believed to be migrants who crossed into Greece from Turkey. The 11th person was the driver and a suspected migrant smuggler, police said.

Police said the car, in which the migrants were packed, had another vehicle's licence plates and is suspected of having been used for migrant trafficking. The car had not stopped at a police checkpoint during its journey, but it wasn't immediately clear how close to the site of the crash that it happened.

Police said the crash occurred just after 5am (0200 GMT) near the town of Kavala. The car, which had been heading to the main northern city of Thessaloniki, collided with a truck heading in the opposite direction and burst into flames.

All of the victims have been burned beyond recognition. The truck caught fire as well.

All those in the car were killed. The truck driver, a 39-year-old Greek man, was treated for minor injuries in a hospital in northern Greece before being discharged.

Greek authorities have been seeing an increase in people illegally crossing the Greek-Turkish border in recent months.

Many are transported to Thessaloniki, where they head to police stations to be registered and apply for asylum.

Meanwhile, Spain's maritime rescue service says it recovered the bodies of three migrants yesterday and feared that another 17 were missing in the Mediterranean Sea.

The service says that its rescue craft found the bodies in waters near a sinking boat it intercepted east of the Strait of Gibraltar. Rescuers saved 36 men of sub-Saharan origin. The saved migrants said that another 17 men, who had travelled with them, were missing.

In total, the service pulled 509 migrants from 15 small boats last Friday.

The UN says that 337 of the total of 1,783 migrants who have died trying to reach Europe by sea in 2018 perished in waters near Spain.

 Associated PressOver the years French femininity has been redefined by the likes of Catherine Deneuve

Over the years French femininity has been redefined by the likes of Audrey Tatou

Over the years French femininity has been redefined by the likes of Brigitte Bardot

A new book has reignited a fraught debate in France over whether gallantry is a "brilliant but poisonous myth" that must be jettisoned a year after #MeToo or a treasured Gallic exception that is the envy of the world.

Gallantry - which as an idea first appeared in France in the mid-17th Century as a code of conduct between the sexes in high society - may have provided subservient women with a modicum of empowerment at the time, but its legacy is perpetuating gender inequality.

That is the view of Laure Murat, a French professor at the University of California in Los Angeles, in her book, A Sexual Revolution, Post-Weinstein Reflections, written in response to the rape scandal involving Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

Ms Murat describes the concept of gallantry as a "screen" that has helped keep sexual relations in the Dark Ages. She has been backed by French historian Michelle Perrot, who told the magazine France Culture that the country was "poisoned by this idea of gallantry".

"I think it is a myth which relies on a particular type of domination of men over women. 'I open the door for you and give you flowers' is always a way of sidelining women," she said.

These views sparked a torrent of angry, sometimes abusive reactions on social media - from women as well as men. One, called Esmeralda, said: "I want to be offered flowers, chocolates, have the door held open for me and all such things that make me feel good."

There are tentative signs of change, however, writes Ms Murat. The first tremor was after the 2011 sex scandal involving Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the ex-International Monetary Fund chief - who was charged and later acquitted of rape. Shockingly, Ms Murat says, many French politicians and intellectuals justified DSK's behaviour as that of a "libertine", a gallant "man who loves women".

Then came the Weinstein affair. While it sparked soul- searching and the #MeToo movement in America, Ms Murat expressed surprise at the "weakness of the debate in France" where an obsession with erring towards "American Puritanism" prompted a string of high-profile French women including actress Catherine Deneuve to defend men's right to "hit on" women.

Some 200 feminists hit back in Mediapart, accusing Deneuve et al of turning the "victims into executioners".

Since then, France has passed a law making street harassment punishable by fines of up to 750.

Ms Murat said there may be no turning back after the Weinstein case, as for the first time it exposed a "global awareness" of male sexual harassment.

As for gallantry, Frederic Taddei, editor of Lui, said: "Of course there is prostitution, machismo, harassment, but the French believe that seduction trumps all and can save us. That is deeply rooted in our mentality."

TelegraphThe Eastern Orthodox Church is closer than ever to a schism that would cast Russian President Vladimir Putin in a role similar to that of King Henry VIII when he split the Church of England from Rome in the 16th Century.

Russia's ambition to be the centre of the Orthodox world threatens to end in isolation. But holding back from splitting the church will mean humiliation by the Ukrainians, who have been ruthlessly terrorised by the Russian leader.

On October 11, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople took a momentous action for the Orthodox faith in Ukraine. It reinstated two bishops leading Ukrainian splinter churches not recognised by the Moscow Patriarchate to their rank and allowed their followers to take communion with the church.

Now, the clerics must unite their organisations to form an independent (or to use the religious term, autocephalous) Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which will be recognised by the Constantinople Patriarchate - disregarding the wishes of Russia, formerly responsible for appointing Ukraine's church leaders.

The Synod invalidated a document it issued in 1686, granting the Patriarch of Moscow the right to ordain the Metropolitan of Kiev.

If this sounds arcane, it should.

The Orthodox Church, with about 300m faithful worldwide, is steeped in tradition and ritual. The authority of Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who presided over the Synod meeting, rests on Canon 28 of the Council of Chalcedon, which took place in 451 AD, long before the split between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches; it granted the religious leader of "new Rome" - Constantinople - powers second to those of the Pope.

It's doubtful that Putin, who has co-opted the power of the Church to the service of his imperialist ideology, wants to play Henry VIII - who at first was a devout Catholic but then defied Rome's spiritual authority.

The Russian Church's international reach has been important to the Russian ruler.

Putin has twice visited Mount Athos, the monastic enclave in Greece that is Orthodox Christianity's holiest place; it's been fashionable among Putin loyalists to assert their Orthodox faith by making a pilgrimage there. Athos, though, falls under the jurisdiction of the Constantinople Patriarchate, and it may be lost to Russians after a formal schism, an enormous symbolic defeat for a president intent to project a devout image.

On the other hand, it's as difficult for Putin as it is for Moscow Patriarch Kirill to accept an independent Ukrainian church blessed by Constantinople. It would go against his oft-repeated assertion that Russians and Ukrainians are one people - and admitting that not Moscow, but Istanbul, is the true seat of power of global Orthodoxy would be almost unbearable. Compared to these spiritual wounds, the potential loss of 12,328 parishes in Ukraine, and the income from them, is arguably less catastrophic.

As was once said on Father Ted, it's an ecumenical matter.

BloombergJamal Khashoggi went missing on October 2 after entering the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul.

The journalist was a strong critic of the Saudi government and royal family and has been reported murdered after he never returned to his fiancee waiting for him outside.

The Saudi officials in the consulate claim that he left through the back door but have neglected to provide proof and Turkish officials now claim to have concrete proof that he was killed and dismembered in the consulate.

While the story has been heavily reported on, widely circulated rumours and a lack of proof from either side has muddied the water. Here's a report of all of the crucial information in this ongoing global narrative.

Expand Close A protest at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia about the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi (Jacquelyn Martin/AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp A protest at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia about the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Who is Jamal Khashoggi?

Jamal Khashoggi is a well-known Saudi Arabian journalist and author, who served as editor-in-chief of Al-Arab News Channel and editor for Saudi newspaper Al Watan.

Mr Khashoggi is best known for his critical reporting of the Saudi Arabian government and in particular their Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman, and king, Salman of Saudi Arabia. He also opposed the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.

Fearing arrest and even fearing for his life, the journalist fled his native country to the United States and lived there for over a year in self-imposed exile. In that time, the 59-year-old was a regular columnist in the Washington Post. In an article for the newspaper titled Saudi Arabia wasnt always this repressive. Now its unbearable, he criticised the Crown Prince, bin Salman.

I have left my home, my family and my job, and I am raising my voice, he wrote.

To do otherwise would betray those who languish in prison. I can speak when so many cannot. I want you to know that Saudi Arabia has not always been as it is now. We Saudis deserve better.

Read More

Why is it so heavily suspected that he was killed in the embassy?

Having already expressed his worry about what would happen if the Saudi government got their hands on him, Mr Khashoggi went to the nations consulate in Istanbul to secure paperwork verifying his divorce from him previous wife, so that he could re-marry to his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz.

On the day that he was last seen, October 2, he asked his fiancee to accompany him to the consulate and wait outside while he tried to obtain the required documents. The last time he was seen alive by anyone outside of those in the consulate was when he entered the premises at around 1pm on that day.

Ms Cengiz told the Washington Post that she waited for her future husband outside for several hours. When the consulate closed and there was still no sign of him she called security guards who informed her that there was no one inside.

Mr Khashoggi had prepped his fiancee on what to do, in what he must have suspected as a possible situation and she followed his orders, calling the Turkish police, and an adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The journalist has not been seen alive since.

What reason would the Saudi government have to want Mr Khashoggi dead?

While Mr Khashoggi has gained notoriety for his criticism of the Saudi government and ruling powers, he wasnt always an adversary of his nations rulers. Once an adviser to the former director of Saudi Arabias intelligence agency, Prince Turki bin Faisal, at the beginning of the millennium Mr Khashoggi had a good relationship with the Saudi royal family.

In recent years however, the journalists angle on the royal family has changed. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has feigned the role of a tolerant leader by reducing restrictions of women drivers and allowing cinemas to open for the first time, was at the helms of a war with Yemen that was the cause of tens of thousands of deaths.

Mr Khashoggi has been heavily critical of the 33-year-old and has tried to expose him for the corrupt leader that he believes him to be.

In his regular columns for the Washington Post he has criticised both the Saudi prince and king and also their government. He condemned Saudi Arabia's dispute with Lebanon as well as the Saudi-led blockade against Qatar, their diplomatic dispute with Canada and crackdown on dissent and media in the country.

Mr Khashoggi is an advocate for womens rights in his country as says that they should receive equal treatment to men. While he praised the Crown Princes reduction of womens driving restrictions, he strongly condemned his arrest of several womens rights activists.

What are the claims about the alleged murder of Mr Khashoggi?

Earlier in the week it was reported that Turkish officials have concrete evidence that Mr Khashoggi was killed in the consulate.

While the officials have been vague about their evidence, their reports state that a squad of 15 Saudi nationals were flown in to conduct the killing and flew out later that day. They claim to know the names and positions of all of the 15 intelligence officers and on Wednesday, Turkish media leaked CCTV footage of what they say was the men arriving in Istanbul and driving into the consulate before leaving Turkey via the same airport.

The Turkish Government also told US officials that they have video and audio footage that proves the journalist was killed and his body was dismembered in the consulate but, they have not yet offered the proof.

Latest reports from the Sabah newspaper, a pro-government Turkish news outlet, backs up these claims stating that the journalist recorded the events on the Apple Watch he was wearing and the footage is in Turkish hands.

What has his disappearance done for Saudi Arabias global relations?

The media hype around Mr Khashoggis disappearance has served to fulfil the journalists ambitions to expose the Crown Prince and thwart his attempts to convey the Saudi government as progressive. It has also severely strained the nations relationship with several countries, especially Turkey and the US.

Disagreements between the nations around the blockade of Qatar, one of Turkeys allies and Turkeys stance on political Islam mean that the relationship is already fragile and this serves as a potential further threat to that relationship.

Turkeys president Mr Erdogan spoke out, calling the disappearance very, very upsetting, and calling for the Saudi consulate to provide proof that the journalist left their premises through the back door as they have claimed.

Why is Donald Trump getting involved?

The US currently has good relations with Saudi Arabia. Donald Trump went on his first official visit as a president there in 2017 and has since welcomed the Crown Prince to the Whitehouse. The Pentagon has even assisted them in their war in Yemen, providing intelligence, trading in arms and refuelling planes.

Mr Trump has claimed that the US are working with both Turkey and Saudi Arabia in an effort to track down the journalists whereabouts. While he claims that the relationship with Saudi Arabia is still excellent on a Thursday interview on Fox and Friends, he has since claimed that if the allegations are found true, there will be ramifications for their relations.

In an interview with CBS News, Mr Trump called the potential murder terrible and disgusting" and said that there will be repercussions if proven true.

"As of this moment, they deny it vehemently, he said.

"We're going to get to the bottom of it and (if the claims are true) there will be severe punishment."

If Turkish officials can provide evidence that Mr Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate as they claim, it would trigger the Global Magnitsky Act which would allow the US to punish them for abusing the journalists human rights.

In this case Mr Trump would have up to 120 days to decide whether to take action, however, he told journalists on Thursday that he may not be willing to give up the weapons sale to Saudi Arabia, saying that there are other ways to punish them.

This took place in Turkey and to the best of our knowledge Khashoggi is not a United States citizen, hes a permanent resident, Mr Trump told media at the Whitehouse.

We dont like it, even a little bit. But as to whether or not we should stop $110 billion from being spent in this country, knowing they (Saudi Arabia) have four or five alternatives, two very good alternatives, that would not be acceptable to me.Protesters run to take cover from teargas fired by Israeli troops (Adel Hana/AP)

Israels prime minister has threatened very painful blows against Gazas Hamas rulers if they do not halt protests along the perimeter fence that have led to clashes with Israeli troops.

Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is very close to waging a different kind of activity against the Islamic militants.

He said: If it has any sense, Hamas will cease its fire and violent outbursts  now.

Expand Close Medics evacuate a wounded youth from near the fence of the Gaza Strip border (Adel Hana/AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Medics evacuate a wounded youth from near the fence of the Gaza Strip border (Adel Hana/AP)

Hamas has orchestrated near-weekly protests along the Israel-Gaza boundary since March, pressing for an end to a decade-long Israel-Egyptian blockade of the isolated territory.

On Friday, some 20 Palestinians breached the border. Israeli troops shot dead seven people at that location.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars over the past decade and have recently repeatedly stepped back from the brink.UK firms should use automation to allow staff to work four-day weeks and ward off an epidemic of mental health issues, according to acclaimed technology entrepreneur Jason Stockwood.

Mr Stockwood  chief executive of Simply Business and former executive at lastminute.com and match.com  told the Press Association that companies need to change their attitude to technology and the traditional workforce model, or he warned the wheels will come off.

The author of new business book  titled Reboot: A blueprint for happy, human business in the digital age, released in September  is urging other firms to consider using automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to not just boost business, but also create happy and more productive workforces.

Quite frankly, the wheels will come off in the next couple of years if we don't do somethingJason Stockwood, chief executive of Simply Business

With this weeks World Mental Health Day highlighting the importance of employee psychological well-being, Mr Stockwood is hoping to lead a force for change in corporate Britain.

Business insurance group Simply Business  which has offices across London, Northampton and in Boston, America  is already practising what he preaches with a four-day week trial and move to abolish sales force bonuses.

But he said workers are often wrongly seeing AI as a threat, when it can and should be a force for good.

He said: We are storing up an epidemic of mental health and psychological issues.

Quite frankly, the wheels will come off in the next couple of years if we dont do something.

He said it was time for an upgrade in terms of our models of what work should be.

Lets work a bit less, he said. Lets have another change in society.

The four-day week could be a next chapter in giving people more freedom, he added.

But he said businesses need to change their attitude to management and the use of AI.

With Brexit on the horizon and the potential shortage in skilled workers that it could create, he said it risks seeing firms use automation to replace staff rather than enhance workforces.

He said: Some firms might think that if they cant get the talent then automation is their answer.

But it cant be about businesses creating the most efficient operations.

His vision may come up against some scepticism, with even the Bank of England recently warning about the impact of automation on jobs and wages.

In a recent speech, the Banks chief economist Andy Haldane said: Increased automation and the dawn of a Fourth Industrial Revolution could result in slower pay growth and workers receiving a smaller slice of the income pie.

But Mr Stockwood is optimistic firms can rise to the challenge.

He said: Its beholden on business leaders to build businesses that can be seen in a broader social context.

Its about benefits being shared by all stakeholders and not just shareholders.

Simply Business  which has around 500 staff  was sold to US giant Travelers Companies Inc in March 2017 for 400 million.

With the backing of Travelers, the group has plans to tap further into the US market  a potential 50 billion US dollar (38 billion) market, according to Mr Stockwood  with Europe to follow.

But maintaining his ethos on working will remain key as it grows, while he said he is also now advising Travelers, with Simply Business acting as a petri dish for technology and workforce ideas.Damage done: Little recovery has been achieved yet in Raqqa, Syria, according to Amnesty International this weekend

US-led air strikes destroyed much of Syria's Raqqa while crushing Isil last year, but the coalition has done little to help it recover, rights group Amnesty International said this weekend.

Nearly a year after the battle, 80pc of the city is in ruins and thousands of bodies lie in the rubble, with funding to recover them poised to run out, said Anya Neistat, Amnesty's senior director of global research.

"It's absolutely shocking in Raqqa how little over this last year has actually been done to bring life back to the city," she said at a news conference in Beirut after visiting Raqqa.

"The coalition, given that they have the money to carry out this very, very expensive military campaign, should have enough money to work with its consequences," she added.

Raqqa was the Syrian capital of Isil's self-proclaimed caliphate and was retaken last year by a group of Kurdish and Arab militias supported by air strikes from a US-led coalition.

The jihadists made it hard to take the city without killing civilians, blending in with the local population and using car bombs as they retreated from street to street.

By the time Kurdish fighters tore down the group's last flag on October 17, entire districts lay in ruins, said reporters who were covering the battle.

"30,000 houses in Raqqa have been completely destroyed and 25,000 are partially destroyed," said Neistat.

So far about 2,500 bodies have been dug from the rubble.

"To the extent that they are able to identify the bodies, they believe that the majority of them are civilians. And the majority of these civilians have died as a result of coalition air strikes," she said.

"Nobody knows what's going to happen to the 3,000 bodies that still lie in the ground come October 31, when the funding for this team runs out," she said.

The coalition says it works on stabilisation in Raqqa, not reconstruction. "The number's around three million people liberated, which is a good thing. There was a lot of damage. I don't think the problem lies with coalition countries not wanting to help," said Colonel Sean Ryan, the coalition spokesman.

He pointed to coalition countries not being able to work with the Damascus government, which opposes their presence, as an obstacle to channelling help.

Amnesty in June said coalition strikes may have broken international law, which it denied.

The coalition says it worked hard to avoid deaths and is transparent in its efforts to investigate.

People in Raqqa said their main priority was education after suffering years of Isil rule, but the few schools that had reopened were heavily overcrowded and riddled with war damage, Neistat said.

ReutersTurkish officials have an audio recording of the alleged killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi from the Apple Watch he wore when he walked into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul over a week ago, a pro-government Turkish newspaper reported last Saturday.

The new claim published by the Sabah newspaper, through which Turkish security officials have leaked much information about the case, didn't immediately explain how officials there also reportedly have a video of Khashoggi's alleged slaying.

Expand Close Fear the worst: Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Fear the worst: Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi

However, it puts more pressure on Saudi Arabia to explain what happened to Khashoggi, who has written critically about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, after he walked into the consulate on October 2. The kingdom has maintained the allegations against it are "baseless", though an official early yesterday acknowledged for the first time some believe Khashoggi was killed by the kingdom. Authorities recovered the audio from Khashoggi's iPhone and his iCloud account, the newspaper said. The journalist had given his phones to his fiancee before entering the consulate.

However, it was not clear whether data from Khashoggi's watch could have been transmitted to his phone outside, or how investigators could have retrieved it without obtaining the watch themselves.

Technology experts say it is highly unlikely the watch could have recorded actions inside the embassy and uploaded them to an iCloud account. Most models of the watch require that it be within 9-15m of the iPhone that it is paired with to upload data to Apple's iCloud, they said.

Even newer models that can communicate with the cloud directly via wireless require either connection to a nearby Wi-Fi network or a type of cellular connection that is not available in Turkey, the experts say.

Sabah, which cited "reliable sources in a special intelligence department" for its report, said Khashoggi was believed to have turned on the recording feature on the watch before entering the consulate.

The paper said Saudi intelligence agents had realised after he died that the watch was recording and tried to delete the recordings first by incorrectly guessing Khashoggi's PIN on the watch, then later using the journalist's finger. However, Apple Watches do not have a fingerprint ID unlock function like iPhones. The newspaper did not address that in its report.

An Apple Watch can record audio and can sync that later with an iPhone over a Bluetooth connection. The newspaper's account did not elaborate on how the Apple Watch synced that information to both the phone and Khashoggi's iCloud account.

Turkish officials have not answered queries from European journalists about Khashoggi's Apple Watch.

Turkish officials say they believe a 15-member Saudi "assassination squad" killed Khashoggi at the consulate. They've also alleged that they have video of the slaying, but not explained how they have it.

Turkey has yet to publish any evidence of him being slain, though surveillance footage around the consulate shows a convoy of vehicles with diplomatic license plates leaving the Saudi Consulate for the consul's home in Istanbul a little under two hours after Khashoggi's arrival.

Saudi Arabia has said it had nothing to do with Khashoggi's disappearance, without explaining or offering evidence of how the writer left the consulate and disappeared into Istanbul with his fiancee waiting outside. A Saudi-owned satellite news channel has begun referring to the 15-man team as "tourists", without providing evidence to support the claim. It echoes how Russia has described the men who allegedly carried out the Novichok nerve agent poisonings in England in March.

Early yesterday, the State-run Saudi Press Agency published a statement from Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud again denying the kingdom's involvement. This time, however, it acknowledged for the first time that Saudi Arabia was accused of killing Khashoggi.

"What has been circulating about orders to kill are lies and baseless allegations against the government of the kingdom, which is committed to its principles, rules and traditions and is in compliance with international laws and conventions," Prince Abdulaziz said.

Khashoggi's disappearance has put pressure on Donald Trump, who has enjoyed close relations with the Saudis since entering office. Trump promised to personally call Saudi Arabia's King Salman soon about "the terrible situation in Turkey".

"We're going to find out what happened," Trump pledged last Friday.

Separately, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, who accompanied him to the Saudi consulate, the State Department said last Friday. No details of the conversation were released.

In an interview last Friday, Khashoggi's fiancee Cengiz said he was not nervous when he entered the consulate to obtain paperwork required for their marriage. "He said, 'See you later my darling,' and went in," she said.

Cengiz also said Turkish authorities had not told her about any recordings and Khashoggi was officially "still missing".

She said investigators were examining his cellphones, which he had left with her.

A delegation from Saudi Arabia arrived in Turkey last Friday as part of an investigation into the writer's disappearance. In a statement posted on Twitter, the Saudis welcomed the joint effort and said the kingdom was keen "to sustain the security and safety of its citizenry, wherever they might happen to be".

Global business leaders also are reassessing their ties with Saudi Arabia, stoking pressure on the Gulf kingdom to explain what happened to Khashoggi.

Khashoggi, who was considered close to the Saudi royal family, had become a critic of the current government and Prince Mohammed, the 33-year-old heir apparent who has shown little tolerance for criticism.

As a contributor to the Washington Post, Khashoggi has written extensively about Saudi Arabia, including criticism of its war in Yemen, its recent diplomatic spat with Canada and its arrest of women's rights activists after the lifting of a ban on women driving.

Those policies are all seen as initiatives of the crown prince, who has also presided over a round-up of activists and businessmen.

ReutersBest of Friends: Donald Trumps first overseas visit as US president was to Saudi Arabia in May 2017

He's booked hotel rooms and meeting spaces to them, sold an entire floor in one of his buildings to them and, in desperate moments in his career, got a billionaire from the country to buy his yacht and New York's Plaza Hotel overlooking Central Park.

Donald Trump's ties to Saudi Arabia run long and deep, and he has often boasted about his business ties with the kingdom.

"I love the Saudis," Trump said when announcing his presidential run at Trump Tower in 2015. "Many are in this building."

Now those ties are under scrutiny as the US president faces calls for a tougher response to the kingdom's government following the disappearance, and possible killing, of one of its biggest critics, journalist and activist Jamal Khashoggi.

Yesterday Trump warned of "severe punishment" if Saudi Arabia is found to be behind the suspected killing. Yet he stopped short of threatening to ban arms deals with the Saudis - claiming such sanctions would only hurt jobs in the US defence industry.

"The Saudis are funnelling money to him," said former federal ethics chief Walter Shaub, who is advising a watchdog group suing Trump for foreign government ties to his business. That undermines "confidence that he's going to do the right thing when it comes to Khashoggi".

Trump paid his first foreign visit as president to Saudi Arabia last year, praised its new young ruler and boasted of striking a deal to sell $110bn (95bn) of US weapons to the kingdom.

But those close ties are in peril as pressure mounts from Congress for Trump to find out whether Khashoggi was killed and dismembered after entering a Saudi consulate in Turkey, as Turkish officials have said without proof.

Trump said last Friday that he will soon speak with Saudi Arabia's king about Khashoggi's disappearance. But he has also said he doesn't want to scuttle a lucrative arms deal with the kingdom and noted that Khashoggi was only a US resident and not a citizen. For its part, Saudi Arabia has called allegations it killed Khashoggi "baseless".

The president's links to Saudi billionaires and princes go back years, and appear only to have deepened.

In 1991, as Trump was teetering on personal bankruptcy and scrambling to raise cash, he sold his 86m yacht Princess to Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin-Talal for $20m (17m), a third less than he reportedly paid for it.

Four years later, the prince came to his rescue again, joining other investors in a $325m (281m) deal for Trump's money-losing Plaza Hotel.

In 2001, Trump sold the entire 45th floor of the Trump World Tower, across from the United Nations in New York, for $12m, the biggest purchase in that building to that point, according to the brokerage site StreetEasy. The buyer: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Shortly after he announced his run for president, Trump began laying the groundwork for possible new business in the kingdom. He registered eight companies with names tied to the country, such as THC Jeddah Hotel Advisor LLC and DT Jeddah Technical Services, according to a 2016 financial disclosure report to the federal government. Jeddah is a major city in the country.

"Saudi Arabia, I get along with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40m, $50m," Trump told a crowd at an Alabama rally on August 21, 2015, the same day he created four of the entities. "Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much."

The president's company, the Trump Organisation, said shortly after his 2016 election that it had shut down those Saudi companies. The president later pledged to pursue no new foreign deals while in office.

In a statement this week, the company said it has explored business opportunities in many countries but that it does "not have any plans for expansion into Saudi Arabia".

Since Trump took the oath of office, the Saudi government and lobbying groups for it have been lucrative customers for Trump's hotels.

A public relations firm working for the kingdom spent nearly $270,000 (233,000) on lodging and catering at his Washington hotel near the Oval Office through March of last year, according to filings to the Justice Department. A spokesman for the firm told The Wall Street Journal that the Trump hotel payments came as part of a Saudi-backed lobbying campaign against a bill that allowed Americans to sue foreign governments for responsibility in the September 11 terror attacks.

Attorneys general for Maryland and the District of Columbia cited the payments by the Saudi lobbying firm as an example of foreign gifts to the president that could violate the Constitution's ban on such "emoluments" from foreign interests.

The Saudi government was also a prime customer at the Trump International Hotel in New York early this year, according to a Washington Post report. The newspaper cited an internal letter from the hotel's general manager, who wrote that a "last-minute" visit in March by a group from Saudi Arabia accompanying Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had boosted room rentals at the hotel by 13pc for the first three months of the year, after two years of decline.

Saudi Arabia has also helped on one of Trump's key policy promises, and helped the president's friends along the way.

Last year, the kingdom announced plans to invest $20bn in a private US-focused infrastructure fund managed by Blackstone Group, an investment firm led by CEO Stephen Schwarzman. Blackstone stock rose on the news. Earlier this year, Trump unveiled a $200bn (170bn) federal plan to fix the nation's airports, roads, highways and ports, tapping private companies for help and selling off some government owned infrastructure. Schwarzman, who celebrated his 70th birthday at the president's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, accompanied Trump on his visit to Saudi Arabia.

Associated PressPope Francis has declared Pope Paul VI and killed Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero saints, reciting in Latin the rite of canonisation at the start of Mass in St Peters Square.

After hearing brief biographies of Paul, Archbishop Romero and five other people canonised on Sunday, Francis declared them saints and decreed that they are to be venerated as such by the whole church.

Expand Close Faithful gather prior to a canonisation ceremony in St Peters Square (Andrew Medichini/AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Faithful gather prior to a canonisation ceremony in St Peters Square (Andrew Medichini/AP)

The crowd of thousands in St Peters Square applauded as Francis pronounced the rite.

Among them were some 5,000 Salvadoran pilgrims who travelled to Rome to honour their hero.

Archbishop Romero stood up to El Salvadors brutal military dictatorship to defend the rights of the poor and was killed as he said Mass.Pope Francis has praised two of the towering figures of the 20th-century Catholic Church as prophets who shunned wealth and looked out for the poor as he canonised Pope Paul VI and martyred Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero.

Francis declared the two men saints at a Mass in St Peters Square before tens of thousands of pilgrims, a handful of presidents and some 5,000 Salvadoran pilgrims.

Tens of thousands more Salvadorans stayed up all night at home to watch it on giant TV screens outside the San Salvador cathedral where Archbishop Romeros remains are entombed.

Expand Close A view of St Peters Square during a canonisation ceremony (Andrew Medichini/AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp A view of St Peters Square during a canonisation ceremony (Andrew Medichini/AP)

In a sign of the strong influence Paul and the archbishop had on historys first Latin American pope, Francis wore the blood-stained rope belt that Archbishop Romero wore when he was gunned down in 1980 and also used Pauls staff, chalice and pallium vestment.

Paul presided over the modernising yet polarising church reforms of the 1960s, while Archbishop Romero was murdered by El Salvadors right-wing death squads for his fearless defence of the poor.

In his homily, Francis called Paul a prophet of a church turned outwards to care for the faraway poor.

He said Archbishop Romero gave up his security and life to be close to the poor and his people.

And he warned that those who do not follow their example to leave behind everything, including their wealth, risk never truly finding God.

Wealth is dangerous and  says Jesus  even makes ones salvation difficult, Francis said.

The love of money is the root of all evils, he said. We see this where money is at the centre, there is no room for God or for man.

Expand Close Priests wearing vestments with the effigy of martyred Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero attend the canonisation ceremony (Andrew Medichini/AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Priests wearing vestments with the effigy of martyred Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero attend the canonisation ceremony (Andrew Medichini/AP)

For many in San Salvador, it was the culmination of a fraught and politicised campaign to have the church formally honour a man who publicly denounced the repression by El Salvadors military dictatorship at the start of the countrys 1980-1992 civil war.

I am here to give glory to Monsignor Romero, said Aida Guzman, a 68-year-old Salvadoran woman who carried photos of people killed during the war as she joined thousands in a Friday evening procession in San Salvador.

He is a light for our people, an inspiration for all.

Mr Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, was murdered as he celebrated Mass on March 24, 1980, in a hospital chapel.

A day before he was killed, he had delivered the latest in a series of sermons demanding an end to the armys repression  sermons that had enraged El Salvadors leaders.

Almost immediately after his death, Archbishop Romero became an icon of the South American left and is frequently listed along with Martin Luther King Jr and Gandhi as one of the worlds most influential human rights campaigners.

The United Nations commemorates the anniversary of his death each year.

But his popularity with the left led to a decades-long delay in his saint-making cause at the Vatican, where right-wing cardinals led by Colombian Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo warned his elevation would embolden Marxist revolutionaries on the continent.

Eventually Pope Benedict XVI unblocked the cause and Francis saw it through to its conclusion Sunday, including his determination that Archbishop Romero was a martyr for the church  killed out of hatred for the faith and for preaching the Gospel, even though his assassins were Catholics like him.

Archbishop Romeros influence continues to resonate with El Salvadors youth as the country endures brutal gang violence that has made the Central American nation one of the most violent in the world.Kremlin opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been released from jail after serving 50 days on two consecutive sentences for organising unsanctioned protests.

Mr Navalny, President Vladimir Putins most prominent rival, had been sentenced to 30 days for organising a protest in August, but upon release was immediately arrested and then sentenced to another 20 days for organising a protest that took place while he was in jail.

 .    . pic.twitter.com/6DJrwfZwzH  Alexey Navalny (@navalny) October 14, 2018

Both protests were against a Russian government plan to raise the eligibility age for state pensions, which has since been signed into law.

After his release early on Sunday, Mr Navalny told reporters I think over the 50 days which I spent here, we saw a lot of evidence that this regime has absolutely deteriorated: from failures in foreign intelligence to failures in space industry.A security guard checks on the entrance of Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul (Lefteris Pitarakis/AP)

Turkish officials have an audio recording of the alleged killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi from the Apple Watch he wore when he walked into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul over a week ago, a pro-government Turkish newspaper says.

The new claim published by the Sabah newspaper, through which Turkish security officials have leaked much information about the case, did not immediately explain how officials there also reportedly have video of Mr Khashoggi's alleged killing.

However, it puts more pressure on Saudi Arabia to explain what happened to Mr Khashoggi, who has written critically about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, after he walked into the consulate on October 2.

The kingdom has maintained the allegations against it are "baseless", though an official early on Saturday acknowledged for the first time some believe Mr Khashoggi was killed by the kingdom.

Expand Close A protest at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia about the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi (Jacquelyn Martin/AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp A protest at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia about the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Authorities recovered the audio from Mr Khashoggi's iPhone and his iCloud account, the newspaper said.

The journalist had given his phones to his fiancee before entering the consulate.

The newspaper also alleged Saudi officials tried to delete the recordings first by incorrectly guessing Mr Khashoggi's PIN on the watch, then later using the journalist's finger.

However, Apple Watches do not have a fingerprint ID unlock function like iPhones. The newspaper did not address that in its report.

An Apple Watch can record audio and can sync that later with an iPhone over a Bluetooth connection.

The newspaper's account did not elaborate on how the Apple Watch synced that information to both the phone and Mr Khashoggi's iCloud account.

Turkish officials say they believe a 15-member Saudi "assassination squad" killed Mr Khashoggi at the consulate.

They have also alleged that they have video of the killing, but not explained how they have it.

Turkey has yet to publish any evidence of him being killed, though surveillance footage around the consulate shows a convoy of vehicles with diplomatic plates leaving the Saudi Consulate for the consul's home in Istanbul a little under two hours after Mr Khashoggi's arrival.

Saudi Arabia has said it had nothing to do with Mr Khashoggi's disappearance, without explaining or offering evidence of how the writer left the consulate and disappeared into Istanbul with his fiancee waiting outside.

A Saudi-owned satellite news channel has begun referring to the 15-man team as "tourists", without providing evidence to support the claim.

Early on Saturday, the state-run Saudi Press Agency published a statement from Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud again denying the kingdom's involvement.

This time, however, it acknowledged for the first time that Saudi Arabia was accused of killing Mr Khashoggi.American pastor Andrew Brunson, recently freed after nearly two years of detention in Turkey, asked God for supernatural wisdom for President Donald Trump during a prayer in the Oval Office.

Mr Trump welcomed Mr Brunson to the White House to celebrate his release from nearly two years of confinement, which had sparked a diplomatic row with a key ally and outcry from US evangelical groups.

Mr Brunson returned to the US aboard a military jet shortly before meeting the president.

He was detained in October 2016, formally arrested that December and placed under house arrest on July 25 for health reasons.

From a Turkish prison to the White House in 24 hours, thats not bad, Mr Trump said.

Mr Brunson appeared to be in good health and good spirits.

When he asked Mr Trump if he could pray for him, the president replied, Well, I need it probably more than anyone else in this room, so that would be very nice, thank you.

Mr Brunson left his chair beside Mr Trump, kneeled and placed a hand on the presidents shoulder.

As Mr Trump bowed his head, Mr Brunson asked God to give him supernatural wisdom to accomplish all the plans you have for this country and for him. I ask that you give him wisdom in how to lead this country into righteousness.

He continued: I ask that you give him perseverance, and endurance and courage to stand for truth. I ask that you to protect him from slander from enemies, from those who would undermine. I ask that you make him a great blessing to this country. Fill him with your wisdom and strength and perseverance. And we bless him. May he be a great blessing to our country. In Jesus name, we bless you. Amen.

Mr Brunson, originally from Black Mountain, North Carolina, had lived in Turkey with his family for more than two decades and led a small congregation in the Izmir Resurrection Church.

He was accused of committing crimes on behalf of Kurdish militants and to aid a Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen, accused by Turkey of engineering the failed coup.

He faced up to 35 years in jail if convicted of all the charges against him.

Mr Trump maintained there was no deal for Mr Brunsons freedom.

We do not pay ransom in this country, Mr Trump said.

Mr Trump thanked Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had resisted the demands of Mr Trump and other high-level US officials for Mr Brunsons release.

The US had repeatedly called for Mr Brunsons release and, this year, sanctioned two Turkish officials and doubled tariffs on steel and aluminium imports citing in part Mr Brunsons plight.

Expand Close President Donald Trump meets with American pastor Andrew Brunson, (Jacquelyn Martin/AP) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp President Donald Trump meets with American pastor Andrew Brunson, (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Mr Trump said the US greatly appreciated Mr Brunsons release and said the move will lead to good, perhaps great, relations between the US and fellow Nato ally Turkey, and said the White House would take a look at the sanctions.

Mr Trump asked Mr Brunson and his family which candidate they voted for in 2016, saying he was confident they had gone for him.

I would like to say I sent in an absentee ballot from prison, Mr Brunson quipped.

A Turkish court on Friday convicted Mr Brunson of having links to terrorism and sentenced him to just over three years in prison, but released the 50-year-old evangelical pastor because he had already spent nearly two years in detention. An earlier charge of espionage was dropped.

Hours later, Mr Brunson was flown out of Turkey, his home for more than two decades. He was taken to a US military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, for a medical check-up.Tanushree Dutta had to quit her career in Bollywood because of the incident of sexual and physical harassment that took place on the sets of Horn Ok Pleasss in 2008. She is all set to fight the battle now. The actress, after having filed an FIR against Nana Patekar and others involved, has now submitted an application to the police demanding narco analysis, brain mapping and lie detector tests.

Dutta submitted an application in this regard to Oshiwara police station through her advocate Nitin Satpute. Dutta has accused the 67-year-old actor of misbehaving with her when the two were shooting a special song for Hindi film "Horn Ok Pleassss" 10 years ago.

Twitter

Based on her complaint, Oshiwara police had registered a case under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code against Patekar, choreographer Ganesh Acharya, producer Samee Siddiqui and director Rakesh Sarang.

Satpute on Saturday said that his client had also sought the arrest of Patekar, Acharya, Siddiqui, Sarang and their "fake witnesses".

Dutta's application mentioned that the accused were "highly influential and high profile" persons with "good political connection" and, therefore, it was possible that they could put "undue pressure, fear, coercion and influence" on the witnesses, Satpute said.

The lawyer claimed that there were eye witnesses to the alleged incident which took place on March 26, 2008 but they were not coming forward to record their statement as they were afraid of the accused.

Satpute claimed that these witnesses would step forward to record their statement only after the accused are arrested.

twitter

Dutta believes that the accused, who while speaking to the media have been denying the accusation, may put pressure on witnesses or produce "bogus witnesses" to record "negative statement" against her, the lawyer said.

Dutta has also approached the Maharashtra State Commission for Women as well as the Deputy Collector under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 to get justice, he said.

Patekar, on Saturday, had told reporters here that "I said this ten years ago... a lie is a lie (Dus saal pehle bol chuka hoon, ab jo jhoot hai woh jhoot hai')".After 86-year-old Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand, a crusader in the battle to ban illegal mining in the Ganga, and the construction of hydro-power projects in the river passed away due to fasting unto death, another legendary activist has taken up the cause of cleaning the holy river.

The first Indian woman to scale the Mount Everest, Bachendri Pal along with 40 other volunteers has taken up the mission of a month-long rafting expedition titled, Mission Gange to clean the river, reported news agency ANI.

The reason behind this expedition is to spread awareness about waste management. Efforts are being made to revive the water quality of the river which is considered sacred by the devotees. The National Mission For Clean Ganga (NMCG) aims to conserve the river because a large number of people live on the rivers coastline.

Photo: AP

During the month-long journey, the team will stream through Ganges waters across eight major cities in India. "We will raft for 1,500 km and will have halts of three days each in bigger cities. We will clean and spread awareness amongst all especially, the youth and school students" said Pal to ANI.

The team will further provide a boost to the government's flagship programme of "Namami Gange" by reaching out to young men and women and making them understand the importance of preserving the sanctity of the river. The team will also pay a visit to multiple schools and institutions to encourage more and more people to join this movement.

"It has been a great start. People are getting associated with us. Of late, many organisations have joined us in the Mission Gange. So it is a good start and I am very optimistic that this journey will thrive in similar fashion ahead. Things do not change overnight. Things will gradually improve after each individual with a changed mindset joins the campaign and spreads awareness in the country," Pal added.

Photo: AP

Excessive use of the Ganga water for household chores and increased immersions of sacred material like flowers, coconut, incense sticks and prasad has polluted the river badly over the years. Thousands of people are also dependent on Ganga for irrigation and business related activities.

Rajiv Ranjan, Director General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga told ANI that so far the team had completed 64 projects and they would complete all the projects in Uttarakhand and Jharkhand by March. Ranjan urged other state governments and agencies to keep the momentum of the project alive.With thousands of workers from northern Indian states of UP and Bihar leaving Gujarat in wake of violence against them, the Gujarat government has started their bit to persuade people from not living the state.

The slew of violent incidents has been reported in various districts of the state after the rape of a 14-year-old girl by a migrant from Bihar.

Reuters

Non-Gujaratis were targeted after a native of Bihar was arrested for allegedly raping the toddler in Sabarkantha district on September 28. The attacks triggered an exodus of Hindi-speaking workers from Gujarat.

Chief Secretary J N Singh directed the collectors of affected districts to reach out to Hindi-speaking migrants to instil the confidence in them.

In one such measure, Aravalli district collector N Nagarajan, accompanied by superintendent of police (SP) Mayur Patil, on Thursday had 'pani puri' from the stall of a migrant from Madhya Pradesh.

"Tasted #Panipuri at a stall run by an entrepreneur belonging to #NorthIndia with @Arvalli_SP @DdoArvalli. He expressed full confidence in measures taken by the district administration to ensure safety and security and maintain law and order," Nagarajan said in a tweet.

Reuters

He also shared photos of his meetings with migrants' representatives.

Collectors of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and other affected districts also visited areas with large migrant populations to spend time with them and allay their concerns about safety. The collectors were accompanied by the respective SPs.

Over the last few days, they also held meetings with leaders of organisations representing Hindi-speaking migrants, most of whom are employed in industrial belts of Gujarat.

Ahmedabad collector Vikrant Pandey shared on Twitter measures being taken by his office to prevent migrants from leaving, including visits to the railway station and meeting workers in industrial areas.

Earlier on Tuesday, Pandey told reporters, "The situation is normal and there is nothing to worry about."

AP

Police officials organised meetings of local peace committees and felicitated migrant workers for their contribution to the state.

On Wednesday, Additional Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad city, Ashok Yadav felicitated around 250 families of workers from Naroda and Odhav industrial areas.

He said the move was aimed at boosting their morale.

The Gujarat police said they have taken action against people responsible for spreading rumours that led to attacks on migrants and to ensure social media is not misused.

No fresh incidents of attack on migrants have been reported from any part of Gujarat since the last few days.Indian police have always been quick to adopt social media trends and other creative measures to send their message across.

In July, when Drake's worldwide hit, 'Kiki' song had every citizen dancing to the rapper's tune alongside a moving car, the Indian police issued swift rules and regulations forbidding people to perform the challenge. The Mumbai police even used a snapshot from Netflix original series, 'Sacred Games' to strike a chord with Mumbaikars and had drawn a lot of praise for their creative use of the digital medium.

Police work is not always about force. It is a combination of mind application and physical action. In trying situations, the police have to often use tricks and tactics to shoo the miscreants away.



A recent incident from the Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh has come to light where a policeman can be seen imitating the sound of a gunshot saying "Thaai thaai, bhaago bhaago" to scare the criminals away.

The cop had to mimic the gun sound after the pistol held by his fellow colleague jammed, the Times Now reported. Reportedly, the video was shot on October 12 when the police faced a confrontation with the charge-sheeters. The video was posted by Uttar Pradesh. Org news handle on micro-blogging site, Twitter.

Photo: Representational Image

The station-in-charge enacted the voice to make the history-sheeters afraid of the police. When the criminals were asked to stop their vehicle at the routine checkpoint, the offenders broke the barricades and tried to flee the situation. However, an intense operation was carried out by the local police officials and the criminals were arrested.

One of the gang members with a Rs 25,000 bounty on his head was also apprehended. Though, during the encounter, an inspector and constable were injured by bullets fired at them by the miscreants. The criminals are being interrogated by the police to get more details about the accomplices involved in the goof up. Police also recovered a stolen Scorpio car and a country-made gun along with live rounds from the arrested criminal.Hidden from the daily chaos of an urban city, there is a slum at the Delhi-Noida crossing. Despite living in the national capital, these students have to ride a boat and walk for miles before they can learn to write A for Apple, B for Boat.

A smooth road leads to the Shani temple, a deity known for giving people struggles and tough time in their life thereby, teaching them a fruitful lesson. However, around the temple, you can find every essence of Lord Saturn. People can be seen living a hard life with minimum basic amenities.

The slum-dwellers defecate in the open. Dilapidated roofs provide them just enough shelter to have a night sleep. In one corner you can see piles of onions and tomatoes stacked up. This is how these people make a living, through agricultural means.

Nearing the end of a mud road, a few boats can be seen stationed in shallow water surrounded by garbage and algae. The quality of the Yamuna river has deteriorated over the past few years and so has its depth.

However, these children dream to become professionals in different fields and their determination to gain education remains undeterred. Small boys as young as 6-years-old and girls in secondary high school wake up every day at 6 am in order to reach for their class on time.

One boat can take around 10 children at most otherwise, it can capsize in the river. As I reached this place, exuberant kids hustled on the boat and said that many a time, the boat had turned upside-down and all of these students would fall into the river.

9-10 foot gehra paani hai and aage jaate jaate toh aur gehra hojaata hai (The water is as deep as 9-10 feet and its depth keeps increasing further) said a class V student, Deba who paddles the oar. Ye boat thekedaar ki hai jinhone humein machchi pakadne ke liye di hai, isse se hum apna guzaara karte hain,

said a slum-dweller, Rajesh.

Photo: Kriti Gupta for Indiatimes

Photo: Kriti Gupta for Indiatimes

Two slums are divided by a stream of the river and in order to go to any developed place, the residents of the slum have to ride a boat to the other end. The students are being supported by an NGO which has provided them with cycles, blankets and other school supplements.

As fast-speeding cars move through the bridge above, just below it slow-moving boats make their way to the city lights.

At 7 in the morning, boys aged between six and ten years of age go to a nearby park to study and then head for a government school in the Chilla village at 11 am. The girls aged between 14 and 18 years go to school at 9 am and then for extra classes to the park at 3 pm.

Photo: Kriti Gupta for Indiatimes

A tutor from an NGO comes to teach these children English, Maths and Hindi. Children from surrounding slums can be seen wearing a green shirt and blue pants as they walk from as far as the DND flyover to study. During excessive rainfall, the students cant go to school due to the rising level of water in the river.

Even if they ride a bicycle, it needs to transported in a boat to a proper road. For kids who are in kindergarten, a mentor reaches the slum at 1 pm. Humein apne bacho ko naav mein bhejne mein darr lagta hai. Bache he chalaate hain. Mai kabhi bhi apne ladko ko akele nahi bhejti. (I feel very scared while sending my boys in a boat. The kids only row the boat. That is why I never send my boys alone) said a mother of two boys studying in Class II and Class I respectively.

Photo: Kriti Gupta for Indiatimes/ The boats are used to commute between the slum and main city

Inhe abhi kuch likhna nahi aata (They dont know how to write anything right now) she added further.

Ab raasta he nahi hai, toh kya karein. said Pooja who frequently rows a boat from one end to the other. Either the people need to be shifted from their current location so that they dont have to use a boat or a small wooden bridge can be built to make the route convenient for these people to traverse.

Road se rasta hai lekin vahan bohot khaane-peene vaale aate hai isliye safe nahi, the girl further said. The students said that they will have to take a traffic-congested route which will take around 2 hours for them to reach.

Photo: Kriti Gupta for Indiatimes/ The park where students go for their classes

The area is largely deserted and a few cars can be seen passing by with no street lights especially during the night. The girls have to walk for an hour to reach the government school in Chilla village in East Delhi.

Photo: Kriti Gupta for Indiatimes

Photo: Kriti Gupta for Indiatimes

After travelling in the boat we walked for 20 minutes to reach a park where some boys were running and playing. As they waited for their teacher to come and begin the classes, many of them walked back home in anticipation of a better redressal of their problems.

Contact Gyan Shakti Vidyalaya to extend your support by donating books, clothes and other stationery material.Two female dogs are getting to do something not a lot of their buddies can  start afresh.

8-month-old and partially blind Firangi got her name when a couple abroad decided to adopt her. She came to Thane Society for Prevention of Cruelty against Animals (SPCA) when she was one month old. She had a head injury that was later found to be a brain infection. Shes all good now, except that she lost vision in her left eye as a result of the infection.

TOI

4-year-old Angel was in a train accident that severly injured her. The doctors were able to save her but she was left permanently handicapped and now crawls on her front limbs.

Both the dogs have seen more than their share of pain and now are ready to frolick around with their new family. A father-daughter duo who run an NGO in Cananda were instrumental in mediating between the SPCA and the adoptive family.

The adopting family chose not to be identified, but according to TOIs quote from President of Thane SPCA, Shakuntala Majumdar, the family consists of two sisters, a brother and their children. They own two farms and are all animal-lovers.

A lot of animals  not just dogs  often do not get the freedom and love they deserve. Somehow, they are more kind to us than we are to them. Hopefully, Angel and Firangi will love their new home and live the life they deserve.Fran Geall woke up after being in an induced come for a week, only to realise she remembered nothing and no one.

In March, this year, she had begun to experience severe migraines that forced her to stay in bed. One day she had a seizure and her fiance  Stacey Tonkins rushed her to a hospital. There she was put into an induced coma. On waking up, she was not able to recognize her family members, friends, her niece or even her fiance Stacy.

PA Real Life - Fran with her brother

PA Real Life - Fran with her fiance

Fran suffered from Encephalitis  an auto-immune condition in which bodys own white blood cells attack brain cells, damaging them and compromising memory centres of the brain.

When she woke up after the coma, she could not even walk, read or speak. With a plasma exchange, 10 days after she woke up, helped her regain some control. She began to speak and write but her memory has not improved. She doesnt remember anyone. She has even forgotten everything she learnt  all of her education has been wiped clean from her memory.

PA Real Life - Fran in the hospital

She said: "With people I'm told I've known for years, it can be like meeting them for the first time, which is really sad. I also feel like I'm meeting myself again, because I have absolutely no idea who I was before all this was," The Sun quotes her as saying.

"The doctors have no idea if I will ever regain my memories, so I'm living with the prospect of potentially having to relearn everything I ever knew," she said.

PA Real Life

PA Real Life

Five weeks after she got out of the hospital she went back to work  her dream job that she had landed in January this year before any of this happened. However, it turned out to be a bit too much for her and she could not continue with it.

She now lives with her fiances family and is slowly beginning to heal. Fran admitted, People say that I used to crack a lot of jokes, and I'm starting to do that again now. But I suppose when you're in a situation like mine, what else can you do?"Durga Puja is starting tomorrow, which means very soon, you will be able to see stunning pandals all around and smell glorious food in the air. This time of the year, anyone and everyone is welcome to join the celebrations and the streets are teeming with people dressed up in their finery, all ready to go pandal-hopping.

This time around, folks from China have joined in the Durga Puja celebrations. The Chinese consulate has collaborated with Salt Lake's BJ Block Puja Committe to create a Yunnan (China's province) themed Durga Puja pandal.

Kolkata: Chinese Consulate has collaborated with Salt Lake's BJ Block Puja Committe to recreate Yunnan (China's province) themed Durga Puja pandal."We're very happy to collaborate with this club.We enjoy&love pandal hopping&this is my 4th year,"Ma Zhanwu,Chinese Consulate General pic.twitter.com/XXJMsywCCD  ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2018

Looks like the Chinese could not resist the festivities either!The Hindu and Jewish communities in Chicago will join for a joint celebration of Diwali and Chanukah Nov. 18. Samson Koletkar, the worlds only Indian American-Jewish standup comedian, will be the chief entertainment at the event which will bring together the two ancient cultures. (koletkar.com photo)What Is the China-Africa Development Fund?

The China-Africa Development Fund (CADFund), established in June 2007, is the first Chinese equity investment fund that focuses on investments in Africa. The CADFund encourages and supports Chinese enterprises to invest in Africa. It is operated by the China Development Bank.

Understanding the CADFund

The China-Africa Development Fund was one of eight measures announced by Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in November 2006. It was inaugurated on June 26, 2007. The investments within the fund are concentrated in industries and fields that help promote Africa's economic development, such as agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure, and resources. The CADFund has become the primary platform for Chinese investment in Africa.

Objectives of the CADFund

The CADFund aims to help solve the challenges that Africa faces in its course of development and to create positive economic and social outcomes. Through its investments, the CADFund focuses on strengthening Africas development and enhancing its competitiveness in the global economic environment. It provides capital financing for companies to invest in Africa, value-added services and aid in resolving issues in the continent, and links Chinese companies and partners with African projects.

Principles of the Fund

The CADFund invests in Chinese firms that have economic and trade activities in Africa as well as Chinese firms that have invested in African businesses and projects. The guiding principles of the fund include the promotion of investment in Africa, abidance by market regulations and representation of mutual benefits. The fund invests through equity investments, quasi-equity investments (such as preference shares and convertible bonds) and fund investments.

Chinese firms must fit certain criteria to apply. These include a solid credit record, both a clear equity and management structure, strong shareholder relations, a transparent balance sheet and a clear strategy for Africa along with a team that has African experience.

The CADFund gives priority to a number of industries that are central to the development of African countries:For most non-profit organizations, such as universities, religious orders, and museums, the establishment of an endowment fund is critical for generating a source of ongoing funding from the dividends, interest, and capital gains generated by the funds assets.

Typically, endowment payouts, because of the attachment to non-profit organizations (NPO), are not subjected to taxation. However, potential taxation still exists, depending on who is receiving the funding and what it is used for.

Key Takeaways The donations contributed to the endowment fund are tax-deductible for the individuals or companies offering the donation.  

 When the donated endowment accrues dividends, capital gains, and interest on the underlying assets, the resulting earned income may be taxable.

If the benefiting party is a tax-exempt organization, the endowment qualifies for tax-exempt status, in which case any accrued earnings are not taxed.

Funding made available by an endowment may be passed, though not directly, into the hands of an individual at some pointand these payouts or funds are subject to tax.

Endowments and Endowment Funds

An endowment is a donation, generally meaning a financial asset that is gifted to a non-profit group or organization. The donation is composed of investment funds, cash, or other property and assets. An endowment may, but does not always, have a designated use per donor request. In general, the endowment is designed to maintain the principal, using accrued dividends or capital gains to fund charitable operations.

The endowment fund is a pooling of endowments and donations that a non-profit venture or organization establishes for a specific or broader purpose, making regular withdrawals of returns from invested capital. The donations contributed to the endowment fund are tax-deductible for the individuals or companies offering the donation. 

Taxation of Earned Income

When the donated endowment accrues dividends, capital gains, and interest on the underlying assets, the resulting earned income may be taxable. However, this depends almost entirely on the nature of the non-profit organization or institution that controls the endowment fund.

In most cases, an endowment is a legal entity, such as a trust or corporation, entirely separate from the non-profit group that receives the benefit. If the benefiting party is a tax-exempt organization, the endowment qualifies for tax-exempt status, in which case any accrued earnings are not taxed.

Beneficiary Payouts

Most endowments are laden with provisions that obligate managers to conduct yearly payouts, up to a designated payout ceiling, and to reinvest any surplus, thereby increasing the endowments principal. While the accrued earnings of the endowment are usually tax-free, payouts may be taxable, depending on the recipient.

For example, an operating endowment that funds non-profit institutions can offer tax-free payouts because the receiving institution is exempted from income-tax payments. On the other hand, if the endowment provides a payout that supplements the operating budget of a for-profit business, the business is required to treat the payout as taxable income.

Endowed Position Salary and Other Payouts

Endowments are often utilized to guarantee salary and benefits payments, such as those for professors or fellows of a university or college. The endowment pays the department to which the professor is attached, but is not considered the professor's employer.

However, as an employee of the institution, the professor is required to pay tax on his or her income and benefits, despite the fact that the endowment payout to the non-profit institution is free from taxation.

Funding made available by an endowment may be passed, though not directly, into the hands of an individual at some point. For example, assume that an endowment funds a scholarship that covers the cost of a students tuition, or that an operational endowment covers the total dollar amount of services or assistance that a charity gives to an individual.

These payouts or funds are subject to tax, based on applicable laws of the state in which the endowment or the business is located or operates. Scholarships and fellowships are tax-free only to the extent that specified guidelines are met and educational expenses are qualified. In regard to the benefits of a charity, the recipient is spared from paying any taxes.

Tax as a Revenue Stream

In the U.S., the Committee on Ways and Means is responsible for establishing the rules and regulations that govern taxation, tariffs, and other means of raising revenue.

Because taxes are such a major source of revenue for the country, the Committee has consistently revoked many institutions non-profit status and has frequently proposed revisions of the tax treatment for endowments.Dalton Education

Dalton Education earned our top spot with the industrys most comprehensive CFP exam prep program. While the prep courses are among the most expensive, you will have the most flexibility, in-depth course materials, videos, and testbank questions. The Dalton Review Guarantee to Pass offers a money-back guarantee under certain conditions, or you may retake the program through the next exam cycle for free.

Pros Flexible live review options

Money-back guarantee under certain conditions

2,000 testbank questions Cons Less affordable than competitors

Pre-study program may take longer

Robust materials can feel overwhelming

Dalton Education won the best overall because of the companys in-depth CFP exam prep, flexibility, and a strong money-back guarantee. Founded in 2005, the Alpharetta, Georgia-based company boasts 20% to 25% higher pass rates than the national average. The company provides CFP Board education courses, along with two CFP exam prep courses: Dalton Review and Dalton Review Guarantee to Pass.

The Dalton Review Guarantee to Pass costs $2,195. The prep course includes a virtual pre-study program, in-person or virtual live review classes, and live review recordings. You also get office hours, one-on-one coaching calls, digital flashcards, free retakes, and a money-back guarantee if you score 70% or better on the exam readiness quizzes but dont pass the actual exam.

The Dalton Review is a similar course for $1,395 with fewer materials, no coaching calls, and no pass guarantee. Those looking to sample the program may access a Guarantee to Pass Demo. The company also offers financial assistance to underrepresented groups in financial planning through the Womens Initiative and Diversity Initiative.

Both CFP exam prep options offer books, videos, live virtual classes, live office hours, live or in-person four-day live review, recordings of all lessons, and a 2,000-question testbank. You can also attend an office hour for more in-depth answers.Visionary entrepreneur Elon Musk is the charismatic co-founder of PayPal (PYPL) and Tesla (TSLA), as well as the founder of SpaceX, Neuralink, and The Boring Company. He serves as CEO of Tesla and CEO/lead designer of SpaceX.

Key Takeaways Elon Musk is the charismatic co-founder and CEO of electric car maker Tesla and rocket manufacturer SpaceX.

Born and raised in South Africa, Musk spent time in Canada before finally moving to the U.S.

Educated at the University of Pennsylvania in physics, Musk started getting his feet wet as a serial tech entrepreneur with early successes like Zip2 and X.com.

He was instrumental in creating the company that became PayPal.

Musk has behaved in eccentric ways from time to time and has identified himself as having Asperger's syndrome.

Investopedia / Bailey Mariner

His astounding success has given rise to comparisons to other visionary businessmen, such as Steve Jobs, Howard Hughes, Henry Ford, and Bill Gates. After an often difficult childhood, Musk developed a relentless work ethic (he is known to work as many as 80 to 120 hours per week) and a tenacious, single-minded vision.

As of 2021, he has an estimated total net worth of $151 billion. He is surpassed only by Jeff Bezos as the richest person in the world.

Let's look briefly at the life of the man behind a string of companies that have disrupted multiple industries.

Early Life and Education

Elon Reeve Musk was born in 1971 in Pretoria, one of South Africas three capital cities. His father was an engineer, and his mother a model and nutritionist. He is the oldest of three children, all high-achievers: His brother, Kimbal Musk, is a venture capitalist and environmentalist. His sister, Tosca Musk, is an award-winning producer and director.

After his parents divorced in 1980, Musk lived primarily with his father. He would later dub the man "a terrible human being almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done." I had a terrible upbringing. I had a lot of adversity growing up. One thing I worry about with my kids is they dont face enough adversity, Musk would later say.

Bullied as a Child

By his own account, Musk a self-described bookworm and something of a smart aleckhe read voraciously, everything from encyclopedias to comic books. But Musks intellectual aptitude did him few favors as a child. He found few friends in the tough-minded Afrikaner culture he encountered in school.

Musk attended the private, English-speaking Waterkloof House Preparatory Schoolhe started a year earlyand later graduated from Pretoria Boys High School. The years were lonely and brutal, from his descriptions.

They got my best friend to lure me out of hiding so they could beat me up. And that hurt, Musk said. For some reason, they decided that I was it, and they were going to go after me nonstop. Thats what made growing up difficult. For a number of years, there was no respite. You get chased around by gangs at school who tried to beat the (expletive) out of me, and then Id come home, and it would just be awful there as well.

Early Accomplishments

If there was a point of bright escape for Musk; it was technology. When he was only 10, he became acquainted with programming via the Commodore VIC-20, an inexpensive home computer. Before long, he had become proficient enough to create Blastara video game in the style of Space Invaders. He sold the BASIC code for the game to a magazine called PC and Office Technology for $500.

In one telling incident at that time, Musk, along with his brother, planned to open a video game arcade near their school. Ultimately, their parents nixed the plan. But apparently, the only thing stopping them was the need for a city permit, for which an adult had to apply.

Musk's College Years

At 17, Musk moved to Canada to avoid serving in the South African military, whose main duty in the late 1980s was enforcing apartheid. He would later obtain Canadian citizenship through his mother.

After emigrating to Canada, Musk enrolled in Queens University in Kingston, Ontario. It was there that he met Justine Wilson, an aspiring writer. They would marry and have five sons together, twins and triplets, before divorcing in 2008.

Entering the U.S.

After two years at Queens University, Musk transferred to the University of Pennsylvania. He took on two majors, but his time there wasnt all work and no play. With a fellow student, he bought a 10-bedroom fraternity house, which they used as an ad hoc nightclub.

Musk graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Physics, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the Wharton School. The two majors speak to the direction Musks career would take later, but it was physics that made the deepest impression.

(Physics is) a good framework for thinking, he would say later. Boil things down to their fundamental truths and reason up from there.

Notable Accomplishments

Musk was 24 years old when he moved to California to pursue a Ph.D. in applied physics at Stanford University. But, with the Internet exploding and Silicon Valley booming, Musk had entrepreneurial visions dancing in his head. He left the Ph.D. program after just two days.

X.com

In 1995, with $28,000 and his younger brother Kimbal at his side, Musk started Zip2, a web software company that would help newspapers develop online city guides. In 1999, Zip2 was acquired by Compaqs AltaVista web search engine for a whopping $340 million. Musk used his Zip2 buyout money to create X.com, which he intended to shape into the future of banking.

X.com was merged with a money transfer firm called Confinity, and the resulting company came to be known as PayPal. Musk was then ousted from the company before it was bought by eBay for $1.5 billion, though he left with $180 million worth in stock.

In 2017, Musk purchased the X.com domain name back from PayPal, citing its sentimental value.

Tesla

First, he contributed fundingabout $70 million. Then, in 2004, Musk joined engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning to help run Tesla Motors, where Musk was integral in designing the Tesla Roadster, an electric car. Although After Eberhard was ousted from the firm in 2007, following a series of disagreements, Musk seized management control as CEO and product architect. Under his watch, Tesla has become one of the worlds most popular and coveted car brands.

In addition to producing electric vehicles, Tesla maintains a robust presence in the solar energy space, thanks to its acquisition of SolarCity. Founded in 2006, this clean-energy-services company currently produces two rechargeable solar batteries, mainly used for stationary energy storage purposes. The smaller Powerwall was developed for home backup power and off-the-grid use, while the larger Powerpack is intended for commercial or electric utility grid use.

SpaceX

Musk used much of the proceeds of his PayPal sale to found Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, commonly known as SpaceX, an interstellar travel company. By his own account, Musk spent $100 million to found SpaceX in 2002.

With SpaceX, Musk landed several high-profile contracts with NASA and the U.S. Air Force to design rockets and conduct military missions. Musk has been vocal about his plans to send an astronaut to Mars by 2025 in a collaborative effort with NASA.

Personal Eccentricities

On Sept. 7, 2018, Musk appeared to be smoking marijuana while being interviewed for a podcast. Coupled with the exit of two Tesla executivesits head of human resources and its chief accounting officerthat news saw the stock drop in trade. This was just another addition to the string of bad news for the company that year, which included a shareholder lawsuit against Musk and Tesla for his infamous tweet on Aug. 7, 2018. Musk had tweeted that he was considering taking Tesla private. The company later decided against the move.

During his May 8, 2021 appearance on the TV show Saturday Night Live, Musk revealed that he has Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism spectrum disorder. "I'm actually making history tonight as the first person with Asperger's to host SNL. Or at least the first person to admit it," he said. How does neurodevelopment condition manifest itself? "I don't always have a lot of intonation or variation in how I speak, which I'm told makes for great comedy," Musk explained.

Who Is Elon Musk's Present Wife? Elon Musk has had two wives but is currently unmarried. Since 2018, he has been in a relationship with the Canadian singer/songwriter Claire Elise Boucher, professionally known as Grimes, with whom he has a son.

How Rich Is Elon Musk? Elon Musk's net worth is around $151 billion, as of 2021. He ranks as the second richest person on the planet on Forbes' World Billionaires List.

What Does Elon Musk Do at Tesla? Elon Musk is officially listed as the co-founder and CEO of Tesla on the company's website. In a March 15, 2021 filing with the SEC, the company disclosed that Musk is also adopting the title "Technoking of Tesla."

After PayPal slipped away, Musk turned his attention to an electric-car start-up called Tesla Motors.

The Bottom Line

Musks early interests in philosophy, science fiction, and fantasy novels are reflected in his sense of idealism and concern with human progressand in his business career. He works in the areas that he has identified as crucial to our future, specifically the Internet, the transition to renewable energy sources, and space colonization. He has defied critics, disrupted industries, and made advances in all three of these frontiers, via his creation of PayPal, Tesla Motors, SolarCity, and SpaceXgame-changers all, despite their sometimes rocky performance.

Dropbox, Inc. (DBX) is a file hosting service company based in San Francisco, California. The company specializes in cloud-based storage, synchronization, and personal cloud and client software. Essentially, Dropbox allows users to create unique folders on their personal computers; the software then saves and syncs those folders to the cloud (rather than taking up storage space on a computer), where the users can view the files within those folders at any computer location.

The company filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in 2018, pricing its shares at $16-$18 a piece, putting its valuation as high as $8 billion. While this valuation was lower than the $10 billion it received during a 2014 funding round, the company has achieved rapid growth since it was founded in 2007, with over 500 million users in over 200 countries. Along with the valuation and IPO pricing, Dropbox also announced a $100 million pre-IPO private placement to Salesforce Ventures (CRM), reported CNBC.

On March 21, 2018, the company raised its price range by $2 to $18-$20 per share, due to strong demand, pushing its valuation higher to $8.7 billion. One day later, the IPO was priced at $21, above its expected price range. On March 23, 2018, its first trading day, the stock opened at $29 per share, 38% above its IPO price--meaning Dropbox's valuation on IPO day was $9.2 billion.

Though Dropbox's worth hit $12 billion in the fall of 2018, as of July 26, 2020, Dropbox has a market cap of approximately $8.82 billion.

$8.82 billion Dropbox's valuation, as of July 2020

Dropbox's Valuation

This $8.82 billion valuation is less than its 2018 $12 billion high, which was more than 10% higher than the previous numbers reported four years prior. Dropbox was given a $10 billion valuation in January 2014 after the company raised $1.1 billion in an investment round. For context: when a private company decides to raise funds, it goes through a 409(a) valuation by an independent third-party firm. The firm gains exclusive access to the company's books and data.

The 409(a) valuation gives the private company an overall value as well as a price per private share. After the value has been decided, investors can come offer to buy shares for a specific price per share, usually priced at a premium, in reference to the true value per share.

The $10 billion valuation was derived from the post-money valuation after the $1.1 billion investment round. However, many knowledgeable firms, such as Business Insider and CB Insights, claimed that this valuation was too high.

Slow Growth and No Innovation

With the company going public, it now faces an uphill challenge of delivering big growth in order to keep investors hooked.

Dropbox has chosen to operate in a highly competitive business environment. Competitors such as Google Drive, Amazon Cloud (AMZN), and Box (BOX) have caused what's known as a race to zero, where competitors keep slashing prices so they can compete in the marketplace.

These large companies, such as Google (GOOGL), are not afraid to burn dollars. Dropbox may be facing a never-ending decline in prices.Private equity firms manage investment capital obtained from institutional investors or high net worth individuals (HNWI) to acquire equity ownership of companies through a variety of strategies, including leveraged buyouts and venture capital. Private equity firms operate with long-term investment horizons, typically five to seven years.

After obtaining an equity interest in a company, the private equity firm looks to eventually profit through either selling the company outright or through an initial public offering (IPO). When especially large investments are required, these firms often partner with other private equity firms to raise the necessary capital and to reduce their risk. Most firms specialize in one or more industries or investment strategies where they have particular expertise.

A report by Private Equity International (PEI) ranked the top 300 firms based on total private equity fundraising over the five-year period ending on April 1, 2020. These are the top 10 private equity firms, according to that report. Readers should note that private equity AUM may be a subset of a company's total assets under management. We report private equity AUM in the list below where available.

Key Takeaways Private equity is an alternative form of private financing, occurring away from public markets, in which funds and investors directly invest in companies or engage in buyouts of such companies.

Private equity investments are typically available only to high net worth individuals.

Private equity can take on various forms, from complex leveraged buyouts to venture capital.

Private equity firms are typically ranked by their assets under management and success in returning gains to investors.

1. The Blackstone Group Inc.

Founded in 1985 and headquartered in New York, with offices in London, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Dubai, The Blackstone Group Inc. (BX) leads with $619 billion in total assets under management (AUM).

The company invests across a broad range of market sectors, including energy, retail, and technology. While private equity ($103 billion) is its largest category of investments, Blackstone also has hundreds of billions of dollars in holdings in real estate, credit, and hedge fund solutions. Among its 95 portfolio companies are financial data provider Refinitiv, electric power transmission products company Gates Corp., and theme park operator Merlin Entertainments.

2. The Carlyle Group Inc.

The Carlyle Group Inc. (CG) has a total AUM of $256 billion, employs over 1,800 professionals worldwide, and operates through 29 offices located in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia.

The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Washington, DC. Its corporate private equity unit has AUM of $90.7 billion, and notable current holdings include Chesapeake Energy Corp., The Nature's Bounty Co., and Orion Breweries Ltd. of Japan.

3. KKR & Co. Inc.

KKR & Co. Inc. (KKR), formerly Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., has a total AUM of $252 billion. Founded in 1976 and headquartered in New York, KKR is known for being one of the first firms to engage in large scale leveraged buyouts (LBOs), which are still one of the firm's specialties.

Among the firm's noteworthy transactions are its 1989 leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco and its 2007 buyout of TXU, the largest leveraged buyout on record. Among its current portfolio holdings are Fiserv Inc., Gardner Denver, Optiv, and PetVet.

4. TPG Capital

TPG Capital, formerly known as the Texas Pacific Group, has a total AUM of $85 billion. Founded in 1992 by David Bonderman and Jim Coulter, TPG Capital is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company has 14 additional offices in Europe, Asia, Australia, and other parts of North America.

Among the firm's noteworthy transactions are its buyout of Continental Airlines in 1993, its acquisition of Petco in 2000 (with Leonard Green and Partners), and its leveraged buyout (along with Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners) of Burger King in 2002. Among its current portfolio holdings are Chobani, Fender, and Ducati.

5. Warburg Pincus LLC

Warburg Pincus LLC has over $58 billion in total AUM, invested in more than 195 companies, with particular exposure to China. The firm's roots are in E.M. Warburg & Co., founded in 1939, and Warburg Pincus was established in 1966. Headquartered in New York, it has 14 offices in 11 countries.

Private equity firms provide financial backing to startups and to non-public companies. For example, after Airbnb had to postpone its original plans for a 2020 initial public offering (IPO), the company raised more than $1 billion in private equity funding.

6. Neuberger Berman Group LLC

Neuberger Berman Group LLC has $405 billion in total AUM, including $73 billion in private equity. Citing more than 30 years of experience in alternative investments, Neuberger Berman employs more than 160 professionals in the field in seven locations worldwide.

7. CVC Capital Partners

CVC Capital Partners has nearly $109.1 billion of total AUM; CVC's private equity platforms manage $82 billion of assets. Founded in 1981, CVC employs over 525 people, including 250 investment professionals, in 23 offices worldwide. Its private equity portfolio includes 84 companies from across the globe.

8. EQT

Based in Sweden, EQT AB has a total AUM of 52 billion euros, or nearly $63 billion at the current exchange rate. Founded in 1994, the firm has more than 700 employees in 17 countries across Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region. Flying Tiger Copenhagen is its best-known portfolio company among U.S. consumers.

9. Advent International

Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Advent International has $66 billion in AUM. Advent, founded by Peter Brooke, was a spinout from TA Associates. Advent raised its first fund in 1985a $14 million corporate venture capital program for Nabisco.

The firm raised its first European fund in 1989 and opened its London office. Later, in the 1990s, the company opened additional offices in Frankfurt, Milan, Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil. Today, the company has offices in 15 countries, including Asia, South America, and Europe. Advent employs over 470 employees.

10. Vista Equity Partners

With over $73 billion in assets under management, Vista Equity Partners invests in software, data, and technology-enabled organizations, exclusively. The company has strategic investments across companies in healthcare, event ticketing, advertising, and risk management, among other industries. In September of 2019, Vista closed a $16 billion technology fund, the largest fund ever raised by an independent PE firm.

Largest Private Equity Firms FAQs

Which Private Equity Firms Pay the Most?

Private equity is a very lucrative career. According to a Heidrick & Struggles survey, in 2019 average cash compensation, including bonuses, ranged from $1.1 million to $3.7 million for managing partners at private equity firms with less than $20 billion in AUM.

Our research found that the total average pay in 2019 ran from $596,000 to $2.2 million for partners and managing directors, depending on the firms AUM. Average compensation for associates and senior associates was less variable across firm sizes, ranging from $193,000 to $315,000.

According to the H1B Database, which compiles the base salaries of all U.S. employees under the common H1B visa, in 2019, the firms that paid the highest figures for an Associate position were Apollo Global Management, KKR & Co., and Brookfield Asset Management. An Associate is typically the lowest ranking employee at a private equity firm. They are typically in their mid to late 20s and have a prior background in investment banking, consulting, or other deal-related financial services.

Peak Frameworks is a finance career prep platform founded by private equity and investment banking professionals. Peak Frameworks reports that Apollo Global Management is frequently reputed to be the highest-paying private equity firm in terms of all-in compensation, paying their Associates upwards of $400,000 per year.

Is Bain Capital Prestigious?

Bain Capital was founded in 1983 and is based in Boston. The company employs over 1,000 employees at its global offices. Bain is well-known in large part as a result of its co-founder, Mitt Romney, who was the 2012 Republican presidential nominee. He has served as the junior United States senator from Utah since Jan. 2019.

Bain's portfolio has included some major brands since its inception, including Clear Channel Communications, Canada Goose, Virgin Holidays Cruises, and Bugaboo International. Other major past holdings include Staples, Sports Authority, Guitar Center, Gymboree, Houghton Mifflin, Dominos Pizza, Burger King, The Weather Channel, and Brookstone.

Overall, the fund has a preference for retail, restaurants, and other consumer brands.

How Much Does a VP in Private Equity Make?

In private equity, your total compensation typically depends on the AUM of the firm you are working for. Firms that have larger AUMs usually pay their Vice Presidents more.

According to the 2020 North American Private Equity Investment Professional Compensation Survey by Heidrick & Struggles, those in the Vice President position at firms with an AUM of less than $500 million had a mean total cash compensation of $329,000 in 2019. For firms with an AUM of $10 billion to $19.99 billion, the mean total cash compensation was $592,000.

Which Private Equity Firms Are Publicly Traded?

The four largest publicly traded private equity firms are Apollo Global Management, Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group, and KKR.

Alternatively, Advent International, Bain Capital, TPG Capital, and Warburg Pincus are all private companies.

The Bottom Line

Professional investors at private equity firms raise a large fund (usually from affluent investors) and re-invest those funds in order to seek the biggest possible profits. The nature of the private equity industry is risky, as firms often engage in large acquisitions and controversial leveraged buyouts. It is also not totally unheard of for private equity firms to lose billions of dollars or for the firms to fold completely. However, the firms in this article have all emerged as the largest and most successful private equity firms.Investopedia and our third-party partners use cookies and process personal data like unique identifiers based on your consent to store and/or access information on a device, display personalized ads and for content measurement, audience insight, and product development. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Investopedia.com, including your right to object where legitimate interest is used, click below. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. List of Partners (vendors)Deferred compensation plans offer an additional choice for employees in retirement planning and are often used to supplement participation in a 401(k) plan. Deferred compensation is simply a plan in which an employee defers accepting a part of his compensation until a specified future date.

For example, at age 55 and earning $250,000 a year, an individual might choose to defer $50,000 of annual compensation per year for the next 10 years until retiring at age 65.

Deferred Compensation Plans

The deferred compensation funds are then set aside and can earn a return on investment until the time they are designated to be paid out to the employee. At the time of the deferral, the employee pays Social Security and Medicare taxes on the deferred income just as on the rest of his or her income but does not have to pay income tax on the deferred compensation until the funds are actually received. 

Key Takeaways High-paid executives often opt for deferred compensation plans.

Deferred compensation plans cannot generally be accessed and are a disadvantage in terms of liquidity.

Unlike many 401(k) plans, deferred compensation plans cannot be borrowed against.

The Advantages of Deferred Compensation Plans

Deferred compensation plans are most commonly used by high-paid executives who do not need the total of their annual compensation to live on and are looking to reduce their tax burden. Deferred compensation plans reduce an individuals taxable income during the deferral.

They may also reduce exposure to the alternative minimum tax (AMT) and increase the availability of tax deductions. Ideally, at the time when the individual receives the deferred compensation, such as in retirement, their total compensation will qualify for a lower tax bracket, thereby providing tax savings.

How 401(k) Plans Differ

One reason deferred compensation plans are often used to supplement a 401(k) or an individual retirement account (IRA) is that the amount of money that can be deferred into the plans is much greater than that allowed for 401(k) contributions, up to as much as 50% of compensation. The maximum allowable annual contribution to a 401(k) account, as of 2020 and 2021, is $19,500.

Another advantage of deferred compensation plans is that some offer better investment options than most 401(k) plans. Deferred compensation plans are at a disadvantage in terms of liquidity. Typically, deferred compensation funds cannot be accessed, for any reason, prior to the specified distribution date. The distribution date, which may be at retirement or after a specified number of years, must be designated at the time the plan is set up and cannot be changed. Nor can deferred compensation funds be borrowed against.

The majority of 401(k) accounts can be borrowed against, and under certain conditions of financial hardshipsuch as large, unexpected medical expenses or losing your jobfunds may even be withdrawn early. Also, unlike with a 401(k) plan, when funds are received from a deferred compensation plan, they cannot be rolled over into an IRA account.

Deferred compensation plans are less secure than 401(k) plans.

Risk of Forfeiture

The possibility of forfeiture is one of the main risks of a deferred compensation plan, making it significantly less secure than a 401(k) plan. Deferred compensation plans are funded informally. There is essentially just a promise from the employer to pay the deferred funds, plus any investment earnings, to the employee at the time specified. In contrast, with a 401(k) a formally established account exists.

The informal nature of deferred compensation plans puts the employee in the position of being one of the employers creditors. A 401(k) plan is separately insured.

By contrast, in the event of the employer going bankrupt, there is no assurance that the employee will ever receive the deferred compensation funds. The employee in that situation is simply another creditor of the company, one who is standing in line behind other creditors, such as bondholders and preferred stockholders.

Using Deferred Compensation Plans Wisely

It is generally advantageous for the employee deferring compensation to avoid having all of the deferred income distributed at the same time, as this typically results in the employee receiving enough money to put them in the highest possible tax bracket for that year.

Ideally, if the option is available through the employers plan, the employee does better to designate each years deferred income to be distributed in a different year. For example, rather than receiving 10 years worth of deferred compensation all at once, the individual is usually better off receiving year-by-year distributions over the following 10-year period.

Financial advisors usually suggest using a deferred compensation plan only after having made the maximum possible contribution to a 401(k) planand only if the company an individual is employed by is considered very financially solid.The traditional individual retirement account (IRA) is designed to be a tax-deductible investment in your future. But there are limits. If neither you nor your spouse is an active participant in an employer-sponsored plan, such as a 401(k), you can claim the full deduction up to the maximum allowable contribution for the year.

If, however, either you or your spouse are active participants in another plan, your eligibility to deduct your contribution is determined by your tax-filing status and the modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) you report in your income taxes.

This can be tricky as the rules vary for each type of employer-sponsored retirement plan.

Determining Active Status

If you are considered an active participant, your employer should indicate this on your Form W-2 by checking the "retirement" box. Administrative errors happen, so this box is sometimes not checked even when it should be. It's helpful for you to understand the rules so you don't have to rely on your employer's record-keeping.

Here are the rules regarding active-participant status for different types of employer retirement plans.

Defined-Benefit Plan

If you are eligible to participate in a defined-benefit plan for the tax year, you are considered an active participant for that year. This is so even if you decline to participate in the plan, fail to make mandatory contributions to the plan, or fail to perform the minimum service required to accrue a benefit under the plan for the year.

Money-Purchase Pension and Target-Benefit Plan

For money-purchase pension and target-benefit plans, you are considered an active participant for the year during which your contributions to these plans apply. This is true regardless of when your contribution is actually deposited into your account.

For example, say your employer sponsors a money-purchase pension plan and is required to contribute 10% of eligible compensation to the plan each year. Your employer has until its tax-filing deadline, including extensions, to deposit a particular year's contributions. So, if a 2020 contribution was made in 2021, you are considered an active participant for the 2020 tax year, the year to which the contribution applies.

Profit-Sharing Plans and SEP IRAs

These plans are defined by the discretionary nature of the contributions. Employees are considered active for the year in which the contributions are actually deposited to the employees' accounts, even if the contributions apply to the previous year. The reason for this rule is that it is usually impossible for employers to guarantee contributions to these plans for any particular year.

To demonstrate, let's say your employer sponsors a profit-sharing plan, to which it contributes 10% of eligible compensation for the 2019 tax year. But the contributions are deposited in 2020. Employees are considered active participants for 2020, the year in which the contributions are actually deposited to their accounts.

401(k) and 403(b) Plans

If you make salary-deferral contributions to a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, you are considered an active participant for the year to which your salary-deferral contributions apply.

If you are eligible to make salary-deferral contributions but elect not to, you are not considered an active participant for that year.

Voluntary or Mandatory Contributions

You are considered an active participant for any year you make voluntary or mandatory contributions to an eligible employer-sponsored retirement plan.

Vesting Status Does Not Affect Status

Depending on the plan provisions, you may not be immediately vested in the year's contributions you receive from your employer. But your vesting status does not alter whether you are an active participant. Even if you leave that employer at a later date and you forfeit that non-vested contribution, you are still considered an active participant for the applicable year.

For example, ABC Company contributes 10% of its employees' compensation to its money-purchase pension plan for the 2019 tax year. Under the provisions of the ABC money-purchase pension plan, employees' contributions are 100% vested after working for three years. No vesting occurs before then.

Let's say that Jane leaves ABC Company for a new firm after two years of employment. Because Jane is leaving before she accrued any vested balance, she must forfeit the contributions that were made to her money-purchase-pension account at ABC Company. However, Jane is still considered an active participant for the 2019 tax year, because a required contribution was made to her money-purchase pension account.

Changes in Contribution Age Due to the SECURE Act

In early January 2020, former President Trump signed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act. Before the Secure Act, you could not make contributions to a traditional IRA for the year during which you reached age 70 or any later year.

Now, for tax years beginning in 2020, you can make contributions after reaching age 70, meaning there is no longer an age restriction for contributing to traditional IRAs. The act does not change the age restriction on Roth IRA contributions because there is no such restriction.

The Bottom Line

If you and/or your spouse are active participants for a given year, you may need to perform a calculation to determine whether you are able to deduct your IRA contributions for that year. If you are not able to deduct the full amount, you may be able to deduct a portion, depending on your MAGI.

This formula is explained in IRS Publication 590. Ultimately, you may want to consult with your tax professional for assistance with determining whether your IRA contribution is deductible.Cost of Equity vs. Cost of Capital: An Overview

A company's cost of capital refers to the cost that it must pay in order to raise new capital funds, while its cost of equity measures the returns demanded by investors who are part of the company's ownership structure.

Cost of equity is the percentage return demanded by a company's owners, but the cost of capital includes the rate of return demanded by lenders and owners.

Key Takeaways The cost of capital refers to what a corporation has to pay so that it can raise new money.

The cost of equity refers to the financial returns investors who invest in the company expect to see.

The capital asset pricing model (CAPM) and the dividend capitalization model are two ways that the cost of equity is calculated.

Cost of Capital

Publicly-listed companies can raise capital by borrowing money or selling ownership shares. Debt investors and equity investors require a return on their money, either through interest payments or capital gains/dividends. The cost of capital takes into account both the cost of debt and the cost of equity.

Stable, healthy companies have consistently low costs of capital and equity. Unpredictable companies are riskier, and creditors and equity investors require higher returns on their investments to offset the risk.

For bondholders and other lenders, this higher return is easy to see; the rate of interest charged on debt is higher. It is more difficult to calculate the cost of equity since the required rate of return for stockholders is less clearly defined.

Cost of Equity

A company's cost of equity refers to the compensation the financial markets require in order to own the asset and take on the risk of ownership.

One way that companies and investors can estimate the cost of equity is through the capital asset pricing model (CAPM). To calculate the cost of equity using CAPM, multiply the company's beta by its risk premium and then add that value to the risk-free rate. In theory, this figure approximates the required rate of return based on risk.

A more traditional way of calculating the cost of equity is through the dividend capitalization model, wherein the cost of equity is equal to the dividends per share divided by the current stock price, which is added to the dividend growth rate.A man has been found dead after a house fire in West Cork.

The alarm was raised in Dunmanway just after 10.30am this morning.

Gardai arrived at an isolated property in Shanagh, just north of the town, and found the house ablaze.

The emergency services were contacted and the body of a man in his early 40s was located inside a short time later.

Gardai sealed off the area for a full technical examination.

Investigations are ongoing but the early indications suggest the fire started accidentally.

Gardai have appealed for witnesses to contact Clonakilty Garda station on 023-8821570.Global engineering software company Altair is collaborating with RMIT University to provide unlimited access to high-tech simulation software used by Boeing, Telstra and GM Holden to reduce the weight of aeroplane and automotive structures.

The collaboration will ultimately also provide access high-tech simulation software to make Japans high-speed bullet trains safer, develop ultra-light bikes and drones, create wireless sensors that detect damage to planes from lighting strikes and for simulating bio-electromagnetic effects.

Under the agreement, RMIT students and staff will get unlimited access to simulation software used by engineers across the world under a first-of-its-kind agreement in Australia with Altair.

Students and staff in the College of Science, Engineering and Health can now access this high-end engineering simulation design software, and students are currently using the simulation software as part of RMIT Combustion and Electric Racing, which competes in the Formula SAE competition, and the RMIT unmanned aircraft systems research team.

{loadpositionpeter}Its the first time the American-based Altair has worked with an Australian University to enable access to its engineering software programs for teaching and non-commercial research use and is promoted as another example of RMITs commitment to delivering industry-ready graduates.

The agreement is the brainchild of Joel Kennedy, an RMIT alumnus and project engineer at Altair, who said RMIT previously had access to the software, but it was quite limited.

I used some of the design software during my studies but wasnt taught HyperWorks. Now working with it, I can see the level of impact it has in industry and it will only continue to grow, Kennedy said.

This campus-wide agreement means students across science, engineering and health courses can access world-class engineering tools.

We hope this agreement enables more collaboration between the disciplines as well as forging a strong industry connection between RMIT and Altair.

Associate Dean of Aerospace Engineering and Aviation Professor Pier Marzocca welcomed the partnership.

From few users to many, it is fantastic to see our students learning world-class computational engineering tools that can help in their academic and real-world engineering practices, he said.

Its another example of RMIT embedding industry into everything we do and our commitment to providing students the best tools available to get them industry ready."

RMIT says that as global industry pushes for lean manufacturing techniques, faster prototyping and light weighting of optimised structures, additive manufacturing is now becoming a mainstream manufacturing technology globally and the design tools are a critical element of the process chain.

Advanced Manufacturing Precinct director Professor Milan Brandt said he was excited about how the software could link high-end product design capabilities with high-end manufacturing techniques.

This software gives us access to the design tools and enable the ability to incorporate new manufacturing methods into prototyping and serial production, he said.The Australian Renewable Energy Agency is teaming up with Monash University and technology partner Indra Australia to trial a microgrid on Monashs Clayton campus in Victoria that will see the campus powered by renewable energy.

On behalf of the Australian Government, ARENA will provide $2.97 million in funding to Monash University and Indra Australia for the Monash Smart Energy City project, which will test the microgrid across the Universitys campus in Melbournes south east, utilising Indras Ingrid Advanced Grid Management software platform.

The microgrid will be operated as a grid-connected smart embedded network containing a variety of distributed energy resources, including up to 1MW of rooftop solar, 20 buildings with automated energy management systems, 1 MWh of battery storage and electric vehicle charging stations.

The $7.1 million project will provide for the deployment and integration of Indras software platform and enable Monash to demonstrate how a 100% renewable electricity system can operate reliably, provide value to consumers and reduce strain on the energy network.

ARENA chief financial officer Ian Kay said the project would help Monash University transition to renewable energy.

The project will use Monash University as a living laboratory that will help universities form their own microgrids and take control of their energy usage," he said.

Universities use a significant amount of power during the day, Indra and Monash have offered a solution that can reduce peak demand and place the education sector on a path towards renewables.

Findings from the project will help inform ARENAs work around DER, as Australia moves towards an increasingly distributed energy system.

Last week, ARENA launched the Distributed Energy Integration Program with energy market authorities, industry bodies and consumer associations.

Indra Australias Energy Solutions manager Giovanni Polizzi said: Indra actively invests in emerging technologies and innovative projects and we forge strong partnerships with organisations developing cutting-edge technologies.

We are pleased to be a key technology partner in this leading initiative in which Indras intelligence leverages edge computing using both centralised and distributed components to monitor and control distributed grid elements in real-time. It will allow Monash to control and optimise when and how energy is used across the campus.

Monashs Net Zero Initiative program director Scott Ferraro said: Through the Net Zero Initiative, we will be sourcing 100% of our electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

The microgrid will enable us to demonstrate how smart control of our distributed energy resources can enable this while providing benefits to our customers on campus and the broader energy network.Global networking giant Cisco has expressed grave reservations about several aspects of the Federal Government's proposed encryption bill, with the creation of backdoors one of its major concerns.

In a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, which will be holding hearings on the bill  the first is on 19 October  Eric Wenger, director, Cyber Security and Privacy Policy, Global Government Affairs, and Tim Fawcett, head of Government Affairs, Cisco Systems Australia, said the company did not want to have any capabilities in its equipment that were not publicly documented.

They pointed out that since the Bill would, via a technical capability notice, require the creation of a capability, while at the same time preventing the entity being asked to do so from documenting it, the end result would be the creation of a backdoor.

"Building an undisclosed surveillance function  even if mandated by law and intended for use only in specific instances pursuant to a lawfully issued judicial warrant  would violate our public pronouncements to the contrary," Wenger and Fawcett wrote.

Cisco has good reason to be wary of backdoors  in 2014, it wasby NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden that the agency's Tailored Access Operations Unit had backdoored the firmware of Cisco equipment without the company's knowledge, while it was en route to organisations that had been targeted for surveillance.

Under the Bill, companies will be initially requested to co-operate with law enforcement; if they do not, the pressure will be stepped up to force them to help.

First, there will be a technical assistance request that allows voluntary help by a company. The staff of the company will be given civil immunity from prosecution.

Next, an interception agency can issue a technical assistance notice to make a communications provider offer assistance.

Finally, a technical capability notice can be issued by the Attorney-General at the request of an interception agency. This will force a company to help law enforcement, by building functionality.

However it cannot include the decryption of information or removal of electronic protection in any system.

Cisco recommended changes to the authorities who could issue TCNs and TANs, pointing out that both suffered from a lack of checks and balance to ensure that the steps demanded were "reasonable and proportionate".

"In neither case is a court involved in either authorising the issuance of the notice or in hearing a challenge raised by the DCP [designated communications provider]," the two Cisco officials said.

They said the DCP should be able to seek relief from courts if it was believed that the steps required under a TAN were not within its existing capabilities and would require new capabilities. Additionally, if a DCP believed that less intrusive methods, which were less likely to cause a systemic weakness, could meet the government's aims, then they should be able to appeal this.

Cisco also raised concerns around the transparency of the TAN and TCN authorities, saying that the DCPs should be able to report annually on the TANs they received.

Wenger and Fawcett said it was even more disconcerting that any new surveillance capability added to equipment could not be publicised. They said while Bill noted that DCPs could not be forced to make misleading statements or engage in dishonest behaviour, if they kept quiet, then previous statements made by them about any surveillance capability would automatically be misleading.

They also said the language used in the Bill could lead to the implementation of cross-border laws in a way that created "untenable conflicts of laws for multinational companies".

"Merely providing immunity from civil suit in Australian courts is in no way the solution to this problem," Wenger and Fawcett said. "Instead, the Parliament should pursue avenues that limit the application of Australia's laws in a manner that avoid adversely impacting their design, development and use globally."

They warned against the adoption of country-specific mandates as it could well end up harming the global competitiveness of Australian businesses and prevent them from gaining access to new technological innovations.

While Cisco welcomed the notion of working across borders to fight crime and terror, the company said it was imperative that such arrangements should not end up becoming "a pathway for the circumvention of national laws that protect civil liberties".

"Therefore, we recommend that the Australian Government clearly articulate as a matter of policy: 1) the Australian Government will not meet requests that it knows to violate restrictions on surveillance in the requesting country; and 2) Australian authorities will not request assistance from other national governments that would violate laws restricting surveillance authorities in Australia," Wenger and Fawcett said.

They also expressed apprehension about the new powers in the Bill allowing authorities to carry out remote access searches and seize digital information, cautioning that this could well lead to the leaking of undisclosed, unpatched vulnerabilities and then to the creation of zero-day exploits.

"The minister should ensure that there is a robust and transparent policy for handling and disclosing these vulnerabilities to vendors capable of responsibly patching them," Wenger and Fawcett said.

"For as certainly as [the leaked NSA Windows exploit] EternalBlue led to WannaCry ransom attacks, government agencies routinely handling vulnerability information without such policies will lead to additional global security crises."

Under the Bill, telecommunications and Internet companies and makers of digital devices will face fines of up to $10 million if they do not help law enforcement agencies gain access to data that the government says is needed for investigating terrorism offences while individuals will face fines of up to $50,000.

The PJCIS has released a number of submissions that have been made to it ahead of the hearings. The draft of the proposed legislation, officially known as the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018, was released for public comment on 14 August. The period for comment ended on 10 September.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton introduced the bill into Parliament on 20 September. The Labor Party has advised caution on proceeding with the bill, while the Greens have said that Australian cyber security "will be significantly diminished by undermining the fundamental principles of end-to-end encryption".WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, who has been taking refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for more than six years, will have his communications with the external world partly restored following talks held between UN officials and the Ecuador Government.

ITV News quoted WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson as saying: It is positive that through UN intervention Ecuador has partly ended the isolation of Mr Assange although it is of grave concern that his freedom to express his opinions is still limited.

The UN has already declared Mr Assange a victim of arbitrary detention. This unacceptable situation must end.

The UK government must abide by the UNs ruling and guarantee that he can leave the Ecuadorian embassy without the threat of extradition to the United States.

Hobart-based Greg Barns, a member of the WikiLeaks legal team, said: "This is a welcome development. However the major issue remains unresolved. The UK must undertake to guarantee that Julian will not be extradited to the US."

Ecuador blocked Assange from using the Internet and phones at the end of March, after he criticised alleged human rights abuses by Spain at the time when Catalonia launched protests for independence.

In September there were reports that Assange's lawyers were examining a proposal made jointly by Ecuador and Britain for him to leave the embassy.

WikiLeaks said in a statement: "Ecuador has told WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange that it will remove the isolation regime imposed on him following meetings between two senior UN officials and Ecuadors President Lenin Moreno on Friday.

It said the meetings were held in Ecuador between Moreno, the UN high commissioner for refugees Filippo Grandi and UN special rapporteur for freedom of expression David Kaye.

Concern over Assanges situation has also been raised by other UN bodies, as well as Human Rights Watch (who was refused access to him), Amnesty International, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights, Ecuadors Permanent Human Rights Commission, and public protests," the statement said.

Assange was informed of Ecuadors decision hours after Grandi and Kaye met President Moreno.

The WikiLeaks publisher's troubles began when he visited Sweden in August 2010 to attend a conference where he was scheduled to give a talk. During that visit, he had sex with two women whom he met. The pair filed rape and molestation complaints against him later, claims that he denied.

He was questioned by Swedish authorities and cleared. He could have left the country then and there, but stayed for a while, in case the authorities decided to question him again.

Interpol issued a Red Notice for his arrest on 20 November 2010. On 27 November, Assange surrendered to authorities and appeared before a Westminster judge. He was granted bail in December after his backers provided 240,000 in cash and sureties.

A legal back and forth eventuated and went on until June 2012, when Swedish prosecutors sought his extradition.

Assange's lawyers, among them the world-renowned Australian Geoffrey Robertson, replied that if he agreed to the extradition request, then he could be flown to the US from there.

On 19 June 2012, he jumped bail and took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy, seeking asylum in the South American country. British police surrounded the building and blocked any chance of his leaving.

Ecuador granted him asylum in August 2012. He has had to stay inside the four walls of the embassy since then. He was granted Ecuadorian citizenship by a former president of the country, Rafael Correa.Communication is an important skill for any leader. Splunks chief technology advocate Andi Mann gives his top tips on how to get your message across.

Communication has two parts. Its not sufficient to simply speak; if your hearers dont understand your message then communication has not happened.

Mann is an Australian-born, Colorado-residing, globe-travelling technology advocate, who spends his days speaking with passion about the value technology can unlock, while also speaking with customers about their concerns and innovations, and reporting feedback to the Splunk product team.

Technical storytelling makes up a big part of this. I work for a data company enabling data-driven decisions, Mann says. However, people are bad at numbers but good at stories. Were oral, imaginative, and visual people.

An example is the invention of zero. For millennia, zero didnt exist. You could have one sheep or 50 sheep but it didnt make sense to say you have zero sheep. For me, storytelling is a way to translate concepts of numbers at scale, or risk, into something with meaning and value for humans."

Being able to help people understand change and deal with change and be comfortable with change is a big part of what I try to do.

iTWire asked Mann how IT managers and chief information officers, and indeed anyone, could hone their skills to similarly paint clear visual pictures to their own audience, becoming technical storytellers also.

Advocate, not evangelise

To start, Mann explains, his title has been deliberately chosen  chief technology advocate, not evangelist. An evangelist is outbound and preaching. Its not a conversation. As an advocate I take a position and help people understand what that meaning is, he says.

Focus on the human side

Focus on making the connection between technology and stories, Mann advises. You need to understand what humans are good at and what they need to understand to deal with new concepts, and deal with and process internally. You then tell stories about this.

Im a data geek and a technical guy, he says, so its easy to get into the weeds on technology and not think about outcomes and value. Bringing it back up is a hard thing to do, to bridge the gap between technology and what it means to a human.

Be authentic

Stories can be fiction or non-fiction, however if you start conflating truth with lie, a fact with fiction, it doesnt help people understand, Mann says. It can be a useful literary device, and a dramatised version based on real events can be fun, but it doesnt help understand as they get lost in whats real or not.

Instead, he says, focus on being an authentic human and telling authentic stories.

I dont make stuff up. I learn from other people and help relay stories.

Listen

Its very important to listen, Mann says. One of Splunks core values is to recognise humans have two ears and one mouth and should use in that proportion.

To many, Mann is a stage presenter, speaking to audiences of thousands, but in a meeting, I am listening to a team - maybe five to one - and their need, he says.

A lot of the innovation in Splunk doesnt come from us totally. We have smart people, but it also comes from product managers and from myself listening to customers.

Referring back to his Advocate title, Mann says I also take meaning from my customers, taking inputs and being informed. It helps me reflect and to put that content into my business - thats whats happening in their world, I understand this is what customers want, I have to make this change to our strategy.

We say to customers we will triage problems and find answers. They say what do we do to fix it? So we have to figure that out, Mann says.

Splunks acquisition of VictorOps is an example of an outcome to have Splunk act on a problem, Mann says. It was a way to deliver to our customers on what they asked for.

Storytelling goes back to real business outcomes. Its a two-way thing.

People see the big evangelist storytellers like Guy Kawasaki, Peter Hinssen, Robert Scoble, and so on and just see the storytelling. Ive spoken to them and listened and understood how they get the story - you have to read, listen and get inputs.

If all I did was tell stories Id be useless in six months, Mann says, as all my stories would be told.

Thats why its important to be a listener.Support Local Journalism

Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support us by subscribing or making a contribution.

Subscribe or contributeHundreds of churchgoers from around Central America paraded in San Salvador Saturday to celebrate the impending canonization of slain Salvadoran cleric Oscar Romero.

Pilgrims, many wearing clothes printed with Romeros face, gathered in front of Romeros tomb, in the crypt of San Salvadors central cathedral, and at the Hospital of Divine Providence chapel, where he was assassinated in 1980.

We are arriving here to honor the memory of Monsignor Romero, who took his faith to the point of giving his life for what he believed was right, said Francisco Navarro, a 51-year-old Honduran, at the chapel along with 30 of his compatriots.

President Salvador Sanchez Ceren, who is in Rome for the canonization, said in a statement that El Salvador is united in joy for the historic event that fills us with hope and happiness.

Vigils in churches around El Salvador were scheduled for Saturday night, with the canonization set to be broadcast on giant screens in the early hours.

Many pilgrims believe that, upon becoming a saint, Romero will have defeated his Cold War-era killers and those who branded him Marxist and crazy for denouncing injustice and military repression.

Since before he was killed, he defeated his killers by forgiving them. Because he knew they were going to kill him, university professor Julia Lainez told AFP.

But despite the celebrations, Salvadorans still are displeased that after 38 years, Romeros killers have never faced justice.

His death sent shockwaves around the world and escalated violence in El Salvador that would become a 12-year civil war between a series of US-backed governments and leftist rebels, claiming 75,000 lives.

In 1993, a UN-sponsored truth commission concluded Romeros murder was carried out by a right-wing death squad under the orders of Roberto DAubuisson, a former army officer who died the year the war ended.LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Latest on a family that disappeared on road trip in Northern California (all times local):

2:30 p.m.

Authorities are planning a search of a rain-swollen river where a vehicle reportedly fell in last week in the same region of Northern California where a family vanished during a road trip.

Mendocino County sheriff's Lt. Shannon Barney tells The Press-Democrat newspaper that officials will launch a search of the south fork of the Eel River once water levels drop and the flow slows.

Witnesses reported a newer-model maroon vehicle went into the river about 1 p.m. Friday during stormy weather. The vehicle was southbound on U.S. 101, pulled into a turnout and went over the side and into the river.

San Jose police say four members of the Thottapilly family have been missing since last week while on a road trip from Portland, Oregon, to their home in Santa Clarita, California. A relative who had been expecting them in San Jose on Friday reported them missing on Sunday.

A "missing" poster on Facebook identifies the family members as 42-year-old Sandeep, 38-year-old Soumya, 12-year-old Siddhanty and 9-year-old Saachi. Their car is a maroon or burgundy 2016 Honda Pilot with license plates 7MMX138.

The poster says their last known location was the "Klamath-Redwood National Park area."

___

11:46 a.m.

Authorities say a family of four has been missing since last week while on a road trip from Portland, Oregon, to their home in Santa Clarita, California.

San Jose police said Tuesday a relative called on April 8 to report the Thottapilly family missing.

Police say the family was expected at a relative's home in San Jose on April 6 but did not arrive, and hasn't been heard from since April 5.

A "missing" poster on Facebook identifies the family members as 42-year-old Sandeep, 38-year-old Soumya, 12-year-old Siddhanty and 9-year-old Saachi. Their car is a maroon or burgundy 2016 Honda Pilot with license plates 7MMX138.

The poster says their last known location was the "Klamath-Redwood National Park area."

Heavy rain fell on that northwestern California region last week.ASHLAND, Ore. -- The Lotus Rising Project hosted southern Oregons annual Rogue Valley Pride Parade and Celebration in Ashland Saturday afternoon. Organizers said a few thousand people lined up for blocks to see the parade making 2018 the biggest celebration yet.

It's just a big part of my life and I enjoy being around people like me," said attendee Toren McKnight.

"it's a celebration of freedom and acceptance. I absolutely love it," added Todd Lawver.

"Like a sense of community and feel like I'm not alone," Sam Gordon-Bloomfield said.

Every color of the LGBTQ pride flag lined East Main Street in Ashland for this year's Pride Parade. For many this parade and celebration means more than just colorful floats, it means acceptance.

"Where I'm originally from it's not very--you're not really accepted for being a part of the LGBTQ community so coming here and being myself and not be judged by other people, like a sense of community, Gordon-Bloomfield said.

"It's good to know that there are other people around that I can identify with," added his friend McKnight.

A few thousand people came to show their support for the LGBTQ community here in southern Oregon.

"It puts southern Oregon on the map in terms of pride celebrations. I think ours just in terms of what we can do and what we have rivals that of LA pride or Portland Pride. It puts us on the map nationally in terms of the LGBT community," said the celebrations organizer and Board Member for the Lotus Rising Project Evan Gaudry.

From the rainbow flags down to the signs and the face paint, everyone NewsWatch 12 spoke to felt supported.

"So much happiness and love and positivity comes out of these events. You can't help but walk away feeling happy," Lawver said.

You can watch the full story on NewsWatch 12 at 11pm Saturday.BEND, Ore. (AP) - Authorities say a Deschutes County sheriff's deputy shot a man north of Bend while serving a felony arrest warrant.

The Bulletin reports the deputy shot the man twice after he tried to flee Friday morning, according to sheriff's Sgt. William Bailey.

Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel says the man was able to speak with medical professionals and was expected to survive.

The incident happened at an offbeat roadside attraction called the Fun Farm which has an antique shop, costume museum and tribute to "The Wizard of Oz" movie.

Hummel says the shooting victim's father lived in a trailer park on the property.

The man was suspected of felony parole violation.

All five deputies on the scene were put on leave pending an investigation.Stuff reports:

Peace action protesters are attacking planned security measures around the Defence Forum in Palmerston North at the end of October as a violation of their rights. Peace Action Wellington spokeswoman Ellie Clayton said the security plans were disproportionate, giving priority to those attending what Peace Action called a weapons expo over legitimate rights of protest. In particular, they objected to a road block planned near the Central Energy Trust Arena as a clear attempt to interrupt a protest march. Peace Actions website encourages protesters to get involved with attempts to disrupt the forum.

There is a fundamental difference between protest and disruption. The right to protest is free speech and should be defended.

But a subset of protests are not there to get their message across, but to prevent other people from exercising their rights to free assembly and free speech. The aim, as Peace Action has said on their website, is to disrupt.

There is no right to disrupt. You dont have the right to go into a library and use a loudhailer disrupting those who study. You dont have the right to break into a conference centre and disrupt a conference. You dont have a right to block an entranceway so people cant enter somewhere.

Share this: Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Reddit

WhatsApp

More

Pinterest

Print



Tumblr













A: Kim Jong-Un is focused on external relationships in order to strengthen his internal position. To understand Kim Jong-Un's strategy, it is important to have a good understanding about the internal changes occurring and threats to his leadership because of the development of markets there. A lot of the focus is on the nuclear program and how that is threatening the world, but the market is a threat to the power of the elite. Like his father, Kim Jong-Un can't control the market or keep it from expanding as North Korea is going through a transition from the bottom-up. If the market collapses, the country could collapse.





People in North Korea have changed. In the past, they were begging for rice, crumbs, anything they could get from the government to survive another day. After they survived the famine, their expectations went up. They realized they could feed themselves. If the government ever tries to distribute rations as it did in the past, people would expect to eat meat, not just rice. The government realizes expectations have gone up, that it can no longer be the savior of the people. How can it prove that it is still relevant? By engaging with global leaders to give people a stable feeling.

In the long run, this will be dangerous for the government because people's expectations continue going up, and they may eventually start a revolution.











A: Until 2004, I was part of the elite. We knew that things were going down. But we still knew we had to praise Kim Jong-Il publicly. Among ourselves, if someone praised him, then we would look at each other in a funny way: "Is he kidding? He can stop acting now."





Individually, we had started to question Kim Jong-Il's God-like state. We couldn't protest because the system does not allow safe dissent.





Look at someone like Thae Yong-ho (the former North Korean deputy ambassador who escaped from the United Kingdom). When he was within North Korea's system, he would criticize refugees and other countries. After he escaped in 2016, he could speak honestly, and began criticizing the North Korean system. The problem was the system controlling people's words and even their thoughts. So the elite must go along to get along, they will do their best to survive within the system or escape when they can't stand it anymore.







Q: What is the impact of US President Trump saying nice things about Kim Jong-Un?







A: It is really helpful for the North Korean government's strategy. They are still spreading propaganda, and they can now even quote President Trump praising Kim Jong-Un on multiple occasions. The government has a two-pronged strategy. On the one hand, it is showing a smiling face to the outside world. Internally, it has gotten even more ruthless in controlling people's movements, blocking outside information, shutting down the border.



It looks like President Trump is praising this internal crackdown with his pleasant words about Kim Jong-Un. Americans look so naive in praising Kim Jong-Un, they don't realize that this is making things worse for North Koreans. As I said, the government can't control the market, but this praise of Kim Jong-Un internationally is being used to strengthen his position at a time that he is weak.





U.S. President Trump and other world leaders are focused on nuclear weapons, but there are other ways to undermine North Korea that should be part of the negotiations. Trump should push North Korea to allow North Koreans the right to travel, or the right to use the Internet. That is the kind of thing that is a real threat to North Korea.





If North Koreans can have access to the Internet, then North Korea would collapse within three days. North Korea is trying to look like it is changing, but that change is only happening at the government level.







Q: The question that so many people ask: Is Kim Jong-Un going to give up his nuclear weapons?







A: No. Many people are afraid of North Korea having weapons, but no other countries need to fear that North Korea will ever use them. The purpose is to maintain the regime, not to attack others. It is a poorly managed country, even the leaders and elite know their dictatorship is not normal. They want the nuclear weapon because it gives other countries a reason to talk to them.





They feel they have accomplished what they wanted by developing a nuclear weapon. They have shown the world what they can do. Now they are ready to talk from that position of strength, not to use the weapons on anyone. They know they would be destroyed if they did.











A: One key thing: If I do my best, then I can have a successful life. The North Korean government controls lives. In North Korea, your definition of success is based on the government's definition of success. Individuality is stripped away from people at birth.





An important aspect of adjustment is about helping people gain confidence in themselves as humans. That's one reason that I tell people, including politicians and NGO leaders: There are many NGOs for helping North Korean refugees, but TNKR is the best model for helping refugees practically and productively. Refugees can gain confidence in themselves as they adjust to living outside of North Korea, gaining the skill of speaking English that enables them to interact with anyone in the world.











Jang Jin-sung, author of the best-selling book "Dear Leader: My Escape from North Korea," was a psychological warfare officer with the North Korean regime before he made a dramatic escape from the country in 2004. He is a sought-after lecturer and analyst who has advised people and governments around the world about North Korea. He shared some of his thoughts about North Korea's recent diplomatic efforts and internal changes in an interview for the " Voices from the North " blog.Casey Lartigue Jr., co-founder of the Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center, is the 2017 winner of the "Social Contribution" Prize from the Hansarang Rural Cultural Foundation and the 2017 winner of the Global Award from Challenge Korea. He compiled these statements from an interview with Jang Jin-Sung at the TNKR office on October 10, 2018. Eunkoo Lee, TNKR co-founder, translated his comments from Korean to English.Mumbai, October 14: In a bid to curb cases of drunken driving, the Maharashtra government is planning to introduce a policy under which liquor will be delivered to homes. If the liquor home delivery policy gets the nod, Maharashtra will be the first state in the country to have such a mechanism. Aadhaar card details will be used to ascertain the buyer's age.

Minister for State for excise Chandrashekhar Bawankule said liquor would be delivered home through online platforms similar to popular e-commerce websites. "The main objective is to reduce growing cases of drunken driving due to which there have been many accidents and resulted in great loss of lives," Bawankule was quoted as saying by a leading newspaper. Man Arrested for Killing Neighbour for Not Lending Money for Liquor.

Bawankule said the sellers would seek complete details of buyers, including his/her Aadhaar card, to ensure that people buying liquor online meet the required age criteria. Bottles of alcohol would be geo-tagged to keep track of their manufacture and sale that, according to the minister, would help curb the sale of spurious liquor and smuggling. Liquor Prices in Maharashtra May be Hiked if Fadnavis Government Cuts Petrol And Diesel Price.

Activist Paromita Goswami, who is leading a campaign for a complete ban on liquor in the state, expressed unhappiness over the government's proposed move. He said home delivery of alcohol would have several adverse effects. Calling the move 'unconstitutional', Goswami said the government should rethink as this may increase liquor addiction in the state.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 14, 2018 08:38 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).New Delhi, October 14: We at Latestly.com welcome you on a live blog that will bring breaking news from India and around the world. The focus will remain on elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram, and the #MeToo campaign in which several high-profile people have been accused of sexual harassment and misconduct. A war of words between the BJP and the Congress over the Rafale deal will also be covered.

In a #MeToo related development, actress Kate Sharma filed a complaint against director Subhash Ghai for sexual misconduct. Kate alleged that Ghai asked her to give him a massage and later forcibly tried to kiss her. Reacting to #MeToo cases, BJP leader Kirron Kher said Vishakha guidelines must be followed in every institution. The government has decided to set up a panel of judges for public hearing of these cases.

Fuel rates continued to rise on Sunday with petrol being sold at Rs 82.72 per litre in Delhi after an increase of 0.6 paise. Diesel price was hiked to Rs 75.38 after 0.19 paise increase. In Mumbai, the price of petrol has touched Rs 88.18 per litre and diesel costs Rs 79.02 per litre. Similar trends were witnessed in Chennai, where the prices of petrol and diesel were hiked by Rs 85. 99 per litre and Rs 79. 71 per litre respectively.

In Kolkata, petrol is being sold at Rs 84. 54 per litre, while diesel has reached Rs 77.23-mark. A steep hike has been witnessed in the fuel prices since the past few months.Chennai, October 14: An elderly couple from Tamil Nadu allegedly committed suicide by consuming insecticide after their daughter run away secretly in order to get married. The couple had taken this drastic step after they advised their daughter to discontinue the affair with the man she met in college, but later she eloped with him. Class 9 Student Commits Suicide in Delhi: Family Blames School Teachers, FIR Filed.

The 24-year-old daughter allegedly left home on Saturday after telling her parents she was going to start living with the inter-case man. Extremely stressed over the daughter's decision, her parents decided to end life after calling a woman relative. The woman rushed to the house with some relatives and found the elderly couple lying unconscious on the floor.

The couple was rushed to a government hospital but they died on the way to the hospital. The relatives tried to contact the girl but her phone was switched off, police said to PTI. In a similar incident, after the argument with husband, the women set her on fire along with four children after tying their hands and legs. For four kids only one survived and was in critical condition, owing to the several burns.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 14, 2018 07:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).New Delhi, October 14: Former editor and Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar may resign from the Council of Ministers after being accused of sexual misconduct by female journalists in #MeToo campaign. Akbar is likely to submit his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and issued a statement later in the day.

Akbar, who returned to the country from Nigeria this morning, has been under fire after seven women journalists accused him of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour when he was an editor. Speaking at Delhi's IGI airport after his arrival, the Rajya Sabha MP kept mum on allegations and said he would issue a statement later. #MeToo in India: Rahul Gandhi Breaks Silence, Says 'Space Closing For Those Who Don't Treat Women With Respect'.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Friday said the charges against Akbar needed to be verified, ministers in the Modi government are of the view that the accused minister should resign. According to a report, several ministers have told the BJP high command that Akbars position in the government has become untenable.

#WATCH Delhi:Union Minister MJ Akbar returns to India amid accusations of sexual harassment against him, says, "there will be a statement later on." pic.twitter.com/ozI0ARBSz4  ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2018

#MeToo Stings MJ Akbar:

More than half a dozen women journalists have accused Akbar of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour when he was working as an editor at different media houses. In the fresh #MeToo charge against Akbar, CNN scribe Majlie de Puy Kamp on Friday accused Akbar of forcibly kissing her when she was interning with the Asian Age in 2007.

Earlier this week, FORCE magazine Executive Editor Ghazala Wahab, in an article on a news portal, wrote an account of her "harrowing experience" with Akbar. Former Mint Lounge Editor Priya Ramani, who wrote about a predatory "celebrity editor" without naming anyone in a piece last year, on Monday publicly identified Akbar as the central character of her article.

"I began this piece with my M.J. Akbar story. Never named him because he didn't 'do' anything. Lots of women have worse stories about this predator -- maybe they'll share," she said. Journalist Shutapa Paul recalled in a series of tweets on Wednesday that as the India Today editor, whenever Akbar came to Kolkata, he would invite her to his hotel, usually after 8:00 pm. He would then drink alcohol and ask her also to do so.

Other female journalists who have levelled allegations against Akbar include Prerna Singh Bindra, Sujata Anandan, Shuma Raha, Harinder Baweja and Anju Bharti.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 14, 2018 09:13 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).New Delhi, October 14: A suspense has built up over the resignation of Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar who has been accused of sexual harassment in the ongoing #MeToo movement. While a report said Akbar has sent his resignation to the PMO via an e-mail, his office said he has not resigned yet. Akbar is likely to issue a statement soon.

There was a report that Akbar tendered his resignation and sought a meeting with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. However, there is no clarity over the junior minister's resignation. A high-level meeting was reportedly underway where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his principal secretary Nripendra Misra were present. #MeToo in India: Rahul Gandhi Breaks Silence, Says 'Space Closing For Those Who Don't Treat Women With Respect'.

Earlier today, Akbar returned from a tour of Africa and evaded a barrage of questions from the media over the allegations and only said he would issue a statement later on. There will be a statement later on, he told reporters at the airport. Several ministers had said the BJP high command that Akbars position in the government had become untenable.

During the #MeToo campaign, more than half a dozen women journalists have accused Akbar of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour when he was working as an editor at different media houses. On Friday, a CNN scribe Majlie de Puy Kamp accused Akbar of forcibly kissing her when she was interning with the Asian Age in 2007.

Earlier this week, FORCE magazine Executive Editor Ghazala Wahab, in an article on a news portal, wrote an account of her "harrowing experience" with Akbar. Former Mint Lounge Editor Priya Ramani, who wrote about a predatory "celebrity editor" without naming anyone in a piece last year, on Monday publicly identified Akbar as the central character of her article.

Other female journalists who have levelled allegations against Akbar include Prerna Singh Bindra, Sujata Anandan, Shuma Raha, Harinder Baweja and Anju Bharti.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 14, 2018 02:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).London, October 14: Indian-origin MP Priti Patel, one of the most outspoken British politicians in favour of Brexit, joined fellow Brexiteers on Sunday to mount a further challenge to Prime Minister Theresa May's plans for a future trading arrangement with the European Union (EU).

Patel is among 63 Conservative Party MPs to sign a letter attacking the UK government over its Brexit forecasts and blaming May's team of leaking negative financial forecasts of the impact of Britain's exit from the economic bloc.

"Adopting a constructive and transparent approach would be in the national interest," says the letter, organised by the Economists for Free Trade group of Eurosceptic economists and former Brexit minister Steve Baker. Former UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson calls Theresa May's Brexit Plan a 'Suicide Vest'.

"The general public is battered and bewildered by conflicting predictions of the future path of the economy following Brexit, fuelling a growing suspicion that Whitehall is engaging in what is apparently known internally as 'policy-based evidence-making'," it notes.

The show-of-unity letter, addressed to UK Chancellor Philip Hammond, comes as one of its signatories  former Brexit Secretary David Davis  openly called for a Cabinet uprising against May's Brexit strategy ahead of a crucial summit with the EU in Brussels scheduled for next week.

Writing in The Sunday Times, the former minister said the government's negotiating strategy had "fundamental flaws", arising from the "unwise decision in December to accept the EU's language on dealing with the Northern Ireland border".

The British PM has suggested a temporary customs arrangement for the whole of the UK to remain in the EU Customs Union while the complicated Irish border issue is resolved.

However, Brexiteers like Patel and Davis suspect this could turn into a permanent situation, restricting Britain's freedom to strike future trade deals with other countries.

"This is one of the most fundamental decisions that government has taken in modern times. It is time for the Cabinet to exert their collective authority. This week the authority of our constitution is on the line," writes Davis, who stepped down from the UK Cabinet in July due to his opposition to May's Brexit strategy agreed by the rest of the Cabinet at her country residence of Chequers.

A few days later, he was joined by another vocal Eurosceptic minister, Boris Johnson, who stepped down as Foreign Secretary and has since issued a series of direct attacks on the British PM's plans over the issue of Brexit.

In his newspaper article, David Davis also accuses the Prime Minister's aides of "incipient panic" in the face of Brussels' demands and wrongly trying to cut out the Cabinet from the key decisions.

May now faces an onslaught from at least nine ministers wanting her to change direction when the Cabinet meets on Tuesday  with credible threats to resign from at least four. They are demanding a date be set to leave the Customs Union or a break clause, to be triggered in London, not Brussels.

Andrea Leadsom, the Leader of the Commons, is said to be "considering her position."

Scottish secretary David Mundell and Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Tories, have also made clear they would resign if Northern Ireland faces new controls that separate it from the rest of the UK  because that would fuel the case for Scottish independence. In a further blow for the British PM, many anti-Brexit MPs who had voted to remain in the EU now plan to vote against her deal.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which supports the government as part of a pact to make up for the Tory government's lack of majority in the House of Commons, has warned May not to sign up to any deal that would see Northern Ireland remaining in the EU single market while the rest of the UK left.

Britain is set to formally leave the EU on March 29 next year after a 2016 referendum in favour of Brexit. Both sides are working towards a mid-November deadline for agreeing their so-called "divorce" arrangement, before they can formalise a future trading relationship by January next year.

The issue of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which will become the UK's border with the EU, is one of the last remaining obstacles to achieving a divorce deal with Brussels.

A pre-agreed transition period is set to end in December 2020, following which, unless there is an agreement in place, the UK would exit the economic bloc without a deal  a scenario that has been painted as dire by experts.Islamabad, October 14: Pakistan is ready to share details of the debt related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with the IMF, Finance Minister Asad Umar has said while rejecting the US' view that China-funded projects were to blame for the cash-strapped country's current economic woes.

Speaking to the media here on his return from Indonesia where he requested International Monetary Fund's Managing Director Christine Lagarde for a bailout package for Pakistan, Umar said the decision to approach the global lender was taken after consultations with friendly countries.

The IMF team, Umar said, was scheduled to arrive in Pakistan on November 7 to negotiate the programme, likely to span over a three-year period. He said Pakistan's current year debt repayments were about USD 9 billion but obviously it would not entirely be available from the IMF.

Lagarde has made it clear that the IMF would require absolute transparency on Pakistan's debts, including those owned by China under the USD 50 billion CPEC. Imran Khan Inaugurates Clean and Green Pakistan Campaign, See Pics.

Umar, however, rejected the US State Department's statement, suggesting that the debt accrued on the CPEC projects was to blame for Pakistan's current economic crisis.

The US Friday said that the huge Chinese debt was responsible for the economic challenges in Pakistan, adding that it will review Islamabad's bailout plea to the IMF from all angles, including the country's debt position.

"We understand that Pakistan has formally requested assistance from the IMF. In all cases, we examine that closely from all angles of it, including Pakistan's debt position, in evaluating any type of loan programme," State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert had said, adding this is something the US has been tracking fairly closely.

Responding to a question, Nauert said; "The secretary (of state Mike Pompeo) had spoken about this a few months back, I know, in some interviews not that long ago. I think part of the reason that Pakistan found itself in this situation is Chinese debt, and the fact that there is debt that governments have incurred that they maybe thought wouldn't be so tough to bail themselves out of, but has become increasingly tough."

Umar said the US was a key stakeholder in the IMF with about 16.5 per cent votes but enjoyed no veto power in its decision making that required majority 51 per cent votes.

He said no government in Pakistan irrespective of any political background could compromise on national security and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government, too, would not opt for an IMF programme if conditionalities are of that nature.

But Umar Saturday said the government will have to take difficult decisions that would be painful for people but necessary under international commitments to get out of the current severe economic situation.

The IMF, Umar said, had asked for details of loans, including ones secured in relation to the CPEC projects, for analysing the debt sustainability. Pakistan would share "normal debt-related information about CPEC with the IMF", the Express Tribune Sunday quoted the finance minister as saying.

Reiterating that the government had decided to approach the Fund in consultation with friendly countries, he said that talks with these countries were still under way. He did not identify these countries but Islamabad was in contact with China and Saudi Arabia in recent weeks.

Unlike 2013, said the minister, the global environment was not favourable to Pakistan that was why the government thoroughly deliberated upon this matter before approaching the IMF. He said that Pakistan was facing a financing gap of USD 12 billion this year, adding that this gap would not be bridged by IMF alone. "We will turn to friendly countries again if the IMF terms are unacceptable to Pakistan during talks on the programme," he asserted.

The minister said that he had been contending for quite some time that economic conditions could lead to national security issues and the government would not compromise on matters of national security. He also said that Saudi Arabia, China and the United Arab Emirates had not placed tough conditions for bailing Pakistan out. But he declined to cite specific reasons why these countries had not provided any financial assistance to Pakistan, the report said.

Categorically rejecting the US assertion that the country was in an economic mess because of the CPEC-related debt repayments, Umar said that over the next three years, such repayments amounted to just USD 300 million a year, which "is very nominal against USD 9 billion of total debt repayments payable during this fiscal year alone".

The "statement of state department spokesperson is 100 per cent wrong", the minister said explaining that Pakistan's financing gap for the current year was about USD 12 billion and total repayments to China averaged USD 300 million over the next three years.

We totally disagree with that statement, Umar said, adding that he had already explained this to the US representatives and also to the IMF chief.

"The American narrative is totally wrong narrative, Umar was quoted as saying by the Dawn.

Without disclosing exact numbers, Umar said Pakistan's net foreign currency reserves were far below than the current gross level of USD 8.3 billion. The minister said that one of the reasons for widening current account deficit was increase in crude oil prices.

He acknowledged that the IMF programme would impact the lower and middle-income groups in Pakistan. "We can perhaps live without the IMF but this could be more painful," Umar added.Mogadishu, October 14: The death toll had risen to 22 and more than 30 others are injured after Saturday's twin suicide bomb attacks in Somalia's Baidoa town, officials said on Sunday. Those with serious injuries would be transferred to Mogadishu for further treatment, Xinhua news agency reported.

Ugaas Hassan Abdi, the Information Minister for Southwest State in Somalia, told Xinhua over telephone that two young al-Shabab militants wearing vests carried out the attacks at two main social gatherings in the centre of the town.

"The terrorists targeted innocent civilians, children, youth, community leaders and soldiers at bars near a police station and Bilan hotel in the centre of town. The death toll could rise again," said Abdi.

The police said a man wearing an explosive device walked into Beder restaurant and blew himself up, killing several people and injuring others in Baidoa, which is considered as the hub of economic activities. Suicide Bomb Attack in Somalia Government Office, 3 Soldiers Killed 14 Injured.

According to the police, another suicide bomber blew himself up at the Bilan hotel, killing more than six people. The Al Qaeda allied terrorist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying its fighters killed more than 20 people.

The insurgents have stepped up their assault against the government and African Union Mission in Somalia bases across south and central parts of the Horn of Africa nation.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 14, 2018 04:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).Lahore, October 14: Pakistan's Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) on Friday issued a death penalty to the convict, Imran Ali, for raping and murdering six-year-old girl Zainab in Punjab Province on January 2018. According to the order issued by ATC judge Sajjad Ahmed, convict Imran Ali will be hanged till death at Central Jail of Lahore on October 17, reported Dawn news. The court awarded him death penalty for kidnapping, murdering and raping Zainab and other girls. Zainab Ansari Rape-and-Murder Case: Accused Imran Ali Handed With Death Sentence in Pakistan.

Going back to the case, Zainab, a minor, had gone missing after being abducted by Ali, and later her body was found near the house of her aunt Kasur. After the horrifying incident, widespread protest took place all around the world asking justice for Zainab. The protest became so intense that two protesters were killed by police while trying to manage the crowd.

To solve the case, police collected 1000 DNA samples from Kasur and its neighbouring areas. Later the police arrested Imran Ali, Zainab's neighbour after his DNA matched.

During interrogation, he confessed to raping and murdering Zainab and many other minor girls. The ATC has given him four death penalty, one life term and fine of Rs 4.1 million on February 17, 2018. The court announced the verdict for kidnapping, murdering and raping of Zainab and other girls.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 14, 2018 02:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).Los Angeles, CA In early September 2018, the California Labor Commissioners Office fined six garment contractors a total of In early September 2018, the California Labor Commissioners Office fined six garment contractors a total of $573,704 for labor law violations after uncovering a scheme where the contractors operated illegally under one license to avoid complying with California wage and hour laws. But what happens to the workers? Garment workers making far less than minimum wage, most without legal status, are hardly likely to bring California unpaid wages lawsuits . The best answer may lie in Californias specialized garment worker wage claim adjudication process. Even that may require some legal assistance, though.

Many Employers, One License

Notorious Non-Compliance

How To Get Paid

Following a tip in July, investigators found 57 employees working at a worksite operated under the name Pure Cotton, Inc. Most of them worked up to 65 hours a week for less than minimum wage and without overtime. Few were covered by workers compensation insurance. Two workers, ages 15 and 16, were operating industrial sewing machines in violation of Californias child labor laws.Pure Cotton had no employees. Its owner, Kyung Ho Choi, claimed that he collected rent but denied any involvement in the manufacture of garments. His brother-in-law, Kuong Chan Kim, claimed that all of the workers were employed by his company, Union Supply, Inc., which was registered as a garment manufacturer. Further investigation, however, revealed that four other garment manufacturing contractors were operating in the building without garment licenses. Kim charged each contractor a fee for the use of his license and insurance coverage, which concealed the actual number of workers. Most of the workers actually worked for the four other contractors. Shared use of a garment manufacturing registration is illegal.Based on the number of employees, the Labor Commissioner cited the six employers for between $500 and $240,300. These fines go into the coffers of the state, however, not to the workers who were cheated of their wages.Wage theft is endemic in the garment industry. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) investigated 77 Los Angeles garment factories and found that workers were paid as little as $4 and an average of $7 an hour for 10-hour days spent sewing clothes for retailers including Forever 21, Ross Dress for Less and TJ Maxx. One worker reportedly made as little as $3.42 per hour during three weeks of sewing TJ Maxx clothing. The same investigation found that 85 percent of Los Angeles garment manufacturers violated California wage and hour laws.From a law enforcement perspective, it is a source of frustration that, although the contractors who make garments can be caught and fined, the brand-name retailers whose pricing structure incentivizes wage theft may escape legal liability. Further, enforcement priorities seem to focus on punishing wage theft rather than making garment workers, most of whom are undocumented Latinos, whole. Lots of legal action  not much benefit to those who work at substandard wages to put food on the table.The workers imperfect solution may be to file a claim under the Garment Worker Protection Act, also known as AB 633. Under this law, garment workers who are not paid as required by law may file claims against the contractor who hired them, the manufacturers whose garments they produce, and sometimes the retailer. Under California law, these manufacturers and retailers are seen as guarantors. Even though they have no direct contractual relationship with the worker, they must guarantee that garment workers receive legal wages.The Labor Commissioner has made it clear that workers have a right to file claims regardless of place of birth or whether the claimant has authorization to work. There is no requirement for a Social Security number or photo identification. In addition the Labor Commissioner's Office says that it will not ask about immigration status or report immigration status to other government agencies.Nonetheless, the process of lodging a claim is not necessarily simple. Claims are filed by completing a Garment Initial Claim form, available in Spanish or English. The form can be mailed or hand carried to any of the Labor Commissioners district offices. A Deputy Labor Commissioner may help a claimant to complete the form in the Los Angeles office. Otherwise, help is available only via phone conference.The claim form requires extensive information about the employer and evidence such as pay stubs. The process is also subject to strict time limits. The wage claim process is not available to independent contractors. Employees who have been misclassified as independent contractors must take additional action to clarify their working status.The process of adjudicating the claim will also require an investigation and an attempt to settle. Workers should expect the claims process to take between six and nine months from the date of filing. It is for these and other reasons that many workers choose to seek legal help in making a wage claim.What does a sweatshop bust mean for workers? Enforcement mechanisms are there, but not perfect, yet. Claimants should make their claims, but they should be forewarned and forearmed.Oct 14, 2018, 4:52am ET

BMW: 85% of our cars will have an engine in 2030

The diesel engine isn't going anywhere, either.

BMW is spending a fortune to develop electric and hybrid powertrains. That doesn't mean it's ready to kick the internal combustion engine out of its line-up.

"A very optimistic scenario says 30 percent of BMWs will be pure electric or plug-in hybrids and [70] percent will be combustion. If you assume that, from this 30 percent, half of them are plug-in hybrids, I have 85 percent in my portfolio in 2030 with a combustion engine," said Klaus Froehlich, BMW's research and development boss, in an interview with Australian website GoAuto.

Froehlich opined the current discussion about electrification "is a little bit irrational." He added BMW won't phase out the diesel engine anytime soon, but it may offer fewer variants of it in the coming years. Four- and six-cylinder turbodiesels will live on, and the catalog will include at least four power derivatives.

"I will perhaps not have three different specs. At the moment we have 3.0-liter mono turbocharger, twin turbocharger and quad turbocharger, so perhaps I will only have one solution with two performance levels or something," he explained.

He's nonetheless "very optimistic" about the future of the diesel engine and noted BMW boasts some of the best turbodiesel technology on the market.

"From a CO2 and customer perspective, a modern diesel is a very good solution. Especially for heavy, high-performing cars."

What if electric cars catch on faster than he expects? BMW is ready, he assured GoAuto. The next-generation platform that will underpin most of the firm's bigger cars will be compatible with several drivetrain solutions including internal combustion, plug-in hybrid, and pure electric. He made no mention of hydrogen, interestingly.

Photo by Ronan Glon.Oct 14, 2018, 1:16am ET

Fisker plans $40,000 EV in 2020

It will be the firm's entry-level model.

Danish designer Henrik Fisker hasn't started production of the EMotion concept (pictured) yet but he's already thinking about what's next. He's working on an entry-level electric model that will be priced in the $40,000 range.

Speaking to Automobile magazine, he outlined plans to build an electric car with at least 400 miles of range and a surprisingly spacious interior. We don't know what it will look like yet. The publication believes it will arrive as a crossover, which makes sense given the body style's popularity, but Fisker stressed he hasn't finished the design yet. Either way, it won't be another cookie-cutter model.

"I want to make it really futuristic-looking, but it has to be very versatile because we obviously want to get into a certain high volume with the vehicle," he said. He added high-end green cars -- like the Karma he launched in 2012 -- are usually owned by motorists who have several vehicles. The yet-unnamed $40,000 model will be aimed at people who own just one car so it needs to do it all.

Designing a $40,000 car is a first for Fisker. His resume includes the aforementioned Karma, the Aston Martin DB9, and the BMW Z8. He's ready to step up to the challenge, however, and he believes the segment is ripe for the taking.

"It's something where I feel there is a huge opportunity to do something exciting in a segment that traditionally is very restrained because everybody's afraid to step out of the ordinary, right?," he pointed out.

Fisker's $40,000 EV will break cover either in late 2019 or at the 2020 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). If everything goes according to plan, we expect to hear more about it in the coming months.

Photo by Ronan Glon.A man in Berks County repeatedly rammed a U-Haul truck into an SUV with a 4-year-old strapped in the backseat during a dispute over a parking space, a regional television station reported.

Reading police, who patrol Kenhorst Borough, told WFMZ-69 News the incident happened sometime in the evening of Sept. 29. The dispute began, police said, when a woman parked her car "too close" to the male victim's SUV in a storage unit parking lot on New Holland Road.

After the encounter escalated, police said, the woman's acquaintance jumped into a U-Haul truck and began ramming the victim's SUV. The child was seated in a car-seat in the backseat of the SUV during the incident, according to police.

When the victim got out of his SUV to record the license plate of the U-Haul truck, police said, the U-Haul's driver attempted to run over the victim, who jumped out of the way.

It's unclear whether the child or anyone else was injured in the incident.

Police are searching for the driver of the U-Haul, who reportedly fled north on New Holland Road and then north on Lancaster Avenue. The woman who was with the male suspect fled in the same direction in a small white sedan with Maryland license plates, police told WFMZ.

Authorities have asked anyone with information to contact Crime Alert Berks County. Police are offering a cash reward of up to $10,000 for tips leading to an arrest.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.Last year, the Portlaoise Hospital Action Committee was invited to speak at the Still Waiting Ireland Campaign Conference.

Myself, Sam Warren and John Hannify travelled to Dublin and John spoke about the situation with our hospital.

Since then weve kept the lines of communication open and I was asked to become a committee member.

What have I learned about this committee? Still Waiting Ireland exists because there are countless groups across the country who believe that our health service is being failed by our government. Campaigns like Our Hospitals Matter are tired of living in fear and reacting to the latest leak or threat. They are frustrated that every few years they must dust off our Hands off our hospital banners and protest.

Still Waiting is the first health care movement, which is uniting campaigns up and down the country, some unions and most political parties etc. There is a different drive now. Instead of being defensive and reactionary, we are going on the offensive and demanding a health service that we deserve.

Still Waiting Ireland believes that we should have a one-tier health service, which provides equal access to high quality consistent and equitable health care. When you pay your taxes you are investing in public services such as health. This should mean that you dont have to take out loans to pay for cancer treatment or pay through the nose for private health insurance, which your public tax is already subsidizing. It isnt fair, efficient or economically clever.

At the launch of Still Waiting Ireland, David Hughes from the INMO said that this health campaign was very appropriately named. I had thought that the title would just make people think of the trolley crisis but I was wrong because: people are waiting for appointments. People are waiting for life enhancing and life saving medicine and treatments, which do exist and are accessible in other countries, but are not in ours. Our children and our elderly have to wait!

Vulnerable people languishing in A & E waiting rooms. They are still waiting for the dignity and respect they deserve. They are even waiting to be counted!

Once in the emergency room, people are still waiting too long to get a bed and be treated.

People are waiting for a consultant to come from another hospital in order to be diagnosed and treated appropriately. They wait on a Friday in the hope that the consultant will make it back to Portlaoise so that they can be discharged and when they dont come on the Friday, they have to wait until Monday, whilst some poor soul has been waiting to get that bed.

People with serious immunity diseases are waiting for a safe space where they can be cared for in isolation. Instead they are waiting in the most dangerous place in the world for them to pick up an infectious disease, which every time could end their life.

They, and we, are waiting for the government to act on the national bed capacity report recommendation of increasing the number of beds by 7000. But beds alone wont solve the problem.

When those beds arrive, we will still be waiting for the 500 vacant nursing positions to be filled, so that all of the people in those extra beds can be cared for adequately. And thats just nurses, dont mind, gps, consultants, mid-wives, psychologists, paramedics, care assistance, home care workers and many other frontline workers. Andthose workers will still be waiting for vital equipment they need to treat all those extra people.

Families are waiting for their grandchildren, their children, their siblings who work in health care abroad to return home to a country, which has jobs and is supposed to be in recovery. BUT they are waiting for the health system to improve to justify leaving jobs in other countries where they are valued and invested in.

I know that everyone is waiting for Minister Simon Harris to put OReillys now widely discredited report and recommendation to downgrade Portlaoise hospital in the shredder.

Everyone is still waiting for Simon Harris to actually initiate the meaningful consultation process, which he promised to us and our anxious hospital workers last December.

Im waiting for our government to acknowledge that there is a health care crisis. Im not waiting for more dialogue. Im waiting for meaningful action.

Slaintecare was created by our Government. It is the first health care plan, which all political parties agree on. They designed it! It is supported by the medical community, the scientific community and even the economic community.

So, why are we waiting??? Dr. Peader OGrady put this into an analogy: if your house was on fire and you rang the fire brigade and they promised that they would immediately set up a Fire Extinguishing Implementation Office, youd be sure that youd rang the wrong number or that the person on the phone was under the influence. Well, the government is under the influence and impression that the Irish people will wait. They are under the impression that we will give up or not organize on a mass scale.

Unfortunately, only pressure results in progress on issues, which matter to the public. We are tired of feeling frustrated and we are tired of waiting but we are no longer alone. We have the combined support of a movement built on the belief that, together we are stronger.The impact and challenges thrown up by rapid population growth in Laois is set be highlighted to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Dr Katherine Zappone on a visit to the county.

On Monday, October 15 Minister Zappone will join the Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan TD, to see how local youth services and Family Resource Centres are working with local young people in Portlaoise and Mountmellick.

Minister Zappone's Department oversees funding of youth services around Ireland.

Laois has a very active youth sector which receives substantial support from my Department. It is used to provide activities, information and supports to young people across the County. In addition, the existing Family Resource Centre in Portlaoise and the new Centre in Mountmellick are hubs of the local community providing services to local people of all ages.

"It is important to see this work on the ground and to meet the dedicated workers and volunteers supporting young people and families in Laois as it will help us to further improve support from Central Government, she said.

Speaking before the visit Minister Flanagan said he would raise the issue of population growth with the Minister.

Im pleased Minister Zappone accepted my invitation to Co Laois. I want her to see first-hand the good work being done and the issues we in Laois face with growing population and consequent social & family challenges across our communities," he said.

Apart from having one of the fastest population growths in Ireland, Laois also has an above average number of young people. Portlaoise hospital's maternity unit is one of the few hospitals where the birth rate is rising.

The county also has an above average number of people who were not born in Ireland.Paris, TX (75460)

Today

Mostly cloudy early, then sunshine for the afternoon. High 78F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Clear to partly cloudy. Low 63F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph.A Naas woman was among a group of female swimmers who succeeded in swimming across the English channel in just under four hours.

Christine Mahoney was a member of the Mna na Mara team, who completed one of the most famous long distance swims in the world, taking a route from Abbots Cliff in Dover to Wissant, France.

They did the swim in a time of 13 hours and 45 minutes.

Each of the member of the team swam for an hour at a time and to maintain a pace of at least three kilometres an hour.

They set out at 2am so the first couple of hours of the journey were conducted in complete darkness.

The group reached the shipping lanes as dawn broke and huge cruise ships were visible as well as oil tankers, cargo ships and ferry boats.

The swim took place close to the busiest shipping lane in the world (the Dover Strait) with between 500 and 600 ships passing through each day.

By early afternoon the swimmers could see France but the strong currents and tides dictates their course and added extra miles to the crossing.

However the wind and waves calmed as they approached Wissant to great cheers from all involved with the trip and the local French people watching.A woman, whose partners dismembered body was found in a canal, has accepted that he was a secretive person whod had affairs, secretly recorded her conversations and suggested to his mistress that she provoke his partner into hitting the other woman.

However, she had not heard that a friend had caught him making pipe bombs or that her partner had first befriended the man charged with his murder because the accused was an IRA man.

Eimear Dunne was being cross examined by the defence last Friday, October 12, in the trial of Paul Wells Senior, of Barnamore Park, Finglas, Dublin, who is charged with murdering her partner, Kenneth OBrien, at the accused mans home.

Mr Wells (50) has admitted shooting the father-of-one dead and dismembering his body. However, he has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to murdering the 33-year-old on January 15 or 16, 2016. He told gardai that the deceased had wanted him to murder Ms Dunne.

The Dublin woman had told the prosecution about a break-up text sent from somebody purporting to be Mr O'Brien on the morning of the 16th. She also gave evidence of collapsing after Mr Wells told her the deceased was having affair once she told him he was missing.

Ms Dunne testified that she and their son had kissed the deceased goodbye that morning before she dropped the little boy to her mothers ahead of her work day. Mr OBrien reminded her that he would be home late that night, as he was working in Limerick.

She told Sean Gillane SC, prosecuting, that they had exchanged text messages throughout the morning, mainly concerning the cold, icy conditions, with Mr OBrien enquiring as to whether she had got to work ok.

This continued up until about 1.30pm, after which she heard nothing, despite texting and ringing him. His phone was off, which she found unusual.

She had still heard nothing by the time she went to bed that night, but received a text message from an unknown number at 3.30am.

Lost my phone today, it read. Im staying in a hotel tonight. Having a drink. Talk tomorrow.

She thought that it was not like her partner to go for a drink in his work clothes.

The same number sent another message at 7.49am.

So here it is, it read. Im heading for the ferry today. I cant handle being home and I want out. You care more about Zac and your family. I met someone else and she came to ireland yesterday. I met her today. Im going with her. Theres no point in talking. All Id get anyway is a row.

The sender wrote that she would hear from him when he was sorted to organise things with their son and his gear.

I've had to spoof everyone to do this but this girl will put it right. Ill be in touch, it concluded.

She sent a reply back immediately.

Then, I was looking at the text message and I was saying: Thats not right, she explained. Zach is spelt wrong. ZAC is not how you spell it. Theres no full stops, she continued. Theres no capital letter for Ireland. Thats not Ken. Ken is very particular about his text messages. Gear is not a word Ken would use and spoof is definitely not a word Kenneth O'Brien would use.

Ms Dunne began calling family and Mr OBriens friends, including the accused.

I asked did he know what was going on. Ken hadnt come home, she said. He said basically: Look, hes seeing someone else.

She said that he explained that the deceased had met someone in Australia, where he had been working until Christmas. He said that he had been seeing her for a good while before he came home and that he hadnt wanted to return to Ireland.

I think I collapsed on the floor, she said.

The accused told her hed be over in a few minutes.

He arrived and showed her photos of her partner with another woman. Some were intimate. There were also photographs of what appeared to be the the same woman in her underwear, and a close-up shot of female genitalia.

I felt weak. I couldnt really say anything. I just couldnt believe it, she recalled.

She said that Mr Wells had offered to send the photos to her phone, but that her mother had intervened and told him that she didnt want them.

Michael OHiggins SC, defending, began his cross-examination of the witness by telling her that he would have to ask her some personal questions.

He also explained that his client was asserting that the man she had been with since she was 16 was applying pressure on the accused to kill her because he wanted to take their child back to Australia.

Ok, she replied.

She agreed with his assertion that her partner had been a very secretive person, whose left hand wouldnt know what the right hand was doing.

When asked if he had been mean with money, she replied that he was cautious.

The care worker accepted that she had not known that he was earning 60,000 net in Australia until his death. He had sent around 750 a month home to cover his half of the mortgage and their sons creche fees.

Mr OHiggins informed her that, despite him having told his family that he was moving home, he had told his employer in Australia that he would be back in January. When asked if this was typical, she said it would be.

Mr OHiggins then read from the statement of Mr OBriens best friend, who said he had walked into the couples shed, where the deceased had been working one day. He had said that Mr OBrien had thrown a rag over something, but that he had seen a number of pipe bombs that were assembled on the table, one with wires coming out of it.

Do ypu know anything about anything of that sort? asked the barrister.

No, she replied.

Might that tend to suggest there are very significant aspects of Kenneth that you dont know about? he asked.

Probably, yeah, she replied.

She agreed that she learned towards the end of the last decade that Mr OBrien had been involved with another woman because the woman had been in a car accident with him.

She agreed that the car had been broken up into parts, but then reported stolen for insurance purposes.

She said she had got someone to hack her partners email account and that it was clear from messages and pictures that something was going on with this woman.

She agreed that she had confronted this woman more than once, taking her phone and looking at it the second time.

Was there a text from Kenneth... suggesting that she should provoke you into assaulting her? asked Mr OHiggins.

There was, she said, agreeing that she was shocked.

Apparently, it was being suggested that she would provoke you to hit her, there would be a complaint to police and the charge would be dropped in exchange for you leaving, he suggested.

Ms Dunne confirmed this. She agreed that she confronted the woman once more and this all led to bad blood with another man, who came to their house to confront Mr OBrien.

She said that she was outside at the time and did not know of any plan for her partners friend to fire Mr OBriens legally-held firearm if the deceased had raised his arm during this confrontation.

Mr OHiggins put to her that her partner was worried about this incident and that this was when he had contacted the accused, who he knew, because Paul Wells was a republican and an IRA man.

Is that why he contacted him? So he didnt just know him from doing work on his car? asked Mr Dunne.

Did you know he was in the IRA? Mr OHiggins asked of his client.

She said that Mr Wells had suggested that he was in the same circles as someone she had known was a republican.

She agreed that Mr OBrien had fallen out with another man after he learned that she had discussed the other woman with him in their kitchen.

He (the deceased) had placed a voice-activated recorder in the kitchen, remarked Mr OHiggins. When did it come out that he was taping your conversations?

She said she didnt know but said that she wasn't really surprised.

He was into gadgets, she explained, but accepted that it wasnt a common thing to do.

He asked her if she was aware that Mr OBrien had been in a relationship with a woman in Australia between July 2013 and March or April 2014.

I had a feeling there was something going on, she replied.

The barrister informed her that this Cork woman had told gardai that theyd moved in together in November 2013 and had gone on holiday to Bali in March 2014 and that the relationship had ended soon afterwards.

Ms Dunne said that the accused had told her about Bali when he had come to her house after Mr OBriens disappearance.

The barrister also asked her about the timing of the photographs sent by the deceased to his client, which were shown to her in her kitchen on January 16th and 17th 2016, in respect of which there was no excuse or justification.

It would appear those pictures were sent to a couple of other people all around November 2015, he said.

He asked if embarking on another relationship so close to coming home was consistent with wanting to re-establish a relationship with Ms Dunne.

It could have been one last fling, she replied.

The trial continues on Monday before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of six women and six men.Catherines Church of Ireland, Fenagh, are finalists in the National Lottery Good Causes Award. This community heritage project will represent the north region at a glittering award ceremony on Saturday, November 3.

Hosted by Karen Koster, the event will be broadcast on Virgin Media One on Sunday 11th November, right after X-Factor.

Restoration of St. Catherines Church has been a labour of love for the volunteers of Fenagh.

Speaking this week, volunteer Julie Marshall explained This beautiful little church was crumbling. The roof was in a state of disrepair and the wooden floor was rotten.

The building was in need of a lot of care and attention. We knew that if we didnt act to save it that it would be lost to the community forever.

She continued Back in 2015, the Churchwarden, John Moran approached Reverend Linda Frost for permission to apply for a grant to replace the floor with the assistance of National Lottery funding. This was the only way we could achieve the repairs. The 2,000 Good Causes funding from the National Lottery was a crucial first step in getting the project off the ground. It allowed us to repair the rotten floor but more importantly, it gave us great encouragement to know that others shared our vision to save St. Catherines.

Since then, this voluntary committee have obtained funding through the Structures at Risk and Built Heritage Infrastructure grants, Beresford and AllChurches Trusts.

The stained-glass windows, some of which had been vandalised, have been repaired and restored.

The entrance pillars, roof, gutters, and the Vestry ceiling have all been repaired and new lime-plaster has been applied internally. The wooden windows, some with their original 1880 glass have also been repaired and painted. The icing on the cake was a new internal paint-job completed this year.

St. Catherines Church is now a hub of activity for the local community who have worked so closely together to make this restoration dream into a reality.

Julie continued We would never have been able to undertake all of this work without the financial grants and assistance we received from The National Lottery, Beresford and AllChurches Trusts, our Dream Auction sponsors and RCB.

And none of this would have been possible without the dedication and hard-work of our committee and the amazing community of Fenagh who supported our fund-raising activities. We are very grateful for the support of the local Catholic Church (St Mary's) in helping stage fundraising events including our Garda Band and Roscommon Solstice Choir concert on 25th October.

She concluded We are so excited to put St. Catherines on a national stage at the National Lottery Good Causes Awards and hope locals will tune in to Virgin Media One on Sunday 11th November at 9pm to see how we get on!The following deaths have taken place in Leitrim and surrounding areas:

Barbara Ellis, Midsummers Cottage, Main Road, Dromahair, Leitrim / Sligo

Suddenly at Sligo University Hospital. Beloved mother of Sandie. Sadly missed by her heartbroken daughter, sister Sandy, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, cousins, relatives and friends. Celebration of life and service will take place on Monday evening at Cannis Major Church, Clayton Hotel grounds, Clarion Road, Sligo at 6.30pm. Cremation will follow in Mount Jerome Crematorium, Harold's Cross, Dublin on Tuesday. House and Cremation Strictly Private Please. Family flowers only please, donations in lieu if desired to Shout Out.

Margaret Garrahan (nee Murray) Cloonboney, Four Mile House, Roscommon / Carrick-on-Shannon, Roscommon

Formerly of Killukin, Carrick-on-Shannon. (Peacefully); in the loving care of the staff at Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe. Beloved wife of the late Jimmy and sister of the late Agnes and John Joe. She will be very sadly missed by her son David, daughter Marie, son-in-law, grandchildren, brother Stephen, nieces, nephews, relatives, neighbours and friends. Mass on Sunday at 11amin t Brigids Church, Four-Mile-House. Burial afterwards in Ballinderry Cemetery.

Sean Nealon, Dunboyne, Meath / Ballinamore, Leitrim

Died October 11th., 2018 (peacefully) surrounded by his family and in the loving care of the staff at the Mater Private Hospital. Beloved husband of Shirley and dear father of Sean and a devoted and cherished grandfather of Sean; sadly missed by his loving wife, son, grandson, daughter-in-law Liz, brother Jim, sister Nelly, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives, Bradys staff past and present, customers and friends.

Reposing at Cunninghams Funeral Home, Main St., Dunboyne on Tuesday evening (October 16th.) between 5 -8pm. Removal on Wednesday morning (October 17th.) to The S.S. Peter and Pauls Church, Dunboyne arriving for Requiem Mass at 11 am followed by burial in Rooske Cemetery, Dunboyne. Family flowers only, please. Donations, if desired, to Temple St. Hospital, donation boxes will be located in the Funeral Home.

Kathleen King (nee Murtagh) Hillstreet, Carrick-on-Shannon, Roscommon / Curry, Sligo

Late of Curry, Co. Sligo. Peacefully at home surrounded by her loving family. Predeceased by her husband Paddy, grandchildren Brian and Shane, son-in-law Jim Summers, brothers Pake, John, Jim and Mike and her sister Mary. Beloved Mother of Pat, Michael, Jim, Gerry, Mary, John and Anne. Kathleen will be sadly missed by her loving family, her sister Teresa (Murtagh), daughters-in-law, son-in-law, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nephews, nieces, relatives, neighbours and friends.

Reposing at her home in Hillstreet Village (Eircode N41 Y597) on Sunday (14th Oct.) from 3pm until 7pm. Removal on Monday morning to Aughrim Church arriving for Mass of Christian Burial at 12 noon. Interment afterwards in Aughrim Cemetery. Family flowers only please. Donations in lieu of flowers, if desired, to Mayo/Roscommon Hospice, Palliative Care Team c/o Brady's Funeral Directors, Elphin.

May they all Rest In Peace.The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) is encouraging students from Leitrim primary and post primary schools to enter this years SEAI One Good Idea competition.

Students are asked to come up with creative energy awareness campaigns that will inspire people around them to save energy and reduce carbon emissions. The competition encourages students, their families and communities to take individual and collective responsibility for tackling these important issues.

To mark the launch of this years competition, posters developed by the 2018 winning teams were showcased ahead of a national outdoor advertising campaign.

SEAI One Good Idea is now entering its 11th year and commenting on its impact to date, Jim Gannon, Chief Executive of SEAI said, In the last decade, over one million people in Ireland have been reached by the projects put together by 7,500 inspiring schoolchildren. These campaigns have changed how individuals use energy in so many ways. This ranges from businesses becoming more aware of plastic waste and food miles, students and their families reducing shower times and communities opting for car-pooling to schools and GAA games. The ideas are endless. We want to continue to encourage our future leaders as they generate these ideas and share them in our communities, so more people take climate action by using less energy and using clean energy.

Participating students have the chance to win prizes for themselves and their schools. Awareness campaigns can cover energy use at home, at school, for transport, energy related purchases and renewable energy. Schools can enter the competition at www.seai.ie/onegoodidea, where they can also see the 2018 winning campaigns.

Closing date for entries is 16 November 2018. The best projects will be showcased at the national finals in Dublin Castle on 14 May 2019.

Watch| SEAI Network sees communities in Leitrim revolutionising how they use energyA COUNTY Limerick facility for children and adults with autism has received a welcome boost with 10,000 being donated to assist in the construction of a new jumps course.

A cheque was presented by Catriona Buckley of Liskennett Charity Gymkhana to Liskennett Equine Therapy.

Liskennett Farm in Granagh incorporates therapeutic day and residential services for adults and a Horse Boy Equine Therapy Centre for both children and adults.

The proceeds were raised from a gymkhana which was held in aid of the St Josephs Foundation facility.

They are hoping to build a mini version of Hickstead (theres an All England Jumping Course at Hickstead) at Liskennett, said Frankie Ward, press officer for the event.

It is a mixture of all sorts of fences, she added.

Speaking at the cheque presentation at the weekend Joell Dunlap of the Square Peg Foundation explained the benefits of horse riding for people with autism.

Joell explained that the motion, between the rocking movement and the movement of going over and across, it lulls them into a sense of security and calmness. Its incredible, said Frankie.

They were explaining that one night two young men were having bad rages and they took them out and put them on two horses and walked them around at night for three to four hours and by four oclock in the morning they were perfect and able to go to bed, he added.A COUNTY Limerick farmer had 16 bales of silage slashed to pieces in what he describes as a despicable crime.

Half of 32 bales made on land in Ardroe, Pallasgreen, owned by Patsy OKeeffe, were cut. It is believed the perpetrator, armed with a knife or sharp implement, damaged the precious fodder under the cover of darkness.

It is a chilling thing to see a field full of bales and have of them cut to shreds, said Mr OKeeffe.

We consider ourselves a decent, hard-working family and we cant understand why somebody would do this, he continued.

Mr OKeeffe, aged 60, lives in Kilteely but farms 10 acres in Pallasgreen that were left to him by his late mother.

He sold the silage crop from a five acre field to a neighbour.

He got a contractor in to bale it last week. It was a fine crop - it was top quality silage. They cut it on Monday, baled it on Thursday and left them in the field.

On Friday, my neighbour sent down a lad to bring them back to his farm. The lad rang my neighbour straight away when he saw there was 16 - exactly half of the bales  cut and damaged. It was right through the plastic and netting. My neighbour rang me. I was up the country at the time.

It was shocking in the extreme, despicable carry on. It was pure blackguarding, said Mr OKeeffe, who works as a van sales rep.

He immediately contacted Bruff gardai who are investigating the crime.

Each silage bale is valued at around 40 so Mr OKeeffe is at a significant financial loss.

My neighbour brought away the 16 bales that were left alone. He wrapped some of the damaged ones again but there were ones that couldnt be salvaged. He took them away loose in a trailer, said Mr OKeeffe.

He said the money was ear-marked for his three sons college fees and accommodation,

Thats where it was going. Every euro I can I spend on them to give them a good education. I feel sorry for my neighbour as well because silage bales are so scare with the fodder crisis, he said.

Limerick IFA chairman, Shay Galvin said he never heard of anything like this happening before and called it wanton vandalism.

And especially after a year like this when there is a fodder crisis, said Mr Galvin.

Anybody with any information is asked to contact Bruff Garda Station.The 10-year-old has a rock stuffed in the mouth, something that may have been done to prevent the child from rising from the grave and spreading malaria to other people.

A 1,550-year-old "vampire burial" of a child with a rock stuffed into his or her mouth has been discovered in an ancient cemetery in Lugnano, Italy.

Those who buried the child, who possibly died of malaria, may have used the rock to prevent him or her (the child's sex isn't known) from rising from the grave and spreading disease to other people, said a team of researchers in a statement released Oct. 12 by the University of Arizona.

"I've never seen anything like it. It's extremely eerie and weird," said David Soren, an anthropology professor at the University of Arizona, who has overseen archaeological excavations at the cemetery since 1987. "Locally, they're calling it the 'Vampire of Lugnano.'" [7 Strange Ways Humans Act Like Vampires]

Other bizarre remains have been discovered at this cemetery, called La Necropoli dei Bambini, or the Cemetery of the Babies,including the skeletons of babies and toddlers found buried beside raven talons, toad bones and bronze cauldrons filled with the remains of sacrificed puppies. In one case, the skeleton of a 3-year-old girl at the cemetery was found with stones holding down her hands and feet, the researchers said.

A 1,550-year-old "vampire burial" of a 10-year-old child was discovered in Italy. (Image credit: David Pickel/Stanford University)

In fact, until now, the oldest person found buried at the cemetery was the 3-year-old, and archaeologists assumed the grounds had been reserved for infants and toddlers.

"There are still sections of the cemetery that we haven't excavated yet, so we don't know if we'll find other older kids," bioarcheologist Jordan Wilson, a doctoral student in anthropology at the University of Arizona who analyzed the bones in Italy, said in the statement.

The cemetery was erected during the fifth century, within a first-century Roman villa. During the fifth century, a deadly malaria outbreak swept through the area, the archaeologists noted.

Rising from the dead?

The researchers said they suspect the child died of malaria, even though DNA testing hasn't been conducted on the child's remains. Other children buried in the cemetery are known to have died of malaria, and this child has an abscessed tooth, which is a side effect of malaria, the researchers said.

Someone would have stuffed this rock into the mouth of the 10-year-old after death. (Image credit: David Pickel/Stanford University)

"We know that the Romans were very much concerned with this [the spread of disease] and would even go to the extent of employing witchcraft to keep the evil  whatever is contaminating the body  from coming out," Soren said, adding that in this case the "evil" may have been malaria.

The researchers will continue excavations at Lugnano next summer.

Other vampire burials have been discovered in the past in Italy and in Poland. An 18th-century example of one such possible burial was discovered recently at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Byszewo, Poland, reported Sebastian Nowak, a researcher at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland. Nowak described the finding at the European Association of Archaeologists annual meeting held in September in Barcelona, Spain.

Originally published on Live Science.Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost has appointed a new interim chief agent for its Laredo sector, which has seen two agents charged with murder this year.

Border Patrol said this week that Provost named Felix Chavez to the position. Jason D. Owens was the prior acting chief patrol agent.

Chavez was the chief patrol agent of the Del Rio Sector, prior to his appointment to interim chief for Laredo sector.

He entered on duty with the U.S. Border Patrol on July 29, 1985, as a member of Border Patrol Academy Class 184. His first duty assignment was at the Sierra Blanca Station, which at that time was in the El Paso sector. In 1990, he successfully completed the Border Patrol Tactical Unit Selection and Training Course VI.

In November 1995, Chavez was selected as a supervisory Border Patrol agent at the Tucson Station, and in November 1997, he accepted the position of field operations supervisor at the Tucson station. Chavez was promoted to patrol agent in charge of the Alamogordo station in the El Paso sector in July 2002, and assistant chief patrol agent at the El Paso sector in August 2007.

In May 2011, Chavez was appointed to the senior executive service position of deputy chief of the former operations division at U.S. Border Patrol Headquarters in Washington, D.C. In August 2013, he was selected as the deputy chief patrol agent of the Tucson Sector.

Chavez is a graduate of Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa, where he earned a bachelor's degree in organizational management. He also successfully completed the Executive Institute at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business, the CBP Command Leadership Academy, and in 2015, graduated from the National Defense University Capstone program.

The Laredo sector covers 86,673 square miles in 101 counties, all the way to the Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas borders. The Laredo sector comprises of a sector headquarters and nine stations: Laredo North, Laredo South, Laredo West, Zapata, Cotulla, Hebbronville, Freer, San Antonio and Dallas.October is National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month and H-E-B invites Texas students to join the H-E-B Buddy League, challenging them to Be a Buddy, Not a Bully.

Inspired by H-E-Bs commitment to diversity and inclusion, the effort promotes kindness and respect and discourages harmful behaviors such as teasing, exclusion and bullying.

In its third year, the H-E-B Buddy League kicked off a statewide tour of the H-E-B Buddy League Training Academy this week. Using song and animation, the live show takes students through five training tasks that demonstrate bullying behaviors and show ways to stand up to bullying and promote unity. The live performance will hit the road, stopping at 27 elementary schools across Texas throughout the month.

On Friday, a performance was held at Laredo ISD's Sanchez Ochoa Elementary School.

Additionally, H-E-Buddy and H-E-B employees will visit first-grade through third-grade classrooms at more than 300 schools to engage students in a variety of anti-bullying activities and conversations. Teachers will receive an H-E-B Buddy League Kit filled with bilingual materials to continue the dialogue of kindness and inclusion. For schools not scheduled for visits, teachers can download a free Activity Guide paired with an interactive H-E-B Buddy League Training Academy video and order free H-E-B Buddy League Kits at www.heb.com/league.

Bullying is a widespread issue that can cause negative physical, social and mental-health issues. It's estimated that between one in four students has been bullied at school, according to the National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Justice Statistics. Children who are bullied more often experience depression, anxiety, and feelings of sadness and loneliness as well as experience lower academic achievement and school participation.

In addition to the presentations and online resources, first-grade through third-grade students are eligible for the H-E-B Buddy League Student Advocate Award, which recognizes children who demonstrate acts of kindness, respect, courage and inclusion. Teachers can nominate students online at www.heb.com/league now through Feb. 28. Winners will be recognized and receive an H-E-B Buddy League Prize Pack.

H-E-B is a passionate supporter of education and understands that children are successful and learn best when they have safe learning environments, said Sonia Quirino Canales, H-E-B Diversity & Inclusion Manager. Since we launched the program, tens of thousands of Texas elementary students have participated in the H-E-B Buddy League and we hope to reach even more children this year.Laredo Independent School District campuses will be closed Monday for staff development training.

LISD administration, faculty and staff will report to work on Monday morning for their required staff development.

However, there will be no classes for students due to the required trainings. Students will resume their regular schedule Tuesday.

Throughout the day, LISD employees will attend various training sessions. The sessions will be held at various sites and campuses throughout the district.

The LISD Administrative Offices and the LISD Tax Office will remain open on Monday. The Tax Office is located at 904 Juarez Ave. and will be open during regular business hours, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.Border Patrol agents from the Freer station seized cash that was found concealed inside a vehicle inspected at the checkpoint.

The incident unfolded Tuesday when agents assigned to the checkpoint saw a white Dodge Ram pickup approach the checkpoint for inspection. During an immigration inspection, agents determined that the driver was a U.S. citizen, although a canine alert prompted agents to refer the vehicle to secondary inspection.The attorney of a local gynecologist indicted on multiple counts of possession of child pornography has filed a motion to suppress the key piece of evidence.

Dr. Antonio Salinas was arrested in June 2017 and later indicted on 35 counts of possession of child pornography after a USB was found in his truck when it was being serviced at a local dealership.

Uriel Druker, Salinas attorney, states in a motion he filed that any evidence obtained by law enforcement or a private person in violation of law should not be admitted. The evidence was unlawfully obtained because the car dealership employees took a USB they found in Salinas vehicle and plugged it into a laptop without his consent, Druker said.

Druker said LPD Officer David Paz saw the contents of the USB without first obtaining a search warrant.

Paz testified that he checked the USB to see if an actual crime may have been committed.

The employees told police they checked out the USB because the USB port in Salinas vehicle was not working. They wanted to see whether the problem was with the USB itself or the port, they said to police.

Paz testified that when he arrived at the dealership, he asked the employees to take him to their laptop and show him where the files were located. He said he then saw seven pictures of young females without any clothing on. He said the girls in the pictures appeared to be between the ages of 11 and 14 and that in some of the pictures the girls were in provocative poses while other girls private parts were exposed.

According to Drukers motion, LPD special investigations detectives subsequently applied for several search warrants based on the information provided by Paz and voluntary written statements from the dealership employees.

Druker argued that the employees accounts used to obtain the search warrants were false. The employees had lied to police out of fear of the potential criminal consequences of their involvement in illegally accessing the USB, according to the motion.

Eden Salinas, former employee of the car dealership, testified that he was the one that grabbed the USB from the truck. When asked by Druker if he was aware that the statement given to police was false, Salinas said yes.

Salinas said he grabbed the USB out of curiosity and to look for music. When the images were discovered, Salinas said that he asked his coworker to talk to the police because they feared getting in trouble.

That was just said so we could protect ourselves, just in case for our jobs, Salinas said. But we still got fired.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Marisela Jacaman argued that the discovery of the USB was not deliberate.

Jose Martin Bedolla, service advisor at the car dealership, testified that Antonio Salinas went to the dealership because the service engine light of his truck was on. He also asked that the dealership inspect his glove compartment, Bedolla said.

Bedolla read the disclaimer found at the bottom of a receipt that states customers understand that the company assumes no responsibility for loss or damage to the vehicle or its contents.

Salinas assumed the risk that there would be intrusion of his privacy because he left his truck at the dealership knowing they have a sign that reads they are not responsible for theft or damages, Jacaman said.

This USB was found basically just thrown on the inside of the truck along with some other things, she said.

406th District Court Judge Oscar J. Hale Jr. asked proscutors to submit a brief by Oct. 12 and the defense to reply by Oct. 16.

Hale will decide whether to suppress the evidence after reviewing both briefs.

A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Nov. 5.

Maria Salas may be reached at 728-2580 or msalas@lmtonline.comA man has been arrested following a domestic disturbance reported at a north Laredo home, authorities said.

Early Monday, police officers responded to an assault report in the 1900 block of Whitewood Drive in the Highland Park Subdivision.

Officers said they met with a woman who stated that Rolando Serna, 32, had assaulted her. She told them he was still inside the residence.

Police entered the home and found Serna inside a bedroom with a knife protruding from under a pillow on the bed, according to LPD.

Serna was arrested without incident. He was charged with aggravated assault; assault, family violence; unlawful restraint; and violation of a protective order by assault.

Custody records show he remained behind bars at the Webb County Jail as of Friday afternoon.Hay now! The master-planned community of Cross Creek Ranch is once again hosting its yearly scarecrow festival this time with a superheroes theme.

Join thousands of others at the all-ages free 10th annual Scarecrow Fest in Fulshear on Saturday, Oct. 20 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. to see your favorite superheroes, including Spiderman, Thor and Batman, said Carrie Roehling, Marketing Director at Johnson Development community at Cross Creek Ranch.Bruce Rieser, the incumbent Position 4 member on The Woodlands Township Board of Directors, said his bid for re-election to a second term comes down to one simple thing  there is still work to do.

The reason why Ive decided to sign up for another two years is weve done a lot of good work, but we still have a lot of work to do. I love what were doing here, Rieser said. Even if you are someone who is opposed to the incorporation of The Woodlands, the people made it very clear to us in my election cycle (2016) that they want to know, they wanted to know the facts, what the potentials costs and benefits were if we chose to go down that road.

The Woodlands will eventually become a city in some form, Rieser added, making the main question whether that city is The City of The Woodlands, or the community is chopped up and becomes absorbed by Conroe and Houston.

One way or the other, were going to be incorporated, he said. I think it is absolutely paramount that we do the work necessary. Im not making any presumptions about how this will turnout, Im expecting the truth. I want the facts. In the end, the board cannot incorporate The Woodlands, but they can prevent it by not putting it on the ballot. I personally believe that is the absolute wrong way to go. The people have the right to determine their own destiny. In the end, if we do all this work and put it out there, and they say, Ahh, no thanks, Im not going to be offended.

Rieser, who was first elected in 2016, is being challenged by local U.S. Air Force veteran Francis Frank Dargavage. During his two years on the board, Rieser has been involved in the Convention and Visitors Bureau, which has been renamed Visit The Woodlands Texas, as well as the Storm Drainage Task Force, which has swelled to more than 35 members.

One of the most important issues confronting The Woodlands is incorporation, which Rieser said he is focused on currently and will continue to be if he is re-elected. Other areas of concern that he said need immediate attention are traffic congestion and mobility, as well as storm drainage issues and flood mitigation.

Candidate Profile: Bruce Rieser Age: 67 Profession: Retired from the aviation industry, but continues to work as a freelance consultant. Other information: A native of Columbus, Ohio, Rieser moved to The Woodlands for his job in 1988. He enjoys vacationing in Michigan along the Great Lakes during the summer. See More Collapse

One of the advantages of incorporation, Rieser said, are having a voting seat on the Houston-Galveston Area Council, where many decisions are made about local mobility and transportation projects. Right now we dont have a voice, he added about the H-GAC. And, if the township does eventually incorporate, Rieser said the new city would be eligible to receive some state and federal funding for flood mitigation efforts that it current is ineligible for. During the Sept. 25 incorporation public forum, Rieser refused to say whether he is in favor of incorporation or against it, citing the need for more information.

As for his other priorities, they include preserving the way of life in the community and grow tourism outreach.

The third thing to me is to preserve what we have in The Woodlands. We have built a unique community here, one of the best Ive ever seen. Ive lived all over the country and a lot of places overseas, I cannot think of a single community I like better community than the one here, Rieser said. The very low taxes, the low cost of living, the great park systems, the fire protections we have.

Rieser said The Woodlands has gone through several phases, calling them the Mitchell years which was followed by the era of development led by The Woodlands Development Company and now the Howard Hughes Corporation.

The real trick of what I call Phase 3, it will be tough. Well essentially become the Bellaire of Montgomery County. We cant get any bigger, well be landlocked on all sides, he added.

Rieser said he believes diversity  ethnically, culturally and financially  is critical to the future success of The Woodlands and he hopes to maintain a community where everyone is both welcome and can afford to live in the community.

We dont want to turn this place in a place where the only people who can live here are fabulously wealthy, Rieser added. My fourth priority is to continue to explore new ways to market The Woodlands to leisure and convention meeting planners around the country. We are definitely getting (tourism) traction in places weve never experienced before. Were shaking things up in new ways. I love what Im doing.By Trend

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said expressed hope that US and Turkey will continue their cooepration.

Dear Mr. President, as I always pointed out, the Turkish judiciary reached its decision independently, he wrote on his Twitter account.

I hope that the United States and Turkey will continue their cooperation as the allies that they are, and fight together against terrorist groups," Erdogan added.

A Turkish court ruled on Friday to release the US evangelical Christian pastor Andrew Brunson at the center of a bitter diplomatic row between Ankara and Washington, a move that could be the first step toward mending ties between the NATO allies.

The court passed a 3 years and 1-1/2 month sentence on Brunson, who had been charged with terrorism offences, but said he would not serve any further time because he had already been detained since October 2016.As one of only two challengers to seek a seat on The Woodlands Township Board of Directors this year, candidate Francis Frank Dargavage believes his diverse life experiences as a military veteran, airline pilot and college instructor will help him if he is elected.

Dargavage, 74, has lived in The Woodlands twice during his life  an earlier three-year period was followed by his current 10 years as a township resident. The retired commercial airliner pilot worked for Continental for 18 years following a 22-year stint in the U. S. Air Force as both an enlisted airman and later a commissioned officer. He was also an instructor in economics at both the University of South Carolina and the University of Maryland, although Dargavage stressed he was not a professor.

In challenging incumbent Bruce Rieser, Dargavage said he understands he has a difficult task ahead of him, but explained he is running for a seat on the seven-member Board of Directors to bring a new perspective to the board. He also said he believes long-term politicians get complacent in their duties despite being what he called, fine people whom he respects.

I was a leader, Dargavage said of his time in the military and as an airline pilot. I have a lot of leadership skills. The time commitment (to be on the board) is not an issue. I want to be a part of the expansion of The Woodlandsto bring a new perspective to the board.

Dargavage said he believes if all four incumbents are re-elected in November, it would result in what he called status quo for the township. Aside from Rieser seeking another term, fellow board members Gordy Bunch, Brian Boniface and John Anthony Brown are also seeking re-election. Of the four incumbents, only Rieser and Boniface are being challenged. Brown did have an opponent initially, but that person  Luis Granados  was removed from the ballot after failing to report how long he had been a resident of both The Woodlands and the state of Texas.

A resident of the Village of Sterling Ridge, Dargavage said he has many concerns with the governance and direction of the township under the current elected official leadership. Some of his campaign issues, he said, include the cost of homes as well as what he believes is their inflated values in regard to property taxes; the disparity between new home construction and existing housing; and unknown financial issues facing the township in the future.

Dargavage also said he is staunchly against the township incorporating, and he also opposes an expansion or extension of The Woodlands Parkway and a proposed underpass at the intersection of Grogans Mill Road and Research Forest Drive.

We do have a traffic problem. We certainly have a lot of traffic at certain times of the day, Dargavage admitted. I am not in favor of being annexed by Houston.

Candidate Profile Name: Francis "Frank" Dargavage Age: 74 Profession/Job: Retired chief commercial airline pilot for Continental Airlines Background: U.S. Air Force veteran of 22 years, eight of which were as a commissioned officer; formerly worked as an instructor of economics at both the University of South Carolina and the University of Maryland. See More Collapse

While the township election may not have the prominence of state or national races, Dargavage said he would be willing to debate Rieser if the opportunity presents itself, but he added he has no plans to purchase campaign signs for supporters.

I have enough name recognition in The Woodlands, he said in explaining why he will refuse to utilize campaign signs. We need fresh eyes and a fresh perspective (on the board)I will do whatever it would take to be a fair and honest representative (of the people).

The township election is set for Tuesday, Nov. 6. Early voting begins on Oct. 22 and ends on Nov. 2. Township directors serve for a term of two years and are not paid any compensation for their work.Ana Maria Laurel has come to her rest in the presence of our Lord on October 11, 2018. She was born in Laredo, TX, and met the love of her life, Humberto R. Laurel, Jr., while at Martin High School. They were united in marriage on November 11, 1950.

Ana Laurel joined her husband on his journey with the Air Force, traveling around the United States, including a tour in Germany, for a service of twenty years.

Ana Laurel went to work for the government. She first worked 5 years for the US Air Force and Postal Service. She then worked an additional 32 years as a devoted Management Program Officer in US Customs, and her girls, that were part of her team, would work closely with her and become part of her family. She was always giving direction and guidance to others through her example of love and kindness, shown in her own way. She would often share a story that would tell of her heart. One such example involved taking her team to hire employees in different border-crossing cities from Brownsville to Del Rio. In one such city, after her team was nearing the end of offering positions for needed personnel, she saw one young couple, and his wife pregnant. Feeling moved, she knew she had to find a position for him, which she did. To this day, they remember her kindness in providing a future for this young couple.

Ana Laurel was an exemplary wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She was a prayer warrior for her family and others, every single day. She prayed the rosary every day with her oldest son, David, between two and four times a day. Also, more recently, she the prayed the rosary with her grandson, Josh. She offered prayers for her family and those who asked for prayers. This dedication to prayer and to God was most likely the result of helping take care of Christ the King Church since a young girl, being able to climb to the top of the statues and making sure they were polished and clean, with her small hands. She always dedicated flowers to Mary, and made sure her children grew up in the church.

Another way she showed love to her family was through her cooking. Especially on special holidays when her children, now grown up with their own families, would gather together during Thanksgiving and Christmas Dinners, enjoying the result of 4 to 5 days of cooking, baking, and preparation.

After Ana Laurels husband passed away, she wanted to join him. God finally granted her prayer, and they are together again. For those left behind, she wanted us to be happy and grateful for the wonderful life she brought to all of us, especially by her example in always putting everybody before herself. Her love for people was seen in her actions towards others throughout her life. She is already greatly missed, but we know she is always with us.

Ana Laurel is predeceased by her father, Estanislao Martinez; mother, Micaela Jordan; her brother Louis Martinez; and her sister, Isabel Reyna.

Left to cherish her memory are her loving children, David Ezequiel (Mary Pat) Laurel, Ricardo Luis Ricky (Linda) Laurel, Humberto Reymundo Tito (Jeanette) Laurel, and Anita Olivia (Steve) Stanley; grandchildren, David Tony, Mallory, Danny, Jennifer, Ana, Ashlee, Dottie, Chris, Junie, Bobby, David, Latisha, Stephanie, Joshua and Mark; great-grandchildren, Sophia, Emery, Damian, Isabella, Isaac, Noah, Kayla, Weston, Nathan David and Matthew; sisters, Alice Valdez, Mina Martel and Elsa Martinez.

The family will receive guests on Sunday, October 14, 2018, from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm at Fred Dickey Funeral & Cremation Services. A holy rosary will be recited at 7:00 pm. Funeral services will be held on Monday, October 15, 2018, at Christ the King Catholic Church. A funeral mass will be celebrated at 10:00 am. Interment will follow at the City Cemetery.

Funeral arrangements are by Fred Dickey Funeral & Cremation Services, 1320 Trey Dr. Laredo, TX 78041 (956)723-3611. You may leave condolences to the family online at www.freddickey.com.By Trend

President Donald Trump thanked Turkey on Saturday for freeing US pastor Andrew Brunson after two years in custody and said it would help improve strained relations, but he denied cutting a deal with Ankara, Reuters reports.

I dont make deals for hostages. There was, however, great appreciation on behalf of the United States, which will lead to good, perhaps great, relations between the United States & Turkey! Trump wrote in a tweet.

Trump specifically thanked President Tayyip Erdogan for his help, drawing a curt response from the Turkish leader, who has repeatedly said it was a courts decision to make, not his.As Harveys floodwaters rose the night of Aug. 26, nature took its ferocious course  but it didnt act alone. As we soon learned, roads, bridges, man-made drainage systems, dams and reservoirs also affected which neighborhoods flooded and which were spared. Addicks and Barker reservoirs have received most of the attention over the last year, but other public works had significant effects as well.

We need look no further than the flooding in Independence Heights, a historically low-income neighborhood just northwest of the Interstate 610-Interstate 45 interchange.

When the Texas Department of Transportation rebuilt the interchange recently, its engineers never imagined rains on the scale of Harveys. Contractors took steps that reduced the capacity of Little White Oak Bayou, which now acts like a dam during heavy rains. As a result, Independence Heights is more likely to flood. The area is still recovering from the devastation caused by Harvey.

The potential for a similar scenario but on a far larger scale lies ahead as TxDOT undertakes an environmental review process for a dramatic expansion of Interstate 45 at a cost close to $10 billion. The project would more than double I-45s size north of I-610  a footprint even larger than the massive Katy Freeway. The expansion would effect regional air quality and hit adjacent low-income neighborhoods especially hard, topics being studied and discussed in the federal permitting process. As proposed, it could have significant impacts on flooding, as well.

After Harveys devastation, Harris County and the city of Houston reconsidered their strategy for future floods. The county and city now require that any new structure built to replace a razed building must be brought up to current code, including meeting revised flood mitigation requirements. The new standard is for a 500-year flood, which refers to a storm with a 0.2 percent chance of happening in a given year.

One would imagine post-Harvey that TxDOT, recognizing how its own infrastructure can worsen flooding, would follow the 500-year flood standard being set by city and county officials as it studies and begins design work on this megaproject. TxDOT, however, is ignoring this new reality in its plans for the I-45 expansion.

According to recently released studies, TxDOT plans mitigation, such as with detention ponds, only to the extent needed to offset additional paving. The agency is totally rebuilding the freeway lanes  the public works equivalent of stripping a house to the studs  yet it does not intend to take into account historic flooding caused by freeways. Worse still, TxDOT will design the highway only for 100-year flood events (storms that theoretically have a 1 percent chance of occurring in a given year), not the tougher 500-year standard.

TxDOTs refusal to adopt the higher standard for this project will mean fewer detention ponds and bridges that will cause water to back up into neighborhoods and cause significant economic damage. Sure, rebuilding I-45 to todays flood standards will cost more money, but its money we have to spend to get this right and protect the lives and property of the people this project is intended to serve.

Long into the future, Houston will rely on a robust highway system to keep our economy moving forward. We cannot afford to build highways that shut down for days when heavy ruins inundate our area. We need resilient infrastructure designed for our actual weather conditions rather than built on outdated criteria.

As we digest the lessons of Harvey, lets require state and local governments to work together to make sure our infrastructure decisions dont make flooding problems worse. TXDOT must acknowledge that hydrology standards that suffice elsewhere are unsuitable for Houston. At a minimum, lets hold TXDOT and other state entities to the same standards we require of homeowners, businesses and local government.

Now is the time for Harris County and city leaders to insist that projects intended to benefit the community dont drown us instead for the simple reason that TXDOT refused to take into account the lived reality of our flood-prone region.

Skelly is a clean energy entrepreneur. Dodson is with Lower Brazos Riverwatch, whose mission is protection of water quality, riparian habitats and river access on the Brazos and its tributaries.SPRINGFIELD - The 8th annual "Celebration of Hope: A Mass for Cancer Survivors, Families, and Caregivers" will be held Saturday, Oct. 20 at 4 p.m. at St. Michael's Cathedral, 260 State St.

The liturgy will be followed by a reception raising funds for Baystate Regional Cancer Program's D'Amour Center for Cancer Care and the Sister Caritas Cancer Center at Mercy Medical Center from 5:30 to 10 p.m. at Nathan Bill's Bar & Restaurant, 110 Island Pond Road.

The event is organized annually by the Celebration of Hope of Western Massachusetts committee. This year it is honoring Jessica "Jessy" Sullivan and her family.

Sullivan, who has two young daughters with husband, John, co-owner of Nathan Bill's, was diagnosed last year with grade 3 anaplastic oligodendroglioma, an aggressive brain tumor, and has been treated at the D'Amour Center and at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. She has allowed researchers to study her tumor.

A run held in her honor last year raised more than $63,000 that she and her husband presented to the D'Amour Center.

Food tickets are $10; tickets for food and Big Wheels Night Racing are $20.

Tickets will be available at Nathan Bill's or online.Emotional support animals are defined as animals that provide "therapeutic benefit to their owner through companionship." Some argue these animals are essential for some people to get through the day. But others feel the ease with which people can claim an emotional support animal has created a scenario where too many people are clearly taking advantage of the system. What do you think?

PERSPECTIVES

Most people are accustomed to service dogs for people with disabilities, but a support animal is slightly different. Service dogs and animals typically perform a function or a job for their owner, who is unable to complete such tasks on their own. Rover.com distinguishes support animals as companions that:

The author expands:

There are roughly 40 qualifying disorders that might necessitate an emotional support animal -- including anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and eating disorders, just to name a few. For owners of emotional support animals, their companionship is irreplaceable. In the simplest terms, these animals make life more manageable for their owners -- something everyone can relate to.

Under the current guidelines set forth by the American Carrier Access Act:

This is where things get messy. The number of emotional support animals making trips with their owners within the cabin of a plane has skyrocketed over the last few years, indicating an upward trend in emotional support animals overall. According to the Chicago Tribune's Samantha Bomkamp:

Obviously, there is a financial incentive for passing a pet off as an emotional support animal; they fly for free and many apartment complexes won't charge a pet fee for them. The surge in these animal's popularity could indicate one of two things: a new and crippling mental health crisis in America, or that a lot of people are simply trying to save some money.

So many abuse the #EmotionalSupportAnimal thing that Im at the point where I feel like, Take a bloody Xanax & get over it! Too many trying 2 scam the system so they dont have 2 pay. The whole thing should be limited 2 actual documented #ServiceAnimals! https://t.co/9AINYWWzrk  Lark Logan (@LarkLogan) October 10, 2018

A lack of understanding of the importance of emotional support animals reflects a lack of understanding of mental illness. Many people argue the types of animals being used for emotional support is the true problem (everything from parrots to peacocks), and although the country may be more accustomed to dogs and cats, other types of animals are capable of providing support. It's a matter of finding the right one for you and your needs.

Reader's Digest's Jen Babakhan looked to a United States Marine police officer, Sarah Smith, for insight on emotional support animals. Smith has an anxiety disorder that "medication could never quite squelch."

So, I have an #EmotionalSupportAnimal and actually have a legitimate need for his #ESA certification; its gotten more difficult to find doctors to write ESA recs in CA... but its true. He helps me through!  #MentalHealthAwarenessDay  tweetybird (@mysticxnature) October 11, 2018

Obviously, there are valid circumstances where emotional support animals provide needed comfort to owners -- owners who are unlikely to find relief in other ways. But the number of incidents where people are adamant, even combative, about keeping their emotional support animal with them, combined with the obscure nature of these animals, makes it difficult to believe that 100 percent of these creatures are providing the comfort their owners and any "doctor's notes" might claim.

Most recently, a woman was escorted off of a plane when her airline, Frontier, discovered that her emotional support animal was a squirrel. Frontier allows valid emotional support animals into plane cabins, but it does not allow rodents of any kind on flights. The woman refused to deplane, and Frontier summoned the police. She punctuated the incident by flicking off onlookers.

Earlier this year, United Airlines barred a woman from bringing her emotional support peacock onto a flight on the basis of the weight and size of the animal.

Another woman chose to flush her emotional support hamster when she was told she could not bring it onto her flight. According to the Telegraph, the woman, Belen Aldecosea, recounted what happened:

The seeming ease with which people can obtain emotional support animals is diluting their importance for people who truly need them.

The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say.Despite setbacks, Eversource said Friday it remains "fully committed" to building a $1.6 billion, 192-mile transmission line through New Hampshire that would carry hydro power from Canada for utility customers in Massachusetts and Southern New England.

Over the years, the Northern Pass gained numerous permits, despite strong public opposition. Then on Feb. 1, New Hampshire's Site Evaluation Committee voted to block the project, a decision which some saw as the project's death knell.

On Friday, the New Hampshire Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal of that rejection, meaning the project could live to see another day.

In a statement, Eversource said it is "grateful for the opportunity to demonstrate that New Hampshire siting requirements were misinterpreted and incorrectly applied in reviewing Northern Pass."

New Hampshire's rejection came days after Massachusetts in January selected Northern Pass as its preferred option to import large amounts of Canadian hydro to meet its emission reduction goals.

As a result of the New Hampshire decision, Massachusetts instead decided to award its lucrative utility clean energy contracts to a different partnership between Hydro Quebec and Central Maine Power.

For the Northern Pass, Eversource had partnered with Hydro Quebec to compete in a state-sponored clean energy solicitation set up under Gov. Charlie Baker's 2016 Energy Diversity Act.

Eversource on Friday suggested that if its high-voltage transmission line is built, there will still be plenty of customers for its electricity, regardless of the project's failure to gain the initial Massachusetts contracts.

"On behalf of all our customers and businesses throughout the region in desperate need of rate relief, we remain fully committed to advancing Northern Pass, along with its many economic and environmental benefits, to help New Hampshire and New England address our energy needs and achieve our environmental goals," the company said.

Eversource had hoped to start construction in late 2018 with a 2020 in-service date.

The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests said Friday it had expected the high court announcement, and asserted that the New Hampshire siting committee made the right decision.

"Northern Pass failed to meet the burden of proof. We'll be working to make sure the Court has a full understanding of the issues that led to the SEC decision," the society said.NATICK -- The Republican and Sunday Republican were honored this week as the best Sunday newspaper in New England and a distinguished weekday newspaper by the New England Newspaper and Press Association.

The Republican also received a Publick Occurences Award for its coverage of the arrest of Gary Schara last September for the 1992 slaying of Lisa Ziegert in Agawam.

The honors were awarded at the fall conference of the regional news association at the Crowne Plaza in Natick.

Also recognized at the event was Wayne E. Phaneuf, executive editor of The Republican and Sunday Republican, who was presented with the Yankee Quill Award, the highest individual honor bestowed on journalists in New England.

Phaneuf, whose career spans 49 years with The Republican and its predecessor publications, was among five honorees who were recognized. Established in the 1960s and presented by the New England Academy of Journalists, the Yankee Quill "recognizes the lifetime achievement of those who have had a broad influence for good, both inside and outside the newsroom."

The Newspaper of the Year awards came in a competition for newspapers with circulations over 45,000. The awards are based on a review of two editions in each category, Sunday and daily, one of which can be chosen by the entrants and the other an edition designated by the judges' panel. Then, the papers are reviewed, and the honors determined by experts' and readers' impressions of the quality of the reporting and writing, use of photos, design and presentation, online offering, and overall utility and value.

"The Newspaper of the Year awards are truly special in this industry. They are confirmation that our content and publications teams are working in tandem to produce the very best printed product for our readers 365 days a year," said Cynthia G. Simison, assistant to the publisher and managing editor. "Our publications team works tirelessly to pull together content and present it in a reader-friendly way and with an engaging design. It is truly a team effort."

In the Sunday category, the Sunday Republican bested the Providence, Rhode Island, Sunday Journal for the top honor. In the weekday category, the Hartford Courant received the top honor with The Republican and the Providence Journal being named distinguished newspapers. In 2015, The Republican earned the coveted top honors in both daily and Sunday categories.

There were 18 Publick Occurences awards presented this year. The award - which The Republican has won four years in a row -- honors "very best work that New England newspapers produce each year." Last year's honor was presented for the newspaper's coverage of Springfield narcotics detective Gregg A. Bigda, who was captured on video threatening two juvenile suspects.

Coverage of Schara's arrest included breaking news posts and in-depth pieces, as well as video reports and other digital storytelling. The Republican's submission included work by staff writers Stephanie Barry, Buffy Spencer, Jeanette DeForge, Patrick Johnson and George Graham, staff photographer Don Treeger and former staff photographer Dave Roback, and assistant managing editor Greg Saulmon.

Wrote the judges about the Schara coverage, "Impressive reporting and excellent storytelling in the cost case drama. Great photos, video and timeline added depth to this terrific package...Excellent detail."

Saulmon, who worked with assistant managing editor Robert Rizzuto to coordinate the coverage, accepted the award on behalf of the staff.

"The journalists who covered this story -- some of whom have written about the case since 1992 -- were thorough, persistent and sensitive," Saulmon said. "Each year I'm inspired by the creativity and care for community shown by the winners of the Publick Occurrences Award. We are proud to be among them."

Assistant managing editor Vernon Hill and production editors Annmarie Murdzia and Ashley Potter accepted the Newspaper of the Year and Distinguished Newspaper of the Year awards.

"I'm so proud of the team of professional journalists who work so hard to bring The Republican's readers truthful, timely and engaging news in an attractive daily presentation," said George Arwady, publisher and CEO.Badir Program for Technology Incubators and Accelerators, an initiative of KACST, has contributed SR2.1 billion ($560 million) to Saudi Arabia's economy on a cumulative basis from 2010 to the end of last year, a report said.



Badir Program for Technology Incubators and Accelerators, an initiative of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, has contributed SR2.1 billion ($560 million) to Saudi Arabia's economy on a cumulative basis from 2010 to the end of last year, a report said.



This is based on the total revenues of SR620 million achieved by the incubated and graduated technical companies in the Program, added the "Economic Impact Assessment Report" conducted by the Australian company CREEDA Projects, which specializes in the establishment and management of technical incubators globally.



The study showed that the contribution from the Badir Program to the Saudi economy was about SR664 million during the past three years, an increase of 56 per cent, compared to the "Economic Impact Assessment Report" conducted in 2015.



The Economic Impact Assessment Report for the period from 2015 to the end of last year includes a summary of the economic indicators of the Emerging Technology Companies Sector in Saudi Arabia in terms of the development of the sector's contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) and its direct impact on economic growth and share of the labour market and total investments. The report also includes projections of the rates of development and growth in these indicators in the coming years.



The results of the report were announced by Nawaf Al Sahhaf, CEO of the Badir Program for Technology Incubators and Accelerators at the "Gitex Technology Week 2018" in Dubai on Sunday.



In its report, CREEDA adopted two specific methodologies for the assessment of the economic impact of the Badir Program and its contribution to the Saudi economy. The first methodology took into account the contribution to the GDP on the basis of the total expenditures of the incubated and graduated technical companies; the second one measures the contribution of these companies to the GDP on the basis of their annual revenues.



According to the report, the performance of the Badir Program over the past three years has undergone a remarkable growth in terms of the number of jobs generated by the incubated and graduated companies and their economic impact, expecting an increase in the contribution of these companies to the GDP in the coming years as a result of the structural and operational improvements implemented by the Program in 2016 and 2017, which, in turn, will enhance the Program's future performance.



In this regard, Nawaf Al Sahhaf, CEO of the Badir Program for Technology Incubators and Accelerators, said that the data of the report from CREEDA Projects provides many important indicators on the effectiveness of the steps taken by the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to support and develop the entrepreneurship sector and enhance its competitiveness globally, as well as increase its contribution to the GDP in line with the National Transformation Programme and Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030.



He emphasized that the Kingdom is keen to employ all its potential and capabilities to meet the elements of sustainable and comprehensive development, with a view to achieving its vision.



The country attaches a special priority to the entrepreneurship sector, which is one of the key pillars of the diversification of national income sources, sustainable national economic growth, job creation, as well as strengthening the Kingdom's capabilities for moving toward a post-oil economy, Al Sahhaf noted.



Earlier this month, the Badir Program for Technology Incubators and Accelerators officially received the presidency of the Arab Technology Incubators and Techno Parks Network (ARTECNET), for a period of three years (2019 to 2021).



ARTECNET aims to exchange the ideas and visions on the most successful ways to promote the Arab incubators industry, to benefit from expertise, information and experience in improving the performance of these incubators, and to develop ambitious plans and programs to improve the performance and enhance the role of emerging companies in the Arab world. .  TradeArabia News ServiceTwo workers were freed unharmed from deep inside a boiler at the Wheelabrator Technologies company in Millbury where they were Sunday afternoon.

The MA Fire District 7 technical rescue team was called at the request of Millbury firefighters at about 1:45 p.m. to perform what they called a "confined space rescue." Officials said at about 4:30 p.m. that the rescue was completed.

Team officials initially said the two workers were some 70 feet down in the boiler where they were conducting routine maintenance when they became stuck.

The Worcester Telegram and Gazette reported that the two workers became trapped when a cable system used to raise and lower the workers malfunctioned, and rescuers had to free the workers and retrieve tools.

Wheelabrator converts municipal waste and renewable fuels into what it calls "clean energy." The plant is located at 333 Southwest Cutoff.Emergency crews rushed to Wheelabrator Technologies in Millbury Sunday afternoon after two people became stuck in a boiler, roughly 70 feet down.

The call came in around 2 p.m. at the facility located at 333 Southwest Cutoff.

District 7 Tech Rescue Team on scene and working pic.twitter.com/4muopa5U3m  Millbury Fire Dept (@MillburyFire) October 14, 2018

The Massachusetts Fire District 7 Tech Rescue Team was called to the scene to rescue two men from the boiler.

Crews were still working the scene as of 3:30 p.m.

@MAFireDistrict7 Tech Rescue Team activation to the Town of Millbury. 333 Southwest Cutoff

for 2 people stuck 70ft. down in a boiler.  MA Fire District 7 (@MAFireDistrict7) October 14, 2018An alligator, a python and tarantulas were confiscated by police during the Super Megafest Comic-Con event in Framingham Saturday after a man was charging people to take pictures with the creatures.

The animals were seized during the event, which is being held at the Sheraton in Framingham, according to police.

Police confiscated the alligator, a python and two tarantulas, according to WCVB. The man, who has not been identified, was arrested on an unrelated warrant, according to the television station.

The Massachusetts Environmental Police are investigating the incident.The peak of Massachusetts fall foliage season is generally mid-October, but if you think it's coming a bit late this year, you're right.

The unusually warm summer continued into September. Rain in September helps nourish the process, and southern New England had enough of that, but higher-than-normal temperatures tend to delay the best colors from appearing by mid-October, the traditional peak time.

A quirk of the calendar also helps explain why this year's best leaf-peeping may seem a little late. The three-day Columbus Day weekend is often considered the best in some areas, but Columbus Day this year fell on October 8, the earliest possible date for the designated second Monday of the month.

In 2019, the holiday will arrive on October 14 - the latest possible date. That should restore a sense of normal timing to the fall foliage season.

The good news to a later foliage season is that the best is yet to come. In the southern half of New England, including Massachusetts, the last two weeks of October line up as banner season - and meteorologists including Terry Eliasen of WBZ-TV have predicted that when all is said and done, 2018 will be an above average year for savoring and appreciating the colors.

That's important for reasons beyond aesthetics. Businesses and hotels in northern New England, as well as Massachusetts, rely on customers who arrive for foliage tours and driving trips. Leaf-peeping is a major tourism attraction of this region, especially in rural areas that thrive in October.

Some of the best viewing comes on trips to the Berkshires, the legendary Mohawk Trail, the summit of Mount Greylock in Williamstown and the Connecticut River Scenic Byway, which in Massachusetts runs from Northfield (near the Vermont border) to South Hadley. Mount Tom is a notably good viewing area.

The foliage season remains one of the better reasons to live in New England. It's a welcomed bridge from summer heat to the cold winter that lies ahead. Its peak season doesn't last long, which makes appreciating its beauty all the more worthwhile as it occurs.

There's still time. Visitors don't take the unique beauty of this region for granted. Neither should we.The 2018 Massachusetts ballot contains one of the most contentious referendum questions in memory, and one of the most sophisticated choices in the state's history.

Question 1 will determine whether nurse-to-patient ratios will be mandated. Recent polls indicate the public mood is too close to call. The campaign has become a high-stakes, big-money showdown with nothing less than the quality of medical care in Massachusetts at stake, according to advocates on each side and within the medical industry.

As the campaign heads into its final stages, opinion remains divided among those on the front lines and most directly affected: the nurses themselves. The Massachusetts Nurses Association supports mandated ratios and insists its members are overworked to where the quality of their care is unavoidably compromised.

The American Nurses Association of Massachusetts and the Emergency Nurses Association of Massachusetts say otherwise. Their opposition is based on a conviction that better ways to assuring quality care exist than to impose across-the-board ratios. Some in the industry also warn passage could imperil the financial stability of some medical facilities.

One side will win. One will lose. Within the industry, the passion and emotion provoked by this campaign risks a split among nursing professionals that could last long after this election.

The nursing community is one of the most principled of all professions. Almost without exception, their members enter a challenging field out of sheer devotion to providing patients with the best possible care.

That nurses do not agree on Question 1 is proof of the complexity of this question. It may be the best example to date of the flaws in government by referendum.

Relatively few voters have the time or knowledge to understand or study the nuances of this legislation, so the outcome could very well be determined by emotion rather than fact, or by which campaign team produces the ad or commercial that clicks best.

As with every union, there are almost certainly members within the nursing labor groups who disagree with their own union's stance. When the result is known, it's assumed the losing side will put aside its disappointment - whichever side that may be - but nursing professionals are also human beings. Losing a fight over labor conditions rarely comes without a residual effect, even if the quality of the work is unaffected.

Across Massachusetts, dedicated nurses are working side by side. They will be expected to perform with their accustomed diligence and teamwork even as some cheer victory for their side, and others lament the mistake they see in the vote.

We can trust our nurses, but we should not be blind to the likelihood that defeat in this critical vote will hit some of them hard, however the vote turns out. A decisive referendum result, one way or the other, would perhaps ease the sting of defeat by providing a public mandate, but even that small consolation to the defeated side does not appear to be in the offing.

Once the vote is in, hospital finance and quality of care will be on the minds of administrators and nurse supervisors, but they should also keep an eye on morale, regardless of how this turns out.U.S. Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III headed down from Massachusetts to Texas over the weekend to help Beto O'Rouke's campaign as he challenges Republic Ted Cruz in the U.S. Senate race.

It isn't the first time Kennedy campaigned with O'Rouke in Texas, and Cruz made note of that Friday while referencing Chappaquiddick.

Video posted on Facebook in March shows O'Rourke and Kennedy driving in Texas with Kennedy behind the wheel.

According to the Dallas News, Cruz made a comment about Kennedy while campaigning in Houston Friday.

"By the way, he had Joe Kennedy down here campaigning with him. And Joe Kennedy was driving him around. I have to admit, it may be the first time in history anyone's ever asked a Kennedy to drive," Cruz said, according to Dallas News' report.

The comment appears to reference Chappaquiddick, the 1969 crash involving former Sen. Ted Kennedy, who is the great-uncle of Kennedy.

Ted Kennedy drove his car off a bridge and into the ocean off Chappaquiddick, a small island off Martha's Vineyard. Mary Jo Kopechne, a 28-year-old woman who was a passenger in the vehicle, died in the crash. Kennedy swam free and failed to report the crash for 10 hours.

Dallas News reports that Kennedy released a statement after Cruz' comment. Kennedy was in Texas Saturday with O'Rourke.

"My uncle fought his entire life to try make sure that everybody got access to health care. And you have a senator that shut down the federal government to try to deny millions of people access to health care," Kennedy said.

O'Rourke responded with, "That just says everything you need to know about Senator Cruz."Bahrain will host a major dermatology, laser and aesthetics conference and exhibition in November.

The first Bahrain Dermatology, Laser and Aesthetics conference and exhibition (BDLA 2018) will be held under the patronage of the president of the Supreme Council for Health (SCH), Lieutenant General Dr Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa on November 29 and 30.

BDA Center for Medical Training is organising the conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Bahrain - Conference Center.

The first-of-its-kind initiative in Bahrain, BDLA 2018 brings the regions foremost experts in dermatology, plastic surgery, laser and aesthetics to brainstorm and discuss the latest advances and trending topics in the field. The participants will benefit by staying ahead of the curve and update themselves on the new and advanced health technologies. The aim of the organisers is to highlight ways to engage patients and gain improvement in health-related outcomes, a statement said.

The conference includes five workshops that are unique and adapted to fit the local and regional regulatory frameworks. The workshops offer new insight into techniques in major and minimally invasive plastic surgeries, skin care and skin rejuvenation, as well as the treatment of burns, ulcers, the latest trends in injectables such as fillers and Botox, body countering devices and laser machines.

President of the conference, Dr Nidhal Abdulrahman Khalifa, states that the event aims to identify the latest international practices in the field of dermatology and plastic surgery.

We aim to promote these practices to enhance the Bahraini practice. We hope to advance the skills of Bahraini doctors, technicians and authorised practitioners. We also intend to spread awareness of non-qualified personnel that perform cosmetic medical procedures, and the harmful health complications and adverse sequelae that can arise, he said.  TradeArabia News ServiceFrequently Asked Questions

What is the mailing address for the Office of Admissions?

I have a copies of documents that have been requested by the Office of Admissions. Can I submit these copies to continue my admission process?

Must I readmit if I sat out a semester?

How can I find out which courses, taken at my former college, will transfer?

I received a letter requiring me to show that I have registered for Selective Service; however, I am not eligible yet. What should I do?

How long will it take for my admission application to be processed?

What are the driving directions to the University of Memphis and location of the Office of Admissions?

How soon will I know if Ive been accepted to the University of Memphis?

When I check my application status online, I see that I have incomplete items. What does this mean and how can I find out what items are incomplete?

I just realized that I submitted my online application with an error. Is there any way I can correct this error online?

I receive correspondence from the Office of Admissions via e-mail and regular mail. Why dont you send all correspondence via e-mail?

What is the mailing address for the Office of Admissions?

University of Memphis

Office of Admissions

101 Wilder Tower

Memphis, TN 38152-3520



I have copies of documents that have been requested by the Office of Admissions. Can I submit these copies to continue my admission process?

The Office of Admissions requires official documentation for application processing. Documents are considered official only if sent directly from the issuing institution. College entrance examination scores (SAT/ACT) will be considered official if they appear on an official high school transcript. Personal copies of requested documentation cannot be accepted. Please see Admission Requirements for more information



Must I readmit if I sat out a semester?

Students who have sat out one regular semester (fall or spring) must be readmitted to the University.



How can I find out which courses, taken at my former college, may transfer?

Please refer to the online transfer equivalency tables to determine which courses may transfer. If you do not find your institution listed you may wish to contact the Office of Admissions at (901) 678-2111 for more information.



I received a letter requiring me to show that I have registered for Selective Service; however, I am not eligible yet. What should I do?

You may still be admitted without this information, however, when you become eligible and complete your registration for Selective Service, please notify our office.



How long will it take for my admission application to be processed?

Once you apply online, please allow 2-3 business days for your application to be processed. After we receive all of the required supporting documents, an admission decision will be made and you will be notified by mail and e-mail.



What are the driving directions to the University of Memphis and location of the Office of Admissions?

Please see the Visit the Campus page for information on directions, campus map, parking, and arranging a tour. The Office of Admissions is located in Room 101 of Wilder Tower. Wilder Tower is located near the intersection of Patterson and Walker Streets.

How soon will I know if Ive been accepted to the University of Memphis?

Only after all outstanding items are received can an admissions decision be made. The University of Memphis requires official documents to make an admissions decision. Please monitor your e-mail (or regular mail) for notification of what outstanding items are needed to continue processing your application. Decisions regarding graduate programs may take a little longer than undergraduate due to the cooperative efforts between the academic department and the Office of Admissions.

When I check my application status online, I see that I have incomplete items. What does this mean and how can I find out what items are incomplete?

When you submitted your application, several of the responses automatically triggered additional requests. For example, if you are male between 18-26, you will be asked to verify registration with Selective Service and/or if you indicated that youve earned college credit from another accredited institution of higher education, you will be asked to have an official transcript submitted for evaluation, etc. You will be notified what, if any, items are outstanding after an analyst has reviewed your application  this may take 2-3 business days.

I just realized that I submitted my online application with an error. Is there any way I can correct this error online?

No. Once an online application has been submitted, changes can only be made by an admissions analyst. Please contact the Office of Admissions to request the correction.

I receive correspondence from the Office of Admissions via e-mail and regular mail. Why dont you send all correspondence via e-mail?

The Office of Admissions has a complex communication system that utilizes both e-mail (personal and official UofM) and regular mail. E-mail is the preferred method for corresponding with applicants. If you provided an e-mail address on the application for admission, we will communicate with you at that address. If you are accepted, instructions for setting up your UofM e-mail account will be provided with your official acceptance letter (e-mail). It is important that you set up your UofM e-mail account. From this point forward, all correspondence will be sent to your official UofM e-mail account.Division of Research and Innovation

The University of Memphis benefits from a diverse community of researchers engaged in pioneering work who help push the boundaries of current knowledge and creative pursuits that enhance our human experience. From applied to fundamental, quantitative to qualitative, conceptual to empirical, and descriptive to analytical, our faculty and student research impacts the economic, societal, and educational fabric of the Mid-South and the world. Want to get involved? Click on the links below to learn about resources and support available to help. Prefer to talk to a live human? Click to access our staff directory. Email us to schedule a one-on-one meeting, or plan to drop in for a visit during Help Hours.

Research Proposal Lifecycle

Office of Sponsored Programs

The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) partners with faculty and staff to provide the highest quality research administration at all stages of sponsored projects, from identifying funding sources through award closeout. OSP facilitates the scholarly activities of the research community as it positions the University to become the leading public research institution in the nation. The easiest way to reach us is via e-mail to OSP@memphis.edu. Your message will be acknowledged within 24 hours with an answer or with a timeline for when you can expect one. All team members receive messages sent to this address, thus reducing the risk of delay due to staff being out of the office or under heavy deadlines.

Research Compliance

The Research Compliance department includes The Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Financial Conflict of Interests, Export Controls and Animal Care. The IRB is charged with the responsibility of reviewing, prior to its initiation, all research (whether funded or not) involving human participants. The IRB is concerned with protecting the welfare, rights, and privacy of human subjects. The IRB has the authority to approve, disapprove, monitor, and require modifications in all research activities that fall within its jurisdiction as specified by both the federal regulations and institutional policy. Federal regulations, state laws and University policies recognize that researchers may have financial interests in research sponsors and/or in entities with business interests closely related to their research. In order to ensure that all employees engaging in sponsored research recognize, manage and report financial conflicts of interest, annual disclosure is required, and CITI training is required prior to engaging in sponsored research.The Minister of Foreign Affairs N. Kotzias will participate in the Foreign Affairs Council of the EU in Luxembourg on Monday 15 October.

Ministers will review current international developments including the outcome of the 73th UN General Assembly as well as the recent referendum at the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The agenda will also include items such as migration and the state of play in Libya.Nearly 400 business leaders and industry experts from Mumbai and Hyderabad (India) attended the latest edition of Dubai Multi Commodities Centres (DMCC) Made for Trade Live Roadshow in India.



Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) is the worlds flagship free zone and Government of Dubai Authority on commodities trade and enterprise.



The companies from the two states gained valuable insights on the ease of doing business in Dubai and the power of partnering with DMCC for business growth, said a statement from the authority.



Both EmiratesNBD and Dubai Tourism (DTCM) joined DMCC to showcase the best Dubai has to offer, it said.



The flagship event allows DMCC to travel the globe and communicate the commercial appeal of Dubai and the opportunities it offers for growth in the region and beyond, it said.



The event was inaugurated by Gautam Sashittal, chief executive officer, DMCC, followed by speeches by Vikash Mittersain, founder and president, India Business Group; and Sharad Agarwal, chief executive officer, Emirates NBD Mumbai India.



A panel discussion focused on Expanding business in Dubai and beyond where Sanjeev Dutta, executive director  commodities, DMCC; Shankar Chatterjee, founder chairman and managing director, S Cube Trans Continental Logistics; Captain BVJK Sharma, joint managing director and chief executive officer of JSW Infrastructure Ltd; S Sittarasu, chief executive officer Jawaharal Nehru Port Trust; and Rajnickant Patel, former managing director and chief executive officer, Bombay Stock Exchange, shared their views and experiences.



Gautam Sashittal, chief executive officer, DMCC, said: By 2020, it is expected that bilateral trade between the UAE and India will reach $100 billion, almost ten-fold the value it was in the 1970s.



Setting up a company in Dubai is an important step if you want to grow your business, and our roadshows provide an ideal platform to learn more about doing business in our free zone, and unlock further opportunities for trade, he said.



Sharad Agarwal, chief executive officer, Emirates NBD Mumbai India, said: We are delighted to work with DMCC to meet the Indian business community as part of its roadshow outreach, helping to showcase Dubai and the opportunity presented with doing business from the worlds leading free zone.  TradeArabia News ServiceThe UAE Minister of State for Advanced Sciences, Sarah Al Amiri, recently visited Ducab High Voltage (Ducab HV) in Jebel Ali, Dubai, and was given a tour of the facilities and was introduced to its latest technologies.



Ducab HV is the only dedicated high voltage cable manufacturing facility in the Middle East and designs, manufactures and installs systems rated up to four hundred thousand volts. One cable can be 1000 times the size of a normal household wire and able to carry enough power to supply four buildings the size of the Burj Khalifa.



Al Amiri was introduced to the advanced technological processes, laboratories, and equipment used by Ducab HV to drive innovation within the UAEs electrical sector, said a statement.



This includes a state-of-the-art testing facility that can simulate lightning up to two million volts and carry out long term testing at up to six hundred thousand volts, it said.



Previously this type of specialist testing had to be carried out overseas, but now the high-voltage cable systems that form the backbone of the nations electricity network can be fully assessed and manufactured in the UAE, it added.



Jointly owned by Ducab, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) and the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, Ducab HV has invested to develop its laboratory facilities into a state-of-the-art Extra High Voltage Development facility, with a vision to support local science and innovation efforts in line with the policies of the Emirates Science Council.



Al Amiri was also briefed on the companys strategy and ongoing efforts to foster scientific and R&D talent within the UAE.



She said: The UAE is leading the way in electrical infrastructure especially in areas such as cost effective solar power and green energy projects.



New technologies are constantly being explored and facilities like Ducab HV are essential to create an industrial ecosystem in the UAE that is ready to meet the demands of the future, she added.



Al Amiri also met with a number of Ducab HV employees and attended a discussion on Ducab Groups role as a leading Emirati manufacturer supporting the innovation and manufacturing agendas of the UAE government.



Engineer Jamal Al Dhaheri, chairman Ducab and director Ducab HV, said: Our company has brought the highest level of cable technology into the Ducab Group, strengthening our position as regional leaders in cable system technology across an extensive range of products used for the reliable and safe delivery of power.



Ahmad Hamad Al Mazrouei, chairman of Ducab HV, said: Since opening in 2011, we have made a notable contribution to the countrys innovation agenda achieving the stretching technology targets set by the shareholders ahead of schedule.  TradeArabia News ServiceDHL Express, a global express service provider, is set to launch a campaign in the Mena region aiming to guide online merchants to navigate and access the booming and lucrative global e-commerce marketplace.



DHL Express aims for the campaign titled Where Everything Clicks to reach companies ranging from start-ups to large enterprises, advising merchants on how to optimize their websites for international sales and to create a competitive advantage via shipping options offered.



DHL helps sellers traverse an increasingly global landscape, in which buyers progressively make purchases from international websites. The campaign reveals purchasing habits of online shoppers, including always important delivery preferences, and shows merchants how to use this information to increase sales.



Where Everything Clicks includes a rich database of how-to videos, white papers, customer insights, and trend videos that inform merchants and business about evolving consumer behaviour.



A 2017 study by KPMG reports that consumers across Middle East and Africa were the most likely to import consumer products bought online, almost 50 per cent of purchases, showcasing the rise in cross-border shopping that is driving international retail trade. The survey also revealed Enhanced Delivery Options as one of the key company attributes that contribute to deciding where shoppers choose to buy online. The study findings illustrate that companies must continually innovate to improve and shorten delivery times, to satisfy increasingly demanding consumer expectations.



Nour Suliman, CEO Mena, DHL Express said, The Mena region is witnessing rapid growth and change in e-commerce trends. Cross border e-commerce presents strong growth opportunities that is yet to be tapped into by many businesses in the region. With the proliferation of online trade, a product in one corner of the world today is now easily accessible to customers at the opposite end in just a few clicks. This has allowed online merchants to access markets and customers from around the globe.



The Where Everything Clicks campaign helps empower businesses from across Mena region to go global. Our aim is to support cross border global ecommerce trade by taking local online merchants global.



Faysal Elhajjami, DHL Express MD, Saudi Arabia said: We recognize that our customers success is closely tied to their buyers satisfaction with the delivery experience and the delivery options offered. With Where Everything Clicks campaign we want to showcase to business across KSA how an international express shipping option can increase e-commerce value helping merchants boost revenue and tap into new markets.



Geoff Walsh, UAE country manager, DHL Express said: Global cross border e-commerce is growing at a remarkable pace, and even more so in the UAE. We aim to support local ecommerce startups by providing them with tailor made solutions that will allow them to easily address potential global consumers, therefore improving their e-commerce proposition within the current market.



The Where Everything Clicks campaign highlights how an international express shipping option can increase e-commerce value helping merchants boost revenue and tap into new markets.  TradeArabia News ServiceCASS CITY  The Village of Cass City boil water advisory has been lifted.

"The boil advisory issued on Thursday, Oct. 11 affected only Northwood Lake Condos and Northwood Meadows Assisted Living in the Village of Cass City," states a news release issued early Saturday evening. "The boil water advisory has been lifted and it is no longer necessary to use boiled or bottled water."3 1 of 3 Contributed photo Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Contributed photo Show More Show Less 3 of 3





MIDDLETOWN  Award-winning author, Professor David Blight, will give a lecture about his book Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom at a benefit reception next month.

The event will raise funds for the maintenance of the societys headquarters, the General Joseph Mansfield House, and ongoing activities fulfilling the societys mission to educate the public about the areas history. The talk will be held Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. at the Inn at Middletown, 70 Main St.Avaya Holdings, a global leader in digital communications software, is demonstrating simultaneous live voice translation at Gitex Technology Week, running from October 14 to 18 Dubai World Trade Center.



The Avaya Vantage device can be used to empower the Expos 25 million international visitors, speaking more than 1,000 languages, to easily and effectively communication and share ideas, a statement said.



Every year at Gitex, our customers, partners and industry peers look to Avaya to define the global technology roadmap, said Frederick Sabty, VP Hospitality Worldwide at Avaya.



We believe it is our responsibility as a market leader to develop and demonstrate human-centric innovations that not only enable business but also positively impact society. We hope these practical solutions will inspire others to leverage the tremendous potential of open platforms in creating meaningful and impactful experiences.



"In general terms, communications have become very open and broad. While soft clients now regularly connect to multiple services, the physical phone has lagged, said Dave Michels, principal analyst & founder, TalkingPointz.



Avaya's Vantage endpoints are built for modern communications. They bring the power of APIs and apps to an always-on, familiar desktop device. These powerful and open devices show the company continues to be one of the top leading vendors in terms of IP desktop phone innovation.  TradeArabia News ServiceI doubt very seriously there isnt a nonprofit on a local level that is not struggling financially to help people. As many nonprofit leaders will tell you, the need continues to grow.

But this column isnt about their need or the services they offer but the status quo in which they get or do not get funding.

Sometimes, the way things are done has to be challenged with a different point of view and I believe the government should rethink its priorities when administering Community Development Block Grants.

It is impossible to disagree that organizations the agency funded for 2018  such as W.H.E.A.T., which feeds the hungry, and Clifford Beers, which helps people with behavioral, physical and social needs  are not worthy of every dime they received.

But I disagree that grants should only fund programs of woe and not those nonprofits that are lifting people on to better things in life.

Carroll Brown, the president of the West Haven Black Coalition, which received zero-funding this year, filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, arguing the decision not to fund her organization was motivated by race.

She did not win.

The head of HUDs Hartford office and the manager of West Havens Community Development Administration, which administers the local grants, say the process was both fair and transparent.

I wont argue the transparency. As I have pointed out, the agencies that did receive funding are definitely worthy.

But I will strongly argue the fairness as it follows a disturbing pattern of nonprofits headed by blacks nationwide that are thrown loose change  or nothing at all  when it comes to funding their organizations, thereby making it impossible for them to succeed.

And, that too, is transparent  and black leaders of nonprofit agencies nationwide are beginning to fight back to get the funding they deserve.

The grants doled out by CDBG continues to fund the same programs of woe year after year and it can be strongly argued that many of the services the programs offer are available in plenitude from other nonprofits.

It has been pointed out to me that many of the programs funded this year provide services utilized and needed by minorities. But that isnt the issue.

My issue lies with the fact that nonprofits headed by blacks to help blacks get scant funding  or none at all. That is puzzling because who knows better what it takes to lift blacks and other minorities out of poverty than the blacks and minorities who have lifted themselves out?

Nat Chioke Williams, the executive director of the Hill-Snowdon Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based funder that invests in community organizing, told the website insidephilanthropy.com, in part that philanthropic investment in black-led organizations remains meager and whats still missing is a major and sustained investment by funders in black-led organizations.

There will always be people who are in crisis and it is certainly the duty of CDBG and other government funding sources to fund these critical agencies. But there also will always be people trying to come from under the help of nonprofit agencies and move forward in life.

And, they too, are deserving.

Grants? Maybe its time to rethink CDBG.

James Walker is the Registers senior editor. He can be reached at 203-680-9389 or james.walker@hearstmediact.com. Follow him on Twitter @thelieonroarsWhen the commander-in-chief told reporters this month that it's "a very scary time for young men in America" in light of accusations of sexual misconduct, it undermined years of progress the military has made in getting more victims to come forward, legal experts say.

President Donald Trump's comments -- and subsequent statements in which he called sexual assault allegations made against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh a hoax -- could have a chilling effect on getting any sexual assault victim, military or civilian, to speak out, said retired Army Lt. Col. Geoffrey Corn, a professor at South Texas College of Law who served as a longtime judge advocate.

In the military, though, where Corn said leaders have made real progress in getting more victims to report possible crimes, "there can be no doubt" that the commander in chief's comments will hurt those efforts.

"Say you're in the gym. You've been victimized the night before, and you're watching a clip from the president about how men are the ones in trouble and it's unfair to them if you don't report with corroborating evidence," Corn said. "You're going to say, 'Forget it. I'm a private in the Army or the Air Force and I've got to go tell a colonel or a captain. ... I don't stand a chance.' "

Related content:

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Kavanaugh, Trump's pick to serve on the Supreme Court, faced a tumultuous confirmation process. Emotions ran high as Americans watched back-to-back congressional testimony from Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, a woman who accused him of sexual assault when both were in high school decades ago.

Republicans argued that it was a "he said, she said" case, and that Kavanaugh had been found guilty by mob rule without any due process. Democrats argued that the allegations by Blasey Ford and others had not been taken seriously and weren't thoroughly investigated by senators across the aisle. The commander-in-chief took sides on Twitter and mocked Blasey Ford during a rally.

Kavanaugh was eventually confirmed Oct. 7 by a 50-to-48 vote, the thinnest margin of a Supreme Court justice in decades, and one that seemed to mirror the country's fiercely divided views.

The public was now involved in a debate that has played out in the military for years, said retired Air Force Lt. Col. Rachel VanLandingham, a Southwestern Law School professor and former judge advocate. Like Corn, she's worried about how it will affect victim reporting in military units.

"It's insidious and it's subtle, but I think the effect could be that it dampens a survivor's or victim's willingness to come forward with these reports because they're already afraid they're not going to be believed," she said.

Muddling the Toughest of Cases

Nearly 4,200 female service members and 1,084 men reported a sexual assault in the military in 2017, up 10 percent from the year prior. More than half of those cases -- 54 percent of them -- resulted in criminal charges being referred to court-martial. That was down from 71 percent in fiscal 2013.

Deciding sexual assault cases can already be exceptionally difficult, Corn said. Adding in questions about how military or civilian juries have been influenced by the president, senators or other national-level conversations only makes that tougher, he added.

"Military judges have to be more vigilant now in the jury selection process and the questioning of potential jurors to make sure ... this public discourse has not undermined their capacity to fulfill their judicial function, which is to have an open mind to assess the evidence fairly," Corn said.

This isn't the first time a commander-in-chief's comments about sexual assault could spill into military court proceedings. In 2013, a Navy judge ruled that two defendants could not be punitively discharged because President Barack Obama's comments about having a zero-tolerance policy for military sexual assault were deemed as unlawful command influence.

Former Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Jim Amos was also found to have exercised unlawful command influence during a service-wide tour, in which he spoke to Marines about sexual assault. That tough talk led to a court of appeals overturning a staff sergeant's sexual assault conviction.

Enforcing the rules without influencing future cases is a tricky issue for commanders, said retired Navy Capt. Lory Manning, director of government relations at the Service Women's Action Network, especially since those officers are often in charge of both the victim and the accused.

"That's a very fine line, and it's going to take court cases ... to figure out and provide much better guidance when you have a dual responsibility of preventing sexual assault and dealing with the aftermath if it happens," she said. "We need more case law and more nuanced training."

Because of the pressure from Congress and others to stamp out sexual assault in the ranks, commanders sometimes feel compelled to push sexual assault cases to court-martial, which isn't always the right move, said Corn, who has advocated for keeping that decision-making power with commanders.

Since Trump's comments didn't speak as directly to military sexual assault as Obama's did, VanLandingham said it's unlikely they'll result in successful unlawful command influence claims.

But, Corn said, the comments could nonetheless make a prosecutor's job harder.

"You have the commander-in-chief and the president of the United States basically endorsing the narrative that anybody who doesn't make an immediate or prompt report with substantial corroborating physical evidence is probably fabricating the accusation," he said.

A Commander's Duty

In the aftermath of the Kavanaugh confirmation, it will be incumbent on military commanders to create and foster an environment in which sexual assault victims trust the system enough to come forward, experts said.

"The military has struggled, even under the best of circumstances, with getting young women and young men who've been sexually assaulted to come forward," Manning said. "They've tried all kinds of things, so we need to do a much better job ... of making them feel safe, respected and listened to when they do."

Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said that's his top message for commanders and senior enlisted personnel.

"'I can't tell you what to do on an allegation of any kind, but I can tell you that you can't do nothing,'" Neller said he tells them.

The Marine Corps saw the biggest spike in sexual assault reports in 2017 with 998, a 14.7 percent increase over the year prior.

"Our numbers are not going down, but the people who do this professionally tell me that's good because it shows that people are still willing to come forward and report allegations," Neller said last week. "To me, the two metrics are, do the Marines have confidence that the chain of command is going to listen to them? And do they trust them? Those numbers have increased over the years."

Proper training for those hearing the allegations and determining whether to pursue charges will be imperative in this process, VanLandingham said. Biases and inappropriate decision-making are overcome through proper procedures and good education and training, she said.

"That's where the military's training on sexual assault is so, so important," she said. "That informs those folks sitting in judgment. So training has to be more than a bunch of PowerPoint slides. ... It has to be meaningful."

Ultimately though, everyone involved in the legal process will need to be vigilant in the wake of Trump's comments -- from ensuring victims still report to making sure jury members deciding cases aren't influenced by his remarks.

"Words matter. When comments such as these are made by the commander in chief, they can have a powerful impact because of who is making them," VanLandingham said. "Therefore, leaders both in and out of uniform need to try even harder to combat inaccurate biases and unfair stereotypes that can undermine the fair evaluation and disposition of allegations of sexual assault.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ginaaharkins.China's Sub Force Is Growing More Powerful. This Is What the US Navy Needs to Do to Stay AheadYPSILANTI, MI - Fifty-five Washtenaw County residents died of opioid-related overdoses between January and August - an increase of more than 30 percent from the first eight months of 2017, according to the county health department.

The Washtenaw Health Initiative Opioid Project is hosting an Opioid Summit to discuss the crisis Oct. 15.

The summit will involve health professionals and community members with a goal of raising awareness, reducing stigma and developing community-driven solutions, the volunteer group says.

"We are working on the opioid issue in Washtenaw County, but it's clearly not enough," said Health Department Deputy Health Officer Jimena Loveluck. "We continue to see more deaths and need to coordinate resources and tools. This Summit provides a critical opportunity to connect with individuals and leaders across our community. We look forward to increasing our shared understanding and to generating truly effective community solutions."

Afternoon and evening sessions are planned at the Washtenaw Community College Morris Lawrence Building in Ann Arbor. Sessions are free and registration is required. Refreshments will be provided.

The afternoon session from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. is for individuals actively working in a profession affected by the opioid epidemic, such as nurses, counselors, social workers and law enforcement. The evening session from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. is designed to educate community members about the epidemic and engage them on initiatives to address it.

The Health Department will also offer onsite hepatitis A vaccinations.

For more information on the opioid epidemic, visit the Washtenaw County Health Department website.When Jodi van Haren launched Advantage Mechanical Refrigeration in 2001, she had two clients and ran the company out of her home in Plainfield Township.

Seventeen years later, she has 13 employees, and her company has done hundreds of service and construction projects on refrigeration units throughout Michigan, as well as in Indiana, Texas and Wisconsin.

But, like most businesses, there's still plenty of challenges. Controlling costs and finding the best employees have been challenging at times. And long-term planning hasn't always been her strength.

She's gotten a helping hand with the Grand Rapids Chamber's minority business program, ELEVATE, which was launched in 2016 and is now accepting applications for its second batch of businesses.

Through the program, van Haren, who is Native American, received consulting services from industry professionals designed to take her business to the next level.

For example, after learning that some of her company's expenses are higher than similar sized businesses, she's now pushing project supervisors to do a better job making sure costs on construction projects don't go over budget, van Haren said. She also has two thermometers tapped to the wall at her office, tracking whether her company is hitting its sales goals -- something she wasn't doing before.

"We now know what we're trying to hit," she said. "It just creates more of a team feeling of accomplishment."

Chamber officials are touting the lessons learned by people like van Haren as they prepare to welcome another 10 business to the program - funded through a $400,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation - in January.

Businesses that wish to apply must be at least 51 percent minority-owned. Its geared towards so-called "second tier" businesses, which the chamber identifies as having at least two employees and $1 million or more in annual sales.

Dante Villarreal, the chamber's vice president of business services, said the program's goal is to create wealth and prosperity in minority communities by strengthening minority-owned businesses.

"Businesses play a vital role in propping up their community," he said. "When you have a very successful business ... they are likely to invest back into their community."

Minority-owned businesses account for a small slice of economic activity in West Michigan and beyond, Villarreal said.

He said the chamber identified 28 minority-owned businesses in the Grand Rapids-Wyoming metro area with $1 million or more in annual sales and two or more employees.

And many of those businesses tend to "plateau," he said. A lack of expertise and connections often keeps them from reaching the next level.

ELEVATE's goal is to change that.

It provides businesses with mentors, guest speakers, and advisers on topics ranging from sales and marketing to management. Participants learn to further develop and implement their business strategy, better understand their market and take advantage of new opportunities.

"The key underlying component of ELEVATE's mission is to transform the strategic approach of minority businesses and increase their ability to remove barriers and maximize market opportunities," Villarreal said. "In doing so, they will become stronger economic drivers in the communities where they operate."

The first group of businesses to participate in the chamber's program finished in May. In addition to Advantage Mechanical Refrigeration, other participants included Tolman's Wholesale Meats, Supermercado Mexico, a grocery store, and Jireh Metal Products.The race to become the worlds first smart city has become more exciting with recent and wider applications of disruptive technologies, said experts ahead of the third edition of Future Cities Show in Dubai.



With the theme Propelling Globalization through Digital Transformation, Future Cities Show, to be held from April 8 to 10, will support the growth of smart city solutions such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, smart mobility, smart infrastructure, and sustainability as catalysts in achieving a healthy global digital economy.



It will do so by providing the platform for homegrown and international technological innovation to attract scalable investments, they stated.



The building blocks for smart cities will also be showcased at the upcoming event, said the organisers.



Dubai leads the technological revolution in the region by establishing Smart Dubai as the lead government agency to propel the city to become the worlds first blockchain-powered government by 2020, they stated.

Additionally, the city aims to become the worlds hub for 3D printing, and reach 25 per cent driverless transportation by 2025.



Dubais futuristic vision is shared globally. International governments, cities, and corporations have new-age technological innovation ideas, but they need to pull in investments to harness the full potential of their smart city infrastructure and its relevance - from technology base to special application, public usage, and experience, said the organisers.



The upcoming show bridges this gap by linking them with investors who are keen to support creative ideas using disruptive technology during the three-day exclusive event. The event anticipates participants from over 20 countries.



Dawood Al Shezawi, the head of the event's organising committee, said: "Smart city solutions will change the way we live. These disruptive technologies will tip the balance between increased efficiency and stagnant productivity. However, they need access to a strong network of business partners, which the expo will provide."



The upcoming event encourages the participation of countries, cities, and corporations with smart city solutions that involve the use of Artificial Intelligence in its application.



These projects address the challenges of technology adoption by multiple sectors including agriculture, call centers, customer experience, energy and mining, healthcare, intellectual property, information and communication, technology, manufacturing, retail, and software development, he added.



According to him, the participants with smart infrastructure projects can maximise the $3.7 trillion global investment, which is expected to be infused until 2035, providing a competitive advantage for increased efficiency of the economy, transportation, public order and protection, utilities, roads and bridges.



The global investment will also be utilised to develop underground technology, BIM(building information modelling), GIS (global information systems), drainage and sewerage, sensors, monitoring technologies, green building solutions, lighting, stated Al Shezawi.



Investment in AI is expected to reach $89.9 billion by 2025 worldwide, with growing investment interest in quantum computing. This will enable faster processing of larger complex algorithms, it added.



Al Shezawi pointed out that blockchain, or digitisation of asset management, had been attracting investment interests with an anticipated global investment reaching $300 billion.



Among the sectors benefiting from blockchain ideas are banking and financial institutions, critical infrastructure security, internet advertising, crypto exchanges, education and academia, industrial IoT, real estate, supply chain management, government and public records, retail, human resources, law enforcement, business, and corporate governance, he noted.



Al Shezawi pointed out that there was a fundamental takeaway when supporting disruptive technologies at this early stage.



"By investing in smart city solutions now, you are funding the future. Its all about getting there first and then subsequently enjoying exponential returns on investment," he noted.



The Future Cities Show has attracted over 20,000 visitors and 70 exhibitors and the 2019 edition will be co-located with Annual Investment Meeting and AIM Start-up for an enhanced experience.-TradeArabia News ServiceUPDATE: Man arrested Sunday evening

KENT COUNTY, MI - The U.S. Marshals Service is searching West Michigan for a man with face tattoos wanted on three felony warrants.

Daniel Lee King

U.S. Marshals officials and the Fugitive Task Force are looking for Daniel Lee King, 30, who is described as 5-foot, 5-inches tall and weighs 170 pounds, according to the Kent County Sheriff's Office.

King is considered armed and dangerous, and is believed to be in possession of a stolen handgun, deputies told MLive.com.

He has several face tattoos, including a Christian cross drawn between the center of his brow and a "hatchet man" tattoo across his neck. The symbol is a logo created by Michigan horror-rap group Insane Clown Posse.

King is a Michigan Department of Corrections parole absconder, and the possible suspect in a recent Kent County home invasion.

He has two warrants for failing to appear at a sentencing for a larceny complaint, and one felony warrant for "dangerous drugs," deputies said.

King has been known to hang out between Kent and Ionia counties and Greenville, Michigan, according to a post published late Saturday night on the sheriff's office Facebook page. The post also asks for tips regarding King's whereabouts.

The sheriff's office asks anyone with information about King to call the Fugitive Task Force at 517-712-2567, or to contact Silent Observer at 616-774-2345.

CAPTURED!!! 10-14-18 as of 7:20 p.m. Daniel Lee King is in custody. His arrest came as a direct result of one of the... Posted by Kent County Sheriff's Office on Saturday, October 13, 2018

This story has been updated with new information.Incumbent U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Republican challenger John James squared off in person for the first time Sunday, contrasting decades of political experience with an outside perspective informed by a business and military background.

During the one-hour debate, hosted by WGVU in Grand Rapids, Stabenow sought to defend her work in the Senate and present herself as a bipartisan hard worker as James worked to convince viewers Stabenow hasn't done enough with her time in Washington, D.C..

On topics ranging from Michigan's environmental and infrastructure needs to where the candidates stand on health care and the nation's current trade policies, Stabenow laid out her most recent work on the subject and stressed her experience working towards a solution on complicated issues.

"The reality is, this is not the moment for inexperience," Stabenow said. "This is the moment for folks that have relationships, that have experience and seniority and a proven track record against all the odds that they can get something done."

At every opportunity, James questioned whether Stabenow's comments could be believed when many of the issues she's worked on have been longstanding problems.

In his opening comments, James said Stabenow is "a nice lady" who he said has grown ineffective and too partisan.

"Bipartisanship isn't a buzzword - it's a way of life," he said. "Why should we believe you now? What took you so long?"

Policy wise, the two candidates were quite at odds on the issue of health care, with James alleging Stabenow waited for an election year to get a bill dealing with prescription drug costs signed by the president. Stabenow retorted that she'd been working on the issue for years.

James said he believe's the nation's current health care policy is "an example where both parties have failed the American people," and believes the power should be placed in the hands of individuals and their doctors.

Stabenow said the country needs to have a health care system that's affordable while still protecting the vulnerable. She was also critical of James' suggestion that programs like Medicare and Social Security be removed from mandatory spending: "I don't think Social Security and Medicare should be affected by the whims of politics," she said.

On the topic of tariffs, Stabenow said she supports being tough on trade but wished the Trump administration had chosen to tackle NAFTA renegotiations first before taking on other aspects of U.S. trade policy.

"By doing everything at the same time, unfortunately what has happened is tremendous upheaval and instability," she said, adding that every time she spoke to farmers, trade issues were what they wanted to discuss.

James said it was important for the U.S. to be negotiating from a position of strength on trade matters, and pointed to the current uptick in the U.S. economy as a marker of success. He told Stabenow the president has been able to "accomplish more in modernizing NAFTA in 20 months than you were in 20 years in Washington."

When discussing Michigan's infrastructure both below and above ground, James suggested it was "literally the Senator's job" to get an infrastructure bill through Congress. He said resisting President Donald Trump's agenda at every turn could prevent the state from getting much-needed resources.

"When you're resisting the president rather than working with everybody...that's a sure way to make sure Michigan doesn't get resources," he said.

Stabenow said she wished infrastructure had come up as a major bipartisan priority in Congress shortly after Trump's election, but said she is hopeful it would high on the agenda next term. and referenced recent forward movement on the Soo Locks project and rural broadband efforts as good news for Michigan residents.

Stabenow also brought up Trump's endorsement of James in the race and James' support of the president, noting that she focuses on the needs of Michigan voters: "I get up every day working to make you proud."

James said he would "stand up to the president when it's best for the state of Michigan" and that he would work with the president or anyone else to get effective policy in place.

Sunday's debate was closed to the public, but began airing on PBS stations at 6 p.m.

The second debate is hosted by the Detroit Economic Club and will take place Monday, Oct. 15 at the Motor City Casino Hotel in Detroit. The program is expected to begin at 12:35 and end at 1:30, and the event is sold out.

More information about the Nov. 6 midterm elections:

Polls will be open in Michigan from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 6. Check Michigan's Secretary of State website to see whether you are registered and to preview your ballot.

MLive has partnered with the League of Women Voters of Michigan Education Fund to provide candidate information and other voting resources to Michigan readers.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government. For specific information about the U.S. Senate candidates and other Michigan races, visit Vote411.org.

Read more MLive election coverage here.

More U.S. Senate coverage:PARMA, MI - A World War II pilot from Jackson County who was killed in action more than 70 years ago was finally welcomed home Saturday.

A public ceremony for the burial of Second Lt. Elwood Bailey took place the afternoon of Oct. 13 at Chapel Cemetery in Parma. More than 100 people attended the ceremony, which included full military honors for Bailey.

"Sometimes you pay a price for your service, but it's nice to see people showing that they respect that," said Wayne Tompkins, Bailey's nephew.

Burial in Parma for Elwood Bailey, who was killed in World War II. Posted by Jackson Citizen Patriot on Saturday, October 13, 2018

The ceremony was conducted by U.S. Navy Chaplain James Dewey and featured members of the U.S. Marines First Battalion, 24th Marines, 25 Marine Regiment.

Wayne Tompkins said Saturday was a day of closure for his family, as Bailey was laid to rest 76 years after he was last seen.

"It's brought a whole lot of things to a conclusion," Wayne Tompkins said.

According to his obituary, Bailey was born in 1920 in Sandstone Township and graduated from Parma High School in 1938. He then graduated from Jackson Junior College in June 1941 before joining the U.S. Navy.

Bailey moved up through the ranks before being promoted to Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and pilot of the Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat attack fighter aircraft. He was assigned to Marine Fighting Squadron 223 (VMF-223) on Guadalcanal Island.

In August 1942, Bailey was battling in aerial combat in Guadalcanal in the Pacific. He we went missing in action and efforts to locate him were unsuccessful. He was determined killed in action the following year.

In 2012, an island villager spotted the wreckage, sold the plane's wing to a museum and contacted U.S. authorities. In September 2017, the investigation closed -- determining the teeth and bone fragments found at the site were Bailey's.

Bailey's resting place at Chapel Cemetery is next to his parents, Ray and Lula Bailey.

"We were just impressed and humbled with this turnout for Elwood," U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Scott Tompkins said. "Seeing the number of people here today was breathtaking."

In 2014, Scott Tompkins found some information on Bailey through the website MissingMarines.com. Scott Tompkins contacted his father, Wayne Tompkins, who led the efforts to identify Bailey.

Scott Tompkins is a pilot in the Navy, but he said he didn't join the military because of Bailey's story. He said he respects his great-uncle; whose family spent the rest of their lives wondering what happened to him.

"(Bailey) was one of the first to join the military before Pearl Harbor and was one of the first to go against the Japanese at their full strength in the very beginning of the war against those sort of odds -- when he was just this brand-new kid with his brand-new wings and his brand-new plane and he went up against that tough of enemy," Scott Tompkins said.

Five days before Bailey went off to the military, he married his high school sweetheart, Eunice Speet. She died in 2015, but about 15 of her relatives were at Saturday's ceremony, Wayne Tompkins said. There were about nine family members from the Tompkins side.

Wayne Tompkins said his uncle's story continues through a documentary being worked on at the Jackson College Heritage Center researching Bailey and others. It is scheduled to be released in April 2019, Wayne Tompkins said.

"I'm looking forward to coming back to see that," he said.KALAMAZOO, MI -- The sun shone through passing clouds as they were carried by a slight chill in the wind while family and friends gathered to remember the late Kalamazoo City Forester Todd Pryor.

A memorial service was held Saturday, Oct. 13, at Mayors' Riverfront Park and Spring Valley Park in Kalamazoo.

The service began with a procession of at least 50 city-owned trucks that traveled to Spring Valley Park.

Among the memorial service speakers were Kalamazoo Mayor Bobby Hopewell, City Manager Jim Ritsema, and Public Services Director and City Engineer James Baker.

"When you think of a life that is well lived, when you think of an impact that you can have, I think Todd's is one of the greatest," Hopewell said. "His friendship, his caring, the opportunities he has created for others, and certainly service to our great community."

"I can't think of a more fitting way to celebrate Todd's memory and all that he was, to his family, friends, and to our community than by planting a tree in his honor and dedicating a bench in Spring Valley Park, where he often came to walk and enjoy the outdoors," City Manager Jim Ritsema said to the crowd.

After the speakers concluded, a bench was uncovered and dedicated to Pryor, then family and friends gathered around the small oak tree to cast soil at its base, permanently rooting his memory in the park.

Pryor, 50, of Climax, died Thursday, Aug. 30, when a pickup truck turned in front of his motorcycle on South Sprinkle Road in Pavilion Township. His wife, Judy Pryor, who was riding with him, was seriously injured. The crash remains under investigation.

Pryor is survived by his wife, five children, four step-children and his grandchildren.

Pryor was a wonderful husband and a father who loved his children dearly. He was proud of his work, his wife said.

Pryor started at the city of Kalamazoo as a mechanic in 1991. He was promoted to forestry supervisor in 2000. He also owned and operated Pryor's Tree Service, which he started in 1994.

"He was very proud of what he did for the city," Judy Pryor said. "At one point he had told me he always wanted to be remembered for what he did for the city, the tree planting. He was in all of that for the last 30 years and he was very proud of that."

Riding the motorcycle was their biggest hobby and one they planned vacations around. In fact, they were on their way to meet friends for breakfast Aug. 30 before going to Milwaukee for the 115th anniversary of Harley-Davidson when the crash happened. They traveled on the bike more this year than others, Judy Pryor said.

Judy Pryor is recuperating from a broken pelvis, broken ribs and broken fingers. She will be wheelchair-bound for at least two months and then will need to learn to walk again, she said. Pryor said she was thrown 20 feet from the motorcycle in the crash, but miraculously did not injure her head.

Judy Pryor said her husband was a master at the motorcycle, and said they had had close calls with vehicles before.

"I feel like I had a guardian angel and I know that Todd did what he could," Judy Pryor said. "There was no time. This was instant."

Ashley Pryor, Todd Pryor's oldest daughter, said her father had a strong work ethic. She said he easily worked more than 60 hours a week when he was a single dad, with his day job at the city of Kalamazoo and his tree business on the side.

"Overall, he was just an easy-going, great guy, always joking around, always got a smile on his face, and just a good heart," Pryor said. "He would do anything for anybody."

James Baker, director of the city's public services department, said Pryor was a "larger than life" man who rose above his job and cared about people. Trees can be a controversial subject in Kalamazoo.

Pryor often dealt with situations in which a resident was mad, such as when a city tree crashed into a house or a tree had to be removed for a construction project, Baker said.

"The community really cares about trees and it's a great thing," Baker said. "Todd would always be in the middle of that, bringing everyone together, and would always result in a good thing for the community."

Pryor had a hand in writing ordinances in Kalamazoo that were protective to trees and helped implement a policy to plant two trees for every one that is cut down in the city, Baker said.

Baker said the city is on pace to plant 250 trees this year and 500 next year to increase tree canopy, at Pryor's suggestion.

"That's something that we're really excited to be able to do in 2019," Baker said. "That comes from Todd and his care and commitment to the community."

Like Pryor's love for trees, his memory will remain strong and grow deeper in the hearts of those he touched, like the tree planted in honor of his life and vast impact.MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI - A Muskegon man will serve at least 25 years in prison for raping a young child.

Mark James Pollard, 44, pleaded no contest to first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a person under the age of 13. He has a prior conviction out of Grand Haven for possession of child sexually abusive material, according to the Michigan Sex Offender Registry.

Pollard was sentenced on Sept. 24 to a minimum of 25 years and a maximum of 38 years by Muskegon County Circuit Judge William Marietti. He was sentenced as a third-time habitual offender.Leading UAE telecom services operator du has signed an agreement with Munich-based Giesecke+Devrient Mobile Security, to launch its AirOn eSIM Management Solution to du.



As a result of the agreement, eSIM will soon be commercially available for consumers (watches and smartphones) and M2M devices.



With this technology, du is now able to embrace the next wave of eSIM evolution for consumer and M2M devices and provide eSIM services to its customer base, said a senior compoaany officials on the sidelines of the ongoing Gitex Technology Week in Dubai.



With this development, du will become the first telecommunications service provider in the Middle East region to offer eSIM services to its customers over smartphones, it added.



Saleem AlBlooshi, the chief infrastructure officer, said: "We are constantly innovating and developing our products and solutions portfolio to simplify and enhance the lives of our customers by leveraging the latest technologies. Individual and enterprise customers increasingly rely on multiple devices for myriad reasons and with eSIM, its a much more simplified experience."



"We believe that eSIM will accelerate the growth of IoT and M2M in the UAE by providing a single de facto standard for remote SIM provisioning," he added.



Once available, consumers will appreciate the simplified user experience and benefit from eSIM services, such as shorter time required to connect a device to the du network.



"Also users can expect an overall simplified handling and more reliability since the eSIM is embedded in the device itself. Additionally, eSIM technology has clear advantages also for du itself as a telecom service provider as it opens up new business models," explained AlBlooshi.



Key benefits include connecting to different implementations of IoT and M2M for consumer and enterprise devices, and cost reduction for logistics and handling of legacy SIM cards.



"Therefore, du is now equipped to allow remote subscription provisioning of eSIM subscriptions to eSIM devices based on AirOn, the eSIM management solution developed by G+D Mobile Security," said the top official.



Ali Sabetian, the managing director of G+D Mobile Security FZCO, said the collaboration with du marks its growing presence across the Middle East. "From our experience, the consumer market is the most significant driver for eSIM and IoT," he stated.



"We are pleased to be selected by du, one of the most forward thinking telecommunications companies in the region and we are certain that our partnership will enable du customers to reap the benefits of this new technology. With our platform, operators can be more agile and scale quickly to the need of the IoT," he added.-TradeArabia News ServiceAPM Terminals Bahrain, the operator of Khalifa Bin Salman Port (KBSP), has installed three new weighbridges at the kingdom's prime port at Hidd, as part of its plans to streamlining its operations.

The company's investment in the three new weighbridges is aimed at enhancing its VGM (verified gross mass) service offerings.

It comes as part of APM Terminals Bahrain's continued efforts to upgrade the KBSP infrastructure and provide increased efficiency and sufficient capacity for future export growth.

The new pit-mounted weighbridges, includes a combination of fully and semi-automated weighbridges which will be located at three different points, that is two in the weighbridges at the entry gate and one at the weighbridge inside the container terminal.

This will be in addition to the two manually-operated weighbridges currently operational at the terminal.

The new weighbridges are expected to ensure uninterrupted truck flows with streamlined operations. This will also enable container trucks to have smooth and safer access to the weighbridge at road-level.

They will be linked with the KBSPs terminal operating system to automatically provide a VGM record for the container thereby reducing costs, risks and delays for customers.

All trucks entering the terminal will have to be pre-registered and will be supplied with an RFID card by APM Terminals which the truck driver is required to swipe on entry and exit enabling generation of VGM.

Furthermore, digital loads cells have been installed on the new weighbridges to improve weight accuracy and minimal maintenance, thus enabling exporters to perform double transactions reducing the overall waiting and queuing time by trucks inside the terminal.

The new weighbridges is yet another initiative from APM Terminals Bahrain to facilitate smooth trade flows in the kingdom aligned with the governments strategy on developing best-in-class national infrastructure that supports development of Bahrains maritime and logistics services that facilitates overall trade growth.-TradeArabia News ServiceOutrigger Hotels and Resorts is concluding its Platinum Anniversary by inviting vacationers to visit any of its tropical destinations across Hawaii, Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean for up to 40 per cent off the current room rate.



From now through October 26, guests who use the code Memories when booking online will save on their stay at any Outrigger location for travel through June 30, 2019.



As part of Outriggers year-long 70th anniversary, the brand celebrated the milestone with a Share Your Story campaign, encouraging guests to share throwback photos and recollections of their favourite Outrigger memory. The results were phenomenal, with more than 40,000 people sharing a personal experience. From surf trips to graduation parties, wedding proposals and annual family getaways, the common theme across all submissions was: I had the time of my life!



Bob and Kathleen Swieton were newlyweds from Illinois who stayed at The Reef Towers hotel in 1967. They sent a newspaper clipping about the honeymoon alongside their original Hawaii honeymoon outfit to the resort as a memento. Outrigger gave life to the retro orange and brown aloha wear at the companys 70th Anniversary party last May  with models wearing them at the event. Outrigger has extended a complimentary stay for the Swietons to return to Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort and renew their love in Hawaii at the resorts complimentary vow-renewal ceremony.



For seven decades, Outrigger has provided guests with unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime vacation memories, and we are proud to continue this tradition today, said Sean Dee, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Outrigger Enterprises Group. Outriggers 70th anniversary was a time to reflect, but more important  an opportunity to look forward as we further position ourselves as the worlds leading beachfront hospitality brand.



On September 29, the hospitality brand celebrated Outrigger Founders Day worldwide, honouring the legacy of its founding members, Roy and Estelle Kelley  as well as the companys inspiring journey of growing a single Waikiki hotel to a global portfolio of properties in the most desired tropical locations including Hawaii, Fiji, Mauritius, Thailand, Guam and the Maldives.



Since its first property opening in Waikiki in 1947, Outrigger had the vision of sharing the spirit of aloha with every guest and becoming synonymous with warm hospitality and a true vacation in paradise. More than seven decades later, Outrigger continues to encourage travellers to Escape Ordinary and discover local cultures through enriching programs and Outrigger Signature Experiences that create a deeper connection with the people and places they visit. - TradeArabia News Service

India-based budget carrier SpiceJet recently received its first Boeing 737 MAX 8, which the airline plans to use to expand and standardize its fleet, while leveraging the super-efficient jet to reduce fuel costs per airplane by $1.5 million a year.



"We are excited to take delivery of our very first 737 MAX 8," said SpiceJet chairman and managing director Ajay Singh. "The induction of our first MAX is a huge milestone in SpiceJet's journey. These new airplanes will enable us to open new routes, while reducing fuel and engineering costs, as well as emissions. The 737 MAX will dramatically reduce noise pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Passengers will benefit from a large number of premium seats and, for the first time in India, broadband internet on board."



This is the first of up to 205 737 MAX airplanes SpiceJet has announced with Boeing. The new and improved single-aisle airplane will help SpiceJet lower its emissions output, which is a key initiative for the carrier as it looks to increase regional and international routes.



SpiceJet's new 737 MAX airplanes arrive at a time when India's commercial aviation market continues to grow at significant rates. According to industry data, domestic air traffic in India has grown about 20 per cent in each of the past four years with an upward growth trajectory going forward.



"India is a fast growing market for commercial airplanes and services," said Ihssane Mounir, senior vice president of Commercial Sales & Marketing for The Boeing Company.



"The 737 MAX for SpiceJet is the perfect airplane for this market and it will become a key ingredient for long-term success, especially as oil prices continue to put pressure on airlines. The market-leading efficiency and reliability of the MAX will pay immediate dividends for SpiceJet's commercial operations."



In preparation for their new 737 MAX, SpiceJet signed up to leverage Boeing Global Services' tailored flight simulator and maintenance training, which will help train SpiceJet's world-class pilots and mechanics in all areas of 737 MAX flight operations, resulting in maximized cost-savings.



The airline also employs Onboard Performance Tool, powered by Boeing AnalytX, which allows flight crews and ground personnel to perform real-time calculations based on current weather and runway conditions, improving efficiency and maximizing payloads.



The 737 MAX 8 is part of a family of airplanes that offer about 130 to 230 seats and the ability to fly up to 3,850 nautical miles (7,130 kilometres) or nearly eight hours of flight. For SpiceJet's full fleet of up to 205 airplanes, the MAX will emit up to 750,000 fewer metric tons of CO2 and save up to 240,000 metric tons of fuel per year, which translates to more than $317 million in cost savings annually*.



In addition, the MAX 8 will have the lowest operating costs in the single-aisle market with an 8 percent per-seat advantage over the competition. The operating advantages, along with the popular Boeing Sky Interior, explain why carriers have been choosing to fly the MAX.



The 737 MAX is the fastest-selling airplane in Boeing history, accumulating more than 4,700 orders from 104 customers worldwide.  TradeArabia News ServiceThe delay in response from state governments over the Centres ambitious vehicle scrapping policy -- that proposes to put a cap on the life of commercial vehicles to 20 years -- could deffer its implementation, Hindustan Times reported.

In India, state governments have to agree upon a policy that the Centre wants to implement to bring it into effect. A senior official of the Ministry of Transport told the paper, "We are going through a consultative process with the states. We had written to the states asking their view, so it may take a few months as they have not responded yet."

The policy that was sent to the Cabinet for approval earlier this year, has faced multiple roadblocks. It was reported in July that the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) returned the Cabinet note sent by the ministry asking for a more active consultation with states before it is implemented. The PMO directed that the scheme be made "voluntary" and "linked with incentives which should originate from manufacturers".

This policy is aimed at improving air quality by replacing old, polluting vehicles with environment-friendly and fuel-efficient ones.

In India, over 700,000 trucks, buses and taxis were manufactured before December 31, 2000, and they contribute 15-20 percent of pollution, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board and Union Road Ministry emission norms.

According to the study, trucks and buses account for 2.5 percent of the total number of vehicles, but are responsible for over 60 percent pollution.

The vehicle manufacturers were in agreement with the policy and the ministry was awaiting the Cabinet's nod. It was expected that over 350,000 vehicles would be scrapped in the next two-three years under the scheme.

One of the reasons for the delay in responses from state governments could be the approaching assembly elections in five states. The onus of the implementation and functionality of these schemes lies with the states. Now that elections are approaching, the process has slowed, to report said.

Another ministry source told the paper that some states are unhappy with the proposal. "States have to be the implementing agency and they are going to be as much part of the implementation, like the Motor Vehicle Act though its a central act," the source was quoted as saying.

Moreover, provision needs to be made for centres to accept the vehicles that must be scrapped for the policy to work, according to an official at the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. "Getting states on board is part of our political system. GST took nine years to implement because of the states, and in a democracy, decisions will take time," the official said.Palazzo Versace Dubai has been recognised as one of the best hotels in the Middle East by Conde Nast Traveler in its 31st annual Readers Choice Awards.

Nearly half a million Conde Nast Traveler readers submitted a recording-breaking number of responses rating their travel experiences to provide a full snapshot of where and how we travel today.

We are honoured to be recognised by Conde Nast Traveler, just one year after the readers of the Middle East edition chose palazzo Versace Dubai as their Favourite Romantic Hotel in the region. We are so grateful to be amongst the best hotels in the world. As a team we are united in our commitment to leave lasting memories and enrich our guests travels with personalized luxury lifestyle experiences, said Sandra Tikal, general manager of Palazzo Versace Dubai.

The architectural style of Palazzo Versace Dubai hotel and residences represents the merging of a traditional neo-classical Italian palace with recognisable Arabic architectural elements.

The interiors showcase the Versace lifestyle through the contemporary eyes of Artistic Director Donatella Versace. The iconic motifs of Versace are present in each detail such as the Medusa head, the Greek key, and the Houses legendary prints, with many designs created exclusively for Palazzo Versace Dubai.

The furniture has been carefully designed to provide an inner experience across the hotel and residences, ensuring that guests and homeowners alike are fully immersed in the Versace lifestyle. A series of artworks set in the hallways feature sketches of the fabulous Atelier Versace gowns. The result is spectacular and developed in context with Palazzo Versaces natural surroundings and local heritage.

The Conde Nast Traveler Readers Choice Awards are the longest-running and most prestigious recognition of excellence in the travel industry and are commonly known as the best of the best of travel.

The 2018 Readers' Choice Awards are published exclusively on Conde Nast Traveler's website at www.cntraveler.com/rca and celebrated in the November issue on newsstands nationwide on October 16.  TradeArabia News ServiceRavindra Rao

Crude oil prices declined sharply last week as the IEA (International Energy Agency) appealed to OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) to boost production as high prices are hurting the global economy.

Earlier, there were fears that Hurricane Michael might lead to a shutdown of nearly 40 percent of Gulf of Mexico crude output. Later on, though, it emerged that the hurricane would not have any impact on crude oil production.

Both the EIA (Energy Information Administration) and API (American Petroleum Institute) reported a huge build-up in crude oil inventories, keeping crude prices under pressure. Losses were extended after OPEC production rose in September.

OPECs latest monthly report shows production in September rose by 132,000 barrels per day to 32.76 million barrels per day. The rise in production was boosted by huge increases in Libya and Saudi Arabias output. Saudi Arabia aims to replace Iranian crude, which would be lost once US sanctions take effect from November 4.

US President Donald Trump has very often criticised OPEC and demanded that it increase the production so that prices could come down. Iranian crude output declined to 3.45 million barrels per day in September, from 3.6 million the month prior.

On the other hand, OPEC cut its world demand growth forecast for 2019 due to headwinds to global economic growth, trade disputes and weakness in emerging-market economies.

For 2019, world oil demand growth is forecast at 1.36 million barrels per day, down by around 50,000 barrels per day from its previous estimate. Much uncertainty prevails regarding the US stance on Iran.

As a result, many countries have cut purchases of Iranian crude. Recent reports, however, suggest that the US may grant waivers on the sanctions.

Base metals were highly volatile this week. Aluminium declined sharply after Norsk Hydro said it obtained a permit in Brazil to use new technology to extend the life of a disposal area for its troubled alumina refinery. This should lead to restarting 50 percent of aluminium production.

Initially, zinc extended gains due to a consistent decline in LME (London Metal Exchange) inventories. The International Lead and Zinc Study Group demand for refined zinc would exceed supply by 322,000 tonnes this year and 72,000 tonnes in 2019.

However, later in the week, zinc weakened sharply due to the sell-off in global equities and on persistent concerns about Chinas economy.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its global growth forecast for 2018 and 2019 due to the trade war between the US and its trading partners. This pressured base metals even more. Copper jumped after a Union official at top copper producer Codelco said smelter operations at its Chile mine would be halted for 60 days starting December 13, 2018 due to upgrade delays.

The outlook for crude oil is mixed. Both the IEA and OPEC have cut demand growth projections for 2018 and 2019, citing the escalating trade war between the US and China. This is a matter of grave concern.

Further, OPEC crude oil production has risen due to the huge increases in Libya and Saudi Arabia outputs. US and Russian crude output would also rise.

According to the IEA, non-OPEC output is forecast to expand by 2.2 million barrels per day and 1.8 million barrels per day in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Despite continuing production declines in Iran and Venezuela, the EIA has forecast that global oil supply and demand would be nearly balanced in 2019.

However, the US sanctions may contain losses in crude.

The author is Head  Commodity Research & Advisory at Anand Rathi Commodities. The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on Moneycontrol are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.Mexico's Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray told his Chinese counterpart in a phone call on Saturday that Mexico's new trade deal with the United States and Canada will not impede economic relations with other countries, according to a foreign ministry statement.

The pact set to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement outlines that if one of the partners enters a free trade deal with a "non-market" country such as China, the others can quit in six months and form their own bilateral accord.

The mechanism would support U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to isolate China economically amid an escalating tariff war between the two economic powerhouses, and give Washington an effective veto on any China trade deal by Canada or Mexico.

Videgaray did not detail whether Mexico would seek such a deal, but said the new pact, called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), would not block bilateral accords with countries not included in the deal.

"Videgaray emphasized that none of its conditions constitute an obstacle for bilateral relations or economic exchanges that Mexico, as a sovereign state, maintains with other nations," the official told China's Wang Yi, according to the statement.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has called the provision a "poison pill" that could be replicated.GoAir

Wadia group budget carrier GoAir Sunday launched its second international route with non-stop air services to Male, the capital city of Maldives, from the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport here.

The city-based airline had made its international debut last Friday with a flight with an Airbus A320Neo plane to tourist hub Phuket in Thailand from New Delhi.

"We welcome Male as a part of our new global network. In light of the significant increase in outgoing tourism from India over the past few years, GoAir introduced direct flight services from Mumbai and New Delhi to Male," said Cornelis Vriesjwik, chief executive officer, GoAir, in a release.

The Mumbai-Male flight was also operated with an A320Neo aircraft, the airline said.

GoAir became eligible to fly overseas two years ago when it took delivery of its 20th aircraft, which was also the first Airbus A320Neo for the airline.

GoAir, which commenced its domestic operations in November 2005, is the sixth domestic airline to fly international.

National carrier Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express, private carriers Jet Airways, IndiGo and SpiceJet are the other Indian airlines operating flights to overseas destinations.

Besides Mumbai, GoAir will also fly to Male from New Delhi.

The airline will fly three times a week from Mumbai and two times per week from New Delhi, it said, adding that services from Mumbai will be operated on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday and from Delhi on Wednesday and Saturday.The government may remove or substantially water down a controversial recommendation of an e-commerce task force, which sought to empower domestic founders of such companies to retain control even if they hold small stakes, as it could upset foreign investors, Financial Express reports.

Such a policy could make it difficult for e-commerce companies to raise funds from foreign investors, a government official told the paper.

It may spur demand for similar privileges by founders of companies across sectors, leading to uncertainties about brownfield foreign direct investments (FDI) and unnecessary legal tussles. It will also give the impression that the government intends to discriminate against foreign investors when theyre being wooed under Make in India and other programmes, he added.

This policy will hurt many Indian start-ups in need of capital through foreign funds and could also impact FDI inflows in trading (including via e-commerce), which rose 86 percent year-to-year $4.35 billion in FY18, analysts told the paper.

All major Indian e-commerce players have received sizeable foreign funding, including Flipkart, Paytm Mall and Ola. Foreign players have provided funds to these start-ups as they hoped to gain control of these ventures at some point, analysts said.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) will now have a greater say in shaping this policy, sources told the paper.

Last month, a panel of senior bureaucrats, headed by DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek, reviewed the task force's recommendations and decided to meet again in a month's time, the report said. The meeting was part of the Centre efforts to hammer out consensus on the e-commerce policy, after departments, including DIPP and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, expressed reservations on certain suggestions of the task force.

The task force, headed by former Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia, defines an e-commerce company as one where FDI is not more than 49 percent, the founder/promoter is a resident Indian and it is controlled by Indian management.

If this suggestion is scrapped, two of the main recommendations of the task force will be eliminated, the report said. Abhishek told the paper that the government isnt planning to ease rules to allow FDI in B2C e-tailers even if such products are locally produced. The task force had suggested conditional approval for such e-tailers.Foreign investors have pulled out close to Rs 26,600 crore ($3.6 billion) from the Indian capital markets in the first two weeks of this month on unabated fall in rupee and rising crude oil prices and US treasury yields.

This is much higher than the over Rs 21,000 crore net outflow seen in entire September. Prior to that, overseas investors had put in a net amount of Rs 7,400 crore in the capital markets (both equity and debt) in July-August.

According to the latest depository data, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold equities to the tune of Rs 17,935 crore during October 1-12 and bonds worth Rs 8,645 crore, taking the total to Rs 26,580 crore (USD 3.6 billion).

FPIs have been net sellers almost throughout this year except a couple of months. However, experts said the swiftness of the exit in October thus far has shaken the market.

Negative sentiments from the global market on concerns over a slowing world economy led by lingering trade war between the US and China triggered the FPI pullout, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

The sentiment was also dampened by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgrading the outlook for world economy to 3.7 per cent growth last week.

"Rise in oil prices and US treasury yields and a tightening of global dollar liquidity are the key reasons for the FPI selling as they have induced high volatility in currency, bond and equity markets.

"One must however remember that this is a global phenomena across emerging markets and not limited to India alone. Of course, the impact of rise in oil prices is higher for India as it imports most of its oil requirements. The matter was further exacerbated by the IL&FS default and the rout in NBFC debt papers," said Alok Agarwala, Senior Vice President and Head Investment Analytics at Bajaj Capital.

Making a similar point, Vidya Bala, Head of Mutual Fund Research at FundsIndia, said rising rates in the US, strengthening dollar and higher US earnings have been triggers for money moving out of India and other emerging markets to the US.

"While these have been the primary factors for the pullout, locally, rising oil price and oil marketing companies absorbing price cuts, the recent spate of management-related issues in banks and tightening liquidity in NBFCs have been immediate triggers," she added.

She further said the volatility can be expected to continue for other reasons too, like US sanctions on Iran which take effect in November. Iran is a major source of crude oil for India.

"India also has some key state elections coming up, which could provide cues to FPIs for next year's central elections," Bala added.

So far this year, FPIs have pulled out over Rs 30,000 crore from equities and nearly Rs 57,000 crore from the debt markets.Aadhaar Card

Taking a cue from India's Aadhaar initiative, Malaysia wants to bring changes in its national identity card system for target delivery of welfare schemes and government subsidies to avoid duplicity and fraud.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Kuala Lumpur in May, offered Malaysia's Premier Mahathir Mohamad collaboration on matters in which India has expertise, including the Aadhaar initiative, Malaysia's Minister of Human Resources M Kula Segaran told PTI.

With the Malaysian Cabinet agreeing to the collaboration, Kula Segaran led a delegation comprising officers of the country's central bank, the finance ministry, the economic affairs ministry, and human resources ministry, to India last week.

The delegation met ministers and officials here and explored whether certain features of the Aadhaar system can be adopted in Malaysia.

"We met UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey... We have identity cards (known as MyKad), but with the (introduction of an Aadhaar-like) system, the primary aim is to avoid duplicity of payments and fraud, and to target specific groups," Kula Segaran said.

Asked if Malaysia was exploring if it can link identity cards to bank accounts like in the Aadhaar system for target delivery of welfare schemes and subsidies, he answered in the affirmative.

Replying to a query on whether Malaysia could face problems of opposition of the people over privacy concerns just like India did, Kula Segaran said there was such a possibility and work was on to identify what would be a "workable" format to adopt from India.

He, however, said that there should not be much of a problem in Malaysia as identity cards with personal information have been there for decades.

"You put my ID card number, you will get my details, where I was born, who is my mother, who is my father," he said, adding that the issue that needs to be addressed in Malaysia is the target delivery of welfare schemes and government subsidies.

"Now, we have fuel subsidy in my country. Everybody gets fuel subsidy. We want to target certain groups and give it to them, not to others. We have different groups like B40 -- those who earn household income of less than 3,990 Malaysian ringgit," Kula Segaran said.

The other intention is to make the delivery of subsidies cashless, he said.

"Right now we send cheques or we give cash. No need of that if you follow the Aadhaar system, and it comes directly into your account," he said.

There are multiple subsidies provided by the Malaysian government such as fuel, low income group, single mother, etc. for which it will be useful, he added.

India recently witnessed an acrimonious debate over Aadhaar's merits and demerits. A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court last month while quashing some contentious provisions of the Aadhaar Act, held that Aadhaar would remain compulsory for filing of Income Tax returns, allotment of Permanent Account Number and for availing facilities of welfare schemes and government subsidies.NSE Building 4_

Chandan Taparia

The Nifty managed to reclaim lost ground after a sharp decline on October 11 and closed with gains of over 200 points on Friday. It formed a Morning Star pattern, which indicates that a small follow up buying could confirm a short term reversal from its recent downtrend for a further bounceback.

It formed a Hammer candle on the weekly scale with a positive close on Friday after the correction of the last five weeks. The index has taken support at the lower band of the rising channel on the weekly scale by connecting its major swing lows of 6,825, 7,893 and 10,200.

Now, the index has to continue to hold above the supply cluster of 10,450-10,480 to witness an upmove towards 10,600-10,650. On the downside, support is seen at 10,350 levels.

The 50-share index had a volatile last week with gap up and gap down openings, but bulls finally managed to trump the bears after the weakness of the last five weeks. It has been making lower highs-lower lows from the last six weeks and now a negation of this pattern could attract fresh buying interest.

India VIX fell 5.58 percent last week to 18.63 levels and a topping out formation of VIX suggests that some rescue could be seen in the market. Now, VIX has to cool down below 17 levels for buying interest to emerge in the market.

On the options front, maximum put open interest stands at 10,000, followed by 10,200 strikes. Maximum call OI stands at 11,000 and 10,800 strikes. We have seen put writing at 10,400, followed by 10300 strikes. Call unwinding is seen at all immediate strike prices. The option band signifies a broader trading band between 10,350 and 10,650 zones.

The Bank Nifty formed a bullish candle on the daily chart and a Bullish Engulfing pattern on the weekly scale which indicates that bulls are back on track. It has formed a bottom pattern with a positive divergence on the daily scale.

Now, a decisive hold above 25,250 could take it towards the multiple hurdle of 25,650, then 26,000 zones. Major support for the Bank Nifty now shifts higher to 25,000 levels.

The Indian market will take cues from global markets, developments from the meeting of US and Chinese presidents over trade war concerns, as well as crude and rupee fluctuations.

A bullish set-up in the Nifty and Bank Nifty, with topping out formation in India VIX and USD-INR, suggests that bulls are back on track.

The Nifty 200 daily moving average stands at 10,770. It has a major hurdle at 10,850 zones. These are the next clusters to look at.

A positive price set-up is seen in ICICI Bank, ITC, Bajaj Finance, Maruti, Reliance Industries, among others.

The author is Associate Vice President | Analyst-Derivatives at Motilal Oswal Financial Services. The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on Moneycontrol are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Monday brainstorm with chief executives of top global and Indian oil and gas companies on emerging energy scenario, with ripples from US sanctions on Iran and volatile oil prices threatening growth. The third annual meeting would also deliberate on ways to revive investment in oil and gas exploration and production, official sources said.

Modi's first meeting was on January 5, 2016, where suggestions for reforming natural gas prices were made. More than a year later, the government allowed higher natural gas price for yet-to-be-produced fields in difficult areas like the deep sea.

In the last edition in October 2017, suggestions were made for giving out equity to foreign and private companies in producing oil and gas fields of state-owned ONGC and OIL. But the plan could not go through in view of strong opposition from Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC).

Sources said Saudi Oil Minister Khalid A Al Falih, BP CEO Bob Dudley, Total head Patrick Fouyane, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and Vedanta chief Anil Agarwal are expected to attend the meeting Monday.

The meeting, coordinated by the NITI Aayog, is likely to focus on challenges posed by volatile oil prices and the US sanctions on Iran.

The meeting would look at measures to attract investments and steps for making it easier to do business in India.

Sources said reforms initiated in the last four years in the oil and gas sector, including open acreage policy, pricing reforms and liberalised licensing policy, will be showcased and suggestions would be sought on what more can be done to hasten growth.

The government is looking at private investment to raise domestic oil and gas production, which has stagnated for the last few years while fuel demand has been rising by 5-6 percent annually. India is dependent on imports to meet 83 percent of its demand and more than half of its natural gas requirements.

The Prime Minister in 2015 had set a target of reducing India's oil dependence by 10 percent to 67 percent (based on import dependence of 77 percent in 2014-15) by 2022. Import dependence has only increased since then and the government is now looking for ways to raise domestic output.

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo and India's Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan would also attend the meeting, they said.The Kraft logo is pictured outside its headquarters in Northfield, Illinois, March 25, 2015. REUTERS/Jim Young/File Photo GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK AHEAD PACKAGE - SEARCH 'BUSINESS WEEK AHEAD MAY 2' FOR ALL IMAGES - GF10000398504

Zydus Cadila Group has emerged as the frontrunner to acquire Kraft Heinz Company's consumer brand business by making a Rs 4,500-crore offer. With the move, the Ahmedabad-based company has overtaken Coca-Cola Company that was in the race to acquire the American food company's India operations, The Economic Times reported citing sources.

Coca-Cola and Zydus Cadila are in the running to acquire Krafts portfolio that includes products such as children's health drink Complan, Nycil talcum powder and energy drink powder Glucon D.

Officials familiar with the development were quoted as saying that the deal would close within a month.

As per the report, Cadila Group is working with investment bank Avendus and has made a conditional bid. If it goes through, the company would rope in a private equity partner for funding. The report suggests that it has already sent proposals to PE groups True North, Temasek, Warburg Pincus and Carlyle, and may place its equity in a back-to-back deal.

Besides Coca-Cola and Cadila, a private consortium of Apax and Arpwood Partners emerged as a surprise bidder in the final round, until Kraft Heinz tweaked the deal.

Initially, Kraft Heinz planned to sell its India operations along with the brands. However, it later decided to sell the European holding company, registered in Italy, that houses India operations and wanted the buyer to take over the tax liabilities of the entity.Arvind Kejriwal AAP

Halting talks of rebel BJP leaders Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha being roped in to contest Lok Sabha polls on its tickets, the AAP Sunday announced Brijesh Goyal and Rajpal Solanki as party's in-charges of New Delhi and West Delhi parliamentary seats for the election.

The Sinhas, who are bitter critics of the Modi government, have grown close to the Aam Aadmi Party, extending support to the party on various issues and sharing platforms with its leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, on many occasions.

"There were talks with Yashwant Sinha for him to contest from New Delhi seat but he has expressed willingness to campaign against the Modi government across the country. There were no talks about Shatrughan Sinha being the party candidate," Delhi AAP convener Gopal Rai said at a press briefing.

The party had already announced its in-charges for five of the seven parliamentary constituencies in Delhi.

The candidature of all the seven in-charges will be formalised later, Rai said.

Party sources said the in-charges will be ultimately the candidates on the respective seats. However, they also said "last minute" changes could take place as some of the in-charges were "too new faces" without much political experience.

The announcement of the in-charges on the remaining two seats in Delhi halted, for the time being, speculation that the AAP might ally with the Congress for the 2019 election.

The New Delhi in-charge Brijesh Goyal is chief of AAP's trade wing, while West Delhi in-charge Solanki is an "old party supporter" who runs a hospital and several schools in the city, Rai said.

The party in-charges on other five constituencies are Dilip Pandey, North East; Gugan Singh, North West; Atishi, East; and Raghav Chadha, South Delhi.

Rai said the party is facing resource crunch for coming elections. A nationwide donation campaign  "Aap Ka Daan, Rashtra Ka Nirman"  will be launched by Kejriwal, also the AAP chief, at Talkatora stadium in New Delhi on Monday.

Under the monthly donation scheme, people will be asked to donate a minimum of Rs 100 to support "honest politics," Rai said.

Party's Karnataka unit leader Prithvi Reddy will be convener of the campaign, he said.Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah has recently expanded its team, welcoming Ahmed Kamel as the director of Rooms and Marcelle Nabil as the director of Human Resources.



Kamel brings 18 years of extensive experience in the luxury hospitality industry. This is combined with achievements acquired from various luxury hotels internationally and in the region including Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts and InterContinental Hotels and Resorts - he was also the president of the AICR in Qatar.



Kamels new role includes implementing effective operational management, guest services and overseeing the heads of departments to ensure they achieve and exceed their revenue and guest satisfaction targets.



Nabil brings valuable expertise to the team at the Waldorf Astoria. She holds a degree in Human Resources Management and Services from the American University in Cairo, along with degrees from top tier universities in the US- Harvard and Cornell.



Nabils new role as director of Human Resources includes being responsible for the smooth operation of the propertys human resources department. She will be providing consultation to management on strategic staffing, training development, budget, and labour relations.



Following her appointment, Nabil is now one of 15 women at the hotel appointed in Director and Management level roles. A key part of her role will involve working closely with the general manager to help drive forward career leadership development opportunities for women at the hotel which aligns with Hiltons ongoing commitment to support and promote more women into senior leadership positions across the business.



Commenting on the appointments, David Wilson, general manager of Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah said, We are proud to work with some of the most talented professionals in the industry. With their international experience across the luxury hotel industry, we are confident that Ahmed and Marcelle will continue to elevate our unparalleled service and take Waldorf Astoria to a new level of excellence.  TradeArabia News ServiceVoting polling EVM election

live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

The election panels in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan are taking steps to provide adequate security to voters and conduct fair assembly elections.

The Chhattisgarh election office has asked the Election Commission of India (EC) to consider relaxing a rule that requires usage of indelible ink in Maoist affected areas of the state, during the forthcoming assembly polls, according to a report by the Hindustan Times.

The idea was proposed to ensure voter safety in the state, the report suggests. There have been instances in the past where Maoists have attacked people who had ventured out to vote.

The Chief Election Officer (CEO) of Chhattisgarh has listed 14 areas where left-wing extremists are active and has asked the poll panel to look into discontinuing the use of the ink in these areas, according to the report.

If approved, the application would require a change in Section 49(K) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.

The voting process in Chhattisgarh will be held in two phases -- first phase on November 12 (in left-wing extremism affected areas) and second phase on November 20.

Meanwhile in Rajasthan, the election commission has directed telecom companies to not allow political parties and candidates to advertise their agenda via caller tunes and ringtones without appropriate certification from the poll panel, according to a report by DNA.

A directive was issued by Additional Chief Electoral Officer Dr Jogaram on October 12 at a meeting involving representatives of Reliance Telecommunications, BSNL, Tata Indicom, Vodafone, Airtel and Aircel.

The agenda of the meet was adherence of Supreme Court's guidelines on advertisement related to election campaigning, dated April 15, 2004.

Rajasthan will head for voting in a single phase on December 7.

Counting in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan will happen on December 11, along with Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Telangana.Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on October 13 asked the party workers to ensure that the saffron party retained power in Chhattisgarh in next month's Assembly election by winning over 65 of the 90 seats.

The Chhattisgarh Assembly polls will be held in two phases -- on November 12 and 20 -- and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 11.

Shah was addressing a convention of the booth-level BJP workers from Raipur and Durg divisions at the Science College ground here.

He told the workers that the BJP had reached the "pinnacle of success", but its target would only be achieved when it attained power in states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal.

Shah claimed that the presence of nearly one lakh booth-level workers and their eagerness showed that the BJP would win 65-plus seats in the forthcoming state Assembly polls.

"From 10 members, the party has grown to 11 crore members, becoming the world's largest party. We have 1,800 MLAs, 330 MPs, governments in 19 states and a government at the Centre with full majority. The BJP flag is being hoisted over 70 per cent of the country's area and the credit for it goes to the booth workers," he said.

"Our struggle started in 1950 and today, we are fortunate to see this grand form of the party. The journey was not simple. Lakhs of our workers devoted and sacrificed their lives, as a result of which the party has reached here," Shah said, adding that the workers of the saffron party continued to "sacrifice their lives" in Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

"As a result of a long struggle, the party has reached the pinnacle of success. But do not consider it as a success because Bengal, Kerala, Telangana and Tamil Nadu are yet to be won," he said.

"Party workers all over the country are watching the (upcoming) Assembly elections. The victories in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh should be such that they create a tsunami, which will ensure victory from West Bengal to Kerala," the BJP chief told the gathering.

He said BJP workers were thrashed when Ajit Jogi (formerly with the Congress and now the chief of the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh) was the chief minister of the state from 2000 to 2003.

Naxalism had thrived in the state under the Congress regime, Shah said, adding that it was crushed during the 15-year rule of Chief Minister Raman Singh.

Heaping praise on Singh, the BJP chief said the chief minister had turned Chhattisgarh from a "bimaru" (backward) state to a "fast developing" state.

He said Singh now wanted to make Chhattisgarh a prosperous state over the next five years.

Shah told the booth-level workers of his party that poll victory would be achieved when they visited every house in their areas to apprise the people of the ruling BJP's achievements.

He hit out at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ordering surgical strikes in September, 2016 to smash terror camps operating out of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).Social media posts of political parties and groups in poll-bound Telangana will come under the Election Commission's scanner to check for any objectionable content under the model code of conduct, state Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar has said.

An agency had been appointed in Telangana to help the CEO on social media issues and the EC at the national and the state level is in touch with companies such as Google and Facebook, which have assured cooperation in cases of violation of the model code of conduct (MCC), he said.

Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in Telangana on December 7.

"We are working out the matrix right now on how to control social media (content violative of MCC)... we will put some keywords which indicate violation of MCC... an appeal or an offer of money with catchphrases. we will scan through various websites, the CEO told PTI.

The official said Telangana Director General of Police M. Mahendar Reddy has also offered help of the Cyber wing in taking action in cases of violation of the code.

"The source will be identified and action will be taken against him under the relevant sections of IPC and cyber crimes also," he said.

According to him, the guidelines for social media are exactly same as that of print and electronic media. Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar said they will keep an eye on bulk messaging sent through social media or the traditional way with a malafide intention.

Besides monitoring, a Facebook page under the name Chief Electoral officer Telangana has been created to update news and initiatives by the EC to reach out to voters. The page had already clocked over 9.70 lakh views as of October 11, Kumar said. Around 90 per cent of followers are less than 34 years of age and majority of whom are below 24, he added.India Pakistan

Pakistan on October 13 warned of "10 surgical strikes" against India in response to a single such attack, in the latest war of words between the two estranged nuclear-armed neighbours.

Major General Asif Ghafoor, spokesperson of the military's Inter Services Public Relations, stated this while talking to the media in London, where he is accompanying Pakistan Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa on a visit.

"If India dares to launch a surgical strike inside Pakistan, it will face 10 surgical strikes in response," Ghafoor was quoted as saying by Radio Pakistan.

He also said "those who think of any misadventure against us should have no doubt in their minds on Pakistan's capabilities".

The military spokesman said the Pakistan Army was the custodian of the USD 50 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and that the mega project will strengthen the economy of the country.

Ghafoor said the army wanted strengthening of democracy in Pakistan, and claimed that the general election in July was the most transparent in the history of the country.

"If anyone has evidence of rigging then it should be brought forward," he remarked.

He also rejected reports of restriction on the media and said there was "complete freedom of expression" in the country.

He said there were more good developments in Pakistan than bad and that the international media should also highlight the good things.Following surveys by income-tax (I-T) officials at his residence and office premises over alleged tax evasion, Raghav Bahl, head of news portal The Quint, says all the claims made by the government on long term capital gains (LTCG) of Rs118 crore were accepted and assessed to tax by the authorities.

Mr Bahl and his wife have been majority shareholders in a little-known company called PMC Fincorp which was the subject of huge market manipulation. Moneylife which is only media company to write regularly about stock maniupulation wrote about the curious case of PMC Fincop in 2014. Please see here When the stock was around Rs10 in August 2013, Raghav Bahl held 7.8 lakh shares (2.92% of capital) while Ritu Kapur his wife held 12.56 lakh shares (4.69%). The stock then began a spectacular run, peaking out at Rs122, a rise of 1200%, after which it collapsed to Rs0.46 in May 2016 and got delisted. Market operations like these are usually designed to generate long-term capital gains or losses. It is not clear why Raghav Bahl would be involved in a listed shell company like PMC Fincorp.

The statement, Mr Bahl, his wife Ritu Kapur and Quintillion Media Group, says, "All these and other gains or losses were fully detailed/declared in the appropriate year of tax filings; and more importantly, were accepted and assessed to tax, under this very government! So the attempt to 'colour' our tax returns, now, as 'bogus', is clearly a frame-up, and we shall take every legal recourse to protect our fair name and reputation in this case."

On Thursday, a team of tax officials reached the residence of Mr Bahlthe former head of Network18 TVin Noida in Uttar Pradesh and looked for documents and evidence related to the case. The search went on till late in the evening.

A senior tax official told IANS that surveys were being carried out over the issue of "bogus long-term capital gains obtained from the sale of some particular companies."

"This issue is about Rs100 crore worth. We are particularly looking at the tax evasion angle," the official said, adding that the three others covered under the tax surveys were Kamal Lalwani, Anup Jain and Abhimanyu Chaturvedi.

The Editors Guild expressed concern, saying "motivated income tax searches and surveys" will undermine media freedom. The Guild noted that Mr Bahl had to warn the officials that if they tried to touch anything not relevant to tax issues, he "shall seek extremely strong recourse."

Here is the statement issued by Mr Bahl, Ms Kapur and Quintillion Media Group...

From 7.45 am on Thursday to 6 am on Friday, for 23 incessant hours, nearly 500 journalists and other professionals of the Quintillion Media Group, were held to the most intrusive ransom by Indias tax officers. However, we are immensely proud of our team, that gave them full access and cooperation, often pointing towards information and assets that they may have missed during their search/survey operations.

But then, when we woke up after a 3-hour sleep, we were astonished to see that a blatant attempt had been made by the governments spin-masters to say that the action was part of a year-long investigation into some Long-Term Capital Gains (LTCG) scam, whereby Raghav Bahl and Ritu Kapur had made bogus income of Rs 118 cr. Without much ado, here are the facts of that case (not claims):

All these and other gains/losses were fully detailed/declared in the appropriate year of tax filings; and more importantly, were accepted and assessed to tax, under this very government!

So the attempt to colour our tax returns, now, as bogus, is clearly a frame-up, and we shall take every legal recourse to protect our fair name and reputation in this case

But this also alerted us to the imminent possibility that more such frame-ups shall be attempted now. Therefore, picking up from the key points of yesterdays interrogation, we would like to put the facts (again, not claims) for the non-partisan and fair people in this world to judge for themselves.

Cash/Jewellery at home: All that was recovered was Rs 3.56 lacs in Indian currency, and Rs 33 odd lacs in modern and ancestral jewellery, almost entirely from my 82-year-old mothers cupboard. All of these assets are duly assessed and declared in past returns. Is it really that surprising that people of that age/generation feel more secure holding such a moderate amount within physical proximity?

Flat in London: since both our children expect to or have graduated from a University in London, we decided, as a family, to invest most of our legally permitted LRS remittances (currently at $ 250,000 per family member per year) in buying access to such an asset. Accordingly, we made a booking in a new apartment building a few years back, and pooled our annual LRS remittances for this purpose. All of this has been fully declared in Schedule F of our income tax filings. In fact, we were asked, at least half a dozen times yesterday, by the tax officers, whether we had fully declared these assets in Schedule F, including all details of overseas bank accounts?. When we answered, half a dozen times, in the positive, we could see that they were disappointed!

RIL Transaction: Clearly, the focus then shifted to the sale of our shares in Network18 to Reliance Industries Limited in 2014. We promptly gave them a copy of the share sale agreement, and full access to past emails on this subject. They followed up with several questions about the status of the current subsidiaries of Network18, and all we could say was that we have no access to any information after our exit, and they will have to reach out to Network18.

Viacom18 JV: There was much confusion around this JV, which was done in 2008. They seemed to imply that it was done as a round tripping exercise by TV18! They also repeatedly confused this transaction with other subsidiaries/companies, including HomeShop18 and India Film Company. From memory, we did set the record straight, and asked them to reach out to Network18 for further details.

BloombergQuint (BQ) JV: This one was truly surprising. They kept on insisting that we had got Rs 10 cr from Bloomberg invested in the JV without a formal FIPB clearance. In fact, at one stage they even asserted this was a case of round tripping again! But when we produced a copy of our FIPB approval for this investment by Bloomberg in Quintillion Business Media (P) Ltd (our JV company), I reckon they had little option other than to accept the fact. (As an aside, there has been a report in a leading pink paper today that the nearly 2-year delay in receiving approval for BQs TV channel is because the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has raised some security concerns. We challenge the government to put the MHA report on this subject in the public domain. We can say with absolute confidence that MHA has given a categorical clearance to us on security grounds, and the delay is on some other account).

Link to Advantage/Artevea/Reddy: They asked us whether we had ever had any transaction with either Advantage Consulting or Artevea Digital (UK) or one Mr CBN Reddy. Our answer was a quick and categorical no. No caveats, no qualifications. We have never had any transactions with any of these entities.

Collateral Raids on Downstream JVs: There were similar/simultaneous surveys carried out at our investee companies, viz The News Minute (Bangalore), Quintype India (Bangalore) and Youth Ki Awaaz (Delhi). If the search/survey was linked to some transactions of ours that took place in 2014, then why were these investee companies searched in the same investigation? All of our investments in these companies have taken place after 2015; in any case, we do not control them on a day-to-day basis, we are only passive investors, so then why were these companies targeted? Clearly, it was a fishing expedition, to spread the net wide, and somehow, somehow, catch something.

Use of Private Digital Experts in a Tax Search: This one astounded us. Since this was our first such experience, we had no clue that the digital experts used to clone data, and do other digital surveillance, during such raids, belong not to the tax department, but to private contractors! So where is the privacy of this key data? Who is responsible for its misuse? What indemnity do we have? This is an issue that requires serious deliberation and comment, and we reserve our right to take further action here. We will urge that this issue be taken up by privacy activists and concerned citizens.

In conclusion, we reiterate that we are absolutely in the clear, that we shall mount a robust legal defence against every trumped-up charge that is brought against us; that we are making these disclosures to pre-empt further character assassination against us, to thwart attempts through leaks, plants, and trolls; that we warn our fellow news colleagues to be vigilant against similar state vendetta; and end with thanking everybody who stood by us and supported us. This battle shall be fought, and not lost!

This article was updated on 14.10.18 at 10 amBy Auqib Javeed, TwoCircles.net

Srinagar:- In a shocking video, a high-ranking Kashmiri cleric Qazi Ahmed Yasir from South Kashmir can be seen indulging in extremely objectionable acts in video chats with a female, bringing shame to his entire family and causing anger among the community.

At least two pictures and two videos of the separatist leader from Anantnag have been doing rounds of social media for a few days now, evoking widespread public anger and outrage.

One of the videos is the recording of a video call in which the Qazi can be seen indulging in an objectionable act before the girl while in the other video, Qazi can be seen popping pills during a conversation with the same girl.

Support TwoCircles



Nasir ul Islam, the grand mufti of Kashmir, while talking to reporters said, When you hold any religious or political position you must know your actions are being watched by others and you are under scanner. But more than that you are role model for others. They trust, believe and have faith in us, adding, It is premature and inopportune to make any comment when the matter is under investigation. I will be happy if he comes clean but if found otherwise, it is our bad luck and something that is deplorable.

Apart from being the Chairman of Ummat-e-Islami Jammu Kashmir (UeI), Qazi Yasir also heads the religious seminary Idara-e-Tehqeeqaat (IeT), which runs under the umbrella of UeI.

Removed as Mirwaiz of South Kashmir

Following the scandal, a video of Qazis maternal grandfather, Abdullah Shah, has been posted on a news portal run by the Qazis younger brother.

In the video, Abdullah Shah, in the capacity of the patron of Idara and on behalf of the family, announced that Qazi has been stripped of his posts.

We are ashamed at the allegations against him, Shah said in the video. He is being stripped of the posts until the veracity of the allegations is ascertained, he added. Shah said that if the allegations are proved to be true, the Qazi will have nothing more to do with the family. The Jama Masjid will continue to run under Idara, however, Shah added.

It is a conspiracy, family says

The family had earlier called a presser and told media that Yasirs image is being tarnished by the fake propaganda and accused a Jammu-based newspaper of publishing a story based on propaganda.

We dont even know who is behind it, and with what intentions, we have no idea about his political affiliations or his supporters, Qazis brother Shubli told the media. But we have registered a legal process against those who are behind this and are hopeful that legal investigations wont let us down, he added,

Yasir pursued his primary education from Hanfiya High School in Islamabad, but soon after his father, Dr Qazi Nisar was assassinated by unidentified gunmen in Dialgam village on June 19, 1994, he was titled as the head preacher of South Kashmir by Mufti Rasheed, the head Mufti of South Kashmir. He went to Al Jamiat Ul Ashrafiya to receive Islamic education and stayed there for six years. Later, he moved to the Aligarh Muslim University, where he completed his graduation in Islamic Studies and also received his masters degree in Islamic studies.

Yasir, the father of two kids, was also the Chairman of Islamic Research Institute and chief spokesman of Muttahida Ulema I Ahli Sunnat, an amalgam of 47 religious organisations of the state. Yasir and Ummat e Islami worked for relief and rehabilitation operations during the catastrophic floods that hit the state in 2014.

Yasirs father Qazi Nisar was the Mirwaiz of South Kashmir and founding member of the Muslim United Front (MUF), an amalgam of socio-political organisations. Nisar was very active in rigged 1987 elections during which he became popular for his fiery speeches.

The video comes at a time when the #Metoo moment is gaining momentum in Kashmir with more and more girls coming out and naming and shaming men.

Despite repeated attempts, the cleric didnt receive and/or respond to phones calls.In a time of local economic growth, Ted Hooban found himself facing a 40 percent increase in costs for rent. Hooban, a U.S. Army veteran, turned to a program that offers housing vouchers and VA services.

Its been very helpful for me, he said. Its been helpful for the other people that Im aware of that have been in the program.

The former service member shared feedback Friday with Dr. Ben Carson, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Hooban and others who were helped through HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) also told their stories, and some recommended improvements related to program outreach.

Its very useful hearing from them in terms of the access issues  getting the information thats needed, Carson told the Reporter-Telegram. The program works very well once you get into it.

During the roundtable discussion, suggestions included spreading the word about the program through the media or postings at VA medical centers. Hooban said he discovered HUD-VASH through a friend.

VASH was found by me as only a word-of-mouth thing, Hooban said. I had gone to the extremes of how I was going to pay my rent.

Fridays conversation took place in a room at Constellation Ranch Apartments. Carson visited that complex and nearby Compass Pointe Apartments to observe affordable housing practices.

We recognize that the housing affordability issue, its not just a Texas issue, Carson said. It is everywhere across this country, and its severe.

Carson thinks the problem will have to be addressed creatively, with focus on restrictions that prevent the building of affordable housing. For HUD-VASH, he described considerations related to West Texas fluctuating economy.

We have to make sure that we continue to keep the program flexible, he said. So, that means we have to adjust the subsidies based on the conditions that are going on.

Ladawnia Moore, who received assistance from HUD-VASH after losing a job, said the program serves a need in Midland.

The housing situation here is ridiculous to say the least, she said after the roundtable discussion. Especially for veterans who cant work and all they get is whatever their pension or their compensation is, its probably really difficult to live.

The event came about one week after an announcement of $35 million in grants to combat veteran homelessness through HUD-VASH. In Midland-Odessa, about 15 percent of veterans are homeless, according to a previous Reporter-Telegram story.

In recent years, Carson said there has been progress in reducing veteran homelessness.

Were very pleased about that, but wed like to see 100 percent decrease, Carson said. We want to get rid of all of it.

The recent announcement included an additional $7.4 million in grants to help disabled veterans modify their homes. The Veterans Housing Rehabilitation and Modification Pilot program will help grantees to make modifications, such as wheelchair ramps and wider doors.

This program will obviously take that expense away from the landlord and take care of the veteran at the same time, Carson said.

Hooban, who uses a wheelchair, said he was excited to hear about those grants. Though his apartment is accessible, he realizes the challenges others face.

If you are in a situation where you have trouble standing  it becomes really, really complicated, especially if thats where you live, Hooban said.By Nikhat Fatima, TwoCircles.net

New Delhi: The All BTC Minority students Union (ABMSU) Assam, staged a protest at the Jantat Mantar, Delhi on October 12 to demand justice for the murder of Lafiqul Islam and address the irregularities in the upgradation of the NRC process.

Lafiqul Islam, the president of the All BTC Minority students union, was gunned down by AK-47 rifle in broad daylight by two unknown assailants in Titaguri Market in Kokrajhar district of Assam. He was a powerful young student leader of the Bengali-speaking Muslims living in Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) Area and spoke about their rights as citizens of India after they had migrated to India (Assam) before Independence. Lafiquls killing created a major discord amongst the Bengali-speaking Muslims and even after a year, the murderers have not been brought to book.

Support TwoCircles



The other demand made by the students was for a free and fair National Register of Citizens in Assam. They pointed out that a large number of people who have been left out of the NRC and declared foreigners or descendants of declared foreigners, do not have their other family members names listed in the same category. These irregularities need to be addressed and these persons who are actually listed in the D (doubtful) category should be given explanation as to how they are categorised in the D list.

Others not listed in the draft NRC were issued notices to appear before the authorities with proper documents but there were anomalies in these notices regarding the dates, place of hearing due to which the persons could not appear for the final draft of NRC, said the student.

The ABMSU submitted their memorandum to the President of India through an official, asking for his intervention to set up a fair and speedy enquiry into the murder of Lafiqul Islam and punish the guilty.

The other demand is to give a chance to the doubtful voters in the D category to prove their citizenship as they are already eligible to be citizens under section 3 of the citizenship Act which says a person born in India after 26th January 1950 shall be a citizen of India by birth.

Mohidul Islam, the education secretary of ABMSU and also the brother of the martyred Lafiqul Islam said, We are hoping the President will respond to our memorandum and intervene in these two important matters. I fear the murder case may be closed as it is more than a year and still there is not even a single clue as to who is behind this political murder.

I want to keep alive the movement started by my brother who was a strong political figure and had a large following. He was involved in a lot of social work and I am now continuing his legacy by starting a trust under his name to provide education to the poor. More than anything today we need education in our place, he added during a conversation with TwoCircles.net.

More than 350 people attended the protest at Jantar Mantar and raised slogans holding posters of Lafiqul Islam lying in a pool of blood after being shot.Grade reconfiguration and educational model changes appear to be a big part of the Facility Master Planning Committees proposed changes presented to the Midland ISD in a workshop last week.

Grade configuration has long been talked about, and the committee is using the opportunity with building facilities to create an action plan.

The districts current configuration is:

Pre-K through sixth on elementary campuses;

Seventh and eighth grades on junior high campuses;

Ninth grade on freshman high school campuses;

10th through 12th grades on senior high campuses.

Future core configurations would be:

pre-K through fifth grades on elementary campuses;

sixth through eighth grades on middle school campuses;

ninth through 12th grades on high school campuses.

According to the district, the changes are the state norm from 74 percent for middle schools, 80 percent for the new elementary school configurations to 94 percent for ninth-through-12th-grade high schools.

MISD has 27 elementary schools, four junior highs, two freshman high schools, two comprehensive high schools and two schools of choice (Early College High School at Midland College and Coleman High School), according to the district.

RELATED: MISD committee: District should propose $545 million bond in May, $910M in bonds over a decade

The educational facility model that is part of Option A.1 calls for 31 elementary schools, including more choice opportunities (an honors college and a choice school involving a partner).

There could be up to 12 middle schools. Facilities would include a new middle school for 1,140 students, three existing junior highs, the San Jacinto replacement at the current Midland High location and the two existing freshman high school locations. There would be a new Midland High School, Lee High School, a new high school, Coleman and Early College.

The facility committees plan also includes the following choice school opportunities:

a Young Womens Academy for 300 middle schoolers and 400 high schoolers;

three different partner public schools with 805 elementary school students, 345 middle school students and 460 high school students;

a fourth partner public school at the current Midland High School. It also would have room for 805 elementary school students, 345 middle school students and 460 high school students;

a newcomer/dual language academy for 100 elementary school students, 60 middle school students and 80 high school students.

The proposed timeline for bond scheduling shows a new high school, a new Midland High, a new middle school, a partner public school and young womens academy are part of the May 2019 bond.

Option A.1 also calls for specialized programs at the high schools to include:

Ag and vet sciences, STEAM and petroleum at the new Midland High;

Health science and honors college at Lee;

Culinary, public service and business/IT at the new high school.

The entire Facility Master Planning Committee proposal helps the district deal with a student population projected to rise by as much as 9,700 students in the next 10 years, according to a previous Reporter-Telegram article. The plan calls for a $545.8 million bond election in as early May and more than $910 million in total projects over the next decade.

The presentation of the Facility Master Planning Committee is on the agenda for the MISD board meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday at Bowie Fine Arts Academy.

30-member Facility Master Planning Committee

Board appointed: Tina Mocksfield, Delia Martinez, Melissa Ware, Ronnie Scott, Becky Page, John McAfee, Austin Booker, Susan Palmer, Laura Roman, Brandon Hodges, Luis Sanchez, Michael Sanchez, Kevin Foreman, Paul Hughes

Midland ISD teachers and principals: Jill Arthur, Shelly Haney, Stan VanHoozer, Diana Hines, John Wilks

Midland ISD and planning experts: Rooney Mesta (PTA), Frank Salvato (city of Midland), Wilson Heidelberg

Midland ISD board members: James Fuller, Bryan Murry

District administrators: James Riggen (chairman), Patrick Jones (assistant chairman), Jeff Horner, Deb Shaw, Kim Evans, Blake Feldt

A taxing situation

Based on current total assessed values within the county, the district estimates the following property tax increase to homeowners:

10-year bond repayment: $200,000 home $415.83 annually; $500,000 home $1,140.17 annually;

15-year bond repayment: $200,000 home $303.93 annually; $500,000 home $833.36 annually,

-20-year bond repayment: $200,000 home $211.33 annually; $500,000 home $579.45 annually,

The current tax bill to Midland ISD alone -- based on a $1.12005 tax rate -- is $2,240.10 for a $200,000 home and $5,600.25 for a $500,000 home.A 2-year-old girl in Alvin was mauled to death by the family dog early Friday evening, the Brazoria County sheriff confirmed.

The attack occurred around 5 p.m. Friday on the 3900 block of Morning Dove Street in Alvin. The toddler was killed by the family dog, which is believed to be a mix of the leopard cur breed, a hunting hound dog.

"It's a terrible incident where the family dog attacked a 2-year-old. We have no idea why," said Brazoria Sheriff Charles Wagner. "It's been a long time since we've had anything like this happen. It's a tragedy for all involved."

The dog had no known history of violence or aggression, said Lt. Varon Snelgrove. The mother and children were returning home from a shopping trip and carrying in bags when the dog suddenly attacked the girl in the yard, he said. The dog's jaw locked in around her upper torso and throat and it all happened very quickly.

"There's nothing the family could have done," Snelgrove said. "It's just a horrific, horrific incident."

The sheriff's office is not releasing the name of the family or the victim at this time.

The Galveston County Medical Examiners will perform a routine autopsy. The dog was euthanized and will be tested for rabies.

Dog attacks are fairly common in the Houston area, but fatalities are rare. An 8-week-old infant was killed last year by two family dogs - Labrador retriever mix and a schnauzer mix.

Just last month in Spring, a pack of neighborhood pit bulls and a retriever attacked and bit a 13-year-old boy and a responding deputy. Police shot one of the pit bulls, but it survived.

In August, a Baytown woman was severely injured after being attacked by two dogs while she was babysitting.

Likewise, a 20-year-old Pearland woman was attacked by one of her parent's dogs in December and had to be transported to a hospital by helicopter. Police killed that dog during the response. Also in December, a 4-year-old boy was nearly killed by his aunt's pit bulls in Liberty.

In San Antonio, authorities recently reported a spate of five severe injuries from dog attacks during a three-week period in September. Last year, a pit bull ripped off the arm of an elderly San Antonio woman. The dog owners in that case received prison sentences.TCN News:

The students of Jamia Millia Islamia (Central University) have expressed unconditional solidarity with Kashmiri students studying at AMU at the same time showing their deep concern and absolute dismay at the lodging of FIR against the Kashmiri students.

The students have been allegedly accused of holding funeral prayers, which is a falsely fabricated story by media and subsequently denied in a joint letter by 1200 students from J&K to media and concerned authorities and equally refuted by PRO, AMU.

Support TwoCircles



In their press release the students have said that the gathering of Kashmiri students was in the backdrop of disturbing and tense media reports about Kashmir shown by media during the day, after the killing of Manan Wani, a former AMU scholar and snapping of mobile and internet connectivity in Kashmir, not for funeral prayer.

We have no reason to believe that the Kashmiri students gathering and sitting at Kennedy hall lawn was in any way unlawful.

But in a bid to vitiate the peace and order in the university campus, sitting Kashmiri students were attacked with Lathis by non-Kashmiri students of AMU, despite Kashmiri students dispersing peacefully without offering any funeral prayer. We unequivocally condemn this act of brazen provocation by non-Kashmiri students and reject the unsubstantiated farcical reports of funeral prayer. Said the student body.

They further accused the media to be hostile towards the Kashmiri students and constantly running fabricated stories against the students, conducting media trials and vilifying the students who are studying in different universities in India.

The students also expressed their surprise at the inaction and anti-Kashmir approach of the AMU authorities in dealing with the AMU students; saying that AMU and other universities must understand that the discussion at university campuses on the deteriorating political conditions in Kashmir is not repugnant to universal principles of freedom and those guaranteed by article 19A of Indian constitution.

Through the press release statement, the Kashmiri students of Jamia Millia Islamia, have demanded an immediate revocation of FIRs against Kashmiri AMU students, withdrawal of show-cause notices and an end to this political intimidation and politically motivated biased media reportage against Kashmiri students, otherwise with existential threat clouding over us in this pepetual climate of fear that challenges and hampers our academic pursuits and well-being.

we all will surrender our degrees En-masse and de-register from the enrolled courses in toto and hit the road back to Kashmir and all the onus will lie on the concerned authorities, they said if their demands are not met.I did not get the real ...In airport news, the FAA gives a green light to delayed commercial airline service out of Paine Field north of Seattle- and two airlines will add flights to SFO; the New York Governor's Office releases details of its plans for a huge overhaul of JFK Airport; Dallas/Ft. Worth gets another shared-use passenger lounge; Los Angeles International debuts a new ride-sharing icon on terminal signs; and departing Delta passengers at LaGuardia can get between terminals more easily.

Paine Field in Everett, Washington  along Interstate 5 about 23 miles north of downtown Seattle  had to delay its plans to begin commercial airline service this fall after the Federal Aviation Administration said the project needed an updated environmental assessment. The Seattle Times reports that the study is finished, and the FAA has given the airport the OK to begin commercial flights, which are expected to start early in 2019. A new passenger terminal at the airport is due to be completed this fall, and three airlines have plans to put Paine Field on their route maps. Alaska Airlines said it wants to fly from Paine to San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Orange County, Portland, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Phoenix. United said it will fly from Paine to San Francisco and Denver, and Southwest is targeting new service from Paine to Oakland and Las Vegas. Stay tuned. Currently, Paine Field is mainly used by Boeing and by general aviation services.

Early last year, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a plan for major improvements at New York City's aging JFK Airport, with expanded terminals and new roadways  a $10 billion project, he said at the time. Now the governor's office has issued an update on that project, and the new price tag is $13 billion. It calls for the rebuilt JFK to be "anchored by two new world-class international terminal complexes on the airport's north and south sides," with the first gates due to open in 2023 and completion targeted for 2025. The governor's office said the new terminals would give JFK an additional 4 million square feet of space and increase the airport's capacity by 15 million passengers a year. Existing terminals would gradually be demolished, and the airport's transportation infrastructure would get a major overhaul. Including new interior roadways and increased capacity for the AirTrain that links JFK to Jamaica Station in Queens. The new passenger terminals "will feature significantly larger waiting areas with high ceilings, natural light and modern architecture coupled with interior green space, exhibits and art featuring iconic New York landmarks and local artists," the governor's office said, and the airport will have free high-speed Wi-Fi throughout.

Travelers at Los Angeles International Airport may notice a new icon on directional signs in the terminals  one that could spread to other airports soon. It's called Ride App Pickup, and it tells travelers how to get to the pickup point for their Uber, Lyft and similar ride-sharing services. The icon looks like a cell phone screen with a car and a locator pin in it. LAX officials said the new icon was developed in partnership with an airport trade organization and other national airports, "and is expected to gradually be deployed at airports across the U.S. in the coming months." Meanwhile, LAX also said the shuttle pickup areas for both private parking lots and Economy Lot C are moving from the upper/departures level to the lower/arrivals level at LAX terminals.

Airport Lounge Development has cut the ribbon on its 18th shared-use airport lounge, this one in Dallas/Ft. Worth International. The new Club DFW is located in Terminal D across from Gate 25. It's available to members of the Priority Pass program, Lounge Pass and Lounge Key, Diners Club International and the AAA Members Discount program, or to any traveler who buys a $40 day pass. The new lounge's 2,528 square feet are divided into a Privacy Zone for conference calls or Skype calls; a Replenish Zone with free hot and cold buffets and a full bar; a Productivity Zone with electrical outlets, ergonomic chairs, and computer/printer equipment; a Relax Zone with comfortable seating; and a Refresh Zone with private showers and restrooms. It's open daily from 4 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

At New York LaGuardia, work has been finished on one little piece of the airport's ongoing reconstruction. A new vehicle bridge has opened that links the departures-level roads serving Delta's Terminals C and D, so that a car or taxi can use the existing ramp on the east end of the airport and proceed directly to Terminal D and then Terminal C. It's one part of a larger roadway reconfiguration at LGA that will ultimately reduce the number of traffic signals from 19 to three, Delta said. The airline is calling its part of the new LaGuardia the Delta Sky Way at LGA, and work is continuing on its terminals. "Customers flying through LaGuardia can already see the glass and metal facade wrapping much of Delta's first concourse on the new facility, and inside the new space, mechanical and electrical elements are progressing quickly," the company noted.

Read all recent TravelSkills posts here

Get twice-per-week updates from TravelSkills via email! Sign up here

Chris McGinnis is the founder of TravelSkills.com. The author is solely responsible for the content above, and it is used here by permission. You can reach Chris at chris@travelskills.com or on Twitter @cjmcginnis.OXFORD  A man with various other cases pending in the Connecticut court system was charged again Friday after a woman interrupted his burglary attempt at her home in Oxford.

Daniel Tichy, 41, was charged with second-degree burglary, Connecticut State Police said Saturday. The agency said Tichy also had an active warrant for a separate incident, with charges of fourth-degree larceny and credit card fraud.

When Tichy was taken into custody, state police said, he was found to be in possession of narcotics. The charges he would face for that were not immediately provided.

There were no immediate court records for this incident, but records for Tichy show at least eight separate criminal incidents pending in the court system.

The most recent incident Tichy faces charges for happened Friday morning.

Around 8 a.m., police responded to a home in Oxford for a reported burglary that the resident interrupted.

Once troopers got to the home, the homeowner told them she was on the second floor of her home with her child, then went downstairs and saw an unknown man in his 20s in her home.

When confronted, the white male fled on foot from the residence, state police said.

Texas, a state police Troop A bloodhound, and his partner Trooper Edward Anuszewski responded to the home. Texas was able to pick up the suspects scent and brought state police to the suspects potential residence  but he wasnt there.

State police said several leads popped up and Tichy was identified as the suspect in the attempted burglary. He was found in Waterbury and taken into custody.DANBURY  One body was recovered after a plane that made a stop at Danbury Municipal Airport crashed Saturday off the Long Island coast, and the search for two other passengers was expected to continue overnight, officials said.

Search and rescue efforts are still ongoing, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier said at about 8 p.m. Saturday. The Coast Guard is maintaining a vessel at the scene.

The plane left Waterbury-Oxford Airport on Saturday morning and made a stop at Danbury Municipal Airport, Connecticut Airport Authority spokeswoman Alisa D. Sisic said.

At about 11:10 a.m., personnel at the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound were told by Southampton, N.Y., police that a twin-engine Piper PA-34 had crashed into the water.

The plane went down about 3 miles southeast of Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, N.Y., the Federal Aviation Administration said. The aircraft was headed for Charleston Executive Airport in South Carolina.

A Coast Guard boat crew was dispatched to the area of the crash and found a field of debris and an oil sheen on the water.

One dead body was recovered pulled from the water about a mile south of Quogue, N.Y., on Saturday afternoon, Strohmaier said. The body was taken to the medical examiner in Suffolk County, he said.

The identities of the planes occupants were not released Saturday.

We were notified that there were three people on board, so we continue to search, Strohmaier said.

Coast Guard personnel, Suffolk County Marine and multiple air crews from the New York Air National Guard  who were relieved by an air crew from Air Station Cape Cod  searched throughout the day Saturday.

Theyre going to keep searching overnight and hopefully be able to locate the two individuals, Strohmaier said.

It was unclear whether officials believed the two other passengers might be found alive.

The FAA will investigate and the National Transportation Safety Board will determine the probable cause for the accident, the FAA said.Jacksonville resident Charles White, a loan officer with nearly 20 years experience, has joined the U.S. Small Business Administrations Illinois district office as a lender relations specialist.

In his new role at the SBAs Springfield branch, White will conduct trainings and other outreach activities across downstate Illinois to market its lending programs and services and help lenders grow their volume of SBA-guaranteed loans.

Most recently, White served as senior vice president at Illinois Business Financial Services, a certified development company that works with the SBA to deliver 504 loans. Hes also worked with small business lending at Town and Country Bank, Illini Bank and Marine Bank, as well as with SomerCor 504 and Small Business Growth Corp.

White is a graduate of Illinois College in Jacksonville and lives in Jacksonville with his family of four.



Wallethub, a personal finance website, has released a study comparing local economic growth of communities across the country.

Out of 515 U.S. cities, Springfield ranked 507th in local economic growth. The website determined that the capital city is the ninth-slowest growing city in the country.

The metrics that determined the findings: population growth, median household income growth, job growth, poverty rate decrease, regional GDP growth, unemployment rate decrease, growth in number of businesses, working-age population growth, foreclosure rate decrease and median household income growth.

Eric Berglund, the CEO of the Land of Lincoln Economic Development Corp., the city and countys new joint economic development arm, said he had not seen the survey, but had heard about it.



Maryjane Million, Stephen Symons and Brad Wilson were elected to the Passavant Area Hospital board of directors during the recent annual meeting of the hospitals board of governors at Hamiltons. Each will serve a four-year term. They are replacing board members Donald Headen, Gilbert Joehl and Phyllis Lape.

Million is a homeless and licensure specialist with the Regional Office of Education. Symons is a sales executive with Diamond Brothers Insurance Agency. Wilson is an attorney and partner in the Rammelkamp Bradney law firm.BEARDSTOWN  A west-central Illinois pork-processing plant last year discharged more nitrogen from animal waste into waterways than any other slaughterhouse in the country, according to a new report.

In an assessment of water pollution produced by 98 large meat-processing facilities across the United States, the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project found that the plant in Beardstown owned by meat-processing giant JBS released about 1,850 pounds of nitrogen on average each day into a tributary of the Illinois River.

Thats the amount contained in raw sewage produced daily by a city with the population roughly the size of Evanston, the report says.

The facility is within its permitted discharge limits under the Clean Water Act, but the disclosure raises questions about the stringency of federal water pollution standards surrounding meatpacking plants.

Illinois is the fourth-largest producer of pork, and it shoulders a significant share of environmental problems as a result. A Tribune investigation found that between 2005 and 2014, pollution incidents from hog confinement operations killed at least 492,000 fish and impaired 67 miles of the states rivers, creeks and waterways.

Butchering so many animals under one roof is inherently messy  thats no surprise  and that makes them very, very large sources of water pollution, said Eric Schaeffer, director of Environmental Integrity Project. Those pollutants include nitrogen, which is a chronic water pollutant across the U.S., especially in rural areas.

Each day, nearly 20,000 pigs meet their end in Beardstown at the 630-acre complex, which churns out over 1 billion pounds of pork annually. Though its not a long-term confinement facility, the plant is bordered by lagoons that hold millions of gallons of animal waste similar to hog farms.

That slough of pig waste courses through a series of drainage ditches, canals and eventually into a tributary of the Illinois River, a waterway already tainted by pollutants associated with meatpacking facilities. While this wastewater typically passes through a treatment facility, residual nutrients like nitrogen can stimulate algae blooms that deplete oxygen levels when they decompose, suffocating fish and resulting in dead zones. Wastewater also can diminish water quality, in part, by contributing to levels of fecal bacteria.

The report considered only one avenue of pollution: pipeline discharges. But Schaeffer said waste from these facilities can also be dumped into local waterways during stormwater overflows and runoff from farm fields where it sometimes is used as fertilizer.

In March 2015, one of the lagoons failed and 29 million gallons of partially treated wastewater spilled into a drainage ditch near the Beardstown plant and flowed 2.6 miles into Muscooten Bay. Afterward, Illinois biologists counted nearly 65,000 dead fish in the waterways that feed into the Illinois River. Cargill owned the plant at the time but sold it to Brazils JBS later that year.

Despite its rank as the top polluter, the facility has not exceeded its permitted limit since 2016. Schaeffer, who served as director of civil enforcement at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the late 1990s, said that finding underscores the need to revisit national limits on slaughterhouse waste that were last modified in 2004.

If youve got a generous limit that gives you a lot of headroom and lets you pollute more, youre less likely to violate it, Schaeffer said. What were seeing is that permit limits are too relaxed.

Wide-ranging regulations across the country have resulted in some plants with strict discharge limits being in violation while other plants with looser limits remain blemish-free.

In some cases, the limit is so high its kind of hard to violate it. Nitrogen limits for a pork or beef plant are very high. They are much higher than those that you would see from a municipal sewage plant.

JBS officials disputed the discharge numbers cited in the report, saying they were inconsistent with the companys internal data. The company also argued that it was improper to imply that the plant was discharging every day when it actually only discharged 295 days in 2017.

The JBS Beardstown pork facility is well within its permitting requirements and has achieved improved environmental compliance since our acquisition of the facility in late October 2015, the company said in a statement. The facility has not experienced a water non-compliance issue since December 2015.

Since October 2016, however, JBS, has failed to submit discharge monitoring reports that are required by the Clean Water Act, according Kim Knowles, staff attorney with the Illinois-based nonprofit Prairie River Network.

This means we dont know what they are discharging, Knowles said.  I think we should stop sacrificing our water to prop up the meatpacking industry.

The Beardstown plant is a large polluter because it is an unquestionably large operation, producing more than 2 million gallons of wastewater a day, according to state records. But the plant also frequently releases water close to the mandatory limit of nitrogen concentration per liter each month, a finding Schaeffer believes is more reflective of its treatment process than its size.

The federal standards for nitrogen concentration are 134 milligrams per liter of water for slaughterhouses. By comparison, sewage treatment plants typically have a target goal of 10 milligrams per liter, Knowles said.

These are notably different industries with different regulations, but one has to wonder about the policy choices being made here and the resulting cost on others, Knowles said.

Leslie Harris, mayor of the town of 5,500, said Beardstown has recovered from the devastating spill three years ago, and JBS has been a part of the solution.

Since taking ownership of the facility, JBS made repairs to its lagoons and coordinated with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Lost Creek Drainage District in an effort to restock a nearby pond with fish.

The State Journal-Register has reported that the Beardstown Sanitary District has received federal funding to renovate its water treatment facility, and local officials were hopeful that would remove more phosphorous and nitrogen from its wastewater.

The vegetation is growing. The fish are there. They have corrected that problem, Harris said. They (JBS) are doing everything they can to keep in compliance and we appreciate their cooperation. They are very good to our community. If something wasnt right, Im sure the Illinois EPA and the U.S. EPA wouldve notified the city of Beardstown, but weve not received any notification.

Harris described JBS as a good corporate citizen. The plant, which has around 2,000 workers, is by far the towns largest employer. Asked about the plants title as the top nitrogen polluter, Harris said:

I would be concerned, but yet  if the states monitoring it and they dont have any problems with it  I would like to see what the state would say about it before I make any comment.

The Environmental Integrity Project report indicates that 74 of the 98 facilities surpassed their permitted limits for pollutants like nitrogen or fecal bacteria at least once between January 2016 and June 2018. Although the Beardstown plant had no discharge violations in that period, a Tyson Fresh Meats beef-processing plant in Joslin, Ill., which ranked as the seventh-largest nitrogen polluter in 2017, had three such violations.

Tyson spokesman Worth Sparkman argued that the report contained errors in analysis and methodology but declined to elaborate.

We want people to know that the water we use in our meat and poultry plants is essential for producing safe food, Sparkman said in an email. It is returned to streams and rivers only after its been properly treated by our wastewater treatment systems, which operate under government permits.

Mark Dopp, senior vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs for the North American Meat Institute, said the EPA data cited in the report is misleading, emphasizing that companies typically share wastewater treatment solutions with each other to improve environmental stewardship.

Meat processing plants are large and complex facilities with many outfalls, Dopp said in a statement emailed to the Tribune. It is not uncommon to have isolated hiccups in these large wastewater systems. The report treats a single isolated exceedance the same as a facility with a chronic problem. If the report had included a wider representation of facilities and focused only on chronic issues it would be far more valuable. Instead the so-called Environmental Integrity Project provides its own data analysis, offering limited insight into how it reached conclusions and not distinguishing between violations of nitrogen limits and other, unrelated issues.

Members of the meat and poultry industry recognize they have an ethical responsibility to protect the environment in which they operate.

Even when a plant is found in violation, enforcement and penalties are rare. The federal Clean Water Act allows courts to fine plants that pollute more than their permit allows, up to $46,129 per day for each separate violation. But the Environmental Integrity Project identified at least 18 slaughterhouses that accumulated more than 100 days of violations from 2016 to 2018, only 10 of which paid any fines at all.

A Keystone Protein plant in Pennsylvania, which violated discharge limits for more than 1,000 days, paid only $1,030 since 2016, the report says.

What you hear is, Well we just want to get them back in compliance, Schaeffer said. My quick reaction, thinking like an ordinary taxpayer, is when I get pulled over for speeding, its not like Im going to tell a cop, Im trying to get back into compliance so if you dont mind just give me a warning. Hed laugh.

Typically, enforcement falls to a states attorney general to take polluters to court. Attorney General Lisa Madigan named Cargill and JBS in a lawsuit after the 2015 spill.

Cargill and JBS were ordered to pay $150,000 in civil penalties to the state EPA and $34,000 to the state Wildlife and Fish Fund, in part to recoup the value of the bluegill, largemouth bass and catfish killed in the incident. Neither acknowledged a role in the allegations leveled by Madigans office.

Thursdays analysis determined that the worst polluters released about 30 times more nitrogen concentration than the cleanest slaughterhouses. Schaeffer said it shows that cleaner technology is available to make these facilities more capable of removing nitrogen, but it may come down to states or federal lawmakers to motivate the industry.

Every several years, the EPA is supposed to look back at the standards and decide is this up to date, Schaeffer said. You dont want to freeze standards to what they are 20, 25 years ago. Looking at this data, industry is capable of doing more, and the EPA should update that and essentially lower the floor, establish a new set of minimum requirements that are more stringent. And they can point to the industrys own data when they do that.NEW YORK  A white woman who called police after claiming that a young black boy touched her behind in a Brooklyn deli drew a storm of ridicule and criticism on social media, and late Friday she made a public apology to the child.

Critics characterized the incident as the latest example of a hypersensitive white person calling the police to report black people for dubious reasons. Many detractors imputed racist motives to the woman, Teresa Klein.

She was quickly labeled Cornerstore Caroline by Jason Littlejohn, 37, a lifelong Flatbush resident who recorded the commotion Wednesday outside the Sahara Deli Market on Albemarle Road. Littlejohns Facebook recording of the incident had been viewed 4 million times by Friday evening.

I was just sexually assaulted by a child, Klein is heard saying on the video as she was on the phone with the police. The boy, who is about 9, and another child burst into tears outside the store as bystanders confronted Klein about the incident.

The son grabbed my ass and she decided to yell at me, Klein continued in the video, referring to his mother. The video was first reported by The New York Post.

The public shaming of people who behave boorishly or spout racist views has become a feature of modern life in New York City, where nearly every person has a cellphone and residents are not shy about confronting one another, often in colorful language.

Last year, a lawyer who threatened to call the immigration authorities on Spanish-speaking employees at a lunch counter made a public apology after a video of his rant was posted online and complaints were made to state court officials.

Klein, 53, returned to the store Friday afternoon to buy cigarettes and to face her neighbors, who heckled her as she gave her version of events to journalists. Then, prompted by a reporter, Klein went inside the store and watched a playback of the security camera footage from Wednesday evening.

Onlookers crammed inside the bodegas doorway to watch the screening, their phone cameras pointed toward Klein. Playing on a ceiling-mounted flat-screen television, the video showed the child turning to someone behind him and his backpack brushing Kleins backside as she leaned over the counter.

Speaking into a television reporters camera afterward, Klein made an apology. Young man, she said, I dont know your name but Im sorry.

Still, Klein denied she acted out of bigotry toward the boy or that she harbored racist feelings. She said she was willing to meet with the mother to talk out their differences, but complained that the mother had reacted aggressively when she said the boy had touched her.

A woman charged at me and flashed a badge and said that she would arrest me, she said, and I called 911.

For three days, Klein had been roundly criticized on Twitter. Many people took issue with the idea that a boy of his age would even understand what it meant to grope someone.

The outrage escalated after the surveillance video from the bodega was posted online, showing that the boy, dressed in a school uniform and carrying a large book bag, did not appear to touch Klein.

The little kid thought he was going to go to jail for something he didnt do, Littlejohn said in an interview. I thought it was someone calling police for unnecessary reasons, especially on a child.

Nahounha Alexandre, 22, who works at a nearby Baptist church, said the apology was welcome but insufficient unless Klein also dropped her complaints about the mothers behavior.

She hurt all of us in this community because when you accuse that one little boy of doing something, you also accuse all of us, Alexandre said.

The incident echoed other recent uproars on social media over white people calling the police to make a complaint about black people.

In Oakland, California, a white woman nicknamed BBQ Becky called the police about black people who she said were barbecuing in a restricted area in a park. Near Cleveland, a white family called the police after black children mowing a neighbors lawn accidentally mowed a portion of the familys lawn.

And in Philadelphia, a Starbucks employee called police after two black men asked to use the restroom without purchasing anything. More recently, the police were called on a black man near Atlanta who was baby-sitting two white children.

You think something like this only happens in the South, but its all over the world, said Littlejohn, who had tried to comfort the boy. Hes going to be traumatized for the rest of his life. This is something that will stick with him.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.For mega burger chain In-N-Out, the Double Double buck stops at Texas. Lynsi Snyder, the 36-year-old president of the California-based company, is committed to upholding the restaurant's policy of geographic exclusivity. It was put in place by her grandparents Harry and Esther Synder, who founded the company in Baldwin Park, California in 1948.

In an interview with Forbes, Snyder reveals that while In-N-Out currently operates in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Texas, the franchise will not grow east of the Lone Star State. Locations in Colorado and New Mexico, however, are part of expansion plans.

SCORED: Whataburger, Popeyes and Pappas BBQ make Houston's cleanest restaurant list

"I don't see us stretched across the whole U.S. I don't see us in every state. Take Texasdraw a line up and just stick to the left. That's in my lifetime," she tells the magazine.

One reason for the decision is that corporate policy forbids the use of freezers or microwaves, and the more than 300 In-N-Out locations across the nation are situated within a day's drive of three central warehouses so that meat and other ingredients stay fresh.

Another reason for the exclusivity? You want what you can't have. "I like that we're sought after when someone's coming into town. I like that we're unique. That we're not on every corner. You put us in every state and it takes away some of its luster," Synder said.

DEBUT : In-N-Out Burger, golf venue and other retailers kick off former TI redevelopment

And then there's the tough burger competition. In Texas, In-N-Out goes head-to-head with Whataburger. The beloved San Antonio-based chain, founded in Corpus Christi in 1950, boasts 674 locations across its home state and $2 billion in revenue.

By comparison, In-N-Out has opened 36 locations in Texas since 2011. Its first Houston-area outpost is set to open at The Grid complex, formerly the Texas Instruments property, in Stafford. Construction of the site commenced this fall.

Marcy de Luna is a digital producer for Chron.com. You can follow her on Twitter @MarcydeLuna. Read her stories on Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | Marcy.deLuna@chron.com

San Antonio police are investigating a stabbing on the East Side Saturday that left two women injured.

An unidentified woman attacked Irasha Daniels in a parking lot at the corner of South W.W. White Road and Lavender Lane Saturday afternoon, witnesses told police.

Police responded to the 4500 block Lavender Lane where Daniels and other unidentified people had retaliated against the female assailant after the attack, according to police. The address of the incident corresponds to the Sun Park Apartments.

RELATED: Man fatally stabbed while attempting to buy tire rims

Both women claimed to have been stabbed by the other and both were taken to Brooke Army Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries, police said.

Online court documents showed Saturday evening that Daniels has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. It is unknown at this time if the other woman has been charged.

This is the latest knife incident area law enforcement have responded to this weekend.

Police say a man died from stab wounds Friday evening that he received while attempting to purchase tire rims on the Northeast Side. Additionally, Bexar County Sheriff's Office report they are seeking a suspect in a stabbing that left one person hospitalized early Saturday.In a recent talk at a high school in Sacramento, Calif., newly retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy said, in response to a students comment about the lack of civility in politics today, that the nation has failed to do an adequate job teaching the importance of preserving democracy by an enlightened civic discourse.

Kennedy went on to argue that the incivility with which politicos and ordinary citizens of differing political persuasions speak to one another is a factor in the decline and death of democracy in America. Thats a pretty sobering assessment.

By the way, it was Kennedys retirement that prompted President Donald Trump to nominate Judge Brett Kavanaugh as a replacement. And as just about everyone now knows, this was an extremely controversial nominee because, once seated on the court, he could radically reshape the political landscape in this country for years to come.

A number of ugly accusations were leveled against Kavanaugh alleging abusive treatment of female classmates when he was in high school and college.

Channeling Trump, GOP backers of Kavanaugh called these charges a politically motivated character assassination. Democrats, on the other hand, heroized the women who came forward to level charges against the judge. The result is that political discourse has become as ugly as I ever remember it being.

America is reaping what it has sown. As a longtime community college and university English teacher, I have made a career teaching students how to think. While doing this, I have watched the nation underfund education and underappreciate educators, especially those who teach in the liberal arts  those tasked with teaching Americans how to be critical consumers of information and champions of reasoned discourse.

When a large segment of any population is incapable of thinking well, when it actually becomes anti-reason and anti-intellectual, it makes the entire citizenry vulnerable. Once a nation comes to celebrate irrationality and begins to think with its gut, it is susceptible to becoming enthralled with the first con man with a bit of charisma who comes along.

Virtually all college English instructors teach something called rhetoric, which is really the art and science of thinking well, constructing compelling arguments and mastering civil discourse. I can say, with utmost certainty, that all educators of this type teach the differences between logos, ethos and pathos, three Greek words that refer to different types of arguments.

Logos arguments are those based on logic. The use of logic requires the arguer to make a sound claim and to marshal strong evidence in support of that claim. Those who argue logically reject generalizations  for example, that all Muslims are terrorists or that all immigrants are freeloaders. These kinds of arguments, when well-constructed and sound, are powerful because they are hard to counter.

Pathos is the use of raw emotion  outrage and hatred as examples  when trying to persuade. Such emotional arguments are not based on reason, sound judgment or compelling evidence. These kinds of claims try to persuade by riling people up, by getting them to set reason and logic aside. Such arguers understand that fear and anger are powerful tools  they move people, especially those who dont put much value in facts or reason. Because there are so many politicians using pathos today and because the population is very susceptible to believing such arguments, it is not uncommon to hear supposedly serious people making racist, xenophobic, homophobic and misogynistic claims.

In the Kavanaugh hearings, the Democrats were mostly using logos. They were quietly trying to gather evidence from both Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Kavanaugh. When Ford made assertions, she tended to qualify her statements, being careful not to say things that would go beyond what she could factually recollect. On the other hand, the Republicans did a lot of primal screaming and used emotive language. Similarly, Kavanaugh tried to incite his supporters by attempting to portray himself as the victim. Kavanaugh didnt want Republicans to think. He wanted them to feel rage.

Far too many Americans have fallen prey to pure pathos and have been completely seduced by a kind of thinking thats rooted in conspiracy theory and prejudice. This is dangerous. Can democracy survive if a large number of Americans no longer believe in civility, which is rooted in reason? Thats the key question before us now.

Troy Headrick is a writer, traveler, political activist and educator who manages a writing center at Palo Alto College.Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller has been an embarrassment for Texas, and voters this fall have a chance to remedy this by electing Kim Olson.

Olson, a Democrat, had a trailblazing career with the U.S. Air Force, serving as one of its first female pilots and retiring as a colonel. She is also a third-generation farmer and grows peaches, nectarines and pecans on her property in Mineral Wells. She created a nonprofit, Grace After Fire, which aims to help women veterans find employment. And she is deeply knowledgeable about the agricultural issues facing Texas. These include water security, farmland preservation and ensuring healthy (and tasty) foods are served in school cafeterias.

Olson does have one significant blemish on her resume. In the mid-2000s, while in Iraq, she was accused of steering government contracts to a South African security firm. Olson denied the charges, but pleaded guilty to creating the appearance of a conflict of interest and was hit with a $3,500 fine. She said she agreed to this because the military had more resources than she did. But, importantly, she also received an honorable discharge with no reduction in rank, and she has generally described this as a mistake made during the fog of war.

In light of her honorable discharge, we are inclined to see this as a mistake made during a chaotic time. As Olson has said, Im not running for nun. That ship has long sailed.

But theres this: Miller is a deeply flawed incumbent who has betrayed the publics trust, embraces divisive and embarrassing politics, and focuses on the trivial at the expense of the significant.

The Jesus Shot, of course, is but one of Millers foibles in office. Shortly after taking charge in 2015, Miller flew to Oklahoma under the pretense of attending the Oklahoma National Stockyards and meeting with state officials. But the real reason was to receive a Jesus Shot, which supposedly relieves chronic pain, from an Oklahoma doctor once convicted of tax evasion in Ohio. He billed taxpayers for the trip, just as he initially billed taxpayers when he went to a rodeo in Mississippi. Miller ultimately repaid the public for these trips.

If only it ended there, but it doesnt. Not even close.

Miller, a Republican, raised fees on the agriculture industry despite vociferous opposition from industry, Republicans and Democrats. Miller said those fees were necessary to keep certain programs in his department operating. But in 2016, those fees resulted in millions more in revenue than the cost of the associated programs.

He also doled out more than $400,000 in bonuses during his first nine months of office, and he briefly appointed the wife of his longtime campaign consultant to a job that would have paid $180,000 a year.

Along these lines, Miller appointed Ricky Ray Redalen, a doctor and a campaign donor, to the states rural health task force. Redalens license was revoked or suspended in three states. Redalen also married his 15-year-old stepdaughter.

Miller has been crude. He has demonized Muslims, likened Syrian refugees to rattlesnakes and once on Twitter referred to Hillary Clinton with an extremely offensive and vulgar word.

Millers policies have been poor. They include allowing deep fryers back in schools, a strange focus on making sure cupcakes can be eaten in schools, using rat poison to control the wild hog population even though this would taint the food chain, and cracking down on the scales used at barbecue establishments, even though no such action is needed.

And so it goes, but it does not have to keep going if voters choose Olson.

She is focused on the big issues facing Texas agriculture. Water scarcity. Pest control. Drought protection. Supporting local and organic farmers. Regenerative practices for farming. She is committed to promoting healthy eating in Texas schools and following best practices to address childhood obesity.

Texans deserve better than what they are getting from Miller. Olson is, easily, the best choice for agriculture commissioner.The latest attempts to limit the Bexar County bureaucracy  while saving taxpayers $1.3 million in the process  were short-lived.

Less than a week after they were presented with a budget calling for the elimination of eight justice of the peace clerks and 15 deputy constables, commissioners bowed to political pressure and threats of litigation. County Judge Nelson Wolff ordered the county manager to put the positions back in the 2018-19 budget approved Tuesday.

The lack of political fortitude by county commissioners to act in the best interest of the taxpayers continues to trouble.

The 23 positions that will now stay in the budget will be funded with newly discovered funds that had not been in the county revenue estimates, Commissioner Paul Elizondo said.

Attempts to minimize the countys spending on constables and justices of the peace  two posts that serve a much more useful role in rural counties  have been going on for decades. Bexar County has managed to gain a little ground in that effort despite heavy political pushback, but taxpayers continue to foot a hefty price tag for these offices.

In 2016, three justice of the peace positions were eliminated along with two dozen deputy constables and justice of the peace clerks, but further belt-tightening is warranted.

Decriminalization of truancy has cut heavily into the workload of local constables and justices of the peace, and has even prompted them to start soliciting business from the attorney generals offices Child Support Division.

At a Commissioners Court meeting this month, employees from constable and justice of the peace offices lobbied hard to have commissioners reconsider the elimination of jobs. They said it would do irreparable harm to their families financial stability, and they noted the massive amount of documents the offices process and serve, the assistance they provide to school districts with traffic enforcement, and that the work from the attorney general makes them revenue producers.

No one is questioning the quality of the work in these offices. The real issue is whether taxpayers should be funding offices that have outlived their usefulness in urban counties. Incorporated cities have their own police departments, and a growing sheriffs office handles the unincorporated areas of the county.

Taxpayers deserve a better explanation of why commissioners are going against the staffs budget recommendation.

In his letter to County Manager David Smith asking that funding be restored, County Judge Nelson Wolff said, Controversy about proposed cuts to the constables offices has created discord between the constables and the Bexar County Sheriffs Office. This conflict is ultimately harmful to the justice system.

That explanation does not make any fiscal sense. Asking taxpayers to foot a $1.3 million bill to assure harmony shows a lack of effective leadership on many levels.

And the taxpayer tab for the constables office may soon grow even larger.

Earlier this month, the Deputy Constables Association of Bexar County filed suit seeking to compel the county to engage in collective bargaining with deputy constables.

Even if the county prevails in court, the appeals in the case could result in drawn-out and costly litigation with a group of employees whose numbers should have been reduced a long time ago.Hey, I know what we should do. First, lets replace our City Council decision-making performed by our elected representatives with mob rule. Then lets phase out city managers in San Antonio so that  even after achieving a top-rated performance within financial restraints  we cap his or her salary and limit his or her term. Then we can change how we deal with unions so that more is attained through backroom deals and binding arbitration.

Oh, wait, thats already proposed by the firefighter union as Propositions A, B and C.

As Gomer Pyle used to say, Shazam.

Bill Hurley

Vote yes

I was undecided on how to vote for the charter amendments. I see now that rich business people and special interests are paying for all the expensive commercials.

This tells me that if the amendments pass, they will put less money in their pockets and less money in local politicians pockets. It should be easier for residents to protest taxes. The way its set up now, its almost impossible to fight tax increases. You need too many signatures to change things at City Hall. And is our city manager making too much money? I think so.

I, for one, think that our public safety officers should be treated fairly and compensated for the hard and dangerous work they do.

Carlos Hernandez

GOP should know

Re: Black eye on U.S, Your Turn, Wednesday:

The letter writer complains that Judge Brett Kavanaugh was forced to face a despicable lowdown attempt at political assassination by the radical left (Democratic Party). Republicans should be familiar with these tactics as they were invented by their late colleague Lee Atwater.

Atwater proposed a no-quarter, slash-and-burn strategy in political campaigns to spread big lies about opponents, smear them with character assassinations, and figuratively eviscerate them with a knife to the stomach. It was a brilliant strategy that worked because it was evil. It reflected the statement by French playwright, Moliere, who stated, There is no rampart that will hold out against malice.

Good, constructive and well-intentioned Democratic candidates manning the ramparts crumbled in the face of such vicious attacks. Republicans came to power at all levels of government and have retained a powerful destructive stranglehold on American democracy.

William Lederer in 1961 wrote a book about Americans titled A Nation of Sheep. It helps explain how so many average Americans vote for self-serving Republicans who protect their wealthy friends and disregard, with disdain, the common good.

George Farias

Want him  again?

Seriously, you guys are endorsing Trey Martinez Fischer again? You might as well include a bus ticket to Albuquerque and Oklahoma. That is where he and his liberal cronies went when things got too hot in Austin a few years ago. How can we forget?

But keep up the good work. I enjoy reading your paper.

Rick MartinezWAR veteran Cde Jane Nyathi has died. She was 60.

Cde Nyathi whose war name was Ntombikayise Mdluli, died at Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo on Wednesday and was declared a Liberation War Heroine.

She will be buried at Bulawayo Provincial Heroes Acre in Nkulumane tomorrow. Cde Nyathi was born on 17 October 1958 in Gwandas Ntalale-Pelele area.

She did her primary education at Pelele Primary School.

After completing her primary education she joined the war of liberation in 1977 through Botswana at Selibe-Phikwe Camp which was under the command of Cde Makepesi.

She stayed at Selibe-Phikwe camp for a few days before being air-lifted to neighbouring Zambia.

In Zambia, Cde Nyathi and other comrades were taken to Victory Camp then to Mkushi Camp to undergo their military training camp under the command of Commander Billy Mzamo.

After the camp was bombed, she moved with others to Solwezi Camp which was under the command of the late Eddie Sigoge Mlotshwa. After cease fire she returned home and stayed in Bulawayo.

After Zimbabwes first elections she went to Seira Assembly Point near Gweru and in 1981 was demobilised. She returned to her rural home to stay with her parents. In the same year she got married to Mr Moses Dube.

The couple was blessed with six children.

 SundayNews

Breaking News via Email

Loading...

Related Zimbabwe Latest NewsThe economic meltdown triggered by monetary and fiscal reforms that were recently unveiled by the government exposed teething problems in the ruling partys newly created structure led by former ministers, which is envisaged will direct public policies.

After the value of the bond notes crashed on the black market, triggering fuel shortages, price hikes and closure of businesses, Zanu PF issued a statement claiming Finance minister Mthuli Ncube had not consulted the party before announcing the policies.

The statement was interpreted in some circles as a sign of discord between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the Zanu PF politburo, now manned by fulltime secretaries that include former ministers.

However, Zanu PF secretary for administration Obert Mpofu (OM) told our senior reporter Veneranda Langa (VL) in an exclusive interview on Friday that they were just persuading the authorities to explain things.

The former Home Affairs minister also spoke about prospects for dialogue between MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa and Mnangagwa as well as his relationship with former president Robert Mugabe. Below are excerpts from the interview.

VL: You have said your investigations revealed a hidden hand in the economic situation prevailing in the country. Why have you not taken action against the saboteurs?

OM: I am not the one who said that. Actually, it was the Zanu PF spokesperson, Simon Khaya Moyo, who said so. You need to ask him.

VL: Finance minister Mthuli Ncube and Reserve Bank governor John Mangudya, when they unveiled the monetary and fiscal interventions, said some of the reasons behind the economic mess were excessive government expenditure and the abuse of Treasury Bills. Is your investigation now challenging those assertions?

OM: We are not investigating anything. Zanu PF members need to know the rationale behind the measures that government is taking so that they understand exactly what government is now aiming to achieve.

How can we investigate ourselves?

What we are doing is just persuading the authorities to explain things, which members of the public are not clear about.

What is actually happening now is positive because I hear that the bond note value has actually strengthened because of some of these austerity measures that were taken.

It is a question of making people to understand. It is not the party, which should have a say about it, it should be government that is supposed to explain, and they are prepared to explain why certain things are being done.

Government is actually trying to put measures, which will be supported by reforms to rationalise the economy.

VL: Will Zanu PF ever take blame for the excessive expenditure since it is the governing party?

OM: We are a party in government and have assigned people to deal with issues of over-expenditure and rationalisation of the civil service and other areas that are gobbling up the national budget.

That is being done by both the party and government, and there is no blame that we are going to take.

We are rectifying those areas and we are not being persuaded by anyone to do so.

We are doing it on our own accord to ensure that there is transparency in government expenditure and monitoring it.

We are looking at coming up with a stable currency, which will not confuse people.

Just three days ago there was chaos in the market and people did not know the proper United States dollar to bond rates, but all those areas are being rectified by government in order to come up with measures that will not burden the people of Zimbabwe, including those in rural areas.

VL: Why is the new administration sounding as if it was not part of what happened in the country under Robert Mugabe leading to economic ruin?

OM: I do not know about that, but this chaos in the country started a few days ago.

What I can say is that the new dispensation is operating normally in a lot of areas.

It is just that when certain pronouncements are made they cause panic, but the party and government have been explaining to the people about the actions we are taking to turn around the economy.

I do not know about Mugabe causing economic ruin. We [new dispensation] have been running government for over a year.

I do not want to be talking a lot about the past because currently we are correcting everything that was done wrongly before to make things normal.

VL: Is there any chance that the austerity measures unveiled by Ncube will be reviewed after consultations with Zanu PF?

OM: Austerity measures are reviewed from time to time. As a party, we have several policy documents that have always been reviewed.

For example, we have gone from ZimAsset to the Transitional Stabilisation Programme and this is normal.

We are not just reviewing economic measures simply because it has to be done; we are guided by international, regional and local trends and developments within the region.

So, it is a process for government to keep reviewing policies.

VL: Mnangagwa appointed some technocrats like Ncube from outside Zanu PF. How do you expect them to relate with the party going forward?

OM: We are relating well with the technocrats. The party now has full-time members, and very senior members in the politburo that have been in Cabinet for a long time to ensure that this transition is smooth.

We have also stressed to the technocrats that there are political elements in whatever they do, as well as economic and social elements.

Zanu PF is the guiding party to government and so it is imperative that it needs to involve technocrats so that the country works again.

We are in power because of the people and due to what we promised in our manifesto, which attracted people to the party.

As the governing party, we need to give the people their demands. We were elected because of the promises, which need to be implemented and so we also roped in the technocrats.

VL: Does the new structure where Zanu PF employs fulltime personnel, including you who want to direct government policies not result in two centres of power; that is, the politburo and Cabinet?

OM: No, there is one centre of power. The party is supreme, and the party is run and headed by the president who is also the one that governs.

So, there cannot be any conflict between the two. All these are guided by the authority of the president, who derives his majority from the party.

It may not be understood by some people, but it is normal and is done in countries like Angola and Namibia. We are learning from them.

We have a team right now, which is in South Africa, and another will be going to Angola and China to learn how to implement this, and that is the way to go.

We may not have done things properly before because of lack of that arrangement where senior party members and the politburo had no input.

We had people who were senior politburo members and ministers and it was difficult to shift functions, but now there is a key mandate whereby we are full-time party members to ensure that we remind those in government to ensure they follow what the people want.

VL: Some have interpreted your statements about Ncubes policies as a direct challenge to Mnangagwa as the appointing authority. What is your comment on that?

OM: Those are social media falsehoods. Mnangagwa is our president and what he is doing is what the party subscribes to.

Zanu PF is a very much organised party, and such social media messages will not affect the partys resolve.

We just remind each other of what we should do or what should be done for the people.

How can we go against the president? Whatever the president says we follow.

VL: Has the party spoken to the president concerning its reservations about the policies and if so, what was his reaction?

OM: Our spokesperson SK Moyo issued a statement about the partys view on the policies last week.

Of course, we talk about those issues as a party and once Moyo issues a statement, it means that the statement is a result of deliberations with the president and the party.

VL: The recommendations you propose to tackle price increases and closure of companies failed under Mugabe. Why do you think they will work now?

OM: We have been discouraging people from taking the law into their hands. We are saying that everything should be done in accordance with the law.

We have been explaining to people so that they give us time to implement their ideas.

We are discouraging people from unilaterally increasing prices because there are people moving around, especially in Bulawayo, threatening closure of companies and that is illegal.

There are proper procedures being undertaken by government through its organs and no member of the public should take things into their hands.

We are a law-abiding country. The president said whatever stage we are going through is meant to stabilise the country.

VL: During his recent visit to the United Nations, Mnangagwa said he was ready for dialogue with the opposition, but in your address at the caucus for MPs you said Zanu PF does not need the opposition. Is that another sign of discord?

OM: I did not say that we do not need the opposition. I actually said there are no vacancies in Zanu PF because we were given the mandate by the people to run the country, and the president has always said that Zimbabwe is open for dialogue and participation by Zimbabweans.

However, Mnangagwa is not doing so because he is failing to run the country.

He is a magnanimous and capable president, who wants to involve every Zimbabwean in the development and growth of the country.

He is not saying so because he is unable or that he has no manpower to lead.

He has opened his hands to all Zimbabweans to join Zanu PF to ensure the development of the country.

Zimbabwe is a vast country, and we have been embracing all in rebuilding it to ensure that there is democracy and that we are ready for investment.

If the opposition wants to be part of development, then why are they not saying so rather than just to expend energies on issues that derail our development?

We are busy working on the development of this country through the efforts of the president and government to ensure the country reverts to normalcy in terms of investment.

VL: Have you made any contact with Mugabe since his ouster and do you have any regrets about the role you played in his removal?

OM: Yes, I met Mugabe when the African Union chairman was on a courtesy call. As Zanu PF, we respect the old man.

The country respects him so much and I do not think that there are hard feelings on Mugabe.

All the things that were done on Mugabe were not personal  they were issues of national importance.

If you look at how Mnangagwa handled him in a dignified manner  and that Mnangagwa has not said any disparaging words about Mugabe  it shows that there are no bad feelings.

The party position is that we view Mugabe as our old man and founder of the revolution, and we consider him as such. We just want him to rest well together with his family.

 The Standard

Breaking News via Email

Loading...

Related Zimbabwe Latest NewsPopular young opposition leaders from East Africa are uniting with like-minded colleagues in West and Southern Africa to form a movement to challenge the misrule that has plagued the continent.

Kenyan legislator Babu Owino said in a talk late Friday with Ugandan pop star-turned-opposition figure Bobi Wine (whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu) and Kenyan activist-turned-politician Boniface Mwangi that they are reaching out to South Africas Julius Malema and Zimbabwes Nelson Chamisa, among others.

Theres a deliberate effort in Africa by senior politicians to distance youth from politics and governance, yet 70 percent of the continents population is below the age of 35, said Ssentamu.

Ssentamu, a lawmaker since last year, says hes fighting for freedom from oppression and wants 74-year-old Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, in power since 1986, to retire.

Ssentamu is facing treason charges in Uganda after being arrested and tortured for allegedly organizing the stoning of the presidential motorcade.

The government denies allegations that Ssentamu was tortured. Ssentamu said he was happy to speak freely in Kenya because in Uganda police would violently disperse any of his public meetings. He said never wanted to become a politician but he felt he had been complaining for too long.

I wanted to act, he said.

Mwangi said despite Africas people mostly being young, the majority of the continents leadership was elderly.

Who are they speaking for? They are stealing, looting and borrowing heavily, said Mwangi.

He urged young people to actively engage in politics, run for office and make changes from within rather than simply complaining from the outside.

Silence makes them think you are not feeling the pain, he said.

Mwangi, who last year lost his first attempt running for a legislative seat, said young people must not be afraid to lose in politics because its a learning process.

When you are young, they can break your bones but not your spirit. Its time to break bones! he declared.

Ssentamu also urged young people not to get discouraged about making their voices count.

When you fall, get up and walk. Clean yourself on the way, he advised.

 AP

Breaking News via Email

Loading...

Related Zimbabwe Latest News- APC says it has information that former president Obasanjo is trying to get US visa for Atiku

- The ruling party says the ex-Nigerian leader is trying to get the US to also lift the ban on Atiku's entry into that country

- APC says the actions of Obasanjo show him as a hypocrite who is working in only his interest

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has alleged that former president Olusegun Obasanjo is working on how to get an American visa for Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

The party said in a statement signed by its acting national spokesman Yekini Nabena on Saturday, October 13 that it has information that Obasanjo is trying to get the US to lift Atiku's entry ban into that country.

The APC said Obasanjo's move to help Atiku enter the US where he is allegedly banned from entering because of a purported corruption case, is evidence of the former president's hypocrisy.

READ ALSO: I am under strong pressure to leave APC - Governor Yari

The statement read: "We have come across credible reports that former President Olusegun Obasanjo has made moves to secure United States entry visa for the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alh. Atiku Abubakar, whose candidacy he endorsed on Thursday.

"It is learnt that that the former President who during and after leaving office insisted on Atikus unsuitability to govern Nigeria based on his knowledge of the latters extensive corrupt practices while he served as Vice President, is lobbying US authorities to withdraw the ban reportedly placed on Atiku from entering the United States following a 2005 $500,000 bribery scandal that involved Atiku, his fourth wife, Jennifer and former United States Congressman, William Jefferson.

"Recall that the former president while in office had deployed enormous resources of the country on a global dragnet coordinated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in getting Atiku prosecuted for corrupt enrichment and money laundering.

"A report by the United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Senator Carl Levin reported that Atiku used offshore companies to siphon millions of dollars to his fourth wife in the United States, Jennifer while still the vice president of Nigeria between 2000 and 2008.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android and read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

"The report further stated that then President Bush had on the strength of his report, barred Atiku and other corrupt politically exposed persons from being issued visa to the United States, a reason for which he has been unable to travel to the United States till date.

"Former President Olusegun Obasanjos intervention in Alh. Abubakar Atikus ban from the United States of America is evidence of Obasanjos legendary hypocrisy and self-serving interest in national affairs."

Legit.ng had reported that Atiku met Obasanjo in a closed door meeting on Thursday, October 11 where the two politicians reconciled.

Shortly after the meeting at his residence in the Ogun state capital, Obasanjo pledged to support Atiku's presidential ambition.

Atiku's acceptance speech after being declared PDP presidential flag bearer - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng News- President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the APC deserves to be re-elected in 2019

- Speaking to leaderders of religious groups across the country, Buhari urged all who are aggrieved to put aside their grievances and consider the country's stability as the ultimate priority

- He further urged politicians in the country to discharge their political responsibilities with integrity and the fear of God

President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday, October 13, in Abuja, insisted that the All Progressive Congress (APC) deserved re-election in 2019, in view of the achievements of the party in Nigeria.

Buhari then advised religious leaders and traditional rulers to encourage their adherents and subjects to read every political partys manifesto carefully and vote wisely in the 2019 general elections, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

READ ALSO: We invaded Dino Melayes house to arrest him, Kogi ADC has nothing to do with it - Police

Speaking at the Interfaith Conference on Religious Harmony in Nigeria, organized by the Interfaith Initiative for Peace, the president urged religious leaders to desist from partisan politics in order not to lose their value in the society.

Buhari also called on all aggrieved persons to always consider the stability of Nigeria first before their individual political ambitions, and to seek redress in court where necessary, rather than resorting to violence.

It is my hope that all, who feel aggrieved will put the stability of our country first before their political ambition, or accept the decisions of their political parties or seek resolution through party reconciliation mechanisms or the law court.

Very soon, political campaigns will commence leading to elections in February next year. It is my hope and prayer that we will even perform better in the polling stations and see to the peaceful conclusion of the entire process without resorting to the negative use of religion and ethnicity.

Having recognised the role our religious leaders have been playing so far, I appeal to them to eschew partisan politics and appeal to their respective members to read the manifestos of each political party, discuss and pray for Gods guidance before casting their votes.

Religious leaders should not be seen to involve themselves in partisan politics or political controversies, otherwise they risk losing their status and public respect.

On their part, the traditional rulers are also requested to enlighten their subjects, encourage them to ask questions and clarifications before going out to vote.

As you are present, I will request that you encourage your subjects to come out and exercise their voting rights as responsible citizens.

To all of us politicians, I ask that we discharge our political responsibilities with integrity, bearing in mind that we will one day give account to God almighty.

I am proud to say that our country has moved on; the era of free money, lack of transparency and accountability is over. We deserve continuity, we deserve a better future for the coming generations.

I sincerely hope that 2019 will move us closer to these goals and so I look forward to a peaceful, fair and credible election come 2019, the president said.

In his address, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar, stated that religious harmony is crucial to fostering peaceful coexistence.

Religious harmony is very important for peaceful co-existence because there must be understanding before we could collectively move forward as a country.

Progress and development would continue to elude us if acrimony, mistrust and backbiting are being promoted.

However, we succeeded in securing the commitment and trust of the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Police, and other critical stakeholders that would be involved in the electoral process.

We had similar efforts in 2015 and it resulted in peaceful elections that led to surprise defeat of the incumbent president. We hope that peace and tolerance will envelop the forthcoming elections.

It is only God that can give power to whoever he pleases and also take it from him without even prior notice.

The President has repeatedly guaranteed us level playing field for peaceful general elections next year and we are grateful to him for that.

We have identified a common problem that has held down Nigeria, and that informed the theme of the conference, `Religious Harmony in Nigeria: Towards the 2019 General Election. We are traditional and religious leaders with massive followership and loyalty.

It is expected of us to re-educate and enlighten Nigerians so they could deeply participate and make good choices at the polls, the sultan said.

Also in his address, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Onaiyekan, expressed the belief that the original sin holding the country down is selfishness.

According to him, selfishness has become the primary objective and moving principle in the lives of Nigerians.

He said: Selfishness at all levels  personal, family, tribal, regional, and even religious. This is at the root of corruption, violence, disloyalty and the win-at-all-cost and by-all-means syndrome at elections.

If we continue this way, good governance, genuine democracy, national unity, peace and prosperity for all Nigerians will continue to elude us.

According to him, the country needs a concept of politics that is based on the readiness of politicians to serve Nigerians.

We need a concept of politics that is based on the readiness to serve the common good of all Nigerians. The emphasis should be on service.

Not self-service. We the people, on our part, should stop looking for local heroes and tribal champions, who most of the time, do not care, really, about our local needs nor those of the nation, he added.

Onaiyekan sad that politics should no longer be an avenue for money-making at the expense of the people, who are supposed to be served.

He, therefore, urged all those interested in making money to go into competitive business, where hard work and competence determined success.

He further urged Nigerians not to allow people to continue to take advantage of their political positions to steal the countrys wealth.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet!

This is the change that Nigerians should be looking for, beyond slogans and emotional speeches and promises. In my view, this is what the forthcoming 2019 elections should be about.

There is need for revolution, a change of mindset, attitude and behaviour patterns. This means addressing the heart and soul of Nigerians and leading them into spiritual combat. This is what religion  any genuine religion  is supposed to be all about.

As religious leaders, we need to move from emphasis on competition for dominance to cooperation towards the common good of the entire society.

We must join hands and our voices to preach a common and clear message of peace and justice, ready to condemn evil, wherever it is found, Onaiyekan stated.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that Senator Shehu Sani, representing Kaduna central senatorial district, had said that Buhari and the APC deserve re-election in the 2019 general elections.

The activist turned politician stated this while interacting with newsmen who visited him to mark the Salah celebration at his Kaduna residence.

Nigeria Latest News: Buhari vs Atiku - 2019 Elections | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit Nigeria- A member of the Kaduna APC electoral panel for the primaries has denied receiving bribe from aspirants in the state

Akeem Okedara also said he did not receive N10 million as bribe from Senator Shehu Sani as widely alleged

- According to him, state executives of the party only provided the panel members with accommodation and feeding during the exercise

A member of the of the electoral panel that conducted the All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries in Kaduna state, Akeem Okedara has denied reports making ground that Senator Shehu Sani offered the committee received N10 million to skew results in his favour.

Okedara said the committee did not collect any money either from a proxy or Senator Sani himself.

Speaking in Abuja on Saturday, October 13, Okedara said the electoral panel cannot descend so low to receive bribe from the aspirants in the state.

Describing the allegation as malicious and frivolous, the committee member said such allegation is capable of tarnishing the image and reputation of the panel.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Presidency places 50 high-profile Nigerians on travel ban

He further called on politicians to be cautious of their utterances not to heat up the polity and always verify the fact.

He said state executives of the party only provided them with the accommodation and feeding and that the committee did not meet with any aspirant directly or indirectly to solicit or receive any financial inducement for the exercise.

READ ALSO: Alleged APC thugs block Tambuwal's convoy in Sokoto, 1 killed

Okedara said: "I did not collect 1 kobo from Senator Shehu Sani or any aspirant. All what I know is that the party officials provided accommodation and feeding for all members of the panel. The allegation is a lie and nothing like that."

Recall that Senator Sani had raised an alarm over plan by the Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai and Uba Sani to Implicate him with an allegation that he offered the sum of N10 million bribe to the chairman of the electoral panel, Matthew Iduoriyekemwen.

Also, Legit.ng previously reported that Iduoriyekemwen had alleged that the Senator offered a bribe of N10 million to him. during the Kaduna state APC primaries exercise.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Iduoriyekemwen said the offer by the Senator was aimed at getting an affirmation for his controversial automatic ticket.

"The only person in Kaduna state who offered me money was Senator Shehu Sani through one of my comittee members, to inform me that N10m gift was set aside for the committee chairman, and I said we didnt need the money, asking them what the money was for.

Even after the primaries, before the announcement of results, Senator Shehu and his men put pressure on us to come and take the money. He called me several times but we made it clear to him that we didnt need cash inducement at all," Iduoriyekemwen said.

Buhari Reacts To APC Senators Betrayal On Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit- Tambuwal says he does not want to be 'pushed' by APC leaders in the state

- The governor says, if pushed, he would reveal all the dirty details about APC's main leader in Sokoto and former governor Wamakko

- He also urged all political parties to conduct themselves with decorum and avoid violence in the peaceful state

Sokoto governor Aminu Tambuwal has threatened to expose the alleged dirty laundry of the leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the stat Aliyu Wamakko.

Daily Trust reports that Tambuwal issued the on Saturday, October 13 while addressing his teeming supporters shortly after returning to the state from the PDP national convention held in Port Harcourt last Saturday.

READ ALSO: Obasanjo chides Buhari for not signing African trade agreement

Governor Tambuwal warned Wamakko that if pushed to the wall, he would reveal the dirty details that he had helped the APC leader to cover up.

He said: When I became the Governor, some elders in the state advised him to draw a line which I did. I want us to remain in that course. They know what they left behind and if I open their can of worms, it will not augur well with some of them".

Then he warned: If I am pushed to the wall, some of them will run away not even the EFCC can contain them. So let the sleeping dog lies.

Tambuwal also warned political parties against causing violence in the state, noting that he wants Sokoto to remain the peaceful state it is known as.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Tambuwal's outburst came just hours after Legit.ng reported that at least one person was confirmed killed when supporters of the two largest parties in Nigeria, APC and PDP, clashed in Sokoto on Saturday.

According to reports, a 22-year old young man identified as Imrana Ahmad Alkanchi was said to have been hit by a stray bullet fired at the scene of the clash.

Alkanchi's cousin, an Information officer of the Sokoto state university, Zayyanu Shehu confirmed his death.

Nigeria Latest News: Here's What Saraki and Tambuwal's Defection Means for the APC - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng- Members of NUJ and RATTAWU in Adamawa state have debunked a media report about Gotel Communications Limited

- The unions denied a report suggesting that the company, owned by Atiku Abubakar, is owing members of the staff a months salary

- They also denied claims that the former vice president has a care-free attitude towards the company

Members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Radio, Television, Theatre and Arts Workers Union (RATTAWU) chapters of Gotel Communications Limited, Yola, Adamawa state have debunked a media report alleging that the company, owned by the Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, is owing members of the staff a months salary.

The unions also described as wicked, the claim in the report that the former vice president has a care-free attitude towards the company.

In a statement jointly signed by the chairmen, RATTAWU, NUJ, Mohammed Ahmed Mustapha and Muhammad Aliyu Mustapha, respectively, the union said the true position of events at Gotel Communication is that those who were dis-engaged completely were paid their severance allowances.

The union also said that those who resigned did so based on their personal interests of searching for greener pasture and were not disengaged as claimed by the online medium.

READ ALSO: Atiku reportedly targets southwest votes with SGF slot

Part of the statement read: It is untrue that our members are in distress over non-payment of severance benefits. The dis-engagement and re-absorption exercise took place in 2016. Those dis-engaged completely, were paid their severance allowances.

The re-absorbed members of staff were issued with dis-engagement letters and payment of the terminal benefits is ongoing, according to the understanding to implement the payment plan in phases.

The statements credited to the chairman of the restructuring committee to the effect that, the management would not pay the re-absorbed workers their severance allowances is diametrically opposed to the reality on ground at GOTEL Communication as payment has since begun in phases.

Those who resigned did so not because of the situation in Gotel, but in search for greener pasture, which is normal and obtains in every organization. Members of our unions are not being owed one month salary as speculated in the poorly investigated report. The organization is up-to-date in terms of salary payment.

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, former deputy national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, has commended former President Olusegun Obasanjo for making peace with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

Comrade Frank, who also defended the presence of some religious leaders at the peace meeting in Abeokuta, said all the leaders of note across the country, irrespective of political and religious affiliation, have now accepted the candidacy of Atiku Abubakar as a consensus president to be.

In a statement sent to journalists on Friday, October 12, the former APC spokesman said history will never forget those leaders who came together to rescue the nation from the current incompetent handlers.

Atiku's acceptance speech after being declared PDP presidential flag bearer | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit- The 19 officials reportedly took part in an operation that resulted in fracas in the Ilasamaja area of Isolo, a busy town in the state

- LAGESC approves that some of the injured officials should be treated

- It, however, declares that all the officers who partook in the operation would be sanctioned in line with the rules setting up the agency

At least 19 officials of the Lagos state environmental sanitation corps are in trouble over their alleged unruly activities during an operation at Ilasamaja area of Isolo that pitched them against members of the public.

Legit.ng learnt that the incident occurred on Friday, October 12.

A statement by RahmatAlabi, the public affairs officer of LAGESC, the officers went against some of the agencys rules and would have to face sanctions.

The statement added that the executive secretary of the agency, Idowu Mohammed, had approved that some of the officials injured in the disturbance be treated at a hospital.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: President Buhari bans 50 high-profile Nigerians from travelling

The under listed names are the corps officers (Team E & F) involved in the operation.

Team F

1. Babatunde Segun ( Absent)

2. Bature Muhammed - Law Enforcement (Environmental Sanitation) Supt. GL: 07.

3. Whosu Clement, Law Enforcement (Environmental Sanitation), Assist.1 GL: 05.

4. Shofolahun Ibrahim,

Law Enforcement (Environmental Sanitation) Assist.1 GL: 05.

5. Adeyanju Ibrahim, Law Enforcement (Environmental Sanitation) Assist. 1 GL: 05.

6. Qudus Alao, Law Enforcement (Environmental Sanitation) Assist. 1 GL: 05.

7. Ojo Tosin, Law Enforcement (Environmental Sanitation) Assist. 1 GL: 05 (Injured).

8. Sulaimon Kazeem, Law Enforcement (Environmental Sanitation) Assist. 1 GL: 05.

9. Adeleke Omikunle, Law Enforcement (Environmental Sanitation), Assist. 1 GL: 05.

Team E

1.Olowoporoku Salawu ( Absent).

2.Koleosho Ayinla, Law Enforcement (Environmental Sanitation) Supt. GL: 07 ( Injured).

3. Seun Ige, Law Enforcement (Environmental Sanitation) Assist. 1 GL 05.

4. Yusuf Tunde, Law Enforcement (Environmental Sanitation) Assist. 1 GL: 05.

5. Dibia Vincent, Law Enforcement (Environmental Sanitation) Assist. 1 GL: 05.

6. Lawal Fatai, Law Enforcement (Environmental Sanitation) Assist. 1 GL: 05.

7. Musibau Adebayo, Law Enforcement (Environmental Sanitation) Assist. 1 GL: 05.

8. Odunlami Samuel, Law Enforcement ( Environmental Sanitation) Assist. 1 GL: 05 (Injured).

9. Shokoya Adegbuyi, Law Enforcement ( Environmental Sanitation) Assist. 1 GL: 05.

10. Obagbenro Yinka, Law Enforcement (Environmental Sanitation) Assist. 1 GL: 05 ( Injured). I

The statement read: "It has come to the knowledge of the agency the viral report of some corps officers engaged in unruly activities with members of public yesterday during their operation at Ilasamaja, Isolo area of Lagos state.

"The state has considered it rather unfortunate that some officers by this singular act had seriously embarrassed the agency and the state government at large.

In order to quickly correct this, the agency will make sure that appropriate disciplinary action is quickly sanctioned against any officer found culprit in accordance with public service rules number 040501(xxviii and xxix) battery and assault.

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app

"Meanwhile as a measure to ensure adequate disciplinary action is meted out to the erring officers without delay, the agency has directed the head of operations to forward the list of all officers in that particular operation and also directed that those officers that were injured during the fracas be taken to hospital for immediate treatment.

"The executive secretary, Idowu Mohammed, on behalf of the corps marshal, ASP Daniel Isiofia (rtd), uses this medium to appeal to the members of the public and those who were directly affected not to take law into their hands and that the state government would look into the matter holistically and bring any one found culprit into book without fear or favour."

Legit.ng earlier reported that the flag bearer of Lagos state chapter of APC for the 2019 governorship election, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said his administration would focus extensively on the development of the grassroots people and eradication of poverty if elected.

Sanwo-Olu made this known while speaking during his Thank you visit to Lagos Central Senatorial District leadership forum where he met with APC leaders in the senatorial district at Muri-Okunola Street, Victoria Island in Lagos.

Oby Ezekwesili's Presidential Ambition In 2019 | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit- APC elders express strong confidence that the party will win the Lagos state governorship poll in 2019 elections

- Otunba Henry Ajomale, the immediate past Lagos APC chairman, urges party members to ensure victory for Sanwo-Olu, the partys governorship candidate for Lagos state during the poll

- Babajide Sanwo-Olu says he will run a government based on the wishes of the people if elected

Some elder statesmen of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have cautioned, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the partys governorship candidate in Lagos state, not to let his guard down by underrating the strength of opposition parties in the 2019 governorship election.

Vanguard reports that the elders from Lagos west senatorial district however, expressed strong confidence that the APC will win the states governorship election.

READ ALSO: Let us try Atiku if he doesnt perform, we will send him out too - Reformed APC Chairman

The group made the statement on Saturday, October 13, when Sanwo-Olu paid them a thank you visit in Ikeja, for supporting his candidacy at the just concluded primaries.

The party urged its members to ensure victory for Sanwo-Olu in the 2019 Lagos state governorship election.

We have never lost Lagos State and we will not lose Lagos State. I was the state chairman of the party for 12 years and we never lost the state to opposition party. I want to implore all of us to work together to ensure Sanwo-Olus victory in the governorship election. We cannot afford to lose Lagos to Jimi Agbaje or any unworthy candidate, the immediate past Lagos APC chairman, Otunba Henry Ajomale said.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet!

Meanwhile, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has told the APC chieftains that he would run a government based on the wishes of the people if elected.

The partys governorship candidate said his policies and programmes would be based on the yearnings and aspirations of the people.

He added that he would always keep a listening ear in serving the state. Sanwo-Olu, who spoke in Yoruba, said he was seeking the number one seat in the state out of the passion to serve the people and take the state to greater heights.

Lagos Governor: Is Sanwo-Olu a Better Candidate Than Ambode?| Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng- Operatives of the EFCC have seized gold worth N1, 127, 308, 460.39 from one Abba Ali Yahaya, at the Abuja Airport

- A team of EFCC operatives led by a crack female detective arrested the suspect, whose passport has now been impounded

- Abba also had 112, 000 on him which he hid from Customs, and he was caught with 19 ATM cards

- A probe is currently ongoing to ascertain how the suspect passed through the scanning points without being detected

Gold worth about $3, 131, 412.39 (N1, 127, 308, 460.39) being allegedly exported to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, illegally, has been seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

According to The Nation, the anti-graft commission named one Abba Ali Yahaya as the brain behind the deal.

READ ALSO: Police confirms death of individual during attack on Tambuwals convoy

Legit.ng gathers that about 112,000 undeclared by Abba, has also been forfeited over alleged violation of Nigerias Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act. The suspects passport has also been impounded.

A syndicate of illegal miners operating in Zamfara state are said to have handed over the precious metal to the suspect.

The EFCC is now on the trail of the four members of the gang which is said to have perfected ways of beating security agencies at the nations airports.

A document reportedly showed that a team of EFCC operatives led by a crack female detective arrested the suspect, who admitted to being a courier, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.

Screening machines at the airport had failed to detect the metals.

According to the fact sheet: The suspect was caught following a tip off after he had managed to pass through all the screening machines without being caught.

He was in possession of N1.1b worth of gold while travelling alone to meet with the Dubai end of a ring of buyers of illegal miners. Being illegally in possession of the gold was a violation of Minerals and Mines Act.

Abba had 112, 000 on him which he hid from Customs and he was caught with 19 ATM cards. Upon interrogation, he admitted he is a courier and he fingered a businessman.

Our detectives later discovered that the suspect only implicated the businessman as a decoy.

The EFCC is already on the trail of four suspects connected with massive illegal mining activities in Zamfara and exportation of mines. Preliminary evidence has linked the suspect with a miner in Zamfara.

We have confiscated the passport of the suspect, seized the gold and the 112,000 he strapped into his body will be 100 percent automatically forfeited to the federal government as contained in the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.

The EFCC will file application before a Federal High Court for the forfeiture of the undeclared cash. The suspect is empowered by law to travel with about $10,000.

So far, Abba has been released on bail pending the conclusion of investigation.

A probe is currently ongoing to ascertain how the suspect passed through the scanning points without being detected.

A government source reportedly stated: It was embarrassing that we have many screening and scanning machines being managed by different security agencies; but they were unable to detect the suspect.

We are suspecting connivance with the suspect by some of the officials at different points. It is likely that the syndicate sending the suspect to Dubai might have penetrated the security operators at the airport.

At the end of our discreet investigation, we will be able to find out how he beat the security network at the airport.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) intercepted bags containing N49 million cash at the Kaduna Airport.

Although the owner of the cash was not named, there was suspicion that it was related to illegal activities.

EFCC Walk Against Corruption - on Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit Newspaper- A Yoruba socio-political group in the southern part of Nigeria, Afenifere, says President Muhammadu Buharis administration has not shown any intention to restructure the country since 2015

- Afenifere states that it tried to reach the president about the issue through some governors from the southwest who are close to him, but did not get any response from the presidency

- The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), an umbrella body for elders and leaders of the various ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta region, says its position on restructuring of the country has not changed

A Yoruba socio-political group in the southern part of Nigeria, Afenifere, has stated that it would support the presidential candidate of any political party that has the intention to restructure Nigeria.

Yinka Odumakin, the spokesperson for Afenifere, told The Punch in an interview published on Sunday, October 14, that while President Muhammadu Buharis administration had not shown any intention to restructure the country since 2015, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, had been consistent in that regard.

Atiku has been very strong on restructuring and he has also picked a running mate (Peter Obi) who has also expressed very strong opinion about the issue of restructuring. Obi is from a zone where the people are clamouring for restructuring, Odumakin said.

READ ALSO: Let us try Atiku if he doesnt perform, we will send him out too - Reformed APC Chairman

We have reached out to the Presidency through some of the governors who are close to him (Buhari) from the South-West.

We drafted a list of leaders across Nigeria that the President should summon across Nigeria to discuss the issue of restructuring. Many months after, the governors did not get across to us probably because they met a brick wall.

There is a consensus among leaders of the South-West, South-East, South-South, the Middle Belt and Arewa. We have said we will wait for the consensus candidate that would be produced by the CUPP to enable us to make our choice among the candidates.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet!

Similarly, an apex socio-political body of the Igbo, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, on Sunday, October 14, told the Punch that it was ready to back any presidential candidate who showed sincere intention to restructure Nigeria on assuming office.

This position was also corroborated by the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), an umbrella body for elders and leaders of the various ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta region, which noted that its position on restructuring of the country had not changed.

In a related report, Igbos in Nigeria have been asked by the Ohanaeze Ndigbo group to accept the choice of Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra state, as running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2019 elections.

The appeal was made by the president general of the group, Chief Nnia Nwodo, during an interview with Vanguard on Saturday, October 13.

Legit.ng gathers that Nwodo made the appeal in response to the feeble opposition of the Ebonyi state governor, Chief Dave Umahi, who stated that south-east leaders were not consulted before Atiku picked Obi as his running mate.

Nigeria Latest News: Buhari vs Atiku - 2019 Elections | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ngIf for nothing at all, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) exercise makes Nigerian graduates to travel out of their comfort zones to new places where they can see and learn about things from another angle.

Such is the case of a serving youth corps member currently serving in Cross River state simply identified as Progress Oberiko.

Though in Nigeria, it is common to see mentally ill men and women roaming the streets, sometimes these women are seen nursing babies. However, it is not common to see a complete family with mental illness roaming the streets as a pack.

She revealed that the family, especially their father is well versed in the bible and that she found out later that the man was an evangelist before his present state.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Nigeria

She also discovered that the man will not collect any gift from you except he asked for it. He will also not take anything that does not have seven in it. He will beg you for N700 and if you give him more or less he will reject.

Progress also revealed that the reason behind his request is that they are seven in his family, himself, his wife and five children and that his two eldest children have been taken away by the wifes family.

READ ALSO: If you breastfeed your son, youre training him to abuse women - Feminist reveals

Legit.ng had reported that a youth corps member currently serving in Cross River left many people stunned after she took to social media to share a photo of a family comprising a man, his wife and their three kids, all mentally challenged in Ogoja, Cross River.

Progress Oberiko revealed that not only are they always sighted together, they also communicate in fluent English, making the puzzle about how they became mad even more complex.

Nigeria Breaking News: 34-Year-Old Woman Gives Birth to a Set of Quintuplets in Awka | Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit.ng- Thousands of Catholic faithful are gathering in the Vatican for the canonization of Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Oscar Romero

- Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, was gunned down by right-wing death squads as he celebrated Mass on March 24, 1980, in a hospital chapel

- Paul VI is best known for having presided over the final sessions of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 church meetings that opened up the Catholic Church to the world

Thousands of people are converging on the Vatican for the canonization of Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Oscar Romero, two of the towering figures of the 20th-century Catholic Church.

Pope Paul VI oversaw the modernising of church reforms of the 1960s, while Archbishop Romero was a human rights icon murdered for his defense of El Salvadors poor.

Pope Francis is to celebrate the saint-making Mass on Sunday, October 14, wearing the blood-stained rope belt that Romero wore when he was gunned down in 1980 and using Paul VIs staff, chalice and pallium vestment  evidence of the strong influence both men had on historys first Latin American pope, NAN reports.

READ ALSO: 2019: Support Atiku/Obi ticket - Ohanaeze Ndigbo urges Igbos

Legit.ng gathers that some 5,000 Salvadoran pilgrims travelled to Rome for the ceremony, and tens of thousands more stayed up all night to watch it on giant TV screens outside the San Salvador cathedral where Romeros remains are entombed.

For many, it was the culmination of a fraught and politicized campaign to have the church formally honor a man who publicly denounced the repression by El Salvadors military dictatorship at the start of the countrys 1980-1992 civil war.

I am here to give glory to Monsignor Romero. He is a light for our people, an inspiration for all, said Aida Guzman, a 68-year-old Salvadoran woman who carried photos of people killed during the war as she joined thousands in an evening procession in San Salvador.

Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, was gunned down by right-wing death squads as he celebrated Mass on March 24, 1980, in a hospital chapel. A day before he was killed, he had delivered the latest in a series of sermons demanding an end to the Armys repression  sermons that had enraged El Salvadors leaders.

Almost immediately after his death, Romero became an icon of the South American left and is frequently listed along with Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi as one of the worlds most influential human rights campaigners.

The United Nations commemorates the anniversary of his death each year. His influence continues to resonate with El Salvadors youth as the country endures brutal gang violence that has made the Central American nation one of the most violent in the world  a scourge that Francis has frequently lamented.

He is my guide, and from what I have read about his life, I want to follow in his steps, said Oscar Orellana, a 15-year-old who participated in the San Salvador procession wearing a white tunic like the one Romero used to wear.

Paul VI, on his part, is best known for having presided over the final sessions of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 church meetings that opened up the Catholic Church to the world.

Under his auspices, the church agreed to allow liturgy to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than in Latin and called for greater roles for the laity and improved relations with people of other faiths.

Paul is also remembered for his two most important encyclicals, or teaching documents, that have had a profound effect on the church and Francis: One, The Progress of Peoples denounced the mounting inequality between rich and poor, and the other, Humanae Vitae, reaffirmed the Catholic churchs opposition to artificial contraception.

The stark prohibition empowered conservatives but drove progressives away. Even today it remains one of the most contested and ignored of papal encyclicals, with studies showing that most Catholics use contraception anyway.

Francis was deeply influenced by Paul, who was the pope of his formative years as a young priest in Argentina and was instrumental in giving rise to the Latin American churchs preferential option for the poor.

Francis has styled his papacy on another of Pauls exhortations, and has adopted the church of the poor ethos that Paul embodied when he formally renounced wearing the bejeweled papal tiara.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Mother Teresa of Calcutta, a Catholic nun who devoted her life to helping India's poor, was declared a saint of the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Francis.

Pope Francis delivered the formula for the canonization of the nun before a crowd of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, 19 years after her death.

Image of Jesus Christ appears in Ikorodu Church - on Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit.ng- President Buhari signed Executive Order 6 under which 50 Nigerians have been banned from travelling abroad

- Though the federal government has not officially released names of the affected persons, there has been a purported list of the affected persons circulating in the media

- The purported list has, however, created some confusion as it contains the name of a dead judge

Not fewer than 13 former governors and seven ex-ministers have been reportedly barred from travelling out of the country under Executive Order 6 (EO6) issued on Saturday, October 13, by President Muhammadu Buhari.

On Saturday, October 13, Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, announced that at least 50 Nigerians being probed for alleged corruption have been banned from leaving the country.

He said the action was to the effect of the executive order six recently signed by President Buhari.

READ ALSO: 2019: R-APC finally endorses presidential candidate, gives condition

The alleged list of the banned Nigerians which was published by The Nation has, however, created confusion as it includes the name of a deceased judge, Innocent Umezulike, former chief judge of Enugu state who has been deceased since June.

TheCable reports that Umezulike passed away even before the executive order in question was signed by the president in July.

The late judge, who was arraigned in 2017 for alleged corruption, was laid to rest in September.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet!

Meanwhile, the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the political group Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) have condemned the travel ban slapped on 50 high-profile Nigerians by President Buhari.

In separate statements released on Saturday, October 13 shortly after Presidency announced the bans through spokesman Garba Shehu, PDP and CUPP expressed worries over the move.

The PDP statement signed by its national spokesman Kola Ologbondiyan accused the APC of trying to intimidate the opposition ahead of 2019.

The party said it hoped the move was not "a ploy to harm certain eminent Nigerians on the claims of resisting travel restrictions" and alleged that the Buhari administration reportedly made the move "without recourse to due process of the law.

In its own statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Saturday night by the first national spokesman of the CUPP Hon Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, the coalition also decried the move.

It noted that President Buhari should have waited for the pending appeal court decision on the validity of the Executive Order 6 under which the travel bans were issued.

How should convicted looters be punished? - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ngJob search in Nigeria is a herculean task as many graduates are roaming the streets searching for job while higher institution keep churning out fresh graduates yearly.

A Nigerian lady identified as Adufemi searched and found a job but some conditions are attached to it before she can resume work.

Adufemi took to social media to release screenshots of the chat she had with her prospective male employer.

The unnamed man offered her a job but with a condition attached which is that she must be coming to his house every weekend to spend time with him.

Read their chats below:

Nigerian lady shares screenshot of her Whatsapp chat with a man who offered her a job with conditions

Source: UGC

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Nigeria

Lady shares screenshot of her Whatsapp chat with a man who offered her a job with conditions

Source: UGC

Whatsapp chat with a man who offered her a job with conditions

Source: UGC

Whatsapp chat with a man who offered her a job with conditions

Source: UGC

Screenshot of her Whatsapp chat with a man who offered her a job with conditions

Source: UGC

Nigerian lady shares screenshot of her Whatsapp chat with a man who offered her a job with conditions

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Pregnant woman caught on CCTV stealing human hair extension in Lagos (video)

Lady shares screenshot of her Whatsapp chat with a man who offered her a job with conditions

Source: UGC

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that a Nigerian lady identified simply as Dami has cried out after a married man offered to sleep with her in other for her to get a job. The lady revealed that she has given up on job seeking with thoughts of starting a business.

The lady who shared her story on Twitter revealed the married man's identity by sharing a screenshot of the chat between them. The screenshot identified the married man as Yemi Adewale. In the chat, it was discovered that the man was trying to get the young lady to meet him at a venue alone. She asked if she could bring her document for the interview and the man claimed that she won't be needing an interview.

Is it really difficult to get a job in Nigeria? - on Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit- Mike Ozekhome (SAN) has condemned President Muhammadu Buharis directive for the full execution of Executive Order 6 (EO6)

- The legal luminary said the order is highhanded, obnoxious, barbaric, arbitrary; and that it violates the rule of law and all tenets of constitutional democracy

- Ozekhome insisted that executive orders must conform with laid down procedure, due process, citizens rights and the rule of law

President Muhammadu Buharis directive for the full execution of Executive Order 6 (EO6), which bans 50 prominent Nigerians from travelling abroad and also seeks to confiscate their assets currently under investigation, has been condemned by human rights activist and constitutional lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN).

The legal luminary, reacting to the development, described the directive as an arbitrary and obnoxious act capable of undermining the fundamental rights of the affected persons, Vanguard reports.

READ ALSO: Six soldiers injured as Army ambushes B/Haram terrorists in Borno

Legit.ng gathers that he said: EO6 violates the doctrine of separation of powers, the 1999 Constitution, the rule of law and all tenets of constitutional democracy.

It is highhanded, obnoxious, barbaric and arbitrary. It violently erodes the hallowed fundamental rights that are inalienable and God-given. It seeks to strike terror and fear in the minds of Nigerians, especially the opposition and critical voices.

He added that the EO6 seeks to usurp the functions of a court of law and the National Assembly that has already promulgated the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Related Commission, and the Money Laundering Acts; all of which allow for interim forfeiture and attachment of citizens money and properties, but with an order of a court of law.

Ozekhome stated that the process of implementing the order violates the provision of the 1999 Constitution (as amended); even though he noted that the order may not in itself be wrong.

He said: That was what Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu said in her judgment. She made it clear that although Executive Order 6 was not itself wrong, but that the attorney general of the federation must first obtain an order of court under section 174 of the Constitution, and that the enforcement of the order must never derogate from the rule of law or derogate from the doctrine of separation of powers or the fundamental rights of Nigerians.

No one has ever doubted the legality of executive orders, which are regularly issued by American presidents, where from we borrowed our presidential system; but same must conform with laid down procedure, due process, citizens rights and the rule of law.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the former deputy national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, condemned the Executive Order 06 signed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

In a statement released on Sunday, October 14, Comrade Frank stated that the order is aimed at stifling opposition party chieftains ahead of the 2019 general elections.

President Buhari's return will teach Nigerians sense - on Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit.ng- The vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, expresses optimism that the deliberations at the national energy and climate change summit

- Osinbajo says the agreement the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) signed with International Energy Charter (IECh) will benefit the country.

- The vice president states that Nigerias energy related policies were not only geared toward energy supply security but also to mitigate global warming

The vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, says $1trn is required to modernise Nigerias energy infrastructure in 29 years.

Osinbajo made this known while declaring open a 2-day National Energy and Climate Change Summit at the State House Banquet Hall on Thursday, October 11, in Abuja.

The summit was organised by the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) in collaboration with the International Energy Charter (IECh) and the European Union, The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

Represented by the minister of science and technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, the vice president said the summit would provide a high level forum to discuss energy and climate change in relation to economic development and environmental protection.

He expressed optimism that the deliberations would provide solutions toward improving sustainable energy supply and access in Nigeria.

READ ALSO: Let us try Atiku if he doesnt perform, we will send him out too - Reformed APC Chairman

The vice president said he was happy that IECh, a reputable energy organisation that promotes multilateral framework for cross-border cooperation in the field of energy development, was part of the summit.

I recall the ceremony last year, about 18 months ago, in this same hall, when Nigeria signed the International Energy Charter Political Declaration after obtaining the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari; Nigeria then joined the charter as an observer member state.

I also recall, that the ECN immediately signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IECh secretariat in order to promote such activities that will be beneficial to our dear Nation.

Following this, a study of the Energy Investment Risk Assessment for our country has been completed; the report which has just being presented to us here today.

I am happy that the assessment which featured four performance indicators has scored our energy investment risk as moderate.

This is challenging in view of the huge investment of about 1trillion dollars required to modernise our energy infrastructure in 29 years from 2014 to 2043, he said.

The vice president said that Nigerias energy related policies were not only geared toward energy supply security but also to mitigate global warming.

Osinbajo said that Nigerias determined contributions to the Paris climate protocol were robust.

He said that to further support private investment, the Federal Government had increased transparency and openness in governance as well as instituted several executive orders to remove bottlenecks in business registrations and permit.

On his part, Prof. Eli Bala, the Director-General, ECN, said that the commission had the mandate and responsibility for strategic planning and co-ordination of national policies in the field of energy.

The importance of energy as an instrument for national development as well as international cooperation and diplomacy cannot be over emphasized.

Modern societies, however, demand that development therefrom must be sustainable as defined by the Brundtland Commission in 1987 in its report, on Our Common Future.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet!

This years summit has the objective of assessing the investment environment in the energy sector for sustainable energy development, he said.

In a remark, Urban Rusnak, IEChs Secretary-General, advised Nigeria to improve its investment in climate and decrease the risk perceived in investment in the country.

Rusnak said there was need to highlight the importance of a rigorous impact assessment of existing and proposed policies.

Without understanding how the policy works and what are the key performance indicators and to be able to adopt existing policies, there will be no progress; no possible development.

Second and very important finding is that the level of transparency and public engagement needs to be increased.

READ ALSO: Corruption travel ban: 13 former governors, 7 ex-ministers, others allegedly affected (full list)

We have seen all over the world of issues of acceptance of energy investments.

The most important finding is the streamline and clarification of judiciary procedures to give investment community security and feelings of the responsibility of the host Nation over investments, he said.

The National Energy Summit was instituted by ECN in 2010 as an annual event to provide a platform for discussion on energy security, economic development and environmental protection.

Meanwhile, the minister of state for petroleum, Ibe kachikwu, on Thursday, October 4, revealed that it would be saddening if the nations refineries are not functional by the end of 2019.

According to him, the present administration is committed to ensuring that the importation of petroleum products is curtailed.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Kachikwu stated in Ibigwe-Ohaji in Ohaji\Egbema council area of Imo during the ground-breaking for construction of the 5,000 BPD modular refinery by Walter Smith petro-chemical limited.

Nigerian Electricity Crisis Explained | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng- Ike Ekweremadu, the deputy senate president, dissuades leaders in the southeast from rejecting Peter Obis nomination as the vice-presidential candidate of the PDP

- Ekweremadu says the major task now is to get the opposition party back to power and save the country from what he called a downward spiral

- Osita Okechukwu, the director general of the voice of Nigeria (VON) urges Nigerians not to be swayed by the promises made by Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate

Ike Ekweremadu, the deputy senate president has called on leaders in the southeast zone to support the choice of Peter Obi as the vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The Cable reports that Ekweremadus call to the southeast leaders followed a complaint by the group that they were not properly consulted before Obi, a former governor of Anambra state, was chosen for the position.

The deputy senate president at a meeting with southeast political leaders, comprising the zones PDP governors, national assembly caucus, board of trustee members and other party leaders convinced the group not to reject Obis nomination.

READ ALSO: Corruption travel ban: 13 former governors, 7 ex-ministers, others allegedly affected (full list)

A party leader who attended the meeting said Ekweremadu, who was one of those considered by Atiku Abubakar as running mate in the 2019 presidential election, urged the southeast leaders to back Obi.

Ekweremadu reminded us that the major task now is to get the PDP back to power and save the country from its downward spiral, the insider told The Cable.

He even joked that it wouldnt matter if Atiku picked a northerner as his running mate, as long as it would get the repressive government of Buhari out of power.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet!

Although the meeting was convened with the agenda of rejecting Obis nomination, the south-east leaders were reportedly shocked by Ekweremadus position.

You cannot weep more than the bereaved. We thought we were fighting for him, but he said we should allow Obi be. We were shocked by his sportsmanship."

Meanwhile, Osita Okechukwu, the director general of the voice of Nigeria (VON), has urged people of the southeast and Nigerians not to be deceived by the campaign promises made by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.

Okechukwu on Sunday, October 14, in Enugu, told reporters that the restructuring and quick fix measures promised by Atiku so far truly glitters but are not gold. He likened the Atiku/Obi ticket to a one chance bus and urged Nigerians not to be swayed by the euphoria that has greeted their emergence, The Tribune reports.

The director general of the voice of Nigeria said it was better to reelect Buhari who he said had already began the silent restructuring of Nigeria through several projects that will enhance economic prosperity.

Is Atiku the Right Man to Defeat President Buhari? 2019 Election - Nigeria Street Gist | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit- Garba Shehu, a presidential aide, states that Buharis executive order will lead to quick determination of corruption cases in the country

- Shehu says suspects accused of corruption hire lawyers to slow down the pace of their trial

- The presidential aide says the cases in question were not originated by the Muhammadu Buhari administration

The presidency has justified an executive order by Muhammadu Buhari which reportedly placed 50 Nigerians accused of corruption on a travel ban.

The senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, in a statement on Sunday, October 14, said that the order was legal and constitutional, The Nation reports.

He said the measure was revolutionary as it would lead to quick determination of corruption cases in the country.

READ ALSO: Let us try Atiku if he doesnt perform, we will send him out too - Reformed APC Chairman

In the history of independent Nigeria, this is the first time any government is taking such a key decision to fight corruption," Shehu said.

EO 6 is not only revolutionary to the efforts to rid Nigeria of corruption but a manifestation of systemic changes that are required to make necessary adjustments as we carry on with the war against corruption.

The very essence of the order is to make for speedy trials and conclusion of graft cases. The order is not political and there is no political gain behind its activation."

The presidential aide noted that the cases in question were originated by previous administrations, adding that most suspects involved in the cases hire lawyers to slow down the pace of their trial.

Shehu said the executive order would compel everyone involved in the cases to make for a speedy conclusion of these trials.

If it is your money, you have it back. If it belongs to the public, it goes back to the treasury, he said.

The question of the constitutionality of the restriction order is answered by the fact that a court of the land has given government a clean chit. The Executive Order is legal and constitutional and therefore implementable," the aide stated.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet!

One of the cardinal objectives of the government under our constitution is to fight corruption. Fighting corruption is a responsibility and obligation upon the government.

He however, distanced the presidency from the list in circulation, noting that the presidency had not issued any list and was not going to do so.

On the so-called list you asked for confirmation, I want to confirm to you that we have not issued any list and we are not doing so.

These cases that are well known and to say this or that name is on it will open the door to further accusations, including trial by media. The Immigration Service and other security agencies have the mandate of the President to carry out enforcement and they will do so giving due respects to individual rights, in line with the constitution.

Meanwhile, a former national security adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd), 13 former governors and seven ex- ministers have been reportedly barred from travelling out of the country under Executive Order 6 (EO6) issued on Saturday, October 13, by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The restriction followed the judicial affirmation of the constitutionality and legality of the Executive Order 6 (EO6). The watch-list and restriction were put in place pending the conclusion of the cases against those affected.

On the watch list, according to The Nation, are: ex-governors Saminu Turaki (Jigawa), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Adebayo Alao-Akala (Oyo), Gabriel Suswam (Benue), Rasheed Ladoja (Oyo), Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia), Danjuma Goje (Gombe), Attahiru Bafarawa (Sokoto), Muazu Babangida Aliyu (Niger); Chimaroke Nnamani (Enugu); Sule Lamido (Jigawa); Gbenga Daniel (Ogun); and Ibrahim Shehu Shema (Katsina).

EXCLUSIVE: Be patient with President Buhari, Femi Adesina tells Nigerians on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ngThis is Naked Capitalism fundraising week. 552 donors have already invested in our efforts to combat corruption and predatory conduct, particularly in the financial realm. Please join us and participate via our donation page, which shows how to give via check, credit card, debit card, or PayPal. Read about why were doing this fundraiser and what weve accomplished in the last year, and our current goal, funding more meetups and travel.

Not just nuts: The surprising stuff animals hoard for winter National Geographic

Dutch court rules that government must help stop climate change Nature

You Are Not Hallucinating  Hurricane Leslie Is Headed Toward Spain And Africa Forbes

SATURDAY UPDATES: FEMA sites, power updates, water/food distributions Panama City News-Herald. Getting the paper out!

Tyndall Air Force Base a Complete Loss Amid Questions About Stealth Fighters NYT. Couldnt they fly those F-22s outta there? Heh heh heh.

Why Catastrophic Climate Change is Probably Inevitable Now umair haque, Eudaimonia and Co. (GF) Well worth a read.

Socialist Foreign Policy Must Center Climate Change In These Times

Goldman Sachs seedy underbelly exposed in shocking tapes New York Post (J-LS).

The Worlds Most Dangerous Black Markets Yale Global (J-LS).

Our View: Indiscriminate handing out of golden visas cannot continue Cyprus Mail

Anger grows over Vanguards technical malfunctions FT. Vanguard?!

Brexit

Will Gompertz on Banksys shredded Love is in the Bin  BBC. And thats not all!

The power of negative thinking: why perceptions of immigration are resistant to facts LSE Blogs

The dramatic drop in suicide among elderly Britons The Economist

Syraqistan

India

Trump Transition

Democrats in Disarray

Confessions of a Former Liberal: Part 2. (Theyre Boring) Three Wise Women (WW). Part 1.

Weve never seen anything like this: GOP overwhelmed by Democratic cash Politico

Health Care

Class Warfare

A White Woman, Teresa Klein, Called the Police on a Black Child She Falsely Said Groped Her NYT. Believe women!

Thanks for not raping us, all you good men. But its not enough. WaPo. Haverford Township, median household income: $90,358 (U.S.: $61,858).

Why its totally unsurprising that Amazons recruitment AI was biased against women Business Insider

ICANNs internet DNS security upgrade apparently goes off without a glitch Network World

Some plants nurture soil bacteria that keep them healthy The Economist and Underwear Measures Soil Microbial Activity AgPro

Antidote du jour (via):

This is a spiritual hawk, not a fiscal hawk.

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.A Brazil-based Clonmel woman who has been working as a children's book illustrator for the past year will have her first Irish publication launched next month.

The Irish language book Beag Bideach has been published by Futa Fata in Galway, written by Sadhbh Devlin and illustrated by Roisin Hahessy, who is originally from Cherrymount in Clonmel.

Beag Bideach will be launched in Galway on November 25, followed by a Clonmel launch in the library on Thursday morning, November 29 for local schoolchildren.

Daughter of Anthony and Breda Hahessy, Roisin Hahessy attended school at the Sisters of Charity and Loreto, before completing a one-year FETAC art portfolio course at the Central Technical Institute.

She then attended a Computer and Classical Animation course in Ballyfermot, Dublin, from which she graduated in 2006 with a higher national diploma.

Roisin was interested in art from an early age, attending weekly classes with the South Tipperary Art Group (STAG) from the age of 9 until she was 18.

"I loved these classes so much and from a young age I was exposed to many different art mediums", she told The Nationalist from Brazil, where she lives with her husband Felipe in the city of Joinville, in the southern state of Santa Catarina.

"I was always mostly interested in drawing and I used to especially love the STAG classes when the weather was a bit milder and we would go around Clonmel drawing the local scenery", she says.

She hasn't forgotten the solid grounding in art that she received from STAG, and was delighted to participate in the group's 50th anniversary exhibition in the County Museum with her short animated film Which Way.

Roisin worked in the graphics department of TV3 from 2008 until 2015. She worked across all the live shows, creating graphics and opening titles, including the animated opening titles for shows such as the station's Christmas Toy Show, The Lazy Chef and Snaptastic, presented by comedian Jason Byrne.

She met her Brazilian husband Felipe while living in Dublin and the couple moved to Brazil three years ago.

"This change in lifestyle gave me more time to focus on drawing, which I really love", she says.

"I began by teaching myself digital art, as I believed it would be a good way of getting a good professional portfolio together. I practised every day and worked on many small projects, using social media to advertise and promote my work.

"I really wanted to illustrate childrens books, so I researched publishing companies and illustration agencies and I was so happy when The Bright Agency in London offered to represent me in August last year".

Since then she has worked on a number of childrens books with publishers in London, the United States and more recently Futa Fata, an award-winning publisher based in Spiddal, Co. Galway.

They mainly publish for children as Gaeilge, producing original books by Irish authors and illustrators and Irish editions of popular childrens books by renowned authors such as Jeff Kinney, David Walliams, Julia Donaldson and Oliver Jeffers.

Roisin will return home next month for the Irish launches of Beag Bideach, which has been brought to the international stage of the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany this weekend.

Beag Bideach is available in all good bookshops nationwide and online at www.futafata.ie.

Roisin Hahessy, who has been described as "incredibly talented" by Beag Bideach author Sadhbh Devlin, keeps a portfolio of her work on www.rosha.ie.(Natural News) British researchers have developed a graphene oxide sieve designed to remove salt from seawater. The sieve may potentially be highly efficient in straining salt, which could help provide clean drinking water for millions of people who do not have a ready access to it. The researchers will now test the graphene sieve against current desalination membranes.

Graphene was first developed in a laboratory by University of Manchester researchers in 2004. The material was made up of carbon atoms in a hexagonal lattice. It was known to be as flexible as rubber but more conductive than copper. The material was also 200 times stronger than steel. Single-layer graphenes were proven difficult to mass produce through existing methods such as chemical vapour deposition, while current production schemes cost a fortune.

To solve this, the researchers used a chemical derivative called graphene oxide. According to the researchers, the chemical derivative can be produced by using a simple oxidation process in the lab. As an ink or solution, we can compose it on a substrate or porous material. Then we can use it as a membrane. In terms of scalability and the cost of the material, graphene oxide has a potential advantage over single-layered graphene lead researcher Dr. Rahul Nair said in a BBC report. In contrast, Dr. Nair single-layer graphenes will require drilling to make it permeable. However, making the drill holes larger than one nanometer will allow salt to pass through.

How the new graphene oxide membrane works

Data from previous tests showed that the graphene oxide sieve became slightly enlarged when immersed in water. This then allowed smaller salt particles to simply break in through the pores. However, current research has shown that attaching walls made of epoxy resin on each side of the sieve effectively stopped it from expanding. Stopping the membrane from swelling also helped researchers to adjust its properties. An example of this is letting less or more common salt to pass through.

According to researchers, common salts when dissolved always form a shell of water molecules around the salt molecules. This enables the membranes tiny capillaries to inhibit the salt from flowing through. According to Dr. Nair, salts will have difficulty passing through as they always need water molecules. The size of water molecule shells formed by the salts were bigger than the channel size, that is why they cannot go through. In contrast, water molecules flow easily through the membranes capillaries due to their almost similar size.

When the capillary size is around one nanometre, which is very close to the size of the water molecule, those molecules form a nice interconnected arrangement like a train. That makes the movement of water faster: if you push harder on one side, the molecules all move on the other side because of the hydrogen bonds between them. You can only get that situation if the channel size is very small, Dr. Rahul Nair explained.

Dr. Nair said the study was the first to demonstrate that developing membranes with uniform pore size could be a significant step forward and may provide opportunities to further improve the efficiency of desalination processes. (Related: New desalination technology converts sea water into fresh water at lower cost.)

The findings were published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

However, outside expert Ram Devanathan from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland said more work is needed to mass produce inexpensive graphene oxide membranes. The selective separation of water molecules from ions by physical restriction of interlayer spacing opens the door to the synthesis of inexpensive membranes for desalination. The ultimate goal is to create a filtration device that will produce potable water from seawater or wastewater with minimal energy input, Dr. Devanathan said, the BBC.com reports.

For more information on the latest development in water treatments, you may visit Preparedness.news.

Sources include:

Phys.org

BBC.com

Newsweek.com

Nature.com [PDF](Natural News) Experts suggest that by 2050, there will be a need to increase food availability by 70 percent to meet the demands of the growing population. Nevertheless, volume is not the only thing that is needed for sustainability. Researchers say that food systems need to produce highly nutritious food in terms of crops, livestock, and fish to ensure global health security. New evidence says that 70 percent of the global food supply comes from small to medium-sized farms, yet current European Union (EU) data shows that 80 percent of subsidies and 90 percent of research funding are used to support conventional industrial agriculture.

Researchers from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) published a large-scale industrial survey on global nutrient production in the first issue of The Lancet Planetary Health. Lead author, Mario Herrero from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) said that as the world moves towards massive agriculture systems to meet the rising demands for food, more investments need to be placed in small and medium farms in low to middle-income countries to sustain the quantity and quality of global food supplies.

This study observed the contribution of small, medium, and large farms in terms of the global food supply. Researchers also took note of how much calcium, folate, protein, iron, vitamins B12 and A, and zinc were produced in farms of different sizes from 41 crops, seven livestock products, and 14 fish groups.

These are a summary of their findings:

Fifty one to seventy seven percent of major food groups (including cereals, fruits, roots, and livestock) are produced by small and medium farms.

Large farms (those with a land space of more than 50 ha) dominated food production in North and South America.

Seventy five to one hundred percent of all cereals, livestock, and fruit in Australia and New Zealand were produced by local farms.

Seventy five percent of food commodities in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and China were produced by small farms (those under 20 ha).

Small and medium farms had greater agricultural diversity, producing more nutrients than their larger counterparts.

Small and medium farms produce more than half of the food globally, and are particularly important in low income countries, where they produce the vast majority of food and nutrients. Large farms, in contrast, are less diverse but their sheer scale ensures tradable surpluses of nutrients available to parts of the world that need them most. A sustainable food system that meet the needs of a growing population means we must focus on quality as well as quantity, and it is vital that we protect and support small and medium farms and more diverse agriculture so as to ensure sustainable and nutritional food production, concluded Herrero. (Related: Corporate agriculture is destroying national sovereignty and increasing risk of global starvation.)

The need for agroecology

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Prof Hilal Elver called for a new movement of agroecology  a sustainable farming method that is less resource-oriented and more focused on uplifting small farmers while protecting the environment.

There is a geographical and distributional imbalance in who is consuming and producing. Global agricultural policy needs to adjust, Prof Elver said in an article on PermaCultureNews.org. Governments must support small farmers. As rural people are migrating increasingly to cities, this is generating huge problems. If these trends continue, by 2050, 75 percent of the entire human population will live in urban areas. We must reverse these trends by providing new possibilities and incentives to small farmers, especially for young people in rural areas.

This would represent a major shift in current international food policies, which Elver says is necessary to address the growing demand for food  particularly as corporate agriculture practices raise the potential for global starvation.

Others, though, are not so convinced. Marcel Buekeboom, a Dutch civil servant in food and nutrition at the Ministry of Trade & Development quipped, While I agree that we must do more to empower small farmers, the fact is that the big monocultural farms are simply not going to disappear. We have to therefore find ways to make the practices of industrial agribusiness more effective, and this means working in partnership with the private sector, small and large.

Read more about the collapse of the food supply at FoodCollapse.com.

Sources include:

IIASA.AC.at

PermaCulture.org

FAO.org [PDF](Natural News) If Right-leaning media and commentators thought that the big tech firms like Facebook, Google, Twitter, and YouTube were censoring them before, they havent seen anything yet.

Like the rest of the insane Left, the libs who run the social media behemoths are becoming increasingly frustrated with conservatives and supporters of POTUS Donald Trump over all of his winning  the booming economy, the record-setting stock market, historic tax cuts, jobs galore, trade victories, and progress on a number of foreign policy fronts. So rather than woo Americans with superior arguments and better ideas, theyd rather behave like Hitler, Stalin, and modern-day China and quash their political opponents by taking away their voice.

But the effort to censor the Right is more sinister than just shutting out voices. The big tech platforms want direct access to the minds of billions of people, programming them with deep state, authoritarian government propaganda as a means of stealing power rather than earning it.

As Daisy Luther at The Organic Prepper noted Friday:

Yesterday, the alternative media purge was boldly advanced in a coordinated effort to silence people who dissent from establishment views. Its just one more step toward a monopoly on information by those who hate freedom. At this rate, theyll soon have unquestioned access to the minds of more than 2 billion people. And this should terrify everyone who wants to be free to question the status quo and to seek a wide range of information.

Hundreds of alternative media site administrators logged onto Facebook to discover that their accounts had been removed. Soon after, many of these sites and their writers found that their Twitter accounts had also been suspended.

Included were very popular and well-trafficked pages belonging to The AntiMedia (2.1 million fans); The Free Thought Project (3.1 million); Press for Truth (350,000); Police the Police (1.9 million); Cop Block (1.7 million); and Punk Rock Libertarians (125,000)  these are just a handful of the many indy media pages that were unpublished.

But why Luther asks? What was the point? (Related: CNN goes insane, claims independent media is a terrorist network that should be criminalized and exterminated.)

According to Facebook officials, the page administrators were suddenly in violation of company spam policies. Today, were removing 559 pages and 251 accounts that have consistently broken our rules against spam and coordinated inauthentic behavior, said Facebook public relations staff in a blog post. People will only share on Facebook if they feel safe and trust the connections they make here.

In actuality, according to the L.A. Times, Facebook took down more than 800 publishers. The paper noted:

Facebook said it was removing the publishers and accounts not because of the type of content they posted, but because of the behaviors they engaged in, including spamming Facebook groups with identical pieces of content and using fake profiles.

You can read Facebooks spam policy here.

Its all in the timing

The Washington Post initially reported that the pages were removed because they were pushing political messages for profit, as this URL indicates: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/10/11/facebook-purged-over-accounts-pages-pushing-political-messages-profit/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.fa1a364488b3

But, as Luther notes, WaPo does the same thing when its social media managers post the papers political content on Facebook and elsewhere too. So the disingenuous editors at WaPo changed the headline to read, Facebook purged over 800 U.S. accounts and pages for pushing political spam.

Heres the kicker: One might be tempted to believe Facebooks purge as legitimate, but as Luther notes, many of the same publications had their Twitter accounts suspended shortly thereafter, which of course suggests this was the same kind of coordinated effort we saw when the social media behemoths all deplatformed Alex Jones and Infowars on the same day.

And all of this is happening less than a month before the 2018 midterm elections.

Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey just carried out quite possibly the biggest attack on the free press in the history of America and the corporate media is cheering it on, noted Natural News founder/editor Mike Adams.

Read more about the social media censorship of conservatives at Conservative.news.

Sources include:

TheOrganicPrepper.com

LATimes.com

NewsTarget.com(Natural News) Primodos, a hormone-based pregnancy test used in the 1960s, may have caused severe deformities or abnormalities in children, new evidence suggests. Data from an archived study by renowned Professor William Inman show that pregnant women who took the drug were five times more likely to have a child with birth defects  such as missing limbs or congenital heart conditions  than those who did not take the pill. The study finds that Primodos was never tested before it was given to pregnant women.

The new findings offer renewed hope for affected families who have been campaigning for decades to receive compensation from the drug manufacturer. Lisa Hunt of law firm Gregory Abrams Davidson affirmed that families have a strong case to claim payments. Hunt currently represents 100 alleged victims whose mothers used the hormonal pregnancy test, 66 of whom had organ abnormalities, 42 had limb defects, 34 had heart defects and 43 had brain damage.

Reports about Primodos-induced birth defects were first raised in 1967. The Committee on Safety of Medicines concluded that pregnant women should not use the hormone-based drug. Researchers at the Royal College of GPs also found a strong correlation between Primodos and birth defects in children, and suggested that the drug be withdrawn. However, it took eight years before warning labels were included in the packaging, and ten years to totally withdraw the drug from the market. A subsequent damages claim was filed in 1982, but was eventually dropped with the approval of the court due in part to uncertainties that claimants can prove a causal relationship between the drug and the apparent congenital abnormalities in children. Inmans study, which were initially passed to the drugs previous manufacturer Schering-Plough, were eventually destroyed to avoid legal claims against the drug firm being based on his research.

Big pharma insists on the safety of hormonal pregnancy test

Pharmaceutical giant Bayer, which took over Schering-Plough in 2006, maintains that the use of Primodos in the 1970s was in compliance with the existing laws at the time. It also refutes claims that the hormone-based pregnancy test may have caused deformities in children. A Bayer spokesperson says the evidence for a causal association between the use of hormonal pregnancy tests and an increased incidence of congenital malformations was extremely weak.

Bayer denies that Primodos was responsible for causing any deformities in children. Since the discontinuation of the legal action in 1982, no new scientific knowledge has been produced which would call into question the validity of the previous assessment of there being no link between the use of Primodos and the occurrence of such congenital abnormalities, the Bayer spokesperson added.

The misguided potency of the hormonal pregnancy test

Primodos was launched in 1958. Before this, toads were used to confirm pregnancy in women. Samples from women were sent to laboratories and were injected to toads. Pregnancy was confirmed when injected toads produced eggs in response to the high levels of hormones.

The hormonal pregnancy test contained high levels of synthetic progesterone, which helps maintain pregnancy. Primodos had 30 times the dose of a morning-after pill, and about 40 times the dose of a contraceptive pill. The drug works by inducing menstruation in women. Pregnancy was confirmed if the women did not bleed after taking the drug. However, some patients suffered miscarriage, while others gave birth to babies with severe defects such as missing limbs, cardiovascular conditions, and other physical deformities. Campaigners inferred that deformities seen in babies depended on when Primodos was taken during pregnancy, and the precise developmental stage of the infant.

Primodos was widely used as an abortive drug in other countries such as South Korea, researchers said.

Read ScienceFraud.news for more coverage of scientific frauds and cover-ups.

Sources include:

Independent.co.uk

DailyMail.co.uk(Natural News) One of the scariest health problems that the world is facing today is the explosion of antibiotic-resistant superbugs like methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. These bacteria can cause infections, pneumonia, and other problems. When left unchecked  which is often the case because its notoriously difficult to treat  it can lead to sepsis and death. If antibiotics, one of the most incredible inventions of modern medicine, arent enough to address MRSA, what can be done about it? Research shows that nature may have the answer in the form of turmeric.

This yellow-orange root, which is related to the ginger plant, is often used in cooking. Native to India and Southeast Asia, its readily available fresh, powdered, and in supplement form. As more information comes to light about its many health benefits, its popularity continues to soar.

Now, a study that was published in the journal Molecule shows the promising role that curcumin, the primary polyphenol found in turmeric that gives it its distinctive golden color, plays in reversing infectious bacterias resistance to conventional antibiotics.

Previous research shows that curcumin can have synergistic effects with certain antibiotics. Therefore, the researchers wanted to explore how curcumin would interact with the S. aureus bacteria in various conditions. They found that the growth of the bacteria was inhibited in strains of MRSA that were exposed to curcumin.

A review of the antibacterial action of curcumin against this bacteria published in the Journal of Tropical Medicine found that the Asian spice is indeed effective against S. aureus. In addition, the researchers noted that in vitro experiments showed curcumins effects are even more powerful when its used in conjunction with other antibacterial agents. They believe that it could one day be developed into a natural antibiotic.

One of the most exciting aspects of this story is the fact that curcumin has little to no toxicity in active doses, unlike many of the other medications that are used to treat infections.

Curcumins impressive health achievements

Curcumin has an impressive array of benefits that extend far beyond its ability to fight MRSA. In fact, it has been the subject of thousands of studies and has been found to kill bacteria like E. coli, Helicobacter Pylori, and Bacillus subtilis. It can also inhibit or kill a range of viruses that includes Hepatitis B and C, Coxsackie virus, HIV, HSV-1, Epstein-Barr, and the Japanese encephalitis virus, according to GreenMedInfo.

Its a natural anti-inflammatory, making it good at combating the low-level inflammation that can spur diseases like metabolic syndrome, degenerative disease, heart disease, Alzheimers and cancer. Its been linked to brain function improvements and a lower risk of brain disease, and it can also be helpful to those with arthritis.

Above all, turmeric has been studied extensively for its anti-cancer effects, and this attention is certainly justified given the prevalence of the disease. However, at the same time, its natural antibiotic action should not be overlooked as we face greater challenges in dealing with the antibiotic-resistant superbugs devastating hospitals throughout the world. As long as doctors continue to prescribed antibiotics for every minor complaint that patients have, its a problem that its only going to get worse, and finding a solution should be a top priority.

Also read NaturalAntibiotics.news for coverage of plant-based medicines that kill bacteria.

Sources for this article include:

GreenMedInfo.com

CDC.gov

NCBI.NLM.NIH.govSuburban residents are being told to watch what they dial as reports of inadvertent 911 calls using smart watches are on the uptick.

More than 500 calls to 911 come into the Lake County Sheriffs emergency communications center each day, but increasingly, inadvertent calls from smart watches and other devices are clogging up the works.

According to suburban authorities, up to 10 people a day are accidentally contacting emergency responders.

Making an emergency call on the devices, primarily Apple and Samsung wrist units, is very easy to do. All users have to do is hold a button for several seconds, and help is summoned using the device.

Its easy to accidentally dial emergency services with the device, but most residents who do so hang up, and thats a no-no for responders.

It ties up our telecommunicators because typically people assume they should hang up and get off the phone, but then we are obligated to find the person and get help to them thinking there may have been an emergency, Kent McKenzie said.

Fortunately for users, disabling the feature on your smart watch is very easy, and Apple has

Users can open the Apple Watch app on their phones and enter the My Watch tab. From there, users can tap "Emergency SOS" and "Turn Off Hold Side Button" to disable the feature.

If residents do accidentally dial the emergency number, dispatchers implore them to do one simple thing.

If you do call, stay on the line, McKenzie said. That will help reduce the extra workload and phone tag trying to go back and forth to figure out what the issue is.Mountain View will end months of debate and discussion over a business license "head" tax when voters go to the polls on Election Day.

The highly-contested Measure P would reap most of its revenue from Mountain View's largest employer, Google, and direct funds toward transportation, infrastructure improvements and schools.

A company with a single proprietor would pay $75 for the license, and the tax would follow a sliding scale based on the size of the company. A company with more than 5,000 employees would pay up to $584,195 and $150 per head, or additional employee.

Revenue from the tax would be directed to the general fund. The city has projected that 80 percent will be directed toward transportation, 10 percent toward affordable housing and 10 percent for other community projects.

An opposition statement on the ballot says the flexibility allows unrestricted spending by the city, but Mayor Lenny Siegel said the values haven't been set in stone because the city doesn't have an immediate cost estimate for its projects.

Siegel said the city needs a promise of a tax before it can begin elaborating on its primary goal -- a large overhaul of transportation and related infrastructure.

This could include an elevated automated railway and a free, electric community shuttle for school children, similar to a program currently subsidized by Google.

Siegel said large companies would be the primary benefactors of such improvements, since thousands of employees struggle to commute into Mountain View daily. He added the tax would be "noise," or a small percentage of profits, for big companies.

Measure P hasn't seen an official opposition in advance of Election Day, but the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group spoke against the cost of the tax at a City Council meeting in June.

The current business license system charges a flat rate of $30 to each company regardless of its size, barring large companies like Google, according to Siegel.

The head tax system already exists in San Jose, Redwood City, and Sunnyvale, while a similar measure in Cupertino was postponed for more planning in June.

"We have a lot of successful and growing business in Mountain View that are stressing our transportation system, and we want them to pay their share of improving it," Siegel said.For the second game in a row, the Sharks entered the third period on Sunday with a 2-1 lead, and the opportunity to put another notch in the win column. It was also the second game in a row they gave up a late lead.

San Jose closed out a five-game road trip with a super speedy tilt against the Devils on Sunday. But after exchanging chances with the New Jersey Devils for two periods, New Jersey emerged victorious with the 3-2 win.

Here are three takeaways from the Sharks' final game of the five-game road trip.

Penalty kill gets a lot of work: The Sharks likely occupied the sin bin a little more than they wouldve liked on Sunday. After drawing the first penalty of the game, the Sharks went on the kill seven consecutive times, including a dicey double-minor called on Erik Karlsson in the final minutes of the third period. The penalty kill also contributed to the Devils' win, surrendering New Jersey's first goal of the afternoon while playing on the short end of a five-on-three.

While the kill looked good outside of giving up that goal, spending so much time playing down a skater can wear a team out. Being on the penalty kill four times before the start of the third period likely contributed to San Jose having difficulty sustaining pressure in the final 20 minutes of the game.

Jones in midseason form through 40 minutes: Sharks starting goaltender Martin Jones was a brick wall through the first two periods of Sundays game. He was particularly impressive as he robbed Devils forward Nico Hischier on two grade-A chances. When Kyle Palmieri punched the tying goal in past Jones skate in the start of the third period, it looked like the netminder was going to be able to keep it out.

But, New Jersey snagged the lead late in the game. Jones was caught out of position when Jean-Sebastian Dea deposited the game-winner.

San Jose needs more goals: Team Teal didnt put 40-plus shots on goal like they did in their previous two games. But, like with their game against the Rangers on Thursday, they only found the back of the net a couple of times.

Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said after the Sharks loss in New York on Thursday that the dam will eventually burst and the goals would start coming more readily. It didn't happen before San Jose headed home.Sen. Marco Rubio warned Sunday that America's "moral credibility" is at risk if it fails in its response to suspected Saudi involvement in the disappearance and possible killing of a Washington Post columnist in Turkey.

Appearing on "Meet the Press" Sunday, the Florida Republican, a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that if Saudi involvement is proven, the response must be strong and swift to ensure America's moral standing.

"Our ability to call Putin a murderer  because he is; our ability to call Assad a murderer  because he is; our ability to confront Maduro in Venezuela or any of these other human rights atrocities like what we see in China, all of that is undermined and compromised if we somehow decide that because an ally who was important did that, we are not going to call it out," Rubio said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

And John Brennan, the former CIA director who previously served as a CIA station chief in Saudi Arabia, said Sunday that it would be "inconceivable that such an operation would be run by the Saudis without the knowledge of the day-to-day decision-maker of Saudi Arabia, that's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman."A community activist is holding a press conference Sunday morning to offer an increased reward for information about the killer who allegedly shot and killed two men in separate attacks that started two weeks ago in the Rogers Park neighborhood.

At 11:30 a.m., activist Raul Montes will hold a press conference at 1100 W. Lunt Ave. to raise the reward from $10,000 to an unnamed amount and urge Chicago police to keep blanketing the North Side neighborhood.

We need more police and a more comprehensive plan, better police strategies and new leadership in Chicago to eradicate the violence and crime that is totally beyond comprehension, Montes said in a statement.

The first fatal shooting claimed the life of 73-year-old Willard Douglass Watts, who was walking his dogs at 10:07 a.m. Sept. 30 near his home in the 1400 block of West Sherwin when he was shot in the head at close range, according to police and the Cook County medical examiners office.

About 10:20 p.m. the following day, Eliyahu Moscowicz, a 24-year-old man of the Orthodox Jewish faith, was walking on the Loyola Park bike path near Lunt Avenue when someone fatally shot him in the head, authorities said. He lived in West Rogers Park.

At an Oct. 2 press conference, police said the killings were carried out using the same gun, and possibly by the same shooter.

In addition, authorities released surveillance video of the suspect walking near the scene of the first killing. The thin black male is seen in the footage wearing all-dark clothing and a hooded mask.

This person is clearly trying to disguise themselves, Johnson said. Clearly he or she knows what they are going out to do.

Investigators initially thought Watts was killed during a robbery, but Johnson said nothing had been stolen from either man. Police havent identified a potential motive in the slayings, but Johnson didnt rule out the possibility of a hate crime.

At the same press conference, Mayor Rahm Emanuel told residents to go about your daily lives, but be safe, smart and vigilant at the same time.

The Jewish United Fund (JUF) and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago announced the $10,000 reward along with Cook County Crime Stoppers a day after police released the surveillance video and the manhunt entered its third day.Three people were arrested in New York City following violent clashes after a speech by the founder of a far-right group, and police said Saturday they were reviewing video of the clashes and could make additional arrests.

The violence Friday night followed a speech by Gavin McInnes, the founder of the Proud Boys, at the Metropolitan Republican Club on the Upper East Side. The male-only Proud Boys describe themselves as "western chauvinists."

Videos posted on YouTube show clashes between the Proud Boys and groups that were protesting McInnes' speech.

No serious injuries were reported.

The three arrested face assault charges and were released on recognizance after an arraignment Saturday in Manhattan criminal court. Police spokesman J. Peter Donald said the department was reviewing video and would make other arrests as warranted.

Some elected officials expressed outrage over the violence and blamed the Proud Boys, which has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

"I am disturbed and disgusted by the videos I've seen of members of the neo-fascist, white supremacist Proud Boys group engaging in hate-fueled mob violence on the streets of New York City," said Public Advocate Letitia James, a Democrat who is running for state attorney general.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said hate would not be tolerated in New York.

"Here's a message from a Queens boy to the so-called 'proud boys' - New York has zero tolerance for your BS," Cuomo said.

On Sunday, he asked the FBI to launch an investigation into the violence.

"Why did this club invite the Proud Boys, a hate group with a history of inciting violence?" he asked in a statement. "These vile acts of racism, division and discrimination are repugnant to American values, and have no place in our state."

City Councilman Rory Lancman, also a Democrat, said video shows police officers were at the scene of an assault by Proud Boys members but did not arrest anyone from the group.

"It is revolting to see white supremacists commit a hate crime on the streets of New York City - in full view of the NYPD - and for none of them to be arrested or prosecuted," Lancman said.

City Council President Corey Johnson said the Proud Boys and their loathsome brand of intolerance represent the opposite of everything we stand for in New York City.

The Republican club was vandalized ahead of Friday's speech by McInnes, who is also a co-founder of Vice Media. Statewide Republican officials said the damage included smashed windows, a spray-painted door and a keypad lock covered in glue. A note left at the scene claimed that the damage was "just the beginning."

Police are asking anyone with information or video to call 1-800-577-TIPS.What to Know A small plane crashed in the waters off the coast of the Hamptons, the Coast Guard and Federal Aviation Administration said

The plane went down in the waters off of Quogue around 11 a.m., Coast Guard Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier said

One body has been recovered from the water

Two more bodies were recovered Sunday from the water off the Hamptons in New York after a small plane crashed, the Coast Guard said.

The twin-engine Piper PA-34 plane went down in the waters off of Quogue around 11 a.m. on Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Rescuers recovered a body, later identified as 41-year-old Munidat "Raj" Persaud, of Waterbury, Conn., from the water on Saturday, New York State Police said. Persaud was the owner of the plane.

The other two victims, a man and a woman, were recovered from the wreckage of the plane 20 feet under water around 5 p.m. Sunday, according to the New York State Police.

Sunday morning, search crews used sonar to map the sea floor in an effort to locate the two missing people, Coast Guard Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier said.

The aircraft originally departed from Waterbury-Oxford Airport, then landed at Danbury Municipal Airport before departing again for Charleston Executive Airport in South Carolina, according to the FAA and the CT Airport Authority.

The site of the crash is three miles southeast of the Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, the FAA said.

Emergency personnel responded to the site of the crash, which was one or two nautical miles south of the beach, Coast Guard Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier told NBC 4 New York.

Debris could be seen in the water from Suffolk County.

It was a rainy morning as a weak weather disturbance moved through the area. It wasn't immediately clear whether rain was a factor in the crash.

The wreckage of the plane will be removed from the water on Tuesday.Firefighters are trying to figure out how an oxygen tank combusted inside of a home in North Haven and set that home on fire early Sunday morning.

The fire began in the front living room on the first floor of a single family home on Standish Avenue shortly after 3:30 a.m. It then spread to the second floor, firefighters said.

All five people that were inside of the home were able to escape safely.

It took firefighters about an hour to get the fire under control, but fire officials said the house is now uninhabitable.

The oxygen tank that exploded is used by one of the residents for medical needs.

Investigators are going through the rubble to determine what went wrong.

"A lot of this is a matter of interviewing all of the occupants of the home, trying to determine what they saw, what they did on their way out, and so forth, how they were alerted to the fire," said North Haven Fire Chief Paul Januszewski.

Fire officials said there is no threat to the community.A man was arrested at a Northern Virginia grocery store after he was seen pulling down his pants and rubbing produce items on his buttocks, police say.

The suspect then put the items back on the shelves, a loss prevention employee at the store told authorities, according to Manassas City Police.

Officers responded to the Giant grocery store at 10100 Dumfries Road in Manassas shortly after 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Officers arrested Manassas resident Michael Dwayne Johnson, 27, at the store.

The store had to destroy several pallets of produce after the incident, police said.

Johnson is facing charges of indecent exposure and destruction of property. It wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney.

A police spokesperson did not have information on what type of produce Johnson allegedly defiled, although she said a police report mentioned it was fruit.

A Giant store manager said he was unable to speak about the incident.Crews searched along a West Texas river on Friday for two people still missing after crushing floodwaters swept through a recreational vehicle park. The bodies of two of their companions were found a day earlier.

Texas A&M Forest Service spokeswoman Christi Powers said that while "we never lose hope," the search has turned from rescue to recovery.

Three men and a woman had been missing since the flooding early Monday . They were staying at an RV park in Junction, a small city alongside the South Llano River, when the entire site was washed away, including RVs and the park office.

Rains beginning Sunday night dropped about 12 inches (30.5 centimeters) of rain on the area about 140 miles (225 kilometers) west of Austin, causing the river to rise. Rescuers performed dramatic air and water rescues of dozens of other people.

Crews have been searching a 35-mile (56-kilometer) stretch of the river. Powers said the bodies found Thursday were located about 9 miles (14 kilometers) downriver from the RV park.

Powers said relatives of those missing have been among the search crews and that the identities of the two found dead won't be released until autopsies have been completed.

Searchers have been using a plane, helicopter, drone and crews in boats, and walking the riverbanks with rescue dogs.A South Texas man who had been on the run from authorities for seven years after he fled in the middle of his murder trial is back behind bars.

Investigators say Victor Manuel Palomo was arrested on Thursday in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. He was turned over to U.S. authorities and was being held Friday at the Webb County Jail in Laredo.

The 30-year-old Palomo was being tried in 2011 for the fatal shooting two years earlier of Alberto Garcia when he fled. He was convicted in absentia of murder and aggravated assault.

Palomo was sentenced to 99 years in prison on the murder charge and 20 years for the aggravated assault charge.

After he fled, Palomo was placed on the U.S. Marshals' most wanted list.What to Know Jamal Khashoggi is a longtime Saudi journalist whose work has been controversial in the past in the ultraconservative Sunni kingdom

No footage made public so far has shown Khashoggi ever walking out of the Saudi consulate in Turkey

Saudi Arabia has offered no explanation for how the writer left the consulate and disappeared into Istanbul

Veteran Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared over a week ago while on a visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, sparking an international uproar involving the kingdom, Turkey and the United States that remains unresolved until today.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, had written columns critical of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's stalemated war in Yemen and its crackdown on activists and businessmen.

Turkish officials say they fear a team of Saudi agents killed and dismembered Khashoggi, and have released surveillance footage of the alleged perpetrators and mysterious movements outside the consulate on Oct. 2, the day he entered. The kingdom says the allegations are "baseless," but has offered no evidence Khashoggi ever left the consulate.

Here is a look at what we know about the disappearance.

WHO IS JAMAL KHASHOGGI?

Khashoggi is a longtime Saudi journalist, foreign correspondent, editor and columnist whose work has been controversial in the past in the ultraconservative Sunni kingdom. He went into self-imposed exile in the United States following the ascension of Prince Mohammed, now next in line to succeed his father, the 82-year-old King Salman.

Khashoggi was known for his interviews and travels with Osama bin Laden between 1987 and 1995, including in Afghanistan, where he wrote about the battle against the Soviet occupation. In the early 1990s, he tried to persuade bin Laden to reconcile with the Saudi royal family and return home from his base in Sudan, but the al-Qaida leader refused.

Khashoggi maintained ties with Saudi elites and was viewed as a link between the West and the often opaque royal court. As a contributor to the Post, Khashoggi has written extensively about Saudi Arabia, including criticizing its war in Yemen, its recent diplomatic spat with Canada and its arrest of women's rights activists after the lifting of a ban on women driving.

WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM?

Khashoggi, whose 60th birthday was Saturday, went to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul's upscale 4th Levent neighborhood on Sept. 28 seeking documents so he could be married to his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz. He was told to return to the consulate on Oct. 2 to pick up those documents, Cengiz says.

Surveillance footage later aired on Turkish state television shows Khashoggi walking into the consulate at 1:14 p.m. on Oct. 2. A little less than two hours later, surveillance footage shows several vehicles with diplomatic license plates move from the consulate to the consul's home some 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away.

Cengiz, who spent hours waiting for Khashoggi outside while holding his mobile phones, says her fiancee never walked out of the consulate to meet her. Surveillance footage shows her pacing around outside at 5:33 p.m., speaking on her mobile phone. No footage made public so far has shown Khashoggi ever walked out of the consulate.

WHAT IS TURKEY SAYING?

Turkish officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation, say they fear Saudi Arabia killed Khashoggi. They claim they have audio and video recordings of Khashoggi being interrogated, killed and dismembered. However, those alleged recordings have yet to be released publicly.

Turkish security officials, rather than holding news conferences, have leaked information through pro-government media. Newspapers published the names and photographs of 15 Saudi men in the country's military and security services who they say formed an "assassination squad" sent to target Khashoggi. Turkish officials told The Associated Press one of those men was an "autopsy expert."

Turkish media have also released a series of videos, apparently taken from surveillance cameras, showing the alleged Saudi agents arriving on private jets the day Khashoggi disappeared, checking into and out of hotels near the consulate, and then flying out that night.

A Turkish newspaper also claimed that Khashoggi's Apple Watch recorded audio of his slaying and transmitted it to his iPhone outside the consulate and to his iCloud account. However, the newspaper did not explain how the alleged recording was transmitted and included a claim that Khashoggi's assailants used his finger to unlock it when such watches don't have fingerprint ID scanners.

Turkish officials have not responded to questions from the AP about Khashoggi's Apple Watch. Analysts have suggested Turkey may be trying to protect its intelligence-gathering methods by leaking information this way.

WHAT IS SAUDI ARABIA SAYING?

Saudi Arabia has offered no explanation for how the writer left the consulate and disappeared into Istanbul as his fiancee stood outside waiting for him.

Early Saturday, Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud said: "What has been circulating in terms of supposed orders to kill him are outright lies and baseless allegations against the kingdom's government."

Meanwhile, Saudi media has tried to blame the crisis on Qatar, which the kingdom and three other Arab nations now boycott as part of a bitter political dispute, without offering proof of that country's involvement. The Qatar-fund satellite network Al-Jazeera has extensively focused on Khashoggi's disappearance over the last week.

A Saudi-owned satellite news channel, meanwhile, has begun referring to the alleged 15-man team as "tourists," without providing evidence to support the claim.

WHAT IS THE U.S. SAYING?

President Donald Trump has threatened "severe punishment" if authorities determine Saudi Arabia was behind Khashoggi's disappearance. However, he also has said he wants to maintain the arms deals he struck with the kingdom on a trip to Riyadh, his first overseas as president. Meanwhile, American lawmakers are threatening to sanction individual Saudi officials if evidence links them to the writer's disappearance.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

A Saudi team has arrived in Turkey to investigate Khashoggi's disappearance. Meanwhile, Turkey has said it will search the Saudi Consulate for evidence, but that has yet to happen. Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saturday that Saudi Arabia had not yet cooperated with Turkey on the search for Khashoggi. That could force Turkey's hand in leaking more information about the case to pressure the kingdom to cooperate.What to Know A woman called 911 on a 9-year-old boy, claiming she was "sexually assaulted" by him inside a Brooklyn deli

Surveillance video shows the boy never touched her, and the woman may have been brushed by his backpack

The woman, who claims to be a police officer, apologized after watching the video, but neighbors in the community remain outraged

UPDATE: Fallout Continues in Brooklyn Over "Cornerstore Caroline" as Community Rallies

A white woman set off a firestorm in a Brooklyn community and on social media after she called 911 on a black boy at a bodega, claiming he grabbed her butt -- only for surveillance video to show that he never touched her.

The woman, identified by the New York Post as Teresa Klein, was buying cat litter inside Sahari Deli Market in Flatbush Wednesday when the boy, wearing a school uniform and backpack, walked past her with his mother and younger sister, witnesses say and video shows. His backpack appeared to brush against Klein's backside.

Klein whips her head around and begins shouting in the direction of the exiting family, surveillance video shows. She makes crude gestures at them, and the mother is seen walking back and arguing with her.

Joni Torian, a customer who witnessed the dispute, told the Post, "The mother was right behind him when she says he grabbed her very flat behind. Ain't no mama gonna let her child sexually assault a woman. [Klein] started yelling, 'Miss, you need to watch your son, he just grabbed my ass.' It was kind of funny at first, but then she was saying, 'I will call the cops.'"

The fight is then taken outside the store, where witnesses began recording the confrontation. In one video posted to Facebook, Klein is seen getting on her phone and saying, "I'm going to call the cops right now" -- which sends the boy and his little sister into tears.

"Mommy!" the little girl bursts out wailing as she clings to her mother's leg.

Klein is heard saying sarcastically into the phone, as incredulous bystanders watch, "White woman calling the cops on a black lady, I get it."

"The son grabbed my a--, and she's decided to yell at me," she tells 911 on the phone.

The man filming the encounter shouts at Klein, "Cornerstore Caroline!" -- a reference to the meme mocking white women who call 911 to report what they consider suspicious activity by black people ("Barbecue Becky," "Permit Patty").

"That's Cornerstore Caroline! We got a new one!" the man filming proclaims.

Another passerby shouts at Klein, "Who would want to touch your flat a--? Nobody wants to touch your flat a--!"

Klein continues speaking into the phone, saying, "I've been sexually assaulted by a child."

She tells the 911 operator that she'll be going home to meet officers to file a report -- she gives a Prospect Park address -- and after she hangs up, she waves at the man filming and tells him, "Now why don't you upload that to World Star?"

Another woman confronts her and asks her if she "seriously called the police on a child."

"Go away," that other woman tells Klein.

Klein, who tells the other woman she's a police officer, replies, "No, white lady, I will not."

She adds, sarcastically, "One white girl to another, yeah, make the point to the entire audience," gesturing at the bystanders, who happen to be black.

The cellphone video posted to Facebook Wednesday had nearly 5 million views by Friday, and more than 24,000 comments from outraged viewers.

"Calling 911 for 'her' emergency, glad she didn't die from him 'grabbing' her a--," wrote one person.

Many were upset to see the boy and girl in distress: "My heart hurt for those kids, especially the boy," another wrote.

Klein returned to the deli Friday night amid the backlash to watch the surveillance video alongside local media and outraged neighbors in the community.

"The child accidentally brushed against me," she admitted after watching the video.

"Young man, I don't know your name, but I'm sorry," she said.

But the apology didn't appease angry customers gathered to watch her reaction: "It's always 'sorry,'" one man shouted. "'Sorry' don't f---ing change anything. What's 'sorry' gonna do for the kid?"

It seemed to touch off even more emotional backlash among other black men inside the store.

"Apology don't solve people's problems, man," one man said. "If it was me, I would have been incarcerated by now."What to Know The Washington Post, for which Jamal Khashoggi was a columnist, said it spoke to anonymous officials

Those officials, according to the Post, say Turkey has audio and video that prove Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate

President Donald Trump said he would speak to the Saudi leader about Khashoggi's case

President Donald Trump declared the U.S. will uncover the truth about what happened to journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi, whose possible murder at Saudi hands after disappearing in Istanbul has captured worldwide attention. Trump promised to personally call Saudi Arabia's King Salman soon about "the terrible situation in Turkey."

"We're going to find out what happened," Trump pledged Friday when questioned by reporters in Cincinnati where he was headlining a political rally.

And in excerpts of an interview with CBS released Saturday morning, Trump said there would be severe punishment for Saudi Arabia if it was determined to have killed Khashoggi. He called the journalist's case really terrible and disgusting.

Its being investigated, its being looked at very, very strongly," Trump said. "And we would be very upset and angry if that were the case. As of this moment, they deny it, and they deny it vehemently. Could it be them? Yes.

Khashoggi, a forceful critic of the Saudi government, went missing more than a week ago after entering a Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and Turkish officials have said they believe he was murdered there. U.S. officials say they are seeking answers from the Saudi government and are not yet accepting the Turkish government's conclusions.

The Saudis have called accusations that they are responsible for Khashoggi's disappearance "baseless." Widely broadcast video shows the 59-year-old writer and Washington Post contributor entering the consulate on Tuesday of last week, but there is none showing him leaving.

Separately, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, who accompanied him to the Saudi consulate, the State Department said Friday. No details of the conversation were released.

In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, Cengiz said Khashoggi was not nervous when he entered the consulate to obtain paperwork required for their marriage.

"He said, 'See you later my darling,' and went in," she told the AP.

Citing anonymous sources, the Post reported Friday that Turkey's government has told U.S. officials it has audio and video proof that Khashoggi was killed and dismembered. The AP has not been able to confirm that report. In written responses to questions by the AP, Cengiz said Turkish authorities had not told her about any recordings and Khashoggi was officially "still missing."

She said investigators were examining his cellphones, which he had left with her.

Saudi Arabia says Khashoggi left the consulate. He hasn't been seen since, though his fiancee was waiting outside.

Both Turkey and Saudi Arabia are important U.S. allies in the region. Trump said Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin will evaluate whether to attend a Saudi investor conference later this month. Mnuchin had indicated earlier Friday he still planned to attend.

On Thursday, Trump had said U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia were "excellent" and he was reluctant to scuttle highly lucrative U.S. weapons deals with Riyadh. A number of members of Congress have pressed the Trump administration to impose sanctions on the country in response to the Khashoggi affair.

A delegation from Saudi Arabia arrived in Turkey on Friday as part of an investigation into the writer's disappearance. In a statement posted on Twitter, the Saudis welcomed the joint effort and said the kingdom was keen "to sustain the security and safety of its citizenry, wherever they might happen to be."

Cengiz said she and the journalist would have been married this week and had planned a life together split between Istanbul and the United States, where Khashoggi had been living in self-imposed exile since last year.

She had appealed for help to Trump, who earlier this week said he would invite her to the White House.

Cengiz didn't respond to a question about that, but earlier on Friday she urged Trump on Twitter to use his clout to find out what happened.

"What about Jamal Khashoggi?" she wrote in response to a tweet by Trump in which he said he said he had been "working very hard" to free an American evangelical pastor who has been held for two years in Turkey. Andrew Brunson was released late Friday.

Amid growing concern over Khashoggi's fate, French President Emmanuel Macron said his country wanted to know "the whole truth" about the writer's disappearance, calling the early details about the case "very worrying."

Macron said "I'm waiting for the truth and complete clarity to be made" since the matter is "very serious." He spoke Friday in Yerevan, Armenia, to French broadcasters RFI and France 24.

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said Berlin was also "very concerned" about the writer's disappearance and called on Saudi Arabia to "participate fully" in clearing up reports that he had been killed.

Global business leaders began reassessing their ties with Saudi Arabia, stoking pressure on the Gulf kingdom to explain what happened to Khashoggi.

Khashoggi, who was considered close to the Saudi royal family, had become a critic of the current government and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 33-year-old heir apparent who has introduced reforms but has shown little tolerance for criticism.

As a contributor to The Washington Post, Khashoggi has written extensively about Saudi Arabia, including criticism of its war in Yemen, its recent diplomatic spat with Canada and its arrest of women's rights activists after the lifting of a ban on women driving.

Those policies are all seen as initiatives of the crown prince, who has also presided over a roundup of activists and businessmen.North Korea warned Washington through its state media Tuesday that a declaration ending the Korean War shouldn't be seen as a bargaining chip in denuclearization talks  but suggested lifting sanctions might be.

The North's official news agency issued a commentary claiming Pyongyang has taken significant measures to end hostile relations between the two countries but said the U.S. is "trying to subdue" it through sanctions, a not-so-subtle call for Washington to lift sanctions if it wants further progress in their stalled nuclear negotiations.

The commentary said a declaration replacing a 65-year-old armistice to formally end the war "is not just a gift from a man to another," and added, "it can never be a bargaining chip for getting the DPRK denuclearized."

The DPRK is short for the North's official name  the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The commentary was directed at supporters of the U.S. policy to maintain maximum pressure and sanctions on North Korea until it has made clear and significant moves to denuclearize.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo  a vocal advocate of that policy  is expected to travel to Pyongyang soon to try to revive the negotiation process and set the stage for a second summit between President Donald Trump and leader Kim Jong Un.

The commentary echoes a speech by North Korea's foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, at the United Nations last week in which he claimed North Korea is ready to implement the agreements Trump and Kim made during their first summit, in Singapore in June, but also accused Washington of failing to demonstrate its willingness to ease tensions and build mutual trust.

"Without any trust in the U.S., there will be no confidence in our national security," he said, "and under such circumstances there is no way we will unilaterally disarm ourselves first."

The North's emphasis on lifting sanctions and building trust above all else puts a spotlight on the rift between its position and Washington's since the Singapore summit, when Trump and Kim issued a vague statement about a nuclear-free peninsula without describing when and how it would occur.

Negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have since been rocky, with neither side able to agree on a starting point and widespread skepticism in the United States over whether Pyongyang is serious about renouncing an arsenal it sees as the only way to guarantee its safety.

Hopes for progress in the talks got a boost last month, when South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with Kim in Pyongyang for their third summit.

The summit resulted in a joint statement in which the North expressed willingness for a "permanent" dismantling of its main nuclear facility in Nyongbyon  if the United States takes corresponding measures  and the dismantling of a missile engine test site and launch pad in northwestern North Korea.

What the North would see as corresponding measures wasn't specified. But Tuesday's commentary and the U.N. statement suggest sanctions are a primary concern.

The 1950-53 Korean War ended in what was intended to be a temporary ceasefire. Moon and Kim are pushing for the end-of-war declaration by December. The declaration would be less difficult to make than a formal peace treaty, and Moon says he and Kim have agreed such a "political declaration" wouldn't require the pullout of 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.At face value, the two new leaders of Iraq, President Barham Salih and Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mehdi, seem to have very little in common, standing at opposite ends of the political spectrum. The former is a secular and maverick politician who dabbles in fluent English, handles his own Twitter account, and has never carried a gun in his life; while the latter is a hot-tempered Communist-turned Islamist who hails from a religiously driven political party. They are two generations apart: Abdul Mehdi was born under monarchial rule during the midst of the Second World War, and Saleh in 1960, early in the years of military dictatorship.

However, as Gulf News writes in an article "Iraqs new political order can fix the country", a scratch beneath the surface, however, shows multiple layers of overlapping interests and agendas, revealing two very pragmatic leaders, capable of restoring some normality to their war-torn country. For starters, both come from decent families that valued hard work and clean money. This makes them automatically different from the many politicians who rose to power after 2003, dying to make an overnight fortune.

President Salihs father was a judge at the Iraqi Court of Appeals, who graduated from Baghdad University in 1952. He had a tremendous intellectual impact on his son, and so did Abdul Mehdi Al Muntafiki, father of the new prime minister  a Shiite notable who served as member of parliament from 1925-1949, and briefly as Cabinet minister under Iraqs founding monarch, Faisal I. As Minister of Education in 1926, Al Muntafiki sent Iraqi students on scholarship to study in Europe and hired top Egyptian educators to teach in Baghdad. No wonder he sent his son to an elite American college, then to the University of Poitiers in France, one of the oldest in Europe.

Abdul Mehdi had studied Economics in Paris, while Salih obtained a degree in Civil Engineering from the Cardiff University in the United Kingdom, followed by a PhD in Statistics from the University of Liverpool. The two men entered politics during their teens, with Salih joining the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in 1976, and Abdul Mehdi flirting first with the Iraqi Communist Party, then with the Iran-funded Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, later renamed the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC). One sought a secular independent republic in Kurdistan, the other a theocracy in Baghdad. Both were on the same page, however, when it came to opposing Saddam Hussain and supporting the 2003 invasion of the country by the United States.

Both milked their party affiliations to death, using them to join the post-Saddam order, although by then, both had outgrown their juvenile political dreams. Salih scaled one peak after another, becoming prime minister of Kurdistan in 2001-2004, and deputy prime minister of Iraq in 2004-2005, and then again in 2006-2009. Abdul Mehdi was less lucky, having repeatedly failed at becoming prime minister in the past, although he served as cabinet minister, and as vice-president of Iraq from 2005-2011. Trying to come across as a pan-Iraqi politician, rather than a Shiite statesman, he parted ways with SIIC in 2017, while Salih left the PUK, creating the independent Coalition for Democracy and Justice, also seeking cross-ethnic legitimacy. Within traditional Shiite and Kurdish circles, both have been accused of opportunism and backing out on their traditional allies.

Now that they are the helm, the two men face colossal challenges. It includes manoeuvring with neighbouring Iran, which still controls large chunks of the Iraqi Shiite street and is capable of creating havoc. Abdul Mehdis predecessor Haidar Al Abadi lost Iranian support after cuddling up to Saudi Arabia and agreeing to abide by US sanctions on the Iranian economy. Learning from his mistakes  and subsequent fall from grace, Abdul Mehdi stuck to his Iranian allies during last Mays parliamentary elections, while shortly after assuming power, President Salih appointed Aras Shaikh Jangi, a good friend of Qasim Sulaimani, as his personal adviser. Both cannot cross the US or Iran, and will have to stand at arms-length from the two countries who are currently at daggers drawn.

Lack of basic services

The two men also need to find solutions for the port city of Basra, gripped by non-stop street demonstrations carried out by angry Iraqi Shiites who are fed up with lack of basic services such as regular electricity and clean drinking water. They feel abandoned and betrayed by consecutive Iraqi governments since 2003 and are pinning their hopes on the incoming prime minister. If solutions are not formulated, they will continue to protest, crippling the new team, from day one.

Another challenge is how to mend relations between Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan, strained after a full independence vote carried out in September 2017. This will be particularly difficult for President Salih, who supported the vote and yet, has to come across today as a Iraqi leader, rather than a Kurdish one. Then, the two men have to find ways to rebuild destroyed cities and towns, some razed to the ground by the 2014-2018 war on Daesh. According to the Iraqi Government, rebuilding cities such as Mosul and Tikrit will cost a whopping $88 billion (Dh323.66 billion)  money that Iraq does not have, but can raise, thanks to increased oil production, higher oil prices and reduction in military spending, now that the war on Daesh is coming to an end.U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson says that Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida's Panhandle was destroyed, but he's promising the base will be rebuilt.

Nelson on Sunday visited the military base just days after Hurricane Michael tore across the region. The Florida Democrat said that older buildings on the base were demolished, while newer structures are in need of substantial repair. He also said that some of the hangars were damaged severely.

After Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida in 1992 an air force base in Homestead was closed due to substantial damage. But Nelson, who sits on the Senate Armed Forces Committee, said that fears that Tyndall will close are in his opinion "unfounded." He said that Tyndall is in a strategic location for its training missions.

The base was home to some of the nation's most advanced fighter jets but Nelson said he could not comment on how many planes were on the base during the storm or how many were damaged.

Thousands of people are likely to be without power in Florida's Panhandle for at least another week.

Gulf Power officials announced Sunday that they expect to have power restored to 95 percent of those hit by Hurricane Michael by Oct. 24 - or two weeks after the storm hit, leaving a trail of ruins across the region. Gulf Power is the main utility serving most of the area devastated by the deadly storm.

Some areas such as Panama City Beach will get power restored in the next two days. But the electric utility said it will take longer for downtown Panama City and other towns closer to where Michael roared onshore.

Gulf Power head Stan Connally called Michael an "unprecedented storm." The utility has brought in thousands of utility workers from around the country to help with the restoration effort.

Currently, there are nearly 192,000 customers in Florida without electricity.

The White House says President Donald Trump plans to visit Florida and Georgia on Monday to survey damage caused by Hurricane Michael.

Trump will be accompanied by first lady Melania Trump. The White House isn't identifying areas the president will visit.Israel's Supreme Court on Sunday agreed to hear the appeal of an American graduate student who is fighting an expulsion order over her involvement in the boycott movement against Israel.

Lara Alqasem has been held in detention since arriving in the country on Oct. 2 with a valid student visa. She will be allowed to remain the country pending the Supreme Court appeal, scheduled to take place on Wednesday, her lawyers said.

Alqasem, 22, turned to the high court after a lower court on Friday rejected her appeal to stay in the country. She will remain in detention pending her appeal, her lawyers said.

Israel says the Florida native, a former boycott activist at the University of Florida, continues to promote the boycott movement against Israel. She has argued that she is no longer active.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended his government's handling of the case, saying every country has the right to decide who enters its borders.

Asked about the case Sunday, he said it was now in the hands of the court. "They'll decide whether they handle it or not," he told a gathering of foreign Christian journalists. "If they handle it, we'll see how it will develop, so if they don't handle it, she'll be deported."

Alqasem had been registered to pursue a master's degree in human rights at Israel's Hebrew University. The first day of classes was Sunday.What to Know Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams asked police to investigate a woman dubbed "Cornerstore Caroline," who accused a child of groping her

Surveillance video shows the boy never touched her, and the woman may have been brushed by his backpack

Adams says she should be investigated for impersonating a police officer; amid the backlash she claimed to be a cop

UPDATE: Mom of Boy in "Cornerstore Caroline" Video Speaks as Fallout Continues and Community Rallies

The Brooklyn borough president has asked the NYPD to investigate a woman dubbed "Cornerstore Caroline," who called 911 and wrongly accused a child of groping her.

Eric Adams said he requested that police investigate whether Teresa Klein broke the law by impersonating a police officer. When confronted about calling 911 on a child, Klein claimed to be a cop.

There's no excuse for Ms. Klein's behavior at Flatbush's Sahara Deli Market on Wednesday. Our community is rightfully outraged. If you have contact for the family so we can help with follow-up support, please DM me. I'm asking @NYPDNews to investigate. https://t.co/tE3nfyX8D3  Eric Adams (@BPEricAdams) October 13, 2018

On Friday, Klein and others watched surveillance video from the bodega, which showed the child's backpack may have brushed against her as he passed with his mother and young sister.

"The child accidentally brushed against me," she admitted after watching the video.

"Young man, I don't know your name, but I'm sorry," she said.

Adams said the community was "rightfully outraged" and "we cannot dismiss false complaint calls to the police with mere apologies, sincere or not."

He called the viral accusation and aftermath a "modern-day Emmett Till moment," referring to a black 14-year-old boy who was lynched in 1955 after being accused of whistling at a white woman in a grocery store. That killing was a key event leading to the beginning of the Civil Rights movement.

Adams said he would hold a "community conversation on diversity and respect" on Monday at 5:30 p.m. at Flatbush and Albermarle.

Klein was buying cat litter inside Sahari Deli Market in Flatbush on Wednesday when the boy, wearing a school uniform and backpack, walked past her with his mother and younger sister, witnesses say and video shows. His backpack appeared to brush against Klein's backside.

Klein whips her head around and begins shouting in the direction of the exiting family, surveillance video shows. She makes crude gestures at them, and the mother is seen walking back and arguing with her.

Joni Torian, a customer who witnessed the dispute, told the Post, "The mother was right behind him when she says he grabbed her very flat behind. Ain't no mama gonna let her child sexually assault a woman. [Klein] started yelling, 'Miss, you need to watch your son, he just grabbed my a--.' It was kind of funny at first, but then she was saying, 'I will call the cops.'"

The fight is then taken outside the store, where witnesses began recording the confrontation. In one video posted to Facebook, Klein is seen getting on her phone and saying, "I'm going to call the cops right now" -- which sends the boy and his little sister into tears.

"Mommy!" the little girl bursts out wailing as she clings to her mother's leg.

Klein is heard saying sarcastically into the phone, as incredulous bystanders watch, "White woman calling the cops on a black lady, I get it."

"The son grabbed my a--, and she's decided to yell at me," she tells 911 on the phone.

The man filming the encounter shouts at Klein, "Cornerstore Caroline!" -- a reference to the meme mocking white women who call 911 to report what they consider suspicious activity by black people ("Barbecue Becky," "Permit Patty").

"That's Cornerstore Caroline! We got a new one!" the man filming proclaims.

Another passerby shouts at Klein, "Who would want to touch your flat a--? Nobody want to touch your flat a--!"

Klein continues speaking into the phone, saying, "I've been sexually assaulted by a child."

She tells the 911 operator that she'll be going home to meet officers to file a report and after she hangs up, she waves at the man filming and tells him, "Now why don't you upload that to World Star?"

Another woman confronts her and asks her if she "seriously called the police on a child."

"Go away," that other woman tells Klein.

Klein, who tells the other woman she's a police officer, replies, "No, white lady, I will not."

She adds, sarcastically, "One white girl to another, yeah, make the point to the entire audience," gesturing at the bystanders, who happen to be black.

The cellphone video posted to Facebook Wednesday had nearly 5 million views by Friday, and more than 24,000 comments from outraged viewers.A man has been charged in a stabbing death in Orange County early Saturday, troopers said.

Louis Rivera, 25, was found dead with multiple stab wounds in a building on Lake Street in Monroe, New York state police said.

Samuel Del Cid Hernandez, 31, was charged with second-degree murder, police said.

Both men lived in Monroe. Police didn't disclose the motive or other circumstances of the killing.

Rivera's wife told the Times Herald-Record that the couple has a 1-month-old son.

It wasn't immediately known whether Hernandez had an attorney.A quick stop by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Saturday in the state that holds the first primary in the race for the White House is sparking more speculation about a possible White House bid by the billionaire media company founder and gun safety advocate.

Bloomberg was the main attraction at the get-out-the-vote rally for six candidates running for New Hampshire's state House of Representatives. The event was organized by Moms Demand Action, an arm of Bloomberg's Everytown for Gun Safety organization set up after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings.

Bloomberg's trip came just days after he re-registered as a Democrat after years as a Republican and an independent. Asked by The Associated Press if he has any timetable for deciding on a presidential bid, he said "right now I'm focused on November 6, plain and simple."

But he added that after the midterm elections, "we'll see what happens down the road."

Speaking in front of dozens of Moms Demand Action activists, many of them wearing the group's red T-shirts, Bloomberg told the crowd "together, Moms Demand and Everytown have landed some big punches against the NRA. We haven't knocked them out yet, not by a longshot, but we've got them on the ropes. And while we're getting stronger and stronger every day, they're getting weaker."

He also thanked gun safety activists in New Hampshire for helping to defeat earlier this year in the Statehouse "two bad bills that would have forced colleges to allow guns on campus and punish cities and towns for enacting strong guns laws. You did that. You did stop them."

Bloomberg, who's spent millions of his own money this year to help elect Democrats in the midterms, said "we've got to send a message to elected officials. Vote for commonsense gun laws or we will throw you out."

Prior to the event at Nashua City Hall, Bloomberg met with the city's longtime major, Jim Donchess, who's a member of Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns group. He also met with Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, a supporter of tighter gun restrictions, and the six state legislative candidates who were endorsed by Moms Demand Action.

While November's election and the issue of guns were the focus of Bloomberg's visit to the Granite State, the trip fueled speculation that the 76-year-old former three-term New York City mayor is serious about a 2020 presidential run. Bloomberg mulled, but decided against White House runs in 2008 and 2016.

Asked if the party he left nearly two decades ago has become increasingly liberal, he said "I don't know that it's moved further left. I think that's conventional wisdom by some people."

Instead, Bloomberg argued that "there are an awful lot of other people who say if you talk to Democrats, they're much more centrist than people understand."

Donchess told The Associated Press that if Bloomberg ultimately decides on running for the Democratic presidential nomination, he may fare well in New Hampshire thanks to his advocacy on gun safety.What to Know Jannie Lee Smallwood, 28, was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver 10 days ago along U.S. Route 202.

Police are looking for a white Ford Edge with front-end damage, hood damage and a missing passenger-side mirror.

Smallwood leaves behind a 5-year-old daughter, who is being cared for by Smallwood's mother.

A mother, left caring for her 5-year-old granddaughter, is pleading for any information about who left her daughter for dead along busy Route 202 south of Philadelphia.

"It's not fair to her daughter. It's not fair at all," said Lita Camper.

Her daughter, 28-year-old Jannie Lee Smallwood, was struck and killed Oct. 3 around 9:50 p.m. as she walked along the shoulder of northbound U.S. Route 202 in Concord Township, Delaware County.

Police believe a 2007 to 2011 white Ford Edge, most likely SEL or Limited Class, struck the Wilmington woman.

The driver did a U-turn and then fled the scene on I-95, police say.

"We are looking for anyone who has any information about a white-colored Ford Edge with front-end damage, hood damage and a missing passenger-side mirror," said Corp. Danea Durham of Pennsylvania State Police on Saturday. Police don't know the car's license plate.

Camper said her daughter was in a car with friends when she suddently got out of the car. She doesn't know why Smallwood got out of the car.

And that's not the only mystery: Camper said money and ID cards were missing from her daughter's fanny pack when her body was found.

Camper has a message for the hit and run driver.

"Just turn yourself in, because my granddaughter needs to know why she needs to know why she has to grow up at 5 years old without a mom. That's not fair," Camper said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact state police in Media at 484-840-1000. There is a reward offered in the case.Authorities say police officers shot and killed two pit bulls that attacked and bit a man and a child at a New Jersey playground.

Camden County spokesman Dan Keashen says the attack occurred at a Camden playground at about 7 p.m. Friday.

Keashen says arriving officers tried to "snare" the dogs, and when that didn't work they tried to use a stun gun on the animals, but that also failed.

The officers then shot and killed the dogs. The man and child, whose names weren't released, were treated at the scene for bite wounds. Police say they know who owned the dogs.A Southern California teacher has been suspended after claiming that President Trump's senior policy adviser -- one of her former students -- ate glue as a third-grader.

Nikki Fiske, 72, told The Hollywood Reporter that when Stephen Miller was a student in her classroom back in 1993, he was a loner with a messy desk who played with glue, calling him "a strange dude." Miller grew up to be a senior adviser at the White House.

The article is brief, written in first-person as told to The Hollywood Reporter.

On Thursday, Los Angeles Times reported that the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District placed Fiske on "home assignment" while it decides what to do, if anything, about the disclosures.

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District said it's concerned about the public release of student information.

Fiske could not be reached for comment.China's trade surplus with the United States hit a record last month, defying -- for now, at least -- President Donald Trump's predictions that tariffs would help redress the trade imbalance. As Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette writes in an article "China's trade surplus with U.S. hits record $34.1B", although economists expect the American tariffs to eventually have an impact, the trade statistics reinforce the widely held notion in China that there will be no quick end to the trade war between Washington and Beijing.

"It's obvious that the immediate effects of the trade war are the exact opposite of what the Trump administration had been planning," said Andrew Polk of Trivium China, a Beijing-based economics research firm. "We expect the dynamic to change once we get a bit deeper into this, but for now China is trying to outrun the next round of tariffs," he said.

China enjoyed a record high $34.1 billion trade surplus with the U.S. in September, taking the surplus for the year to date to $225.8 billion, according to Chinese statistics released on Friday. That's significantly higher than the $196 billion recorded between January and September last year.

The increase, the result of both increasing exports from China to the U.S. -- up 14.5 percent from the same month last year -- and a decline in the goods that China is buying from the U.S.

The worsening trade imbalance is also a reflection of the two countries' economies, experts said. The U.S. economy is strengthening, with unemployment low and growth increasing, while the Chinese economy is slowing, sapping Chinese consumers' ability to buy imported goods.

The direct impact and indirect impact of the ongoing trade frictions is "generally controllable," China's customs agency spokesman Li Kuiwen said Friday. But global trade would continue to face challenges as the U.S.-China trade frictions "have been escalating and other unstable factors still exist caused by a number of economic uncertainties worldwide," he said.

The second round of tariffs that the Trump administration imposed on China went into effect on Sept. 24, so the increase in exports last month might have been the result of Chinese companies rushing to sell their products before the additional duties were added.

After imposing tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods over the summer, the Trump administration last month added a 10 percent tariff to another $200 billion worth of Chinese products, encompassing everything from household items such as furniture and toys to industrial equipment. The tariffs are set to rise to 25 percent in January if the trade dispute is not resolved by then, and Trump has vowed to impose tariffs on the remaining $267 billion worth of Chinese imports.

China retaliated last month by putting tariffs ranging from 5 to 10 percent on $60 billion worth of American goods, taking effect the same day as the American measures.

But it was still too early to see the impact of the tariffs, said Julian Evans-Pritchard, China economist at Capital Economics, a consultancy. "The way the U.S. has structured the tariffs encourages front-loading because firms that know they're going to hit with tariffs would rather pay 10 percent than 25 percent," he said.

Plus, the 10 percent tariffs were almost entirely offset by the fall in the Chinese currency, which has depreciated by more than 8 percent since June. This makes Chinese products cheaper overseas.

Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed to meet next month at the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in hopes of resolving their intensifying trade conflict. These would be the first direct talks since August, but with both sides digging in their heels, there are few hopes the leaders can secure a major breakthrough.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration announced Thursday that it would sharply restrict exports of civilian nuclear technology to China that officials claimed was being diverted to power new generations of Chinese submarines, aircraft carriers and floating nuclear power plants. The announcement mixed security warnings with long-standing complaints that Beijing was continuing to steal nuclear-related technology from U.S. companies to benefit Chinese state-owned companies. In a call with reporters, however, administration officials revealed little of the intelligence evidence that they said would back up their claims.

The move appeared to be part of a more concerted effort by the administration to put new pressure on China beyond the tariffs on Chinese goods. China has been an established nuclear weapons state since the early 1960s. While the Trump administration said it was acting to halt proliferation, the reality is that China is largely self-sufficient when it comes to developing nuclear weapons.

The restrictions announced Thursday appeared largely aimed at fears that advanced reactors, especially compact power plants that could fuel China's ambitions to project power, would speed the emergence of the Chinese military as a force with global reach. The administration officials, who briefed journalists on the condition of anonymity, said Beijing was looking in particular to develop floating nuclear power reactors for use in the South China Sea, where it is building military installations on reclaimed reefs.Families and friends laid to rest a beloved businessman Saturday, three days after he was killed by two people in disguise at his East Village flooring store.

Grieving family, friends and loved ones gathered at the Peter Chaldean Catholic Cathedral in El Cajon to their say goodbye to Ghedeer "Tony" Radda, a beloved, father, business and friend.

Some are still in shock that Radda is gone, killed at his business, Bottom Price Flooring, on Wednesday.

Very difficult unbelievable, Haitham Marcos, Raddas childhood friend said. Its tragic, there's really no words.

On Wednesday afternoon, his hard-working friend was found in his shop with trauma to his chest and no pulse.

Police say two suspects in disguises  a man wearing what appears to be a granny mask and a woman in a purple wig  killed him.

Tony, I can honestly say, had no rivals with anybody, Marcos said. Very honest guy when you can to him for advice or help, he was there for you giving hard working"

As Raddas coffin is being delivered to his final resting place, El Cajon Cemetery, family members and friends shed tears as they say goodbye for one last time.

His wife, two daughters and loved ones are now seeking justice as his killers remain on the loose. Police still do not have a motive for the killing.

I definitely hope justice is going to be served, Marcos said. I'm still questioning why. And if it was over money, you know I'm sure the money would have been given. Why did it come down to bodily harm, and furthermore, death? Is a question that I'm waiting for it to be answered."

Anyone with information about this incident was urged to contact the San Diego Police Departments homicide unit or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

The family has set up a GoFundMe page to cover the costs of his memorial services.San Diegos Regional Chamber of Commerce just returned from their annual Mission to Washington, D.C. where they had 40 meetings with government officials and agency executives to exchange thoughts and ideas about the needs for business and other issues in San Diego.

I thought it was positive, Paola Avila, vice president of international business affairs for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, says of the trip to Washington, D.C. Its an opportunity to have a face-to-face, which is very different than many other ways of communicating with our policymakers, which we do throughout the year.

She says the fact that they bring such a large, binational delegation to Washington makes a profound statement.

San Diegos a special place, adds Stefani Benvenuto, director of public affairs for the chamber of commerce. We receive tons of funding in research, which makes us one of these high-tech innovators, we are way ahead on the advancements in pharmaceuticals, we have this great binational region and were talking about ways to improve our border.

Less positive local issues, she says, include the homelessness crisis and housing affordability. Still, they have policy professionals who went to Washington to make their voices heard on those concerns.

Sharing one concise message about San Diegos needs is really impactful, she says.

Benvenuto says the housing crisis isnt news to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development or elected officials in Washington, but they want to know what San Diego plans to do about the situation and plan to model national programs on successful local solutions.

San Diego is currently about to undergo a more holistic general plan about how to address homelessness and housing and I know the Department of Housing and Urban Development is very eagerly awaiting the results of that, Benvenuto says. She adds that theyre always asking for additional resources to test out new ideas.

I know that the mayors office was delivering that message very heavily and did a great job in communicating that need to Secretary Ben Carson and other leaders within the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Benvenuto says.

Avila says they are progressing in the proposed the cross-border railroad, a Tijuana air cargo facility and a potential new port of entry in east Otay Mesa. She adds that the projects are critical for the goods movement.All 47 passengers and crew survived a plane's crash landing in a Pacific lagoon Friday morning, wading through waist-deep water to the emergency exits and escaping on local boats that came to the rescue in the Micronesia archipelago.

Seven people were taken to a hospital, according to officials, including one described as being in a critical but stable condition.

Passenger Bill Jaynes said the plane came in very low as it was attempting to land at the Chuuk Island airport.

"I thought we landed hard," he said. "Until I looked over and saw a hole in the side of the plane and water was coming in. And I thought, well, this is not the way it's supposed to happen."

Jaynes said the flight attendants were panicking and yelling, and that he suffered a minor head injury. He said he called his wife, who started crying.

"I was really impressed with the locals who immediately started coming out in boats," he said. "One would think that they might be afraid to approach a plane that's just crashed."

The sequence of events remains unclear. Jaynes said the only scenario he can imagine is that the Air Niugini plane hit the end of the runway and continued into the water. However, the airline said the plane landed short of the runway.

The striking images of people being rescued from the half-submerged plane were reminiscent of the 2009 crash landing in New York City known as the "Miracle on the Hudson."

"It's really fortunate that we didn't have any fatalities," said Glenn Harris, a government aviation security inspector for the Federated States of Micronesia.

Harris said the plane left from the Micronesian island of Pohnpei about 700 kilometers (435 miles) to the east before ending up in the water at about 10 a.m.

He said he has yet to see a passenger manifest, but typical passengers would include business people from Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and Australia, as well as some tourists. Chuuk is known for its world-class diving, with dozens of WWII shipwrecks visible in the clear waters.

Harris said he doesn't know what caused the crash landing or whether the pilots had alerted air traffic control of any problems. He said an investigative team would be on the ground in Chuuk by Saturday to figure out what went wrong.

The airline said in a statement that the 35 passengers and 12 crew members aboard the Boeing 737 were all able to safely evacuate. It said the weather was poor at the time, with heavy rain and reduced visibility.

The airline said it was making all efforts to ensure the ongoing safety of the passengers and to meet their immediate needs. It said it was in touch with embassies, passenger representatives, stakeholders and families of the crew.

Air Niugini is the national airline of Papua New Guinea and has operated since 1973. The airline identified the flight as PX 073 with the registration number P2-PXE. Flight histories show that aircraft has made recent flights to Manila, Sydney and Singapore.

Air Niugini's network is concentrated on domestic routes linking the capital, Port Moresby, with isolated points across the Papua New Guinea archipelago, but it flies as far as Tokyo and Hong Kong.

The fleet includes Boeing 767 and 737 jets for international routes, according to the airline, as well as Fokker F-100 aircraft, Q400 and Dash 8 aircraft for challenging local terrain.

Micronesia, located north of Australia and east of the Philippines, is home to just over 100,000 people. It has close ties with the U.S. under an agreement known as a compact of free association.

The crash landing comes less than two months before Papua New Guinea hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, expected to draw world leaders beginning on Nov. 17.

In the "Miracle on the Hudson," both engines on a U.S. Airways jet failed after it struck a flock of geese during takeoff from New York's LaGuardia Airport. Pilots Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles safely landed their powerless plane on the Hudson River and passengers and crew walked on the wings to be rescued.

Associated Press writers Penny Wang, Nicole Evatt and Adam Schreck in Bangkok contributed to this report.Turkish officials have an audio recording of the alleged killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi from the Apple Watch he wore when he walked into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul over a week ago, a pro-government Turkish newspaper reported Saturday.

The new claim published by the Sabah newspaper, through which Turkish security officials have leaked much information about the case, puts more pressure on Saudi Arabia to explain what happened to Khashoggi.

Also Saturday, Ankara's top diplomat reiterated a call to Saudi Arabia to open up its consulate, from where Khashoggi disappeared, for Turkish authorities to search.

The writer, who has written critically about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, vanished after he walked into the consulate on Oct. 2. The kingdom has maintained the allegations against it are "baseless," though an official early on Saturday  on Khashoggi's 60th birthday  acknowledged for the first time that some believe the writer was killed by the kingdom.

The disappearance has put pressure on President Donald Trump, who has enjoyed close relations with the Saudis since entering office.

On Saturday, Trump expressed concern about Khashoggi's fate and lack of answers, so many days after the journalist disappeared.

"Our first hope was that he was not killed but maybe that's not looking too good from what we hear but there's a lot to learn, there really is," Trump said at the White House while welcoming back American pastor Andrew Brunson, freed after nearly two years of detention in Turkey. He later said he anticipated speaking to the Saudi ruler Saturday or Sunday.

Turkish authorities recovered the audio from Khashoggi's iPhone and his iCloud account, the newspaper said. The journalist had given his phones to his fiancee before entering the consulate.

The newspaper also alleged Saudi officials tried to delete the recordings first by incorrectly guessing Khashoggi's PIN on the watch, then later using the journalist's finger. However, Apple Watches do not have a fingerprint ID unlock function like iPhones. The newspaper did not address that in its report.

An Apple Watch can record audio and can sync that later with an iPhone over a Bluetooth connection if it is close by. The newspaper's account did not elaborate on how the Apple Watch synced that information to both the phone and Khashoggi's iCloud account.

Turkish officials have not answered queries from The Associated Press about Khashoggi's Apple Watch.

Turkish officials say they believe a 15-member Saudi "assassination squad" killed Khashoggi at the consulate. They've also alleged that they have video of the slaying, but not explained how they have it.

Turkey may be trying to protect its intelligence sources through leaking this way, analysts say.

But Carrie Cordero, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for a New American Security who formerly worked on intelligence matters for the U.S. government, wrote recently that "the Turkish government may need to reveal sources it does not want to reveal if the Saudi Arabian government continues to deny involvement despite evidence Turkey has in its possession."

Saudi Arabia has said it had nothing to do with Khashoggi's disappearance, without explaining or offering evidence of how the writer left the consulate and disappeared into Istanbul with his fiancee waiting outside.

A Saudi-owned satellite news channel has begun referring to the 15-man team as "tourists," without providing evidence to support the claim. It echoes how Russia has described the men who allegedly carried out the Novichok nerve agent poisonings in Salisbury, England, in March.

Early on Saturday, the state-run Saudi Press Agency published a statement from Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud again denying the kingdom's involvement. This time, however, it acknowledged for the first time that Saudi Arabia was accused of killing Khashoggi.

"What has been circulating in terms of supposed orders to kill Jamal (Khashoggi) are outright lies and baseless allegations against the Kingdom's government, which is committed to its principles, rules and traditions and is in compliance with international laws and conventions," Prince Abdulaziz said.

Omer Celik, a spokesman for Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party, said that Khashoggi's disappearance will be "investigated strongly." A delegation from Saudi Arabia arrived in Turkey on Friday as part of a joint investigation into the writer's disappearance.

"Such an act is an attack on all the values of the democratic world. It's an act that will never be forgiven or covered up," he said. "This is not an act that Turkey would ever consider legitimate. If there are people who committed this, it will have heavy consequences."

However, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saudi Arabia had not yet cooperated with Turkey on the search for Khashoggi. He said Turkish "prosecutors and technical friends must enter" the consulate "and Saudi Arabia must cooperate with us on this."

Earlier in the week, Saudi Arabia had said it would open the consulate for a search but that is yet to happen. Cavusoglu said Turkey would share information with Saudi Arabia in the "joint working group" but stressed the Turkish investigation would continue separately.

Trump also said Saturday that "we would be punishing ourselves" by canceling arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The sale is a "tremendous order for our companies," he said, and if the kingdom doesn't buy its weaponry from the United States, they will buy it from Russia or China. Trump said that he would meet with Khashoggi's family.

Separately, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, who had accompanied him to the Saudi consulate. The State Department released no details of the conversation.

In an interview Friday with the AP, Cengiz said Khashoggi was not nervous when he entered the consulate to obtain paperwork required for their marriage.

"He said, 'See you later my darling,' and went in," she told the AP.

In written responses to questions by the AP, Cengiz said Turkish authorities had not told her about any recordings and Khashoggi was officially "still missing."

She said investigators were examining his cellphones, which he had left with her.

On Saturday, Cengiz tweeted about a surprise party she had planned for Khashoggi's birthday, "invited all his close friends to a restaurant on the #TheBosporus to celebrate his birthday but," she said, adding the hashtags "WhereIsJamal" and "mydreamwaskilled."

Global business leaders also are reassessing their ties with Saudi Arabia, stoking pressure on the Gulf kingdom to explain what happened to Khashoggi.

Khashoggi, who was considered close to the Saudi royal family, had become a critic of the current government and Prince Mohammed, the 33-year-old heir apparent who has shown little tolerance for criticism.

As a contributor to the Post, Khashoggi has written extensively about Saudi Arabia, including criticism of its war in Yemen, its recent diplomatic spat with Canada and its arrest of women's rights activists after the lifting of a ban on women driving.

Those policies are all seen as initiatives of the crown prince, who has also presided over a roundup of activists and businessmen.

Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Darlene Superville and Suzan Fraser contributed to this report.What to Know The National Park Service is not recommending charging a fee for demonstrations, but raising the question of whether it should.

The proposed rule also could shrink a significant portion of the sidewalk outside the White House that is accessible to pedestrians.

A spokeswoman for the National Park Service said the proposed change to the sidewalk came at the request of the Secret Service.

The National Park Service is exploring whether to require protest organizers to pay for the cost of providing law enforcement and other support services for demonstrations held in the nation's capital.

The proposed rule also could shrink a significant portion of the sidewalk outside the White House that is accessible to pedestrians, leaving a five-foot-wide sliver. The public has until the close of Monday to comment on the proposal.

More than 7,600 comments have been submitted so far, the vast majority in opposition, including many who consider it an effort by the Trump administration to deter some of the major protests that have marked his presidency.

"Requiring these burdensome fees will dissuade Americans from demonstrating," wrote Gayle Copeland of San Antonio, Texas. "This new rule is not reflective of American values or history to peacefully protest."

The National Park Service issues about 750 permits a year for demonstrations within the National Mall and at nearby parks. The agency said its proposed rule is designed to provide greater clarity about how and where demonstration can occur in a manner that protects historically important public land.

There have been several large demonstrations on or near the National Mall since President Donald Trump assumed office. The Women's March in January 2017 brought protesters from throughout the country to Washington, and that has been followed by protests of the president's actions on climate change and guns, to name a few.

National Park Service Spokesman Brent Everitt said the agency will always support the First Amendment right of free speech and assembly. But citing an event preceding the Trump presidency, he noted that the cost of providing law enforcement and other support services for Occupy DC in 2012 came to about $480,000. The protesters sought to bring attention to social and economic inequality in the wake of the financial crisis and set up a makeshift tent camp that raised health concerns.

"We want to know the public's views on whether this is an appropriate expenditure of National Park Service funds, or whether we should also attempt to recover costs for supporting these kinds of events if the group seeking the permit for the event has the ability to cover those costs," Everitt said.

Everitt said the National Park Service is not recommending charging a fee for demonstrations, but raising the question of whether it should.

The ACLU's chapter in the District of Columbia said many of the changes the National Park Service is considering would be unconstitutional if adopted. Arthur Spitzer, the group's legal co-director, said that if cost recovery requirements had been in effect in 1963, the historic march featuring the Rev. Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech probably couldn't have happened.

"The National Park Service cannot seek to balance its budget on the backs of people seeking to exercise their constitutional rights," Spitzer said.

Spitzer said the ACLU's Washington chapter supports some of the changes the administration is considering, such as adding to the list of areas where large numbers of people can demonstrate in the nation's capital without permits. It says these venues are often more convenient for demonstrators and have plenty of room to accommodate hundreds of people without disruption.

Spitzer said a proposal to shrink pedestrian access in front of the White House along Pennsylvania Avenue would violate a court order. He said it's also inconsistent with the Secret Service's plans to install a taller, stronger fence with special anti-climbing features. The new fence is designed to allow the public access to the historic site while also meeting modern-day security standards. Under the proposed rule, about 80 percent of the White House sidewalk would be closed off, leaving a five-foot portion for "pedestrian access."

A spokeswoman for the National Park Service said the proposed change to the sidewalk came at the request of the Secret Service.Authorities in Virginia say a rescue team has recovered the remains of a woman who had been missing since she was swept away in flash flooding during Tropical Storm Michael.

Virginia State Police said in a news release Saturday evening that a volunteer K9 rescue team found 62-year-old Ruby S. Allen's body earlier in the day.

The discovery brings the total of storm-related deaths in Virginia to six, according to the state Department of Emergency Management.

Four others, including Allen's son, died in flooding, and a firefighter was killed when a tractor-trailer struck a fire engine.

Authorities had previously said Allen, of Eureka, was presumed dead. She, her son and grandson were in a car when it became stranded on a bridge in Charlotte County.

State police say Allen and 36-year-old Ronnie Allen were swept away. Ronnie Allen's 17-year-old son was rescued.Pope Francis on Saturday defrocked two more Chilean bishops accused of sexually abusing minors, and to show greater transparency about how he's responding to the church's global sex abuse crisis, he publicly explained why they were removed.

The Vatican's unusually detailed statement announcing the laicization of retired Archbishop Francisco Jose Cox Huneeus and retired Bishop Marco Antonio Ordenes Fernandez signaled a new degree of transparency following past missteps by Francis that showed he had grossly underestimated the gravity of the abuse scandal.

The statement said the two were defrocked for abusing minors with evidence so overwhelming that a canonical trial was unnecessary. The Vatican said the decision cannot be appealed.

Cox, 87 and suffering from dementia, is a member of the Schoenstatt religious order and had served as a bishop in Chillan, Chile before becoming the No. 2 official at the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Family, a high-profile position during St. John Paul II's papacy.

He returned to Chile and became bishop in La Serena until he left in 1997 under unclear circumstances, but took on administrative jobs in Rome and at the Latin American bishops' conference in Colombia.

In 2002, the Vatican office for bishops asked the Schoenstatt Fathers to take him in one of its houses, apparently because of abuse allegations. He has been living in Germany since then but last year a new, formal accusation was received by the Vatican about an alleged case of abuse that happened in Germany in 2004.

The Schoenstatt Fathers said Saturday the Vatican had asked that Cox remain in their custody. The order said it would cooperate with the justice system, given that victims in Chile have made criminal complaints against him.

"We receive this news with much shame for the damage caused to the victims," the community said. "We show solidarity with them and their profound suffering. Today more than ever, we deplore every act of abuse that offends the dignity of people."

Given the favor that Cox enjoyed by John Paul's inner circle, his fall is yet another stain on John Paul's legacy. It also calls into question the senior Schoenstatt cardinal in Chile, Cardinal Javier Errazuriz, an adviser to Francis who has long been accused of covering up for abusers.

Ordenes Fernandez, 53, for his part, was made bishop of Iquique, in northern Chile, in 2006 at the young age of 42. He retired six years later allegedly for health reasons. But subsequently allegations of abuse were leveled against him.

Previously, the Vatican has rarely, if ever, announced laicizations of individual priests and only issued a single-line statement if a bishop had resigned, without further explanation.

Before Francis' papacy began in 2013, it was Vatican practice to reveal if resignations were retirements due to age, or for some other 'grave' reason that made them unfit for office. But Francis early on removed even that minimum amount of information.

Advocates for abuse survivors have long complained about the Vatican's secrecy in handling such abuse cases, and the lack of transparency when it arrived at judgments.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said Saturday's more detailed statement suggested a new trend in the way the Vatican will announce the results of investigations of bishops accused of abuse. A similarly detailed statement was issued when Francis defrocked Chile's most notorious abuser, the Rev. Fernando Karadima, several weeks ago.

Francis has been under fire for his handling of abuse cases for years, but the issue now is threatening his credibility and his legacy. The church's abuse scandal has exploded anew in the U.S., Chile, Germany and elsewhere, and decisions made early in Francis' papacy made it appear that he did not grasp the gravity of the trauma done to abuse victims.

In May, all active bishops in Chile offered to resign over their collective mishandling of the abuse scandal. So far, Francis has accepted the resignations of seven.

Francis discussed the issue during his Vatican audience Saturday with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera Echenique, who also met with the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

The Vatican said both meetings discussed "the painful scourge of abuse of minors, reiterating the effort of all in collaboration to combat and prevent the perpetration of such crimes and their concealment."

Chilean survivors of abuse applauded the defrockings, saying the two bishops had used their power to abuse children and gotten away with it.

A group of lay Catholics from Cox's old diocese in La Serena said they hoped he would be extradited to face justice in Chile, saying he had abused children as young as five.

"We want to let it be known that the Schoenstatt order has in its hands a criminal, a predator," who should be "judged and punished like any other delinquent," said Juan Rojas, a spokesman for the John XXIII lay group of La Serena.

Chilean abuse victim Juan Carlos Cruz, who has long denounced the abuse cover-up orchestrated by the highest echelons of the Chilean church, said the "circle was getting tighter" around Errazuriz, the retired archbishop of Santiago who is a member of Cox's order.

Francis is under pressure to distance himself from Errazuriz, who remains a member of his kitchen cabinet of nine cardinal advisers.

AP journalist Patricia Luna contributed to this report.What began as a trip to Dick Dunmire's hometown of Pittsburgh has turned into an 11-day evacuation. And counting.

Its been that long since Dunmire and his wife, Linda, have set foot in their home in Boiling Spring Lakes, North Carolina, which is not far from the Cape Fear River and the North Carolina coast.

They've been staying with family in North Wildwood, New Jersey for the past week and a half. But the couple are anxiously awaiting their trip home in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence.

Im anxious to get back home," Dunmire said. "Its been too long.

Sept. 9, Dunmire left for his 50th class reunion in Pittsburgh. It was good timing to take a trip north.

Florence was boiling in the Atlantic Ocean, aiming right at his North Carolina home.

Still, preparing for the then-Category 4 storm felt familiar. They've lived in North Carolina for 10 years, so the Dunmires have had experience in hunkering down. They did it most recently for Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

And Dunmire had served in the Coast Guard about two hours north in Morehead City. Hed evacuated that area on several occasions.

Florence, though, was different.

[NATL]Florence in Photos: Long Recovery Ahead for Carolinas From Record Flooding

"The rainfall was unimaginable, Dunmire said. At one point, his area received 20 inches of rain in two hours.

Luckily, the Dunmires have received no reports of damage to their home. The town of Boiling Spring Lake has running water, but no electricity and many roads leading to their community have been washed away.

He does not expect the power to come on until at least Sunday night.

Still, he doesn't mind returning to the dark. He's planning to leave as soon as he can, perhaps even Friday.What to Know An unidentified person was taken to a local hospital after being shot in the area of 20 Rockford St. in Roxbury early Saturday morning.

Police were still on scene this morning collecting evidence.

The victim reportedly had life-threatening injuries. The incident followed a week of seven deadly shootings in Boston.

A fatal shooting in Dorchester Friday night was the city's 46th homicide this year, capping a particularly violent week that saw seven fatal shootings in the city.

This time last year, there had been 42 homicides city-wide.

The fatal shooting in Dorchester was followed just hours later by a shooting in Roxbury early Saturday morning that left one person with life-threatening injuries.

According to police, the victim in the Dorchester shooting, who was in his 30s, was shot at about 9:31 p.m. Friday night while in his car at 107 Columbia Road, near Geneva Avenue. The driver's side window was shot out.

Emergency personnel took the victim to a local hospital, where he later died from his injuries. Police say the suspect took off after the shooting and remains at large.

The Roxbury shooting occured in the area of 20 Rockford St., which is a small dead-end street, around 3:30 a.m., after someone reported a person shot.

The names of the victims in those two separate incidents have not yet been released.

The Dorchester shooting occurred on the same day that Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Police Commissioner William Gross held a press conference about shooting violence this week.

In the past week, seven people have died in separate shootings -- a rate that is higher than normal for the city and left residents seeking answers.

"I'm saying to myself, 'Come on, we got to do btter than this,'" said a frustrated Mayor Walsh, speaking to NBC10 Boston about the surge in violence. "And we are better than this as a city."

NBC10 Boston also spoke with Sen. Elizabeth Warren at her town hall Saturday, asking for her thoughts on ways to stem the violence.

"We need more people who are willing to step up and say weapons of war should not be on our streets," she said.An American pastor released from a Turkish prison on Fridayknelt at Donald Trump's feet on Saturday, praying for the US president during a gathering in the Oval Office.

Andrew Brunson, a 50-year-old preacher from North Carolina, who has lived in Turkey for over 25 years, asked Mr Trump if he could pray for him.

I need it more than anybody in this room, the president replied.

Mr Brunson then knelt, asking God to give Mr Trump the wisdom to lead this country into righteousness.

He continued: "Protect him from slander, from enemies. Fill him with your wisdom, and strength, and perseverance."

Mr Brunson was detained in October 2016 and charged with links to Kurdish militants and supporters of Fethullah Gulen, the cleric blamed by Turkey for a failed coup attempt that year.

Mr Trump said the pastor's release marked a significant improvement in US-Turkish relations.

This is a great step towards having the kind of relationship with Turkey that we want to have, he said, emphasizing that the US had not made any payment or granted concessions to Turkey in exchange for his release.

"The only deal, if you can call it a deal, is a psychological one," he said. "We feel much different to Turkey today than we did yesterday. I think we have a chance now to have a really great relationship," Telegraph.co.uk quoted him as saying.Campaigners celebrate first year of keeping village loos open

VILLAGERS have celebrated the first anniversary of the re-opening of Pangbournes public toilets.

The milestone date was used to share the news that enough funding has been secured to keep the facilities open for at least another 12 months.

The Action for Pangbourne Toilets (APT) group was formed in 2016 in a bid to save the Station Road lavatories after West Berkshire Council pulled the plug on funding them.

The loos were re-opened in September 2017 by Action for Pangbourne Toilets Community Trust  a charitable organisation formed out of the original group.

This followed a fundraising effort by villagers with support from local parish councils, Greenham Trust and other grant giving bodies.

The charity celebrated its first successful year by hosting a tea party to thank donors, volunteers, businesses and partners for their support.

West Berkshire Council leased the toilets to the residents after announcing it could no longer afford to fund them.

APTs chair of trustees, Sir Brian Hoskins, said: We decided to throw a party to thank everyone who helped to re-open the toilets and to celebrate what has been a very successful first year.

Thanks to our donors and supporters we already have the funds to keep the toilets open until at least September 2019.

Our fundraising efforts must continue to secure the toilets for the village in the longer term, but we have been greatly encouraged by the strength of support from residents in Pangbourne and in the wider community.

Guests were joined by Libby Herbert from the national charity Colostomy UK, which supports people who have had life-changing stoma surgery, their families, friends and carers.

Colostomy UK provided APT with support and advice to upgrade the RADAR key accessible toilet to achieve stoma friendly status.

Mrs Herbert said: I am delighted to see that the hard work and passion of those involved in Action for Pangbourne Toilets has kept the public toilets of Pangbourne open a year on.

To also make their accessible toilets inclusive to those living with a hidden condition, by making them stoma-friendly, is incredible. Thank you for this achievement.

The celebration was also supported by the Pangbourne branch of Co-operative Food, which donated freshly-baked scones for the event, and with live music performed by local harpist Rhiannon Evans.The EU leaders will formally adopt a sanctions regime on chemical weapons at the Foreign Affairs Council that will take place in Luxembourg on October 15, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office said on Sunday, Sputnik reports.

"A sanctions regime on chemical weapons, tabled by the UK and France in the wake of the Syria and Salisbury attacks, will be adopted formally tomorrow at the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg. This follows extensive lobbying efforts from the UK and close partners," the press release read.

UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt will meet with his counterparts from Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania in his official residence before going to Luxembourg, according to the press release.

"The Foreign Secretary will use this momentum to ensure specific individuals and entities responsible for the use and proliferation of chemical weapons across the world are listed under the new sanctions regime swiftly. He will also tell counterparts at the FAC that discussions on a new cyber-related sanctions regime must now be accelerated," the press release noted.

Hunt said as quoted in the press release that these new sanctions "are vital but they are not the end of the story.

"For years there has been an international taboo on the use of chemical weapons but that is at risk now after Syria and Salisbury. We now need to redraw the red line that says that for anyone using these horrific weapons the price will always be too high," he stressed.Sorry!

This content is not available in your regionIrans Intelligence Ministry forces raided a terrorist cell in a western province, killing 2 in a gunfight, Tasnim news agency reported.

In a statement on Saturday, the Intelligence Ministry said it tracked and spotted the separatist terrorists in the province of Kermanshah who had crossed the western border and were staying in a house.

Two terrorists were killed in an armed clash during the raid, it added.

A number of assault rifles, grenades, weapons of war and documents have been confiscated in the operation, the statement noted, adding that the documents reveal that reactionary Arab states have been supporting acts of terrorism inside Iran and have backed the terrorist teams plot to carry out several terrorist attacks in Kermanshah Province.New Delhi:

The district administrations in poll-bound Chhattisgarh are leaving no stone unturned to reach out to voters and make them understand the importance of each vote. On Sunday, a voter awareness programme was organised in the Jashpur district which witnessed the lowest polling percentage in the 2013 Assembly elections. Voters would also be made aware of the importance of ethical electoral participation.

The election commission had directed all district administrations to carry out intensive voter awareness programmes in the state which goes to polls in two phases on November 12 and 20. The programme would focus on community-level participation. Voters would also be informed about the functioning of EVMs and VVPATs. According to a Times of India report, names of new or first-time voters were been added and efforts were being made to include the differently-abled through a door-to-door campaign.

Read More | #MeToo: MJ Akbar writes to PMO, govt to take decision soon: Source

Many districts of Chhattisgarh grapples with Naxalism and thus witness a low voter turnout. Through the awareness programmes, voters would be informed about the elaborate security arrangements in place to contain any untoward situation. The administrations are holding regulars meeting with the security forces to review the security arrangements in the sensitive and hyper-sensitive areas. Polling booths in remote areas would be relocated to safer and accessible locations. The election staff would be given the training to monitor the situation report any untoward situation.

Also Read | Aayush Sharma aces the debut game with LoveYatri Box Office collection

The voters would also be informed about the ethical and wise use of social networking sites and check the misuse of social media before and during the elections. A special committee for the regulation of social media would also be created.New Delhi :

The prices of petrol and diesel continued their upward trend on Sunday as well and saw a marginal hike. In the national capital Delhi, the prices of petrol and diesel were Rs 82.72 per litre (increase by Rs 0.6) and Rs 75.38 (increase by Rs 0.19), respectively.

Meanwhile, the fuel prices in the financial capital Mumbai remained the highest in the country with an increase of Rs 0.6 (per litre) in the rates of petrol and Rs 0.20 (per litre) in the rates of diesel.

Also Read | Delhi air quality hits alarming level, may worsen today

The skyrocketing fuel prices over the last week has negated the marginal excise cut of Rs 2.50 per litre announced by the government on October 5. Despite no VAT cut, the prices of petrol were at cheapest among the all the metro cities and state capitals.

Earlier this week, a finance ministry spokesperson had said that the central government had asked the state-run oil units to subsidise petrol and diesel prices by Re 1 per litre. The official, however, added that it was a one-time thing and the government will not ask them to do it again.

Also Read | 11 pregnant women among 50 people tested positive for Zika virus in Jaipur

For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Zoya Akhtar, the creative genius director, celebrates her 46th birthday today. The talented director has time and again showed that characters dont deserve special treatment on the basis of their genders. Every film directed by her weave a beautiful tale of larger than life characters entwined with human emotions and love for life. Zoya writes her own films and lets us dive into her world with every movie. Heres a list of masterpieces by the director:



Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

You Live Only Once The film that revolved around the lives of three childhood friends remains one of Zoya Akhtar's finest works till date. Shot at some of the most exotic locations of the world including United Kingdom, Egypt, Mumbai, and in Spain's Barcelona, Pamplona, Bunol and Andalusia, the film became a superhit for reasons more than one. From the sky-diving shots to the underwater shots that focused on Hrithik and Katrina, the film has been brilliantly made. Several moments have been captured so beautifully that for many scenes, you forget if it's a film or if it's happening right in front of you.



Bombay Talkies

Zoya Akhtar impressed her viewers with four shorts celebrating 100 years of Hindi cinema. This film of the director is a more character-oriented one than ones that complete the story. But the story is not completely negligible. Deep meaning dialogue are her speciality and Slow pace momentum of screenplay definitely takes viewers along with characters on screen.

Luck By Chance

Zoya has cleverly served her films with a contemporary twist that appeals to a new generation. Even her ability to direct ensembles is perhaps a throwback to the golden era of multi-starrers, when one got to enjoy many faces for the price of one ticket. In Luck By Chance, even though the primary character of this film was Vikram (Farhan Akhtar), the story did not neglect its pivotal female characters. Sona Mishra (Konkona Sen Sharma) is shown as an independent woman who is struggling to make it big in the movie business.

Dil Dhadakne Do

Dil Dhadakne Do (2015), Zoyas third film was about a dysfunctional family portrayed on-screen with great depth into the characters and storyline. Priyanka Chopras character, Ayesha was shown as the daughter who never got her due. Despite her high intellect, shes looked down by the familys patriarch.



In spite of having all the qualities of a new-age, unconventional filmmaker, Zoya's directorial voice remains firmly rooted in good old mainstream Bollywood. Friendship, separation, loneliness, ambition... Zoya Akhtar goes on to explore human emotions in a better way than any other director.

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Bollywoodas aQueena Kangana Ranaut spoke out against sexual harassment accusing her Queen director Vikas Bahl of harassing her on the sets of the film in 2014. This addition to the #MeToo debate created a lot of stir in the Bollywood industry.A

During the interview with India Today, Kangana said that there were times when Bahl would "hold her really tight" and bury his face in her neck to smell her hair.A Vikas was married back in 2014 when we were filming Queen, he bragged about having casual sex with a new partner every other day. I don't judge people and their marriages but you can tell when addiction becomes sickness. He partied every night and shamed me for sleeping early and not being cool enough." added the Tanu Weds Manu actor.

The Queen actressas revelation didnat go down to well with Vikasa ex-wife Richa Dubey. Filmmaker Vikas Bahlas ex-wife Richa Dubey claimed that Kangana Ranaut was misusing the #MeToo movement.

Dubey took to Twitter on Friday and questioned Kangana, who has worked with Bahl in Queen, on why she continued to be friends with the filmmaker despite his inappropriate actions. aThis is going beyond boundaries and tolerance level now this is not a #MeToo but a meme. I want to ask all the women if a man makes you uncomfortable and touches you inappropriately would you have a good friendship with that man?a she wrote.

Richa Dubey mentioned certain aloopholesa in the actressas story that included aKangana and Vikas performance on an item numbera at Madhu Mantena and Masaba Guptaas wedding in 2015 to sharing aextremely friendly messagesa till date.A Dubey slammed the actress and says that athis is not a #MeToo but a memea.

"Stop using Vikas for your own vendetta. It is not cool. The world can see through it," she wrote.A

aIam not interested in a media battle with Kangana and Iam only asking her to stopa, she concluded. Here's the complete post shared by the director's ex-wife:

Meanwhile, Kangana hit out at Richa and issued a statement saying, "Another ex-wife for her ex-husband's rescue. My only question is, why do they leave their holier-than-thou husbands in the first place? Stop this bullshit that we had a friendly divorce, perfectly amicable, and we are a family. You don't wake up one fine morning and divorce a godly man, so please help us secure our work environment and make sure these men don't spoil more lives."

With words of war from each side, this controversy is taking bizarre turns every day.

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi :

Ahead of Kumbh Mela (fair) next year, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced that Allahabad will soon be renamed Prayagraj after Governor Ram Naiks nod to an Akhada Parishad proposal to change the name of the metropolitan city.

"In the meeting called to review the preparedness of Kumbh, a proposal was given by Akhada Parishad and others regarding changing the name of Allahabad district. UP Governor Ram Naik has also given his consent to the proposal," Adityanath said while addressing the media at Circuit House in Allahabad on Saturday.

Also Read | MJ Akbar returns to India amid calls for resignation over sexual harassment charges

We also supported the proposal and very soon the name of Allahabad district will be changed to Prayagraj, he said. According to reports, the state cabinet would give it a go ahead to rename the city - also the district headquarters - during its next meeting.

Meanwhile, speaking about the preparations of the mega Kumbh Mela, the UP CM said that the fair will have a global outreach and all the pending work will be completed by the end of 2018.

This Kumbh Mela will have a global outreach in which delegates of all countries that have embassies in India will participate. People from more than 6,00,000 villages across the country will contribute during the Kumbh Mela. We are being given full assistance from the central government," he said.

Also Read | Chhattisgarh: Ten of a family dead as car rams into truck at Rajnandgaon

Water ATMs, tankers, hand pumps, banks, ATM machines and mobile towers will be installed for the visitors, the chief minister said. He also assured that the river will also be cleaned by the end of December 2018.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

In a good news for pilgrims visiting the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine at Katra in Jammu, the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) has approved an enhancement of free accident insurance cover for pilgrims visiting the shrine from the existing Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, a shrine board spokesman said on Sunday. The enhancement in the insurance cover came after eight years and the premium was borne by the shrine board.

A shrine board spokesman said that the board approved enhancement of Group Accident Insurance cover for pilgrims. Medical facilities for pilgrims en route Katra to the Bhawan would be upgraded and augmented.

Read More | Ahead of Ardh Kumbh 2019, Allahabad to be renamed Prayagraj soon

"The accident cover extended to each pilgrim free of cost shall now be Rs five lakh instead of existing Rs three lakh for pilgrims aged five years and above and Rs three lakh for pilgrims below five years of age up from Rs one lakh at present," the spokesman said as quoted by news agency PTI.

He said the board also approved additional life insurance cover of Rs five lakh to pilgrims who avail the service of the upcoming passenger ropeway between Bhawan and Bhairon Ghati. The decisions were taken at the 63rd meeting of board which was held at the Raj Bhavan in Srinagar on Saturday under the chairmanship of Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik, who is also the Chairman of the board, an official spokesman said Sunday.

The shrine board also gave its nod to a support policy for the treatment of victims of public trauma under its social support initiative at the super speciality hospital. The beneficiaries in this policy will include public trauma victims of road accidents, landslides or shooting stone incidents and such calamities from surrounding areas of the shrine referred to the hospital by the Deputy Commissioners concerned to provide emergency medical aid, the spokesman said.

Also Read | In a first, Indian-origin 'blind' man in UK to get guide horse

A ceiling of Rs two lakh would be in place and medical assistance would be provided till the patient's condition was stabilised. The board has also decided to create a new medical facility at Bhairon Temple at an estimated cost of Rs one crore.

The meeting also reviewed the functioning of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Narayana Super Speciality Hospital, Kakryal and expressed satisfaction on its performance.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.The United States is seeking "regime change" in Iran, President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday, adding that the current U.S. administration is the most hostile that the Islamic Republic has faced in its four decades, Business Insider reported.

Tensions have increased between Iran and America after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from a multi-lateral agreement on Iran's nuclear program in May.

"In the past 40 years there has not been a more spiteful team than the current U.S. government team toward Iran, Iranians and the Islamic Republic," Rouhani said in a speech broadcast on state TV.

"There was a time when there was one person who had enmity. The rest were moderate. Now...the worst have gathered around each other," he added in a speech marking the beginning of the academic year at Tehran University.

Rouhani accused the Americans of using psychological and economic warfare and questioning the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic.

"Reducing the legitimacy of the system is their final goal. When they say getting rid of, regime change in their own words, how does regime change happen? Through reducing legitimacy, otherwise a regime doesn't change,"

He used the English phrase "regime change" to emphasize his point.New Delhi:

NASAs Chandra mission has suffered a glitch in less than a weeks time since its Hubble Space Telescope entered safe mode. The US space agency said that the glitch has occurred possibly due to the failure of the gyroscope.

Also Read | Hrithik Roshan's ex-wife Sussanne Khan says #MeToo is another publicity gimmick

The Chandra X-Ray Observatory has been monitoring the universe in high-energy light since 1999 and has recently entered a protective safe mode. This mode heckles with the scientific observations and positions the spacecraft into a stable configuration.

NASA in a statement on Friday revealed, "At approximately 9:55 a.m. EDT on Oct 10, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory entered safe mode. The cause of the safe mode transition (possibly involving a gyroscope) is under investigation."

ALSO READ: Assam: Bomb blast jolts Guwahati ahead of Durga Puja, 4 injured

Once the safe mode is activated, the observatory positions itself into a safe configuration, the critical hardware is swapped to back-up units, and while the spacecraft directs to the angle where the solar panel can receive maximum sunlight, the mirrors point away from the sun.

"Analysis of available data indicates the transition to safe mode was normal behaviour for such an event. All systems functioned as expected and the scientific instruments are safe," it added.

Chandra is well beyond its original lifetime of 5 years after it was launched in 1999. Later in 2001, NASA extended its lifetime to 10 years. Even after the completion of its original lifetime, it is now well into its extended mission and it is expected to overlook the forefront of science for years to come.

The US space agency asserted that Chandra is working towards the continuation of science operations of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Hubble entered safe mode on October 5 after one among the three gyroscopes (gyros) that were being used to direct and stabilise the telescope failed.

Also Read | #MeToo: Farhad Samji to direct 'Housefull 4' after Sajid Khan's departure

The recovery of gyro to operational performance is currently underway and scientists are performing analyses and tests to determine various options that are available for the same. But till the time the operations are not figured, science operations with Hubble have been suspended.

Besides Chandra and Hubble, NASA's planet-hunting Kepler space telescope is also almost out of fuel. Kepler has found about 70 percent of all known alien worlds to date.

NASA's Dawn spacecraft, which has been orbiting the dwarf planet Ceres since March 2015, is also nearly out of fuel and might run out as early as this month.

For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.President Donald Trump is redirecting global oil flows.

West African and Latin American producers are sending ever-growing volumes of crude to China. America's exports to the Asian country have slumped in favor of its neighbors. There's an urgent global need to find replacement barrels for Iran's, whose exports might just collapse next month.

The thing that connects the shifting flows is Trump's foreign policy. China's slumping purchases of American crude -- and its extra buying from elsewhere -- have coincided with a trade war between the U.S. and the Asian country. Likewise, reimposed sanctions on Iran, which start Nov. 4, have increased the need for the type of heavy, sour crude that the Persian Gulf state sells.

"If you combine the impact of U.S. sanctions on Iran and the U.S. trade war with China, it is Trump's foreign policy which is reshaping oil flows," said Olivier Jakob, managing director of consultancy Petromatrix. "The U.S. is becoming a great energy power and they will use that, we are starting to see the implementation of that in different parts of the energy scene, part of that is being seen today in the oil flows."

Oil markets are also grappling with record U.S. output, fueled by shale production, and America's removal in late 2015 of longstanding crude-export limits. Those shipments -- just a few hundred thousand barrels a day a few years ago -- now consistently top an average of 2 million barrels a day each month. American crude increasingly flows to markets in Asia, Europe and Latin America, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show.

But there have been recent changes in precisely where those barrels are going. China, the world's largest energy consumer, in August didn't import any U.S. crude for the first time since September 2016, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau. That compares with almost 12 million barrels in July, when China was the second-largest recipient.

Shipments to South Korea soared to a record 267,000 barrels a day in August -- a 313 percent year-on-year increase, according to Bloomberg calculations from Census data. Volumes to Japan and India rose by 198 percent and 165 percent, respectively. Exports to the U.K., Italy and the Netherlands have also surged this year.

"The pattern of trade does look as though it's going to ebb away from a focus on China to other Asian countries, and Europe," said Caroline Bain, chief commodities economist at Capital Economics.

China is also increasingly turning to other regions. Colombian exports to the Asian nation rose fivefold in September, while Brazilian shipments hit their highest level this year. Chinese refiners bought 1.71 million barrels of crude a day from West Africa for October loading, the most since at least August 2011.

It's not yet clear to what extent, if any, China will curb shipments of Iranian crude due to U.S. sanctions. However, buyers in India, Japan and South Korea are reducing purchases from the Persian Gulf state. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said that the kingdom and other OPEC producers are making up for lost supply from Iran.

The demand for replacement crudes is apparent. Exports from Oman last month rose to their highest levels this year on healthy demand from China, Bloomberg tanker-tracking showed. Kuwait is directing more flows to Asia, while its shipments to the U.S. by late September all but dried up -- the first time that's happened since the Gulf War of 1990-91.

The curbs on Iran are having an effect on oil prices, with global benchmark Brent trading now trading near its highest level in four years. Oman was the talk of one of the oil market's biggest gatherings last month, as its crude surged past $90 a barrel. Supertankers, which often benefit when trade flows are dislocated, are earning the most since early 2017.

Flows from Iran could drop by 2 million barrels a day, to below 1 million barrels day in November and possibly December, Energy Aspects Ltd. said in a report dated Oct. 1.

Whether it's the need he's created for replacement supplies from Iran, or other actions by the U.S. president, Trump's policies are now having a direct impact on where oil is flowing, said Eugene Lindell, an analyst at JBC Energy in Vienna.

"What you can say beyond doubt is that it's creating lots of exotic trade flows that hadn't been in the market before," he said. "It's been a major influence that has forced a change in trade flows."

- - -

Bloomberg contributors: Sheela Tobben, Lucia Kassai, Debjit Chakraborty, Dhwani Pandya, Julian Lee, Sherry Su, Christopher Sell and Helen Robertson.3 1 of 3 Contributed Photo / Danbury Police Department / Contributed Photo Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Contributed Photo / Danbury Police Department / Contributed Photo Show More Show Less 3 of 3





DANBURY  Two men were arrested and charged on drug offenses Thursday after an investigation that lasted weeks, city police said.

Chevalier Terrell Purvis, of West Main Street in Waterbury, and Christopher Kevin Maloney, of Bank Street in Danbury, were each charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, possession of a controlled substance within 1,500 feet of a school, possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell within 1,500 feet of a school, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of drug paraphernalia within 1,500 feet of a school.ISTANBUL - A combative Saudi Arabia said Sunday it would not bend to "threats" as it pushed back against growing U.S. and international pressure over allegations it is responsible for the death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, threatening retaliation for any sanctions.

The kingdom's government is as "glorious and steadfast as ever," and neither threatened economic measures nor the repetition of "false accusations" will hurt it, the official news agency said, even as the Saudi financial market plummeted. Censure of any kind would be met with "greater action" from Riyadh, it added, pointing out Saudi Arabia's "vital role" in the world economy.

But conciliatory statements from the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C., shortly afterward pointed to a leadership in disarray, as cracks showed in its long-term alliance with the United States. It is a relationship that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has worked hard to further cement under President Donald Trump, including with a high-profile visit to the United States in March.

Trump has said "severe punishment" would follow if it is found that Saudi Arabia killed Khashoggi, last seen at 1:14 p.m. on Oct. 2 stepping through the gray metal gates to the Saudi mission, where he planned to complete paperwork for his wedding. In Europe on Sunday, Britain, France and Germany also expressed "grave concern" and called for a "credible investigation" of his fate and a detailed Saudi response. "We have conveyed this message directly to the Saudi authorities," they said in a joint statement.

As the crisis mounted, Saudi leader King Salman called Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday, thanking him for welcoming the kingdom's proposal to set up a "joint working group" to probe Khashoggi's disappearance, a Saudi statement said.

However, Turkish officials said Sunday that Saudi Arabia appears to be using delay tactics and is interested only in presenting a facade of cooperation.

While denying involvement, Saudi Arabia has not explained why Khashoggi has not been seen since Oct. 2, including in footage from closed-circuit television cameras that monitor surrounding streets. Turkish officials say it is because he died inside and have told U.S. officials they have audio and video recordings to prove it.

The admonitions of the United States emanating from Saudi Arabia "bring into question the essential pillars that underpin U.S.-Saudi relations," said Kristin Diwan, a scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. "Saudi Arabia has a strategic value to the U.S. that comes from its reliability in managing oil markets and coordinating intelligence. If it can't be trusted for this, then all bets are off."

The Saudi government deployed similar tactics during quarrels in the past year with Germany and Canada, she said. "I feel like it's hitting its limits," she added. "It's a big test to try this against the United States."

After the Saudi government statement was released early Sunday, Turki Aldakhil, the general manager of the Saudi-owned al-Arabiya news network, wrote in a column that "decision-making circles within the kingdom" were considering more than 30 potential measures in response to the threat of sanctions, including pricing oil in Chinese yuan rather than the dollar and allowing Russia to build a military base on Saudi soil.

But later Sunday, Faisal bin Farhan, a senior adviser to the Saudi Embassy in Washington, wrote on Twitter that the column "in no way reflects the thinking of the Saudi leadership." The embassy also issued on its Twitter account what it said was a clarification of the government statement, writing that the kingdom "extends it appreciation to all, including the US administration, for refraining from jumping to conclusions on the ongoing investigation," an apparent reference to Khashoggi's disappearance.

The stronger line from the White House comes after the release Friday of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who had been held for two years in Turkey and was the focus of a diplomatic dispute between Ankara and Washington. Since Turkey's decision to free him, tensions have shifted more sharply to the Saudis' historic alliance with the United States.

Saudi Arabia has vehemently denied having anything to do with Khashoggi's disappearance. Speaking a day after he was last seen, Mohammed, the crown prince, said in an interview with Bloomberg that Turkish authorities were welcome to search inside the consulate building. "We have nothing to hide," he said.

But almost two weeks later, Turkish authorities are still waiting for access, and Saudi Arabia is not cooperating, two Turkish officials said Sunday. While the two countries have announced a joint investigative committee, the Saudi request for it is largely an attempt by Riyadh to convey the appearance of cooperation, said one Turkish official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the frustrations.

"There is no joint investigation team," he said, adding that Turkey is the only one actually investigating. "We accepted it because if we turned them down, they would have complained we were preventing them from cooperating."

While an earlier Saudi statement specified that the joint team's purpose was to investigate, the one detailing Salman's call on Sunday said its purpose was to "discuss" the disappearance.

"There is no cooperation," said a senior official. "They are not allowing Turkish investigators to bring in the equipment to do their work. We think what is happening now is Saudi Arabia is trying to buy time."

A steady drip of leaks from Turkish officials has ratcheted up pressure on Saudi Arabia, but so far Turkey has not released all the evidence it has told U.S. officials it possesses. That may be attributable to efforts to reach an agreement with Riyadh in which it can save face and prevent completely blowing up the bilateral relationship, said Soner Cagaptay, a Turkey analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

The two countries are probably working toward a "graceful exit" he said, "where they blame rogue elements of the Saudi state and throw one big significant name under the bus." Turkey may also be reluctant to release audio if it obtained it by bugging the Saudi mission in violation of the Vienna Convention, he said. Turkish newspapers have reported that the recording may have come from Khashoggi's Apple Watch, but that claim remains unverified.

The senior Turkish official also said he suspected Saudi was preparing to "throw someone under the bus."

As the crisis brewed, Saudi Arabia reminded its citizens that sharing "fake news" that might affect public order and security is punishable by a 5-year prison sentence and an $800,000 fine, the Saudi Gazette reported, citing a Public Prosecution statement.

In an interview with Lesley Stahl of CBS' "60 Minutes" airing Sunday evening, Trump called the journalist's suspected murder "really terrible and disgusting."

"We would be very upset and angry if that were the case," he said of Saudi Arabia's potential responsibility. "As of this moment, they deny it, and they deny it vehemently. Could it be them? Yes."Fox Point - Even during the recession, luxury homes like the one at 7736 N. Beach Drive commanded impressive prices from the privileged class. A 2008 brochure for the property, then listed for $4.5 million, said it "exudes the essence of the Hamptons," and called it "Too good to be true!"

A couple who bought it in 2009 now wish they'd have taken that second line literally.

David and Mary Gronik paid nearly $3.6 million for the house, some furnishings and its two outbuildings, a beach house and large garage with an upstairs guest apartment. "It was our beyond-our-wildest-dreams home," David Gronik recalled.

Now it stands empty, patched with tarps and assessed for just $1,000 by the village, not counting the lot. The purchase has become the subject of two lawsuits by the Groniks against sellers Norman and Susan Balthasar, and Shorewest Realtors and two of its agents. The suits, in state and federal court, claim the sellers and their agents intentionally misrepresented the condition of the home and seek total damages of $40 million.

In extensive court records, the Groniks' attor neys from Halloin & Murdock lay out what they say "may go down as one of the most sweeping residential real estate frauds in Wisconsin history."

The allegations didn't sit well with those who saw Balthasar as a pillar of the community, Gronik said. Then Norman Balthasar died of a heart attack last October just a few questions into his deposition in the case. One of the Balthasars' lawyers suggested the Groniks had killed him indirectly with their lawsuit, Gronik said.

Gronik said the ordeal hasn't been easy on him or his family. He's encountered enormous costs and has taken a leave of absence from his CEO positions at Accuval and LiquiTec to deal with the situation. The few months they lived in the house until extensive mold was discovered led to health problems for his wife and two young children, and a relapse of his own Crohn's disease, he said.

"They lied, they hurt my family and they need to be held accountable," he said.

The other side's not saying much yet.

"We've denied liability in the cases," said Michael Aprahamian, an attorney for Shorewest. "We're confident once we can present our side, we'll prevail."

Through her counsel, Ralph Weber, Susan Balthasar released a statement noting that Gronik is a sophisticated professional appraiser. It also said the claims against her family are wrong, and will be proven so in court if necessary.

"We are saddened by this awful litigation that has gone on for many months," it read. "In truth, it is a beautiful home that should be lived in and enjoyed."

Long-sought dream home

Norman Balthasar, the former chief operating officer for Fiserv Inc., retired in 2008 and put the house up for sale. The Balthasars had lived there about eight years, and owned another multimillion dollar home on the beach near St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Groniks, who already lived just down the street on Beach Drive, immediately sought to purchase the house, which they had admired for years. In the fall of 2008, they offered $4 million with a contingency for an inspection. The listing included a "clean" condition report, but the Groniks had the home inspected and found several major concerns with the pool, windows and other issues.

The Groniks canceled the deal, and turned over their list of flaws to the Balthasars. The home was taken off the market.

"We were incredibly disappointed, but we went on with our life," Gronik said. They began looking for bigger homes in Mequon and River Hills and working on plans to perhaps build a new home on their existing Beach Drive lot.

It was during that search, he said, that they bumped into the Balthasars' Shorewest agent, Anne Schwartz, who told them in March 2009 that the Beach Drive home was again for sale. The Balthasars had addressed all the issues raised by the Groniks' prior inspection, spent $140,000 on new windows and had an engineer do a structural review that cleared the building.

Knowing what he knew from the first time, why did Gronik make an offer without another inspection? He and his court records say that he relied on the repeated assurances that the Balthasars' reputation was sterling and that "they do everything right."

In fact, the Groniks now claim, only the pool problems had been repaired, even though yet another condition report for the re-listing in 2009 reported no defects.

Asked for reaction, Schwartz said, "Don't believe everything you hear. No comment."

On June 30, 2009, the Groniks offered $3 million for the house, relying on the assertions that all identified defects had been addressed. The Balthasars rejected it.

Several weeks later, the Groniks offered $3.1 million. They were told there was a competing offer, and to get the house they'd need to go up to $3.5 million, and later $3.6 million, and that no more inspections would be allowed. The Groniks' final offer of $3.55 million was accepted.

The Groniks now claim, as part of their legal action, that the competing offer had in fact expired six days before the Groniks made their $3.1 million offer on Aug. 19.

When the Groniks closed on the purchase in October 2009, they couldn't have been happier.

"We got a sitter for the kids and we were dancing in our socks," David Gronik recalled. "We were four feet off the ground."

The joy was short-lived.

Problems began showing

That very first night in the house, it rained, hard. Gronik said he noticed water cascading down a big kitchen window. Alarmed, he went around the rest of the house and found 19 more leaks.

He said he called Balthasar, who came out the next day and said it was a 100-year rain, and they had never experienced such leaks when he lived there. Then, Gronik said, Balthasar looked at him and "almost gloating, said, 'I bet you wish this happened yesterday.' "

The leaks were just the start. Over the next few days, Gronik claims, he called several contractors who had previously done work on the house and learned about serious prior flooding, sewage backups, electrical issues and window problems never disclosed by the Balthasars.

Why didn't he call a lawyer right then and there?

"My personality is such that I'm going to figure it out, we're going to make it work," Gronik said, and he moved his family into the place a week later.

Some of the biggest problems were related to windows. Gronik said an expert had advised the Balthasars to replace more than 100 of them, many in the pool atrium, but they replaced only a few and had sills and frames from one area moved to another. On some, Gronik said, someone had artfully filled in rot with putty to match the contours of the frames.

He said the problems seemed to diminish with the winter freeze, but during the first big rain of spring, in May 2010, the leaks returned with a vengeance. When they opened a kitchen wall to find the source of one leak, they first discovered mold, according to court records. More was found in the basement, where plywood had been laid over two floor drains.

Behind a soggy ceiling in the master bedroom, they found a bulging rubber liner. They sliced it open and water blackened with more mold came streaming out, all captured on video.

Suddenly, he said, the "cycle of illness" that had beset his whole family all winter made sense. "We just didn't really understand" before, he said, and now all the dots were connecting.

They called doctors, the health department, environmental toxicologists - and lawyers.

Litigation pending

They sued the Balthasars that October 2010, in federal court because the Balthasars were Florida residents. They sued Shorewest in March 2012 in state court, a case that's basically been put on hold pending the federal suit. Court records indicate mediation is scheduled for next week.

Also pending is the Groniks' motion for summary judgment on their claim of intentional misrepresentation, and against all but one of the Balthasars' defenses, such as that the Groniks failed to mitigate their damages.

The Groniks say it would cost around $4 million to fix all the problems, about $6 million to replace the main, carriage and beach houses. They also seek damages of more than $30 million based on Gronik's shortened life expectancy owing to his now-aggravated Crohn's disease.

How could such an expensive home wind up with so many leaks and other problems? Gronik's initial inspection suggested the design may have left it subject to twisting from winds that ruined window seals and opened gaps in the roof.

Gene Eggert, the North Lake architect who designed the home for original owner Charles Wright, said the home was thoroughly engineered and no one ever mentioned a problem before.

"It sounds like someone didn't take care of it," Eggert said. "It's (lack of) maintenance, if it took that long for someone to have problems.

"It's very sad. It was a very beautiful house."

Wright, now living in the Virgin Islands, was disappointed to hear what has befallen what he called his favorite house, that he left only at his then-wife's insistence.

"That house was perfect when we left," he said. "Absolutely perfect."Russian military has delivered about a tonne of food and medicines to Nabia es-Sahr village in Syria's Quneitra province, aid delivery group chief said, UrduPoint reported.

"We have come to [the village] for the first time ... We must continue and increase our aid ...

We are always welcomed with smiles as people are happy that aid has finally arrived," Vladimir Ladeynov told reporters.

Russian medical staff have also arrived in the village to provide assistance.Six months since U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty asked for a prompt and open ethics investigation about her role in covering up an office abuse scandal, the review by her colleagues in Congress has been slow and secretive.

The top lawmaker and two officials in charge of the House ethics review process refuse to say whether an Esty ethics investigation even exists, let alone answer when it will wrap up or how much of it will be made public.

That concerns one-time Esty aide Anna Kain, whose life was threatened in 2016 by Estys former chief of staff, Tony Baker. Estys response after hearing the allegation was to keep Baker on staff for three more months, pay him $5,000 severance, recommend him for a new job with Sandy Hook Promise, and keep the scandal quiet until Kain took her story to newspapers in March.

The (House) ethics committee has a responsibility to take their investigation seriously and work with expediency, Kain said during an interview last week from Washington, D.C., where she works for a political consulting firm. Doing so would make clear their desire to inform themselves and improve the process.

The stealth character of the Esty ethics investigation also concerns Manny Santos, the GOP candidate running to replace Esty as the 5th Districts representative. He is hoping to become the Connecticut Congressional delegations only Republican in Washington.

There is not enough transparency in this process, and frankly we would not need all of this if Esty did what was right and removed Tony Baker immediately and give Anna Kain the respect she deserves, Santos said.

A Washington watchdog group agrees.

The facts, including Congresswoman Estys own public statements, are clear, disturbing and incriminating for Esty, said Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust. While we understand investigations take some time, we also expect our House members to be held accountable for serious ethic breaches in a timely manner, and we fully expect the Office of Congressional Ethics to act on this important case soon.

Calls for action on the Etsy investigation follow the highly charged debate over a decades-old sexual assault allegation against Brett Kavanaugh, who was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in as a Supreme Court justice on Oct. 6.

The Kavanaugh debate elevated the already high-profile war on sexual abuse championed by the Me Too movement.

Esty, a Democrat, told Hearst Connecticut Media last week that she has answered every question from the House Ethics Committee about her conduct, and that she is doing everything she can to encourage a transparent and timely review of a scandal that forced her to drop plans to run for a fourth term.

But Esty would not say whether members of her staff had answered ethics committee questions, or whether she would release the findings of the review.

I am doing everything in my power to get them to do a full and fair investigation to see if I broke any law or rule or regulation, Esty said.

U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks, an Indiana Republican who chairs the House Committee on Ethics and a friend of Estys, referred questions to Tom Rust, the chief counsel and staff director of the committee, who refused to comment on the Esty investigation, saying the process was confidential.

Cautionary tale

At stake is whether any lessons can be extracted from Estys actions, which she said were guided by the House Employment Counsel, but which she said she now regrets as mistakes.

Also at stake is whether Estys cautionary tale will help change a Washington culture that victims advocates say protect those in power at the expense of those who are powerless.

I think accountability requires transparency, said Kain, who is part of a 1,500-member group of former Capitol Hill staff members who are lobbying to reform a 1995 law governing abuse allegations against Congress.

The culture of secrecy has existed because for too long this has not been something people have felt safe talking about.

The House and Senate are stalled in efforts to update the 1995 Congressional Accountability Act. Esty, who was a co-sponsor of a House bill that passed in February to give victims of sexual harassment in Congress a safe place to turn, said the legislation stalled because a version of the bill passed in the Senate was too watered down.

The most important piece in the House bill provides the victim immediate access to a dedicated advocate to give proper legal consultation, representation and assistance, Esty said.

Meanwhile time is short before the Nov. 6 election of a new Congress. Kain is concerned that work on bills this year will be lost.

Quieter than expected

The Esty scandal has not been an issue so far in the 5th District race for, as some observers predicted it would be in the spring.

For her part, Esty has kept a low profile, refunding hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to supporters, and staying out of the campaign of Democrat Jahana Hayes, who is favored to replace her.

Nor have Republicans made Esty an issue, in part because outgoing Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has been a more popular target for criticism.

Hayes declined to comment last week on the pace of Estys investigation.

During a primary debate in early August, Hayes said she wanted to learn more about the process Esty followed to fire Baker, but that Hayes would not have given Baker a favorable job recommendation.

I would have fired him and let the chips fall where they may, Hayes said at the time.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342SOUTHBURY  President Donald J. Trump generates enthusiastic crowds at campaign rallies elsewhere, but he was rarely mentioned Saturday by Republicans at a unity rally in Connecticut, where activists were reminded all politics is local, and the only issues that matter are taxes and the economy.

Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton both introduced Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob Stefanowski at the rally and endorsed the nominees blinkered view of the campaign as revolving around a single issue his supply-siders approach to slashing taxes to stimulate economic growth.

Some people are trying to nationalize this and make this a national campaign. This campaign is not a national campaign, said Boughton, who ran second to Stefanowski in the five-way GOP primary. This campaign is about Connecticut. Its about your home. Its about your street, your neighborhood, the town that you live in.

The rally in a function room at Pomperaug Regional High School was the first for the entire statewide ticket since Stefanowski, a businessman seeking office for the first time, defeated Boughton, who was the front-runner as the GOP convention-endorsed candidate. On a rainy and raw Saturday, it filled a room with seating for about 200.

Tax-cut contest

Stefanowski, who trailed Democrat Ned Lamont by eight percentage points in a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday, pronounced the race a dead heat and said his campaigns tight focus on fiscal issues have framed the campaign.

We have an argument right now about who the better tax cutter is going to be. Thats the turf we want to be on. Thats why were going to win this election. Stefanowski said. Im going to focus on what matters in Connecticut, which is this economy.

Matt Corey, the nominee for U.S. Senate, taunted Sen. Chris Murphy, the Democrat seeking a second term, for refusing to debate him more than once. Hes not man enough to stand on stage with me, said Corey, the owner of a bar and a window-washing business.

Stefanowskis approach has generated some quiet grumbling among Trump supporters who would like to see the party celebrate the presidents tax cutting, his nomination of conservative Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, the nations historically low unemployment, and an economy seen as strong until the stock markets faltered in recent days.

State Sen. Eric C. Berthel, R-Watertown, whose district includes Southbury, said he has heard those complaints, but does not share them: Whats going on in Washington is being used as a distraction in Connecticut.

Democrats gather

Trump figured more prominently at a Democratic rally in New Haven, one in a series of smaller events Democrats staged across the state with an eye toward keeping activist closer to their communities on one of the four weekends before Election Day.

It could not be more clear now that if youre a woman, if youre an immigrant, if youre a Connecticut taxpayer, if you live in the city of New Haven  the president of the United States has declared war on you and your family, said Rep. William Tong of Stamford, the Democratic nominee for attorney general.

Murphy cast the stakes of the election in near-apocalyptic terms. And if we dont win this election  we will also potentially put this country on a slow descent away from democracy, away from democratic norms, to a country that none of us may eventually recognize, Murphy said.

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said Trumps election has energized the Democratic base, bringing in a surge in young voters.

We have the biggest surge in voter registration in the history of the state  275,000 new voters since that fateful day in November of 2016, and the biggest number is 18 to 24-year-olds, Merrill said. Ive waited all my life for this moment. There are four times as many 18-to-24-year-olds registering to vote this year than ever before.

Susan Hatfield, the GOP nominee, told Republicans at their rally that Tong speaks so frequently of Trump that he sounds less like a candidate for state office than for president.

Sen. Joe Markley of Southington, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, said unity rallies are important, even if they take activists off the streets and only put the candidates in a place where they are preaching to a choir.

I think the purpose of it is pretty clear, Markley said. The choir is the group that you count on to go out and proselytize. We need them not simply supporting us, but fired up to go out and work for us. You can produce a kind of an energy at an event like this that I think is good for everyone who takes part in it.It's about time to ring in the Halloween season, and what better way than by binging on some of your favorite horror moviesboth classic and recent.

Click through to see some of the creepy movies available for your streaming pleasure.DANBURY  Two additional bodies were found Sunday afternoon after a fatal plane crash in New York that killed a Waterbury man.

The plane that crashed off the Long Island Coast Saturday morning had stopped in Danbury earlier that day after taking off from Waterbury-Oxford Airport.

One passenger, 41-year-old Munidat Raj Persaud of Waterbury, was found dead in the water.

The remains of two other passengers were found Sunday afternoon, according to U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier, as was the fuselage of the plane.

New York State Police said the two bodies were was an adult female and the second was an adult male, but the identity of both victims have not been confirmed.

That represents all three passengers on the plane, the Coast Guard said.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and families of the people who were aboard the plane, said Capt. Kevin Reed, commander Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound. We are grateful to the emergency responders who assisted in the search efforts.

Strohmaier said the Coast Guard has closed the case. The National Transportation Safety Bureau will be investigating the matter, he said.

Mike Safranek, Danburys assistant airport administrator, said the airport is cooperating with the investigation.

We are working with federal authorities to help in any way we can, he said.

Safranek declined to comment further, citing the seriousness of the crash.

New York State Police identified Persaud on Sunday as one the passengers killed in the crash.

Persaud is the founder of Oxford Flight Training, a company that aims to teach students how to fly, as well as provides maintenance for aircrafts. He started the company in 2004.

He was a former airline flight engineer and worked for several airlines, including Pan American World Airways, as a technical representative and avionics tech, according to the companys website. He was also a commercial pilot and FAA certified maintenance inspector and technician.

A woman who answered the phone at Oxford Flight Training did not wish to comment.

The plane had been headed to Charleston Executive Airport in South Carolina when it went down about three miles southeast of Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, N.Y., the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The Coast Guard and several agencies searched Sunday for the fuselage and the other passengers. Several pieces of debris were found.

Marine and police aviation units from Suffolk county, Southampton Bay Constables and Quogue Village Police were among the groups involved in the search.

The Federal Aviation Administration did not have any updated information on Sunday.BRANFORD  Just when you thought the East Shore District Health Departments Shoreline Regional Pump-Out Boat Program couldnt get any more environmentally conscious, the regional agency has stepped up its game.

The department, which serves Branford, East Haven and North Branford, has acquired what is believed to be the worlds first full-sized electric, solar-powered vessel used for pumping out sewage from the holding tanks of recreational boats. The boat was delivered to the regional pump-out programs base of operations at Bruce & Johnsons Marina Friday.

Part of our mission in doing this is to get the word out (about the program), Michael Pascucilla, director of health for the East Shore District, said Friday. And we were also looking to reduce our carbon footprint.

The boat has not yet been named, Pascucilla said. The plan is to conduct a naming contest in the Branford school system to promote young peoples interest in the environment.

They are our next generation of boaters, Pascucilla said.

The $200,000, 26-foot aluminum boat, which was constructed with recyclable materials, was built at the Pilots Point Marina in Westbrook, Pascucilla said. Seventy five percent of the boats cost was covered with federal money from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection administering that portion of the funding.

The money from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service came from the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund. The money for that fund comes from excise taxes on fishing equipment, motorboat and small engine fuels, import duties and interest on the fund.

The remaining 25 percent of the boats cost is coming from the Health District, Pascucilla said. The local agency has done a number of fundraisers already as well as receiving donations from organizations such as the Branford and Guilford community funds and from Stony Creek Brewery.

The Health District has a GoFundMe page in place to collect the $10,000 remainder of the boats cost.

The boat has a top speed of 10 knots (about 11.5 mph) and runs on two electric, four-horsepower outboard motors, and will replace one of two gas powered vessels the program currently uses, Pascucilla said. When representatives of the Pilots Point Marina drove the boat from Westbrook to Branford, it took about four hours, he said.

The Pump-Out Boat Program serves the waters of Branford, East Haven, Guilford, New Haven and West Haven. The pump-out boats travel to marinas in those communities to serve recreational boaters.

Branford alone has 11 marinas, Pascucilla said, and 5,000 boats.

We need to make it as easy as possible for people to use this, he said.

The pump out program is now in its 18th year, he said. It has taken in over 300,000 gallons of sewage that might otherwise have ended up in Long Island Sound.

Boaters who empty their sewage holding tanks into the Sound do so at their own risk, Pascucilla said, since it is a no dumping zone. Those caught illegally dumping waste from their vessels holding tank into the water face fines of up to $25,000, he said.

Waste that is taken in by the pump-out boats is then off-loaded to Branfords wastewater treatment plant, which is located adjacent to Bruce & Johnsons Marina, Pascucilla said. The pump-out service operates Thursday through Monday from May through October, he said, and the service is free.

Some people like to do it themselves; other people prefer to have someone else do it for them, Pascucilla said of the pump-out service. Boaters who prefer the do-it-yourself method can use equipment the pump-program has available at Bruce & Johnsons Marina, he said.

Money to run the local program comes from a federal Clean Vessel Act grant that the East Shore District Health Department administers.

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, will be on hand Monday at the boats official launch ceremony, joining state and local officials.

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.comIn 2011, Governor Dannel Malloy proposed large state tax increases. As a state senator at the time (and a Democrat), I debated against and voted against these tax increases because they were the wrong direction at a time (then and now) when Connecticut was having serious economic challenges.

Based on the above experience, I have wanted to know how Ned Lamont, the Democratic candidate for governor, stands on more state taxes. I looked at his literature and viewed all three candidate debates and saw and heard that he opposes any increase in the income tax or sales tax. In order to confirm this, I went to his campaign headquarters and asked him directly, face to face, how he stood on new taxes. He looked me in the eye and said that he is opposed to any increase in the state income or sales tax and that his focus will be to bring in new businesses and to emphasize improved vocational training. I saw that he has already this year brought into Connecticut a large tech company with about 1,000 employees.Republicans have nearly doubled their presence in the state House of Representatives in the past decade, rising from 37 members after the 2008 election to the current 72.

They need to win just five more seats in November to gain a majority, a dominance the party has not held since 1984.

In the past four election cycles, weve won 35 seats in the house. Thats not just gains, those are historic gains, said Themis Klarides, House minority leader. I see no reason why that cant continue.

For Klarides, its personal. She decided not to run for governor this year to focus on winning a House majority. If the GOP succeeds, she could become the first female Republican speaker of the House and second woman ever to have the job.

But Democrats, who now hold 80 of 151 House seats, feel optimistic that the fabled blue wave and their own slate of candidates will mean Democrats can not only keep but also strengthen their majority. The current speaker, Democrat Joe Aresimowicz, predicted his party will have 82 to 92 seats in the House after the election.

How many seats we pick up will probably depend on some very close races, but we feel very confident about where we are going, said Matt Ritter, House majority leader.

Districts to watch

While candidates are knocking doors all across the state, the battle for the House majority comes down to about 30 districts or less.

There are 19 open seats, where no incumbent is running. Twelve of those seats are now held by Democrats, seven by Republicans. Each seat is a place where one party will be playing defense and the other, looking for a pick-up.

If you dont have an incumbent running, that usually is an opportune time for turnover, said Gayle Alberda, a professor of political science at Fairfield University. Over 90 percent of incumbents win their re-election campaigns.

In addition, there are eight other districts that were decided by fewer than 400 votes in 2016. Those slim margins mean those seats could be ripe for beating the incumbent, according to political observers.

The closest of those 2016 races was in East Haven where state Rep. James Albis, a Democrat then in his third two-year term, beat Republican Steve Tracey by only 14 votes, requiring an automatic recount.

State Rep. Liz Linehan, who represents Chesire, Southington and Wallingford, also had a recount in 2016, after winning her election by 54 votes.

In four of those nail-biting races, voters split on their support for the state House and the U.S. president. Albiss district in East Haven went for President Donald Trump, as did Democratic state Rep. Michelle Cooks district in Torrington, where she won by 213 votes.

Two other districts voted for Clinton, but narrowly elected Republicans to the state House in 2016. They are state Rep. William Duffs seat in Bethel, and state Rep. Sam Belsito in Ashford, Willington and Tolland.

Aresimowicz said he feels especially hopeful about gains in districts from Milford to Stamford.

While many of these races will turn on local issues, Republicans up and down the ticket are pitching a message of change, a departure from the administration of unpopular Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and longtime Democratic legislative majorities.

Theyve made your life worse, said Klarides during a recent interview. Thats the overall message.

Meanwhile, Democrats may enjoy higher turnout on Nov. 6. According to data from the Connecticut Secretary of the States office, 77,668 new voters has registered as Democrats since the 2016 election, compared to 37,742 new Republican registrations.

If turnout is up five or ten percent in a district, a lot of those (people) will probably vote Democratic and thats going to help our candidates, said Ritter.

Midterms are traditionally a referendum on the president, said Alberda, the political scientist. But Trump is such a divisive figure that he may motivate voters on both sides to go to the polls.

Does the GOP stand a chance? Its possible, said Alberda. Five seats doesnt seem like large number  five is pretty little  but at the same time, its a big feat.

PAC spending

But a factor that can always change the calculus in politics, is money.

Republican political action committee early spending reflects a focus on these open seats and battleground districts. The House Republican Campaign Committee, a PAC headed by Klarides, spent $94,200 on GOP House candidates in July, August and September. The PAC spent $18,550 on behalf of all its candidates equally, but targeted $14,000 at districts with open seats or previous close races.

Latest campaign finance filings show, the PACs two biggest boosts of $2,500 each went to Laura Bush (no relation to the former presidents), running in Vernon where Democratic state rep. Michael Winkler won by a slim 335 votes in 2016; and Jim Feehan, running in Stratford where Democratic state Rep. Phil Young won a special election in February to seize a seat that had been a GOP stronghold for 40 years. Youngs win reduced Republican membership in the House from 72 to its current number, 71.

Klarides bragged that GOP fundraising has been record breaking in Connecticut this year. Her three PACs raised about $190,000 in contributions this quarter, and nearly $482,000 in 2018 as a whole.

Were able to do focus groups which weve never done before. Were able to do data surveys, which weve never been able to do before, said Klarides. Because weve raised so much more money, weve able to do more able of the things weve done in the past and add new things.

But Democrats have fundraising heft of their own. Three Democratic PACs targeting the House raised $186,690 this quarter, and they have already pumped some of that money into their races, filings show.

Democrats spent more broadly in July, August and September, hewing less closely to the 30 pivotal open and battleground districts. Their PACs spent most heavily to help incumbents state Reps Christine Conley of Groton, Jonathan Steinberg of Westport, John Hampton of Simbury and Aresimowicz, of Berlin.

Thats just early contributions. That helps incumbents get up and running, Aresimowicz said. Unlike challengers, were still doing the peoples business.

emunson@hearstmediact.com; Twitter: @emiliemunsonNot for the first time, parents in the Ridgewood school district are being warned that authorities are looking into whether students have been "sexting" images that constitute child pornography.

"I have been informed that the Ridgewood Police Department is investigating possible 'sexting' incidents involving school-aged students in the school district," Superintendent Daniel Fishbein said in a letter sent last week to the parents of students in grades six through 12.

"While these incidents did not happen at school, school authorities are working in conjunction with the Ridgewood Police Department on the investigation."

Fishbein implored parents to talk to their kids about the risk of sending or sharing "provocative images" of other students. If the photos are of anyone under 18, the transmission of the images is illegal sharing of child pornography, he noted.

He also advised parents to monitor the phones that their children use, noting that as they foot the bill, it is "likely your phone that they are using."

This is not the first time a sexting scandal has befallen Ridgewood schools.

In 2017, parents said a fight that led to injuries and charges for two male students was the result of nude photos of a girl circulating on social media, according to NorthJersey.com. The district did not confirm this.

In 2013, two girls shared nude photos with older Ridgewood High School boys, and the images circulated among students. Fishbein and Ridgewood police demanded anyone in possession of the images destroy them or face criminal charges.

However, no one was charged. At the time, then Bergen County prosecutor John L. Molinelli said a 2011 law aimed at reducing penalties for any minor caught with such images essentially prevented the filing of any charges. The law says that a juvenile should participate in a remedial or counseling program only.

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tipsA judge on Friday knocked down a new, controversial Newark rule that allowed much taller buildings in a largely residential section of the city -- effectively halting a 12-story building planned for the Ironbound.

The city ordinance, approved last year, riled local activists who said boosting building heights to 12- and 20-stories was out of character with the rest of the walkable neighborhood.

"It wasn't appropriate for that particular area," said James Powell, a spokesman for PLANewark, the group that challenged the ordinance in court. "We really feel like it's not a blank check and the city should be more mindful of each particular area in the city."

While it's clear development is knocking on Newark's door, residents say they want a say in what their city will look like, too.

PLANewark sued the city clerk, City Council and planning board, alleging the ordinance, known as MX3, was inconsistent with Newark's master plan. The group said residents were not given proper notice of the zoning changes and were not allowed to comment on the measure during a public hearing.

On Friday, Superior Court Judge Patrick Bartels voided the ordinance and any related approvals granted under it.

The planning board previously approved a 12-story, 403-unit residential building with 3,300 square-feet of retail space for 28-50 McWhorter Street and 51-57 Union Street. Jose Lopez, president of J&L Companies, who owns the land, was the first to propose a development under the new ordinance.

Under the ruling, the project can't move forward.

Calls to a Lopez representative and the planning board were not returned.

In a statement to NJ Advance Media, Newark spokesman Frank Baraff said the city was "disappointed with the judge's decision.

"We are reviewing the decision to decide whether to appeal the decision or refile to clear up some of the technical issues," he said.

"PLANewark is not naysayers, we want development but we're trying to get the process more open and transparent," said Renee Steinhagen, an attorney with New Jersey Appleseed, who represented Newark residents in the case.

Jorge Sanchez, another attorney representing PLANewark, said the invalidation of the ordinance "is a testament to the collective effort of common, regular and ordinary people that got together to say no to the illegal top-down development that would have benefitted only a handful of people."

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook.Republicans don't just control Congress. They also control more state legislatures now than at any point in U.S. history.



The two are directly related because they've used these local victories to enact all kinds of voting restrictions over the years in the hopes of giving themselves an edge in the midterm elections.



This is how they'll keep control of Congress. Voter turnout is expected to be woefully low on Nov. 6, with just around 40 percent of those who are eligible casting a ballot.

N.J. voter registration deadline is Tuesday: How to register and check your polling place



We can't attribute this solely to voter laziness. Getting people to stay home requires strategy, just like getting them to show up.



Nationwide, Republicans have taken concrete steps to block voting. They've passed strict laws on photo IDs, limited absentee ballots, restricted early voting days and hours and made it harder for citizens, including students, to register.



College kids will run into trouble in a state like Wisconsin, for instance, when they don't have a drivers' license, or alternatively, a utility bill or bank statement with a current address.



In Wisconsin, a 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.



Please.



Prohibiting early voting, as 13 states do, is another way to block people from the polls. More than a third of those who registered to vote in the 2014 midterms never made it to the polls because of scheduling conflicts with work or school, a Pew Research Center survey found.



There's nothing we can do here in New Jersey to stop Republican attempts in other states to limit voting. But there is a way to push back. Are you worried about losing your health insurance, which Republicans nearly stripped from 23 million people last year, when they fell one vote short of repealing the Affordable Care Act?



Are you mad that your ability to deduct state and local property taxes from your federal tax bill has been curtailed, because Republicans are paying for their giant corporate tax cut on the backs of ordinary people?

Or that they yanked funding from the tunnel project into Manhattan, even as the existing tubes crumble from Sandy damage, playing Russian roulette with your commute?



Print out a voter registration form, fill it out and submit it in person by Tuesday -- or mail it with a postmark by Tuesday. Make your voice heard, even if others can't.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.We know much more than we did a week ago about that incident on the Rowan University main campus in which two students returning from shopping trip were detained at gunpoint by Glassboro police.

Whatever you've read from those who make up their minds based on preconceived views, understand that it's still unclear if anyone involved did anything wrong.

We now know that this was not, despite initial reports, a case of mistaken identity, or a response triggered by anything as serious as an armed robbery.

The police indeed stopped the black Dodge Charger they were seeking, and it contained the person that a witness claimed was brandishing a gun outside an eyeglass store in a strip mall.

We also know that the description of the incident supplied by a 911 caller at the shopping center was off the mark, but not whether or not the inaccuracies were deliberate. We know that 21-year-old student Altaif Hassan was picking up a new pair of glasses, and believes the witness mistook his glass case for a gun. That's apparently what brought on the ordeal that he and a passenger in the car, Giavanna Roberson, 18, went through when they returned to the campus.

We know that the Glassboro Police Department, which up put a wall of silence that lasted almost two weeks, has lately been more forthcoming in supplying additional video of the stop. The video suggests that Hassan and Roberson followed police instructions, although Hassan, visibly shaken by being falsely accused, challenged the officers verbally.

What's hard to understand is why so many people rip the media for not making coverage of the incident (and remaining questions about it) go away. A disturbing number of reader comments on nj.com follow-up stories have this pattern: The South Jersey Times and NJ Advance Media, not to mention other media outlets, have wrung about 10 days of clicks, newsstand sales and rating points out if this thing. If they hadn't, the comment thread goes, there would be no controversy, nobody would be talking about the legitimacy of the vehicle stop, and no one would be undermining the absolute authority of a college town's police force.

Such head-in-the-sand thinking is not only wrong, it's what has compounded the racially tinged distrust that hovers over law enforcement and its encounters with minority citizens. Before there was video, nobody (that is, nobody in the white-majority power structure) believed black Americans' claims that their encounters with police often ended more violently than similar clashes with white suspects.

That's not to say that this affected in any way what occurred in Glassboro. Many parts of a fact pattern that are still being developed. What happens if the media, student groups and other concerned individuals were to lay off? Not transparency, that's for sure.

The incident is being reviewed by the Gloucester County Prosecutors' Office, and it's a positive sign that Glassboro Police Chief Franklin S. Brown Jr., while defending his officers in a Facebook post, appears to welcome the look at events from outside his own department.

Controversial stories have helped "sell papers" since the invention of the printing press. Keeping such stories alive is not usually about commerce or fanning flames. It's about helping to determine truth, which can be a moving target in the days following a potentially divisive incident. We know a lot more about what went down outside Mimosa Hall than we did a week ago, and we hope to know even more a week from today.

Send a letter to the editor of South Jersey Times at sjletters@njadvancemedia.com

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.I am a "black guy" who drives what some may refer to as a "black racing car" and I do not want the police stopping me with assault weapons and handguns pointed at my back due to someone else's big mistake.

Law enforcement officers are trained to calculate that ordinary citizens are often mistaken when trying to provide an accurate physical description of someone. So why would the Glassboro police department, using a total of 13 officers armed for a shootout, perform a "felony stop" on two students returning to the Rowan University campus from a shopping center?

Why? Simply because the police thought the witness -- who described a gun incident outside one of the stores -- was credible. Unfortunately, the witness was also wrong about what he'd apparently seen, and that could have gotten the two students killed.

If these 13 officers were, as Glassboro Police Chief Frank Brown stated, following appropriate protocols and training, those protocols and that training should be changed or modified immediately.

In recalling the encounter later, the two students were absolutely right: They were one itchy trigger finger or one missed or misunderstood command away from being shot. They violated no law, nor were they carrying any weapons or contraband of any kind.

It all happened because a "sure-fire" witness turned out to not have a clue about what he was talking about or, because the police found and stopped the wrong vehicle. Take your pick.

Let's start with the initial complaint from the concerned citizen. Before anyone rants and raves at me, it was this witness -- not me -- who brought up a racial component. In a video released by police, he declared his non-prejudiced mind set, then made a statement oozing with racial stereotypes.

He stated, "What did he (the person who supposedly brandished the gun) think was going to happen, even if it is a fake gun? With all due respect, I'm not prejudice(d) but a black guy in a racing car parked in front of... not even parked there but parked here so he could take off... ."

Analysis of this statement is easily converted to a mathematical equation: Black guy in a racing car, parked in front of a store, but not in a parking space and therefore ready to take off, equals a criminal with a gun.

I would like to ask: What if it had been a white guy in that car? Imagine me, stating to a police officer, "With all due respect, I'm not prejudiced, but a white guy in a white car was parked right here in front so he could take off." I think such a statement should make someone's "spidey sense" tingle, especially a trained police officer's.

Then, there is the "poofy hair" description the witness supplied. What is that? The Don King look? The Colin Kaepernick look? The look I had 25 years ago? Perhaps the police knew exactly what was being described, but I don't.

Police training used to teach that white people are very good at describing physical characteristics of other white people, just as black people are very good at describing how other black people look. But it is a fact that members of different races or ethnic groups are very bad at describing those outside their own group. Thus, the police in this case should have realized that they were likely being provided with a poor or incomplete description.

No information was provided about the female occupant who was also in the car. There was no license plate number, nothing about skin complexion, no estimate of the male's age and no description of his clothing. It was just black guy in a black car, with a gun, so go get him.

Reportedly Glassboro police, Rowan University and members of its student government will now form a committee that will meet on a regular basis to communicate and continue a dialogue.

Communication, dialogue and meetings are often a way to calm the emotional upheaval that follows this kind of incident. But such sessions are not only unnecessary, they're probably a waste of time and resources. What is needed is a change in protocol by the Glassboro Police Department, as well as its realization that attitudes impact actions. There is no way to prevent errors in information from concerned citizens, but the right thing to do is to make the police response more appropriate and more effective.

No citizen should be removed from their vehicle at gunpoint, handcuffed and reportedly held for 45 minutes before release, without being arrested or charged with any crime. Obtaining new eyeglasses, which is what the male student said he was doing at the strip mall, should not lead to a police encounter with guns drawn.

Milton W. Hinton Jr. recently retired as director of equal opportunity for the Gloucester County government, and is past president of the Gloucester County Branch NAACP. Email: mwhjr678@gmail.com.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Cory Booker ranked fifth in a poll of potential 2020 Democratic presidential nominees that made former Vice President Joe Biden the party's frontrunner to take on President Donald Trump.

Booker, D-N.J., tied with former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the party's 2004 presidential nominee, for fifth place with 5 percent, according to a CNN poll released Sunday.

Biden, who twice ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination before being tapped by President Barack Obama as his running mate, led the pack with 33 percent. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was the only other potential nominee in double figures, polling 13 percent.

Also ahead of Booker were U.S. Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., with 9 percent, and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., with 8 percent.

Booker captured national attention during the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearings on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.

He first questioned the nominee over emails that a Republican lawyer had made off-limits to the public and then dared GOP senators to expel him after he posted documents before the committee acted but after the lawyer, Bill Burck, said could released.

Booker later walked out of the committee meeting during its vote to approve Kavanaugh.

In addition to campaigning with U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and several House Democratic candidates on next month's ballot, Booker has traveled to Iowa and other states that have outsized roles in determining the party's presidential nominee, even as he said his top priority was the 2018 midterm elections seen as a referendum on Trump.

The poll of 464 registered voters who identified as Democrats or leaning that way was conducted Oct. 4-7 and had a margin of error of 5.5 percentage points.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.Hunters killed 139 bears during a controversial, six-day hunt that ended Saturday night -- the first under Gov. Phil Murphy's new restrictions.

The number of bears killed is significantly lower than the 244 killed during the same time period last year, according to data from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Murphy, who promised during his campaign to end the hunt, banned hunting on state lands but said he had no legal authority to cancel it altogether.

Hunting on land owned by the federal government, counties, municipalities or private properties is still fair game.

The New Jersey Outdoor Alliance (NJOA) and two other pro-hunting groups are challenging Murphy's executive order in court.

Under former Gov. Chris Christie, about 40 percent of the 3,429 bears killed were hunted on state land.

It's not clear how many bears were killed this year on private property or publicly-owned land.

Sussex: 78 bears

Warren: 30

Passaic: 13

Morris: 16

Bergen: 0

Hunterdon: 1

Somerset: 0

Mercer: 0

The bear hunt will resume for at least 6 days, and possibly as many as 10, starting Dec. 3.

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or 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: wetlands advocate King Milling.

The icon: King Milling.

The legacy: King Milling, who has a long record of community service, was president of Whitney Bank for 24 years -- he retired in 2008 -- and also reigned as Rex, king of Carnival, in 1993. But in the wake of 2005's Hurricane Katrina and the 2010 BP oil spill, he has taken on, with passion, what may be his most important role of all: preserving Louisiana's fragile coastline and making sure that people understand why it is important. Saving the coast "is not just about the environment. It's about culture, commerce and survival," he said in a 2009 interview. "It doesn't take a genius to understand the infrastructure is at risk, the future is at risk. That's what we will lose if we don't do anything. I think that used to shock some people, but it doesn't anymore."

The artist: Saegan Swanson.

The quote: "I'm probably less patient after Katrina because I think that this is a time when, if you're going to live in this community, it's time to put every effort you can toward rebuilding, ... to the point when it can be and will be what we've all hoped it can be." -- King Milling, in a 2009 interview with The Times-Picayune

Explore more of Swanson's work online at WhereYart.net and in person at the Where Y'Art gallery, 1901 Royal St.

His first name, which he never uses, is Roswell.

By John Pope, contributing writer

Source: The Times-Picayune archives; staff research

More on 300 for 300:A dispute among family members at a toddler's birthday party on Saturday (Oct. 13) led to a shooting that left four men dead and one wounded near Corpus Christi, Texas, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Police were looking for two suspects they believe were involved in the shooting, which occurred in Taft, a town of nearly 3,000 people about 12 miles north of Corpus Christi, the newspaper reported. The shooting stemmed from an altercation between two separate families who were celebrating the birthday of a 1-year-old child.Opinion by LaToya Cantrell and Jason Williams

In New Orleans, each year thousands of individuals who have not been convicted are confined to jail for months awaiting trial, not because they are a threat to public safety, but because they are simply too poor to afford financial bail.

In 2015, 30 percent of people in jail on any given day were there just because they could not afford their bail. That is not justice, nor is it the path toward a safer city and stronger community.

As part of our ongoing effort to reduce unnecessary incarceration through the Safety and Justice Challenge, we are partnering with the Criminal District Court, Louisiana Supreme Court and criminal justice stakeholders to use a safer and more just approach - the Public Safety Assessment (PSA). The PSA is a pretrial risk assessment that provides information about the likelihood of failure to appear and new criminal activity for those released pretrial.

The tool was created using a database of more than 1.5 million cases drawn from more than 300 U.S. jurisdictions and has been adopted by more than 38 jurisdictions. By placing the focus on the question of release or detention, rather than on money, the tool helps judges identify individuals whose confinement may be necessary to ensure public safety and encourages release when appropriate.

Financial bail has proven to be just as ineffective as over-detention. Individuals released on financial bail are no more likely than those released without bail to return to court. In other jurisdictions, such as New Jersey and Lucas County, Ohio, adopting the PSA has resulted in significant jail population reduction as well as lower crime rates. In Lucas County, releases without financial bail doubled while the re-arrest rate for those released pretrial was cut in half.

In August, a federal court ruling declared that the setting of financial bail is unconstitutional in New Orleans because of the conflict of interest placed on judges by state law; our judges cannot be constitutionally neutral if they must rely on money from bail to support court operations. This demands a new approach to funding the court. Criminal District Court judges and commissioners have shown tremendous leadership in adopting the PSA and helping keep our community safe while protecting the constitutional rights of our citizens.

Judicial discretion is key to the success of the PSA, as each case is unique and there are many factors beyond a risk score that should be considered. We all know that no matter how carefully judges apply the risk assessment and use their judgment, people who are released will sometimes commit serious crimes. That's less true when risk assessment is involved than when money is the only thing determining whether a person is released.

But it will happen; it is a price we pay to live in a free society. As the U.S. Supreme Court said, "In our society, liberty is the norm, and detention prior to trial ... is the carefully limited exception."

We all want a safe city, but financial bail does not make us safer. Unnecessary detention does not make us safer. And our community pays the cost. New Orleans has the opportunity to be a leader in the South and in the nation in promoting equity and justice in our courts. We will continue to work together to become a model for addressing public safety without reliance on over-incarceration based on ability to pay.

LaToya Cantrell is mayor of New Orleans. Jason Williams is president and an at-large member of the City Council.For the first time, the city of New Orleans put money for preschool into the budget for 2018. The $750,000 is helping provide childcare and education to 50 youngsters.

Six childcare centers spread across the city were picked for the inaugural year, and the children with the greatest needs got the first spots. That is a blessing for those families.

But the money the city budgeted isn't nearly enough. There are 571 children on the waiting list for the new program, which is managed by the New Orleans Early Childhood Network.

Only 23 percent of lower-income children from birth to 4 in the city have access to early care and education, advocates say. And, according to EnrollNOLA, every publicly funded program in New Orleans serving children 3 and under has a waiting list.

As Mayor LaToya Cantrell puts together the budget for the next fiscal year, early education advocates are asking for the city to double its investment.

A working group appointed by the Orleans Parish School Board wants the board to match the city's allocation. That $3 million would start to make a serious dent in the program's waiting list.

It also would show that New Orleans is committed to making high-quality child care and education a priority.

The School Board working group -- which includes City Councilman Jason Williams and Emily Wolff, director of the Mayor's Office of Youth and Families -- also is putting together a long-term plan for funding. The goal is to get as close as possible to the estimated $200 million needed to ensure that every child from birth to age 4 in New Orleans has access to a quality preschool. That money would be used to add seats and raise the quality of existing early childhood centers in the city.

The investment from the city and the School Board also could encourage private donors and foundations to kick in more money. The city's $750,000 allocation this year sparked a $350,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for wraparound services for families.

Also, Louisiana's Early Childhood Education Fund provides a 50-cent match for investments by local government.

The case for investing in early childhood education is easy to make. Without it, many children enter kindergarten unprepared and struggle to catch up as they move through school. Parents who can't count on child care miss work more than they should, which costs employers millions of dollars each year.

More than 180 teachers for kindergarten through fourth-grade signed a statement of support for the increased investment in early childhood education. "We are keenly aware of the impact when children do not have access to a quality early education and come to us unprepared for Kindergarten classrooms," they said. "Statewide, almost half of Louisiana kindergarteners enter school already behind academically and socially. Children who enter school behind are more likely to stay behind. This is a major contributor to the fact that nearly 70% of third graders in New Orleans public schools cannot read on grade level."

The New Orleans Campaign for Grade-Level Reading also put together a statement of support, which was signed by 46 community organizations such as 100 Black Men of Metro New Orleans, Kingsley House, Liberty's Kitchen, United Way of Southeast Louisiana and Xavier University.

The statement says: The future of New Orleans depends on our city's investment in our children. Research shows that young children who participate in high-quality early learning programs are four times more likely to graduate from high school and become more productive citizens than their peers who do not participate in such programs."

The Louisiana Legislature hasn't made preschool funding the priority it should be. Legislators cut funding significantly in recent years.

The Child Care Assistance Program, which provides aid for low-income working parents or in school or job training, was serving almost 40,000 children under age 4 a decade ago. But it only had money for 15,000 by last year.

This spring, lawmakers put $28 million in new federal funding into the program. That money was expected to cover 4,000 of the 5,200 children who were on a waiting list for services.

But there are still hundreds of families who can't afford to get their child into preschool. The city, the School Board and the Legislature should change that.















I might have to stop dating my girlfriend "across the border" in Gatineau if the racist cops over there keep this up.





Now, I have been stopped many times by police since I got my driver's license but usually for the offence of "driving while black".





This includes the time I was driving from a dancing event around Rockliffe Park and some apparently bored RCMP officer who didn't think a "young black male" should be driving around there late at night starting to tail me for five minutes for no reason just waiting to have some contrived pretext to stop me.





But I digress. Let's talk about these two sets of "fine" officers in Gatineau tonight.





These two sets of officers take the prize for the most obvious set of racism I have had the pleasure to experience by the cops.





Tonight I travelled to bus to Gatineau's top wine bar to meet up with friends. I don't drink and drive and even when I drink, it's no more than half a glass.





Sometime after 9:30 I leave to go on the bus to see my girlfriend. But, when I'm at the stop I decide that I should walk back to the wine bar on Montcalm to use their washroom,





While I'm walking back to the wine bar, some Gatineau cops driving up Montcalm stop me for no apparent reason.





I ask these "fine officers", "what's the problem officers." They tell me they saw me "walking funny".





I tell them I just came back from the wine bar with friends and I'm trying to get back there to use the washroom.





They then give me a "look" as if "black people" wouldn't be going to a classy wine bar.





I tell them you can call them if you like and verify my reservation.





Then then ask to see my "ID" because they insist that they way me "walking funny".





They then ask me what part of Ottawa I am from, and where am I going, and what I'm really doing there.





Here we have a classic case of "carding" and racial profiling.





For my white friends who have never experienced "carding" this occurs when some cop sees you out on the street and proceeds to spontaneously stop you and ask you for ID not because you seem to be doing something illegal or because of a complant but simply as a result of seeing a black male and wanting to either simply harass or based upon the idea that "he must have committed a crime but had not been caught yet".





So, after this racist interrogation by police for 15 minutes as if I was back in apartheid South Africa during the pass laws I was eventually "allowed" to go to the washroom.





Little did I expect that this was only "Round 1" of my trip with racist Gatineau police.





So, that same night, I get off the bus and buy some peanuts before heading for my girlfriend's place.





Then after I across a residential street can you believe I get accosted once more by the Gatineau police?







Here's "Round 2". These fine officers started to harass me that they saw me walk across the "middle" of the street and not at the intersection.





I say, are you serious. That's a residential side street. It was well after 10 pm and absolutely no cars was on that street.





Do you know how many times I have seem "white francophone" dodge across very busy with absolutely no police interference.





So, once more I have to answer dumb ass questions not related to any criminal complaint like "What am I doing in that part of Gatineau?" etc etc.





So, there you have it. My experience with a bunch of red neck Gatineau police hell bent on racist persecution.





I ask the second set of Gatineau cops, is this an incident of racial profiling?







All of a sudden they knew that they weren't speaking to one of the non-educated "local Negros" they might be accustomed to dealing with.







If a racist cop "cards" a black male, the last thing they want to deal with is an educated black male. That's "no fun" for them.







"Oh no!" they said. "We're just stopping you with a warning for your own safety."





Were they serious? Crossing the middle of a residential street with no cars on it is a safety issue for a grown-up? What an outrage.





There's no point making a complaint on racial profiling though because the worst demons on any police force always rise to the top, so complaining about the "lower demons" is pointless.





Although Canada is officially a multicultural society, racism is indeed alive and well and especially among the police who perpetrate harassment against young black males on a daily basis.





These incidents with the Gatineau Police on the same time show just how entrenched racism is within Quebec specifically and Canada in general.





I happen to be educated, so I can handle police racism but for the black males who aren't as a result of being marginalized by our education system, often times these black males end up arrested on trumped up charges as a part of a neo-apartheid system in Canada. Indeed, South Africa's former apartheid system was "inspired" from Canada's own Indian Act which remains to be a beacon of Canadian institutionalized racism which apparently the Gatineau police champion through their apparent anti-black "modus operandi".She said a pre-teenage girl doused herself with petrol in a suicide attempt last month, and remained on Nauru despite a doctors advice to have her evacuated.

Catherine Stubberfield, a spokeswoman for the UNHCR in Canberra, said healthcare was collapsing at the centres.

Doctors from Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) were ejected from Nauru laston Wednesday and the UN high commissioner for refugees has warned that many asylum seekers who have attempted self-harm or have critical health issues now have no access to medical care.

SYDNEY - The United Nations has called on Australia to immediately evacuate its offshore detention centres to prevent an unfolding health crisis.

Refugees on Manus - 1,420 are held in PNG and Nauru; another 500 in Australia for medical reasons

She also said many asylum seekers in Papua New Guinea had attempted self-harm or suicide last month, and others were suffering acute physical and mental health issues but had not been treated by doctors.

On Thursday, MSF called for an immediate humanitarian evacuation of offshore detainees. It said there had been 78 cases of attempted suicide and self-harm in Nauru over the past year.

Speaking on Friday, Stubberfield said Australia had to face the responsibility of its offshore detention camps because it had designed, paid for and set up the system.

UNHCR does not agree with the government of Australias assertion that such cases are solely matters for Papua New Guinea and Nauru, she said. Australia [has] simultaneously designed, financed and managed the system.

She urged the Australian government to take up New Zealands offer to accept some of those held in detention.

About 1,420 people are being held in PNG and Nauru, and 500 have been transferred to Australia for medical reasons. The UNCHRs monitoring suggests that figure is significantly lower than the number of refugees in need of care.

In September this year more refugees and asylum seekers had to be medically evacuated from Nauru to Australia than in the preceding two years combined, Stubberfield said.

[But] this reflects the longstanding poor healthcare situation and a recent worsening of conditions, rather than any moderating of stance.

In Papua New Guinea there have been no re-transfers to Australia this year. This is despite a clear and urgent imperative for medical evacuation.

Twelve people have died in immigration detention on Nauru and Manus Island since 2014.

The Australian government contracts International Health and Medical Services and Pacific International Hospital to provide medical aid at Nauru and PNG respectively but the UN described their services as limited.

It also said the local healthcare systems were under-resourced and understaffed in both countries.

The Department of Home Affairs said in a statement that it took refugee health and welfare seriously.

Through the Australian governments contracted health services provider, general practitioner, nursing and mental healthcare clinics are open seven days a week. There is also after-hours medical staffing to respond to after-hours medical emergencies, it said.

There are 65 contracted health professionals, including 33 mental health professionals providing services to transferees on Nauru. All transferees on Nauru are free to move around the island; they are not in detention.

In September, Guardian Australia revealed that the government spent more than $320,000 last financial year challenging applications for medical transfers from Nauru and Manus Island.Share Article



An image taken by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite image shows hurricane damage at Tyndall AFB, Fla. NOAA photo.

More than a dozen F-22s were left behind as Hurricane Michael bore down on the base Oct. 10. Now, in Michaels wake, many of those are damaged, and some beyond repair, at a cost of more than $1 billion, Air Force officials said.

Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein canceled Friday afternoon meetings and was preparing to fly to Tyndall to personally assess damage to the base and the aircraft. Air Combat Command chief Gen. James Mike Holmes was also preparing to visit Tyndall.

The F-22s left behind could not fly for either mechanical or safety reasons, said a spokeswoman, who also said all the hangars on base were damaged. Aerial video showed roofs and siding torn apart by savage winds and some hangars suffered severe structural damage.

We anticipate the aircraft parked inside may be damaged as well, but we wont know the extent until our crews can safely enter those hangars and make an assessment, the spokeswoman said.

The loss is significant but not devastating. The Air Force remains capable of executing its combat mission across the world with aircraft from other bases, as well as those that were evacuated from Tyndall in advance of the hurricane, she said.

The storm caused catastrophic damage across Tyndall, with all buildings from the flight line and beyond damaged, and all base housing rendered unfit for occupancy. Wing Commander Col. Brian Laidlaw said in a statement Friday the base was better than yesterday, and that is how it is going to continue to be. We will continue to persevere. He called on airmen who had fled the base to go to their nearest military installation for medical help.

Air Force Personnel Centers at bases across the country have volunteered to assist as possible.

Holmes said in a Friday video statement that many airmen in the area dont have electricity or phone service, and so information needs to be delivered by word of mouth.

To the airmen out there affected by the hurricane, please be safe, look after your families, look after each other, and know that were working as hard as we can to return Tyndall to normal ops, he said.

USAF aircraft and units from across the country immediately responded to begin Tyndalls long road to recovery. The 23rd Special Tactics Squadron from nearby Hurlburt Field arrived at Tyndall on Thursday afternoon to clear and establish the runway at 7 p.m., with the first aircraft arriving six minutes later, according to the Air Force.

US Transportation Commands Joint Communications Support Element from MacDill AFB, Fla., and the Florida Air National Guards 290th Joint Communications Support Squadron deployed to restore communication. C-17s from Travis AFB, Calif., and JB Lewis-McChord, Wash., were among the first aircraft in to carry supplies and support search and rescue, according to Air Mobility Command. The 621st Contingency Response Group from Travis responded to help evaluate the flight line and stand up operations.

The 822d Base Defense Squadron at Moody AFB, Ga., deployed on Thursday to help provide security to the damaged base. The Georgia Air National Guards 116th Air Control Wing deployed 23 airmen to help clear roadways impacted by the storm in South Georgia.

At Tyndall, one F-22 could be seen in aerial footage taken the morning after the storm struck. The empennage of the airplane was visible through the missing roof of a hangar where at least five QF-16 target drones and several propeller-driven aircraft had also been sheltered. One of the QF-16s appeared to be resting on top of another, and three more were apparently pushed together by wind or water. The F-22 was surrounded by debris.

A still photograph of another damaged hangar, circulating on the internet, showed an apparently intact F-22 within.

A Facebook page called Air Force Forum carried a message from someone identifying themselves as a member of the 43rd Fighter Squadron. Four 43d F-22s were left behind to ride out the hurricane, the anonymous poster wrote. One of them was scheduled to leave but GABed [ground aborted] after an issue prior to taxi. The other three were jets that couldnt be spun up in time to fly. Two had been cannibalized for parts, he said, and the others had issues that couldnt be fixed. They were in hangars that [they] are usually put in according to hurricane plans.

The poster said off-duty maintenance crews were recalled to duty on Monday afternoon to spin up as many jets as they could to fly, with the last ones launched on Tuesday morning.

The F-22 is the Air Forces most valuable fighter and the one in shortest supply. Only 187 were built before the program was terminated in 2010 by then-Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, at roughly half the fleet size needed to meet regional commander requirements. Depending on the estimating method used, F-22s were priced at $120 million to $300 million each, depending on whether research and development expenses are included. The Tyndall damage could mean a loss of $1-$3 billion for aircraft alone.

The 43rd is the Air Forces F-22 training unit and a full-up operational squadron of F-22s  the 95th  is also based at Tyndall. The 43rds aircraft are of an early block of F-22s and do not have all the most up-to-date avionics and gear that other Raptor units have. Holmes has said that bringing the training F-22s up to the fully operational configuration is on Air Combat Commands wish list, but is behind other priorities.

Lockheed Martin, which built the F-22, has campaigned to get the Air Force to upgrade the training jets, which would allow the fleet to be shuffled around the country. Tyndalls jets are subjected to high heat, humidity and salt water air from the ocean, while other locations arent as hard on the equipment.

Tyndall is the Air Forces schoolhouse, where it teaches new F-22 pilots to fly the stealth fighter jet, and its complement is typically about 60 training aircraft. The service reported that it had evacuated its Tyndall F-22s to Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.

Gates terminated production of the F-22 in 2010, believing the jet was an expensive irrelevancy in a post-Cold War world in which the US was fighting counterinsurgencies in Afghanistan and Iraq. Gates argued that China and Russia would not field 5th-generation jets like the F-22 until the early 2020s.

But Chinas first J-20 stealth fighter unit went operational last year and Russia has said it will declare its Su-57 stealth fighters operational this year.

A RAND study in 2011 found that restarting F-22 production after just three years could produce 75 airplanes at a unit cost of $266 million each, and with nonrecurring costs of just $350 million. However, those costs presumed re-hiring some recently-skilled workers and using vendors who had recently made parts.

In early 2017, the Air Force studied the issue again, determining it would cost nearly $10 billion to restore and re-certify the tooling, hire workers and buy 194 airplanes  and it would take seven years to take delivery of the first jets at a unit cost between $206 and $216 million.

Lockheed Martin has in recent months talked with potential foreign buyers about buying an F-22/F-35 hybrid that would have the aerodynamic capabilities of the F-22 but the ground attack and situational awareness capabilities of the F-35. Japan was seen as a potential customer for this aircraft, but Lockheed would need permission from the US government to market that aircraft overseas. Export of the F-22 was expressly forbidden by Congress, due to security concerns.

Read an Oct. 15 story update here.Erie Canal History

The History of the Erie Canal will be presented by Patrick Reynolds at the Clinton Historical Society, 1 Fountain St., Clinton, N.Y., on Sunday, Oct. 14, at 2 p.m. The program is free and open to the public. The Erie Canal celebrates its bicentennial between 2017 and 2025 and the Society is fortunate to have local expert, Patrick Reynolds, a Rome native and the Rome Historical Society educator, speak on the Canals history. Reynolds was on the committee for the Erie Canal Bicentennial Conference held in Utica in May 2017 and has a lifetime of interest and research in local and canal history.

Morrisville Library Events

Shop for the library this holiday season from Nov. 1 to Jan. 19. There are several items the library needs! Grab a Christmas tag off their giving tree of something you would like to donate to the library. Buy it, donate it, whatever it says and bring the tag and the item in as soon as you can! All donations should be turned in by Jan. 31, 2019.

The librarys silent auction opens on Monday, Nov. 5 and runs through Friday, Dec. 7. Stop in and bid on several items. Perfect gifts to bid on, win and give to loved ones this holiday season! The silent auction is being held in the librarys program room.

Art Zimmer will conduct a virtual walk through downtown Hamilton storefront by storefront, pointing out what business is in each storefront today and discussion what business was located there in the 1950s, on Friday, Nov. 9 at 6:30 p.m. For longtime residents, it will be a fun nostalgic trip down memory lane. For newer residents, it will be an interesting surprise of what the businesses were in Hamilton over 60 years ago. Mr. Zimmer moved to Hamilton in 1948. He will add comments of how changes in society have influenced the changes in the business makeup of downtown Hamilton. The talk is free and open to the public. The virtual walk does not leave the library.

Bring your own Nerf equipment (darts too-please label them) and join us for open play around the library on Saturday, Nov. 17 from 4:30-7 p.m. Bring your own Nerf equipment (darts too-please label them) and join us for open play around the library! See if the library stacks provide you enough shelter from getting hit by a friends foam dart! Open to ages 10 and up; so adults are welcome too! Everyone must bring a snack and beverages will be provided. ONLY 16 spaces are available!! ALL participants MUST sign up in the library and get a permission slip to return completed the night of. We will not allow people to complete permission slips at the door.

Cazenovia Library Events

Children ages 8-14 are invited to join Pat Hill and Jenna Wright Martin at the Cazenovia Public Library for a Halloween-inspired Art for Kids on Friday, Oct. 19 at 1:30 p/m/ in the Community Room. Discussion and activities will focus on The Scream by Norwegian Expressionist artist Edvard Munch.

The Scream is the popular name given to multiple versions of a composition created between 1893 and 1910. The iconic works depict a spooky hairless figure under a yellow-orange sky. The artist created four versions in paint and pastels. Though famous for this single image, Munch was one of the most prolific, innovative, and influential figures in modern art.

During the October Art for Kids, participants will learn about Edvard Munch and study The Scream before creating their own emotion-evoking artwork. All materials will be provided. Class size is limited to ensure program quality. Call or stop by the library to reserve a spot.

Participants will qualify for the chance to win an art kit containing 178 pieces, including colored markers, crayons, colored pencils, watercolor cakes, oil pastels, acrylic paint tubes, and more.

The Cazenovia Public Library will continue its program series, America During World War I, with a special presentation by archivist Elisha Davies and museum educators Pat Hill and Julia Shotzberger. The lecture, titled Home Front Experiences of WWI, will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. in the Community Room.

The presentation will use Cazenovia Republican articles and other archival holdings to explore the impact of the war on locals, their businesses, and their everyday lives. The lecture will bring to light the admirable efforts made by the Cazenovia community to support the troops.

All events at the Cazenovia Public Library are free and open to the public. For more information, call 315-655-9322 or visit www.cazenoviapubliclibrary.org.

Fall Craft Show

The Verona Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary will host its annual Fall Craft Show on Saturday, Oct. 20, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will be held at the Verona Fire Department on Volunteer Avenue in Verona. Shop a variety of crafts and vendors, homemade pies, raffles and more. Lunch will be available.

Seniors Meeting

The Canastota/Lenox Seniors will hold their regular meeting on Thursday, Oct. 18 at 1:30 p.m. at the VFW Hall 3835 Canal Road, Canastota, N.Y. Cider and donuts will be provided. Plans will be made for the November Thanksgiving Covered Dish and a sign-up sheet will be available for those members who will volunteer to set up beforehand and clean up afterwards. New members are always welcome. For more Information, call Alice at 315-796-8998.

Halloween Parties

The Oneida Recreation Department will hold its annual Halloween Party on Saturday, Oct. 27, from 4-6 p.m. at the Oneida Recreation Department, 217 Cedar St. There will be a haunted house, games, face painting, refreshments, and a costume contest. The event will coincide with a Trunk or Treat in the back parking lot.

The third annual village-wide Halloween in Hamilton on Oct. 31 will be a giant celebration with crafts, trick-or-treating, and a free movie.

From 3-4 p.m., head over to the Colgate Bookstore (3 Utica St.) for a gigantic celebration. Create a glowing Dream Jar, design your own enormous BFG ears, and snack on some Frobscottle.

Then, join the costume parade down Lebanon Street from 4-4:30 p.m. Local shops will hand out treats as the children parade through town. Lebanon Street will be closed for traffic from 3:30-4:30 p.m. for safety.

Starting at 4:30 p.m., the Hamilton Movie Theater (7 Lebanon St.) will play the 2016 film, The BFG (rated PG, 1h 57m) for free, sponsored by the Colgate Bookstore. Based on a book by Roald Dahl, The BFG tells the story of an orphan little girl who befriends a benevolent giant who takes her to Giant Country, where they attempt to stop the man-eating giants that are invading the human world.

After the movie, head out through the village of Hamilton for a night of safe, fun trick-or-treating. For more information, call 315-228-6960 or visit www.colgatebookstore.com/

Cornhole Tournament

The city of Sherrill will hold a cornhold tournament on Nov. 10 to benefit the Sherrill Police Departments Christmas with a Cop program.

The tournament will take place at the Community Activity Center, 139 E. Hamilton Ave., at 1 p.m. The entry fee is $40 for teams of two, and the first 16 paid teams to register will compete. Registration must be done by Oct. 31.

Participants can mail or drop off their registration form and payment to City of Sherrill Cornhole Tournament, 377 Sherrill Road, Sherrill, N.Y. 13461.

First place will receive $160, second place $80 and third place $40. There will also be 50/50 raffle tickets available for $5 each.

Proceeds go directly to supporting the police departments Christmas with a Cop program. For more information, email Brandon Lovett at blovett@sherrillny.org.After BSP, CPI allies with Ajit Jogi's outfit for Chhattisgarh assembly polls

India

pti-PTI

Raipur, Oct 14: The Communist Party of India Sunday announced that it had entered into an alliance with Ajit Jogi's outfit Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) for the Assembly polls in the state.

The Chhattisgarh Assembly polls will be held in two phases on November 12 and 20 and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 11.

Earlier, Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party had forged an alliance with Jogi's outfit, as part of which the BSP will fight 35 seats while the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) will contest the remaining 55 seats in the 90-member Assembly.

How BSP has done in Chhattisgarh polls: 2003-2013

CPI state secretary RDCP Rao and Jogi announced the alliance between the two parties Sunday at a press conference here.The Communist Party of India Sunday announced that it had entered into an alliance with Ajit Jogi's outfit Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) for the Assembly polls in the state.

The Chhattisgarh Assembly polls will be held in two phases -- on November 12 and 20 -- and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 11.

Earlier, Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party had forged an alliance with Jogi's outfit, as part of which the BSP will fight 35 seats while the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) will contest the remaining 55 seats in the 90-member Assembly.

Chhattisgarh polls: BJP, Congress face pressure as more parties eye tribal votes

CPI state secretary RDCP Rao and Jogi announced the alliance between the two parties Sunday at a press conference here.The Communist Party of India Sunday announced that it had entered into an alliance with Ajit Jogi's outfit Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) for the Assembly polls in the state.

The Chhattisgarh Assembly polls will be held in two phases -- on November 12 and 20 -- and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 11.

Earlier, Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party had forged an alliance with Jogi's outfit, as part of which the BSP will fight 35 seats while the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) will contest the remaining 55 seats in the 90-member Assembly.

CPI state secretary RDCP Rao and Jogi announced the alliance between the two parties Sunday at a press conference here.

Chhattisgarh polls: BJP, Congress face pressure as more parties eye tribal votes

Jogi said the addition of CPI to the JCC (J)-BSP alliance had made it a "mahagatbandhan" (grand alliance) and added strength to its poll prospects in the Bastar region and in places with a high number of labourers.

The aim of the alliance is to form a government which will work in the interest of Dalits, Adivasis, the poor, villagers, farmers, labourers and minorities and take decisions for the welfare of Chhattisgarh's people, Rao said.

He alleged that over 50 per cent of the state's population continued to live below the poverty line despite 15 years of BJP rule.

Under the agreement, the JCC (J)-BSP will support candidates of the CPI in Konta and Dantewada while the Left party and affiliated labour unions will campaign for the former's candidates in Chitrakot and Bijapur in Bastar division and industrial areas like Korba and Bhilai Nagar, Rao said.

In the 2013 Assembly polls, the CPI had garnered just 0.66 per cent of the votes cast and had lost all 13 seats it had contested.

Rao, however, said that his party had a significant presence in the Bastar region, particularly in Dantewada and Konta seats, from where it had fielded its popular leaders Nandaram Sodhi and Manish Kunjam respectively for the upcoming polls.

While Kunjam has been a two-time MLA from Sukma, Sori has won the Dantewada seat once in the past.

Jogi will be campaigning for the candidates of the grand alliance in Bastar region between October 20 and 24 during which he will address rallies in Konta and Dantewada on October 23.

The development is being seen as a blow to the opposition Congress which was planning to forge a grand alliance in Chhattisgrah to unseat the ruling BJP.

PTIMinister MJ Akbar denies #MeToo allegations, warns of legal action

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Oct 14: Union minister M J Akbar, who is facing allegations of sexual harassment by a number of women journalists denied all accusations against him as false and fabricated.

"Accusation without evidence has become a viral fever among some sections. Whatever be the case, now that I have returned, my lawyers will look into these wild and baseless allegations in order to decide our future course of legal action," ANI quoted Akbar as saying in a statement.

'False and fabricated': MJ Akbar's full statement on #MeToo allegations

"The allegations of misconduct made against me are false and fabricated, spiced up by innuendo and malice. I could not reply earlier as I was on an official tour abroad," added Akbar.

Hinting a political vebdetta, he said "Why has this storm risen a few months before a general election? Is there an agenda? You be the judge. These false, baseless and wild allegations have caused irreparable damage to my reputation and goodwill."

"Lies do not have legs, but they do contain poison, which can be whipped into a frenzy. This is deeply distressing. I will be taking appropriate legal action," the minister added.

Charges against MJ Akbar to be examined: Amit Shah

The Congress sharpened its attack on Union minister MJ Akbar following his return to India amid sexual harassment allegations levelled against him by multiple women, demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi spell out his stand on the issue.

"The PM's silence is conspicuous. A PM who speaks on everything is silent on #MeToo. The silence raises questions on the dignity of the PM's office. The country has been waiting for days for PM Modi's to clear his stand on this," Congress leader Anand Sharma said at a press conference.

Akbar, a former journalist, returned from an official trip to Nigeria on Sunday morning and dodged a volley of questions from reporters at the Delhi airport and said he would issue a statement later.

MJ Akbar grabbed me and shoved his 55-yr-old tongue down my 18-yr-old throat: CNN journalist

Multiple women in the last few days have offered their accounts of alleged sexual harassment by Akbar when he was a journalist as the #MeToo movement swept social media, bringing to fore sordid tales of sexual harassment by influential men in different walks of lives.

There was an indication by the BJP that it is likely to take a clear stand on allegations of sexual harassment against Akbar once he explains his position upon his return.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party has maintained a studied silence on the matter so far, party sources have said the charges against him are serious, and his continuance as a minister is no longer guaranteed.

A final call will be taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Amit Shah to chair Southern Zonal Council at Tirupati on Sunday; Bommai to attend

BJP stands for Jandhan, Aadhaar and Mobile but SP is for Jinnah, Azam and Mukhtar: Amit Shah

Amit Shah to chair 29th meeting of Southern Zonal Council in Tirupati today, 26-point on agenda- Details here

Amit Shah to arrive in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh today

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Oct 14: BJP president Amit Shah will begin a two-day visit to poll-bound state Madhya Pradesh on Sunday. Shah will interact with workers from Sagar, Bhopal, Hoshangabad, Satna, and Rewa regions.

[BJP will win 2019; will rule for next 50 years: Shah]

After reaching Bhopal on Sunday, Shah will leave for Hoshangabad in the evening in a helicopter.

The BJP chief will address party workers in Hoshangabad, around 85 kilometers from Bhopal, before returning to the state capital, where he will stay the night.

[Charges against MJ Akbar to be examined: Amit Shah]

On Monday morning, Shah will take a plane to the famous temple town of Khajuraho, from where he will proceed to Satna and Rewa districts to address two party functions, Singh said.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, October 14, 2018, 10:43 [IST]Hyderabad rape case: The rapist will be caught and killed in encounter, Telangana minister

BJP to target 315 seats in Lok Sabha elections

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Oct 14: Terming the proposed grand alliance of opposition parties against BJP a "non-starter," BJP general secretary V Ram Madhav Saturday said the party is gearing up for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with a target of winning 315 seats.

The opposition parties are proposing 'Mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) as there was no leader who can match the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said.

"No 'jhenda' (flag) and no agenda (for 'Mahagathbandhan'). It's a non-starter.

With such a sinking 'gathbandhan', nobody can stop the victory march of BJP. BJP is gearing up for parliament elections with the target of 315 seats in 2019," he said.

Also Read | ABP 'Desh Ka Mood' survey: BJP to win 276 seats in 2019, UPA vote share to rise

Madhav claimed there was no leader in the country who can match Modi's popularity.

"That's why, all are doing 'Mahagathbandhan' today. There is no leader in the country who can match the popularity of Modi ji.

With that fear, your Chandrasekhar Rao (Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief and caretaker Chief Minister) has brought elections by six-eight months early," Madhav said.

Madhav was addressing a meeting of BJP workers from Secunderabad assembly constituency here which was organised in connection with the December 7 Assembly polls in the state.

BJP is a natural party for Telangana and only it can be the alternative to ruling TRS, he claimed.

Hitting out at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and describing the party as a "sinking ship", he said "an alliance is being formed for the assembly polls in the company of such a party." The Congress leader was "working hard on how to put Modi in power in 2019. He is very busy..," Madhav said.

Attacking TDP, which is also a partner in the Congress-led alliance of opposition parties in Telangana, he described the party as 'Telugu Droham (betrayal) Party'. TDP was founded by late N T Rama Rao on an anti-Congress plank and the party is joining Congress-led alliance for political existence in Telangana, he claimed.

Also Read | Ab ki Baar phir se Modi Sarkar: BJP to win 318 seats in 2019 says Times Now poll

BJP activists should aim to bring the party to power in Telangana and not hope to increase its strength by just a few seats in the assembly elections, Madhav said.

TRS had only got 62 seats (out of 119) in a wave in 2014 in when the party ran a campaign claiming credit for realising separate Telangana, the BJP leader said. "Does TRS, which could not run government for full five years, have the eligibility (to be in power) in the state," he asked.

BJP MP from Secunderabad Bandaru Dattatreya, state BJP president K Laxman and others were present on the occasion.Goa: Have majority, Parrikar must step down says Congress

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Panaji, Oct 14: Accusing the BJP of acting "power hungry" in Goa, the Congress on Saturday demanded that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar step down and it be allowed to prove majority by convening a special session of the state assembly.

Congress leaders Pawan Khera and Goa PCC chief Girish Chodankar claimed that the BJP is not removing Parrikar from the chief minister's post fearing that he might "spill the beans" on the Rafale fighter jet deal.

[Dropping of ministers on health grounds 'laughable' when CM himself is ailing: Goa Congress chief]

The opposition party also accused the BJP of "betraying" the people of Goa and "killing governance" in the state.

"Power hungry BJP first murdered democracy in Goa and is now killing Governance there. The clamour for power has cemented a corrupt, callous and cheat BJP to the CM Chair in Goa. The BJP has no constitutional right to continue in power in Goa, even for a single day," said Khera.

The opposition party alleged that the BJP "usurped" power in Goa through the backdoor. "People of Goa had given the mandate to the Congress. Governor Mridula Sinha should listen to the voice of people of Goa and opposition parties and allow us to prove our numbers on the floor of the House.

[Goa: Francis DeSouza and Pandurang Madkaikar dropped from Parrikar's cabinet]

"A special session of the Goa Assembly should be immediately convened and there should be a floor test. This will clear all doubts about who is in-charge in Goa and who has the rightful claim to head a democratic government," Chodankar said.

He claimed the Congress has a majority in Goa and added that "Goans deserve a full-time chief minister and to ensure democracy and constitutional functioning, a floor test is imperative".

At the same time, he added, "no constitutional morality can be expected from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah because they are drunk with power".

Replying to a query, he said as the Defence Minister, Parrikar must have had a lot of information on the Rafale deal.

"So we have no doubt that the moment the Prime Minister and the BJP President pressure him or demand his resignation or they try to remove him, Manohar Parrikar will not keep quiet, he will reveal all the secret information, important information, which can expose our Prime Minister," he claimed.

Khera said the Congress has been demanding that the Goa Governor convene a one-day special session so that it can ask the government to prove majority.

"The moment we get the first opportunity, we will prove it and we will show we can form the government. Today itself if you call the session that I am here, we will be able to prove majority in the assembly," he claimed.

Wishing Parrikar a speedy recovery and long life, he said his ailment cannot be an impediment to the aspirations of the people of Goa as people of the state want governance, administration and progress.

"Instead of taking Cabinet meetings in AIIMS Delhi, Parrikar should show moral righteousness and voluntarily step down from his post, and get ready for a floor test," he said.

Khera alleged that the "state is headless, governance is paralyzed, the administration is crippled, there is a complete breakdown of authority, rule of law has collapsed, people are feeling cheated with absolutely no policy and direction and Goa is in chaos".

Parrikar, who is undergoing treatment for a pancreatic ailment in New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), held meetings with party leaders as well as allies on Friday to discuss ways to ensure that his government functions normally.

He is expected to shed "many" of his portfolios after Dussehra, according to ministers who met him.

But Khere said, "This desperate drama of holding a cabinet meeting in AIIMS and playing musical chairs with the portfolio of ministers is the last straw and is akin to rubbing salt on wounds of people of Goa."

In the 40-member state assembly, the Parrikar government has the support of 23 MLAs. These comprise 14 BJP MLAs, three each from the Goa Forward Party and MGP as well as three Independents. The opposition Congress is the single largest party in the Goa assembly with 16 MLAs.All pending IT refunds up to Rs 5 lakh to be released immediately

Government to honour honest, consistent taxpayers

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Oct 14: The government is working on an ambitious policy proposal to "facilitate" honest and consistent taxpayers in availing a variety of public services and tax-related works on priority, officials said Sunday.

They said that a committee under the Central Board of Direct Taxes, the policy-making body for the Income Tax Department (ITD), is working to chalk out the broad parameters for extending such "courtesies" and benefits to taxpayers who pay their taxes on time and in full.

The proposal will be vetted by the Finance Ministry and sent for final approval to the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) before it is cleared by the Union cabinet.

IT raids at media baron Raghav Bahl's property, journalists condemn raids

A cabinet note to enhance the output of the Central Processing Centre (CPC) of the department in Bengaluru has already been prepared and sent.

The capacity and automation of the CPC, the repository of tax payer's data and their IT Returns (ITRs), is proposed to be enhanced so that refunds can be issued real-time and ITRs of small taxpayers (with single source of income) can be processed within hours and not days, as prevalent at present, they said.

I-T raids on AAP minister Kailash Gahlot's property in Delhi

As part of the larger plan, they said, it is proposed that honest taxpayers are empowered to get "priority service" while using public services at airports, railways stations and at tolls on highways.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a conference with senior tax officers last year, had urged the department to enhance taxpayer services and ensure that honest taxpayer are given due importance.

It is proposed that taxpayers who have been consistently paying their taxes or even just filing their returns can be hosted at civic receptions held by prominent government functionaries and are honoured publicly, they said.

A unique identity number could be given to such taxpayers or their permanent account number (PAN) could be flagged as special as part of this maiden taxpayer facilitation proposal, they added.

A few years back, the CBDT had started a process by which diligent taxpayers were sent thank you or appreciation notes over email under the name of the CBDT Chairman.

It is proposed to take this initiative forward and the CBDT committee is working on it, a senior official in the finance ministry said.

The committee of senior officers of the CBDT and the IT Department will soon submit its report to the board, they said.

It is also being thought to fully launch hassle-free electronic assessment of diligent taxpayers as part of the new proposal, they added.

The CBDT is already working to usher in a mega plan where a taxpayer can be assessed electronically in any part of the country, as part of its measures to reduce complaints of harassment and corruption in rendering these services.

At present, a taxpayer is assessed by an IT officer based in the city where the person earns their income.

"These new proposals could well be launched by the end of this year," a senior official said.

There are about 8 crore income taxpayers in the country at present and the CBDT has instructed the taxman to add 1.25 crore to this tally by the end of the current financial year in March next year.

PTI

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, October 14, 2018, 15:42 [IST]Which is the most suitable city to live in during COVID-19

Gurugram: Security guard who shot Judge's wife, son sent to 4 days police remand

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Gurugram, Oct 14: Additional sessions judge's gunman who shot at the judge's wife and son yesterday was sent to four-days police remand on Sunday.

Additional Sessions Judge Krishan Kant's wife Ritu (45) and son Dhruv (18) had gone for shopping in the Arcadia market Saturday when they were shot at by Mahipal. The security guard, who shot at an additional sessions judge's wife and son on Saturday, reportedly kicked and abused the woman several times after shooting her. When the judge's 18-year-old son tried to stop him, the accused, identified as Mahipal Singh, aimed his gun at him and shot him thrice, the eyewitness told the police.

In the video, he could be seen dragging the body of injured teen in the car. Failing to do so, the accused fled the scene. The injured were immediately taken to a private hospital.

Also Read | Gurgaon: 5-year-old raped by neighbour, accused arrested

The victims 38-year-old Ritu Sharma and 18-year-old Dhruv Sharma sustained injuries in the chest and head, respectively. Both were admitted to a private hospital and the judge's wife has reportedly succumbed to her injuries. "The reason of her death was excessive bleeding due to the bullet wound," Medanta-The Medicity Hospital said on the death of the wife of additional sessions judge.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, October 14, 2018, 15:36 [IST]MJ Akbar returns to India, says 'will give statement soon on #MeToo allegations'

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Oct 14: Union Minister MJ Akbar on Sunday returned to India amid accusations of sexual harassment against him. Speaking to media at Delhi airport, Akbar said that, "there will be a statement later on." Akbar, the Minister of State for External Affairs, was on an official trip to Nigeria when his name surfaced in the #MeToo campaign earlier last week.

[Charges against MJ Akbar to be examined: Amit Shah]

MJ Akbar came under scanner when several of his former colleagues accused him of sexual harassment during his time as a journalist.

#WATCH Delhi:Union Minister MJ Akbar returns to India amid accusations of sexual harassment against him, says, "there will be a statement later on." pic.twitter.com/ozI0ARBSz4  ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2018

The former journalist-turned-politician was first named as a #MeToo accused by journalists Priya Ramani who tweeted that her article in Vogue in 2017 on sexual harassment was against him.

The allegations came in the wake of #MeToo movement which has swept the whole nation with many women and men coming out with their stories. Soon after the allegations, Many opposition party leaders demanded his resignation.

[MJ Akbar to return today: Will he be shown the door?]

While the Bharatiya Janata Party has maintained a studied silence on the matter so far, many in the party believe that the charges against him are serious. The final call on Akbar's future will be taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they told PTI.Most institutions lose relevance after some decades, not CAG: PM Modi on first Audit Diwas

Watch: PM Modi lands on Purvanchal Expressway in Air Force's C-130J Super Hercules; Know all about it

Modi to brainstorm on emerging energy scenario with global CEOs

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Oct 14: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Monday brainstorm with chief executives of top global and Indian oil and gas companies on emerging energy scenario tomorrow, with ripples from US sanctions on Iran and volatile oil prices threatening growth.

The third annual meeting would also deliberate on ways to revive investment in oil and gas exploration and production, official sources said.

Modi's first meeting was on January 5, 2016 where suggestions for reforming natural gas prices were made. More than a year later, the government allowed higher natural gas price for yet-to-be-produced fields in difficult areas like deep sea.

Also Read | S-400 Triumf from Russia, oil from Iran, not helpful for India: US

In the last edition in October 2017, suggestions were made for giving out equity to foreign and private companies in producing oil and gas fields of state-owned ONGC and OIL. But the plan could not go through in view of strong opposition from Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC).

Sources said Saudi Oil Minister Khalid A Al Falih, BP CEO Bob Dudley, Total head Patrick Fouyane, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and Vedanta chief Anil Agarwal are expected to attend the meeting Monday.

The meeting, coordinated by the NITI Aayog, is likely to focus on challenges posed by volatile oil prices and the US sanctions on Iran.

Also Read | Oil from Iran and these defense procurements a necessity for India

The meeting would look at measures to attract investments and steps for making it easier to do business in India.

Sources said reforms initiated in the last four years in the oil and gas sector, including open acreage policy, pricing reforms and liberalised licensing policy, will be showcased and suggestions would be sought on what more can be done to hasten growth.

The government is looking at private investment to raise domestic oil and gas production, which has stagnated for the last few years while fuel demand has been rising by 5-6 per cent annually. India is dependent on imports to meet 83 per cent of its demand and more than half of its natural gas requirements.

The Prime Minister in 2015 had set a target of reducing India's oil dependence by 10 per cent to 67 per cent (based on import dependence of 77 per cent in 2014-15) by 2022. Import dependence has only increased since then and the government is now looking for ways to raise domestic output.

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo and India's Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan would also attend the meeting, they said.

Also Read | Pradhan says India will buy Iranian oil in November despite threat of US sanctions

Also likely to attend the meeting are ONGC Chairman and Managing Director Shashi Shanker, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Chairman Sanjiv Singh, GAIL India head B C Tripathi, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) Chairman Mukesh Kumar Suran, Oil India Chairman Utpal Bora and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) Chairman D Rajkumar.

(with PTI inputs)

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, October 14, 2018, 15:24 [IST]Now, Maharashtra govt makes u-turn on online liquor sale

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Mumbai, Oct 14: After several social activists protested against the move, Maharashtra government on Sunday backtracked on its plan to facilitate home delivery of liquor.

According to a report by the Times of India, the Minister of State for Excise Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, that the move could be a "game changer" for the alcohol industry. The home delivery of liquor would be facilitated through e-commerce firms, just like how citizens are getting groceries and vegetables in their home.

Meanwhile, a final decision is yet to be announced on the issue.

Also Read | In dry Bihar, over 3,000 litres of liquor seized

Activist Paromita Goswami, who is leading a campaign for a complete ban on liquor in the state, expressed unhappiness over the government's proposed move.

According to a report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), drunk driving accounted for 1.5% of all road accidents in 2015. Such accidents also had the highest number of fatality rates. Around 42% of victims involved in such accidents died compared to 30% and 33% in cases of speeding and reckless driving, respectively.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, October 14, 2018, 14:54 [IST]BJP stands for Jandhan, Aadhaar and Mobile but SP is for Jinnah, Azam and Mukhtar: Amit Shah

Amit Shah to chair 29th meeting of Southern Zonal Council in Tirupati today, 26-point on agenda- Details here

Only BJP can make tea-seller's son PM of largest democracy: Amit Shah

India

oi-Deepika S

Bhopal, Oct 14: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Sunday said that his party is the only one in which a poor tea-seller's son can also become the Prime Minister of a largest democracy like India.

Shah said that someone who is born in a poor household and with no political background can also become the Prime Minister in BJP.

The BJP chief is on a two-day visit to Madhya Pradesh where he addressed party workers at Hoshangabad.

Also Read This mute youth has left top IT job to contest MP Assembly polls

"It is possible only in this party that someone born in a poor household, a poor tea-seller's son with no political background becomes the Prime Minister of the largest democracy of the world," he said.

Shah addressed the people and said that BJP should win with such a margin that even after 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP's flag should fly from Panchayat to parliament for the next 50 years, news agency ANI reported.

Times Now survey predicts win for BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Congress to do better than 2013

"40 Lakh infiltrators were identified & as soon as it happened, right from 'Diggi Raja' to 'Rahul Baba', all of them started making noises in Parliament. For Congress, SP & BSP infiltrators are vote banks, for BJP they are an issue of national security," he added.

Shah is on a two-day visit to Madhya Pradesh where he will be addressing party workers in different districts.

MP elections: Congress-SP fissure widens over Budhni fiasco?

During his visit, Shah will take part in party functions in Satna, Rewa, Dindori and Jabalpur districts in the run-up to Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh on November 28, state BJP president Rakesh Singh said on Saturday.

On Monday morning, Shah will take a plane to the famous temple town of Khajuraho, from where he will proceed to Satna and Rewa districts to address two party functions, Singh said.Will provide financial support to 7 new defence companies if required: Rajnath Singh

India not for starting conflicts but always ready to face challenges: Rajnath Singh

Rajnath Singh to celebrate Dussehra with BSF jawans in Rajasthan's Bikaner

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Oct 14: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will celebrate the festival of Dussehra with BSF jawans in Rajasthan's Bikaner during two-day visit on 18 & 19 October.

Perhaps this is for the first time that a senior minister of the central government will conduct 'shastra puja' or worship of weapons along India's border with Pakistan, with whom India fought full scale wars.

During the two-day visit, the home minister will arrive in Bikaner on October 18, stay the night at the BOP, before celebrating the festival with the jawans on October 19, the official said.

Singh is expected to review the situation on the border and assess the progress in various infrastructure projects.

He will attend a 'Bada Khana' (feast with the jawans) and address the security personnel, another official said. The 3,323-km-long Indo-Pak border is considered to be highly sensitive.

Even though the border in Rajasthan is peaceful, the border guarding forces of the two countries often engaged in massive firing in Jammu and Kashmir, leading to loss of human lives and properties.

Last year, the home minister had celebrated Dussehra at Joshimath in Uttarakhand along the Sino-Indian border.

(with PTI inputs)

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, October 14, 2018, 10:57 [IST]20,000 HAL employees to go on indefinite strike from today after talks fail over wage revision

Regret politicisation of our employees says HAL after Rahul Gandhis visit

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Bengaluru, Oct 14: Against the backdrop of Congress President Rahul Gandhi's interaction with present and past employees of HAL on the Rafale deal, the state run aerospace company on Saturday regretted 'politicisation' of its employees and termed it as a fad and regrettable development that would be detrimental to national security and the organisation.

[Rahul uses HAL visit to attack Centre, apologises on behalf of govt]

An HAL statement, which did not specifically refer to Gandhi's interaction with the employees, came after the event, where the Congress president alleged that temples of modern India were being attacked and destroyed.

An official from the agency told PTI that the NDA government has extended full-fledged support (to HAL), having placed supply orders of over Rs 27,340 core during the 2014-18 period by recognising its premier position.

Towards improvement and upgradation of infrastructure, including ramping up of production facilities, funding to the tune of Rs 7,800 core was sanctioned during the period, it said.

The official also said HAL enjoys pride of place in the defence and aerospace industry sector and has made immense contribution to the nation-building process.

[Rafale: HAL, Dassault Aviation had serious differences when UPA was negotiating deal]

"Todays attempt at politicisation of the employees is a fad and regrettable development and will be detrimental to the interest of the organisation, its employees as well as national security,"the HAL official told PTI in the statement.

In the interaction with former and past employees, Gandhi had accused the Modi government of destroying the "strategic asset" state-run aerospace company HAL and told its employees that Rafale is their right.

Congress, which has been accusing the government of benefiting Anil Ambani's firm from the deal, has also been demanding answers on why the state-run aerospace major HAL was not involved in the deal as finalised during the UPA regime.

The party had been accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of snatching jobs of people of Karnataka by taking away the contract from HAL.

Gandhi had been saying that had HAL been selected in place of Anil Ambani's firm, it could have generated employment to scores of unemployed youth in the state.

However, the BJP and Anil Ambani's firm have dismissed all the allegations as false.

PM Modi had announced the procurement of 36 Rafale fighters after holding talks with then French President Francois Hollande on April 10, 2015, in Paris.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, October 14, 2018, 8:14 [IST]Sabarimala temple in Kerala to open for monthly rituals from July 16; Conditions apply for devotees

How to Book Sabarimala Virtual Q Tickets Online 2021? Know Date, Price and Other Details

Sabarimala verdict: Akhil Hindu Parishad stage protest in Trivandrum

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 14: Akhil Hindu Parishad on Sunday protested march in Trivandrum demanding an ordinance in state assembly against Supreme Court verdict allowing women of all age groups to enter Sabarimala Temple.

Thousands of Lord Ayyappa devotees took to the streets in Kochi on Saturday. Holding placards bearing pictures of Lord Ayyappa and chanting his hymns, the protesters marched through the busy roads of Kochi, the state's commercial hub, after launching the stir from the famed Shiva temple there.

Meanwhile, the Kerala Police on Saturday registered a case against actor Kollam Thulasi for saying that "women who dare to enter Sabarimala temple should be torn into two pieces".

Also Read | Thousands protest Sabarimala order, devotees threaten suicide in Kerala

The actor was booked under Sections 295A (outraging religious feelings), 298 (uttering words with intention to wound religious sentiments), 354A (making sexually coloured remarks) of the IPC.

On October 1, the Shiv Sena had staged a statewide strike for 12 hours in Kerala after the Supreme Court directed lifting restrictions on the entry of women in the Sabarimala Temple.

The Sabarimala temple, located in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district, is dedicated to the Hindu deity Ayyappan. The temple management considers the deity to be eternal celibate which debarred women from entering the temple.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, October 14, 2018, 15:05 [IST]Get inducted in Pakistans cabinet: Sambit Patra

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra took a dig at Sidhu, saying he should get himself inducted in Pakistan's Cabinet as he repeatedly exudes his love for the country.

"The kind of love he (Sidhu) exudes for Pakistan, the only advice which we can give is Sidhu please proceed to become a part of Imran Khan's cabinet," Patra told reporters.

"Repeatedly engaging with Pakistan shows a conspiracy. It depicts his mentality to divide north and south India and that is a strategy being followed by the whole of Congress," he added.

We know Congress loves Pakistan

The BJP today attacked the cricketer turned politician and demanded the Congress to sack him.

"We know your party loves Pakistan and your members sing its praises. Rahul Gandhi should apologise to every south Indian and make Navjot Singh Sidhu apologise too. Sidhu should be sacked," said GVL Narasimha Rao.

Pakistan calls Sidhu ambassador of peace

Sidhu had earlier stirred a row after he visited Pakistan for prime minister Imran Khan's swearing in ceremony.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan called Sidhu an ambassador of peace "I want to thank Sidhu for coming to Pak for my oath taking. He was an ambassador of peace and was given amazing love and affection by people of Pakistan. Those in India who targeted him are doing a great disservice to peace in the subcontinent - without peace, our people can't progress," Khan had tweeted.Union Minister MJ Akbar 'sends resignation' through Email: Sources

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Oct 14: Union Minister MJ Akbar reportedly tendered his resignation on Sunday. He had returned to India on Sunday morning amid the storm raised by sexual harassment allegations against him. However, Sources told CNN News18 that MJ Akbar's resignation, which was sent via email, was sent to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). The news channel said that the resignation letter has not been accepted yet.

Akbar left straight for his official residence from the Delhi airport, dodging pointed questions from several reporters. The junior foreign minister only said that he would issue a statement later in the day.

The minister of state for external affairs was in Nigeria when his name came up in a #MeToo thread on social media earlier this week.

The opposition Congress has demanded his resignation after he was accused of sexual harassment by many women journalists who had worked with him when he was an editor.

Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah said that he was not in a position to comment on Akbar as the claims against the Union minister needed to be "looked into".

Several union ministers have expressed solidarity with victims of sexual harassment, without mentioning Akbar, but minister for women and child development Maneka Gandhi has asked for an investigation against him.Bengaluru-born teenager wins top US award for her work on distressed girls

International

oi-Shubham Ghosh

New York, Oct 13: It was a moment of great pride for India when Bengaluru-born teenager Sakshi Satpathy, a high school senior based in San Francisco, received the National Gold Award from Girl Scouts of the USA - its highest honour - at a ceremony in the United Nations on Thursday, October 11, a report in Washington-based National Public Radio said.

Sakshi was felicitated on the occasion of the International Day of the Girl, a day which stresses on challenges that girls face around the world and champions girls who take the effort to make a difference.

The youngster was picked this year for her commendable work on human trafficking, child marriage and gender equality. She has done it by means of screening her three documentary films in 15 countries besides a training curriculum to help in rehabilitating trafficked girls and raising awareness about the issues through a website and YouTube playlists of educational videos from various non-profit groups.

Also Read | Children felicitated for National Bravery Awards by Delhi Lt Governor

All the above are part of the initiative she has named Project GREET which is 'Girl Rights: Engage, Empower, Train'.

"Gold Award Girl Scouts demonstrate how girls are creating positive, sustainable change to improve their communities and the world," Girl Scouts CEO Sylvia Acevedo said officially. "They are well on their way to becoming the business leaders, activists, scientists, entrepreneurs, policymakers and artists who will build our collective future."

Sakshi was born in Bengaluru and later moved with her family to northern California when she was 11.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, October 14, 2018, 13:46 [IST]Did you know why China shuts Tibet for foreigners? Hint: its not about media freedom

International

oi-Shubham Ghosh

Washington, Oct 13: Did you ever consider that there could be some other reason behind China's stance of not allowing foreign journalists and scholars to Tibet, a sensitive region? We mostly thought that Beijing did not allow foreigners to enter the region because it is against right to free speech and did not want the outer world get any opportunity to accuse it of trampling the voice of the Tibetans.

However, China's Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai recently revealed the actual reason why his country obstructs the entry of foreign journalists and scholars to Tibet. He told the actual reason to Steve Inskeep in an interview to Washington-based National Public Radio.

Tiankai was asked questions on a number of issues and when he was asked whether China would encourage greater openness if American scholars and journalists wanted to visit a sensitive region like Tibet, the former came up with an answer not many of us expected.

Also Read | China warns US against supporting Dalai Lama; don't trust Washington, say experts

He said China is open to American students, professors, journalists or scholars but in case of Tibet, it is because of the high altitude and the climate that stops it from becoming that welcoming.

When Inskeep told the diplomat that American journalists and scholars could handle the challenge since the US also has high altitude in many of its places, Tiankai was ready with the following explanation:

"Well, not everybody could quickly get used to such climate and natural conditions. Even for Chinese. Many of them would not feel very well once they are there. And also the local, we have to protect the local environment. We should have some limit on the number of people outside visitors every year. Otherwise the burden on the environment will be too heavy. So we have to take care of all these things. If we can take good care of all these things we certainly welcome American visitors to go there. I understand for the last few American ambassadors, all of them visited Tibet. We are now working for the visit by Ambassador Branstad."

Also Read | China's foreign trade leaps by almost 10% in 1st three quarters: Report

China's imposing travel restrictions on outsiders to visit Tibet had little to do with altitude of the Tibetan Plateau after protests broke out against Beijing's control in 2011. The Chinese government sought to ensure that all foreigners trying to enter Tibet be part of organised tours and for journalists, getting an approved travel is next to impossible. China also shuts certain areas of Tibet and the neighbouring Qinghai and Sichuan for foreigners at times without any notice. In march every year, the entire region is blocked from access owing to the anniversary of the 2008 unrest which saw dead riots in Lhasa and a brutal suppression by the Chinese state.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, October 14, 2018, 13:39 [IST]The person then messaged Emmanuel on SMS - Need you to immediately take down FB posts concerning recent airport photos ... It is a security risk under APEC joint task force ... Please call me, David Johnson.

The message read - You must immediately take down posts of Maserati  APEC security act will be inacted [sic].

He shared a post by airline company, Ajot, that flew the cars to Port Moresby. Minutes after posting the article he was in-boxed by a person with a Facebook account called Silver Fox providing his number and insisting Emmanuel call him immediately.

PORT MORESBY  Last Wednesday, respected young entrepreneur Emmanuel Narakobi shared on Facebook an article showing the arrival of the controversial million kina Italian luxury cars at Jacksons International Airport.

David ('Silver Fox') Johnson's communications to Emmanuel Narakobi - was Johnson acting with the authority of APEC or as a freelancer?

Johnson telephoned Emmanuel explaining he was part of APEC security and instructed him to take down his post. Emmanuel did take the post down and so did Ajot.

So who is David Johnson?

He is an Australian expatriate who arrived in PNG sometime in 2015. He resides in Lae providing financial advisory services.

He later acquired a shelf company Karama Consultants, registering himself as the sole director and shareholder.

In August 2017 he registered two other shelf (start-up) companies, Karama Developments Limited (which claims to specialise in residential and commercial property development) and Karama Health Limited.

Now in 2018 it appears Johnson specialises in APEC and cyber security.

Emmanuel Narakobi, member of an eminent PNG family. Was he a victim of a crude attempt at censorship by APEC or by an impostor?

So my message to David Johnson AKA Silver Fox is this.

While you are a mere visitor to our country, Emmanuel Narakobi comes from a well respected political family of highly educated lawyers and entrepreneurs.

Late Bernard Narakobi was former attorney general under the Namiliu government and a firebrand politician. Emmanuel like any other Papua New Guinean is not answerable to you.

So your threatening words are completely unacceptable!

You are treading a thin line, given that public funds have been used to splurge on cars, PNG cannot afford under a scheme to illegally dispose of them to the benefit of a number of unknown private firms. Are you one of these private bidders?

Before you decide to threaten another one of my fellow countrymen, Mr Johnson, I strongly suggest you call me instead, my number is 7093 0840.

It is becoming clear ONeill governments decision to pass the APEC Security Act was that it be used against its own citizens.Mr Gandhi demanded to know why the order was being taken away from HAL when it had all the experience.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi during an interaction with a group of working and retired employees of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd in Bengaluru on Saturday. (Photo: PTI)

Bengaluru: Scaling up his attack on the government over the ongoing Rafale fighter jet controversy, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of helping businessman Anil Ambani by destroying the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, and destroying the strategic asset state-run aerospace company HAL.

Amid loud cheers, Mr Gandhi told HALs former and present employees, Rafale is your right, you are a 78-year-old company.

Speaking to reporters after his interaction with HAL employees at crowded Minsk Square against a huge backdrop of the Tejas fighter, within a stones throw of the HAL headquarters, Mr Gandhi said, I am saying very clearly that corruption has taken place.

Mr Modi helps his capitalist friend Anil Ambani whose group is debt ridden to the tune of Rs 48,000 crore, he said.

Kickbacks have been exchanged. Rs 30,000 crore has been snatched from these (HAL) people and have been given to Mr Ambani. Youth of Bengaluru and country must know this, that thousands of superb skilled jobs have been snatched away from them to help Mr Ambani, he said.

HAL is a strategic asset in aerospace, not an ordinary or regular company, he said.

Snapping at a question on the UPAs role in the deal, Mr Gandhi said, When the UPA was signing the deal, the HAL was very much part of the contract proposal. Cleverly evading direct response on the future of contract between Dassault with the Ambani, he quickly added that if the UPA comes to power, the Congress will always protect interests of nation building institutes like HAL.

Mr Gandhi told reporters that defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman talked about lack of experience of HAL, but had not said anything about the lack of experience of Mr Ambani, who has never built a plane in his life.

HAL has no debt, he has Rs 45,000 crore of debt. HAL has been working for 78 years. His company has been working for 12 days. So she has no comment about the person who got the contract. She has to comment about HALs experience, he said.

Mr Gandhi demanded to know why the order was being taken away from HAL when it had all the experience. Why hasnt the work been given to them? Why is HAL being destroyed by Anil Ambani... that is the question.

By raising questions about capabilities of HAL and its employees, she has certainly insulted the HAL and its employees. Can we expect an apology from her on this, definitely no, as I know for the sure, that she will never apology for her unsavoury remarks on these nation building institution, he said.

On alleged corruption, he said HAL is one of the modern temples of India and it was being destroyed because of corruption that Narendra Modi is doing to help Anil Ambani. We are here to defend the people who are defending the nation. From the government, we have to defend HAL, he said.

Mr Gandhi charged that Ms Sitharaman has gone to France just to cover this up. She is lying, when she is talking about the Rafale deal. Frances former President has already gone on the record stating that Mr Modi himself and the Union government was instrumental in getting contract for Mr Ambani. Even the media in France has exposed the Dassault internal document, which clearly indicts Mr Modi and Mr Ambani. Therefore, Ms Sitharamans cover-up efforts may not yield desired, he said.Why #MeToo storm just before polls? Is there an agenda?

New Delhi: Minister of state for external affairs M.J. Akbar on Sunday refused to step down from his post and denied allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by several women. Hours after returning to New Delhi on Sunday morning after an official visit to Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea, he termed these as viral fever. saying that they were false and fabricated, spiced up by innuendo and malice, adding that he would be taking appropriate legal action. He further said: Lies do not have legs, but they do contain poison, which can be whipped into a frenzy.

Mr Akbar added: A sea of innuendo, speculation and abusive diatribe has been built around something that never happened.

Implying a political motive behind the allegations, he wondered why the storm had risen a few months before the elections. There had been considerable speculation over the past few days whether Mr Akbar would resign or not in the wake of the allegations, particularly as Mr Akbar had not reacted for a few days. The Congress attacked the government on the issue, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modis silence on the matter was conspicuous and unacceptable.

Sources said Mr Akbars decision to not resign was taken after consulting the top BJP leadership and after he explained his side of the story on the sexual misconduct allegations levelled against him. There was a growing feeling within the BJP that the #MeToo campaign was turning into an effort to malign the party and if Mr Akbar were to resign, it would give ammunition to the Opposition ahead of the crucial Assembly polls. Mr Akbar is a Rajya Sabha member belonging to the BJP.

As far as the RSS is concerned, sources said senior RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabales sharing a Facebook post of a former JNU student on #MeToo was in support of the campaign after questions were raised on the Sangh Parivars stand. The Sangh, sources said, is also aware that any action against Mr Akbar would turn into a political issue, which could affect the BJP.

In a statement, Mr Akbar said: The allegations of misconduct made against me are false and fabricated, spiced up by innuendo and malice. I could not reply earlier as I was on an official tour abroad. Accusation without evidence has become a viral fever among some sections. Whatever be the case, now that I have returned, my lawyers will look into these wild and baseless allegations in order to decide our future course of legal action.

Mr Akbar added: Why has this storm risen a few months before a general election? Is there an agenda? You be the judge. These false, baseless and wild allegations have caused irreparable damage to my reputation and goodwill. Lies do not have legs, but they do contain poison, which can be whipped into a frenzy. This is deeply distressing. As indicated above, I will be taking appropriate legal action.

Several women journalists, including Ghazala Wahab, Priya Ramani, Shutapa Paul and Shuma Raha, had made allegations of sexual harassment against Mr Akbar.

In his statement, Mr Akbar said: Ms Priya Ramani ... did not however name me ... When asked recently why she had not named me, she replied, in a tweet: Never named him because he didnt do anything. If I didnt do anything, where and what is the story? There is no story. This was admitted at the very inception. But a sea of innuendo, speculation and abusive diatribe has been built around something that never happened... Some are total, unsubstantiated hearsay; others confirm, on the record, that I didnt do anything.

Mr Akbar further said: Let me note examples. Shutapa Paul states: The man never laid a hand on me. Shuma Raha says: I must clarify, however, that he didnt actually do anything. One woman ... went to the absurd extent of claiming I was partying in a swimming pool. I do not know how to swim.

Replying to the allegations of sexual harassment against him by Ghazala Wahab, Mr Akbar said: Another accusation was made repeatedly by Ms Ghazala Wahab, in an effort to damage my reputation. She claimed that she had been molested in office, 21 years ago. This is 16 years before I entered public life, and when I was in the media. The only office where I worked with her was that of The Asian Age. A part of the editorial team then worked out of a small hall. At the time concerned, I had a very tiny cubicle, patched together by plywood and glass. Others had tables and chairs two feet away. It is utterly bizarre to believe that anything could have happened in that tiny space, and, moreover, that no one else in the vicinity would come to know, in the midst of a working day. These allegations are false, motivated and baseless.

Ms Wahab states that she complained to Ms Veenu Sandal, who wrote features for the paper. Ms Sandal has described Ms Wahabs version as nonsense, in an interview to the Indian Express. Ms Sandal has also said she has never heard, in 20 years, anybody accusing me of any such thing.

It is pertinent to remember that both Ms Ramani and Ms Wahab kept working with me even after these alleged incidents; this clearly establishes that they had no apprehension and discomfort. The reason why they remained silent for decades is very apparent: as Ms Ramani has herself stated, I never did anything. This is the reason why no one went to the authorities for so long, because I had done nothing.Our website uses cookies to improve your experience. Learn more2018 Gaming in Spain Conference Hosting Local and International Insiders

Published October 14, 2018 by Ivan P

The conference will gather representatives of regulatory authorities and international industry insiders, discussing the current situation and the future outlook of the gaming market in Spain.

The Gaming in Spain Conference, scheduled for November 7-8, 2018, in Madrid, has released the full program, announcing an interesting industry event. Featuring a mix of local gaming experts and a number of international authorities from various relevant fields, the conference should offer a colorful and informative agenda.

Head to Head With Local Regulators

One portion of the 2018 Gaming in Spain conference is reserved for what is likely to be the last meeting with local regulatory authorities before the licensing window closes on December 17, 2018. Representatives of Director General de Regulacion del Juego (DGOJ) Juan Espinosa Garcia and Guillermo Olague Sanchez will deliver their general outlook of the market.

Representatives of the regulatory body will discuss the overall impact of the third licensing round in Spain and will shed some more light on the current regulatory situation and development.

Market Growth Potential and Regulatory Challenges

Apart from the regulators, the conference will gather a number of international experts from various fields, who will look into market growth and development opportunities, especially in the light of regulatory challenges and expectations.

Maarten Haijer of the EGBA is set to deliver an interesting presentation on how, contrary to the popular belief, advertising restrictions don't help to protect vulnerable players. Instead, he will try to demonstrate how marketing is necessary to insure the player protection and regulatory compliance.

Kim Mouridsen, the founder of Mindway AI, will talk about the ways to support operators in their efforts to provide a responsible gambling environment using the combination of AI and expert analysis and methods that have proved successful in Denmark.

These and many other experts gathering in Madrid in November are a guarantee that the 2018 Gaming in Spain conference will offer invaluable insights and a host of novel ideas, making the event a must-attend for all industry stakeholders in the country.Peru Prepares to Regulate

Published October 14, 2018 by Lee R

With the bill drafted, Peru is rapidly joining the global iGaming regulation movement.

Peru is making it's move towards a regulation model.

When?

Reports out of the nation of 32 million have online gaming in effect by next month.

Regulation Strategy

The country's legislators have introduced a bill to legalise iGaming according to a quad core strategy of transparency, equitable markets, protection measures for vulnerable groups and the prevention of illegal gambling.

Minimize Involvement

Bill 3397 was actually introduced into legislature last month by Percy Eloy Alcala Mateo of the Fuerza Popular Party. The general consensus is that the bill will encounter minimal opposition in its bureaucratic pathway through Congress to be signed by the President.

Current Environment

At this juncture, the proverbial gray area pervades in Peru, with online gambling neither outlawed nor regulated.

Land-based operations are thriving at present, with 12 land-based casinos thriving in the Andean region.

Guidelines

The bill at this point contains the following provisions:

a 12% tax on all revenues

strong regulations to prevent underage gambling

operator deposits of $166,000 to cover initial payouts to customers before the fact

Further Clarification Required

The bill does not specify if online gambling operators should be linked to land-based operations nor what laws and regulations will stop non-licensed operators offering gambling in Peru.

Opposition

The only opposition seems to be from operators who are concerned about the amount of initial deposit requirements. Commenting upon the proposal, Sportlimba.com general manager Luis Felipe Cornejo stated that if the bar is set too high, it will hit the formal gambling houses and the informal ones will remain illegal.

History of Peruvian Efforts

The incoming legislation culminates over a year of effort by Peruvian gambling regulator Direccion General de Juegos de Casino y Maquinas Tragamonedas (DGJCMT), a division of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism. DGJCMT party leader Manuel San Roman first urged Perus lawmakers in May 2017, calling for all government regulators to

make every effort to ensure that this activity [online gambling] is conducted with honesty, transparency and equal conditions for all; especially with proper protection to vulnerable groups of the population and taking care that the activity has full provisions against money-laundering and the financing of terrorism  issues that must be firmly legislated in a sensitive activity such as gambling.

Outlook

Now, the legislation is following a four-pronged approach consistent with San Roman's original appeal, and in so doing joining a global movement for uniformity in regulation guidelines for iGaming.According to sources, the home minister will celebrate the Dussehra festival with jawans of the Border Security Force (BSF).

New Delhi: Union home minister Rajnath Singh will celebrate Dussehra and perform shastra puja or worship of weapons along the sensitive Indo-Pak border in Rajasthans Bikaner on October 19. He will also review the progress in various infrastructure projects in the border area.

According to sources, the home minister will celebrate the Dussehra festival with jawans of the Border Security Force (BSF).

The shastra puja, that is a part of the Dussehra festival which is celebrated to mark the victory of Lord Ram over Ravana, will be performed at a border post, they added.

This is for the first time that a senior minister of the Central government will conduct shastra puja along Indias border with Pakistan, with whom India fought full scale wars, sources said.

Last year, the home minister had celebrated Dussehra at Joshimath in Uttarakhand along the Sino-Indian border During the two-day visit to Rajasthan, the home minister will arrive in Bikaner on October 18 and spend the night at the border outpost, before celebrating the festival with jawans on October 19, sources said.

Mr Singh is expected to review the situation on the border and assess the progress in various infrastructure projects. He will attend a Bada Khana (feast with the jawans) and address the security personnel, sources said.

The 3,323-km-long Indo-Pak border is considered to be highly sensitive. Even though the border in Rajasthan is peaceful, the border guarding forces of the two countries often engage in massive firing in Jammu and Kashmir, leading to loss of human lives and properties.Cutting Through the Coverage: What Bitcoin Is and What Blockchain Is Not

Integrity is the highest form of efficiency; preserving it on the blockchain is the key to implementation.

People: Bitcoin and blockchain are NOT the same thing. Cryptocurrency and blockchain are NOT the same thing either.

What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is the adaptation of one form of cryptocurrency to the blockchain, in a form which clearly has flaws from an economic behavior standpoint.

What is cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency constitutes the adaptation of the creation and use of money to the blockchain. Speculating on and investing in cryptocurrency in essence refers to the adaptation of investment banking to the blockchain.

BUT ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING CAN BE ADAPTED TO THE BLOCKCHAIN.

Source of Concerns

Why is bitcoin and ICO getting stigmatized in online media and encountering so much resistance by global economic institutions and government?

Because of Bad Actors.

Bad Actors Defined

Bad Actors are those who seek to manipulate technology for ill gain. Those in this cohort run the gamut, from money laundering of terrorist funds to seeking to use technology for duping, bilking, or skimming.

Straight On

We hate those words, we don't even want to think about them. But why are they so stigmatized? Because for the last two decades we have seen the investment sector rocked by financial scandals.

Nobody wants scandals on the blockchain, and the powers that be are rightly concerned about Bad Actors seeking to manipulate online technology for personal and ill-gotten gain.

The Economic Vulnerability of the Investment Sector

The fact is the more efficient an investment tool is on the blockchain, the more vulnerable the blockchain becomes to Bad Actors who get on the blockchain.

But this unpleasantness in one sector does NOT mean that the blockchain is bad.

The Attractiveness of Bitcoin Technology

A lot of people were introduced to the blockchain through bitcoin, and they like bitcoin because of the freedoms that the technology upon which it is built provides.

However, all systems can be improved on the blockchain. Healthcare systems, environmental balancing systems, security protection systems, advance warning systems, addiction prevention systems, heat transfer systemsany system across any sector.

Bitcoin and Blockchain Conferences

To date, bitcoin and blockchain are being intertwined in their representation in titles of highly productive and dynamic conferences where people from all sectors are looking to harness the benefits of the blockchain.

The Investment Sector Distraction

Meanwhile, everyone is seeking to crack this fantastic mysterious egg of how to adapt investment banking to the blockchain, and the battle of public opinion rages on about whether the blockchain is good or evil.

The Take

After covering conferences for years then studying the blockchain as a pet project for 2018, this is my opinion;

The blockchain is most definitely good. Seeing the blockchain as merely an investment or financial tool is bad, unproductive, and far too narrow, let alone counterproductive.

The Life of the Blockchain

Even if there was no bitcoin or cryptocurrency, there would still be a blockchain, and many blockchain projects could and would continue to develop, thrive or incubate to help society and usher in an era of constructive globalisation.

Addressing the Taboos

As for the hot topics terms that are so uncomfortable to talk about: let's clear up some confusion once and for all.

Bitcoin's Investment Realm on the Blockchain

Bitcoin is a form of cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is created and traded using blockchain technology. Cryptocurrency trading falls within the realm of the investment banking sector, which includes forex, open market share trading, and investing for growth.

Uniform and Diversified Compliance on the Blockchain

There exist or can exist compliant processes and blockchain networks for registering not just cryptocurrency or adapting the investment sector as we hear about continuously in the news. The blockchain offers, welcomes and can receive adaptation of anything from any sector.

The proliferating Bitcoin and Blockchain conferences are wondrous convergences of dynamic ideas and positive solution seekers networking to build effective and socially beneficial systems on the blockchain to solve all kinds of challenges and make better use of all environmental resources be they big data or hard inventory.

The Real ICO Utility

And most of these projects are being funded with ICO's, which are at heart astonishingly efficient systems for raising capital that the blockchain has made possible.

Uniformity on the Blockchain

As a global technology, the blockchain seeks to provide a built-in system of optimized compliance faithful to overarching legal requirements as well as the inherent sense of fair play and community protection which makes the job of governing and licensing easier for all jurisdictions.

Separating Investment from Blockchain

The ins and outs of the financial sector will be resolved in whatever process or form the controversy takes, but the blockchain offers a haven for equitable optimization for all sectors and projects, and is capable of providing a common ground to bring stakeholders in all professions together in an increasingly uniform system of compliant cooperation.

Writer's Statement

If we have the technology to do something so amazing, let's take advantage of it.

And let the investment sector be the investment sector, not the blockchain.Aparna Yadavs statement on Saturday has now created intense speculations in political circles.

Lucknow: The fissures in the Samajwadi Party deepened further on Saturday when Aparna Yadav, younger daughter-in-law of Mulayam Singh Yadav, shared the stage with Shivpal Yadav and urged the people to strengthen his newly-formed Samajwadi Secular Morcha.

Aparna Yadav, till now, had maintained a safe distance from the Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav camp but she made her choice clear at a function in Lucknow on Saturday. Aparna Yadav had unsuccessfully contested the Lucknow Cantt seat in the 2017 Assembly elections as SP candidate.

I am sure that the Samajwadi Secular Morcha will march ahead and I appeal to all to strengthen the Morcha, she said while addressing a function which was organised by Rashtriya Krantikari Samajwadi Party, another off-shoot of the Samajwadi Party.

She further said, After Netaji (Mulayam), I respect Shivpal ji the most and I sincerely want that he moves to greater heights with the Morcha.

Aparna Yadavs statement on Saturday has now created intense speculations in political circles and indicates that the infighting in the Yadav clan is far from over.

Two days ago, Aditya Yadav, son of Shivpal Yadav, had declared that the Morcha would field a strong candidate against Akhilesh Yadav in Kannauj and make sincere efforts to win.Ruling BJP took a dig at Mr Nath for giving open invitation to BJP leaders to join Congress.

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath on Saturday dangled ticket bait to woo Bharatiya Janata Party leaders to his party ahead of November 28 Assembly elections in the state.

Congress will give tickets to the candidates with winning prospects even though they join the party from BJP. Winning prospects of the candidates will be the sole criteria to get party ticket, said Mr Nath.

Mr Naths announcement was in sharp contrast to promise made recently by Congress president Rahul Gandhi that only partys grass root level leaders would be considered for nomination in the coming Assembly elections in the state.

Parachute landing leaders (meaning leaders who join Congress from other parties) will not be considered for party ticket. I will cut down the parachute to trip their landing (meaning attempt to get ticket), Mr Gandhi had earlier declared.

Mr Naths u-turn on the stated policy on eligibility for Congress ticket as was indicated by Mr Gandhi has raised eyebrows in party circle here.

Mr Nath is trying to woo BJP leaders to the party by throwing bait of ticket. But, this will not go down well with the party cadres, a senior Congress leader told this newspaper requesting anonymity.

Incidentally, ruling BJP took a dig at Mr Nath for giving open invitation to BJP leaders to join Congress. It is now clear that Congress is frustrated over its dimming prospects in the coming Assembly elections in MP because of non-availability of suitable candidates in the party. That is why Mr Nath was trying to woo the BJP leaders to the party with the promise of giving them tickets, said a BJP leader.Head Up Display (HUD) Market Trend to 2026 Profiling Elbit Systems, Robert Bosch LLC, BAE Systems, Visteon Corporation, and DENSO Corporation.

https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/head-up-display-market/request-for-free-sample

https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/head-up-display-market/inquire-before-buying

www.polarismarketresearch.com

The Global Head Up Display Market is estimated to reach over USD 15.3 million by 2026 according to a new study published by Polaris Market Research. The key reason for HUD market growth is the emergence of Augmented Reality which is used as an assistant between drivers and vehicle that leads to safer driving. Thus, with the invention of new driver-centric innovative products, HUD market has gained traction over the forecast period. HUDs are transparent displays which provide different information to the driver in real-time at a single screen, thus helping the driver to safely cruise in his vehicle. They were prominently used in the aircrafts, however with technological innovations, the adoption of such displays has gained significant traction in the automotive sector.Get Sample Copy of this Report at @Major Key Player: -YAZAKI CorporationElbit SystemsRobert Bosch LLCBAE SystemsVisteon CorporationDENSO Corporation.In terms of volume, the number of shipments in automotive segment of HUD is expected to increase significantly over the forecast period. The combination of Head-Up Displays with the driver assistance systems which has implemented by large number of manufacturers has propelled the growth of the HUD market. The automotive sector is projected to have a remarkable market share during the forecast period. Due to the enhancing need for road safety among passengers and increasing demand for establishing latest technology in military aircrafts, automotive and defense sectors were the major worldwide demand generators.Global Positioning System (GPS) is one of the factor for the growth of HUD market. Adaptive cruise control is one of the innovative technology that gained traction in Head-Up Display market. Invention of portable Head-Up Display in basic & mid segment cars has also spurred the market growth. Car manufacturers such as BMW and AUDI are working with HUD producers to implement HUD in mid segment cars. HUDs till date were majorly used in the luxury or sports car segments, however companies are trying to make it a standard feature across all the variants of their cars. The Head Up Display market growth is attributable to the enhanced perception concerning safety. Along with this, implementing advanced feature in the standard cars is also fueling the market for HUDs globally.Inquire about this Report at @Snapshot  Table Of Content:1. Overview and Scope2. Executive Summary3. Head-Up Display Market Insights4. Head Up Display Market Size and Forecast by Mount Type5. Head Up Display Market Size and Forecast by Component Type6. Head Up Display Market Size and Forecast by End-use Type7. Head Up Display Market Size and Forecast by Regions8. Company Profiles.Key finding from the study suggest that the automotive application segment holds a significant market share in HUD application during the forecast period. Currently, North America dominated head-up displays in the global market followed by Europe. The large number of technology companies and heavy spending on R&D are the factors that spur the market growth in North America. Asia-Pacific region is projected to gain higher growth rate over the forecast years.About us Polaris Market ResearchPolaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide unmatched quality of offerings to our clients present globally. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for our clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve our diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. We strive to provide our customers with updated information on innovative technologies, high growth markets, emerging business environments and latest business-centric applications, thereby helping them always to make informed decisions and leverage new opportunities.Contact us-Mr. NeelCorporate Sales, USAPolaris Market ResearchPhone: 1-646-568-9980Email: sales@polarismarketresearch.comWeb:The city police carried out the raid on Saturday and arrested five.

Mumbai: In a massive raid in Mulund, the Juvenile Aid Protection Unit (JAPU) rescued 21 underage labourers who had been brought from Nepal and Bihar for working in Mumbai. The police, following a joint operation with NGO Pratham, arrested five persons who had smuggled the children to Mumbai to push them into child labour while promising their parents the good life.

The enforcement and JAPU wings of the Mumbai police, along with the NGO, carried out the raid Saturday. The raid was conducted based on the details gathered by the non-profit organization on how children were being brought to the city and systematically pushed into working illegally in hotels, small units and other places. The rescued children are between 13 and 16 years old.

The police also arrested five persons identified as Mohammad Sadiq Hasan Mansuri, a resident of Darbhanga; Sukeshwar Raut, a resident of Shahwazpur; Eklakh Amir Hasan, a resident of Darbhang; Jafar Hafiz Shaikh, a resident of Darbhanga; and Abdul Gani Shaikh, a resident of Motihari. The police is on the lookout for Sartaj Shaikh and Jameel, both from Bihar.

Among the 21 children rescued from outside Mulund east railway station, eight are Nepali nationals. Those rescued were brought here from Ruksaul railway station in Bihar by Karmabhumi Express. The arrested accused would bring minors from different parts of Bihar and Nepal as child labourers, said an officer attached to the JAPU wing.

The police has sent all the children to the Dongri childrens home after conducting their medical examination. The child welfare committee will record their statements and contact their families to take them back to their homes.

A case has been registered at Navghar police station under sections 370(1) (trafficking juveniles for sexual exploitation or other purpose) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with sections of the Juvenile Justice Act.Trifluoromethane Global Market Research Report 2018

https://www.research2reports.com/sample-report-chemical/trifluoromethane-market/79565

https://www.research2reports.com/report-chemical/trifluoromethane-market/79565

https://www.research2reports.com/enquiry-before-buy-chemical/trifluoromethane-market/79565

https://www.research2reports.com

GET SAMPLE REPORT @Trifluoromethane Report by Material, Application, and Geography  Global Forecast to 2022 is a professional and in-depth research report on the world's major regional market conditions, focusing on the main regions (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific) and the main countries (United States, Germany, united Kingdom, Japan, South Korea and China).The report firstly introduced the Trifluoromethane basics: definitions, classifications, applications and market overview; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures, raw materials and so on. Then it analyzed the world's main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, supply, demand and market growth rate and forecast etc. In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.The report includes six parts, dealing with:1.) Basic Information;2.) Asia Trifluoromethane Market;3.) North American Trifluoromethane Market;4.) European Trifluoromethane Market;5.) Market Entry and Investment Feasibility;6.) Report Conclusion.ACCESS REPORTTable of ContentsChapter One Trifluoromethane Industry Overview1.1 Trifluoromethane Definition1.2 Trifluoromethane Classification Analysis1.2.1 Trifluoromethane Main Classification Analysis1.2.2 Trifluoromethane Main Classification Share Analysis1.3 Trifluoromethane Application Analysis1.3.1 Trifluoromethane Main Application Analysis1.3.2 Trifluoromethane Main Application Share Analysis1.4 Trifluoromethane Industry Chain Structure Analysis1.5 Trifluoromethane Industry Development Overview1.5.1 Trifluoromethane Product History Development Overview1.5.1 Trifluoromethane Product Market Development Overview1.6 Trifluoromethane Global Market Comparison Analysis1.6.1 Trifluoromethane Global Import Market Analysis1.6.2 Trifluoromethane Global Export Market Analysis1.6.3 Trifluoromethane Global Main Region Market Analysis1.6.4 Trifluoromethane Global Market Comparison Analysis1.6.5 Trifluoromethane Global Market Development Trend AnalysisChapter Two Trifluoromethane Up and Down Stream Industry Analysis2.1 Upstream Raw Materials Analysis2.1.1 Upstream Raw Materials Price Analysis2.1.2 Upstream Raw Materials Market Analysis2.1.3 Upstream Raw Materials Market Trend2.2 Down Stream Market Analysis2.1.1 Down Stream Market Analysis2.2.2 Down Stream Demand Analysis2.2.3 Down Stream Market Trend Analysis. CONTINUEDFOR ANY QUERY, REACHContact Us:Office No. 212/213, B Block 2nd Floor,Parmar Chambers,Sadhu Vaswani Road, Pune  411001Phone Number: 020 - 2612 6969Email: info@research2reports.comWebsite -Research 2 Reports offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.Office No. 212/213, B Block 2nd Floor,Parmar Chambers,Sadhu Vaswani Road, Pune  411001Latest Reports on ONYCHOMYCOSIS (TINEA UNGUIUM) DRUG Market Future Growth and Demand Analysis & Forecast 2018-2025 | Key Players Johnson & Johnson, GSK, Letai

ONYCHOMYCOSIS (TINEA UNGUIUM) DRUG

https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/requested_sample/9341

https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/enquiry_before_buying/9341

https://www.upmarketresearch.com/buy/onychomycosis-drug-market

https://www.upmarketresearch.com

The Report published on UpMarketResearch.com about ONYCHOMYCOSIS (TINEA UNGUIUM) DRUG Market is spread across 96 pages and provides newest industry data, market future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving Revenue growth and profitability. The industry report lists and studies the leading competitors, also provides the insights with strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the marketGet FREE Exclusive PDF Sample Copy of This Report @ONYCHOMYCOSIS (TINEA UNGUIUM) DRUG Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state which focuses on the major drivers and restraints for the key players. ONYCHOMYCOSIS (TINEA UNGUIUM) DRUG Industry research report provides granular analysis of the market share, segmentation, revenue forecasts and geographic regions of the market.The report begins with the overview of the ONYCHOMYCOSIS (TINEA UNGUIUM) DRUG market and updates the users about the latest developments and future expectations. It presents a comparative detailed analysis of all the regional and major player segments, offering readers a better knowledge of areas in which they can place their existing resources and gauging the priority of a particular region in order to boost their standing in the global market.In this report, there is a healthy amount of coverage of the market economies such as the demand and supply, cost and profit of the ONYCHOMYCOSIS (TINEA UNGUIUM) DRUG Market. This holds key importance for users and hence this information is well supported with due statistics that are represented in easy to consume graphs, charts, and tables.The report compiles exhaustive information obtained via proven research methodologies and from trusted sources within the industries.The report segments the Global ONYCHOMYCOSIS (TINEA UNGUIUM) DRUG market as:Regional Segment Analysis (Regional Consumption Volume, Consumption Volume, Revenue and Growth Rate 2013-2023): North America Europe China Japan Rest APAC Latin AmericaFor More Information Click @Product Type Segment Analysis (Consumption Volume, Average Price, Revenue, Market Share and Trend 2013-2023): Oral Type External Use TypeApplication Segment Analysis (Consumption Volume and Market Share 2013-2023; Downstream Customers and Market Analysis) Age under 18 Age 18-50 Age above 50Key Players/Competitor Segment Analysis (Company and Product introduction, ONYCHOMYCOSIS (TINEA UNGUIUM) DRUG Market Sales Volume, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin): Johnson & Johnson GSK Novartis Pfizer Valeant Pharma Kaken Pharmaceutical Galderma Xiuzheng Pharmaceutical Letai Qilu PharmaceuticalKey Reasons to Purchase: To gain insightful analyses of the market and have a comprehensive understanding of the ONYCHOMYCOSIS (TINEA UNGUIUM) DRUG and its commercial landscape. Assess the ONYCHOMYCOSIS (TINEA UNGUIUM) DRUG production processes, major issues, and solutions to mitigate the development risk. To understand the most affecting driving and restraining forces in the ONYCHOMYCOSIS (TINEA UNGUIUM) DRUG market and its impact on the global market. Learn about the market strategies that are being adopted by your competitors and leading organizations. To understand the future outlook and prospects for ONYCHOMYCOSIS (TINEA UNGUIUM) DRUG MarketTo Buy This Report Click @In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Onychomycosis (Tinea Unguium) Drug are as follows: History Year: 2013-2017 Base Year: 2017 Estimated Year: 2018 Forecast Year 2018 to 2025Customization of the Report:UpMarketResearch provides free customization of reports as per your need. This report can be personalized to meet your requirements. Get in touch with our sales team, who will guarantee you to get a report that suits your necessities.About UpMarketResearch:Up Market Research () is a leading distributor of market research report with more than 800+ global clients. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well-defined  we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Contact Info:Name: Alex MathewsEmail: alex@upmarketresearch.comOrganization: UpMarketResearchAddress: 500 East E Street, Ontario, CA 91764, United StatesGlobal RPMI Media Market 2025 report provides a detailed perspective and is a professional overview of current state affairs, with the key players such as Biological Industries, Corning, GE Healthcare Life Sciences

RPMI Media

https://www.upmarketresearch.com

The Report published on UpMarketResearch.com about RPMI Media Market is spread across 90 pages and provides newest industry data, market future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving Revenue growth and profitability. The industry report lists and studies the leading competitors, also provides the insights with strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the marketGet FREE Exclusive PDF Sample Copy of This Report @ https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/requested_sample/9348RPMI MEDIA Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state which focuses on the major drivers and restraints for the key players. RPMI MEDIA Industry research report provides granular analysis of the market share, segmentation, revenue forecasts and geographic regions of the market.The report begins with the overview of the RPMI MEDIA market and updates the users about the latest developments and future expectations. It presents a comparative detailed analysis of all the regional and major player segments, offering readers a better knowledge of areas in which they can place their existing resources and gauging the priority of a particular region in order to boost their standing in the global market.In this report, there is a healthy amount of coverage of the market economies such as the demand and supply, cost and profit of the RPMI MEDIA Market. This holds key importance for users and hence this information is well supported with due statistics that are represented in easy to consume graphs, charts, and tables.The report compiles exhaustive information obtained via proven research methodologies and from trusted sources within the industries.The report segments the Global RPMI MEDIA market as:Regional Segment Analysis (Regional Consumption Volume, Consumption Volume, Revenue and Growth Rate 2013-2023): North America Europe China Japan Rest APAC Latin AmericaProduct Type Segment Analysis (Consumption Volume, Average Price, Revenue, Market Share and Trend 2013-2023): Liquid Type Powder TypeFor More Information Click @ https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/enquiry_before_buying/9348Application Segment Analysis (Consumption Volume and Market Share 2013-2023; Downstream Customers and Market Analysis) Scientific Research Industrial ProductionKey Players/Competitor Segment Analysis (Company and Product introduction, RPMI MEDIA Market Sales Volume, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin): Biological Industries Sigma-Aldrich Corning Biowest Biological Industries Lifeline Cell Technology Lonza GE Healthcare Life Sciences HiMedia Laboratories Caisson LaboratoriesKey Reasons to Purchase: To gain insightful analyses of the market and have a comprehensive understanding of the RPMI MEDIA and its commercial landscape. Assess the RPMI MEDIA production processes, major issues, and solutions to mitigate the development risk. To understand the most affecting driving and restraining forces in the RPMI MEDIA market and its impact on the global market. Learn about the market strategies that are being adopted by your competitors and leading organizations. To understand the future outlook and prospects for RPMI MEDIA MarketTo Buy This Report, Please visit @ https://www.upmarketresearch.com/buy/rpmi-media-marketIn this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of RPMI Media are as follows: History Year: 2013-2017 Base Year: 2017 Estimated Year: 2018 Forecast Year 2018 to 2025Customization of the Report:UpMarketResearch provides free customization of reports as per your need. This report can be personalized to meet your requirements. Get in touch with our sales team, who will guarantee you to get a report that suits your necessities.About UpMarketResearch:Up Market Research () is a leading distributor of market research report with more than 800+ global clients. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well-defined  we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Contact Info:Name: Alex MathewsEmail: alex@upmarketresearch.comOrganization: UpMarketResearchAddress: 500 East E Street, Ontario, CA 91764, United States3D Cell Culture Market Estimated to be USD 2,768.8 Million by 2026 Global Analysis by Top Industry Players  Becton and Dickinson Company (BD), corning Incorporated, Global cell solutions Inc., Thermo Fisher scientific Inc.

https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/3D-cell-culture-market/request-for-free-sample

https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/3D-cell-culture-market/inquire-before-buying

www.polarismarketresearch.com

The Global 3D Cell Culture market study focuses major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. It provides information on trends and developments, and focuses on markets and materials, capacities and technologies, and on the changing structure.The Global 3D Cell Culture Market Size is anticipated to reach over USD 2,768.8 Million by 2026 according to a new research published by Polaris Market Research.3D cell culture is a cluster of biotic cells that are allowed to cultivate in artificial media in three dimensions. This type of cell culture used in tissue engineering and drug discovery, due to its property of providing prognostic data for in vivo tests and physiologically pertinent statistics. 3D cell cultures have a longer lifespan as well as more stability when compared to 2D cell culture system. This property makes them appropriate for long-term studies and long-term effects of the drug on cells. 3D cell culture systems are mostly grown in 3D cell colonies or bioreactors. Research studies estimated that they function similar to natural cells. due to which they have applications in oncology research.Request for a Sample copy of this Report @Rising occurrence of several types of cancer cases and the need for effective and affordable treatment are the major factor driving the growth of the 3D cell culture market. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2015, it is estimated approximately 8.8 million deaths due to cancer globally. In addition, development of optimized 3D assays, growing investment in healthcare, rising R&D investments, and other research associated activities are also propelling the growth of 3D cell culture market significantly. The 3D cell cultures are majorly used for testing efficacy of new drug development, which can be further used for the treatment of chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular and neurological ailments. This surges implementation of the 3D cell culture by biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, which in turn is driving the growth of 3D cell culture market.The global 3D Cell Culture Market is segmented on the basis of products type, applications, end users, and geography. On the basis of product type, the global 3D cell culture market is segmented into Scaffold-based platforms, Bioreactors, Gels, Microchips, and Services. The scaffold based platforms are further categorized into Macro-Porous scaffolds, Microporous scaffolds, Nanoporous scaffolds, Scaffold free platforms, and Solid scaffolds. Scaffold-based cultures estimated to share the highest market in 2017. Availability of a substantial number of products based on the structure-maintained 3D cell culture is attributive for the estimated share of this segment.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Top Key Player:-3D BiotekAdvanced BiomatrixBecton, and Dickinson Company (BD)Corning IncorporatedGlobal cell solutions Inc.Thermo Fisher scientific Inc.VWR CorporationNanofiber solutionsLonza Group Ltd.Synthecon incorporatedTecan Trading AG.Based on the applications the global 3D cell culture market is segmented into Drug Discovery, Stem cell research, Cancer research, and Regenerative medicine. In 2017, Application in cancer research estimated to form the largest demand for 3D cell cultures market. On the basis of end users, the global 3D cell culture market IS segmented into Academic Institutes, Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Companies, and Contract Research Laboratories. Biotechnology & pharmaceutical sectors dominated the market in 2017, as a significance of the developed application of technology in the drug discovery procedures in order to carry out well-organized screening and board validation.About us Polaris Market ResearchPolaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide unmatched quality of offerings to our clients present globally. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for our clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve our diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. We strive to provide our customers with updated information on innovative technologies, high growth markets, emerging business environments and latest business-centric applications, thereby helping them always to make informed decisions and leverage new opportunities.Contact us-Mr. NeelCorporate Sales, USAPolaris Market ResearchPhone: 1-646-568-9980Email: sales@polarismarketresearch.comWeb:Boost Mobile, Consumer Cellular, Mobile Virtual Network Operator Market By Business Model 2024 | Leading Key Players are Drillisch Telecom, FreedomPOP, GiffGaff, Talktalk

Mobile Virtual Network Operator Market, Global Mobile Virtual Network Operator Market Size,

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/467630/

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/467630/

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/mobile-virtual-network-operator-mvno-market/?utm_source=OPR-SP

https://www.marketstudyreport.com

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/blog/

Market Study Report recently introduced new title on 2018-2024 Global Mobile Virtual Network Operator Market Report that provides an in-depth overview of industry and competitive landscape, covering multiple market segments and elaborates market outlook and status to 2024.The surging demand for low-cost data and calling services will propel the MVNO market growth during the next six years. The growing demand for low-cost data and calling services is encouraging the providers to purchase network services from the network operators at wholesale rates and sell them as refurbished bundled services at new rates. These providers launch services and bundles that are innovative and appeal to the niche customers due to their flexibility. These companies address the requirements of the customers with a range of offerings. Based on price, these providers attract customers, propelling the MVNO market growth. For instance, Mint in the U.S. operates on the network of T-Mobile and offers attractive low-cost plans. Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) Market is projected to surpass USD 120 billion by 2024.Request a sample of this premium report atThe growing penetration of smartphones and increasing need for data are propelling the industry growth. According to the United Nations, approximately 3.5 billion people were using internet by the end of 2016 across the globe. With growing urbanization, the population using the internet is increasing rapidly, increasing the data traffic exponentially. The increasing number of subscribers is encouraging MNOs to seek aid from the virtual service providers, increasing the MVNO market growth.The Europe MVNO market is expected to hold the majority share of around 45% by 2024 due to the presence of a large number of players in the region. The industry in the region is characterized by regulations such as Roam Like At Home that is strengthening the industry growth in the region and attracting foreign investments. Technological advancements, such as virtualization, digitization, and eSIM technology, are allowing the companies to provide innovative products and services.Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report atIndia MVNO market is expected to witness a significant growth due to the favorable regulatory landscape. In May 2016, on the recommendations from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) issued guidelines to grant the Unified License for the MVNOs. Under this license, the virtual operators will be treated as extensions of the network operators and allow the virtual operators to enter into agreements with multiple network operators. This will attract an increasing number of players in the industry, propelling growth.Some of the key players in the MVNO market are Boost Mobile, Consumer Cellular, Drillisch Telecom, FreedomPOP, GiffGaff, Lyca Mobile, Red Pocket Mobile, Talktalk, Truphone, and Straight Talk. The common strategy incorporated by the players is price differentiation to attract an increasing number of customers, particularly the value-conscious customers. These companies are offering services that are particularly designed for the customers, who seek deals that are optimized across the services they require.Table of ContentsChapter 1. Mobile Virtual Network Operator Market MethodologyChapter 2. Mobile Virtual Network Operator Market Executive SummaryChapter 3. MVNO Industry InsightsChapter 4. MVNO Market, By Business ModelChapter 5. MVNO Market, By Region (Revenue, Subscribers)Chapter 6. Mobile Virtual Network Operator Company ProfilesFor more information on this report, please visit at:About Us:Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.Contact Us:Market Study Report4 North Main Street,Selbyville, Delaware 19975USAPhone: 1-302-273-0910US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email:sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:Blog:Samsung, Johnson Controls, Traction Battery Market 2024 | Top Manufacturers are Hitachi, Panasonic, BYD, East Penn Manufacturing, Hitachi, LG Chem, Systems Sunlight

Traction Battery Market, Global Traction Battery Market Size, Traction Battery Industry, Traction Battery Market Trends

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/1251691/

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/1251691/

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/traction-battery-market/?utm_source=OPR-SP

https://www.marketstudyreport.com

https://www.marketstudyreport.com/blog/

MarketStudyReport.com Adds New Traction Battery Market 2018  2024 research report providing information and data By Application, By Chemistry, Industry Analysis, Regional Outlook, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast spreading across 370 Pages with table and figures in it.U.S traction battery market was over USD 3 billion in 2017. Rising government mandates pertaining to limit carbon emissions and increasing energy efficiency will augment the industry growth. Furthermore, introduction of several policies, regulations & incentives in order to commercialize EVs will stimulate the product adoption. For instance, in 2017, the U.S. electric forklifts accounted for more than 60% of the total lift truck.Traction Battery Market is predicted to exceed USD 65 Billion by 2024. Increasing demand for electrical vehicles driven by favorable government regulations and tax incentives intended to promote these technologies will drive the industry growth. Shifting consumer focus toward electrical forklifts along with rising investments in battery technology will encourage the product adoption. For instance, as per the International Energy Agency, the overall sales of new EVs presented a growth of around 54% when compared to 2016 with an increase of 1 million units.Request a sample of this premium report atHigh charging efficiency along with declining costs will drive the Li-Ion traction battery market. Long service life, lightweight packs along with lower self-discharging rate makes the battery suitable for EV applications. In addition, their essential role in the electrification of transport sector further increases their dominance across the electric vehicle segment.China traction battery market is anticipated to grow over 11% by 2024. Rising concerns to curb greenhouse emissions coupled with favorable policy adoption will support the industry growth. Increasing investments along with tax credits to encourage the sales of these vehicles will substantially facilitate the product deployment. For instance, the government published 39 policies since 2009, 50% of which were pertaining to EVs. In addition, the Ministry of Finance in China approved around USD 15 billion to assist new EV development from 2011 to 2020.Rapid industrialization driven by growing penetration of ecommerce along with the developments in the material handling technology will positively influence the forklift traction battery market. Lower operating cost and ability to contribute to limited emissions will complement the business outlook. In addition, rising GHG concerns will increase the adoption of electric forklifts and will further enhance the industry growth.Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report atTraction battery market will witness an appreciable growth on account of rising awareness toward limiting emissions generated from the transport sector. Favorable government initiatives including tax incentives, rising investments of automobile manufacturers toward electric vehicle development will facilitate the adoption of traction batteries.Prominent industry players across the traction battery market includes Samsung, Johnson Controls, BYD, East Penn Manufacturing, Hitachi, LG Chem, Systems Sunlight, Panasonic, Enersys, Amara Raja, Exide, GS Yuasa, Mutlu, Hoppecke, Banner Batterien, NorthStar Battery, Midac, Haze Batteries, amongst others.Table of ContentsChapter 1. Traction Battery Market MethodologyChapter 2. Traction Battery Market Executive SummaryChapter 3 Traction Battery Industry InsightsChapter 4 Traction Battery Market, By ApplicationChapter 5 Traction battery market, By ChemistryChapter 6 Traction Battery Market, By RegionChapter 7. Traction Battery Company ProfilesFor more information on this report, please visit at:About Us:Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.Contact Us:Market Study Report4 North Main Street,Selbyville, Delaware 19975USAPhone: 1-302-273-0910US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email:sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:Blog:What amount of food must you provide?

Two different food items: You must provide at all times and in all areas where alcohol service is available at least two different substantial food items.



What is a substantial food item?

This is a food item that is typically served as a main course or entree. Some examples are fi sh, steak, chicken, pasta, pizza, and sandwiches. Side dishes, appetizer items, dessert items, and snack items such as popcorn, peanuts, chips and crackers do not qualify as substantial food items.



What does different mean?

Different means substantial food items that the OLCC determines differ in their primary ingredients or method of preparation. For example, a turkey sandwich differs from a salami sandwich, a beef burger differs from a turkey burger, and fried chicken differs from baked chicken. Different sizes of the same item are not considered different.



Is there an exception to providing the two different substantial food items?

The OLCC must determine that the clearly dominant emphasis is food service at all times in the area where alcohol service is available in order for you to provide only one substantial food item. The OLCC will work with you to make this determination prior to approving your application.



What does it mean to provide food service at all times an in all areas where alcohol service is available?

Patrons must be able to obtain food service inside the special event licensed area. You may use either of the following two methods to provide food service:



Within all areas where alcohol service is available, have the minimum required food items available for patrons at all times; or

Within all areas where alcohol service is available, have a menu of the minimum required food items (plus any other items you may choose to include) available for patrons at all times and be able to provide the food items in the area if a patron chooses to order food. The food items could be kept at a location other than the area where the alcohol is served; however, you must be able to provide the food items to the patron in the area where alcohol service is available.



Is providing tastings of alcohol considered providing alcohol service?

Yes, providing tastings of alcohol is considered providing alcohol service; therefore, the food requirements must be met.



Can I use food provided by a contractor(s) to meet the food requirement?

Yes, the food service may be provided by someone other than you; however, even if food service is provided by a contractor, you are fully responsible for compliance with the food requirements. You may sell or serve alcohol only when food service that meets the requirement is provided to patrons at all times and in all areas where alcohol service is available.



Who can the contract for the food service be with?

The contract can be between:



You (the OLCC licensee) and the food service contractor; or

The organizer of the event and the food service contractor.





Does the food service contract need to be in writing?

No, the food service contract does not need to be in writing; however, you may sell or serve alcohol only when food service that meets the requirement is provided to patrons at all times and in all areas where alcohol service is available.Watch The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board's meeting with the three major-party candidates for governor at: Facebook.com/OregonianOpinion

Before Oregonians cast their vote for governor they should first recognize what this race is not about. It's not about abortion rights, despite ads attempting to cast it as a wedge issue between pro-choice Democratic Gov. Kate Brown and her pro-choice Republican opponent, Rep. Knute Buehler.

It's not about who aligns best with Portland metro area residents, despite the focus on the region and its immense voting power.

And it's not about Donald Trump, despite his administration's reckless stances and callous policies that have kept people across the country in a continual state of alarm.

Simply, the Oregon governor's race is about who can best lead Oregon in tackling the human and economic crises unfolding on our home turf. From the state's distressed K-12 education system to the critical need for pension reform to encouraging more affordable-housing construction, Oregon is running out of time to responsibly address these challenges. With little vision and no urgency by Brown in her nearly four years as governor, and insufficient experience from Independent Party nominee Patrick Starnes, voters fortunately have a strong alternative. Oregonians should vote for the candidate who is willing to take courageous action on these entrenched problems and mark their ballots for Knute Buehler.

Buehler, 54, may lack the name recognition of Brown, who has been in political office for decades as a legislator, secretary of state and governor since former Gov. John Kitzhaber resigned in February 2015 amid a corruption probe. But the Republican nominee, who is a native Oregonian and orthopedic surgeon, has built up his own impressive record as a two-term state representative from Bend, a district in which Democrats hold a registration edge.

While his votes have tracked with his caucus on fiscal issues, he has broken with his party many times, reflecting his moderate outlook on social issues. He voted with Democrats to adopt a gun control measure banning firearms ownership by people convicted of domestic abuse; voted in favor of a bill raising some real-estate document recording fees to help fund housing initiatives; and he even carried the bill on the House floor that gave women the ability to seek birth control prescriptions from a pharmacist, rather than having to go to a doctor. He also was among Republican legislators developing a more broad-based funding solution for the Medicaid expansion than the temporary package that was signed into law.

But it's not his background so much as his priorities and concrete ideas for Oregon that should win over voters. Improving the quality of education for Oregon's K-12 students is his top priority with an ambitious goal of moving the system from the bottom five in the nation to the top five in five years. More than any other aspect of state government, K-12 education illustrates Brown's profound failure to lead.

Buehler has a long list of proposals to flesh out his vision. They include devoting 15 percent more in General Fund dollars to the K-12 education budget to help pay for lengthening the school year from the 165-day average to 180 days. He aims to reduce class sizes and add reading aides, with the goal that every third grader meets reading benchmarks. He describes establishing an ROTC-like scholarship program to train Oregon teachers and increase diversity within their ranks. And he would restructure Oregon's broken public-employee pension system to help districts direct more dollars to serving students while still ensuring fair retirements for teachers. That priority is particularly important considering that even with record-high education spending in the 2017-2019 biennium - 11 percent more than the budget cycle before - school districts have had to cut teachers and programs to cover skyrocketing pension and health care benefits. Left unchecked, those burdens will sink our schools.

Contrast Buehler's education platform with Brown, whose vision consists mostly of initiatives left by Kitzhaber, programs dictated by voters or priorities pushed by the teachers' union. (Interestingly, her chief education officer is a union official who has zero experience as an educator.) Two years after voters passed a career-and-technical education initiative to improve graduation and dropout rates, she is only now committing to fully fund it, championing it as a key part of her plan. And so perhaps, it's not that surprising that the state continues to have the third-worst graduation rate in the country, test scores show declines or little progress and the last two years of data for dropouts and chronic absenteeism show no improvement.

In fact, when asked by The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board why there hasn't been more progress in education, Brown said it's still coming together. "You will not see more progress until we literally have what I call a seamless system of education from cradle to career," she said, referencing the initiative created by Kitzhaber that her administration is building out. She added that investments in pre-kindergarten will help ensure that students show up to kindergarten "ready to learn."

No one, particularly the families of the 600,000 students currently in Oregon's K-12 schools, should accept her apparent willingness to write off their education. The years students have to grow and learn in the K-12 education system are fleeting. The window of opportunity for students to gain the tools, skills and confidence they need is limited. And the enormous difference that a quality education can make for kids from the poorest of families is an imperative that should guide our leaders to make the bravest of choices.

But Brown hasn't been that leader.

Buehler's willingness to address the growing $22 billion pension debt - which both candidates called a "crisis" - is another critical difference between the two. Education isn't the only area where pension costs are driving cuts. That painful math is playing out across 900 state agencies, local governments, public utilities and other public employers who will be paying $4 billion in contributions to the Public Employees Retirement System in 2019-2021, a 38 percent increase over the current biennium. The burden is already overwhelming. It's crushing if state economists' projections of a possible recession beginning in 2020 come true.

Buehler advocates pursuing employee contribution changes and salary limits that legislators had considered in 2017 - until Brown, Senate President Peter Courtney and House Speaker Tina Kotek pulled the plug, saying they would revisit such ideas later. In 2019. But even now, Brown is noncommittal about asking employees to contribute to the pension fund as they do in other states. Such changes, she has said, are akin to "balancing the budget on the backs" of employees.

Buehler faces tough odds to win in a state where registered Democrats handily outnumber Republicans, and in a year when Trump's policies and persona have turned a #NeverTrump attitude into a #NeverRepublican mantra. Commercials and social media campaigns by Brown's allies have tried to discredit his moderate stances and paint him as a Trump ally, even though he has openly criticized Trump many times. Oregonians shouldn't be distracted by such maneuvers and instead ask themselves what are the most pressing problems that our governor should address?

While Buehler gets some things wrong - his muddled response on repealing the state's sanctuary law, for example - he offers a brighter vision for what Oregon should be and how to get there. His approach, versus Brown's, reflects the leadership he would bring not just to education and pension reform, but funding health care, promoting housing development, and Oregon's many other needs.

Brown's commitment to public service, whether in or out of political office, is unquestionable. The first openly bisexual governor in the nation, Brown has been an inspiration to many who have been sidelined because of race, gender, sexual orientation or ethnicity. Her work as Oregon's secretary of state to create an automatic voter registration process broke new ground in helping increase voter participation. And when Kitzhaber's resignation amid a corruption probe in 2015 suddenly thrust her into the top job, she rose to the moment, displaying the poise and measured temperament needed to help shell-shocked Oregonians heal.

But in nearly four years as governor, Brown never owned the role. It's time for Oregonians to give it to someone who will.

- Helen Jung for The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board

Oregonian editorials

Editorials reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom. Members of the editorial board are Laura Gunderson, Helen Jung, Therese Bottomly and John Maher.

Members of the board meet regularly to determine our institutional stance on issues of the day. We publish editorials when we believe our unique perspective can lend clarity and influence an upcoming decision of great public interest. Editorials are opinion pieces and therefore different from news articles. However, editorials are reported and written by either Laura Gunderson or Helen Jung.

To respond to this editorial, post your comment below, submit an OpEd or a letter to the editor.Warning: This post contains graphic content

A demonstration billed as a march for "law and order" in the streets of Portland descended into chaos as rival political factions broke into bloody brawls downtown Saturday night.

Members of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer and their black-clad adversaries, known as antifa, used bear spray, bare fists and batons to thrash each other outside Kelly's Olympian, a popular bar on Southwest Washington Street.

The melee, which lasted more than a minute, ended when riot cops rushed in and fired pepper balls at the street fighters.

The Portland Police Bureau reported seeing protest and counter-protest participants outfitted with hard knuckle gloves, knives and firearms earlier in the evening. Police said they made no arrests Saturday night, but will continue to investigate.

The wild scene unfolded amid mounting tensions among both groups, fueled in part by a pair of national news stories.

A march in Portland against police brutality last week drew headlines after law enforcement's hands-off approach to the event was blamed for an encounter between protesters and an elderly driver, which outraged many, including Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson and his supporters.

On Friday, viral video surfaced showing members of the Proud Boys, a right-wing fraternal organization, beating two or three protesters in New York City after an event at the Republican Party headquarters.

It was against this backdrop that Gibson, who counts a number of Proud Boys among his ranks, organized the so-called "Flash march for Law and Order in PDX"  ostensibly to protest Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and his oversight of the city's police force.

Waving American flags and breaking into patriotic chants, Gibson and several dozen supporters set off to a street memorial for Patrick Kimmons, a 27-year-old black man shot and killed by police, an incident that prompted last week's march.

As they arrived at the vigil on Southwest Fourth Avenue and Harvey Milk Street, they were met by a large group of counter-demonstrators chanting "Black Lives Matter."

The two sides exchanged taunts and threats as police stood by and warned against physical confrontation.

About 20 minutes later, the violence erupted a few blocks away among a smaller group of the participants.

Below is a detailed timeline of events from the evening.

UPDATE 7:43 p.m.:

Both sides continue to confront each other. #LiveOnK2 pic.twitter.com/UKtnsi1jvo  Lashay Wesley (@LashayKATU) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 7:38 p.m.:

UPDATE 7:35 p.m.:

Mace, violence & now police in riot gear arriving as demonstrators protest in Portland. (Near SW 4th & Washington.) #fox12 #portland @PortlandPolice pic.twitter.com/kGFx872NwQ  Bonnie Silkman KPTV (@BonnieSilkman) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 7:34 p.m.:

Tiny started pummeling a dude and then more ran up to stomp him out. Portland police in riot gear then ran up pic.twitter.com/rFAdnbSdDq  Mike Bivins (@itsmikebivins) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 7:32 p.m.:

Huge bloody brawl between Patriot Prayer deputy Tiny Toesse just happened. Didnt get it on video. This is a crowd chasing after one of the combatants, whose face is drenched in blood. pic.twitter.com/DmksdG0zTM  Shane D. Kavanaugh (@shanedkavanaugh) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 7:29 p.m.:

Team Patriot Prayer licking wounds post rumble with antifa / antifascist activists, who unleashed pepper spray into the confrontation. pic.twitter.com/kwemkZkSsl  Shane D. Kavanaugh (@shanedkavanaugh) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 7:27 p.m.:

Huge brawl just happened and police came in to firenless lethal rounds on people. Right-wingers were clubbing people w clubs outside of Kellys Olympian, way worse than NYC last night. proud Boys and Patriot prayer and Antifa just had a huge wild fight pic.twitter.com/a750y2ai7J  Mike Bivins (@itsmikebivins) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 7:26 p.m.:

Mace and violence between the groups @fox12oregon pic.twitter.com/K2kzjkAvrH  Sarah Hurwitz (@sehurwitz) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 7:25 p.m.:

The sound truck is announcing: pic.twitter.com/UAz3Dm6LA2  Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 7:23 p.m.:

Police now warning that they might use riot control agents. Police say theyve seen assaultive behavior Riot cops in the street. Lots of coughing. pic.twitter.com/bi5FCY83nn  Shane D. Kavanaugh (@shanedkavanaugh) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 7:21 p.m.:

Full on rumble outside of Kellys Olympian. Tough to breathe. pic.twitter.com/UhgHeaOaaq  Shane D. Kavanaugh (@shanedkavanaugh) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 7:20 p.m.:

Confrontation between masked counter-demonstrators and Patriot Prayer members. Counter-demonstrators unleash a blast of pepper spray. pic.twitter.com/neUwup1Vxw  Shane D. Kavanaugh (@shanedkavanaugh) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 7:19 p.m.:

Group just pepper sprayed. This guy said it was Antifa. #LiveOnK2 pic.twitter.com/Vh54YuDUgB  Lashay Wesley (@LashayKATU) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 7:12 p.m.:

Moving south on SW 5th now. pic.twitter.com/wZNL7lGmeQ  Shane D. Kavanaugh (@shanedkavanaugh) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 7:09 p.m.:

The sound truck is announcing: pic.twitter.com/VQnUm99giJ  Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 7:07 p.m.:

After a few tense moments, Patriot Prayer march has continued north of SW Fourth. Both sides still lobbing insults at each other. pic.twitter.com/a3ZVXYWSzl  Shane D. Kavanaugh (@shanedkavanaugh) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 7:01 p.m.:

Group of Patriot Prayer members with Joey Gibson just walked up to counter-protest with flowers they say they want to place at the Patrick Kimmons memorial. pic.twitter.com/VBTC3jRGSD  Shane D. Kavanaugh (@shanedkavanaugh) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 6:58 p.m.:

Large group of counter-demonstrators at corner of SW Fourth & Harvey Milk, where Patrick Kimmons, 27, was shot and killed by police. Chants of Black Lives Matter. Riot cops standing by. One cop says: Theyre essentially just screaming at each other, filming each other. pic.twitter.com/i2q4NFkYfb  Shane D. Kavanaugh (@shanedkavanaugh) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 6:54 p.m.:

March now heading north of SW Fourth Avenue approaching Washington Street. Cops on loudspeaker instructing people to avoid physical confrontation. There is small counter demonstrator contingent across the street. pic.twitter.com/Z8plCAQeq3  Shane D. Kavanaugh (@shanedkavanaugh) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 6:49 p.m.:

The sound truck is announcing: pic.twitter.com/HtRo5a42xk  Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 6:41 p.m.:

And now east along Yamhill. Chants of USA! pic.twitter.com/Vh5f8jyImX  Shane D. Kavanaugh (@shanedkavanaugh) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 6:40 p.m.:

Officers have observed people possessing hard-knuckled gloves, firearms, knives and batons at today's demonstration. For the safety of the community and participants and based on behavior observed, weapons may be confiscated.  Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 6:38 p.m.:

And the March is off. South on Broadway. About to turn east of Yamhill. Just saw a van of riot cops nearby. pic.twitter.com/OHJye7CC8r  Shane D. Kavanaugh (@shanedkavanaugh) October 14, 2018

UPDATE: 6:31 p.m.:

Tiny leads the Patriot Prayer tally attendees and Proud Boys in a chant of hey hey, ho ho, (Portland Mayor Ted) Wheelers got to go! pic.twitter.com/uKlg0D0otx  Mike Bivins (@itsmikebivins) October 14, 2018

UPDATE: 6:30 p.m.: A dozen Proud Boys arrive to cheers and hugs from Patriot Prayer crowd.

UPDATE 6:27 p.m.: About 40 in the Patriot Prayer crowd now. Chants of "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Wheeler's got to go!"

UPDATE 6:23 p.m.:

A handful of masked counter-demonstrators are now gathering on the east side of Broadway. pic.twitter.com/RmKkYWeOD2  Shane D. Kavanaugh (@shanedkavanaugh) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 6:20 p.m.:

Antifa has gathered across the street from the Patriot Prayer group #koin6news #PDX pic.twitter.com/EDq58FPppC  Jennifer Dowling (@JenDowlingKoin6) October 14, 2018

UPDATE 6:10 p.m.:

Patriot Prayer is planning a "march for law and order" in Downtown near Pioneer Courthouse Square. Police in riot gear are around the block. #LiveOnK2 pic.twitter.com/A6eDjvbrKN  Lashay Wesley (@LashayKATU) October 14, 2018

UPDATE: 6:05 p.m.:

Scene: Tiny on the mic, saying that theyre not here to fight, but will defend themselves if the masked ninjas (Antifa) show up. These guys from Washington state want Portland, Oregons mayor removed. pic.twitter.com/6K1lfUcLvu  Mike Bivins (@itsmikebivins) October 14, 2018

UPDATE, 6:04 p.m.: About two dozen marchers on hand as event kicks off.

UPDATE, 6 p.m.:

I hunt Antifa cowards, reads T-shirt of participant at Patriot Prayer rally in downtown Portland. Im here. So are several known Proud Boys from the area. Will be sending updates as needed. pic.twitter.com/s1TekwNGSa  Shane D. Kavanaugh (@shanedkavanaugh) October 14, 2018

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh

skavanaugh@oregonian.com

503-294-7632 || @shanedkavanaughSUNDAY

"Charmed": Madeleine Mantock, Melonie Diaz and Sarah Jeffery star in a new version of the old series about sisters who discover they're witches. (9 p.m. The CW)

"The Alec Baldwin Show": Alec Baldwin hosts his own new interview show. (10 p.m. ABC)

"Camping": Jennifer Garner returns to series TV in a comedy about control freak Kathryn (Garner), her husband, Walt (David Tennant), and friends who go camping to celebrate Walt's 45th birthday. Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner ("Girls") created the series, based on a British original. (10 p.m. HBO)

MONDAY

"Arrow": More superhero adventure, as Season 7 begins. (8 p.m. The CW)

TUESDAY

"The Conners": According to early reports, the Roseanne Conner character will have passed away in this spinoff, but other "Roseanne" cast members return, including John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf and Sara Gilbert. (8 p.m. ABC)

"The Kids are Alright": New comedy about a big Catholic family in the 1970s. Mary McCormack and Michael Cudlitz are lively and likable as the cash-strapped parents who head up the clan. (8:30 p.m. ABC)

"The Rookie": Nathan Fillion ("Castle") returns to series TV as John Nolan, a 40-something who, after his marriage ends, moves to Los Angeles to join the police force. Fillion is always watchable, and the supporting case is game. (10 p.m. ABC)

WEDNESDAY

"A Million Little Things": There's emotional fallout when more secrets are revealed. (10 p.m. ABC)

THURSDAY

"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown": The animated Halloween classic returns for another year. (8 p.m. ABC)

FRIDAY

"Gold Rush": Rick Ness runs into challenges with his greenhorn crew, and Parker Schnabel considers his options as Season 9 continues. (9 p.m. Discovery)

"Real Time With Bill Maher: Anniversary Special": Bill Maher celebrates the comedian's 25 years of hosting politically oriented talk shows, and 15 years as host of HBO's "Real Time With Bill Maher." The special also includes comments from guests including Salman Rushdie, Maureen Dowd, Billy Crystal, Larry David, Martin Short, Woody Harrelson and Barbra Streisand. (10 p.m. HBO)

"Making a Murderer": Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos return to the case with Season 2 of the documentary series, picking up the story in the wake of Steven Avery and his co-defendant and nephew Brendan Dassey's conviction. (Streaming on Netflix)

SATURDAY

"Ghost Adventures": The "Graveyard of the Pacific" episodes continue, as Zak & Co. find more eerie echoes of the past near Astoria, Oregon (9 p.m. Travel Channel)

-- Kristi Turnquist



kturnquist@oregonian.com

503-221-8227

@KristiturnquistA journalist had claimed Anurag told her he will expose the casting directors misogynistic ways amid allegations against him.

After work for casting in Anurag Kashyaps films, Mukesh Chhabra has turned director with The Fault in Our Stars remake.

Mumbai: Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has confirmed he has distanced himself from his Gangs of Wasseypur casting director Mukesh Chhabra, who has been accused of sexual harassment, but clarified it was not because of the accusations, as he had "cut-off" ties with him way back.

Kashyap's response came after a journalist tagged him in a post saying the filmmaker had shared with her that he is planning to reveal the stories of Chhabra's "misogynistic ways".

"So @anuragkashyap72 told me recently that if no one speaks out about @CastingChhabra and his misogynistic ways he will. He also said he has cut off all ties with Chhabra. Im holding you to this @anuragkashyap72 . Waiting. #metoo #timesup," she wrote.

So @anuragkashyap72 told me recently that if no one speaks out about @CastingChhabra and his misogynistic ways he will. He also said he has cut off all ties with Chhabra. Im holding you to this @anuragkashyap72 . Waiting. #metoo #timesup  DU (@divyaunny) October 12, 2018

In his reply, Kashyap said he does not have any evidence of misconduct against the well-known casting director.

"I neither have any #MeToo stories nor evidence about mukesh Chhabra. I cut-off ties with him for lot's of reasons related to casting and reasons that I don't feel the need to put out in public domain,"(sic) he tweeted.

I neither have any #metoo stories nor evidence about mukesh Chhabra . I cut off ties with him for lots of reasons related to casting and reasons that i dont feel the need to put out in public domain .  Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) October 13, 2018

Kashyap has recently been under fire for inaction in Vikas Bahl sexual harassment case.

Last year, a woman employee at Phantom Films, which had Bahl as one of the partners alongside 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.

Kashyap said he was "ill-advised" in the matter by his lawyers.

Apart from Wasseypur series, Chhabra has done casting for Kashyap's Ugly and Bombay Velvet.

In a latest report published on Mid-Day, four aspiring actors have accused Chhabra and another casting director Vicky Sidana of harassing them during audition process.

Chhabra has denied the "unsubstantiated wild anonymous allegations" in a letter posted on his Twitter handle.

"It is very unfortunate that years of hard work and building is been muzzled with a series of unsubstantiated wild anonymous allegations. To put it into perspective, we have a ICC committee put into the place for years and we could have appreciated if the complaint received could have been forwarded to the said committee for probe and investigation," the letter read.

"This is a clearly motivated piece and we deny any incident as alleged took place," it further read.

Chhabra is known for working on films such as Dangal, Rockstar, Shahid and Kai Po Che! among others.The U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC) on Oct. 17 will begin its 50th year of its Perspectives in Military History Lecture Series with "Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy."

It will feature Sir Max Hastings as its general of the Army Omar Nelson Bradley Memorial lecture. The program will begin at 7:15 p.m.

In this lecture, based on his new book, "Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy," Sir Max Hastings will critique the methods, mistakes, and devastation caused by both sides during the war, according to a press release.

Beginning in October 1968, discussions ensued between the director of the U.S. Army Military History Institute (USAMHI) and the commandant of the U.S. Army War College to create a "discussion series" on strategic leadership and military history. This initiated what would become the Perspectives in Military History Lecture Series.

That set in motion a fascinating mix of programs over the past five decades, which will resume on Wednesday.

From France's crippling defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 to the forced reunification between North and South in 1975, parts of the former French colony of Vietnam pushed back even the greatest powers of the world. The decades of war inflicted a huge material and human price on the Western powers, but the greatest cost inflicted by the war was suffered by the Vietnamese people themselves. Both North and South Vietnamese were forced to endure tyrannical and incompetent governments.

For every American who died there, 40 Vietnamese perished. When the U.S. pulled out of South Vietnam, the entire nation fell to Communist rule. The world remembers America's excesses, immortalized in gritty photography and the anti-war movement, yet forgets the vicious acts of terrorism carried out against the Vietnamese people by the Communists.

Sir Max Hastings spent three years collecting accounts from both sides of the war and gathered the testimonies of people from many walks of life, both soldier and civilian. Giving no undue praise to either side, Hastings masterfully depicts the cost of misused martial power in complex cultural and political issues that reject simple answers, according to the release.

Sir Max Hastings is an author, journalist, and once editor-in-chief of The Daily Telegraph. He has published 26 books and has reported on 11 conflicts as foreign correspondent for the BBC, most notably Vietnam and the Falklands.

In 1982, he was Journalist of the Year and Reporter of the Year in the British Press Awards, as well as Editor of the Year in 1988. In 2012 the Pritzker Military Library of Chicago presented him its $100,000 Literary Award for lifetime achievement in military writing.Today is the 128th anniversary of the birth of Dwight D. Eisenhower.

In 1950, a few years before he became president of the United States, Eisenhower, and his wife, Mamie, purchased a home on 189 acres in Gettysburg.

The Eisenhowers spent weekends and holidays at the farm. They also hosted special events there.

Dwight Eisenhower was born on Oct. 14, 1890, in Denison, Texas.

Eisenhower was a 1915 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

He attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas then served as an aide to Gen. John Pershing and Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

In 1941, Eisenhower was promoted to Brigadier General. In 1942 he led the Allied invasion of North Africa then the 1943 invasion of Sicily.

Eisenhower was promoted to full general in 1943 and appointed supreme commander of the Allied forces in Western Europe during World War II. He led the D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe.

He left active duty in 1948 and briefly served as president of Columbia University before being asked to take command of the NATO forces in Europe.

In 1952 he was persuaded to run for president.

He resigned his commission in the Army and returned from his NATO base in Paris in June 1952.

Eisenhower was president from 1953 to 1961. He and his wife retired to the farm in Gettysburg in 1961.

He died March 28, 1969 in Washington, D.C.

Over the years, The Patriot-News often photographed Eisenhower.

This collection of photos is random - some are undated and some have no cutline or source information.

Some of them were taken during these events:

On June 13, 1952, Eisenhower hosted the Pennsylvania delegation to the Republican National Convention as his farm in Gettysburg. On Oct. 27, 1952, he and Richard Nixon campaigned in Harrisburg.

Oct. 13, 1953, Hershey hosted a party for Eisenhower for his 63rdbirthday. It was sponsored by the Pennsylvania Republican Finance Committee and was intended to be a fundraiser for the Republican Party. According to the Hershey Community Archives, the party included three events in Hershey Stadium and Hershey Arena.

On Oct. 23, 1954, Eisenhower made a speech at the Pennsylvania Monument at the Gettysburg battlefield followed by a luncheon with Congressional and statewide Republicans at his Adams County farm.

On June 26, 1961, Eisenhower and Richard Nixon appeared in Hershey for a Republican event and rally to launch Pennsylvania's 1962 gubernatorial campaign.In connection with an early-Sunday shooting, York police have issued an arrest warrant.

Bruce Jermaine Murray.

Bruce Jermaine Murray, 24, also known as "BJ," is wanted on charges of criminal attempt at homicide, aggravated assault, persons not to possess a firearm and possession of a firearm without a license.

York police say they were called to the 400 block of E. Market St. outside of Pandora's Box, where a 31-year-old man had been shot.

He was transported to York Hospital for treatment.

Police are currently looking for Murray. Anyone with information should call the York police, 717-846-1234.By Christine Flowers

There are some people who think they have a monopoly on ethnic authenticity.

We all know that type of person, who thinks that individualism is only good if you don't stray too far from the philosophical reservation.

Christine Flowers (PennLive file)

So I wasn't surprised when Don Lemon, Bakari Sellers and Tara Setmayer went all "mean girl" on the CNN set the other night and ridiculed Kanye West for supporting Donald Trump.

Sellers, who tries to pass himself off as a reasonable man with "empathy" for conservatives said that "Kanye West is what happens when negroes don't read."

Setmayer, who talks the big talk about being a conservative who worked on policy issues for two decades, laughed at Sellers quip and added her own twisted twist: "[West] is the token negro of the Trump administration."

AndLemon made some allusions to the fact that Kanye West is mentally ill.

All three of these African=American commentators were annoyed because West supports President Donald Trump and, especially lately, hasn't been shy about vocalizing that support.

A few weeks ago, after Kanye did an impromptu campaign rally of one for Trump on the Saturday Night Live stage, Lemon had the vapors and talked about how he and his friends just "had" to get out of there.

He sounded like a Victorian-era virgin who had been told she would have to share a carriage -- unchaperoned -- with a man.

Sellers has also had a problem with any African-American who dares stray from the ethnic party line. And Setmayer is the worst one of all because she tries to trade on her authenticity as a conservative.

That woman left "conservative" at the Vince Lombardi rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike and is already at the border with Canada.

She and her fellow traveling sisters, Alisyn Camerota, Gretchen Carlson and Jennifer Rubin are sell-outs.

I say this not because they have embraced progressive ideals but because they have done so for a paycheck, or greater relevance and visibility among the cool liberal kids.

But back to racism.

Lemon, Sellers, Setmayer and many other African American notables refuse to accept the fact that a black man or woman might support Trump.

It is completely inconceivable to them. They are like our former ambassador to the United Nations, Madeleine Albright who said that there is a special place in hell for women who don't support women.

What she meant was there is a special place in hell for women who don't support liberal women.

Replace gender with race, and you get the unholy trinity of Lemon-Sellers-Setmayer.

These supposedly educated people think that it's appropriate to mock and otherwise ridicule a high profile member of their community because he holds opinions they consider anathema. And it's okay to disagree with Kanye. But instead of disagreeing on an honest basis, they engage in the politics of personal destruction.

It's actually a common liberal ploy these days, and was well on display during the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings.

Normally, I wouldn't slap a political label on this methodology of marginalize, demonize and neutralize or MDN as I like to call it.

In the past, conservatives have done the same or similar things to people who don't think building a wall is a good idea (remember what was done to John McCain and Marco Rubio, 2.0?) But I have a hard time remembering when conservatives trashed a person for being a certain gender, or color, or religion, and not towing the party line.

This is exactly what the left is doing to Kanye West.

And that campaign is being headed by African Americans who are doing to him what they did to Clarence Thomas, to Condi Rice, to Thomas Sowell, to Bill Cosby, to Omarosa Manigault (before she drank the Kool Aid and saw the light) and anyone else who dared to challenge the conventional wisdom that minorities must pledge fealty to the Democrats. Actually, they haven't done that to everyone. They didn't try it with Jim Brown, another Trump supporter because in some ways, liberals do understand the concept of bodily injury.

The sad thing is, these people will likely get away with their slurs, because it's popular in today's society to believe that minority groups, whether defined by ethnicity, gender, religion or orientation, must embrace the philosophy of victimization and subjugation.

If any member of those groups decides to feel empowered by saying "Hey, I don't owe my vote to any party, especially not one that has taken my voice for granted lo these many decades," he or she is slapped with the Scarlet U, for "uppity."

Kanye doesn't give a damn, and neither did Thomas, Rice, Sowell, Cosby and at some level, Omarosa. And so they only thing their opponents have left is mockery.

But the joke, in the end, will be on them.

Christine Flowers, an attorney, is a columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Her work appears frequently on PennLive Opinion.CINCINNATI -- Ten months and nine days after leaving Paul Brown Stadium in a stretcher, not moving his legs and bound for University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Ryan Shazier returned to the hospital where he was first treated for his severe spinal injury.

Shazier visited with the doctors, nurses and other staff who took care of him before his transfer back to Pittsburgh and UPMC Mercy.

"It really makes me feel good just to actually come back because it's been kind of hard. I haven't even been back to UPMC yet because going back there or here, I'm not gonna say it's taken me to a dark place, but it's kind of scary sometimes. So I'm actually happy to be here and see everybody's face and just, just -- I just wanted to let you guys know I'm doing really well," Shazier said toward the end of the video posted below. "And, just thankful."

Its been a long journey, but this is still a ways to go. But it all started here in Cincinnati. Today was an amazing day I was so thankful to be able to tell everyone thank you. #Shalieve pic.twitter.com/wItKXNp5ya  Ryan Shazier (@RyanShazier) October 14, 2018Guest commentary: How to be an advocate for your public libraryYou must login to Pinkbike.

Join Pinkbike

Login134 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

By Mica Rosenberg and Gustavo Palencia

NEW YORK/TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters)  The Trump administration said on Friday it will end temporary protections for immigrants in the United States from Honduras on Jan. 5, 2020, leaving potentially 57,000 people vulnerable to deportation.

It is the latest in a series of decisions by President Donald Trump to shut down temporary protected status (TPS) granted to immigrants after natural disasters or violent conflicts that would prevent them from safely returning to their home countries.

The government of Honduras said on Friday that it profoundly regrets the cancellation of the program and pledged free legal and consular support for Hondurans living in the United States.

Marlon Tabora, the Honduras ambassador to the United States, said the conditions did not exist in the Central American country to deal with the repatriation of tens of thousands of people.

These families have lived in the United States for 20 years and re-integrating them into the country will not be easy if they decide to return, he said.

After El Salvador, Hondurans are the second largest nationality with TPS to lose their status, which was granted to the country in 1999 following the devastation of Hurricane Mitch.

The government said it had conducted a review and found conditions in Honduras that resulted from the hurricane have notably improved. The 18-month timeline to end the program would allow individuals with TPS to arrange for their departure or to seek an alternative lawful immigration, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.

The Boston-based Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice said later on Friday that it would amend a legal complaint filed in February to include the Hondurans affected. The original complaint challenged the Trump administrations decision to terminate a similar program protecting immigrants from Haiti and El Salvador.

In January, the Trump administration ended TPS classification for some 200,000 Salvadorans, who had been allowed to live and work in the United States since 2001. Their status will expire in 2019.

The administration also recently ended the program for Nepal.

TPS critics complain that repeated extensions in six- to 18-month increments of the status, sometimes for decades, has given beneficiaries de facto residency in the United States.

In November, then-acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke set a deadline of six months to make a decision about TPS for Honduras, which is one of the most violent countries in the Western Hemisphere and recently has been convulsed by protests following a contested presidential election. Duke is no longer in charge, replaced by Kirstjen Nielsen.

Most of the other countries that have come up for TPS review have had the status terminated, except for Syria, which is in the midst of a devastating war.

Canada has become the target of choice for those who fear deportation from the United States. Last year, almost 10,000 Haitians crossed the border illegally amid fears their U.S. temporary protected status might end.

Canadian Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said Hondurans had until 2020 to decide what to do, meaning it was unlikely people would rush north.

I dont believe we will see that wave of individuals coming to Canada, he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

The decisions on TPS are upending the lives of people who have settled in the United States, sometimes for decades, according to immigration advocates.

They have made enormous contributions to this nation as workers, small-business owners, homeowners, parents of U.S. citizens and community members, said Frank Sharry, executive director at the Washington-based Americas Voice Education Fund.

Some Democratic lawmakers decried the decision and said Congress should act to pass legislation that would allow long-time TPS holders to remain in the United States.

Karen Valladares, the director of the National Forum for Migration, a non-governmental organization in Honduras, said people continue to leave because of gang and drug-related violence and lack of economic opportunities.

There have not been concrete improvements in the security situation, Valladares said. In some ways, she added, Honduras is worse off than when they left.

(Reporting by Mica Rosenberg in New York and Gustavo Palencia in Tegucigalpa; editing by Bill Trott and Rosalba OBrien)250 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters)  Jared Kushner, President Donald Trumps son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, likely paid little or no federal income taxes between 2009 and 2016, the New York Times reported on Saturday, citing confidential financial documents.

The documents were created with Kushners cooperation as part of a review of his finances by an institution that was considering lending him money, the Times reported. The Times said that Kushners tax bills reflected the use of a tax benefit known as depreciation that lets real estate investors deduct part of the cost of their properties from their taxable income.

The Times report said that nothing in the documents reviewed suggests Mr. Kushner or his company broke the law.

Peter Mirijanian, a spokesman for Kushners lawyer Abbe Lowell, told Reuters on Saturday that he would not respond to the newspapers assumptions, which he said were taken from incomplete documents obtained in violation of the law and standard business confidentiality agreements.

He added, Always following the advice of numerous attorneys and accountants, Mr. Kushner properly filed and paid all taxes due under the law and regulations.

The records reviewed by The New York Times did not expressly state how much Kushner paid in taxes, but included estimates for how much he owed called income taxes payable  and how much Kushner paid in expectation of forecasted taxes known as prepaid taxes. The paper said that for most of the years covered, both were listed as zero, but in 2013 Kushner reported income taxes payable of $1.1 million.

Kushner Cos, the family company for which Kushner previously served as chief executive, has been profitable in recent years, the Times said, citing the analysis. Kushner sold his interests in the company to a family trust last year.

The White House and Kushner Cos did not immediately comment Saturday.

The newspaper noted that the 2017 tax rewrite signed by Trump includes provisions that benefit real estate investors.

Mirijanian said that on tax reform efforts, Kushner followed his approved ethics agreement and has avoided work that would pose any conflict of interest.

In December, a group of Democratic lawmakers wrote to Kushner, asking whether in his talks with foreign officials he had ever discussed financing for a deeply indebted property in midtown Manhattan, citing concern he was using his position for financial gain.

Kushner Cos said previously it had more than $2.5 billion in transactions 2017 and has 12 million square feet under development in New York and New Jersey.

Documents released by the White House in June showed Kushner held assets worth at least $181 million, the Associated Press reported. The disclosures also show that Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, received at least $82 million in outside income in 2017.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler)704 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

By Julia Harte and Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters)  U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States would be punishing itself if it halts military sales to Saudi Arabia, even if it is proven that Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the countrys consulate in Istanbul.

Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Riyadh and a U.S. resident, disappeared on Oct. 2 after visiting the consulate. Turkeys government believes he was deliberately killed inside the building and his body removed.

Trump has forged closer ties with Saudi Arabia and is under international and domestic pressure to help determine what happened to Khashoggi and punish Saudi Arabia if investigations show its government had him killed.

Some U.S. lawmakers have said Washington should block military sales to Riyadh if the allegations are proven. But Trump is opposed.

I actually think wed be punishing ourselves if we did that, Trump told reporters at the White House on Saturday.

There are other things we can do that are very, very powerful, very strong and well do them, he added, without saying what those measures might be.

(Reporting by Julia Harte and Timothy Gardner; Editing by Kieran Murray and Marguerita Choy)In a sketch that was pure genius, Alec Baldwin and his Trump impression returned to SNL and drew the connection that Kanye West is the black Trump.

Video;

Baldwin as Trump said, These two are great dear friends of mine, a couple of real Chicago types if you know what I mean. And thank you, Kanye, for giving me a pair of sneakers because they are white and wide and never going to be as much as you say they are. We have an amazing lunch to get to. But first Im sure that Kanye wants to make a few brief lucid remarks.

SNL perfectly captured Kanyes crazy, First, let me begin with the idea that time is the myth of infinite amounts of universe, and Im a prisoner in a different dimension. Have I lost anyone so far? Okay. So well talk about trapped doors. Like the 13th amendment is a trapped door. And if you are installing a floor, aka the constitution, why would you build a trap door? When you can end up with the Unabomber.

To make it clear, Kanye said, And I dont want to brag, bro, I dont want to brag, but I have a high IQ, Im a stable genus, I have a big brain, and I have the best words.

The kicker was when Trump realized, Oh, my god hes black me this is like being visited by the ghost of Christmas black, quick, look at Jim brown instead.

It was a great sketch that captured both the futility of Trumps desperate publicity stunt and the completely insane deterioration of the White House under Donald Trump. It isnt just that Kanye West is crazy, but that his crazy was allowed into the Oval Office and given a national platform by this president.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook.A caravan of over 1,300 people left yesterday from Honduras, beginning a journey to the United States where members of the caravan hope to seek asylum as refugees. The group was composed primarily of families, including many women carrying babies. The beginning of their journey was marked by the desperation which underlies their struggle for existence in their home country where life has become almost intolerable.

Recently officials in the United States have requested that the Honduras president take steps to stop mass migration from his country, but nothing has been done.

Large group crossings from Central America to the United States have defied U.S. President Donald Trumps zero tolerance policy on illegal immigration. But it has done little good to stem the flow of people fleeing violence and poverty in their home countries. Fear of staying at home has outweighed their fear of either a perilous journey or the retribution from U.S. immigration officials.

Many of the travelers expressed optimism about their prospects.

I believe well get to the United States. Theres no work in Honduras, and you live in fear that theyre going to kill you or your children, said Fanny Barahona, 35, an unemployed teacher who set out walking with her nine-year-old son and carrying her two-year-old daughter.

According to event organizer Bartolo Fuentes approximately 1,300 people are part of what he calls the March of the Migrant. He said they are planning to walk from San Pedro Sula in northern Honduras through the country of Guatemala and into Mexico. Once they get there he said they will request refugee status which would allow them to stay in Mexico. They also will request a visa allowing them to pass through Mexico to the U.S. border.

Last spring another caravan of migrants did the same thing and received a huge amount of attention from the news media. The publicity surrounding the immigrants difficulties led to President Trump implementing new tough border security measures. He also said that the migrants would not be allowed to enter the United States. People in the migrant caravan explained their actions by saying they were leaving because of death threats, extortion and violence from powerful street gangs in their home countries. According to published reports, over 64 percent of Honduran households live in poverty, and the country has one of the worlds highest murder rates.

There is no work and so much violence that you can get killed walking down the street, said Javier Solis, 25, who said he has not found work in a year and wants to enter the United States. On a previous attempt, he was deported to Honduras upon reaching Mexico.

Nobody knows what will happen to this latest group of traveling migrants. The Trump administration has put up a sign saying No Admittance to our country. Perhaps these intrepid travelers will prompt all of the countries involved to look for better solutions to the many problems facing them.721 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Last week we reported that The Fresno Bee, hometown newspaper to GOP Representative Devin Nunes, published a scathing editorial endorsing the Democratic opponent of the conservative congressman.

After President Trump on Thursday said that Nunes deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom the Bee once again had a lot to say, this time about Nunes worthiness for such an honor. Trump said Nunes was deserving of a medal because he is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and he led congressional investigations into potential conspiracy with Russians during Trumps 2016 presidential campaign. But the editors of the newspaper did not agree.

What hes gone through, and his bravery, he should get a very important medal, Trump said, initially suggesting the Medal of Honor, which only goes to members to the military. Trump then later clarified that he meant the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.

The Bee, severely criticized Trumps idea in a scathing editorial.

With due respect to the president and his affection for Nunes, giving the congressman the medal would be laughable, the Bee wrote.

Then the paper went on to say:

Nunes work on the Intelligence Committee has been highly controversial, damaging and embarrassing. Nunes turned the committees traditional protocol  country before politics  upside down with how he has handled the committees investigation into Russian meddling.

How ironic that the very medal Trump wants to give Nunes is called Medal of Freedom. Freedom from a real investigation?

The Medal of Freedom should not be politicized. The president obviously is grateful to the congressman. But the better way to show it would be to give Nunes a stay at a Trump hotel, complete with some free breakfasts.

In August, we reported that Nunes sought unsuccessfully to meet chiefs of Britains three intelligence agencies on a recent visit to London. Despite his official position on the Intelligence Committee the British agencies are aware of where Nunes true loyalties lie, and they did not trust him enough to meet with him.

Unfortunately Devin Nunes seems to be in a safe congressional seat because his district is heavily Republican. He is not likely to lose his seat, but he will lose his chairmanship of the committee if Democrats take over control of the House. After Nunes leaves his post the new chairman will conduct a real investigation and the truth may finally come out with respect to Trumps collusion with Russia.2k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Vice President Joe Biden is the overwhelming favorite to win the Democratic nomination according to a new 2020 poll.

A new CNN poll found:

In the race for the Democratic nomination to face Trump, former Vice President Biden leads a massive potential field. The poll asked Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents to choose their preferred presidential nominee among 16 possible candidates. Biden tops the list with 33% support, followed by independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the 2016 runner-up, at 13%. Sen. Kamala Harris of California follows at 9%, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts at 8%. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry garnered 5% support.

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who recently became a registered Democrat and spoke in New Hampshire on Saturday night, stands at 4% in the poll. Rep. Beto ORourke of Texas, currently running against Sen. Ted Cruz, also lands at 4%. Less than 1% said they back Rep. John Delaney of Maryland, the only declared candidate in the field, and just 1% choose attorney Michael Avenatti, who has been visiting early primary and caucus states.

3 Key Takeaways From This Poll

1). Biden is beloved by Democrats  Joe Biden leads with Democrats, liberals, and Democratic-leaning Independents. Biden is easily the popular candidate in the Democratic field. The former vice president also has a national operation waiting to kick into gear, and he has a direct connection to the Obama presidency. Unlike Hillary Clinton, Democratic voters dont have as many doubts about Biden. Joe Biden is more popular than Hillary Clinton, which means that it is going to be more difficult for another candidate to break out of the field and challenge him.

2). Bernie Sanders still cant attract Democratic voters  Registered Democratic voters remain reluctant to support Sanders. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) jumps to second place among Democrats trailing Biden 34%-11%. Sanders is third with 9%. A bigger problem for Sen. Sanders will be the popularity of Sen. Harris among liberals. Harris trails Biden 27%-19% with 9% supporting Sanders. Sen. Sanders benefitted from being the only non-establishment option in 2016, but with such a crowded field a lack of a solid Democratic constituency, he may struggle to find his footing in 2020.

3). Its very early  Almost everything can be expected to change over the coming weeks and months, but the polls are starting to shift away from national name recognition, as coalitions are beginning to build. The rise of Sen. Harris is a sign that Democrats are beginning to size up their potential candidates. Joe Biden is the favorite, but Democrats could be in for quite a thrill ride in the 2020 primary season.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook.1.6k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

John Brennan laid the blame for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the feet of Donald Trump because the president has enabled and encouraged authoritarian regimes with his rhetoric.

Video:

John Brennan said on NBCs Meet The Press, The strength of the US-Saudi relationship goes back many years. I think MBS has been emboldened. His relationship with the White House, with Donald Trump as well as with Jared Kushner I think probably gave him increased confidence to do some of these things in a more aggressive way. Look whats happened in Yemen and that awful, awful tragic war. I also think Donald Trumps siding up to authoritarian leaders around the globe, Donald Trumps condemnation of the press thats critical, his continued dishonesty and denial of reality, I think thats encouraged MBS to go along this road.

Authoritarians Know That They Wont Be Held Accountable By The US Under Trump

Domestically, there has been a great deal of conversation about how extremist right-wing elements in the United States have been emboldened and encouraged by Trump. This same dynamic is also visible globally as authoritarians have accelerated their oppressive and criminal behavior because the worlds guardian of democracy and freedom is being governed by a man who natural impulse gravitates toward autocracy.

The rhetoric of a president has international consequences. There are serious questions to be answered about whether or not US intelligence knew that of the threat to Khashoggi, and if they did, why he was not warned that his life was in danger.

By cozying up to dictators and oppressive regimes, Trump is sending the message to the rest of the world that there is no accountability. Anything goes, because Trump will talk tough, but he is a toothless paper tiger who will do nothing.

Jamal Khashoggi is dead, and Trump needs to be held accountable for the consequences of his words and deeds.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook.Saudi Arabia said Sunday it will respond in kind to threats against it after President Donald Trumps warning of severe punishment over the alleged killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Saudi response came after the Tadawul stock exchange in Riyadh dropped by 7 percent during the weeks first day of trading, with 182 of its 186 listed stocks showing losses.

Both Trump and the Saudi kingdom are under increasing pressure to resolve the controversy arising from the fate of Khashoggi who hasnt been seen since he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2nd.

The statement issued by the government of Saudi Arabia said:

The kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether through economic sanctions, political pressure or repeating false accusations. The kingdom also affirms that if it is targeted by any action, it will respond with greater action.

There was no indication of what greater action the Saudis have in mind, although as an oil exporting country and as a large buyer of American defense products, there are several possibilities.

Turkish officials say have audio and video recordings of Saudi assassins killing and dismembering Khashoggi after he entered their consulate. But the recordings have not been publicly released and the Saudis have called the allegations of murder baseless.

However the Saudis have also given no evidence that the veteran journalist ever left the consulate after he walked inside with his fiance waiting for him in a car.

In an interview with the CBS show 60 Minutes Trump said that the consequences of Saudi Arabia being involved would be severe.

Theres something really terrible and disgusting about that, if that was the case, so were going to have to see, Trump said. Were going to get to the bottom of it and there will be severe punishment.

However, Trump also said: As of this moment, they deny it and they deny it vehemently. Could it be them? Yes.

After their stock market plunged on Sunday, Saudi government officials have had no comment. The Saudi state television did broadcast an interview with a stock analyst who blamed the market plunge on weakening markets in the United States.

It appears that Donald Trump was pressured into talking tough about Saudi Arabia because even Republicans in Congress are very unhappy about the alleged murder of Khashoggi. Initially he downplayed the controversy and mentioned that the U.S. is involved with weapons deals with Saudi Arabia that are in excess of $100 billion. Now, after the Saudis latest response, it is unclear what action the president will take next. Whatever he does we do know that he will be looking out for his own best interests instead of the countrys.Get the SC business stories that matter.

Our newsletter catches you up with all the business stories that are shaping Charleston and South Carolina every Monday and Thursday at noon. Get ahead with us - it's free.Republican congressional candidate Katie Arrington turns to former congressman Tommy Hartnett as she expresses gratitude for his work during a 1st Congressional Honorees Banquet at Alhambra Hall in Mount Pleasant on Thursday, August 16, 2018. Lauren Petracca/StaffMichael Majchrowicz is a reporter covering crime and public safety. He previously wrote about courts for the Daily Hampshire Gazette in Northampton, Massachusetts. A Hoosier native, he graduated from Indiana University with a degree in journalism.Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations.The Post and Courier sent the two nominees for governor in the Nov. 6 election a list of questions on issues, requesting each candidate offer specifics in their answers.

SC governor candidates meet in first debate

What: First of two governor debates between Republican Gov. Henry McMaster and Democratic state Rep. James Smith

When/Where: 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Francis Marion University Performing Arts Center in Florence

Broadcast: S.C. ETV, S.C. Public Radio and scetv.org

Moderators: Charles Bierbauer, a former longtime CNN correspondent and dean of the University of South Carolina College of Information and Communications, and Andy Shain, The Post and Couriers Columbia bureau chiefI will vote for keeping most of them in elected office

I will vote to replace most of them

I will vote to replace some of them

I will vote for just a few, if any

I will not vote

Vote

View ResultsKEITH JACKSON

PORT MORESBY  Prominent Papua New Guinea Opposition MP and Member for Madang Bryan Kramer has slammed APEC Minister Justin Tkatchenko for the purchase of 40 luxury Maserati sedans, which he says would retail in PNG for at least $400,000 (K950,000) each taking into account excise duty, clearance and freight.

And he's in possession of what he says is a leaked pro forma invoice (right) to back him up.

The cars will be used to ferry world leaders attending the APEC leaders summit that PNG will be hosting in Port Moresby next month.

While the country faces a polio outbreak, failing health and education systems, systemic corruption, and escalating law and order issues, prime minister ONeill appears to be more concerned about impressing world leaders, Kramer said in a statement.

The bottom line is, we cannot afford to be this extravagant. Our country is broke and the ONeill government continues to be irresponsible and reckless.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Tkatchenko said, Maserati Quattroporte sedans have been secured and delivered and are being committed to be paid for by the private sector.

But Kramer says that, if the vehicles have been bought by the private sector without any cost to the government, the sale is illegal.At a rally in Ohio yesterday, President Trump praised two natives of that state, William McKinley and Ulysses Grant. Trump related how President Lincoln turned to Grant after a succession of commanders had been beaten by Robert E. Lee, who was, as Trump said, a great general. Grant, despite supposedly being an alcoholic, knew how to win, and defeated Lees army. All of which is true, except that like many others, Trump exaggerated the extent of Grants problems with alcohol.

Liberals absurdly claimed that President Trumps acknowledgement that Lee was a great general wassomehowracist. You cant make this stuff up. Journalist Soledad OBrien tweeted:



Subsequently, OBrien sort of backed off, and sort of doubled down:



It is idiotic to talk about the Civil War? Why? This is the real point: if the GOP is so racist, why dont the Democrats have any good examples of it? Why do they continually have to offer pathetic non sequiturs like this one?

OBrien wasnt the only journalist who tried to make something out of the presidents reference to Lee. The Washington Post chimed in with one of the dumbest headlines ever:

Do the Democrats really not understand what fools they are making of themselves?

Via Twitchy.

UPDATE: NBC News jumped on board the Lee bandwagon, too:



Honestly, you cant keep up with the stupidity of the Democratic Party press.Karen Monahan is Keith Ellisons #MeToo nemesis. Ellison is the deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party candidate for the office of Minnesota Attorney General. Ellisons abuse of Karen Monahan  the least of his disqualifications from office, but certainly a timely one for Democrats to confront  was voluminously documented in attorney Susan Ellingstads investigation of the incident (see report below). I wrote about the report in The case against Ellison.

We know the date and place of the incident. It was August 26, 2016, and it took place at Ellisons apartment.

Karen Monahan hasnt spoken much about the incident in public. She flew last week to Washington to record a segment on Sinclair Broadcastings Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson. The segment was broadcast this morning. It is well worth watching. For some reason, I cannot get the allegedly embeddable video to display. You can access it along with the text of the segment here. Ellison declined to speak with Full Measure.

Keith Ellison Investigation by on ScribdWhy would anyone want his states top law enforcement officer to be in favor of violent crime? One would think, no one could be that foolish. Yet in Minnesota, the Democratic Party has nominated Keith Ellison, who has repeatedly endorsed cop-killers, who regards Antifa as the legitimate voice of the Democratic Party, and who wants Minnesota to be a sanctuary for violent criminals, for Attorney General.

Yesterday, we were reminded how evil Antifa is. Antifa vandalized the GOP office in Manhattan, smashing windows, spray painting, and so on. The Antifa Brownshirts left a note threatening more violence against Republicans:

Our attack is merely a beginning. We are not passive, we are not civil, and we will not apologize. Those of good conscience and clear mind know this state of oppression cannot remain. The US fascist political system is one of the most savage institutions in history and we will combat it relentlessly until all are free of American barbarism.

How safe would you feel as a Republican in a state whose Attorney General enthusiastically supports such criminality? Not to mention Ellisons shameless anti-Americanism.

Then again, how safe would you feel, regardless of political affiliation, in a state that declares itself a sanctuary for violent criminals, as long as they are illegal aliens? (This is, by the way, a redefinition of perversity.) That is what Keith Ellison and the Democratic candidate for Governor, fellow leftist Tim Walz, want to establish in Minnesota.

The Freedom Club, of which I am a member, has produced two ads highlighting the threat that Ellison and Walz pose to the safety of Minnesotans. This is the second one. Like the first, it was created by our friends at Madison McQueen:

Ellisons opponent, Doug Wardlow, is running a solid race and isnt afraid to call Ellison out for his pro-crime positions, as in this new ad:

Keith Ellison is such an extremist, and such a disreputable character, that normally, you might think he couldnt possibly stand a chance. But he is a leader of todays Democratic Party, the current Deputy Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. And a Republican hasnt been elected Attorney General of Minnesota since the 1960s. You can help bring Ellisons radical career to an end by going here to donate to Doug Wardlows campaign. And you can help prevent Minnesota from becoming a sanctuary state by going here to contribute to Republican candidate Jeff Johnsons gubernatorial campaign. Jeff is a solid conservative and would make an excellent governor.PR-Inside.com: 2018-10-14 22:02:01

Therium to Launch Full Service Litigation Funding Operations in Australia in January 2019

Media enquiries

Questor Consulting

Desiree Maghoo, +44 (0)7775 522740

dmaghoo@questorconsulting.com

or

Questor Consulting

Simon Barker, +44 (0)7866 314331

sbarker@questorconsulting.com

Therium Capital Management, a leading provider of litigation finance globally with over $800 million of assets under management, announced today that it is planning to launch a full service offering in Australia on 1 January 2019. Therium Australia will be based in Melbourne. Founded in 2009, Therium Capital Management is one of the largest and most established litigation financing firms in the world. The firm has funded claims valued at $36 billion.

Theriums full service operations in Australia will be headed by Simon Dluzniak, an experienced litigation funding professional, who has worked in the industry in both Australia and the UK since the early 2000s.

Within Australia, Therium will finance class actions and general commercial, insolvency and arbitration claims. Therium Australia will also seek to develop the countrys emerging corporate funding and portfolio funding markets. Outside of Australia, Therium Australia will look to fund arbitration claims in Hong Kong and Singapore, both of which are emerging markets for litigation finance.

Therium has funded claims in Australia since 2011 and is currently funding high profile shareholder class actions against financial services firms AMP Ltd and Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd, as well as delivery management software company GetSwift Ltd.

Neil Purslow, Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Therium, will be speaking about litigation funding at a Herbert Smith Freehills class action panel in Melbourne on 17 October. He said: We know the Australian litigation funding market well as we have been active in the country for several years. We are seeing a healthy demand for our services across a range of litigation areas and industries in Australia, so it is the natural moment for us to open an office in the country.

The market in Australia for litigation funding of class actions, general commercial cases and insolvency matters is both well-established and currently very buoyant. There is also a very substantial opportunity for Australian corporates to use funding as a form of off balance sheet finance, and for us to also provide portfolio funding to them  and the law firms that act for them. Both of these are established funding practices in the UK and the USA.

Therium has operations across Europe, including in the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and Scandinavia, and in the USA. Therium was the first commercial litigation funder to be have operations on the ground in Germany and Scandinavia and it was the first European firm to launch a full service business in the USA.

Litigation funding allows individuals and companies to take on litigation and arbitration cases that they might not otherwise be able to afford, and/or to hedge the costs and risks involved in such matters. Therium pays for all of the costs, including adverse costs in the event that the case is lost, and only receives payment if the case is won.

ENDS

About Therium

Founded in 2009, Therium is a leading global litigation financing firm with a market-leading track record of generating superior returns for its investors. The firm works across all forms of commercial litigation and arbitration and invests in a broad range of complex commercial disputes, from securities and shareholder actions, international arbitration, competition and antitrust cases, through to intellectual property, insolvency and class actions. In February 2018, Therium announced its latest fund of 200m, which the company is now actively deploying, and Therium has now raised nearly $800 million since its foundation. To date, the firm globally has funded claims valued at $36 billion. Therium has consistently been at the forefront of innovation in litigation finance, pioneering the combined use of insurance tools alongside funding vehicles, and introducing portfolio funding products into the UK.

The firms ability to develop innovative funding arrangements and bespoke financial solutions for litigants and law firms complements its unmatched experience and rigorous approach to funding a wide range of commercial disputes in varying jurisdictions throughout the world. In Chambers and Partners inaugural litigation support directory this year, Therium was ranked as a Tier 1 litigation funder. Therium is a founder member of the Association of Litigation Funders.

www.therium.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181014005The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele, says maintaining stable exchange rate to avoid depreciation of the Naira is better than building foreign reserve buffers.

Mr Emefiele told journalists on Sunday that this was part of the outcome of the Nigerian delegations meetings with investors and institutions at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG) Annual Meetings in Bali.

He said that all frontiers and developing markets have suffered not just depreciation, but had also lost reserves.

We are very conscious of the need to build buffers but unfortunately I must say that we are in the period where it will be difficult to talk about building reserve buffers.

We can only build reserve buffers if we want to hold on to the reserve and then allow the currency to go, and wherever it goes is something else.

So it is a choice we have to make and at this time the choice for Nigeria is to maintain a stable exchange rate so that businesses can plan and we do not create problems in the banking system assets.

According to him, like other emerging markets nations, Nigeria has also lost reserves but only marginally because it had managed to sustain stability in its foreign exchange market.

The CBN governor said that the IMF and the World Bank advised that nations should build country specific policies and fiscal and structural reforms that would boost economic growth.

Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, said the World Banks Human Capital Development Index (HCI) ranking, which placed Nigeria low at 44 per cent on stunting, was disheartening and depressing.

She, however, said that the federal government saw the rating as a wake-up call.

We admit that this pervasive action was due to long years of under-investment in human capital, which we have before now realised and for which we have been addressing.

Apart from major policy actions, some decisive actions are being taken to address the situation.

According to her, the delegation held meetings with the two rating agencies-Fitch and Moodys and presented to them the summary and synopsis of the recent economic and financial developments in Nigeria.

She added that it was an opportunity for the rating agencies to be able to objectively evaluate Nigerias credit.

Mrs Ahmed said she also met the IMF Managing Director, Christine Lagarde and discussed Nigerias economy in view of the 2019 general elections.

She assured Ms Lagarde that the election year would not pose any threat to the nations economic prospects.

Udoma Udo Udoma, Minister of Budget and National Planning, said that to improve HCI, the nation had improved budgetary allocation to health and education.

He said that allocation to education moved from N22.5 billion in 2015 to N102.9 billion in 2018.

He added that allocation to health was reviewed from N26.6 billion in 2015 to N86.49 billion in 2018.

He said also that N55.19 billion had been added to the health budget in 2018 through the National Health Act.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 2018 Annual Meetings of the IMF/WBG which began on October 8 ended on October 14.

(NAN)A Nigerian filmmaker, Adekunle Nodash Adejuyigbe, has revealed the reason why he shot a Boko Haram themed movie titled, The Delivery Boy.

Shot multiple times in 2015 and 2016 by The Elite Film Team and produced by Something Unusual Studios, the film poignantly situates its theme on the activities of Boko Haram insurgents.

During an interview with PREMIUM TIMES in Lagos on Saturday, Nodash said the movie represents the current happenings in Nigeria.

I was told not to make this movie, he said.

Three of the actors I casted, and the production designer I hired, turned down the project after reading the script. They all agreed it was a good script but they felt uncomfortable talking about the things that, in the Nigerian society, we typically refuse to talk about.

The movies sensitive plot nonetheless, the film earned him a standing ovation during its Nigerian debut at the 2018 Lights, Camera, Africa film festival that ended penultimate Sunday.

According to Nodash, people initially did not want him to shoot the movie with his personal funds.

On the financial side of things people felt it was crazy making a self-funded movie that would likely not be allowed to screen in Nigerian cinemas. They felt it was more prudent to make the usual slapstick comedies the Nigerian film industry (Nollywood) was known for.

But these are the exact reasons why I felt it was important to make the movie. I believe one of the main purposes of Art is to tour guide the audience through ideas and places that they normally wouldnt dare explore. I also wanted to present Nigerians/ Africans as I saw them.

The movie follows the story of Amir, a young orphan raised in an extremist group who runs away on the eve of a suicide mission, taking his bomb vest with him. He has a mission of his own. On his way, he runs into Nkem, a young prostitute escaping a lynch mob for a crime committed while trying to get money to save her dying brother. Before the night is over, they traverse the underbelly of the Nigerian metropolis as they search for their identities, their stolen pasts, money, and any semblance of peace they can find.

Their journey takes them through the underbelly of the city exposing the hidden backside of the African society and its dangerous culture of silence in the presence of evil.

The Delivery Boy stars Jemima Osunde, Charles Etubiebi Oke, Kehinde Fasuyi, Jude Chukwuka and Jamal Ibrahim.

Explaining why he chose to cast a teenage orphan boy to play the lead, Nodash said it was based on his artistic judgment.

People have different theories as to why a young Nigerian would willingly wear a bomb vest and blow himself/herself up and The Delivery Boy is my presentation of another possible theory. It is a theory that places the responsibility for this menace, not just on a few people, but also on the shoulders of every member of the Nigerian/ African society.

A few years ago, Nigerians woke up to the reality that there was a terrorist group operating within the country and that some of their suicide bombers were Nigerians. Most people found this strange because Nigerians are regarded as some of the most self-preservative people on the planet. So why suicide? he explained.

A scene from The Delivery Boy

The filmmaker also added that the film seeks to answer questions like, Who is responsible for creating these monsters that haunt us? And how would this story end?

Nodash is known for his unusual story telling abilities and his unique style of capturing images. He was the cinematographer in the movie The Encounter a short film based on true events, which won the Special Jury Recognition for Short Film at the African International Film Festival.

In 2016, he was also the cinematographer for Silence (2016), Gidi Up (2014), Season 3 and a Nollywood movie, Isoken.The family of the late Moses Adejumo, popularly known as Baba Sala, has announced December 6 and 7 as dates for the burial ceremony of the icon, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

His son, a Performing Officer at the National Troupe of Nigeria, Emmanuel Adejumo popularly called Boisala told NAN that the family was decided on the date for the burial.

NAN reports that the late Adejumo, a Member of the Order of the Niger (MON), comedian, dramatist and actor died on October 7 at 81 in Ilesa, Osun State.

His body has since been deposited at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex Annex, (Wesley Guild Hospital) in Ilesa.

(NAN)The Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Meta, Lagos, Adedamola Dada, has appealed to the Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, to assist the facility in persuading the Nigerian Railway Corporation to release more land space to the hospital for expansion.

Mr Dada, in a press statement signed by the ministry of healths director, media and public relations, Boade Akinola, on Sunday said the hospital had embarked on a massive upgrading of its facilities to meet global stand and be better positioned to provide qualitative healthcare to Nigerians.

Mr Dada who was briefing the minister in Lagos on Friday, according to the statement, said the upgrade was highly placed on the managements priority. He said the upgrade included the renovation of hospital wards, public toilets, and installation of oxygen bed amongst others.

He said since the hospital has automated its IGR collection, it has witnessed continuous monthly increase in IGR and has substantially reduced the leakages.

The hospital had also helped improved the capacity of staff through relevant training programme, he said.

Mr Adewole was at the facility with some other Chief Medical Directors (CMDs) and Medical Directors (MDs) of federal hospitals from across the country for a peer review meeting.

The meeting was to enable them exchange ideas, share experiences and appreciate challenges confronting each facility in other to help the government address such and if necessary capture them in the 2019 budget.

The review was also to give direct response to some of the demands by Nigerians on what the present administration was doing on health related issues.

Mr Adewole while expressing satisfaction with the current state of the structures at the hospital commended Mr Dada for improving infrastructure and services at the hospital. He assured Nigerians that President Muhammadu Buharis administration would invest more money on health and education in 2019.

The minister said government would not only invest money on health but also on education.

Mr Adewole during the tour of the facilities said the renovated section could be compared with any health institution abroad.

We need healthy people to drive the economy as we also need educated people to drive the economy. So we would not neglect our human resources, so I assure you that for 2019, this government would put more money on health and education and we would make our people proud, he said.

The minister also called on all federal health institutions to emulate the hospital. He also made a call to Nigerians to avail themselves of the opportunities for health care at home.

Some participants at the peer review meeting include, J. Momah, Chief Medical Director, National Hospital Abuja; Joe Amedu, Director Hospital Services, Federal Ministry of Health Abuja; Emeka Onwey, Medical Director, Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki; Yemi Ogun, Medical Director, Federal Neuro Psychiatric Hospital Yaba amongst others.A meeting of leaders of the South-east in Enugu has ended in deadlock, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.

The meeting was hastily convened on Saturday following the announcement of ex-governor Peter Obi of Anambra State as the running mate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on Friday

The meeting had in attendance PDP governors and legislators from the South-east and other eminent members of the party from the zone.

Held at the Enugu home of Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, the meeting ended without any resolution regarding the nomination of Mr Obi.

In attendance were governors Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, David Umahi and Okezie Ikpeazu of Enugu, Ebonyi, and Abia states respectively.

After more than one hour of deliberations, they did not reject or accept Mr Obis nomination.

Briefing reporters on the outcome, Mr Umahi said the leaders of the zone were not consulted before the said nomination.

Mr Umahi, who is also the chairman of the South-east Governors Forum, said Mr Abubakar would meet with South-east leaders over the choice of his running mate.

The governor said the meeting of South-east PDP stakeholders was to brainstorm on the choice of the former governor of Anambra State as Mr Abubakars running mate.

He said both PDP governors in the zone and other stakeholders were shocked over the news of a vice presidential slot given to Ndigbo whereas no formal notice to that effect was given.

Mr Umahi said Mr Abubakar sent in a message during their meeting informing them that he was out of the country for a short period.

He said he pleaded with them to remain calm that he would be coming down to the zone to dialogue with the leaders.

We saw news flying up and down saying that our presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has picked a running mate from the zone, Mr Umahi said.

We were shocked because we were not consulted. While we were meeting, Atiku sent message that he travelled out of the country for a short period. He promised to come down and meet with South-east leaders.

The Zonal Vice chairman of PDP, Augustine Umahi, said the leaders of the party in the zone saw the news of Mr Obis nomination as the PDPs running mate on social media.

Our leaders are saying that we are not yet aware that such a thing (Obis appointment) happened.

We have gotten in touch him (Atiku), he is traveling tonight and he promised that when comes back we shall meet in that.

Peter Obi is our son, and is from South-east, we are not rejecting or accepting him but we are saying is that we are not aware, you cannot shave a man in his absence, he said.Former President Olusegun Obasanjos endorsement of Atiku Abubakar ripped through Nigerias political circles like a grenade on Thursday afternoon, placing the Peoples Democratic Partys presidential candidate on a stronger electioneering pedestal in ahead of the 2019 elections.

The endorsement came because Mr Abubakar enlisted top Christian and Islamic clerics to help persuade Mr. Obasanjo by evoking Biblical and Quranic concepts to dilute his long-standing misgivings about his estranged former deputy.

Messrs Obasanjo and Abubakar have had a roller-coaster relationship since at least 2006, a year before they both left office as president and vice president, respectively, in May 2007. Both have publicly thrown insults at one another in times of political clashes, but also exchanged pleasantries when its mutually convenient.

Only two months ago, Mr Obasanjo said he would never support Mr Abubakar for president, maintaining in no uncertain terms that his former subordinate was unfit for Nigerias political and economic interest.

If I support Atiku for anything, God will not forgive me. If I do not know, yes. But once I know, Atiku can never enjoy my support, Mr Obasanjo exclusively told PREMIUM TIMES in early August.

Mr Abubakar did not fire back at the time, maintaining his silence instead and asking his campaign staffers to do same.

His political detractors, including some in the camps of his challengers for the PDP ticket, assumed the statement by Mr Obasanjo would mark the end of Mr Abubakars campaign. But the former vice president pushed on.

He bagged the main opposition partys presidential ticket at a convention in Port Harcourt last weekend, using his acceptance speech to hail his former principal to high heavens.

Under his tutelage, I learnt quite a lot, Mr Abubakar said. I wish to pay my personal tribute to him.

Mr Obasanjo would later admit in his endorsement of Mr Abubakar that the statement meant a lot to him, and added it as part of the reasons he believed the candidate has evolved enough to deserve his endorsement.

Laying The Groundwork

First, in reading Mr Obasanjos endorsement, the views of both on the challenges facing Nigeria appear strikingly close.

And when you become Nigerian President which, insha-Allah, you will be, remember what we did together in government  we ran an administration by Nigerians for all Nigerians where merit and performance count more than blood relationship, friendship or kith and kin, Mr Obasanjo said.

He also demanded Mr Abubakar must create massive employment and integrate youth and women in his administration.

Those observations have long been canvassed by Mr ABubakar throughout his campaign. He often uses his exploits as a successful businessman who has invested in various sectors to enunciate his qualification for Nigerias presidency.

Still, this was not the primary reason Mr Obasanjo finally acquiesced to the ambition of Mr Abubakar. It was a journey that started immediately after the former vice president won the PDP nomination on Sunday.

Osita Chidoka, a former Nigerian aviation minister who now works as a strategy adviser to PDP chairman Uche Secondus, was the first person to be sent to Mr Obasanjo, according to those familiar with the arrangement.

He visited the former president at his Abeokuta home  also where Mr Abubakars entourage was received Thursday  to get a sense of how he would feel about endorsing the PDP candidate.

During their discussion, Mr Chidoka, a source close to him said, reminded Mr Obasanjo of a discussion they both once had about how fickle politics anywhere in the world could be.

In particular, Mr Chidoka, who has now been embedded in Mr Abubakars campaign, said Mr Obasanjo could find himself in the same political boat with his former deputy once again.

He drew an analogy from the recent political development in Malaysia, where politics united old foes to seize power in a successful alliance against the incumbent.

This is an interesting story unfolding in Malaysia. Picture below is Aziza wife of Jailed opposition leader Anwar and Mahathir who first jailed Anwar, then his Deputy on charges of Sodomy and graft leading to a bitter feud https://t.co/enmoJcVTWg  Osita Chidoka (@osita_chidoka) January 7, 2018

On Tuesday, leaders of the Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, were at Mr Obasanjos Abeokuta residence to discuss the need to forgive Atiku and face the 2019 elections as a united front against President Muhammadu Buhari.

Mr Obasanjo had told Mr Buhari not to seek reelection earlier this year, hinging his position on worsening economic, political and security crises in the country.

Mr Buhari had since dismissed Mr Obasanjo as inconsequential, and went on to pick the ruling All Progressives Congress ticket for 2019.

Ayo Adebanjo, who led Afenifere stalwarts to meet Mr Obasanjo on behalf of Mr Abubakar, has been a prominent supporter of the former vice presidents presidential run. He praised him as being open-minded, economically literate politician who has always eschewed ethnic and tribal biases, unlike Mr Buhari whom they have long castigated for allegedly approaching governance without recourse to national unity and inclusiveness.

Mr Abubakar has also won the heart of Afenifere with his staunch believe in the restructuring Nigeria project, which he said he would immediately commence if elected.

Heavenly Intervention

Both Mr Chidoka and the Afenifere leaders returned to Mr Abubakar with positive news that Mr Obasanjo had become amenable to his presidential run, and suggested an immediate visit to finalise the talks.

Mr Abubakar then tapped religious leaders, including Matthew Kukah of the Catholic Church, David Oyedepo of the Living Faith Church and Abubakar Gumi, an Islamic scholar and cleric.

They all went into a closed-door meeting, where Mr Obasanjo let out his reservations about Mr Abubakar, most of which date back to their days at the State House together.

The religious leaders reportedly preached to Mr Obasanjo, using a slew of passages from both the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran to appeal to his sense of forgiveness.

What we told them there was to learn to forgive, forget and to face the future. This was just the message and what we told them. We also said that since we witnessed the reconciliation they need to forge ahead, Mr Gumi told PREMIUM TIMES in an interview.

Mr Obasanjo then let up his longstanding animosity towards Mr Abubakar, embracing him and endorsing him in a well-crafted speech.

Heaving A Sigh

Mr Obasanjo has a pretty good record in top-tier endorsements, and those who failed to bag his support have often found themselves not getting to office or leaving ingloriously.

During military administrations, Mr Obasanjo wrote letters criticising heads of state, which sometimes put him in trouble.

His fierce opposition to Sani Abacha earned him years behind bars on death row. But Mr Abachas sudden demise in 1998 cleared Mr Obasanjos path to a return to power as a civilian administrator. He had led a military junta between 1976 and 1979 when he handed over to a civilian administration.

Since leaving office in 2007, he has endorsed all successive presidents. He anointed Umar YarAdua as his successor, who went on to lead Nigeria until he passed on in office in 2010.

He also supported Goodluck Jonathan in the 2011 elections. Mr Jonathan had acted for a year as president following Mr YarAduas death, and the 2011 presidential poll was his first substantive election.

In 2015, Mr Obasanjo abandoned Mr Jonathan on the grounds that his performance was too poor to deserve reelection. Even though he was a member of Mr Jonathans party, under which he had been president himself for eight years, Mr Obasanjo supported Mr Buhari for president, assisting him to a victory that saw his APC become the first opposition party to dethrone a ruling party in Nigerias history.

Even so, Mr Obasanjo is not a kingmaker, especially as Nigeria has been a constitutional republic. But his endorsement matters, and Mr Abubakar understood this much. Multiple campaign insiders said it would have been more difficult for Mr Abubakar if Mr Obasanjo had backed Mr Buhari instead.

Mr Abubakar had made a passionate appeal for support during his acceptance speech on Sunday afternoon, calling on all his challengers to support him because he could not do it alone. It required a collective effort, he said.

The candidate also stands to benefit immensely from Mr Obasanjos vast connection and leverage it to expand his 2019 prospects. The candidate, as it stands, appears a persona non grata in the United States, a downside which his political opponents have used to torment him for years.

Mr Obasanjo indicated in his endorsement that he would intervene to neutralise any hurdles Mr Abubakar might encounter in the course of his campaign  both at home and abroad.The Police Command in Sokoto State has confirmed the death of one person as a result of stray bullets fired when hoodlums allegedly attacked Governor Aminu Tambuwals motorcade in Sokoto on Saturday.

The commands spokesperson, Cordelia Nwawe, told journalists that one other person who was injured during the incident had been hospitalised.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the PDP had organised a reception rally to welcome Mr Tambuwal after his failed attempt to secure the 2019 presidential ticket of the party.

NAN reports that the governor was received by a crowd of supporters at the Sultan Abubakar III International Airport, Sokoto and went in a motorcade to the Government House.

The event was, however, not-hitch free as political thugs armed with dangerous weapons destroyed billboards, building structures and vehicles bearing inscriptions of the opposition party.

A car bearing the APC logo and painting travelling to Sokoto from Bodinga was also set ablaze by mobs along the Sokoto State University.

The motorcade was then forced to stop along Gawon Nama, near the resident of Aliyu Wamakko, when another set of mobs carrying arms confronted it.

It took the efforts of security operatives to get it moving again.

A relative of the deceased who pleaded anonymity told NAN that the deceased, Imran Ahmad-Alkanci, was on his way home after visiting family relations when the incident happened.

The source said the 22-year-old was trying to get a commercial motorcycle when the bullet hit him. (NAN)The 8th Senate has over the past three years, prided itself as the best so far, having passed over 200 bills against previous assemblies.

Top among the bills are those seeking establishment of universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, among others.

In what has almost become a tradition at the upper chamber, at least one bill seeking the establishment of a tertiary institution is presented for deliberation, consideration and possible passage into law, by a lawmaker almost each week.

Most times, when these lawmakers present such bills, they give several reasons to back their request, ranging from there is no federal university in my constituency to establishment of this institution will help boost the economy of that constituency.

The lawmakers, however, do not find it ironical that existing tertiary institutions across the country undergo challenges that require the urgent attention from both the federal and state government  rather than establishing new ones.

No Nigerian university is currently ranked among the top 600 in the world, with the highest ranked university being Covenant University, a private institution.

Several times, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has expressed disappointment at the federal and state governments over the creation of new tertiary institutions.

The academic body had said the creation of too many universities is one of the reasons the system is not producing the desired results.

Every now and then we see new universities springing up without really trying to find out what impact the existing ones have made in the political, social and economic development of the country.

I dare say that the unbridled proliferation of universities in the country is, in fact, one of the reasons why the system is not producing a functional result that it should produce.

Most of the universities do not even have personnel, especially lecturers to teach, let alone the requisite infrastructure that will enable a well-rounded university education, the ASUU chairman, University of Lagos Chapter was quoted as saying during a public hearing at the National Assembly.

PREMIUM TIMES takes a look at some lawmakers who sponsored bills seeking the establishment of tertiary institutions in their constituencies and the reasons they gave:

1. Ibn NaAllah: Federal University of Agriculture, Zuru, Kebbi State

The bill was first presented on the floor of the Senate on July 4 and was read for the second time on July 12. Although there is no University in Zuru, the constituency has a College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry (CAOZU) and Saham College of Health Sciences and Technology.

Senator-Bala-Ibn-NaAllah. [PHOTO CREDIT: The Eagle Online]

After the second reading, the bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institution and TETFUND for more deliberation and for it to report back in four weeks.

Already, the state has the Federal University, Birnin Kebbi and Kebbi State University of Science and Technology.

2. Stella Oduah: Federal University of Education, Aguleri, Anambra State

The bill was co-sponsored by a senator Victor Umeh and was read for the first time on April 19.

Stella Oduah [Photo credit: African Examiner]

While presenting the bill, Mrs Oduah maintained that the establishment of the institution will help achieve her priorities, top of which include the development of human capital of the youth and women, which will ultimately increase economic activities and development of the communities affected.

The Anambra senator has also presented a bill seeking the establishment of Federal University of Aquatic Studies in Ogbaru, Anambra State.

She has said the bill, if passed, is expected to develop the aquaculture sector in the predominantly fishing community of Ogbaru in Anambra state by ensuring the availability of highly skilled manpower and development of cutting-edge research and technology for the industry.

Both bills are yet to be read for the second time.

Other universities in the state include the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (formally known as Anambra State University), Nnamdi Azikiwe University and some private universities.

3. Gershom Bassey: Federal Polytechnic, Akpabuyo, Cross River State

Mr Bassey presented the bill on the floor of the Senate for the first time on March 29, 2018. Akpabuyo local government has only one tertiary institution  the Arthur Jarvis University, a private university inaugurated on March 6, 2017.

Gershom Bassey

The lawmaker had said the federal polytechnic will be the first institution within Akpabuyo and a development that would be well appreciated by the people of the community. The bill has not been read for the second time.

Presently, the state has no state or federal polytechnic. Only a private institution, Novak Polytechnic exists in Ikom local government of the state. The state, however, has both a state and a federal university.

4. Barnabas Gemade: Federal College of Education (Technical), Korinya, Benue State

The bill was first presented on the floor of the Senate on February 1. Korinya, a town in Konshisha Local Government Area of the state, does not have a tertiary institution.

Benue senator, Barnabas Gemade. [PHOTO CREDIT: The Guardian Nigeria]

The bill is yet to be read for the second time.

The state however, has two polytechnics  Benue State Polytechnic, Ugboloko and Fidel Polytechnic, Gboko. It also has three universities: Benue State University, Makurdi; Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi and University of Mkar, Mkar  Gboko.

There are about four colleges of education in state: College of Education, Oju; Federal College of Education, Agasha; College of Education, Katsina-Ala and College of Agriculture, Yandev.

5. Biodun Olujimi: Federal College of Education, Omuo-Ekiti, Ekiti State

The bill was first presented to the Senate on February 1, 2018. It was then read for the second time on February 7 and referred to the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institution and TETFUND for more legislative work and public hearing.

Senates Deputy Minority Whip, Biodun Olujimi. [Photo credit: TheCable]

In her debate, Mrs Olujimi noted that there has been an educational neglect in the Omuo-Ekiti senatorial district.

The Senate Committee on Tertiary Institution and TETFUND held a public hearing on March 19, to consider the bill and a sum of over N1billion was estimated for the project execution. Efforts to find out from the lawmaker if the bill has been sent to the president for assent were unsuccessful.

The state, however, has a college of education in Ikere-Ekiti. It also has a federal polytechnic, a federal university and a state university.

6. Theodore Orji: Federal Polytechnic, Aba, Abia State

The lawmaker presented a Bill for an Act to establish the Federal Polytechnic Aba, Abia State on January 30. It was read for the second time on February 28, 2018 and was referred to the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND.

Theodore Orji

Mr Orji later clarified that the purpose of the bill was for the upgrading of the Abia State Polytechnic into a federal institution and not the establishment of a new polytechnic.

He also said the bill was to provide for full time courses in technology, applied sciences, management and other fields of studies and make provision for the general administration of the polytechnic.

In March, a public hearing was organised for deliberations on the bill and participants of the event unanimously supported the purpose of the bill.

The only polytechnic in the state is the Abia State Polytechnic. The state, however, has both a state and federal university.

7. Mao Ohabunwa: Federal polytechnic, Item, Abia State

The bill was first presented on January 30 and passed through second reading on February 21.

Messrs Ohabunwa and Orji, both Abia senator, thus proposed two different bills for two federal polytechnics in Abia.

During the presentation of the bill, Mr Ohabunwa, noted that apart from the University of Agriculture Umudike, there is no other federal institution in the state.

He said the Senate came up with the resolution that there should be a federal presence in every constituency in the interest of Nigerians. He said the Federal Polytechnic is well cut out as the best location to site the institution because of the abundance of technical know-how in the area.

The Senate Committee on Tertiary Institution and TETFUND held a public hearing on March 19, to consider the bill.

8. Danjuma Laah: Federal University of technology, Manchok, Kaduna State

Mr Laah first presented the bill at the upper chamber on July 25, 2017. It was read for the second time on February 6.

However, the lawmaker wants the Federal School of Statistics in Manchok to be converted to a Federal University of Technology. He explained that the community is even willing to negotiate for more land with the federal government.

He further said Kaduna State has suffered neglect in terms of building tertiary institutions in the area.

The Senate Committee on Tertiary Institution and TETFUND on February 23, held a public hearing to consider the passage of the bill.

At the hearing, the president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Biodun Ogunyemi, urged the government to promote a culture of strengthening the capacity of existing tertiary institutions rather than creating more in the face of dwindling financial resources.

Kaduna already has a federal university, the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; as well as the Nigeria Defence Academy, which has the status of a military university. It also has a state university and a state polytechnic.

9. Joshua Lidani: Federal Polytechnic Kaltungo, Gombe State

This bill was first introduced to the Senate in June 2017 and was read for the second time on January 31. The lawmaker who sponsored the bill said the polytechnic will provide full-time courses in technology, applied science management and other fields of study.

The Senate Committee on Tertiary Institution and TETFUND held a public hearing on July 19, to consider the passage of the bill.

Although there is no known federal polytechnic in the state, the state has both a state and a federal university.

10. Barnabas Gemade: Federal Polytechnic Adikpo, Benue State

This bill was introduced to the Senate in June 2017 and scaled through second reading on January 31.

Mr Gemade, in his presentation, stressed that Benue State does not have any federal polytechnic or federal college of education and it is against this backdrop that the Bill was proposed to address these challenges by establishing a Federal polytechnic at Adikpo in Kwande Local Government Area which is very central within the North-east senatorial district of Benue State which does not have any federal tertiary institution.

He added that the Bill is a right step in the right direction as it seeks to address not only the technological needs of the populace but also provide training in the fields of applied science management, technical and vocational training of artisans for the development of the nations diverse economic potentials and industries.

From his submission, the financial implication for the federal polytechnic amounted to N2.15 billion.

11. Clifford Ordia: Federal College of Education, Usugbenu Irrua, Edo State

While presenting this bill, Mr Ordia argued that the enactment of the bill will help in transforming the educational fortunes in Nigeria and in producing the desired manpower and expertise that Nigeria is yearning for in the area of teaching profession.

Clifford Ordia. [PHOTO CREDIT: ORDER PAPER]

He also said the establishment of the institution will create a favorable atmosphere for the educational development of our country.

It was first presented on January 24 and was read for the second time on February 7.

There is no known federal college of education in the state. The only state college of education is located at Ekiador. The state, however, has a state and a federal university.

12. Late Ali Wakili: Federal College of Education, Dass, Bauchi State

The late lawmaker presented the bill on the floor of the Senate on January 25 and was read for the second time the following week (January 31).

Senator Ali Wakili. [Photo credit: TOS TV NETWORK]

Before his demise, the lawmaker had convinced the upper chamber on the establishment of the college, which made the bill scale through second reading and referred to the committee on Tertiary Education and TETFUND.

The committee, thereafter, set a date for the public hearing of the bill.

The progress of the bill was, however, halted when a fellow senator from Bauchi Central, Isah Misau, raised a point of order, asking the Senate to cancel the public hearing on February 20.

He lamented that Bauchi South (where Dass, is located), already has six federal institutions: Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Federal Polytechnic Bauchi, Federal School of Nursing and Midwifery, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, National Open University study campus, and Federal Government Girls College.

He also said the establishment of the college in Dass could hinder the proposed establishment of the Federal College of Education Misau in his senatorial zone of Bauchi Central.

The deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, mandated the Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFUND to investigate Mr Misaus claims.

Mr Wakili died on March 17.

13. Yusuf Yusuf: Federal college of education, Mutum Biyu, Taraba State

This bill was presented for the first time on May 30 and scaled through second reading on July 18. Although there is no college of education in the constituency, the state, however has a college of education, located at Zing. The state also has a state and a federal university.

The bill is yet to be read for the third time.

14. Ahmad Lawan: Federal University, Gashua, Yobe State

The bill seeking the establishment of a federal university in Gashua, Yobe State was first presented in April 2017 and was read for the second time in May 2017.

Senator Ahmed Lawan

The bill was referred to the relevant committee which held a public hearing and re-presented its report to the upper chamber.

The bill was read for the third time and passed on March 13, 2018. Effort to know if the bill has been transmitted to the president for assent was unsuccessful as he could not be reached.

15. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi: Federal University of Education, Kontagora, Niger State

Mr Abdullahi first presented the bill on July 4 and this was read for the second time on July 18, 2018.

Sabi Abdullahi

It is yet to be read for the third time. Mr Abdullahis constituency already has a college of education. The state also has a Federal University of Technology.

16. Baba Kaka Bashir Garbai: Federal Polytechnic Maiduguri, Borno State

This bill has only been presented on the floor of the senate on January 31 and is yet to be read for the second time. There is no known polytechnic in the state.

17. Joshua Dariye: Federal College of Education, Kanam, Plateau State

Former Governor of Plateau state, Joshua Dariye.

On February 7, 2018, the bill was first read on the floor of the Senate. Although the bill has not been read for the second time, the state however, already has a Federal College of Education in Pankshin local government. It also has an existing federal university.

18. John Enoh: Federal Polytechnic, Ikom, Cross River State

Mr Enoh first presented the bill in April 2018. The bill scaled through second reading on May 30, 2018 and was referred to the appropriate committee.

John Owan-Enoh

The committee is yet to present its report to the Senate for furtherance of the bill.

Mr Enoh presented his bill two months after his colleague, Gershom Bassey, proposed the bill for the Federal Polytechnic, Akpabuyo,

19. Foster Ogola: Federal College of Education (Technical), Aghoro, Bayelsa State

This bill was first read in February 2018 and scaled through second reading on May 30.

While leading the debate on the bill, Mr Ogola said the existence of a sound and robust educational system in any country is predicated by qualified and well-trained teachers.

Foster Ogola

He said the objective of this bill is to, among others, develop an upright learning, technical and professional programme leading to the award of certificate degrees, post-graduate research, diploma and higher degrees with emphasis on planning developmental and adaptive skills in education, engineering technology, applied science, agriculture, commerce and social science humanities, management and allied disciplines.

The bill was referred to the appropriate committee which is yet to present its report. There is no known Federal College of Education in the state which has both a state and a federal university.

20. Ali Ndume: Federal College of Education Gwoza

The bill was read for the first time on January 31, 2018. Although Borno State has some higher institutions, Mr Ndumes constituency, however, has none.

Ali Ndume

Efforts to reach Mr Ndume for clarification on the status of the bill, were unsuccessful.

Gwoza Local Government has been terrorised by the Boko Haram insurgents for over six years. Up till early this year, village heads and residents of several communities in the local government, have lamented that most part of the area is still controlled by the insurgents.

Most recent incident was the abduction of some women along Pulka Road in the local government.

Effort to reach Mr Ndume and discuss the progress of the bill was unsuccessful as he did not respond to calls made to him.As the 2019 general election draws near, the political space is becoming more heated with parties producing their presidential candidates for the election last week.

The emergence of these candidates has been followed with lots of meetings and consultations with parties already attacking each others candidates well ahead of the November 18 official kick off date for electioneering campaigns.

Below is a round up of major political stories for last week.

SUNDAY

 Atiku Abubakar, a retired Customs officer and Nigerias vice president between 1999 and 2007, was elected the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the PDP national convention in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, held Saturday and Sunday.

Mr Abubakar defeated 11 other aspirants to get the ticket, making him the main challenger to President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 general election.

 Delegates to the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Convention affirmed President Muhammadu Buhari as the flag bearer of the party in the 2019 election.

The affirmation was done through a voice vote by the delegates after results of direct primary elections from all the 36 states and the FCT were announced.

The party claimed President Buhari scored 14,842,072 votes from the 36 states and FCT.

MONDAY

 The former minister who supervised the deadly immigration recruitment exercise that led to the death of at least 15 young Nigerians emerged the senatorial candidate for Benue South under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

Abba Moro, who is believed to be an ally of ex-Senate President David Mark, was the interior minister in 2014 when a poorly planned March 15 recruitment exercise by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) caused the death of applicants who had gathered at the National Stadium, Abuja from across Nigeria. The applicants died in a stampede at the stadium.

Abba Moro [Photo Credit: DailyPost.ng]

 The All Progressives Congress (APC) attacked the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, saying the presidency is not for sale and alleging the politician paid delegates at its convention.

The party said this in a statement by its publicity secretary, Yekini Nabena, on Monday.

 Reacting to the attack by the APC, the PDP said the allegation that Mr Abubakar emerged through vote-buying was false and only a result of the nervousness of the deflated APC.

 Outgoing Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, following the partys convention said he regretted the failure of Sokoto Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, to emerge the PDP presidential candidate, and threatened to leave the party.

Mr Fayose, in a statement on Monday in Ado Ekiti, said he supported his Rivers counterpart, Nyesom Wike, to work for the emergence of Mr Tambuwal.

He said the outcome of the primary was making him reconsider his membership of the PDP because of Mr Tambuwals loss.

TUESDAY

 A young man identified as Kamaludden Bashir, commenced trekking from Zaria to Abuja to show his support over the emergence of Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate of the PDP, similar to what someone did for President Buhari in 2015 when he trekked from Lagos to Abuja.

Mr Bashir who arrived Kaduna on Tuesday, a day after he left Zaria, told journalists that he planned to reach Abuja within five days.

 Senate President, Bukola Saraki, described a statement attacking him by the APC as irresponsible.

The APC in a statement on Tuesday by its publicity secretary, Mr Nabena, had said Mr Sarakis loss in the partys presidential primary showed PDP delegates were fed up with his political style.

The party said the disappointing performance of Mr Saraki who came third with 317 votes was a befitting end to the ambition of a greedy, untrustworthy and double-dealing politician.

 The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) warned candidates and political parties not to start campaigns yet.

The chairman of the commission, Mahmood Yakubu, gave the warning on Monday at a workshop for election professionals from the Commonwealth Africa Region organised by the Commonwealth in partnership with the commission.

WEDNESDAY

 A former minister of information, Jerry Gana, on Thursday, called for review of the presidential primary of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in which he was defeated by a former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke.

Mr Duke polled 812 votes to defeat Mr Gana who polled 611 votes at the partys national convention at Old Parade Ground, Abuja.

Mr Gana said he should be declared the candidate of the party because Mr Duke was not qualified to contest, the ticket having been zoned to the northern part of the country.

Prof Jerry Gana

In reaction to this however, the SDP said it would address the complaints to ensure the matter does not degenerate to the extent of jeopardising the confidence of Nigerians in SDP as the alternative party in the 2019 general election.

 The governing APC was declared ineligible by INEC to field candidates for all elective positions in Zamfara State in the 2019 general elections, having failed to meet the October 7 deadline for conducting primaries to elect candidates for the elections.

The commission duly notifed the partys national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, in a letter sighted by PREMIUM TIMES reporter Tuesday evening of its decision.

 Mr Oshiomhole, however, said the APC will present candidates in Zamfara State in the general elections despite, faulting the notification by the electoral commission.

Be informed that in spirit of due compliance with the law, we affirm we shall indeed be presenting candidates for governorship, National Assembly and state House of Assembly in Zamfara State for the general elections before the deadline of such names which has been fixed by your commission on October 18 and in line with section 87 (6) of the electoral act 2010 as amended, Mr Oshiomhole said in a letter to INEC dated October 10.

THURSDAY

 Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said he had reviewed his stance on not backing his former deputy for the presidency of Nigeria.

Mr. Obasanjo said this when Atiku Abubakar and leaders of the PDP visited him at his Abeokuta home in company of some clerics.

He said he believed Mr Abubakar has re-discovered and re-positioned himself and is now good enough to enjoy his support in the next election.

 The APC again attacked the PDP, saying the opposition party cannot prevent its candidates from being put through the corruption and integrity test, which it believes he will fail

The party was reacting to a statement by spokesperson of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, in which he accused the APC-led administration of deliberate efforts to impugn on the character of the PDP presidential candidate, Mr Abubakar.

 President Buhari reacted to the endorsement of his main challenger, Mr Abubakar, by Mr Obasanjo. He said they will lose all together at the poll.

The presidents reaction was contained in a statement by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu.

FRIDAY

 The presidential candidate of the PDP, Mr Abubakar, announced a former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, as his running mate for the 2019 election.

The announcement followed a meeting between the two in Abuja.

 The APC appointed Lanre Issa-Onilu as its new national spokesperson.

The appointment was made Friday evening by the National Working Committee of the APC in Abuja although no formal announcement was made.

Mr Issa-Onilu and an aide to the partys chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, Simon Ebegbulem, confirmed the appointment to PREMIUM TIMES.

 The APC described former president, Mr Obasanjo, as a hypocrite and self-serving for allegedly putting pressure on the United States authorities to lift a visa ban on Mr Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the opposition PDP.

The ruling party in a statement by its spokesperson, Mr Nabena, on Friday said it had credible reports that Mr Obasanjo made moves to secure US entry visa for Mr Abubakar.

SATURDAY

 The senators representing Nigerias ruling party, APC, announced they had dropped plans to remove the president of the Senate.

Plans for Mr Sarakis removal had been a topical issue since his defection from the ruling party to the opposition party as both the APC and its members called for his resignation or removal.

Mr Saraki, however, vowed to remain in office saying he enjoys the support of majority of senators.

 Mr Obasanjo dismissed the allegation by the APC that he was mounting pressure on American authorities to expunge an alleged corruption case against Mr Abubakar.

The APC said Mr Abubakar is wanted in the U.S. for fraud, claiming Mr Obasanjo was scheming to have the alleged charges dropped in order to clear the path for Mr Abubakars entry into that country.

Mr Abubakar has not been able to enter the U.S. since at least 2007 when he completed his two-term as vice-president, serving under Mr Obasanjo the entire eight years.

 The presidency announced the placement of 50 high-profile Nigerians on travelling restrictions.

The individuals, whose identities were not disclosed, include those whose assets, valued at N50 million and above, are subject of corruption investigation and litigation.

The statement by presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, said the measure was part of the implementation of Executive Order Number 6 which seeks to ensure that all assets within a minimum value of N50 million or equivalent, subject to investigation or litigation are protected from dissipation by employing all available lawful means, pending the final determination of any corruption-related matter.

 The PDP said it rejected in its entirety, attempt by the Buhari Presidency to foist full-blown fascism on our country, beginning with the placement of illegal travel restrictions on Nigerians.

In a press statement signed by Mr Ologbondiyan, the party said this draconian step is clearly targeted at members of the opposition parties, perceived political enemies of President Muhammadu Buhari, well-meaning Nigerians, including members of the business community, religious leaders, former political leaders and traditional rulers, who are perceived to be averse to President Buharis re-election bid.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has raised an alarm over the 24 hours deadline given by Boko Haram to eliminate another female staff held captive by the insurgents.

Mamadou Sow, Head of ICRCs Operations in the Lake Chad Basin, in a statement on Sunday made an appeal to the Nigerian government, communities and individuals towards the release of two medical workers.

The statement was also put on the ICRC website.

Mr Sow named the affected medical workers as Hauwa Mohammed and Alice Loksha.

According to Mr Sow, speed and urgency are critical. A deadline that could result in the killing of another health care worker is less than 24 hours away, he said.

PREMIUM TIMES reported the killing of another kidnapped ICRC staff, Saifura Khorsa, in September by the Boko Haram.

Ms Khorsa was killed by the Boko Haram six months after her abduction alongside the two other health workers in March.

To the holder of these kidnapped women, we urge you for mercy. We urge you not to kill another innocent health care worker, who was doing nothing but helping the community in north-east Nigeria, Mr Sow said.

Mr Sow noted that Hauwa worked in a hospital supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), when she was abducted March 1, 2018 with Alice, a nurse who worked in a centre supported by UNICEF.

Hauwa and Alice are medical workers, who chose to work and help vulnerable communities in Rann, an area heavily affected by violence.

The towns population has more than doubled because of the conflict, while most local health care staff have fled. These women were providing essential and life-saving services to thousands of people, displaced and residents alike. All they sought to do was help, he said.

Mr Sow also noted that Leah Sharibu, a 15-year-old school student, was taken from her school in Dapchi, in a separate abduction incident in February.

He, however, added that she was also being held by the same armed group and everything must be done to ensure her prompt and unharmed release.

The Director of ICRC Operations in Africa, Patricia Danzi, also urged the federal government to work towards the release of the innocent spirited individuals.

We urge you to spare and release these women. They are a midwife, a nurse and a student. Like all those abducted, they are not part of any fight.

They are daughters and sisters; one is a mother, women with their future ahead of them, children to raise, and families to return to, she said.Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Jeffrey Sachs and the African Export Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK) have committed to launch the Education Fund for Africa to ensure free education for children on the continent.

They made the pledge on Saturday at the second Babacar Ndiaye Lecture in Bali, Indonesia.

The lecture was organised by AFREXIMBANK as a side event at the ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG) Annual Meetings which began on Monday.

Messrs Obasanjo and Sachs delivered lectures on Global Power Disequilibrium, Trade Wars and Implications for Africa, in honour of Ndiaye, former President, African Development Bank, who died on July 31, 2017.

Mr Obasanjo said that investing in education by Africans for Africans was important for the continents development.

He added that Africa has to develop itself as no one else would do it for her.

According to him, the absence of education is the main cause of insurgency in Nigeria.

When you talk to some of our people they will say it is the fault of governors and leaders in the community, but it is the fault of all of us Nigerians.

We have to make sure we get it right and where a particular community is not moving right we have to appeal, cajole, enforce and make sure that every child in that community has education up to secondary school level.

I believe that education is the starting point for development in Africa. There is no earthly reason why any African child should not have education up to secondary school free.

We are the architects of our own fortune or misfortune and so we cannot blame anyone. Education is very basic to everything- life expectancy, maternal mortality, infant mortality, employment generation and all.

Mr Obasanjo said that once the issue of education was solved, the people would live better lives and make contributions to their own communities, states and indeed the world.

On the issue of the existing trade war between the U.S. and China, he said Africa should ensure it got up to 50 per cent intra-African trade to serve as a buffer.

Mr Sachs, a development economist, said that Africa should take advantage of the trade wars to make bold breakthroughs, adding that it was the time to make bold initiatives for 2030.

He said that Africa, India and China were similar in population and should take advantage of the present global issues to develop themselves to become future world economic hubs.

There is a very dramatic technological revolution on the way and that is to the benefit of Africa.

Information revolution is the basis for Africa to make revolutionary advances in healthcare, education and the private sector economy.

You need infrastructure and training for the people on the new technology, so you need to build digital capacity and ensure the universities are creating engineers to handle these new technologies.

On the issue of education for all, Sachs said that if Africa would pledge to fund the vision, he and many others would work to fulfil the pledge.

You provide the funds and we make it happen, he said.

Benedict Oramah, the President, AFREXIMBANK, said that although education was not part of the banks mandate, the bank would do everything possible to ensure that the fund emerges.

You ask about where the money will come from but the money is in Africa and we have to start raising the money from within and when we do, others will follow.

Africa has to get it right for it to get to where it should be, he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that guests at the lecture included leaders of African and global banks, development finance institutions, the business community and political leaders attending the IMF/WBG meetings.

(NAN)The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has partially lifted the suspension on some certificates of the International Aviation College, Ilorin, Approved Training Organisation (ATO).

Sam Adurogboye, General Manager, Public Relations, NCAA made the announcement on Sunday in Lagos.

Mr Adurogboye said the lifting of the suspension was conveyed in a letter to the college dated October 8.

The partial lifting of the suspension was as a result of the closure of a good number of the findings and the remarkable commitment demonstrated in closing the remaining findings as verified during the recent re-certification audit of the college.

Consequently, the partial lifting is only applicable to the Fixed Wing Pilot (Aeroplane) and Flight Dispatchers Courses.

It follows therefore that the helicopter flight training segment of the approved courses is still on suspension until the necessary corrective actions are undertaken, he said this in a statement.

Mr Adurogboye, therefore urged the college to take necessary steps to close all open items after which the authority would carry out another round of re-certification exercise for total lifting or otherwise.

He said NCAA had earlier suspended the ATO of the college due to the deficiencies found during an audit of the institution.

Mr Adurogboye reaffirmed that the NCAA was committed to enforcement of compliance to safety regulations at all times so as to continue to guarantee safer skies in Nigeria.

(NAN)A former President, Goodluck Jonathan, has appealed to the leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-east zone to support the partys presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in his choice of Peter Obi as his running mate, to ensure victory for PDP in next years general elections.

The former presidents appeal follows a statement issued on Saturday by leaders of the party in the zone stating that they were not properly consulted before Mr Obis nomination was made public.

In a statement addressed to party members which he personally signed, the former president counseled against insisting on obtaining a zonal endorsement for a vice presidential nomination, adding that it is the prerogative of the presidential candidate to select the candidate he believes will help him to achieve his vision and goals for the nation.

A statement issued by Ikechukwu Eze, the former presidents spokesman, quoted Mr Jonathan thus: I therefore want to directly appeal to my brothers and sisters from the South-east zone who are members of our party to reconsider their position and allow the presidential candidate of the PDP to select a candidate he thinks he can work with to be able to achieve the partys development goals. Since Atiku has already nominated Mr. Peter Obi as his running mate, I am pleading with my party members from the zone to accept his choice.

Below is the full statement issued by Mr Jonathan:

I thank members of our great party for the successful conduct of the primaries for the various elective positions ahead of the 2019 general elections. By holding transparent, peaceful and rancor-free convention and primaries across the country, our party has once more, taken the nations democratic exercise a notch higher, in line with our well-established tradition of deepening the growth of democracy in our

nation.

I again congratulate all our candidates for various positions, including Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who was overwhelmingly elected by our delegates as the flag bearer of our party in the 2019 presidential election. The popularity and positive reviews of the exercise across the country is a clear demonstration of national endorsement for the choices we made, going into the 2019 elections.

The task before us is to build on this firm foundation and momentum by pulling in one direction and working assiduously for the victory of these candidates at the polls.

It is against this backdrop that I appeal for calm and understanding in the South East where my attention has been drawn to the fact that some leaders of our party are openly expressing their discomfort with the reported nomination of former Governor of Anambra State Peter Obi as Atikus running mate. I am told that some of our leaders in the zone have raised issues with the process of consultation that produced the Vice Presidential candidate.

I affirm that consultation is a key ingredient in every political process. Nonetheless, in the selection of a vice presidential candidate, a presidential candidate is allowed reasonable freedom to select his running mate based on loyalty, trust, experience, temperament and capacity to perform the responsibilities of the office. Anything other than this could create tension and acrimony between the presidential candidate and his running mate, even before the inauguration of the government.

My plea is for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to be given a free hand to choose who he wants to work with as his Vice President without putting him through undue pressure. In this regard, only minimal consultation is required which doesnt necessarily have to involve full regional review and approval.

We have to be careful not to give the impression that the process of selecting a Vice Presidential candidate cannot progress until a regional stamp of approval is formally procured. The system we are used to right from the First Republic is one that places the choice of a running mate at the behest of the candidate, based on his own convictions on capacity and compatibility.

From my political history beginning from Deputy Governor to President, I can say that this is the tradition and standard practice in countries where either the President and his Vice or Governor and his Deputy contest election on a common slate. In such instance, once a candidate emerges, he or she is given a free hand to select the person who understands his vision and plans for the country, as his running mate.

I therefore want to directly appeal to my brothers and sisters from the South East zone who are members of our party to reconsider their position and allow the presidential candidate of our party to select a candidate he thinks he can work with to be able to achieve the partys development goals. Since Atiku has nominated Mr. Peter Obi as his running mate, I am pleading with my party members from the zone to accept his choice.Three Nigerian journalists emerged winners of their categories at the West Africa Media Excellence Conference and Awards held in Accra on Saturday.

The award in its second year attracted over 600 entries, shortlisted to 18, from West African journalists.

The 18 finalists competed in seven categories.

Two PREMIUM TIMES journalists who made the final 18 were runners-up in their categories. While Olawoyin Oladehinde emerged runner-up in the Business Reporting category, Kemi Busari made the same feat in the anti-corruption category.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian contingent clinched three of the final prizes in Investigative Reporting, Business and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Anthony Akaeze of Tell and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting won the Investigative Reporting while Victor Ekwealor and Adam Alqali emerged winners in the Business and SDGs category respectively.

Ghanaian journalists also had a field day with three winners. Manasseh Azure Awuni won the Anti-corruption category, Richard Nyako, the Telecommunications category and Seth Kwame Boateng, Health.

Nabaloum Abdel Aziz of Burkina Faso was adjudged best in Human Rights category to complete the list.

Each of the winners were presented certificates, plaques, $500 cash prize and availed other opportunities.

For the biggest prize of the night, Manasseh Azure Awuni was announced as West Africa Journalist of the Year with the prize tag of $2, 000.

Earlier, one of the judges, Elizabeth Ohene, decried the low participation of women in the award noting that the judges received very few from female journalists. She wants the editors to do more for their reporters.

I couldnt see the work of editors. I could see that of reporters, producers but that of editors are missing. I f you have something that could go for 20 minutes taking 30, then the editors are not working, she said

She added that the judges looked out for industry, good story telling, simple language among other things.The Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on Sunday condemned the restriction of 50 unnamed Nigerians and seizure of their assets without due judicial pronouncement.

President Muhammadu Buhari announced in a statement on Saturday that some 50 persons have been barred from travelling out of the country, saying the move was to deprive them the benefits of depleting their alleged loot.

Garba Shehu, a presidential spokesperson who circulated the statement Saturday afternoon, did not say whether or not the administration procured a court approval before taking the measure considered unconstitutional by many Nigerians.

Mr Shehu said the government took the action against the backdrop of a court ruling upholding the presidents Executive Order 6 signed in July. But while the presiding judge, Ijeoma Ojukwu, validated the core principles of the executive order  preventing suspicious assets from being eroded  she warned the administration against implementing it without a court order.

Mr Buhari signed the order granting Attorney-General Abubakar Malami sweeping powers to seize assets of persons whom the administration deemed corrupt and placed under investigation.

The order did not emphasise that court orders must be procured before such actions could be taken against citizen, a provision Mrs Ojukwu essentially struck down in her ruling earlier this week, insisting instead that no Nigerian should be denied access to their possessions without a valid court order.

The controversial banning of 50 unidentified Nigerians had been fiercely criticised by rights and constitutional lawyers, who said it had no place in Nigerian laws and could be largely targeted at stifling opposition ahead of the 2019 general elections.

The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party was amongst the first set of entities to condemn Mr Buharis travel ban on Saturday night, describing it as the tactics of a fascist government that is becoming increasingly panicky about its re-election prospects.

The non-partisan Social and Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) also scolded the president for going down such a perilous road in a democratic nation, adding that the approach was inefficient and counterproductive towards assets recovery and general anti-corruption measures.

Mr Abubakar, who recently emerged the major challenger to Mr Buhari for 2019, joined the fray on Sunday afternoon, saying the order, which he described as a vestige of Mr Buharis brutal dictatorship from the 1980s, was capable of devastating the Nigerian economy, and could at worse plunge the most-populous black nation into anarchy.

We must be unequivocal in saying that we abhor any act of criminality, financially or otherwise, but the rule of law must be our guide at all times or society will descend to anarchy, Mr Abubakar said in a statement from his campaign office. Thus, we find it most undemocratic that in a nation governed by the rule of law, a President who swore an oath to abide by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, does this.

It is a throwback to Buharis evil Decree Number Two of 1984 which criminalised truth telling if it did not please Buhari, proving that dictators can grow old, but they cant grow into democrats.

Under the Buhari administration, Nigeria has witnessed an unprecedented capital flight out of the nation to the extent that we are not even listed amongst the top ten recipients of Foreign Direct Investment in Africa in the latest ranking by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. It is salient to note that we were number one under the last Peoples Democratic Party administration, Mr Abubakar added.

Mr Buhari has strongly denied all allegations of impunity or selective targeting of opposition figures in his anti-corruption campaign, urging Nigerians to dismiss the antics of his detractors and instead support him in the fight to rescue Nigeria from the jaws of greedy politicians who have plundered the country for decades.

The president said it was necessary for drastic measures to be deployed in the fight against corruption, else criminal elements would continue to use their vast questionable wealth to frustrate and pervert the nations judicial system.

Read the full statement from Mr Abubakars office below:

PRESS RELEASE

Buharis Draconian Executive Order Would Lead to Capital Flight and Another Recession

Abuja, Nigeria, 14 October, 2018: Our attention has been drawn to the statement by the Presidency banning 50 unnamed Nigerians from travelling out of the country, purportedly on the strength of Executive Order 6. Their crime being that they are suspected of having property overseas and are involved in tax dodging or other alleged financial infractions.

We must be unequivocal in saying that we abhor any act of criminality, financially or otherwise, but the rule of law must be our guide at all times or society will descend to anarchy. Thus, we find it most undemocratic that in a nation governed by the rule of law, a President who swore an oath to abide by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, does this.

If past events are to be the judge, these 50 individuals will conveniently be critics and opponents of the Buhari administration. This is nothing short of intimidation ahead of the 2019 elections. This is what the Buhari administration did in Osun where they froze the accounts of the Adeleke family and then illegally and clandestinely paid 16.7 billion to the Osun state government to facilitate daylight electoral robbery.

The Nigerian Constitution guarantees every Nigerian citizen freedom of movement and freedom of association. This Constitutional right cannot be taken away except by a court order.

If the Buhari administration wants to curtail the rights of Nigerians, then they must go to court and obtain a court order. Anything short of this is unconstitutional and extrajudicial.

This sudden dictatorial act brings to mind President Buharis comments for which he was condemned by the international community and by the generality of Nigerians.

While delivering an address at the annual general conference of the Nigerian Bar Association on August 26, 2018, President Buhari has said where national security and public interest are threatened or there is a likelihood of their being threatened, the individual rights of those allegedly responsible must take second place, in favour of the greater good of society.

That was not only a faulty interpretation of the constitution, the statement also betrays the dictatorial and authoritarian mindset of President Buhari because only he gets to decide who and what threatens national security.

It is a throwback to Buharis evil Decree Number Two of 1984 which criminalised truth telling if it did not please Buhari, proving that dictators can grow old, but they cant grow into democrats.

Under the Buhari administration, Nigeria has witnessed an unprecedented capital flight out of the nation to the extent that we are not even listed amongst the top ten recipients of Foreign Direct Investment in Africa in the latest ranking by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. It is salient to note that we were number one under the last Peoples Democratic Party administration.

Funny enough, the Buhari administration were unable to stop Abdulrasheed Maina, their financier, from leaving the country after he was illegally brought back by them and reinstated to the federal service with double promotion.

It is precisely this type of draconian orders that have chased investors away from Nigeria and it is precisely why Nigerians will chase this recession friendly government away from power on February 16, 2019, so we can begin the job of Getting Nigeria Working Again.

Atiku Presidential Campaign Organisation

120, Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent

Wuse II

Abuja

Nigeria.Femi Fani-Kayode has said he would not feel the adverse impact of the travel ban imposed on some Nigerians by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The ban was announced on Sunday, amidst raging controversy over whether the president has the powers to issue such order. The administration did not say it procured court order before implementing the ban.

The government said 50 politically exposed persons were affected by the ban, but did not name them.

Mr Fani-Kayode, a former aviation minister and strong critic of the Buhari administration, said the ban would not affect him because he has not been outside the country for the past 10 years, but pities only those who have medical challenges to treat abroad.

I have not left Nigeria since 2008 because my passport has been with the EFCC and the courts for the last 10 years and they have refused to give it to me and allow me to travel, Mr Fani-Kayode said in an email statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES. Those on the travel-ban list that need to travel abroad for medical attention or to see their loved ones are the ones I feel sorry for.

The former minister, who left office in 2007 after serving President Olusegun Obasanjo in several capacities, has spent the last decade fighting corruption charges brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. He was discharged and acquitted on the initial set of corruption charges in 2015, after several years of litigation.

The EFCC, however, filed new charges of graft against him, bordering largely on claims that he mismanaged campaign finance funds during the failed reelection bid of President Goodluck Jonathan. He dismissed the charges as a vindictive ploy to silence him for his fierce stance against Mr Buharis government, a claim the administration denied.

More importantly, Mr Fani-Kayode said he remained indifferent to the travel ban because he has to remain in Nigeria to help liberate the citizens from Mr Buharis ruthless and divisive government.

For me, travel ban or no travel ban, I have no intention of leaving Nigeria anytime soon because I am one of those that will be on the forefront in the struggle to liberate our country and ensure that we get Buhari out of power in the next few months, he said. By Gods grace in February we will flush him and his incompetent, fascistic, mendacious, divisive, corrupt, abusive, vicious and genocidal government down the toilet and send them back to hell where they belong.

Garba Shehu, a presidential spokesperson, announced imposition of the ban on Saturday, saying it followed a court ruling affirming the constitutionality of an executive order the president issued in July. But while the presiding judge, Ijeoma Ojukwu, validated the core principles of the executive order  preventing suspicious assets from being eroded  she warned the administration against implementing it without a court order.

The move has been widely criticised by opposition and non-partisan groups alike, with all of them charging that the presidents action could pose a grim danger to fundamental rights of citizens.Innoson Group has alleged an attempt to assassinate its lawyer in Lagos.

McCarthy Mbadugha was hospitalised after being brutalised at his residence in Lekki, a plush neighbourhood in the countrys commercial capital, Innoson said.

Mr Mbadugha was brutally attacked today and left in a life threatening condition by hired assassins who made attempt to his life with guns and machete, Cornel Osigwe, the chief spokesperson for Innoson Group, said in a statement to PREMIUM TIMES Sunday.

The attack occurred between 5-6:00 p.m., Mr Osigwe said while providing further details of the attack to PREMIUM TIMES.

The spokesperson said the lawyer recently complained about threats to his life over his roles in various cases for Innoson on the Innoson vs GTB legal tussle.

The legal tussle is going on in various courts amidst allegations of wrongdoing by both the car manufacturing firm and the bank.

Mr Osigwe said the victim also complained on October 1 about an anonymous message which contained threats to his life and demanded addition security.

Today while in his chambers, a group of armed assassins, broke into his office and attacked him and left him to bleed to death, Mr Osigwe said.

But the lawyer was rushed to a nearby hospital where he is currently receiving medical attention, he added.

Lagos police commissioner, Edgal Imohimi, did not immediately return request seeking comments about the reported attack.

Last week, Justice Olushola Williams of the Lagos State High Court struck out EFCC fraud charge case against Innoson because the anti-graft office was unable to bring its CEO Innocent Chukwuma to court.

The anti-graft body has vowed to arrest the industrialist and try him for alleged fraud and forgery.The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) said it is working towards synchronising online presence of government agencies to provide for harmony and ease of doing business in the country.

The Director General of the agency, Isa Pantami, stated this while opening Nigerias pavilion at the 18th Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX 2018) holding in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

He said if implemented, the e-government framework will harmonise and bring synergy among platforms of agencies to provide a one-stop shop and make frameworks of individual agencies compatible with one another.

He said with the single window platform, there will be savings on time and cost and this provides for simplicity in doing business.

It will give you only one address. If you go online, you can finalise all your documentations. You can register your company, you can process your visa, you can pay tax through same window, he said.

In addition to ease of doing business, Mr Pantami said the single framework will also help government to cut down on ICT expenditures.

He said his agency is already working in that regard by reducing governments procurement on IT programmes, as agencies are made to share softwares with one another.

Mr Pantami said a number of Nigerian agencies are fully IT-complaint, saying the challenge is harmonisation of the various infrastructures to allow for easy accessibility investors and other users.

We discover that many MDAs are doing excellently well but (for) most of them their systems are what we call stand-alone. For example, FIRS system is not in anyway related to that of the Corporate Affairs Commission. That of Corporate Affairs Commission will not electronically recognise that of Customs, he said.

The NITDA director-general also listed the benefits of Nigerias participation in the IT exhibition, saying the event would help in attracting investments in addition to helping Nigerian startups participating in the exhibition to hook-up with potential investors.

He said it is the duty of the agency to sensitise IT companies and entrepreneurs of benefits of investing in Nigeria.

Recently we have had many policies on ease of doing business. You can register a company within 24 hours, you can get visa on arrival, we have tax holidays in ICT, so these are some of the things we try to explain to potential investors in order to come to Nigeria and invest, he said.

We come to GITEX with startups, that is to showcase the young innovators we have; how our youth are coming up with good ideas in ICT. So, if you come here you showcase the potentials you have in Nigeria, you will get some world-class ICT companies that are willing to support your start-up, he explained.

Mr Pantami said the agency has ongoing discussions with organisations from Malaysia, China and the United States that were carried over from the last edition of the exhibition.

NITDA, he said, expects similar level of enthusiasm from investors during this years event.

A PREMIUMS TIMES reporter who visited stands of Nigerian startups at the exhibition saw representatives of IT companies interacting with the innovators.

One of the Nigerian innovators, Emmanuel Ezenwere, said he is in talks with a South African company interested in investing in his startup that uses drones to solve emergency medical supplies.

Wattlinq CEO Ahmad Sadiq explains his technology to some visitors to his stand at the Future Stars exhibition as part of GITEX 2018

Ahmad Sadiq of Wattlinq also told PREMIUM TIMES that an investor from Oman has indicated interest in his innovation which manages generation and consumption of electricity.

Also, a Dubai-based investor has picked interest in Geoffrey Weli-Wosus blockchain technology idea of real estate administration.

The three innovators are among the six innovators sponsored by NITDA to the five-day exhibition.The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) says Kogi is currently ranked lowest in terms of contraceptive usage and adoption of family planning in the middle belt.

Gabriel Alobo, USAID Team Leader, Maternal and Child Survival Programme (MCSP) in Kogi, disclosed this in Lokoja at the inauguration of Kogi State 2018-2021 Family Planning Costed Implementation Plan and Green Dot Logo.

According to Mr Alobo, Kogi has the lowest contraceptive usage within the Middle Belt region with about 11 per cent for all methods and 8.5 for modern methods.

This, he compared with the national average of 15 per cent for all methods and 10 per cent for modern methods.

He said that the Costed Implementation Planning was developed to determine what it would cost Kogi to move from its current low level family planning usage of 11 to about 20 per cent.

According to him, the estimated cost of the materials and logistics needed is put at about N500 million.

We felt that we need to create demands by radio jingles and good advertisements to ensure that people come for family planning.

We need to have more people participating in family planning; we need commodities in the facilities.

The effect of this low level family planning is that more women and children are dying because more women are getting pregnant, Alobo said.

The Country Director of MCSP, Adetiloye Oniyire, represented by Ugo Okoli, a Deputy Director of MCSP, said MCSP has helped to reduce maternal and child mortality rate in Kogi.

Mr Oniyire added that the agency had also donated several medical equipment to health facilities, contributed in training of tutors and instructors, supported with teaching materials and data collation and validation,

The wife of the Kogi Governor, Rashida Bello, who launched the programme, said, Family planning remains a strong pillar of Save Motherhood, and allows people to have children by choice and not by chance.

Contraceptive usage reduces maternal rate and the burden of maternal and child death in Nigeria.

She restated the commitment of the Yahaya Bello-led government to the well-being of women and children, given the various interventions it has so far embarked upon across the state.

The State Commissioner for Health, Saka Audu, said Kogi currently had 247 family planning clinics, adding government was determined to establish more clinics to reach more communities.

We have also recorded appreciable reduction in unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions all and around Kogi State, Mr Audu added.

(NAN)The Kogi State Police Command has confirmed that it sent a detachment of officers to the house of a senator, Dino Melaye, at Aiyetoro-Gbede in Kogi State on October 11 to effect his arrest.

In a statement in Lokoja, the command said it took the action in connection with the July 19 shooting of one of its operatives, Danjuma Salihu, by thugs suspected to be loyal to the senator.

The statement signed by the commands spokesman, William Aya, said that the clarification followed the allegation Mr Melaye on his twitter page of October 12 that the ADC to Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi led some officers to his house to assassinate him.

The ADC has nothing to do with this case. The Command wish to state unequivocally that the statement is not only a figment of the imagination of Sen. Melaye who has mastered the art of political gimmickry, but totally false, malicious and highly mischievous.

The Commissioner of Police sent police officers to his country home for arrest, unfortunately we did not get him at home, the statement said.

It accused Mr Melaye, who represents Kogi West Senatorial District, of mobilising thugs to attack its personnel on routine duty along MopaAiyetoro-Gbede on July 19 without any provocation.

The thugs shot and injured Force No. 432913 Sgt. Danjuma Saliu who is currently receiving treatment at Veda Crest Hospital, Abuja, the statement said.

Mr Aya said Mr Melaye was invited officially through letter No. AR:3000/KGS/X/VOL.43/670 dated 23/7/2018 to come and answer the charges on him but refused to show up or give reason for not honoring the invitation.

The Senator is wanted by the Kogi State Police Command for criminal conspiracy, attempted culpable homicide and unlawful possession of firearms, the statement explained.

It then appealed to Mr Melaye to report to the command headquarters in Lokoja to answer the allegations against him and stop joining issues with people who have nothing to do with the case at hand.

(NAN)The governorship candidate of YES Party in Ogun State, Sina Kawonise, has picked Ganiyat Agboola as his running mate in the 2019 election.

A press statement by Acting Director, SK Media Office, Doyin Owobamirin, said Mr Kawonise came to the choice after wide consultations with party leaders and key stakeholders in the state.

Mrs Agboola, according to the press statement, is a community leader of note, business woman, and a political leader of the progressive hue.

The 47-year-old woman, from Abeokuta North Local Government Area in Ogun central senatorial district, graduated more than two dacades ago from University of Jos, having degrees in Zoology and Computer Science.

The statement said she was chosen for her youthfulness and vast experience in community relations and grassroots development.For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME.

Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire.

Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III.





to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever.





Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation.





View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union.

Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history.

Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words.



Net revenues increased by 46.9% year-over-year

Gross billings[1] increased by 18.3% year-over-year

BEIJING, Sept.10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- China Online Education Group ("51Talk" or the "Company") (NYSE: COE), a leading online education platform in China, with core expertise in English education, today announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2018.

Second Quarter 2018 Financial and Operational Highlights

Net revenues were RMB281.7 million ( US$42.6 million ), a 46.9% increase from RMB191.8 million for the second quarter of 2017.

( ), a 46.9% increase from for the second quarter of 2017. Gross billings were RMB420.0 million ( US$63.5 million ), an 18.3% increase from RMB355.1 million for the second quarter of 2017.

( ), an 18.3% increase from for the second quarter of 2017. Gross margin was 65.7%, compared with 62.9% for the second quarter of 2017.

Percentage of gross billings contributed by K-12 students was 83.5%, compared with 71.9% for the second quarter of 2017.

Key Operating Data



For the three months ended





June 30,

June 30,

Y-o-Y

2017

2018

Change











Gross billings (in RMB millions) 355.1

420.0

18.3% K-12 mass-market one-on-one offering 186.5

278.0

50.6% K-12 small class offering 0.4

43.5

NM[2] Adult offering 99.8

69.3

(30.6%) K-12 American Academy one-on-one offering 68.4

29.2

(57.2%) Active students[3] (in thousands) 152.3

195.5

28.4%













[1] Gross billings for a specific period, which is one of the Company's key operating data, is defined as the total amount of cash received for the sale of course packages and services in such period, net of the total amount of refunds in such period. [2] NM for non-meaningful. [3] An "active student" for a specified period refers to a student who booked at least one paid lesson, and excluding those students who only attended paid live broadcasting lessons or trial lessons.

"Leveraging the success we achieved in the first quarter of 2018, we continued to expand our business and exceeded the top end of our net revenues and gross billings guidance in the second quarter. We also increased our gross margin and reduced our operating expenses, leading to a RMB61.3 million year-over-year reduction in net operating loss," said Mr. Jack Jiajia Huang, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of 51Talk. "Our strategic initiatives to keenly focus on our K-12 mass market one-on-one program led to 50.6% year-over-year growth in gross billings. During the second quarter, we continued to broaden our reach with this offering, which accounted for 66.2% of total gross billings, compared with 63.2% and 52.0% in the previous quarter and prior year period, respectively. In particular, we are seeing excellent results from our efforts to grow our student population in non-tier-one cities, which contributed 65.4% of our K-12 mass-market one-on-one gross billings in the second quarter of 2018. Traction with our Hawo small class offering is also gaining momentum. This best-in-class program generated gross billings of RMB43.5 million in the second quarter, a 17.6% increase from the prior period. Additionally, our adult education programs have stabilized with favorable results from our initiatives to attract more new students during the quarter.

"Our pathway to growth is clear and we are confident in the growth potential of our core business centered around our K-12 mass-market one-on-one offering. Along with this focus, we are becoming more efficient at allocating resources and improving our margin profile. Our operational and financial accomplishments for the first half of the year provide the cornerstones for our future growth. The market opportunity for our high-quality programs is substantial, especially in non-first-tier cities, where we are aligning our efforts to meet increasing demand and create additional value for all of our students, partners and investors," Mr. Huang concluded.

Mr. Jimmy Lai, Chief Financial Officer of 51Talk, added, "For the second quarter of 2018 we continued to grow our revenues and improve our operating results both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year. As a result, our first half revenues increased 55.0% and we narrowed our net loss by RMB93.0 million for the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2017. These improvements are primarily due to optimization in sales and marketing efficiencies. Furthermore, as our Hawo small class offering has become a more significant portion of our business, we will now be supplying additional financial information for our one-on-one and small class offerings in order to provide enhanced clarity and visibility on these two important components of our operations."

Second Quarter 2018 Financial Results

Net Revenues

Net revenues for the second quarter of 2018 were RMB281.7 million (US$42.6 million), a 46.9% increase from RMB191.8 million for the same quarter last year. The increase was primarily attributed to an increase in the number of active students and, to a lesser extent, an increase in the average revenue per active student. The number of active students in the second quarter of 2018 was 195,500, a 28.4% increase from 152,300 for the same quarter last year.

Net revenues from one-on-one offerings for the second quarter of 2018 were RMB254.2 million (US$38.4 million), a 32.6% increase from RMB191.8 million for the same quarter last year. Net revenues from small class offering for the second quarter of 2018 were RMB27.5 million (US$4.2 million). There was no revenues for the Company's small class offering during the second quarter in 2017.

Cost of Revenues

Cost of revenues for the second quarter of 2018 was RMB96.5 million (US$14.6 million), a 35.7% increase from RMB71.2 million for the same quarter last year. The increase was primarily driven by an increase in total service fees paid to teachers, mainly due to the delivery of an increased number of paid lessons.

Cost of revenues of one-on-one offerings for the second quarter of 2018 was RMB79.8 million (US$12.1 million), a 12.3% increase from RMB71.2 million for the same quarter last year. Cost of revenues of small class offering for the second quarter of 2018 was RMB16.7 million (US$2.5 million). There was no cost of revenue for the Company's small class offering during the second quarter in 2017.

Gross Profit and Gross Margin

Gross profit for the second quarter of 2018 was RMB185.2 million (US$28.0 million), a 53.6% increase from RMB120.6 million for the same quarter last year.

Gross margin for the second quarter of 2018 was 65.7%, compared with 62.9% for the same quarter last year.

One-on-one offerings gross margin for the second quarter of 2018 was 68.6%, compared with 62.9% for the same quarter last year. The increase was mainly attributable to a lower revenue mix from American Academy program, which has a lower gross profit margin. Small class offering gross margin for the second quarter of 2018 was 39.4%.

Operating Expenses

Total operating expenses for the second quarter of 2018 were RMB261.7 million (US$39.6 million), a 1.3% increase from RMB258.4 million for the same quarter last year. The increase was mainly the result of an increase in sales and marketing expenses, partially offset by decreases of product development, and general and administrative expenses.

Sales and marketing expenses for the second quarter of 2018 were RMB163.3 million (US$24.7 million), a 6.3% increase from RMB153.6 million for the same quarter last year. The increase was mainly due to higher branding and marketing expenses, partially offset by the RMB17.6 million net effect of certain sales personnel expenses and marketing expenses, and capitalization and amortization under the new accounting standard adopted since January 1, 2018 (please refer to the section in this news release titled "Impact of Recently Adopted New Accounting Standard"). Excluding share-based compensation expenses, non-GAAP sales and marketing expenses for the second quarter of 2018 were RMB161.9 million (US$24.5 million), a 6.0% increase from RMB152.8 million for the same quarter last year.

Product development expenses for the second quarter of 2018 were RMB44.6 million (US$6.7 million), a 12.0% decrease from RMB50.7 million for the same quarter last year. The decrease was primarily due to a decrease in the number of personnel. Excluding share-based compensation expenses, non-GAAP product development expenses for the second quarter of 2018 were RMB42.8 million (US$6.5 million), a 17.5% decrease from RMB51.9 million for the same quarter last year.

General and administrative expenses for the second quarter of 2018 were RMB53.9 million (US$8.1 million), a 0.4% decrease from RMB54.1 million for the same quarter last year. Excluding share-based compensation expenses, non-GAAP general and administrative expenses for the second quarter of 2018 were RMB50.4 million (US$7.6 million), a 5.8% increase from RMB47.6 million for the same quarter last year.

Loss from Operations

Loss from operations for the second quarter of 2018 was RMB76.5 million (US$11.6 million), compared with RMB137.8 million for the same quarter last year.

Non-GAAP loss from operations for the second quarter of 2018 was RMB69.9 million (US$10.6 million), compared with RMB131.7 million for the same quarter last year.

Net Loss

Net loss for the second quarter of 2018 was RMB73.7 million (US$11.1 million), compared with RMB139.3 million for the same quarter last year.

Non-GAAP net loss for the second quarter of 2018 was RMB67.1 million (US$10.1 million), compared with RMB133.2 million for the same quarter last year.

Basic and diluted net loss per American depositary share ("ADS") attributable to ordinary shareholders for the second quarter of 2018 was RMB3.60 (US$0.60), compared with RMB6.90 for the same quarter last year. Each ADS represents 15 Class A ordinary shares.

Non-GAAP basic and diluted net loss per ADS attributable to ordinary shareholders for the second quarter of 2018 was RMB3.30 (US$0.45), compared with RMB6.60 for the same quarter last year.

Balance Sheet

As of June 30, 2018, the Company had total cash, cash equivalents, time deposits and short-term investments of RMB601.5 million (US$90.9 million), compared with RMB623.4 million as of December 31, 2017.

The Company had deferred revenues (current and non-current) of RMB1,390.6 million (US$210.2 million) as of June 30, 2018, compared with RMB1,201.8 million as of December 31, 2017.

Outlook

For the third quarter of 2018, the Company currently expects:

Net revenues to be between RMB295 million to RMB300 million , which would represent an increase of approximately 24.9% to 27.1% from RMB236.1 million for the same quarter last year;

to , which would represent an increase of approximately 24.9% to 27.1% from for the same quarter last year; Gross billings to be between RMB410 million to RMB420 million , which would represent an increase of approximately 16.0% to 18.8% from RMB353.4 million for the same quarter last year. Gross billings for our one-on-one business is expected to be between RMB395 million to RMB405 million , which would represent an increase of approximately 14.0% to 16.9% from RMB346.5 million for the same quarter last year. Gross billings for our small class business is expected to be approximately RMB15 million , which would represent an increase of approximately 117.4% from RMB6.9 million for the same quarter last year.

The above outlook is based on the current market conditions and reflects the Company's current and preliminary estimates of market and operating conditions and customer demand, which are all subject to change.

Impact of Recently Adopted New Accounting Standard

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)." On January 1, 2018, the Company adopted the Topic 606 new standard using the modified retrospective method. Under this method, the Company records adjustments to its fiscal 2018 opening balance sheet (as of January 1, 2018) to reflect the cumulative effect of the new accounting standard. The comparative information has not been restated and continues to be reported under the accounting standard in effect for those periods. The Company has completed the assessment of related adoption impact, including but not limited to accounting for incentives to customers, contract modification, contract cost and forfeitures of prepaid credits.

The Company is required to estimate the breakage, or the forfeiture of prepaid credits, and recognize the expected breakage amount as revenue in proportion to the pattern of credits consumed by the customers. Based on the Company's analysis of historical customer forfeitures of prepaid credits, the Company has concluded that no breakage should be recognized, upon adoption or in first two quarters of 2018. The adoption of Topic 606 does not have any material impact on the Company's revenue recognition for the first two quarters of 2018 and comparable periods. The Company will continue to update the estimate of expected breakage at each reporting date.

The new accounting standard primarily impacts the accounting of the Company's sales personnel expenses. Under the new accounting standard, certain sales commissions to the sales personnel and the sales agents as well as new customer referral cost are considered incremental cost of obtaining contracts, and therefore shall be recognized as an asset given that the Company expects to recover those costs. RMB100.3 million, RMB 82.7 million and RMB 76.0 million of contract cost asset was capitalized in prepaid expenses and other current assets account as of June 30, 2018, March 31, 2018 and January 1, 2018, respectively. The adoption resulted in an incremental, net capitalization of RMB 17.6 million of sales and marketing expenses for the second quarter of 2018. The asset that was recognized for costs to obtain contracts will be expensed ratably in future periods, along with the recognition of revenue of corresponding contracts.

Conference Call

The Company's management will host an earnings conference call at 8:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time on September 10, 2018 (8:00 PM Beijing/Hong Kong time on September 10, 2018).

Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows:

United States (toll free): 1-866-264-5888 International: 1-412-317-5226 Hong Kong (toll free): 800-905-945 Hong Kong: 852-3018-4992 China: 400-120-1203

Participants should dial-in at least 5 minutes before the scheduled start time and ask to be connected to the call for "China Online Education Group."

Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.51talk.com.

A replay of the conference call will be accessible until September 17, 2018, by dialing the following telephone numbers:

United States (toll free): 1-877-344-7529 International: 1-412-317-0088 Replay Access Code: 10123757

About China Online Education Group

China Online Education Group (NYSE: COE) is a leading online education platform in China, with core expertise in English education. The Company's mission is to make quality education accessible and affordable. The Company's online and mobile education platforms enable students across China to take live interactive English lessons with overseas foreign teachers, on demand. The Company connects its students with a large pool of highly qualified foreign teachers that it assembled using a shared economy approach, and employs student and teacher feedback and data analytics to deliver a personalized learning experience to its students.

For more information, please visit http://ir.51talk.com.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In evaluating its business, 51Talk considers and uses the following measures defined as non-GAAP financial measures by the SEC as supplemental metrics to review and assess its operating performance: non-GAAP sales and marketing expenses, non-GAAP product development expenses, non-GAAP general and administrative expenses, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP loss from operations, non-GAAP income tax expenses, non-GAAP net loss, non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders, and non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders per share and per ADS. To present each of these non-GAAP measures, the Company excludes share-based compensation expenses. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see the table captioned "Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures" set forth at the end of this press release.

51Talk believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding its performance by excluding share-based expenses that may not be indicative of its operating performance from a cash perspective. 51Talk believes that both management and investors benefit from these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing its performance and when planning and forecasting future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management's internal comparisons to 51Talk's historical performance. 51Talk computes its non-GAAP financial measures using the same consistent method from quarter to quarter and from period to period. 51Talk believes these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors in allowing for greater transparency with respect to supplemental information used by management in its financial and operational decision-making. A limitation of using non-GAAP measures is that these non-GAAP measures exclude share-based compensation expenses that have been and will continue to be for the foreseeable future a significant recurring expense in the 51Talk's business. Management compensates for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from each non-GAAP measure. The accompanying table at the end of this press release provides more details on the reconciliations between GAAP financial measures that are most directly comparable to non-GAAP financial measures.

Exchange Rate Information

This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars at a specified rate solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to U.S. dollars are made at a rate of RMB6.6171 to US$1.00, the rate in effect as of June 30, 2018 as certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking" statements pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will", "expects", "anticipates", "aims", "future", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates", "likely to" and similar statements. Among other things, 51Talk's business outlook and quotations from management in this announcement, as well as 51Talk's strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. 51Talk may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about 51Talk's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: 51Talk's goals and strategies; 51Talk's expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of its brand and platform; 51Talk's ability to retain and increase its student enrollment; 51Talk's ability to offer new courses; 51Talk's ability to engage, train and retain new teachers; 51Talk's future business development, results of operations and financial condition; 51Talk's ability to maintain and improve infrastructure necessary to operate its education platform; competition in the online education industry in China; the expected growth of, and trends in, the markets for 51Talk's course offerings in China; relevant government policies and regulations relating to 51Talk's corporate structure, business and industry; general economic and business condition in China, the Philippines and elsewhere and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in 51Talk's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and 51Talk does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

China Online Education Group

Investor Relations

+86 (10) 5692-8909

[email protected]

The Piacente Group, Inc.

Brandi Piacente

+86 (10) 5730-6200

+1-212-481-2050

[email protected]

CHINA ONLINE EDUCATION GROUP UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (In thousands)























As of







Dec. 31,

Jun. 30,

Jun. 30,







2017

2018

2018







RMB

RMB

US$

















ASSETS













Current assets















Cash and cash equivalents

320,039

329,621

49,814



Time deposits

202,659

221,261

33,438



Short term investment

100,722

50,623

7,650



Prepaid expenses and other current assets

84,941

201,852

30,505

Total current assets

708,361

803,357

121,407



















Non-current assets















Held to maturity

6,751

6,977

1,054



Property, plant and equipment, net

49,009

39,148

5,916



Intangible assets, net

9,686

9,027

1,364



Goodwill

4,223

4,223

638



Other non-current assets

5,526

5,171

781

Total non-current assets

75,195

64,546

9,753



















Total assets

783,556

867,903

131,160

















LIABILITIES













AND STOCKHOLDERS' DEFICIT





Current liabilities















Short-term loan

-

24,865

3,758



Deferred revenues

1,176,565

1,371,663

207,291



Accrued expenses and other current liabilities

222,798

188,140

28,432



Taxes payable

24,985

23,038

3,482

Total current liabilities

1,424,348

1,607,706

242,963



















Non-current liabilities















Deferred revenues

25,230

18,958

2,865



Deferred tax liabilities

124

73

11



Other non-current liabilities

2,245

2,423

366

Total non-current liabilities

27,599

21,454

3,242



















Total liabilities

1,451,947

1,629,160

246,205

CHINA ONLINE EDUCATION GROUP UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (In thousands)

























As of







Dec. 31,

Jun. 30,

Jun. 30,







2017

2018

2018







RMB

RMB

US$



















Total shareholders' deficit

(668,391)

(761,257)

(115,045)



















Total liabilities and















shareholders' deficit

783,556

867,903

131,160

CHINA ONLINE EDUCATION GROUP UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE LOSS (In thousands except for number of shares and per share data)





For the three months ended

For the six months ended



Jun. 30,

Mar. 31,

Jun. 30,

Jun. 30,

Jun. 30,

Jun. 30,



2017

2018

2018

2018

2017

2018



RMB

RMB

RMB

US$

RMB

RMB

























Net revenues 191,753

262,577

281,736

42,577

351,272

544,313 Cost of revenues (71,150)

(92,929)

(96,538)

(14,589)

(125,902)

(189,467) Gross profit 120,603

169,648

185,198

27,988

225,370

354,846 Operating expenses























Sales and marketing expenses (153,619)

(171,592)

(163,274)

(24,675)

(299,696)

(334,866)

Product development expenses (50,686)

(52,240)

(44,583)

(6,738)

(101,287)

(96,823)

General and administrative expenses (54,095)

(56,364)

(53,864)

(8,140)

(102,459)

(110,228) Total operating expenses (258,400)

(280,196)

(261,721)

(39,553)

(503,442)

(541,917) Loss from operations (137,797)

(110,548)

(76,523)

(11,565)

(278,072)

(187,071) Interest and other

(expenses)/income, net (409)

(1,044)

3,788

572

554

2,744 Loss before income tax expenses (138,206)

(111,592)

(72,735)

(10,993)

(277,518)

(184,327) Income tax expenses (1,058)

(1,070)

(951)

(144)

(1,786)

(2,021) Net loss (139,264)

(112,662)

(73,686)

(11,137)

(279,304)

(186,348) Net loss attributable to ordinary

shareholders (139,264)

(112,662)

(73,686)

(11,137)

(279,304)

(186,348)

























Weighted average number of

ordinary shares used in























computing basic and diluted

loss per share 301,352,242

302,871,754

304,214,325

304,214,325

301,107,598

303,546,748

























Net loss per share attributable to

ordinary shareholders























basic and diluted (0.46)

(0.37)

(0.24)

(0.04)

(0.93)

(0.61)



CHINA ONLINE EDUCATION GROUP UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE LOSS (In thousands except for number of shares and per share data)





For the three months ended

For the six months ended



Jun. 30,

Mar. 31,

Jun. 30,

Jun. 30,

Jun. 30,

Jun. 30,



2017

2018

2018

2018

2017

2018



RMB

RMB

RMB

US$

RMB

RMB

























Net loss per ADS attributable to

ordinary shareholders























basic and diluted (6.90)

(5.55)

(3.60)

(0.60)

(13.95)

(9.15)

























Comprehensive loss:





















Net loss (139,264)

(112,662)

(73,686)

(11,137)

(279,304)

(186,348) Other comprehensive loss























Foreign currency translation

adjustments (6,064)

(10,628)

13,895

2,100

(12,075)

3,267 Total comprehensive loss (145,328)

(123,290)

(59,791)

(9,037)

(291,379)

(183,081)

























Share-based compensation expenses are

included in the operating expenses as follows:















































Sales and marketing expenses (863)

(1,232)

(1,379)

(208)

(2,055)

(2,611) Product development expenses 1,221

(1,558)

(1,759)

(266)

(3,925)

(3,317) General and administrative expenses (6,465)

(3,803)

(3,454)

(522)

(13,250)

(7,257)

CHINA ONLINE EDUCATION GROUP Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures to the Most Comparable GAAP Measures (In thousands except for number of shares and per share data)

























For the three months ended

For the six months ended

Jun. 30,

Mar. 31,

Jun. 30,

Jun. 30,

Jun. 30,

Jun. 30,

2017

2018

2018

2018

2017

2018

RMB

RMB

RMB

US$

RMB

RMB























Sales and marketing expenses (153,619)

(171,592)

(163,274)

(24,675)

(299,696)

(334,866) Less: Share-based compensation expenses (863)

(1,232)

(1,379)

(208)

(2,055)

(2,611) Non-GAAP sales and marketing expenses (152,756)

(170,360)

(161,895)

(24,467)

(297,641)

(332,255)























Product development expenses (50,686)

(52,240)

(44,583)

(6,738)

(101,287)

(96,823) Less: Share-based compensation expenses 1,221

(1,558)

(1,759)

(266)

(3,925)

(3,317) Non-GAAP product development

expenses (51,907)

(50,682)

(42,824)

(6,472)

(97,362)

(93,506)























General and administrative expenses (54,095)

(56,364)

(53,864)

(8,140)

(102,459)

(110,228) Less: Share-based compensation expenses (6,465)

(3,803)

(3,454)

(522)

(13,250)

(7,257) Non-GAAP general and administrative

expenses (47,630)

(52,561)

(50,410)

(7,618)

(89,209)

(102,971)























Operating expenses (258,400)

(280,196)

(261,721)

(39,553)

(503,442)

(541,917) Less: Share-based compensation expenses (6,107)

(6,593)

(6,592)

(996)

(19,230)

(13,185) Non-GAAP operating expenses (252,293)

(273,603)

(255,129)

(38,557)

(484,212)

(528,732)























Loss from operations (137,797)

(110,548)

(76,523)

(11,565)

(278,072)

(187,071) Less: Share-based compensation expenses (6,107)

(6,593)

(6,592)

(996)

(19,230)

(13,185) Non-GAAP loss from operations (131,690)

(103,955)

(69,931)

(10,569)

(258,842)

(173,886)

CHINA ONLINE EDUCATION GROUP Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures to the Most Comparable GAAP Measures (In thousands except for number of shares and per share data)





























For the three months ended

For the six months ended



Jun. 30,

Mar. 31,

Jun. 30,

Jun. 30,

Jun. 30,

Jun. 30,



2017

2018

2018

2018

2017

2018



RMB

RMB

RMB

US$

RMB

RMB

























Income tax expenses (1,058)

(1,070)

(951)

(144)

(1,786)

(2,021) Less: Tax impact of Share-based

compensation expenses -

-

-

-

-

- Non-GAAP income tax expenses (1,058)

(1,070)

(951)

(144)

(1,786)

(2,021)

























Net loss (139,264)

(112,662)

(73,686)

(11,137)

(279,304)

(186,348) Less: Share-based compensation

expenses (6,107)

(6,593)

(6,592)

(996)

(19,230)

(13,185) Non-GAAP net loss (133,157)

(106,069)

(67,094)

(10,141)

(260,074)

(173,163)

























Net loss attributable to ordinary

shareholders (139,264)

(112,662)

(73,686)

(11,137)

(279,304)

(186,348) Less: Share-based compensation

expenses, net of tax (6,107)

(6,593)

(6,592)

(996)

(19,230)

(13,185) Non-GAAP net loss attributable to

ordinary shareholders (133,157)

(106,069)

(67,094)

(10,141)

(260,074)

(173,163)

























Weighted average number of

ordinary shares used in























computing basic and diluted loss

per share 301,352,242

302,871,754

304,214,325

304,214,325

301,107,598

303,546,748

























Non-GAAP net loss per share attributable to ordinary

shareholders























basic and diluted (0.44)

(0.35)

(0.22)

(0.03)

(0.86)

(0.57)

























Non-GAAP net loss per ADS attributable to ordinary

shareholders























basic and diluted (6.60)

(5.25)

(3.30)

(0.45)

(12.90)

(8.55)



CHINA ONLINE EDUCATION GROUP UNAUDITED INTERIM ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (In thousands except for number of shares and per share data)





























For the three months ended

For the six months ended



Jun. 30,

Mar. 31,

Jun. 30,

Jun. 30,

Jun. 30,

Jun. 30,



2017

2018

2018

2018

2017

2018



RMB

RMB

RMB

US$

RMB

RMB

























Net revenues























One-on-one offerings 191,753

245,486

254,222

38,419

351,272

499,708 Small class offerings -

17,091

27,514

4,158

-

44,605 Total net revenues 191,753

262,577

281,736

42,577

351,272

544,313

























Cost of revenues





















One-on-one offerings (71,150)

(81,085)

(79,868)

(12,070)

(125,902)

(160,953) Small class offerings -

(11,844)

(16,670)

(2,519)

-

(28,514) Total cost of revenues (71,150)

(92,929)

(96,538)

(14,589)

(125,902)

(189,467)

























Gross profit























One-on-one offerings 120,603

164,401

174,354

26,349

225,370

338,755 Small class offerings -

5,247

10,844

1,639

-

16,091 Total gross profit 120,603

169,648

185,198

27,988

225,370

354,846

























Gross margin























One-on-one offerings 62.9%

67.0%

68.6%

68.6%

64.2%

67.8% Small class offerings -

30.7%

39.4%

39.4%

-

36.1% Total gross margin 62.9%

64.6%

65.7%

65.7%

64.2%

65.2%



CHINA ONLINE EDUCATION GROUP UNAUDITED INTERIM ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (In thousands except for number of shares and per share data)





























For the three months ended

For the six months ended



Jun. 30,

Mar. 31,

Jun. 30,

Jun. 30,

Jun. 30,

Jun. 30,



2017

2018

2018

2018

2017

2018



RMB

RMB

RMB

US$

RMB

RMB

























Sales and marketing expenses





















One-on-one offerings (153,619)

(153,928)

(143,711)

(21,719)

(299,696)

(297,639) Small class offerings -

(17,664)

(19,563)

(2,956)

-

(37,227) Total sales and marketing

expenses[4] (153,619)

(171,592)

(163,274)

(24,675)

(299,696)

(334,866)

























Product development expenses





















One-on-one offerings (50,686)

(40,881)

(33,157)

(5,011)

(101,287)

(74,038) Small class offerings -

(11,359)

(11,426)

(1,727)

-

(22,785) Total product development expenses[5] (50,686)

(52,240)

(44,583)

(6,738)

(101,287)

(96,823)

























General and administrative

expenses





















One-on-one offerings (54,095)

(47,181)

(44,281)

(6,692)

(102,459)

(91,462) Small class offerings -

(9,183)

(9,583)

(1,448)

-

(18,766) Total general and administrative

expenses[6] (54,095)

(56,364)

(53,864)

(8,140)

(102,459)

(110,228)

























Operating expenses





















One-on-one offerings (258,400)

(241,990)

(221,149)

(33,422)

(503,442)

(463,139) Small class offerings -

(38,206)

(40,572)

(6,131)

-

(78,778) Total operating expenses (258,400)

(280,196)

(261,721)

(39,553)

(503,442)

(541,917)

























Loss from operations





















One-on-one offerings (137,797)

(77,589)

(46,795)

(7,073)

(278,072)

(124,384) Small class offerings -

(32,959)

(29,728)

(4,492)

-

(62,687) Total loss from operations (137,797)

(110,548)

(76,523)

(11,565)

(278,072)

(187,071)

[4] Share-based compensation expenses included in the sales and marketing expenses for one-on-one offerings and small class offerings were RMB1,307 and RMB72 respectively for the second quarter of 2018, and RMB1,155 and RMB77 respectively for the first quarter of 2018. [5] Share-based compensation expenses, included in the product development expenses for one-on-one offerings and small class offerings were RMB1,431 and RMB328 respectively for the second quarter of 2018, and RMB1,411 and RMB147 respectively for the first quarter of 2018. [6] Share-based compensation expenses, included in the general and administrative expenses for one-on-one offerings and small class offerings were RMB3,422 and RMB32 respectively for the second quarter of 2018, and RMB3,758 and RMB45 respectively for the first quarter of 2018.

SOURCE China Online Education Group

Related Links

http://ir.51talk.com

Edward Blum, president of Students for Fair Admissions, said, "On behalf of our nearly 23,000 members, I am grateful to the organizers of today's rally for their support of our lawsuit challenging Harvard's discriminatory admissions policies. After nearly four years of litigation, the nation will finally learn how Harvard has unfairly and illegally capped the number of Asian-Americans it will admit."ROHNERT PARK, Calif., Oct. 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Going to graduate school or pursuing an advanced professional degree can be the pathway to a great job. It can also lead to overwhelming student loan debt. Even though it is easy enough to take out student loans to finance an advanced degree, it can be crushing to pay them back. To ease the future financial burden, it can help to find the right school, maximize grants and scholarships, work a side hustle, and, if loans are a must, seek the best terms possible. Ameritech Financial, a document preparation company that helps student loan borrowers apply for federal income-driven repayment plans, encourages student borrowers to be extremely cautious in taking on more student loan debt.

"An advanced degree can lead to a high-paying job, but also to a lot of debt," said Tom Knickerbocker, Executive Vice President of Ameritech Financial. "Of course, we want all our clients to pursue their dreams but we also advise them to do everything in their power to reduce costs and very carefully consider how any accumulated debt will be paid off."

For those who have decided that an advanced degree is their best chance to secure a rewarding and fulfilling career, a first priority is to find the right school at the right price. An average public college graduate program costs $30,000 per year, while private schools average $40,000 per year. Prospective students can utilize search tools, such as one available at The Princeton Review, to search by cost, which should be a top priority.

Secondly, the FASFA for graduate students automatically categorizes students as independent, taking parental income out of the equation. As students receive aid offers from schools, they should contact those schools for additional grants, scholarships, and fellowships. This is money that will not have to be paid back and should be aggressively pursued. In addition, students might consider crowdfunding or researching employers that help with tuition.

Another idea is to search for on-campus teacher's assistant openings and other opportunities based on research and teaching within a particular field of study. Students can also pursue entrepreneurship, starting a side-hustle in which student expertise and passion is leveraged. Successful side-hustles, based on interest and knowledge, can be a brilliant way to finance an advanced degree.

Lastly, and only as a final measure based on well-considered outcomes, students can apply for the absolute minimum of federal loans available to graduate students, or, when they are advantageous, private loans. Federal loans come with protections, but sometimes, if a borrower has a good credit score, better terms can be secured with a private loan.

"It's so important to chase your dreams, but it is also important to take steps to solidify your financial future," states Knickerbocker. "Federal income-driven repayment plans are great repayment options for federal student loan borrowers whose payments are high relative to their income and family size. These plans base payments on discretionary income and can potentially end in forgiveness after 20 to 25 years in the program. We encourage our clients to use any advantage they might gain with payment reductions from an IDR to pursue career and life goals."

About Ameritech Financial

Ameritech Financial is a private company located in Rohnert Park, California. Ameritech Financial has already helped thousands of consumers with financial analysis and student loan document preparation to apply for federal student loan repayment programs offered through the Department of Education.

Each Ameritech Financial telephone representative has received the Certified Student Loan Professional certification through the International Association of Professional Debt Arbitrators (IAPDA).

Ameritech Financial prides itself on its exceptional Customer Service.

Ameritech Financial Newsroom

Contact

To learn more about Ameritech Financial, please contact:

Ameritech Financial

5789 State Farm Drive #265

Rohnert Park, CA 94928

1-800-792-8621

[email protected]

Related Images

graduate-student-studying.jpg

Graduate Student Studying

Credit: ismagilov/Bigstock

image2.png

Related Links

Ameritech Financial home page

Related Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRza8MbLvuM

SOURCE Ameritech Financial

Related Links

https://ameritechfinancial.com

BOSTON, Oct. 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Workplace Solutions and LiquidSpace today announced a partnership to facilitate economic opportunities for asset owners and operators by better serving growing demand for flexible office in the United States. Led by Workplace Solutions President Josh Lisman and LiquidSpace CEO Mark Gilbreath, the partnership will leverage technology from LiquidSpace to offer flexible office solutions for the Workplace Solutions network and its clients.

"LiquidSpace recognizes the opportunity to partner strategically with an industry leading company like Workplace Solutions to accelerate the delivery and market adoption of flexible office solutions," said Mark Gilbreath, founder and CEO of LiquidSpace. "LiquidSpace and Workplace Solutions are upgrading the traditional leasing flow with more speed, flexibility and simplicity."

The announcement coincides with the CoreNet Global Summit in Boston, MA, where Workplace Solutions is promoting the partnership with a co-branded booth. Full details of the partnership will develop over the next few months. The partnership is the first of its kind, and demonstrates foresight from Workplace Solutions into the future of flexible office.

"As the flexible office market is rapidly evolving, Workplace Solutions is proud to partner with the technology leader in this industry, LiquidSpace," said Josh Lisman of Workplace Solutions. "LiquidSpace gives our clients more options to consider, especially for larger engagements, and it allows for a faster, more streamlined process."

About Workplace Solutions

Workplace Solutions is one of the fastest growing global coworking consultancy companies. With over fifty years of combined experience in the flexible office market, Workplace Solutions specializes in "brokering" Workplace as a Service. Providing concierge service to corporate clients, Workplace Solutions accelerates and simplifies the procurement of flexible office space around the world.

About LiquidSpace

LiquidSpace is the largest end-to-end flexible office platform where users seeking office space connect to owners and operators with space to share. LiquidSpace streamlines the flexible office discovery and booking process, including a simplified legal framework. Investors and partners include: Greylock Partners, Floodgate Fund, Shasta Ventures, Roth Capital, GPT Group, Black Diamond Ventures, Lucas Venture Group, Steelcase, CBRE, Colliers International and Avison Young.

SOURCE LiquidSpaceWASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine about the Senate confirmation of James Morhard as the agency's deputy administrator:

"Congratulations to Jim Morhard! He was confirmed as the 14th Deputy Administrator of NASA on Thursday, Oct. 11.

"He joins our amazing agency at a crucial time in history. NASA is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, and I look forward to working with him as we look towards NASA's next 60 years. His legislative and managerial talents will serve NASA well as we accomplish stunning achievements."

For information about NASA's missions, programs and activities, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., Oct. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City will launch one of the most aggressive fundraising goals in its 45-year history with the announcement of a $2 million capital campaign to build a new Teen Center for Economic Development & College Readiness. The Club will be known as the MGM Resorts International Teen Center for Economic Youth Development & College Readiness thanks to a generous investment of $500,000 from MGM Resorts International, owner of Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.

The goal of the Teen Center for Economic Development & College Readiness is to transform the future of the youth of Atlantic City by providing them a space they can go to after school to develop the necessary skills to graduate high school, attend college or begin a career. With more than 93% of Atlantic City Boys & Girls Club youths living under the poverty level, having a job and college readiness programs is vital to helping them find economic stability for them and their families. Programs will include:

Work for development in three key industries: health, hospitality and technology. It will include a teaching kitchen, simulations rooms and fabrication lab.

Academic enrichment in STEM classes, high school tutoring, SAT prep and college access program. It will also include internships and scholarships.

Community workforce development opportunities and serves as a hub for other organizations that serve families impacted by the Boys & Girls Club

"Today we support about 1,900 youth a year. This center will not only help about 400 more kids, but it will expand our services to provide them with the skills and tools necessary to break the cycle of poverty. We could not transform the lives of so many without the support of MGM Resorts and our donors. Thanks to them we are well on our way to creating a better future for thousands of Atlantic City youth," said Dr. Michelle Carrera, Executive Director, Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City.

"At MGM Resorts, we are committed to supporting organizations that share our values and drive change in each of the communities where we are located," says Shelley Gitomer, Vice President, Philanthropy and Community Relations, MGM Resorts International. "We have come to know the Boys & Girls of Atlantic City through Borgata and their mission and goals align with our philosophy to support education and workforce development. We hope that our donation will encourage other members of the local business community to also be part of the campaign and support the mission of the Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City."

The Opportunity

The $2 million will be used to upgrade the Pennsylvania Avenue building. In December 2017, The City of Atlantic City provided the Boys & Girls Club with a 30-year lease for the building at 1010 Drexel Avenue, directly behind the Club's current building at 317 North Pennsylvania Avenue. The Usry building will allow the Club to transfer the younger members to a building that is already equipped for pre-school and elementary school-aged children. The 317 building will then be renovated into the MGM Teen Club. The funds will also be used to create an operational fund for the career programs for five years.

"We could not be more grateful for partnerships like those with MGM. Their donation has jump started our capital campaign and I'm hopeful that with continued community support we will open our doors for teens all across Atlantic City in 2019," continued Dr. Carrera.

About the Boys and Girls Clubs of Atlantic City

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Atlantic City is a 501(c)(3) whose mission is to provide the resources for the development of young people, from all backgrounds, to realize their full potential as responsible, caring adults. We serve approximately 1,900 children and teens, ages 6 to 18. Our approach focuses on core programs with adults, peers, and family members that enable children to enhance self-esteem and fulfill their potential. The core program areas are: Education and Career Development; Character and Leadership Development; Health and Life Skills; and Sports, Fitness and Recreation and Arts.

SOURCE The Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City

Related Links

http://www.acbgc.org

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Thrivent today announced that Brad Hewitt will retire as CEO and Terry Rasmussen has been appointed as his successor.

"Brad has provided visionary leadership in moving Thrivent forward in its mission of serving the broader Christian community and ensuring the organization has the tools and talent to meet the expectations of our members and position us for long-term growth," said Bonnie Raquet, Chair of the Thrivent Board of Directors.

"We wish Brad well as he moves to the next chapter of serving others and demonstrating faith through service," she said.

Rasmussen has served as president of Thrivent's core fraternal business unit for the last three years.

"Terry has distinguished herself as a strong leader with extraordinary business and legal acumen, as well as a deep understanding of Thrivent's charter as a fraternal benefit society," Raquet said. Thrivent is the nation's largest fraternal benefit society.

"What's more, she has deep-seated values and a practical approach to aligning our workforce to serve our members and drive growth," Raquet added.

More about Brad Hewitt

Hewitt joined Thrivent in 2003 as chief fraternal officer. He was named COO in 2008 and CEO in 2010.

He began his career with Securian in the Actuarial Services department. He held positions with increasing levels of responsibility at UnitedHealth Group and Diversified Pharmaceutical Services. He later felt called to serve in administrative roles with the Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod.

Hewitt graduated from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics.

Hewitt currently serves as vice chair of the board for Habitat for Humanity International; and the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation.

He also volunteers as chair of Itasca, an employerled, cross-sector collaborative group that works to improve the quality of life for all in the Twin Cities; and is vice chair of Greater MSP.

More about Terry Rasmussen

Rasmussen joined Thrivent in 2005. She was named president in 2015, after serving for 10 years as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary.

Before joining Thrivent, Rasmussen served in progressively responsible legal positions with American Express and Ameriprise Financial. At American Express she was responsible for global legal support of financial service products and services.

She began her legal career as a trial attorney in the U.S. Attorney General's Honors Program.

She received a BS in accounting from Minnesota State University-Moorhead and passed the CPA exam. She earned her JD from the University of North Dakota.

Rasmussen is past chair of the American Fraternal Alliance, the trade association for fraternal benefit societies; and Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota.

She currently serves on the boards of the Walker Art Center and InFaith Community Foundation.

About Thrivent

Thrivent is a fraternal benefit society that helps Christians on the wise with money journey. As a mission-driven, membership-owned organization, it offers its more than 2 million members and customers a broad range of financial products, services and guidance to help them obtain a life of contentment, confidence and generosity. Thrivent and its subsidiary and affiliate companies offer insurance, investments, banking and advice over the phone, online as well as through financial representatives and independent agents nationwide. Thrivent is a FORTUNE 500 company with $136 billion in assets under management/advisement (as of 12/31/17). For more than a century it has helped Christians make wise money choices that reflect their values while providing them opportunities to demonstrate their generosity where they live, work and worship. For more information, visit Thrivent.com. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter.

SOURCE Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Related Links

http://www.thrivent.com

Sanaa, Oct 14 : At least 17 passengers fleeing escalating war in Yemen's war-torn port city of Hodeidah were killed on Saturday when a Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit two buses near a security checkpoint, a provincial hospital official said.

The airstrike hit the buses in Masbarah area at the top of Jabal Ras hill near a Houthi-manned security checkpoint south of the port city.

"Most of the victims are women and children," the official told Xinhua by phone on condition of anonymity.

He said 20 others were wounded and were transported to several hospitals.

The Houthi-controlled Saba news agency reported the air attack, while there was no immediate comment from the Saudi-led coalition.

The Saturday attack was the latest in a series of airstrikes against the civilians since the coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict in 2015.

On Wednesday, a coalition airstrike killed five farmers near a charity drinking water pump in al-Jah district in Hodeidah, according to the local hospital officials.

The war has escalated in the Red Sea port city following the collapse of peacemaking efforts last month by the UN in Geneva after Houthi rebels refused to attend.

The Hodeidah port is a main entry point of about 70 percent of Yemen's food, medicines, aid and fuel.

Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen on March 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after the Houthi rebels forced him into exile. The war has killed over 10,000 people and displaced nearly three million.Washington, Oct 14 : US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he will take a look at US sanctions on Turkey and will consider whether to lift them after the American missionary Andrew Brunson was freed this Friday after two years in prison imposed by the Turkish justice system.

Questioned by reporters about the possibility of lifting the economic restrictions that Washington imposed on Ankara last August because of Brunson's incarceration, Trump said the White House will "take a look" at the sanctions, Efe reported.

The president again insisted that there was "no deal made at all" with Turkish authorities to eliminate sanctions in order to get Brunson released, though he tweeted about the "great appreciation on behalf of the United States, which will lead to good, perhaps great, relations between the United States & Turkey!"

Meanwhile on Saturday the American pastor Brunson thanked Trump for his efforts to get him out of Turkey after two years behind bars and prayed for him, asking God to grant the president "supernatural wisdom."

The missionary spoke several minutes with the president at the White House and, in the presence of the media, asked if he could pray for him, to which Trump readily agreed.

Brunson then knelt before him, put his hand on Trump's shoulder and began to pray: "Lord God, I ask that you pour out your holy spirit on President Trump, that you give him supernatural wisdom to accomplish all of the plans that we have for this country."Los Angeles, Oct 14 : A year after Hugh Hefner passed away, fans will get the opportunity to purchase pieces from the Playboy founders estate.

Beginning on November 30, items belonging to Hefner, including his iconic black silk pajamas, red smoking jacket, and white captain's hat A which the businessman was often photographed wearing A will be up for sale in a two-day auction by Julien's, reports people.com.

The Playboy founder's symbolic jacket is estimated to sell for $5,000, while his pajamas are likely worth $1,000 to $2,000.

All proceeds from the auction will go to The Hugh M. Hefner Foundation, which was established in 1964 to advocate for civil liberties and rights.

"Whether it was building his company into one of the most recognizable global brands in history or standing up for social, sexual and civil rights causes, my father lived an extraordinary life as a publishing, social and cultural pioneer and left a legacy that his Foundation will perpetuate," Hefner's daughter, Christie A who is now the President of his foundation A said in a statement.

"We are very proud to announce that 100 percent of the auction proceeds will benefit the Foundation that works to advance his life's commitment to individual rights in a free society," she added.

Other items of Hefner's up for sale include one of his signature pipes, a complete set of bound Playboy magazines (estimated to be worth $20,000 A $40,000), an original Playboy Club key, his Hollywood Walk of Fame Star from the mansion, and his Playboy logo cufflinks.

An exhibition of the pieces will also be available to the public for a four-day showing, beginning on November 26.Kolkata, Oct 14 : China and India together would make a difference to Asia and the whole world, a top Chinese envoy said here, stressing that leaders of the two nations favour meaningful cultural and educational exchanges to enhance bilateral cooperation.

Noting that the leaders would meet towards the year end to discuss on further developing the cultural, educational and other artistic exchanges, Chinese Consul General in Kolkata Ma Zhanwu said collaboration in events like Durga Puja would contribute to the friendship.

Zhanwu expressed joy over the Consulate joining hands with the BJ Block community Durga Puja in the post satellite township of Salt Lake here.

"Towards the end of this year, leaders from China and India will meet to discuss how to further develop the cultural, educational and other artistic exchanges between our two nations. Such an even as tonight will be remembered and will contribute to the friendship, the economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation between two great nations.

"Together we will make a difference for Asia and whole of the world," Zhanwu said on Saturday at the BJ Block Durga Puja venue ahead of the marquee's inauguration by West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi.

Talking about the views of the leaders, he said: "We are also very happy that (Chinese) President Xi Jinping and (Indian) Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi met several times this year to decide what to do to develop the bilateral relationship.

"And they have decided that the two great nations must work together to promote exchanges, co-operation. The two leaders believe that the cultural exchanges, educational exchanges are very important."

The Puja marquee has recreated a slice of authentic China.

Based on Chinese architecture, the marquee has a 20 feet-structure of Chinese 'Hulu' (bottle gourd) in its premises which signifies happiness and prosperity in China's Yunnan province.

"Around five Bengali artists went to China. They took pictures, videos and they did it all by themselves. Then they showed me the structures and I think they have done a wonderful job," he said.

Pointing towards the marquee, Zhanwu said the red lanterns, the paintings, dragons and especially the 'Hulu', represent affluence, happiness, prosperity for Chinese people.

Around 40 artists from China presented Peacock dance, music and martial arts. Zhanwu himself performed 'Tai Chi' moves while his wife Yang Li played a musical instrument 'Pipa' in front of the huge audience who seemed to enjoy every minute of the cultural programme.

Zhanwu said there would be more such understandings between the two countries in the coming years.

"I am happy that the Chinese people could enjoy and share the joy of Durga Puja. We will have more friendship and understanding between Chinese and Indian people in the coming years.

"More Chinese people will come to visit Kolkata, Salt lake city and Bidhannagar (the locality) will be more known in China. We are looking for building a relationship between Bidhannagar and some city in China," the envoy said.

He also invoked Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore.

"The great poet Rabindranath Tagore said when China and India work together we will create a difference to the world. We will change and contribute to the progress of this world. We will have 'Chindia'--the word that Tagore used," he added.Miami, Oct 14 : Amid the devastation caused by hurricane Michael, rescue operations in the southeastern US have focused on Mexico Beach and Panama City, two Florida towns that were nearly flattened and that could raise the death toll from the storm, which has taken at least 17 lives.

Florida Governor Rick Scott accompanied the National Guard on Saturday to survey the devastation by air, centering on the counties of Franklin, Holmes, Washington and Gadsden, in the northwestern part of the state, where Michael made landfall on Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane, reports Efe news.

The search for victims has been slow because numerous roads and highways have been blocked by rubble or destroyed, while cell phone service outages have prevented authorities and family members from locating missing people.

The destruction has been especially severe in Mexico Beach, where the water, sewage and communications systems were destroyed, which could take months to repair.

"Not one single store is left," Mexico Beach Mayor Al Cathey told the media.

Cathey himself had been unable to communicate with state authorities and has relied on satellite phones brought by media outlets.

Authorities have been inspecting every house and boat - or what is left of them - with the help of search and rescue dogs to find people who are unaccounted for.

Some 30 km west of Mexico Beach, the school gym of Panama City has become the symbol of the devastation caused by Michael in this Florida town, where residents began to return on Saturday to search for their belongings among the rubble.

So far, eight people have been reported dead in Florida, five in Virginia, three in North Carolina and one person was killed in Georgia.

Authorities, however, have not been able to identify any of the victims yet.

The death toll from Hurricane Michael is expected to increase, especially as rescue operations continue in Mexico Beach, one the hardest-hit towns.

Meanwhile, 750,000 homes and businesses continue to be without power in Florida, Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia.

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency in Florida, which authorises the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate rescue efforts and make federal funding available to address the situation.Jammu, Oct 14 : The Indian and Pakistan Armies traded fire on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, defence sources said..

The Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked firing at Indian positions at the Digwar sector in Poonch district.

"They used small arms and automatics to target Indian positions. Our troops retaliated strongly and effectively. No casualty or damage was reported on our side," the sources said.Mumbai, Oct 14 : Actress Kirron Kher said that every organisation should follow the Vishakha Guidelines to curb sexual harassment at workplaces.

Kher was interacting with the media launch of television reality show "India's Got Talent" season 8 along with co-judges Malaika Arora and Karan Johar on Saturday here.

Reacting to the #MeToo campaign, which has gained momentum in India, Kher said: "It's not just about the film industry, it's about the world. This is happening all over the world. Things like these happen in media houses, corporate offices, schools and colleges, villages and cities.

"There is a law called 'Vishakha Guidelines'. It is supposed to be there in every institution whether it's a corporate office or the film industry. In every production house, it should be followed."

The Vishakha Guidelines are a set of procedural guidelines for use in India in cases of sexual harassment. They were promulgated by the Supreme Court in 1997 and were superseded in 2013 by the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

The actress also said that one should immediately bring such matter in knowledge of the concern authorities.

"If anyone faces such kind of things then, they should complain immediately and the institution concerned is supposed to investigate the matter. If you are not following the Vishakha Guidleines then, you are making a mistake."

Kher is a BJP MP from Chandigarh constituency.

Reacting on accusation of sexual assault that has been leveled against Union External Affairs Minister M.J. Akbar, Kher said: "I am sure it will be investigated and both sides will be allowed to put their point of views. As we all know, Mr. Akbar is not in India right now and I am sure when he comes he will give his answers."

Talking about filmmaker Sajid Khan who has been accused of sexual misconduct by three women, Kher said: "I have known him for many years. I haven't experienced his this kind of behaviour in front of me so, I can't talk about. What's the truth in that matter only Sajid and the ladies who have accused him can answer... I respect the girls who have come out and talked about it in the open. I also feel that the media shouldn't only highlight Sajid's case because there are lots of other cases which are important to look into."

India's Got Talent season 8 will go on air on October 20, every Saturday and Sunday at 10 p.m. on Colors.Chennai, Oct 14 : Barcelos is a new South African flame-grilled chicken restaurant that opened its outlet here recently -- at a time when a competing brand has also stepped in, and another downed its shutters. It is also a time when many eateries are experiencing a sharp drop in footfalls as orders through delivery firms like Swiggy, Uber Eats and others are on the rise.

"There are two kinds of chicken outlets -- price-focused and experience-focused. While the popular fried chicken brands are price-focused, we are focused on providing an experience to our guests," Rohit Malhotra, Business Head-India, Barcelos, told IANS, offering a tangy mango drink.

It might have looked like any other mango drink. But sip it, and you will be pleasantly surprised by the taste.

The 65-seater Barcelos outlet at the Express Avenue Mall has been designed well.

The recipe for success is to have a wide variety of dishes catering to different taste buds rather than offering just the chicken-based items, said Malhotra, who proudly shared the thick menu card running into several pages.

"Our menu has Italian, Spanish, Mexican, Portuguese and American dishes. The menu should have the several dishes, including vegetarian ones, for a family or group to choose from instead of restricting their choice to just peri-peri and other chicken dishes," he said.

True to this, the menu has wide variety of dishes to choose from for adults as well as children -- lots of pastas and burgers. However, the chicken footprint is hard to miss.

Even as Malhotra was explaining Barcelos' India strategy, it was time to bite into a classic Italian bruschetta. It was okay.

"Our focus is on the mall segment and to avoid high-street outlets as there is no control over the number of competing players. Further, mall outlets get footfalls as a good number of shoppers do not mind sitting for some time to have a bite," Malhotra said.

By this time, the soft and mildly spicy and tasty peri-peri grilled chicken wings had been polished off while a plate full of fried shrimps and a second round of the tangy mango drink arrived.

Queried about the threat posed by food delivery companies, Malhotra said Barcelos has not signed up with any.

A hotelier had told IANS that the advent of food delivery companies have increased the number of orders but have eaten into the dine-in business. According to him, the size of the outlets is being reduced to cut rental expenses.

The crispy shrimps were good -- and when taken with the mango mocktail, it was great.

It was time for the main course -- flame-grilled peri-peri chicken and Portuguese rice. For those who are accustomed to a spicy meal, it is suggested to first dig into the peri-peri chicken and follow this up with the rice. One can add a dash of peri-peri sauce to further spice up the soft chicken.

On the expansion front, Malhotra said the company bets on the franchise model. "We are also planning to come out with our outlets for food courts," Malhotra said.

According to him, Barcelos India is hoping to open 20-25 outlets each year after 2019.

FAQs:

What: Barcelos

Where: Express Avenue, Royapettah

When: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Cost for two: About Rs.1,500 plus taxes (Venkatachari Jagannathan's visit was at the invitation of Barcelos. He can be contacted at v.jagannathan@ians.in)Panaji, Oct 14 : Ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar should have stayed back at the AIIMS in New Delhi and nursed himself back to health instead of returning to the coastal state, a Minister said here on Sunday.

Speaking to the media ahead of Parrikar's arrival in Goa, Union Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Naik said : "I have got the news. I still cannot believe it. I met him day before yesterday. His health has improved over last 15 days but I feel he should stay there for a few days more".

Naik also said that it was imperative that Parrikar takes adequate rest as part of his healing process after being treated for advanced pancreatic cancer.

"After he returns, I will meet and speak to him. He must have returned (to Goa) because the last chemotherapy must have been administered. He can take future treatment in Goa."

Parrikar was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences last month.

The former Defence Minister has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and now Delhi for the last seven months.

On Friday, Parrikar also held a meeting of his cabinet ministers and senior BJP state executive committee members at AIIMS.

The opposition Congress has been demanding Parrikar's resignation on account of his prolonged illness and absence from office.San Francisco, Oct 14 : Twitter is reportedly facing an investigation by privacy regulators in Ireland over data collection in its link-shortening system, the media reported.

Privacy regulators in Ireland have launched an investigation into exactly how much data Twitter collects from t.co, its URL-shortening system, The Verge reported late on Saturday.

The investigation stems from a request made by UK professor Michael Veale under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a comprehensive European privacy law under which EU citizens have a right to request any data collected on them from a given company.

But when Veale made that request to Twitter, the company claimed it had no data from its link-shortening service. The professor was sceptical, and wrote to the relevant privacy regulator to see if Twitter was holding back some of his data.

Now, that investigation seems to be underway. The investigation, first reported by Fortune, is confirmed in a letter obtained by The Verge, sent to Veale by the office of the Irish Data Privacy Commissioner, the report said.

Initially designed as a way to save characters in the limited space of a tweet, link-shortening has also proved to be an effective tool at fighting malware and gathering rudimentary analytics.

Those analytics services can also present a significant privacy risk when used in private messages.

Both Facebook and Twitter have faced lawsuits for collecting data on links shared in private messages, although no wrong-doing was conclusively established in either case.New Delhi : From Rome to London the contrast was sharp - from political despair to hope. A comprehensive conference on Afghanistan, superbly organised the NATO Foundation, was the only redeeming feature in Rome. Meetings with journalists and think-tanks on the margins were depressing.

The Far Right leader of the ruling coalition, Matteo Salvini of the League, whose early act as Deputy Prime Minister was to order a boat full of North African migrants to be allowed to drift towards Spain, is rising on the popularity charts. He is much the most popular leader in Italy with his anti-immigrant rantings. To firm up ideological bonds, Marine Le Pen, of France's National Front, visited Salvini recently. If this was not a sufficient shot in the arm for Italian fascists, White supremacist, once President Trump's soulmate, Steve Bannon, arrived to give a fillip to his plot - Brothers of Italy, they are called, under a title a canopy which Bannon calls "The Movement". "Bannon is here frequently to confer with Salvini and meet some of us," says Francesco Galieti, journalist who also advises investors.

Bannon is the spider in the web wherever ultra-nationalism, illiberal economics, leavened with dollops of racism rears its head. On Brexit too he is putting in his mite to accelerate the break with EU. Just as committed on the other side of the debate is the even more powerful, anti-Brexit billionaire, George Soros. They are both in convulsions to save the world from the curse of anti-capitalist headwinds.

There is a common anxiety but with distinct rightwing prescriptions.

Bannon must not be overdrawn but he does represent an impulse to navigate the leaky boat of capitalism away from any real or imaginary leftward lurch.

The desperation of this lot is manifest even as far as Brazil. Jair Bolsonaro, who romanticizes the likes of Pinochet, has support from the same interests who are stitching together fascism in Europe. Steve Bannon has been advising Bolsonaro's media team. His appearance on a Nigel Farage radio show created a minor storm. Farage, of the former Independence Party, leads the anti-Brexit movement with a self-explanatory title - Leave Means Leave.

Removed from anti-Brexit extremism are countries like Austria, Poland, Hungary and the Nordic North, which are anti migrant, on occasion anti-Semitic. Bannon has no interests here; Soros does.

Against this broad canvas of despairing gloom, I would like to state, on the pain of being repetitious, that Britain provides relief. For many in Britain this relief is mingled with fear because the rightwing media has painted Jeremy Corbyn in lurid colours. The Conservative Party, not to be confused with the rightist aberrations stretches from European continent to Latin America and elsewhere is in convulsions over both Brexit and Corbyn. Prime Minister Theresa May is looking at the "Exit" door in a sort of daze. She does not quite know how to handle the several balls up in the air. A break with EU will prompt Scotland sewing up its own deal with Brussels. Also, since this will entail the border between Belfast and Dublin demanding visa clearances, the Democratic Unionist leader, Arlene Foster, will break with Theresa May, bringing down her government. The whole point about Unionism in Ulster is to be "exactly" like the rest of Britain, says Foster. Any arrangement exclusive to Northern Ireland will not be acceptable to the Unionists.

Meanwhile, the right wing of the Conservatives, say, former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and his cohorts are threatening to throw a ginger fit if Brexit is "softened" a means of placating the urge to "remain", which is noticeable on both sides of the aisle.

Ambiguity afflicts the Labour Party too but it has the advantage of being in the opposition. It is under no compulsion to show its hand. It is simply waiting for an embattled Prime Minister to trip up. That would mean fresh elections which Labour is expected to win easily.

His opponents would not accept it but Labour Party has a charismatic leader in Jeremy Corbyn who has emerged even more firmly in control after the annual Party conference in Liverpool last month.

During his speech, Corbyn made an offer to Theresa May. "Labour MPs would vote for a soft Brexit deal which keeps Britain in the Customs Union with the EU."

What would be the Labour Party's position on a growing demand for a fresh referendum on Brexit? I had put this question to Corbyn two months ago. His response was very political. "The people have voted for Brexit in a referendum. Let the government negotiate a deal with Brussels which is acceptable to the British public."

Corbyn was very conscious of the many inconsistencies among Labour voters, constituency to constituency, during the referendum. But as an opposition leader and Prime Minister in-waiting, his job was to wait for May to make mistakes.

With Corbyn as Prime Minister looming large on the horizon the media, which has placed him consistently in a negative searchlight, has a huge challenge on its hands: how to begin to adjust to the reality of Corbyn.

He continues to say things which make those elements of the Conservative Party who are wrapped in a very Anglaise-Britishness very uncomfortable. For instance he would like schools to have in the text books those aspects of British history which illuminate negative aspects of colonialism. This when the centenary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in April 2019 may well be a high profile event during the Indian election season.

Little wonder a magazine like the Economist still makes Corbyn look like Che Guvera, a beret and the revolutionary leader's trademark beard et al.

(Saeed Naqvi is a commentator on political and diplomatic affairs. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached on saeednaqvi@hotmail.com)Istanbul, Oct 14 : At least 15 people were killed on Sunday when a truck carrying illegal immigrants overturned in western Turkey, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The truck skidded off the road and plunged into a ditch in Izmir Province, Xinhua news agency quoted Anadolu as saying. It was not immediately clear where the illegal immigrants were heading.New Delhi, Oct 14 : The Congress on Sunday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to break his silence over his ministerial colleague M.J. Akbar, who is facing allegations of sexual harassment.

"It is a question of women's dignity, security and safety. It was expected that the Minister concerned would give an immediate explanation," Congress leader Anand Sharma said.

"But it was equally the duty of the Prime Minister, Constitutional duty and moral duty, to speak. Why the Prime Minister has chosen to be silent is the fundamental question. Tell the country what your views are," Sharma told reporters here.

Union Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar earlier on Sunday returned from an official tour abroad and said he would issue a statement over the allegations.

Many female journalists have accused Akbar of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour at various stages of his journalistic career.Chennai, Oct 14 : As many as over 200 members of the Carnatic music community from across the world on Sunday came together to express that sexual harassment, abuse and assault must not be tolerated, and that it is time for the "deafening silence" to be broken.

A note from the Carnatic music community was shared on social media by celebrated vocalist TM Krishna. It featured the names of all artistes who have lent support to the #MeToo movement as part of which women are coming out about their unsavoury experiences in the work place.

"Over the past few days, we have all read many disturbing accounts of sexual harassment, abuse and assault, including from within the Carnatic music community. Many such instances in the past have been brushed under the carpet, subsequently creating a culture of silent complicity.

"There continues to be a deafening silence that needs to be broken. As artistes and students of music, we believe it is our responsibility to speak up and acknowledge that such unacceptable behaviour must be strongly condemned, in order to create a more equitable and safe environment for all people," the note read.

The members said it is important to bring to light those who have misused their position and power to exploit those at risk.

"We ask for due process through civil society investigations into these allegations to hold these individuals accountable, and whole-heartedly welcome those who want to come forward and share their stories.

At this juncture, we also encourage and request sabhas and cultural organisations all over the world to recognise this issue and put forward proactive structural measures to address such claims and prevent future incidents. We believe that this will make the Carnatic community safer for all," the note further read.New Delhi, Oct 14 : Union Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar, accused of sexual harassment by several women journalists, returned to India on Sunday and said he will issue a statement over the allegations.

Replying to a volley of questions from reporters gathered at the airport, the Minister said: "There will be a statement later on." He refused to say anything more.

Since October 7, the Minister, a writer and a former Editor of Sunday magazine and Asian Age newspaper, has not tweeted from his account.

It is believed that Akbar, a former Congress MP who later joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is to call on External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

As the #MeToo campaign gained momentum, about half a dozen women journalists accused Akbar of sexually harassing them when he was the Editor.

The opposition has demanded his resignation.Qalat (Afghanistan), Oct 14 : At least eight Afghan police personnel, including a district police chief, were killed in clashes in the southern province of Zabul overnight, a provincial source said on Sunday.

In one incident, police chief of Mizan district Asad Khan was killed during the clashes following a Taliban attack on district government offices and surrounding security checkpoints late Saturday night, Xinhua news agency quoted the source as saying.

In neighbouring Shahr-i-Safa locality, seven police officers were killed in a similar incident as they repulsed a Taliban attack on police security checkpoints.

Several militants were also killed and injured during the clashes, the source said.

Zabiullah Mujahid, a purported Taliban spokesman, has claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying three Taliban fighters were wounded in the fighting.

The violence has been on the rise as Afghan security forces struggle against a surge in attacks by militants as the country is preparing for parliamentary elections slated for October 20.Doha, Oct 14 : The Qatar Press Centre (QPC) expressed deep concern over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, state-run Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported on Sunday.

QPC "has been following with great concern" the developments regarding the suspicious disappearance of Khashoggi since the first day, Xinhua news agency reported, quoting the QPC as as saying in a statement.

The centre also called on human rights organisations to take urgent and strong moves on Khashoggi's disappearance, urging the investigation bodies to "prosecute the perpetrators of the evil with transparency".

The statement also confirmed QPC's rejection against all forms of target and restriction of journalists.

Khashoggi has been missing since October 2 and is presumed killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Saudi Arabia has denied the allegations as "baseless".Beijing, Oct 14 : China plans to launch its first satellite to test the technologies of the space-based gravitational wave detection programme "Tianqin" by the end of 2019.

The programme Tianqin, meaning "harp in sky," was initiated by Sun Yat-sen University in south China's Guangdong province in 2015. It will consist of three satellites forming an equilateral triangle around the earth, reports Xinhua news agency.

"It's like a harp in space. If the gravitational waves come, the 'harp's strings" will be plucked," said Luo Jun, President of the Sun Yat-sen University and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, at a conference held in Guangzhou.

The detection will be based on high-precision laser interferometry technology to measure the changes of the distances and locations of the three satellites, according to Luo.

Gravitational waves are "ripples" in the fabric of space-time caused by some of the most violent and energetic processes in the universe. Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves in 1916 in his general theory of relativity.London, Oct 14 : Britain and the US are considering boycotting a major international conference in Saudi Arabia after the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the BBC reported on Sunday.

Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi government, vanished on October 2 after visiting its consulate in Istanbul, triggering tensions between Riyadh and Ankara.

The authorities in Istanbul believe he was murdered there by Saudi agents. Saudi Arabia has rejected the allegations as "lies".

Several sponsors and media groups have decided to pull out of this month's investment conference in Riyadh, dubbed Davos in the Desert, as a result of concerns over Khashoggi's fate.

Diplomatic sources have now told the BBC that both US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and UK International Trade Secretary Liam Fox might not attend the event, being hosted by the kingdom's Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman to promote his reform agenda.

A spokesman for the UK's international trade department said Fox's diary was not yet finalized.

A joint statement of condemnation, if it is confirmed that Khashoggi was killed by Saudi agents, was also being discussed by US and European diplomats, the BBC said.

However, Khashoggi's fiancAe Hatice Cengiz has said that words alone won't be good enough if he has been murdered.

"If we have already lost Jamal, then condemnation is not enough," she wrote in a piece for the New York Times. "The people who took him from us, irrespective of their political positions, must be held accountable and punished to the full extent of the law."

US President Donald Trump has said the US would inflict "severe punishment" on Saudi Arabia if the kingdom was found to be responsible for the death of Khashoggi, a contributor to the Washington Post.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevut Cavusoglu said Saudi Arabia was not yet co-operating with the investigation despite a statement from Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz saying his nation wanted to uncover "the whole truth", the BBC said.

Cavusoglu has urged the kingdom to allow Turkish officials to enter the consulate.Gurugram, Oct 14 : Both the wife and son of Additional District and Sessions Judge Krishan Kant, who were shot at by the judge's security guard on Saturday, have died, police said on Sunday.

While the wife, Ritu (38), died overnight due to excessive bleeding, the 18-year-old son, Dhruv, succumbed to his injuries at a hospital here, the police said.

They were seriously wounded after being shot from close range by Mahipal Singh, a Haryana Police Constable hailing from Bhungarka village in Mahindargarh who was posted with the judge for nearly two years.

The Personal Security Guard was arrested while trying to flee to Faridabad. On Sunday, he was sacked from the Haryana Police.

The judge was not in the government car when the horrific incident occurred in Sector 49 on Saturday.

Ritu suffered two bullet injuries in her chest and died due to excessive loss of blood, senior forensic expert and doctor Deepak Mathur told IANS.

To investigate the incident, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been set up under the supervision of the Deputy Commissioner of Police East of Gurugram, said a police officer.Kabul, Oct 14 : The Taliban has confirmed that its leaders had held talks with the US Special Envoy for Afghan peace Zalmay Khalilzad in Qatar's capital on Friday, said a statement from the group posted on its website on Sunday.

The Taliban delegation, according to the statement, included the chief of political office in Doha Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, deputy head Mawlawi Abdul Salam Hanafi as well as Shahabuddin Delawar, Qari Deen Mohammad Hanif, Mohammad Zahid Ahmadzi and Mohammad Suhil Shaheen, reports Xinhua news agency.

Taliban's purported spokesman Zabihullah Majahid, who posted the statement, asserted that the "representatives of the Islamic Emirate" at the meeting "described the presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan as the main obstacle in achieving peace" and demanded their withdrawal.

"Keeping that in mind, efforts must be made towards a true and intra-Afghan solution. At the end both sides agreed to continue holding meetings in the future," the statement added.

The Afghan-born US veteran diplomat Khalilzad after touring Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and meeting Taliban leaders visited Kabul on Saturday and held talks with leaders and politicians within and outside the government.Imphal, Oct 14 : Jail officials on Sunday brought six Manipur University professors for medical check-up from the Imphal Central Jail in handcuffs, triggering condemnation.

The Manipur University Teachers Association, the Manipur University Students Union and the Manipur University Staff Association condemned the police for heaping humiliation on the professors.

On the basis of an FIR filed by the pro Vice Chancellor, police and paramilitary personnel raided the boys' hostels and residences of the faculty on the campus on September 20 midnight to arrest the six professors and 80 students.

All of them have been in judicial custody since then.New Delhi, Oct 14 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will launch a nationwide campaign on Monday to tackle the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) ongoing financial crisis, cabinet Minister Gopal Rai said on Sunday.

Talking to the media, Rai said that AAP, the ruling party of Delhi, had reached a point where "it does not have sufficient funds to carry out its functions and prepare for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections".

The party, he said, has called for a gathering of all its Ministers, MLAs, Rajya Sabha members and in-charges at the Talkatora stadium for the campaign.

"Kejriwal will launch the nationwide campaign 'Aap ka Daan Rashtra ka Nirmaan' under which anyone, who supports the party's policies and positive nation building, can donate a minimum of Rs 100 to the party per month," Rai said.

"Until now, the party has been getting random donations. Under this campaign, we have developed a system to get regular funds and get monthly financial help from the people," he added.

The AAP's Karnataka convenor, Prithvi Reddy, will head the campaign.

However, he said, if anyone wants to donate only once and not monthly, then the party will accept cheques, credit cards and cash. "But cash donations cannot be more than Rs 2,000," Rai said.Panaji, Oct 14 : The health parameters of Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who returned from Delhi on Sunday, are stable, his office said.

"The Chief Minister arrived back in Goa today (Sunday) evening. He is recovering and his health parameters are stable. The line of treatment from AIIMS will be continued," the Chief Minister's Office said in a statement.

Parrikar was discharged early on Sunday from Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences, where he was being treated for advanced pancreatic cancer since September 15.

Parrikar arrived in Goa by a special flight and headed straight to his private residence, near Panaji, where a government-operated ambulance and a medical crew were kept on a stand-by.

Goa's Power Minister Nilesh Cabral earlier on Sunday said he hoped for a miracle for Parrikar, who has been battling cancer for several months.

Parrikar, a former Union Defence Minister, was ferried, under a police escort, by an ambulance from the airport and was taken inside his residence with the help of a stretcher.

Parrikar has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and Delhi for the last seven months.

On Friday, Parrikar held a meeting of his Cabinet Ministers and senior members of the BJP State Executive Committee at AIIMS.

The Congress has been demanding Parrikar's resignation on account of his prolonged illness and absence from office.New Delhi, Oct 14 : The Delhi Commission for Women on Sunday urged the victims of sexual crimes to report their cases to the police and the women's panel, creating a dedicated email ID to receive such complaints.

"It has taken a lot of courage for women and girls to narrate the incidents of sexual assault faced by them and the Commission stands in solidarity with them in their struggle. This reporting will pave the path for putting these sexual predators behind bars, something that should have been done long ago," DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal said in a statement.

Women can register their complaints at "metoodcw@gmail.com", she said.

She targeted Union Minister M.J. Akbar, facing allegations that he sexually harassed several women journalists at various publications that he edited, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his silence.

"All 9 women are making false allegations? They are after your seat in Parliament? What a moron M.J. Akbar is! If anyone is impacting BJP adversely today, it is M.J. Akbar for his notoriety and lecherous behaviour and PM Modi for his unbelievable silence and inaction in the matter," Maliwal said.

Akbar on Sunday described the allegations of sexual harassment against him as "false, baseless and wild" and threatened legal action.Mumbai, Oct 14 : Nawazuddin Siddiqui says while he studied theatre, the thought of becoming a "successful actor" or "star" never crossed his mind.

What he wanted to do was explore as many characters as possible. Now he hopes to internalize characters as much as he can.

The acclaimed actor spoke about this in Saavn's podcast "Take 2 with Anupama and Rajeev", read a statement.

Nawazuddin said: "We used to read books when we were in NSD (National School of Drama) and our teacher also told us that we have many characters inside every human. What is important is how we discover them and bring them out in our acting...

"The teacher said, 'There are thousand characters inside a human'. This thing got stuck in my head.

"I tried to find it out. So I thought that whenever I will act, I will discover it inside me. So these thoughts came to my head and I never thought that I wanted to become a successful actor or a star.

"This thought never came in my mind that I will do films one day while I was in theatre. The only thought that came in my mind while doing theatre was that I have to explore as much as I can and bring it all out."

Is his character of Ganesh Gaitonde from "Sacred Games" also within him?

"Of course, it is somewhere hidden inside us. I was given the character of Gaitonde, but I am the one who is playing it. So I have to see where is Gaitonde inside me and I have to bring him out in my acting."

The way forward for Nawazuddin is to try to internalize the characters as far as possible.

"I am adamant to remove pollution from acting and purely internalize character as much as I can," he added.

When was the last time he was star struck?

"I got star struck after watching Rajinikanth sir. Seeing his simplicity shocked me. I was like, 'How can he be so simple?' He is a superstar but he makes you realise he is a normal man like you and makes you feel, 'I am not any alien and not any star'.

"But there are actors who are nothing and carry such attitude. Every person in each and every village of North knows Rajinikanth but no one knows about our superstars in the South. Our attitude is just arrogant... We carry 25 people with us."London, Oct 14 : The Foreign Ministers of the United Kingdom, France and Germany on Sunday expressed serious concerns about the fate of a missing Saudi Arabian journalist and called for an investigation into the case.

Jamal Khashoggi disappeared after visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 and Turkish authorities have speculated that he was either killed or kidnapped there, while Saudi Arabia has denied the accusations, reports Efe news.

In a joint statement, Jeremy Hunt, Jean-Yves Le Drian and Heiko Maas said: "There needs to be a credible investigation to establish the truth about what happened, and - if relevant - to identify those bearing responsibility for the disappearance of Khashoggi and ensure that they are held to account.

"We encourage joint Saudi-Turkish efforts in that regard and expect the Saudi government to provide a complete and detailed response. We have conveyed this message directly to the Saudi authorities," the statement added.

Turkish media have widely reported that intelligence officials believe Khashoggi was murdered and dismembered inside the consulate by a Saudi hit squad.

Earlier on Sunday, the Saudi stock market plunged nearly seven percent amid fears of imminent sanctions by the US after President Donald Trump threatened a severe punishment if the kingdom was found responsible for the journalist's disappearance.

The possible murder of Khashoggi, a US permanent resident in self-imposed exile who had written critically against the Saudi monarchy, has generated a far stronger international backlash against the kingdom than the ongoing Saudi-led war in Yemen, which has caused widespread famine in the already impoverished Arab country.New Delhi, Oct 14 : Saudi Arabia on Sunday rejected any international threat and "attempts to undermine it" following the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi after he visited the Gulf kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, earlier this month.

The Saudi Arabian Embassy here shared a statement issued by the country's Foreign Ministry stating that it has played a prominent role "in achieving security, stability and prosperity of the region" without any mention of Khashoggi's name.

"An official source stated that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and from its leading position in the Arab and Islamic worlds has played a prominent role throughout history in achieving security, stability and prosperity of the region and the world, leading efforts in combating extremism and terrorism, enhancing economic cooperation and consolidating peace and stability in the region and the world and it is still working with brotherly and friendly countries to promote these goals, basing all of this on its own status as a platform of revelation," the Saudi Foreign Ministry statement said.

"The kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether by threatening to impose economic sanctions, using political pressures, or repeating false accusations that will not undermine the Kingdom and its staunch positions and Arab, Islamic and international status, the outcome of these weak endeavours, like their predecessors, is a demise," it stated.

It said that the government and people of Saudi Arabia "are steadfast, glorious as ever, no matter whatever the pressures and circumstances might be".

"The Kingdom also affirms that if it receives (sic) any action, it will respond with greater action, and that the Kingdom's economy has an influential and vital role in the global economy is affected only by the impact of the global economy," the statement said.

"The Kingdom appreciates the brothers' stand in the face of the campaign of false allegations and falsehoods, as well as it appreciates the voices of the wise people around the world, who have overcome wisdom, deliberation and the search for truth instead of rushing and seeking to exploit rumours and accusations to achieve goals and agendas unrelated to the search for truth."

US President Donald Trump had warned on Saturday that his administration could severely punish Saudi Arabia, a key ally of Washington, if the kingdom was found responsible for the disappearance and possible murder of Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

Earlier on Sunday, the Saudi stock market plunged nearly seven percent amid fears of imminent US sanctions.

Before Saturday's comments, Trump had been reluctant to criticise Saudi Arabia and had said on Thursday that he was against cancelling the $110-billion US-Saudi arms deal over the journalist's disappearance.

The possible murder of Khashoggi, a US permanent resident in self-imposed exile who had written critically against the Saudi monarchy, has generated a far stronger international backlash against the kingdom than the ongoing Saudi-led war in Yemen, which has caused widespread famine in the already impoverished Arab country.New Delhi, Oct 14 : A woman employed with Multinational Company (MNC) in west Delhi's Dwarka was allegedly gangraped by two of her colleagues on Saturday night, police said on Sunday.

Birju (25), and his associate Vinod Kumar (31) offered her a lift after office hours on Saturday. During the journey, the accused served her cold drink lashed with sedatives and she became unconscious.

"The victim was taken to a flat in an unconscious state where they took turns to rape her. After committing the crime, the accused dropped the victim near Vasant Kunj area," an official of Dwarka north police station said.

The victim somehow reached her home and reveals her ordeal with family members. On Sunday, victim reached the police station and gave written complaint against the accused.

"We have conducted medical examination of the victim which confirms rape. The accused have been arrested from their houses," the official further said.Sonepat, Oct 14 : Puneri Paltan climbed to the top of Zone A table in Pro Kabaddi tournament with a resounding 45-27 win over Haryana Steelers here on Sunday.

Haryana Steelers' poor defensive performance was the main reason for their third consecutive defeat. VikasKandola put a solid all-round performance for Haryana Steelers and scored 11 points.

Nitin Tomar got 10 points whereas Rajesh Mondal chipped in with 8 points to lead Puneripaltan to a comfortable win.

It was an evenly contested affair in the first few minutes of the match as both teams were tied at 5-5 after seven minutes.

Puneri Paltan then shifted gears with Nitin Tomar getting into the act. Tomar scored three points in two raids as Puneri Paltan inflicted an all out to lead 13-7 after 12 minutes.

Rajesh Mondal then scored with a two-point raid to give Puneri Paltan 15-10 lead after 15 minutes. Haryana's star man Monu Goyat had a quiet first half which affected the team's performance. At the end of the first half Puneri Paltan enjoyed an eight-point lead with the score 19-11 in their favour.

Vikas Kandola made a super raid in the 30th minute as Haryana Steelers cut the deficit to 20-31.

Puneri Paltawere in no mood to surrender any advantage as they pocked tackle and raid points at regular intervals. With just over five minutes left Puneri Paltan led 34-23.

Puneri Paltanwere exemplary in both attack and defence. While Haryana Steelers scored 20 raid points compared to Pune's 21, it was the tackle points which let them down. Puneri Paltan scored 16 tackle points wheres Haryana scored just four.

In the last five minutes, Puneri Paltan kept their composure and kept on picking raid and tackle points. Haryana left themselves a mountain to climb and eventually fell short as they crashed to 27-45 defeat.Yangon, Oct 14 : Over a thousand nationalist demonstrators took to the streets of Yangon on Sunday to march in support of Myanmar's military at a time when the Southeast Asian country is in the spotlight for the ongoing violent persecution of the Rohingya people.

The rally converged outside the Yangon City Hall building, where controversial extremist Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu - known for promoting hate speech against Rohingyas, the country's Muslim ethnic minority - gave a speech before the thousand-strong crowd in which he condemned foreign involvement in Burmese affairs, Efe reported.

Myanmar's armed forces, along with police officers, paramilitary groups and civilian mobs, started to crack down on the Rohingya living in the northwestern Rakhine State in late 2016.

Burmese authorities cited alleged attacks on police and troops by unidentified insurgents along the border with Bangladesh as the reason for the crackdown, although observers say the root causes of the conflict can be found in long-simmering tensions between Myanmar's Buddhist majority and the much smaller Muslim community.

At least 700,000 Rohingya have fled Rakhine by sea or on foot over the past two years due to what the United Nations has described as a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing" and human rights groups have condemned as crimes against humanity.

Although the Rohingya have settled in the region since at least the 15th century AD, Myanmar does not consider them citizens, instead classifying them as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

Between 1988-2011, Myanmar - which was known by the colonial name Burma until 1989 - was ruled by a military junta accused of innumerable human rights violations and abuses.

After the so-called State Peace and Development Council was dissolved, the current nominally-civilian government took over, although the army continues to have a huge influence on Burmese politics and society.London, Oct 15 : Actress Claire Foy says she felt compelled to speak out about the pay gap between herself and "The Crown" co-actor Matt Smith to open doors for others fighting for fair play.

Foy became a figurehead of sorts for those fighting for gender equality when she spoke out about the fact she was paid much less than Smith - even though she was The Queen to his Prince Philip on the drama. The revelation forced the show's bosses to publicly apologise to both stars for inadvertently putting them in a very awkward position.

Now, in a magazine, Foy has said the whole drama was very upsetting and she had moments when she wished she didn't have to be the one making waves, reports aceshowbiz.com.

She said: "I was deeply hurt by it, because I'd been working on that show for two years. I loved everybody on it. And then I realised, 'There's been a big, fat, dirty secret that nobody's ever talked about'.

"But then there was also that thing (of being) an inadvertent spokesperson. Why did it have to be me? I could have said nothing. And I think everyone would have preferred that. But I thought, 'If I do that, I will be cheating myself and all the other women I know.'"

Foy recently dismissed reports suggesting she had been offered $225,000 in back pay to settle the gender pay gap on "The Crown".Dhaka, Oct 15 : At least four people including three of the same family were killed after rain-triggered landslides struck their houses in Bangladesh's southeastern Chattogram city on Sunday.

Jashim Uddin, Fire Service deputy assistant director in Chattogram, 242 km southeast of capital Dhaka, told journalists that among the dead are two women, a man and a child, Xinhua reported.

Three members of a family including two women and a child died after a landslide occurred at a hilly area of Chattogram's Firoz Shah area after midnight due to incessant rain, he said.

Also in the hilly Panchlaish area of the city, he said, another person was killed due to a landslide.

All the deceased trapped under the rubble, he said, had been pulled out after a hectic rescue operation.

In recent years, according to experts, unplanned urbanization, and illegal constructions, mainly in the outskirts, have increased the chances of landslide and other disasters in five districts in Chattogram Hill Tracts.Jerusalem, Oct 15 : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hamas on Sunday that if it continues the violent attacks against Israel, "it will be stopped in a very painful way".

Netanyahu made the remarks at the weekly Israeli Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Xinhua reported.

The Prime Minister made his threat as a result of the increased riots by Palestinian demonstrators near the security border fence in the Gaza Strip.

Last Friday, some 15,000 demonstrated in locations near the fence, burning tires and hurling rocks, explosive devices and grenades at Israeli troops.

During the riots, according to Palestinian reports, seven demonstrators were killed, including three who crossed the fence and approached a post of the Israeli army.

Netanyahu noted that "Hamas, apparently, has not internalized the message. We are very close to a different kind of activity that will include very powerful blows."

Meanwhile, Israeli Minister of Defence Avigdor Lieberman told the website "Ynet" that "after months of rioting and burning of fields, we have reached the point that we must strike the hardest blow possible on Hamas."

Javascript Error

Javascript is deactivated in your browser. To use all functions on this portal, for example the login, Javascript must be activated. Please activate Javascript in your browser settings.Nothing gets you in the spirit of the holidays like decorating your home. Its a tradition for many families. No matter what the holiday, AtmosFX Digital Decoration Kits has something for you!

For Hollywood-quality, fully animated projections, theres nothing like AtmosFX Digital Decoration Kits. AtmosFX has decorations for audiences of all ages and for every occasion. The kits come with everything you need to create amazing illusions and holiday displays. You can use the AtmosFX projector to put ravenous zombies or whimsical ghosts in your windows, open a portal to another dimension on your wall, or bring Santa or the Easter bunny into your home. The Digital Decoration Kits come with a variety of seasonal digital decorations included for year-round displays. With AtmosFX Digital Decoration Kits, its never been easier to decorate.

Our Digital Decoration Kits come with everything you need to make holiday decorations come to life, says Michael Gills, Director of Marketing for AtmosFX. We want to make decorating for the holidays easier and more fun, which is why were happy to be working with AsSeenOnTV.pro and spread the word about what we have to offer.

The Digital Decoration Kits from AtmosFX are amazing, says Lisa Vrancken, Vice President of Business Development at AsSeenOnTV.pro. We love that the kits are revamped with new decorations coming out each year.

As part of its DRTV campaign with AsSeenOnTV.pro, Digital Decoration Kits will be appearing in 60 second spots set to air nationwide and feature the original Shark himself, Kevin Harrington. AsSeenOnTV.pro is comprised of an award-winning team of producers, writers, videographers, and editors as well as industry veterans dedicated to finding the latest, most innovative products and ideas, and putting them on the DRTV map.

About AsSeenOnTV.pro

Headquartered in South Florida, AsSeenOnTV.pro is a full-service production, branding, and marketing company that specializes in direct response television, short- and long-form commercials, and brand building. Based out of a 25,000+ sq ft, state-of-the-art studio, the companys creative team handles every aspect of production from script to screen to airing. For nearly two decades, AsSeenOnTV.pros veteran staff of writers, producers, videographers, and editors has amassed more than 50 Telly Awards, thousands of prestigious clients, and over $20 million in television placements.

About Kevin Harrington

As the inventor of the infomercial, founder of As Seen on TV, and one of the original Sharks on Shark Tank, Kevin Harrington has worked with some of the worlds biggest celebrities and launched some of the best-selling DRTV campaigns in history. Since producing his first 30-minute infomercial in 1984, Harrington has been involved in over 500 product launches that have resulted in over $4 billion in sales. Now, in his latest venture with AsSeenOnTV.pro, Harrington is on the hunt for the best new products and ideas, bringing them to homes everywhere through personalized DRTV campaigns featuring the Shark.

About AtmosFX

AtmosFX was founded in 2008 by Pete Reichert, a former MTV Producer, and Pete Williams, an animator, and show creator. Both were inspired by the high-end video installations theyd produced for amusement parks and museums. Today, AtmosFX is the fastest growing digital home decorating company with customers in more than 110 countries around the world.

For more information on Digital Decoration Kits, please visit http://www.AtmosFX.com.Listeners will learn from our mistakes and successes, and understand how to successfully balance marriage with business, family and more.

Best-selling author, speaker, automation strategist and marketing consultant Mick Olinik has launched a new semiweekly podcast with his wife, Claire, dedicated to entrepreneurial couples seeking their ideal lifestyle. Launched on October 8, the Marriage Family Business podcast features open dialogue between Mick and Claire as they candidly discuss their relationship challenges, lives as entrepreneurs, parenthood and more.

Infused with humorous stories of their own experiences, the first and only podcast of its kind will detail Mick and Claires entrepreneurial journey and provide listeners with the insights, tools and strategies needed to navigate their own road to success. The Marriage Family Business podcast targets couples seeking the ultimate life package  from relationship happiness and family satisfaction, to career success and realizing self-worth.

Were excited to help other couples achieve their greatest level of happiness using our real-life experiences to navigate their own path, said Mick Olinik. Marriage is not the only relationship that matters, but for us its the one we want to spend the most time honoring and ensuring its strong. Listeners will learn from our mistakes and successes, and understand how to successfully balance marriage with business, family and more.

The first few episodes of the Marriage Family Business podcast are currently available online, at http://marriagefamilybusinesspodcast.com. The podcast is also available through Apple Podcasts and Castbox. Additional information about Mick Olinik can be found at https://mickolinik.com. Marriage Family Business can be followed on Instagram @marriagefamilybusinesspodcast and on Facebook here.

About Mick & Claire Olinik

Mick & Claire Olinik are a dynamic couple that have been together for 12 years, and married for 10 of them. Mick has been a business owner and an Internet entrepreneur for more than 20 years, while Claire started her professional career in teaching before diving headfirst into entrepreneurship. Mick has written several books on tech and business, while Claire is a classically trained soprano, recently performing with her elite choral group, Canticum Novum, at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Mick and Claire reside in Traverse City, Mich., with their two intelligent, funny, charming and rambunctious young sons.U.S. Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen addresses attendees at American Loggers Council annual meeting, Oct. 13 in Seaside, Ore.

Newly-appointed U.S. Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen today addressed the American Loggers Council (ALC) during its 24th Annual Meeting. The meeting, held Oct. 11-13, brought loggers, ALC sponsors and others from across the country to Seaside, Ore. for logging demonstrations, special events and industry discussions.

ALC was the first organization that Christiansen addressed after being appointed Chief on Oct. 10. Speaking to attendees on Oct. 13, she discussed her vision for the U.S. Forest Service, her efforts to improve management on National Forest Service lands, and the recognition of loggers as the "boots on the ground" to help ensure better outcomes for public lands.

The annual meeting included a logging tour on Oct. 12 on nearby state forest land, educating attendees on logging systems and practices in Northwestern Oregon. A concurrent Ladies Tour included stops at the Tillamook Forest Center and Tillamook Creamery. Later that evening ALC held its annual President's Dinner and Auction. As part of the event, a Stihl chainsaw was auctioned to benefit the Log-A-Load for Kids program, which supports medical services for needy children.

The ALC President's Award was given to Ken Swanstrom of Skookum Logging in Montana and Crad Jaynes of the South Carolina Timber Producers Association for their support and leadership for the council and the logging industry over their careers. The National Logger Activist Award was awarded to Vance Wright, owner of Charles A. Wright Logging Inc. in Virginia for his advocacy on behalf of fellow loggers.

D.K. Knight presented Timber Harvesting Magazine's prestigious Logging Business of the Year Award to Log Creek Timber Co. of South Carolina.

The Board of Directors and Membership meetings were held on Oct. 13 and included committee reports from the legislative, transportation, biomass, communications, membership, Master Logger and nomination committees. ALC's leadership and members agreed to pursue new membership and sponsorship opportunities, and to expand in parts of the country where loggers currently lack a national voice. ALC will continue to be active in the policymaking in Washington DC, including advocating for key priorities including passage of the Future Logging Careers Act, Right to Haul Act, biomass utilization and federal forest management reforms.

As custom, the annual meeting was held in the home state of the current ALC President, Mark Turner of Turner Logging. During the closing Presidents dinner on Oct. 13, President Turner introduced Chris Potts of Potts Logging of Alabama as ALC's new president. Shannon Jarvis of Jarvis Timber in Missouri and Tim Christopherson of Dabco Logging in Idaho will serve as First and Second Vice Presidents, respectively. Andy Irish of Irish Family Logging in Maine will serve as Secretary-Treasurer.The CEO of Indus Insights, Saurabh Sharma, was recently invited to share his views and insights about the Fintech industry at the World Consumer Credit Reporting Conference in New Delhi, India. The conference is a bi-annual conference organized in different countries across the globe. The 11th edition of the conference was held in New Delhi between the 23rd and 25th September 2018 and was attended by nearly 250 delegates from over 60 countries. Saurabh was invited as a panelist to discuss the future of financial services, fintech, and credit reporting in a digital world. The panel was chaired by Vineet Saxena, who is the Global Head of Retail Credit Control Services for HSBC. Also included in the panel was David Neenan, who is the President of TransUnion International.

Saurabhs conversation was specifically focused on the Fintech industry, wherein he shared his views on the rapidly growing sector. He explained the various types of businesses that fall under the Fintech umbrella, emphasized that the sector is no longer a fringe area, and shared some key statistics to drive the point. Saurabh also updated the audience with recent trends in the sector and discussed key innovation areas. The panel involved an insightful conversation between the panelists and thought-provoking Q&A with the audience members.

About Indus Insights

Indus Insights is a Data Science, Machine Learning, and Advanced Analytics services organization. Indus Insights develops sophisticated predictive models, designs machine learning algorithms, and creates data-driven business strategies, while acting as its Clients extended Data Sciences team. The companys focus is the financial services sector, where it assists clients in customer acquisition, credit risk & fraud management, customer management, and operations. The firms clientele is spread across the US, Australia, UK, and other countries, and includes some of the worlds largest banks, fintech companies, credit unions, specialty lenders, and insurance firms. Indus has offices in Wilmington, DE (US) and in Gurgaon/Delhi NCR (India). More information on the company is available at http://www.indusinsights.com.Finding the best business or product on the market is both simpler and more complicated than it was before the rise of the internet. These days, one can look up a product as simple as a toothbrush or watchband and find thousands of reviews sharing with him or her, the benefits of this model, its liabilities and how it stacks up to the competition.

On the other hand, the amount of these reviews, lack of consistent criteria for rating and abundance of options that are recommended during a cursory search is overwhelming to many who may find themselves longing for the days of walking into a store with two toothbrush options and buying the one the salesperson recommended.

With the overabundance of information on the internet and ambiguity of its sourcing, finding reputable, third-party review and rating organizations is a solid choice for anybody looking for honest answers on which product or brand is the best in a given field.

A favourite option for Canadians across the nation, reviews organization Three Best Rated uses a 50-point inspection that parses through the myriad reviews and ratings for a business as well as its complaints and resulting levels of satisfaction. Three Best Rated then selects the three top-performing businesses for a given query.

The staff at James Braden Ford  a new and used Ford dealership and service centre in Kingston  are spreading the word about the dealerships recent honour  being named as one of the three best automotive dealerships in Kingston by Three Best Rated. Especially recognized were the staffs level of experience, the dealerships informative video content, the range of services offered at James Braden Ford and the high-quality and user-friendly website.

James Braden Ford sales and service staff are encouraging vehicle shoppers in the Kingston area to visit the dealerships website, http://www.jamesbradenford.ca, and see for themselves what a 10-point TBR website looks like. While there, area shoppers can view all the vehicles currently on the lot of Eastern Ontarios largest Ford pickup truck dealer.

Those looking to experience firsthand the level of polish, expertise and driver satisfaction for which James Braden Ford was selected are encouraged to contact the James Braden Ford sales team by calling 613-800-4426. James Braden Ford is located at 505 Canatara Court in Kingston.On Sunday, November 11, and Monday, November 12, Captain Charlie Plumb will speak during weekend services at Verve Church, 7850 Dean Martin Drive, Las Vegas.

After being shot down in the Vietnam War, Plumb survived more than five years of torture as a Prisoner of War alongside John McCain. Hes confident that what he learned through that experience can help Vegas locals continue to grow their resiliency.

Ahead of his visit to Verve, Plumb said, Whether its a daily routine, or a communist prison camp, or showing resilience after an evil attack on the city of Las Vegas, each of us has the choice to succeed, to failor to become the victim of circumstances.

Vince Antonucci, Lead Pastor of Verve Church, is excited to bring Plumbs message to the city. Over the last year, Vegas has proven its unmatched ability to overcome great adversity in the face of painfully dark circumstances. Plumbs experience is a perfect fit for this season of strength, Antonucci explains.

Service times at Verve Church are 9:00am, 10:30am, and Noon on Sunday, and 7:00pm on Monday. All services are free and open to the public.

Founded in 2010, Verve calls itself a church for people who dont like church. Learn more at vivalaverve.org.This was the result of a tremendous team effort between the lawyers and support staff at Shepard Law and Levy Konigsberg, --Michael Shepard

A lawsuit brought against both asbestos and tobacco defendants resulted in a substantial verdict for the Plaintiff, Joanna Summerlin. After four days of deliberation, the eleven-member jury delivered a verdict in favor of the Summerlin family that totaled $43.1 million. The judgement, against cigarette maker R.J. Reynolds, encompassed $5.3 million for pain and suffering, $3.5 million for loss of consortium, $4.3 million for wrongful death, and $30 million in punitive damages. The jury found that the products of co-defendants Philip Morris and Hampden Automotive Sales Corporation were defective, but were not a cause of Mr. Summerlins lung cancer.

When Louis Summerlin was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2015, he and wife Joanna Summerlin filed suit against cigarette makers Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds, and several asbestos-containing brake companies, including Hampden Automotive Sales Corporation. Louis had been a heavy smoker, having started smoking menthol cigarettes as a teenager in the 1950s. He had also worked for many years as an automobile brake mechanic, at one point doing 3-4 brake jobs a day, six days a week. He passed away 7 months after his diagnosis. Before he died, he gave videotaped trial testimony that was shown to the jury during trial.

Summerlins lawyers, Michael Shepard of Shepard Law, P.C. and Jerry Block of Levy Konigsberg, LLP, presented evidence to the jury over the course of five weeks showing Mr. Summerlins addiction to menthol cigarettes and his exposure to asbestos dust from grinding brake linings. Neither the cigarettes nor the asbestos brake linings came with a warning about their health hazards.

The jury heard evidence about what tobacco companies knew regarding cigarette smoking by the 1950s and were shown internal company documents revealing that the amount of nicotine was precisely calculated and manipulated to initiate and sustain addiction in smokers. Documents also revealed that tobacco companies knew that adding menthol to cigarettes made it more likely for teenagers to start smoking, easier to create addiction in smokers, and harder for smokers to quit.

The jury also heard evidence that Hampden Automotive had ignored the dangerous nature of asbestos dust and had neglected to test their brake linings to see if they released toxic asbestos fibers. Michael Shepard presented evidence showing that the hazards of asbestos were well established in the medical and scientific literature by the late 1950s, and that Mr. Summerlins work grinding Hampden Automotives brake linings exposed him to billions of asbestos fibers each year.

The jury was swayed by the evidence of the manipulation of nicotine and menthol and by evidence that the tobacco companies had created confusion and controversy for decades by publicly debating the health effects of smoking. Internal company documents showed that tobacco companies understood the true nature of those health effects and the jury found RJ Reynolds fraudulent in what they told their customers about the nature of their cigarettes.

This was the result of a tremendous team effort between the lawyers and support staff at Shepard Law and Levy Konigsberg, said Shepard. The amount of work needed to try both a tobacco and an asbestos case at the same time was staggering. Shepard also commended the jury on staying focused during the five-week trial. We appreciate the attention that the jury gave to the evidence. They saw through the defendants attempts to blame our client for his cancer and clearly recognized the role of nicotine addiction and menthol additives in keeping him hooked on cigarettes.

The case was tried in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston, in front of Judge Heidi Brieger. Jury selection began on September 5, 2018, and trial started on September 7.

The Summerlin family was represented at trial by Michael Shepard, Michael McCann and Erika ODonnell from Massachusetts-based Shepard Law, P.C. and Jerry Block, Bobby Ellis and Amber Long from New York City-based Levy Konigsberg LLP.

Philip Morris was represented by Bill Geraghty and a team of attorneys from Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP, Mayer Brown LLP, and local counsel from Latham & Watkins Boston office.

RJ Reynolds was represented by Mark Belasic and Kaitlyn Kline from Jones Days Cleveland office along with local counsel Conn Kavanaugh Rosenthal Peisch & Ford LLP.

Hampden Automotive Sales Corporation was represented by David Governo and Vincent DePalo from Smith Duggan Buell & Rufo in Boston.

About Shepard Law

Shepard Law is a Boston-based law firm and one of the top personal injury law firms in Massachusetts focusing on major asbestos claims involving mesothelioma or lung cancer, tobacco, dangerous drugs, and defective product liability. The firm has been litigating mesothelioma lawsuits in both state and federal courts for over 20 years and has represented victims of asbestos exposure throughout New England and across the United States.

Michael Shepard is the founder of Shepard Law and was appointed this year as Plaintiffs Liaison Counsel in the Massachusetts Asbestos Litigation Docket.

Michael McCann is an Associate at Shepard Law and specializes in representing victims of asbestos exposure throughout Massachusetts.

http://www.shepardlawfirm.comThe Las Vegas industry leaders at Nevada Sales Agency connect you to lighting, controls, and site amenity solutions in Southern Nevada. Because we take pride in our experience and commitment to our partners, we are participating in LightShow West at the Las Vegas Convention Center on October 17-18. This is the trade shows first event hosted in Las Vegas.

LightShow West is the only trade show and conference specifically created for West Coast specifiers of commercial, architectural, high design lighting products, controls, and technologies. Experience two days of lighting education and solutions geared toward specifiers in these industries. Participants can attend panel discussions and seminars hosted by industry experts, free workshops on the exhibitor floor, hands-on product demonstrations, and networking.

Nevada Sales Agency will be hosting a hospitality suite on the show floor on Wednesday and Thursday during the conference. Stop by Booth #1013 to meet our team. To ensure your spot, contact us for an appointment during the event. You can also enter to win special Apple product prizes when you visit Nevada Sales Agency sponsored booths!

Nevada Sales Agency is a representative of lighting manufacturers. Combining our teams level of skills and experience also brings out passion, which is evident in our long-lasting partner relationships and completed projects. We bring our quality lighting, controls, and site amenity solutions to our partners projects. By communicating with lighting and site amenities manufacturers, the experts at Nevada Sales Agency can help you plan your next project.

For more information about Nevada Sales Agency and the upcoming Light Show West, visit our website at nevadasalesagency.com or contact us at (702) 270-4181.Their call resonated even louder today when The Australian newspaper revealed that three new Bentley Flying Spur limousines worth a total of over $960,000 (K2.5 million) had been added to the APEC luxury vehicle fleet. The newspaper had obtained an invoice for the Bentleys made out to PNG's APEC CEO Chris Hawkins.

In the wake of the continuing Maserati scandal, Oro governor Gary Juffa, East Sepik governor Allan Bird and Madang MP Bryan Kramer together with former prime minister Sir Mekere Morauta, now an MP, issued a call to people to join in the strike by staying home in a show of a nonviolent defiance.

At a meeting last night, the organisers decided to avoid the strike conflicting with the major national exam, which is sat by 28,000 students.

The boycott is to protest against the O'Neill government colluding with overseas opportunists to steal from our people.

PORT MORESBY  Opposition members of parliament have deferred a nationwide strike in Papua New Guinea until Thursday of next week because the protest would have clashed with this week's Grade 12 examinations.

We are disgusted. We have heard [peoples] views and expressions on social media and we share the same concerns about the corruption and scandals led by the ONeill government, Mr Kramer said. "We could no longer sit back and watch you struggle to put your children through school in the hope of a job that will never exist.

This afternoon the Opposition said it would use the week before the Thuesday 25 October strike to meet with union, civil society and church leaders to "solicit their support in protest of the systematic corruption crippling the country".

In a statement of his own, Sir Mekere (pictured) said: Astonishing revelations in the last couple of days about the crooked contract to buy luxury Maserati cars for APEC, and then secretly sell them to private sector cronies is the last straw.

People are right to be disgusted by the information that is now coming to light, and they are fully entitled to express their opposition to this blatant fraud.

He also called for an independent inquiry into the Maserati fraud, which he said was concocted by the APEC Authority and the ONeill government.

It is not good enough for the prime minister, Peter ONeill, and the APEC Minister, Justin Tkatchenko, to make statements in social media that are clearly incorrect, contradictory and designed to mask the smell of corruption and wrongdoing.

The APEC Authority has broken its own laws with the purchase of the Maseratis and the prime ministers proposed sale of them, Sir Mekere said.

The prime minister and minister Tkatchenko have connived with the Authority and are trying desperately to hide the truth. But we are not fools.

Mr Kramer asked, How can we call ourselves leaders? The degree of mismanagement and corruption is overwhelmingly out of control. If we are to wait any longer there will be nothing left to fight for.

We also care about your childrens futures. All we can do is lead and empower you to take a stand for change. The moment has arrived. Lets move this nation.

Do your part, and spread the word to family, friends, neighbours, wantoks, tambus and workmates to join the national strike to bring Peter ONeill to account, Mr Kramer said.

Sir Mekere said Papua New Guineans, and politicians with a conscience, should join with respected MPs Bryan Kramer, Gary Juffa and Allan Bird to express their disgust by staying home from work on Thursday and Friday.

This is just another chapter in the monumental abuse of APEC contracts, which I and others have exposed, he said.

Look at all the over-priced and unnecessary roads and buildings constructed by Peoples National Congress cronies to glorify the prime minister.

These projects, and the multi-million-kina Maserati scam, have proceeded at the expense of the health system, the education system, rural infrastructure, law and order, government finances, the economy and employment.

Why are we importing luxury cars for Mr ONeill and his wantoks to ride around in when children are dying of polio, tuberculosis and other preventable diseases?

There is no medicine in hospitals and clinics. Schools are closing all over the nation, and teachers are being robbed of their pay by this Government.

Sir Mekere said the ONeill governments corruption, waste and mismanagement had brought international shame on Papua New Guinea.

The whole world is looking on and asking why Mr ONeill, Mr Tkatchenko and others are spending this money when Papua New Guinea cannot look after its own children.

We have become an international laughing stock. Corruptions time is up.The Tampane community is said to be an area that respect and revere elders and leaders.

The schools counseling unit is up to task and would offer counseling to the traumatized students, the Assistant Headmaster in charge of Administration at the Tempane SHS, Alhaji Issaka Charles Abugri, told the Daily Guide newspaper.

The newspaper also spoke to some students of the school who knew the girls who appeared in the video.

There is one of them in my class. She is very quiet and disciplined, and since the NDC man and his people made the girls to disrespect the President and the MP, she has not been fine again. People have seen the video and she is now feeling shy.

Another student said: There are bedbugs, but as for me I keep my corner, my mattress and my bed sheet clean, so they dont get me like other girls. If we clean our dorm frequently the bedbugs will reduce. I think we are many so some students keep their areas dirty, that is why the bedbugs have been increasing.

Meanwhile the Headmaster of the school has been suspended by the Ghana Education Service for allowing his school to be used for partisan politics.In a recent Instagram post, the Cool FM OAP and convenor of the free the sheeple movement shared his thoughts on the high rate of poverty in this country.

Posting an article on how this county could remain the world's poverty capital for some time, he stated that religion is only making things worse.

In his words, "The reality of a confused nation; where poverty is the curse of a whole Generation. This is despite the many prayers; fasting and tithe payers! Despite the churches with many branches; pouring out the false gospel in avalanches. For prosperity we pray; yet deep in poverty we stay. "Lies from the western world," an old dingbat said from his pulpit; trying in futility to disguise the fact that he is a major culprit. They cast and bind, saying our poverty is caused by witches; yet we get poorer while they grow their riches."

Freeze also made reference to Rev Funke Adejumo who recently offered 'virginity anointing' for $1000 each.

He wrote, "They sell their children's virginity for top dollar; With false doctrines, they hold you by the collar. Enough of the lies we must demand the truth; if we want protection for the old and hope for the youth!"

Freeze rants about high poverty rate of Nigerians

This is not the first time the controversial personality has blamed religion and religious leaders for the issues in this country.

While reacting to Nigeria being named the world's poverty capital in August 2018, he said, "According to Karl Marx: "The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo."

He added, "Most times, religion is the taproot through which poverty draws its nutrients. Good quality education is one of the keys ways of escaping poverty, but as long as Churches build schools with church funds and church members cannot atte@d for free, poverty will continue to blossom unhindered!"Scheduled to kick off today in London, the four-day event features a curated program of live interviews, TED-style talks, panel debates, supper clubs and masterclasses.

ALSO READ: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie vs Lala Akindoju in Amede

Although Esquire's core readership is predominantly male, the audience for Esquire Townhouse is half male and half female.

The Townhouse initiative as designed by Esquire is often described as a mix between The New Yorker Festival and Soho House.

Chimamanda Adichie dazzles in Wild Kulture at Lagos event

Chimamanda is known for her eclectic style and her penchant for Nigerian designers.

For her exclusive event in Lagos over the weekend, we expected something special and she didn't disappoint.

Look how the author dazzles in Wild Kulture by Jennifer Oseh at Lagos event.

Whether it's Paris Fashion Week or receiving yet another honour at a prestigious university, Chimamanda

For her exclusive Q&A in Lagos over the weekend, Chimamanda chose to wear a mixed prints outfit by emerging Nigerian label Wild Kulture.XXL News confirms Ye to be listening to music "with two local artists" while he was in the improvised boot.

West reportedly hinted on a visit to Africa to be in touch with his origin. According to XXL, this was inspired by "his viral trip back home to Chicago". He is confident his next album "Yandhi" will be a good one.

"The album is so good. Im incorporating sounds youve never heard before and pushing concepts that people dont talk about.

"We have concepts about body shaming, and women being looked down upon because of how many people theyve slept with."

Caught up in the chemistry between Mystro and Wizkid

To truly connect with the motherland, Kanye West is consuming some local content in music. So far he has been impressed.

The rapper bobbed his head for a minute when listening to Mystro's 'Immediately' jam with Wizkid. He seemed in a state of heightened emotion as he danced without a care.

According to TMZ, Ye arrived at Entebee International Airport on Friday, October 12, 2018 with a huge entourage.

He is going to be staying for a week at a five-star luxury resort says TMZ.According to many reports they were caught while trying to rob Gift Omini at around early morning at the Marwa Roundabout, Lekki.

ALSO READ: Thieves raid bank with dynamite and shoots security guard in the head

The incident happened on Wednesday, October 10, 2018.

Desperate for mercy

Okunola who already spent six months and two weeks in jail has reportedly told the police that he will never step into Lagos if he is pardoned.

He and his accomplice are alleged to have used a short axe to dispossess Gift Omini of her mobile phone.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Benito Eze, the state Commander of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, confirmed to newsmen on Friday that 19 persons, including a nursing mother, died on the spot.

Briefing newsmen in Umuahia on Saturday after visiting the scene of the explosion, Ogbizi said that the number of deaths had risen to 24.

When we visited the two communities on Saturday, we were informed that 14 people were reported dead at Umuimo village, while 10 died at Umuaduru.

Some of the victims who sustained various degrees of burns were said to be asleep when the incident occurred.

They were said to have been taken to nearby hospitals and traditional medicine homes for treatment, he said.

The police boss said that management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Aba depot blamed the explosion on a spillage from a pipeline that was undergoing maintenance.

He said: According to the information we obtained from the NNPC depot in Aba, the spillage occurred on a pipeline that conveys product from Aba depot that was undergoing maintenance.

He said that the incident was being investigated by the command in conjunction with the other security agencies in the state to determine the possible cause.

NAN reports that the explosions occurred simultaneously at about 2.47 a.m. and 3 a.m. at Umuaduru Village and Umuimo Village respectively both in Umueze Autonomous Community in Osisioma LGA.

The NSCDC boss had said that the Umuaduru incident happened when some youths in the area were scooping petroleum products from a vandalised pipeline.

He further said that Umuimo fire happened when a woman, identified as a food vendor, got up at about 3 a.m to start cooking for the days business.

He said that the petrol stored in the house was ignited by fire set for cooking by the woman.

Eze said that the woman and her husband escaped death but their building was razed down.According to Innoson's spokesman, Cornel Osigwe, Mbadugha, while in his office on Sunday, October 14, 2018, was allegedly attacked by armed men who left him to bleed.

Prof Mbadugha was however taken to a nearby hospital where he is currently receiving medical attention.

The counsel had recently complained about threats to his life, as a result of his involvement in Chukwuma's cases.

According to Osigwe, he also made a complain to Innoson about several anonymous messages and made suggestions on the provision of security.

ALSO READ:Innoson accuses EFCC of double standardsThe is owing members of staff months in salaries.

In a statement sent to Pulse, the unions also described as wicked, the claim in the said report that the former vice president has a carefree attitude towards the company.

In the statement jointly signed by the chairmen, RATTAWU, NUJ, Mohammed Ahmed Mustapha and Muhammad Aliyu Mustapha, respectively, the union said the true position of events at Gotel Communications is that those who were dis-engaged completely were paid their severance allowances.

The union also said that those who resigned did so based on their personal interests of searching for greener pastures and were not disengaged as claimed by Premium Times.

The statement is reproduced below, unedited:

The attention of the leadership of the Gotel Communications Limited chapters of the above named unions, has been drawn to a publication by an online news medium, PREMIUM TIMES, dated October 8 to the effect that the staff of the multimedia organization, owned by former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, are currently in distress over owed severance benefits and delays in payment of salaries.

It equally claimed that crisis was brewing in the media outfit due to unpaid entitlementsfollowing the disengagement of the staffs previous appointments. The said publication further blamed the situation on what it called the founders carefree attitude.

Following the above allegations, a joint meeting of NUJ and RATTAWU chapters of Gotel Communications Limited Yola, Adamawa State reacts as follows:

a. That it is untrue that our members are in distress over non-payment of severance benefits.

b. That the dis-engagement and re-absorption exercise took place in 2016.

c. That those dis-engaged completely, were paid their severance allowances.

d. That the re-absorbed members of staff were issued with dis-engagement letters and payment of the terminal benefits is ongoing, according to the understanding to implement the payment plan in phases.

e. That the statements credited to the Chairman of the restructuring committee to the effect that, the management would not pay the re-absorbed workers their severance allowances is diametrically opposed to the reality on ground at GOTEL Communication as payment has since begun in phases.

f. That those who resigned did so not because of the situation in Gotel, but in search for greener pasture, which is normal and obtains in every organization.

g. That members of our unions are not being owed one month salary as speculated in the poorly investigated report. The organization is up-to-date in terms of salary payment.

h. That it is tendentiously wicked for anyone to speculate and or allude that our founder , His Excellency Atiku Abubakar is carefree about his businesses.

Only ignorance or outright mischief could have contrived such allegation as NONE of the three stations, FM radio, AM Radio and Gotel television has gone off the air for one day in its ten years of operation.

We also advice the promoters and or sponsors of the said story to desist from seeking political capital from scenarios they imagine would advance their parochial cause, no matter how banal such causes may seem.

___The News Agency of the Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the lecture was Combating Fake News in the Cyberspace.

Mohammed said the collective efforts of all Nigerians were needed in view of the threats fake news posed to peace and unity of the country.

He explained that most of the security issues confronting the country, such as herders/farmers were caused by the misrepresentation of facts in both the mainstream and social media.

The minister said the spread of fake news had also promoted ethnic and religious suspicions among Nigerians.

He said the media, especially, had a huge responsibility to check the problem in view of their strength and reach, calling on professionals to always verify their facts before sending out information.

The media have a responsibility to verify the facts before they share, because once they share, it is always very difficult to retract.

You see most of the issues we have about herders/farmers clashes, killings are being fuelled by fake news.

Look at the farmers/herders clashes, the truth is that they are being caused largely by population explosion, climate change and pure criminality.

So, it has nothing to do with religion or ethnicity.

Nigeria at Independence only had 45 million people but today, we are 190 million people.

You can imagine the same water, same air and same arable land available for 45 million people at Independence are now being shared by 190 million people.

It is like a room that can take 45 people, you now bring 190 people, you can imagine what will happen.

So, that is the honest truth about population explosion.

Then, the other is climate change. We read about earthquakes and flooding in different parts of the world.

These are manifestations of climate change.

So, how does it affect Nigeria?

The Lake Chad that used to cover a surface area of 25,000sq km and 35 million people from six nations, including Nigeria, Cameroun and Chad depend on the water for fishing, agriculture, irrigation and so on.

The same water has shrunk to 2000 sq km.

So, these 35 million people have to look for water elsewhere.

That is why we have all these clashes.

Of course, I must state the issue of criminality too, but we must stop presenting the issues as if it is Muslims against Christians or Hausas against Ibos. Thats not true.

So, we should stop this narrative of Christians/Muslims or North/South.

We are dealing with pure criminality, population explosion and climate change and that is the way we should look at it.

If we continue to post fake news attributing different reasons to the real causes of these issues, a stage will come when Muslims will be suspicious of Christians, Christians become suspicious of Muslim for no reason.

And that is not good for our unity, he said.

The minister said the government was partnering different media organisations to check the problem of fake news.

He listed some of them as the News Agency of Nigeria, Nigeria Television Authority, Vanguard Newspapers and Television Continental (TVC)

Mohammed said the government was also collaborating with local and international social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp to tackle the problem of fake news.

He described bloggers as critical stakeholders in the media industry in view of their number and capacity to influence others.

While stating the readiness of government to collaborate with them on the threats of fake news, the minister urged them to uphold the ethics of the profession to ensure they disseminate only credible information.

He commended GPBN for the lecture, saying the initiative would go a long way to deepen professionalism among its members.

In her lecture, Prof. Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika, Head, Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos said the media was powerful because of their capacity to influence others and bring about change.

She said it was, therefore, expected of stakeholders in the industry to always uphold the ethics and report the facts.

The fourth Estate of the Realm must never relent in its quest of being the watchdog of the society.

This duty of the media is one that cannot be underestimated .

In this era of social media, it behoves of the media to ensure that their platforms are not compromised, no matter the cost involved, Ogwezzy-Ndisika added.

The don, who was the Chairman at the lecture, described fake news as a threat to the society and development.

She urged media professionals to pursue conscious efforts to ensure that the threats of fake news were checked.

As the 2019 approaches, Ogwezzy-Ndisika urged the media to always verify whatever they were putting out in order not to cause unnecessary tension before, during and after the election.

She said most of the fakes were disseminated through social media and online platforms.

The don advised bloggers to work at the credibility problems in the online media by ensuring whatever they were publishing had all the elements of credibility.

Earlier, Mr Chris Nwandu, President, GPBN, said media platforms could pass integrity test only if they were credible.

He said it was important for bloggers to ensure they publish truthful information always because that was the right thing to do.

Nwandu said he knew the legal consequences of sharing fake news having been arrested by police and remanded in Ikoyi Prison in 2015 for sharing a Facebook post.

He said though the charge of spreading fake news was later withdrawn from court after 18 days in prison, the episode opened his eyes to the laws against fake news and the need to verify information before sharing.

Nwandu said the association was formed to set standards for members and make sure they comply with the ethics of the profession.The Federal Government, on Saturday, October 13, 2018 announced that a travel ban has been placed on 50 high profile Nigerians.

According to Falana, the governments move brings back the days of the military junta where perceived enemies of the government were put on security watch-lists.

The Human rights lawyer also said the travel ban is uncalled for and unwarranted.

According to Tribune, he said: the directive to place the 50 high profile suspected persons on watch list and restrict their movement is highly superfluous, completely unwarranted and totally uncalled for.

In fact, it is an ingenious design to expose the Buhari administration to ridicule.

Even though the names of the 50 high profile persons have not been published by the federal government, he said they are presumed to be either standing trial in the various high courts or being investigated for corrupt practices by the anti-graft agencies.

If the federal government had done some background check, it would have discovered that the names of the 50 VIPs have long been placed on security watch list while their passports have been impounded by the anti graft agencies or the courts as one of the conditions for admitting them to bail.

ALSO READ:FG publishes name of dead Judge on travel ban list

It is public knowledge that whenever the defendants wish to travel abroad for medical treatment they usually apply for the interim release of their passports.

Since the courts have taken judicial notice of the perilous state of medical facilities in the country such applications are usually granted. And once the suspects return from the foreign medical trips their passports are returned to the registry of the trial courts.In the video posted on Twitter by Daily Nigerian, Ganduje is seen receiving money from some people.

Also, some contractors who spoke on the issue, said that the Governor receives 15 to 25 percent kickbacks from every contract done in Kano state.

Kano govt files criminal case

Responding to the allegation, the Commissioner, Information, Youth & Culture, Malam Muhammad Garba, in a statement issued to Pulse revealed that the state government has decided to file a criminal case against Daily Nigerian and its publisher on defamation of character after it released a clone and doctored video footage mischievously portraying Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje involved in an inappropriate conduct.

Garba also said that Office of the Kano state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice will challenging the implausible and eccentric posting of the cloned video that went viral in a court of law.

Describing the video as a caricature, the commissioner said it shows the extent to which mischievous elements can go to discredit public figures by wielding non-existent scandals against them.

The video is doctored

Speaking further, Garba said a mere observation of the cloned video clearly shows that the video is doctored and disjointed with no material facts or evidence to prove the allegations, other than a callous attempt to tarnish the hard earned image of the office and the person of the Governor.

The Governor of Kano State wishes to once again emphatically debunk the allegation of receiving gratification of $5Million or any amount whatsoever from any person or body.

All because of 2019 election

It is important to draw the attention of the general public to the fact that the alleger is a serial blackmailer and extorter. We are also aware that the hidden motive is to reduce the popularity of the Governor and consequently affect the anticipated quantum of APC votes from Kano in the 2019 general elections.

ALSO READ: 12 Recommendations by Senate that nailed Babachir Lawal

While the state government is taking the legal action, we wish to assure the good people of Kano that His Excellency will remain focus and continue with laudable programmes that will add value to the lives of the people of Kano State. We also call on the general public, especially members of the APC to remain calm and always be law abiding, the commissioner said.

Buhari orders probe

Meanwhile, Daily Nigerian reports that President Buhari has ordered two security agencies to properly analyse the video and give him a recommendation.The commendation was given through a statement issued in Owerri on Sunday by its Acting National President, Dr Kingsley Dozie and Emeka Odom, its Assistant National Legal Adviser.

It said that assistance of Igbo youths would be made available to the PDP having chosen Dr Peter Obi as its presidential running mate.

The group said it had already started discussing and liasing with youths of other ethnic nationalities on how to have a productive and people oriented election.

To restructure Nigeria is our priority now and well get it right this time.

The choice of the former governor, Peter Obi is great. He was not wasteful in the management of resources while serving as governor.

Peter Obi is a good choice. He will bring business intelligence into governance.

He is not corrupt and as a governor, he was not wasteful. Igbo youths are very happy .

Obis success story as a businessman would help in reviving the nations economy if elected in 2019.

The decision to pick him, we believe, is based on his outstanding performance as governor of Anambra state, it said.

The group said that as a successful businessman, it expected Obi to translate his wealth of experience into good governance for the nation.

They expressed optimism that he would not disappoint Ndigbo in particular and Nigeria at large.

The group had earlier commended the PDP for electing Abubakar as its presidential candidate in the 2019 elections.

Its leader, Dr Kingsley Dozie, described Abubakar as an apostle of restructuring.

He promised that his group would liase with its parent body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, alongside our brothers after our consultations and get it right this time.

The party s primary was free and fair and the most credible presidential primaries.

Igbo youths are pleased with the partys style of leadership and particularly the restructuring agenda of its candidate which placed him first in the race.

Consequently, the leadership of igbo youths, led by Kingsley Dozie, shall mobilize all igbo youths, home and abroad, to ensure that a better candidate who places our interest as a priority and who will genuinely restructure Nigeria emerged as the president of Nigeria come 2019, he said.

Dozie said that Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Wing was now out to protect, preserve and promote the welfare of ndigbo through massive mobilization of the youths to vote for a preferred, detribilized and someone who would put smiles on the faces of people in the forthcoming presidential election.Dole said the troops of 1 Division Nigerian Army under Operation Whirl Punch continue to clear bandits, kidnappers, recover arms and destroy their camps.

He also disclosed that in another successful operation, a combined effort between the troops and local vigilante group raided an identified camp in Kidandan general area.

As a result, one bandit was neutralised, others escaped with gun shots injuries and one AK 47 rifle with 25 rounds of 7.62mm Special was recovered.

Dole said acting on reliable information on activities of kidnappers at Unguwar Maigwari, troops swung into action, raided an identified kidnappers camps along Doka  Rijana Road.

The Camps were discovered to have been littered with emptied alcoholic bottles, used syringes and some narcotic substances.

 During the raid, one informant was arrested and three Dane guns were recovered. he said

The spokeman said on Oct. 9, troops launched raid operation in Kamuku Forest where bandits used to harbour and plan their nefarious activities. Severals were neutralised and the camps destroyed.

He, however, said the troops under OPERATION WHIRL PUNCH will continue to raid all suspected camps and maintain aggressive patrols in order to ensure safety of lives and properties of the innocent citizens.Obi, a former Governor of Anambra state was nominated by Atiku, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday, October 12, 2018.

South-East leaders shocked

This is coming as leaders of the PDPin the South-East expressed shock over the nomination.

Speaking after a meeting of the zones chieftains, the Ebonyi state Governor, David Umahi said they will hold a meeting with Atiku to air their grievances.

Let us move ahead

Speaking on the stand of Governor Umahi, the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo asked the PDP leaders forget about the past and move ahead.

Nwodo said this in a telephone interview with Vanguard on Saturday, October 13, 2018.

As the National President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, I am a father to all the political parties. My appeal is that Igbo leaders in the PDP should let bygone be bygone and accept whoever has been nominated. We should not upset the applecart. We should accept Peter Obi so that we can move ahead, politically. This is both my prayer and appeal, he added.Atiku, the PDP presidential candidate, announced Obi as his running mate on Friday, October 12, 2018

South-East leaders kick

Peter Obis nomination however did not go down well with some leaders of the South-East who felt that they were sidelined.

According to The Cable, the Ebonyi state Gov, David Umahi said the move goes against the agreement the zone had with Atiku.

The Governor said he has nothing against former Governor Obi but insisted that the PDP should do the right thing.

South-East leaders resolution

After the meeting on Saturday, Governor David Umahi said We want to use this opportunity to congratulate His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar for his very well deserved victory over our very transparent and fair primaries we just finished in PortHarcourt, Rivers state.

It is our prayers that God will sustain him and lead him and take him to that destination upon which PDP gave him our ticket.

We have met because of what we saw in the social media over the issue of Vice-Presidential candidate.

In as much as we will never be against anybody chosen from South-East to be the presidential running mate to our PDP candidate, but we are shocked and surprised that social media could start carrying such insinuations that the leaders of South-East are not aware that our candidate has chosen a running mate.

And if anything, is the truth in the social media assertion, the leaders of South-East were never consulted, neither are we aware.

However, His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar has sent a message to the leaders of South-East, that he is out of the country today, on a short visit, and as soon as he comes back, he himself will be coming down to the South-East to meet with the South-East leaders.

For a very deep discussion and cordial relationship. That was the resolution in our meeting.Time is running out on Britain's EU exit talks -- meaning this week's gathering of European Union leaders could prove decisive in striking a deal between London and Brussels.

With Britain set to leave the bloc at the end of March, European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker is demanding "substantial progress" this week, specifically on the vexed issue of the UK's border with the Republic of Ireland.

EU President Donald Tusk has described the summit starting Wednesday as a "moment of truth" in the Brexit talks.

As for May, she not only has to win over her continental counterparts but also increasingly restive allies back home.

The hard work starts for May on Tuesday when she will rake over the Irish border issue with her cabinet, amid speculation that further ministers could quit if the PM ploughs on with her proposals.

David Davis, who quit as Brexit secretary in July over May's broad blueprint, wrote in The Sunday Times newspaper that her plans were "completely unacceptable" and urged ministers to "exert their collective authority" this week.

Border backstop

Neither London, Dublin nor Brussels wants to see checks imposed on the border between the UK's Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic -- but the problem persists of finding a way to square that aim with May's desire to leave the European single market and the customs union.

Britain has proposed that it would continue to follow EU customs rules after Brexit as a fall-back option to keep the border open, until a wider trade deal is agreed that avoids the need for frontier checks.

May says this will only be temporary, but her spokeswoman was forced to clarify the point after media reports that the final "backstop" arrangement will have no legal end date.

The EU's suggestion would see Northern Ireland remain aligned with Brussels' rules, thus varying from the rest of the UK.

The plans have infuriated the pro-Brexit hardcore of May's centre-right Conservative Party -- not to mention her Northern Irish allies in the Democratic Unionist Party.

For a thin majority in parliament, the minority Conservative government relies on the DUP, Northern Ireland's biggest party.

The DUP are staunchly pro-UK, pro-Brexit and opposed to any moves that could put distance between Northern Ireland and the British mainland.

The DUP have threatened to vote down the British government's budget if May gives way to Brussels.

'Dodgy deal'

Writing Saturday in the Belfast Telegraph newspaper, DUP leader Arlene Foster said they were not simply "flexing muscle" for the sake of it.

"This backstop arrangement would not be temporary. It would be the permanent annexation of Northern Ireland away from the rest of the United Kingdom," she wrote.

May must not accept "a dodgy deal foisted on her by others", she added.

After talks with senior figures in Brussels last week, Foster reportedly said a no-deal Brexit was now the most likely outcome, according to an email between senior British officials leaked to The Observer newspaper.

Meanwhile leading Conservative eurosceptic Jacob Rees-Mogg said Saturday there were 39 like-minded Conservative MPs who "will not turn" from opposing the current plans.

"The prize is there to be grasped," he said, adding that Britain could not accept a "punishment Brexit".

"If the EU is a mafia-style organisation that says 'if you want to leave, we will kneecap you', then all the better for leaving," he said.Chef Peter Gordon joins RadioLIVEs Trudi Nelson to discuss what hes up to now, his childhood and whats new in food presentation.



London based but born and raised in Whanganui, Mr Gordon thinks he grew up with the idealic childhood.



From a young age Mr Gordon worked with Air New Zealand, and now provides themed meals on some of their long haul flights.



He also works with the Sugar Club restaurant, which started in London and is now a popular spot at the top of the Sky Tower in Auckland City.

He works with the LBCNZ fundraiser Dine with a Difference raising money for cancer, which held an event in Auckland last night.



The reason he feels so strongly towards raising money is in 1994 his sister was diagnosed with leukaemia.



However, she battled through and is now living her life and surfing it up in Australia.



Mr Gordon also shares what he is dabbling in now, what he believes is the hottest new food item, and what he makes of Food TV.



Listen to the interview with Peter Gordon above.



Weekend Life - the Sunday edition, 10am-2pm Sunday on RadioLIVE and streaming live to the rova app on Android and iPhone.



RadioLIVE.Opinion

Lloyd Burr: Three Strikes is out - for now - but it will be backThree dramas have proved big critical and commercial hits for S4C: Bang (Joio and Artists Studio), Un Bore Mercher/Keeping Faith (Vox Pictures) and Craith/Hidden (Severn Screen). Original S4C/BBC Wales drama series Keeping Faith starring Eve Myles begun on the BBC digital channels and was later shown on BBC One across the United Kingdom after breaking iPlayer viewing records. Bang is a crime drama which was nominated for a Writers Guild Award and noir drama Hidden was shown by S4C and BBC and has been well received across the UK. All three dramas will return for a second series in 2019.The company has also announced that the rights to broadcast another original S4C drama, Byw Celwydd/Living a Lie (Tarian) in America and Canada have been bought by American public broadcaster, MHz Networks.S4C also announced that over the end of 2018 and early into next year it will broadcast two new factual series. To be broadcast from November 2018, Y Wal/The Wall/An Balla (Rondo Media) examines the countries and communities separated by walls including Israel and the West Bank, Korea and Donald Trumps infamous wall to divide the United States of America and Mexico. The series is a co-production between S4C, from Wales, JTV from South Korea and Irish broadcaster TG4 with support from the KCA Korea and the Welsh Government. The series will be distributed worldwide by Cineflix.Llanw/Tide (Cwmni Da/Mac TV), is a series which delves into the fractious relationship between humanity and the coastline in different parts of the world. The series has attracted support from S4C, TG4, BBC Alba, BBC Northern Ireland, while, LIC, China's largest independent producer is also on board. Llanw will be broadcast from April 2019.Commenting on the companys MIPCOM offer, S4C creative content director Amanda Rees, said: This event is a great opportunity not only celebrate what has already been achieved but also to share our thoughts on where we go from here. Our recent success has provided us with a brilliant platform from which to launch the next phase of a collaborative, international, drama strategy which promises to bring the world to Wales and Wales to the world.TORRINGTON  Charlotte Hungerford Hospitals Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center has received recognition as a Center for Excellence for 2017 indicating the center has achieved outstanding patient outcomes for the last 12 months, according to a press release.

It has also welcomed David Giles, MD, FACS, as its general surgeon.

The center achieved patient satisfaction score of more than 92 percent, and a minimum 91 percent wound healing rate within 30 median days to heal. CHH is one of the few centers in Connecticut to receive this award through Healogics, the largest provider of wound care and related disease management in the country with a network of over 850 wound care centers nationwide. In Torrington, over 450 patients in the community were provided specialized treatment for chronic and non-healing wounds this past year, according to the release.

I am very proud of our team because this award highlights the mission we all share here. We strive not only for great clinical outcomes but we try to get to know each patient to make their experience special. said Michael Wildman, Program Director.

The center recently welcomed surgeon David Giles, M.D., FACS. He attended medical school at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, and did his Residency at Case Western Reserve University Integrated Hospitals, Cleveland, OH. Dr. Giles did several fellowships at Hartford Hospital, Hartford CT, and is certified in surgery, surgery critical care, and internal medicine.

Since opening in 2011, the center has registered a 97% healing rate having treated over 3,400 wound patients. The staff refers patients identified as having a nutritional deficit to the Hospitals Nutrition Department, which has set up special education classes to address specific nutritional needs from a wound healing prospective. The staff also actively refers patients to physical therapy and the lymphedema clinic as well as working closely with local Visiting Nurse Organizations, Long Term Care Facilities and the CHH Foot Center under the direction of Dr. Dennis DOnofrio, DPM.

The center features two state-of-the-art hyperbaric oxygen chambers. During the non-invasive treatments, patients lie on a bed in an enclosed see through acrylic shell, breathing 100 percent oxygen under pressure. The pressure drives oxygen deep into body tissue and promotes healing. Hyperbaric oxygen medicine may be used to treat wounds related to more than one dozen conditions including diabetic foot ulcers, radiation injuries to tissue and bone, infections, compromised skin grafts and skin flaps and some types of arterial insufficiency and ischemia.

CHH Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine operates by appointment and accepts all forms of insurance. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Physician referrals are not required. For more information or appointments, call 860-489-0418.

Rog named director of banks Learning and Talent Management

WATERBURY - Webster Bank has named Mimi Rog as its new senior vice president and director, Learning and Talent Management. She reports to Chief Human Resources Officer Bernard Garrigues.

Rog will have comprehensive responsibility for strategy and programs related to talent management, professional development, business education, leadership development, career development and certifications.

Talent development is a critical element of Websters success, said Garrigues. Using her exceptional skills and experience, Mimi will spearhead our efforts in core areas where we are making strategic investments  areas that drive both banker engagement and business results.

Rog joins Webster from a successful 27-year career with General Electric. During her time at GE, she held various human resources leadership roles. Most recently, she was executive HR business partner, Digital Technology. Prior to that, she served as chief learning officer for GE Capital.

Rog is a resident of Fairfield and holds a bachelors degree in Political Science from Allegheny College. Active in her community, she is a volunteer with the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants.

Webster Bank named to 2018 Top Workplace Lists

WATERBURY  Webster Bank was recently been selected as a 2018 Top Workplace by both Hearst Connecticut Media Group and Hartford Courant. This is the second year in a row Webster has appeared on both lists.

Our bankers are our most important differentiator. Ensuring that Webster is a great place to work is among our top priorities, said president and CEO John Ciulla. We empower our bankers to excel, investing in training, education and the tools they need to be the best they can be. In return, we encourage them to work collaboratively, to strive for personal excellence and to be accountable for results.

Ciulla also received the Leadership Award in the large company category in the Hearst Media survey group. The ranking was based on achieving the highest percentage of positive responses to the survey question, I have confidence in the leader of this company.

Both the Hearst and Courant lists are based solely on employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey administered earlier this year by Energage, LLC, a provider of technology-based employee engagement tools.

The Top Workplaces survey gathered responses on 24 factors covering several aspects of workplace culture including alignment, execution and connection, and pay, benefits and training.

Ocean State Job Lot provides meals to needy families

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I  Ocean State Job Lot (OSJL), a privately-held, family-operated discount retail chain with 131 stores in New England, New York, and New Jersey, recently held its Ocean State Job Lot Charitable Foundations Three Square Meals hunger relief program throughout the Northeast. Three Square Meals is the single largest food assistance program of its kind in the region, delivering more than 8 million pounds of food and 11 million meals annually, according to a press release from the company.

Each year, more than 200 tractor trailer loads of food are distributed to food banks throughout the Northeast in each of the eight states where Ocean State Job Lot stores are located. Oct. 3, the foundation hosted a Three Square Meals celebration at the companys headquarters in North Kingstown, RI. The event is capped off with a convoy of tractor trailer trucks each loaded with approximately 35,000 pounds of food, marking the initial installment of the more than 8 million pounds of food that will be delivered throughout 2019. Connecticut receives 2.3 million donated meals annually. Two trucks and more than 70,000 pounds of food from the annual convoy were destined for Connecticut food banks and pantries.

The food banks that regularly receive deliveries include: Boston Medical Center Food Pantry, Community Food Bank of New Jersey, Connecticut Food Bank, Foodshare, Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, Fulfill Monmouth & Ocean, Good Shepherd Food Bank, Greater Boston Food Bank, New Hampshire Food Bank, NORWESCAP Food Bank, Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, Rhode Island Community Food Bank, The Harry Chapin Food Bank (Long Island Cares), Vermont Foodbank, and Worcester County Food Bank. The Three Square Meals program indirectly serves more than one thousand pantries, kitchens, churches and other meal sites through a network of larger food banks.

Communities achieve Sustainable CT Certification

WILLIMANTIC  Sustainable CT, a statewide initiative that inspires and supports communities in becoming efficient, resilient and inclusive, announced its first group of certified towns this week. Twenty-two municipalities met high standards in a broad range of sustainability accomplishments to qualify for certification. The list of certified communities spans every county and includes some of Connecticut's largest cities and smallest towns.

With input from municipal leaders across the state, Sustainable CT was developed over the past few years under the leadership of the Institute for Sustainable Energy at Eastern Connecticut State University, in partnership with the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM).

Fairfield, Glastonbury, Greenwich, Hartford and Stamford have achieved "silver" certification, the highest honor in the program. Another 17 municipalities are being recognized at the "bronze" certification level: Bristol, Coventry, Hebron, Madison, Middletown, Milford, New Haven, New London, New Milford, Old Saybrook, Ridgefield, Roxbury, South Windsor, West Hartford, Westport, Windham and Woodbridge.

All 22 newly certified towns worked to demonstrate significant achievements in nine sustainability impact areas ranging from thriving local economies and vibrant arts-and-culture to clean transportation and diverse housing. In addition, the towns had to address diversity, inclusion and equity when implementing sustainability actions. The certification submissions went through a series of rigorous reviews by independent experts and Sustainable CT partners.

CCM will hold an awards ceremony to recognize Sustainable CT certified towns at their annual convention in late October.

Launched less than one year ago, Sustainable CT has seen strong momentum and growth as a valuable program for towns. Sixty-four towns have registered for the program, approaching participation by 40 percent of all towns in the state. For more information, visit www.sustainablect.org.HARTFORD  Thanks to a partnership with the Petit Family Foundation, the Space Foundation is extending its STEM education outreach this school year. The Hartford STEM initiative will launch on Saturday, Oct. 27, with a free Girls STEM Experience for local girls ages 12 to 18, to be held at the Connecticut Convention Center from 8 a.m. TO 2 p.m. Premier sponsor for the event is Aetna.

The Experience will include a Women in Science panel discussion with panelists: Mary Lockhart, President and CEO, PEMDAS Technologies and Innovations; Karolyn Maloney, Senior Director of IT Hygiene Program and Identity and Access Management, Aetna; Bridget Oei, Miss Connecticut, Researcher, UConn Health; and Dr. Kathy Thornton, Professor, University of Virginia, former NASA astronaut, Space Foundation Board Vice Chairman.

The event also will include hands-on STEM activity stations for the girls, including robotics coding, LIDAR surface mapping, rocket engineering and a design lab. An instructional workshop for teachers during the Girls STEM Experience will show teachers the same activities so they can take them back to the classroom.

"Through its education programs, the Space Foundation is inspiring the next generation of STEM professionals. For some students, this will be their first exposure to this kind of technology, or these types of activities, and this will be the experience that inspires them to pursue a career in a STEM-related field," said Bryan DeBates, Space Foundation Vice President - Education. "We are working to shape a dynamic and exciting future for these students.

The morning will culminate with a luncheon and inspiring STEM presentation by former NASA astronaut Col. Paul S. Lockhart, USAF (Ret.). The luncheon will be attended by the participating girls, their parents, teachers and invited guests.

Seating is limited to the first 200 girls who register at http://bit.ly/PetitSF.

Founded in 1983, the Space Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and the world's premier organization to inspire, educate, connect, and advocate on behalf of the global space community. Learn more at www.SpaceFoundation.org and DiscoverSpace.org.

The Petit Family Foundation honors the memories of Jennifer Hawke-Petit, Hayley Elizabeth Petit and Michaela Rose Petit by continuing the kindness, idealism and activism that defined their lives. The Foundation's funds are given to foster the education of young people, especially women in the sciences; to improve the lives of those affected by chronic illnesses; and to support efforts to protect and help those affected by violence. Learn more at www.petitfamilyfoundation.org.

Forum explores retirement planning, long-term care

For those seeking information on how to plan for future long-term care costs, a public forum, The Missing Link in Retirement Planning - Why and When to Consider Long-Term Care Insurance will be held Thursday, Oct. 25 at Cheshire Town Hall, 84 South Main Street, Cheshire.

The program begins at 6 p.m. The state of Connecticut will present this free, two-hour session. The program is open to the general public. No insurance sales will take place.

You will benefit from this forum if you are between 40 and 65 years of age and have (or plan to have) assets of at least $75,000 (excluding car and home).

By attending this forum, participants between 40-65 years old will gain a better understanding of the states innovative program, The Connecticut Partnership for Long-Term Care, and how it can add to your long-range financial security; the risks and costs associated with nursing home and home care use and why its important to consider these long-term care factors in retirement planning; and what you need to know before buying long-term care insurance.

To register for the program, call 800-547-3443 or register online at www.ctpartnership.org and click on the Public Forum link.

Monster Dash benefits YMCA

TORRINGTON - Halloween may be on Oct. 31, but the ghouls and goblins will be out at White Memorial in Litchfield on Nov. 3 as the Northwest CT YMCA holds a themed 5K trail run dubbed the Monster Dash that morning.

The run has a little of everything, taking runners along the pristine trails of the nature preserve, along ponds, through its historic camping area and out into the fields. Its a beautiful way to spend a fall morning. The day also includes a 2-mile walk option and a 1-mile kids run. To register or for more information visit nwctY.org/trailrun. Participants are encouraged to wear costumes.

Prizes will be awarded to overall winners and age categories winners. There will also be a special prize for the best costume. The Monster Dash is the final race in Northwest CT YMCAs Grand Prix Race Series.

All adult and child registrants will receive an official event T-Shirt if registered by Oct. 24.

Womens Forum welcomes speaker

LITCHFIELD  The Womens Forum of Litchfield welcomes all to what promises to be a lively and informative program by Elizabeth Hogan, Ghosts in our oceans: Protecting marine wildlife at the Litchfield Community Center at 421 Bantam Road, Litchfield, Thursday, Nov. 1, 2:30 p.m.

Hogan is the Program Manager for Oceans and Wildlife with World Animal Protection, where she specializes in marine wildlife entanglement in addition to work on marine debris, illegal wildlife trade, whaling policy, and wildlife in captivity. For the last five years she has researched the impact of derelict fishing gear on marine mammals and worked on establishing rescue networks and protocols for entangled marine life. She has previously worked with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) on protective policies and fishing gear modification for the conservation of North Atlantic Right Whales.

Prior to working in the animal welfare sector, Hogan developed 15 years of experience with government, corporate, and non-profit organizations, including four years as a consultant on climate change, deforestation policy, and sea level rise. She has also worked in ecotourism development in Ecuador and with the Camara de Industrias of Costa Rica to assist Central American businesses in adopting environmentally sustainable business practices.

She is a contributing author to two books on corporate social responsibility. She has a degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a dual Master of Science in Marine & Coastal Natural Resources and a Master of Science in Sustainable Development from the University for Peace in Costa Rica and American University in Washington, DC.

The event isopen to non-Forum members with a $10 fee at the door, which includes a High Tea reception. For more information call 860-567-3966 or visitwomensforumoflitchfield.org.Contributed photo /

WINSTED  Maurice R. Gabelmann (Moe) was awarded the Masonic Pier Pont Edwards award, the highest Masonic honor in Connecticut, at St. Andrews #64 Lodge, Winsted, on Wednesday, Oct. 3. The award was presented by Marshall Robinson, Grand Master of Connecticut.

Gabelmann received the award because he is representative of the principles of Masonry. he became a Mason in November 1964, and has served as Master of the Lodge in 1974,92, 02 11 & 2015.WINSTED  The Public Works Department recently announced the fall leaf pickup schedule as autumn takes hold in the region.

Streets south of Route 44, such as Lake Street, Boyd Street, Bridge Street, Pratt Street, and Meadow Street, will see leaves collected on Nov. 26 and 27, department officials said on the town website.

Roadways north of Route 44, such as Upland Road, Crescent Street, Wetmore Avenue, Oak Street, Maple Street, and North Main Street, will be attended to on Nov. 28 and 29.

Only leaves placed in heavy biodegradable paper bags will be picked up. Leaves placed in plastic bags and bags containing leaves mixed with other items such as branches, grass clippings, and brush will not be picked up, said department officials. Filled bags should contain only leaves and should weigh less than fifty (50) pounds.

Residents should leave filled bags curbside by 7:00AM on the first day of the scheduled pickup date for their location. Loose leaves should not be raked onto sidewalks or roadways as they will not be picked up.

Each street will only be dealt with once, according to the department. Any changes to the schedule will be announced on the town website.

Residents can also bring leaves to Regional Refuse District #1, located at 31 New Hartford Road in Barkhamsted, but not to the town public works facility, officials said.

Any with questions can contact the Public Works Department at (860) 379-4070, according to the announcement.Taliban fighters have attacked two checkpoints in Afghanistans western province of Farah, killing at least 17 Afghan soldiers and abducting 11 others, officials say.

Ghausuddin Noorzai, the district chief in Posht Rod, said that another four soldiers were wounded in the attack, which began late on October 13 and continued into the morning of October 14.

He said the attackers seized weapons and ammunition.

Defense ministry spokesman Ghafoor Ahmad Jawed said reinforcements were sent to the area, adding that the Taliban has also suffered huge losses."

In southern Zabul Province, the police chief of the Mizan district was killed in clashes with Taliban militants overnight, said provincial Governor Rahmatullah Yarmal.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the two attacks, which came as the militants have vowed to step up their offensive ahead of Afghanistans general elections set for October 20.

On October 13, at least 22 people were killed  including civilians and members of the Afghan security forces  when a bomb exploded at an election campaign rally for a woman who is running for parliament in the northeastern province of Takhar.

No one claimed responsibility, but the Taliban are active in the province and have claimed previous attacks there.

And in the western province of Herat, gunmen attacked the campaign office of a candidate, killing a security guard and a child.

The Taliban has ramped up attacks on Afghan security forces and government facilities throughout the country in recent months, pledging to do everything in its power to block the parliamentary vote, which the group called an "American conspiracy to further justify the foreign occupation."

With reporting by AFP, AP, Reuters, and TOLOnewsMacedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has urged deputies to "look into the future" as parliament opened a debate on proposed constitutional amendments to change the country's name and settle a decades-old dispute with neighboring Greece.



"Lets show the world that above all of our domestic political misunderstandings and conflicts, we have a joint interest: the future of our country," Zaev told parliament on October 15. He warned that rejecting the change would leave the country poor and isolated.

In June, the Macedonian and Greek governments hammered out a deal under which Athens agreed to lift its objections to the former Yugoslav republic joining both NATO and the EU in exchange for the country changing its name to the Republic of North Macedonia.

A subsequent September 30 national referendum on the issue was declared invalid because of an insufficient turnout -- 34 percent of voters participated, well below the minimum 50 percent threshold needed. However, more than 90 percent of those who voted backed the accord.



Despite the failed referendum, Zaev vowed to keep pushing for a change to the Balkan nations name and amend the constitution as required by the deal with Greece.

In his remarks to parliament, he said that rejecting the deal with Greece would leave Macedonia in "isolation, poverty, and uncertainty."



The [countrys] direction is NATO and the European Union, and I think that all 120 deputies have the same conviction, but we differ how we can achieve it," said Ilija Dimovski of the nationalist opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, which has campaigned against the name change.



Before the start of the debate in parliament, a group of some 25 opponents of the name change staged a protest outside the parliament building.

After hours of discussions, lawmakers ended their first day of debate without reaching a decision on whether to approve a deal. The session was set to resume in the morning of October 16.



The debate could last for up to 10 days.

Zaev's Social Democrat coalition, backed by parties representing Macedonia's ethnic Albanian minority, appears to be at least 10 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed -- 80 out of 120 votes.

Zaev will need to get the support of around a dozen deputies from VMRO-DPMNE, which has vowed to defeat the proposed constitutional amendments, maintaining that it was rejected by voters because of the poor turnout in the referendum.



If the vote fails, Zaev has said he would call snap elections.

In an interview with the Macedonian Information Agency news agency, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on October 14 reiterated support for the agreement between Athens and Skopje, saying it was a "unique opportunity for reconciliation in the Western Balkans, which may never happen again."

Zaev, who came to power following elections 22 months ago, has said he would call early elections if the amendments fail to pass in parliament.

Greece, an EU and NATO member, has for years maintained that Macedonia's name implied the Balkan nation had territorial claims to its northern province of the same name.

With reporting by ReutersIranian authorities have arrested a member of the country's military in connection with last months deadly attack on a military parade in the city of Ahvaz, local media report.

Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi was quoted as saying on October 14 that 11 other military personnel were summoned over the case.

Ejehi also said that a military court is probing the case, without providing further details.

Gunmen dressed in military uniforms opened fire during a September 22 parade in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan Province, marking the start of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

The attack left 24 people dead, including civilians and members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and dozens of others wounded.

Officials said all the attackers died.

Both the extremist group Islamic State (IS) and an Iranian ethnic Arab separatist umbrella group called the Ahvaz National Resistance have claimed responsibility for the assault.

Neither group provided conclusive evidence to back up their claim.

Late last month, the semiofficial ISNA news agency quoted the head of Iran's parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, as criticizing security forces for what he described as their negligence during the attack.

Separately, Iranian Intelligence Minister Mahmud Alavi said on October 14 that his ministry had helped to uncover and destroy "300 teams" of militants, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Alavi did not give details on the identities of the militants, nor did he indicate when the cells were uncovered.

On October 1, the IRGC said it had fired missiles at militants in Syria to punish the alleged ringleaders of the attack in Ahvaz.

"A number of leaders and effective elements" behind the attack were "killed and injured" in the missile strikes in eastern Syria, it said.

With reporting by AP and ReutersKYIV -- Thousands of supporters of Ukrainian nationalist groups have marched in downtown Kyiv to mark the 76th anniversary of the creation of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).

Earlier on October 14, thousands of people also gathered on a central square of the capital to take part in a thanksgiving prayer following a decision to grant independence to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

An estimated 15,000 people participated in the nationalist march from Shevchenko Park to European Square, which was held amid an increased police presence.

Many of the marchers waved red and black flags, a symbol of the nationalist movement, as well as blue and yellow Ukrainian national flags.

They lit flares and smoke bombs while shouting slogans such as "Glory to Ukraine!

Some of the activists had their faces covered.

Since 2015, the anniversary has been marked as the Defender of Ukraine Day public holiday.

The UPA was founded in western Ukraine during the Nazi occupation of the country in World War II and fought against both the Nazis and the Soviet Red Army.

Tens of thousands of ethnic Poles were killed in what some historians say was ethnic cleansing by the UPA.

When the war ended, many UPA fighters continued to fight a guerrilla campaign against the Soviet authorities into the early 1950s.

In the western city of Lviv, hundreds of troops participated in a military parade to mark the holiday.

The parade also featured tanks and other armored vehicles, as well as artillery.

In Kyiv, thousands of people participated in a thanksgiving prayer on Sofiyska Square following an October 11 decision by the synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople to allow Ukraine to establish an autocephalous -- or independent -- church and formally break away from Russias orbit.

The gathering was attended by President Petro Poroshenko, who said that an independent country should have an independent church.

Authorities said 6,000 police officers were dispatched to patrol the streets of Kyiv and ensure order during the day.

With reporting by AFP and dpaRussian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny has been released from jail after serving 50 days for organizing antigovernment protests.

Navalny left a detention center south of Moscow in the early morning of October 14 and was driven away in a waiting car after thanking supporters and briefly speaking to reporters.



Over the 50 days I have been in jail, we have seen yet more evidence that this regime is in complete decline," he said, citing recent allegations related to Russias intelligence services and the harrowing emergency landing after the failed launch of a Russian space rocket.



"If anyone thinks that with arrests...they can scare or stop us, that is clearly not the case," he added.



Navalny was sentenced on September 24 to 20 days in jail for organizing an opposition protest earlier in the year.

The ruling sent him back to jail just a day after he had been freed following completion of a monthlong sentence for a previous conviction.

A vocal foe of President Vladimir Putin, the often-jailed Navalny has organized large street protests on several occasions and published a series of reports alleging corruption in Russia's ruling elite.

In August, Navalny was detained by police in Moscow and sentenced to 30 days in jail for helping to organize a street rally in the Russian capital in January.

That demonstration in Moscow, along with similar protests in other Russian cities, drew thousands of people dismayed by the prospect of six more years under Putin, who was first elected president in 2000.

The authorities have turned up the pressure on Navalny at a time when Putins popularity has declined with the public over the government's proposal to raise the retirement age.

Navalny has said his jail sentence was designed by the authorities to prevent him from leading protests against the unpopular pension reforms.

Navalny has been handed suspended prison sentences following guilty verdicts in two financial-crimes trials he and his supporters contend were Kremlin-orchestrated efforts to punish him for his opposition activity and for reports he has published alleging corruption among Putin's allies.

The convictions also prevented him from being an official candidate in Russia's March 2018 presidential election.

The suspended sentences kept him out of prison, but Navalny has repeatedly been arrested and jailed for what courts have ruled were administrative offenses, mostly in reaction to street protests he helped organize.

According to Navalny spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh, the 42-year-old has spent nearly 200 days in jail since 2011 and 140 days since the start of his attempt to campaign for the 2018 presidential election.

Amnesty International called Navalny "a prisoner of conscience [who] has not committed any crime."

With reporting by AFP and ReutersRelatives of a Christian mother who faces becoming the first person to be executed for blasphemy in Pakistan have expressed hope that the Supreme Court will set her free.

"We are hopeful that whatever the court proceedings are, it will come out as positive for us," Ashiq Mesih, the husband of the imprisoned Asia Bibi, told the AFP news agency on October 13.

Her daughter, Eisham Ashiq, said: "I will be very happy the day my mother will be released. I will hug her and will cry meeting her and will thank God that he has got her released."

In 2010, Bibi was the first woman to be sentenced to death under Pakistan's blasphemy laws in a case that has generated global headlines and indignation.

Pakistan's Supreme Court on October 8 heard what media described as the final appeal of the woman, who has denied all charges.

The three-judge bench listened to Bibi's defense lawyer challenge statements by those who accused her of making derogatory remarks about Islam.

Bibi, a mother of four and a laborer, was accused in 2009 by a Muslim woman she was working with in a field.

Following the hearing, the Supreme Court said it had made a decision in the case, but it did not reveal its judgment.

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) speculated that the Supreme Courts refusal to publicly announce its decision could be a sign of hope for Bibi.

"Given the religiously charged atmosphere of the country regarding blasphemy cases, it is understandable that the court would avoid announcing its decision especially if it is in Asia Bibi's favor," the ACLJ said on October 9.



Several thousand Islamist hard-liners protested in Lahore on October 12 against the women and some have threatened to kill her if she is released.

A hard-line Pakistani Islamist party warned of "terrible consequences" if she is granted leniency in her appeal.

"If there is any attempt to hand her over to a foreign country, there will be terrible consequences," Tehrik-e Labaik said in a statement.

Bibi's family members are in London on a trip organized by Aid to the Church in Need, a charity that helps Christians worldwide who are believed to be in danger.

While Pakistan's laws carry the death penalty for blasphemy and offenders have been sentenced to death, no convict has ever been executed so far. People charged with blasphemy but later freed have had to flee the country for their safety.

At least 1,472 people were charged under Pakistan's blasphemy laws between 1987 and 2016, according to the Lahore-based Center for Social Justice.

It said Muslims constituted a majority of those prosecuted, followed by members of the Ahmadi, Christian, and Hindu minorities.

Rights groups say the laws are increasingly exploited by religious extremists as well as ordinary Pakistanis to settle personal scores.

With reporting by AFP and The Baptist PressPakistani voters headed to the polls on October 14 to elect 11 members of the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, and fill 24 seats in provincial assemblies.

For the first time, Pakistanis living abroad could cast their ballots online.

By 1 p.m. local time, no major irregularities were reported and the voting process was going smoothly.

Pakistans main opposition parties have formed an electoral alliance against the ruling Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf (PTI) in an effort to increase their representation in the national and provincial legislatures.

The by-elections were held for seats that were vacated by the candidates who had won more than one seat in the July 25 general elections.

PTI leader Imran Khan became prime minister after the party won the most parliamentary seats in that vote, which was marred by allegations of massive rigging.Iranian President Hassan Rohani says the United States is seeking regime change in Tehran.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the beginning of the new academic year at Tehran University on October 14, Rohani accused the U.S. government of employing tactics such as psychological and economic warfare to spark a change of leadership in Iran.

In the speech, broadcast live on state TV, Rohani also said the United States is raising questions about the legitimacy of the Islamic republic as a means to pursue regime change.

"Reducing the legitimacy of the system is their final goal. When they say getting rid of, regime change in their own words, how does regime change happen? Through reducing legitimacy. Otherwise, a regime doesn't change," Rohani said during his speech.

The U.S. administration has been ratcheting up pressure on Tehran since President Donald Trump decided in May to pull the United States out of a 2015 nuclear deal that lifted sanctions in exchange for curbs on Tehran's nuclear activities.

The United States also reimposed sanctions against Iran, with a second round targeting Iran's oil sector due to take effect on November 5.

The deal with six world powers provided Iran with some relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program.

The others who signed the pact  Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China  have vowed to remain in the deal.

The move was harshly criticized by Iran.

Rohani has said that the pressure from its rival has strengthened national unity in the country.

Based on reporting by Reuters and MehrActress Milena Dravic, one of Yugoslavias most revered actors who also won critical acclaim abroad, has died in Belgrade at the age of 78.

Dravic, who featured in more than 150 movies and television series over a career that spanned more than six decades, passed away in the early hours of October 14 after a long battle with an undisclosed illness, according to the Serbian Association of Dramatic Artists.

The Belgrade-born Dravic, known for her portrayal of strong women in dramas and romantic comedies, began her acting career while still in high school when Czech director Frantisek Cap cast her in the 1959 movie The Door Remains Open.

Three years later, she captivated Balkan audiences, winning the Yugoslav equivalent of an Oscar for best actress in Branko Bauers Prekobrojna (Overcrowded).

In the 1970s, she co-hosted the popular television program Obraz Uz Obraz with her third husband, actor Dragan Nikolic.

Internationally, Dravic reached her height of success when she was joint winner of the best supporting actress award at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival for her work in Goran Paskaljevics Poseban Tretman (Special Treatment).

In 1994, Dravic was honored with the prestigious Pavle Vujisic Award for her contributions to Yugoslav and Serbian cinematography and later won a lifetime achievement award in Belgrade.ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Beauty will save the world. It's one of the most often-cited and widely discussed quotations from 19th-century Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Now his museum in the country's tsarist-era capital is caught up in a controversy that is putting that maxim to the test.

The museum has announced plans to build a new, starkly modern wing that is intended to bring one of the UNESCO-protected city's most popular attractions into the modern age.

"For us, the new building is an outstanding decision," museum Director Natalya Ashimbayeva told RFE/RL's Russian Service. "It is a chance, a stimulus into the future."

She contrasted the new materials and technologies now available to the state-owned museum with its sparse beginnings, in 1971, when "we had almost no extra exhibits; almost everything was on display.

"But now, we need a modern collections storage facility."

To mark Dostoyevsky's 200th birthday in 2021, the museum plans to construct the new, 1,600-square-meter wing on a leafy lot next door to the current building in the heart of the northern capital's historic district. The projected cost is 650 million rubles ($9.8 million).

The current museum is in a 19th-century building where Dostoyevsky lived twice -- once briefly in 1846 when he wrote his early psychological novella The Double, and again from 1878 until his death in 1881 when he wrote his chef-d'oeuvre The Brothers Karamazov.

Few writers anywhere are as intimately connected with a city as Dostoyevsky is with St. Petersburg. Charles Dickens and London or James Joyce and Dublin are perhaps the closest analogs. It is a truism of Dostoyevsky criticism to note that the gloomy northern city is a full-fledged character in many of his novels, particularly his widely read classic Crime And Punishment.

The museum's proposal, however, has drawn sharp opposition from people who feel the modern gray box will detract from what remains of St. Petersburg's Dostoyevskian charm.

"They have selected the most radical architectural decision, an absolutely modernist facade that not only does not fit in Dostoyevsky's Petersburg but doesn't fit in with any of the other historical surroundings," said Aleksandr Kononov, deputy head of the local branch of the All-Russian Society for the Preservation of History and Culture. "Of course, our society thinks this project is completely inappropriate."

Kononov argues that a more appropriate decision would be to use preserved photographs and drawings to restore the facade of the 19th-century building that previously stood on the spot and which was torn down by the communist government in the 1970s.

Other opponents of the proposed expansion have called for the revival of a 1988 government plan to expand the museum by purchasing the remaining private apartments in the current museum building. This variant, they argue, would preserve the existing green space in a neighborhood that is already too aggressively built up.

"Our organization has already been opposing construction on downtown squares and parks for two years," said Yaroslav Kostrov, coordinator of the nongovernmental movement Central Region For Comfortable Living. "But the government, instead of organizing new parks and squares, is destroying the existing ones, which we think is a mistake. How can they build on the last [undeveloped] square on Kuznetsky Pereulok, the last oasis in a stone district?"

Kostrov is particularly irked because the architect of the proposed expansion, Yevgeny Gerasimov, has already earned a reputation for building modernist structures over city green spaces.

"It was Gerasimov who built over the square at Nevsky Prospect No. 152 with his wretched concrete box with a little glass cap on top," he said. "This is his sick imagination, which he managed to bring to life on Nevsky. I'm amazed they are giving him permission to build anything at all after that."

Museum Director Ashimbayeva disputes the notion that the proposed site is a "square" at all, calling it a vacant lot that is used primarily as a smoking space by local students.

"There aren't even any benches there," she says.

Gerasimov, a prolific architect and head of the firm Gerasimov and Partners, which submitted designs for high-profile projects including the Russian Olympic Committee headquarters and a new Russian parliament, is unapologetic in defense of his concept.

"Some people won't like this project, but they will be in the minority," he told RFE/RL. "The Dostoyevsky Museum has to develop and work into a new stage of its development. It was founded 50 years ago and now it is getting a new, modern, high-quality, well-equipped space for activity that is varied and much-needed, both for locals and for visitors to the city. That is why this project is needed. As for how the facade looks -- that is a professional question.

"I hope this building will not spoil the impression created by its surroundings," he added. "Whether it is pretty or not -- that can only be discussed after it is built. Time is the best judge."

To support the project, a charity foundation called Dostoyevsky's Petersburg has been created. The founders of the organization are Ashimbayeva, Gerasimov, and Andrei Yakunin -- the 43-year-old son of former KGB officer, intimate of President Vladimir Putin, and former head of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin. Andrei Yakunin, who holds dual Russian and British citizenship and lives in London, describes himself on the website as a "philanthropist."

The controversy comes five years after a similar dispute over the expansion of the city's legendary Mariinsky Theater on the other side of town. Local preservationists ultimately failed to stop that modernist construction, which was pushed through by Mariinsky Artistic Director and Kremlin insider Valery Gergiyev. Hermitage Museum Director Mikhail Piotrovsky called the building "an architectural mistake."

Although a city planning commission has given preliminary approval to Gerasimov's vision for the Dostoyevsky expansion, the project is far from being finally green-lighted. And activists have pledged to resist, already organizing one-person pickets and holding talks with opposition deputies in the city's legislature.

If necessary, activist Kostrov said, "we will stand as a living shield to block construction."

Written by RFE/RL senior correspondent Robert Coalson, based on reporting by RFE/RL Russian Service correspondent Tatyana VoltskayaSupporters of Ukrainian nationalist groups marched on October 14 in downtown Kyiv to mark the anniversary of the establishment of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) in 1942, officially marked in the country as the Day of Ukraine's Defenders. The UPA was a paramilitary group fighting both against the Soviets and the Germans in World War II. The UPA was founded in western Ukraine during the Nazi occupation of the country in World War II and fought against both the Nazis and the Soviet Red Army. Its fighters carried out vicious acts of ethnic cleansing in which tens of thousands of ethnic Poles in the region were killed.Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa

Spokesman News Service, Chandigarh, 14th Oct'18: "The Punjab Government is dutybound to give justice to the victims of Behbal Kalan and Bargari firing incidents and the perpetrators would be behind the bars very soon. Due to some legal issues connected with the probe, the matter is facing delays but those responsible for the horrendous happening would face the law."

Reiterating this while attending the third 'Barsi' of the youths killed in the firing at behbal kalan and bargari, senior congress leader and cabinet minister S. Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa said that the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh wants to ensure punishment to those behind the incident without leaving any room for loopholes. He also made it clear that any officer trying to save his skin by resorting to the legal impediments would see the government removing all such loopholes so as to make sure that nobody responsible for the firing incident gets away scot free.

Advertisement

It is worth mentioning that the Congress leaders lead by the cabinet minister S. Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and including cabinet minister Mr. Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, MLAs Mr. Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon, Mr. Harminder Singh Gill, Ex MLA Mr. Muhammad Sadiq today first attended the 'Barsi' of Krishan Bhagwan Singh at his native village behbal kalan and then attended the 'Barsi' of another killed youth Gurjit Singh at his village sarawaan.

Addressing the people at village sarawaan, S. Bajwa said that the previous badal government had revived the memory of Jallianwala Bagh massacre by resorting to firing upon those protesting in a peaceful manner against the sacrilege of Sahib Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. The minister further said that the people still feel anguished and pained over the incidents of the stealing of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and it's torn pages being found in the streets besides firing upon those engaging in peaceful protest against such horrendous incidents.

Advertisement

On the occasion, while accepting the development oriented demands of the people of both the villages, Mr. Bajwa assured them regarding the early fulfillment of these. He also gave an assurance that the demand with regard to the construction of a grain market at village sarawaan and divulged that he would get the demand met by the Mandi Board by taking up the issue with the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.He further said that personally too he would impress upon the Chairman Mandi Board Mr. Lal Singh to acceed to the just demand.

S. Bajwa further elaborated that the Captain Amarinder Singh led government had provided jobs as well as the financial assistance to the families of the victims of kotkapura and behbal kalan firing incidents. Now also the government won't shirk from it's responsibility of giving every possible assistance to the victim families and no stone would be left unturned to ensure the all round development of the villages to which the deceased youth belonged.SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.  Nearly 1,000 runners, walkers, and riders braved dark skies, cool temperatures and an intermittent drizzle Saturday to take part in Saratoga Bridges Great Pumpkin Challenge, a 5K and 10K fundraising race through Saratoga State Park.

This was the 18th year for the challenge and though some participants stayed away due to the inclement weather, those that took part were in a happy, festive mood.

Saratoga Bridges holds this race each fall as a way to raise funds for the organization and to make people aware of its longtime service to individuals with disabilities. It has been in operating for 60 years.

The Great Pumpkin Challenge, which includes a Kids Fun Run, is not the largest grossing fundraiser for the organization, but it does hold the distinction of having the most volunteers. And, as with other years, they were out in force, smiling through the raindrops.

Saratoga Bridges Communications Specialist Pamela Polacsek said the organization views itself as a resource.

The word, Bridge in our name is symbolic of the opportunities to provide connections or links between individuals we support and the communities in which they live, work, volunteer, socialize, and recreate so that theres a better mechanism for them to achieve their own potential and volunteer, she said.

The proceeds from the day will go to programs that are unfunded or underfunded.

Two people who took part in the race were Dan and Deb Brown. They are members of the Saratoga Striders running group and run or snowshoe all year long. As big believers in the benefits of exercise and wellness in general, the two came out for both, as well as to support Saratoga Bridges.

We want to help them, Dan Brown said as the couple walked to the Columbia Pavilion pre-race registration area. We know Jane Mastitis, the CFO, plus, we have a daughter who works for a similar organization in Auburn.

Our motto is keep moving, added Deb Brown.

Waiting for the couple in the pavilion was a warming fire, about 500 other runners in a variety of running togs, a childrens table filled with a wealth of activities, a pumpkin judging contest, boxes of bananas, and urns of steaming coffee.

Gathered in one corner was a smaller than normal contingent from Ainsleys Angels-Albany Adirondack chapter. The group is part of the larger, Ainsleys Angels of America, an organization that aims to build awareness about the nations special needs community through inclusion in all aspects of life.

To do this they promote awareness, provide education, and participate as active members in local communities. They are the people who spectators and runner see pushing young, special needs riders in three-wheeled chariots for road races like the Great Pumpkin Challenge.

The local groups leader, Ambassador Jill Burwell, admitted they would only have four chariots in the days race due to the weather.

Were all about inclusion for people with disabilities in endurance events that are 5K or longer, Burwell said. We do that by partnering our Angel riders in their jogging chariots with Angel runners who push the chariots. There could be anywhere from one to three pushers.

Despite the frivolity going on around them at the pavilion the riders were extremely quiet.

They become active one the race begins, Burwell said. They are happy from the time they start to the time they finish. They tell us they want to go fast and feel the wind in their cheeks and when people cheer along the route they just light up.

The two runners who would push Hunter Ripley, 10, in his Team Hunter chariot were Colleen Breen and Toni Howard, two experienced runners unfazed by the weather.

Ive raced enough for me, Breen said. The running is not about me anymore. Its all about Ainsleys Angels.

Because Halloween is not far off, runners in costume were to be expected. This year saw fewer than in past years, but one stood out by the number of accoutrements included with his costume. Scott LeFebre was preparing to run dressed as Boba Fett, a bounty hunter from the Star Wars movies.

Joining him was his wife Vickie, dressed as an X-Wing pilot and their youngster MacKenzie dressed as Sabine Wren, a rebel. Both costumes would be familiar to anyone who watched all the Star Wars movies.

I made this costume in college, said a chuckling Scott LeFebre. Ive never run in it so well see how it goes. I enjoy this race with all the costumes and I also know its for a good cause.

As the 9:30 a.m. start time drew near the runners were told to head to the starting line. After a short delay the starter turned the runners loose with one final bit of advice to follow the bicyclist dressed as a pumpkin who would lead them through the park.

OK runners, go out and chase down that pumpkin and dont get lost, he said.

The first to cross the finish line in the 5K was Matt Conant of Ballston Spa with a time of 18:03. The first 5K female finisher was Elizabeth Predmore of Ballston Lake with a time of 18:18. Predmore finished third.

The first finisher in the 10K was Jack Vite of Clifton Park with a time of 34.16. The first female finisher in the 10 K was Brittany Pfaff of Saratoga Springs with a time of 20:49. She was the seventh to cross the line in the 10K.A rose by any other name is still a rose. The same, it turns out, can be said for cannabis.

Newly published research from UBC's Okanagan campus has determined that many strains of cannabis have virtually identical levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), despite their unique street names.

"It is estimated that there are several hundred or perhaps thousands of strains of cannabis currently being cultivated," says Professor Susan Murch, who teaches chemistry at UBC Okanagan. "We wanted to know how different they truly are, given the variety of unique and exotic names."

Cannabis breeders have historically selected strains to produce THC, CBD or both, she explains. But the growers have had limited access to different types of plants and there are few records of the parentage of different strains.

"People have had informal breeding programs for a long time," Murch says. "In a structured program we would keep track of the lineage, such as where the parent plants came from and their characteristics. With unstructured breeding, which is the current norm, particular plants were picked for some characteristic and then given a new name."

Until now, the chemical breakdown of many strains has been unknown because of informal breeding.

advertisement

Elizabeth Mudge, a doctoral student working with Murch and Paula Brown, Canada Research Chair in Phytoanalytics at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, examined the cannabinoid -- a class of chemical compounds that include THC and CBD -- profiles of 33 strains of cannabis from five licensed producers.

The research shows that most strains, regardless of their origin or name, had the same amount of THC and CBD. They further discovered that breeding highly potent strains of cannabis impacts the genetic diversity within the crop, but not THC or CBD levels.

However, Mudge says that they found differences in a number of previously unknown cannabinoids -- and these newly discovered compounds, present in low quantities, could be related to pharmacological effects and serve as a source of new medicines.

"A high abundance compound in a plant, such as THC or CBD, isn't necessarily responsible for the unique medicinal effects of certain strains," says Mudge. "Understanding the presence of the low abundance cannabinoids could provide valuable information to the medical cannabis community."

Currently licensed producers are only required to report THC and CBD values. But Murch says her new research highlights that the important distinguishing chemicals in cannabis strains are not necessarily being analysed and may not be fully identified.

Murch says while patients are using medical cannabis for a variety of reasons, they actually have very little information on how to base their product choice. This research is a first step towards establishing an alternative approach to classifying medical cannabis and providing consumers with better information.

Murch's research was recently published in Nature's Scientific Reports.A Washington State University researcher has completed the most thorough analysis yet of The Great Drought -- the most devastating known drought of the past 800 years -- and how it led to the Global Famine, an unprecedented disaster that took 50 million lives.

She warns that the Earth's current warming climate could make a similar drought even worse.

Deepti Singh, an assistant professor in WSU's School of the Environment, used tree-ring data, rainfall records and climate reconstructions to characterize the conditions leading up to the Great Drought, a period of widespread crop failures in Asia, Brazil and Africa from 1875 to 1878.

"Climate conditions that caused the Great Drought and Global Famine arose from natural variability. And their recurrence -- with hydrological impacts intensified by global warming -- could again potentially undermine global food security," she and her colleagues write in the Journal of Climate. The paper comes as a United Nations report this week predicts that rising worldwide temperatures will bring about more frequent food shortages and wildfires as soon as 2040.

The Global Famine is among the worst humanitarian disasters in history, comparable to the influenza epidemic of 1918-1919, World War I or World War II. As an environmental disaster, it has few rivals. Making matters worse were social conditions, like British colonialists hoarding and exporting grain from India. Some populations were particularly vulnerable to disease and colonial expansion afterwards.

"In a very real sense, the El Nino and climate events of 1876-78 helped create the global inequalities that would later be characterized as 'first' and 'third worlds'," writes Singh, who was inspired by "Late Victorian Holocausts: El Nino Famines and the Making of the Third World." The book details the social impact of the Great Drought and subsequent droughts in 1896-1897 and 1899-1902. Its author, Mike Davis, is a distinguished professor at the University of California, Riverside, and a co-author on Singh's paper.

advertisement

Despite its impact, few studies have characterized the dynamics of the drought, and Singh's analysis is the first global-scale analysis of climatic conditions at the time.

"This is the first time that somebody is taking multiple sources of data -- like rain gauges and tree-ring drought atlases that let us go back 500 and 800 years (respectively) -- as well as multiple datasets of past climatic conditions, to quantify the severity of this event and the severity of the conditions that led to it," Singh said.

The Great Drought actually was several droughts, Singh found, beginning with a failure of India's 1875 monsoon season. East Asia's drought started in the spring of 1876, followed by droughts in parts of South Africa, northern Africa and northeastern Brazil. There were also droughts in western Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia.

The length and severity of the droughts prompted the Global Famine, aided in no small part by one of the strongest known El Ninos, the irregular but recurring periods of warm water in the tropical Pacific Ocean. That triggered the warmest known temperatures in the North Atlantic Ocean and the strongest known Indian Ocean dipole -- an extreme temperature difference between warm waters in the west and cool waters in the east. These in turn triggered one of the worst droughts across Brazil and Australia.

Because the drought was induced by natural variations in sea-surface temperatures, says Singh, a similar global-scale event could happen again. Moreover, rising greenhouse gas concentrations and global warming are projected to intensify El Nino events, in which case "such widespread droughts could become even more severe."

The socio-political factors that led to the famine no long exist, she notes. Still, she writes, "such extreme events would still lead to severe shocks to the global food system with local food insecurity in vulnerable countries potentially amplified by today's highly connected global food network."

Singh's work was supported by a fellowship from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, where she collaborated with several of the paper's co-authors. She continued working on the paper after arriving at WSU Vancouver this June.Scientists from Tartu have discovered a simple way how to improve infertility treatment in the future. The results of the study, published in Human Reproduction, a top journal in the field, can be used in precision medicine to account for the variability in each female patient's menstrual cycle. This personalised approach will first and foremost benefit those couples, who have experienced repeated IVF failure.

In 2017, more than 2800 in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures were carried out in Estonia, resulting in the birth of 430 babies, which accounts for 3% of all births. The low 15% success rate of IVF can be caused by problems in several stages of the treatment. One of such stages is embryo implantation, which marks the beginning of the pregnancy. However, if the embryo is transferred into the uterus on the wrong day, even the best embryos cannot overcome this, resulting in a negative pregnancy test.

The task of the infertility treatment specialist is to recommend the best treatment for each patient. Female infertility can be caused by problems with endometrial (the inner uterine lining) receptivity. While in natural conception the developing embryo can "sit and wait" until the endometrium matures to peak receptivity, in IVF treatment it is of utmost importance to transfer the embryo on the correct day to increase the chances of pregnancy. Different methods are used to assess endometrial receptivity, the most accurate of which is a test measuring the expression patterns of different genes in an endometrial biopsy. For this, a minimally invasive endometrial biopsy is taken in the cycle preceding the IVF cycle on the day the endometrium is supposedly the most receptive. Analysis of the expression patterns of specific marker genes provides vital information to decide whether the "right genes are expressed at the right time." If needed, the time of the embryo transfer is adjusted, providing an example of precision medicine in infertility treatment.

The study, published in Human Reproduction, a leading journal in the field of reproductive medicine, is based on the well-known fact that the inner uterine lining consists of several different cell types. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that previous studies have not considered the effect of cell type proportions on endometrial gene expression profiles. This novel approach makes gene expression profile analysis more specific, thus also improving the performance of tests based on gene expression patterns. The paper has also been highlighted by the editor-in-chief of Human Reproduction, meaning that it is considered to be a remarkable improvement in this field.

The study was a collaboration between scientists from Estonia and Spain, and a natural progression to the earlier work of the research group in Tartu, which allows to improve IVF efficiency. Marina Suhorutsenko, the first author of the paper and a PhD student at the Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tartu, explains: "It is common knowledge that the inner uterine lining includes different cell types; however, all the previous studies have consistently ignored this fact. Our work shows how to account for this variability in cellular composition, and thus considerably improve the accuracy of biomarker discovery." In the clinical setting, only the whole tissue gene expression profile is usually analysed, as analysing cellular fractions separately is labour-intensive and expensive. "We have developed a pipeline that allows to skip this step, and instead uses a different data analysis approach to improve the accuracy without extra costs," added Suhorutsenko.

Dr. Triin Laisk, a Research Fellow at the Estonian Genome Center, who coordinated the data analysis of the study adds that the confounding effect of biopsy cellular composition has been largely ignored in the past, and not only in the field of reproductive medicine. "By taking it into account we can decrease the amount of random and false positive findings, and eventually improve our knowledge on the biology behind different conditions, as well as facilitate the discovery of novel biomarkers," said Dr. Laisk.

The results of the study have immediate practical value, and the research team is currently working on how to integrate these findings into a genetic test that is used in infertility treatment clinics to select the best day for embryo transfer. The Competence Centre on Health Technologies (CCHT), where the study in question was carried out, has developed an endometrial receptivity test called beREADY.

"We have done some important basic science, such as this study, that eventually will improve the efficiency of IVF treatment," explains Professor Andres Salumets, the coordinator of the study. "Tests and methods applied in the clinical setting are never the result of only one discovery. There are smaller and greater breakthroughs, but the elegant data analysis solution applied in this study is a good addition to the beREADY personalised treatment tool currently being tested by several clinics. From a technological point of view, we can use patented solutions in the beREADY test, but we also need to use smarter data analysis approaches to stand out among the competitors," said Prof. Salumets.Israel-Palestine Liberation Organization Agreement : 1993

Israel-Palestine Liberation Organization Agreement : 1993

The Government of the State of Israel and the Palestinian team representing the Palestinian people agree that it is time to put an end to decades of confrontation and conflict, recognize their mutual legitimate and political rights, and strive to live in peaceful coexistence and mutual dignity and security to achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive peace settlement and historic reconciliation through the agreed political process. Accordingly, the two sides agree to the following principles.

Article 1 AIM OF THE NEGOTIATIONS

The aim of the Israeli Palestinian negotiations within the current Middle East peace process is, among other things, to establish a Palestinian Interim Self-Government Authority, the elected Council, (the "Council") for the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, for a transitional period not exceeding five years, leading to a permanent settlement based on Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.

It is understood that the interim arrangements are an integral part of the whole peace process and that the negotiations on the permanent status will lead to implementation of Security Council Resolution 242 and 338.

Article II FRAMEWORK FOR THE INTERIM PERIOD

The agreed framework for the interim period is set in this declaration of principles.

Article III ELECTIONS

1. In order that the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip may govern themselves according to democratic principles, direct, free and general political elections will be held for the Council under agreed supervision and international observation, while Palestinian police will insure public order.

2. An agreement will be concluded on the exact mode and conditions of the elections in accordance with the protocol attached as Annex I, with the goal of holding the elections not later than nine months after the entry into force of this Declaration of Principles.

3. The elections will constitute a significant interim preparatory step toward the realization of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and their just requirements.

Article IV JURISDICTION

Jurisdiction of the Council will cover West Bank and Gaza territory, except for issues that will be negotiated in the permanent status negotiations. The two sides view the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a single territorial unit, whose integrity will be preserved during the interim period.

Article V TRANSITIONAL PERIOD AND PERMANENT STATUS NEGOTIATIONS

1. The five-year transitional period will begin upon the withdrawal from the Gaza strip and Jericho area.

2. Permanent status negotiations will commence as soon as possible, but not later than the beginning of the third year of the interim period between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian people representatives.

3. It is understood that these negotiations shall cover remaining issues, including: Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, security arrangements, border, relations and cooperation with their neighbors, and other issues of common interest.

4. The two parties agreed that the outcome of the permanent status negotiations should not be prejudiced or preempted by agreements reached for the interim period.

Article VI PREPARATORY TRANSFER OF POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Upon the entry into force of this Declaration of Principles and withdrawal from the Gaza and Jericho area, a transfer of authority from Israeli military government and its Civil Administration to the authorized Palestinians for this task, as detailed herein, will commence. This transfer of authority will be of preparatory nature until the inauguration of the Council.

2. Immediately after the entry into force of this Declaration of Principles and the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the Jericho area, with the view of promoting economic development in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, authority will be transferred to the Palestinians on the following spheres: education and culture, health, social welfare, direct taxation, and tourism, the Palestinian side will commence in building the Palestinian police, as agreed upon. Pending the inauguration of the Council, the two parties may negotiate the transfer of additional powers and responsibilities, as agreed upon.

Article VII INTERIM AGREEMENT

1. The Israeli and Palestinian delegations will negotiate an agreement on the interim period (the "Interim Agreement").

2. The Interim Agreement shall specify, among other things, the structure of the Council, the number of its members, and the transfer of powers and responsibilities from the Israeli military government and its Civil Administration to the Council. The Interim Agreement shall also specify the Council's executive authority, legislative authority in accordance with Article IX below, and the independent Palestinian judicial organs.

3. The Interim Agreement shall include arrangements, to be implemented upon the inauguration of the Council, for the assumption by the Council of all of the powers and responsibilities transferred previously in accordance with Article VI above.

4. In order to enable the Council to promote economic growth, upon its inauguration, the Council will establish, among other things, a Palestinian Electricity Authority, a Gaza Sea Port Authority, a Palestinian Development Bank, a Palestinian Export Promotion Board, a Palestinian Environmental Authority, a Palestinian Land Authority and a Palestinian Water Administration Authority, and any other authorities agreed upon, in accordance with the Interim Agreement that will specify their powers and responsibilities.

5. After the inauguration of the Council, the Civil Administration will be dissolved, and the Israeli military government will be withdrawn.

Article VIII PUBLIC ORDER AND SECURITY

In order to guarantee public order and internal security for the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Council will establish a strong police force, while Israel will continue to carry the responsibility for defending against external threats, as well as the responsibility for overall security of Israelis for the purpose of safeguarding their internal security and public order.

Article IX LAWS AND MILITARY ORDERS

1. The Council will be empowered to legislate, in accordance with the Interim Agreement, within all authorities transferred to it.

2. Both parties will review jointly laws and military orders presently in force in remaining spheres.

Article X JOINT ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN LIAISON COMMITTEE

In order to provide for a smooth implementation of this Declaration of Principles and any subsequent agreements pertaining to the interim period, upon the entry into force of this Declaration of Principles, a Joint Israeli-Palestinian Liaison Committee will be established in order to deal with issues requiring coordination, other issues of common interest, and disputes.

Article XI ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN COOPERATION IN ECONOMIC FIELDS

Recognizing the mutual benefit of cooperation in promoting the development of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Israel, upon the entry into force of this Declaration of Principles, an Israeli- Palestinian Economic Cooperation Committee will be established in order to develop and implement in a cooperative manner the programs identified in the protocols attached as Annex III and Annex IV.

Article XII LIAISON AND COOPERATION WITH JORDAN AND EGYPT

The two parties will invite the Governments of Jordan and Egypt to participate in establishing further liaison and cooperation arrangements between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian representatives on one hand, and the Governments of Jordan and Egypt, on the other hand, to promote cooperation between them. These arrangements will include the constitution of a Continuing Committee that will decide by agreement on the modalities of admission of persons displaced from the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967, together with necessary measures to prevent disruption and disorder. Other matters of common concern will be dealt with by the Committee.

Article XIII REDEPLOYMENT OF ISRAELI FORCES

1. After the entry into force of this Declaration of Principles, and not later than the eve of elections for the Council, a redeployment of Israeli military forces in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will take place, in addition to withdrawal of Israeli forces carried out in accordance with Article XIV.

2. In redeploying its military forces, Israel will be guided by the principle that its military forces should be redeployed outside populated areas.

3. Further redeployments to specified location will be gradually implemented commensurate with the assumption of responsibility for public order and internal security by the Palestinian police force pursuant to Article VIII above.

Article XIV ISRAELI WITHDRAWAL FROM THE GAZA STRIP AND JERICHO AREA

Israel will withdraw from the Gaza Strip and Jericho area, as detailed in the protocol attached as Annex II.

Article XV RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES

1. Disputes arising out of the application or interpretation of the Declaration of Principles, or any subsequent agreements pertaining to the interim period, shall be resolved by negotiations through the Joint Liaison Committee to be tablished pursuant to Article X above.

2. Disputes which cannot be settled by negotiations may be solved by a mechanism of conciliation to be agreed upon by the parties.

3. The parties may agree to submit to arbitration disputes lating to the interim period, which cannot be settled through reconciliation. To this end, upon the agreement of both parties, the parties will establish an Arbitration Committee.

Article XVI ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN COOPERATION CONCERNING REGIONAL PROGRAMS

Both parties view the multilateral working groups as an appropriate instrument for promoting a "Marshall Plan," the for the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as indicated in the protocol attached as Annex IV.

Article XVII MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

1. This Declaration of Principles will enter into force one month after its signing.

2. All protocols annexed to this Declaration of Principles and Agreed Minutes pertaining thereto shall be regarded as an integral part hereof.Think about it: If you were suddenly forced to live on the streets for an extended period of time, what would you take with you to make homelessness bearable and less extreme?

Youd probably take plenty of shirts, pants, underwear, shoes, toiletries and personal keepsakes, of course. Thatll probably fit in a large suitcase. You can roll that around all day, no problem.

But what are you going to sleep on or in? Is a blanket more necessary for survival than a winter coat? Well, it gets cold at night in the winter, so youll probably need both.

Should you bring a towel in case you find a place to shower? And how much food and water do you need to keep stored if you dont know where your next meal is coming from? What about your dog? What about your bike?

The stuff youd have on the street quickly adds up, which is why youd probably stay in one place. Now, where are you going to live?

Michael Short / Special to The Chronicle

Thats a daily conundrum for the estimated 1,700 homeless people in Berkeley, some of whom carve out space for themselves on the citys sidewalks, making it hard for pedestrians to pass in some areas of the city.

Its a problem the city is trying to find an answer for.

On Tuesday, the Berkeley City Council will consider adopting a regulation that limits how many items people can keep on the citys sidewalks and parklets  and limits how long they can keep it there. Its a proposed change that could alter how homelessness looks in Berkeley.

Under the proposal, people would be limited to keeping their things in a 3-by-3-foot space no more than 5 feet high  for no more than 24 hours. This isnt big enough for a tent, which many homeless people live in. They couldnt leave their stuff unattended for more than an hour  or the city could take it and store it. They couldnt block walkways, fire hydrants, parking machines or transit stops.

Those who break the rules would face possible citations.

Berkeleys message seems to be this: If you find yourself homeless and want to set up a camp  a place you can call home  dont do it here.

Is Berkeley really preparing to hassle homeless people just trying to survive? Councilwoman Sophie Hahn told me the city just wants to manage excessive accumulation.

If theyre out trying to survive on the streets, wed like to ask them to consolidate a little bit and not be in the path of travel, so the sidewalk can be used by other people, Hahn said. To do anything that would punish them for a predicament that they essentially have no control over without offering resources is just cruel.

I get a city asking its homeless residents to be neater. And the city has a point  something needs to be done about personal belongings restricting access to sidewalks. But if this is adopted, the regulation would make it almost impossible for a homeless person to stay in one place for longer than a day.

According to Hahn, enforcement of the regulation would be a low priority except when the objects stay in the same place for 24 hours or there are more than two accumulations on the same block.

Enforcement officers would request sprawling sites be reduced or moved. If a person refuses, his belongings will be removed and stored. The last resort is a citation. Here Ill note that on Tuesday the council will also recommend that the city manager develop noncriminal options for the enforcement of city laws related to the use of public spaces.

Michael Short / Special to The Chronicle

Im not sure how much of the proposal will stick, because in September the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco, in a case known as Martin vs. City of Boise, ruled that the Constitutions prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment means that cities cant prosecute homeless people for sitting, sleeping or lying outside on public property when they cant find shelter.

Does the ruling also apply to homeless peoples belongings, like the tent they might be sleeping in? In light of the Martin case, the council will also request further analysis of the proposed regulation and other city ordinances to make sure the city is in line with the ruling.

Its not hard to find sprawling personal camps in Berkeley. Just stroll through Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park or walk down Shattuck Avenue.

On a recent morning, I approached Gene Paulson as he was locking up his shopping cart on Kittredge Street in front of the Berkeley Public Library. He covers his cart with a large gray tarp and then loops a cable through the eyelets. He then secures the cable to a bike rack or, as he was when we met, wraps the cable around a tree.

If you have valuables, people will take it, said Paulson, whos been floating around Berkeley for six years. I got my whole life here.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Paulson said he goes to the library every day and works on his laptop until 5:30 p.m. Paulson, who has long blond hair with streaks of gray, declined to give his age but he told me hes been homeless for more than 20 years.

A few feet away from Paulson, there was another shopping cart filled with plastic bags, plastic bottles and plastic toys. It didnt belong to Paulson, but he knows the owner.

Most of it is junk, he said. Its useless, and hes just attached to it.

Yes, most of it was junk, but Paulson understands why the person keeps pushing it around the city: That junk  or what you, Paulson and I call junk  are probably the only personal belongings that person owns. Losing it could be debilitating.

I asked Paulson what he thought of Berkeleys attempt to curb accumulation.

Most (homeless) people end up against the law some way or another, he said flatly. He also told me he is moving to Texas.

Some of the most problematic areas in Berkeley are near the citys first Navigation Center, which opened in July on Second Street between Cedar and Virginia streets.

About a block away from the center on Virginia Street, I met a man near a jumble of rugs, cardboard boxes, clothes and furniture piled high on the sidewalk. The mass, which spilled into the street, probably took up a quarter of the block.

The man wouldnt give me his name because, he said, it is classified information. But he told me to call him Scotland. He had bike wheels in his grease-stained hands. He said he was about to trade with someone camping near the railroad tracks, where trash and debris at the camp forced pedestrians to pass in the street.

Scotland said he needed to get rid of stuff, even before I told him about the citys plans.

I have to clean this up no matter what, he said.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Otis R. Taylor Jr. appears Mondays and Thursdays. Email: otaylor@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @otisrtaylorjrDear California Trees,

When will you stand up and take responsibility for all the damage you do to this state?

Its not just the blossoms that you jacarandas use to stain Californians cars, or the rats you palms harbor. Its not even that your out-of-control-fires foul Californias air, destroy homes and drain the state budget.

No, what most upsets me is that, instead of being accountable for the trouble you cause, you leave us humans to solve your problems.

You trees get away with this irresponsibility because you have millions of human apologists who engage in a vast conspiracy of blame-shifting. We are told that the damage trees do is really the fault of environmentalists who make it hard to cull you, or loggers who cut down too many of you, or utilities who dont keep you away from power lines, or government agencies who dont manage you, or rural homeowners who live among you.

Your defenders even rail against human overpopulation! Thats pretty rich, since there are 4 billion live trees in California  100 times more than the mere 40 million people who live under you.

To your credit, you pull your weight in some ways: You store carbon, helping limit climate change. You collect and clean the snowpack and watersheds that California humans depend on for water.

But, lately, trees, your job performance has slipped.

Why? It starts with your exploitation of human fire-suppression policies in order to grow far too great in number. While humans did you the favors of reducing our birth rate and giving up newspapers, you grew everywhere, creating dangerously dense forests with smaller, weaker trees.

Such overcrowded forests are more vulnerable to drought and diseases. Exhibit A is the drought and the infestations of bark beetles that caused an estimated 129 million California trees to drop dead between 2010 and 2017.

Did you responsibly clean up your dead? No. Instead, deceased trees fell onto buildings, roads and power lines, and fueled apocalyptic fires across vast swaths of the state. These mega-fires badly lowered that air and water quality you trees are supposed to protect.

To reverse these trends, your forests must be thinned, with smaller or diseased trees being removed so that larger healthy trees survive. This is hard work, because you trees tend to die in inaccessible places. But do you tax yourselves to help with this expensive thinning work? No, just like Californias human taxpayers, you seem to think that someone else will pay to restore the forests.

Your lack of leadership has created a void that has been filled by polarized human politics. Its sad. Once, you trees  especially the great coastal redwoods and the signature sequoias like General Sherman  were great unifiers. But today you just fuel the partisan fires. When Gov. Jerry Brown proposed regulatory changes to speed up forest thinning, he got mostly grief, from environmental and logging interests alike.

You trees even gave an opening to the political arsonist in the White House, who blamed environmental lawsuits for fires. This was dishonest scapegoating, because many of our tree problems are on federal lands that his government doesnt manage adequately.

Ive even seen commentary about state agencies not moving fast enough to address tree problems. But years ago, Gov. Brown convened a Tree Mortality Task Force that included every tree stakeholder except the trees themselves. Without their work, the tree situation in California would be even worse. They might have accomplished more if you trees had demanded a much greater budget allocation for yourselves, but you remained quiet.

You cant play shy anymore. Californias tree problems are too big for humans. For us to solve your crisis, wed have to engage in well-funded long-term collaborations to restore and manage forest lands, and embrace new approaches to fire prevention. Such farsighted governance has been impossible for California even when it comes to housing ourselves or educating our own children, so its unlikely well get our act together to save you trees.

So if you California trees want to solve your problems, you will have to do the work yourselves.

Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column for Zocalo Public Square. To comment, submit your letter to the editor at SFChronicle.com/letters.Outdoor notes

Wolves in the night: A report of wolves in remote Siskiyou County was confirmed last week when my son, Jeremy Keyston, a wildlife expert and Pacific Coast Trail hiker, said he heard them calling in the night near his campsite.

"I heard the stories, then I heard them last night," he reported the morning after the encounter. The event took place at camp at Kangaroo Lake in Klamath National Forest, about 20 miles from the nearest town, Callahan (population 152).

With GPS collars, the Department of Fish and Wildlife has verified wolves dispersing in the north state, with some individuals traveling 6-10 miles per day and distances of between 450 and 750 miles. In addition, a breeding female in the Lassen pack gave birth to pups in April, the DFW reported.

Not all the wolves are collared, of course, and exact counts are impossible to determine, says the DFW, which asks the public to report details of wolf encounters through a form on its website at https://www.wildlife.ca.gov.

Butterfly carpet: Along I nterstate 80 near El Sobrante last week, William Marion reported seeing a mass of butterflies that spanned roughly 3 miles. "I stopped at a store just off the highway, and saw that they were orange and black with the black as trim around the wing edges," he wrote. "I have family who live less than a block from the monarchs in Grover Beach, but they (monarchs) seemed bigger and more transparent. My wife is obsessed now, and insisted on capturing one for 'interrogation.' I didn't like her tone. Help."

Tom says: These are likely California tortoiseshell butterflies, which occasionally have outbreaks with unbelievable swarms, and to see such a swarm is often a once-in-a-lifetime event.

The mind as a camera: "I was camping at Big Springs in the Eastern Sierra and had the most incredible experience: It was midafternoon and there seemed to be no one else in the campground. I was sitting there reading. I had no cell phone and my camera was not in my chair. Something made me look behind and there was the most beautiful wolf. It was such an incredible experience. I had no thought of fear.

"He actually stood there and let me talk to him and then scampered off. It's a picture in my mind that will remain with me. Definitely one of the highlights of my many years of camping in the Sierra." - Ann Tingley

The natural bypass: "A recent piece about a hiker at Tahoe referred to 'auxiliary arterial flow.' Neither a Google search nor several medical databases listed it. Is it possible to contact your doctor to ask him or her what the appropriate term is? It's important to me." - Martin Lindauer

Tom says: The doc says the accepted medical term is "collateral flow," and that he sometimes uses the phrase "auxiliary arterial flow" as a more visual way to get the point across to patients: Aerobic activity, like hiking or biking, throughout life, can cause your heart to grow hundreds of tiny arteries that help carry blood and pump oxygen through your system, what he called "the natural bypass."

- Tom Stienstra

Bay Area wetlands

San Francisco: Candlestick Point, Crissy Field

Marin: Abbotts Lagoon, Big Lagoon, Bolinas Lagoon, Bothin Marsh, Corte Madera Ecological Reserve, Drakes Estero, Five Brooks Pond, Giacomini Wetlands, Jakes Island, Napa-Sonoma Marsh, Novato Marsh, Petaluma Marsh, Richardson Bay and Rodeo Lagoon

Peninsula: Coyote Point, Foster City Lagoons, Palo Alto Baylands, Redwood Creek estuary, Redwood City Harbor, Ravenswood Open Space, Pescadero Marsh, Pillar Point Harbor and San Gregorio Lagoon

Contra Costa County: Bethel Island, Big Break, Frank's Tract, Point Pinole, Martinez Regional Shoreline, Miller-Knox and Point Isabel

Alameda County: Bockman Channel, Cogswell Marsh, Crown Memorial, Don Edwards S.F. Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Eden Landing, Hayward Regional Shoreline, Martin Luther King, Oro Loma Marsh and San Lorenzo Creek

South Bay: Coyote Creek Estuary, San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Shoreline Regional Park, Sunnyvale BaylandsThe rivers that once poured from the Sierra Nevada, thick with snowmelt and salmon, now languish amid relentless pumping, sometimes shriveling to a trickle and sparking a crisis for fish, wildlife and the people who rely on a healthy California delta.

A state plan to improve these flows and avert disaster, however, has been mired in conflict and delays. And critical opposition is coming from an unexpected place: progressive San Francisco. City water officials worry that the far-reaching effort to revive hundreds of miles of waterways will mean giving up too much of their precious mountain supplies.

Now, as the city water department works to defeat the state plan  pitting itself against environmental groups in an unlikely alliance with thirsty Central Valley farmers, as well as their backers in the Trump administration  some at City Hall have begun wondering if San Francisco is on the right side of Californias latest water war.

In a recent sign of an emerging divide, Supervisor Aaron Peskin is threatening to introduce a resolution that challenges the position of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and declares the city officially in support of the states river restoration.

Im concerned that the PUC is playing footsie with the Trump administration at the detriment of the environment, Peskin told The Chronicle. This is a city that prides itself on its environmental record, and we should be part of the solution.

Whether Peskins measure could force the largely independent Public Utilities Commission to change course is unclear. So is the resolutions chance of winning approval from the full Board of Supervisors.

John Blanchard

Peskins colleagues and those at the water agency remain concerned that forfeiting water, under the state plan, would prompt mandatory water cuts and drive up water rates as the city is compelled to seek out new, pricey supplies, such as desalination.

But what is clear is that, even without a successful resolution, the citys rift is providing momentum for environmentalists advocating for the rivers. By putting the Public Utilities Commission in the spotlight, they hope to see more of a backlash, and in doing so weaken the hand of San Francisco, which they view as a major hurdle to the states effort to rescue the river system.

The SFPUC is not representing the values of its residents, said Peter Drekmeier, policy director of the Tuolumne River Trust. We expect the Central Valley irrigation districts to oppose the plan. But San Francisco?

And, yes, (the city has) a lot of influence over this, he said.

At issue is how much water should flow from the Sierra Nevadas many rivers to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a vital ecological and water-supply hub where the states two largest waterways converge. As it stands, most of the rivers feeding the delta run at only a fraction of their natural flow because of the heavy draws by cities and farms.

The result has been declining water quality and lost wildlife habitat. The chinook salmon population is collapsing, a blow that has reverberated up the food chain to eagles, orcas and beyond. The delta estuary is menaced with invasive weeds and pollution.

Under the plan, the State Water Resources Control Board is proposing that no more than 60 percent of the flows of the San Joaquin River and its tributaries, on average, be taken from the channels during certain months in the winter and spring. The average flow now is less than 30 percent. A similar proposal is forthcoming for the Sacramento River.

Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle

State officials tout their effort, formally known as the Bay Delta Plan, as a compromise that will save the delta and the rivers while still leaving the bulk of the water for human consumption.

San Francisco and some of the states largest irrigation districts, however, contend they wont get enough water to support their needs.

The Tuolumne River, the source of San Franciscos famously pure Hetch Hetchy supply, averages just 21 percent of its historic flow at peak runoff. Meeting the states target would mean drawing 7 to 23 percent less water from the Tuolumne and other rivers in the San Joaquin River watershed, according to state estimates.

Officials at the Public Utilities Commission acknowledge that in wet years there wouldnt be any supply problems. But when it gets dry, they say, residents and businesses would invariably face water rationing  as much as a 40 percent reduction during a severe drought. Over the long run, as new water sources are developed, water rates could increase, they say, up to 17 percent over 15 years.

Much of the hardship would extend to the roughly two dozen Bay Area communities that purchase water from the city.

Michael Carlin, deputy general manager for the Public Utilities Commission, said the city agency is not ignoring the health of the river. The utility invests millions on restoring the Tuolumnes habitat. But Carlin said he has to look at more than just fish.

Im responsible for clean drinking water and protecting the environment, and theres a cost to doing both, he said. Its a balance sometimes. People dont always see that balance. But its there.

Officials at the Public Utilities Commission were not aware of any formal push by the Board of Supervisors to block their opposition to the states effort, saying only that they had been in conversation with board members about the matter.

I dont think were going to change course at this point, Carlin said.

San Francisco has played an outsize role in the statewide debate over the Bay Delta Plan.

While water issues often split between agricultural and urban interests, the citys resistance to the plan has created an unusually powerful bloc with the farming industry to take on the state.

Im totally amazed that the State Water Board has been able to stick to their guns, said Heinrich Albert, a water committee co-chair at the San Francisco Bay chapter of the Sierra Club. Albert has fought for the states initiative but acknowledges the citys power to derail it.

Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle 2018

The city-farm alliance has recently won the backing of the Trump administration. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke this summer criticized the Bay Delta Plan as being unfair to water users while President Trump has taken to Twitter to call the state foolish for not wanting to pump more water from rivers.

The latest show of support from Washington came as a subtle, yet surprising move by the Fish and Wildlife Service. This month, the agency shied away from what had been widely construed as an embrace of the Bay Delta Plans proposed flow increases. In a letter submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on a separate but related issue of dams on the Tuolumne River, the agency said its strategy for protecting wildlife habitat could be accommodated with lower river flows.

A spokesman for Fish and Wildlife called the change in direction necessary to balance the needs of people and nature. But supporters of the restoration were quick to suspect that the shift was the result of pressure from above.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Talks between water users and the state, mediated by former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt among others, have been ongoing. But so far theyve produced no meeting of the minds. The State Water Board is scheduled to vote to approve the proposed targets for the San Joaquin River watershed next month. The decision has already been postponed once because of the disagreement.

Research by the state and independent scientists has shown that boosting water levels is the only way to salvage Californias river system. A technical report by the State Water Board has recommended maintaining at least 60 percent of the natural flow of the San Joaquin River and its tributaries, though the board is willing to accept 40 percent for the sake of compromise.

The citys Public Utilities Commission, meanwhile, has put forth alternative research, backed by the Turlock and Modesto irrigation districts, that suggests that the Tuolumne River can be restored without drastically cutting back on the amount of water taken out.

The study, performed by water agency scientists, calls for more habitat improvements, from planting trees along the river banks to enhancing gravel beds for fish to removing the invasive creatures that prey on salmon.

Critics have dismissed the citys report as simply self-serving.

Supervisor Peskin said he hopes the Public Utilities Commission will eventually stand down, and hes been speaking with agency officials to encourage them to do so. If they dont, though, he believes hes got a good shot at forcing their hand.

A resolution from the Board of Supervisors that proclaims the city in support of the Bay Delta Plan would not necessarily require the Public Utilities Commission to adopt the citys position. The water agency operates independently of City Hall, with its own governing board, budget and staff.

However, the supervisors hold certain powers over the Public Utilities Commission. They must approve large infrastructure bonds and sign off on budgets, for example, and Peskin said hed leverage that authority if the agency declines to cooperate.

The bottom line is that if the Board of Supervisors were to set the policy of the city and county as having larger, unimpaired flows (in the river system), that would be a pretty significant move, Peskin said. It would have both political and legal implications.

At least two of San Franciscos 11 supervisors have expressed formal support for the Public Utilities Commission in letters to the state. But Peskin believes he could win enough votes from the others to pass a resolution.

Mayor London Breed, who would have veto power over the measure, declined to comment for this story.

The governing board of the Public Utilities Commission, which typically doesnt get involved in the day-to-day affairs of the agency, like lobbying against the Bay Delta Plan, appears to be taking a greater interest in the issue. The board is nominated by the mayor and approved by the supervisors.

Board member Francesca Vietor told The Chronicle that she has reservations about her agencys stand.

As a San Francisco resident and a commissioner, Im not willing to compromise the well-being of our fish, rivers and ecosystems, she said. Im not convinced we cant get to a better set of solutions.

Commissioner Ike Kwon also expressed concern for the health of the rivers but appeared more confident in his agencys ability to protect both wildlands and water supplies.

In a sense were all environmentalists, he said, just to a different degree.

Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexanderCompanies in Britain would have to report pay disparities among ethnic groups in their workforce under a rule being considered by Prime Minister Theresa Mays government.

The idea is a response to a study published last year that showed significant pay disparities between ethnic minorities and their white counterparts in Britain. It comes after the government began requiring large companies to report pay disparities between men and women.

Too often ethnic minority employees feel theyre hitting a brick wall when it comes to career progression, May said in a statement.

The Race Disparity Audit, a survey of 24,000 workers last year, found that white British adults were much more likely to be employed and to own their own homes than people from ethnic minorities.

The audit found that the unemployment rate for blacks, Asians and other ethnic minorities, at 8 percent, was vastly higher than for white British adults, who were at 4.6 percent. It also found that people who identified themselves as Pakistani, Bangladeshi or black received the lowest average hourly pay among ethnic groups.

Overall, the findings will be uncomfortable, May said when that report was released. But its right that weve identified them, shone a light on them and we need to confront these issues that we have identified.

When Britains government started requiring companies with over 250 employees to report their gender pay gaps last year, it found that average pay for men was higher than that for women at more than three-quarters of the 10,000 businesses that reported. Overall, it found the gender pay gap in Britain was just over 18 percent. Many hope that as the data accumulates and is publicized, businesses will be forced to do more to reduce the gap.

Sandra Kerr, the race equality director at the charity Business in the Community, said in a statement that the Race Disparity Audit showed that all too often ethnic minority staff are still encountering significant disparities at work.

The government said it would invite employers to offer ideas on how, exactly, to report on pay by ethnicity.

Their input will influence how such broad and complex data would be collected. At the moment, businesses in Britain report the racial background of their employees only on a voluntary basis, and such data reporting is relatively rare across Europe, where data protection rules may limit how much information about their employees the companies can store.

Some concerns about data collection were hinted at by the Confederation of British Industry.

Reporting must be done in a way that is supported by both businesses and employees, to recognize the wide range of ethnic groups and legitimate staff concerns about intrusiveness where sample sizes are small, said Matthew Fell, the organizations chief policy director for Britain.

Still, collecting such data would be just the beginning of a much longer process to establish why disparities exist.

While this comes with challenges, it is essential, as we believe that what gets measured gets done, said Suki Sandhu, who has founded an executive search firm and a membership organization focused on championing diversity. When organizations see in clear figures that they have a problem, there is no other option but to act on it.

Larger organizations with significant human resources departments would have a much easier time collecting the data than smaller businesses, which may not already have the software in place, said Sarah Gregory, a partner focused on diversity and inclusion at the law firm Baker McKenzie. So the government may consider applying reporting requirements only to larger organizations, such as those with 250 employees or more, as it did with gender pay gap reporting.

There are lots of businesses in the U.K. that dont currently monitor ethnicity data, and you cant report if you dont have the data, Gregory said. Even when you put that monitoring in place, it takes a while for people to respond. That is one of the challenges.

But, she added, it does galvanize action in looking at why these issues exist.

Consulting firm PwC is one of the companies that have voluntarily started tracking and analyzing pay by ethnicity, using the same methodology it does for the gender pay gap. Last year, it reported its pay for black, Asian and minority ethnic employees was 12.8 percent lower than that of its white employees, and the company attributed that entirely to the lack of ethnic minorities at senior levels and a higher concentration in junior roles.

While consultations like todays show progress is being made and awareness is rising, far more needs to be done, Laura Hinton, PwCs chief people officer, said in a statement. Reporting on ethnicity pay gaps may reveal harsh truths but thats a real trigger for action.

Amie Tsang is a New York Times writer.A change in scenery hasn't stopped Stanley Roberts from finding bad behavior, he just can't call it "bad" or "behavior."

The former host of KRON4's "People Behaving Badly" segment left the Bay Area last month for Phoenix. The Bay Area, he said, had become too expensive.

Roberts took the basis for his segment  filming folks doing illegal or otherwise socially unacceptable things  to KPHO-5, a Meredith-owned CBS affiliate that covers a handful of cities around Phoenix. The people of Phoenix are prone to outlawed antics just as much as Bay Area folks, he said, they just have 500 sq. miles in which to bend the rules. Needless to say, Roberts has been busy.

A tiff with KRON4 means Roberts can't use his signature "People Behaving Badly" title on his new segment (Roberts said it's a case of "sour grapes" between him and the network). The name of the new segment is still in the works; the catching of wrongdoers has already begun. Roberts' first segment, to air later this month, will feature a crackdown on people with outstanding warrants on public transit.

"I'm working on illegal dumping, as usual. They ask people not to cross the light rail tracks  you get a fine  so I'm showing how many people are doing that. I'm looking at the canals; some of them are polluted with shopping carts," Roberts said, ticking off his forthcoming projects.

It's clear the segment hasn't changed much, so I shifted the conversation away from the professional and into a subject Bay Area residents love to discuss: Is the grass greener outside Northern California?

For Roberts, one month into his Phoenix tenure, it's looking that way. Everything in Arizona, he said, is cheaper. Roberts rents a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in Midtown Phoenix with a washer-dryer, central air conditioning, and a communal pool and hot tub. Rooms at the complex start at $1,500.

His commute to work is now a mile-and-a-half, rather than "26 miles in stop-and-go traffic." He's also situated near the city's museums and cultural offerings, and just a short walk from the light rail, which can get him to the airport in six minutes.

"If the San Fernando Valley and Las Vegas had a baby, it would be called Phoenix," he said.

Phoenix is situated in the middle of a desert. It gets hot, and you don't have the Bay Area's views of water and mountains. But one makes do. Wintertime weather, Roberts notes, remains steady at about 75 degrees.

A few hours after our phone interview, Roberts emailed me a list of a few other things he likes about Phoenix, quoted below:

Ample parking No human feces on the street Gas prices Housing cost is much lower No rash of auto break-ins Almost all the same stores as in the Bay Area

What Phoenix lacks, Roberts said, is his following of Bay Area friends and fans. He misses people in pointing at him in public and saying, "Oh, you're that guy!"

This could happen in Phoenix soon enough.

Or "I could be rejected," he said. "They did that at first in the Bay Area, then I became, as they say, a staple."

Roberts said he still gets dozen of messages from the Bay Area asking him to investigate neighborhood wrongdoers. On a recent return trip to Northern California for a wedding, he said a half-dozen people asked to take a photo with him.

"The Bay Area has not abandoned me," he said resolutely.

There is the possibility he'll move back when his contract with KPHO is up in three years, though he'd probably need a GoFundMe payout of a million dollars, he said.

Before then, he wants to figure out why so many people he's met in Phoenix move there and stay. "Are they being held hostage?" he joked. "I don't see that. For some reason they love it here. I want to know why."

In the meantime, Roberts said he carries a piece of the Bay Area with him at his new office.

"My desk is three times bigger than the desk I had in the Bay, and guess what I get to do?" he said. "I get to hang pictures on the wall, my Emmy certificates, congressional recognitions, awards from police agencies. They remind me of the Bay."

"That's where it started. It'll always be home."

Read Michelle Robertson's latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com.

Start receiving breaking news emails on wildfires, civil emergencies, riots, national breaking news, Amber Alerts, weather emergencies, and other critical events with the SFGATE breaking news email. Click here to make sure you get the news.MEXICO BEACH, Fla.  Crews with backhoes and other heavy equipment scooped up splintered boards, broken glass, chunks of asphalt and other debris in hurricane-flattened Mexico Beach on Sunday as the mayor held out hope for the residents who may have tried to ride out the storm.

The death toll from Michaels destructive march from Florida to Virginia stood at 17 on Sunday, with just one confirmed death so far in this Florida Panhandle town of about 1,000 people that took a direct hit from the hurricane and its 155 mph winds last week.

Crews worked to clear building debris along with the rubble from a collapsed section of the beachfront highway.

Mayor Al Cathey estimated 250 residents stayed behind when the hurricane struck, and he said he remained hopeful about their fate. He said search-and-rescue teams in the beach town already had combed areas with the worst damage.

If we lose only one life, to me thats going to be a miracle, Cathey said.

He said enough food and water had been brought in for the residents who remain. Even some cell phone service had returned to the devastated community.

President Trump plans to visit Florida and Georgia on Monday to see the damage.

Four days after the storm struck, a large swath of the Panhandle was suffering, from little beach towns to the larger Panama City to rural communities miles from where the hurricane came ashore. About 190,000 customers in Florida were without electricity, along with about 120,000 in Georgia.

There are a lot of inland areas, some of these poor rural counties to the north of there. These counties took a devastating hit, Sen. Marco Rubio said on NBCs Meet The Press.

And we are talking about poor people, many of them are older, miles from each other, isolated in many cases from roads, including some dirt roads that are cut off right now. We havent been able to reach those people in a number of days.

Some victims stranded by the storm managed to summon relief by using logs to spell out HELP on the ground, officials in Bay County, which includes Mexico Beach, said Sunday. A person using a mapping app noticed the distress message and contacted authorities.

Meanwhile, Sen. Bill Nelson said Tyndall Air Force Base on the Panhandle was heavily damaged. The Florida Democrat said older buildings on the base were demolished, while newer ones will need substantial repairs.

Florida officials evacuated nearly 3,000 inmates from two hurricane-damaged prisons  the Gulf Correctional Institution and Annex and Calhoun Correctional Institution.

Russ Bynum and Brendan Farrington are Associated Press writers.WASHINGTON  The National Park Service is exploring whether to require protest organizers to pay for the cost of providing law enforcement and other support services for demonstrations held in the nations capital.

The proposed rule also could shrink a significant portion of the sidewalk outside the White House that is accessible to pedestrians, leaving a five-foot wide sliver. The public has until the close of Monday to comment on the proposal.WASHINGTON  President Trump welcomed American pastor Andrew Brunson to the Oval Office on Saturday, celebrating his release from nearly two years of confinement in Turkey that had sparked a diplomatic row with a key ally and outcry from U.S. evangelical groups.

Brunson, who returned to the United States aboard a military jet shortly before their meeting, appeared to be in good health and good spirits. He thanked Trump for working to secure his freedom and then led his family in prayer for the president. You really fought for us, he told Trump.

From a Turkish prison to the White House in 24 hours, thats not bad, Trump said.

Administration officials cast Brunsons release as vindication of Trumps hard-nosed negotiating stance, saying Turkey tried to set terms for Brunsons release, but Trump was insistent on Brunsons release without conditions. Trump maintained there was no deal for Brunsons freedom, but the president dangled the prospect of better relations between the U.S. and its NATO ally.

We do not pay ransom in this country, Trump said.

Trump thanked Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had resisted the demands of Trump and other high-level U.S. officials for Brunsons release. Erdogan had insisted that his countrys courts are independent, though he previously had suggested a possible swap for Brunson.

The U.S. had repeatedly called for Brunsons release and, this year, sanctioned two Turkish officials and doubled tariffs on steel and aluminum imports citing in part Brunsons plight. Trump said the move will lead to good, perhaps great, relations between the U.S. and fellow NATO ally Turkey, and said the White House would take a look at the sanctions.

Brunsons homecoming amounts to a diplomatic high note for Trump, who is counting on the support of evangelical Christians for Republican candidates in the Nov. 6 election. Thousands of Trumps supporters cheered Friday night at a rally in Ohio when Trump informed them that Brunson was once again a free man.

A Turkish court convicted Brunson on Friday of having links to terrorism and sentenced him to just over three years in prison but released the 50-year-old evangelical pastor because he had already spent nearly two years in detention. An earlier charge of espionage was dropped.

Hours later, Brunson was flown out of Turkey, his home for more than two decades. He was taken to a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, for a medical checkup.

Turkey has been frustrated by the refusal of the U.S. to extradite Fethullah Gulen, a Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric accused by Turkey of engineering a failed coup in 2016. Brunson was accused of committing crimes on behalf of Gulen and Kurdish militants who have been fighting the Turkish state for decades. He had faced up to 35 years in jail if convicted of all the charges against him.

Darlene Superville and Zeke Miller are Associated Press writers.WASHINGTON  President Trump gazes out over his rally crowd and unleashes a stream of insults with a theatrical flourish and playful grin. He jabs at Cory Booker the disaster mayor, Elizabeth Warren the Pocahontas pretender and sleepy Joe Biden.

I want to be careful, Trump tells the crowd, feigning a confession. He doesnt want to hit his potential challengers too badly, he says, because then the Democrats may find somebody thats actually good to run against me. That would not be good.

The venue may be Council Bluffs, Iowa, or Erie, Pa., or Topeka, Kan., but the formula is largely the same. Start with a few derisive nicknames, mix in some dreamy-eyed reminiscences of election night 2016, spice things up with an unexpected quip or zinger and youve got Trumps recipe for a successful campaign rally.

Trumps rallies once were the cornerstone of an unconventional, star-powered presidential campaign that eschewed traditional organizing and defied every expectation. Now theyre being deployed with gusto as Trump and his team work frantically to defy polls and precedent and save his Republican majority in Congress in Novembers midterm elections.

The rallies  more than two dozen so far to boost GOP candidates  never fail to delight Trumps supporters.

Look at this, says Brenda McDonald, 58, of Woodbury, Minn., gesturing to the thousands of people standing in a line that snaked for at least a mile when Trumps rally tour stopped in her state on Oct. 4. Have you ever seen rallies like this before?

Trump has been aggressively campaigning across the county to try to boost vulnerable Republicans before the Nov. 6 elections, when the stakes couldnt be higher. A Democratic takeover of Congress would stymie his agenda and mire his administration in endless investigations, including possible impeachment proceedings. Trumps team believes his appearances fire up his loyal base, countering the wave of Democratic enthusiasm that polls suggest will lead to significant Democratic gains, especially in the House.

But after more than 350 rallies since he first began his presidential run, some things have changed. The former insurgent candidate is now president, and hes been delivering on many of his campaign promises.

Trumps 2016 rallies had the feel of angry, raucous, grievance sessions. Gone now is the darkness, the crackling energy, the fear of potential violence as supporters and protesters faced off. The mood now is calmer, happier, more celebratory.

Trumps campaign, which was notably stingy during his own election effort, has been investing heavily in his recent tour, covering all the costs of organizing and paying for the rallies, including footing the Air Force One bills, according to the campaign. And they believe the money is well spent.

I think the fact hes still turning out these crowds of people, two years in, its absolutely amazing, said Richard Eichhorn, 72, of Stockholm, Wis. I think its huge.

Jill Colvin is an Associated Press writer.The Most Extensive and Reliable Source of Information Related to the Mexican Drugs Cartels.



You will not find this level of coverage anywhere else, join us!





Send information, pictures or videos, you remain 100% anonymous.

Envia fotos, videos, notas, enlaces o informacion todo 100% Anonimo.

Want to be a contributor or citizen reporter for

Borderland Beat?



We love to have you in our team, send Sol Prendido or HEARST an email!





WARNING:

Posts may contain strong violent material, discretion is advised.





COMMENTS:

We do not publish all comments, and we do not publish comments immediately.



COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa  President Donald Trump was energized. Fresh from the fight to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, he was firing up thousands of supporters at a rally by complaining about how Democrats had treated his nominee and how they may yet try to remove Kavanaugh from the bench.

Theyre saying, Well impeach him!' Trump practically bellowed into the microphone here last week, his voice brimming with incredulity and righteous outrage. Impeach him for what? For what? The crowd booed on cue.

Besides that, Trump then added slyly, I have to go first, right? The crowd laughed.

Perhaps only in the Trump era would the prospect of being impeached become a punch line for the president of the United States. But after almost two years of living under the cloud of a possible impeachment, it may soon cease to be a laughing matter. While Democrats are largely ducking the topic on the campaign trail, few in Washington doubt that impeachment will be on the table if they win the House on Nov. 6.

If that happens, anyone who thought the battle over Kavanaughs confirmation was ugly and divisive should buckle up, because history suggests it would provide only a small taste of what lies ahead. The impeachment drives against Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton tore at the nations fabric, but an effort to remove Trump could lead to an even more incendiary conflict, thanks to the advent of social media and Trumps brand of blowtorch politics.

Impeachment, by its nature, represents the ultimate test of American democracy, a titanic clash between two branches of government over whether the nations leader has done such damage to the integrity of the Republic that the will of the people as expressed in our complicated election system should be overturned. It is, in effect, a moment of reckoning, as the framers intended it to be, a judgment on the standards of society as they shift through time.

Rather than being apprehensive about the threat, Trump, who loves a good brawl, seems almost eager for Democrats to bring it on. He has begun making his case in recent months without waiting for the election. In August, he warned that if he is impeached, the market would crash and everybody would be very poor. In September, he told supporters it would be their fault if he is impeached because it would mean you didnt go out to vote.

And in Iowa, he laid out what would undoubtedly be his public argument. You get impeached for having created the greatest economy in the history of our country, he said. The best job numbers in the history of our country, just about, right? The greatest trade deals, which weve just finished, in the history of our country.

Putting aside the hyperbole about the economy and jobs numbers, which are both strong but hardly the best ever, Trump has a certain advantage going into any impeachment fight. The history of presidential impeachments shows that they are started by the opposition party but are never successful unless the presidents party buys into the effort.

In Trumps case, a Democratic House might impeach him, but even if Democrats take the Senate, they would still be far from the two-thirds necessary for conviction, meaning that 15 or more Republicans would have to go along. Such a scenario seems unlikely unless the special counsel, Robert Mueller, produces a report with such damning information that it transforms the current political dynamics.

But once again, the country would be confronted with the question of what the framers meant by high crimes and misdemeanors.

Intent on differentiating the president from a king, immune from accountability, the authors of the Constitution inserted Article II, Section 4, to create a check on the executive. They started out by authorizing impeachment in cases of treason or bribery, but George Mason found that too limiting and suggested adding maladministration. James Madison pushed back, worried that would make a president too beholden to Congress. Removing a bad president is what elections were for.

Mason backed off and proposed instead or other high crimes and misdemeanors, which was readily accepted. The Constitution included no further explanation, but in their discussions the framers made clear they had in mind any president who would employ his office for personal profit, betray his trust to foreign powers or injure society itself, among other possible offenses.

Intriguingly, the framers anticipated the possibility that a president might try to use his power to thwart investigations into his actions. During the Virginia ratification debate, Mason asked what would happen if a president chose to pardon crimes which were advised by himself or to stop inquiry and prevent detection of a crime he or an associate had committed? Madison responded that the House of Representatives can impeach him; they can remove him if found guilty.

The threat of impeachment has hung over many presidents, but it has never been taken to its full conclusion. John Tyler was the first to face a meaningful effort to remove him, but opponents could not muster a majority in the House. Critics investigated or submitted resolutions of impeachment against James Buchanan, Ulysses Grant and Herbert Hoover.

Republicans talked about impeaching Harry Truman for firing Gen. Douglas MacArthur during the Korean War. Democrats talked about impeaching Ronald Reagan over the Iran-Contra affair and George W. Bush over the Iraq War. George H.W. Bush predicted that he might be impeached if he went to war to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi forces without congressional approval. Barack Obamas aides, likewise, feared impeachment if he launched airstrikes against Syria over congressional objections.

The only three impeachment efforts that seriously endangered a president came in the Johnson, Nixon and Clinton cases. The House impeached Johnson for violating a law blocking him from firing Cabinet secretaries without Senate approval, a law later found to be unconstitutional. But the underlying dispute was one of policy  Radical Republicans considered the president, a TennesseeDemocrat, far too lenient on the South and unwilling to protect freed slaves after the Civil War. The Senate acquitted him by a single vote.

Nixons case was a more clear-cut abuse of power and obstruction of justice: the Watergate burglary to spy on his political opposition and the resulting cover-up, including the payment of hush money and, finally, a transcript of the smoking gun tape of him trying to order the CIA to block the FBI investigation. The House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach, and Nixon resigned rather than continue to fight after fellow Republicans abandoned him.

Bill Clintons case fell somewhere in the murky middle. Charged with perjury and obstruction of justice for trying to impede a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Paula Jones by hiding his affair with a former White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, Clinton was impeached on a nearly party-line vote in the House and acquitted in the Senate. Defenders were left to argue that yes, he may have violated the law, but it was not such a profound violation to merit removal.

More than any other president, however, Trump has lived under the shadow of impeachment since before he took office. Within days of his election in November 2016, speculation began about impeachment because of the many ethical issues surrounding him.

Regardless of whether Mueller reports any ties with Russia during the 2016 campaign, Trumps critics have a laundry list of what they consider impeachable offenses, from hotel and other private business activities that benefit from foreign governments to the firing of FBI Director James B. Comey after trying to get him to drop an investigation of a former aide to hush money paid to two women to keep them from talking publicly about sexual encounters before the election.

The public is more supportive of impeaching Trump than it ever was of impeaching Clinton and more than it was of beginning impeachment proceedings against Richard Nixon until near the end of the Watergate scandal. In August, 49 percent of Americans surveyed by The Washington Post and ABC News favored impeaching Trump, while 46 percent opposed it.

The elected Democratic leadership has been reluctant to talk about it, out of worries of a public backlash or playing into Trumps hands. A failed impeachment could energize his base and even propel him to re-election in 2020. Its not someplace I think we should go, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, has said.

But it is hard to imagine Democrats not going there if they take the House, given the enormous pressure from their liberal base to at least open an impeachment inquiry. Three-quarters of Democrats told pollsters that they want Trump impeached. Tom Steyer, the liberal billionaire who has been financing television ads advocating impeachment, announced this past week that he has collected 6 million signatures on a petition.

Trumps side is gearing up and hopes to use the potential fight to galvanize supporters to turn out next month. Its very simple  Nov. 6, up or down vote, Steve Bannon, his former chief strategist, said recently. Up or down vote on the impeachment of Donald Trump.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.OAKLAND (BCN)



Allistair Mallillin dipped his brush in brown paint and then began carefully filling in a space on a mural near a homeless encampment near Interstate 880 in Oakland.



Mallillin and about a dozen other community members were working Saturday on a mural with the theme "Oakland for all of us."



Former KPIX anchor Dana King donated the space, an exterior wall measuring 70 feet by 20 feet, of the building she owns at East 12th Street and 13th Avenue.



The mural blooms with vivid orange poppies representing California's indigenous people, calla lilies representing Mexican culture and Chinese blossoms. It also prominently features the name of Nikki Fortunato Bas, who is running for the City Council in District 2, where the mural is located.



King said she donated the wall in hopes of bringing the community together around political change.



"Oakland is in the midst of an economic renaissance, but so many are being left behind," said King, who is a sculptor and rents the building as live-work space to five other artists at below-market-rate rents.



Oakland muralist Leslie Lopez spray-painted the outlines of the mural by hand and is overseeing East Lake neighbors in filling it in.



"I think it's beautiful, and a way to unite the community," said Khalayla Thompson of Oakland as she worked on a section of the mural. "The colors are coming together well."





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.Survivors of domestic violence from multiple cultural communities in Santa Clara County are telling their stories with the "I Dare to Air -- My Resilience, My Truth" exhibit for Domestic Violence Awareness Month.



Women's clothing from Vietnamese, Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Korean and Mexican cultures are lined up in the Santa Clara County Civic Center, inviting dozens of daily passersby to read stories of distress and triumph.



The exhibit includes placards from unnamed women recounting experiences of domestic abuse. Many include immigrant women, who were afraid to lose an economic and cultural safety net by leaving their abusive partners.



A Cambodian woman, who came to the U.S. in 1985 as a refugee, said her husband began abusing her after five years of marriage in the new country.



"Leaving my husband felt very similar to leaving Cambodia," she wrote in the exhibit. "I was terrified, unsure of what tomorrow will bring or where I will sleep." She said she eventually began a new life and started a small business with her children by her side.



"These traumatic experiences did not end my life; instead, they propelled me into a warrior," she wrote.



County Supervisors Cindy Chavez and Ken Yeager will host an opening ceremony for the exhibit from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Monday in the breezeway of 70 W. Hedding St.



They will be joined by multiple groups that provide resources for domestic abuse victims, including Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI), FIRST 5 of Santa Clara County, the East San Jose PEACE Partnership, Community Solutions and MAITRI.



At the end of October, the exhibit will travel to East Side Union High School District, family resources and community centers throughout the county.





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.MONTEREY (BCN)



California history buffs can have a field day at Monterey's History Fest, which includes a birthday party for the city's Old Fisherman's Wharf today.



The History Fest ran all day Saturday and continues today at many locations in Monterey, including Fisherman's Wharf at No. 1 Old Fisherman's Wharf in downtown Monterey.



The wharf is celebrating its 173rd birthday, and today's event is slated to include free cake, live music and a free tour. The party begins at 1 p.m. at the entrance to the wharf.



Another highlight today is a reenactment of the 169th anniversary of the signing of California's first Constitution. Local actors will debate during the bilingual reenactment. The event takes place at Colton Hall, 570 Pacific St. Reservations must be made in advance by emailing museumpt@monterey.org.





Copyright  2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)



San Francisco Mayor London Breed is set to take a more active role in the ongoing strike involving some 7,500 employees of large hotels, and has offered to meet with leaders of the Unite Here Local 2 union.



"We're hopeful that with more public support, Marriott will be encouraged to do the right thing," said Rachel Gumpert, a spokeswoman for Unite Here Local 2, based in San Francisco, said tonight.



Such a meeting could take place sometime this coming week, Breed's office said in a statement Friday.



Gumpert said approximately 7,500 have walked off the job in the past 10 days or so at Marriott hotels across the United States. About one third of those strikers work in hotels in San Francisco, she said.



The strikers seek a wage high enough so they don't have to work more than one job to continue to live in San Francisco and nearby cities.



The strikers have kept up a sometimes loud protest since they walked off of their jobs.



"We're continuing to see a lot of great support for the strikers," Gumpert said tonight.



Forty-one strikers outside the Marriott Marquis hotel at Mission and Fourth Streets were arrested Friday night as they blocked Fourth Street in a show of civil disobedience.



A message left tonight with Mayor Breed's press office was not returned, nor was a message left with a Marriott spokesman seeking comment.









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.CONCORD (BCN)



A suspected "peeping Tom" was taken into custody late Friday night in a Concord residential neighborhood with the help of a California Highway Patrol helicopter crew, the CHP said on social media this afternoon.



Concord police were responding to a report shortly after 10 p.m. of a man looking into windows. The CHP helicopter, which at that point was flying over Walnut Creek, was called to Concord about 10:14 p.m. in an attempt to find the suspect.

PITTSBURG SHOOTING: 1 man shot and killed early Saturday in Pittsburg parking lot

The suspect was located almost immediately, hiding next to a fence, by the helicopter crew. He was arrested by Concord police moments later without incident, the CHP said.



More specific information about the suspect or where he was arrested was not available this afternoon. Concord police are investigating the case.

UBER DRIVER: Uber driver attempting to deliver petition to company's headquarters gets tackled to the ground

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.Officials in Alameda, Napa and Sonoma Counties are preparing for possible Pacific Gas and Electric power shutoffs as early as this morning in the wake of extreme fire danger warnings.



A news release Saturday night said PG&E is prepared to turn off electricity in all or parts of 12 Northern California counties as early as this morning, and also tonight into Monday morning. High wind warnings are in effect in the Bay Area into Monday morning. High winds raise the fire danger substantially in areas where vegetation is already painfully dry.



The greater likelihood is potentially turning off the power in advance of windy weather Sunday night, and PG&E and county officials are contacting customers directly and providing early warning notification, when and where possible, via automated calls, texts, and emails.



In June, Cal Fire announced that the utility's "electric power and distribution lines, conductors and the failure of power poles" caused at least a dozen wildfires in six Northern California counties.



Power shutoffs such as those proposed by PG&E now are done strictly as a last resort during extreme weather conditions, the utility's statement said.



Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore said late Saturday, "This would be the first event of its kind in Sonoma County, and we are ready for the challenges it may bring."



Sonoma County's Emergency Management Division has developed an Electrical System De-energization Response Plan and put it into motion given PG&E's plan, said Gore, who emphasized the county has no control over whether the power is actually turned off.







On a related note, gusty offshore winds and dry conditions prompted the National Weather Service on Saturday to issue a "red flag warning" for critical fire conditions this weekend in the Bay Area.



The warning will be in effect this evening through Monday morning, across North Bay mountains, the East Bay hills and the Diablo Range.



The greatest threat is at elevations above 1,000 feet in Napa County and eastern Sonoma County, where the driest conditions and strongest winds are most likely, according to the weather service.



Northeast winds are forecast to be from 20 to 35 mph, with gusts up to 60 mph in some locations.







San Francisco Mayor London Breed is set to take a more active role in the ongoing strike involving some 7,500 employees of large hotels, and has offered to meet with leaders of the Unite Here Local 2 union.



"We're hopeful that with more public support, Marriott will be encouraged to do the right thing," Rachel Gumpert, a spokeswoman for Unite Here Local 2, based in San Francisco, said Saturday night.



Such a meeting could take place sometime this coming week, Breed's office said in a statement Friday.



Gumpert said approximately 7,500 have walked off the job in the past 10 days or so at Marriott hotels across the United States. About one-third of those strikers work in hotels in San Francisco, she said.



The strikers seek a wage high enough so that they don't have to work more than one job to continue to live in San Francisco and nearby cities.







A 38-year-old man died in a shooting early Saturday morning in Pittsburg in that city's second homicide this year, police said.



Responding to a report of gunshots shortly after 2 a.m. in the 600 block of Cumberland Street near downtown, officers found the victim in a nearby parking lot, police said in a news release.



The man, a resident of Pittsburg, was taken to a hospital where he later died. His name was not released.



The victim and suspect may have known each other, police said. Officers are interviewing witnesses and patrons of a nearby business, and are reviewing video surveillance from the area.







Four spear fishermen have been sentenced to 30 days in county jail for poaching fish within the Big Creek State Marine Reserve, Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo announced Thursday.



Prosecutors said Dennis Marshall Lewis, 23, Darryl Lycurgus, 22, Daniel Gordon Gross, 22, and Nicholas Ta, 26, each pleaded no contest to taking fish within the reserve.



The four men will also serve three years of informal probation and each pay a fine of $1,000.



On March 19, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife received a tip that there were people illegally spear fishing within the Big Creek State Marin Reserve.



A witness confronted the men, and they changed out of their wetsuits, packed up their equipment and drove away in a truck.



The witness provided officers with the truck's license plate number, and the vehicle was pulled over a short time later.



Prosecutors said the four men admitted to spear fishing, and officers located 15 fish, including sheephead, lingcod, vermilion rockfish, cabezons and blue rockfish, in the bed of the truck.







The California Highway Patrol said alcohol might have been a factor in a fatal collision Thursday in unincorporated Monterey County that left one person dead and two others injured.



Zenon Sanchez Cruz, 23, of Watsonville, suffered fatal injuries when his Mitsubishi Galant collided with another vehicle on Salinas Road, south of Trafton Road, according to the CHP.



Officers responded at 6:55 p.m. to the collision involving two vehicles on southbound Salinas Road.



The Mitsubishi made an unsafe turn, crossed a dirt median into the southbound lanes and collided with a Dodge Journey, according to the CHP. The Dodge was struck in the front end, and the Mitsubishi was hit along the driver's side door.



A passenger in the Mitsubishi suffered major injuries in the collision, and the driver of the Dodge suffered moderate injuries. Both were taken to a hospital.



The CHP is still investigating the collision.







A 25-year-old Petaluma man was arrested in connection with a stabbing reported early Saturday morning, police said.



About 1:50 a.m., officers responded to reports of a stabbing in the area of B and Fourth streets and found the victim with multiple wounds to his torso, according to police.



Witnesses gave officers a description of the suspect and said there was no apparent reason for the stabbing, police said in a news release.



Officers found a suspect, Brandon Puehse, in the area and arrested him on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. Puehse had the weapon with him, police said.



Puehse was being held at Sonoma County Jail on $30,000 bail, police said.







A man was taken into custody late Friday night in a Concord residential neighborhood with the help of a California Highway Patrol helicopter crew, Concord police said tonight.



Officers saw a man riding a bicycle on the sidewalk in the area of Greenbush Court, just east of Mountain View Elementary School, about 10 p.m., said Concord police Lt. Kristen Thoms.



The suspect, a 36-year-old man, ran when police approached him. Thoms stressed that the man was not a suspected "peeping Tom," as he was described in a social media post Saturday and in several media reports. Police said riding the bicycle on the sidewalk was a vehicle code violation, and that they thought they saw the man discard drug paraphernalia, which Thoms said was not found.



The CHP helicopter, which at that point was flying over Walnut Creek, was called to north central Concord about 10:14 p.m. in an attempt to find the suspect. The suspect was located almost immediately, hiding next to a fence, by the helicopter crew, Thoms said. He was arrested by Concord police moments later without incident, said Thoms.



The man was discovered to have an outstanding warrant for a probation violation. He was taken to the County Jail in Martinez.









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.Egypt Today

File: An army check point is seen in El-Arish city, in North Sinai July 15, 2013- Reuters

CAIRO  14 October 2018: Compensations of more than LE 1.3 billion were provided to the residents, who were living along the Gaza Strip Border Crossing with Egypt in Northern Sinai to establish the buffer zone.

In an interview with "Egypt Today" program, military spokesman Tamer el-Rifai said that more than 3,000 underground tunnels connecting Egypt with Gaza Strip were found along the border in the past few years.

He added that these tunnels threaten Egypt's national security amid fears that militants could use them to smuggle weapons, ammunition, drugs and fighters inside Sinai.

Therefore, he added, Egypts Cabinet issued decree No.1008 of 2015 to establish a buffer zone on the borders between Egypt and Gaza to combat terrorism and prevent establishing more underground tunnels.

Rifai further remarked that the buffer zone has been constructed in phases to give the residents sufficient time to evacuate their homes, and more than LE 1.3 billion were provided to the residents as compensations.

He pointed out the Armed Forces Engineering Authority is currently working on establishing the new Rafah city with 10016 housing units.

Egypt established the buffer zone following October 2014's deadly attack on the army post at Sheikh Zuweid, Northern Sinai that killed at least 31 soldiers.

However, building the buffer zone required the army to demolish thousands of homes found in that zone and evacuate tens of thousands of residents. In return, the government has provided the residents with financial compensations.

The buffer zone will be a closed military zone constructed within 100 meters inside the Gaza strip, in order to facilitate the surveillance of borders, prevent the smuggling of arms and drugs into Egyptian territories, and cut jihadis off from their Gaza supply route.

It is equipped with surveillance cameras and watch towers.

The zone includes barbed wire, CCTV cameras and a control room to monitor the borders.

This is part of Egypts efforts to root out terrorism from Northern and Central Sinai.

In February 2018, army spokesman Rifai announced in a strongly worded televised statement that the military and police forces initiated Comprehensive Operation Sinai 2018.

The operation involved land, naval and air forces, as well as the police and border guards, targeting "terrorist and criminal elements and organizations" in North and Central Sinai, as well as parts of the Nile Delta and the Western Desert along the porous border with Libya, strongholds of a persistent Islamic State (IS) group insurgency that has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and policemen.

During the ongoing military operation, army and security forces managed to eliminate dozens of takfiri elements, seize a number of explosive devices, weapons and ammunition, and damage cannabis farms, besides other accomplishments, according to the consecutive army statements.BEIRUT  A month after Russia, Turkey and Iran came together in a last-ditch effort to halt a potentially catastrophic Syrian government offensive in Idlib, they appear to have succeeded in creating a buffer zone around the northern rebel-held province, defusing tensions in a major flashpoint region.

The deal has for now averted a government offensive on the last major opposition stronghold in Syria, where tens of thousands of militants live alongside 3 million civilians and opposition fighters. But if the truce collapses, the fighting could cause major displacement and bloodshed.

The Sept. 17 agreement called for a demilitarized zone 9 to 12 miles deep and stretching along the front lines around Idlib, including parts of the provinces of Latakia, Hama and Aleppo.

Days ahead of an Oct. 10 deadline, Turkey-backed rebels and an al Qaeda-linked alliance pulled their weaponry back from the front lines in accordance with the deal struck between the Russian and Turkish presidents. By Monday, all radical terrorist groups are also to pull back. At an unspecified date, Turkish troops and Russian military police plan to begin conducting patrols and monitoring with drones along the DMZs boundaries.

Syrian President Bashar Assad said this month that the Russia-Turkey deal is a temporary one and that his governments ultimate goal is to restore control over all of Syria. He described Western objections to an offensive in Idlib as hysterical.

Most observers believe plans for a government offensive are simply on hold and that Assads forces will eventually retake the province  by force if need be. Amid the myriad rebel groups and hard-core jihadis in Idlib, there are concerns that any of a number of factions could trigger renewed fighting.

International aid agencies working in northwestern Syria warn of dire consequences for millions of civilians if the Russia-Turkey deal doesnt result in a sustained reduction of violence.

Turkey, which supports the Syrian opposition, has deployed hundreds of soldiers to 12 observation posts that ring Idlib following a de-escalation agreement reached last year with Russia and Iran, both of which are allied with the government. That effectively positioned Turkey as a protector of the province and any government offensive risks leading to a direct clash between Syrian troops and Turkish forces.

Bassem Mroue is an Associated Press writer.KABUL  Taliban militants attacked an army base in western Afghanistan, killing 17 Afghan soldiers and abducting 11 others, officials said Sunday.

Ghausuddin Noorzai, the district chief in Pusht Rod, said another four soldiers were wounded in the attack, which began late Saturday and continued into Sunday. He said the Taliban also overran two checkpoints near the base, seizing weapons and ammunition.

Abdul Samad Salehi, a member of the provincial council in Farah, confirmed the death toll and said the troops defending the base received no air support or reinforcements.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest in their near-daily assaults on Afghan security forces. The Taliban have seized districts across the country in recent years as Afghan forces have struggled to hold rural areas and defend against coordinated attacks.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, a young girl was killed and three others were wounded in the crossfire of a battle between Afghan forces and the Taliban in western Herat province, said Gelani Farhad, spokesman for provincial governor.

Farhad said the main highway between the southern province of Kandahar and Herat was blocked for several hours.

The death toll from an attack on an election rally Saturday in northern Takhar province, meanwhile, climbed from 14 to 22, according to Jawad Hajri, a spokesman for the provincial governor.

He said another 36 people were wounded in the attack, in which a motorcycle loaded with explosives detonated near the rally. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Taliban are active in the province.2 Staten Island doctors accused of running pill mills

A Staten Island doctor is accused of running a lucrative prescription pill mill that led to several of his patients fatally overdosing, including two office employees, authorities said Thursday.

Dr. Carl Anderson, 57, whose practice is in Eltingville, was one of two borough physicians charged with illegally distributing millions of oxycodone pills, according to court papers.

The second man charged is Dr. Nkanga Nkanga, 65, who is based on Cromwell Avenue in Dongan Hills.

In addition to the two Staten Island men, several others in New York City -- doctors, a pharmacist and medical assistants -- were rounded up as part of a major federal drug bust.

These doctors were drug dealers in white coats, said U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman during a press conference in Manhattan federal court.

Anderson and his co-conspirator, Arthur Grande, also a Staten Island resident, worked together to dispense nearly a million oxycodone pills that were sold to drug addicts on the street, said a federal court indictment.

Anderson wrote the scripts to patients he knew didnt medically need the painkiller, including Grande, who then sold them, said the filing.

They began their alleged scheme in 2006.

Don't Edit

Video shows police using stun gun on 48 S.I. man during domestic violence call

A video released by the Legal Aid Society Tuesday shows police using a stun gun and repeatedly punching a diminutive Port Richmond man with several medical conditions.

The video shows police forcing their way into the Cottage Place apartment 24-year-old William Colon shares with his family on Sept. 28 at around 1:30 p.m. in response to a domestic violence complaint, according to court documents.

Once inside, one of the NYPD officers -- identified by the Legal Aid Society as Vincenzo Trabolse -- forces himself on top of the 4-foot, 8-inch, 85-pound Colon, and proceeds to attempt to handcuff him.

As the officers struggle to take Colon into custody, Trabolse punches, and uses a stun gun once on the man, whose limp body is eventually taken away in handcuffs.

Colons brother, Jazz, who recorded the video can be heard multiple times in the video telling officers about his brothers medical conditions.

Trabolse is also named in a lawsuit from June 2016 that alleges he assaulted a disabled man for resisting arrest.

Don't Edit

Man sentenced in gun buyback case after Court of Appeals declines to hear claim

A New Brighton mans fight to use a gun buyback defense to overturn a conviction two years ago ended after the Court of Appeals -- the highest court in the state -- recently declined to hear his case.

Kevin Watson was sentenced Wednesday to five years for weapons charges, and three years' post-release supervision, said a spokesman for the district attorneys office.

Hes obviously not happy," said Watsons lawyer, Timothy Parlatore. "He wouldve liked a different result.

After a week-long trial in 2016, a jury found Watson guilty of one count of felony criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and one count of misdemeanor criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.

State Supreme Court Justice William E. Garnett sentenced him to five years in prison in connection with the 2013 incident.

A state appellate court this year upheld Watson's weapons conviction. After hearing oral arguments a year-and-a-half ago, the four appellate justices voted 3-1 against the appeal.

Parlatore said the Court of Appeals did not provide an explanation for not hearing Watsons case.

Don't Edit

$10-million malpractice verdict against prominent doctor

A Staten Island jury has awarded a medical-malpractice verdict of nearly $10 million to the family of a Princes Bay man, who alleged he committed suicide six years ago after a prominent physician failed to properly diagnose and treat his extreme depression and anxiety.

Richard Shouldis, 48, had complained to Dr. Theodore Strange of worsening symptoms of panic attacks, depression, fatigue, excessive worry, concentration problems and weight loss in the days before he took his life on June 7, 2012, said Vito A. Cannavo, the familys lawyer.

But Strange, who had prescribed anti-anxiety, anti-depression and sleep medicine, failed to properly recognize and evaluate the decedents progressively depressive and self-destructive state and did not adequately assess decedent for suicidal thoughts and ideation, contends the familys court papers.

The family maintained Shouldis was so agitated and disturbed during a June 6 office visit, and his condition had deteriorated so rapidly within a week that Strange should have immediately sent him to a psychiatrist or to the hospital, said Cannavo.

The doctors failure to do so allowed Shouldis depression and anxiety to worsen to the point that he became suicidal and killed himself, contends the suit filed by Charlene Shouldis, the decedents wife and administrator of his estate.

Don't Edit

Man, 27, accused of having sex with pre-teen girl in Tompkinsville

A 27-year-old man faces a rape charge after he allegedly had sex with a pre-teen girl in Tompkinsville, according to authorities.

Sedrik Williams, 27, of Tompkinsville, was arrested on Tuesday for the incident that happened inside an apartment in his neighborhood on Sunday at about 4 p.m., according to the criminal complaint.

He allegedly had sex with the girl who is less than 13 years old, according to the criminal complaint.

Charges against the suspect include rape, criminal sex act, sexual abuse, sexual misconduct and endangering the welfare of a child.

Attorney John Poppe maintains that his client, Williams, has been wrongly accused.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Brutal and bizarre: New details emerge in random assault on New Dorp Lane

Family of a woman brutally assaulted by a stranger Monday on New Dorp Lane say her injuries were more horrific than initially reported, while the man accused of the attack has been hospitalized for psychological reasons.

A witness told police they watched a man run toward the victim on New Dorp Lane, and throw her to the ground. The reality, according to the womans family, is much worse.

A relative told the Advance on Thursday the victim suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage, which potentially could result in permanent brain damage, in addition to an eye hematoma rendering her incapable of opening or using the eye for any sort of function."

In addition to being knocked unconscious and suffering broken bones, the attack ripped skin off the womans back, "causing deep, deep lacerations across 90 percent of her backside, she said.

Police charged Eric Coleman, 55, who at the time of the arrest had no permanent address. He was transported to Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze, and has remained under medical supervision for psychological reasons, according to authorities.

Don't Edit

Woman, 25, accused in hit-and-run and store theft in Eltingville

A 25-year-old woman is accused in a hit-and-run crash in the parking lot of a strip mall in Eltingville where she previously shoplifted, authorities allege.

Tracey Mitchell, 25, of Eltingville, is accused in the separate incidents that occurred at a shopping strip in the 3900 block of Richmond Avenue, according to the criminal complaint and police.

She lives on Richmond Avenue a couple of blocks from where the incidents occurred, according to police.

Mitchell allegedly was behind the wheel of a white Dodge pickup truck in the parking lot on Sept. 26 at about 5:15 p.m. when the vehicle backed into a 56-year-old man, causing him to fall to the pavement and suffer injuries that included substantial and severe pain to his left shoulder and hip, according to the complaint and police.Syringes and medicine bottles were found washed up along Berrow beach during a beach clean on Saturday (October 13th).

Over 25 local volunteers braved high winds and rain showers to join the latest litter clean organised by the Friends of Berrow Beach.

While the group focussed on removing plastic rubbish, they were shocked to find several syringes and medicine botles among the debris.

Litter Free Somersets Chloe Walker-Panse told Burnham-On-Sea.com: It is worrying to find items like these on our beaches and shows the importance of these beach cleans. These items could have been flushed down toilets or thrown into the sea.

Volunteers also collected nurdles  small plastic pellets about the size of a lentil  which are created each year to make plastic products but end up getting washing up along the UKs coastline.

The Berrow group is led by Honour Greenslade, Sue Meads and Tracie Philpott with the support of the Litter Free Coasts & Seas project.The In Class education column will be published regularly to highlight area school happenings.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Students, parents and staff of the 21 Staten Island elementary schools displayed their school pride during the 33rd annual Family Fun Day on Sept. 29 at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk.

Hundreds of parents and students attended the free event, which benefits Staten Island Catholic schools.

Activities included face-painting, a craft activity table, children raffles and the NYPDs rock wall. M2M DJs played music during the day, while food was available from Uncle Louie Gs on the boardwalk.

The event was made possible with the support of the Staten Island regional Board and FidelisCare. It was chaired by Diana Gatto, director of enrollment for the Catholic school region of Staten Island.

View the gallery above to see photos from the event this year.

As part of our new education column, In Class, we are highlighting some of the activities Staten Island students are engaged in -- both inside and outside the classroom.

Heres a look at some additional recent education-related happenings.

STEM LAB

Students at PS 56 in Woodrow will soon be engaged in science and technology coursework in a new STEM lab.

Councilman Joseph Borelli (R-South Shore) is allocating $175,000 in funding from his capital budget this year to create the STEM lab.

Every parent today knows how critical these STEM skills are to the future workforce and I think students understand that the focus on hard sciences is for their benefit, Borelli said. Its equally as important that schools and teachers have the resources to make the curriculum fun and engaging, and thats what this lab is really meant for, to provide a really engaging way for our kids to learn the complex but foundational skills that are going to help them to succeed later in life.

The coursework will allow students to answer specific questions through research, experimentation and simulation in a controlled environment. They will be challenged to engineer solutions to complex problems using critical thinking skills to propose hypotheses and verify them.

This STEM upgrade will provide our students with hands-on experience in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and better equip them for middle school, high school, college and 21st century careers, said Philip Carollo, principal of PS 56. We have a deep sense of gratitude for Mr. Borellis vision and commitment to the future of our children.

YOGA AT CURTIS

Twenty-two students at Curtis High School will be able to learn yoga and eventually become yoga teachers themselves.

The Be Free Youth Leadership Yoga Teacher Training is the first yoga teacher training in New York City as an accredited part of curriculum. The two-year training is offered to students 16 years old and older.

It was created, and led by Larissa Schiano Gonzalez, owner and yoga teacher trainer of Be Yoga & Dance, and Jennifer Korten, yoga teacher and assistant principal at Curtis.

By sharing the tools of yoga which lead to self-realization and freedom, we are empowering Curtis High School youth to empower their communities through yoga, Gonzalez said.

The idea came about when Korten and Gonzalez were having a conversation about how yoga has transformed their lives and how they can empower youth to become leaders.

Curtis students will benefit from this program by receiving access to physical and mental health well being, self-empowerment tools, the importance of serving others and creating their lives from a place of empowerment and possibility, Gonzalez said.

NEW PRESCHOOL

Opening its doors to preschool-aged children last month, the Berman JCC Early Childhood Center, New Springville, celebrated its grand opening on Oct. 9.

The school is the fourth location for the Jewish Community Centers (JCC) Early Childhood programs throughout Staten Island. It offers a full range of services for children three months to five years old.

Services include infant day care, nursery school, Pre-K for All and First Foot Forward, which offers services for young children with disabilities.

The JCC's First Foot Forward program accepts children with disabilities beginning at 2 years old.

The program has served children and their families for 30 years, originating at the JCC Tompkinsville site, located at 475 Victory Blvd.

The Berman School is the fourth JCC Early Childhood Center. Other locations include: the Joan & Alan Bernikow JCC, Sea View; the Avis/South Shore JCC, Greenridge, and the Aberlin North Shore JCC, Tompkinsville.

The Berman JCC Early Childhood Center, New Springville, celebrated its grand opening on Oct. 9. (Photo courtesy of Ruth Lasser)

Do you have a story idea for the new In Class education column? Email education reporter Annalise Knudson at aknudson@siadvance.com.

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Borough President James Oddo, Councilman Joseph Borelli (R-South Shore) and the New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH) will host a neighborhood pop-up court on Oct. 17 in Rossville.

The event at Staten Island Community Board 3 at 1243 Woodrow Rd. will allow local residents to answer summonses from the Department of Sanitation and some from the Health Department.

This neighborhood pop-up court will make it easier for Staten Islanders from the South Shore to fight summonses in a convenient location," said Oddo.

Those eligible to make use of the court will be contacted through the mail, according to a media release from Oddos office. OATH estimated more than 200 letters will be sent out to recipients of summonses who are eligible to have their case heard at the pop-up court.

Recipients will be able to meet with OATH hearing officer, plead their cases, and both the recipient and enforcement agency will be sent a decision in seven days, according to the release.

This means that the recipient of the summons is able to meet one-on-one with the OATH Hearing Officer and tell him or her why they believe the summons should be dismissed. The decision is written up and mailed to both the enforcement agency, and the person who fought the summons within 7 days.

The initiative was launched in April by OATH, which is the citys independent administrative law court and where all city agnecies file their regulatory and enforcement summonses for hearings. The first pop-up court was held in June in the Mid-Island area.

OATH Commissioner and Chief Administrative Law Judge Fidel F. Del Valle said the pop-up courts'" goal is to make it easier for those who were issued summonses.

Our Neighborhood Pop-Up Courts program brings the court to where you work and live so that fighting City summonses and accessing justice at OATH is more convenient and less time consuming," Valle said.

Borelli said the court is a step in the right direction in terms of accessibility of the court for South Shore residents.

That someone from my district on the South Shore of Staten Island would have to take a day off and travel to the ferry to fight a ticket is absurd, Borelli said. This is a true step in the right direction in terms of the accessibility of the court and I applaud Commissioner Fidel Del Valle for accommodating Staten Islanders.

In addition to the pop-up court, recipients can also fight the summons remotely online, by phone, webcam or mail if they choose not to attend the pop-up court or have their hearing in person.

Recipients of summonses can also go to the Staten Island OATH Hearing Office at 350 St. Marks Pl., Tompkinsville, on the day of their scheduled hearing if they want to contest the summons in person there.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza announced nominations for the seventh annual Big Apple Awards are now open.

The Big Apple Awards celebrate and honor teachers who demonstrate strong teaching practices, enrich their school communities and embody the Department of Educations (DOE) mission of Equity & Excellence for All.

To students, families, and staff across the city -- help your teachers get the recognition they deserve by nominating them for a Big Apple Award," Carranza said. We can never thank our amazing teachers enough, and I encourage our communities to take every opportunity to recognize those who are going above and beyond in the classroom.

For the first time this year, there will be a special Big Apple Award College and Career Counselor award honoring counselors who have made significant strides in advancing their students' postsecondary readiness and success.

Students, families, educators, school staff and community members can nominate teachers and counselors by visiting the Big Apple Awards website.

Nominees must be current, full-time public school teachers or college counselors in a district school, charter school or early childhood education center in New York City, who demonstrate exceptional success in the classroom.

The Big Apple Awards are a way to recognize teachers who inspire, guide, and make a difference in our childrens lives. What better way to say thank you than to introduce these amazing people to the rest of New York City, said Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers.

In May 2018, Alberto Toro, instrumental music teacher and band director at Bernstein Intermediate School (I.S. 7) in Huguenot, was one of 17 recipients of this years prestigious Big Apple Awards.

NOMINATIONS

Nominees will be reviewed on their ability to demonstrate exceptional success in three key competencies: impacting student learning, demonstrating strong instructional practice and contributing to their school community.

Following the nomination period, a select group of up to 1,000 nominees will be invited to complete a comprehensive application for the awards. The DOE will identify up to 250 finalists, who will have the opportunity to showcase their accomplishments for their district superintendent through an interview and/or a classroom visit.

In May 2019, Carranza and several deputy chancellors will surprise recipients with the award in their classrooms. The chancellor will honor up to 15 outstanding educators in June 2019 for a Big Apple Award.

The recipients will represent teachers citywide during the 2019-2020 school year as Big Apple Fellows and members of the chancellors Advisory Group.

SUPPORT

Since the awards inception in 2013, the Big Apple Awards has recognized 88 outstanding city educators.

Last year, over 6,500 nominations were submitted for the Big Apple Awards. More than 70 percent of the nominations were submitted by students and families.

The awards are made possible, in part, by support from the Fund for Public Schools. The Fund will partner with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts -- which works in collaboration with the DOE on several arts education programs -- to sponsor the Arts Education Award.

The Physical Education Award will be funded for a third consecutive year by New York Road Runners, a longtime DOE partner that provides fitness and wellness programs to more than 750 schools across the city.

For more information, visit the Big Apple Awards website, speak to your schools parent coordinator, email teacherexcellence@schools.nyc.gov, or call HR Connect at 718-935-4000.

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Police are searching for one suspect in connection with a stabbing at the Todt Hill Houses in Castleton Corners Saturday night.

At approximately 8:50 p.m., police and emergency service units responded to a call at 246 Westwood Ave. that an individual suffered a stab wound to the chest, according to an NYPD spokesman.

ESU arrived to the scene and transported the male victim to Richmond University Medical Center, West Brighton, with non-life threatening injuries, said an FDNY spokesman.

Police blocked off the front of the New York City Housing Complex as NYPD investigators surrounded the crime scene.

The suspected stabber was described as a black male in his 20s, with a Nike sweatshirt, grey sweatpants and black shoes, who fled the scene, police said.

It remains unclear what sparked the confrontation, police said.

No arrests have been made at this time and the investigation remains ongoing, added the spokesman.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Police are seeking the publics assistance in identifying two women in connection with a rash of credit card thefts on Manhattan subways.

Police said two women fitting the following descriptions were observed using at least four victims' credit cards:

1: Female, black, light skin, 50-years-old.

2: Female, black, light skin, black hair in a bun, 55-years-old, 200 pounds, seen wearing a tan dress, tan shoes, and carrying a red-orange purse.

Police are seeking the publics assistance in identifying two women in connection with a rash of credit card thefts on Manhattan subways.

ALLEGED THEFTS

Police gave the following details about the alleged thefts:

On July 24 at about 6:50 p.m., a woman approached the 36-year-old female on board a northbound "4 train approaching the East 42 Street and Grand Central Terminal and allegedly removed her wallet from her bag.

On July 31 at about 16:10 p.m., a woman approached the 71-year-old male victim on board a southbound "6 train approaching the Astor Place subway station and allegedly removed his wallet, which contained multiple credit cards.

On Aug. 9 at about 4:45 p.m., a woman exited an MTA Bus at 79 Street and Madison Avenue and realized her wallet, which contained multiple credit cards, was removed from her bag.

On Sept. 29 at about 4 p.m., a woman approached the 74-year-old female victim on board a northbound "1 train approaching the 96 Street station and allegedly removed a wallet from her purse, which contained multiple credit cards.

Police are looking for this woman in connection with alleged credit card thefts. (Courtesy of NYPD)

Anyone with information about these incidents is asked to call the NYPDs Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, on Twitter @NYPDTips or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK and TWITTERSTATEN ISLAND, N.Y.The Staten Island woman who scaled Lady Liberty on the Fourth of July to protest immigration policies was denied a jury trial, authorities said.

A U.S. Magistrate Judge recently ruled that Therese Patricia Okoumous case will be tried before the court on Dec. 17, according to federal court records.

The St. George resident faces charges of trespassing, interfering with agency functions and disorderly conduct after climbing to the base of the landmark and refusing to get down, officials said.

She pleaded not guilty.

Last month, the 44-year-old womans attorneys had requested a jury trial, arguing Okoumous actions in the name of social justice should be judged by a group of her peers.

But the court opined that the petty offenses she is charged with do not mandate a jury.

We have no doubt that the denial of trial by jury in all petty offense cases is "fundamentally fair, said the decision.

According to prosecutors, Okoumou refused to get down after propping herself by the bottom of the statue, and they described it as a dangerous stunt that resulted in the evacuation of Liberty Island.

Okoumou climbed the Statue of Liberty to protest the administrations draconian, zero-tolerance policy on immigration, including separating children from parents at the border.

In a statement Friday, Okoumou said, Children are not only being held in detention centers, but they are also being held down and drugged when they protest.

Okoumou said she is planing another protest, but said she couldnt share the details.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  So, Mike Bloomberg wants to run for president.

Again.

Who can blame him? After all, it has to gall the former mayor to see his fellow mega-rich New Yorker Donald Trump in the White House.

Bloomberg wanted to run for president before Trump ever thought of it. Bloombergs richer. Hes actually got government experience as well as business acumen. He more urbane and polite. Hes politically correct.

That should have been me! he must thunder whenever he sees Trump on television. It all must make Bloomberg throw the New York Times across the kitchen every morning.

So theres only one thing for Bloomberg to do: Run against Trump and dislodge him from the White House. In order to start the ball rolling, Bloomberg recently registered with the Democratic Party.

Actually, he re-registered as a Democrat. Because way back when, before he was our Republican mayor, Bloomberg was a Democrat.

But in a smart calculation when he was teeing up his mayoral run in 2001, Bloomberg, then a political unknown, realized that hed never make it through a crowded Democratic primary field. What to do?

Simple: He changed his party registration to Republican and ran under that banner. The GOP was only too happy to welcome to the party a guy with a couple billion dollars in his wallet.

But the story doesnt end there. Youll recall that Bloomberg eschewed the GOP in 2007 and registered as an independent. The message: Im beholden to nobody.

So Democrat to Republican to independent and now back to Democrat. Now theres a guy with strongly held beliefs.

OK. That was a cheap shot. Because there are things that Bloomberg feels very deeply about. His gun-control crusade is real, for example. How that will play in a national election is another matter.

And Bloombergs stance against smoking is genuine. And, yes, the former mayor was right to prohibit cigarette smoking in bars and restaurants. Its made for a better environment for all of us. And, contrary to those who screamed bloody murder, banning the butts did not cause saloons and eateries to go out of business.

So give credit where credit is due. But in classic fashion, Bloomberg over-reached when he tried to ban big sugary drinks. New Yorkers didnt like it much when the mayor targeted salt either. Back off, Big Brother.

Bloomberg has a lot going for him as a potential candidate. He has wide name recognition and an ocean of money. Hes been through the rough-and-tumble of New York City politics, one of the best electoral training grounds youll find.

But what is Bloombergs constituency? New Yorkers were growing weary of his act at the end, especially after Bloomberg finagled himself a third term in office. This even after New Yorkers had twice voted that elected officials should be held to two terms.

Well, Mike knows best. That was always the thing with Bloomberg, right? The hubris. That touch of noblesse oblige. After a while it was just tiresome.

And lets not forget: Bloomberg was likely headed to defeat in 2001 before 9/11 restored the shine to Mayor Rudy Giulianis halo and Rudy was able to transfer that mojo to Bloomberg. And Bloomberg won re-election in 2009 by the skin of his teeth. He hasnt exactly been an electoral powerhouse.

In order to beat Trump, whoever runs is going to have to get right down in the muck with him. Its going to be a high-volume street fight. Thats just not Bloomys game. Hed rather be the adult in the room.

And ask yourself this: Does Bloomberg fit in with a Democratic Party thats increasingly charging leftwards? One thats protesting in the streets? How well does the former Wall Street titan vibe with socialism?

But, hey. Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen has also re-registered as a Democrat. Maybe he wants to run for president too.| BY Ricki Green |

We Are Social, the global socially-led creative agency network, has been appointed by BBC Studios as its social agency for Australia and New Zealand.

We Are Social will be developing social campaigns and content for their flagship channels including BBC First, UK TV and BBC Knowledge, as well as managing BBCs social channels.

Says Suzie Shaw, managing director, We Are Social: The calibre of BBC Studios programming is outstanding and its a privilege to be working with them.

Says Linda Deubel, director of brands and marketing, Australia & New Zealand, BBC Studios ANZ: We are very pleased to be collaborating with the talented team at We Are Social. We know that Britishness is a driving factor for 1 in 3 Australians when considering which content they must see. We Are Socials strategic, editorial and creative expertise will help bring our bold, British content to new audiences, as well as enhance existing fandom across all our social channels.

The appointment is effective immediately. The first campaign will be for forthcomingTo continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.

We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.

A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!One of Facebook's most senior American lawyers was in Sydney last week, as Australian regulators prepare to move their world-first inquiry into digital platforms into the next, decisive phase.

Samantha Knox, Facebook's associate general counsel, was flown out from the US for two legal industry events and to meet with Facebook's local lawyers and management in Sydney.

Knox was the latest in a string of senior Facebook executives who have made it to these shores in recent months including former CNN anchor Campbell Brown, who leads the social media giant's efforts to appease disgruntled publishers around the world ; and Singapore-based regional public policy chief Simon Milner.

It signals that Facebook is taking the Australian market much more seriously. That's in no small part due to the competition regulator's digital platforms inquiry, which poses the company and its business significant risks, and could set a global precedent.Bec Scott runs one of the most successful social enterprises in Australia, but even she says getting a social impact business off the ground is a crazy treadmill and a constant fight to stay afloat.

Theres a real challenge. Theres challenges when you start up something in Australia, and theres often not money in the front end, says the co-founder of Streat.

StrEAT co-founder Bec Scott says social enterprises deliver a billion--dollar impact - but getting them off the ground is still tough. Credit:Justin McManus

Streat provides vocational education and support to young people who need it through its eight cafe-focused businesses.

Scott and co-founder Kate Barrelle started Streat a decade ago, launching with funding from Danish philanthropists.The sharply rising levels of rooftop and grid-level solar power will force difficult discussions as Australia reaches a solar peak, energy chiefs say.

Australia has been installing around 100 megawatts of new solar power every month in 2018 and there are predictions that the country could become the first country in the world where the grid cannot handle the excess level of distributed electricity generated. That would mean the power generated would be wasted as it could not be transported to where it could be used.

Australia is expected to be the first country in the world to hit a solar peak. Credit:Peter Rae

Its feast or famine with renewables, theyre all turned on or all turned off at the same time, EnergyAustralia director Mark Collette told Fairfax Media.

Well be one of the first countries in the world to hit that solar peak. Were going to see it way before anyone else does. Well hit a point where there is no point in putting any more solar power into the system without something changing.There are times when the rich worlds macro-economists think theyve got everything figured, and times when they know they havent. The latter is where we are now, with the entire profession scratching its head and wondering whats causing the economy to behave as it is.

The last time economists thought they had it tabbed was between the mid-1980s and the mid-2000s. The world economy was growing so smoothly they decided wed entered the Great Moderation and began patting themselves on the back.

Always a bad sign. Next thing we knew the global financial crisis had arrived and with it the Great Recession.

But its now a decade since the start of that recession, and its clear the advanced economies arent back to anything like what they were  even, despite appearances, the American economy.Americans invade Brit TV

Movie actors doing TV, TV actors doing movies ... sometimes you wake up and you're not even sure what you're watching on TV any more. Now comes the latest trend, American actors doing British TV. The British studio ITV has announced that Academy Award-winning actress Helen Hunt will head the cast of its anticipated World War II drama World on Fire. ITV is producing the series for the BBC but the casting announcement comes on the eve of Mipcom, and will no doubt be a strategic move to help sell the series to international buyers. The project, from writer Peter Bowker, will also star Lesley Manville, Jonah Hauer-King and Julia Brown. Production is underway in Prague and will move to Manchester, London, Paris and Berlin.

Netflix has previewed its new horror The Haunting of Hill House. Credit:Steve Dietl/Netflix

Netflix's nightmare viewing

It was a case of "Netflix and chills" in New York this week as the streamcaster took two huge horror titles to New York Comic-Con: The Haunting of Hill House and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Both series were big draws for the convention, along with a new FX vampire drama What We Do in the Shadows. Horror is back, clearly. Though they share a name, New York Comic-Con is not connected to Comic-Con International, the not-for-profit pop culture convention held in San Diego each July. New York Comic-Con is staged annually in October by Reed Exhibitions at the Javits Convention Centre and Madison Square Gardens in New York. Ticket sales for the four-day event were expected to hit 250,000 this year.This article was first published in The Sydney Morning Herald on October 15, 1958.

ADELAIDE, Tuesday. The famous Australian scientist and polar explorer, Sir Douglas Mawson, died tonight, aged 76. He had been ill for some years. The funeral is expected to be held at 3 p.m. tomorrow.

Sir Douglas, a noted scholar and courageous leader, became a world-famous figure in the history of polar exploration. He was once described as "one of the greatest figures in all polar exploration, north or south." His name and work in the Antarctic are perpetuated in Australia's first research base on the Antarctic continent.

Sir Douglas Mawson and expedition members cheering the raising of the Union Jack flag at Proclamation Harbour, Enderby Land, Antarctica, ca. 1930. Credit:Frank Hurley courtesy of NLA

Having won distinction as a member of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic team (1907-9), he led his own expedition south in 1911. In spite of a tragedy which involved the death of his companions, and nearly cost him his own life, he achieved results which, for their scope and scientific importance, have never been executed in any similar endeavour.Espana El Vito - The Spirit of Spain. Michael Fagan and Nicholas Young. Wesley Uniting Church / Wesley Music Centre, 20-22 National Circuit, Forrest, Friday October 19, 7.30pm, (doors open at 7. events.humanitix.com.au/espana-elvito-canberra or phone Kelli on 0438 881 985 (Credit/Cheque/Direct deposit).

Guitarist Michael Fagan will play solo and duet works.

Ten-string Spanish guitarist Matthew Fagan says he has played in 120 countries. This includes Australia, where he was once the opening music act for comedian Billy Connolly.

"That was a highlight."

Other career highlights include touring with Shirley Bassey and Michael Crawford.| BY Kim Shaw |

NewsMediaWorks, with the support of its foundation partners News Corp Australia, Fairfax Media and Seven West Media, today unveils a nationwide advertising campaign that reinforces the importance of trusted journalism environments in news media to advertisers.

The campaign, developed by Melbourne-based creative agency Thinkerbell and targeting advertisers and their agencies, will appear across all metropolitan and national print and digital news media, plus a majority of regional and community titles.

It features a range of executions that assert why trusted journalism is important for advertisers, including: Its whats on the other page that makes this space so powerful, For why this ad works, see above and in digital Surround your brand with articles your customers trust.

The campaign will point to a website that directs advertisers and agencies to the ADTRUST* study findings.

Says News Media Works CEO, Peter Miller: They say the company you keep denes you, its the same for brands and the context within which they choose to be seen. So, if you surround yourself with the truth, you in turn will be trusted. As Australias most trusted news media, were the ideal place for brands to be seen and believed. The truth builds trust.

Journalism is what draws readers to our trusted news brands. More than 16 million every month. It is this environment of trust in the news content that defines our news brands and, in so doing, produces tremendous opportunities for advertisers.

Thinkerbell founder and consumer psychologist, Adam Ferrier, said the campaign was born from the ADTRUST study from Galaxy Research that found that only 22% of people trust what they read in social media, and newspapers are the most trusted media for both content and ads. Trust in media channels directly drives purchase intent, with 58% of consumers agreeing that the more they trust an ad, the more likely they are to buy a product or service.

What sets news media brands apart from other forms of media is their journalism. Branded messages will appear within context that has been fact checked, proofed, and considered. We wanted to ensure advertisers understand that its being seen within this context that is extremely important for brands, Ferrier said.

Says NewsMediaWorks Chairman and News Corp Australasia Executive Chairman, Michael Miller: Australias leading news media publishers are strongly aligned in our support of this important campaign. It creatively asserts the importance and value of trusted journalism and authentic storytelling  which lies at the heart of our great news brands  to advertisers.

The NewsMediaWorks campaign launches at a time when there is substantial uplift in advertising expenditure in print news media. The most recent SMI August figures show double-digit growth in metropolitan newspaper spend and growth for newspapers overall.

Print spend grew 2.7% year-on-year, attributed to the 11.1% increase in agency spend in metro titles. Regional papers also experienced growth, according to the latest figures.The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have touched down in Sydney for their first Australian and Pacific tour.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle landed at Sydney Airport just after 7am but they are expected to have a quiet day on Monday before the start of their 16-day tour.

It was initially thought the couple had arrived on a British Airways flight about 6am, but they flew in on a Qantas plane about 7am.

While Qantas declined to comment, sources said Harry and Meghan were in good spirits during the journey, and were "excited about coming to Australia".When she was 12 years old, Claire Evans begged her mum to let her stay home from school and watch Prince William and Kate Middleton get married.

I sat there, from nine to five, just watching  its that inexplicable feeling you get when you see the weddings, the Queen and the life of public service that they embody and the respect they command.

Shes not a typical royal fan. At just 19, shes quick to point out with a smile, she was born in the same year as the failed referendum that would have made Australia a republic.

As the co-ordinator of the Victorian Young Monarchists, its her family's historical connection to the royals that makes this visit particularly special.Wet weather and slippery conditions have contributed to a horror weekend on NSW roads with multiple fatalities recorded.

Just before dawn on Sunday, a teenage girl died after the car she was travelling in slammed into a pole in Blacktown.

The male driver, an 18-year-old P-plater, crashed a Mazda 6 sedan into an electricity pole at the intersection of Garden and Eggleton streets after the vehicle mounted the kerb.

Chief Inspector Trevor Peterson said "speed and weather conditions" were contributing factors.NSW Labor has sought to position itself ahead of the government before the state election by pledging to significantly increase funding to upgrade train stations across NSW.

On Sunday, Opposition Leader Luke Foley announced an extra $280 million on train station upgrades, including commuter car parks and lifts, if his party wins the March election.

The new fund, totalling almost $1 billion, comprises $717 million of existing money set aside by the Berejiklian government, plus an extra injection of $280 million.

Luke Foley says Labor will boost funding to station upgrades if elected. Credit:Dean Lewins

In its latest attempt to woo voters, Labor's promise equates to a significant boost in funding.Another 7500 apartments would be built in St Leonards and Crows Nest on Sydney's lower north shore over the next 20 years, under long-delayed redevelopment plans being released by the Berejiklian government.

The volume of new housing to be created in the area, which intersects with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian's seat of Willoughby, is understood to be less than had been included in earlier drafts of the so-called Planned Precinct, which has been under development for more than two years.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and the Transport and Infrastructure Minister Andrew Constance on the job. Credit:Jessica Hromas

The Crows Nest and St Leonards scheme intends to concentrate development along the Pacific Highway and around the commercial core at St Leonards.

It also intends to retain the village atmosphere around Crows Nest, and prevent further overshadowing of Willoughby Road.Doctors, nurses and politicians from all sides of politics were among the 1000-strong crowd who braved Sunday showers to march through Brisbane in support of proposed changes to Queenslands abortion laws.

The laws, which will be put to the Queensland Parliament next week, allow for abortion up to 22 weeks gestation, provide safe access zones around clinics, and require doctors who conscientiously object to refer patients to another medical professional.

Campaigner and march organiser, Renee Carr from Fair Agenda, said the turnout reflected the strength of community feeling about the removal of abortion from the criminal code. Credit:Fair Agenda

Abortion is the only medical procedure to feature in the Queensland Criminal Code, and has sat there since 1899, but has been amended over the decades.

Queensland and New South Wales are the only two states in Australia where abortion remains in the criminal code.A 38-year-old man has been charged following investigations into the suspicious death of a woman in far north Queensland.

Police were called to a Ndruili Street residence at Mapoon, about 870 kilometres north of Cairns, about 11pm on Friday where they found a 22-year-old woman dead at the scene.

Police have charged a man following investigations into a suspicious death. Credit:Glenn Hunt/Fairfax Media

The Mapoon man, who was known to the woman, was arrested at the address and was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm.

He is due to appear in Weipa Magistrates Court on October 15.Ms Meath was able to explain to Ray the short and long-term consequences of bankruptcy and how it might affect his assets. She explained to him how the process of voluntarily surrendering his house might work. She was able to give him an alternative to the banks ultimatum: short-term, he could apply for a Hardship Variation, which could give him more time to research the option of bankruptcy. WA's few free financial counsellors answering calls at the helpline office. She referred him to a face-to-face financial counsellor for more help to negotiate with his bank and with the debt collectors.

He told Ms Meath he felt a huge relief after the call, which he made in a state of panic. At least now, he knew and understood more about his position and his options. The number of calls to the WA-based debt helpline Ms Meath works for, a 1800-number for people in financial distress, have risen 84 per cent for the July-September quarter this year on last year. The WA service received 3646 requests for help in the quarter in WA alone this year compared to 2001 this time last year. Manager Merlene Price described the spike as alarming.

With only 2.5 full-time-equivalent financial counsellors funded to provide help, staff were under enormous pressure to support at least 60 people a day. Loading On just one day last week, this tiny team fielded 118 calls from desperate West Australians. We are receiving calls from an increasing number of people dealing with utility, credit card and mortgage stress with their debts often spiralling out of control, she said. Whilst we urge people to seek the help of a financial counsellor, the sector cannot currently keep up with demand, with up to four weeks to wait for an appointment in some areas of the state.

Synergy has advised the Financial Counsellors Association of WA that up to 15 per cent of their customers in this state  more than 140,000 people  are assessed as being in financial hardship. Executive officer Bev Jowle said the 150-plus financial counsellors and financial capability workers the association represents were all seeing people daily who were experiencing extreme poverty and mental stress as a result of a stagnant economy, no increase in wages or Centrelink payments and increased energy, food and transport costs. She said the people seeking assistance were spending almost 50 per cent income on housing, when the official measure of affordable housing is that costing 30 per cent of a household income. They were spending 18 per cent on food, 10 per cent on transport and 5.5 per cent on utilities, leaving very little  just over 10 per cent  remaining to cover the cost of all other daily living expenses. With costs rising again this year, people will be thrown into a further state of poverty.

It is unacceptable in a country like Australia. Loading The May 2017 state budget increased fixed electricity charges by 10.9 per cent, or $169 annually. It more than doubled the funding of the states key hardship utilities grants scheme (HUGS) in 2017-18 to $20 million. It reinstated funding for the free financial counselling services such as the debt helpline that the former government axed in 2015, forcing the services to turn away thousands.

But after almost two-thirds of the HUGS funding was spent within the first four months of the financial year, the government in December announced a six-month suspension of HUGS, putting struggling Synergy and Water Corporation customers on to payment plans amid suspicions the utilities were dipping into the scheme before looking at alternative payment options. Then the May 2018 budget showed a drop in HUGS funding from the $25 million allocated in 2017 pre-suspension, to $16 million for 2018-19, to $10 million for 2019-20 onward. Fixed electricity prices rose another seven per cent, representing a $121 increase, and water charges rose 5.5 per cent. While some increases in household fees and charges are more than we would like, these increases are lower than last year and we have also worked hard to make them lower than expected in some cases, Treasurer Ben Wyatt said at the time. The McGowan Government remains committed to minimising the impact on those Western Australians most in need, with total subsidies of $2.2 billion to be spent across the next four years.Jakarta: Anwar Ibrahim's return to the Malaysian parliament, via a thumping victory in the Port Dickson by-election on Saturday, is a hugely significant marker on his road to the prime ministership.

It comes just five months after the opposition Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) ended 61 years of one party rule in Malaysia back in May.

That victory, led by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad - who returned to the country's top political job at the age of 93 - shocked the world and marked the opening of a new and more uncertain phase in Malaysian democracy.

Malaysia's 'premier-in-waiting' Anwar Ibrahim, right, waves as he celebrates after winning the by-election in the southern coastal town in Port Dickson, Malaysia. on Saturday. Credit:AP

The extraordinary alliance between Mahathir and Anwar in 2018 - 20 years after a spectacular falling out between the then prime minister and his deputy that culminated in the younger man being jailed on trumped-up sodomy charges - was cemented by Mahathir promising to hand the prime ministership to Anwar.Washington: China's ambassador to the US said Beijing had no choice but to respond to what he described as a trade war started by the US.

US President Donald Trump has continued to impose fresh tariffs on Chinese goods to the US. Credit:AP

"We never wanted a trade war, but if somebody started a trade war against us, we have to respond and defend our own interests," Cui Tiankai told Fox News Sunday in a rare US television appearance.

Asked whether he was clear on who made the decisions on trade in the Trump administration, Cui replied: "You tell me."

"Honestly, I've been talking to ambassadors of other countries in Washington, DC, and this is also part of their problem," he said.| BY Kim Shaw |

Visit Victoria is putting your next short-break in the paws of your dog with the worlds first tourism campaign optimised for dogs.

The campaign, developed by Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, highlights how dogs love the quality experiences of regional Victoria as much as much as their pet owners and non-pet owners alike.

It is the first digital tourism campaign optimised to stimulate dogs sight and sound, featuring content curated by local pet-fluencers @MyAussieTribe, @Tomandcaptain, @ChandlerThePug and @HuckAndCo.

An extension of the recently launched Your Happy Space regional Victoria marketing campaign for humans, Your Dogs Happy Space will get tails wagging with a short-break away.

Leading dog behaviourist and pet psychologist Dr Kate Mornement said that trip away together not only saves money on the costs of a kennel but can have positive wellbeing benefits for both human and pet.

A short break away can have many of the same physical and mental health benefits for a dog as it would their owner, Dr Mornement said.

A new environment is not only stimulating and enriching for a dog but quality time together with a weekend away provides an opportunity for physical exercise, further develop social interaction, strengthen the bond and relieve stress.

Just like humans, a holiday can be a really enjoyable experience for dogs.

Dogs are widely considered as a barrier to experiencing a weekend away for the 65 percent of Victorians who own a pet so the campaign will highlight the diverse range of quality pet-friendly experiences.

Regional Victorias stunning natural beauty provides the backdrop to a host of accommodation, cafes, restaurants, pubs, wineries, breweries and activities that welcome furry babies and their owners.

Visit Victoria Chief Executive Officer Peter Bingeman said that Your Dogs Happy Space will encourage even more Melburnians to explore regional Victoria. Says Bingerman: Instead of putting their pets in an expensive pet hotel or arranging care, we know that the 65 per cent of Victorians that do own a pet would love to travel in Victoria with their extended family.

Not only does pet friendly travel and accommodation make intrastate experiences more accessible, its also a great way to build awareness of the incredibly diverse offerings across the state.

Says Minister for Tourism and Major Events John Eren: Your Happy Space is doing a great job reminding Melburnians of all the wonderful things regional Victoria has to offer  Your Dogs Happy Space will expand on that activity.

The importance of the visitor economy as an economic driver for Victoria cannot be underestimated, especially in regional Victoria.Washington: An Air India pilot flew a Boeing 737 through a brick wall on Friday. Incredibly, that marked the beginning of its journey and not the end.

The jet not only clobbered the top of a 1.5-metre perimeter wall but also destroyed a small landing guide tower as it climbed out of Tiruchirappalli International Airport in Tamil Nadu, India, shortly after midnight, the Times of India reported.

With 130 passengers on board, it was bound from the southern tip of India to Dubai across the ocean. And despite the audible and obvious collision, the pilot apparently saw no reason not to continue on.

"We informed the pilot about the hit," the airport director told the IANS news service. "The pilot said nothing was wrong with the plane as the systems were functioning normally. But we found some parts of the plane, like an antenna, on the ground."London: The head of the Northern Irish party that props up British Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative government regards a no-deal Brexit as the "likeliest outcome", according to a leaked email.

The Observer newspaper said DUP leader Arlene Foster told Ashley Fox, leader of Conservative Members of the European Parliament, over a dinner last week of her disappointment at a meeting with Michel Barnier, the French official leading the European Union's negotiating team.

"She described Barnier as being difficult and hostile in her meeting today," the leaked email cited by The Observer said.

"AF said the DUP were ready for a no-deal scenario, which she now believed was the likeliest one."Dubai: Saudi Arabia has warned against threats to punish it over last week's disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as European and US allies piled on pressure.

Khashoggi, a US resident and Washington Post columnist critical of Riyadh's policies, disappeared on October 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Turkey believes he was murdered and his body removed. Saudi Arabia has denied that.

US President Donald Trump has threatened "severe punishment" if it turns out Khashoggi was killed in the consulate, though he said Washington would be "punishing" itself if it halted military sales to Riyadh.In a television interview, Trump said "there will be severe punishment" if Saudi Arabia is found to have ordered the killing of Khashoggi, but neither in the interview nor in his comments to reporters on Saturday did he suggest what such punishment would look like. Instead, he extolled the virtues of an arms sales deal he cut with Saudi Arabia during a visit last year. "I worked very hard to get the order for the military," he said. "If they don't buy it from us, they're going to buy it from Russia or they're going to buy it from China or they're going to buy it from somebody else." Cancelling the sales, he said, "I actually think we would be punishing ourselves if we did that." Trump said that he had received a letter from Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, and that he had invited her to meet him. He said that he planned to call King Salman of Saudi Arabia to ask him about Khashoggi's disappearance. A woman who identified herself as Hatice A., the Turkish fiancee of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, walks outside the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, on October 3. Credit:AP He said he had not heard tapes that purportedly capture Khashoggi being tortured and murdered but acknowledged, as he has in recent days, that it seemed likely that he was dead. "At this point, it's looking like he perhaps won't be or isn't around, and that's very sad," Trump said. "I think we would have known by now."

Saudi Arabia once again denied on Saturday any involvement in Khashoggi's disappearance. The interior minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, said in a statement that "what has been circulating in terms of supposed orders to kill Jamal are outright lies and baseless allegations against the kingdom's government, which is committed to its principles, rules and traditions and is in compliance with international laws and conventions". Brunson's case generated pressure on Trump from religious leaders and the President, Vice-President Mike Pence and members of Congress from both parties took it up. The President imposed sanctions on Turkey and Trump said on Saturday that he had spoken about the case with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "at least once a day". An evangelical pastor who ran the small Resurrection Church in Izmir, Brunson, 50, and his wife, Norine, lived in Turkey for more than 20 years. He was arrested in October 2016, accused of spying and aiding terrorists and sentenced to three years, one month and 15 days in prison. He was released into house arrest in July and a Turkish judge on Friday reduced his sentence to time served, after which Brunson was quickly flown out of the country. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures as he addresses supporters in Kayseri, Turkey, on Saturday. Credit:AP President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey stressed on Saturday that the release was authorised by the courts, not the government. "Honorable President @realDonaldTrump, as I have always emphasised, the Turkish judiciary has given its decision independently," he wrote in Turkish on Twitter. "I hope that Turkey and USA will continue the co-operation worthy of two allies."

The reaction in Turkey to the release was otherwise muted. The government played down the event, a sign of its discomfort since Brunson had long been vilified by the Turkish news media as a terrorist and a spy. Yet the anti-American, nationalist posture that has been increasingly adopted by the Turkish government, and by Erdogan himself, since a failed coup in 2016, will not be easily reversed. "Never come back again!" the pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak screamed in a headline on Saturday. Erdogan's coalition partner, Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the right-wing Nationalist Movement Party, accused the United States of using blackmail to win Brunson's release and said the decision had "disturbed the national conscience". Turkey accuses the exiled Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in the US, of fomenting an attempted coup in 2016. Credit:AP "Pastor Brunson has been released after a dark, unacceptable process to which everyone with a conscience objects," he said in a statement to the Turkish news media. He called on the United States to hand over Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic cleric blamed by Turkey for orchestrating a coup attempt two years ago from his self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, or to extradite Mehmet Hakan Atilla, a Turkish banker imprisoned in May for conspiring to violate US sanctions on Iran.

"The moment Pastor Brunson departs for USA, those whose extradition is morally and legally obligatory must be sent to our country," Bahceli said. Appearing in the Oval Office in a dark suit, white shirt and blue tie, Brunson appeared healthy and in good spirits. He expressed no bitterness and thanked Trump and other US officials. Loading "We do love Turkey," he said. "We were there for 25 years and we love the Turkish people." Brunson asked the President if he could pray for him and Trump agreed. Brunson knelt next to the President and put his hand on Trump's shoulder, closed his eyes and looked down. "I ask that you give him wisdom to lead this country into righteousness," Brunson said.From his career as a test pilot to his famous first steps on the moon, Neil Armstrong donned all kinds of interesting outfits at work. While filming the new Armstrong biopic "First Man," lead actor Ryan Gosling got to look and feel like the real Neil while wearing some of the astronaut's most iconic suits.

In an interview at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Gosling told reporters that he had "a lot of appreciation and admiration for the suits themselves and the way they had been made." When real NASA astronauts were on the set, he said they all gave the authentic-looking spacesuit replicas "the seal of approval ... and that felt good."

Using archival images from a NASA database, costume designer Mary Zophres said she "was able to research exactly what the astronauts were wearing at any given time," according to a statement by Universal Pictures, the studio behind the film. "NASA's database is like a treasure trove of information," Zophres said. "We go from X-15 to Gemini V to Gemini VIII to Apollo 1 and then Apollo 11. As the space program progressed, the documentation of it became more and more intense. As the country got closer to Apollo 11, they documented it more thoroughly." [Gallery: Evolution of the Spacesuit]

Neil Armstrong poses with the X-15 experimental aircraft on April 20, 1962. (Image credit: NASA)

The movie opens with a nail-biting scene depicting a time in which Armstrong nearly met his end during a 1962 test flight of the X-15 experimental aircraft. In the movie trailer above (starting at the 30-second mark), you can see Gosling's Armstrong fight to gain control of the aircraft while descending back to Earth from an altitude of over 207,000 feet (63 kilometers). That's roughly two-thirds of the way to the edge of space. In this scene, Gosling dons a baggy, metallic bodysuit

This shiny garment is "basically a loose-fitting bag shaped like a human with rings at the wrists and neck to attach the gloves and helmet," NASA officials said in a statement. "If the cockpit depressurizes, the suit inflates to maintain a safe atmospheric pressure around the occupant until the aircraft has reached a low enough altitude for the suit to deflate."

Christopher Abbott plays NASA astronaut Dave Scott and Ryan Gosling stars as Neil Armstrong in "First Man." Scott and Armstrong were crewmates during the Gemini 8 mission in 1966. (Image credit: Universal Pictures)

When Armstrong launched on his first spaceflight in 1966  the Gemini 8 in-orbit rendezvous and docking mission that almost killed him (again)  he wore a slightly modified version of the X-15 pressure suit known as the G4C.

These flexible spacesuits are made of nylon and are better-insulated to protect against extreme temperatures in space. This was the same spacesuit worn by NASA astronaut Ed White during the first U.S. spacewalk. In "First Man," Gosling and Christopher Abbott, who plays the NASA astronaut and Gemini 8 pilot Dave Scott, both wear these Gemini spacesuits.

NASA technicians help Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) into his Apollo 11 spacesuit in this scene from the movie "First Man." (Image credit: Daniel McFadden)

Last but certainly not least, Gosling got to slip into the iconic Apollo 11 spacesuit. Officially known as an Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU), this bulky, white suit allows astronauts to spend extended periods of time outside of their spacecraft. Armstrong used one to walk on the moon. EMUs serve as portable life-support systems, whereas earlier spacesuits required the astronaut to be tethered to a spacecraft.

Gosling wore a carefully crafted replica of the Apollo 11 spacesuit for the movie, and the suit Armstrong wore is currently housed at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. Original article on Space.com.



Werent you all honored to meet yet another person from Sheldons long, annotated, and now digitalized list of enemies? It wasnt so much a first meeting as it was a reunion. We have encountered Tam quite a few times already in. He is baby Sheldons best and only friend. Almost thirty years later he shows up at Caltech to give his son a tour of the university. Sheldon refuses to meet up with him. He is still insulted by what Tam did to him all these years ago. Neither Amy nor Leonard or anyone else of the gang has even the faintest idea what it was that made Sheldon despise his former best friend. Not even the explanation on Sheldons enemy list gives anything away. When Leonard, Howard and Raj meet Tam they decide to just go ahead and ask him what he did to offend Sheldon. Turns out that Tam was not even aware of the fact that Sheldon has banished him to his enemy list.Sheldon finally confides in Amy about the horrible, unforgivable thing Tam did to him: When Sheldon moved to California Tam was supposed to come along but spontaneously decided to stay behind in Texas. They had always talked about moving West together but when it was time to pack up all their belongings Tam decided to stay with his girlfriend. So, Sheldon had to move all by himself convinced he would never make a new friend again. After talking to his wife, Sheldon decides to forgive Tam and expresses his sympathy of how sorry he is that things in life did not work out for him: Tam has chosen not to dedicate his entire being to science and instead focuses his energy on his children and wife. He is happy and content. Sheldon, however, is convinced that it is all just an act and secretly Tam is frustrated by his sorry life.The second big storyline in the episode is once more about Anu. Penny is worried about the fact that Raj is marrying a woman he barely knows. However, what she is even more concerned with is that SHE does not know Anu at all! Bernadette is just as curious as Penny so, obviously, the women go and ambush Anu at her workplace. Surprisingly, their meeting goes rather well and they all end up going to dinner together. Anu manages to get them a table in a very exclusive restaurant which scores her several points with the ladies. When asked why she wants an arranged marriage Anu says that she tried it the normal way but just ended up being disappointed. So, she looked at her parents who had an arranged marriage and noticed that they are very happy. Therefore, she wants to give this old, patriarchal tradition a try.After they all had a few glasses of wine Anu starts asking questions about her future husband. Penny and Bernadette have a difficult time to say something non-embarrassing about their friend. Raj calls the two ladies the next day to complain about all the horrible stories they have shared with Anu. He asks them to stay away from his wife-to-be. Obviously, Penny and Bernadette plan on going to see her again to do some damage control.Awserd (Refugee Camps), October 13, 2018 (SPS) - President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, called on Friday the United Nations Security Council to enable MINURSO (UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara) to carry out its mission for which it was created, namely the organization of a referendum on self-determination for the Sahrawi people, reaffirming the need to put an end to the procrastination and intransigence of the Moroccan occupier.



We call on the Security Council to enable MINURSO to carry out the mission for which it was created, namely the organization of a referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara and to take measures able to protect and enshrine the legal status of Western Sahara as well as its territorial integrity, said President Ghali in his opening speech of the festivities commemorating the 43rd anniversary of the National Unity coinciding with October 12th.



President Ghali also called to put an end to the Moroccan attempts aimed at using MINURSO as a tool to legitimate an illegal military occupation.



The international community-through the UN general assembly, its committees and Security Council resolutions, expressed its commitment to preserving the legal character of the Sahrawi issue, as it is a decolonization issue that must be resolved by enabling the Sahrawi people to exercise their right to independence, like all the colonized peoples and countries, added Sahrawi President.



It is time to put an end to the sufferings of the Sahrawi people who have resisted for a long time, he stressed, calling once again to end the Moroccan occupiers intransigence. (SPS)



062/SPS/APSL et's just get one thing straight: science is cool. Very cool.

If youve been pining for a petri dish or brooding for a Bunsen Burner ever since your last GCSE lesson, then you need to nerd out at Londons world-class collection of science-savvy museums.

From dinosaur displays to galleries of gruesome goodies, these are the museums every science fan need to visit in London.

Science Museum

(Plastiques Photography/Courtresy Science Museum Group ) / Plastiques Photography/Courtresy Science Museum Group

Lets start with the obvious: if youre a science enthusiast and havent been to the Science Museum, youre doing London all wrong. This South Kensington spot is one of the biggest museums in the capital, attracting millions of visitors a year. Inside, youll find flabbergasting attractions ranging from the actual Apollo 10 capsule to Stephensons Rocket, with tons of interactive exhibits in the Wonderlab for kids, and stunning science documentaries on-screen at its own IMAX cinema.

Exhibition Road, Kensington, SW7 2DD, sciencemuseum.org.uk

Natural History Museum

The Trustees of the Natural History Museum

Calling geologists, zoologists, biologists and more: if you want to know how the natural world works, then the legendary Natural History Museum is your first stop. Enter under the 25-metre long blue whale skeleton that hangs from the Hintze Hall ceiling (her name is Hope) and travel back through a few billion years of earths environment and inhabitants, encountering anything from a 147 year old fossilised bird to one of Charles Darwins pigeons. If you can't bare to leave, you can even stay overnight on one of the museum's DinoSnores sleepovers.

Cromwell Road, Kensington, SW7 5BD, nhm.ac.uk

Royal Observatory

(National Maritime Museum ) / National Maritime Museum

We are all in London, but some of us are looking at the stars  particularly those of us who frequent the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. In and around Sir Christopher Wrens original building, you can get up close and personal with the rest of the gallery through interactive exhibits, talks and courses all about astronomy. Take in a tour of the universe at a Planetarium show, and hop through space and time as you stand on the Greenwich Meridian Line, upon which all time zones revolve.

Blackheath Avenue, Greenwich, SE10 8XJ, rmg.co.uk

Wellcome Collection

Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images

The Wellcome Collection is less worried with the actual stuff of science, more with how science and medicine interact with our everyday lives. Questions about how we think about our health and how that has changed since the museums founder, Henry Wellcome, was born 150 years ago are explored through both artefacts and artworks at this laterally thinking museum.

183 Euston Road, Euston, NW1 2BE, wellcomecollection.org

Horniman Museum

Courtesy of Horniman Museum

Frederick John Horniman was quite the hoarder, but with his eclectic collection of natural history specimens, anthropology artefacts and, er, musical instruments now on display, well let him off for that. Among the natural science galleries youll find taxidermied animals aplenty  including a hilariously overstuffed walrus  alongside living exhibits in the form of the inhabitants of an aquarium and a butterfly house.

100 London Road, Forest Hill, SE23 3PQ, horniman.ac.uk

The Old Operating Theatre Museum

From fully-qualified doctors to avid viewers of Holby City, this museum will remind you of how surgery used to be a whole lot more gruesome back in the day. Europes oldest surviving operating theatre is in Southwark, dating back more than 300 years. Nowadays you can tour the theatre, which has been kept exactly as it was when it was used during a time of no anaesthetic (ow), no antiseptic (ew) and certainly no antibiotics (crikey).

9a St Thomas Street, Southwark, SE1 9RY, oldoperatingtheatre.com

The Faraday Museum at The Royal Institution

The Royal Institution has been encouraging scientific minds since 1799, and it isnt stopping anytime soon. At the Institutions museum, youll can explore Faradays very own 1850s magnetic laboratory, get elemental with a interactive periodic table, and meet some of the characters that have frequented the Royal Institution throughout its history, including a staggering 14 Nobel Prize winners.

Albemarle Street, Mayfair, W1S 4BS, rigb.org

Science Gallery

Alex Lloyd

Kings College London only recently opened this permanent site for the Science Gallery, a dedicated space for showing contemporary artwork that explores scientific questions. Its inaugural exhibition is all about addiction, called Hooked, and previous shows in its travelling days have investigated blood, food and orifices. Think of it as looking at science through the eyes of an artist.

Great Maze Pond, Southwark, SE1 9GU, london.sciencegallery.com

Grant Museum of Zoology

Grant Museum of Zoology, UCL/Matt Clayton

University College Londons very own museum reopened last year after a refurbishment, and is the last university museum of zoology in the capital. The 68,000 specimens here arent always stuffed and fluffy, but often sliced and disembowelled  youll find galleries here filled with animal brains and bisected heads. Nice.

Rockefeller Building, 21 University Street, Bloomsbury, WC1E 6DE, ucl.ac.uk

Brunel Museum

Its time to get physical with this museum, which is dedicated to the Industrial Revolutions biggest engineering science don, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The museum is actually housed inside one of Brunels extraordinary creations: the Thames Tunnel, which is the oldest tunnel to run under a river in the world. Discover how the tunnel was constructed and explore the chamber where Brunel nearly drowned trying to build it.

Railway Avenue, Rotherhithe, SE16 4LF, brunel-museum.org.ukD avid Davis has dramatically called for a cabinet mutiny against Theresa Mays Brexit plan, which he described as completely unacceptable.

The Prime Minister is facing a huge battle over a plan which could keep the UK in a customs union to avoid a hard border with Ireland.

It comes as negotiations continue in Brussels ahead of a key summit starting on Wednesday,

Prominent Brexiteers have already been piling pressure on the prime minister, and now former Brexit secretary Mr Davis has urged cabinet ministers to "exert their collective authority".

Theresa May is under growing pressure ahead of a key Brussels summit on Wednesday / REUTERS

With continued speculation that Leave-supporting cabinet ministers could resign if Mrs May presses ahead with the plan, Mr Davis said: "This is one of the most fundamental decisions that government has taken in modern times."

Writing in the Sunday Times, he added: "It is time for the cabinet to exert their collective authority. This week the authority of our constitution is on the line."

Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster is reported to have said that a no-deal Brexit is now the most likely outcome after talks with senior figures including Michel Barnier in Brussels.

Her party is opposed to any customs arrangement which would result in Northern Ireland being "annexed" or impose extra checks on goods travelling to or from Great Britain.

DUP predicts 'developments' in Government's Brexit position over weekend

The issue of the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland is one of the last remaining obstacles to achieving a divorce deal with Brussels, with wrangling continuing over the nature of a "backstop" to keep the frontier open if a wider UK-EU trade arrangement cannot resolve it.

The EUs version, which would see just Northern Ireland remain aligned with Brussels' rules, has been called unacceptable by Mrs May and is loathed by the DUP.

Mrs May's counter-proposal is for a "temporary customs arrangement" for the whole UK, but Tory Brexiteers are suspicious this could turn into a permanent situation, restricting the freedom to strike trade deals around the world.

The Sunday Times said at least nine ministers want Mrs May to change course when the cabinet meets on Tuesday.

Brexit: Article 50 Triggered - In pictures 1 /20 Brexit: Article 50 Triggered - In pictures Britain's ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow delivers British Prime Minister Theresa May's formal notice of the UK's intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty to European Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels AFP/Getty Images Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Common PA Britain's ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow delivers British Prime Minister Theresa May's formal notice of the UK's intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty to European Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels AFP/Getty Images European Council President Donald Tusk holds a news conference after receiving British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit letter in notice of the UK's intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty to EU Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels, Belgium Yves Herman/Reuters Prime Minister Theresa May takes her seat after announcing in the House of Commons PA The time 12:20pm shows on Big Ben on March 29, 2017 in London, England. The British Prime Minister Theresa May addresses the Houses of Parliament as Article 50 is triggered and the process that will take the United Kingdom out of the European Union begins Carl Court/Getty Images D-day: pro-EU protesters outside of the Houses of Parliament today as Theresa May prepares to trigger Article 50 AFP/Getty Images EU Council President Donald Tusk holds British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit letter which was delivered by Britain's permanent representative to the European Union Tim Barrow (not pictured) that gives notice of the UK's intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty in Brussels, Belgium Yves Herman/Reuters PMQ's in The House of Commons PA Jeremy Corbyn speaking at PMQ's in The House of Commons Sky News Theresa May leaving for the House of Commons Jeremy Selwyn Mayor of London Sadiq Khan at the headquarters of Vivendi in Paris where he took part in TV interviews to discuss the imminent triggering of Article 50 by the UK to leave the EU Stefan Rousseau/PA Britain's permanent representative to the European Union Tim Barrow arrives at the EU Council headquarters for as meeting before hand delivering British Prime Minister Theresa May's notice of the UK's intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty to EU Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels, Belgium Yves Herman/Reuters Britain's ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow arrives at the British representation of the European Union in Brussels Aurore Belot/AFP/Getty Images A giant headed Theresa May in Parliament Square, London during a protest by Avaaz after PM signed a letter to trigger Article 50 that starts the formal exit process by the UK from the European Union David Mirzoeff/PA British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson walks down Whitehall Jack Taylor/Getty Images Britain's PM Theresa May signs the official letter to European Council President Donald Tusk, invoking Article 50. AFP/Getty Images

Speculation about possible resignations has centred on Andrea Leadsom, Penny Mordaunt and Esther McVey, but the newspaper also indicated that Scottish Secretary David Mundell and Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson could quit because special arrangements for Northern Ireland could fuel the case for Scottish independence.

Mrs May's own position also appeared in jeopardy, with as many as 44 letters demanding a vote of no confidence reportedly submitted to the Conservative 1922 Committee - just four short of the number required to trigger a ballot.

The Northern Irish situation is politically problematic for Mrs May because her minority administration depends on the votes of the 10 DUP MPs.

A leaked email reported in the Observer indicated Mrs Foster was ready to block a Brexit deal.

According to a private email exchange between senior UK officials, seen by the newspaper, Mrs Foster gave her views during a dinner with the leader of Conservative MEPs, Ashley Fox.

The leaked email said Mrs Foster described the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Mr Barnier as "difficult and hostile" and indicated "the DUP were ready for a no-deal scenario, which she now believed was the likeliest one".

A further demonstration of Tory resistance to Mrs May's plans came from MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who wrote in the Sunday Telegraph that "the idea of remaining in the customs union after the end of the transition period... means simply delaying Brexit and causing the 17.4 million people who voted for it to lose faith in our democracy".

Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the European Research Group of pro-Brexit MPs, warned that when it came to the backstop proposal "temporary means eternal".B rexit secretary Dominic Raab has rushed to Brussels for crunch talks with Michel Barnier.

Mr Raab is meeting Mr Barnier, the EUs chief negotiator, for negotiations as the government desperately tries to secure a Brexit deal.

The surprise talks come before a key meeting of EU leaders on Wednesday, with the government admitting there are "big issues still to resolve".

A Department for Exiting the European Union spokesman said: "With several big issues still to resolve, including the Northern Ireland backstop, it was jointly agreed that face-to-face talks were necessary ahead of this week's October European Council."

Michel Barnier pictured on Wednesday / Oliver Hoslet/EPA

Meanwhile, Reuters reported ambassadors for all EU member states, excluding Britain, were summoned to a meeting on Brexit at the same time as Mr Raab's talks were taking place.

It follows a weekend in which Prime Minister Theresa May faced fresh attacks from her former Cabinet colleagues over Brexit, as well as speculation over further resignations.T alks between Dominic Raab and EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier have failed to resolve key issues including the Irish border.

The Brexit Secretary met with Mr Barnier for negotiations on Sunday as the government continues to desperately secure a deal on leaving the EU.

However after the meeting, Mr Barnier said that there had been a failure to reach an agreement on one of the more complicated aspects of negotiations despite intense efforts.

The talks lasted just over an hour.

Mr Barnier said some key issues are still open including the backstop measure to prevent a hard border.

He said he would debrief the 27 remaining EU states and the European Parliament on the state of the negotiations.

Ambassadors for all EU member states, excluding Britain, were summoned to a meeting on Brexit at the same time as Mr Raab's talks were taking place.

A Dexeu/Number 10 spokesman said: "In the last few days UK and EU negotiators have made real progress in a number of key areas. However there remain a number of unresolved issues relating to the backstop.

"The UK is still committed to making progress at the October European Council."

Former Brexit minister David Davis described Theresa May's plans as "unacceptable" / EPA

Writing in the Sunday Times he said: "This is one of the most fundamental decisions that government has taken in modern times.

"It is time for the cabinet to exert their collective authority. This week the authority of our constitution is one the lane."

While on Saturday, former foreign secretary Boris Johnson said the current Irish backstop deal would be the UK's "greatest humiliation" since the Suez Crisis, while also repeating his Tory party call to "chuck Chequers."J eremy Hunt has posted an image of himself and other foreign ministers navigating a maze claiming Brexit discussions seem more straightforward.

It comes as the foreign secretary met with eight of his foreign counterparts at his country residence in Kent over the weekend.

Mr Hunt said: Challenged a few of my fellow foreign ministers to navigate the Chevening maze in the rain by comparison to which Brexit discussions seem more straightforward.

Speaking from the reception in Kent, he said: I think what were reading is that weve made a lot of progress. There are still some big issues to settle. We are putting everything into trying to resolve these issues.

Mr Hunt said that Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab was taking part in last-minute talks to try to see if progress could be made on outstanding issues and this was a sign of how much effort we are putting in.

Brexit secretary Dominic Raab has rushed to Brussels for crunch talks with Michael Barnier / Will Oliver/EPA

The surprise talks come before a key meeting of EU leaders on Wednesday, with the government admitting there are big issues still to resolve.

Reuters reported ambassadors for all EU member states, excluding Britain, were summoned to a meeting on Brexit.T he family of a man killed in a landslide caused by Storm Callums torrential rain have paid tribute to their beautiful son.

21-year-old Corey Thomas Sharpling died in the village of Cwmduad in Camarthenshire, west Wales on Saturday.

Mr Sharplings family said in a statement: We are heartbroken at the tragic loss of our beautiful son Corey. Many knew his wit, charm and sense of loyalty and we take those things with us in our hearts.

A 38-year-old man was swept away by rough seas in Brighton on Saturday. He was found in water near Brighton Palace Pier and confirmed dead by paramedics.

A stranded vehicle sits in flood water on the A4077 in Crickhowell, Wales / Ben Birchall/PA

Forecasters have predicted a fresh band of rain in the south west on Sunday however Storm Callum is set to fade.

Meteorologist Simon Partridge said: "Those areas further west which have seen huge amounts of rain will finally turn drier, brighter, with some decent sunny spells developing by the end of the day on Sunday.

The improved weather will come as a relief to small communities in Wales that were battered by Storm Callum.

Images taken of the town Crickhowell in the Brecon Beacons showed vehicles submerged in water after the River Usk burst its banks.A t least two people have died after parts of the UK were devastated by Storm Callum.

A man was killed in a landslide near the village of Cwmduad in Carmarthenshire, west Wales.

Wales had bore the brunt of Callum's wind and downpours, and the fatal landslide happened on an A-road. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Meanwhile, another man was swept away by rough seas in Brighton, east Sussex.

Storm Callum Rough seas in Porthcawl

The man was found in water near Brighton Palace Pier. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said.

Meanwhile, police in Wales also revealed about 100 sheep had been washed away in the Carmarthenshire village of Pontargothi.

The River Neath rises high to the main road in Aberdulais, Neath, south Wales, which was hit by Storm Callum / Ben Birchall/PA

But while forecasters were predicting a fresh band of rain in the south-west on Sunday, Storm Callum was set to fade.

A stranded vehicle sits in flood water on the A4077 in Crickhowell, Wales / Ben Birchall/PA

Meteorologist Simon Partridge said: "Those areas further west which have seen huge amounts of rain will finally turn drier, brighter, with some decent sunny spells developing by the end of the day on Sunday.

"The areas that have seen the bulk of the sunshine over the last couple of days will then be under the cloud, with patchy, light rain and drizzle at times.

The improved weather will come as a relief to communities hit by Callum after rivers burst their banks, homes were flooded and power supplies were wiped out.

A stranded vehicle sits in flood water on the A4077 in Crickhowell, Wales / Ben Birchall/PA

The weather is also expected to be much calmer next week.

Cloud and patchy rain is likely to remain in the south-east on Monday, with generally clear, dry conditions further north and west.

"There's a cool clear start for many parts of the UK on Monday, Mr Partridge said, and actually for much of the UK it's a dry fine and sunny day to boot.A British mountain biker has been shot dead by a hunter in the French Alps.

The man, named locally as Marc Sutton, was killed on Saturday evening while riding on a mountain track near the resort of Montriond, close to the Swiss border.

The 34-year-old reportedly owned a restaurant in the nearby ski resort of Les Gets and was originally from Wales.

He is understood to have been cycling in thick woodland on a "well used" path when he was hit by a stray bullet fired by a 22-year-old hunter.

He died instantly, according to reports.

Amie Henderson, a friend and neighbour of Mr Sutton and his girlfriend, told the Telegraph: "This is a very tight-knit expat community and we are all deeply shocked. There is anger too because every year there are hunting accidents.

Marc had a lot of friends in the area. Well all miss him.

Following the incident, the gunman was taken to hospital and was said to be suffering from severe shock.

Philippe Toccanier, prosecutor for the Thonon-Les-Bains region, said that the death was believed to be an accident.

He said the cyclist certainly "couldn't be confused with game, as he had a coloured helmet and a coloured mountain bike".

French prosecutors said an enquiry has been launched for "aggravated manslaughter."

The Foreign Office has issued a statement confirming the death of a British man.D onald Trump has warned of severe punishment if Saudi Arabia are behind the suspected killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

However he stopped short of threatening sanctions against the country, specifically the banning of arms sales, saying this would hurt US jobs.

Mr Trump said the US would be very upset and angry if Saudi authorities were found responsible.

They deny it, they deny it every way you can imagine, the president said. In the not too distant future I think well know an answer."

Donald Trump spoke about Jamal Khashoggi in an interview with CBS News / REUTERS

He added, in an interview with CBS News: Were going to get to the bottom of it and there will be severe punishment.

The US, along with the UK, are also considering boycotting a major international conference in Saudi Arabia over the fate of Mr Khashoggi, according to the BBC.

Sponsors and media groups have already pulled out of next month's investment conference in Riyadh, dubbed Davos in the Desert.

It comes amid reports Mr Khashoggi may have recorded his own interrogation, torture and killing on his Apple Watch.

A Turkish newspaper said officials in the country have an audio recording from the watch he wore when he walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul 12 days ago.

The claim, published by the Sabah newspaper, came amid mounting pressure on Saudi Arabia to explain what happened to Mr Khashoggi.A wildlife carer was severely injured after she and her family were attacked by a vicious kangaroo in Australia.

Linda Smith, 64, suffered a collapsed lung, broken ribs, cuts and other injuries when the 6ft grey attacked her at the familys property in Queensland.

Mrs Smith and her husband, Jim, regularly feed kangaroos affected by an ongoing drought.

But on Saturday night the "huge" animal suddenly turned on Mr Smith, who is also in his 60s.

The couple and their 40-year-old son were able to fight back with a broom and shovel.

Mrs Smith, who has been caring for animals for 15 years, told the Brisbane Times: Jim was on the ground and the kangaroo just kept at him.

I went outside to try and help him and took a broom and a piece of bread but he knocked the broom out of my hand then attacked me.

I got him off Jim and Jim got up and I managed to grab a piece of wood to defend myself with that.

Then my son came out to try and help me and hit him over the head with a shovel.

Her husband suffered multiple lacerations while her son had minor injuries after the attack in the town of Millmerran.

The kangaroo had hopped away by the time emergency services arrived.

Mrs Smith said she didn't blame it for the attack, which she described as an "act of nature".S o its decided. The X Factor Judges Houses are over and the categories are complete.

During the final pre-recorded episode of the series, Louis Tomlinson  flanked by Nile Rodgers and Liam Payne  picked his four best Boys and Ayda Field  with Leona Lewis and Adam Lambert  finalised the Overs.

Here are the last two categories for The X Factor 2018 live shows

The Boys  Louis Tomlinson

Brendan Murray

Brendan, who earned Tomlinsons Golden X at Six Chair, performed Sinead OConnors hit Nothing Compare 2 U to fight for his place in the lives.

Brendan stunned the room into total silence with his rendition, earning high praise from the assembled judging panel.

Armstrong Martins

Armstrong pitched up and immediately admitted he was taking a gamble with his song, performing the Friends theme tune otherwise known as Ill Be There For You by The Rembrandts.

Dalton Andre Harris

The 24-year-old used his last chance before the big decision to belt out a classic Jennifer Hudson song Listen, a song he picked because of the message after being told no his whole life.

Dalton, from Jamaica, wowed with his effortless vocals really hammering home the powerful lyrics.

Anthony Russell

The Liverpudlian labourer, who credits Tomlinson with helping him get back on the right track, made it to the lives last year but dropped out for personal reason.

This year, he returned with Scars by James Bay to wow the trio in Tomlinsons plush Ibiza pad.

Ayda Field  The Overs

Olatunji Yearwood

Olatunji was the first of the category to perform for Field, after doing some relaxing meditation techniques and having a pool party in the luxurious Los Angeles setting.

He performed an original song bringing energy and sweet spirit to the category  and a pretty lively jacket  with his track about, well, himself true to his Soca style.

Janice Robinson

Janice also selected an original for her performance, singing a self-penned song called Love is in the Atmosphere.

Sounding like a missing track from hit musical Dreamgirls, Janice impressed with his flawless vocals.

Giovanni Spano

Gio, who says he has been working his whole life for the show, chose Use Somebody by Kings of Leon for his battle at Judges Houses.

The West End performer hit the right notes with his performance  complete with harmonies  and particularly impressed guest Lambert with his eagerness.

Danny Tetley

Bradford-born Danny once failed to win over Cowell on Pop Idol and has finally made it back to a singing show, this time his focus on charming Field.

Danny, who now lives in Benidorm, sang Eva Cassidys emotive classic Somewhere Over the Rainbow, hoping to strike gold.

THE FINAL CATEGORIES

The Girls (Simon Cowell)  Bella Penfold, Molly Scott, Scarlett Lee and Shan

The Boys (Louis Tomlinson) - Anthony Russell, Brendan Murray, Dalton Andre Harris and Armstrong Martins.

The Overs (Ayda Field)  Danny Tetley, Olatunji Yearwood, Giovanni Spano and Janice RobinsonCountries & Areas

Search for country or area A Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan B Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi C Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cote dIvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia D Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic E Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia F Fiji Finland France G Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana H Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary I Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy J Jamaica Japan Jordan K Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan L Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg M Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique N Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway O Oman P Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Q Qatar R Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda S Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria T Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu U Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan V Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Y Yemen Z Zambia ZimbabweThe head of the special committee on justice laws, Florin Iordache, said he would participate next week in the plenary meeting of the Venice Commission, to express a point of view in respect to the modifications to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code.

"On Friday and Saturday there is the general assembly of the Venice Commission for October. I am invited to present a point of view on the preliminary report aimed at the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code. You know they visited us in summer and met with the professional associations, the Justice Ministry, the Prosecutor's Office, Parliament, etc. I will voice an opinion taking into account that, at the moment, the Constitutional Court has pronounced about the Criminal Procedure Code, and part of the articles have been declared constitutional, others unconstitutional, and we are putting them in agreement. I hope that by next week they also pronounce on the Criminal Code," Florin Iordache told AGERPRES on Sunday.

The European Commission for Democracy through Law, called the Venice Commission, has, on the 19 October plenary meeting agenda, regarding Romania, the adoption of an opinion about the amendments to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code, a Council of Europe release announced on Saturday.The macabre case of missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi raises the question: did Saudi rulers fear him revealing highly damaging information on their secret dealings? In particular, possible involvement in the 9/11 terror attacks on New York in 2001.

Even more intriguing are US media reports now emerging that American intelligence had snooped on and were aware of Saudi officials making plans to capture Khashoggi prior to his apparent disappearance at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last week. If the Americans knew the journalists life was in danger, why didnt they tip him off to avoid his doom?

Jamal Khashoggi (59) had gone rogue, from the Saudi elites point of view. Formerly a senior editor in Saudi state media and an advisor to the royal court, he was imminently connected and versed in House of Saud affairs. As one commentator cryptically put it: He knew where all the bodies were buried.

For the past year, Khashoggi went into self-imposed exile, taking up residence in the US, where he began writing opinion columns for the Washington Post.

Khashoggis articles appeared to be taking on increasingly critical tone against the heir to the Saudi throne, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The 33-year-old Crown Prince, or MbS as hes known, is de facto ruler of the oil-rich kingdom, in place of his aging father, King Salman.

While Western media and several leaders, such as Presidents Trump and Macron, have been indulging MbS as a reformer, Khashoggi was spoiling this Saudi public relations effort by criticizing the war in Yemen, the blockade on Qatar and the crackdown on Saudi critics back home.

However, what may have caused the Saudi royals more concern was what Khashoggi knew about darker, dirtier matters. And not just the Saudis, but American deep state actors as as well.

He was formerly a media aide to Prince Turki al Faisal, who is an eminence gris figure in Saudi intelligence, with its systematic relations to American and British counterparts. Prince Turkis father, Faisal, was formerly the king of Saudi Arabia until his assassination in 1975 by a family rival. Faisal was a half-brother of the present king, Salman, and therefore Prince Turki is a cousin of the Crown Prince  albeit at 73 more than twice his age.

For nearly 23 years, from 1977 to 2001, Prince Turki was the director of the Mukhabarat, the Saudi state intelligence apparatus. He was instrumental in Saudi, American and British organization of the mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan to combat Soviet forces. Those militants in Afghanistan later evolved into the al Qaeda terror network, which has served as a cats paw in various US proxy wars across the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, including Russias backyard in the Caucasus.

Ten days before the 9/11 terror attacks on New York City, in which some 3,000 Americans died, Prince Turki retired from his post as head of Saudi intelligence. It was an abrupt departure, well before his tenure was due to expire.

There has previously been speculation in US media that this senior Saudi figure knew in advance that something major was going down on 9/11. At least 15 of the 19 Arabs who allegedly hijacked three commercial airplanes that day were Saudi nationals.

Prince Turki has subsequently been named in a 2002 lawsuit mounted by families of 9/11 victims. There is little suggestion he was wittingly involved in organizing the terror plot. Later public comments indicated that Prince Turki was horrified by the atrocity. But the question is: did he know of the impending incident, and did he alert US intelligence, which then did not take appropriate action to prevent it?

Jamal Khashoggi had long served as a trusted media advisor to Prince Turki, before the latter resigned from public office in 2007. Following 9/11, Turki was the Saudi ambassador to both the US and Britain.

A tentative idea here is that Khashoggi, in his close dealings with Prince Turki over the years, may have gleaned highly sensitive inside information on what actually happened on 9/11. Were the Arab hijackers mere patsies used by the American CIA to facilitate an event which has since been used by American military planners to launch a global war on terror as a cover for illegal wars overseas? There is a huge body of evidence that the 9/11 attacks were indeed a false flag event orchestrated by the US deep state as a pretext for its imperialist rampages.

The apparent abduction and murder last week of Jamal Khashoggi seems such an astoundingly desperate move by the Saudi rulers. More evidence is emerging from Turkish sources that the journalist was indeed lured to the consulate in Istanbul where he was killed by a 15-member hit squad. Reports are saying that the alleged assassination was ordered at the highest level of the Saudi royal court, which implicates Crown Prince MbS.

Why would the Saudi rulers order such a heinous act, which would inevitably lead to acute political problems, as we are seeing in the fallout from governments and media coverage around the world?

Over the past year, the House of Saud had been appealing to Khashoggi to return to Riyadh and resume his services as a media advisor to the royal court. He declined, fearing that something more sinister was afoot. When Khashoggi turned up in Istanbul to collect a divorce document from the Saudi consulate on September 28, it appears that the House of Saud decided to nab him. He was told to return to the consulate on October 2. On that same day, the 15-member group arrived from Riyadh on two private Gulfstream jets for the mission to kill him.

Official Saudi claims stretch credulity. They say Khashoggi left the consulate building unharmed by a backdoor, although they wont provide CCTV images to prove that. The Turks say their own CCTV facilities monitoring the front and back of the Saudi consulate show that Khashoggi did not leave the premises. The Turks seem confident of their claim he was murdered inside the building, his remains dismembered and removed in diplomatic vehicles. The two private jets left the same day from Istanbul with the 15 Saudis onboard to return to Riyadh, via Cairo and Dubai.

To carry out such a reckless act, the Saudis must have been alarmed by Khashoggis critical commentaries appearing in the Washington Post. The columns appeared to be delivering more and more damaging insights into the regime under Crown Prince MbS.

The Washington Post this week is reporting that US intelligence sources knew from telecom intercepts that the Saudis were planning to abduct Khashoggi. That implicates the House of Saud in a dastardly premeditated act of murder.

But furthermore this same disclosure could also, unwittingly, implicate US intelligence. If the latter knew of a malicious intent towards Khashoggi, why didnt US agents warn him about going to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul? Surely, he could have obtained the same personal documents from the Saudi embassy in Washington DC, a country where he was residing and would have been safer.

Jamal Khashoggi may have known too many dark secrets about US and Saudi intel collusion, primarily related to the 9/11 terror incidents. And with his increasing volubility as a critical journalist in a prominent American news outlet, it may have been time to silence him. The Saudis as hitmen, the American CIA as facilitators.The US-led coalition used white phosphorus (WP) munitions while delivering air strikes against the Syrian province of Deir Ez-Zor on Oct. 13. The attack resulted in civilian casualties. Last month, WP munitions were also used by two US Air Force (USAF) F-15s in an attack on the town of Hajin in Deir-ez-Zor. The Syrian government has repeatedly condemned the US-led coalition, which claims that the need to fight ISIS justifies its military actions, while denying the fact it is using white phosphorous projectiles.

WP does not fall under the category of the chemical weapons that are banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention, but it is an incendiary weapon. As such, it cannot be used against non-combatants. Protocol III of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons prohibits the use of said incendiary weapons against civilians (already forbidden by the Geneva Conventions) or in civilian areas. The substance ignites spontaneously upon contact with air, producing a dense white smoke. The heat can reach 800-900C. No water will help. Severe injuries to internal organs could be caused when absorbed through the skin, ingested, or inhaled. Burning particles of white phosphorus produce thermal and chemical burns if they come into contact with the skin.

And Syria is not the only place where the US has used WP munitions. White phosphorous artillery shells were used in Iraq during the assault on Fallujah in 2004. The US admitted that fact. There have also been media reports about the use of WP in Mosul, Iraq and Raqqa, Syria. Last year, the Washington Post published photographs of US Marines equipped with white phosphorus projectiles that were to be used in the battle for Raqqa. The source offered similar pictures showing WP munitions with US Army units outside Iraqi Mosul.

The Human Rights Watch has warned about the dangers of the use of WP in urban areas. According to Steve Goose, the director of the Human Rights Watchs Arms Division, No matter how white phosphorus is used, it poses a high risk of horrific and long-lasting harm in crowded cities like Raqqa and Mosul and any other areas with concentrations of civilians.

In 2015, the United States used depleted uranium (DU) in Syria. DU is not banned by any international treaty but its use is against International Humanitarian Law (IHW). Article 36 of the Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions requires combatants to ensure that any new weapon means or method of warfare does not contravene existing rules of international law. It states, General principles of the laws of war/IHL prohibit weapons and means or methods of warfare that cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering, have indiscriminate effects or cause widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment. In 2012, the UN General Assembly tried to adopt a resolution restricting the use of DU. The move was supported by 155 states, with 27 abstaining and four, including the United States, voting against the measure.

The American military has used cluster bombs against civilians in Yemen. The US is not one of the 102 states that are signatories to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which prohibits weapons that open in the air, dispersing multiple bomblets or submunitions over a wide area. Many submunitions fail to explode on initial impact, acting as landmines for years.

The US continues to run biological programs, operating more than 20 laboratories around the world in blatant violation of the UN Biological Weapons Convention. An opinion paper published on Oct. 4 in the journal Science, written by an international group of researchers, claims that the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is potentially developing insects as a means of delivering a new class of biological weapon.

In 2011, US police used tear gas and other chemical irritants against Occupy protesters. Tear gas is prohibited for use in battle against enemy soldiers by the Chemical Weapons Convention, but its all right with Americas law-enforcement agencies using that dangerous substance against their own people.

There is no justification for using WP at a time when ISIS has been reduced to insignificance in Syria, but Washington did it again. It violated international law after having unilaterally imposed sanctions on Russia without any evidence to support its accusations. It should also be remembered that, unlike Russia, the US has thus far failed to meet its obligations and destroy its stockpile of chemical weapons. The use of such substances to harm civilians is a serious matter that should be addressed at the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly. Americas noncompliance with generally accepted norms is the most critical problem on the international security agenda.A pilot demonstrates the capabilities of the VS Spitfire during the 2018 Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) at RAF Fairford, United Kingdom (UK) on July 14, 2018. This years RIAT celebrated the 100th anniversary of the RAF and highlighted the United States ever-strong alliance with the UK. (U.S. Air Force photo by TSgt Brian Kimball)

X

0 20

Help Keep Us Soaring





We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling. We need your help in reversing that trend. We would like to add 20 new subscribers this month.

Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways:The Te Puke Post Office may be saved as negotiations are underway with NZ Post.

The Te Puke Centre Working Group are in negotiations with New Zealand Post to become the operators of postal and bill-pay services in Te Puke.

Discussions are also taking place with the landlord of the existing Post Office building to enable to service to stay in its present location and to create a place fit for our purpose.

This is an amazing opportunity to save the Te Puke Post Office as we know it and it provides an innovative solution to establishing the long-awaited information and visitors centre and a central shared space, says chairperson of the group, Karen Summerhays.

The Te Puke Charitable Trust is presently being established to provide governance to the Te Puke Centre activities. The NZ Post operation will be operated as part of a social enterprise that provides dividends back to the Trust to support the centre operations.

NZ Post are very open to the social enterprise concept and is working co-operatively with the group to achieve its aims.

The dynamic all-women team of Karen Summerhays, Monique Lints, Jenny Wotten, Nicola Cooke and Viv Brownrigg, have been working steadily for the past 18 months to establish a professional, neutral and shared space that supports the community, its visitors and the industries.

To be able to proceed with the purchase of the postal services we need to raise the capital to purchase the business outright and cover associated costs, says Karen.

As a community driven initiative it is also very important that we gauge the level of support of the community for the Te Puke Centre project as a whole.

To this end, we will launch a crowd funding campaign in the very near future and it is hoped that the community will support this project by pledging a donation, to be paid upon us reaching our target of $65k.Bay of Plenty

Ever thought of joining the civil construction industry? if so then this is your chance to get a foot in the door. We are...



View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nzMembers of the Maketu Coastguard won big at last nights 2018 Coastguard National Awards of Excellence, held in Wellington.

The volunteer crew walked away with two awards, including Coastguard National Unit of the year and Community Relations Unit of the year.

President of the Maketu Coastguard, Shane Beech, says he is over the moon and completely blown away.

It was totally unexpected. We knew that we were in the running but to actually take it out overall, we were ecstatic. Its fantastic.

Shane says one of the reasons they took out the community relations award is due to their efforts in the community.

We are involved in the YES programme, things like the Rena watch, which was looking after Astrolabe and supplying a safety vessel out there. Other things were obviously we do bar crossings, flares and extinguisher evenings and a few other activities like that.

Shane continued to say that tomorrow nights training will be a relaxed one to celebrate with the members that werent able to make it down to Wellington to receive the awards.

I also want to acknowledge the community as well because without the community support we wouldnt be there.

The big award of the night for Shane was winning Coastguard National Unit of the year.

That one was a big one for us. That acknowledges us standing out above and beyond. I am rapt.News a man drowned while trying to save a child has sparked an outpouring of tributes for the Tauranga man.

Angelo Tuyay drowned at Hot Water Beach, in the Coromandel, on Sunday.

In a post on Facebook, Couples for Christ New Zealand says it is with sadness to inform you that Bro Angelo Tuyay passed away.

Let us all say our prayers for Bro Angelo who died while saving a child drowning in Coromandel area. Let us also pray for his family at this difficult moment.

A police spokesperson says Angelo was pulled from the water and given CPR before the Auckland Rescue Helicopter arrived.

However, rescuers were unable to revive him and he died at the scene.

Since the Couples of Christ New Zealand posted on Facebook, more than 60 comments have been made from people passing on their condolences and describing Angelo as a saint and hero.

It was low tide when the incident happened, so there were only a few people at the beach, Auckland Rescue Helicopter pilot James Tayler said on Sunday.

Three or four doctors had been holidaying on the beach and tried to revive him, but he died at the scene.

Hot Water Beach lifeguard service chairman Gary Hinds understood that more than one of the victim's young children had been swimming near a rip when they got into trouble.

"They yelled out for help," says Gary. "[Tuyay] and a few others had gone in to pull them out.

"From what I understand, he pushed his kids back towards shore and other people grabbed them. When they turned around after getting the kids back to shore, he was underwater."

It's usually the rescuers - not those initially struggling - who end up drowning, says Gary.

Lifeguards were notified eight minutes after emergency services were called, despite being at their base 400 metres awa.

"The network or communications system doesn't seem to have us tied in high enough."

Gary's not sure whether it would have made a difference, but worries it could have.

Doctors were already performing CPR when lifeguards arrived with first aid. It continued for 50 minutes while Tuyay's family were comforted by lifeguards and onlookers.

The family had been "as well as could be expected," Hinds said. "It's a traumatic time for anybody."

The Government and Thames-Coromandel District Council need to step up and fund lifeguards fulltime, he said.

"It scares me that we have to wait until somebody drowns.

"The Government are very proud that they're putting money into toilets and carparks. But they don't save lives.

"We could use quarter of one of [the politicians] wages and it would nearly cover the beach for the rest of the year.

"[Hotwater Beach's volunteer patrol service] are the longest running volunteer service in New Zealand. We start this weekend, we're there for 230 days. That's probably nearly triple any other beach in New Zealand."

The Government has said it will be in a position to provide more funding in two or three years, Hinds said.

But it's too far away, he said.

"With a lot of the young [lifeguards], this is not their first drowning and it probably won't be their last."

Pauline Walynetz, who owns Hotties Beachfront Eatery on the Hot Water Beach beachfront, agreed.

"You need a lifeguard here all year, even if it was just for four hours during low tide during winter - that's when it's the worst."

-Additional reporting from Stuff.co.nzEvery year, nearly 7000 New Zealanders  19 a day on average  are brought home safely from New Zealand seas, lakes and rivers after an emergency.

This prevents 18,000 children from losing their mum or dad, 11,000 grandparents from losing their grandchildren and 1.6 million of us from losing someone we know.

And its all made possible by Kiwi institution Coastguard New Zealand, a charity run by over 2,000 volunteers all dedicated to saving lives, and families, on the water  a place where things can go very wrong, very quickly.

From 15  28 October, Coastguard are appealing to the New Zealand public for donations to help them continue their life-saving efforts in providing professional marine and rescue services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year.

Coastguard volunteers give over 300,000 hours of their free time every year to make sure Kiwis can enjoy New Zealands magnificent waterways, secure in the knowledge that should anything go wrong, someone highly organised, trained and equipped will be there to help, says Patrick Holmes, CEO of Coastguard NZ.

Our volunteers will spring to the assistance of anyone in trouble  from a boat not starting or helping a kayaker or surfer in difficulty, to rescuing a man overboard, responding to an emergency flare, locating a drifting vessel or attending to a medical emergency at sea.

October is the time when Kiwis get back on the water and we want everyone to know were their best mate  and not be scared to call us. At the end of the day, we dont just save lives, we save families.

Long-time friends and boaties Isaac Hurst and John Vander Hoeven know this all too well.

Out for four hours of fishing at their secret spot on a normal Saturday morning, they had caught their quota of fish and John was reeling in his line for the last time when a freak large swell came up under the boat and flipped it right over.

Their simple four-hour trip quickly turned into a life-threatening 11-hour ordeal.

It was the perfect storm of events. Our fishing spot is usually busy with boats but that day there wasnt anyone else around, says married father of four Isaac Hurst.

We only saw two other boats, both were a long way off, one was a container ship.

The boat wasnt big (14-foot) and the conditions meant we both got washed off the hull a couple of times. We saw a boat with a search light come out to look for us around 5pm but it was looking in the wrong direction.

We were waving and shouting but they were too far out. Then it started getting dark and we were both getting very cold. It was another four hours before we heard the motor of another boat and saw the flash of the search light moving across the water. We started waving and shouting again and this time we thought wed been seen, but it wasnt until we could see it was coming towards us that we knew wed been found.

At that point we just flopped down, no trace of energy left and thought thank goodness. I really dont think we had much left, we were on the edge of being able to hold on. I got very emotional and it all hit home when the Coastguard volunteers came alongside and asked if there were any children with us. It made me realise if my grandsons had been on board how much worse it would have been, says Isaac.

They wouldnt have made it, none of us probably would have made it. John and I arent really cuddly men, but Ive never hugged another man for as long as I did when I got pulled aboard that Coastguard boat.

It took us 40 minutes to reach the area given Brents description and intel. We searched for a solid three hours in the rain, all six of us were soaked. We kept rotating to ensure those looking at the water didnt get too fatigued and miss something. We were using all our skills and trying to stay positive despite things not looking great.

Suddenly we got a return on the radar which made us all take notice as we knew there were no rocks in that area. As we got closer, we saw them in the beam of our light, on top of the upturned hull.

We got them on board, assessed their condition and started to warm them up with blankets. We kept talking to them both, all the way back to the mainland to make sure they were okay. It wasnt until later, after our crew debrief, that I realised what an effect the whole night had on me, wed made a real difference to someones life, and family, says Isaac.

To me that night makes everything we do, all the hours and the training, worth it. That one rescue was enough to keep me wanting to do this for as long as I can.

Isaacs wife Mallisa Hurst will never forget the moment she got the phone call her husband and John had been found alive.

We rushed down to where Coastguard had brought them in and found them in the ambulance. Isaac was very emotional, it was just so good to see them. We are so appreciative of everything Coastguard did that night to find the boys and bring them back  alive. Isaac still talks about just how incredible those volunteers were.

Coastguard New Zealand urges Kiwis heading out on the water this summer to keep these three key messages in mind:

Always wear your lifejacket

Take two separate waterproof forms of communication

If something goes wrong, alert Coastguard as soon as you can  never be afraid to contact us

Coastguard is a charity and with limited government funding it needs your help. You can donate to their cause here: www.coastguard.nz/donate-now/SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- David Carroll was buying a pack of Keystone beer and a bag of chips at a North Side corner store near his friend's house Wednesday night when he heard shouts.

He looked out the store's entrance: A woman and a teenage boy were running toward the corner store on East Division Street.

A blood stain was growing on the left side of the boy's white shirt. They needed someone to call 911. The boy had been shot.

The child -- whom Carroll didn't know -- collapsed in front of the store's entrance. So Carroll picked him up. The act was automatic, a reflex, "like you'd pick up a baby," he said in an interview with Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.

A stranger pulled over her car and offered to rush the child to a hospital. Carroll carried the boy to the burgundy sedan and stepped in carefully. He set the boy on his lap in the front passenger seat and tried to keep the victim conscious.

"I said, 'Don't worry, man. You're going to make it,' " Carroll said. "All he said was, 'Please just help me.' "

Carroll said it was empathy and adrenaline that made him do his best to help the wounded boy, 12-year-old James Springer III, who police later would say was not the intended target of the shooter.

But something else motivated him. He said all he could think was, "Please. Not again."

Carroll's stepson, Loindale Johnson, was shot dead a little more than a week earlier in a neighborhood across the city. He was 15 years old.

Carroll had just buried Johnson on Tuesday.

On Wednesday night, Carroll was wearing a memorial T-shirt with his stepson's face on it. It's now stained with Springer's blood.

"That's some crazy sh*t, man. You bury him and then the next day, this happens," he said, his voice wavering. "That's the first thing that came to my mind. You lose one, that's what you try to do -- is save the next one."

Carroll, Springer and the driver needed only to make it a block or two to St. Joseph's Hospital. A male teenager looking to be about 18 had also jumped into the backseat of the stranger's car. Carroll said he doesn't know who the teen was or why he felt he should come to the hospital.

Loindale Johnson, 15, was shot and killed on the 300 block of Coolidge Street on Oct. 3. His father was wearing this shirt when he tried to save 12-year-old James Spring III.

"I told her the closest one is St. Joe's. It's right around the corner," he said. "And that's what she fled to."

They arrived at the hospital but encountered traffic, Carroll said. He picked the boy up again and carried him into the emergency room, shouting for a stretcher.

It felt like 30 seconds before a stretcher was wheeled over, he said. He was helped putting the boy down on it, and staff rushed him away.

Carroll stepped outside of the hospital and was questioned by police who had just arrived, he said.

He walked back to the scene of the shooting to see a small crowd gathered outside the police tape.

By that point, Springer had been taken to Upstate University Hospital. The boy died at 3 a.m.

At the scene about an hour after the shooting, Carroll, who works for a local moving company, was still wearing the bloodied T-shirt with his stepson's face and birth date. He spoke briefly to police, declined to comment to a reporter, and left.

Carroll, 38, speaking inside his South Side home Friday, said recent days have been hard. As he spoke, his voice trembled a few times. Sensing a wave of sadness as he spoke of his son or the efforts to save Springer, he'd stop talking, look away, breathe in and speak again.

"I just wish they could have saved his life," he said of Springer.

As they rushed the boy to the hospital, Springer did not say anything beyond his pleas for help, Carroll said.

James Springer III, 12

Syracuse police spokesman Sgt. Richard Helterline confirmed that officers had spoken with Carroll about his effort to save Springer.

"It sounds like he tried to his best to try to help James get the medical attention he needed," Helterline said.

The driver of the car, who declined to be interviewed in detail for this article, corroborated Carroll's account.

The city has seen three shootings of young, male teens or pre-teens in recent days. In addition to the homicides of Springer and Johnson, a 14-year-old boy was shot early this morning on a block adjacent to where Carroll's stepson was killed. The 14-year-old is in critical condition.

Police said there is no indication that any of the recent shooting are related. Carroll also said he didn't think Springer's and his son's shootings were related.

Carroll said he's not sure what the answer is. But, he said, it's got to stop.

"They could just be trying to fit in, prove that they hard," he said. "...You can't keep killing these kids out of stupidity."

But he said he's not hopeful that the violence is going to stop anytime soon. The two twists of fate involving Carroll -- one his stepson, the other a complete stranger -- have confirmed his bleak outlook, he said.

"They gonna do what they gonna do," he said. "What more can you ask for? You can ask for them to stop, but it's a hard plea."BALDWINSVILLE, N.Y. -- A suicidal armed man continues to barricade himself inside a Baldwinsville home on Sunday morning, provoking a large police response and a shutdown of a large part of the village.

Services at the Baldwinsville First United Methodist Church, which sits in the middle of the police tape, were canceled Sunday morning.

Police have blocked off West Genesee Street between Oswego and North streets.

Some neighbors reported hearing what they thought were gunshots in the early Sunday morning hours. However, Onondaga County Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Jon Seeber said those were "gas canisters" law enforcement deployed inside the residence.

The man is inside a home on Charlotte Street, sheriff's deputies said.

Since 10:30 a.m., a police loudspeaker could be heard telling a man named Bill to come out of his home and leave the dog inside.

"Bill, this is the police. Come out of the front door with your hands up. Leave the dog inside," an officer repeated at least a dozen times over the speaker.

Between 11 a.m. and noon, loud bangs could be heard emanating from the center of the scene that echoed across the Seneca River. Just after 11 a.m., 17 such bangs, likely tear gas canisters, were heard in quick succession.

The sheriff's office SWAT team, New York State Police and Syracuse police's Emergency Response Team are on scene.

Officers in heavy vests carrying long guns could be seen surrounding the home at 24 Charlotte St. A robot on wheels sat in front of the home at 12:15 p.m.

Neighbors said an armed patrol vehicle could be seen with a long, pipe-like extension that knocked out windows on the side of the home.

"We request that the public stay away from the area until the situation is resolved," Seeber said in an email.

Around 2 p.m., members of the sheriff's office bomb squad set a small drone aloft. It could be seen buzzing in front of the home, rising and falling slowly above the street.

Some neighbors said the situation began around 5 p.m. Saturday.

Police have been called to the home on Charlotte Street several times over the last three years for apparent domestic disputes between the couple that lives there, neighbors said.

Neighbors have been told to stay in their homes.SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- After two overnight shootings, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh called for the community's help in solving who fired the shots, he said in a Saturday afternoon press release.

"We appeal to the public, because it is the biggest force multiplier we have," Walsh said. "Friday's arrest, which was the result of good police work and help from the community, confirms that."

One shooting occurred on the 200 block of Ash Street at approximately 10:14 p.m., police said. A 20-year-old man was shot in the stomach, legs and arm, though his injuries do not appear to be life threatening, police said.

The other occurred on the 400 block of Sterling Avenue at approximately 12:47 a.m., police said. A 14-year-old boy was shot in the "upper body," police said. He was taken to Upstate University Hospital and is in critical condition, police said.

In the last three to four weeks, there appears to have been a spike in violence among youths. Since a shooting that injured five people at 1315-17 Midland Avenue on Sept. 20, at least 12 people 21 years old or younger have been shot or stabbed. Three of them -- Loindale Johnson, Christopher Hickey and James Springer III -- were killed.

And since Oct. 7, at least six people aged 21 years old or younger have been shot or stabbed. Two of them were murdered.

Hickey's and Springer's murders were solved within 48 hours, though arrests have been announced in just two of the other nine events.

Here's a timeline of those crimes:

Sept. 20:

Sept. 28:

Sept. 29:

Sept 30:

Oct. 3:

Oct. 7:

Oct. 7:

Oct. 9:

Oct. 10:

Oct. 12:

Oct. 13:

Syracuse police ask that people call the Syracuse Police Department's Criminal Investigations Division at 315-442-5222 with information. All calls will remain confidential. Anonymous tips may also be submitted using the SPD Tips app or through syracusepolice.org.

Read all of the mayor's statement here:

My thoughts are again with the victims and their families. We pray for their recovery and for relief from the pain and sadness they are enduring.

Like everyone else, I want there to be quick actions we can take to stop the violence. I want it to be just a law enforcement challenge, but the reality is it is not. There are social and economic issues involved that have developed over many years, and it will take time to break the cycle.

We still need help from the community, and I want be clear about why. We appeal to the public, because it is the biggest force multiplier we have. Friday's arrest, which was the result of good police work and help from the community, confirms that.MEXICO BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Search and rescue teams have found a body in the Florida Panhandle town nearly wiped out by Hurricane Michael, and authorities said there is little doubt the death toll will rise further.

Traffic lights remained out Saturday, with police directing traffic at intersections, and lines at the few gas stations that were open were five to six cars deep.

The tally of lives lost across the South stood at 14, including the victim found in the rubble of Mexico Beach. Authorities said there is little doubt that number will rise further.

Miami Fire Chief Joseph Zahralban, leader of a search-and-rescue unit that entered the devastated community, said: "We have one confirmed deceased and are working to determine if there are others."

Zahralban said searchers, who were using a trained dog, were trying to determine if that person had been alone or was part of a family.

He spoke Friday as his team was winding down its two-day search of Mexico Beach, the town of about 1,000 people that was nearly obliterated by Michael's storm surge and devastating 155 mph (249 kph) winds when the Category 4 hurricane made landfall Wednesday.

Michael was one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever make landfall in the U.S., and this Gulf Coast community of about 1,000 people was in its bullseye. While most residents fled ahead of the storm's arrival, others stayed to face the hurricane. Some barely escaped with their lives as homes were pushed off their foundations and whole neighborhoods became submerged.

Hector Morales, a 57-year-old restaurant cook, never even thought of evacuating. His mobile home wasn't on the beach but when it suddenly began floating during the hurricane, he jumped out and swam to a fishing boat and clambered aboard.

"I lost everything," Morales said. "But I made it."

How many others were not so fortunate was still not clear. State officials said that by one count, 285 people in Mexico Beach defied mandatory evacuation orders and stayed behind.

Emergency officials said they had completed an initial "hasty search" of the devastation, looking for the living or the dead, and had begun more careful inspections of thousands of ruined buildings. They hope to complete those inspections later Saturday.

They've received thousands of calls asking about missing people, but with cellphone service out across a wide area, they found it impossible to know who among those unaccounted for were safe but just unable to dial out to friends or family.

Meanwhile, Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Brock Long said he expects the death toll will rise.

"We still haven't gotten into the hardest-hit areas," he said, adding with frustration: "Very few people live to tell what it's like to experience storm surge, and unfortunately in this country we seem to not learn the lesson."

Albert Blackwell, 65, was preparing Saturday to cover holes in the roof of his apartment and take a chainsaw to trees that fell and broke his windows just outside Panama City.

"I'm the idiot that rode it out here in this place," he said, sweat dripping from his face.

A team of firefighters came through Saturday to check on Blackwell and his neighbors, as well as the structural stability of their damaged homes.

"They're doing a good job," Blackwell said. "The fire chief was here earlier. The police department has come."

He figured rebuilding his home will take months. But for now he doesn't plan to leave.

"The immediate day after (landfall), I stopped looters from coming in here," he said. "We're staying to protect our place."

People look at the St. Andrew United Methodist Church in the wake of Hurricane Michael, Oct. 13, 2018 in Panama City, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Authorities have set up distribution centers to dole out food and water to victims, who just were coming to grips with the brutal realities of their situation.

"I didn't recognize nothing. Everything's gone. I didn't even know our road was our road," said 25-year-old Tiffany Marie Plushnik, an evacuee who returned to a home in Sandy Creek too damaged to live in.

Elsewhere, President Donald Trump announced plans to visit Florida and hard-hit Georgia early next week but didn't say what day he would arrive.

People have no idea how hard Hurricane Michael has hit the great state of Georgia. I will be visiting both Florida and Georgia early next week. We are working very hard on every area and every state that was hit - we are with you!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2018

On the Panhandle, Tyndall Air Force Base "took a beating," so much so that Col. Brian Laidlaw told the 3,600 men and women stationed on the base not to come back. Many of the 600 families who live there had followed orders to pack what they could in a single suitcase as they were evacuated before the storm. The hurricane's eyewall passed directly overhead, severely damaging nearly every building and leaving many a complete loss. The elementary school, the flight line, the marina and the runways were devastated.

"I will not recall you and your families until we can guarantee your safety. At this time I can't tell you how long that will take, but I'm on it," Laidlaw wrote. "We need to restore basic utilities, clear our roads of trees and power lines, and assess the structural integrity of our buildings."

-- By Russ Bynum and Brendan FarringtonKartikeyaL Distinguished - BHPian



Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Jaipur Posts: 3,523 Thanked: 15,337 Times

View My Garage





The FHVI Royal Classic Car Drive to Mysore, 2018 'The FHVI Royal Classic Car Drive to Mysore' on Sunday the 30th of September- 2nd October 2018









Details about FHVI as received from them

Quote: India's first nationwide Federation of Historic Vehicles, the Federation of Historic Vehicles of India (FHVI). We are associated with the Federation Internationale Vehicules Anciens (FIVA) the definitive association concerned with Historic Vehicles, and is an official partner of UNESCO, in preserving the world's automotive heritage.



FHVI aims to showcase the grand Indian Heritage of Vintage and Classic Cars, Bikes and Utilitarian Vehicles. With over 1,000 members and 6,000 vehicles ours is a glorious endeavor to bring together vintage car enthusiasts, and automotive aficionados of all kinds under one roof. Details about the inaugural event

Quote: Our inaugural effort is the 'The FHVI Royal Classic Car Drive to Mysore' on Sunday the 30th of September- 2nd October 2018.



It is an exclusive drive flagged off by the Chief Minister of Karnataka, no less, and the destination is the beautifully opulent Lalitha Palace, Mysore.



In attendance with their cars ranging from Mercedes, M.G, Jaguar, Ford, Wolseley, Buick, Chevrolet, Morris, Austin, Alfa Romeo, Triumph, Sunbeam, Lincoln etc will be participants: Their Royal Highness's, Pradyumen Singh Lucknow, Vikram Singh of Jaipur, Jithendra Deshprabhu of Goa, Patrick Rollet, the President of FIVA and a giant in the field of automotive history will be present as well, along with others such as Mr. Asgi Akbarally and Mr. Bri Ponnambalam from Sri Lanka, Mr. M.S Guhan of AVM Studios, Mr. Ranjit Pratap from Chennai to name a few.



This exclusive event has 50 vintage car owners from across the globe (India, England, France, Sri Lanka) to experience the three day immersive experience into a time gone by.



The Government of Karnataka (Tourism) is an official partner, and is kick starting the Mysore Dasara festivities with the flag off by the Honourable Chief Minister himself inside the stately and elegant Vidhana Soudha: after he hosts the visitors for tea.



The grand cavalcade moves past the cheering public, and takes the winding green country roads towards Mysore. At Mysore, all 50 vehicles will be exhibited in front of the Mysore Palace for the illumination ritual, with over 40,000 onlookers. Dasara, the festival of victory of good over evil will thus be declared open. Elegant luncheons in palaces and stately dinners at historic locations await the visitors, inviting them to give in to the splendor of the state of Mysore during Dasara.



cheers

Kartik The Federation of Historic Vehicles of India (FHVI) is having their inaugural event which isThis event has some great cars taking parts, details of which I hope to post here soon, hopefully we will get pictures and report of the event from Bhpians who might attend this event.cheersKartik Last edited by KartikeyaL : 25th September 2018 at 16:02 .Photo: File photo Small business provides employment to over one-million British Columbians

British Columbia's small business week kicks off Sunday to highlight the importance of small business for the province's economy.

The event, which runs until Oct. 20, is an annual celebration of entrepreneurship that the Business Development Bank of Canada has been organizing for almost 40 years.

A 2017 provincial report on the state of small businesses in the province found 98% of all businesses in B.C. fall into the small business category, with 79% considered micro-small business, which are classified as having fewer than 5 employees.

The Thompson-Okanagan boasts the third most small businesses in the province.

The Kelowna Chamber of Commerce has several events planned for the celebration.

On Tuesday the Chamber will announce its coveted Business Leader of the Year award, to be presented Wednesday October 24 at the Business Excellence Awards Gala Evening at the Delta Grand.

There is also a lunchtime workshop on Tuesday on titled How Mindfulness Reduces Chronic

Stress.

A Chamber luncheon will be held Wednesday at the Coast Capri featuring what's likely to be a lively session on the pros and cons of proportional representation. Official funded spokespeople for each side include Bill Tieleman, on the no side, and and Marina Dobrinskaya on the yes side.



The chambers monthly ConneX networking event happens Thursday at 7 p.m. with the new owners of Sunshine Pools & Spas on Springfield Road.Something to look forward to: Apple Maps employees have been spotted walking around San Francisco with gigantic backpacks equipped with Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) sensors, cameras, and, of course, GPS transmitters. This is a good sign for the future of Apple Maps.

In June, Apple revealed that they would be replacing their abysmal hodgepodge of 3rd party mapping data with their own first party maps. The last few months have seen Apple Maps minivans roaming the streets, discussion regarding the use of drones to deliver information in real-time and, most recently, reports of a Subaru Impreza with a towering sensor array driving around Los Angeles.

Dante Cesa, a former Engadget writer, photographed the Apple Maps guy and rather treacherously tagged MacRumors on Twitter.

While it appears that the use of drones is stifled by heavy-handed legislation, the combination of mapping on foot and via the roads is sure to bring many (much needed) improvements to Apple maps, such as a better understanding of traffic and road conditions, footpaths and foot traffic, any current construction work and higher levels of detail.

While iOS 12 did bring some improvements to Apple Maps, Google Maps is still the winner, so itll be interesting to see if mapping on foot can change that.

Obviously, San Francisco will be the first to receive these improvements, but an Apple spokesperson previously said that theyd be starting with northern California and work outwards from there. Theres no word yet on when thatll be.A hot potato: Late last year, the CEO of analyst company Canalys, Steve Brazier, made a bold claim: he said Microsoft would kill or spin off its Surface line in 2019. Over 12 months later and despite an increase in YoY sales, Brazier stands by his prediction.

In October 2017, Brazier said Microsoft boss Satya Nadella is a software guy, a cloud guy, and that Surface hardware would go the same way as the Microsoft band and the companys smartphones. He called the line a low margin business, adding that it didnt make sense for Microsoft to keep on making the products.

Since those statements, weve seen the release of the $399 Surface Go, which has gained many positive reviews. There were also a number of new Surface devices, including the Surface Pro 6, Surface Laptop 2, and Surface Studio 2, unveiled at Microsoft's Surface event earlier this month. It even launched a brand-new category in this line: Surface Headphones.

Surprisingly, Brazier still stands by what he said last year. Speaking about Microsoft continuing to produce Surface hardware, he said, "I stand by the fact that it doesn't make sense," reports The Register.

"It would be much more sensible for Microsoft to stop spending money on Surface and focus on its cloud and application business where it's doing really well," Brazier added. "I think [Satya Nadella] will get to that conclusion. It may need them to have a choppy quarter or two before he pulls the plug."

Despite other industry execs, including Lenovo COO Gianfranco Lanci and Dell chief commercial officer Marius Haas, agreeing with Brazier to varying extents last year, it always seemed extremely unlikely that Microsoft would end or even scale back its Surface products.

In addition to releasing new Surface hardware in 2018, Microsofts fiscal quarterly and yearly financial results showed revenue from the Surface line jumping 25 percent, while sales were up 16 percent YoY. Additionally, a report from research firm Gartner last week showed that for the first time, Microsoft had become a top 5 PC vendor in the US, thanks to its Surface machines. All of which suggests that Braziers confidence in his previous remarks may be a mistake.In brief: While Apples Face ID system could give law enforcement a new way to grab information from handsets, a forensic company is warning agents not to look at the phones in case they get locked outmuch like Craig Federighi at the iPhone X launch event.

Earlier this month, it was reported that authorities had made someone unlock a modern iPhone by compelling them look at it. In whats thought to be a world first, the FBI asked Columbus, Ohio, resident Grant Michalski, who was later charged with receiving and possessing child pornography, to place his face near his iPhone X so they could access its contents, which he did.

Suspects are able to invoke their fifth amendment rights, which protect against self-incrimination, so they can refuse to hand over passcodes for electronic devices, but courts have forced people to unlock phones with their faces or fingerprints, which dont have the same protections.

In a presentation slide from forensics company Elcomsoft obtained by Motherboard, law enforcement agents are warned don't look at the screen, or else. If they do gaze at the front-facing camera five times, theyll be locked out and have to enter a passcode.

Back when Face ID was debuted in the iPhone X last year, Apples senior vice president of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, failed to unlock the device while on stage. The demo unit asked for a passcode, forcing him to swap it for another iPhone X. He later revealed that staff setting up the event had been looking at the screen as they moved the phone around backstage. Once it failed to recognize five people, it locked. Elcomsoft references this incident in the slide.

This is quite simple. Passcode is required after five unsuccessful attempts to match a face, Vladimir Katalov, CEO of Elcomsoft, told Motherboard. So by looking into suspects phone, [the] investigator immediately lose one of [the] attempts.

Previously, law enforcement agencies were told to use the power button to turn on a Touch ID-enabled device, not the Home button. But with Face ID, its a lot easier to accidentally activate the security system and lose an attempt.Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commissionA year out from election day, Gov. John Bel Edwards has drawn his first official Republican opponent in the 2019 governor's race, but other potential challengers remain mum on their official plans.

Baton Rouge businessman Eddie Rispone this week filed campaign organizational papers that will allow him to begin fundraising efforts in earnest.

"I just think we can do a lot better than the governor's doing," said Rispone, 69.

Rispone, a prominent donor to Republican candidates in the past, said he'll make a more formal campaign announcement in the coming weeks to outline his platform.

"I think we just need a different approach," Rispone said. "We don't have anyone with my background and experience."

Meanwhile, Republicans anxiously await word from others who have openly acknowledged that they are also considering challenging Edwards, who was seen as a long-shot candidate for governor before defeating Republican David Vitter in 2015.

Attorney General Jeff Landry, U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham and others have been floated as potential contenders who have already won elections in Louisiana.

Abraham, of Alto, has said he won't make a final decision until after his campaign for re-election to represent Louisiana's 5th U.S. Congressional District next month.

Landry political consultant Brent Littlefield pointed to past statements that Landry has made about the race and declined to give an update. Landry has said he won't run if Kennedy or another Republican he thinks can beat Edwards enters the race.

Kennedy, meanwhile, has acknowledged "seriously considering" running. His political advisers didn't respond to multiple requests for updated comment on Friday.

"We're getting into a kind of critical decision-making time. If we're going to have a candidate, we need to find one and soon," Landry told the USA Today Network in late July of the mounting pressure to kick-start Louisiana's next gubernatorial race.

Landry and other Republicans have pointed to a divided GOP after a bitter primary battle in the 2015 cycle as a contributor to Edwards' election as the only Democrat holding statewide office in Louisiana. Landry has called for the party to get behind one main candidate to prevent a repeat of that scenario.

With no clear challenger, Edwards has had months to court business leaders, farmers, educators and other potential voters with listening tours and public events across the state. He also has set out on an aggressive fundraising push  reporting more than $5 million in his campaign coffers at the end of 2017, which was the most recent reporting period.

"Louisiana is so much better off under the leadership of Gov. Edwards, and he looks forward to discussing this record with the people of Louisiana over the campaign," Edwards spokesman Richard Carbo said of the looming re-election battle.

All candidates, regardless of party, who qualify for governor next year will appear on the ballot on Oct. 12, 2019. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, will face off in a Nov. 13 runoff.

Because Louisiana's gubernatorial races are held during a thin national cycle, 2019 is expected to be an especially heated and high-profile race and will undoubtedly draw attention from the national parties.

As the only Democratic governor in the Deep South, Edwards is likely to face particular heat from national Republicans.

Edwards, who opposes abortion, signed into law one of the nation's strictest anti-abortion bills that would ban terminations after 15 weeks of pregnancy if a court upholds a similar ban in Mississippi.

But other ideological positions have opened him up to Republican criticism and firmly planted a target on his back.

John Kennedy still undecided on 2019 gubernatorial run; senator 'thinking seriously' about entering Republican U.S. Sen. John Kennedy says he still hasn't decided whether he will run for governor in 2019, but plenty of groups are urging him a

The scoop on state politics in your inbox Get the Louisiana politics insider details once a week from us. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

Edwards, shortly after entering office, expanded Medicaid through executive order, providing health care coverage to nearly 480,000 adults  mainly the working poor. The expansion is mostly paid for through federal dollars and has allowed the state to shift some other costs within the Department of Health to save state dollars, but it has still been a bone of contention with conservatives who question the rapid growth of an entitlement program.

Already there have been indications that the election cycle will focus heavily on the state's economy  an issue that already draws strong divisions between Edwards and his GOP foes.

When Edwards points to shoring up the state's finances for the first time in more than a decade, Republicans point to the sales tax hike that was used to do so. Edwards often notes that the state's unemployment rate has dropped since he took office, to which Republicans point out that Louisiana's rate remains above the national average.

Rispone's addition to the field could serve as an unexpected twist. Businessmen have successfully skipped the usual political ladder to ascend to the highest office in other states, including Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Rispone, the founder of the industrial contracting company ISC Constructors, said he's committed to contributing at least $5 million toward his own campaign, which he hopes donors will lift to $10 million in all.

"We think it will cost somewhere between $8 (million) to $10 million to run a successful campaign," he said.

Rispone said that the response to his candidacy has been positive.

"I've worked really hard for years to elect good people," he said.

He said he's not fazed by early critics who have pointed to his support of former Gov. Bobby Jindal and Vitter in previous gubernatorial races.

"Friends and loved ones and politicians that I've been working with for years have all said, 'You have to have thick skin,' " he said.

Rispone has seven children and 23 grandchildren, whom he credits for inspiring him to want a better future for Louisiana.

"It's a sincere, long-thought-out decision," he said.

New Orleans businessman John Georges mounted a similar "outsider" campaign for governor in 2007 but as an independent, winning about 14 percent of the vote. Georges is now owner of The Advocate, which he bought years after his defeat in the gubernatorial race that Jindal won.

"The challenge that business people have is you have to have name recognition," Georges said of his experience.

People who are already government officials  a U.S. senator or statewide office holder, for example  have built-in opportunities to attract media attention related to that office.

"They're already in the public eye," Georges said.

Georges named several entrepreneurs and other public figures not in office who he said he believes could have the name recognition in Louisiana to overcome that challenge.

On the national level, he pointed to President Donald Trump, who beat out a large Republican field of recognized politicians to win the GOP nomination and went on to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton, despite never having run for office before. Trump had an internationally known brand and a popular reality television show.

"Having people know who you are is the first thing," Georges said. "Getting them to support you is the second hurdle.

"I'm not saying it's impossible, but the factors have to be aligned."Photo: RCMP The attacker left his skateboard near the scene of the assault.

A woman was attacked south of downtown Kelowna Friday night, and police continue to look for the suspect.

The attack occurred just before midnight in the area of Richter Street and Elliot Avenue, after a man had been following the woman for several blocks.

Police say the man spoke casually to the woman for some time, and the woman says she did not initially feel threatened.

That changed quickly, when the suspect allegedly chased after the female, tackled her and dragged onto a property located in the 2000 block of Richter Street, said Cpl. Jesse ODonaghey of the Kelowna RCMP.

The woman managed to free herself and fled the area, but the man gave chase.

It was very fortunate that a passing motorist stopped to assist when he observed the victim being chased by her alleged attacker, Cpl. O'Donaghey said. The suspect fled the area on foot, after the woman jumped into the Good Samaritans vehicle.

The woman sustained minor physical injuries in the assault.

She was taken to the RCMP detachment, and police searched the area, but the attacker was not found.

Police describe the attacker as a Caucasian male, who is possibly part Filipino, in his early 20s with a medium build and shoulder-length brown and black hair.

He was wearing dark-coloured clothing and riding a skateboard, which was located nearby.

Investigators are asking the public to review any surveillance footage they may have along Lawrence Avenue, as well as Richter Street to Cadder Avenue.

Anyone with information can contact the Kelowna RCMP at 250-762-3300.Former Gov. Bobby Jindal has again grabbed for the steering wheel from the backseat.

Jindal famously dressed down Republicans in 2012 to stop being the stupid party and last year called on Donald Trump to be more presidential. Last week, Jindal turned his focus on the Democrats in one of his periodic essays in The Wall Street Journal.

Once seen as a rising star in the Republican party, Jindal wrote that Democrats would miss their big chance if they didnt try to win back some of the persuadable working- and middle-class voters they ceded in the last election. These voters supported Trump but arent reliable Republican voters.

This means Democrats should support same-sex marriage without forcing small business owners to violate their religious beliefs, fight global warming without abolishing jobs and other middle-of-the-road tracts, Jindal wrote.

Interestingly, Jindals advice is like the counsel recommended, though not as precisely, by Arlie Russell Hochschild, a blue coast intellectual who studied the tea party movement in southwest Louisiana in her 2016 National Book Award-winning Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right.

In her mid-70s, the University of California Berkeley sociologist hung out in and around Lake Charles, eating by her own admission too much roasted pig and fried seafood while chatting with Tea Partiers, trying to understand why so many of Louisianas voters hate the federal government despite Washington being the source of 42 percent of the states budget  the largest in the country.

She used the metaphor of line cutting to explain the anguishing loss of honor, alienation and engagement in Louisianas right wing. Basically, everyone is in line for the American Dream. The line isnt moving, but some groups  African Americans, women, immigrants, environmentalists  are seen as cutting in front. Then comes a president, like Barack Obama, who appears through his policies to be waving to the line cutters and insulting those waiting their turn as ignorant Bible-thumping rednecks, she said.

Jindal agreed, writing without mentioning Hochschild: Both political parties have spent the past several elections prioritizing enthusiasm within their bases over persuasion of voters in the middle. One result, after Mr. Obamas eight White House years, was that many conservative voters felt alienated in their own country. Both party establishments ignored their concerns, only magnifying the sense of loss, vulnerability and anger.

The observations are sage but likely to go unheeded.

Democrats have doubled-down on their agenda, and the GOP's latest talking point is that Democrats have become an unhinged mob. Both strategies are aimed at energizing each party's base to participate in midterm elections where majorities in Congress are at stake.

As U.S. House Majority Whip and Jefferson Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise tweeted Thursday: A healthy, strong democracy is not possible if anyone lives in fear of expressing their views. If this is going to stop, it must start with Democratic leaders, who need to condemn, rather than promote these dangerous calls to action.

Louisianas congressional incumbents are safe in their districts purposely drawn to protect them (or someone very much like them) from having to reach out beyond their base of supporters.

Thats not true in the statewide race at the top of the ballot for secretary of state. Nine obscure politicos have been jockeying for a chance to be known.

The GOP candidates for Louisiana secretary of state have spent almost as much time talking about partisanship as about how they would better the tasks of holding elections, registering businesses and archiving the states documents. Former state Sen. A.G. Crowe, R-Pearl River, for instance, was only one of several Republican candidates to argue that the only way to stop a future confirmation process like the one that elevated Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court was to elect a conservative as Louisiana secretary of state.

+9 Louisiana Sec. of State candidates target 'taint of scandal,' but that's just 'baloney,' official says Candidates for secretary of state promised Monday to remove a taint of scandal the interim holder of that office says doesnt really exist.

This narrative has as much to do with math as with policy.

Baton Rouge pollster John Couvillon predicts a 30 percent turnout in Louisianas Nov. 6 election. But the political operatives for the campaigns are less optimistic, estimating in the 18-20 percent range.

Thats about 600,000 of the states 3 million registered voters.

Seventy percent of the people who vote in this election will be over 50 (years of age), said Bernie Pinsonat, the longtime political strategist from Baton Rouge.

This is a more conservative group motivated by national rhetoric.

Hence, the selection of the Republican candidate into the Dec. 8 runoff  who most likely to become Louisianas next Secretary of State  will be the one who most effectively uses red meat, not to bridge gaps but to energize those who vote.Archbishop Gregory Aymond, clad in purple vestments symbolizing atonement, lay prostrate on the altar of St. Joseph Church during a special Mass of healing in August, a demonstration of contrition for the horrific acts of rape and abuse suffered by children at the hands of priests.

His homily called for reflection on the sins of the Catholic Church. Standing before the faithful, he said, As leaders of the church, it is time for us to repent.

So far, that confession has translated into weeks of public apology, but not the release of a full accounting of priests and other church leaders accused of sexual misconduct that many victims have demanded.

Aymond and Louisiana's other bishops have said they are considering making such a list public, but they have not agreed on how or when. They have stressed the complicated nature of releasing the names, citing the desire to inform accused priests that they will be named, and issues related to clerics that have already died.

What Aymond hasn't mentioned  at least publicly  is the cold financial calculus that inevitably weighs on the minds of church leaders when making decisions about transparency in the face of scandal.

After a peak in the mid-2000s during the early years of the sexual-abuse scandal, annual costs to the church for settling abuse claims are again on the rise. U.S. dioceses spent over $212 million in 2017 due to the crisis, the highest figure since 2008, according to an annual report released by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Since the extent of abuse across the church landscape was first revealed in 2002, 16 U.S. dioceses  or about one in every 12  have declared bankruptcy or plan to do so because of multimillion-dollar settlements that left them with more debts than they could pay, according to the Massachusetts-based watchdog group BishopAccountability.org.

For dioceses already struggling financially because of a decline in the number of practicing Catholics, the latest wave of sex-abuse claims has left bishops with a profound dilemma: how to accede to victims' demands for a full accounting of pedophile clergy, when doing so may mean millions of dollars in new claims and could lead to insolvency.

Theres no question that financial considerations play a big role in holding back the names, said Jack Ruhl, a professor of accountancy at Western Michigan University, who has spent decades studying the finances of U.S. Catholic dioceses, including the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

A recurring pattern

Ruhl and other experts say that with each new report of abuse, more victims come forward and the potential payout rises.

It is a pattern that has appeared in many dioceses over the past decade and a half  and one that recently resurfaced in New Orleans following the reports of settlements paid by the local archdiocese to victims of defrocked Metairie deacon George Brignac, and the abuse suffered by Richard Windmann at Jesuit High School in the 1970s.

New Orleans attorney Roger Stetter, who has brought more than 100 claims against the Archdiocese of New Orleans and affiliated entities, said he has been contacted by 10 alleged victims over the past several months. The Advocate has been contacted by more than a dozen other alleged victims.

The archdiocese, which spends approximately $48 million a year as the administrative hub for 111 church parishes and dozens of schools and other facilities, has millions of dollars worth of investments, real estate and other assets.

But many of those funds have restrictions on how they can be used. And because operating deficits have totaled millions of dollars for most of the past decade, Aymond and other church leaders could find themselves in a precarious financial position if abuse claims jump sharply.

Sarah McDonald, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said Aymond and other officials are hopeful that any future claims will not impact the myriad programs funded by the diocese, its parishes and other entities.

"To date, we have been blessed that sexual misconduct claims have never had a financial impact on our ministries," she said.

Will names of Louisiana clergy accused of sex abuse be released? Bishops considering it When Louisianas five Catholic bishops met last week in Lafayette for their regular quarterly meeting, there was no need to consult an agenda.

In addition, Archdiocese Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Entwisle said that he expects insurance policies that existed during the peak of the abuse several decades ago will help cover any potential claims.

'Publicity is never good'

Sexual abuse and molestation by clergy peaked in the late 1970s. Since then, incidents appear to have dropped dramatically, particularly after reforms were undertaken by U.S. bishops following the reporting about widespread abuse and cover-ups in Boston in 2002.

Those reforms created policies and guidelines related to identifying and quickly removing credibly accused abusers from the church. Even still, victims of past abuse continue to come forward, year after year.

Many of the settlements are being paid to people like Windmann, who grew up in New Orleans and was abused in the 1970s and 1980s, but did not settle his claims until recently.

Charles Zech, former director of the Center for Church Management and Business Ethics at Villanova University, said that the costs of paying out abuse claims are primarily borne by individual dioceses, not the church hierarchy in Rome or insurance companies.

Insurance covered just 13 percent of the abuse claims paid in 2017, according to the bishops report.

For bishops in Louisiana, the financial risk that disclosure can bring is plain. After the release this summer of a Pennsylvania grand jury's report detailing credible claims against 300 priests across six of the states eight dioceses, media outlets reported a wave of new lawsuits and victims who planned to file claims. Abuse victims also have lobbied Pennsylvania lawmakers to extend a statute of limitations for abuse claims to allow them a chance to seek compensation.

In 2014, the diocese of St. Cloud, Minnesota, released a full list of priests in the diocese believed to have abused children, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. In January 2018, facing 74 claims of sexual abuse, the diocese announced it planned to seek bankruptcy protection.

The publicity is never good, said Jason Berry, a New Orleans author and investigative journalist who has written extensively on Catholic sex abuse and church finances. He noted that several of the dioceses hit hardest by abuse claims in the past two decades, such as Boston, San Diego, St. Paul-Minneapolis and others, were forced to pay out tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars.

Listen: Catholic abuse crisis, church finances, more in Ep. 2 of 'The Neutral Ground' podcast The second episode of the New Orleans Advocate's weekly podcast, "The Neutral Ground," is av

The Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis finalized an agreement last month to pay $210 million to settle claims as part of a plan to reorganize itself through bankruptcy. Claims against other dioceses are still making their way through the courts.

The places that have filed Chapter 11 to reorganize  they are far wealthier than ones like New Orleans, Berry said.

Less than forthcoming

Aymond and his archdiocese have not always been forthcoming in releasing information about clergy sex abuse.

In New Orleans, more quietly settled, decades-old Catholic Church sex abuse cases surface More cases have surfaced involving quietly settled, decades-old sexual abuse claims against the Catholic Church in New Orleans, naming a pair 

Earlier this year, seemingly in violation of archdiocesan guidelines, the archdiocese quietly settled an abuse claim related to Brignac for about $500,000 without informing parishioners or the public until reports appeared in The Advocate.

The archdiocese also has declined to provide an updated figure on the total size of recent settlements.

Windmann, who recently decided to go public, was paid $450,000 in 2012 from the Jesuit order for abuse at the hands of a priest and janitor at Jesuit High School in the late 1970s. While this money wasnt paid by the archdiocese, the publicity around the claim has caused more local people to come forward with their own stories of abuse.

Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

'You're going to have some lost sheep': NO Catholic leaders in damage control after latest sex-abuse scandals When the doors open for Mass at St. Patrick's Church on Camp Street, Manolito Martinez studies the faces of the flock.

The financial pictures of most U.S. dioceses are rarely disclosed to parishioners or the general public, even though churchgoers' donations are the church's primary source of income.

But the Archdiocese of New Orleans is different. Because it has issued publicly traded bonds through a state entity known as the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority, it is required to provide detailed, audited financial statements every year so that investors can gauge its financial health.

It also provides some of this information on an annual basis in its own newspaper, The Clarion Herald, according to Entwisle.

The financial statements suggest that under the leadership of Aymond and his predecessors, the archdiocese has built a sizable collection of valuable assets. At the end of fiscal year 2017, the archdiocese had a $286 million investment portfolio of stocks, bonds and other assets, over $75 million worth of real estate and undeveloped property, and nearly $7 million in cash.

Still, debts are high, and many of those financial assets are restricted in how they can be used.

For instance, $102 million of the archdioceses investment portfolio consists of custodial funds. These are often donations made by Catholics who gave the church money with certain conditions attached, such as a required annual distribution or a stipulation that the money must go to a particular charity. Another $103 million of the investments are deposits the archdiocese holds and invests for its parishes.

Only around $88 million of the investments are unrestricted, meaning they can generally be used for any purpose the archbishop sees fit.

The archdioceses real estate holdings are mostly churches, schools, nursing homes, administrative offices or other properties that the church uses to celebrate Mass, provide Catholic education or advance its charitable goals.

While there is no legal restriction preventing the archdiocese from selling properties, the churchs canon law does not allow the archbishop to sell parish property unless the money stays within the parish, according to Villanovas Zech.

The archdiocese also owes its bondholders $43 million.

Overall, the financial picture suggests that a settlement comparable in size to those paid out by some other dioceses would mean tough financial choices for Aymond and other church leaders.

Self-insurance fund

One way Aymond has moved to protect the church is by setting aside another large chunk of money, $14 million or so, in a self-insurance fund dedicated to covering potential liabilities. Financial disclosure forms show the archdiocese created a separate legal entity, known as a captive insurance company, in 2011, to handle claims for which it didnt  or couldnt  buy insurance.

The archdiocese can use those funds for routine insurance claims, such as traffic accidents or slip-and-fall cases. But the fund could also provide money to cover incidents of personal misconduct by priests and other employees of the archdiocese.

Entwisle said that insurance policies from decades ago would also be called upon in the event of large settlements, but many factors, such as the year of the abuse, the premiums paid and the specific policy language from the time, would govern the extent to which claims are covered.

Experts say theres a reason that the archdiocese discloses select financial information through its own newspaper and a relatively obscure government database used by municipal bond investors: It's less likely that potential claimants will see it.

Ruhl said that is particularly true when it comes to disclosing funds set aside for settlements, as that information offers a guide for victims and their attorneys to the payouts they could receive.

Whatever the amount is, they will want to keep that amount as low as possible, because survivors are going to look at the balance sheet, he said.

Stetter, the New Orleans attorney, is among those who have gained significant experience pursuing claims against the church over the past two decades. He said attorneys tend to focus on dioceses when pursuing claims of abuse because, as employers of priests and other parish or Catholic school employees, they bear the liability for any misconduct.

The archdiocese is also where most church assets are held, he said.

Lawyers always think about who would be in the best position to pay in any judgment, or to settle the case. That is always a consideration, he said.

Stetter represented victims in one of the most notorious episodes of child abuse in the Archdiocese of New Orleans history, the beatings and molestation that occurred in the 1950s and 1960s at Madonna Manor and Hope Haven in Marrero.

The archdiocese and another entity settled those claims in 2009 for $5.2 million, one of the largest settlements in the local church's history.

The true cost

The first decade of this century was among the most difficult periods in the history of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, which traces its founding to 1793 and is the second-oldest in the United States. Its roughly 500,000 Catholics make it a midsized diocese, comparable in size to the dioceses of Baltimore or Camden, New Jersey.

Hurricane Katrina and the flooding that followed in 2005 caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to church property. Many churchgoers were outraged by the church closures and parish consolidations that followed soon thereafter, and the abuse crisis weighed on the church's reputation and finances.

Before 2002, multimillion-dollar abuse settlements were very rare. In New Orleans, the archdiocese paid just $1.3 million in settlements from 1950 until 2003, according to a 2009 article in The Times-Picayune.

But costs rose rapidly over the next several years. From 2003 to 2009, the archdiocese paid $12.6 million, according to the newspaper.

Officials declined to provide an updated figure on more recent settlements.

Many critics of the church insist on the need for complete transparency on the full scope of abuse. And some see bankruptcies and multimillion-dollar victim settlements as small compensation for the thousands of broken lives wrought by rape and abuse at the hands of priests and their protectors.

"What I find is that they wont tell the truth unless they are forced to; they wont do the right thing unless theyre forced to," said Ruhl. "And you can't force them to do the right thing unless you take their money away or publicly humiliate them."

But the cost of large settlements, even if justifiable, is ultimately borne by the communities of people who rely on the church for charitable assistance and the nurturing of their faith.

The New Orleans archdiocese provides religious services for half a million Catholics, but it also serves many non-Catholics through its meal programs and work with the poor. Thousands of elderly people live in housing it helps to provide. And it serves as a moral voice on many issues concerning social justice.

In other dioceses, large settlements have made it harder to find the money for programs that serve many disadvantaged people.

There are plenty of examples of dioceses laying off staff and closing programs after the settlements, Zech said. Someone has to pay, and it is ultimately the parishioners through reduced diocesan services.

In New Orleans, money is already tight. The archdiocese has posted operating losses for nine straight years. For fiscal year 2018, it expects to have revenues of nearly $38 million and expenses of just under $48 million, an operating loss of roughly $10 million, according to its 2018 budget estimates.

After drawing down as much as 6 percent on its investment portfolio, it still expects to end 2018 in the red by nearly $6 million.

Dan Fagan: Archdiocese of New Orleans owes alleged sex abuse victims answer to this question An attorney who recently settled a case with the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans says the church put its own reputation ahead of the needsWith restrictions tightening on abortion providers in Louisiana, New Orleans finds itself down to just one clinic performing the procedure.

More than 150 people gathered in New Orleans East on Saturday to pray that a clinic looking to open on Crowder Boulevard wont double that number.

We come from many different backgrounds of ethnicity, race, religion  different views on many, many things  but what brings us together today is that we value human life, New Orleans Catholic Archbishop Gregory Aymond told the crowd, spanning Christian denominational lines in a rally organized by the Louisiana Black Advocates for Life.

The crowd at several points raised its hands to pray toward Deanz Health Care for Women at 5437 Crowder, which physician Rashonda Dean still has not opened for business after first applying to the state in April to get a permit to perform abortions there.

Dean says opening the clinic would fill a critical need for women in the area, who currently are able to obtain an abortion only at the Womens Health Care Center miles away on Gen. Pershing Street, where she used to work.

But the crowd Saturday, which included groups from the Gideon Fellowship, the Upperroom Bible Church and two buses of parishioners from Mary Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church, made clear they believe the clinic has nothing to do with womens health.

Were not against the health of women. We want women to be healthy  physically, spiritually and emotionally, Aymond said, adding that carrying a child to birth is part of that health.

Household of Faith Elder Lyndenet Johnson also had a similar message, albeit in a bit stronger language than the archbishop.

What is the difference if your 16-year-old is shot on that corner over there and what if your 16-week-old is killed in that clinic? Johnson said. Murder is murder.

Dean, though, said the issue isnt so simple, and that the major accomplishment of Saturdays rally was to make what is already a tough decision for women even more difficult.

I think what these protesters dont understand is there are many people who come to us because they need (an abortion), Dean said.

She added she plans to continue fighting to open the clinic on Crowder, even though the political climate in Louisiana is against her.

Can't see video below? Click here.

Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

Gov. John Bel Edwards, an anti-abortion Democrat, is currently entangled in a pair of high-profile federal lawsuits over abortion access in the state. His administration is fighting to get the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that a Planned Parenthood clinic on South Claiborne Avenue isnt entitled to state Medicaid money even though it does not perform abortions. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also is set to rule on the states delay in issuing the Planned Parenthood clinic an abortion permit, a process the organization calls a sham.

Edwards, a Catholic, also signed a law requiring doctors performing abortions to have hospital admitting privileges within 30 miles. That law was struck down by a federal district court but was later upheld by an appellate panel.

The governor was not present at Saturdays rally, but those there were with him in his fight against abortion, even some who were once on the other side of the issue.

Bobbie Jones was an example of this, as she held up a sign reading, I regret my abortion.

Jones said she traveled to Wisconsin from the Chicago area in 1972 to get the procedure, which was legal in Wisconsin but not nationally until the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.

College-educated, teaching kindergarten and with a boyfriend who wasnt ready to take on the responsibility of raising a child, Jones said she wanted the child but wanted my own thing more.

She now wishes she could go back.

I wouldnt do it (again). No matter what, Jones said.

Her hope now is that she can share her story with young women, hoping to change their minds before they make a decision that might lead to a lifetime of regret.

Aymond views that approach  reaching out to those who support the right to abortion and who might seek one  to be one of the most important missions for anti-abortion groups.

We have to engage in respectful conversation, he said.

Staff writer Jessica Williams contributed to this report.The New Orleans Police Department is looking for suspects in three armed robberies reported Saturday night starting around 9 p.m. with the last reported shortly after 11 p.m.

According to police, heres how events transpired:

--Around 9 p.m., a 32-year-old man was dropping off an acquaintance at a motel in the 8300 block of Chef Menteur Highway when he was approached by a man. That man then demanded the victims property. He complied, and the suspect fled on foot with the victims cash.

--Around 10 p.m., a 41-year-old man and a 51-year-old man were walking in the 1900 block of St. Andrew Street in Central City when they were approached by a black older model vehicle. Two men then exited the car and pointed firearms at the two victims, demanding property. The victims complied and the suspects fled southbound on St. Andrew Street.

--Shortly after 11 p.m., a 28-year-old man was walking in the 3400 block of LaSalle Street in Central City going toward Louisiana Avenue when he was approached by two men in a dark colored sedan, who demanded his property. The victim complied, and the suspects fled on Louisiana towards Tchoupitoulas Street. The suspects are both men in their early 20s, with the one armed in the incident described as having short hair, dark colored pants and a bandana over his face.

Police are also looking for a suspect in a reported simple robbery shortly after 1:30 a.m. early Sunday in the French Quarter.

According to NOPD, a 58-year-old woman walking in the 1000 block of Chartres Street was approached by a woman asking for cash. The victim gave her $8 and kept walking, but the suspect followed her and asked for more money.

The victim refused, police said, at which point the suspect snatched her purse and fled.They are facilitating the distribution of child-abuse material. He added police looked for commonalities in file-sharing that indicated someone was a bigger threat than they may first have appeared. Detective Inspector Rouse says a growing number of Queenslanders are paying to view live streamed child abuse. Credit:Facebook/Queensland Police Service For example, it may not be child-abuse material theyre exchanging  it might be a 180-page PDF that teaches [someone] how to access and groom a child, he said. If theyre sharing that, we consider they might be a greater threat, and well put additional resources into that.

It is understood that police can identify most offenders, about 70 per cent, who live-stream the abuse of children  but the identification rate drops dramatically when monitoring the exchange of images or videos. Inspector Rouse refused to comment on the statistical claims, or provide details of the level of evidence that needs to be obtained to achieve successful prosecutions for operational reasons. What I will say is we are constantly, religiously full-time on peer-to-peer file-sharing systems - weve got dedicated teams doing that work, he said. We brought down two of the biggest child-abuse boards in the world on Tor. These people think that theyre safe. Theyre not. Bring it on.

Taskforce Argos is also cracking down on Queenslanders who pay for the sexual abuse of children in the Philippines. Inspector Rouse would not be drawn on the precise numbers of Queenslanders involved, saying there were an increasing number who were paying to view the live streamed rape and torture of children. Primarily [what we are doing] is a disruption strategy, he said. What [we] do is try to stop the money leaving the country thats financing it, he said. Were very active with other agencies monitoring whats going into the Philippines and were focused on the Australians, particularly the Queenslanders, who are funding this.

We look at the Australian transactions going into the Philippines, and then we have to work with the Australian Federal Police liaison officer in the country. We also work with International Justice Mission (IJM), the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to assist in the prosecution of people doing this, and the identification of the victims. What the internet has done is make it clear to the world, this problem is a little bit bigger than we thought it was. Inspector Rouse said paedophiles who lured children and teens into meeting up with them in person had been going on since the start of the internet. I first encountered this 18 years ago when we were dealing with dial-up modems, he explained.

Since then, weve had multiple instances where children have met people in person [who groomed them] online. All children are vulnerable to online grooming if they are using applications that facilitate communication. Sonya Ryan worked with politicians to introduce ''Carly's Law'' which targets online predators. Credit:Elesa Kurtz Both boys and girls are equally at risk, however, boys are less likely to report incidents." Eleven years ago, Sonya Ryans 15-year-old daughter Carly became the first Australian murdered by an online predator.

About 18 months before her death, the schoolgirl was befriended online by serial paedophile Garry Francis Newman, who pretended be a teenage musician from Melbourne named Brandon Kane. In January 2007, Newman travelled from Melbourne to visit Carly at her home in South Australia, posing as Shane, the father of Brandon, in order to give her presents from the non-existent Brandon. When he told them he didnt have a room booked, Sonya invited him to stay the night. Later she found Newman on Carlys bed and immediately kicked him out of the house. But several weeks later, unbeknownst to Sonya, he travelled back to Melbourne and lured Carly to a remote beach, pretending to be his non-existent son. When the teen arrived at the beach, she was greeted by Newman, who bashed her, suffocated her in the sand and threw her into the water to drown.

Since her daughter's murder, Ms Ryan has become a tireless internet safety advocate and set up the Carly Ryan Foundation to ensure those who prey on children and teens online are brought to justice. We were simply no match for someone operating over 200 fake profiles online to lure children, Ms Ryan said. He had multiple identities, he was luring kids all over the world. When they arrested him 11 days later, after Carly was found, he was online chatting to a 14-year-old girl from Perth arranging a meeting. Ms Ryan believes educating children in internet safety, rather than banning mobile phones from school or banning kids from devices, is the most effective weapon parents have at their disposal.

I dont believe in banning anything, its about reducing the ability of a criminal to access a child, she said. Its not the internet thats bad, its the people who get on it to take advantage of others. Loading Its about listening to your instincts. Mums and dads cant be looking over their childs shoulder the whole time. Ms Ryan said parents also needed to educate themselves on the apps their children and teens are downloading.

Remember  you are paying for and providing the device and the internet, probably until they are 18, she said. While youre providing that, it is a privilege, not a right and to be given that kind of responsibility, [families] need to have some kind of agreement in place. Loading Explaining to children that its their responsibility to make sure they are not sharing private information about their family, exposing their home location, reduces the risk of harm, she explained. As soon as you hand that device over, parents should make sure that theres a password to download any app.Photo: The Canadian Press South Florida urban search and rescue specialist Chris Boyer removes a damaged American flag from a downed pole while checking for for survivors of hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Fla., Friday, Oct. 12, 2018. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Search and rescue personnel are continuing to comb through the ruins of a small Florida Panhandle community destroyed by Hurricane Michael, which has left hundreds thousands without power and without easy access to supplies.

So far, one body has been found in Mexico Beach, but authorities say there is little doubt the death toll will rise.

Crews with dogs went door-to-door Saturday in Mexico Beach, pushing aside debris to get inside badly damaged structures in a second wave of searches following what they described as an initial, "hasty" search of the area. About 1,700 search and rescue personnel have checked 25,000 homes, Florida Gov. Rick Scott said.

Michael made landfall Wednesday as a Category 4 hurricane with 155 mph winds (249 kph) and heavy storm surge. The tally of lives lost across the South stood at 15, including the victim found in the rubble of Mexico Beach, where about 1,000 people live.

"Everything is time consuming," said Capt. Ignatius Carroll, of the South Florida Urban Search and Rescue task force. "You don't want to put a rush on a thorough rescue."

More roads were passable along the storm-ravaged coast as crews cleared downed trees and power lines, but traffic lights remained out and there were long lines at the few open gas stations.

About 4,000 members of Florida's national guard have been called up to deal with the storm, including 500 added on Saturday. Nearly 2,000 law-enforcement officials have been sent into the Panhandle.

Schools will stay closed indefinitely, a hospital halted operations and sent 200 patients to hospitals elsewhere in Florida and in Alabama, and more than 253,000 customers in the Panhandle remain without power.

"Everybody just needs to help each other right now," Scott said after meeting with emergency responders in the Panama City area.

"You feel sorry for people," Scott said. "They might have lost their house. They worry about their kids getting into school. You know, people don't sit and have a whole bunch of extra money in the bank just waiting for a disaster."

Some residents were packing up and getting as far away as they could.

Jeff and Katrina Pearsey, with a ruined rental home in the Panama City area and no indication of when they could again earn a living, said they were heading to Bangor, Maine, where Katrina once worked as a nurse. Several trees came down on their property, including one that smashed through the roof.

"We're getting our stuff and we're going," said Jeff Pearsey, 48. "We're probably done with Panama City."

Michael was one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever make landfall in the U.S. While most residents fled ahead of the storm's arrival, others stayed to face the hurricane. Some barely escaped with their lives as homes were pushed off their foundations and whole neighbourhoods became submerged.

Hector Morales, a 57-year-old restaurant cook, never even thought of evacuating. His mobile home wasn't on the beach but when it suddenly began floating during the hurricane, he jumped out and swam to a fishing boat and clambered aboard.

"I lost everything," Morales said. "But I made it."

How many others were not so fortunate was still not clear. By one count, state officials said, 285 people in Mexico Beach defied mandatory evacuation orders and stayed behind. It's unclear how many people stayed behind in nearby communities.

One who did, Albert Blackwell, was preparing on Saturday to cover holes in the roof of his apartment and take a chain saw to trees that fell and broke his windows just outside Panama City.

"I'm the idiot that rode it out here in this place," said Blackwell, 65, sweat dripping from his face. He doesn't plan to leave; he wants to protect his home from looters.

Emergency officials said they've received thousands of calls asking about missing people, but with cellphone service out across a wide area, they found it impossible to know who among those unaccounted for were safe but just unable to dial out to friends or family.

Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Brock Long said he expected the death toll to rise. Searchers were trying to determine if the person found dead in Mexico Beach had been alone or was part of a family.

Authorities have set up distribution centres to dole out food and water to victims. They've also set up a triage tent to treat residents stepping on nails and cutting themselves on debris.

President Donald Trump announced plans to visit Florida and hard-hit Georgia early next week but didn't say what day he would arrive. On Saturday he approved federal disaster aid relief for four Alabama counties affected by the storm.

Trump spoke with Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and "reiterated that the federal government is fully available," the White House said Saturday.

"We are with you!" he tweeted.Support for the right to select students and teachers on the basis of their sexual orientation is only 15 per cent among Labor voters and 7 per cent among Greens voters, while it is 45 per cent among One Nation supporters. Christian school leaders told Fairfax Media they did not turn away gay students and believed they had been unfairly targeted in the ferocious debate of the past week, but they also said they needed to be free to run their schools according to their deeply held convictions. Mr Morrison moved on the weekend to change the Sex Discrimination Act to scale back the exemption for religious schools after Fairfax Media last week revealed the findings of a government review of religious freedom that had been kept confidential since May. If discrimination is bad for children at what age does it become good for adults? The Archdeacon of Albury, Peter MacLeod-Miller The Prime Minister said the government would change the law to make sure schools could not expel gay students but made no commitment on the same law regarding teachers, saying broader questions could be debated later.

Over the next fortnight weve just got to ensure that we get the thing done and no one plays politics with it, we just fix it, he said on Sunday. The treatment of gay teachers is now the subject of intense debate as Mr Shorten calls for a conversation on whether Parliament should go further than the governments plan to protect students. There should be no discrimination against kids because every child is entitled to human dignity, Mr Shorten said on Sunday. And I think its probably time to have a conversation about what other exemptions to discrimination we provide against teachers in our schools system.

Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek said the question was absolutely something that we need to talk with schools about because what teachers do in their private life should not be the concern of the school. Section 38 of the Sex Discrimination Act gives religious schools an exemption from the law in dealing with staff members or contract workers as long as the discrimination is in accordance with the tenets of the religion. The review of religious freedom led by former attorney-general Philip Ruddock did not recommend the removal of this section but said the law should be amended to add new conditions that a school had a publicly-available policy outlining its position and provided this to workers. Australian Association of Christian Schools executive officer Annette Pereira said her members did not know of any Christian schools expelling students on the basis of their sexual orientation. We have been disappointed with the way religious schools have been unfairly characterised over the past week, she said.

We have no desire to be allowed to expel students because of their sexual orientation. Ms Pereira said the law needed to ensure schools were able to act according to their beliefs regarding sexuality and relationships. When it comes to teachers, it is important that schools are able to employ staff who uphold and support the schools beliefs and convictions, she said. Loading But the Archdeacon of Albury, Peter MacLeod-Miller, said the disclosure of the Ruddock review had been a "blessing in disguise" because most Australians would be "horrified" that teachers within religious schools are vulnerable to prejudice.

"Their current vulnerability produces fear and forces adult employees into hiding which is the most appalling modelling for the students in their care and makes a nonsense of the extra $52 million youth mental health funding just announced," he said. "Faith-based discrimination makes refugees out of people within our own families, society and even faith communities. "If discrimination is bad for children at what age does it become good for adults?" One church representative told Fairfax Media that a political party would not expect to be sued for discrimination if it rejected a worker who did not support its beliefs. He argued a religious school should be able to exercise a similar judgement with teachers.Calls to cut Australia's migrant intake have split voters ahead of a federal cabinet decision on a new population policy, with 52 per cent backing the idea of keeping or increasing the number of immigrants.

Concerns about migration growth are resonating with 45 per cent of voters, who support reducing the intake as the population climbs past 25 million.

The findings are in a new Fairfax-Ipsos poll that also confirms the Morrison government is struggling to rebuild support, with the Coalition trailing Labor by 45 per cent to 55 per cent in two-party terms.Kerry Phelps managed to keep her balance on a penny-farthing. Credit:Jessica Hromas

When independent candidate for Wentworth Kerryn Phelps climbed on a penny-farthing bicycle at a street fair in Rose Bay on Sunday, she pulled off the perfect political metaphor. No wobble.

Dr Phelps defied the odds to stay upright, on top, and to keep moving and smiling despite the obstacles, a difficult balancing act for any newbie, one of the operators of the bikes said.

With a new poll showing she may just have a chance of swinging Wentworth after preferences, Dr Phelps accused the federal government of conducting a scare and hate campaign against her.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged voters in Wentworth to think carefully before they vote, conceding that Dr Phelps was "clearly running strongly second".The pudgy cartoon couch potato Norm, who was the face of a campaign decades ago to encourage Australians to exercise, would be revived by a Coalition government.

The Victorian opposition has promised to rejuvenate the previously high-profile "Life. Be In It" brand and bring Norm out of retirement to promote healthy living, if it wins the November state election.

Norm from the famous "Life. Be In It" campaign.

The Life. Be In It program started in Victoria in 1975 and then spread nationally two years later.

The beer-guzzling Norm and his family feature in the Coalitions campaign, inspired by the television advertisements that were broadcast in the 1970s and 1980s.Moscow: The crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS) has enough fuel, oxygen, water and food to last at least six months, Vladimir Solovyov, flight director of the Russian segment of the ISS said on Sunday.

Russia has temporarily suspended all manned space launches after two astronauts made a dramatic emergency landing in Kazakhstan on Thursday due to the failure of the Soyuz rocket carrying them to the orbital ISS.

"There are enough reserves on the ISS which provide the living environment. We estimate the reserves are sufficient for half a year, until the summer of next year," Russian news agency RIA quoted Solovyov as saying.

The three astronauts currently aboard the space station  a German, a Russian and an American  were due to return to Earth in December, but may now be stuck there longer.Geneva: Islamic State in Nigeria might kill healthcare workers it has held hostage since March on Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Sunday, calling for mercy and urging Nigeria's government to intervene.

Medical workers Hauwa Mohammed Liman and Alice Loksha were working in the town of Rann when they were kidnapped along with ICRC midwife Saifura Hussaini Ahmed Khorsa, who was killed in September, the ICRC said in a statement.

Red Cross workers organise aid in Nigeria. Credit:Facebook

The armed group was also holding a 15-year-old schoolgirl, Leah Sharibu, who was abducted in February from her school in the town of Dapchi, it said.

Militants allied to IS said in a video posted online last month that they would kill their hostages within a period of time that is due to elapse on Monday.Jakarta: The World Bank has promised up to $1.4 billion to help Indonesians rebuild their shattered lives following twin earthquakes that have devastated the resort island of Lombok, and then the central Sulawesi city of Palu.

The pledge from the Bank was made as the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank on the island of Bali wrapped up on Sunday.

At least 623 people were killed and hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes when a magnitude seven earthquake struck Lombok in early August.

And just over two weeks ago, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake and tsunami up to six metres high struck in central Sulawesi, smashing the city of Palu and nearby towns including Donggala and Sigi.Sanaa, Yemen:

An airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition targeting Yemen's Shiite rebels known as Houthis killed at least 17 people in the port-city of Hodeida on Saturday, Yemeni rebel officials said.

The strike, which hit in the Jebel Ras area, also wounded 20 people, a spokesman for the rebel-run Health Ministry, Youssef al-Hadari, said.

Hodeida, with its key port installations that bring in U.N. and other humanitarian aid, has become the centre of Yemen's conflict, with ground troops allied to the coalition struggling to drive out the rebels who control it.Photo: Contributed

Join our wine writer, Allison Markin, every week for a wine review complete with food and music pairings. Featuring Okanagan and Canadian wines, with an occasional international bottle, Castanet celebrates the bottles of our Valley and the diversity of the Canadian wine industry and influences from around the world. For current availability and pricing, consult the winery. Unless indicated, international selections are generally available at government liquor stores or private wine shops.

Wine: Gewurztraminer, 2017

Winery: Baillie-Grohman, Creston

Why drink it? Yes, wine is being made on the edge of the Kootenays in Creston, where the focus is most definitely what works in a cool climate, like gew. A recent award winner as Best of Varietal at the Okanagan Wine Festivals, the first thing youll notice is a slight pinkish hue to this wine, owing to skin contact (the grape skins have a rosy-purple colour). Next are the vibrant aromas of ginger, spice, and a floral note on the nose. Then a sip or two brings out flavours of dried apricots, lychee, and maybe a bit of candyred licorice? A nice finish that lasts longer than expected wraps this up.

Price: $21

Pair with: Something a bit spicy, such as a curry or Thai dishes. Try an Indian-spice cauliflower soup on a cool day, or another dish that embraces ginger. A vegetarian flatbread with a couple of varieties of mushrooms and dots of a mild soft cheese, but no tomato sauce.

Music pairing: Rose Garden, Lynn AndersonSealed With a Kiss is a series of stories devoted to the transformations that come with a swipe of lipstick. Photo: Photo Illustration by Stevie Remsberg/Photo by David Ewington/Getty Images

Theres certain shades of limelight that can wreck a girls complexion. Audrey Hepburns Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany tossed out the line like candy to a crowd of children. Her hands were shaking as she applied her lipstick in the back of the cab and by the end of that line her lips were perfectly orange-red, perfectly lined and perfectly pursed. She was fleeing but she was unmoved from her rituals and so, she was beautiful. Like a doomed doe. Her life was falling apart and she knew it, and what did she do? She put some lipstick on.

Lipstick has been the glue for feminine tragedy for centuries. It has also been an easy codifier for class warfare and a tool used to target women as much as its been a balm. This spans civilizations, continents, empires, myth, and reality. Certain shades delineated class background: a hot pink meant wealth and red was working class (long before Marxs meme of communism entered the picture). Throughout civilizations these colors and their symbolism shifted, but the cycle of respectability and rouge was always around.

Lipstick has been the glue for feminine tragedy for centuries. It has also been an easy codifier for class warfare and a tool used to target women as much as its been a balm.

In early Greek civilization, lip paint signaled sex work and eventually engendered the onslaught of lipstick regulation: under Greek law, prostitutes who appeared in public at the wrong hours or without their designated lip paint could be punished for improperly posing as ladies. This isnt so different from the (now debunked rumor of) a 1770 Parliamentary law that banned cosmetics, particularly lipstick, for fear it summoned the devil and was a signifier of witchcraft. And Romes last emperor Neros wife, Empress Poppa Sabina, retained more than a hundred servants just to maintain her face  those slaves were called cosmetae. Of course, her legion of cosmetic slaves did not protect her from the mans violence. Nero kicked her while she was pregnant, and both she and her child died. Lipstick as symbolism: beauty is desired until it isnt enough and becomes repulsive to repulsive men, and then its tampered down.

On that note, lipstick was just as often part of womens efforts toward freedom from the bonds of man. In 1912 when the suffragettes Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Charlotte Perkins Gillman marched for the rights of women, they wore red lipstick. Rather than beauty exemplifying extravagance, it symbolized the splendor of freedom from social mores. Elizabeth Arden was supposedly there handing out tubes of her own products. I find the image of this happening extremely satisfying and a fitting mirror to the time Coco Chanel passed out bottles of Chanel No. 5 on VE-DAY after WWII as a tactic to avoid getting arrested for her collaboration with Nazis. At least one beauty entrepreneur was on the right side of history with their brand activations. Elizabeth Arden still sells lipsticks for feminist charity work.

The war made beauty into a tactic for everyone, from collaborators to spies to housewives.

The war made beauty into a tactic for everyone, from collaborators to spies to housewives (not that you couldnt be all of the above at once). In the U.S, the War Production Board restricted the production of certain cosmetics in an effort to save metals and chemicals for the war. They hoped to reduce production 20 percent but so many people protested that the decision was reversed in less than four months. They not only reversed it, they backpedaled and affirmed that cosmetics were necessary and vital to the war effort because of their potential to boost morale. Brand campaigns heralded that beauty is your duty, and the brand Tangee issued an advertisement that said, war, women, and lipstick  for the first time in history, woman-power is a factor in war  a womans lipstick is an instrument of personal morale. Helena Rubinstein explicitly designed her packaging to look like a bullet. Women were encouraged to send letters covered in lipstick kisses to boost soldiers morale. Elizabeth Arden was even commissioned to create a makeup kit for the Marine Corps Womens Reserve. Victory Red, Montezuma Red to match the color of the uniform scarves.

It may have been a few decades but beauty is still used as a tool of political propaganda and morality. Some things havent changed at all: several brands still design their lipstick packaging to look like shotgun shells, and brand owners and distributors still donate their profits to political organizations they find useful. Longwear lipstick brand Lipsenses distributor Ben Kante was a top donor for Trumps Inauguration Committee, after all.

Sometimes the symbolism of what lipstick can and should do isnt explicit at all, but it still wounds. Ill never forget reading one such example. Guerlains creative director Anton-Philipe Hunger once said: We didnt want our lipstick to click so loudly that it would draw attention to a woman whos touching up in public. So they test-clicked between ten and twenty lipsticks before choosing a soft metallic sound. I used to find that sort of thing romantic, you know: the total devotion to something ordinary, the love of a good detail. Im still impressed by the devotion on most days. But today it feels like another example that the reality of womens existence in the world has been shaped to be seen, never heard; witnessed, but never believed; desired but never trusted. Nowadays I think of how much effort and energy is put into dismissing women  right down to the sound her lipstick may produce  and it makes me want to scream louder than I have words for.

Were told women have to be respectable, beautiful, but not too beautiful, just enough to be paid attention to, and even then, what we say doesnt seem to count. I wish I could throw all my lipstick bullets directly at Brett Kavanaughs throat and magically have him truly fear women, and respect women, and work for women. But that wont happen. Barring that possibility, sure, I understand the allure of buying a F*ck Kavanaugh lipstick that funds those working against him. I do like the color and I like that my money is being used for  something good.

But disaster capitalism is still the product of a disaster. I dont want to be a doomed doe like Hepburns character, shaking as I glue myself together with some rouge. I find it more useful to practice my throw.2-Year-Old Girl Mauled to Death by Family Dog in Texas

A 2-year-old girl was mauled to death by her family dog in Alvin, Texas, on the afternoon of Oct. 12.

The incident happened around 6:00 p.m. at the 3900 block of Morning Dove Street, KHOU reported.

Animal control said the dog is a leopard cur. It was tranquilized and euthanized by animal control because it was very aggressive when the first responders arrived. The body of the dog was sent to a lab to test for rabies.

The girl went into the yard to play with the dog after coming home from a shopping trip. One family member walked outside and found the dog was attacking the child. The family member called 911 immediately, the Brazoria County Sheriffs Office told KHOU.

The girl was already mauled to death at the scene when the authorities arrived. Medical examiners will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

No one else was injured in the incident.

The investigation is still ongoing. The authorities said no criminal charges are expected to be filed at the time.

From NTD.tvSilhouettes of mobile users are seen next to a screen projection of Instagram logo on March 28, 2018. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)

Babies for Sale on Instagram: 4 Arrested, a Mother Among Them

Indonesian police have arrested four people for their alleged involvement in a baby-selling operation on Instagram.

Police identified one of them as 22-year-old LA, a mother who had tried to sell her 11-month-old baby, her third child, because she was in debt.

According to [the mothers] statement, the baby was the result of an affair, Surabaya Police criminal investigations chief Sudamiran told a press conference on Oct. 9, the BBC reported.

On Oct. 3, police intercepted the planned sale in Surabaya, Indonesia. They arrested LA and Alton Phinandia, the alleged owner of the Instagram page, and seized an adoption statement, cash, and mobile phones that contained WhatsApp messages about the sale.

The baby buyer, based in Bali known as NS, was due to pay 15 million Indonesian rupiah ($985) to LA, 5 million rupiah ($330) to a broker, and 2.5 million rupiah ($165) to Phinandia, the BBC reported.

LA and Phinandia were arrested in Surabaya and the baby buyer and a midwife were arrested in a resort in Bali, according to police.

Read More 123 Missing Children Recovered in One Day as Marshals Hunt for Sex Trafficking Victims

The four could be jailed for up to 15 years for violating child protection laws.

Disguised as Family Solutions

While this baby sale has been intercepted, police said they were still looking for at least one more baby that they think may have already been illegally sold via the Instagram page.

The Instagram page was titled Konsultasi Hati Privat, or Private Heart Consultation. Its page description translated to helping to cover someones disgrace, according to news.com.au. It claimed to offer family solutions and consultations to pregnant women.

Police said they started their investigation when they saw the page was offering adoption services. The page appeared to be targeting mothers who conceived out of wedlocka social taboo in Indonesia, a Muslim-majority country, where the Instagram account was based.

Read More Child Trafficking Through International Adoption Continues Despite Regulations

While none of the posts explicitly said that babies were up for sale, a telephone number was provided on the Instagram page so potential buyers could contact for more details via WhatsApp, police said.

People who want to adopt children use that account and the transaction is completed through WhatsApp, said Surabaya Police criminal investigations chief Sudamiran, according to news website Detik.

The Instagram account also listed the personal details of the women that were offering their babiesincluding their age, stage of pregnancy, religion, and health.

Instagram removed the page on Oct. 12 upon being alerted of the situation. At the time, the page had more than 760 followers.

The safety of our community on Instagram is our absolute priority, an Instagram spokesman told the BBC on Oct. 12. Our policies clearly prohibit people from engaging in criminal activity and coordinating harm on our platform, which includes the sale of humans.

From NTD.tv

Watch Next:

The Dark Origins of Pedophile Rings in the US

An alleged Soviet spy operation used children as honey pots in the west, to lure politicians and business leaders into committing crimes so they could be blackmailedRep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX), questions Deputy Assistant FBI Director Peter Strzok during a joint committee hearing of the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 12, 2018. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Declassification Would Refute Pretext of Russia Probe, Lawmaker Says

Congressmen have viewed classified documents containing exculpatory evidence that undermines the pretext of the investigation of alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, according to Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas).

The FBI began a counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign in late July 2016, with the pretext for the probe being a meeting between Trump campaign associate George Papadopoulos and Australian diplomat Alexander Downer. The pair allegedly spoke about Russians being in possession of Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clintons emails.

Obama administration officials at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI used intelligence about the PapadopoulosDowner meeting to launch Crossfire Hurricane, the codename for the Russia investigation. The same Obama administration officials were aware of evidence that directly contradicted the intelligence about the meeting but didnt include it months later as part of a surveillance-court application to spy on another Trump campaign associate, Carter Page.

Hypothetically, if the Department of Justice or the FBI has another piece of evidence that directly refutes thatthat directly contradicts thatwhat you would expect is for the Justice Department to present both sides of the coin to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to evaluate the weight and sufficiency of that evidence, Ratcliffe told Fox News on Oct. 14.

Instead, what happened here was the Department of Justice and FBI officials in the Obama administration in October of 2016 only presented to the court the evidence that made the governments case to get a warrant to spy on a Trump campaign associate. Declassification would corroborate what I just related to you.

Papadopoulos was sentenced to 14 days in prison in September for lying to the FBI. Court documents filed by special counsel Robert Mueller, the head of the Russia investigation, allege that Papadopoulos met with Joseph Mifsud, a professor with allegedly deep ties to Russia.

Little evidence exists to back up claims of Mifsuds ties to Russia, but the Maltese professor does have extensive ties to Western intelligence.

Papadopoulos has suggested that he was the target of British and Australian intelligence operations. In recent days, he has shared photographs of Mifsud with senior British lawmakers, including Claire Smith, the senior member of the British committee on intelligence, and Boris Johnson, the British foreign minister.

Another example of UK incompetence or complicity? Here is Joseph Mifsud a year after I notified the FBI that he was a suspected Russian agent with none other than the British Foreign Minister, Boris Johnson. Strange that a Russian agent gets such access to the top in the UK. pic.twitter.com/39J4PKv7RF  George Papadopoulos (@GeorgePapa19) October 14, 2018

Another example of UK incompetence or complicity? Here is Joseph Mifsud a year after I notified the FBI that he was a suspected Russian agent with none other than the British Foreign Minister, Boris Johnson, Papadopoulos wrote on Twitter along with Johnsons photo. Strange that a Russian agent gets such access to the top in the UK.

Ratcliffe is part of a joint committee investigation into actions taken by the FBI and DOJ in 2016 and 2017 in connection to the Russia investigation. During the week of Oct. 14, the lawmakers expect to hear from three key witnesses: Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson on Oct. 16, former FBI general counsel James Baker on Oct. 18, and Nellie Ohr, the wife of senior Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, on Oct. 19.

Simpson told lawmakers via his attorney that he plans to plead the Fifth Amendment to avoid self-incrimination. Simpson previously testified under oath that he didnt meet with Bruce Ohr before the FBI applied for a warrant to spy on Page in October 2016. According to Ratcliffe, that statement is in conflict with what Ohr told lawmakers.

Baker is testifying for the second time to answer additional questions about an allegation, made by anonymous sources, that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein discussed a plan last year to record President Donald Trump. Rosenstein denies the allegation.

Lawmakers plan to question Nellie Ohr about her work on the dossier of unsubstantiated claims about Trump that became the basis for the warrant to spy on Trump. The Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee paid for the dossier, a fact which, at the time, was concealed from the surveillance court.Photo: Google Maps

Three people are in hospital after a multi-vehicle crash in East Vancouver on Sunday morning.

Vancouver police are now investigating the incident which involved an unmarked VPD SUV in East Vancouver.



At about 8 a.m., a white police SUV was driving west on East Broadway when a blue Suzuki collided with it at Renfrew Street.

The Suzuki then hit a Ford Escape that was stopped at the light on Renfrew going south.



Each vehicle had one occupant inside and all three people went to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.



The incident is still under investigation.F-22 Raptor Jets Damaged or Destroyed During Hurricane Michael: Report

Top video shows devastation at Mexico Beach, Florida

Reports said that several F-22 Raptor fighter planes were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Michael as it tore through the Florida Panhandle.

Photos posted on social media show that several F-22s appeared to have been destroyed during the storm, according to the Air Force Times.

Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said that some aircraft were left in hangars at Tyndall Air Force Base, which was severely damaged during Hurricane Michael. All of the hangars were damaged when the storm, a Category 4, hit the state.

So one F-22 airframe has been spotted in a roofless hangar at Tyndall. Check out the upper left portion of this photo. No idea if this is flying airframe or a ground trainer or what, but it doesn't look good. More on Tyndall AFB's sad state here: https://t.co/JikiO65eny pic.twitter.com/GlvQ6hnJP7  Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel) October 12, 2018

We anticipate the aircraft parked inside may be damaged as well, but we wont know the extent until our crews can safely enter those hangars and make an assessment, Stefanek told the paper.

The Air Force has not confirmed whether any F-22s were destroyed.

In a tweet posted by a writer for The Drives defense blog The War Zone, One F-22 airframe has been spotted in a roofless hangar at Tyndall. He added: Check out the upper left portion of this photo. No idea if this is flying airframe or a ground trainer or what, but it doesnt look good.

News.com.au reported that there were 22 Raptor planes left on the base. About 33 of the high-tech aircraft, which are worth about $475 million each, were moved elsewhere before Michael hit, but some had to stay behind.

Air Force officials said that due to the hurricane damage, Tyndall Air Force Base will likely be uninhabited for weeks, according to the military news website Stars and Stripes.

The roofing was torn aircraft hangars at Tyndall, which is located near Panama City.

No power, water, or sewer service are available on the Base, officials said. People who evacuated should stay away, said officials in the Stars and Stripes report.

At this point, Tyndall residents and evacuated personnel should remain at their safe location, Col. Brian Laidlaw, the wings commander, said, the outlet reported. We are actively developing plans to reunite families and plan to provide safe passage back to base housing.

Base leadership is working with Air Force leadership to develop a short-term plan for our airmen, Laidlaw said, according to local news outlet The News-Herald.

Im sure there will be lots of questions about how to help, Col. Michael Conley, commander of the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, said of the base destruction. Lets give the Tyndall team the chance to fully assess the situation and figure out what they need.

Recovery Effort

Officials said that a search for survivors of Michaels wrath in hard-hit areas has turned into a recovery operation.

Were going into recovery mode, unfortunately, said Fire Chief Alex Baird of Panama City, Reuters reported. At sunrise, well start again on our search, Baird said. We hope that well find more (survivors), but its more and more doubtful.

Early in the coming week, President Donald Trump is expected to visit Florida and Georgia to inspect Michaels damage.Fall Season Means Its Time to Tune Up Your Medicare Coverage

CHICAGOIf you are not happy with your Medicare coverage, now is the time to make a change.

The annual Medicare fall enrollment period for 2019 begins Oct. 15 and runs through Dec. 7. This is the time to make changes to your basic coverage and your prescription drug insurance. Fall enrollment presents an opportunity to save moneybut more importantly, the chance to make sure your insurance coverage provides the best match of health care providers.

The basic choice is between traditional fee-for-service Medicare and a Medicare Advantage plan, the all-in-one managed-care alternative offered by private insurance companies. Advantage plans usually include prescription-drug coverage, and cap out-of-pocket expenses.

Advantage can save you money in some instances, but the trade-off is being tied to a narrower network of health care providers. Traditional Medicare still provides the widest, most flexible access to providers. Seniors who choose traditional Medicare usually add a standalone Part D drug plan; many also add a Medigap supplemental policy.

Even if you like your current coverage, it can pay to take a careful look. The design of your prescription-drug plan coverage can change annually, and Advantage plans can make changes to their networks of health care providers at any time.

The shopping process should begin with a review of a letter that arrives each autumn from your Medicare prescription drug or Advantage plan provider. Called the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC), this letter details any changes in rules for cost-sharing, coverage of specific medicationsand even whether a specific drug will be covered.

The ANOC gives the simplest overview of what is changing in the plan you currently have for next year, said Casey Schwarz, senior counsel, education and federal policy at the Medicare Rights Center.

Pay careful attention to the network of providers in your current plan for the coming yearpharmacy-delivery options in the case of stand-alone drug plans, and health care providers if you have an Advantage plan. Also read carefully the so-called formulary, which describes the rules for coverage of a medication, including whether any quantity limits are imposed, or if the red tape of prior authorization will be invoked.

New in Medicare Advantage

Advantage plans provide all-in-one coverage of hospitalization and outpatient services, sometimes for the same monthly premium you pay for traditional Medicare ($134 this year). Most plans offer extra benefits such as dental and vision coverage; many also wrap in prescription drugs. Just over half of plans (55 percent) will charge a supplemental premium for those extras, averaging $34 next year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).

For next year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have given insurers the option to add new services, such as adult daycare and home-based palliative care or home health aids. Equipment that helps frail seniors stay in their homes also can be covered, including grab bars and stair rails.

But few plans will offer the expanded services for 2019, since CMS just announced the new rules in April, according to Gretchen Jacobson, associate director of the KFF Medicare program.

Plan providers didnt have much time this year to incorporate these new services, she said. We could see more plans offering them in 2020. (None of the new benefits will be available to enrollees in traditional fee-for-service Medicare.)

Another change this year: Enrollees in Medicare Advantage will have an expanded do-over opportunity. A new Advantage open enrollment and dis-enrollment will run from Jan. 1 through March 31. During this period, you can switch between Advantage plans or switch to traditional Medicare. (Previously, it was possible only to disenroll from an Advantage plan.)

Prescription-Drug Plans

The average Medicare prescription-drug plan premium is projected to remain stable in 2019 at about $32.50 per month, down from $33.50 in 2018, according to the Medicare Rights Center. But premiums for specific plans can fluctuate widely from year to year, so pay attention to whatever rate is announced in your ANOC.

If you have expensive prescriptions, you will benefit from the continued shrinking of the notorious doughnut holethe gap in plan coverage that begins when combined spending by you and your insurer reaches a certain amount. In 2019, you enter the gap when your own spending, including discounts by any drug manufacturer, hits $3,820; you exit when spending reaches $5,100.

The gap has been closing gradually due to changes in federal law. Next year, the gap is closed completely for brand-name drugs, which means that enrollees will pay Part Ds standard 25 percent cost-sharing fees. The gap continues for one more year for generic drugs, with cost-sharing of 37 percent.

Shopping Resources

Medicare Plan Finder: Use Medicares official plan shopping site (https://bit.ly/2IDFHEJ) to identify good-fit plans. Plug in your Medicare number and drugs (you will need each drugs name and dosage), and the plan finder then displays a list of plans that match your needs, including their estimated total cost (premiums and out-of-pocket expenses); which drugs are covered; and customer-satisfaction ratings. The finder also will give you advice about drug utilization and restrictions.

Medicare & You: CMS mails out this free handbook in late September; it contains plenty of useful information about Medicare coverage and programs. If you havent received it, call 1-800-Medicare to get a copy, or download it (https://bit.ly/2NYP1su).

State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs): Each state has a federally funded SHIP that provides free counseling on coverage options. Click here to find your local SHIP: (bit.ly/1OU0sfN). The Medicare Rights Center also offers free counseling by phone (1-800-333-4114).

By Mark MillerLatest Update on Former Hurricane Leslie

Top video shows Hurricane Michael devastating Florida beach

Former Hurricane Leslie, which is now a post-tropical cyclone after spending weeks in the Atlantic Ocean, is bringing rain and wind to Spain and Portugal, the BBC reported.

More than 15,000 people are without power amid the storm.

The remnants of the storm hit the central and northern parts of the Iberian Peninsula, CBS News reported. Portugals weather agency issued red alerts for high winds and dangerous coastal conditions over the storm.

Officials said the storm had 70 mph winds. A Category 1 hurricane has 75 mph winds, according to the SaffirSimpson scale that categorizes hurricanes.

The BBC, however, noted that the storm had winds of up to 106 mph. Civil defense officials said that more than two dozen people were injured in Portugal.

A resident of the Figueira da Foz told a local news outlet, I have never seen anything like it, The town seemed to be in a state of war, with cars smashed by fallen trees. People were very worried, the BBC reported.

It is rare for such a storm to hit the Iberian Peninsula, and only five similar events have been recorded, the broadcaster noted.

Tropical Depression Forms

The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that a tropical depression formed just to the south of Mexico in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

The depression is moving toward the west-northwest near 6 mph (9 km/h) and this motion is expected to continue today. A turn toward the west and southwest at a slower forward speed forecast to begin tonight and continue into Tuesday. On the forecast track, the depression is expected to slowly move away from Mexico over the next few days, according to the agency.

It added: Maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph (55 km/h) with higher gusts. Gradual strengthening is forecast during the next few days, and the depression is expected to become a tropical storm later tonight or early Monday.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic

The agency also said it is monitoring an area of low pressure over the southwestern Caribbean Sea near Central America.

The system has become better defined over the past couple of days. However, the surface circulation remains broad and upper-level winds are expected to be only marginally favorable for any development to occur while the system moves westward to west-northwestward over the next couple of days, reaching Nicaragua and Honduras by late Monday or early Tuesday, the NHC said. Regardless of development, locally heavy rainfall will be possible across portions of Central America Tuesday through Thursday.

There is a 20 percent chance of the storm becoming a tropical cyclone in the next five days and a 10 percent chance of it becoming one in the next two days, the NHC said.

In the central Atlantic Ocean east of South America, there is a broad, low-latitude tropical wave located 800 miles east of French Guiana.

Any development of this system should be slow to occur during the next couple of days before upper-level winds become unfavorable around mid-week, prior to the disturbance reaching the northeastern coast of South America, the agency said, adding that there is a 10 percent chance of development into a tropical cyclone over the next two or five days, respectively.Looter Shot, Killed in Panama City After Hurricane Michael: Officials

Top video shows devastation in Mexico Beach, Florida

An alleged looter was shot dead by police in hurricane-hit Panama City, Florida, according to reports.

WEAR-TV reported that the man was shot and killed near the Tidewater Estates and Dune Creek after Hurricane Michael slammed the Florida Panhandle, reducing entire towns and communities to rubble.

A witness told WEAR-TV that the man was allegedly trying to steal a law enforcement vehicle.

He yelled at me a little bit and said, Oh, Im looting. And he opened the door to the police officers SUV with the lights going. Got in it, shut the door, Landon Swett, the witness, told the station.

The officer was in the passenger side of the vehicle, Swett said, adding that he heard a shot. He ran inside a home with his family when the incident unfolded.

A representative with the Florida Highway Patrol said Florida State Fire Marshals were involved in the shooting. WEAR-TV reported that state officials are now investigating the matter.

I know PCPD, local law enforcement and outside agencies are trying to come in and minimize the impact of that, David Collier, a battalion chief for the Panama City Fire Department, was quoted by the MyPanhandle website as saying.

He added: I know the county has in place a curfew. Everybody needs to be off the roads as much as possible from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.

He said there have been isolated cases of looting across Hurricane Michael-hit areas in Florida.

Some locals, however, have said that as supplies get scarce, people will do what it takes to survive. This hit so hard and so fast that the different aspect of human nature is going to come out and people are going to do anything to survive, Christopher Donahue told WEAR-TV.

Dollar Store Looting Video

A clip posted by YouTube account Live Storms Media in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael shows people grabbing items from a Family Dollar store.

About 40 people are seen looting, ransacking, and cleaning out a destroyed Family Dollar in Panama City after Hurricane Michael, the channel wrote.

The Family Dollar store missing the majority of its roof and several of its walls. The front of the building was nearly gone.

The footage shows people driving directly to the store and loading items into their vehicles. At the end of the video, a man can be heard, I gotta go get me some laundry detergent.

CNN reported that for Bay County, where Panama City is located, a curfew was put in place after the hurricane. Gulf, Franklin, and Washington counties are also under a mandatory curfew.

Police told WEAR-TV that people who violate the curfew could face a ticket and fine.

Hurricane Michael hit the Florida Panhandle last week, making landfall near Mexico Beach with 155 mph winds. The storm did extensive damage to the area, including to Tyndall Air Force Base.

Video footage taken from Mexico Beach shows neighborhoods of flattened buildings and trees.Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) speaks at a hearing about the potential modernization of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, Oct. 6, 2015. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Louisiana Senator Tells Anti-Kavanaugh Protesters Children: Your Parents Are Using You as Tools

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) gave a decisive response to an anti-Kavanaugh protester who brought her children to Capitol Hill to take part in the confrontation.

A female voice, alleged by The Daily Caller to belong to Alethea Torrellas Shapiro, can be heard alerting her children that the Republican senator is making his way down a Senate office building hallway, in a video obtained by the Daily Caller and shared on Friday, Oct. 12.

Senator Cassidy, can you please apologize to my children for ruining their futures? Shapiro can be heard calling out to Cassidy as he reached the spot where the children were stationed.

Alethea Torrellas Shapiro was harassing senators on the Hill for days and regularly used her school-aged children to do so. Shapiro is an extremist feminist activist who calls Linda Sarsour her hero and regularly goes on profanity-laced tirades against GOP senators like Chuck Grassley. Sen. Cassidy, can you please apologize to my children for ruining their futures?The senator turned to the kids, removed his earbuds and said, Hey, guess what.  I know your parents are using you as tools.    David Croom     

The womans question was an apparent reference to the unsubstantiated sexual misconduct allegations against now-Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was confirmed last week by a 50-48 margin in the Senate.

Cassidy was among the yes votes.

In the video, the Louisiana Senator can be seen stopping and taking out his earbuds before saying to the children, Hey, guess what? In the future, if somebody makes anI know your parents are using you as toolsbut in the future, if somebody makes an allegation against you, and theres no proof for it, you will be OK. Thank you.

No, were not using them as tools. Were not using them as tools, Shapiro said as she and her friend pursued Cassidy down the hall.

The protester that accompanied Shapiro was Triana Arnold James, according to Fox News.

Why is it that [Kavanaugh] gets the benefit of the doubt, and he gets the presumption of innocence, but black men get the presumption of guilt? James told Fox News. If it applies for one, it should apply for all. It should be across the board.

As the women pursued Cassidy, they could be heard complaining that the Kavanaugh investigation lacked a full due process.

Listen to what we have to say, the women insisted, as Cassidy walked towards an elevator.

Shame on you, the woman says, for not believing women and for ruining my daughters lives.

Shapiro documented her efforts to protest Kavanaughs confirmation to the Supreme Court in numerous social media posts, according to Fox News.

Im at the back of scotus [sic] waiting for Kavanaugh with my kids and a bunch of other protesters does anyone know if hes inside yet? Shapiro wrote in a since deleted Twitter post on Tuesday.

Tomorrow I plan on birddogging in the Senate hallways and basement with all 4 of my kids (my daughters are 12, 10 and my boys are 5, 3), Shapiro wrote in a Facebook post, since deleted, according to the Daily Caller. I [want] these horrible atrocious men to see the faces of the future that they are ruining and to know the tremendous pain women and men are feeling now that they confirmed Kavanaugh.

The Daily Caller published a screenshot of the alleged post.

According to The Daily Caller, Shapiro was harassing senators on the Hill for days and regularly used her school-aged children in confrontations with politicians.

Left-wing protesters have embraced a more confrontational and aggressive approach recently, a case in point being chasing Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and his wife out of a restaurant in Washington.

A number of prominent Democratic politicians have appeared to encourage such behavior.

Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said its not possible to be civil with Republicans any longer.

You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about, Clinton told CNNs Christiane Amanpour on Oct. 9. Thats why I believe, if we are fortunate enough to win back the House and/or the Senate, thats when civility can start again. But until then, the only thing Republicans seem to recognize and respect is strength.

Former Attorney General Eric Holder recently said its time to kick Republicans.

Michelle always says, When they go low, we go high,' he said at a rally in support of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams in Stockbridge, Georgia on Oct. 7. No. When they go low, we kick em.

We saw the lack of civility and the angry mobs even before the comments from Hillary Clinton and Eric Holder, so we fully expect leftwing activists will continue to harass members of Congress up through Election Day, a senior Republican aide told Fox News on Friday.

The radical Democrats have turned into an angry mob, President Donald Trump said at a recent rally.

There is going to be an assassination if this doesnt ratchet down, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), according to Fox, before calling for a toning down of the rhetoric.Parkland Gunman Nikolas Cruz Trespassed at Stoneman Douglas Months Before Massacre, Teacher Says

Months before a Valentines Day attack that left 17 dead at a Florida high school, suspected gunman Nikolas Cruz trespassed on campus grounds and mingled with students, according to newly released witness statements.

Computer science teacher Sandra Rennie told a detective that she saw Cruz wearing a hoodie and backpack on the first day of classes at Parklands Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in August 2017, South Floridas Sun Sentinel reported.

Cruz had been forced out of the school a year before.

I was like, Oh, Nik, youre back, and hes like: Yeah Im back, and I was like, OK, well good to have you back, Rennie said.

Rennie said she notified school authorities and Cruz was subsequently escorted off the grounds.

She recalled a number of interactions with Cruz, including a time when he showed her images of disfigured people he found amusing.

He got upset, Rennie recounted, when a firewall in a computer class prevented him from accessing information online about different types of guns.

She told of having taught Cruz in an engineering class, where he didnt make a lot of eye contact, kept his head down a lot, and was quiet. He received Fs in the class, Rennie said, regarding his academic performance.

Every, every semester he did, he did nothing, and if he did do something he didnt do enough to follow through and finish any assignment, Rennie recounted, according to the report. She said that for the most part, he appeared disinterested in schoolwork.

Rennie said he once destroyed a class project consisting of bridges made out of toothpicks and Popsicle sticks so others wouldnt get a better grade, according to the Sun Sentinel report.

Prosecutors on Friday released a batch of new witness statements that shed new light on the suspected gunman behind one of Americas worst mass shootings.

What Cruz Said

In an August 2017 Instagram post, Cruz sent disturbing messages to another male student over a girl, and in September 2016 picked a fight with him.

I will kill you!!!!! I am going to shoot you dead, read a transcript of one his diatribes.

The assistant principal reportedly circulated an email sometime after the fight, telling teachers Cruz was not allowed to carry a backpack.

Rennie said that the school later tried to get Cruz transferred to Cross Creek, a school for children with behavioral disorders.

Cruz fought against the transfer.

He did not want to leave Stoneman. Did not want to go. He was so, he was so mad. He did not want to go, she said, according to the report.

He was kicked out of Stoneman Douglas in February 2017.

A year later Cruz returned to the Parkland, Florida, school armed with an AR-15 rifle and killed 17 students and staff members and injured another 17, according to authorities. A security guard thought he was carrying a duffel bag but did not confront him, according to the statements.

Cruzs Dense Team

Cruz has been charged with committing 17 first-degree murders, and 17 counts of attempted murder.

He made an appearance in a Florida court on Sept. 26, as his defense team pushed to interview hundreds of secondary witnesses, part of an effort to spare him the death penalty.

His lawyers have said he is willing to plead guilty in exchange for life in prison, but prosecutors reject that and insist he should be executed.Greg Mitchell, Managing Co-Chair of the International Religious Freedom Roundtable takes part in a briefing on religious freedom in China on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 11, 2018. (York Du/NTD)

Religious Freedom Should Be Part of Trade Agreement with China, Expert Says

WASHINGTONReligious freedom should be an important facet of any new or retooled trade agreement between the United States and China, an expert said during a briefing on human rights and religious freedom in China.

In the briefing on Oct. 11, hosted by the International Religious Freedom Caucus and the International Religious Freedom Roundtable (IRFR), representatives for the World Uyghur Congress, the spiritual discipline Falun Gong, and other organizations provided updates on persecutions each group has been subjected to in China and called for action by the United States.

Since the first Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom in July, during which Vice President Mike Pence mentioned religious suppression in China, the U.S. government has beeninjecting religious freedom into the bilateral relationships on trade, economic development, national security, and other issues, said Greg Mitchell, managing co-chair of the IRFR.

What they need to do is to follow through, Mitchell said. If we renegotiate new trade policies so that there is not a tariff war, one of the conditions should be, they need to start to improve religious freedom as part of the new trade agreements.

We can keep tariffs and sanctions in place unless they improve on religious freedom. They have to follow through with actions, he said.

Zhang Erping, spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Information Center, is hopeful of improvement under the Trump administrations new China policy.

The Chinese Communist Partys persecution of Falun Gong has lasted for more than 19 years. It is the most ruthless and the largest-scale persecution in Chinese history, Zhang explained. Without including Falun Gong in the human-rights dialogues or agenda, the talks will be incomplete, and lack substantiality.

Zhang also hopes that the U.S. government can fund anti-censorship technology, such as Free Gate and Ultrasurf, to help bring down the Great Firewall that censors the internet in China.

Zhang said the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet and Society regards these two products as providing the most reliable free services to users in China, yet, they need federal funding to continue operating.

Freedom of information is proven to be the most powerful factor for social change in a closed society, and the least expensive way to help bring about a peaceful transition to democracy, Zhang said.

Tina Mufford, deputy director of research and policy of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said that the U.S. government should take a whole-of-government approach to address the religious-freedom issue in China, and include human rights during all sort of dialogues, such as on trade, finance, agriculture, and commerce discussions.

With the Chinese government, you really need to be persistent. Saying it once is virtually meaningless.

Mufford said that every level of the U.S. government should mention human rights in every interaction with their Chinese counterparts.

Mufford says that although the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act is a powerful tool to hold Chinese individuals, government or agencies accountable, There are so many individuals and agencies that could be sanctioned. And it is not happening, she said.

Miranda Robinson, International Religious Freedom Caucus advisor for Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), said that the reason she named the briefing as A Final Attempt to Defend Human Rights in China, is that the religious persecution in China is constantly getting worse, yet many people in the United States are still unaware of it.The Split Personality of the Anti-Polis

The urban/rural divide is at the heart of the political divide

This familiar map of the 2016 American election, broken down by red (representing Republican) and blue (representing Democrat) countiesrather than by statesshows a stark division of citizens in a rural/urban pattern that has become typical of most Western democracies.

Much about urbanization is explained by the attraction of better jobs, services and the glitter of wealth. However, there is another powerful, less visible attraction. Namely, the fact that life in the big city provides immediate access to a hedonistic privacy, offering relief from the traditional moral restraints and obligations imposed by civil life in rural settings.

The Rural/Urban Divide

The rural/urban divide became especially visible in America over the previous election cycle, and an Atlantic Monthly article from 2012, Red State, Blue City: How the Urban-Rural Divide is Splitting America, remarked that virtually every major city (100,000 plus population) in the United States of America has a different outlook from the less populous areas that are closest to it. The difference is no longer where people live, its about how people live.

The pattern of big cities dissolving their own moral roots is an old one, and literature is often the canary in the coal mine warning of dark and rapacious cities where almighty money, unbridled self-interest and sensuality chip away at ordinary morality.

French writer Gustave Flauberts newly citified Madame Bovary grinds down to suicide after losing herself in vanity and infidelity. Charles Dickenss The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit brutally exposes the cash-cruelty of American city life under its new aristocracy of money. And who could forget Thomas Hardys lovely, dark-tressed Tess of the dUrbervilles milking her cows at Talbothays dairy farm, the soulless urban sprawl of Flintcomb-Ash encroaching to swallow her up?

One of the most disturbing literary characterizations of a growing modern anomiethat condition, first described minutely by French sociologist Emile Durkheim in which society ceases to provide any moral guidance for individualsis sensed with some alarm in the first line of Albert Camuss The Stranger.

Meursault, the title character, opens the novel with these listless words: Mama died today. Or, maybe yesterday; I dont know. He doesnt know because the bonds are broken, and in a war-torn, morally wracked Europe, of which he is so often taken as a symbol, so is he.

The greatest painter of deracinated souls, however, was surely Russian novelist Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky.

For Dostoevsky, who first captured the irony that in the modern city, rootlessness is the most-common bond, and if it is true that God doesnt exist, then everything is permitted.

When everything is permitted, there can be no possible distinction between good and evil, and, therefore, no ordering principles by which a society can form a cosmiona term used by some philosophers to describe a sheltering common life in which precisely by way of such distinctions citizens voluntarily modify their personal choices for the good of all, rather than primarily for their own good. The thought that by virtue of an enfeebling mutation of this grounding possibility the Western world may be morally imploding, all the while defending the outcome as the highest form of democratic liberty, is rather disquieting.

Hyper-Democracies

For just as molecules may break into atoms and corporate bodies into mere aggregates, a democracy can fragment into a hyper-democracya simple arithmetical compilation of sovereign individuals, each cheerfully self-alienated from any search for a common good and therefore from each other.

The result is mass anomie: an aimless collection of citizens it is assumed will determine the blind outcome of society. This is a type of political formlessness that can arise only from the privatization of liberty, and it differs sharply from the classical democratic formunder assault, but still with us as late as mid-20th centurywhich was a system striving for an ostensible common good, the underlying, if unspoken logic of which was that human acts directed exclusively toward ourselves as individuals can have no moral substance.

They acquire this only when directed toward others, which is to say, when they are self-transcendent acts that bond all citizens in a civil society through mutual obligations and duties.

It goes without saying that such a society cant be a fiction, as libertarians are prone to believe, for it has a relational moral being that is necessarily greater than the sum of its parts.

However imperfect, that was the notion that energized the ancient city, or polis, the principal aim of which was to thrive as a unified social, moral, andif barbarians were at the gatea military entity.

However, modern democracies have turned this notion on its head, by allowing a new, soft sort of urban barbarism to develop inside their own gates. For over the past century, each at its own pace, they have been mutating from polis to anti-polis, to aggregates of sometimes millions of urbanites living side-by-side (hard to say together), offering an easy evasion of the moral expectations of others, and a shared, often deliberate and outspoken repudiation of any felt obligation to create such expectations for others.

Anti-Community Communities

So, now, and uniquely so in human history, we have gigantic anti-community communities producing anti-morality moralities, so to speak. That millions of citizens wander past each other staring in voluntary isolation at their cell phones, is just a recent high-tech manifestation of this long-developing truth for which they were already primed. Its not as if human communities, as corporate bodies, have never decayed into amoral aggregates before.

Ancient Rome remains a classic case. Our modern hyper-democratic regimes may be the first in history intentionally and defiantly to engineer this kind of moral implosion by philosophical fiat.

Why philosophical? Because what is so clearly demarcated on our map looks very much like a pattern formed by citizens who over a century-and-a-half have taken sides in the long philosophical, political and moral contest between the incompatible social philosophies of J.S. Mill and Edmund Burke, which is to say, as The Atlantic article above warned, how we ought to live.

However dumbed-down, Mills so-called Do whatever you want as long as you dont harm someone else rules the cities, while Burkes notion of civil society as a polity voluntarily bonded by little platoons still rules the rural areas.

I am sure he was speaking of cities when a historian colleague wrote, the modern world seeks absolute autonomy, freedom of choice unbounded by norms. We do not wish to obey moral laws, but to create them for ourselves.

Its mostly in our fashionable cities that we see this trend, while country folk, even when they use the same democratic language, still so far intend the basic principle of our original, if now decaying, style of a polis democracy.

An ironic result of the conflation of a corporate civil body and a mere aggregate of individuals is that the wordindeed, the very concept of democracyhas bifurcated and is now something that will do whatever is asked of it, such that it isnt uncommon to hear two people in the same room cite democracy to defend plainly incompatible moral and philosophical positions, as if merely to utter the word with sufficient solemnity is to rescue a bad argument.

This has utterly stranded any underlying notion of the people.

They have become like a pack of dogs which, though each is still tethered to the carriage of public life by virtue of the right to vote, otherwise have no traces to join them to each other, and so will run at will in all directions with no common destination.

Where the carriage will end up is anybodys guess, and the sobering possibility looms that no one cares. The hyper-democratic shipto alter the metaphormust have no chart, no captain, no pilotjust equally liberated passengers. Liberated from each other, that is, each citizen increasingly his or her own private morals-inventing machine. Census analysts in many parts of the West continue to warn of the high and climbing percentages of urban residentsranging from 50 to 75 percent in some citieswho now live alone.

Accordingly, the modern anti-polis is increasingly a place where acts traditionally considered wrong, or bad for society, which is to say, bad for the good of the polis, such as divorce, abortion, single-parenting, homosexuality, drug-use, and saturation pornography, increase in variety and number and are normalized by language-inversion, and then defended vigorously against judgmental attackson what?

Not on these behaviors themselves, or on any harm to society as a whole, these acts may cause now, or in future, but on the sanctity of the individual right to choose them. For what could possibly shame a polity with vanishingly few shared convictions? Not much.

As a result, the anti-polis has become the locus of a cultural-moral relativism easily identifiable in such angry prohibitions as: Dont you dare judge me!

The red hinterland, meanwhile, remains rooted, however tenuously, in our original and natural biological model for a human community and continues to rail privately, if not freelyexcept in the ballot boxagainst these and many other once publicly recognized wrongs.

Social and Moral Debilitation Visible in Cities

The evidence for what looks very much like social and moral self-debilitation is for now mostly visible in cities, where increasingly, we find the most extreme statistics on every imaginable human predilection, perversity, and indulgence, and a dire breakdown of the natural family (best defined as a married mother and father living together with their dependent children) unequaled since the last stages of Roman decadence.

This is paralleled by a growing dependency of broken families on government. Isnt it shocking to realize that even the combined disaster of two exhausting and bloody World Wars book-ending a devastating international depression couldnt produce the depths of social, family, and moral breakdown now observable in the crime, health, and welfare statistics of most big cities? Its hard to resist the old quip that these may be the only entities in history to have passed from barbarism to decadence without passing through civilization.

I dont want to exaggerate.

The modern city is a living paradox. Wonderful art collections are on display in architecturally impressive buildings, on the steps of which, bums may be seen sleeping off their drug of choice or begging.

Urban advance and decline may grow together, even feed off each other in reaction, the former masking the latter. Great museums, orchestras, and art shows glow like ever more carefully-applied make-up on the worried visage of the anti-polis, which still harbors many small tightly bonded communities: households, churches, charities, and institutions clinging, beleaguered, to their private vision of a shared common good.

Many of these are immigrant or remnant communities clustering against what they see as an obvious decline of the surrounding society, bombarded daily by newly-legitimizedif not approvedbehaviors that in the very recent past (in a now-defunct phrase) would have shamed us all.

Finally, our modern anti-polis entities have become repositories for most of the rich, as well as most of the poor of democratic nations. The preponderance of benefits goes in one direction, with those in the middle gradually driven out by higher prices, by a simple evaporation of their former standard of living, or by self-relocation to cheaper suburbs as a service class. Hence the split-personality of the anti-polis.

The well-off frequent theater and symphony subsidized by governments and corporations travel abroad, hire the best lawyers, eat in very nice restaurants, and drive their kids, or have Filipina nannies walk them to the best schools.

While those at the other extreme cant escape bad, even dangerous schools, have latchkey kids, the greatest share of fatherless children and abortions, get arrested for most of the alcohol, drug use, and domestic violenceand are generally struggling in the underbelly of the anti-polis.

During the long decline of Rome, if they escaped assassination, wealthy citizens bypassed a similar realitywhile sampling similar amusementsby retreating to their country villas, just as wealthy moderns retreat by clustering in pricey neighborhoods or gated suburban communities, riding it all down in style.

Skeptical citizens in the countryside, meanwhile, continue to resist what looks to them like an alien invasion of the nation by city-dwellers, as Walter Lippmann put it back in 1927the first year America had more urban than rural citizens. The aliens sniff that citizens in the red counties are living in the 19th century, while the latter are convinced beyond all reasonable doubt that those in the blue counties inhabit a weirdand possibly sickworld celebrating the hegemony of individual will over all other moral claims, even over the primacy of human nature.

The latest weirdness on public display is the right of individuals to repudiate their own natural biology by re-imagining themselves as any gender, or combination of genders they wish, and hence of men to enter womens washrooms at will, and vice versa.

Aliens, indeed! Red counties vote against blue because the anti-polis is offensive to everything they have ever believed.

William Gairdner is an author living near Toronto. His latest book is The Great Divide: Why Liberals and Conservatives Will Never, Ever Agree (2015). His website is WilliamGairdner.ca

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.US President Donald Trump arrives to a "Make America Great Again" rally in Lebanon, Ohio, on Oct. 12, 2018. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

Trump Rebukes Media for Dishonest Coverage of Rally Remarks

President Donald Trump rebuked coverage by certain media of his comments related to Confederate Army Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Trump accused mediaspecifically NBC News, who later issued a correctionof twisting and cutting his full remarks made during an Oct. 12 rally where he praised a number of Ohioans. He said his statements about Lee were part of a monologue in which he applauded Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grantan Ohio native.

NBC News has totally and purposely changed the point and meaning of my story about General Robert E. Lee and General Ulysses Grant, he wrote in a tweet on Oct. 14. Was actually a shoutout to warrior Grant and the great state in which he was born. As usual, dishonest reporting. Even mainstream media embarrassed!

Near the end of his speech, Trump had referenced the Confederate Army general and his Union counterpart, before commending Grant for winning the civil war. Lee is not from Ohio.

Robert E. Lee was a great general, and Abraham Lincoln developed a phobia, Trump said during the event. He couldnt beat Robert E. Lee.

Lincoln had almost developed a phobia because he was having a hard time with a true great fighter and a great general, Robert E. Lee, Trump said just moments later. But Grant figured it out, and Grant is a great general, and Grant came from right here.

One-Sided

Trumps critique was most likely referring to an NBC News video post that left out his full remarks. The tweet, published on their official news Twitter account, said, WATCH: President Trump says Robert E. Lee was a great general during Ohio rally, calling the Confederate leader incredible.' It has been retweeted thousands of times.

News reports from other media had similar one-sided headlines in which they included Trumps initial quote about Lee and left out the end of his anecdote.

Trump praises Robert E. Lee during Ohio rally, an article on Politico said. CNN had a video that said: Trump: Robert E. Lee was a great general.' On MSNBC it was the same: President Trump Praises Robert E. Lee During Campaign-Style Rally.

As an example of a more neutral headline, USA Today had an article titled Trump gives Civil War history at Ohio rally, describing Lee, Grant as great generals.

NBC later issued a correction for their post the same day Trump criticized them. They said that the attached video clip lacked the full context for Trumps remark. The president acknowledged the correction in an Oct. 14 tweet.

During the rally, Trump said that despite Grants drinking problem, Lincoln still turned to the Union general to defeat Lee.

And he went in and knocked the hell out of everyone, Trump said of Grant. They said to Lincoln, You cant use him anymore, hes an alcoholic and Lincoln said, I dont care if hes an alcoholic, frankly, get me six or seven just like him.

He started to win. Grant really didhe had a serious problem, a serious drinking problem, but man, was he a good general, Trump told the crowd. And hes finally being recognized as a great general.

Trump in the past criticized the recent push to tear down Confederate statues, including those of Lee.

An Aug. 16 poll by NPR, PBS, NewsHour, and Marist on Aug. 16 found that 62 percent of Americans believe that statues honoring leaders of the Confederacy should remain as a historical symbol. Only 27 percent of respondents believed the statues should be removed.

Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments, Trump said in August. You cant change history, but you can learn from it. Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jacksonwhos next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish!President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference to discuss a revised U.S. trade agreement with Mexico and Canada in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, on Oct. 1. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Trumps New Trade Deals Seek to Deter Currency Manipulation

The new NAFTA deal includes an unprecedented rule on currency intervention by trading partners seeking to gain trade advantages

WASHINGTONThe new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is the first trade agreement in history to directly address the issue of currency manipulation, which could now serve as a precedent for future U.S. free trade agreements.

Governments manipulate their own domestic currency in order to gain a trade advantage. The United States has long fought to deter this practice, claiming that it has led to the loss or displacement of millions of American jobs.

By keeping their currencies undervalued, governments can make their exports cheap and imports expensive, thus strengthening their competitive positions in international trade and building trade surpluses.

USMCA includes the first-ever chapter on currency manipulation, which states that each party confirms that it is bound under the articles of agreement of the International Monetary Fund to avoid manipulating exchange rates or the international monetary system in order to prevent effective balance of payments adjustment or to gain an unfair competitive advantage.

The trilateral partners already have floating exchange rate regimes and currently, meet the transparency and reporting requirements of this rule. Therefore, the impact of the provision on the trade policies of the three countries is limited.

However, the deal covers macroeconomic and exchange rate policies for the first time, setting a precedent for future deals.

By setting a precedent, the Trump administration is likely to insist on similar commitments in future trade negotiations, Stephanie Segal, deputy director and senior fellow at Center for Strategic and International Studies wrote in a report.

The United States also reached an understanding with South Korea on currency manipulation last month.

The revised U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement which was signed Sept. 24 does not include enforceable provisions on currency. However, both parties agreed to do a side deal aimed at tackling this problem.

Its unclear at this point what the currency provisions would look like, but it is an important step as the United States placed South Korea on its monitoring list for currency manipulation in April this year.

Youre really talking about a pledge to not manipulate your currency and transparency, Troy Stangarone, senior director at Korea Economic Institute of America said in an interview. Ultimately these are things that are important for all countries.

Largest Manipulators

Currency manipulation became a key issue in international trade between 2003 and 2013. Nearly 20 countries were heavily influencing their local currencies as part of their trade strategies. According to a report by Peterson Institute for International Economics, manipulation was a more common practice for manufacturing countriesmainly in Asiaoil exporters, and financial centers.

More than $250 billion of trade balances annually shifted from deficit to surplus countries due to the currency misalignments.

The United States lost at least one million jobs as a result, especially during the Great Recession when unemployment was already high. European countries were major losers as well, the Peterson Institute report said.

Although the currency manipulation has slowed down in recent years, the practice continues to occur. In recent years the largest manipulators have been Singapore and Switzerland.

The Treasury Department is expected to issue soon its semiannual report to Congress that analyzes the exchange rate and economic policies of its trading partners.

We do not expect the United States to name any country a currency manipulator, stated Goldman Sachs economists in a report.

However, we expect that China, Japan, Germany, Korea, India, and Switzerland will remain on the monitoring list, and we think Taiwan could be added back.

Although real policy consequences of being named a manipulator are minor relative to the ongoing tariff actions, labeling China would cause another escalation of the trade war, according to Goldman Sachs.

Chinas Currency Manipulation

Beijings unfair trade practices, including currency manipulation, have become a major source of tension with many of its trading partners, including the United States.

China had been by far the largest currency manipulator in the past.

The country amassed $4 trillion of reserves, growing its current account surplus to 10 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) between 2003 and 2013. China sharply cut back on manipulation in the last five years, and its current account surplus has fallen to less than 2 percent of GDP.

However, it continues to manipulate on occasion, and this could be an important issue in the trade negotiations between the United States and China.

We are going to make sure that currency is definitely part of these discussions, the U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC on Oct. 12. We are going to make sure that whatever we make up on trade we dont lose on currencies.

The Chinese yuan has fallen 6.5 percent this year against the U.S. dollar, as a result of the China-U.S. trade war and a slowdown in Chinese economic growth.

Mnuchin refused to answer questions about whether the Treasury Department would formally cite China as a currency manipulator.

What we go through on the report is a technical analysis. Im not going to say what the result is but it is very thorough analytics, he said.Facebook makes American society better

Facebook makes American society worse

Worse because of the way some people use Facebook

Worse because of the way Facebook itself is run

Facebook has no effect on American society

No opinion

Vote

View ResultsKABUL, Afghanistan - The Trump administration's special adviser on Afghan peace met this week with Taliban representatives in Qatar, a spokesman for the insurgent group said Saturday, in talks that included possible paths toward a "peaceful settlement" of the war.

The spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said the presence of foreign troops remains the main hurdle to peace. But he noted that both sides agreed to continue the dialogue - a potentially major step toward opening channels with the Taliban to end the 17-year conflict.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul said in a statement that U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad held "consultations" this week in Islamabad, Riyadh and Qatar's capital, Doha, but did not confirm the reported meeting with Taliban officials.

The statement said Khalilzad returned to Kabul for follow-up meetings with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and other officials, as well as Afghan political leaders and civic groups, "to hear their views and priorities on a settlement to the conflict."

The reported talks by Khalilzad would mark another significant outreach to Taliban representatives in Qatar, which has sought to act as a mediator to bring together both sides for meetings.

A first breakthrough meeting was held in July, when a senior State Department official, Alice Wells, traveled to Doha. U.S. officials have never publicly confirmed that meeting.

Khalilzad's reported meeting came midway through his first mission to the region since being named Washington's point man on Afghan peace last month.

He first visited Kabul and Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, early this week, then vanished from public view and returned to Kabul on Saturday for meetings with top government officials and other groups.

His published schedule also included visits to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates this week, but U.S. officials also have not commented publicly on those.

A tweet from Ghani's office Saturday confirmed that Khalilzad had returned here to brief him and other officials, but gave no details.

The possibly encouraging news from Doha came as the latest violent attack targeted Afghan candidates for parliamentary elections scheduled for Oct. 20.

An explosion at a campaign rally in northern Takhar province Saturday killed at least 13 people and wounded several dozen more. No group claimed the bombing, but the Taliban warned last week that they would seek to disrupt the elections, and more than 300 people have died in election-related attacks in the past month.

Khalilzad's public one-day visit Monday to Pakistan was a disappointment, resulting in little more than platitudes and photo ops. Officials there were polite but cool, and Pakistan's foreign minister stated in Washington that Khalilzad - who once suggested that the country be declared a terrorist state - needed to be more "restrained" and "sensitive," given his new role.

Pakistan has long said it seeks peace and stability in Afghanistan, but Afghan and U.S. officials have accused it of covertly sheltering anti-Afghan militants, and the Trump administration has suspended several hundred million dollars in military aid to the country. A key part of Khalilzad's new assignment it to persuade Pakistan to actively back revived peace talks with Kabul.

In Afghanistan - where Khalilzad was born and served as U.S. ambassador in the early 2000s - his previous diplomatic tenure was marred by accusations of ethnic bias and political strong-arming.

But this week, his pro-peace agenda earned a cordial reception. Ghani has been seeking to revive talks with the Taliban for months, and hopes for a breakthrough soared after a successful, first-ever three-day truce in June.

Khalilzad told journalists here Monday that he had urged that both Afghan and Taliban leaders name members of negotiating teams. He said the United States would be happy to participate in any talks, but that the peace process should remain "Afghan-owned."

His message stood in sharp contrast to Erik Prince, the American security contractor who visited Kabul two weeks ago to promote privatizing the armed conflict.

In an interview on Afghan TV, the former Blackwater chief boasted that his paid fighters could turn around the war in six months. Afghan reaction to Prince's overtures was uniformly negative, and senior U.S. military officials have also strongly criticized the idea.

"In some respects, Khalilzad is the perfect person for this job," said Michael Kugelman, an expert on Pakistan and Afghanistan at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.

"He understands the terrain, the politics, and the state of play in Pakistan and the region," Kugelman added. "Still, he has taken some critical positions toward Pakistan. It would be difficult for him to earn the goodwill that will be necessary to make headway with Islamabad."

During a visit to Washington this month, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told an audience at the U.S. Institute of Peace that Khalilzad needs to be "more sensitive to opinion in Pakistan" in his new post.

"As individuals we can say what we want, but once you have an official position you have to be more restrained and sensitive, because only then can you be an honest broker," he said.

Several analysts said that even if Khalilzad manages to improve ties with Islamabad, the role of other regional powers, including Russia and Iran, is now paramount in settling the conflict, and that gaining their support for peace talks will take more than one-man shuttle diplomacy.

"Mr. Khalilzad cannot do a lot," said Ahmad Zia Rafat, a university professor in Kabul. "The Afghan crisis cannot be settled through one individual's initiative. We need unanimity and coordination among regional and international actors as to how to solve it. The question is, are the main players - such as the U.S., Iran, Pakistan, India, China and Iran - ready for peace here or not?"

Kugelman emphasized that even within Afghanistan, there are numerous obstacles to Khalilzad's goal of prodding the Taliban toward peace talks - especially since the insurgents continue to wage fierce attacks across the country and dominate terrain in numerous areas.

"There's reason to be optimistic about his diplomacy right now, but we shouldn't overstate his ability to move mountains," Kugelman said. "No matter how hard he tries - and no matter how hard other countries try, the fundamental question remains the same: how to convince the Taliban to stop fighting when it thinks it's winning the war."

- - -

The Washington Post's Sayed Salahuddin in Kabul and Shaiq Hussain in Islamabad contributed to this report.RICHMOND, Ky. - President Donald Trump on Saturday railed against the "Democratic politics of hatred, anger and division" at a rally that celebrated his appointments to the federal bench and his alliance with Kentucky's senators, especially Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell .

With less than a month until the midterm elections, Trump traveled to Madison County to campaign for the reelection of Rep. Garland "Andy" Barr , R-Ky., a three-term congressman facing a tough race against Democratic newcomer Amy McGrath.

But the president spent only a fraction of the evening rally talking about Barr, focusing instead on McConnell and the confirmation of more than 80 judges to the federal bench during the current Congress.

On several occasions, Trump departed from the topic at hand to praise and offer affectionate comments about the Republican leader and his junior colleague, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. - a sharp contrast from Trump's feud with Paul during the 2016 Republican presidential primary.

"Not everybody knows that Mitch is a great guy," Trump said to laughs, calling the Republican leader "one of the most powerful men in the world ... there's nobody tougher, there's nobody smarter."

McConnell, who typically avoids commenting on Trump's day-to-day remarks and behavior, spoke warmly about him to the crowd.

"Aren't we proud of President Trump?" he said to cheers when called onstage. "Let me just add thanks to President Trump and thanks to Republican Senate - 84 new federal judges already this Congress."

McConnell said he would continue helping to confirm Trump's judicial appointments and predicted the wave of new judges will "change the court system forever."

The focus on judges was safe territory for Trump weeks before the midterms where Democratic enthusiasm has put some Republican incumbents on the defensive. The remarks came just two days after McConnell struck a deal with Senate Democrats to allow votes on 15 more judicial nominees in exchange for allowing the Senate to end its work until after the midterms.

The successful confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court earned one of the biggest rounds of applause of the evening, with supporters chanting: "Ka-va-naugh! Ka-va-naugh!"

"Never has a man been treated worse," Trump said, referring to sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh from several women. "We stuck with him all the way, we knew the facts."

Barr faces McGrath, a retired Marine fighter pilot, in the state's only competitive federal race this November. McGrath has courted high profile Democratic supporters and equaled his $3 million in funds in the 6th congressional district race.

"This is not hyperbole. This election is bigger than politics," former vice president Joe Biden told her supporters at a rally on Friday night.

Barr has sought to tie McGrath to the Democratic leadership in Washington D.C., including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) - an association she has resisted. Fueled by small-dollar donations and viral campaign ads, the Afghanistan and Iraq veteran has run on a message of unity and healing America's cultural divides.

"I do not believe the Democratic Party has all the answers . . . Both sides need to learn to work together again," McGrath said.

Trump on Saturday called McGrath an "extreme liberal."

"If you want to stop Nancy Pelosi from becoming speaker of the House ... then you have to come out and vote for Garland "Andy" Barr," he said, adding: "This could be the most important race there is."

"The Democrats have become totally consumed with their chilling lust for power," he said.

Trump traveled to Kentucky on Saturday after meeting with evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson, who was released on Friday after two years of imprisonment in Turkey.

"He is now free from jail. ... He's back with his family, together with his wife, and he is on American soil, and it's a beautiful family," Trump said.

"We don't pay ransom. We don't pay ransom," he added.

The rally took place in the heart of Madison County - a sought-after swing county which has voted for the winner in every congressional race since 1990 with just one exception.

The county voted emphatically for Trump in 2016, where he almost doubled Hillary Clinton's tally. It helped deliver a victory of 16 percentage points within the district - although his presence Saturday night provoked controversy at the Eastern Kentucky University venue, with faculty leaders writing a letter ahead of the event saying that Trump opposed the institution's values of academic freedom.

A group of protesters lined the entrance to the rally, some chanting: "No Trump! No KKK! No Fascist USA!" Others toted placards with slogans including "Believe Women," "Impeach Kavanaugh" and "Listen to Women," reflecting how the tight race is after Kavanaugh's confirmation following accusations of sexual misconduct.

The protesters were vastly outnumbered by a sea of red "Make America Great Again" caps, which stretched from the highway to the entrance of the university's 6,000-capacity Alumni Coliseum. Trump tweeted a photo of supporters gathering outside the event two hours before he arrived, writing: "The crowds are once again, massive."

With some arriving at 4 a.m., thousands of supporters did not make it into the event. A live stream of it was beamed onto a large screen outside, unusual for a Trump rally.

Ahead of the president's arrival, Barr styled himself as an outspoken advocate of the White House agenda. "I proudly voted to build the wall," he said, earning a standing ovation and telling supporters: "Under President Donald J. Trump, you are remembered again!"

Paul echoed Trump's attacks on the Democratic Party as an angry mob, saying those protesting Kavanaugh's nomination were "speaking vulgarities" and had "no respect at all."

"Can you imagine the people yelling and screaming when they get in charge of the [Judiciary] committee?" he said. "It will be craziness."

Of Clinton - whose name provoked chants of "Lock her up!" - and her recent claim that civility could wait until after the midterms, he said: "She's on the perpetual whine, whine, whine!"

- - -

Viebeck reported from Washington.WOOD RIVER  After 36 years, Virginia Kirkpatrick has decided her time has come to step down as executive director of Wood Rivers Operation Blessing.

Im so honored for all the acknowledgements, said Kirkpatrick. Shes been flooded with congratulations since her official retirement party Thursday at Madisons Tea Room, where family and friends gathered to celebrate her accomplishments as well as her 90th birthday.

The Wood River native has impacted thousands of community members in need through the not-for-profit organization she founded with her late husband, Ned, with just $500.

She said she was inspired to make a change because of the many first-hand accounts she heard from people in dire need of resources after Owens-Illinois Glass Co. shuttered years ago. With her family out of town  her husband for work and children for school  she decided to get to work, collecting clothes and food from community members to disperse where needed, evolving the initiative since March 1, 1982.

Operation Blessing operated out of two other facilities before moving to a multi-purpose building on Lorena Avenue and has been operating there since 1996. The facility houses multiple clothing racks, an office space, freezers, prep space and other amenities to house all operations and, through gifts and donations, was paid off in just over two years.

The Lord told me to do it and walk through the doors, and they havent closed yet. Lord has provided and helped the community. I thank Him for everything he has done for me, hes my director, said Kirkpatrick.

A recent knee injury that kept her out of work for three months, though, provided her some perspective.

Time goes by fast and Im at the age where I need to move on.

Board president Frank Akers, who has worked with Kirkpatrick since the beginning, has been amazed by her faith and determination.

She is a devoted servant, he said. The amazing thing is she has not taken any money. In fact, like most of us that are volunteers, we put in money and time.

Over the years, Kirkpatrick has helped provide an estimated four-million meals, averaging out to about 100,000 meals per year. There have been times, according to Akers, that Operation Blessing has served one in three South Roxana residents, one in four East Alton residents and one in six Wood River residents.

Operation Blessing has provided an estimated wholesale value of $500,000 of food per year from St. Louis Area Food Bank, providing mainly meat products, as a longtime supporter of the the operation. With donations and yearly allocations from United Way of Great St. Louis, Operation Blessing has been able to buy more then $100,000 of high quality, name-brand food at area stores, such as milk and other dairy and meat products. In a typical year, more than 4,000 people are served with as many as 5,000 in some years. The service is available to people once a month, with proof of residency. And, with the support, the group has never ran out of food for the community.

Operation Blessing is currently not serving as many clients as they have in years passed, according to Akers, as the caseload is down due to a growing economy and drop in population in the region. The need, though, is still there and made possible by the roughly 70 volunteers.

Its truly Operation Blessing, and the blessings go both ways. Not only do blessings go out to the needs of the community, but come in, in terms of donations and volunteer assistance, said Akers.

You cant do anything by yourself, and volunteers have always been there, said Kirkpatrick. We have fun, its a good place to start your day, meet people and enjoy laughter.

She is confident the operation will move along just fine without her everyday presence, and encourages volunteerism among older ones. She plans to initially take some time to travel, but said she will always be available if the organization needs her help.

Ive made a lot of friends, and want to thank the individuals, groups and businesses who have supported us over the years, said Kirkpatrick.

Karen Wilson will now take over as executive director, as she enjoys dealing with the public and working as a volunteer.

Reach reporter Brittany Johnson at 618-208-6460, ext. 13964 hours ago

Desktop Metal Is A Meme-Stock In The Making

Desktop Metal Falls To New Low Shares of Desktop Metal (NYSE: DM) fell to new lows in the wake of the Q3 earnings report but it is setting up an opportunity for traders. The new low is driven more by short-sellers than results and the results are indicative of future growth.

Read ArticleLike any French mother sauce, espagnole is not meant to be served as is. Rather, it's a base for any number of other, more complex sauces.



Why you need to learn this



As Americans, we don't think of "sauce" so much as we think of "gravy." But French mother sauces  including veloute, hollandaise, bechamel, and tomato  are the sauces from which all other sauces are derived.



The steps you take



In a nutshell, espagnole is a thickened, flavor-enhanced brown stock. Naturally, you can imagine that this sauce will taste a lot better with homemade brown stock, whether it's beef, veal, poultry or what have you.



Still, homemade stock is an uncommon luxury for most of us, and packaged stock or broth will have to do. Fortunately, nearly 50 years ago the blessed Julia Child advised us how to doctor up packaged broth to make it taste closer to the real thing: For every pint of packaged broth, add 3 tablespoons chopped carrots, celery and onion along with a little tomato paste, bay leaf, fresh parsley and half a teaspoon of thyme. Simmer this for about half an hour with a generous splash of good red wine, and you'll have something worthy of your espagnole.



Like two of its fellow mother sauces, bechamel and veloute, espagnole is thickened with roux, an equal amount by weight of flour and butter cooked to varying degrees. Because we're working with brown stock, espagnole requires a brown roux, which means you'll have to be patient while your roux cooks until it becomes a rich, nutty brown. (Be sure to stir the roux frequently to ensure even cooking and to prevent it from burning. Using a saucepan or Dutch oven with a heavy bottom will also help scorching.)



Once you have espagnole sauce 



In classical French cuisine, espagnole was combined with an equal amount of brown stock and reduced by half to produce the elixir known as demi-glace. Modern demi-glace is more often simply brown veal stock reduced by half. (If, by chance, you're making your own veal stock, it's best to reduce it by about three-fourths, at which point it becomes "glace de viande" and is best stored in ice-cube trays. It'll keep forever and will save you the trouble of making espagnole every time you want a brown sauce.)



As you can guess, the differences among espagnole, classical demi-glace and modern demi-glace are largely a matter of degree. Today's home chef can produce any of the small brown sauces using any of them. Here are a few of the small brown sauces that are based on 2 cups of brown sauce, whether espagnole or demi-glace.



Bordelaise: Reduce 1 cup red wine with a minced shallot, a bay leaf and a pinch of thyme to 2 ounces. Add brown sauce, and simmer 10 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve and whisk in 2 tablespoons whole butter. Garnish with optional poached bone marrow.



Robert: Saute half a diced onion in butter, then add a cup of white wine and reduce to 2 ounces. Add brown sauce and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard. Strain through a fine chinois and whisk in 2 tablespoons whole butter.



Chasseur: Saute several sliced mushrooms with a minced shallot in butter. Add cup of white wine and reduce to 2 ounces. Add brown stock and peeled, seeded and chopped tomato. Simmer 5 minutes; do not strain.



Sauce espagnole



Prep: 20 minutes Cook: 1 hour, 25 minutes Makes: 1 quart



2 ounces butter



1 onion, diced



1/2 carrot, diced



1 celery rib, diced



1/3 cup flour



2 tablespoons tomato paste



1 quart brown stock or canned beef broth



1 bay leaf



1/2 teaspoon dried thyme



1/4 bunch parsley



Melt butter over medium heat in a saucepan. When foam subsides, turn heat to medium high; add onion, carrot and celery. Cook, stirring often, until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Add flour; cook, stirring often, until dark brown, 8-12 minutes.



Add tomato paste, brown stock or beef broth and bay leaf, thyme and parsley. Turn heat to high; heat to a boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 1 hour, skimming occasionally. Strain sauce through a fine sieve, pressing on solids.



Nutrition information



Per tablespoon: 11 calories, 61% of calories from fat, 1 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 2 mg cholesterol, 1 g carbohydrates, 0 g protein, 40 mg sodium, 0 g fiberMichael Rollins, 53, was found unresponsive on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound to the back around 2 a.m. in the 10700 block of South Indiana Avenue in Chicagos Roseland neighborhood, according to police.Peranakannitat Museum in Phuket Town

Right in the heart of old Phuket Town you can find the Peranakannitat Museum (also called the Baba Museum), which was officially opened in May 2017 by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.

CultureCommunityHistory-of-PhuketHistory

By Jamie Monk

Sunday 14 October 2018, 01:00PM

But then soon after the grand opening it closed again, mainly because the items on display for the visit of the princess were all borrowed from local Phuket people, and not permanent museum exhibits! It is now finally open again, and in addition to its historical artefacts it does have two plus points  free entry and aircon.

The main entrance to the museum is on the corner of Phuket Rd and Phang Nga Rd. This building was originally the Chartered Bank, built around 1900 I believe, just when Phuket Town became the main town on Phuket Island and the tin-mining industry was booming. It was the first bank in town and the police station was built directly opposite.

Inside the room was largely empty, save for photos of the princess on the wall and a couple of displays of old Chinese-style tableware. And on the far side of the room a desk and several surprised-looking young ladies, a couple of whom were dressed in old Baba/Nyonya-style clothes. Oh my goodness! A visitor! One of the young ladies spoke decent English. I signed in to a visitors book and was given an information brochure.

Behind the desk is a back room that was originally the bank vault. Inside is a small collection of jewellery and some explanations of what the jewellery was for.

I should explain a few of the meanings of words. Peranakan is the name given to people of mixed Chinese and Malay decent. By Malay I dont mean from Malaysia but from the Malay peninsular. In the early 19th century many Chinese left Southern China and settled in places such as Singapore, Malacca, Penang and Phuket. The majority of the Chinese were male and many married local ladies. Phuket had a huge influx of Chinese at a time when the tin-mining industry was taking off.

The names Baba and Nyonya are also used: Baba are the men, Nyonya are the ladies. There is a big Baba wedding ceremony here in Phuket every year which I have attended a couple of times.

So I was informed by the museum staff that an audio-visual presentation would start at 1:30pm on the upper floor of the museum. The presentation takes place five times per day at 10am, 11am, 1:30pm, 2:30pm and 3:30pm  every day except Monday, when the museum is closed.

The audio-visual presentation took place in several small rooms. One of the volunteers guided me, and several Chinese tourists, who also turned up to watch halfway through the first part. It started well with a film showing Chinese heading away from war-torn Southern China to seek their fortune and ending up in Phuket after many weeks at sea.

The second part might have been good but the sound was not working  showing the Chinese settling in Phuket and having families. Then we had a display showing family life in a typical shop-house style house with the skylight in the middle, followed by small displays about Nyonya clothing and some local foods.

The museum maybe needs a little more work, maybe more signs explaining things, but as a free attraction gives some interesting insights into life on Phuket in an earlier era.

Over the road in the clocktower building, work is underway with some more presentations of photos and information. I think Ill head back next year and see whats been added. Im a big fan of museums although I do realise most people visit Phuket for beaches, and museums may not be top of the list of things to do!

But my column does try to suggest more than just the usual attractions, and I do recommend looking around old Phuket Town, so why not have a quick look at this museum while you are there.

The Peranakannitat Museum website: https://peranakanphuketmuseum.com/

Jamie Monk works at liveaboard dive specialists Sunrise Divers. For more information call: 084 626 4646 or visit: sunrise-divers.com.

You can read more about Phuket on Jamies Phuket Blog -

https://www.jamiesphuketblog.com/Phuket passenger van slams into ice truck

PHUKET: The two drivers involved in a collision between a Phuket passenger van and a six-wheeled truck loaded with five-kilo bags of ice both escaped serious injury early this morning (Oct 14).

transportaccidentspolice

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Sunday 14 October 2018, 06:50PM

There were no passengers in the van at the time of the accident. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

There were no passengers in the van at the time of the accident. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

There were no passengers in the van at the time of the accident. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

There were no passengers in the van at the time of the accident. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

There were no passengers in the van at the time of the accident. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

Police and rescue workers were called to the scene, near Wat Srisoonthorn on Thepkrasattri Rd in Srisoonthorn, Thalang, at 5:30am.

The passenger van had suffered extension damage to its front in the impact, while many five-kilo bags lay scattered across the road.

There were no passengers in the van at the time of the accident.

Rescue workers safely extracted Jaturong Veeraphun, the 35-year-old driver of the passenger van, from his crumpled vehicle. Mr Jaturong has suffered minor head injuries when his head struck the steering wheel in the impact.

The driver of the six-wheeled truck ice truck, Vitsanu Intho, 45, was unharmed in the collision.

Police reported that Mr Vitsanu was delivery the ice to the Thalang area when the collision occurred.

No other details were reported, other than police were continuing their investigation.

* Correction: The van struck the back of the truck. It was not a head-on collision. The error is regretted."Honestly, I've been talking to ambassadors of other countries in Washington, D.C., and this is also part of their problem," Cui continued. "They don't know who is the final decision-maker. Of course, presumably the president will take the final decision. But who is playing what role? Sometimes, it could be very confusing."South Carolinas workforce development office ran into a problem earlier this year. Big businesses including Amazon.com Inc. wanted to hire workers at their facilities in an industrial region outside the capital city of Columbia, but area residents looking for jobs couldnt find a way to get there.

It took coordinated action by state, county and regional transit officialsalong with meetings with four businesses that had set up shop thereto lay out a plan for a new bus route several times daily across the Congaree River to a site well positioned for distribution and quick delivery of e-commerce orders but well beyond the reach of many workers who use public transit.

Until recently, Nobody had a reason to go out there, said Tiffany James, a spokeswoman for the transit authority, known as the Comet. Theres nothing else out toward that way.

As e-commerce drives the retail business from shopping districts to warehouses on the outskirts of cities, local governments are finding that their public transit systems need to reach more distant and sparsely populated areas, often outside the typical 9-to-5 workday. That is adding stresses to already-tight local and state budgets.

In Columbia, the new bus route was put on hold until January after the Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority said some employers balked at its request that they help fund the routes more-than $62,000 annual price tag. The goal is for those services to be paid for by the businesses, said Ms. James.

One employer, Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corp. eventually agreed to partly fund a new bus route starting in January. Ms. James said the route will be tailored for workers at Nephrons site, which is about one mile from Amazons facility, but that anyone can ride the bus.

The long road to establish that limited service echoes tensions arising across the country as companies, often chasing cheaper land and tax incentives, add jobs farther from city centers, extending what public policy experts at the Brookings Institution research center have called job sprawl.

In general it is challenging for transit to serve some of these locations because they are on the outskirts, said Wendy Williams, a spokeswoman for OmniTrans, the San Bernardino County, Calif., transit agency in the midst of one of the nations busiest distribution hubs. Transit works best in a high-density environment, warehouses are more in the wide open spaces.

Public transit agencies are spending more but ridership hasnt kept pace. According to the American Public Transportation Association, spending on U.S. public transit rose by more than 50% between 2005 and 2015, reaching $65 billion in operating and capital spending nationwide. Over that time, the number of transit passenger miles, a rough measure of ridership, rose only 18%, according to APTA.

The bread and butter of public transportation is getting people to and from work, said APTA President Paul Skoutelas. Its challenging, after the fact, to say, We just opened this new facility and oh, by the way, we need to provide transit, he said.

Some federal programs provide funding to help local governments get people to work in peripheral and rural locations. And many businesses are working with local agencies to improve transit services to their new facilities.

Amazon has created a corporate team, Amazon Ride, that works with transit agencies to identify opportunities to bring new service or improve existing service to our sites based on head counts and shift schedule to help with the planning process, Amazon spokeswoman Ashley Robinson, wrote in an email.

She said Amazon is fully or partly funding transit services in places including Joliet, Ill., Shakopee, Minn., Robbinsville, N.J., Breinigsville, Pa.

The need to adapt local transportation plans to digital commerce is growing.

Between 2010 and 2017 e-commerces share of U.S. GDP doubled to 2%, analysts with Oxford Economics estimate, and they project it will double again to 4% by 2028. Meantime, employment in e-commerce and warehouse operations nearly doubled between 2001 and 2017, reaching more than 1.4 million jobs at the end of last year, according to Labor Department data. Over the same period, overall retail jobs rose just 4.4%.

Getting workers to the growing number of e-commerce jobs is becoming a more pressing issue for companies as they recruit in a tight labor market, with national unemployment at 3.7%.

Warehouse jobs are booming, these massive facilities are popping up everywhere, said Adie Tomer, a fellow at the Brookings Institutions Metropolitan Policy Program. Fulfillment businesses look for sites that are easily accessible for freight deliveries and pickups, he said, but traditional transportation networks, especially with regard to public transit, are not in the same place.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area is redrawing its transit services as companies move into an industrial zone south of the city that has become one of the nations fastest growing logistics and distribution centers. The booming area has drawn Amazon, Home Depot Inc., LOreal SA and FedEx Corp. among its many logistics operationssites that are mostly outside the jurisdiction of Dallas Area Rapid Transit, known as DART.

With many operations employing a few hundred people over nontraditional hours, there isnt enough ridership to justify regular service with a full bus, said DART President Gary Thomas. Instead, DART developed an on-demand service through a smartphone app. The Dallas Inland Port GoLink service makes about 50 trips a day and costs DART an additional $150,000 annually.

Its not in our normal wheelhouse, so its causing us to think differently, Mr. Thomas said.

The labor crunch has driven QPS Employment Group, a staffing agency serving industrial clients in outlying locations around the Midwest, to take transit into its own hands. Under an agreement with Enterprise Rent-A-Car Holdings Inc., the company runs up to 30 Enterprise vans daily from urban-core areas to logistics and manufacturing sites in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin.

Jim Roy, senior regional vice president at QPS, says it is providing an important incentive to workers. Our labor pool is really shallow for talent, especially for that three-month push as we prepare for Christmas, its as shallow as Ive ever seen it in 25 years, he said.

Write to Erica E. Phillips at erica.phillips@wsj.com

---------------------------------

**** Image References ****

---------------------------------

Article Reference: SB11401380176508624301004584525993493894658

Photo Reference: B3-CA410_waretr_M_20181011124447.jpg or B3-CA410_waretr_OR_20181011124447.jpg or B3-CA400_waretr_OR_20181011123604.jpg or S1-BD058_amznke_OR_20181011123534.jpg

Graphic Reference:

Read more about:EDMONTONControversial environmental activist and professor Tzeporah Berman and Premier Rachel Notley went toe to toe over pipelines and policy at an Alberta Teachers Association conference on Saturday.

Berman, a York University professor who previously served on the Albertas governments Albertas Oil Sands Advisory Group and drew controversy for her staunch anti-pipeline position, argued that an end to global demand for fossil fuels is nigh while Notley vigorously defended the governments approach to tackling climate change as well as the need for the Trans Mountain pipeline.

The two spoke consecutively to a gathering of social studies, environmental and Indigenous studies teachers at River Cree Resort & Casino.

Berman said the world is reaching a point of no return when it comes to climate change and accused politicians of paying lip service to the problem while ramping up production and supporting new infrastructure for oil and gas projects.

You dont build a $10 billion pipeline for 5-10 years. You build it for 40 or 50. If in 50 years the world is still producing so much oil that we need a Trans Mountain pipeline for that level of production from Alberta, were in big trouble, she said.

While she praised Alberta for being innovative and open-minded to change, she also painted a grim picture for the future of the provinces oil industry, pointing to the high level of greenhouse gas emissions the oilsands create as well as the high production cost of bitumen.

She said the idea that theres an oil boom around the corner and that new pipelines will lead to economic prosperity is a false storyline.

The painful but far more practical reality is that Alberta bitumen is a high-carbon, high-cost product that cant compete with U.S. shale, Berman said. We cant do it on price, and were going to be struggling to survive as the world transitions to clean energy.

Notley argued that while climate change is a real and important problem, the approach of anti-pipeline activists is a disaster for working people and for effective climate action.

If we write off the jobs and the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of working women and men, I guarantee you we will write off the ability to move forward on climate, Notley said.

Much of Notleys speech was spent touting the virtues of the provincial governments Climate Leadership Plan, which she noted created a legal limit for oilsands emissions, funnelled new money into research and development and supported investments in renewable energy.

Climate action is not free, there is a cost, and to cover that cost we must grow our economy, Notley said. We must diversify our economy. We must create jobs  and thats why we need to build Trans Mountain.

In a discussion with reporters after her speech, Berman accused Notley of creating a false distinction by pitting anti-pipeline activists and working people against each other.

(Activists) are real people who are standing up because this has become so much more than a pipeline, she said. Its become about what economy were going to build together in this country. Its about whether or not were going to ensure our kids have a safe climate.

Even the decision to invite Berman to speak attracted controversy, with United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney slamming the Alberta Teachers Associations decision to invite her. Berman said shed been called an eco-terrorist, extremist, liar and even received death threats.

Jonathan Teghtmeyer, a communications co-ordinator for the association, said they wanted to present multiple perspectives on the environment and economy for teachers.

Harry Ainlay High School social studies teacher Chris Friskie said he appreciated the diversity of thought.

We saw something from every side of the spectrum, which is very important  We struggle to find those different points of views to make sure our kids can understand them all, he said.

He said the presentations helped inform him on how to balance the science of climate change while also acknowledging the role oil and gas plays in Albertas economy, a conundrum his students understand well.

I think the average 16-year-old in Alberta knows more about climate change than any other cohort in our province  theyre not looking at whether or not its real, theyre looking at what do we about it and How do I get a job in 10 years? So theyre very concerned about both positions.

Read more about:Its been a long wait, almost 67 years to be precise, but the National Ballet of Canada is poised to make its first tour to Russia, the dance-loving land where such popular classics as Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker were born. All three Tchaikovsky-scored masterworks are the bedrock of the companys classical repertoire, but Canadas flagship ballet troupe wont be taking old-school tutus and tiaras to Russia.

When it opens at Moscows Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Academic Music Theatre on Oct. 15 it will dance a program of contemporary works, two of them choreographed by Canadians specifically for the company and all made within the past decade. Its the fact that the National Ballet balances tradition and innovation that has earned it a ticket to Russia.

The company has been invited by Diana Vishneva, the 42-year-old Russian superstar ballerina, to appear in Context, a multi-pronged annual festival she launched in 2013. Vishneva, unusually for a ballerina reared in the strict classicism of what was once Russias Imperial Ballet, has always hungered for new artistic territory. She has ventured abroad as a peripatetic guest artist, challenging herself with the kind of contemporary choreography thats little-known in Russia. Vishneva founded her Context festival with the goal of opening Russian eyes to the richness and variety of contemporary dance from beyond. In 2015, in a historic moment, Vishneva brought Americas hallowed, almost-90-year-old Martha Graham Dance Company for its first visit to Russia.

For its first three years, Context was only presented in Moscow. Its success prompted Vishneva to add a second city, her home town of St. Petersburg. The National Ballet will perform there Oct. 19 in what will seem an oddly familiar environment  the new Mariinsky theatre, designed by Canadian architect Jack Diamond, is modelled on the companys Toronto home stage, the Diamond-designed Four Seasons Centre.

Until now, Vishneva has presented gala-type performances featuring companies primarily noted for their contemporary repertoire such as Bejart Ballet Lausanne, Britains Richard Alston Dance Company, Frances Ballet Preljocaj and Hollands Introdans. This year, Vishneva has decided to do things a little differently.

Now that we perform in larger theatres, I started thinking about presenting a big international ballet company rather than several smaller companies, Vishneva explains on the phone from St. Petersburg. I wanted a company thats never been seen here before but one of a very high level and with the kind of contemporary repertoire that will interest our audiences.

That left Vishneva with a range of choices. A combination of factors led her to the National Ballet of Canada.

Generally, the quality of Canadian ballet, its dancers and choreographers, is not entirely unfamiliar to Russians. As far back as the early 1960s, the then-married team of Vancouverites Anna-Marie and David Holmes impressed audiences and critics as the first North Americans to perform with the Kirov (todays Mariinsky) Ballet. In 1968, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet became the first Canadian troupe to tour the USSR  Moscow, Odessa and the then-Leningrad  with a repertoire that included work by Canadian choreographer Brian Macdonald.

Decades later, as the last vestiges of the USSR were crumbling, Montreals Les Ballets Jazz toured to Russia. In 2007, Peter Quanz became the first and so far only Canadian commissioned to choreograph for the illustrious Mariinsky company. The Context festival has in past years featured short works by Canadian choreographers Azure Barton, Eric Gauthier and Crystal Pite.

Meanwhile, National Ballet dancers have garnered honours at the Moscow International Ballet Competition, starting famously with Karen Kain and Frank Augustyn in 1973. Four years later, their expanding fame triggered a series of guest appearances with the Bolshoi and several other Soviet troupes. In 1981, National Ballet dancers Kimberly Glasco and Kevin Pugh echoed Kain and Augustyns earlier success in Moscow.

More recently, National Ballet principal dancer Guillaume Cote has been a familiar face in Russia, dancing there in three tours of Kings of the Dance, an international showcase of top male ballet dancers. Additionally, in September 2009, Cote was chosen to be the first Prince Siegfried in a new production of Swan Lake at St. Petersburgs Mikhailovsky Ballet.

Karen Kain, the National Ballets artistic director since 2005, knew Vishneva by reputation  it would be hard not to  but it was only at a dinner in Hamburg, Germany, hosted by John Neumeier, a choreographer they both admire, that the two finally met and had a chance to talk.

Diana is special, Kain says. She is so down-to-earth, and she loves contemporary ballet.

It was the National Ballets contemporary repertoire that clinched the companys invitation.

For me the choreography is core, Vishneva says, before even the company.

Vishneva made clear she wanted a major work by Pite, one of todays most sought-after choreographers. Pites popular 2009 ballet, Emergence, is balanced by rising American choreographer Justin Pecks Paz de la Jolla, first danced by the National Ballet in June, and Cotes Being and Nothingness from 2015, his intense response to the existential writings of Jean-Paul Sartre.

Guillaume is known here as a dancer cultured by the National Ballet of Canada, Vishneva says. I am happy we can show him as a choreographer.

Under Kains direction, the National Ballets foreign touring has expanded dramatically  New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, London, Paris, Hamburg  but Russia has a special allure.

Its a true honour, says Felix Paquet, a lead dancer in Cotes ballet. Im super thrilled.

Company executive director Barry Hughson, who as a dancer performed in Russia with Washington Ballet almost 30 years ago, says the experience is like no other.

The audiences are incredibly warm and eager and open. Its so exciting to dance for people who really believe that ballet is it.

For Kain, who still has vivid memories of dancing for Russian audiences in the depths of the Cold War, the upcoming tour has a larger, moral purpose. In a politically fraught and difficult world, Kain says, the arts can bring us together. Through dance we communicate directly on a human level.

Read more about:ANTIGONISH, N.S.A group of students is set to launch a petition that demands St. Francis Xavier University strengthen its sexual violence policy, saying an apology from the schools president for its handling of an allegation of sexual assault doesnt go far enough.

On Saturday, nearly 40 demonstrators from the school and community confronted Kent MacDonald as he addressed potential students at the universitys open house, and they plan to launch the petition on Monday.

The school recently came under fire after The Canadian Press reported that the university reversed its decision to suspend a student it found responsible for an alleged sexual assault  without notifying the mans accuser  when he appealed.

Since this has come forward, theres been a lot of people on social media, and in meetings, who have spoken up, saying, Hey, this happened to me, I also left, said Addy Strickland, a student and activist at the Antigonish, N.S., university.

So we know its definitely a larger issue than the university has made it out to be.

The woman in this case, whose name is protected by a publication ban, left the university devastated after discovering her alleged assailant was still on campus.

Read more:

St. Francis Xavier University student accused of sexual assault withdraws from school, president apologizes

The accused  who has been criminally charged in the alleged incident  withdrew from the school after the story went public, and on Friday, the president posted a public apology on the school website.

In a two-page letter to the campus community, MacDonald said, I acknowledge and accept the fact that we can do better.

In this particular case, there were clear gaps in communication and apparent issues relating to our appeal processes that negatively affected our university community and, in some cases, retraumatized victim/survivors, he said.

But the apology came as little comfort to St. F.X. student Kaitlin Dryden, who said this particular case is one of many, and the school is only acknowledging it because of the media attention it received.

She said the school has issued similar apologies in the past.

The university constantly apologizes for their actions, she said. But I dont think they understand their actions are ruining peoples lives.

Dryden, who said she was sexually assaulted in her first year of university, said she has spoken to the administration three times before about sexual violence on campus and has received little response.

Im unable to call myself a survivor because Im consistently retraumatized by our administration. Im expected to protest, Im expected to make action, devote my time  when Im supposed to be studying  to activism. And its never taken seriously by this administration, she said.

I will never report my incident because I do not trust this school.

The online petition will make a number of demands, including that survivors must be informed and protected throughout the entire reporting process, that the school reconstruct its existing sexual violence policy to make it survivor-centric, and that the school be more transparent and develop a communication plan for survivors and the campus community.

When asked for comment over the weekend, university spokeswoman Cindy MacKenzie said the school is working to advance its efforts to further develop and improve their sexual assault policies, and looks forward to engaging the St. F.X. community.

As mentioned in Fridays statement, we welcome input from our students as we work through this process. We will be inviting all comments and perspectives to help make our processes stronger, said MacKenzie in an email, adding that more details will be made available in the near future.

The protest was not addressed in a press release issued by the school Saturday about the open house.

Chris Frazer, a history professor at St. F.X., said he was struck by the fact that the woman left the school after seeing her alleged rapist back on campus  but he said its a situation that is all too familiar for him.

The whole thing just felt wrong, he said. Ive been here for 14 years, and this happens consistently. And the only thing thats really different about this story is that it came out in the media.

He said he believes this speaks to a larger issue about the pervasiveness of sexual violence in Canadian universities.

This is just the crest of a much bigger wave.

In the midst of this story, Strickland noted that there is help available for St. F.X. students who need it  the Antignoish Womens Resource Centre and the VISIBLE @ X website.

In a statement to The Canadian Press last week, the accused denied sexually assaulting the young woman, but said the outrage that has enveloped the university has caused too much stress for the St. F.X. community, and that he never intended to bring harm to the school.

He said he believed he did not have a fair and balanced process and said the articles do not tell the whole story.

Court documents show he was charged with sexual assault and released on conditions. A preliminary inquiry is set for Nov. 29.

Read more about:MANITOULIN ISLAND, ONT.Before the brawl, there was a breakup. It was typical teenage drama; a boy and girl had parted ways and feelings were hurt. Then one person accused the other of having herpes and soon, ugly rumours of an STD outbreak were spreading through the school and across social media.

Over the next week, tensions mounted at Manitoulin Secondary School (MSS) and on Sept. 14, they suddenly exploded into a massive lunchtime brawl. Snippets of the violence were captured in videos shared on Snapchat: boys punching girls and girls punching boys; kids being pushed or thrown to the ground; a teenager violently slammed into a parked car.

The clash lasted for an hour, with as many as 50 students either gawking at the violence or jumping into the fray. Nobody was seriously injured but the brawl left a slew of criminal charges in its wake and exposed deeper divisions that lurk beneath the friendly face of this small island community.

Residents have largely split into two perspectives. For some, this was just a typical case of high school melodrama that spiralled out of control. But others say the fight and its aftermath are symptomatic of a bigger problem that cant be ignored: anti-Indigenous racism.

Manitoulin Island  a scenic community of 13,255 people located two hours southwest of Sudbury  is a wedge of land bisecting Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. It is considered a sacred place by First Nations people surrounding the Great Lakes. An 1862 treaty opened Manitoulin to white settlement, and self-identified Aboriginal people now make up 41 per cent of islanders who responded to the latest census. At MSS, the islands only public high school, 30 per cent of students are Indigenous.

TOP STORIES. IN YOUR INBOX: For the days top news from the Stars award-winning journalists, sign up for our daily headlines newsletter.

In the eyes of Manitoulins First Nations leadership, there were blatant racial overtones to the brawl and the way it was handled by the school and police. They say racism may not have caused the fight but it was the accelerant that ignited an ordinary teenage dispute into a racially charged battle royale  one that now demands an appropriate response from the people entrusted with their childrens education.

For MSS parent Lisa Lanktree, a white woman with adopted children from Wasauksing First Nation, the brawl is a wake-up call  not just for school officials but policy-makers everywhere, from the local Rainbow District School Board to the Ontario legislature.

She says the brawl underscores the stark need for the updated sex-ed and Indigenous curriculums recently cancelled by the provincial government  education that would be particularly impactful in northern schools like MSS, which have limited access to sexual health resources and large Indigenous populations.

The beginning of the fight started over children having a lack of knowledge about STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) and sex and how to have relationships, Lanktree said. But the further escalation was due to a lack of understanding between two different cultures and race tensions.

For it to go from this little fight to this explosion  its like there was so much tension already existing. That escalation is a symptom that something needs to be addressed.

On Sept 14, a flurry of text messages began to light up Linda Debassiges phone. Chief, theres a big fight here! Will you come find out whats going on?

Debassige is the 36-year-old chief of MChigeeng First Nation and the texts were streaming in from students at MSS, a school located on a parcel of land that belongs to a township called Billings but sits on traditional MChigeeng territory. Alarmed, she immediately drove one kilometre down the road to MSS, where she discovered the school in chaos.

After a few days investigating what happened, Debassige sat down and typed a sharply worded press release. MChigeeng First Nation has learned that this situation originated between two non-Indigenous students from Little Current and later escalated to involve youth members of MChigeeng and other First Nation members in a very demoralizing and demeaning way, she wrote.

The MChigeeng Chief and Council is concerned that this incident is an indicator of a deeper, more disturbing reality, which is underlying racism that has now reared its ugly head yet again.

Several students who spoke to the Star confirmed that the initial breakup drama had nothing to do with First Nations students. But when rumours of a herpes outbreak began to circulate, fingers started pointing at Indigenous kids, especially those from MChigeeng.

People started saying all First Nations have herpes, according to Debassiges 17-year-old son, Pierre, a Grade 12 student at MSS. Like everybody else, we dont like being accused of things. And I guess some kids just reacted wrong.

One girl said students started calling out the word herpes as they passed her and other MChigeeng kids in the hallway and the situation was so upsetting that she failed a math test. This girl, who was charged after the fight and cant be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, alleges she reported the bullying to school staff but they did nothing about it.

When reached by the Star, both the school principal and district board said they were declining interview requests out of respect for the First Nations communities. According to a spokesperson, the board is meeting with communities in the upcoming weeks and is committed to working together to move forward in a positive way.

On the day of the fight, a crowd gathered on the happy trail, a forested garbage-strewn path near the school where students like to smoke. According to witnesses, the teens formed into two rows  one that was mostly Indigenous and one that mostly wasnt  and began hurling racial insults like you dirty Indian and you white trash.

A lot of people were referring to it at the time as cowboys versus Indians,  said Pierre Debassige.

Nobody seems to know who threw the first punch but he said the brawl lasted for roughly an hour, subsiding only when police showed up. One adult who tried to break up the fight, reportedly a school staffer, was captured on video shouting at a boy who threw a large stick  a scene that outraged many on social media, where they accused the adult of calling the boy brown trash.

(The video has been viewed by the Star and while the word trash is audible, he does not appear to say the word brown though his exact words are difficult to hear. School principal Jamie Mohamed did not respond to emailed questions about this incident.)

Concerns of racism further intensified when the Ontario Provincial Police announced initial charges, including assault and uttering threats, against six people  five youth and a 38-year-old woman. Two, including the woman, are related to the girl who allegedly complained to the school about being bullied. All are from MChigeeng.

Its always the First Nations kids that get charged, said one MSS parent from MChigeeng, who cannot be named because her son, a minor, was charged. They let this slide for so long and nobody came to help the students. I just feel like our students were backed into a corner.

Speaking to the Star on Sept. 20, OPP Const. Marie Ford said the only reason these people were the first to be charged is because other suspects  some of them non-Indigenous  couldnt be arrested until they were located or contacted by police. The OPP has since laid charges against four more youth and a 20-year-old, three of whom live in First Nations communities and two who come from predominantly white townships. No more charges are anticipated, Ford said.

Linda Debassige is upset to see mostly Indigenous people charged when online videos depict plenty of non-Indigenous kids engaged in the violence. The way this was handled, she says, is a blatant attempt to shift the blame on Indigenous people yet again.

Others have pushed back against the notion that racism played a role in the fight, or persists at MSS. While the pundits of social media were quick to spin the incident as racially motivated, there is little evidence from what has so far been revealed that this is in fact the case, said an editorial in the Manitoulin Expositor.

Manitoulin Island has largely been something of a poster child for reconciliation and good relations between communities, the editorial later continued. This is something that many Islanders, particularly those of previous generations, have taken great pride in.

On a recent October day, several students who spoke to the Star, some of whom identify as Indigenous, agreed the racism angle was overblown. Many pointed to friendships or romantic relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous classmates as proof of racial harmony amongst the 428 students who attend MSS. One parent, who asked not to be named out of fear of retaliation against her children, felt the fight was more of a territorial dispute between kids from MChigeeng and Little Current, which is predominantly white.

But for Pierre Debassige, chief of the schools Indigenous student confederacy, racism is alive and well at MSS. He recalls how during his first week of school, a student complained about Indigenous people not paying taxes. When he grew his hair longer, he was teased for looking like a squaw, an offensive term for Indigenous women.

Avery Byce, a Grade 12 student and member of the student senate, believes important issues are being ignored.

We push it under the rug, all of the negative things that have happened here, like the racism and bullying, says Byce, who has Indigenous heritage. With the fight, it was like having all of those feelings bottled up and then exploding like a time bomb.

Many parents from MChigeeng say racism is a long-standing problem at MSS, stretching back to when they attended the school, which was opened in 1969. Linda Debassige says she experienced it when she attended high school and band manager Sam Manitowabi still remembers bathroom graffiti in the 1980s claiming Indians are fags.

Patsy Noakes, a band member who lives off the reserve, says all four of her kids who attended MSS experienced anti-Indigenous discrimination.

Her youngest daughter, Nekiiyaa, left the school after a painful incident in 2015, when she overheard a secretary complaining about those damn Native kids. She says she condemned the statement on Facebook and school officials told her they would look into it, but nothing ever came of it.

Meanwhile, students started to harass her for coming forward, even accusing her of lying. She eventually left MSS and enrolled at Kenjgewin Teg, a learning institute on Manitoulin that emphasizes a First Nations approach to education.

I didnt feel welcome at that school no more, said Nekiiyaa, now 20.

Advocates say dropout rates are a pervasive problem for First Nations kids, especially those who live on reserve. According to recent Rainbow school board statistics, only 33 per cent of Indigenous students who live on reserve graduated from high school in its catchment area, compared to 72 per cent of students overall.

At Kenjgewin Teg, which has one classroom dedicated to high school students who struggle in other educational settings, about 75 per cent of the 30 seats are occupied by teenagers whove left MSS, according to executive director Stephanie Roy.

The 11 First Nations that send kids to Rainbow District schools are represented by Indigenous trustee Grace Fox. She did not respond to interview requests but during a peaceful rally from MChigeeng to MSS shortly after the brawl, she expressed frustrations over the systemic challenges.

It has been quite difficult to be Anishinaabekwe within this corporation, she said. You want Anishinaabe students to succeed, you want them to graduate, you want them to practise their language, their culture, in a setting such as this.

I literally cry when I go to graduations, when I go to awards nights (and) see the absence of First Nations students at these functions.

Manitowabi, whose daughter now attends MSS, worries that anti-Indigenous sentiment may have actually worsened compared to when he was in high school, ironically because of the increased attention paid to Indigenous issues in recent years. More people are becoming aware of Aboriginal treaty rights and inherent rights and freedoms, he says. The mainstream (white communities) may feel that theyre not being treated as fairly anymore.

MSS currently offers 10 courses on Indigenous history and culture, along with two programs in partnership with Kenjgewin Teg.

While several Indigenous students at MSS said they wanted more Indigenous content in classrooms, this sentiment was not shared by a group of students who spoke to the Star on a recent Tuesday. While smoking cigarettes at the happy trail, these students, who were mostly non-Indigenous, complained they were learning too much about Indigenous issues.

Year after year, were hearing the same thing about residential schools, one said. Its like, I get it. But its not the worst thing to have happened to anyone.

Why does every book I read have to do with natives? asked another. I might as well be going to Ojibwe class.

These students felt the racism angle of the brawl was overblown. They said Indigenous communities were exploiting the incident for media attention because MChigeengs got nothing going for it. They also stated as fact that MChigeeng students were the source of the herpes outbreak, while arguing it wasnt racist to point this out.

But how did they know there was actually a herpes outbreak? We just know, said one student, who also said he didnt want to drink from water fountains for fear of catching herpes. (In reality, experts say, the chances of contracting herpes from a water fountain are highly unlikely.)

Linda Debassige sees a lack of understanding over how racism can be manifested. Just because kids of different races mingle or date each other doesnt mean anti-Indigenous attitudes no longer lurk beneath the surface. She questions why students were so quick to believe MChigeeng kids were the source of a herpes outbreak, which may not even have been real.

It shows and demonstrates the normalization of the old adage of Indians being dirty,  she said.

Debassige agrees this painful incident demonstrates a need for better sexual health education at MSS. The updated curriculum, repealed by the provincial government this summer, would have contained updated information on STDs, as well as information about consent, social media and LGBTQ issues.

She and other advocates also feel strongly that students need more, not less, education on Indigenous culture and history. A revised Indigenous curriculum grounded in truth and reconciliation, which was cancelled by the province, would be particularly helpful in bringing peace to a school like MSS, says Roy.

I think had that curriculum been in place 10 years ago, the racial undertones would not have resulted. All it would have been is an altercation, Roy said.

For Debassige, a first and crucial step for Manitoulin Island is to acknowledge and confront systemic racism, something she believes the school and board have yet to do. In a television interview after the brawl, the principal of MSS was asked whether he believed racism was an issue at the school; he responded no. The next day, the school held an anti-racism assembly, but many students felt it was superficial and unhelpful.

There are blatant denials of the actual realities, and an attempt to push the issue once again under the rug so that it doesnt have to be addressed, Debassige says. Racism is a disgusting topic to talk about. But until you talk about it, you cant create results.Jenny Wright remembers scrolling through her social media feed a year ago to find every single woman on her Facebook page issuing the same simple declaration: #MeToo.

As the executive director of the St. Johns Status of Women Council in Newfoundland, Wright was all too familiar with the far-reaching impacts of sexual violence in Canada. But it was not only fellow activists who were coming forward as survivors, she said  a chorus of women across backgrounds and ideologies were breaking their silence.

To sit back and to bear witness to everyones experience, I think it created this creative spring of strength and it inspired others to come through and tell their stories, said Wright. With #MeToo, it just hit a tipping point that I dont think weve seen before, and it continues to resonate through everything.

On Oct. 15, 2017, actress Alyssa Milano tweeted a call for survivors of sexual assault and harassment to post me too on social media to raise awareness about the pervasiveness of the issue, popularizing the movement that had been founded by civil rights activist Tarana Burke in 2006.

In the past year, #MeToo has toppled men in the highest echelons of power, and galvanized a wave of activism that has reverberated both online and on the ground.

Wright estimated that the Council has seen a 30 per cent increase in the number of survivors who have sought help to deal with their encounters with sexual violence, many of whom had been suffering in silence for decades.

Read more:

Opinion | Thomas Walkom: Freedom of expression in a #MeToo world

Trump taps fears of #MeToo movement gone too far as he defends Kavanaugh

Opinion | #MeToo movement about womens stories

She said the next frontier of #MeToo will be to channel the collective trauma the movement has unearthed to dismantle the systemic forces that have enabled sexual violence and burn it all down.

And while some critics have sought to dismiss #MeToo as hashtag activism, Wright warned that they should not underestimate the power of survivors sharing their experiences.

I think weve seen some amazing ways in which women have fought back against sexual violence and found support through social media ... and this has created a profound change.

Jessalynn Keller, a media studies professor at the University of Calgary who studies digital feminism, said there is a faulty binary between the activism that occurs online and in so-called real life. For proof of that, she said, one has to look no further than #BeenRapedNeverReported, which trended in 2014 after disgraced former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi was accused of sexual assault.

Ghomeshi was acquitted in March 2016 of four counts of sexual assault and one count of choking involving three complainants. In May 2016, he apologized to a fourth complainant and signed a peace bond that saw another count of sexual assault withdrawn.

In a May paper published in the European Journal of Womens Studies, Keller and other researchers point to #BeenRapedNeverReported as a case study in the ways social media helps survivors not only draw support from one another, but recognize that their individual experiences are part of a wider social problem.

Its about sharing personal stories and in doing so realizing that those personal stories are actually political issues, Keller said in an interview.

What started as sharing an individual story actually becomes motivation for becoming an activist ... and that speaks to the fact that this type of activism is doing something beyond just a few people having a conversation online.

Keller said several social media users told her research team they were not engaged in womens issues before participating in hashtags like #BeenRapedNeverReported, but now identified as feminist activists.

The first place I heard about feminism was on the internet. Feminism saved my life, one of the participants told researchers. The internet has the ability to reach so many people, and if it can change my life, it can change theirs. I definitely see internet feminism as a form of activism with the potential to change society.

The appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court despite facing allegations of sexual misconduct, which he has denied, has prompted some feminists to question whether survivors should be asked to air their traumas before a society who may not listen, or worse, go on the offensive, said Keller.

She said the backlash to #MeToo represents the last gasps by the patriarchy to thwart a movement that threatens its existence.

Whatever their costs, Keller said online campaigns like #MeToo have thrust the issue of sexual violence into the mainstream, which over time, will hopefully translate into change in the real world.

Of course, wed all love to see change in institutions and policies and regulations, but were not going to see those overnight because #MeToo trended on Twitter, she said. I dont see the conversation slowing down any time soon ... so well have to see what happens.CALGARYAfter months of training, the Calgary Police Service and the citys bylaw officers are ready to shift into an era of legal cannabis consumption.

In preparation for legalization, theres been a ton of training, said Sgt. Tudor with the Calgary Police Services. (Tudor did not want his full name used for this article due to the nature of his work as an officer leading undercover investigations.) Its new territory for us all.

The CPS and the City of Calgary have administered multi-hour training sessions ahead of legalization on Oct. 17. According to spokespeople for both bodies, patrollers in charge of enforcing municipal, provincial and federal regulations are prepared for the impending changes to cannabis-related law enforcement.

Police officers had to enrol in an online course outlining the federal Cannabis Act before attending internal training, which covered provincial and municipal legislation and bylaws.

Tudor administered internal training at CPS headquarters.

I actually got authorization from Health Canada to remove cannabis from our property room, Tudor said. I weighed out 30 grams, 50 grams and 180 grams (in sealed bags), so officers would have a real experience handling (cannabis amounts).

Read more:

New cannabis-impaired driving laws could be tough on court staff

Edmonton police will purchase roadside test devices for marijuana, but Calgary isnt buying in

Meet the man helping Calgary craft its cannabis rules

If they deal with it on the street, theyll have a really good idea of what the limit is  because the limit is 30 grams (for non-medical users).

Next, CPS will train officers to detect weed-related impairment while driving.

There is a completely different training piece for driving impaired by drug and that hasnt been rolled out yet, Tudor said. Obviously, there will be more training offered.

According to Tudor, the service has done a good job preparing and most officers have a pretty open mind about legalization.

But transitioning into a post-legalization Canada requires a shift in thinking, Tudor said.

The federal government passed the Cannabis Act, so from a law enforcement point of view, we have to be ready for it, Tudor said. Its coming regardless of our opinions and feelings.

For now, the CPS has a zero-tolerance cannabis policy for its officers, meaning police in the city cannot smoke during work hours  or at home.

Police carry firearms and not enough is known on how long the effects last in people, so the service just didnt want to take any risk when it comes to officers using cannabis products, Tudor said.

Calgarys bylaw officers can consume cannabis when theyre not working.

Bylaw officers, like other city employees, are subject to the citys substance use policy, said Matt Zabloski, the City of Calgarys project lead for cannabis legalization. They can partake, but they must come fit for work.

Zabloski said legalization wont result in a drastic change to bylaw officers responsibilities.

The response to public cannabis consumption is very similar to how we treat consumption of alcohol or, for that matter, smoking cigarettes, depending on where consumption is taking place, he said.

Calgarians wont be allowed to consume cannabis in public spaces. They also wont be allowed to consume in areas with no-smoking policies.

According to Zabloski, the city has worked closely with CPS to ensure law enforcement changes after legalization are implemented smoothly.

Its to make sure everyone is aligned and no one is stepping on toes. And making sure we know who is fielding which types of calls, Zabloski said.

Concerns that might have previously gone to Calgary police will likely go through 311 (the citys service hotline) in terms of people consuming cannabis, he said. When it comes to non-medical consumption in public places, calls will be rerouted from CPS to bylaw officers.

Under federal regulations, people using cannabis for medical reasons will need to produce proof upon request.

Tudor and Zabloski both believe the training will evolve as legalization unfolds.

Weve certainly heard from other jurisdictions that you cant really anticipate how everything is going to roll out, Zabloski said. If there are issues that arise, we are willing to adapt as needed.

Read more about:Tim Barnhart has a problem that few Indigenous entrepreneurs before him have ever experienced.

With annual sales of more than $20 million at Legacy 420, his cannabis superstore on the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory in eastern Ontario, Barnhart has no difficulty meeting an annual $3.7-million payroll.

The struggle is finding local Indigenous workers to take the myriad jobs Legacy 420 now offers in the business of growing, testing, guarding, transporting, processing, bottling, baking and selling 60 strains of high-grade marijuana to an increasingly far-reaching and enthusiastic customer base.

Weve got people coming from far outside the community now, Barnhart says during a tour of the expansive Legacy 420 facility. We have no choice.

The economic benefits of cannabis are spilling far beyond the borders of Tyendinaga, located on Lake Ontarios Bay of Quinte between Belleville and Kingston. With anywhere from 30 to 50 cannabis shops now operating openly on the territory  taking every form, from convenience stores to trailers to purpose-built emporiums like Legacy 420  the transformation has been profound.

But cannabis has brought more than prosperity to Tyendinaga. To entrepreneurs and activists like Barnhart, the business is also a potent political tool with the potential to help all First Nations achieve long-sought independence, unfettered by clumsy federal supervision  or taxes.

The difference its made here economically is tremendous, says Mohawk entrepreneur Jamie Kunkel, owner of Smoke Signals, a First Nations cannabis retail franchise headquartered in Tyendinaga.

Every person that was looking for a job has a job. Theres income all around. Houses are getting siding and grass in their front yards. People are driving respectable vehicles, not the Indian cars anymore. And people are getting off of the system, whether it be disability or welfare.

Kunkel and other Indigenous entrepreneurs are proud to defy the new federal laws governing cannabis  and for its part, the law has largely ignored the challenge.

Tyendinaga chief Don Maracle declined to comment for this article, Crown attorneys have chosen not to lay charges, and local police have given up their earlier, half-hearted efforts to suppress the trade.

The resistance, as you can see, is huge, Barnhart says. Up to 50 stores is huge resistance.

You do the math, adds Kunkel, noting that about two dozen extended families make up the entire population of the reserve. So every family has two stores. How do you turn against your family and say, No, you cant do this, or No, you cant participate in the economic development thats happening now right in front of your face? 

For local officials, Kunkel adds, resistance to cannabis means political suicide.

The Smoke Signals franchise now comprises four outlets in Ontario and the West as well as the store Kunkel operates amid a cluster of competitors on Highway 49.

My goal is to have a Smoke Signals in as many Indigenous communities as are willing to have them, he says.

Legacy 420 is hoping to spread its influence through the National Indigenous Medical Cannabis Association, which it recently established to represent the industry and provide technical expertise to members.

For now, the business operates in a large new building surrounded by a tall electrified fence in the heart of Tyendinaga, serving a constant stream of customers coming from as far away as Toronto and Montreal.

Barnhart boasts that the facility, capable of handling every aspect of the cannabis business under one roof, from seed to sale, is unique in the world. While technically illegal, the business was designed to comply with all the complicated rules set by Health Canada to govern the cultivation and distribution of medical-grade marijuana.

Heavy safes keep inventory secure until an in-house team of technicians, most of them graduates of Loyalist College in Belleville, can assay the purity and chemistry of the shipment. Each batch is traceable to an individual grower, most of whom are licensed by Health Canada, according to Barnhart.

The products are guaranteed to be free from mould, pesticide residues and organized-crime involvement.

We know what were selling, and everybody can be assured of that, Barnhart says.

Like other native people in Tyendinaga, Barnhart claims an inherent right to do this, a constitutional right. But there are other reasons his company complies with rules whose validity he denies.

We built it so that wed be able to withstand every legal challenge, he says, adding that Legacy 420 was designed to be something the government couldnt knock down. And like all the other cannabis outlets now proliferating in Tyendinaga, it is designed to make a defiant political statement.

We built it to prevent them [the federal government] from building it for us, Barnhart says. Our whole lives theyve been coming in and building everything for us, and telling us what our nations need. Were telling them thats not working anymore. We want to assert our rights and show Canada we can strive and move forward.

By grace of a plant, prosperity and sovereignty now march hand-in-hand in Tyendinaga.Rick Laprairie has always been enchanted by the stories that old maps tell. His recent discovery has been his most exciting to date: a cartographic birth certificate for Toronto that dates to 1678  the earliest known appearance of the word on a map, he writes in an upcoming Ontario History article.

Laprairie had been trying to show the evolution of Torontos geography and name, and he kept bumping into a map by Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin. It was a survey of land grants made to soldiers along the St. Lawrence River when the French were still a colonial power. The map was dated 1678 and showed the outline of eastern Canada, but it also featured drawings of woodland animals, Indigenous men, an angel blowing a horn and Louis XIVs face radiating sun rays, right on brand for the Sun King.

The map was made in that decade where the name Toronto was starting to appear, and Laprairie wondered about the handwriting on what is now known as Lake Simcoe.

The Toronto researcher studied the map on the website of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, but he couldnt make out the writing. Frustrated, he ordered a high-resolution digital copy.

When it arrived in his inbox, he zoomed in below the decorative beavers grazing north of present-day Orillia. He saw it: Tarontos Lac.

I just about fell out of my chair, he says. It was incredible. Because of the work I had been doing, I knew full well that this was the first time the name had been used on a map.

Tarontos was the French take on Tkaronto, an Indigenous word referring to the fishing weirs they had used for thousands of years where Lake Simcoe empties into Lake Couchiching. Kory Snache, a member of Rama First Nation and a guide with Indigenous tour group First Story Toronto, thinks the word was in common usage in the 17th century.

At the time Tkaronto is really well known because it carried all the way down the portage route to what is now Toronto, Snache says.

He notes that Indigenous people often named places for significant events or geographic anomalies.

As a point of interest, the narrows was a strategic position for communication, transportation, trade, economy, everything, he says. You had to go through there, so that was why it was such a big part of history.

In cartographic research, there have been differing accounts of when variations of Toronto first appear on a map. Laprairie calls it the maps muddle and says that he spends a lot of time debunking and clarifying the matter in his upcoming article for the fall 2018 edition of Ontario History, the journal of the Ontario Historical Society.

He said many maps of the era werent dated or signed. We dont necessarily know who made them and when, unless we look at things like handwriting and what places are on the map and not on the map.

Past scholars have pointed to three maps believed to have been created in the early 1670s that featured a variation of Toronto. But Laprairie says that further academic research reattributed the maps to different cartographers at later dates, circa 1680 and 1700.

The dilemma was that few people have paid attention to that, he says.

The 1678 map by Franquelin shows land grants for French soldiers of the Carignan-Salieres Regiment who had been sent to New France to ensure the safety of the colony and deal with the Iroquois threat, according to Library and Archives Canada. The Iroquois had attacked and decimated the French allies, the Huron-Wendat, in the 1640s. The attacks may have been prompted by the epidemics that devastated Aboriginal communities in the 1630s, Library and Archives notes on its site about the regiment, as war was a way for the Iroquois to replace members who had died.

Laprairies neighbour has a PhD in Latin and translated the words trumpeted by an angel at the top of the map: The French fleur-de-lis flourishes in the midst of the forest.

Thats the entire key to the map, because what it shows is an array of French names all along the St. Lawrence  and, in the other portions of the map, youve got some beautiful drawings of all sorts of deer and moose, and beaver, and so it really tells the story, that here you have a French occupation in a very productive forest land, he says.

The map is known among researchers, but not for Tarontos Lac. Because of the resolution, youd have to see the map on site or order a high-resolution version.

Laprairie spent his career working for Ontarios Ministry of Natural Resources in land use planning and as an environmental assessment policy analyst. His historical interest in maps was piqued many years ago when his wife gave him a copy of a map of New France in 1703. He became enthralled with the hobby.

There is just so much more to learn and discover when you go back to some of these documents, and some of the early accounts of the exploration and the discovery of the Great Lakes, he says.

Needless to say, reproductions of old maps feature prominently in his home decor.

We were once preparing to go out for a Sunday afternoon drive and trying to think of where are we going to go, and my wife looks around and says, Dont we have any good maps in this house? he says. We do tend to be a quirky bunch, map collectors.He announced his bid for Ryan's seat in June 2017, touting himself as "Iron Stache," a play on his mustache. He became a hit with Democrats nationwide, riding an introductory video where he weeps as his mother talks about having multiple sclerosis. He generated more than $6 million in contributions by the end of this past July, compared with $750,000 for Steil.You might do a double-take when you walk into Michels Bespoke, a business operating on the outer edge of Torontos Fashion District.

Theres a fashion mannequin at the front of the store, expensive suits, shirts and ties on racks and in display cases.

But behind the green curtains used by customers for privacy when trying on clothes is a fridge and stove. Theres also a dishwasher. And upstairs is co-owner Paul Di Palmas bedroom.

Di Palma and partner Michel Karkar, a bespoke tailor, began leasing the 1,000-square-foot live-work townhouse in June 2017.

Spaces like this are hard to find in the city.

Many are artists residences. Some are units in converted warehouses and factories. Others, like Karkar and Di Palmas, are in relatively new townhouses and condos downtown.

With the high cost of housing and commercial space in Toronto, live-work is an appealing option.

Its exciting for me. Im living my fantasy living above the shop, says Di Palma, 28, who is apprenticing to become a bespoke tailor. He is also responsible for managing and developing the company, which offers Canadian-made suits starting at $2,400.

Have Your Say

Karkar, 57, has operated since 1993, beginning with a popular atelier in North York that Di Palma joined in 2014. It caters to older, well-heeled clients. The children of those clients wanted tailored suits, too, yet didnt want to go all the way uptown to get fitted. So Karkar and Di Palma began looking downtown for a satellite location.

Finding that commercial space was selling for millions of dollars, they soon grew frustrated and gave up the search.

Meanwhile, Di Palma was leaving an apartment in the Annex he shared with his older brother because the latters girlfriend was moving in.

Di Palmas search for a home ignited his and Karkars interest in finding a live-work unit.

If Paul wasnt with me (in the business), I wouldnt have moved here, Karkar says.

They had to retrofit the downtown unit to suit their business, hiding pipes, installing large cabinets and putting in that curtain for the changing area.

Di Palmas living room upstairs now doubles as a lounge where clients can mingle and sip espresso. All told, the makeover took about a year.

Read more:

Toronto rent increases to slow in 2019 as more units come online: Urbanation

94 per cent of GTA millennials worry young people wont be able to afford a home, poll says

Toronto-area home prices tick upward in September

According to the citys planning department, the term live-work is in Torontos building code but is not used in the citys new zoning bylaw.

Live-work is permitted in most commercial-residential zones.

In addition, the units are allowed in zones near King St. and Spadina Ave., and King and Parliament Sts., where commercial, residential and light-industrial uses are permitted together.

The citys bylaws specify the types of businesses that can operate in live-work units, such as salons, barbershops, and tattoo parlours.

City planning staff couldnt immediately provide the current number of live-work units in Toronto because some have reverted to residential only.

Karkar and Di Palmas live-work, located beside the Thompson Hotel, is part of a 330-unit condo development completed around 2010. There are 13 units on Stewart St. that have the same streetfront access as Karkar and Di Palmas operation.

Most of the 13 units are investor-owned and leased to small businesses, as in the case of Michels Bespoke, where Di Palma and Karkar lease for $3,500 a month.

The units, which range in size from about 800 to 1,200 square feet, originally sold for about $450,000, but prices have since doubled.

Live-work was the only option for 34-year business partners Jody Kezar and Sonia Yarkhani, who operate Evolve Hair Studio, a thriving business with about 2,500 clients.

Located among about 30 to 40 other live-works on Fort York Blvd. near the Rogers Centre, the 1,500-square-foot space Kezar and Yarkhani moved into in March 2012 was initially a two-bedroom condo. But intending all along to open a salon, they quickly renovated and turned it into a live-work; they ran the salon downstairs and slept upstairs.

They leased for a few years and saved up enough to buy the unit outright. Each went on to purchase their own condos nearby, where they now live.

Given the calibre of business we wanted to run, we knew it would cost us a lot of money to get started, so (live-work) was the best option for us, says Yarkhani.

But Sam Roozbahani, who operates a real estate brokerage beside the salon and who used to live in the unit, says anyone considering live-work shouldnt forget to factor in business taxes.

I pay $14,000 for my space, he says. If it was only residential Id pay about $4,000. Property tax for commercial (space) is high in Toronto.Put a sock in it, Doug.

Thats the message from Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus government to Doug Ford in the wake of the premiers grousing about Ontario being hurt by the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade deal.

The federal Liberals are striking back at Ford over his charge that Ottawa left out key sectors in the new USMCA.

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc has taken the unusual step of publicly reminding the premier of his position during the contentious trade talks.

Premier Ford fully supported Canadas NAFTA negotiating position, both in public and in private, LeBlanc told the Star on Friday.

Just days before the deal was concluded, the premier was briefed in detail in Washington, D.C., including about the modest changes to the supply management sector, the minister said, referring to concessions that give U.S. dairy farmers access to about 3.6 per cent of the Canadian market.

The premier left that meeting and said publicly what he told us behind closed doors, that he stands shoulder to shoulder with Canadas negotiators. His  minister (Jim Wilson) even pleaded with us to get to a deal at any cost, he said.

Ottawa is blasting Ford  who, associates say, has future national political ambitions  after he escalated his rhetorical attacks on Trudeau this week.

At a campaign rally Tuesday to mark his first 100 days in office, the premier lambasted the Prime Minister.

The new deal leaves too many Ontario families and businesses out in the cold. The Trudeau Liberals left out Ontario farmers, they left out Ontarios steelworkers and aluminum workers, Ford told about 600 supporters in Etobicoke.

They used Ontario jobs as a bargaining chip and Justin Trudeau is out there taking a victory lap without giving honest answers about  what he will do for the people hes left behind, he said.

My message to the farmers, to the steelworkers, to the aluminum workers, to all of the business and workers in Ontario is this: Justin Trudeau may have forgotten about you, the Liberals may have forgotten about you, but we will never, ever forget about you.

But an internal memo sent from Queens Park to Ottawa after Fords June 7 election indicates the two government were always on the same page.

Ontario is supportive of Canadas approach to the steel and aluminum tariffs issue and will continue to work with Canada on a consistent approach between both levels of government going forward, said the provincial missive marked confidential.

LeBlanc stressed the USMCA is a good deal for the hundreds of thousands of Ontarians who work in manufacturing, especially the auto sector.

It safeguards more than $2 billion a day in cross-border trade and tariff-free access that supports Ontario jobs, the federal minister said.

Simon Jefferies, the premiers press secretary, said Ford was a team player throughout the talks, but the more we study this deal, the more concerned we are that the federal government threw hard-working Ontario farmers, and steel and aluminum workers under the bus.

Premier Ford did his part by connecting directly with the governors of Ontarios largest trading partners to promote free trade and highlight the importance of our trading relationships, Jefferies said Friday.

While our government was relieved that a deal was reached, we have a number of questions (that) the federal government (has) been unable to answer in a briefing call and in followup letters, the aide said.

We remain highly concerned of the impact on supply-managed agriculture sectors and the compensation that will be provided for affected industries, he said.

We also have unanswered questions on the ability of Canada to negotiate future trade agreements, and the engagement plan with the U.S. to ensure tariffs are lifted on steel and aluminum.

Despite being a newcomer on the national scene, Ford is already touted as a potential successor to little-known federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer if the Trudeau Liberals are re-elected next year.

The premier has privately joked that his bid to stop Trudeaus carbon-pricing scheme better not be too successful because it could be a useful issue in a future federal election campaign.

Everyone knows weve taken Kathleen Wynnes hands out of your pocket, he said Tuesday of the former Liberal premier he defeated last spring.

Now, we all have a bigger job. But I promise you one thing: were going to take Justin Trudeaus hands out of your pockets.

Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

Read more about:As the Oct. 22 municipal election draws near, we take a look at some of the most pressing challenges facing Toronto, what voters think, and how council and mayoral candidates propose to tackle them.

The Issue: Toronto is rapidly becoming a city for some, rather than all, because of rising home prices and a severe lack of affordable rental housing. Social housing is supposed to be a safety net  but just more than half of people who responded to a new poll are not confident they could access those lower-cost units when needed.

In a city with a dearth of affordable housing the state and fate of Torontos ailing social housing stock has become a hot-button issue in the build up to the municipal election.

Social housing in particular  which includes co-operative housing, private non-profit housing and Toronto Community Housing (TCH)  is no longer considered by voters as a safe and reliable option for people who cannot afford the rising costs of market rent.

Decades after the provincial and federal governments decided they no longer wanted to be responsible for some 2,100 buildings  $9 billion of publicly owned assets  that make up the TCH portfolio, the mostly vulnerable and low-income tenants face an uncertain future. As that housing stock has aged, the city has been left without the funding or political support to keep the units in good repair, resulting in pieces of some occupied homes literally crumbling to the ground.

Read more:

Crowded buses, long commutes  why transit is top of mind for Toronto voters

As Toronto has grown, it's become more unaffordable. Is it a problem city politicians can even fix?

Voters want Toronto to have more power. Is that possible?

Those concerns are reflected in a new poll. Almost two-thirds of close to 1,000 Toronto voters said they were not confident at all that they could access social housing during a time of need, according to the poll conducted for the Star by Forum Research.

While slightly more than two-thirds also said they had general concerns around social housing their reasons were split, with 36 per cent identifying criminal activity as a key concern, 21 per cent placing availability at the top of their list and 15 per cent pointing to the state of repair in existing units.

In Toronto, there are 96,828 households with active applications for social housing, based on information posted by the city and collected from a centralized wait-list That group includes 33,728 active applications for seniors.

Tensions between activists invested in the creation of more social housing and the bureaucrats tasked with making it happen has generated considerable friction in the city. Last week members of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty protested in front of an abandoned property they want the city to expropriate, to speed up the creation of safe housing for the increasing number of people in dire need.

Mayor John Tory and mayoral contender Jennifer Keesmaat, who are leading the race for mayor, are both considered capable of managing the complicated file, with 35 per cent saying Tory was the most likely to fix social housing and 30 per cent betting on Keesmaat.

Keesmaat received the strongest support in York, East York and the old city of Toronto, or the downtown core. Her strongest backing came from voters aged 25 to 34, with 44 per cent of that group indicating they felt she was the best candidate to address the issue compared with 20 per cent for Tory. Tory had the biggest show of support from residents of Etobicoke, North York and Scarborough. In terms of age, his strongest backing came from people 65 and above, earning 53 per cent support compared with 19 per cent for Keesmaat in that same group.

Torys director of communications for the campaign, when asked about concerns about unit availability and repair issues, said the city has invested $1 billion in social housing repair over the last four years and noted that the 2018 repair budget for TCH buildings was at $300 million, up from $124 million in 2014.

After years of underinvestment in the citys housing stock by previous governments, the Mayor has been focused on working with other levels of government to clear the backlog of social housing, repair units and make sure units do not close, said Keerthana Kamalavasan, in an email.

The estimated cost, or the amount still needed, to repair the aging stock is $1.6 billion. There is currently no funding committed to manage that backlog.

Premier Doug Fords decision to cancel a cap-and-trade program meant that provincial money pledged for energy retrofits and social housing repair is now also in jeopardy.

Toronto needs this government to find at least similar money from a similar source and ensure the province is doing its part to keep social housing in good repair, said Greg Suttor, a senior researcher at the Wellesley Institute. The city for its part needs to make decisions about capital funding for Toronto Community Housing.

Suttor noted there has been a recent spike in funding, a mix of federal dollars pledged to preserve social housing as part of the National Housing Strategy and the boost to the city budget, but it is vitally important that sustained funding is secured. Those are big budgetary decisions that the city needs to make, he said.

A lack of funding has already forced the closure of units across the city, including a block of townhomes in the Firgrove community, near Jane St. and Finch Ave.

Building an affordable city became an early and defining election issue, with Tory pledging to create 40,000 new affordable rental units in 12 years and Keesmaat pledging 100,000 over 10 years.

Keesmaat said the creation of more affordable rental housing should, if executed properly, release some of the pressure on social housing and must be combined with a commitment to reinvesting in buildings in need of repairs.

That is our moral obligation as a city and is something we have fallen deeply behind on and as a result we need a strategy that will deliver  ensuring that we have high quality homes for everybody who needs one in this city, said Keesmaat, speaking with the Star last week.

In Toronto, the term affordable housing has also become a point of contention as it is considered well out of the price range of people who rely on social assistance programs. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation releases figures on average rent for occupied units across the city. In Toronto, if a unit becomes empty then landlords can charge whatever they want.

One challenge factored into the future health of social housing is negative perceptions around who lives in those properties and the impact it could have on surrounding neighbourhoods, something reflected in the polling results. While two-thirds of voters said they approved of social housing, just one-third would approve if it was built in their neighbourhood.

Mayoral candidate Saron Gebresellassi grew up in social housing, in a TCH tower near Keele St. and Eglinton Ave. W., and thinks the concept of what is affordable needs to be redefined.

Gebresellassi is pushing to reduce the stigma around social housing and has spoken out against a request Tory made to the provincial government to amend of the Housing Services Act, which would allow TCH to ban tenants evicted for serious criminal activity.

She said she completely understands community concerns about the risk of violence, but barring people will boost recidivism and a multi-level government approach is needed to reduce poverty and crime.

I really worry about that legislation because it is going to cause people to reoffend, if they cant find affordable or social housing when they come out of jail, she said.

Candidate Sarah Climenhaga said city land should be used to develop mixed-income housing and new developments should include at least 25 per cent affordable units, through inclusionary zoning rules.

Unless all levels of government reallocate more money for housing there will continue to be unnecessary pressures on hospitals and the criminal justice system at a significant cost to the public, she said.

It is a far better use of public funds to house people safely and with dignity in their own homes.

For its poll, Forum Research surveyed 987 randomly selected Toronto voters by phone, from Oct. 3 to Oct. 5. This research is not necessarily predictive of future outcomes but rather, captures opinion at one point in time. Results based on the total sample are considered accurate plus or minus 3 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

Read more about:SCHOHARIE, N.Y.It was supposed to be a surprise.

Axel Steenburg had been planning a birthday party for his wife, Amy, for a while. But the ever excitable Steenburg was notoriously bad at keeping secrets and, somehow, she found out.

He would try to hide it from you and then you would see him biting his cheek, it was so obvious, his mother, Janet Steenburg, said. And then he would say, Youre not going to believe what I have for you. 

Axel Steenburg coordinated a passel of friends through a group chat, arranging for a tour and tasting at a popular upstate brewery and renting a party bus to make sure that anyone drinking would not be driving. He even set aside two spare bedrooms in his home in Amsterdam, N.Y., a small city northwest of Albany, in case someone was not sober enough to drive home. But the bus broke down before picking them up, so he booked whatever he could find at the last-minute: a white stretch limousine.

It fit 18. They were 17. That would do.

Behind the wheel of the 2001 limousine was a husband holding down a part-time job as a driver for a company whose vehicles made him worry for his safety.

About 25 miles to the south, a professor and his father-in-law were out celebrating a family wedding and pulled over at a roadside country store to take a break from driving.

All 20 would soon be dead.

Their lives were cut short in a violent crash in Schoharie, N.Y., this month that has left in its wake a collection of mourning families, a clutch of young orphans and state and federal officials trying to piece together what went wrong.

On Saturday, on a damp, chilly day, hundreds of people packed the pews of an old brick church in Amsterdam at a service for eight of the 20 people killed last Saturday.

On Wednesday, the operator of the limousine company, Nauman Hussain, was arrested and charged with criminally negligent homicide as a result of renting out a vehicle  a hulking 2001 Ford Excursion  even though it had repeatedly failed inspections, including of its brakes, and had been deemed not road worthy by state officials.

Hussain, 28, pleaded not guilty. Just 10 miles away, hundreds of people filled a gymnasium in Schoharie to mourn the dead and families throughout the area planned funerals.

The toll of the crash has been particularly acute because of the connection between the 17 young people  all 24 to 34 years old  who had climbed into the limousine, bound for a Finger Lakes brewery, Ommegang, a popular attraction.

They were a tight-knit gang of friends and family: Among them were four sisters, two brothers and two sets of newlyweds. They hung out regularly, gathering for game nights on Saturdays at Axel and Amy Steenburgs home on a peaceful street overlooking a reservoir in Amsterdam, a Mohawk River city about 25 miles north of the crash site. Amy Steenburg would have turned 30 on Wednesday.

Why the limousine ended up at that spot  speeding down a mile-long hill, across a busy highway, clipping a parked car and hitting two pedestrians before careening into an overgrown creek bed  is one of many mysteries. The brewery was far to the west of the crash site.

Whatever the reason, it was at that intersection that the lives of the limousines passengers, its driver and the two pedestrians collided, a random convergence that resulted in the countrys worst transportation-related accident in nearly a decade.

That Axel Steenburg would take charge of planning his wifes birthday was no surprise, according to a neighbour, Missy Davison, who had watched with sweet awe as the young Steenburg couple had nested in the modest two-story home on Pleasant Avenue.

They were so ambitious and so in love, said Davison, who recalled the young couple moving in two years ago and immediately helping neighbours with errands. They were going places.

The couple had married over the summer and their social set was guided by blood  Axel Steenburgs brother, Rich, was also a close friend, and Amy had three sisters in the area  and the type of lifes misadventures that bond young people. Davison remembers a group of Axel Steenburgs friends trying mightily to hoist a king-size mattress through a second-floor window. (They succeeded, eventually.) There were also quiet evenings watching deer and wild turkeys in a fenced area around the reservoir across from their home.

On Saturday, the plan was for guests to meet at the couples house and take a party bus from there. But at some point that day, Axel Steenburg received word the bus had broken down, so he scrambled to find an alternative. He ended up booking a ride from a business called Prestige Limousine, which operated out of a budget motel in Wilton, N.Y. It was run by Hussain.

The limousine drivers name was Scott T. Lisinicchia. He lived in a quiet wooded neighbourhood south of the resort town of Lake George.

Lisinicchia, 53, had suffered tragedies and self-inflicted wounds: his brother, Anthony, had died in 2017 at 42; Lisinicchia had two drug-related arrests, making his own life more difficult. The job driving for Prestige was part time and perilous, according to his wife, Kim, who told CBS News that he worried about the safety of its fleet.

There were a few times where he told me, I overheard him say, Im not going to drive this, like this, you need to give me another car,  Kim Lisinicchia told CBS.

State officials have said Scott Lisinicchia did not have the proper licence to drive the limo involved in the crash. But Kim Lisinicchia disputed he was unqualified, saying he had driven tractor-trailers.

Even if he didnt have the proper licence, she said, this still wouldve happened.

Brian Hough dug rocks. An assistant professor of geology at the State University of New York at Oswego, Hough, 46, taught courses about all things archaeological  stratigraphy, geology and paleontology  but also liked getting outdoors: hiking, biking, and yes, rock climbing.

This past summer was a great one for his family, his mother, Artra Hough, said. He and his wife and son went to the Grand Canyon and other national parks out in the West. They were climbing on rocks, going down into the canyon  all the things you do at Yellowstone.

He also had a way with children, according to his brother, J.T. Hough. In August, J.T. Hough had visited his older brothers home in Moravia, New York, near Syracuse, and Brian Hough had taken the family to the Museum of the Earth in Ithaca.

My kids, they all loved their Uncle Brian, Hough said. He was one of the best uncles you could ever possibly imagine  always the goof ball, wrestling with his nieces and nephews, pretending to be Frankenstein, a real kid at heart.

During that trip, Brian Hough mentioned a family wedding coming up in October, his wifes cousin getting married nearby.

So on that Saturday, Hough, his wife, Jaclyn Schnurr, and their 8-year-old son, Ben, along with other relatives, were caravaning in several cars; J.T. Hough said Schnurr told him the family was having the best day ever.

Just before 2 p.m. the group decided to stop and stretch their legs and maybe get something to eat, said Houghs mother. They parked near the Apple Barrel Country Store, which was bustling with visitors who had flocked upstate for its scenic fall foliage and apple-picking.

The red-roof country store sits at the intersection of Route 30 and Route 30A, a T-shaped junction that had long unnerved residents as a frightening stretch to navigate. Route 30 is downhill as it veers toward Route 30A, a busy byway that runs east to west. There is nothing but a stop sign to slow down motorists.

Schnurrs brother took Ben into the store. Hough lingered near the car with his father-in-law, James Schnurr, 70. Jaclyn Schnurr was standing nearby.

Up the hill, a white limousine began its descent.

When the 17 friends began piling into the limo and cramming into its tan leather seats under its mirrored roof, they never fathomed that the sunny afternoon would be their last.

Rachael Cavosie and Amanda Rivenburg, friends of the group, were also in the limousine. Matthew Coons, who had competed in fitness competitions with Axel Steenburg, had joined and brought his girlfriend, Savannah Bursese, who was saving up money to pursue a law degree in Texas.

Amy Steenburgs inseparable sisters  Mary Dyson, Abigail Jackson and Allison King  were also in the car, along with two of their spouses, Robert Dyson and Adam Jackson.

King, however, wasnt as enthusiastic about the celebration. She had been abstaining from drinking to support her fiances decision to give up alcohol, her mother, Linda King, said.

Allison wasnt crazy about going, said King, who saw her daughter for the last time that Friday afternoon when she dropped off a dozen eggs from her chicken coop.

And Michael Ukaj, the quiet one of the group, was also in the limousine  coincidentally, it was his 34th birthday.

Yet they knew nothing about the limos failed inspections or about its owner, a man with a checkered history, including a past life as a government informant. They had no way of knowing the Ford Excursion had been listed for sale on Craigslist for $9,000 just two days before. The listing read, Dot Ready full serviced, referring to the Department of Transportation.

But they swiftly found reasons for apprehension as the limousine rattled south from Amsterdam, past the beat-up barns along the winding curves of Route 30.

Erin McGowan, who was there with her new husband, Shane McGowan, texted her best friend at 1:37 p.m., about 18 minutes before the crash. The texts were jocular, but in retrospect eerie. It was no luxury limo and it was making a racket, she wrote.

The motor is making everyone deaf, wrote McGowan, adding five emojis of a grinning face shedding tears from laughing so hard. When we get to brewery we will all b deaf.

Minutes passed and some of the messages sent from the limousine only grew more ominous. At 1:40 p.m., 15 minutes before the crash, Allison King texted her fiance.

She said the brakes were burning and they were coasting, her mother said.

Four minutes before the fatal accident, Jackson texted her mother-in-law who was taking care of her daughters, Archer, 4, and Elle, 16 months.

She was checking to see how the girls were doing, according to her mother.

The stretch of road heading toward the site of the accident is an unbroken, mile-long decline from the top of a ridge north of Schoharie. A family farm sits at the crest, with a pond and a paddle boat. Signs warn about its steepness and no trucks are allowed. About halfway down, the road narrows and curves.

Traveling down might take a minute at the posted speed limit: 55 m.p.h. But it is easy to pick up speed  brake lights are on for most drivers going down the hill. Theres a final turn where the Apple Barrel comes into sight, a steady line of traffic on Route 30A going east and west. There is an oversize stop sign, to help prevent accidents.

But on that day, the limousine never stopped.

Sometime after 2 p.m., Linda King saw a breaking news message on her Facebook feed about the accident.

But they said the limo was carrying a wedding party so we werent immediately concerned, her husband, Tom King, said.

Hours later, investigators flooded the quiet residential street where Axel and Amy Steenburg lived. Under moonlight, they tried to match the licence plates of the many cars outside their home with the victims killed inside the limousine that lay ravaged in a ravine, some 25 miles away.

Inside the couples white clapboard home, Lady, their Bull mastiff, waited for her owners.

Two gifts sat on the kitchen counter. They were Axel Steenburgs last unspoiled surprises: two bottles of Amys favourite wine and a birthday card, all strategically positioned so they would have been the first things Amy saw when they returned to the house that night.

The unopened bottles are still there.ISTANBULTurkish officials have an audio recording of the alleged killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi from the Apple Watch he wore when he walked into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul over a week ago, a pro-government Turkish newspaper reported Saturday.

The new claim published by the Sabah newspaper, through which Turkish security officials have leaked much information about the case, puts more pressure on Saudi Arabia to explain what happened to Khashoggi.

Also Saturday, Ankara's top diplomat reiterated a call to Saudi Arabia to open up its consulate, from where Khashoggi disappeared, for Turkish authorities to search.

The writer, who has written critically about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, vanished after he walked into the consulate on Oct. 2. The kingdom has maintained the allegations against it are "baseless," though an official early on Saturday  on Khashoggi's 60th birthday  acknowledged for the first time that some believe the writer was killed by the kingdom.

The disappearance has put pressure on President Donald Trump, who has enjoyed close relations with the Saudis since entering office.

On Saturday, Trump expressed concern about Khashoggi's fate and lack of answers, so many days after the journalist disappeared.

Read more:

Washington Post: Turkey has proof Saudi writer was killed

Donald Trump vows 'punishment' if US determines Saudi Arabia killed Jamal Khashoggi

Trump prays with American pastor recently freed by Turkey

"Our first hope was that he was not killed, but maybe that's not looking too good from what we hear, but there's a lot to learn, there really is," Trump said at the White House while welcoming back American pastor Andrew Brunson, freed after nearly two years of detention in Turkey. He later said he anticipated speaking to the Saudi ruler Saturday or Sunday.

Turkish authorities recovered the audio from Khashoggi's iPhone and his iCloud account, the newspaper said. The journalist had given his phones to his fiancee before entering the consulate.

The newspaper also alleged Saudi officials tried to delete the recordings first by incorrectly guessing Khashoggi's PIN on the watch, then later using the journalist's finger. However, Apple Watches do not have a fingerprint ID unlock function like iPhones. The newspaper did not address that in its report.

An Apple Watch can record audio and can sync that later with an iPhone over a Bluetooth connection if it is close by. The newspaper's account did not elaborate on how the Apple Watch synced that information to both the phone and Khashoggi's iCloud account.

Turkish officials have not answered queries from The Associated Press about Khashoggi's Apple Watch.

Turkish officials say they believe a 15-member Saudi "assassination squad" killed Khashoggi at the consulate. They've also alleged that they have video of the slaying, but not explained how they have it.

Turkey may be trying to protect its intelligence sources by leaking information this way, analysts say.

But Carrie Cordero, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for a New American Security who formerly worked on intelligence matters for the U.S. government, wrote recently that "the Turkish government may need to reveal sources it does not want to reveal if the Saudi Arabian government continues to deny involvement despite evidence Turkey has in its possession."

Saudi Arabia has said it had nothing to do with Khashoggi's disappearance, without explaining or offering evidence of how the writer left the consulate and disappeared into Istanbul with his fiancee waiting outside.

A Saudi-owned satellite news channel has begun referring to the 15-man team as "tourists," without providing evidence to support the claim. It echoes how Russia has described the men who allegedly carried out the Novichok nerve agent poisonings in Salisbury, England, in March.

Early on Saturday, the state-run Saudi Press Agency published a statement from Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud again denying the kingdom's involvement. This time, however, it acknowledged for the first time that Saudi Arabia was accused of killing Khashoggi.

"What has been circulating in terms of supposed orders to kill Jamal (Khashoggi) are outright lies and baseless allegations against the Kingdom's government, which is committed to its principles, rules and traditions and is in compliance with international laws and conventions," Prince Abdulaziz said.

Omer Celik, a spokesperson for Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party, said that Khashoggi's disappearance will be "investigated strongly." A delegation from Saudi Arabia arrived in Turkey on Friday as part of a joint investigation into the writer's disappearance.

"Such an act is an attack on all the values of the democratic world. It's an act that will never be forgiven or covered up," he said. "This is not an act that Turkey would ever consider legitimate. If there are people who committed this, it will have heavy consequences."

However, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saudi Arabia had not yet co-operated with Turkey on the search for Khashoggi. He said Turkish "prosecutors and technical friends must enter (the consulate) and Saudi Arabia must co-operate with us on this."

Earlier in the week, Saudi Arabia had said it would open the consulate for a search but that is yet to happen. Cavusoglu said Turkey would share information with Saudi Arabia in the "joint working group" but stressed the Turkish investigation would continue separately.

Trump also said Saturday that "we would be punishing ourselves" by cancelling arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The sale is a "tremendous order for our companies," he said, and if the kingdom doesn't buy its weaponry from the United States, they will buy it from Russia or China. Trump said that he would meet with Khashoggi's family.

Separately, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, who had accompanied him to the Saudi consulate. The State Department released no details of the conversation.

In an interview Friday with the Associated Press, Cengiz said Khashoggi was not nervous when he entered the consulate to obtain paperwork required for their marriage.

"He said, 'See you later my darling,' and went in," she told the AP.

In written responses to questions by the AP, Cengiz said Turkish authorities had not told her about any recordings and Khashoggi was officially "still missing."

She said investigators were examining his cellphones, which he had left with her.

On Saturday, Cengiz tweeted about a surprise party she had planned for Khashoggi's birthday, "invited all his close friends to a restaurant on the #TheBosporus to celebrate his birthday but," she said, adding the hashtags "WhereIsJamal" and "mydreamwaskilled."

Global business leaders also are reassessing their ties with Saudi Arabia, stoking pressure on the Gulf kingdom to explain what happened to Khashoggi.

Khashoggi, who was considered close to the Saudi royal family, had become a critic of the current government and Prince Mohammed, the 33-year-old heir apparent who has shown little tolerance for criticism.

As a contributor to the Post, Khashoggi has written extensively about Saudi Arabia, including criticism of its war in Yemen, its recent diplomatic spat with Canada and its arrest of women's rights activists after the lifting of a ban on women driving.

Those policies are all seen as initiatives of the crown prince, who has also presided over a roundup of activists and businessmen.

Read more about:KABUL, AFGHANISTANSeeking to inject new energy into the long-stalled Afghan peace process, the top U.S. diplomat charged with helping find a way to end the war has met with Taliban representatives in Doha, Qatar, according to officials and a Taliban statement Saturday.

The meeting Friday between the U.S. diplomat, Zalmay Khalilzad, and the Taliban was the second that senior U.S. officials have had with Taliban representatives in Qatar since the White House ordered direct talks this summer in the hopes of jump-starting the peace process. On Saturday, Khalilzad flew to Kabul to meet with the Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani.

The Taliban have long demanded that they meet with Americans directly instead of the Afghan government, which has made Afghan leaders wary of being sidelined. Western diplomats have described the Americans direct contact with the Taliban as talks before talks that could then grow into negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

The Taliban, in a statement issued through spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, said six of their representatives met with Khalilzad.

They talked about the end of occupation and a peaceful resolution for the Afghan issue, the Taliban said. Both sides agreed to continue their meetings in the future.

Khalilzad, a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq and the United Nations who was born in Afghanistan, is on his first trip to the region since being appointed by the State Department last month as special representative for Afghan reconciliation.

The United States shares the aspirations of all Afghans for a peaceful Afghanistan where all Afghans see themselves included, Khalilzad said in a statement, which did not acknowledge the meeting. He did not respond to requests for further comment.

The Taliban have long stipulated that an agreement to withdraw remaining U.S. troops from Afghanistan is essential to negotiating an end to the war.

A Taliban source, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the meeting was exploratory and the discussion had included an end to the occupation as well as removing Taliban leaders from sanctions lists. A senior official aware of the discussions said the Taliban also said that the presence of foreign troops in the country would forestall any deal.

Despite a sense of urgency by the United States, prompted by U.S. President Donald Trumps frustration with the lack of progress in the war, several Afghan officials expressed caution, saying that the conflict was too complicated to yield quick breakthroughs. On Saturday, Ghanis office said that it had discussed Khalilzads trips to various countries, but it did not mention a meeting with the Taliban.

Nazar Mohammad Mutmaeen, an Afghan analyst who served as an official during the Taliban government and still maintains contacts, said the meeting was a positive step toward a peace process even if the Americans did not get what they wanted.

The United States was trying to make a meeting between the Taliban and Afghan government happen, but the Taliban did not accept that, Mutmaeen said. This was the first meeting where high-ranking officials from both sides met, and the second meeting between Americans and the Taliban. Such meetings have a positive impact in the peace process and should continue.

The meeting in Doha comes days after the Taliban called on Afghans to boycott parliamentary elections next week. The insurgent group also said its fighters would do everything possible to stall the voting, already delayed three years.

Despite security risks and political chaos, as the government and the opposition have bitterly fought over concerns of fraud, about 2,500 candidates across the country have continued to campaign. At least seven candidates have been killed.

On Saturday, a motorcycle bomber struck a rally for Nazifa Yousufi Bek, a candidate in the northern province of Takhar. At least 14 people were killed and 35 others wounded, according to Nizamuddin Ghori, deputy police chief of the province. Bek survived the attack.

I am at the scene  its blood and terror. People are fleeing, Mawlawi Keramatullah, an eyewitness, said via phone. He said about 3,000 people had gathered in a large field for the election rally when the bomb went off.

Khalilzad began his tour in Kabul last week before heading to Pakistan with the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Austin Scott Miller. What Pakistan does is seen as crucial to ending the conflict, because Taliban leaders who wage war in Afghanistan have long enjoyed sanctuaries there, putting them out of reach of Afghan forces and U.S. drones.

The Trump administration has increased pressure on Pakistan to limit the freedom of the Taliban leaders, forcing them to the table for talks.

Before meeting the Taliban representatives Friday, a session first reported by The Wall Street Journal, Khalilzad stopped in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he reportedly met with the embattled Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.

Afghan officials have long appealed to Saudi Arabia to use its clout to try to persuade the Taliban to enter into talks. Saudi Arabia has shown more interest in playing a role after Trump administration officials echoed the Afghan governments call, and national security advisers of the three countries have met to discuss ways the Saudis could help.

Read more about:ISTANBULThe disappearance of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi is opening a rift between Washington and Saudi Arabia as the kingdom blasted U.S President Donald Trump on Sunday for promising severe punishment if the royal court was responsible.

If Saudi Arabia receives any action, it will respond with greater action, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement, citing the oil-rich kingdoms influential and vital role in the global economy.

Saudi Arabia affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether by threatening to impose economic sanctions, using political pressures, or repeating false accusations, the Foreign Ministry said.

Read more:

Donald Trump vows punishment if U.S. determines Saudi Arabia killed Jamal Khashoggi

Turkey has audio of Saudi journalists slaying, newspaper says

Images surface of alleged Saudi assassination squad following writers disappearance

The accusations at issue are the claims of Turkish officials that a team of Saudi agents killed and dismembered Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and columnist for the Washington Post who was last seen entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on the afternoon of Oct. 2.

The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and other Saudi officials have said they have no knowledge of Khashoggis fate.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has demanded an explanation.

But other Turkish officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity and citing confidential intelligence, have let out a steady stream of leaks detailing what they say was Khashoggis brutal murder at the hands of a 15-member Saudi team sent to Turkey with the mission to kill him.

Those leaks have contributed to rising pressure from Congress and other Western governments for Saudi Arabia to explain what happened. Although security camera footage shows Khashoggi entering the consulate, no evidence has emerged that shows him exiting. His fiancee has said she waited outside into the night.

On Sunday, Britain, France and Germany issued a joint statement demanding a credible investigation to establish the truth about what happened, and  if relevant  to identify those bearing responsibility for the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, and ensure that they are held to account.

In Washington, lawmakers of both parties had already demanded some sanctions if Saudi Arabia is proved responsible for Khashoggis death, and on Sunday, more added their voices.

The threats of retaliation from the West sent the Saudi stock market plunging as much as 7 per cent on Sunday, the first day of the business week in the kingdom.

Read more about:Turkey is renaming the street on which a new U.S. embassy is being built after the black Muslim civil rights leader Malcolm X, according to a story tweeted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin.

The Ankara municipal assembly decided by a unanimous vote to rename the street after an order from Erdogan, Haberturk TV reported. The Turkish president met with Malcolm Xs daughters in New York during a United Nations assembly meeting, it said, calling Malcolm X a symbol of the struggle against racism. He was assassinated in 1965.

Turkey has in the past used the naming of streets housing diplomatic missions to make political statements.

Following a tweet by the United Arab Emirates foreign minister that appeared to criticize an Ottoman Turkish military commander, Fahreddin Pasa, Turkey renamed the UAE embassys street after him. And the current U.S. embassys street was changed to Olive Branch Road in February, a reference to the Turkish military operation in Syria against the Kurdish YPG, a group allied with the U.S. but which Turkey views as a terrorist organization.

In response to Donald Trumps comments when he proposed a Muslim immigration ban in his campaign for the presidency, Erdogan also demanded that the now-Presidents name be removed from signs around Trump Towers in Istanbul. His name remains on view, but last month the Istanbul municipal assembly voted to remove it from the metro underpass leading to the Trump complex.We are now almost halfway through Donald Trumps first and  God help us  only term in office. It is tempting to think already of how the damage he will have left as a legacy, will be repaired. One of the saddest costs is perhaps the end of American unity, amity, even partnership among former leaders.

One cannot imagine a Donald Trump seated beside Barack Obama and George Bush at a future Kennedy Center gala honouring Tony Bennett, or an event such as Lady Gaga did for the hurricane victims in Texas where she serenaded four presidents and their wives along with tens of thousands. One cannot imagine an African Aids mission where Trump and Obama work as a team united, as Clinton and Bush did. He would simply not be welcome.

This is perhaps the core of the Trump tragedy for America. He is a clear breach with a centurys long tradition that, when the shouting dies down, when the baton is passed, the nations elder statesmen do work for the nation together. It is not a uniquely American attribute, but one they do far better than we do.

Paul Martin will never be in the same room as Jean Chretien, as Stephen Harper will to his grave shun Brian Mulroney. These are not statesmanlike stances, they do injury to the power of the office. Harpers new memoir merely reopens old wounds rather than offering an elders wisdom.

In the post-Trump era, one suspects he will be ghosted, as todays jargon has it. Republicans will revere the two Bushes and Reagan in their shared mythology; Democrats, the Clintons and the Obamas. Each side will pass quickly over this sad interregnum.

For the Trumps, for its younger generation especially, it will be exceedingly poignant. Whether he leaves by resignation  his wisest choice  or impeachment or defeat, the stain that grows daily on his name and his behaviour will follow him to the grave. More even than Nixon, any ameliorative efforts at good works will always live in the shadow of his political, legal, financial, and sexual transgression.

Its too soon to tell what of his packing the Supreme Court, undermining international alliances, fomenting racism, pushing America down the path of rogue state will endure. The optimist will say the American Republic has endured worse and prevailed, and that would be true. The pessimist will say these suppurating wounds inflicted on domestic and global harmony will ooze their poison for a generation, with many lives lost as a likely cost.

Americans are famous for second chances, for a restart. A woman GOP leader, vigorous in her denunciation of Trumps deviance could quickly restore the partys glory. The Democrats could overreach in their contempt, by again blaming those seduced into his hucksters tent.

Even Brett Kavanaugh, seared by the near destruction of his carefully planned career, could achieve wisdom and grace, be seen as a justice of great fairness, more than anyone would believe possible today.

America, more than any nation, has always been capable of these astonishing turns, seizing an improbable victory from certain humiliation. Few communities on Earth could have gone from the blood and horror of the civil rights struggle to an Obama presidency in less than a generation. Fewer still could have passed through 9/11, from military and security policy excess, to an intelligence community leadership acting in unanimity as the defenders of democratic principle against a modern mad king, in less than two decades.

And yet 

As you watch in awe at the majesty of the cultural, disaster recovery, and national celebration events at which Americans excel, where each living president joins in a starring role, we will sigh sadly at the first post-Trump occasion.

His absence will forever be a powerful reminder of what was lost when such a man was given such a role.

Robin V. Sears is a principal at Earnscliffe Strategy Group and was an NDP strategist for 20 years. Follow him on Twitter: @robinvsears

Read more about:Voters wait to enter the Hamilton County Board of Elections on the first day of early voting, Oct. 10, 2018, in Cincinnati. (John Minchillo / AP)Races up and down the state will determine who will be in the Illinois statehouse and could shape how the state addresses its massive pension debt.

Illinois unfunded public pension liability is at least $130 billion. Add in other post-employment benefits and that debt eclipses $200 billion. The states pension costs have continued to climb, crowding out spending in other areas. Some candidates running in the contested General Assembly races in the Chicago suburbs are looking at ways to tackle the issue.

In the 19th Illinois House District, incumbent Democratic state Rep. Robert Martwick said Illinois needs to frontload the pension payments.

Of course you need money to do that, Martwick said. Everyone, everyone agrees that the best way to pay off the pension debt is to get as much money in as possible, but you have to raise the revenue to do it.

Martwick is pushing a progressive income tax he said will increase taxes on the wealthy. A bill he filed that stalled this year increased the existing flat tax rate of 4.95 percent on those making $7,500 to 5.84 percent. The rates went higher from there up to 7.65 percent for income above $225,000.

Illinois voters would have to change the constitution to allow for a progressive income tax before that could happen.

Martwicks Republican challenger, Ammie Kessem, said Martwicks plan will increase taxes on everyone. She wants to get rid of pensions for future state employees.

On a go-forward basis, new hires being put into a 401(k)-style plan, Kessem said. Its portable, its inheritable, and its just better all the way around for everyone involved.

Kessem, a police sergeant whos been on the force for 20 years, said shes open to the conversation of changing the state constitutions pension protection clause, but wants to instead focus on cutting what she said was the states out-of-control spending to pay whats been promised to pensioners.

The Republican running in the 49th Illinois House District, Tonia Khouri, hopes to replace outgoing state Rep. Mike Fortner, R-West Chicago. She said the buyout option the state passed as part of this years budget is a start, but local and state pensions in Illinois need to consolidate their administrative functions to save money.

Khouri also wants to amend the constitution to not take away already-earned benefits, but to change the 3 percent compounded annual accrual. She said pensioners know the current path is unsustainable.

Everybody sees the writing on the wall, Khouri said. Their pensions are not going to be there 20 years from now, so we definitely have to do something about the future accruals.

Messages seeking comment from the Democrat in 49th House District race, Karina Villa, were not returned. Her website does not mention the pension issue or how she would address it.

In House District 65, Republican Doug Ugaste said the pension debt must be addressed as soon as possible. He said there needs to be 401(k) plans for all brand-new employees, and then some.

We need to probably amend the constitution, Ugaste said. I dont want to take anything from anyone that theyve already earned, but we need to make some changes so that we can rein in these costs.

Illinois spends nearly a quarter of every dollar it brings in on pensions.

Ugaste, who is running to replace Republican state Rep. Steven Andersson, suggested similar changes proposed by Khouri to address the compounding interest that pensioners are guaranteed under the constitutional clause that bars diminishment of benefits.

The Democrat running for the 65th House District, Richard Johnson, didnt return messages seeking comment. His website doesnt address the pension issue.

In state Senate District 32, state Sen. Craig Wilcox, who was appointed to the seat to replace Republican Pamela Althoff who retired this month, said as a McHenry County Board member, hes worked to get control of the pension issue on a local level. He said there needs to be continued negotiations on unearned benefits.

We just have to continue to test what we can work on under a bipartisan avenue and succeed in a court challenge, Wilcox said.

Mary Mahady, the Democratic opponent in the 32nd District, didnt return messages seeking comment. She told the Northwest Herald in a candidate questionnaire the state needs more new money.

I believe that, as we develop new revenue sources (i.e. legalization of marijuana; internet sales tax), we need to designate a specific percentage of that revenue to paying down that shortfall, she wrote. This would be in addition to what we are currently obligated to put toward it, not in replace of, and pay it off in a shorter time. Any conversations regarding a change in the pension structure should include all stakeholders.

Whoever is elected in November will get the chance to tackle the $130 billion pension question and whether the debate is about cutting spending to address pensions and changing the constitution to remove the diminishment clause, or if its about increasing the states revenue through various taxes.

The winners of next months election will take the oath of office in January.All was admirable and acceptable  advantageous even  that a.m. I arrived at my work area early, adhered to my agenda and had accomplished an abundance of article assembly by afternoon. And then I had lunch  avocado salad with apples and almonds (apricot dressing).

Upon finishing my food, I returned directly to my computer, only to discover the problem with the keys. One of them no longer functioned when pressed. I punched it. Nothing. Punched down twice. Still nothing. Sigh.

It was the A. I no longer had air, admiration, altruism, the ampersand or Amazon. I felt annihilated, or I would have if I had access to the appropriate letters.

I tried troubleshooting, without success. I pulled the key from its spot to remove dust or dirt from under it. No luck. I couldnt continue typing without the lost letter. Or I didnt wish to. It hindered my morning progress immensely. I needed to restore my A/a.

When you lose your A/a you know without question the time is nigh to order your new keybo*rd. Trouble is, Im finicky when it comes to keybo*rds. You get used to the specifics of one; conforming to the new model is often testy. To further dirty the complexity of my problem, my keybo*rd is built specifically for my type of computer so picking one up from the superstore isnt possible. It must be ordered online. Which I did. But, since I refused to cough up the fees for quick shipping, I found myself confronted with the dire truth of living with my non A/a condition for three to five business 24-hour periods.

I decided to try to cope. Life would go on. So would business. But things might be difficult. Would be difficult. My plight required discretion with word choice. Substitutions would be commonly needed  required, even.

While waiting for my keyboard, I decided to check if there was any information online about living without A/a. It turns out non-use of specific letters in writing is actually a thing. Its called a lipogram. Entire books have been written using this technique, although its easier to avoid lesser-used letters like Z/z or X/x. A/a proves to be a bit more of a challenge.

You dont appreciate a letter until it no longer exists. Life without A/a created a new world for me. Not a new world, per se; the world itself continued to both spin and turn, but without A/a both the earth and nature were goners. The universe, however, remained in its entirety.

Most states would cease to be without A/a. Wisconsin would be one of only 15 to survive. And theyd get to keep their beer and cheese. Thank goodness for that.

Other things to be thankful for: wed still have Kentucky and bourbon, Tennessee and country music, Mississippi and the river. Wed keep New York but lose Times Square. Maybe it could become Times Circle?

America (sigh) would be no more.

The alphabet would of course be out of the question. Dont even get me started.

Mom would still be mom. Dad simply dd, which before demise of A/a had been relegated to a bra size.

Kids could still go to school and study history, English and science but math would be a void equation. No one could ace a test and a grade of B would be the best anyone could hope for.

Without A/a we could drive SUVs but not minivans, trucks but not cars.

People could have feet but no hands, eyes but not ears, knees but not ankles, a nose without a face to put it on.

Wed have the sun without heat, clouds without rain, wind without air.

I could go on and on. Suffice to say that A/a has fully infiltrated the English language and wed be lost without it. Well, not lost, per se, but certainly adrift, amiss and addled.

Thankfully, after about a week, three to five business days passed and my new keyboard arrived. I set it up and typed a few words to express how I was feeling: joyous, merry, gleeful, contented, delighted and awesome.

Most definitely awesome.

Jill Pertler is an award-winning columnist, published playwright and author.Taking a cue from India's Aadhaar initiative, Malaysia wants to bring changes in its national identity card system for target delivery of welfare schemes and government subsidies to avoid duplicity and fraud.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Kuala Lumpur in May, offered Malaysia's Premier Mahathir Mohamad collaboration on matters in which India has expertise, including the Aadhaar initiative, Malaysia's Minister of Human Resources M. Kula Segaran told PTI.

With the Malaysian Cabinet agreeing to the collaboration, Kula Segaran led a delegation comprising officers of the country's central bank, the finance ministry, the economic affairs ministry, and human resources ministry, to India last week.

The delegation met ministers and officials here and explored whether certain features of the Aadhaar system can be adopted in Malaysia.

"We met UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey... We have identity cards, but with the [introduction of an Aadhaar-like] system, the primary aim is to avoid duplicity of payments and fraud, and to target specific groups," Kula Segaran said.

Asked if Malaysia was exploring if it can link identity cards to bank accounts like in the Aadhaar system for target delivery of welfare schemes and subsidies, he answered in the affirmative.

Replying to a query on whether Malaysia could face problems of opposition of the people over privacy concerns just like India did, Kula Segaran said there was such a possibility and work was on to identify what would be a "workable" format to adopt from India.

He, however, said that there should not be much of a problem in Malaysia as identity cards with personal information have been there for decades.

"You put my ID card number, you will get my details, where I was born, who is my mother, who is my father," he said, adding that the issue that needs to be addressed in Malaysia is the target delivery of welfare schemes and government subsidies.

"Now, we have fuel subsidy in my country. Everybody gets fuel subsidy. We want to target certain groups and give it to them, not to others. We have different groups like B40those who earn household income of less than 3,990 Malaysian ringgit," Kula Segaran said.

The other intention is to make the delivery of subsidies cashless, he said.

"Right now we send cheques or we give cash. No need of that if you follow the Aadhaar system, and it comes directly into your account," he said.

There are multiple subsidies provided by the Malaysian government such as fuel, low income group, single mother, etc for which it will be useful, he added.

India recently witnessed an acrimonious debate over Aadhaar's merits and demerits. A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court last month while quashing some contentious provisions of the Aadhaar Act, held that Aadhaar would remain compulsory for filing of Income Tax returns, allotment of Permanent Account Number and for availing facilities of welfare schemes and government subsidies.In a cryptic response, Sacred Games star Saif Ali Khan has hinted that the core team of the Netflix series, including showrunners Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, and writer Varun Grover, may see a shuffle in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

The actor, who plays Sartaj Singh in the streaming giant's first India original series, compared the situation with Hollywood star Kevin Spacey's ouster from House of Cards.

"We have been talking constantly. They don't like me talking about the show anyways. I like working with them, they are brilliant. They want to keep it a secret. But I want to give you a clue. There was a terrible scandal concerning Kevin Spacey and he had a show House of Cards; the show is going on but Spacey is not there. Let that be a clue," Saif told PTI. "Why should I bear the brunt. Or anyone of us who are not twisted or molesters," he added.

Netflix said last week it was assessing its options ahead of the shoot of Sacred Games season two in the wake of controversies surrounding now-dissolved Phantom Films and Varun Grover. "At this time we are evaluating options on the path forward," the statement read.

Last year, a woman employee at Phantom Films, which had Vikas Bahl as one of the partners along side Kashyap, Motwane and Madhu Mantena, had alleged that Bahl behaved inappropriately with her during a trip to Goa in 2015.

Before the victim's account went public in a recent interview, Kashyap and Motwane put out statements and announced that their production house Phantom Films stands dissolved.

Writer-lyricist Grover was anonymously accused of sexually harassing a junior in Banaras Hindu University (BHU), a charge he categorically denied.A day after the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) members criticised the Association for Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) for allegedly supporting superstar Dileep, an accused in the abduction and assault case of a female actor, the Facebook page of the outfit has been flooded with abusive trolls and vitriol comments.

At a press meet held in Kochi on Saturday, the WCC members had lashed out at the AMMA leadership for allegedly showing "bias" against the actor who was abducted and molested in her car near the city last year. Dileep was arrested on charges of conspiracy in the case and later released on bail.

The WCC actors accused AMMA of indulging in "victim shaming" and publicly "mocking" women who had chosen to speak about the matter. Attacking AMMA president and superstar Mohanlal, senior actor Revathy said the leadership of the outfit was "unjust".

The press meet, however, has not gone down well with the self-claimed fans of the superstars, who pounded the WCC Facebook page with disgusting and outrageous comments. While many of them have launched personal attacks on actors Parvathy and Padmapriya, who attended the press meet along with Revathy, a few others have threatened a backlash when their films hit the screen next time.

Bina Paul Venugopal, deputy director, the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, director Anjali Menon, script writer Deedi Damodaran and actresses Rima Kallingal, Ramya Nambeesan and Sajitha Madhathil also attended the press conference.

Interestingly, the WCC members had earlier complained about the cyber attack they have been facing ever since they took up the issue.

The abduction and assault of the popular female actor on February 17, 2017 had triggered widespread shock in the Malayalam film industry.

Dileep, the accused actor, was behind bars for over 80 days and is presently out on bail.

Though he was removed from AMMA's primary membership soon after the assault incident, the outfit recently reinstated him in the organisation, triggering widespread protests.

The actor, who was assaulted, had resigned with three others, too, putting in their papers in solidarity with her.

With inputs from PTIAgainst the backdrop of Congress president Rahul Gandhi's interaction with present and past employees of state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on the Rafale deal, the organisation on Saturday regretted 'politicisation' of its employees and termed it as detrimental to national security and the organisation.

An HAL statement, which did not specifically refer to Gandhi's interaction with the employees, came after the event where the Congress president alleged that temples of modern India were being attacked and destroyed.

An official from the agency told PTI that the NDA government has extended full-fledged support (to HAL), having placed supply orders of over Rs 27,340 core during the 2014-18 period, recognising its premier position.

Towards improvement and upgradation of infrastructure, including ramping up of production facilities, funding to the tune of Rs 7,800 core was sanctioned during the period, it said.

The official also said HAL enjoys pride of place in the defence and aerospace industry sector and has made immense contribution to the nation-building process.

"Todays attempt at politicisation of the employees is a regrettable development and will be detrimental to the interest of the organisation, its employees as well as national security," the HAL official told PTI in the statement.

In the interaction with former and past employees, Gandhi had accused the Modi government of destroying the "strategic asset", and told its employees that Rafale is their right.

Congress, which has been accusing the government of benefitting Reliance Defence Ltd of Anil Ambani from the deal, has also been demanding answers on why HAL was not involved in the deal as finalised during the UPA regime. The party had been accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of snatching jobs of people of Karnataka by taking away the contract from HAL.

Gandhi had been saying that had HAL been selected in place of Reliance Defence, it could have generated employment to scores of unemployed youth in the state.

However, the BJP and Reliance Defence have dismissed all the allegations as false. Modi had announced the procurement of 36 Rafale fighters after holding talks with then French President Francois Hollande on April 10, 2015, in Paris.With Union Minister M.J. Akbar returning to India on Sunday, the BJP is expected to break its studied silence on the possible actions against him. Replying to a volley of questions from reporters at the airport, the minister of state for external affairs said he would issue a statement later. "There will be a statement later," he said. Akbar was accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct in the #MeToo firestorm that recently swept the nation. Party sources told PTI that the charges against him are serious, and that his continuance as a minister is no longer guaranteed. A final call will be taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they said. There is also a view within the party that there is no legal case against him, and allegations pertain to a time long before he became a minster.

When it came to the allegations against the former journalist, the saffron party stood divided. Among the political circles, strict action is expected against Akbar; Dattatreya Hosabale, the number third in the RSS food chain, tweeted in support of #MeToo.

I liked it. She has articulated what I was feeling .. pic.twitter.com/2uQpYdmeQs  Dattatreya Hosabale (@DattaHosabale) October 11, 2018

BJP president Amit Shah promised to look into the charges. "We have to see if charges on Akbar are true," Shah said, adding, "We have to check the veracity of the post and the person who posted it. You can also post something using my name." Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi, without naming Akbar, had urged the Centre to launch an investigation into the matter. "There should be an investigation. Men in position of power often do this. This applies to media, politics and seniors working in companies," she said. However, Uttar Pradesh Tourism Minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi had extended support to Akbar saying the issue of his resignation should be raised only after a thorough probe.

The first direct allegation against Akbar was made by journalist Priya Ramani, who tweeted on Monday evening about an article she wrote on the MeToo movement for Vogue in October 2017. On Monday, Ramani revealed that the article was about Akbar, tweeting, I began this piece with my MJ Akbar story. Never named him because he didnt do anything. Lots of women have worse stories about this predatormaybe theyll share. The article describes how an unnamed editor tried to misbehave with Ramani during a job interview in his room at the Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai when she was just 23 and he was 43. In the article, Ramani claims the editor wanted her to sit close to him in the hotel room; she also accuses him of sending obscene messages to women staff. Shuma Raha, another journalist, replied to Ramani on Twitter that she had an unpleasant experience with Akbar during an interview at his room at the Taj Bengal in Kolkata in 1995. Raha claimed Akbar invited her for drinks after the interview. On Monday, Prerna Singh Bindra, a journalist-turned-wildlife conservationist, tweeted about a brilliant,flamboyant #editor who dabbled in politics, who called me-my 1st job- to his hotel room to 'discuss work', after i put the edition to bed-read midnight, & made life at work hell when i refused.

As THE WEEK pointed out in an earlier piece, the Congress is doing a tightrope walk on the issue, sensing that the M.J. Akbar issue is a double-edged sword, which could harm it as well.

One prime concern is the possibility that allegations against Akbar could take the focus away from the issues that the Congress wants to highlight, which include alleged corruption in the Rafale deal, farmers' distress, unemployment and weakening economy.

The Congress's dilemma was evident at a press conference addressed by party president Rahul Gandhi on the Rafale issue on October 11. As anticipated by the Congress, questions were asked on the allegations of sexual harassment that have been levelled against Akbar. Gandhi refused to comment, saying the briefing was specifically on the Rafale deal.

Akbar was on a diplomatic tour in Africa. Reportedly, he had headed to Malabo in Equatorial Guinea as per his schedule.Kavanaugh took his seat on the high court this week after overcoming allegations of sexual misconduct dating to his high school and college years. He forcefully denied the charges, and Trump and McConnell firmly backed Kavanaugh as part of their combined quest to populate the judiciary with conservative judges. Kavanaugh could tilt the political balance of the high court in the conservative direction for generations.Mumbai, Oct 14 (PTI) An actor-model has lodged a complaint against Bollywood filmmaker Subhash Ghai for allegedly molesting her, a senior police official said Sunday.

The complaint was filed at the Versova police station on Saturday night, he added.

"We have received a written complaint application from her and an inquiry into the matter is underway," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Zone IX, Paramjit Singh Dahiya said.

In her complaint, the actor alleged that Ghai had called her to his residence in August and forcibly tried to kiss her.

"He (Ghai) called me to his house on August 6. There were about five to six people there. He told me to massage his back and head. It was shocking for me, but as a mark of respect for the 73-year-old person, I massaged his head for three to five minutes and then went to the washroom to wash my hands," the complaint read.

It added that Ghai followed her to the washroom and then took her to another room, saying he wanted to talk to her about something.

"He told me to come close, pulled me towards him and forcibly tried to kiss me," the complaint said.

The actor further alleged that she told Ghai she wanted to leave, but the filmmaker threatened her saying he would not launch her in a movie if she left.

"He told me -- ja ke dikha...you will not go anywhere and stay with me the whole night. Otherwise, I will not launch you or make you a star," the complaint said.

The actor said she knew Ghai since four to five months before the incident. "He used to invite me to his house for parties and had promised to launch me in a movie. The filmmaker always used to talk to me in flirty ways and tried to get my attention," the complaint said.

Recently, writer Mahima Kukreja had shared screenshots of a private conversation with a woman on Twitter, levelling rape charges against Ghai, and said she was a "very credible media/lit personality, who does not want to be named".

The woman had claimed that Ghai harassed her while she was working with him on a film and one day, during a late music session, he spiked her drink and raped her in a hotel room.

However, Ghai had denied the allegation, saying it was "sad that it is becoming a fashion to malign anyone known, bringing some stories from the past without any truth or blown-up false allegations. I deny strictly and firmly all false allegations like these". PTI AVI NP RCMumbai, Oct 14 (PTI) In a cryptic response, "Sacred Games" star Saif Ali Khan has hinted that the core team of the Netflix series including showrunners Anurag Kashyap, Vikramadtiya Motwane, and writer Varun Grover, may see a shuffle in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

The actor, who plays Sartaj Singh in the streaming giant's first India original series, compared the situation with Hollywood star Kevin Spacey's ouster from "House of Cards".

"We have been talking constantly. They don't like me talking about the show anyways. I like working with them, they are brilliant. They want to keep it a secret. But I want to give you a clue. There was a terrible scandal concerning Kevin Spacey and he had a show 'House of Cards', the show is going on but Spacey is not there. Let that be a clue," Saif told PTI.

"Why should I bear the brunt and even why anyone of us? who are not twisted or molesters," he added.

Netflix said last week it was assessing its options ahead of the shoot of "Sacred Games" season two in the wake of a controversy surrounding now dissolved Phantom Films and Grover.

"At this time we are evaluating options on the path forward," the statement read.

Last year, a woman employee at Phantom Films, which had Vikas Bahl as one of the partners along side Kashyap, Motwane and Madhu Mantena, had alleged that Bahl behaved inappropriately with her during a trip to Goa in 2015.

Before the victim's account went public in a recent interview, Kashyap and Motwane put out statements and announced that their production house Phantom Films stands dissolved.

Writer-lyricist Grover was anonymously accused of sexually harassing a junior in Banaras Hindu University (BHU), a charge he categorically denied. PTI KKP SHD SHD

SHDMumbai, Oct 14 (PTI) Kriti Sanon Sunday praised women for sharing their stories of sexual harassment in the wake of the #MeToo movement and said the fear which is being instilled in the offenders, courtesy the campaign, is a welcome change.

The actor said she hopes the movement is here to stay "but we need to make sure this does not get diluted."

"It takes a lot of courage for a girl to come out in the open and talk about her #MeToo story and hats off to the ones who have spoken up. Thanks to you girls and the movement that now people will fear being caught if they wrong anyone. This fear was much need and is hopefully here to stay," she posted on Twitter.

Kriti, however, questioned the anonymity of some of the alleged victims, saying just one fake account can malign someone's name and career.

"What happens when a #MeToo story of an 'anonymous' girl comes out against someone? Do we simply believe it without knowing who the girl is or if she even exists? How does one inspect such an incident in order to come to any conclusion? Is it fair to consider the accuse 'guilty' when the #MeToo story does not come with the victim's name?

"Should the media carry such stories? It takes just one story to spoil someone's name and career. It is important that we handle the movement responsibly and find a lawful way. Ultimately there has to be a legal repercussion of #MeToo for it to be enduringly effective."

The actor urged both women and men to reveal their identity or follow the legal route while sharing their stories.

"I urge all the women/men who want to share their #MeToo stories to either come out in the open with their names and faces or file an FIR or a legal case (while asking for your identity to not be given to media or public) so that the case can be at least inspected and the #MeToo movement does not get misused or diluted," she said.

Kriti's statement comes days after the director of her upcoming film "Housefull 4", Sajid Khan, stepped down from his duties after he was accused of sexually harassing three female actors and a journalist.

Filmmaker Farhad Samji has taken over the project as the director. PTI SHD RDS SHD

SHDNew Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) Following are the top foreign stories at 2000 hours:



FGN5 PAK-ECONOMY-IMF

Pak ready to share details of CPEC debts with IMF for bailout package: FM Umar

Islamabad: Pakistan is ready to share details of the debt related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with the IMF, Finance Minister Asad Umar has said while rejecting the US' view that China-funded projects were to blame for the cash-strapped country's current economic woes.



FGN2 PAK-BYPOLLS

Voting begins for by-election in 35 constituencies in Pak

Islamabad: Voting opened Sunday for the by-election in 35 national and provincial assemblies in Pakistan amid heightened security, with over 600 candidates, including some political bigwigs, in the running. By Sajjad Hussain.



FGN13 BANGLA-ZIA

Bangladesh HC clears ways for Zia's trial in absentia in graft case

Dhaka: A Bangladesh high court on Sunday

allowed the lower court to continue with the trial proceedings in the graft case against former prime minister Khaleda Zia, who is undergoing treatment at a state-run hospital. By Anisur Rahman.





FGN4 US-DATA-INDIA

US Senators write to PM Modi; urge to soften stance on India's data localisation policy

Washington: Two top American Senators have asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to adopt a soft stance on data localisation, warning that India's policy on the issue will adversely affect American businesses in the country.By Lalit K Jha



FGN10 UK-INDIAN-BREXIT

Indian-origin MP joins rebels as Theresa May's Brexit challenge mounts

London: Indian-origin MP Priti Patel, one of the most outspoken British politicians in favour of Brexit, joined fellow Brexiteers on Sunday to mount a further challenge to Prime Minister Theresa May's plans for a future trading arrangement with the European Union (EU). By Aditi Khanna





FGN14 BANGLA-OPPOSITION

New political alliance formed in Bangladesh ahead of election

Dhaka: Bangladesh's main opposition BNP led by former premier Khaleda Zia has forged an alliance with some other political parties to force prime minister Sheikh Hasina to form an all-party caretaker government ahead of the general election in December. By Anisur Rahman.





FGN3 US-TRUMP-LD IMMGRATION

Trump wants people to come to US on basis of merit

Washington: President Donald Trump has said that he wants people with merit to enter the United States, a move that can help technology professionals from countries such as India.



FGN8 ISRAEL-NETANYAHU-HAMAS

Israel's Netanyahu threatens Hamas with 'very strong blows'

Jerusalem: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday threatened to inflict "very strong blows" on Hamas after fresh violence along the border with the Gaza Strip controlled by the Islamist group.(AFP)



FGN7 TURKEY-LD ACCIDENT

Nineteen killed in migrant vehicle crash in Turkey

Istanbul: Nineteen people, including children, died on Sunday when a vehicle carrying migrants reportedly heading for EU member Greece plunged off the highway into a waterway in western Turkey, state media said.(AFP) RUP



FGN11 MALDIVES-ELECTION- LD COURT

Maldives judges hear strongman's election challenge

Colombo: Maldives judges on Sunday heard a petition by strongman president Abdulla Yameen to have his recent election defeat annulled, potentially triggering US sanctions and plunging the archipelago into fresh turmoil. (AFP)



FGN12 AFGHAN-TALIBAN-ATTACK

Taliban attack Afghan army base, killing 17 soldiers

Kabul: Afghan officials say the Taliban have attacked an army base, killing 17 Afghan soldiers and abducting 11 others.(AP) RUP

RUPNew Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) Following are the top foreign stories at 1700 hours:



FGN5 PAK-ECONOMY-IMF

Pak ready to share details of CPEC debts with IMF for bailout package: FM Umar

Islamabad: Pakistan is ready to share details of the debt related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with the IMF, Finance Minister Asad Umar has said while rejecting the US' view that China-funded projects were to blame for the cash-strapped country's current economic woes.



FGN2 PAK-BYPOLLS

Voting begins for by-election in 35 constituencies in Pak

Islamabad: Voting opened Sunday for the by-election in 35 national and provincial assemblies in Pakistan amid heightened security, with over 600 candidates, including some political bigwigs, in the running. By Sajjad Hussain



FGN4 US-DATA-INDIA

US Senators write to PM Modi; urge to soften stance on India's data localisation policy

Washington: Two top American Senators have asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to adopt a soft stance on data localisation, warning that India's policy on the issue will adversely affect American businesses in the country.By Lalit K Jha



FGN3 US-TRUMP-LD IMMGRATION

Trump wants people to come to US on basis of merit

Washington: President Donald Trump has said that he wants people with merit to enter the United States, a move that can help technology professionals from countries such as India.



FGN8 ISRAEL-NETANYAHU-HAMAS

Israel's Netanyahu threatens Hamas with 'very strong blows'

Jerusalem: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday threatened to inflict "very strong blows" on Hamas after fresh violence along the border with the Gaza Strip controlled by the Islamist group.(AFP)



FGN7 TURKEY-LD ACCIDENT

Nineteen killed in migrant vehicle crash in Turkey

Istanbul: Nineteen people, including children, died on Sunday when a vehicle carrying migrants reportedly heading for EU member Greece plunged off the highway into a waterway in western Turkey, state media said.(AFP) RUP

RUPBrussels, Oct 14 (AFP) Last-ditch talks on Sunday between London and Brussels' chief Brexit negotiators failed to reach an agreement on trade rules for Northern Ireland, EU representative Michel Barnier said.

Both sides now face the prospect of beginning a crunch summit on Wednesday without a draft divorce deal, increasing the chances of a disorderly and damaging British departure from the bloc.

"We met today Dominic Raab and UK negotiating team. Despite intense efforts, some key issues are still open, including the backstop for IE/NI to avoid a hard border," Barnier tweeted, referring to EU member Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland.

Barnier added that he would brief the European Parliament and the leaders of the EU member states, who will arrive in Brussels on Wednesday for a dinner on the eve of their October summit.

Diplomatic sources confirmed that a meeting of the "diplomatic sherpas" -- senior officials from EU members -- that had been planned for Monday to review a draft deal has been cancelled.

"The commission informed the ambassadors that no deal was reached today. There will be no further negotiations until the summit," one source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Other sources familiar with Barnier's meeting with EU ambassadors confirmed this, and one diplomat added that "certain countries insisted that preparations for a 'no deal' be accelerated." AFP

NSA

NSAMaha minister says online liquor sale to be allowed, then

backtracks

(Eds: Updating with minister's latest quotes)

Mumbai, Oct 14 (PTI) A Maharashtra minister said

Sunday that the BJP-led government had decided to allow online

sale and home delivery of liquor in the state, but later

stated that only a proposal in this regard had been received.

"We want to curb the instances of drunken driving.

Allowing home delivery of liquor will help in this," Excise

Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule told PTI Sunday morning,

without elaborating as to when the decision would come into

effect.

However, apparently fearing backlash over the

announcement from Opposition parties and anti-liquor

activists, the minister later said that only a proposal had

been received.

"We have a received an application requesting framing

of a policy for purchase of liquor online from home. However,

the government has not thought about it, nor there has been

any policy (framed)," Bawankule told reporters in Nagpur.

He also said that his department recently took action

against 35 liquor shops in the state for providing foreign

liquor at customers' doorstep by taking orders through certain

WhatsApp groups.

Earlier, a senior official in the excise department

had told PTI that increasing the revenue was also a prime

objective behind the decision to allow online sale of liquor.

The government is losing sizable excise tax due to

closure of around 3,000 liquor outlets located near the

highways owing to the Supreme Court's order, he said.

Also, the reduction in prices of petrol and diesel

earlier this month has caused some strain on the state's

treasury, the official had added. PTI ND CLS

KRK KRK(Eds: Updating with journalist's quotes)

Mumbai, Oct 14 (PTI) A TV journalist, who was allegedly assaulted by unidentified persons near his house in south Mumbai early Sunday, has termed the attack "pre-planned".

Herman Gomes, working with a private television channel, was returning home along with a friend in a taxi late Saturday night.

When he got out of the cab around 1.30 am Sunday, he saw four to six persons waiting near his house in the Gamdevi area, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-II) Dnyaneshwar Chavan told PTI.

The persons started abusing Gomes and later allegedly assaulted him, he said.

Gomes told reporters that it was clearly a "pre-planned" attack as those involved had come prepared, pointing out that the attackers had a knuckle-duster as well.

"They hit me in my eyes, which caused bleeding. I have received six stitches around my eyes. They also attacked my friend," he said.

Chavan said based on Gome's complaint, the Gamdevi police later registered a case under Indian Penal Code sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 324 (voluntary causing hurt by dangerous weapons) and other relevant provisions.

The motive behind the attack is not yet known, he said, adding that the matter is being investigated.

Gomes, in a Facebook post, said, "I always mind my business and do stories that I believe in. I don't know which story (of mine) affected these people so much. I don't know these people."

Journalists' associations in the city condemned the attack and alleged that police did not file the victim's complaint promptly.

The Mumbai Press Club termed the attack on Gomes a "dastardly act".

An association of crime reporters in the city, in a statement, demanded immediate arrest of the assailants.

It urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to take action against the police officers who allegedly delayed registration of the First Information Report (FIR) in the matter.

Reacting to the incident, Minister of State Home (Urban), Ranjit Patil, tweeted, "Discussed the attack that happened in the Gaondevi Police station area on journalist Herman Gomes with officials. Investigations are going on and correct steps will be taken in the direction." PTI AVI GK BNM ANB

ANBNew Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) The Congress Sunday launched a scathing attack on the Centre over the falling rupee and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "monumental mismanagement" of the economy and delivering blows to it.

The opposition party said in 2014, Modi had promised to strengthen the rupee if he became prime minister and said he would bring it to the level of 40 per dollar.

Addressing a press conference at the party office here, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma pointed out that the rupee had, on more than one occasion, crossed 74 to a dollar, whereas the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had left it at 59 to a dollar.

"There has been a monumental mismanagement of the Indian economy under the BJP-led NDA government. They have been busy, the prime minister in particular and his Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, either making false claims, or embellishing and manufacturing numbers just to mislead the people," he said.

A nation could not have a sound economy if it was not attracting investments, the Congress leader said.

On demonetisation, Sharma said Modi's arbitrary and reckless decision wiped off more than 90 per cent of the currency in circulation in one stroke, destroyed not only factories but crores of jobs and soon after that, there was a hasty imposition of a flawed Goods and Services Tax (GST).

"If you put all that together, you will realise that this is the highest GST and the most complex one when it comes to compliance, which has been thrust on the country. So, these are the blows Modi has delivered," he said.

The Congress leader took a dig at the finance minister by describing him as a blog writer rather than being an efficient minister and said the Centre attributed the slowing down of the economy, the falling rupee and all such things to global factors.

But strangely, these factors were only evident in India and not other economies of Asia which were not affected by those, he said. PTI JTR RCMathura, Oct 14 (PTI) Shankaracharya Adhokshajanand Deo Tirtha Maharaj Sunday demanded a judicial probe into the circumstances that led to the death of environmentalist G D Agarwal, and said the "Ganga Bhakt" prime minister should also issue a clarification on the episode.

Agarwal, also known as Swami Gyanswaroop Sanand, died of heart attack at Rishikesh's All India Institute of Medical Sciences Thursday, where he was forcibly brought a day earlier.

He had been on indefinite fast for 110 days, demanding government measures to ensure a clean, free-flowing Ganga.

"A judicial probe by a sitting justice of a high court would only reveal the truth, since several allegations are cropping up," the Shankaracharya told reporters in Mathura.

He said the government's "silence" on Agarwal's demands was painful as the environmentalist was not spreading separatism but was only demanding a clean Ganga.

He said Agarwal's demands were similar to the promises made by this government to clean the holy river and it should give a clarification to avoid controversies after his death.

The Shankaracharya said the "Ganga Bhakta" Prime Minister Narendra Modi should clarify on the issue, adding that the phase through which the river is passing and the way its disciples are being treated, is not good for the country.

A day before Agarwal's death, Water Resources and Ganga River Rejuvenation Minister Nitin Gadkari had said that the government has accepted almost all the demands made by the activist. "One demand was to to ensure environmental flow and we have come out with a notification."

The Shankaracharya also said that he was disappointed that the RSS, VHP and their associate organisations, who otherwise raise the issue of a clean Ganga spiritedly, were silent on this matter.

They should put pressure on their government at the Centre and in the state to enact a law to protect the river, which would also be a tribute to Agarwal, he said. PTI CORR ABH

ABHBengaluru, Oct 14 (PTI) Ending uncertainty over her candidature, the JD(S) Sunday announced fielding Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's wife Anitha Kumaraswamy in the bypoll to the Ramanagara Assembly constituency.

The ruling party in the state also said Madhu Bangarappa, son of former chief minister S Bangarappa, would be the candidate from the Shivamogga parliamentary seat.

Earlier, there was speculation that Anitha would contest either from Ramanagara or Mandya.

The Janata Dal (Secular) has still not finalised the candidate for the Mandya Lok Sabha bypoll. The party has said the candidature will be announced later.

The coalition partner of the JD(S), Congress, has announced that Anand Nyamgouda, son of Sidhu Nyamagouda who was killed in a road accident on May 28, will be its candidate from the Jamakhandi Assembly seat.

The party is yet to decide its candidate for the Ballari Lok Sabha seat.

The bypolls to three Lok Sabha seats -- Shivamogga, Mandya and Ballari -- and the two assembly seats of Ramanagara and Jamakhandi will take place on November 3.

JD(S) national secretary general Danish Ali told PTI that the names of Anitha Kumaraswamy and Bangarappa were finalised for the Ramanagar and Shivamogga seats respectively.

However, the candidate for Mandya would be finalised later, he said.

Ali also said the JD(S) would support the Congress candidates from Ballari and Jamakhandi.

Confirming this, JD(S) state general secretary M Srikanth said Bangarappa would be the alliance candidate from Shivamogga.

Bangarappa would meet JD(S) supremo and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda Monday, before leaving for Shivamogga to file his nomination papers, he added.

Congress spokesperson A N Nataraj Gowda also confirmed that Bangarappa would contest from Shivamogga.

The Congress, in a press release, said it had appointed polls in-charge for the seats from where JD(S) candidates would fight the by-elections.

Large and Medium Industries Minister K J George would oversee the Mandya parliamentary seat, while Revenue Minister R V Deshpande and Lok Sabha member D K Suresh would be in charge of Shivamogga and Ramanagara respectively, it said.

The bypolls were necessitated following the resignations of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president BS Yeddyurappa from the Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat, C S Puttaraju from the Mandya Lok Sabha seat and B Sriramulu from the Ballari Lok Sabha seat.

They contested the 2018 state Assembly polls and got elected.

The Ramanagara seat got vacated as Chief Minister Kumaraswamy, who won from both the Channapatna and Ramanagara seats, opted to represent the former in the Assembly and resigned from the latter.

The Jamakhandi Assembly seat fell vacant after the sitting MLA, Siddu Nyamagouda, was killed in a road accident on May 28. PTI GMS APR RCNew Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) A 35-year-old man was shot at Sunday allegedly by two bike-borne men in outer Delhi's Mangolpuri area, police said.

Satyanarayan, who runs a shop in Mangolpuri, alleged that he was shot at by a customer who was nursing a grudge against him for refusing to give 'gutka' (tobacco) to him

(accused) without taking money, they said.

However, police are verifying the victim's version and scanning the CCTV footage to ascertain the sequence of the incident and identify the accused.

The victim is being treated at the hospital. But, doctors are yet to ascertain whether the victim sustained a gun shot injury, police said.

A case was registered in connection with the incident, they added.

PTI AMP SLB

SRYThe first paid work Uri Geller ever did was running errands for Mossad on his bicycle when he was 13.

Geller, a self-proclaimed psychic who famously believes he can bend spoons with the power of his mind, recently bought a 1.9million property to house a museum of strange objects he has collected, including an artwork made by Congo the painting monkey.

The 71-year-old is in the process of building the world's biggest spoon  which will be 60 feet long  for his museum and now lives in a small apartment in the historic town of Jaffa in Israel.

Geller with his Fleetwood Brougham Cadillac. It cost $15k but it was so huge he never drove it. He has since turned it into an art piece, riveting 2k spoons to its body

What did your parents teach you about money?

I grew up poor. My parents escaped the Nazis in Europe and brought me up in Tel Aviv, Israel. My father was a sergeant major in the Israeli army. My mother was a seamstress.

She earned little and was frugal out of necessity. Sadly, although I loved him dearly, my father was a womaniser who spent his money and even the cash my mother was making on other women.

I remember that it would take my mother months to be able to afford to buy me even a small toy.

I used to help her make money playing cards by telepathically reading the hands of the other players and kicking her under the table when the person next to her had a joker.

What was the first paid work you ever did?

At age 13, I would run errands for Mossad, the national intelligence agency of Israel on my bicycle.

By then, my mother had moved to Cyprus and set up a hotel which became a Mossad safehouse.

Mossad spies used to stay there and paid me 1 to deliver any post that came for them when they were not around to the Israeli consulate in Nicosia.

Have you ever been paid silly money?

Yes, in the late 1970s, I was paid $1million to locate oil in Mexico.

At that time oil companies were pouring tens of millions of dollars into oil exploration so they thought why not pay me to see if I could find it for them. And I did, and gold too.

What was the best financial year of your life?

It was 1978. That year, I filled stadiums worldwide with my live shows. I used to get paid up to $70,000 a night.

I cannot remember how much I got paid in total though. I did not pay attention to that. I have never cared how much money I have sitting in the bank.

What is the most expensive thing you bought for fun?

Geller: Known for his ability to bend spoons

It was a Fleetwood Brougham Cadillac. It cost $15,000 but it was so huge I never drove it. I have since turned it into an art piece.

I riveted 2,000 spoons to its body. All the spoons used to belong to famous people, including John F. Kennedy, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, the Dalai Lama, Napoleon and Gandhi.

What is the best money decision you have made?

Buying the property for my new museum in Jaffa, Israel. It cost 1.9million two years ago and it will open next year.

It will house my Cadillac spoon art piece, gifts I have been given from people like Salvador Dali and John Lennon, artwork by Congo the painting monkey and iconic items such as Yves Saint Laurent's chair.

I am also building the largest spoon in the world to put outside it. It will be 18 metres long and weigh ten tons by the time I am finished. I hope that the museum will bring more tourists to Israel. It is going to be an eclectic collection.

Do you own any property?

Yes. As well as the museum, I own my home, which is a two-bedroom apartment in Jaffa (just south of Tel Aviv). It is tiny but has an amazing view of the Mediterranean.

How much cash do you carry?

I do not carry money or cards, not even a wallet. I am like the Queen in that respect.

I keep a few small coins  the equivalent of about 10p in shekels  with me so that I can show people I meet on the streets how I can bend them with the power of mind.

I do this because everyone knows me in Israel but people do not carry spoons on them. If I need to buy something, my family purchases it for me. I do not handle money myself. I even have an account at my local coffee shop.

What little luxury do you treat yourself to?

I am a wealthy man but all the furniture in my flat, including the dining table and the sofa, comes from Ikea. I do not need luxuries at this point in my life.

Do you donate money to charity?

Yes, all the time. I support many charities and raise money for them through the Uri Geller Charitable Foundation.

If you were Chancellor, what would you do first?

Theresa May with the Chancellor Philip Hammond at the Royal Free Hospital earlier this year

I stay away from politics, but I would like the people of the UK to be happy and not struggle financially.

I think they should have the medical services they need as they get older and that the National Health Service should work properly. So I would focus on funding the NHS and care services for the elderly.

What is your number one financial priority?

To make sure my children never have to struggle in the way that I had to when I was a child.

The BBC documentary, the Secret Life Of Uri Geller, can be viewed at www.urigeller.com.User-friendly technology is key to getting more women to invest, experts believe.

Women traditionally save less money than men and shun investment risk in favour of safer bets, resulting in less money to live on in later life. This is often referred to as the 'gender investment gap'.

But the evolution of investing methods  including smartphone apps and easy-to-understand online wealth managers  is proving most significant to the female gender.

More than two-fifths of women using apps have increased the sums they put away

More than two-fifths of women using these apps have increased the sums they put away in the past year, according to research by wealth manager Fidelity International.

Among those using apps or online companies to manage investments, nearly half use technology unconnected to their bank, compared with a third of men. But overall, only 11 per cent of women use online tools to invest.

Maike Currie, Fidelity's investment director, says: 'Technology could help bridge the gap and attract more women to investment.

'Women point to being time-poor as one barrier to investing. They also want more support in knowing where to start. Apps and online solutions are a step in the right direction.'

One app with a growing female customer base is stockbroking app Dabbl. Customers can buy shares in modest amounts  for 2 a month.

The first three investments are included in the monthly fee, and are 1 each thereafter.

Dabbl says 50 per cent of its female investors yield profits of more than 10 per cent, compared with 29 per cent of men.

The app also allows customers to take pictures of products they like  via their smartphone  then buy shares in the firm that makes them.

One client, Sadie Mantovani, 39, from Chiswick in West London, has doubled her money this year, thanks to investments in shares such as Ocado, Fever-Tree and Netflix.

She says: 'I find data quite intimidating but I do have a good knowledge of  and interest in  brands.'

Other apps for investing include Moneybox, Plum and 7IMagine.James Daunt has already done the unthinkable. Twice. After setting up his small book chain and fending off Amazon in the 1990s he was persuaded to do it all over again.

'Waterstones was bust. It's easy to forget now but it was absolutely haemorrhaging money,' he says of the chain where he landed in 2011 as Amazon voraciously gobbled up Britain's book market.

Retailers the length and breadth of the country will feel his pain  pain they themselves now feel as they fight against obliteration.

'We got it first and it utterly devastated booksellers and now it is rolling into other retail sectors. If that combines with an economic and a retail downturn, then you're really stuffed because it's a combination that will pincer people.'

Waterstones is thriving since he cut costs and gave more power to his 'booksellers'

Daunt, who formerly worked at US bank JP Morgan before deserting the City to pursue his passion, is speaking from the other side.

Loyal shoppers across London still carry the familiar cotton bag from Daunt Books, which he owns but is run separately. And Waterstones is thriving with its 287 shops since he cut costs and gave more power to his 'booksellers'.

He accepts shoppers find internet shopping 'hugely seductive'.

But we are once more discovering our love of books, sales of which are incrementally increasing while sales of digital books  mostly read on the Amazon Kindle  plummet 10 per cent a year.

But Daunt remains stunned by the devastation Amazon and others have left in their wake. He talks of the 'madness' of a tax system that allowed them to flourish  'hoovering up the retail landscape'  while local town centres implode.

JAMES DAUNT, 54, IS A THEATRE-LOVER WHO SHUNS THE TV James Daunt formerly worked at US bank JP Morgan before deserting the City to pursue his passion Breakfast: 'My breakfast was, 'Have you done your homework?' and 'Have you eaten something?' with a bowl of cereal.' Family: Daunt's oldest daughter is 20  'She's at university, we've done that one'  and youngest is 15, in her GCSE year. 'My wife works as well so we are all on full steam. I think nice happy families who are all trying to juggle everything can work quite well. Our youngest goes to a day school just up the road and it's all very local.' Interests: 'We are, I'm afraid, typical Hampstead people. We go to the National Theatre and Hampstead Theatre quite a lot because the Tubes work really easily for us. We'll go out once or twice a week. The Lehman Brothers play (The Lehman Trilogy) was completely fantastic and we are going to see the new David Hare (I'm Not Running). The only thing we don't do is TV. We have a TV in the house but, literally, it's turned on for Election night.' Travel: 'We go to Scotland every summer. We've been to the same place for 21 years. We drive because we need all the clobber. It's heaven on Earth, swimming in the cold sea, fishing for mackerel. It is very wild and it has no mobile signal. Once you're up there, you're gone, that's it. You can drop off the end of the world for a bit and nobody notices.'

'You go to these local high streets in deprived areas and it is catastrophic,' says Daunt, who regularly travels around the country and sees Britain's boarded-up high streets first hand.

The collapse of House of Fraser, Toys R Us and Maplin may have finally jolted the 'London-centric world' to wake up to the crisis, he says. But he adds that problems run deep.

'What's been driven out already are independent retailers  all the little 'mom and pop' shops. The hardware shop in Barrow-in-Furness that was making ten grand a year until business rates wiped out profits.

'Places for little old ladies to have a natter in; the pillars of society in these small towns but now they're gone and all you have left is a hole on the high street and a boarded-up shop.'

He says global firms cut prices to the bone by ignoring the need for profits as they rapaciously lure in shoppers. Or else they use intercompany payments to artificially wipe out their UK profits  all of which leaves little or no tax to pay for roads, schools and hospitals.

Meanwhile, UK firms shoulder the burden of corporation tax and billions extra in property taxes even as their markets are swept away.

'For God's sake, why are we allowing small independent shops, particularly in marginal retail locations, to be taxed in this grotesquely unfair way? What does that mean for jobs in that place? For locals who are tied there because that's where their mother lives, their families? Or are caring for family members and need a part-time job  what do they do?

'I accept the Government needs money, so go after the ones who are playing a tax game. I think it's ridiculous that Caffe Nero doesn't pay any tax. Starbucks, Amazon and all the others  it's about redressing the balance,' he says.

Last weekend in The Mail on Sunday, Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis demanded a 2 per cent online goods tax. Daunt says that sounds 'reasonable'.

But, unlike Lewis  who wants a 1.25 billion tax break handed to retailers  he suggests a blanket business rates cut for shops in vibrant towns would only prompt 'the sodding landlord to turn up and ask for more rent'.

He explains: 'If you fail as a chain it's because there was something else going on  you were badly run or you have had a private equity owner who shoved a whole load of debt in there at some point.'

The Chancellor should keep the cash 'to spend on the NHS and schools'.

Daunt, who was 47 when he first took the job running Waterstones  then owned by Russian businessman Alexander Mamut who remains a shareholder  suggests he was having a 'midlife crisis' at the time.

In April, the chain was bought for a sum rumoured to be 200 million by hedge fund Elliott which is throwing its might behind future growth.

'We've been through the process of understanding what our purpose is  which is counter to Amazon  and it works,' he says. The shops are about discovering books while novels aimed at teenagers and children are flying.

What's more, because an estimated 500 independent book stores have closed since his arrival and in the face of Amazon's onslaught, there are opportunities for a revitalised Waterstones.

'I've got a long, long list of places  there are about 150 where I'd like to be. Places that used to have a bookshop but now don't. We're going back in, putting in a nice friendly shop.

'I have a very clear view of what a good bookshop should be. As we become stronger we can make the shops better and have a more engaged, career-driven cadre of booksellers.'

Daunt: 'I'm not proud. So if Fifty Shades Of Grey comes around again tomorrow I'll be delighted. Personally, I don't invest it with any huge merit but I don't begrudge anyone the pleasure of reading it.'

Christmas also looks promising with Michelle Obama's biography in the pipeline and a new JK Rowling release  'she's our patron saint'. He piles through books in preparation  often reading only the first chapter  to spot potential bestsellers.

'I don't need to read the new Sebastian Faulks or Ian McEwan, because the reviews will do that for me. I read Max Porter  a tiny slip of a book with an utterly compelling twist  and Andrew Miller. Those are the books that make you go 'Holy moley'.'

If Fifty Shades Of Grey comes around again tomorrow I'll be delighted

But he adds: 'I'm not proud. So if Fifty Shades Of Grey comes around again tomorrow I'll be delighted. Personally, I don't invest it with any huge merit but I don't begrudge anyone the pleasure of reading it.'

But, unlike many retailers, there is a higher purpose. 'We do have an agenda which I don't think we should be shy of  to try to bring learning, enquiry, education, compassion, all of those good and positive things.

'You know, we don't sell nasty books, we are very much a part of our communities and we try to encourage reading.'

But it won't be plain sailing. Every business is planning for the potential consequences of 'a Corbyn government or Brexit  a soft or a hard Brexit'.

'You have to plan for it. Just the practical consequences. All our printing is done abroad.

'There are Lithuanians who work nine months of the year in Germany and they come to us for six weeks before Christmas to operate 80ft forklift trucks. It's a highly skilled job.

'Am I really going to go down to the job centre in Derby and find those people?

'We have significant issues and it's difficult to think of a company that is less impacted than us.

'Thank God I'm not a farmer needing to have my Brussels sprouts picked.'The Treasury has handed over 1billion in tax refunds to oil giants over the past three years  signalling the decline of the Government's North Sea tax haul just as the Chancellor prepares his Budget.

Figures compiled by The Mail on Sunday show HM Revenue & Customs triggered tax relief worth 1.2billion to multinationals including Chevron, BP and ExxonMobil between 2015 and 2017.

In some cases, the oil giants are now receiving more in handouts than they pay to the Treasury in corporation tax.

The figures reveal the extent to which the once rich resource for Government financing has become a drain on the Treasury

The figures reveal the extent to which the once rich resource for Government financing has become a drain on the Treasury as the payouts combine with a slump in profitability for North Sea oil rigs.

The Treasury's North Sea tax takings tipped from a 2.1billion contribution in the 2014-15 tax year to an outflow of 300million two years later, according to industry body Oil & Gas UK.

Industry experts hope rising oil prices will bolster takings in the year ahead. But oil companies are now in the process of dismantling oil rigs that first began drilling in the 1970s.

The oilfields have produced about 350billion in revenue over the past five decades  landing previous governments with a massive windfall.

However, companies are now entitled to claim back some tax as they seek to cover the heavy cost of dismantling the rigs and cleaning up the sea bed  a process known as decommissioning.

In 2016, Chevron's tax refunds wiped out its corporation tax bill. It would normally have paid hefty corporation tax on its 64.8 million profit.

But Chevron North Sea Limited reported a total tax credit of 108.3 million, lifting its final profits to 173.1 million.

BP has received 527 million in refunds from the Revenue since 2015, while Exxon, one of the largest oil companies in the world, has received 336 million.

In 2017 Esso UK, which is part of Exxon, paid just 1 million in tax. Repsol Sinopec, a joint venture with a subsidiary of China's state-owned oil titan, Sinopec Group, has been given 125 million in refunds.

While Shell recently announced plans for a new development in the North Sea, Chevron has been retreating from the basin, saying over the summer that it was marketing its assets in the central North Sea.

Chevron has also sold a 40 per cent stake in Rosebank, an oil and gas field west of Shetland, to Norway's Equinor.

Oil & Gas UK has warned about the low level of drilling activity in the North Sea, saying in a recent report that there had been a 50 per cent decline over the past five years, which it described as a 'serious concern'.

The Treasury said: 'Decommissioning tax relief provides the industry with certainty to support financial planning. The latest Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts estimate that net oil and gas revenues will be 4.4 billion over the next five years.'High street bank TSB has thrown its weight behind calls for a tribunal system that would allow small businesses to challenge lenders over unfair treatment.

The Mail on Sunday's Justice For Our Firms campaign has called for a powerful mediator to tackle disagreements between small firms and their banks amid evidence of widespread malpractice in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

Campaign: TSB small business banking director says it's really important SMEs are given protection they need to thrive

In a major boost for the campaign, TSB has broken ranks with rivals who have so far remained silent on the tribunal idea.

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking has led calls for a tribunal system, arguing an improved Financial Ombudsman Service  the alternative option on the table  would not be enough as claims for compensation would be capped and payouts would be harder to enforce.

Rising support for a tribunal comes ahead of this month's Budget when Chancellor Philip Hammond is tipped to announce plans for a grievance forum.

Richard Davies, TSB's SME banking director, said it is 'really important [small businesses] are given the protection they need to thrive'.

He added: 'We support the APPG's work to make banking better for UK small and medium-sized enterprises.'



Gatwick Airport could be about to change hands for up to 10billion, landing a huge payout for its owners.

City sources said that New York-based Global Infrastructure Partners is 'very close' to making a decision on whether to sell some or all of the airport.

An announcement about a deal could be made in the next few weeks.

If GIP does sell all or some of its 42 per cent shareholding in the airport, it would be the culmination of one of the most successful and lucrative deals on record

If GIP does sell all or some of its 42 per cent shareholding in the airport, it would be the culmination of one of the most successful and lucrative deals on record.

Another option for GIP would be to extend the life of the fund in which its stake is held.

The investment group bought Gatwick for 1.5billion from BAA in 2009, after the airports monopoly was broken up by the competition regulator after the financial crisis.

Analysts estimate Gatwick could now be worth between 7billion and 10billion.

Partners at GIP stand personally to make hundreds of millions of pounds from the 'carried interest' they have attached to the investment in the airport.

GIP has already paid itself several hundred million pounds in dividends.

Since the acquisition, GIP has sold stakes in the airport to some of the world's most powerful investors, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, South Korea's National Pension Service and Australia's Future Fund.

GIP, which declined to comment, has transformed Gatwick in the past decade, luring more airlines and handling more than 44 million passengers a year.

The firm also owns Edinburgh airport and sold London City airport in 2016 for 2billion-plus.SemGroup Corporation provides gathering, transportation, storage, distribution, marketing, and other midstream services for producers, refiners of petroleum products, and other market participants. The company operates in three segments: U.S. Liquids, U.S. Gas, and Canada. The U.S. Liquids segment operates crude oil pipelines, truck transportation, storage, terminals, and marketing businesses; stores, blends, and transports refinery products and refinery feedstock through pipeline, barge, rail, truck, and ship; and operates a residual fuel oil storage terminal in the U.S. Gulf Coast. This segment has 18.2 million barrels of storage capacity on the Houston Ship Channel; and 7.6 million barrels of storage capacity at the Cushing Interchange. It also operates a 460-mile crude oil gathering and transportation pipeline system in Kansas and northern Oklahoma; 75-mile crude oil gathering pipeline system that transports crude oil from production facilities in the DJ Basin to the pipeline owned by White Cliffs Pipeline, L.L.C.; 2 parallel 527-mile pipelines that transports crude oil from Platteville, Colorado to Cushing, Oklahoma; 3 pipelines with an aggregate of 106 miles of pipe; 30-lane crude oil truck unloading facility in Platteville, Colorado; and crude oil trucking fleet of approximately 245 transport trucks and 235 trailers. The U.S. Gas segment provides natural gas gathering, processing, and marketing services. It operates 842 miles of gathering lines in Oklahoma; and a 53-mile high pressure gathering pipeline located in the STACK play. The Canada segment owns and operates natural gas processing and gathering facilities with approximately 530 miles of natural gas gathering and transportation pipelines in Alberta, Canada. SemGroup Corporation was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Read MoreLet the image of those black children on the auction block sink in. Think about how this country was founded on the labor of enslaved Africans who were stripped of their intellectual heritage and prevented from gaining literacy in a new one. If thats too uncomfortable, just think of it as a painting devoted to black childrens intellectual flourishing in a city that barely acknowledges their right to a good education. With numerous school closings and policies that treat children like assembly-line workers in test-score factories, theres not much room for black and brown children to linger in the exhilaration of curiosity.I am urging all my elected officials to please focus on the U.N. climate report. There is nothing more critical than saving our planet right now. The fate of all humanity and life on this planet depends on us taking drastic actions right now.ALBANY - City police detectives are investigating an incident where a man is accused of groping a woman, pushing her to the ground, and then trying to steal her cellphone early Saturday morning.

There were no injuries.Albany

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said nothing was amiss in a state grant application that landed a major campaign donor, Crystal Run Healthcare, $25 million for projects it was building even without the taxpayer dollars.

"It's done on objective criteria, pursuant to a 2014 law," Cuomo told the Times Union editorial board in early September. "There is no suggestion that they got the grant from (the Department of) Health because of the contribution."

Still, an email obtained by the Times Union indicates that in April 2015 - 12 days after the state began seeking applications for a $1.2 billion grant program  executives from Crystal Run had a private meeting at the Capitol with New York's top health department officials, who were privately pitched on Crystal Run's proposed projects.

It's unclear if Crystal Run officials may have gleaned exclusive insights on the grant program. After the meeting, the company submitted applications for two projects and would go on to win $25 million in state aid, at a time when the company had broken ground on both projects six months earlier.

Despite what Crystal Run's chief legal officer Douglas Sansted's email says about the 2015 meeting, state Health Department spokesman Gary Holmes said in a statement last week that the Crystal Run projects under consideration were not discussed at the meeting.

Following a series of Times Union articles last year, Crystal Run is being investigated by the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office and FBI, who are focusing on a series of donations totaling $400,000 made by the company's executives and their associates to Cuomo's campaign. The investigation includes determining whether there were any violations of state campaign finance law.

Separately, amid charges of "pay-to-play" fundraising made by the governor's opponents as he seeks re-election to a third term, Cuomo's administration has maintained there was nothing amiss with the $25.4 million in grants awarded in 2016 to the fast-growing company that's headquartered in Orange County.

State officials have said the application process was never tilted to favor the affluent doctors who own Crystal Run.

According to Sansted's email, attendees at the April 22, 2015, meeting at the Capitol included himself, Hal Teitelbaum, the company's CEO, Deputy Secretary for Health Courtney Burke and state health Commissioner Howard Zucker. In the email that Sansted later wrote to another state agency, he said Crystal Run executives had "shared our vision for growth" at the meeting, including the "expansions in Monroe and Rockland."

The referenced projects  in Monroe, Orange County, and West Nyack, Rockland County  were awarded the $25.4 million from the Department of Health.

During that private meeting  11 months before the grant winners were announced  Burke and Zucker, "were, obviously, supportive as we are bringing real jobs to real people ... it was agreed that further discussion was warranted and should include (Empire State Development) at the highest levels," the Sansted email states.

Sansted's email was sent two weeks after the meeting to officials at Empire State Development. The emails were obtained by the Times Union through a Freedom of Information Law request.

Less than two weeks before the Capitol meeting, the state Health Department had announced  on April 10, 2015  that it was taking applications for a new $1.2 billion capital restructuring financing program, which was set up to fund projects that would reduce health care costs. In the ensuing months, almost 700 applications would be submitted for the subsidies.

Typically, under more-restrictive competitive bidding rules, once the Health Department releases bids applicants are allowed very limited contact with the agency. Those rules did not apply in this instance, however, because CRFP was a grant process.

The request for applications said the state health commissioner had final, discretionary authority in picking grantees, but the Health Department maintains that the Cuomo administration's top two health officials, Burke and Zucker, were not involved in selecting winners of the $1.2 billion.

"To be clear, the meeting was not related to the CRFP grant process, it was to discuss Crystal Run's progress in adopting the goals of Medicaid's Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment program and the ultimate goal of achieving a transformation to value based care," said Holmes, the Department of Health spokesman. "Meetings of this nature with health care providers are critical in the state's ongoing efforts to deliver better care to the most vulnerable New Yorkers. Any suggestion that this meeting influenced the grant process is completely false."

Others invited to the meeting included Crystal Run's Gregory Spencer and top state health officials Rose Duhan and Jason Helgerson, Holmes said. Helgerson said he did not recall attending the meeting.

Zucker attended the hour-long meeting, on the second floor of the state Capitol, after being notified of it by Burke, who worked in the governor's office, Holmes said.

The April 22 meeting was not reported to Project Sunlight, a government website that tracks contact between potential vendors and state officials. Holmes maintained a submission was not required.

The Crystal Run executives who attended the meeting are not registered as state lobbyists, although it's unclear if that would have been required for their contact with the officials.

A Crystal Run spokesman, Loren Riegelhaupt, declined to say whether information gleaned from the private meeting with Health Department leaders made it into Crystal Run's applications for the $25 million  which included proposals dated two days after the meeting.

"As the leading health care service provider in the Hudson Valley, it shouldn't surprise anyone that Crystal Run from time to time had discussions and meetings with Department of Health officials to help ensure better services and lower costs for everyone," Riegelhaupt said. "At no time did Crystal Run directly or indirectly engage in any inappropriate, unethical or illegal communication with any New York state official about the CRFP grants or otherwise. Any insinuation to the contrary is false."

He declined to say whether Sansted's 2015 account of the meeting was accurate.

If it was  and Burke and Zucker were "supportive" of the Crystal Run projects  that could help explain why Crystal Run felt comfortable breaking ground that fall on two, 70,000-square-foot health care facilities in Monroe and West Nyack.

The dual ground-breakings took place six months before the Department of Health awarded Crystal Run and other applicants portions of the $1.2 billion. Of all the grant winners outside New York City, which competed against one another for a total of $547 million, all were nonprofits with one exception: Crystal Run.

A spokesman for Burke, who is now chief operating officer at the Healthcare Association of New York State, said that in the summer of 2013, she recalled speaking with Crystal Run executives, as well as taking a tour of the company's facility  but did not recall any meeting in 2015.

Although the Health Department contends the April 2015 meeting with top state health officials focused on Medicaid reform efforts, Sansted's email to state economic development officials  written two weeks later  did not mention that topic.

Instead, Sansted's emails explicitly asked Empire State Development officials to secure state funds for Crystal Run.

"Team ESD, where are we with your work to secure (a) continued Monroe commitment? and (b) find other money for Rockland?" Sansted wrote of the two projects, which were the subject of pending grant applications at the Health Department. "I will be scheduling a visit to Crystal Run for the Acting (Health) Commissioner (Zucker) and some of the other DoH executives and am wondering if we should also include senior folks from ESD? Seems as though coordination of our efforts, your efforts, and DoH's efforts makes sense. No?"

Zucker did not end up visiting Crystal Run's office, Holmes said.

In another email to ESD officials, dated May 13, 2015, Sansted implied he had cursed in the course of his efforts to land state funds.

"Thank you for your efforts on our behalf---this is a great result! Almost makes me feel bad for all of the agitating and profanity except I can't stop the *@#$ing profanity..." Sansted wrote.

Jason Conwall, an Empire State Development spokesman, emphasized that the CRFP was not administered by ESD.

"In fact, the ESD incentives awarded to Crystal Run predate the (CRFP) grant process," Conwall said. "To our knowledge, no current or former ESD employees engaged in substantive discussions with Crystal Run officials regarding that program."

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

The Health Department has consistently said the projects awarded the $1.2 billion were the top scorers in graded applications, which were scored by rank-and-file civil servants.

Whether a project was being built anyway, without taxpayer funds, was not part of the agency's scoring criteria.

"Dr. Zucker has not visited Crystal Run headquarters and has not had any discussions with Crystal Run leadership regarding this grant process," said Holmes, the agency spokesman. "As we've said repeatedly, CRFP funding was awarded through an open and competitive grant process. Funding applications were submitted by health care providers and graded by DOH employees using a clear, objective methodology. None of the attendees in the April 22, 2015 meeting were part of that process."

Since Crystal Run was awarded $25.4 million, one of New York's fastest-growing health care companies has so far been retroactively reimbursed for about $6 million of its expenses for building the two projects. That included $1.2 million for the company's office furniture purchases.

The Health Department has rejected some reimbursement requests from the company, including for an "art consulting" firm.

The small company, Giardina Fine Art, is owned by Bernadette Giardina, who is the wife of a longtime Cuomo administration insider Anthony Giardina. According to Anthony Giardina's 2014 financial disclosure form, Bernadette owns the business, while Anthony is listed as the company's "VP and director."

In 2016, Crystal Run paid more than $61,000 to the company to select, purchase and install art to decorate the two new health care facilities  about two hours' drive south from the couple's Albany home, where the business is registered.

Bernadette Giardina said the consulting company had been brought in to work on a number of earlier Crystal Run projects dating back to 2004  not by the health care company, but by the interior design firms working on them. Michele Grooms, the owner of Fine Dzign, the interior decorating firm that brought in Crystal Run on the 2016 projects, said that the Giardinas' connections to state government were completely coincidental.

Anthony Giardina has held four high-level jobs during Cuomo's nearly eight years in office and in 2017, was nominated by Cuomo to serve as one of the three commissioners on the state Tax Appeals Tribunal, a nine-year appointment carrying a $159,000 salary. Giardina is one of a close group of associates whose ties date back to Gov. Mario Cuomo's administration.

In 2010, Giardina was close enough to Cuomo that he vetted agency commissioners for the governor-elect's incoming administration with the assistance of Todd Howe, the private business consultant who was another longtime Cuomo confidant  and in 2016 pleaded guilty to multiple public corruption felonies. Giardina also worked for Cuomo's two Democratic predecessors, David Paterson and Eliot Spitzer.

Throughout Crystal Run's interactions with Cuomo's administration, since 2011, campaign donations have come around the time of government actions.

After an initial $25,000 donation to Cuomo's campaign by Teitelbaum in 2011  using Crystal Run's corporate funds  former top Cuomo aide Joe Percoco quickly set up a meeting with a top DOH official, James Introne, which solved a potentially thorny regulatory issue for the company, email records show.

After the meeting, Teitelbaum wrote to Percoco that it had "led to significant streamlining of processes."

Two months after the April 2015 meeting between the Crystal Run executives and top DOH officials  during the midst of the review for the $1.2 billion  Teitelbaum made a $50,000 donation to Cuomo's campaign.

Records indicate that Teitelbaum had been invited to, and was expected to attend, a fundraiser thrown on June 18, 2015, by Cuomo's campaign at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.

Both Teitelbaum's wife, as well as Sansted, were also among a group of 10 people who donated $25,000 each to Cuomo's campaign over a two-day span in October 2013  donations federal investigators have been examining to see if the donors were reimbursed with company bonuses, which could violate state election law. Of the 10 donors, seven had not otherwise given a donation in a New York political campaign in at least a decade.

After Cuomo told the Times Union editorial board last month that Crystal Run had not approached his campaign about potential problems with those donations, his campaign acknowledged three weeks later that it had been approached. Cuomo's campaign has now sequestered $400,000 in donations from the company, as the criminal investigation plays out.

Cuomo campaign spokeswoman Abbey Collins recently confirmed for the first time that Crystal Run held a fundraiser for Cuomo on Oct. 30, 2013, in New York City, questions she had previously refused to answer. Collins said the Crystal Run fundraiser was organized by Cuomo's campaign finance team and an unnamed Cuomo "donor." She won't identify the donor or where the fundraiser was held.

cbragg@timesunion.com  518-454-5303  @chrisbragg1

An earlier version of this story incorrectly characterized the Health Department grant applications as public bids.The race for the 113th state Assembly seat is a contest between two women -- a two-term incumbent who cites a long list of accomplishments and a political newcomer who feels the state does not reflect her conservative values.

Democrat Carrie Woerner of Round Lake is being challenged by Republican Morgan Zegers of Malta for the purple district that encompasses eastern Saratoga and southern Washington counties.

Woerner wants to continue her bipartisan work while Zegers wants to shift the district right with a platform of reducing taxes and regulations.

"New York has the highest tax burden in the country, worst states for small business and one of the worst states to retire in," said the 21-year-old Zegers, who just graduated from American University with a degree in communications, law, economics and government. "On top of that we have all these corruption trials. I don't feel very confident in the state to build a future here. More than a million people have moved out of the state over the last 10 years or so, the same time as Gov. (Andrew) Cuomo's leadership. Everything I cared about was at the state level. I wanted to help out in some way so I stepped up."

Her plan is to focus on economic development on Main Street, ethical leadership and affordability.

"My goal is to make New York a place where people feel confident so that they can stay here for the long-term," Zegers said. "I want to get away from paid-to-play. I don't want to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to incentivize businesses to invest in New York because money goes to corrupt people. I also want us to get away from regulations that make doing business difficult in New York."

Woerner, who won her seat in 2014, has a focus including funding education, infrastructure, rural access to health care, anaerobic digesters on farms to produce renewable energy, recovery centers for opioid addicts and more support for veterans. She too is centered on helping small businesses and farms with start-up capital. In addition, she said, she has a record of being accessible and responsive to all of the district's constituents.

"We've had over 3,000 constituent meetings, almost 25 town halls," Woerner said. "My staff does an amazing job of dealing with constituent problems from recovering monies for people inappropriately challenged by (state) Tax and Finance, helping people get insurance coverage or helping a man with ALS get modifications to a shower so he could live out his last days in dignity. That's a tremendous record of delivery. That is why I hope people will continue to support me as their representative in Albany."

Woerner said she also has had success with grants that have brought sidewalks, trails and handicapped accessible playgrounds to the 113rd as well as repairs to a bridge in Hudson Falls and the possibility of state funds to repair Saratoga Springs' Nelson Avenue bridge.

Woerner too is concerned with Albany corruption and would like to see the LLC loophole closed, term limits for Senators and Assembly members, a limit on outside income and a constitutional amendment for an independent ethics panel that can investigate and remove wrong-doers from office.

"There continues to be too many people indicted for criminal behavior," Woerner said. "Restoring people's faith in government is critical. If we don't, it undermines people's participation in the electoral process and democracy."

Zegers would like to see more transparency to the state budget process, which would include opening up budget meetings and eliminating the closed-door, three-men-in-a-room that has been the Albany habit. She also wants to eliminate workplace harassment by creating a safe haven in her office for all those who feel unsafe on the job. She is also concerned with what she sees as an imbalance between Medicaid and Medicare, saying those on Medicaid get better care than seniors. She plans to keep her constituents informed by her use of social media, like Facebook Live, to illuminate, in real-time, Albany's legislative process.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

"A lot of people don't know what is going on down there," Zegers said. "I hope to lead by example."

Finally, there is the age factor that Zegers said only "the other side" brings up. She said she has found her Republican supporters don't care about her age because of they share values.

"I've had tremendous support," she said.

Woerner says "with age comes experience." However, she would rather point to her own accomplishments and goals.

"I'm focused on the very practical," Woerner said. "I'm looking for solutions that will stand the test of time. I will continue to work in bipartisan way achieve them."

More for you Political newcomer vies for Saratoga area Assembly seatChallengers to incumbent state Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy said they jumped into the 109th Assembly district race to give people a choice.

Republican Robert Porter and Conservative Joseph Sullivan, both Albany residents, will be on the ballot on Nov. 6 against Albany Democrat Fahy, first elected to the office in 2012.

I dont like looking at a ballot where one candidate is the choice of every single party on the ballot, Porter said. Conversely, seeing a candidate run unopposed reminds of the countries I visited as a marine where people werent given a choice.

When Fahy first fought for the seat in 2012, she faced five opponents just within the Democratic primary. She also faced a Republican and Conservative challenger  the latter being Sullivan at the time  in a largely Democratically enrolled district.

Since her election to the 109th District, which covers parts of Albany County including the capital city, Fahy said shes focused on education and jobs, but has homed in on a third issue  the environment.

I just think we are in a serious crisis, Fahy said, pointing to her most recent push for electric vehicles. We do not have electric buses in our upstate cities, and we need them. Things like that Im going to continue to push.

Fahy has pushed legislation for higher grant funding for water infrastructure work if its a shared services proposal and adjusted language that secures asset forfeiture funds to be used for other communities to start Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) programs.

A proponent for bike and pedestrian safety, Fahy also focuses on funds for road improvements with an eye toward making them safer for bikers and walkers.

Both of Fahys challengers are no strangers to the campaign trail. Porter ran for Albany Common Councils 9th Ward against Democrat Judy Doesschate in 2013. Sullivan frequently runs for political office for various seats, most recently running for Albany mayor last year as a Conservative.

Sullivan said hes anti-abortion, would fight to address community issues like litter and traffic by championing single-family homes, seek a moratorium on any tax breaks given to luxury-style housing and focus on securing funding for infrastructure work in municipalities.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

My main issue is dealing with land use and development issues in the city, Sullivan said. The state has a zoning code, and I really feel that the Rezone Albany is at odds with the intent of the state zoning code.

Republican challenger Porter says legalizing recreational marijuana would create jobs, lowering unemployment. He opposes the Safe Act, but most of all, he wants to be the voice for all people in the 109th District.

As a marine, I followed my orders, he said. Im going to do what the voters want. When America wants something done, they send the Marines. So, if you want something done in New York, Im a marine, Im going to do what you want and get it done.ALBANY - With no clear sign Gov. Andrew Cuomo will participate in any forums, the recurring will-they-or-won't-they debate is adding pressure to New York's gubernatorial drama.

There are less than four weeks until Election Day and little movement on plans to have Cuomo square off against any of the challengers hoping to deny him another four years in office.

Republican nominee Marc Molinaro, the Dutchess County Executive, is hoping for multiple one-on-one forums with the two-term Democrat, but his campaign says that Cuomo hasn't agreed to any. The three third-party candidates are also pushing to be included in multiple debates before the Nov. 6 election.

Cuomo has little to gain from sharing the stage with his rivals, as he leads comfortably in the polls and has the campaign funds to get his message to the voters without a debate.

His campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

When asked on Sept. 25 about whether he would debate Molinaro and whether all the candidates should be included, Cuomo responded, "That's something we have to talk about."

League of Women Voters Legislative Director Jennifer Wilson said the organization hasn't had any luck setting up a gubernatorial forum, noting that multiple media outlets abandoned plans to host an event when it became clear the governor wasn't on board. She said they haven't given up on the idea of organizing a debate.

The league's forum policy would allow them to host a debate where Cuomo's chair would be left open if he turned down an invite. "But that's not a real debate," Wilson said.

By this point in the race four year ago, the governor had already agreed to a televised debate with all four potential candidates and a one-on-one radio debate with Republican Rob Astorino. Astorino ultimately turned down the proposed radio debate, calling for a televised appearance with the two major candidates.

In 2010, Cuomo's lone televised debate for the general election featured a crowded stage of third-party candidates, included Kristin M. Davis, the so-called "Manhattan Madam," and Jimmy McMillan, the Rent is Too Damn High candidate.

It wasn't until there was a month left in this summer's race for the Democratic nomination against Cynthia Nixon that Cuomo agreed to a single televised debate, before cruising to a massive primary victory. He refused to debate Zephyr Teachout in the 2014 Democratic primary.

Stephanie Miner, the Serve America Movement candidate and former Syracuse mayor who was once a Cuomo ally, argued that "candidates should give citizens the ability to hear our ideas and critiques."

She will participate in any debates that are scheduled, but her campaign said they haven't been part of any negotiations.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

Libertarian candidate Larry Sharpe's campaign claims that "millions of New Yorkers" are looking for alternatives to the major parties.

Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins, who was part of the four-way gubernatorial debate in 2014 and collected 184,419 votes, proposed four regional debates addressing the economy, government reform, the environment and social policy.

He wants media and civic organizations to organize debates without a guarantee that the governor will attend. "If Cuomo doesn't come, there would be four of us criticizing his record and his absence would speak for itself," he said in a written statement.

"It's getting late," Hawkins said this week. "Voters should be worried that Cuomo thinks he's satisfied his one debate quota with his Democratic primary debate with Nixon."

In a Siena Research Institute poll from two weeks ago, the third-party candidates, aside from Cynthia Nixon, who has since been removed from the ballot, were splitting about 4 percent of the vote.

David.Lombardo@timesunion.com - 518.454.5427 - @poozer87Washington

The National Park Service is exploring whether to require protest organizers to pay for the cost of providing law enforcement and other support services for demonstrations held in the nation's capital.

The proposed rule also could shrink a significant portion of the sidewalk outside the White House that is accessible to pedestrians, leaving a 5-foot-wide sliver. The public has until the close of Monday to comment on the proposal.

More than 7,600 comments have been submitted so far, the vast majority in opposition, including many who consider it an effort by the Trump administration to deter some of the major protests that have marked his presidency.

"Requiring these burdensome fees will dissuade Americans from demonstrating," wrote Gayle Copeland of San Antonio, Texas. "This new rule is not reflective of American values or history to peacefully protest."

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

The National Park Service issues about 750 permits a year for demonstrations within the National Mall and at nearby parks. The agency said its proposed rule is designed to provide greater clarity about how and where demonstration can occur in a manner that protects historically important public land.

There have been several large demonstrations on or near the National Mall since President Donald Trump assumed office. The Women's March in January 2017 brought protesters from throughout the country to Washington, and that has been followed by protests of the president's actions on climate change and guns, to name a few.

National Park Service Spokesman Brent Everitt said the agency will always support the First Amendment right of free speech and assembly. But citing an event preceding the Trump presidency, he noted that the cost of providing law enforcement and other support services for Occupy DC in 2012 came to about $480,000.322 Kenilworth Ave., Kenilworth: $2,745,000 | Listed: Sept. 13, 2021



This five-bedroom home has five full bathrooms, one half-bath, a rounded front porch, exterior friezes and original custom moldings and millwork. The living room has multiple seating areas, a fireplace and built-ins, and opens onto a professionally landscaped yard and bluestone patio. The kitchen features a double oven, a separate breakfast room and a mud room. The primary bedroom suite is on the second floor and has a custom marble bath, a fireplace, and a dressing room with built-ins and closet space. Three additional bedrooms are on the second floor and a fourth is on the third floor. A coach house with a kitchen and full bath, a three-and-a-half car garage, a brick paver patio and a private fenced-in backyard complete this home.



Agent: Megan Mawicke Bradley and John Mawicke, @properties, 847-881-0200 and 312-342-4278



*Some listing photos are virtually staged, meaning they have been digitally altered to represent different furnishing or decorating options.



To feature your luxury listing of $800,000 or more in Chicago Tribunes Dream Homes, send listing information and high-res photos to ctc-realestate@chicagotribune.com.



Join our Chicago Dream Homes Facebook group for more luxury listings and real estate news.Washington

President Donald Trump welcomed home Saturday an American pastor freed by Turkey and said the release would improve relations with Ankara, but he denied any connection to the dispute between Turkey and Saudi Arabia over missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

With television cameras on hand to record the event, Trump invited the pastor, Andrew Brunson, to the Oval Office roughly an hour after he had landed back in the United States. In an emotional moment, Brunson asked if he could pray for Trump, then knelt next to him and asked God to give the president "supernatural wisdom."

Brunson's sudden release after two years in detention came as the Turkish government was seeking help from Trump in its confrontation with Saudi Arabia over the disappearance and apparent murder of Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post and critic of the royal family. Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul but never emerged, and Turkish officials said he was killed and dismembered with a bone saw.

Turkey is looking for the United States to back it up in forcing Saudi Arabia to account for Khashoggi's fate, but Trump insisted Saturday that Brunson's release was not related. "The timing is a strict coincidence," Trump told reporters. "It really is."

Brunson's case had become a cause celebre among religious conservatives, and Trump embraced it. He credited the pressure he had put on Turkey for Brunson's release, but said he had agreed to no deal. "The only deal is psychological," he said. "We feel much better about Turkey today than we did yesterday."

That may be exactly what Turkey wanted, given the clash over Khashoggi, but Trump made clear once again that he had no immediate or specific plans to take action against Saudi Arabia. He again rejected the idea of canceling or postponing arms sales on the grounds that it would cost U.S. businesses money and jobs, and he made no move to cancel Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's coming trip to Saudi Arabia for an investment conference, even though several U.S. businesses are pulling out.

In an interview with "60 Minutes" to be aired on CBS on Sunday, Trump said "there will be severe punishment" if Saudi Arabia is found to have ordered the killing of Khashoggi, but neither in the interview nor in his comments to reporters Saturday did he suggest what such punishment would look like. Instead, he extolled the virtues of an arms sales deal he cut with Saudi Arabia during a visit last year.

"I worked very hard to get the order for the military," he said. "If they don't buy it from us, they're going to buy it from Russia or they're going to buy it from China or they're going to buy it from somebody else." Canceling the sales, he said, "I actually think we would be punishing ourselves if we did that."

Trump said that he had received a letter from Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, and that he had invited her to meet with him in the White House. He said that he planned to call King Salman of Saudi Arabia later Saturday or Sunday to ask him about Khashoggi's disappearance.

He said he had not heard tapes that purportedly capture Khashoggi being tortured and murdered but acknowledged, as he has in recent days, that it seemed likely that he was dead. "At this point, it's looking like he perhaps won't be or isn't around, and that's very sad," Trump said. "I think we would have known by now."

Saudi Arabia once again denied Saturday any involvement in Khashoggi's disappearance. The interior minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, said in a statement that "what has been circulating in terms of supposed orders to kill Jamal are outright lies and baseless allegations against the kingdom's government, which is committed to its principles, rules and traditions and is in compliance with international laws and conventions."

Brunson's case generated pressure on Trump from religious conservative leaders and the president, Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress from both parties took it up. The president imposed sanctions on Turkey and Trump said Saturday that he had spoken about the case with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "at least once a day."

An evangelical pastor who ran the small Resurrection Church in Izmir, Brunson, 50, and his wife, Norine, lived in Turkey for two dozen years. He was arrested in October 2016, accused of spying and aiding terrorists and sentenced to three years, one month and 15 days in prison. He was released into house arrest in July and a Turkish judge Friday reduced his sentence to time served, after which Brunson was quickly flown out of the country.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey stressed Saturday that the release was authorized by the courts, not the government. "Honorable President realDonaldTrump, as I have always emphasized, the Turkish judiciary has given its decision independently," he wrote in Turkish on Twitter. "I hope that Turkey and USA will continue the cooperation worthy of two allies."

The reaction in Turkey to the release was otherwise muted. The government played down the event, a sign of its discomfort since Brunson had long been vilified by the Turkish news media as a terrorist and a spy.

Yet the anti-American, nationalist posture that has been increasingly adopted by the Turkish government, and by Erdogan himself, since a failed coup in 2016, will not be easily reversed. "Never come back again!" the pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak screamed in a headline Saturday after Brunson left the country.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

Erdogan's coalition partner, Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the right-wing Nationalist Movement Party, accused the United States of using blackmail to win Brunson's release and said the decision had "disturbed the national conscience."

"Pastor Brunson has been released after a dark, unacceptable process to which everyone with a conscience objects," he said in a statement to the Turkish news media. He called on the United States to hand over Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic cleric blamed by Turkey for orchestrating the coup attempt two years ago from his self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, or to extradite Mehmet Hakan Atilla, a Turkish banker imprisoned in May for conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran.

"The moment Pastor Brunson departs for USA, those whose extradition is morally and legally obligatory must be sent to our country," Bahceli said.

Appearing in the Oval Office in a dark suit, white shirt and blue tie, Brunson appeared healthy and in good spirits. He expressed no bitterness and thanked Trump and other U.S. officials for their support.

"We do love Turkey," he said. "We were there for 25 years and we love the Turkish people."

Asked if he would stay in the United States, he said: "For a time. We don't know what's ahead of us."

Brunson asked the president if he could pray for him and Trump agreed. Brunson then knelt next to the president and put his hand on Trump's shoulder, closed his eyes and looked down. "I ask that you give him wisdom to lead this country into righteousness," Brunson said.

Norine Brunson added a prayer of her own for the president. Trump thanked them both and then addressed Norine Brunson. "Can I ask you one question?" he said. "Who did you vote for?"

She indicated that she had voted for him.

"I knew the answer," he said with a smile.

Andrew Brunson added, "I sent in an absentee ballot from prison."FORT EDWARD  Convicted sex offender Joel O'Keefe led police on a 13-day manhunt when he escaped from troopers in the mid-1990s. State prison officials took no chances when he violated his parole last week.

The Post-Star of Glens Falls reports O'Keefe was transferred into state custody Friday to await the outcome of the parole case. The newspaper attributed the information to Washington County Sheriff Jeff Murphy.

Felons accused of parole violations are usually held in local jails until their case is decided. Typically, they then complete their sentences in state prison.

O'Keefe, 57, was arrested Wednesday after police received complaints from women in Glen Falls and Saratoga Springs. Police say O'Keefe failed to notify his parole officer and acted inappropriately.

O'Keefe, a native of Easton, escaped from troopers in Ballston on Sept. 23, 1994. He was being taken from Washington County jail to Saratoga County jail when he took off from the back of a State Police car as it was stopped at a traffic light at Routes 50 and 67.

More than 200 troopers, correction officers, deputies and environmental conservation officers used police dogs, infrared equipment and heat-seeking helicopters to scour Saratoga County for O'Keefe.

O'Keefe, who had stolen a car in Saratoga Springs, drove to Salem in Washington County and then to Bennington, Vt., where police captured him at a Subway shop two weeks after his escape. He reportedly used bolt cutters he found in a barn to remove his cuffs, and purchased clothes at a Salvation Army store in Vermont.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

The troopers were disciplined for handcuffing him in front and not behind his back after he complained that it was painful.

O'Keefe pleaded guilty to the June 27, 1994, first-degree burglary of a home in Round Lake where police said he raped a woman at knifepoint after locking her daughter in a closet. He had been charged with first-degree sodomy, first-degree sexual abuse and first-degree unlawful imprisonment.

The guilty plea to burglary resolved the case. O'Keefe was also serving time for several attempted escapes while in prison. Corrections authorities say O'Keefe used a water pistol painted black in a 2001 escape attempt as he was transported back to an Elmira prison from a medical appointment.

It couldn't be determined from authorities if he has a lawyer.ICSA beef chairman Edmund Graham has welcomed the announcement by Minister Creed that Kuwait has opened its market to imports of Irish beef and sheepmeat.

However, Mr Graham said that farmers must see a resulting dividend for it to be judged a success.

Farmers have become increasingly sceptical as to whether the opening of new markets has any real benefit for them whatsoever. In the past, such announcements have not been followed by any strengthening of beef prices, he said.

Mr Graham said that the price of beef was nowhere near what it needs to be.

He said that processors have been imposing harsh price cuts for weeks now.

The opportunity to export to Kuwait will no doubt be great news for them and for all others who make money off the backs of farmers. It is reprehensible that primary producers continually get forgotten with all the hype, he said.

The ICSA did not attend last week's Beef Forum meeting in the Department of Agriculture because of what it said was the lack of solidarity shown by meat processors in recent weeks.

ICSA president Patrick Kent said that cutting prices week after week was shameful and showed complete contempt for farmers and was particularly egregious when many were on their knees due to increased costs.

There is no point in attending a roundtable discussion when factories are attending in bad faith, he said.

At a beef protest outside the Department ahead of the forum, IFA president Joe Healy said that Minister Creed must stop telling everyone what he cannot do and act now to save beef farmers.

Under the Ministers chairmanship, the Forum has become a mudguard for inaction. It isnt even a talking shop. Recent meetings have become death by powerpoint as farmers get presentation after presentation designed to run down the clock. There is no real engagement on the key issues, he said.

Mr Healy said that the Minister had not lifted a finger while the factories had robbed farmers by systematically cutting cattle pricesat the same time prices to farmers were rising in our main export market in the UK.

He said that while Minister Creed was trying to wash his hands in relation to beef prices he had no excuse in this Tuesday's Budget.

He must show beef farmers that he was on their side by providing additional support for the suckler sector, said Mr Healy.

Budget Day will be the acid test for Minister Creed. Beef Farmers will judge him on what he delivers for sucklers, said the IFA leader.

Weve had enough of the Ministers cant do it, wont do it approach. It wont wash with farmers. Its time for action, its time for delivery. Tuesday is D-Day, said Mr Healy.

IFA livestock chairman Angus Woods said farmers were furious with the Ministers indifference to the income crisis on livestock farms.

We asked the Minister to tackle the factories when they took advantage of farmers on cattle prices during the drought. We presented a detailed report to him at the Tullamore Show on sucklers, which shows that a 10 per cent reduction in suckler cow numbers will hit economic output in rural areas by 305m, he said.

Mr Woods said Minister Creed needed to be the Minister for Agriculture and to stand up for farmers, and not be the Minister for Factories.

Minister Creed seems to be fixated on driving beef exports, with the gains going to the factories on the back of loss-making prices to farmers, said Mr Woods.

He said the income pressure on cattle farms was at breaking point, following the severe weather conditions all year and the massive increase in costs. The way the factories had cut prices over recent weeks was the straw that broke the camels back. The Teagasc National Farm survey data shows that for 2017, the average income on cattle rearing farms was only 12,529.

Factories have torn the hell out of prices and forced them down well below the cost of production, he said.

Mr Woods said that this also eroded confidence in the market place and wrecked the mart price for weanlings and stores, pointing out that prices in our main export market in the UK were rising, up 20p/kg in recent weeks.[October 13, 2018] Foresters Financial and KaBOOM! Partner to Increase Play Opportunities for Lincoln Kids

The Lincoln community was revitalized today thanks to a new playground built at Creekside Oaks Elementary School. In just six hours, more than 200 volunteers from Foresters Financial, Western Placer Unified School District and the national non-profit KaBOOM! created the new playspace, which will serve more than 1,200 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. "In 2018 we are excited to complete our 150th playground build with KaBOOM!. This partnership creates safe play areas where families can spend quality time together while developing young bodies and minds. We know Lincoln 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 in July. when community members met with organizers from KaBOOM! and Foresters Financial to design their dream playground. The drawings inspired the final playground design. Since 2006, Foresters Financial and KaBOOM! have built more than 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. "This is an amazing opportunity for the school," said Reno Penders, Principal at Creekside Oaks Elementary. "We are so lucky to get this grant from Foresters Financial and KaBOOM!. The community will love the new playground. Because it's a community build, parents and students will help design the playground and it will help bring the school 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 bdies; 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 play they need to thrive. About Western Placer Unified School District

Western Placer Unified School District is a public school district, serving students in Lincoln and Sheridan, California. Currently, Western Placer educates over 7,000 students with seven elementary schools, two middle schools, one high school, and one continuation high school. Our mission is to empower students with the skills, knowledge, and attitudes for success in an ever-changing world. 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 414828J CAN/US (03/18) View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181013005003/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]When Apple revealed its AirPods  the increasingly widespread wireless earbuds that look like someone ripped the wires out of the EarPods that the company packs with every iPhone  I scoffed. Specifically, I could be found at every corner, saying, "They look so stupid! Bluetooth stinks, and I don't want to give up my headphone jack!"

Today, I stand ready to eat crow: Not only are AirPods (actually) good, but they're also some of the best things Apple's made in years.

Give Pods a Chance

So, what made me consider this product I'd written off? One morning, before I was about to get on a plane and get out of town, a pair of cheap (yet portable) headphones I was gifted years ago died.

Then, in my head, I heard the voice of Tom's Guide multimedia producer Nick Bush  who's also a music producer  who'd been talking up the quality of the AirPods to me. So, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to give them a chance, even if rumors suggested a new model was coming out soon.

Everything began so delightfully, as using the AirPods' is remarkably effortless. After I unboxed them and popped open the lid on their charging case, a setup window jumped onto my home screen. This seriously beats the traditional Bluetooth headphones process: opening the Settings app, tapping the Bluetooth menu and turning the power on for a pair of buds.

With all the friendliness (and none of the creepiness) of Microsoft's Clippy, a small window popped up and suggested that I click Connect. And with that, the tiny, white buds were paired. This is the kind of simplicity that Apple was once known for, before the days of Siri and butterfly-switch keys.

Then, came the nearly miraculous moment when I realized how light these buds felt in my ears. Sure, they're called AirPods, but how did Apple manage to make them feel so airy, though still secure enough that I never worried about them falling out? It's a miracle of industrial design.

With the AirPods in my ears, ready to rock, I pressed Play on my daily playlist, which was set to Shuffle. Instantly, the delicate flutes of Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" fluttered into my ears, soon backed by the track's signature horns. Having used Apple's own earbuds for so many years  and writing a column in my college newspaper about their poor quality, back in 2006  I was shocked at how good the AirPods sounded.

AirPods don't deliver the strong sound I get with my prized Beoplay H6 (2nd Gen) headphones, but that's not always a top priority. The AirPods' incredible portability cannot be beat, especially when on long trips.

MORE: Apple October Event: What to Expect from MacBook, iPad

Over the next week, as I trekked around England  from Wolverhampton to London to Brighton and back to London  I rarely worried about charging the AirPods' case, which charges the buds themselves. Sure, after a few days of solid use, I would see the case hit 30 percent or so, and then I'd use the same Lightning cable that I use to charge my iPhone, and the case would be charged again before I knew it.

And I never, ever used my wired Beoplay headphones, the backup pair I brought, keeping them stowed in my luggage, as putting away AirPods is as easy as tucking their case in the fifth pocket of my jeans.

Why AirPods Are Apple's Best Product in Years

Back to my claim, though, that AirPods are at the top of the mountain among Apple's latest and greatest. I don't need to explain why the AirPods beat Apple's less-successful HomePod (which is still struggling to find a fandom), and while the recent iMacs and MacBook Pros have seen some success, those are merely iterative and less than revolutionary. The AirPods, on the other hand, are the first pair of Apple-branded headphones that are worth buying.

Also, while AirPods cost a whopping $159, that sticker-shock-level price is nothing compared to the $999 iPhone XS and $1,099 XS Max, which make the $749 iPhone XR seem affordable by comparison. And those phones don't offer the utter simplicity that AirPods give you, instead making you relearn how to use your iPhone (just as the millions who have read our How to Close Apps on the iPhone XS article have done).

Yes, the Apple Watch Series 4 is the first major update to the wearable, but that device's appeal is more niche. The AirPods solve a common need  listening to music with privacy  rather than seeking to enhance your health and fitness.

MORE: Best Headphones - Top Earbuds and Headphones



So, if you, like me, live in the Apple ecosystem but have yet to drop the $159 on AirPods, you need to give them a chance. Not only do they work with iPhones, but they also work with Macs, MacBooks and all other Bluetooth devices, including Android phones. I'd give a stronger recommendation if Apple decided to roll out a new pair, with even stronger Bluetooth connectivity or longer battery life.

Credit: Tom's GuideIndeed we do. But what made it even more compelling to those of us in Kane County was watching one of our own leaders on this critical national stage. During the more than two years since we learned McMahon had been appointed as special prosecutor for the lightning rod murder case, I often wondered what it must be like for him to prepare for a trial that would be followed so closely not just across this country but around the world.Red Bridge Shopping Center gets new lease on life KANSAS CITY, Mo. - New life is being infused into a south Kansas City neighborhood shopping center. Developers unveiled several new tenants Saturday, which will open shop in the Red Bridge Shopping Center near Holmes Road and Red Bridge roads. One of the anchor tenants will be Brookside Barrio, a Tex-Mex restaurant that provides healthy options.

Back in 2014,started a rampage that led to the death of 5 seniors near this strip mall location . . . Any retail in the area pretty much shut down shortly thereafter and because most people just use Amazon to buy stuff . . . And so, today's "big news" among MSM was a move to revive the location since the Cerner commuter campus seems to be having a limited impact. Checkit:ONGOING MASS MURDER OF THE INNOCENT IN AMERICA

Between 1970 and 2014, CDC reports nearly 44.5 million legal induced abortions.

In 2014, 652,639 legal induced abortions were reported to CDC from 49 reporting areas. The abortion rate for 2014 was 12.1 abortions per 1,000 women aged 1544 years, and the abortion ratio was 186 abortions per 1,000 live births.





Compared with 2013, the total number and rate of reported abortions for 2014 decreased 2%, and the ratio decreased 7%. Additionally, from 2005 to 2014, the number, rate, and ratio of reported abortions decreased 21%, 22%, and 22%, respectively. In 2014, all three measures reached their lowest level for the entire period of analysis (20052014).





Women in their twenties accounted for the majority of abortions in 2014 and throughout the period of analysis. The majority of abortions in 2014 took place early in gestation: 91.5% of abortions were performed at 13 weeks gestation; a smaller number of abortions (7.2%) were performed at 1420 weeks gestation, and even fewer (1.3%) were performed at 21 weeks gestation. In 2014, 22.6% of all abortions were early medical abortions. The percentage of abortions reported as early medical abortions increased 110% from 2005 to 2014 . . .

Kansas City Catholic Fight For Life

40 Days for Life Begins Fall Campaign OVERLAND PARK-40 Days for Life recently kicked off its Fall campaign the morning of September 26 with a rally and music outside the Center For Women's Health in Overland Park, Kansas. Individuals, organizations and denominations on both sides of the Missouri-Kansas line come to take a stand for the unborn children aborted at the Center.

Survivor Story

Hope, Healing And Forgiveness After Abortion There is hope of healing after abortion, and that was the message of a special prayer service for healing and forgiveness held October 7 at Sacred Heart Parish in Warrensburg.

Women Survivor Testimony

Project Rachel helps heal post-abortive women, men By Marty Denzer Catholic Key Associate Editor KANSAS CITY - The 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Roe v. Wade, legalized abortion throughout the country. Since then more than 60 million abortions have been performed. For each, there is a woman and man, grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles-so many more than 60 million people affected by what St.

Here's another sobering stat on the reality ofthat's politely ignored among most politicos battling for power during election season.Fact is, neither Republicans nor the Democratic Party have done much to prevent one of the most horrific slaughters the world has ever witnessed -- So ghastly, in fact, that it's largely unmentioned because American Democracy has proven powerless to stop it. Meanwhile, most arguments against the legalized murder by way ofhave been censored by most International media conglomerates.A glimmer of hope on Sunday . . .A smallish group of Kansas City metro residents have gathered to renew the call to end this extermination.Here's a quick look at their local efforts that don't receive even as much attention as local pop concerts but are important nevertheless . . .You decide . . .Kansas City Helping Hand Home Repair

Dead-Tree Grocery Journalism

Two Kansas City Sun Fresh grocery stores differ vastly in availability of fresh, healthy food | The Kansas City Star Aaron Randle looks at how two Sun Fresh stores in Kansas City serve grocery customers. Westport customers see fresh, healthy food at the front, while Blue Parkway shoppers are met with sugary, salty, fatty foods.

Ending Two Party Tyranny

With Voters Sour On Major Parties, Group Recruits 'None Of The Above' Candidates In the middle of a fiercely-fought election between Democrats and Republicans, one group is trying to encourage voters to pick candidates from outside of the two-party system. The effort comes at a time when voters are dissatisfied with both major political parties.

Golden Ghetto Burns

3 injured in Sunday morning house fire in Lenexa LENEXA, KS. (KCTV) -- Three people were hurt in a house fire Sunday morning in Lenexa. The initial fire call came out around 12:53 a.m. on Sunday morning in the 9700 block of Redbird Street. One of the victims is in critical condition, while the other two victims are in stable condition.

Classic Kansas City Real Estate

Kansas City Houses, 1885-1938 In an illustrated discussion marking the launch of his book Kansas City Houses 1885-1938, local scholar Michael C. Kathrens spotlights the golden architectural age in which our once rough-and-tumble town evolved into a fashionable city with exclusive neighborhoods on both sides of the Missouri-Kansas line.

Kangaroo Lady Drama

Home Team Hype Hints

Kansas City Royals: Which player could help better the 2019 Royals? There is no doubt that the 2018 season for the Kansas City Royals is not one that fans were extremely happy about. I am a huge fan of fantasy baseball (as well as fantasy football), but before fantasy sports began kids would gather at the playground and swap baseball cards for their favorite players.

Sunday morning insight courtesy ofand just a bit of news on the topic of fashion and biz. Take a look:Closer to home, we're also drawing inspiration from these local morning news links:is the song of the day and this is thefor right now . . .Hawley vs. McCaskill: A sideshow battle of billionaire donors WASHINGTON * Missouri's U.S. Senate race is a billionaire's battleground. Some of the deepest pockets in America are funding an unprecedented outside spending barrage aimed at electing either Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., or her Republican challenger, Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley. The independent barrage is almost certain to outpace what the candidates themselves will spend.

Exceptional reporting from the best newspaper in the state offers an important perspective on the people who really run Democracy and how it works for their interests whilst the plebs play partisan politics designed for functional, low IQ adults. Read more:Seventh generation 3 Series Saloon to debut at Paris Motor Show.

Revised proportions, wider track, longer wheelbase, reduced weight and drag.

New design language focuses on clean, precise lines to emphasise superior driving dynamics.

New range of standard options for instrument panel and centre console, as well as revised leather steering wheels.

BMW 330e iPerformance model with plug-in hybrid drive available.

New BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant featured for the first time.

On sale from 9 March 2019 with OTR prices starting from 33,610.

The BMW 3 Series Saloon has had an unparalleled reputation both for its quality, and supreme handling in the premium midsize segment for more than 40 years and this, the seventh generation, raises the bar even higher. When the first BMW 3 Series was launched in 1975, it revolutionised the segment and became BMWs most successful model. The saloon is the core of BMW 3 Series range (of which over 15 million units have been sold worldwide) and is regarded as the heartbeat of the BMW brand. With revised styling, superior driving dynamics, exceptional efficiency and innovative features, this latest iteration opens an exciting new chapter in 3 Series progression. The new BMW 3 Series saloon will make its debut at the Paris Motor Show on Tuesday, October 2 and this will be followed by the global market launch of the car from 9 March 2019. Exterior design

Precision, clean lines and bold contours are the hallmarks of the new 3 Series Saloon, which has had its proportions radically revised. The new car is 85 millimetres longer than its predecessor (at 4,709mm), 16 millimetres wider (1,827mm) and just 1 mm taller (1,442 millimetres). Added to that, its wheelbase has been extended by 41 millimetres to 2,851mm, as has its track widths (front: by 43mm, and rear by 21mm). At the front, the large BMW kidney grille elements are framed by a single surround and split up by wide bars and link to the headlight units. The customary BMW twin headlights feature the familiar two-way split that is further emphasised by an eye-catching notch in the front apron that rises into the headlight contour. The bonnet has four contour lines leading to the BMW kidney grille. At its leading edge, it sits flush with the upper edge of the headlights and kidney grille. Both the front foglights and the Air Curtains are integrated into the outer air intakes, which are inserted into the front apron in a horizontal T shape on SE and Sport models. This design was originally developed by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) for the intake air in jet engines and later became a feature of classical racing cars. A pair of character lines rise to the rear of the car at door-handle level and a contour line near the side skirts guides the eye to the sculpted rear wheel arches. Another feature is the Hofmeister kink  the familiar counter-swing at the trailing edge of the side window graphic. A BMW hallmark, this element of the window frame is now integrated into the C- pillar, giving the rear doors a freestanding glass edge. Surface contours lead into the rear apron from the side skirts and extend in an upwards movement via the rear lights up to the spoiler lip on the boot lid. At the rear slim, darkened light units house L-shaped taillights. From launch, customers can choose from two non-metallic colours and ten metallic shades including the brand new Portimao Blue metallic which is unique to the top-selling M Sport model. Interior

The interior is designed to accentuate the spaciousness of the cabin and the driver- focused cockpit. The instrument panel has a modern, light look with horizontal lines, high- quality electroplated trim strips and contours that extend into the doors. The newly-designed instrument cluster and Control Display form a large surfaced screen grouping, while the controls not included in these units are arranged into clearly structured function panels. Displays and buttons for the air conditioning are at the centre of the instrument panel while the light functions are operated via a panel of buttons next to the steering wheel. The start/stop button for the engine is now positioned in a control panel in the centre console that houses the gearshift lever or newly designed selector lever, the iDrive Controller, electromechanical parking brake and the buttons for the Driving Experience Control switch unit. The range of standard and optional interior trim elements available for the instrument panel and centre console is almost entirely new. As well as open-pore fine wood options, customers can choose from a variety of aluminium trims including a new Aluminium mesh effect interior trim. Increased standard equipment

The entry level SE model features substantially increased standard specification. It includes Extended LED headlights with cornering light and eyebrow indicators, BMW Light Carpet, interior Ambient Lighting with up to 11 colour settings, reversing camera and latest generation reversing assistant, electric folding rear view mirrors, three-zone air conditioning and enhanced acoustic glazing. All 3 Series models benefit from 40:20:40 split folding rear seats and folding rear headrests as standard. The entry model features a leather Sport steering wheel and BMW Live Cockpit plus, with its 8.8-inch central instrument cluster. The SE models get line-specific front and rear bumper design, and they also come with exclusive 17-inchlight-alloy wheels or optional 18-inch wheels, bespoke door sill strips and LED front foglights. The Sport model adds exterior features including BMW Individual high-gloss Shadow Line trim for the side window surrounds, plus kidney grille bars and trim elements for the air intakes and rear apron in High-gloss Black. The Sport models interior features trim strips in High-gloss Black and sports seats for the driver and front passenger. The Sport model now comes equipped with 18-inch alloy wheels, Vernasca leather seats and also driver and passenger heated seats. The M Sport model features particularly large air intakes as well as a different design for the front bumper, side skirts and rear apron. It also includes BMW Individual high-gloss Shadow Line trim, kidney grille bars in High-gloss Black, air intake trim in High-gloss Black and a rear diffuser in Dark Shadow. Inside there are Sports seats, an M leather steering wheel, an anthracite-coloured BMW Individual headliner and interior trim strips in Aluminium Tetragon, updated Vernasca leather seat trims and heated front seats. The M Sport model will also feature as standard the new BMW Live Cockpit Professional with a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, 10.3-inch central instrument cluster and BMWs brand new ID7 operating system. Engines and powertrain

The upgraded four-cylinder engines from the BMW Groups Efficient Dynamics family are used in the BMW 330i and the BMW 320d. The 3 Series Saloon will feature a new- generation six-speed manual gearbox and the eight-speed Steptronic transmission. As an alternative to rear-wheel drive, the BMW xDrive all-wheel-drive system will also be available for the new BMW 320d at launch. Systematic upgrades have been made to the BMW TwinPower Turbo technology for the two-litre, four-cylinder diesel engines in the BMW 320d and BMW 320d xDrive models. It now includes multi-stage turbocharging, which brings increased efficiency across all engine speeds. The revised diesel has a maximum output of 190hp and a peak torque of 400Nm enabling the BMW 320d to accelerate from zero to 62 mph in 7.1 seconds (automatic: 6.8 seconds) while the BMW 320d xDrive can get from zero to 62mph in 6.9 seconds. Average fuel consumption is 64.2mpg (automatic: 67.3mpg) for the 320d and 62.8mpg for the 320d xDrive. The 320ds CO2 emissions are 115g/km (automatic: 110 g/km) while the 320d xDrives CO2 emissions are 118g/km. Model Power output (hp) Peak Torque (NM) Acceleration

0- 62mph Top Speed (mph) Fuel consumption combined (mpg) CO2

emissions (g/km) Price from BMW 320d 190 400 7.1 (6.8) 149 64.2 (67.3) 115 (110) 33,610 BMW 320d xDrive 190 400 (6.9) (145) (62.8) (118) 36,800 BMW 330i 258 400 (5.8) (155)* (48.7) (132) 37,660 *Electronically limited Chassis technology

To maximise the handling capabilities of the new 3 Series Saloon BMW has increased the front and rear track, camber values for the front wheels and stiffened the body and suspension mountings. Used for the first time in a BMW model, the lift-related dampers are part of the cars standard chassis to balance comfort and agility. An addition, overall body rigidity is up by some 25 per cent, rising to as much as 50 per cent in certain areas, while the suspension spring rate is up by some 20 per cent over the previous-generation. Overall, the new BMW 3 Series Saloon weighs up to 55kg less than its predecessor. The body itself is 20kg lighter, while aluminium front spring struts and engine subframe have cut 7.5kg from the overall weight. A further weight saving of almost 15kig is due to the use of aluminium for the bonnet and front side panels. Aerodynamic improvements have also been applied. The drag coefficient (Cd) of the BMW 320d, for example, has been reduced from 0.26 to 0.23 thanks to an almost completely sealed underbody, aerodynamically optimised wheels, the use of Air Curtains at the front and the latest generation of active air flap control, which extends across the BMW kidney grille and lower air intake. M Sport models which feature the M Sport suspension as standard, including all the all-wheel-drive versions, have a 10mm lowering of the cars ride height. Adaptive M suspension with electronically controlled dampers

For M Sport models, as an alternative to the M Sport suspension customers can specify Adaptive M suspension that now results in a perceptible variation in the damping characteristics when switching between the driving modes using the Driving Experience Control switch. Drivers can select COMFORT mode for relaxed driving, SPORT mode for a dynamic driving style, while ADAPTIVE mode automatically adjusts to the driving style and, depending on the equipment specified, to the route itself. The Adaptive M suspension can be purchased as part of the M Sport Plus package. Both the BMW 320d and BMW 320d xDrive SE models are equipped as standard with 17-inch light-alloy wheels while the Sport and M Sport models feature unique 18-inch wheel designs and optional 19-inch light-alloy wheels are available - as are high performance tyres. The 320d and 320d xDrive can be specified, as part of the M Sport Plus package with uprated M Sport brakes. These lightweight model-specific brake discs have a grey cast iron friction ring with an aluminium brake disc chamber, while the blue-painted callipers feature the M logo. The M Sport brakes are included within all 330i M Sport models. The new 3 Series Saloon also includes Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) which features anti-lock braking (ABS) and Dynamic Traction Control (DTC), but also a variety of stabilising functions and the Start-Off Assistant. The Performance Control function is also standard. This system improves agility by varying the drive torque through the rear wheels depending on conditions. The M Sport differential for the rear axle is available as an option for the BMW 330i and BMW 330d models in combination with the M Sport Plus package.The electronically controlled, fully variable locking function in the rear differential helps to enhance traction, agility and cornering. Interior and equipment

The cabin has been improved to maximise driver focus while offering more space and increased comfort. Shoulder room in the front of the cabin has also increased, and passengers in the rear benefit from more legroom. The distance between the front and rear seats has been extended by 11 millimetres, and all occupants have more headroom. Getting in and out of the car is easier for the rear passengers because the door aperture height has been increased. The rear compartment can accommodate a row of three child seats, two of which can be locked into place using ISOFIX anchor points. Standard 40:20:40 split-folding backrests on the rear seats give maximum flexibility. Newly designed standard seats in SE models offer greater long-distance comfort while the sports seats equipped in the Sport and M Sport models feature a broader range of adjustment. Seat heating is standard on Sport and M Sport models, but available within the SE Plus package on SE models. Both the standard seats and sports seats can be specified with electric adjustment including memory. The new Vernasca leather upholstery is a standard feature on Sport and M Sport models and comes in a choice of four colours with special decorative quilting and seam patterns, which vary according to the model line. The new BMW 3 Series Saloon features a restyled leather sports steering wheel with multifunction buttons, thumb rests and electroplated applications. The M Sport models benefit from their own unique M leather steering wheel. Also optional is an electric glass sunroof, which has been increased in length by 100 millimetres. The interior liner has a motorised opening and closing action, just like the glass roof itself. Boot capacity is 480 litres, and its new partitioning into primary luggage compartment and separate storage compartments has created an additional 36 litres of space. Automatic Tailgate operation and an electrically retractable towbar are also optional. If the Comfort Access option is specified, the car will automatically unlock when the radio remote control is detected in its immediate vicinity and lock again when it moves out of range. This also includes hands-free opening and closing of the boot lid. For added security, a new movement sensor in the key permanently monitors whether the key is being carried (and therefore is always transmitting) or has been put down on a table, for example, allowing it to switch into standby mode removing the risk of the key signal being picked up by transmitter devices. Full-LED headlights and LED foglights are standard, LED headlights with extended features include a dynamic cornering light function.vOptionally available for the first time on a BMW 3 Series, BMW Laserlight features adaptive functionality, high beam assistant and selective beam and has a non-dazzling high-beam that extends to around 530 metres, almost double that of the full-LED headlights. Standard-fit equipment includes rain sensor, automatic headlight activation, a Bluetooth hands-free phone facility, automatic climate control (including three zones with independent controls for the driver, front passenger and rear passengers) and acoustic glass for the windscreen, driver and passenger side windows which dramatically reduces cabin noise. Professional radio comes as standard on the BMW 3 Series Saloon. It features six speakers with an output of 100 watts. The optional 464-watt Harman Kardon surround sound system with 16 speakers and a digital seven-channel amplifier is available as part of the Technology package. Package and Option Simplification

The package and option structure for the new 3 Series has been dramatically simplified, with a package and option list reduced to 6 main packages and around 10 single options. The packages group together options which share similar functionality or customer benefit, and will ease the ordering process while still allowing for a wide degree of personalisation. The M Sport Plus package combines a 19-inch wheel, M Sport brakes (20d and 20d xDrive) Adaptive M Suspension, Sun Protection Glazing, M Seat belts, Black kidney grills, M Rear spoiler. The 30i models with M Sport Plus also gain the electronic M differential. A new Technology package combines the Harman Kardon speakers, Head Up Display, Extended Bluetooth with Wireless Charging and Gesture Control. The Comfort package combines the Heated Steering Wheel, Comfort Access, Automated Tailgate and Storage Compartment package. The Premium package includes Electric Seats with memory, Lumbar Support and the Electric Glass Sunroof. Safety systems

The car features as standard with Active Guard Plus which includes speed limit information, lane departure warning and Collision and Pedestrian Warning with City Braking function along with Cruise Control with braking function. Customers can also order the Driving Assistant Professional package that includes the Driving Assistant as well as Active Cruise Control with Stop & Go, Steering and Lane Control Assistant, Lane Keeping Assistant with active side collision protection, Priority Warning and Wrong-way warning systems and Cross-Traffic Alert. The latest generation of BMWs Head-Up Display is optional and available as part of a Technology package. This has a projection area 70 per cent larger than in the outgoing version. It also has enhanced graphics, additional display readings as well a distance warning that flashes up a graphic icon to alert the driver when they get too close to the vehicle in front. Parking Assistant features a reverse camera and now has a parallel parking function and is fitted as standard. Another new feature of the Parking Assistant is the Reversing Assistant. This system offers automated reversing in confined spaces where the driver does not have a clear view, such as multi-storey car parks or entrances to courtyards. The system can reverse the vehicle for distances of up to 50 metres by steering it along the same line it has just taken when moving forward: all the driver has to do is operate the accelerator and brake pedals. Customers can choose to upgrade to Park Assistant Plus which includes the Park View, Panorama View and 3D Top View features. These can create a 360 degree image of the vehicle and its surroundings  from different perspectives  in the Control Display. This introduces Remote 3D View function gives drivers the ability to call up a three- dimensional live image of their vehicle and its immediate vicinity on their smartphone. BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant

New for the BMW 3 Series Saloon, drivers and passengers will be joined by the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant, an intelligent, digital character that responds to the prompt Hey BMW. This will mark the start of a new era for the BMW Group in which drivers will increasingly be able to operate their car and access its functions and information simply by speaking. BMWs Intelligent Personal Assistant learns routines and habits, and is subsequently able to apply them in the appropriate context. The system helps the driver, learns their preferences and is familiar with their favoured settings  e.g. for the seat heating or the places they drive to frequently using the navigation system (Take me home). One unique feature over other digital assistants is that drivers can give the Intelligent Personal Assistant a name (for example, Charlie or Joy) to create even greater individuality and personality. Not only does the Intelligent Personal Assistant await the drivers every command, it is always there to assist them and even provide casual conversation (Hey BMW, whats the meaning of life?). Familiarisation with the vehicles functions will be learnt and the ability to operate them as required. Saying Hey BMW, Im cold will prompt the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant to adjust the temperature inside the car accordingly. The arrival of the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant ensures there is always a genuine BMW professional on board. This gives the ability to explain all sorts of different functions (How does the High Beam Assistant work?), provide current status information (Is the oil level okay?) and help answer questions (What messages do I have?). The Intelligent Personal Assistant is, the ideal co-driver and comes in particularly useful during every day driving (Hey BMW, look for the nearest fuel station on our route). To make navigation particularly easy, drivers can give allow access to their calendar and contacts, which will enable the assistant to find parking spaces at the destination, provide information on traffic jams along the route and remind the driver when they need to set off. The assistant will benefit from constant technical upgrades and be able to learn more and more preferences and favoured settings. The assistant takes further strides forward with every command given, every question asked and every setting made. BMW Digital Key: turning the smartphone into a car key

The BMW Digital Key employs Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to allow the new BMW 3 Series Saloon to be locked and unlocked from a smartphone. Holding the smartphone up to the door handle opens the car and, once inside, the engine can be started as soon as the phone has been placed in the wireless charging or smartphone tray. Accessible via the BMW Connected app, the Digital Key offers unrivalled flexibility as the driver can share it with up to five other people. The BMW Digital Key is available for NFC-capable Samsung Galaxy smartphones running Android 8.1 and above. Connected Navigation

Connected Navigation offers a range of digital services to make route planning both in the car and away from it, much easier. With this new technology drivers can send destinations from various apps straight to their cars navigation system and the most important destinations will be stored meaning important addresses can be accessed from any device at any time. A new feature is the Parking Space Assistant, which proposes various parking options to the driver in good time before the destination is reached. This service includes providing information on the nearest multi-storey car park as well as proposing routes offering a good chance of finding a parking spot close to the destination. The existing On-Street Parking Information has also been incorporated into the scope of functions that form Connected Navigation. The BMW Operating System 7.0 display and control concept

The all-new instrument cluster and Control Display takes intuitive operation to the next level and is designed to help drivers concentrate on the road ahead. The BMW Live Cockpit Plus is standard on SE and Sport models and adds features such as a Touch Controller, a navigation system, two USB ports for data transfer and a WiFi interface. The control display is 8.8-inchand features a touchscreen, whilst the instrument cluster has a 5.7-inch colour display. As part of BMW Live Cockpit Plus the new BMW 3 Series includes a host of connected Services as standard, Emergency Call, Teleservices, Over the air and USB map updates, BMW App connectivity and Intelligent Voice assistants. In addition to this we see the introduction of the BMW Connected Package Plus as standard. This features elements drivers are accustomed to, such as Remote Services, Real Time Traffic Information, but with the addition of Concierge Services and Apple CarPlay Preparation. Apple CarPlay Preparation will now be standard on all new BMW 3 Series models. This service will be included for 1 year from build, but then renewable via the BMW ConnectedDrive portal thereafter, at either 1 year, 3 years or lifetime subscriptions. The BMW Live Cockpit Professional is standard on M Sport models and includes an instrument cluster behind the steering wheel with a screen diagonal of 12.3 inches and a 10.25-inch Control Display. This equipment package also features an adaptive navigation system and a hard-drive-based multimedia system with 20 GB of memory. On the BMW Live Cockpit Professional the standard connectivity increases further, with the standard inclusion of BMW Connected Package Professional. This builds on the services offered in the BMW Connected Package and includes additional functionality including, BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant, On-Street Parking Information, Connected Navigation and Intelligent Vehicle Functionality, which learns drivers habits and learns rules. BMW Live Cockpit Professional drivers get all the benefits of the new BMW Operating System 7.0. It is customisable to give personalised displays. In the main menu on the Control Display, the driver can configure up to ten pages, each showing two to four tiles with live content. Both the content and the graphics are personalised to an even greater degree  even the vehicle mock-up matches the actual model colour and equipment line. The Control Display graphics adapt depending on the operating method and the voice control system (based on natural language understanding) is better than ever before. The optional BMW gesture control now works with two extra gestures, bringing the total to seven. The BMW 3 Series is on sale from 9 March 2019 with OTR prices starting from 33,610.Behind the glitz and glamour of the 2018 Paris Motor Show, Land Rover presented a one-off Discovery that it created for the Red Cross. The model is called the Red Cross Discovery Emergency Response Vehicle, and it was developed as part of an 18-month collaboration between Land Rovers Special Vehicles Operations (SVO) and the Austrian Red Cross. The Discovery is unlike standard Discovery models. Among other things, it features state-of-the-art communications technology thats there to help save lives.

What Makes the Land Rover Red Cross Discovery Emergency Response Vehicle Special?

The Land Rover Red Cross Discovery Emergency Response Vehicle is inspired by the Project Hero Concept that Land Rover introduced at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show. You can say that the Red Discovery Emergency Response Vehicle is the culmination of an 18-month collaboration between Land Rover SVO and the Austrian Red Cross, one that started with the development of the concept model.

The Red Cross Discovery Emergency Response Vehicle was created for one purpose: save lives in a disaster situation.

Its objective is clear, which is why the SUV was transformed into a mobile command center that can not only travel to remote locations but, more importantly, act as a mobile command center to help people in distress.

The white Discovery has all the usual red and yellow graphics that you normally associate with emergency response vehicles. The Red Cross unmistakable logo is also present in the SUV, visible in the hood and two front doors for everyone to see. The aesthetics were added to establish the SUVs purpose. But more important than how it looks is how it functions. Thats where items like the emergency lights, roof rack, and black wheels with specially designed tires come into the equation. If the Red Cross Discovery Emergency Response Vehicle is going to travel to hard-to-reach locations, these components help it get to where it needs to go.

In those times when communication is important, the specially designed Discovery SUV is also equipped to tackle that challenge. An advanced eight-rotor drone is arguably its most important communications equipment. The drone is fitted with a long-range thermal imaging camera thats capable of spotting a person from a height of 440 meters, or 1,443 feet, and identify a vehicle from a distance of 1,000 meters, or almost 3,300 feet. The drone is also capable of tracking objects through precise coordination. You dont know how important that is until you find yourself in a rescue effort.

As important as its comms gear are, the Red Cross Discovery Emergency Response Vehicles capability to serve as a mobile nerve center for disaster emergencies is its most important feature.

The SUV has four radio antennae, 360-degree lighting, and a unique integrated carbon fiber loadspace Command Centre, enabling Red Cross operatives to coordinate emergency responses as soon as they reach the scene of an emergency, no matter what time of day it is.

A 3.0-liter diesel engine that produces 254 horsepower sits under the hood of the Red Cross Discovery Emergency Response Vehicle.

As impressive as the Land Rover Red Cross Discovery Emergency Response Vehicle is, its not a surprising development considering the parties involved in creating it. Land Rover and the Red Cross have been partners for a while, something JLR SVO managing director Michael van der Sande pointed out. Since we started collaborating in 1954, our aim has been to help the Red Cross improve its disaster response and ultimately to help save lives, van der Sande said. Over the past 18 months, our engineers have worked closely with the emergency response team at the Austrian Red Cross, deploying Land Rovers technology and talent to create a unique solution to the requirements of the Red Cross in the region.

Further reading

Read our full review on the 2017 Land Rover Discovery.

Read our full review on the 2017 Land Rover Discovery Sport.BMW Motorrad hit MY2019 with the R 1250 RT as its spanky new super- tour bike. Why super? Well, it carries a newly refined boxer-twin that brings more mechanical prowess to the table, to include variable cam timing and staggered intake timing meant to broaden the powerband; and a combined engine/transmission case that eliminates some unnecessary weight from the assembly. As youd expect, the electronics suite is pulled from the top shelf for the stock package, and unsurprisingly, the factory has optional packages available that introduce even more fandanglery to the situation and make the RT a proper technological marvel. It all comes together on an undeniably progressive machine with clear Euro-sport roots.

BMW R 1250 RT Design

Push button-adjustable windshield

Full color 5.7-inch TFT display

Narrow waist

Sportbike styling

You can tell at a glance that the R 1250 RT saw the inside of a windtunnel during its conception. A low-profile front fender leads the way ahead of a sportbike-like cowl scoop and low-resistance/high-penetration front fairing. As broad as the forward bodywork is, the visage is dominated by a trio of recessed light cans that boast stock halogen projectors, but youll have to hit the accessories catalog if you fancy the LED daytime running lights. A pity, that, but the Werke has a tendency to shuffle items between the advanced packages as well as between the optional gear and stock, so maybe next year? Well see.

Up top, a mid-size, pushbutton-adjustable windshield breaks the pressure on your chest but lets the incoming wind strike your helmet to make your vents breathe as intended . The vented design smooths out the margin between pocket and slipstream for a low-buffet riding experience. Winglets on the fairing work with the mirrors mounted in the tips to protect your meathooks, and you can pencil me in as a fan, cause anything is better than stem-mount mirrors in my estimation. Like the headlights, the front turn signals are recessed and faired off with clear lenses, and that just keeps the front end clean as a whistle.

Inside the fairing, a pair of analog gauges display speed and revs with a whole battery of indicator lights and a digital display in betwixt to cover the remaining metrics. Additionally, a full-color, 5.7-inch TFT screen is part of the standard package, and it acts as a rider-to-bike interface for the higher electronic features such as mobile phone and media playback, to name a few.

A voluminous, 6.6-gallon fuel tank defines the flyline in a most sport-tastic fashion with a generous knee pocket and upper flange for good aerodynamics, but it quickly wanes toward the rear to make for a narrow waist and a comfortable union. Yeah, nothing worse than feeling like youre gripping the barrel of a horse, right? Especially when you go to deploy your Fred Flintstones. The adjustable beveled seat contributes to that as well, before it flares out to form a comfortable butt bucket. Stadium seating greets your passenger with flip-out footpegs and large grabrails that make up points-of-contact one through four.

So many manufacturers outside the U.S. seem to think a bike without stock bags qualifies as a tour bike, but I can assure you, Americans do not share that opinion. Maybe if they had somewhere to ride in their country thats bigger than a postage stamp theyd get it right, but instead here we are. Beemer got it right on the RT, though. A pair of stock hard-side panniers provide enough storage for some serious travel, and you can tell at a glance they came under the scrutiny of the windtunnel testers. Of course, you can boost that capacity with a topcase ex werke.

LED emitters cover the rearward lighting to make you as visible coming as you are going (no giggety) to finish the RT off. (still no giggety)

BMW R 1250 RT Chassis

Optional electronic suspension

Hill Start control

ABS Pro

Sportbike-type handling

The frame on the R 1250 RT is all but completely hidden by the bodywork, and the result is

a clean- and finished-looking assembly. It runs a bolt-on subframe section, and uses the engine as a stressed member to complete the circuit and eliminate a significant portion of the tubing with obvious benefits to the overall weight.

Out back, a cast-aluminum, single-side swingarm articulates the rear wheel and doubles as a housing for the final-drive shaft for some supremely clean running gear. The steering head has a damper as part of the standard equipment, and it kicks the inverted Telelever forks out to 25.9-degrees from the vertical with 4.56-inches of trail. Thems some pretty agile numbers folks, and it definitely favors sport-type handling thats eager in the corners, though the tradeoff comes at the expense of tracking, especially in a crosswind and when making passes.

The stock suspension runs non-adjustable stems up front with adjustable preload and rebound-damping out back, both of which come with handwheel adjusters for quick and easy tweaks sans tools. Beemers Dynamic ESA is a gear package that delivers full-spectrum adjustments automatically, but its optional equipment that doesnt make it onto the standard machine in an effort to keep costs down, no doubt.

The ABS Pro feature does its bit to preserve contact-patch integrity under emergency braking and keep you dirty-side down, and it works with the dual 320 mm discs and four-pot calipers up front and the 276 mm rear disc and twin-piston anchor out back. Cast-aluminum wheels round out the rolling chassis with a symmetrical, 17-inch diameter front and rear that mounts a 120/70 and 180/55, respectively.

Frame: Two section frame, front - and bolted on rear frame, load bearing engine Front suspension/Travel: BMW Telelever,  37 mm, central spring strut/4.7" (120 mm) Rear suspension/Travel: Cast aluminum single-sided swing arm with BMW Paralever; WAD strut (travel-related damping), spring pre-load hydraulically adjustable (continuously variable) via handwheel, rebound damping adjustable via handwheel/ 5.4" (136 mm) Castor: 4.6" (116 mm) Steering head angle: 25.9 Wheels: Cast aluminum wheels Rims, front/rear: 3.50 x 17 / 5.50 x 17 Tire, front: 120/70 ZR 17 Tire, rear: 180/55 ZR 17 Brake, front: Dual floating disc brakes, 4-piston fixed calipers, diameter 320 mm Brake, rear: Single disc brake, diameter 276 mm, dual-piston floating caliper ABS: BMW Motorrad Integral ABS (part-integral)

BMW R 1250 RT Drivetrain

1,254 cc flat-twin engine

136 horsepower and 105 lb-ft of torque

Automatic stability control

Broader powerband

The factory took its 1,170 cc boxer engine and punched it out to a total of 1,254 cc for this newest iteration, and that necessarily brings more power to the table to the tune of 136 horsepower (up from 125 ponies) and 105 pound-feet of torque (up from 92 pounds o grunt). This puts the RT squarely in the power-tour category, and is sure to endear itself to riders who are looking for a tourbike that comes with a bit of testicular fortitude.

The flat-twin engine runs a counter-balancer so as to tune the worst of the vibrations out of the system, so numb hands and bottoms do not come standard. Compression is pretty spicy at 12.5-to-1, so you can go ahead and resign yourself to running top-dollar road champagne through the electronic throttle bodies. Engine control is modified by the Automatic Stability Control that most of us will identify as traction control, but they can call it whatever they like; it does the same job.

Its cooled primarily by air, but similar to Harleys Twin-Cooled technology, the mill circulates coolant through the heads to draw heat away from the hottest spots. Inside, oil jets perform the same function to cool the piston crowns from beneath, but thats not the best part. A variable timing system advances and retards the cam timing to broaden the powerband, and the intake valves run with an asynchronous timing feature designed to cultivate more swirl in the air-fuel mixture as it enters the combustion chamber for better vaporization and flame-front propagation. Nifty stuff, yeah? I certainly thought so.

The factory claims a top speed of (over) 125 mph, not that youll ever be able to use all that potential on our side of the pond, not legally anyway. Still, its comforting to know youve got plenty of roll-on left to make decisive passes and get out of the way of the oblivious cagers around you.

Engine: Air/liquid-cooled 4-stroke flat twin engine, double overhead camshaft, one balance shaft and variable engine timing system BMW ShiftCam Bore x Stroke: 102.5 mm x 76 mm Displacement: 1,254 cc Rated output: 136 hp (100 kW) at 7,750 rpm Max. torque: 105 lb-ft (143 Nm) at 6,500 rpm Compression ratio: 12.5 : 1 Mixture control / engine management: Electronic fuel injection with ride-by-wire throttle system Emission control: Closed-loop 3-way catalytic converter, emission standard EU-4 Clutch: Multiplate wet clutch, hydraulically operated Gearbox: Constant-mesh 6-speed gearbox with helical cut gears Drive: Shaft drive

BMW R 1250 RT Pricing

Buyers can expect an MSRP of $18,645, if they can keep out of the accessories catalog. Good luck with that. The 2020 R 1250 RT can be had in a handful of color packages that include Manhattan Metallic, Alpine White, two-tone colorways Mars Red Metallic / Dark Slate Metallic Matte or Blue Planet Metallic/Ivory, and a Sparkling Bronze Metallic if you opt for the Spezial Option 719 billet package that offers even more customization options.

Standard Equipment: 2 Ride Modes (Rain/Road), ABS Pro, Adjustable Gear Shifter, Adjustable Two-Section Seat, ASC (Automatic Stability Control), Heated Grips, Hill Start Control, LED Tail Light, LED Turn Signals, Multi Controller, On-Board Computer Pro, Saddle Bags in Body Color, ShiftCam (Variable Camshaft Control), Steering Damper, Stepless Power Adjustable Windshield, Storage Compartment, Toolkit Colors:  2019: Carbon Black Metallic, Mars Red Metallic/Dark Slate Metallic Matte, Alpine White, Opt 719 Blue Planet Metallic, Opt 719 Sparkling Storm Metallic  2020: Manhattan Metallic, Mars Red Metallic / Dark Slate Metallic Matte, Alpine White, Blue Planet Metallic/Ivory, Opt 719 Sparkling Bronze Metallic Price: $18,645

BMW R 1250 RT Competitors

Due to design considerations, I expect challengers to the R 1250 RT to come from elsewhere and Japan seemed like a good place to start. Kawasaki was my Huckleberry this time around with its Concours 14 ABS that rocks a similarly sport-tastic look with performance to match, so lets get started.

Kawasaki Concours 14

The Kawis look is defined by the ribs in the cowling vents that are more or less duplicated by the stiffeners in the hard-side panniers for a nice continuity of design. Wind-swept body panels close off much of the Concours to give the impression of low-resistance penetration, and like the Beemer, the vented windshield is electrically adjustable for adjustments on the fly. You cant tell it at a glance, but the Concours relies on a monocoque or stressed-skin structure to provide the support instead of using a skeletal assembly like the RT. Not sayin its better, just sayin it is what it is.

The stock Concours rocks adjustable suspension goodies at both ends with rebound-damping and preload adjustments on the menu, and Kawi toes the sport-bike line with symmetrical 17-inch wheels front and back that come complete with ZR-rated tires showing this bike means serious business. Kawis ABS comes augmented with its Advanced Coactive-braking feature that shares pressure between the front and rear binders for a little bit of lagniappe and extra security.

In the power department, Kawi doesnt disappoint. The heart of a Ninja beats in the aluminum chest, and it rocks variable cam-timing as well to meet Beemer partway, at least. Torque measures in at 100.5 pound-feet; barely enough to qualify it as a power-tourer, but enough all the same even if it falls a smidge short of the RTs 105-pounds o grunt.

With the Concours, you get a variable cam-timing feature that deepens the torque well a bit, but Kawi stops short of the absolute fandanglery Beemer brings to the table. That shortcoming, of course, is reflected in the price. Kawi lets loose of a Concours 14 ABS for $15,599, and that may be enough to tipple someone who is riding the fence.

Read our full review of the Kawasaki Concours 14.

He Said

Seems like BMW has a real threat on its hands here. The new R 1250 RT really brings some choice goodies to the table, and like I said earlier, I expect some of the optional gear to make it onto the standard equipment package sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, I think this bike is a clear and present threat to all other liter-plus sport-tourers out there.

She Said

My wife and fellow motorcycle writer, Allyn Hinton, says, I like the dials in addition to the TFT display on the instrument cluster, though I know it adds weight. Call me old-school, but I do like my sweep gauges. This is a nice ride with 9 percent more horsepower and 14 percent more torque than the last iteration and it has a nice electronics suite.

BMW R 1250 RT Specifications

Engine & Drivetrain: Engine: Air/liquid-cooled 4-stroke flat twin engine, double overhead camshaft, one balance shaft and variable engine timing system BMW ShiftCam Bore x Stroke: 102.5 mm x 76 mm Displacement: 1,254 cc Rated output: 136 hp (100 kW) at 7,750 rpm Max. torque: 105 lb-ft (143 Nm) at 6,500 rpm Compression ratio: 12.5 : 1 Mixture control / engine management: Electronic fuel injection with ride-by-wire throttle system Emission control: Closed-loop 3-way catalytic converter, emission standard EU-4 Clutch: Multiplate wet clutch, hydraulically operated Gearbox: Constant-mesh 6-speed gearbox with helical cut gears Drive: Shaft drive Chassis: Frame: Two section frame, front - and bolted on rear frame, load bearing engine Front suspension/Travel: BMW Telelever,  37 mm, central spring strut/4.7" (120 mm) Rear suspension/Travel: Cast aluminum single-sided swing arm with BMW Paralever; WAD strut (travel-related damping), spring pre-load hydraulically adjustable (continuously variable) via handwheel, rebound damping adjustable via handwheel/ 5.4" (136 mm) Castor: 4.6" (116 mm) Steering head angle: 25.9 Wheels: Cast aluminum wheels Rims, front/rear: 3.50 x 17 / 5.50 x 17 Tire, front: 120/70 ZR 17 Tire, rear: 180/55 ZR 17 Brake, front: Dual floating disc brakes, 4-piston fixed calipers, diameter 320 mm Brake, rear: Single disc brake, diameter 276 mm, dual-piston floating caliper ABS: BMW Motorrad Integral ABS (part-integral) Dimensions & Capacities: Length: 87.5" (2,222 mm) Width (incl. mirrors): 38.8" (985 mm) / 39" (990 mm) incl. panniers Height (excl. mirrors): Standard: 55.3" (1,405 mm) , Style Sport: 53.5" (1,360 mm) Wheelbase: 58.5" (1,485 mm) Seat height, unladen weight: Standard: 31.7"/32.5" Optional Seat Height: High Seat: 32.7/33.5, Low Seat: 29.9/30.7 Inner leg curve, unladen weight: High Seat: 73.8"/75.4", Standard: 71.3"/72.8", Low Seat: 68.5"/70.1" Unladen weight, road ready, fully fueled: 615 lbs (279 kg) 1) Permitted total weight: 1,113 lbs (505 kg) Payload (with standard equipment): 498 lbs (226 kg) Usable tank volume: 6.6 gal (25 L) (Reserve: Approx. 1 gal (4 L)) Fuel consumption: 50 mpg (WMTC) Fuel type: Premium Unleaded Maximum speed: Over 125 mph Electricals: Alternator: Three-phase 508 W generator Battery: 12 V / 12 Ah, maintenance-free Details: Standard Equipment: 2 Ride Modes (Rain/Road), ABS Pro, Adjustable Gear Shifter, Adjustable Two-Section Seat, ASC (Automatic Stability Control), Heated Grips, Hill Start Control, LED Tail Light, LED Turn Signals, Multi Controller, On-Board Computer Pro, Saddle Bags in Body Color, ShiftCam (Variable Camshaft Control), Steering Damper, Stepless Power Adjustable Windshield, Storage Compartment, Toolkit Colors: 2019: Carbon Black Metallic, Mars Red Metallic/Dark Slate Metallic Matte, Alpine White, Opt 719 Blue Planet Metallic, Opt 719 Sparkling Storm Metallic 2020: Manhatten Metallic, Mars Red Metallic / Dark Slate Metallic Matte, Alpine White, Blue Planet Metallic/Ivory, Opt 719 Sparkling Bronze Metallic Price: $18,645

Further Reading

BMW Motorrad

Read more BMW Motorrad news.One of the big ghost stories about Bachelors Grove is that you see this ghost house so you think theres a house back there. You see lights. Some people have said you see something in the top window. You get closer and the house disappears, he said.Zimmer said he has lived in Elgin his entire life and is contributing to the citys redevelopment through his community involvement. He served as the co-chair of this years Historic Elgin House Tour. He also joined the Downtown Neighborhood Association design committee, for which he is creating a map.ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 14

If the initiative of the UT Administration gets overwhelming response, then you can get grocery items in the middle of the night at the shop near your home. The administration has sought the views of traders on the proposal to allow shops to remain open round the clock. Sources said Deputy Commissioner Sachin Rana recently held a meeting with the traders and sought their views on the issue.

At presently, under the Shops and Establishment Act, the shops are allowed to open till 8 pm. The administration has already allowed the shops at petrol stations to open 24X7.

Sources said a high-level meeting under the chairmanship of Adviser to the Administrator Parimal Rai was also held recently in which the issue was discussed in detail. The sources said while a majority of officers agreed to the proposal, the police officials raised the security concern. The Adviser then directed all departments concerned to seek the views of the stakeholders.

Charanjiv Singh, Chairman of the Chandigarh Beopar Mandal, said they would hold a joint meeting of all representatives of the markets. He said the issue involved many things, such as security and availability of workforce.

The Centre has already approved the Model Shops and Establishments Bill, permitted shops, malls, restaurants, banks and cinema halls to choose their hours of operation. It was aimed at ensuring uniform working conditions across the country, improving ease of doing business and generating employment opportunities.

Harish Garg, president, Confederation of All-India Traders here, said limiting the hours of operation for small shops put them at a disadvantage because commercial establishments in malls had the benefit of staying open on all days and for longer hours. He said it would also increase employment opportunities.editorial@tribune.com

Sumedha Sharma

Tribune News Service

Gurugram, October 14

As per the FIR registered at the Sector 50 police station here, it was the demand for car keys by Dhruv that agitated his fathers personal security officer (PSO) Mahipal and he shot him and his mother Ritu.

The FIR was lodged by Dhruvs father Additional District and Sessions Judge Krishan Kant at 8.15 pm on Saturday.

Today, about 3.30 pm, while I was in court complex during course of my duty hours, I received a phone call from my PSO and he told me that he had shot my wife Ritu and son Dhruv. On this, I immediately informed my colleagues and when one of them, RK Mehta, called my wifes number. It was answered by an unknown man that a lady and a boy had been brought to Park Hospital with gunshot injuries. We all immediately rushed to Park Hospital. There my wife Ritu told me that she along with son Dhruv reached Arcadia market and asked PSO Mahipal to wait near the car and thereafter when they returned, Dhruv asked him to handover the keys of Honda City car on which he got angry. He then shouted and without any provocation rushed towards them and fired at her. When Dhruv came to her rescue, he shot him also. The facts were narrated by Ritu to me in the presence of my colleague ADJ Jasbir Singh Kundu after which they were taken to Medanta Hospital, reads the FIR filed by ADJ Krishan Kant.

Below the information provided by the judge, Surender Singh, SHO of the police station, has stated in his note that he along with Sub-Inspector Jaibhagwan was present in the police station when he received information that a woman and a boy have been shot at near Arcadia market and they have been shifted to Park Hospital.

The SHO said that they went to Park Hospital and gave application to the doctors for the statement of the victims. However, the doctors termed the patients unfit for statement.

The SHOs note further says Krishan Kant, who was also present in the hospital, gave him an application after which the FIR No. 470 dated October 13 under Sections 307 of the IPC and Sections 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act was registered.

Dismissed from service

KK Rao, Commissioner of Police, Gurugram, has dismissed head constable Mahipal under Article 311 (2) (b) of the Constitution and Section 7 of the Police Act, 1861.

"My wife told me that she, along with our son, reached Arcadia market and asked Mahipal to wait near the car. When they returned, Dhruv asked him to hand over the keys of Honda City. At this, he got angry. He shouted at them and, without any provocation, rushed fired at my wife." Krishan Kant, Additional district judge

Recruitments under question

"The incident once again raises questions on recruitment in the Police Department. Such instances shatter the faith of the civil society in the state. In spite of claims of transparency, favouritism, corruption and vested interests of parties play their part in recruitment. Police jobs are tagged at a higher price than any other government job" Rajbir Deswal, retired IPS officerpardeepdhull@gmail.com

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 14

The wife of Gurugram Additional District Judge Krishan Kant, who was shot by the official gunman of the judge, succumbed to her injuries during treatment at Medanta Medicity late Saturday night.

The gunman, Mahipal (32), had shot at the judges wife and son in broad daylight at a busy market near South City-II in Sector 51 here on Saturday.

The accused later fled the scene in judges white Honda City but was cornered by the police near Gwal Pahadi village. He opened fire but was overpowered and arrested. The police questioned the accused and indicated he might be mentally unstable.

The critically injured mother-son duo was taken to Medanta Medicity. While Kants 37-year-old wife Ritu succumbed to her injuries late Saturday night, the condition of his 17-year-old son Dhruv, a Class XII student, is stated to be critical.

Her cremation will take place in Hisar at 4 pm on Sunday.

According to eyewitnesses, as Ritu and Dhruv stepped out of Arcadia market around 3.30 pm after shopping, the accused, who was accompanying them, immediately left for the parking lot to get their car.

As it took him some time to return, an angry Ritu reportedly had an argument with the gunman. Dhruv intervened, objecting to Mahipals behaviour. The enraged gunman pulled out his licensed revolver and opened fire.

A bullet hit Dhruv in the head. He then targeted Ritu. As she fell, Mahipal fired again and a bullet pierced her torso. He even kicked her several times as she lay on the ground, said witnesses.

Turning to Dhruv again, the gunman shot him twice. He dragged Dhruv towards the car and tried to put him in the back seat.

After attempting to do so twice, he abandoned Dhruv and fled in the car, even as several onlookers filmed the incident.

Sources said Mahipal fired five rounds in all. Two bullets hit Ritu in the neck and torso, while Dhruv was shot once in the head and twice in the torso.

It was only after the accused fled the scene that people called the police and the victims were taken to the hospital.

Subsequently, police teams from crime units launched a pursuit to nab the accused. They recovered Mahipals .38 bore revolver and the car.

An FIR was registered at the Sector 50 police station.

The accused seems mentally unstable and has been evading questions. We are considering getting him medically examined. The interrogation is on to ascertain the motive for the crime, said Commissioner of Police KK Rao.

Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar expressed shock over the incident and summoned the Home Secretary and state DGP. He has suggested counselling of cops entrusted with security of VIPs.editorial@tribune.com

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Rewari, October 14

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattars scheduled visit to Bawal town in the district on October 16 has been cancelled reportedly in view of two indefinite dharnas being organised by residents of various villages against the state government and the police administration.

The CM was to inaugurate and lay foundation stones of 17 projects during his visit. The inauguration of canal-based water supply project to ensure water to 55 villages was one of the major projects, said sources.

The sources said that Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ashok Sharma had already taken a review meeting regarding the visit. Even, Public Health Engineering Minister Banwari Lal invited people for the events.

The CMs visit has been cancelled as the villagers on protest have announced not only to boycott of the programme, but also to hold a mahapanchayat to intensify their agitation, said a local BJP leader. The CMs visit would be rescheduled after the end of these dharnas, he added.

One of the dharnas is being organised outside the residence of Banwari Lal in Bawal town against police inaction in tracing a minor girl who went missing three months ago under mysterious circumstances, while the second dharna is being organised in Manethi village against the state governments failure to execute the Chief Ministers announcement for the setting up of AIIMS in the village even after three years.

In both the agitations, the protesters are raising questions over the promises made by the BJP for providing good governance as well as ushering in a new era of development in the Ahirwal region.

In Bawal, the protesters alleged that local MLA Banwari Lal had failed to mount pressure on the police to expedite investigation in recovering the girl. They also blamed the police for not tracing the girl even after a long time.editorial@tribune.com

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 14

Question are being asked how some judges and other officers have been using policemen provided for security as drivers and servants.

On the other hand, judges complain that they generally get discarded, disgruntled and homesick policemen as guards. They are citing Saturdays incident to substantiate their charge.

Senior officers of the police, including SPs and Police Commissioners, are indifferent when it comes to deployment of cops on security duty of judges. Only deadwood, disgruntled and homesick cops are deployed. In the Gurugram case too, senior police officers are admitting that Mahipal was mentally upset, said Anubhav Sharma, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Palwal, and president of the Haryana Judges Association.

He said personal security of an officer was a sensitive issue and normally policemen of good physical and mental health should be assigned the duty.

A couple of judges allege they have to remain at the mercy of the SP whenever they are not satisfied with the gunman and want him changed.

They also say deploying CISF jawans or from some other Central forces would not be a bad idea.

Everyone is aware how cops of the Haryana Police deployed with judges had fled, leaving the officers in the lurch at the time of Jat quota violence in February 2016, said a judge.

Meanwhile, some IPS officers say policemen provided to officers as security guards are generally used as drivers against the norms.

We have written to judges several times that personal security guards are not to be used as drivers or servants, but nothing has changed. What if a gunman driving a car is involved in an accident resulting in fatality to the other party. His job will be at stake, said an IPS officer.

Sharma, however, denied the judges used their security guards as drivers in general.editorial@tribune.com

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, October 14

Even as farmers in the grain market here are waiting for their produce to be procured for the past several days, traders, allegedly in connivance with officials, are bringing paddy from other states in the Karnal grain market in trucks.

Farmers claimed it to be a nexus between officials and traders due to which paddy in trucks from other states was being procured quickly, while they had to wait for two to three days to sell their produce.

Harbhajan Singh, a farmer, alleged that he had been in the grain market for the past two days, but his paddy was not procured, while several traders had brought paddy in trucks that was procured quickly.

Surinder Kumar, another farmer, said farmers had been harassed on the pretext of moisture in their paddy, while traders were bringing paddy in trucks and there was no check on it. He said farmers could not afford to bring paddy in trucks to the grain market.

An official of the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board (HSAMB) says farmers usually bring their produce in tractor-trailers. Trucks are used to bring a huge produce to the grain market from other states. He admitted that paddy was being brought from neighbouring states. If a farmer brings paddy in a truck, he must have the documents of his land. With the size of landholdings reduced now, a farmer could not afford a truck, he said.

Surinder Singh, secretary, market committee, Karnal, said they had been making efforts to stop this practice.

The farmers also alleged that they had not been given the payment of their produce since the first day of the procurement.

I had sold paddy worth around Rs 2.5 lakh on the first day of government procurement, but no payment has been released to me so far, said Puran Singh, a farmer from Dhakwala village.

Randhir Singh, another farmer, said his payment of more than Rs 80,000 was pending. My paddy was procured on October 1, but despite several visits, no payment has been made, he added.

Kushal Boora, DFSC, admitted that due to some technical reasons, the payment could not be released, but now the problem had been solved and it would be released to farmers.

Aditya Dahiya, DC, said, We have approached the department regarding the release of the payment and they had assured to release it. Regarding bringing paddy in trucks, I have directed all secretaries to increase the vigil and not to allow paddy in trucks. I will get Karnal grain market checked.editorial@tribune.com

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 14

Women-centric issues hogged the limelight during the three-day Fourth International Film Festival of Shimla on Sunday. Most of the movies screened during the festival highlighted the plight of women and their journey to empowerment.

Womeniya, a 19-minute short film directed by Aakash Arun, highlighted the story of Dalit women belonging to the backward Mushar community of Debra village in Bihar, who worked as help in houses and were unable to earn two meals a day.

It showcased how the lives of 10 women of the village changed with the efforts of social activist Sudha Varghese as they learnt playing musical instruments and formed the first women band of the country, which performs in marriages and functions. These women came in the limelight when they were invited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Cabinet Minister Sushma Swaraj to play in functions, said assistant director of the film, Abhishek Arun.

These women who used to travel in carts now travel in airplanes to perform. They are earning their livelihood through music. Their financial condition has improved and now the village is known by their name, he said, adding that the idea to make the film came from a news clipping on them. We visited the village and stayed with them for a week before shooting the film, he added.

Women of Varanasi

A 52-minute documentary, Women of Varanasi, directed by Mamta Singh is a combination of four tales on the struggles and life choices of women of Varanasi and how they continue to evolve and find themselves while working towards bettering the socio-cultural and political spaces. It is the story of forward journey towards positive change. The film was also screened at the Open Frame Film Festival, New Delhi, and the Nepal Human Rights International Film Festival. It will now be screened at Mzansi Womens Film Festival at Johannesburg.

I am from Bihar and in my society, Hindus and Muslims used to live together. However, whenever the question of an inter-religion marriage erupted, the situation used to get tense, said director Saurav. adding that I always wanted to make a movie on this subject. The incidences of failed love marriages due to religious barriers around me prompted me to make the film.

About Chilgam

Another short film Chilgam by Saurav is based on the internal conflict of a boy and a girl who are in love, but belong to different religions. The 28-minute film was shot in Old Delhi in six day. It is an attempt to show how polarisation effects commoners, especially women.sanjiv@tribunemail.com

Bhuwan Bhaskar

A manmade disaster is waiting to choke residents of the National Capital Region again this winter because of stubble-burning in the neighbouring states - Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. It is estimated that about 35 million tonnes of paddy stubble are set afire by the farmers of Punjab and Haryana to prepare the fields for the winter crop.

Besides pollution, it is a sheer waste of nutrients, required to rejuvenate the soil. One tonne of paddy straw contains approximately 5.5 kg of nitrogen, 2.3 kg of P2O5 (phosphorus pentoxide), 25 kg of K2O (potassium oxide) and 1.2 kg sulphur. Agricultural scientists say that the straw can replenish 80 per cent soil nitrogen and potassium, if not burnt. The primitive method of clearing the field burns a significant amount of micro-nutrients and carbon present in the stubble. In addition, the burning affects some soil properties, such as temperature, pH level, moisture, phosphorus and organic contents.

The practice of the stubble-burning degrades the environment. It shoots up the carbon dioxide level in the air by 70 per cent. Carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide levels jump by 7 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively. The burning of one tonne of paddy straw releases 3 kg of particulate matter, 60 kg carbon monoxide (CO), 1,460 kg carbon dioxide (CO2), 199 kg ash and 2 kg sulfur dioxide (SO2). These gases affect human health. Therefore, smashing stubbles under surface soil is desirable, rather than burning them in the farms.

It has been noticed that among the options available for management of paddy straw - bio-char, pellets and briquettes making for thermal power plants and ethanol production - in-situ use of paddy straw as mulch for sowing of wheat and its incorporation in soil for planting of potato and other vegetable crops is the most feasible and economical option for handling the paddy straw, says an official document.

Farmers, however, prefer to burn the stubbles. Why? There are primarily two reasons. One, lack of awareness as many farmers think burning stubbles would kill insects and sanitise soil. The second reason is purely economic - the high cost of removing stubbles from the field. The much-hyped 'in-situ' management of crop residue revolves around eight hi-tech big machines.

There are several solutions to curb this menace, but nothing will work without involving the farmer. The government must involve the entire farm ecosystem to make the movement against the stubble-burning a success.

 The writer is AVP, NCDEX

The views are personaleditorial@tribune.com

Our Correspondent

Anantnag, October 13

A Hizbul Mujahideen militant was killed and another grievously injured in a brief gunfight with security forces in Pulwama district on Saturday.

He has been identified as Shabir Ahmad Dar, alias Maali, of Samboora village in Pulwama district.

The injured militant, who was admitted to SMHS Hospital in Srinagar, has been identified as Showkat Ahmad Dar of Murran village in Pulwama. Zahoor Ahmad Thoker, the third militant who the police think was a former Army man, managed to escape.

A senior police official from Pulwama district said Babgund village of Pulwama was cordoned off at 2 am following inputs regarding the presence of militants in the area.

As the cordon was being laid, the militants opened indiscriminate fire and managed to escape the spot. One of the militants was, however, injured in the retaliatory fire, the official said.

He said the militants took shelter in a house some 100 m from the point of initial contact.

They were tracked down and there was another exchange of fire in which one of the militants was killed, the official said.

He confirmed that the injured militant had been admitted to SMHS Hospital. We are keeping a watch on him, he said. The body of the militant was handed over to his family, following which a funeral was held in Samboora village. Militants also appeared at the funeral and offered a gun salute.

The authorities suspended the mobile Internet services across Pulwama district soon after the gunfight. Train services on the Srinagar-Banihal track were also suspended for the day.

Army vehicle targeted in Budgam district

Suspected militants targeted a mobile vehicle checkpost (MVCP) of the Army in Budgam district by hurling two grenades in the wee hours on Saturday. The police said some unknown militants hurled two hand grenades towards the MVCP on the Yarigund-Bundnara in the Narbal area. They said one of the grenades did not explode. "Another grenade missed the target and exploded at a distance without causing any damage," a police officer said. The unexploded grenade was later detonated by the bomb disposal squad of the Army. The police have registered a caseeditorial@tribune.com

Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 14

After bumper voting in the civic bodies elections in the Jammu province and the mountainous region of Ladakh, the focus is now on the much-awaited panchayat elections in the state.

Although the fourth and final phase of elections for civic bodies will be held on October 16, hectic activity for the panchayat elections has already started in the Jammu region where the civic elections were over with the third phase of polling on Saturday. The fourth phase of polling will be held only in the Kashmir valley.

After directions by the Chief Election Officer, J&K, the rural development department has started procuring ballot boxes for the panchayat elections.

The panchayat elections will be held in nine phases for 4,490 panchayats spread across J&K. The election process will start on October 23 and conclude on December 11.

The last panchayat elections were held in 2011 after a gap of 10 years through secret ballot, on non-party basis. The panchayats had completed their term in July 2016.

In a clear rebuff to the parties that have boycotted the much-awaited electoral process, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on September 28 had granted more powers to panchayats to make the poll a meaningful exercise to strengthen democracy at the grass-roots level.

Singh had announced more financial powers to the panchayats in Jammu and Kashmir, making them on a par with such institutions in the rest of the country.In all three races, the Democrat candidates are not facing incumbents. In the 65th, Rep. Steven Andersson, R-Geneva, did not seek re-election in 2018, having served the district since 2015. In the 49th, Rep. Mike Fortner, R-West Chicago, did not seek re-election, either. And in the 33rd Senate District, Sen. Karen McConnaughay, R-St. Charles, announced her resignation earlier this year. Kane County Republicans appointed to the seat this summer former St. Charles Mayor Don DeWitte to finish the term, and DeWitte is running this fall to retain the seat.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, October 14

Governor Satya Pal Malik on Sunday said the most important stakeholder in the peace process was the youth and it was essential to engage them regularly and effectively to give impetus to peace and development in Kashmir.

The Governor said this while speaking with youth during an interactive session Kashmir Youth Dialogue organised by Jammu Kashmir Youth Alliance at Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre here.

Malik said it was important to show the youth the right direction to channel their creative, intellectual and innovative energies and talents in a productive manner.

Conveying the commitment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi towards ensuring free and fair elections in the state, the Governor said students were the torchbearers for the emerging societies and urged them to take part in the democratic process as leaders and as participants to shape the new narrative of Kashmir and the state.

He assured full support of the state and Central administration for progress of the states youth.

The Governor also participated in a one-on-one interaction with the youth during the session. The participants put forth their grievances and concerns on a variety of subjects, including the state of education in J&K, especially Kashmir, where education is regularly hampered on account of shutdowns and restrictions, delays in conduct of examinations and declaration of results by the universities.

The Governor assured the youth that his administration had taken up the issue of the well-being of Kashmiri students studying in Aligarh Muslim University with the Uttar Pradesh government so that students could carry on with their studies in a safe and secure environment.

Allays concern about AMU students

The Governor assured the youth that his administration had taken up the issue of the well-being of Kashmiri students studying in Aligarh Muslim University with the Uttar Pradesh government so that students could carry on with their studies in a safe and secure environment. He also assured full support of the state and Central administration for progress of the states youtheditorial@tribune.com

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 15

Alarmed at misuse of social media to spread falsehoods about the Indian Army and its personnel, top military commanders led by Army Chief General Bipin Rawat have discussed the issue of setting up a dedicated cell that will identify, monitor and inspect fake and inflammatory messages against the Army.

The aim is to nail and expose those with malicious intent and bring them to book, sources told The Tribune.

The cell will work round the clock to counter any propaganda. The Army presently has a small (three-officer) social media team but that is not enough. The top Army commanders who are meeting in Delhi (October 9 to 15), have been apprised of the seriousness of the situation.

The Army believes too much of wrong information has been spread on the Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. The misuse of social media is part of asymmetric warfare (from across border) aimed at lowering the morale of the Army through rumours and falsehood. These messages exaggerate issues and tell half-truth.

A possible trigger was in June when fake and morphed videos showing strong action by the Army in Kashmir were circulated on WhatsApp.

Some of these videos were not even shot in India, but were passed off as new policy in Kashmir. Such fake videos showing strong action were seen as propaganda from Pakistan, which was eyeing to discredit the Indian Army during the then ongoing session of the United Nations Human Right Council (UNHRC).

Videos of the Army bringing down houses, mishandling people and dragging terrorists were all fake. These videos are a soft and oblique way to spread a false narrative of human rights violations.

Last year, falsehood was spread saying one rank, one pension was only for officers and how the 7th CPC delayed all benefits to jawans, but not officers.

Then came two fake letters circulated listing emoluments of the 7th Central Pay Commission. One of these had the complete format of a government gazette. The Ministry of Defence had to intervene and deny having issued any such letter.

The Army was also alerted about a message on WhatsApp with phone numbers of leading TV channels exhorting jawans to share videos and audio recordings of any act of corruption or exploitation with media houses. Army men are not allowed to have media contact unless authorised in writing.

Nailing culpritsuttara@tribuneindia.com

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 14

Union Minister MJ Akbar threatening appropriate legal action against those leveling wild and baseless allegations against him is also an appropriate example of the style of functioning of the new BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief Amit Shah.

Now whether or not he resigns from his post as the minister of state of external affairs remains to be seen, but even when epitaphs were being written on MJs political career, a section of political observers believed it would be highly surprising if Modi took action against him under pressure.

He (Akbar) will go but when Modi wants him to, not when others are demanding or pressurising him, they said.

Besides, any action against Akbar would have opened up a Pandora box. Apparently, there are others with similar allegations under the #Me Too campaign and action against Akbar would have prompted them as well.

In fact, BJP Amit Shahs statement that charges of sexual harassment against Akbar would be probed was a signal enough of what could be expected on his return. We will definitely look into the issue. We have to see whether these allegations are true or false. We have to check the veracity of the post and the person who posted it, he said

As clamour for action against the eminent journalist grew, there were worries in the BJP about the allegations damaging the partys pro-women empowerment image ahead of elections to five states.

As BJP and government functionaries maintained a stoic silence, it was perhaps the first time in his tenure that Prime Minister Modi faced a situation when either way it could be detrimental for the image of his government.

BJP leaders agree that his presence is embarrassing for the government however an action against him would also be an admission, recognition of the fact that Modi took a wrong decision and misjudged when he included Akbar in the council of ministers.

Notably, any change that Modi has affected in his council has been when he wanted to do so, whether it was changing the portfolio of union minister Smriti Irani or taking away the charge of Rajiv Pratap Rudy. Which is way it is quite possible that Akbar, who has is being given a hearing, may find himself out of the council but it would be when and the way the PM wants

It is said that the Congress had lost the battle of perception for the 2014 General Elections in May 2013 when union ministers Pawan Bansal and Ashwani Kumar were made to resign from the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs council.

Meanwhile, for the BJP, holding on to Akbar serves no purpose given that he has no mass-based appeal. Rather holding on to him will come at a cost, the price of which it may have to pay with a dent in its "pro-women" image in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha.pardeepdhull@gmail.com

New Delhi, October 14

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was on Sunday discharged from the AIIMS, where he had been undergoing treatment for pancreatic ailment, and is likely to return to his home state in the evening, sources said.

Parrikar (62) was admitted to Delhis premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on September 15.

Union minister Shripad Naik said on Sunday there has been an improvement in Parrikars health but he needs to take rest after returning to Goa.

Naik dismissed any possibility of dissolution of the Goa Assembly and expressed confidence that the Parrikar-led government will complete its term.

Questions over the stability of the Goa government have been raised by the Opposition Congress because of Parrikars illness.

Parrikar will be arriving in Goa this evening by a special flight. From the airport, he will directly go to his private residence at Dona Paula, a senior official in the Chief Ministers office said Sunday.

Naik, the Union AYUSH minister, said it is okay if Parrikar undergoes treatment in Goa but he needs to take rest.

There has been an improvement in his health compared to what it was when he was flown to AIIMS last month, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader told reporters here at the sidelines of a function.

The minister said he had met Parrikar on Friday.

I got the news that he is coming back but I cant believe that he is returning. His health is improving and he was expected to stay at the AIIMS for a few more days, he said.

Naik, who is part of the Goa BJPs core committee that met Parrikar in Delhi on Friday to discuss about the development in the state, said there was no proposal or possibility of dissolution of the state Assembly.

This government will complete its tenure of five years, he asserted.

State Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said elaborate arrangements have been made at Parrikars private residence where a team of doctors from the state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital will take care of his health.

Parrikar had Friday held meetings at the AIIMS with party leaders as well as allies to discuss ways to ensure that his government functions normally.

He is expected to shed many of his portfolios after Dussehra, according to ministers who met him in the hospital.

The core committee is the BJPs key decision-making body in Goa, comprising senior leaders like Parrikar, Naik and party state chief Vinay Tendulkar, among others.

In the 40-member Goa Assembly, the Parrikar-led government has the support of 23 MLAs.

These comprise 14 BJP MLAs, three each from the Goa Foward Party and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) as well as three Independents.

The Opposition Congress is the single largest party in the state Assembly with 16 MLAs. PTIeditorial@tribune.com

Vikramdeep Johal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 14

Thousands of them died with their boots on, thousands of miles away from their villages in Punjab. Those who survived and returned home were scarred for life. A century later, the names of these World War-I soldiers dont even ring a bell in their own homeland, even as their families are fighting a valiant battle to keep their legacy alive.

Harpreet Singh, a schoolteacher from Sarwali village in Batala (Gurdaspur), doesnt have any photo of his great-grandfather, Havildar Kala Singh. But he is the proud owner of the Dead Mans Penny, a commemorative bronze plaquette that was given to his great-grandmother, Rukman Kaur, after the war.

Kala Singh was among the 34 soldiers of the 45th Rattrays Sikhs who were killed in the Battle of Shergat during the Mesopotamian campaign on October 29, 1918. His name is engraved on Panel 56 of the Basra Memorial in Iraq.

Its a pity that Punjab doesnt observe its own Remembrance Day in memory of these martyrs, says Harpreet Singh. The then rulers of princely states built memorials to pay homage to their troops, but no effort has been made by any government to raise a state-level monument to honour Punjabis, particularly Sikhs, who fought in the World Wars.

A gallery is dedicated to WW-I at the Punjab State War Heroes Memorial-cum-Museum in Amritsar, but it is far from complete, he adds. In stark contrast, Sikh war memorials have come up in England, Italy and Belgium, thanks to the initiative of expatriates.

According to a realistic estimate, at least 8,000 of the 74,000-odd Indian casualties in WW-I were Sikhs. Amarpal Sidhu, a UK-based historian and the author of two books on the Anglo-Sikh Wars, observes that the World Wars are still looked on as largely European affairs which occurred when India was under British rule. The Indian contribution tends to be sadly reduced in importance or even ignored in the native country. Sikh (and Indian) troops played a pivotal role in both conflicts, which were fought on a global scale. Their gallantry should be taught in school history classes. War memorials are needed to keep their memory alive, and we as a community and successive Punjab governments have certainly been slow on this issue, he says.

An Amritsar resident, Major Mohinder Singh Sarkaria (96), recalls how highly the British valued his fathers valour. Risaldar Ajaib Singh Sarkaria of the 7th Hariana Lancers was taken captive along with other soldiers when the Allies lost Kut-al-Amara (in modern-day Iraq) to the Ottoman Army in 1916. He spent two years in a Turkish prison, from where he managed to send information about enemy reinforcements to the Indian authorities despite strict censorship.

Upon his discharge in 1918, King George V, Emperor of India, sent him a message: The Queen and I wish you God-speed, a safe return to the happiness and joy of home life with an early restoration to health. A grateful Mother Country thanks you for faithful services.

Major Sarkaria laments that due recognition has eluded his family after Independence. Over the decades, the authorities havent bothered about showcasing this glorious chapter of our military history, says the ex-serviceman, a descendant of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

In the face of official apathy, individuals and NGOs have taken it upon themselves to restore Raj-era memorial stones. One such organisation is the Vishav Yudh Pehla & Duja Shaheed Welfare Society, Sultanwind (Amritsar). After the November 1918 Armistice, the British government in India had installed stones/plaques in villages which sent more than 100 soldiers each, including Sultanwind and Sathiala (Amritsar), Depur (Hoshiarpur) and Narangwal (Ludhiana). Most of these are in a pitiable condition, a telling picture of monumental neglect.

Toll claims

How many Sikh troops died in the two World Wars? A conclusive answer is still awaited. General Frank Walter Messervy, a veteran of both conflicts, once wrote: In the last two World Wars, 83,005 turban-wearing Sikh soldiers were killed This oft-quoted figure has been challenged by some historians, including Amandeep Madra. Going by the incredibly detailed work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, I estimate that around 8,000 Sikhs were killed during WW-I and 10,000-13,000 in the second, says Madra.editorial@tribune.com

Divya Sharma

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 14

A group of students of the Indian Institute of Management-Amritsar (IIM-A) has suggested ways to farmers to utilise paddy straw and earn money instead of burning it.

The study dwells upon the alternative ways to utilise the paddy waste. The study was carried out for a period of three months from July to September.

Students Sawan Khapne, Shivam Rana, and Shailendra Singh visited the Khot Khalsa area here and interacted with farmers to understand their problems and the reasons for burning stubble. The farmers acknowledged that despite government efforts, burning still remained an easy option to dispose of straw.

The study proposed mushroom cultivation and gasification process for using paddy straw in producing biochar to be converted into biofuel, besides management of residue in fields by growing crops with leftover stubble. It also suggested use of straw in making bio-concrete for the construction of buildings.

For effective implementation of these alternatives, the students focused on 31 villages of Verka, near Amritsar, and divided these into four clusters for an easy distribution of equipment and collection of paddy waste.

The supply chain management is basically a journey of procuring a thing till it reaches its destination. I have interacted with many farmers. The aim is to develop a pattern that can be followed as paddy is harvested, said Dr Neeraj Bhanot, assistant professor, who supervised the study.

The straw can be procured from farmers by companies or NGOs termed as service providers. These service providers can take help of labourers engaged by government bodies or cooperative societies. The straw needs to be transported to processing units or markets. The chain begins with farmers selling straw to the service provider. These service providers shall procure straw directly from fields or from traders.

We have not only designed this chain, but have also proposed the alternative uses. The chain shall also help farmers make money by selling straw, said Sawan Khapne, a student.

Proposed stepsROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

New Delhi, October 14

The Supreme Court has stayed the order of the Uttarakhand High Court which had directed that no two-wheelers would be allowed to ply on a street, used primarily by morning walkers, in Haldwani.

A Bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta also stayed the HCs directive which had said that proper railings should be fixed on both sides of Thandi Sadak in Haldwani and necessary steps be taken for its beautification.

The apex court also issued a notice to the Uttarakhand Government on a plea by the Thandi Sadak Shopkeeper Association, which has challenged only these two directions among the five passed by the HC in its June 18 order.

The HC had passed the order while hearing a plea which had sought directions to the state government to immediately launch a waste and garbage disposal system on Thandi Sadak.

The petition had highlighted unscientific disposal of garbage in the area and said it was the only stretch which was used by morning walkers there.

The HC was also told that the entire area was littered with garbage and was used by transporters to park their vehicles seeking entry into the nearby Gola river for mining purposes.

In its order, the HC had also directed the Nainital District Magistrate to ensure that Thandi Sadak was kept clean and there was no dumping of waste and garbage on it.

No transport vehicle or private vehicle shall be parked on the Thandi Sadak henceforth. It shall be open for the police authorities to remove the vehicles from the present place, if not removed by the owners and drivers themselves within 48 hours, the HC had said.  PTI

The orderpardeepdhull@gmail.com

Istanbul, October 14

Fifteen people, including children, died on Sunday when a vehicle carrying migrants plunged off the highway into a river-bed in western Turkey, state media said.

The vehicle, believed to be a lorry, was travelling from Aydin towards the Aegean city of Izmir when it flipped over and fell into the river several metres below, state-run Anadolu news agency said.

The nationality of the migrants was not made clear nor was it known where they were heading.

Turkish television pictures showed the stricken wreckage of the vehicle, which was reduced to burned-out metal by the impact of the crash.

Large numbers of emergency service personnel were sent to the scene.

Turkey is a key transit points for migrants from troubled countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa seeking a new life in Europe via EU member Greece.

A million migrants crossed from Turkey into Greece in 2015, mostly by boats, in a crisis which forced a deal between Ankara and the EU to stem the flow of people.

Numbers have fallen since but people are still undertaking what is a highly perilous journey.

According to UN figures, more than 24,500 migrants have arrived in Greece by sea so far this year, with 118 people losing their lives via this route.  AFPgspannu7@gmail.com

Kathmandu, October 14

The bodies of nine climbers, including five from South Korea, which were retrieved on Sunday after they were killed in a violent storm on Mount Gurja have been airlifted to Kathmandu for post-mortem, a mountaineering association official said.

The nine climbers, which also included four Nepalese support staff, died during an unexpected violent snowstorm that buried them at the base camp at an altitude of 3,500 metres near the south face of Mount Dhaulagiri in western Nepals Myagdi district on Friday evening.

A helicopter dropped a rescue team on Sunday morning at the camp where the South Korean climbing expedition was staying, and later retrieved the bodies.

The bodies were airlifted to Kathmandu and handed over to the doctors of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital for post-mortem.

The dead bodies have been airlifted to Kathmandu Sunday morning and handed over to the doctors at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital for conducting postmortem, said Ang Pemba Sherpa, president of Trekking Agencies Association Nepal.

The officials have identified the deceased South Koreans as Jaehun Lee, Chang Ho Kin, Jin Rim, Youngjik Yoo and Joon Mo Jeong.

The Nepali victims are Tsering Bhote, Lakpa Sangbu Bhote, Phurba Sherpa and Netra Chhantyal.

The mountain Mount Gurja, with a 7,193-metre peak, is in western Nepal.

Mountaineering is a major source of income for Nepal.

Falling from cliffs and mountains are among the most common causes of death during expeditions.

In 2015, an avalanche triggered by a powerful earthquake killed 19 climbers and injured 61 others. A year before, 16 sherpa guides were killed in an avalanche.  PTIWere far behind the rest of the country, said Deanna Olmem, who has been managing the program for United Way. The Lake County Board and Gurnee both made funds available for the service this month, and other municipalities and townships are being urged to come on board. In the six-county metro area, only McHenry County has the 211 service.vinaymishra188@gmail.com

London, October 14

Indian-origin MP Priti Patel, one of the most outspoken British politicians in favour of Brexit, joined fellow Brexiteers on Sunday to mount a further challenge to Prime Minister Theresa Mays plans for a future trading arrangement with the European Union (EU).

Patel is among 63 Conservative Party MPs to sign a letter attacking the UK government over its Brexit forecasts and blaming Mays team of leaking negative financial forecasts of the impact of Britains exit from the economic bloc.

Adopting a constructive and transparent approach would be in the national interest, says the letter, organised by the Economists for Free Trade group of Eurosceptic economists and former Brexit minister Steve Baker. The general public is battered and bewildered by conflicting predictions of the future path of the economy following Brexit, fuelling a growing suspicion that Whitehall is engaging in what is apparently known internally as policy-based evidence-making, it notes.

The show-of-unity letter, addressed to UK Chancellor Philip Hammond, comes as one of its signatories  former Brexit Secretary David Davis  openly called for a Cabinet uprising against Mays Brexit strategy ahead of a crucial summit with the EU in Brussels scheduled for next week.

Writing in The Sunday Times, the former minister said the governments negotiating strategy had fundamental flaws, arising from the unwise decision in December to accept the EUs language on dealing with the Northern Ireland border.

The British PM has suggested a temporary customs arrangement for the whole of the UK to remain in the EU Customs Union while the complicated Irish border issue is resolved. However, Brexiteers, like Patel and Davis, suspect this could turn into a permanent situation, restricting Britains freedom to strike future trade deals with other countries.

This is one of the most fundamental decisions that government has taken in modern times. It is time for the Cabinet to exert their collective authority. This week the authority of our constitution is on the line, writes Davis, who stepped down from the UK Cabinet in July due to his opposition to Mays Brexit plan.  PTIpardeepdhull@gmail.com

Vatican City, October 14

Slain Salvadoran archbishop Oscar Romero and Pope Paul VI, Catholic giants who sparked controversy during their lifetimes, will join the churchs highest rank Sunday with an elevation to sainthood.

Pope Francis will wear a blood-stained rope belt which belonged to Romero, who was murdered at the altar, as he leads the ceremony in front of some 60,000 pilgrims and heads of state from across the world.

The pontiff will also use a chalice and pastoral staff belonging to Paul VI in a canonisation being seen as a reminder of Franciss call for a poor church for the poor.

Both men have been hailed by Francis for their courage in turbulent times and their dedication to social justice and the downtrodden.

Their giant portraits were unfurled on Saint Peters Basilica along with those of five other new saints, including an orphaned youth and a German nun.

Romero stood up for peasant rights in the face of a right-wing backlash which painted him as a radical supporter of liberation theology in his small, impoverished central American nation.

His radio sermons condemning government repression came to be heard throughout the land.

On March 24, 1980, the man dubbed the voice of those without voice was shot in the heart, killed by a single bullet as he prepared communion at the start of a bloody civil war which claimed some 75,000 lives.

For a long time, efforts to recognise Romero met with heavy opposition from conservative Catholics and the Salvadoran right, who saw veiled Marxism in his sermons.

Others said he had been killed for political rather than religious reasons and therefore should not be considered a Catholic martyr.

It was like a dagger to the heart. I received threats, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the man tasked with guiding the canonisation process, told the Jesuit weekly America.

But Francisthe first Latin American popebeatified him as a martyr in 2015 to popular acclaim after his predecessor, the retired Benedict XVI, championed his cause for canonisation.

It was Benedict who also extolled Paul VI, a man he once described as almost superhuman.

Paul VIwho encouraged Romero in his strugglewas the first head of the Roman Catholic Church to attempt to reform the Vaticans powerful and unruly Curia, a challenge Francis also decided to take on.

He was also famously the first to reject the papal trappings of luxury, setting aside the traditional papal tiaraa jewel-encrusted, three-tiered, conical crownshortly after his election in 1963 and donating its value to the poor. It was a gesture echoed by Francis, who renounced the papal apartment and gold cross.

The softly-spoken Giovanni Battista Montini was elected pope in 1963 in a difficult period for the church, which lost many believers as populist rebellions swept across the West.

He completed the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and was the first pilgrim pope, crossing continents on his trips to meet the faithful.

At his beatification mass, Francis had hailed him a brave Christian. But he was also hampered by a reputation for being weak and overly cautious.

He is most famous for reaffirming the churchs ban on contraceptiondespite the fact that his own advisory commission voted overwhelming to lift the prohibition.

The decision enraged many Catholics at a time of sexual freedoms, with women demanding the right to use the birth control pill.  AFPvinaymishra188@gmail.com

Washington, October 14

US President Donald Trump has said that he wants people with merit, who can help, to enter the country and not sneak inside the border illegally. Im very tough at the borders. We've been very tough at the borders. People have to come into our country legally, not illegally. Legally. And I want them to come in on merit, Trump said at the White House.

Responding to a series of question on illegal immigration, the President reiterated that he wants people based on merit, a move that can help technology professionals from countries such as India.

"What I want is merit. I want a lot of people to come in. We have great car companies entering our country again. This hasn't happened for 35 years. We have companies such as Foxconn going to Wisconsin with a massive, massive plant," he said. "We need people coming in, but we want them to come in on merit. We want people that are going to help us. It's very important," Trump said.

Observing that immigration is not tricky to him, he insisted that the administration and the Congress have to do the right thing whether there's an election or not.

He opposed the chain migration policy and said, "If that's a bad policy, guess what, a lot of bad things are going to happen. But a lot of people agree with me. I would say a vast majority of our country agrees. They don't want criminals coming into our country. They don't want people that they don't want in the country that aren't going to help us as a country. They

don't want these people coming in. So we have a very strong policy. The one thing that really has changed over the last couple of years since I've been President  our country is doing well. You take a look at us compared to China, compared to everybody else, we're the hottest country in the world.  PTI

No threat to arms deal with S ArabiaThe upcoming import expo in China will help Houston increase its trade ties with China, a senior trade official of Houston, U.S. state of Texas, said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Horacio Licon, vice president of the Greater Houston Partnership, an economic development organization serving the Greater Houston area, told Xinhua that the expo is a great opportunity for Houston to continue developing its trade relationship with China.

"This is a great opportunity to work with a very important market," Licon said. "China is the second largest economy in the world. It's the second largest trading partner for Houston. So anything that is helping us increase that relationship is very important to us."

The first China International Import Expo (CIIE) will be held from Nov. 5 to 10 in Shanghai, one of the largest cities in China by population and a financial hub in the world.

As the first state-level Import Expo in the world, CIIE marks the shift in China's economic development model from export-oriented to balancing import and export. It is expected to give firm support to trade liberalization and economic globalization, and actively open the Chinese market to the world.

Analysts believe that against the global backdrop of trade protectionism, the expo is consistent with China's long-time efforts to seek mutual benefits and advocate free trade.

Licon said this kind of platform is really important right now, especially at a time when China and the United States have rising trade frictions.

"There's a need to remain aware of the latest changes that we need to follow in order to make the products reach their customers," Licon said. "So instead of losing value, I think this type of event is even more important now."

Next month, Licon will head to Shanghai, leading a team of 15 delegates representing 12 companies, which cover diverse industries such as technology, manufacturing, energy and logistics.

Licon said he wants to explore and understand more the business environment in China via this platform.

"We have expectations in terms of understanding and hearing directly from our Chinese counterparts on the private sector and on the government side, the messages about the future of Chinese trade, how the government is seeing the future of Chinese trade and how Houston will play a role in that relationship," Licon said.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up policy, thanks to which the relationship between Houston and China started, Licon said.

"That's really when the relationship between Houston and China started historically speaking," Licon said. "So it's a brand-new relationship and that is an important economic driver for our companies and for our trading infrastructure, operators or ports or airports."

According to Licon, the total trade between Houston and China last year was 18.8 billion U.S. dollars. And for the first six months of 2018, the bilateral trade has hit almost 13 billion dollars.

He said he expects the number to continue growing. "We are expecting further growth in 2018 in total," Licon said. "It's a new story. We have something to offer. Therefore, this recent story will continue to develop and at least the statistics are showing a positive story."

Licon hopes to strength the cooperation between Houston and China. He said Houston has a much more balanced trade with China as a city. He hopes more Chinese companies could come and make use of all the resources available.

"We're trying to find ways to continue collaboration and grow trade in a way that works for all parties," Licon said.When in December is an important factor.

From 21 December it is summer school holidays and Fraser Island south to Ballina will be packed with locals on holidays, making accommodation really difficult to find, especially for only one or two nights.

December is also not great for the northern part of the trip as it is stinger season so you can't swim in the ocean without stinger suits, and it is also the beginning of the wet season with almost guaranteed afternoon rain, and the possibility of a cyclone.

How long are you spending in Australia altogether? You might be better to head up to FNQ at the end of your stay if this is during our winter.

You could do a week staying at Noosa and do a day trip to Fraser Island from there, as well as explore all there is to see in the region. We regularly spend a week in Noosa and are never bored.

Same with south of Brisbane - book a week somewhere on the Gold Coast or a smaller town eg: Lennox Head (I avoid staying at BB because it is stupidly expensive and so busy you can be stuck in traffic for an hour trying to get in or out of town). If you stay at Lennox, you are 15 mins from Ballina, 30 mins from Byron, and an hour from the GC, so you can do all the day trips from there too.

I am disappointed you have not included Brisbane - you could do a couple of nights in Brisbane in the middle with six nights either side - Brisbane has a lot to see and do and December is pumping in the city.

If you were considering doing this and finishing prior to 21 December then it is certainly possible, although 14 days is still pushing it to enjoy all of the regions you mention but you could do the following:

3 nights Cairns/Port Douglas

1 day drive to Townsville stopping at MB along the way, transfer to Maggie. stay 2 nights.

1 day, drive to Airlie Beach, stay 2 nights.

Fly from AB to Brisbane, drive 2 hours north to Noosa, stay 4 nights including a day trip to FI. (it is a 10 hour drive from AB to Hervey Bay, and another two hours on to Noosa.) Don't waste a whole day and a bit driving this section.

Drive 4 hours south to the GC, stay 3 nights including day trip to Byron Bay.

Fly from Gold Coast airport to Sydney.

Cheers.@7, re "...well probably spend the morning in MA and head to San Jose around 2-3.":

Depending on your accommodations in MA area, check out time might vary, but it is usually quite early in AM. Make sure you double check with the accommodations that they will be willing to store your bigger luggage, and you will need to carry the valuables (passport, etc.) on you till you leave for your SJO hotel. I have seen accommodations charge luggage storage fees, others will do it as an extension of your booking.

It is not a good idea to leave anything in your rental car, no matter whether it has a trunk or not.Hi trusted TA's, I would like your advice on my itinerary for an upcoming November trip with my husband to Vietnam to celebrate my 40th birthday. I know its alot of moving but I don't think we will be back to SE Asia for sometime (we have two toddlers so just getting away for 12 days is small miracle) so am struggling with the decisions! This is meant to be a cultural trip (vs. a lie by the beach/relax trip) but I want to have a good balance of city and countryside/natural beauty.

A couple questions

1. Should we skip one of big cities (Hanoi OR HCM) and go to Da nang/Hoi An or Nha Trang for a couple days instead. I've heard the coastal towns are beautiful. If so, which one would you skip?

3. Should I trade Day 2 in HCM or skip Ninh Binh for an extra day Siem Reap or Hanoi?

3. Any other suggestions/edits.

Day 1: Land in HCM at 10am, Explore

Day 2: HCM

Day 3: Depart am on Mekong overnight Home stay

Day 4: return to HCM, Fly to Siem Reap

Day 5: Ankor Wat

Day 6: Ankor Wat am, Fly to Hanoi pm

Day 7: Hanoi

Day 8: Ninh Binh overnight

Day 9: Ninh Binh - > Halong Bay overnight

Day 10: Halong Bay/Hanoi overnight

Day 11: Fly out of Hanoi 6 am AM

Thanks In advance for your guidance!!!I would stay in the airport, by the time you get anywhere it will be time to go back almost.

Ive only eaten in the domestic departure area once. It was edible but not 5 star.

I think most of your time will be taken doing those things . If not ,you will find something when you are there.

Hotels can organise drivers probably cheaper than Klook.Foreign visitors were allowed to book ONLY the trains run by JR East, and not the trains run by other 5 JR companies until last October, when JR Tokai (JR Central in English) and JR West released a new Smartphone App., Tokaido Sanyo Shinkansen Reservation App., which allows booking of the Tokaido Sanyo Shinkansen from exactly 10am Japan Time 1 month before online in advance. However, this App. can only be used in the U.S.A., Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Thailand, as follows, so you may not be able to use.

On Dec. 26, you can easily move from Osaka to Kyoto by JR Kyoto Line Special Rapid (@30 min, 560 yen) with no reservation (no reserved seat).

On Dec. 28, you can book our seats in the Shinkansen from Kyoto to Tokyo, after you come to Japan, since our New Year Holidays are from Dec. 29 to Jan. 3, and Dec. 28 is not a Holiday.

It is the best to return to Osaka from Tokyo after the Holidays on Jan.4 or 5, but the 2nd best is to return from Tokyo to Osaka on 1/1 when usually not so many people move. You should also book this after you come to Japan.

Therefore, in conclusion, I recommend to book the Shinkansen on 1/1 online in advance using the above Smartphone App. if you can use it. If you cannot, book after you come to Japan. Do NOT return from Tokyo to Osaka on Dec. 28-31, Jan. 2 and 3, ONLY on Jan. 1.As a resident of Tokyo, I go to Hakone once in a while; in fact, I went there last week.

It's really easier done than said, actually. Booked a ryokan? Fine. Want to visit the checkpoint and visit Hakone Shrine? Easy. Walking up from Lake Ashi to Hatajuku might not be that great as an idea though. It's a bit time-consuming and not really a hiking route but a road with cars, at least for most parts. I think a bus ride and a walk should be better.

Here's what I did last week:

- Took an early evening train to Yugawara Onsen town

- Took bath at Kogome no Yu public facility

- Found a last-minute promotion at one of the onsen ryokans, stayed there

- Morning bus across the outer rims of the Mt Hakone volcano to Hakonemachi

- Walked over to Onshi Hakone Park, brought and ate lunch overlooking the lake

- Took bus to Kowakidani at took bath at Mori no Yu and had a rest for 5-6 hours

- Bus to Odawara, bought a shareholder's ticket and took Romance Car back to Tokyo in the evening

What I have enjoyed in past visits:

- Hakone Checkpoint

- Okada Museum of Arts

- Hakone Open Air Museum

- Pola Museum of Arts

- Autumn foliage at Gora Park, Hakone Museum of Art garden, Dogashima hiking course along Hayakawa River (Chamberlain's/Chaplin's Walk)

- Tensei-en day spa and Tamadare Falls garden in Hakone Yumoto

- Hakone Ropeway and Pirate Ship

- View of Mt Fuji from the outer rims of Mt Hakone and central elevation

Edited: 3 years agoHi this will be my 7th trip to New York and 2nd going solo. I will be meeting friends a couple of times. Im staying at the Holiday Inn Express Chelsea. Ive only planned one eating place as I find it hard to plan when travelling alone. My itinerary is a bit long and detailed in parts.

Thursday 29 Nov: Arriving into JFK around 15:45. Even though Ive had a esta it ran out (last trip July 2016) so I will have to join the first timers? Is this correct? Im hoping to be on the Air Train by 18:00 to Jamaica Station. I will then buy a joint ticket for the Air Train and the LIRR is this correct? I am going to buy a metro card for $1 as I plan on using the bus and the subway once each plus maybe another. I will then catch the LIRR to Penn Station and walk to my hotel which is just along 8 Ave on 29st.

Hopefully my room will be ready so I will drop my bag off and head towards 6 Ave and then up towards Bryant Park to catch the Tree and Market before it closes at 8pm. I will then walk up 5 Ave until the Rockefeller Center to see the tree and shop displays. Then maybe walk across to Timesquare and walk down Broadway to Macys then back to Hotel stopping off at a store to buy a few supplies. When I come to NYC my appetite disappears. So its usually crisps and buds.

Friday 30 Nov: Breakfast is included in my room rate and Im hoping they start early as I expect I will be up and ready by 5, 6 at the latest. Then over to 5th Ave and up towards the Empire State Building. Continuing until Ive got to 42nd street and then turn right along 42nd Street passing the Chrysler Building. Seeing these two buildings are always a high point for me and I make time for them both every trip. I will continue until 2nd Ave and then walk north until I get to the Roosevelt Island Tramway (Im hoping this walk will take me about 1 hour). Will I be able to use my Metro Card on here? If so how much should I put on my Metro Card?

I plan to walk around the island for a couple of hours. Will this be enough?

I then plan on walking up to Alices Tea Cup on 64th Street for lunch. Not sure if I will need to book?

Im thinking it will be around 13:00 by now and Im meeting friends at 15:00 at the Plaza as we have tickets for the Rocketts at 16:30. So Im planning on walking around Central Park as this is a favourite of mine and I always get lost !

We have tickets in the Orch3 area and I used the CHASE code that I found on here. So thank you. Im thinking that we might need to get there about 1 hour before and that it will be about 18:30 before we get out. So we plan on looking around the markets at Columbus Circle after. Then a early night so I will walk for 30 mins or so to my hotel.

Saturday 1 Dec: Breakfast at hotel then Im off to meet my friends who live in New York to walk the length of Manhattan! I think we are meeting in Inwood (will know exact nearer to the day) I see the M5 bus goes so far. Is there a bus that goes all the way? I prefer the bus as I get to see different areas. We are all good walkers so I see this taking us about 6 to 7 hours. That includes toilet and food stops. I have nothing really else planned for today. Maybe a little shopping.

Sunday 2 Dec: Breakfast at hotel then off to Bethel Gospel Assembly. Now I am a big walker and walk at least 10 miles a day at home  but I might be tired after yesterday. I do plan on walking it but might have to take the M7 bus. After the service I plan on going over to St Johns the Divine Cathedral on 110 st Amsterdam Ave and look around there. Looking for somewhere around here for lunch if anyone has any ideas. Nothing fancy. I dont mind a pub or a small cafe. Im then going to walk south to Union Square. Depending how tired I am as I might catch the M3 at the top of Central Park. Then back up to my hotel maybe via 230 on fifth for a cocktail.

Monday 3 Dec: Breakfast at hotel then walk down to the George Washington Statue at the Federal Hall for my 3 hour tour of Downtown Manhattan for 09:30 I will need a Metro card for either the subway or bus. The tour ends near 6 Ave and Spring St. I see myself walking up to Chelsea Market then back to the High Line and walk that. Need to be back to Hotel to collect case. Need to be at the airport for 19:00 so thinking of catching the LIRR 18:16 to Jamaica then the AirTrain to the airport. So sorry its a bit long. Quite a few gaps but I like to wander so hopefully that will fill them. Any advice appreciated.A man has been placed under criminal detention for beating a gynecologist over a dispute on giving a cesarean section to his pregnant wife, police in Beijing's Xicheng district said in a statement.





The 46-year-old man, identified by the police only by his surname Zheng, demanded that the gynecologist, surnamed He, give a C-section to his 44-year-old wife, surnamed Sun, at Peking University First Hospital in Beijing on the evening of Sept 22, but the doctor refused to do so, the statement said. Then, while He was trying to explain why, Zheng beat He using his fists, and He was forced to fight back, but was later stopped by others at the scene, it said.





Zheng's wife, Sun, and his 19-year-old daughter arrived later and Zheng and his daughter beat He once again. The gynecologist did not fight back, considering the safety of pregnant Sun, the statement said.





Sun gave birth to a girl the next day and needed family members to care for her, so the police did not detain Sun and his daughter immediately, the statement said.





Xicheng district's public security bureau detained Zheng on Saturday, and released his daughter on bail pending trial, considering she was still studying in college and that He had excused her, it said.- The family said the funeral budgets doing rounds on social media claiming to be that of Sharon were fake

- The family's funeral committee claimed guests were turning down invitations because of the inflated and fake budgets

- Sharon was set to be laid to arrest on October 19 in the home of her grandfather Samuel Odeges home in Magare village

The grieving family of slain Rongo University student, Sharon Otieno, has accused social media users of frustrating its efforts to raise funds for her burial by spreading unsubstantiated claims about the funeral arrangement plans.

The family claimed Kenyans on social media were hurting their attempts to raise funds to settle mortuary bills, take care of burial expenses and have some cash left to cater for the education of three children orphaned by Sharons death.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

READ ALSO: Mtoto wa Lulu Hassan atolewa nje kwa mara ya kwanza

Reports had emerged on social media indicating the family was in need of close to KSh 3 million to cater for the burial of Sharon Otieno and upkeep of her orphaned children.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Sharon Otieno's baby finally buried

A funeral committee instituted to spearhead the critical fund-raising exercise said a number of fake funeral budgets were doing rounds on social media and discouraging potential well-wishers from contributing to the funds drive.

According to the burial committee, some unknown people on social media had come up with fake and outrageous budget items claiming Sharon's family had come up with the ridiculous budget plans.

READ ALSO: Slain Sharon Otieno's family needs KSh 1 million to feed mourners, sets burial date

Some of the items listed in one of the fake budgets doing rounds on social media included a KSh 200,000 imported coffin; mourners hired from Ghana at a cost of KSh 300, 000; and outsourced caterers from Tanzania at KSh 200, 000.

Huge sums had been allocated to feeding mourners with as many as 40 goats, hundreds of chicken and bulls.

These fake budget plans, the funeral committee led by Elijah Opiyo said, deeply angered the bereaved family.

Guests, Opiyo said, were turning down invites for a funds drive slated for Sunday, October 14, at Magare village in Homa Bay County.

READ ALSO: Blow by blow account of how pregnant Rongo University student met her death

Sharon Otieno was set to be buried on October 19 in the home of her grandfather Samuel Odeges home in Magare.

The varsity student was found dead on September 4, a day after she was abducted alongside Nation journalist Barrack Oduor who said he jumped out of a moving vehicle to get away from their abductors.

READ ALSO: Who killed pregnant university student Sharon Otieno? Kenyans demand answers

Migori Governor Okoth Obado, his personal assistant Michael Oyamo and a clerk at the Migori County government were charged with the murder of Sharon and her unborn baby.

The family previously held that Sharon would not be buried until her killers were arrested and prosecuted.

Her seven-month old unborn child was laid to rest about two weeks ago.

Story by Fred Okul

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

Obado to Spend More Days Behind Bars - On Tuko TV

Source: Kenya Breaking News Today- Donald Kipkorir reiterated Western Kenya politicians will never be united under one party

- He appeared to indicate even attempts to form single party for Mulembe nation will not work

- Kipkorir's remarks came a day after Wetangula declared support for Ruto's presidential bid

- Wetangula and Mudavadi had months earlier reignited the Luhya unity talks with hope of uniting Mulembe nation

- The idea was to bring together all the Luhya leaders under one political party so they can support one candidate in 2022

Lawyer Donald Kipkorir has taken another swipe at the Western Kenya leaders over the elusive Luhya unity saying they will never be united under a single political party.

Kipkorir argued the Western Kenya politicians will remain split between different political formations because they generally lacked focus.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

READ ALSO: Uhuru alikuwa ananiibia soda akiwa mtoto - dadake Kamaru asema

Amani National Congress party leader Musalia Mudavadi, Ford Kenya party leader Moses Wetangula, Busia Governor Sospeter Ojamoong' and other Western Luhya leaders in a meeting.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: What next for Luhya unity after Mudavadi's fall from favour?

The vocal city lawyer who has been critical of the Western Kenya politics described the Luhya leaders as unprincipled and politically cheap, besides lacking focus.

"I told you before and will repeat...Luhyas will never be united in one party .... Whether in Jubilee or NASA...Luhya leaders are the cheapest politically...There is no North star of principled leadership In Luhya nation. I have never seen a group so rudderless," he said in Twitter post seen by TUKO.co.ke on Sunday, October 14.

READ ALSO: FORD Kenya leader Moses Wetang'ula declares he will support Ruto's 2022 presidential bid

TUKO.co.ke understands Kipkorir was reacting to remarks by FORD Kenya party leader, Moses Wetangula, who a day earlier declared he would rally support behind Deputy President William Ruto in 2022.

"I have assured my supporters we will be in government in 2022. The sure way to do it is working with Ruto who will lead the assault for the top seat," Wetang'ula said in Butonge, Bungoma County, on Friday, October 12, during a visit by the DP who was in the area to launch several government projects.

READ ALSO: Wetangula is a casualty of Raila and Uhuru handshake - Murkomen

Wetangula who fell out with the National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition co-principal Raila Odinga and vowed to fight him, had months earlier reignited the Luhya unity talks with his 'brother' Musalia Mudavadi.

The two pushed for merger of their parties, FORD Kenya and Amani National Congress, with the aim of bringing the Mulembe nation under one party ahead of the 2022 political contests.

A few months later, the Mulembe unity talks are yet to bear any fruits and with no sign of the Western Kenya politicians coming together under one party anytime soon.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

Raila, Mudavadi finally move to Airtel - On Tuko TV

Source: Tuko.co.ke- The couple arrived in the Kenyan neighbouring country on Friday evening

- The pair is reportedly in East Africa for a holiday tour

- Ugandan government said the visit was an endorsement to the country's tourism sector

- West is said to be planning to record his new album during the Uganda tour

American power couple Kanye West and Kim Kardashian have landed in Kenya's neighbouring country Uganda for a holiday tour.

The controversial rapper and his wife, a reality TV superstar, reportedly touched down at Entebbe International Airport on the evening of Friday, October 12.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

READ ALSO: Uhuru alikuwa ananiibia soda akiwa mtoto - dadake Kamaru asema

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian arrived in Entebbe on the evening of Friday, October 12, and were flown to Chobe safari lodge in Murchison Falls National Park, northwest Uganda. Photo: Watchdog Uganda.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Kim Kardashian sparks fans' anger after posing as VIRGIN MARY in new Kimoji (photos)

TUKO.co.ke on Sunday, October 14, confirmed the couple and their daughter, North West, checked in at Chobe Safari Lodge in Murchison Falls National Park, northwest Uganda from the airport.

According to the local news outlets, the award-winning rapper was also accompanied by his music crew, besides the family, an indication he was planning to record his new album during the surprise Uganda tour.

READ ALSO: Is Kylie Jenner pregnant? No, she already gave birth to a baby girl!

Indeed, celebrity site TMZ had indicated Kanye was in the process of releasing a new album, which he said was to be completed in Africa.

"I just need to go and grab the soil... and have the mic in the open, so you can hear nature while we are recording. I felt this energy when I was in Chicago. I felt the roots. We have to go to what is known as Africa," he said as quoted by the popular celebrity site.

READ ALSO: Kim Kardashian And Kanye West Expecting Second Baby

Kanye has over the past few years been at odds with a section of America's music industry mostly because of his political pronouncements and support for President Donald Trump.

A few days to his Uganda visit, the artist met his political idol, Trump, at the White House for lunch, during which they reportedly talked about a number of issues among them prison reforms.

The rapper's unpopular political views back home in America notwithstanding, Ugandan government officials saw his visit as a blessing, saying it was an endorsement to the country's tourism sector.

Kanye West, his wife Kim Kardashian and their daughter North West. Photo: Al Jazeera.

Source: UGC

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

Top 3 Celebrities: Love Stories Of David Kamoni, Julie Gichuru and Philip Karanja - On Tuko TV

Source: Tuko.co.ke- Khalwale appears to become William Ruto's point-man in Western Region

- This is despite the existing differences and bitter blood between them

- He said Ruto qualifies for presidency come 2022 and promised him support

- Khalwale said presidency will only come to Western if leaders embraced friendship

- He has termed Raila a political con-man with no development agenda in mind

Former Kakamega Senator Boni has termed Deputy President William Ruto as best placed to vie for presidency come 2022.

Khalwale said Ruto had demonstrated maturity in the political scene adding that he had also shown a great interest in solidifying friendship with people from Western Region.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens.

READ ALSO: Uhuru alikuwa ananiibia soda akiwa mtoto - dadake Kamaru asema

Khalwale noted that it was imperative for AMANI leader Musalia Mudavadi and FORD Kenya's Moses Wetangula to join forces with Ruto and other leaders. Photo: Boni Khalwale

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: City lawyer says Luhya leaders are cheap, unprincipled and unfocused

The former legislators said that it was only through forming true friendship with people from other political divides that the region will inch closer to power.

"The only secret of wining presidential elections is making friendship. Ruto keeps on coming into Kakamega and out...into Luhya land in and out. Is he coming to create bad blood or is he coming to make friendship? posed Khalwale.

READ ALSO: Raila should apologise to Kenyans for abandonding the Opposition - Mumias East MP Benjamin Washiali

Khalwale's sentiments come as a surprise to the electorate as him and the DP have been known to launch heated onslaughts against each other.

Shortly before the 2017 General Election, Ruto had termed Khalwale as a shortsighted politician obsessed with bullfighting.

Shortly before the 2017 General Election, Ruto had termed Khalwale as a shortsighted politician obsessed with bullfighting. Photo: DP William Ruto

Source: Facebook

Ruto claimed that instead of Khalwale motivating his community to keep bulls for meat, he had blindfolded them with bullfighting culture which had meager economic benefit to them.

Khalwale noted that for presidency to come nearer to Western Region, then it was imperative for AMANI Leader Musalia Mudavadi and FORD Kenya's Moses Wetangula to join forces with Ruto among others.

READ ALSO: It's over between me and Raila - Moses Wetangula

In order to clinch power, he said, the three top leaders had to decided on one political outfit and also agree to only field on candidate.

"If you decide that Mudavadi goes for the seat, I will say, thank you. If Kenyans decided it will be Wetangula, then I will say hallelujah. However, if you resort for Ruto, then who am I to go against such a decision," stated Khalwale.

"However, I would like to caution Kenyans to be weary of Opposition leader Raila Odinga. He does not have the agenda of the Kenya people at heart and even on mind. He is a political con man and should never be given a chance to lead Kenyans in the capacity of President.

Khalwale termed Raila a political con-man who was not fit to be President. Photo: Raila Odinga.

Source: UGC

Earlier, TUKO.co.ke had reported that Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula had thrown his weight behind Ruto's Presidential bid.

Wetangula hinted of his support to DP and this could be a pointer that he has shelved his ambition to vie for the top seat come 2022.

This followed his fallout with Raila after the January 30 mock swearing in of Raila and also his oust as Senate Minority Leader.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

Joseph Irungu and Jacque Maribe in court over the murder of Monica Kimani Tuko TV.

Source: Kenyan Breaking News- The police officer is believed to be the mastermind behind an infamous car theft syndicate in the city

- He was arrested while on a car-stealing mission with several other individuals

- Several other suspects in the notorious gang managed to escape

A police officer believed to be behind one of the most notorious car theft syndicates in the city has been arrested, TUKO.co.ke has learnt.

The officer identified as Kelvin Ndosi was arrested on Saturday, October 13, after carjacking and robbing a motorist in the city.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

According to a police statement seen by TUKO.co.ke, Ndosi, alongside three other civilians, hijacked one Philemon Ochieng Okelo in Athi River.

READ ALSO: Uhuru alikuwa ananiibia soda akiwa mtoto - dadake Kamaru asema

The four-man gang proceeded to drive to Kayole with the victim in his car where they called the victim's wife and demanded KSh 300,000.

Police however intercepted the gang and arrested the officer who is stationed at the Central Police Station.

READ ALSO: Ugandan university disowns Wajir governor's academic papers

The officer was allegedly busted with a police pocket phone which is believed to be used in the car theft ploys, qualifying a report made by the victim earlier.

Unfortunately, the other suspects managed to flee, leaving the stolen car behind - a black Subaru with the registration KBP 464Z.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news

Kenya News Today: Joseph Irungu and Jacque Maribe in court over the murder of Monica Kimani Tuko TV:

Source: Tuko- Nominated MP and close Uhuru ally has said Mt Kenya votes are not for sale

- Maina Kamanda argues Mt Kenya voters cannot be forced to vote in a certain way

- To him, Uhuru will remain the communitys spokesperson even after 2022

- Deputy President William Ruto is widely seen as Uhurus automatic successor

- Uhuru has however shown little interest in declaring Ruto his successor in 2022

A fresh round of political confrontation is brewing in the Jubilee party after nominated Member of Parliament allied to the ruling party took a swipe at Deputy President William Ruto saying Mt Kenya voters were not up for sale.

Maina Kamanda warned those expecting votes from the vast Mt Kenya region that Kikuyus would not be coerced into supporting anyone's preferred presidential candidate come 2022.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

READ ALSO: Mtoto wa Lulu Hassan atolewa nje kwa mara ya kwanza

Nominated Jublee MP Maina Kamanda warned those expecting votes from the vast Mt Kenya region that Kikuyus would not be forced to support anyone's preferred presidential candidate come 2022.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Do not be too proud as you will need Raila in 2022 - William Ruto warned

Speaking during the burial of veteran Benga musician Joseph Kamaru on Thursday, October 11, Kamanda also clarified Mt Kenya region had not shifted their allegiance from President Uhuru Kenyatta whom he said was the only spokesperson they knew.

I want to make it clear that we as Mt Kenya have only one spokesperson, and it is you, your Excellency (Uhuru). Even if you retire, we will still follow you. So those moving around saying this and that should forget it. Kikuyus are not up for sale, the politically charged MP said in front of his party bosses, Uhuru and Ruto.

READ ALSO: William Ruto will harvest more Kikuyu votes in 2022 than Gideon Moi

It is widely believed Ruto would be the Jubilee party's presidential candidate in 2022 and would succeed Uhuru after he shelved his political ambition to support the president in 2013 and 2017.

Uhuru on numerous occasions during the previous political campaigns that propelled Jubilee to power made it public that he would support Ruto in 2022 after he retires and urged the Mt Kenya region to continue supporting Jubilee party.

READ ALSO: Jubilee MP warns Mt. Kenya against betraying DP Ruto in 2022

However, since Uhuru was sworn into office for his second time, he has not publicly reaffirmed whether or not he would still stand with his DP come 2022 even as a section of Jubilee politicians warned Mt Kenya region against betraying the DP.

The 2022 political equation was complicated by the March 9, 2018, peace agreement that the president signed with Opposition leader Raila Odinga and which some of the Jubilee leaders perceived as a plot to block Ruto from ascending to the top office.

Uhuru at some point attempted to calm down the political tension that started rising in Jubilee following the handshake by making it clear his peace pact with Raila was not about 2022 succession politics.

READ ALSO: Raila Odinga meets retired president Daniel Moi days after famous handshake with Uhuru

Renewed calls for referendum, post-handshake, and public pronouncements by ODM party that Raila will be on the ballot in 2022, further stirred up the Jubilee party politics as leaders clashed on whether or not there should be a referendum, and if so, what the referendum should be about.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

When Uhuru, Ruto and Raila Met at State House - On Tuko TV

Source: Tuko NewspaperWhen news hit the street popular actress and Hot 96 presenter Shix Kapienga was dating a married man, everyone on social media was beyond shocked and disappointed.

However, a few photos of the beauty saying yes to an unknown man made rounds on the internet and now people are completely lost for words.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

READ ALSO: Zari Hassan gets lucky again, expected to host charity event alongside Beyonce's dad

READ ALSO: Mtoto wa Lulu Hassan atolewa nje kwa mara ya kwanza

As TUKO.co.ke was scrolling through Instagram, we came across a photo of an excited man down on his knees as he popped the big question to a smiling Shix.

While reading the comments, we noted some Kenyans could not understand how Shix, who is supposedly in a relationship with MC Jesse pulled a Jacque Maribe and got engaged with another man.

READ ALSO: 13 petty excuses a girl will give if she is not ready for a relationship

Perhaps she was trying to prove birds of a feather truly flock together.

Remember when rumour had it Jacque was dating vocal Director of Digital, Innovations and Diaspora Communications in the office of the President Dennis Itumbi but decided to get engaged to her fiance Jowie? Anyways, that is a story for another day.

So Shix who was accused of being a homewrecker not so long ago was spotted in a yellow bandage skirt completely blown away by her mysterious man's proposal.

Most netizens are hoping it is just a spoiler for an upcoming romantic comedy.

The radio girl has not commented on the issue so maybe it was just an innocent photo shoot or maybe we should cross our fingers and wait for a celebrity wedding.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

Top 3 Celebrities: Love Stories Of David Kamoni, Julie Gichuru and Philip Karanja - On Tuko TV

Source: Tuko.co.ke- The mother is said to have descended on her two children in a fit of rage

- She slit the throats of the two children with a kitchen knife at her home in Baragoi

- Her 2-year-old baby died while her 7-year-old survived and fighting for his life in hospital

- Police have arrested her and plan to present her in court on Monday to be charged

Residents of Kawab Location in Baragio have been marooned in grief and shock after a woman descended on her two kids, killed one of them and inflicted the other with serious injuries.

The woman is said to have committed the heinous crime on Sunday, October 14, where she used a knife to cut the throats of her two children.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens.

READ ALSO: Uhuru alikuwa ananiibia soda akiwa mtoto - dadake Kamaru asema

READ ALSO: DP William Ruto says he is too busy for referendum debate DP William Ruto says he is too busy for referendum debate

Samburu County Commander Alfred Agengo who confirmed the incident, said the suspect has been arrested and will arraigned in court on Monday, October 15. The Standard reported on Sunday, October 14.

The seven year old who survived the attack is receiving medical attention at Samburu County Referral Hospital.

READ ALSO: State House spokesperson Kanze Dena outlines Uhurus Mashujaa Day celebrations in Kakamega

Nanchola Member of County Assembly (MCA) Lawrence Lorienyi, who visited the minor at the hospital condemned the incident and lamented that it was unbelievable for a mother to marshal such an attack against her own children.

The incident comes at a time when reports of parents orchestrating violence including sexual violence against their own children are rife.

On Sunday September 30, TUKO.co.ke, reported an incident where a Kisumu man was arrested for allegedly defiling his daughter repeatedly for two years.

The incident comes at a time when reports of parents orchestrating violence including sexual violence against their own children are on the rise.Photo: UGC

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Moha Jicho Pevu to expose rot in Parliament in new investigative documentary

As a result of the illicit affair, the Class Seven minor is feared to be pregnant with her father's child.

On Tuesday, September 25, Police in Malindi arrested and detained a man believed to have poisoned his child and later tried to kill himself.

Roma Michael, 30, was arrested at the Malindi hospital premises after he recovered from poisoning in a botched attempt to take his own life.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

Ken Okoth Is Fighting For Marijuana Legalization | Tuko TV.

Source: Tuko- Kanze made her first address since she was confirmed from Kakamega County

- She spoke on Sunday where she outlined Mashujaa Day celebrations set for Saturday

- President Uhuru will grace the celebrations at Bukhungu Stadium among other leaders

State House spokesperson Kanze Dena has announced that President Uhuru Kenyatta will grace Mashujaa Mashujaa celebrations set to be convened in Kakamega County on Saturday, October 20.

Speaking in Kakamega on Sunday, October 14, she called on Kenyans to turn-up in their numbers come that day and join other leaders in commemorating country's heroes and heroins.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens.

READ ALSO: Uhuru alikuwa ananiibia soda akiwa mtoto - dadake Kamaru asema

Kanze made her first address from Kakamega County since she was confirmed for State House spokesperson job. Photo: State House Twitter.

Source: Twitter

READ ALSO: Former State House spokesman lands plum job as Kenyan ambassador to United Kingdom

Kanze's address marks her first public communication after Uhuru confirmed her in the job on Friday, October 12.

The former Citizen TV Swahili news anchor has been acting in the same position for three months following her appointment on June 5, 2018.

READ ALSO: Kanze Dena gets promotion barely a month after State House appointment

The celebrations, Kanze said, will be convened at Bukhungu stadium.

The President, she said, was keen on seeing the fete be hosted in all counties noting that Nakuru, Nyeri, Machakos and Meru Counties have already played host.

Among the President's agenda during the celebrations, the State House spokesperson said, would be sugar and maize politics that have been a pain to people of Western Region.

She, however, stated the government had resolved to withhold funding to sugar factories as no remarkable progress had been seen from previous money injected in the ailing industries.

"On the sugar issue, President Kenyatta said the government cannot continue pumping more money to these companies because the money goes to endless pits. The President said the region and the sugar mills need a revival plan that works," read a statement Kanze sent shortly after the address.

Apart from the Mashujaa fete, Kanze announced that Uhuru will host Namibian President Hage Geingob on Friday, October 19. Photo: President Uhuru

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Claims of joining Jubilee baseless - Ford Kenya Secretary General

Apart from the Mashujaa fete, Kanze announced that Uhuru will host Namibian President Hage Geingob on Friday, October 19. He will be in the country for a state visit.

Subsequently, she also took the chance to announce the commencement of Kenya Airways (KQ) direct flights to US which will be flagged by Uhuru on Sunday, October 28.

Two innovative youth, she said, will be given free tickets to fly to New York aboard the maiden flight courtesy of State House and KQ.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

Shosh Cecilia Story Continues: Shosh Cecilia Gets New Teeth | Tuko TV.

Source: Tuko Breaking News LatestNearly two months after welcoming baby number three, TV girl Lulu Hassan has decided to share a snippet of the little girl.

Lulu, who kept the birth of her baby lowkey shared a snippet of her celebration of her baby clocking 40 days on earth.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

READ ALSO: Uhuru alikuwa ananiibia soda akiwa mtoto - dadake Kamaru asema

READ ALSO: Zari Hassan gets lucky again, expected to host charity event alongside Beyonce's dad

The beauty, through an Instagram photo flaunted her flawless beauty as she captured her friend, Kanze Dena rocking her toddler in her arms.

The Citizen TV presenter was filled with gratitude as she thanked her confidants for showing up and supporting her through her motherhood journey.

READ ALSO: American power couple Kanye West and Kim Kardashian spotted in Uganda

"Thank you for being an important part of my story," Lulu wrote.

Lulu unlike most of her colleagues failed to announce when she gave birth to her child and even kept the baby's gender under wraps.

However, one time she slipped up and ended up announcing the arrival of her third born through social media.

Some of Lulu's fans could still not believe she was ever pregnant as they statd the beauty was really good at hiding her baby bump.

To them, celebrities often thrive on flaunting their grown bellies.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

Top 3 Celebrities: Love Stories Of David Kamoni, Julie Gichuru and Philip Karanja - On Tuko

Source: Tuko- Social media was on fire following Kenya's emphatic win over Ethiopia

- Virtually all leaders across the country joined Kenyans in celebration of the win which gave Harambee Stars a solid chance of qualifying for the Afcon finals

- From the president to his DP to ordinary Kenyans, everyone was speaking praise on the Harambee Stars side

Kenyans were on Sunday, October 14 singing the same tune following the thrilling victory over Ethiopia in a crucial Afcon qualifier tie.

Having thumped Ethiopia 3-0, there was no calming Kenyans down as they took to all fronts including social media to celebrate a historic match at the Kasarani stadium.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

READ ALSO: Mtoto wa Lulu Hassan atolewa nje kwa mara ya kwanza

READ ALSO: American rap superstar Kanye West reveals the EPL club he supports in an explicit Instagram post

Despite various arising matters in the country, Kenyans and leaders could afford to temporarily shelve their trials and tribulations to appreciate Harambee Stars.

READ ALSO: James Orengo asks DPP Noordin Haji to probe William Ruto's wealth

From DP Ruto to ODM party leader Raila Odinga who was conspicuously absent from the stadium, everyone was in celebratory mood following the victory.

READ ALSO: Kisumu family demands justice for kin who was clobbered, nails hammered in skull by tycoon

TUKO.co.ke took a look at some of the most explosive congratulatory messages made by leaders and Kenyans alike:

For barrister Miguna Miguna, it was still not good enough for the ousted NRM secretary general as he claimed Ethiopia were a pushover.

READ ALSO: KDF to remain in Somalia as Uhuru rules out withdrawing soldiers from troubled country

The DP might as well start getting his finances together following his hefty promise of KSg 50 million if Harambee Stars managed the enviable feat of making their first AFCON finals appearance since 2004.

READ ALSO: State House spokesperson Kanze Dena outlines Uhurus Mashujaa Day celebrations in Kakamega

It was a nice touch for the national team as leaders who are traditionally not associated with the beautiful game also joined the celebratory wagon.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news

Kenya News Today: Joseph Irungu and Jacque Maribe in court over the murder of Monica Kimani Tuko TV:

Source: Tuko.co.ke- Uhuru said soldiers will only move out after threats are neutralised

- He said the al-Shabaab still pose national, internal security threats

- Uhuru lead KDF soldiers honoring soldiers who died in line of duty

- He also laid a wreath at the monument of fallen servicemen in Gilgil

- Al-Shabaab militants launched an attacked and killed two teachers

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday, October 14, said the government was not going to withdrawal Kenya Defense Forces from Somalia until extreme terrorism was flushed-out from the two countries.

Uhuru made the remarks during the KDF day convened in Gilgil where he led the servicemen in honoring fallen heroes.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens.

READ ALSO: Mtoto wa Lulu Hassan atolewa nje kwa mara ya kwanza

Uhuru made the remarks during the KDF day convened in Gilgil where he led the servicemen in honoring fallen soldiers. Photo: President Uhuru Kenyatta

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: KDF soldiers raid al-Shabaab base in Lamu, kill 10 militants

During the event, the head of state hailed efforts by the soldiers, who he noted selflessly put their lives in line of danger to Kenyans from external attackers.

Kenyans appreciate the role the KDF continues to play in the promotion of peace and security within the region and beyond. Our entry into Somalia in 2011 was informed by the threat that our nation faced then and now," said Uhuru.

READ ALSO: 5 KDF soldiers killed, 6 injured in suspected al-Shabaab attack in Lamu

Uhuru noted that the decision to keep the soldiers in Somalia was informed by transnational security threats that needed more efforts before they were completely neutralised.

"We will continue to maintain our presence in Somalia under AMISOM (African Union Mission to Somalia) until our security objectives and those of the international community are achieved; including the restoration of peace and stability in Somalia, he said.

Our region continues to experience major security challenges emanating from terror networks that emerge and have thrived by taking advantage of the ungoverned spaces on the Horn of Africa. These networks continue to target our people in order to create fear and affect our everyday life, further stated Uhuru.

READ ALSO: Kenya Defence Forces warn hospitals against treating al-Shabaab militants with gunshot wounds

The Presidents's sentiments come hardly a week after suspected al-Shabaab militants raided Arabia Boy Secondary School in Mandera and killed killed two teachers.

In a statement released on Saturday, October 13, Inspector General Joseph Boinnet said intelligence officers had identified a suspect behind the attack and were closing on to him.

"Our operations have established that Hassan Hodey a Somali national from neighboring area of Damasa was behind the heinous act in which two teachers were murdered in Mandera. Security agencies are pursuing the culprit and will not relent till he is brought to justice," stated Boinnet.

Soldiers from KDF on Sunday, October 14, launched both aerial and land pursuits for the suspect believed to be taking cover in a Somalia town.

The President's sentiments come hardly a week after suspected al-Shabaab militants raided Arabia Boys Secondary School in Mandera and killed two teachers. Photo: President Uhuru

Source: Facebook

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

The Struggles of a Kenyan Woman With Beards - Kenya Untold Stories | Tuko TV.

Source: Kenyan Breaking News- The telecommunications giant beat Samsung, Unilever and car maker Toyota

- The second best company is South Africas Naspers which comes at 224 globally

- Ranking was based from employee feedback in 500 listed companies across the world

- Safaricom boasts of having 6,130 employees as at March 2018

Kenya' telecommunication giant Safaricom has been ranked as the best best employers in Africa and and 67th in the world.

According to the Forbes Global 2000: World's Best Employer, the telco emerged dominant in a survey where employees were asked to rate their employers and whether they would recommend friends to work for their employer.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens.

READ ALSO: Mtoto wa Lulu Hassan atolewa nje kwa mara ya kwanza

Kenya' telecommunication giant Safaricom has been ranked as the best best employers in Africa and and 67th in the world. Photo: UGC

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Customer outcry over fast data depletion forces Safaricom to ponder introduction of new plan

Naspers, which is South Africa's broadcasting cable company emerged as second best employer in Africa but ranked 224 at the universal scene.

More than 430,000 global recommendations were analyzed by Statista [an online statistics, market research and business intelligence portal] to create the Worlds Best Employers list. Employees were asked to rate their own employer and the likelihood they would recommend the company to a friend or family member, said Forbes.

READ ALSO: Customer outcry over fast data depletion forces Safaricom to ponder introduction of new plan

Safaricom manged to outshine popular international brands for instance Toyota, Unilever, Visa Dell Technologies, Procter, Colgate and Samsung.

On top the list were Alphabet, Microsoft, Apple, Walt Disney and Amazon who ranked first, second, third, forth and fifth best employers in the world respectively.

All the top five are US headquartered companies.

South Africa's FirstRand ranked third in Africa (432 globally) and in the forth position was South Africa's Sanlam which was listed in the 457 place in the universal arena.

READ ALSO: Ex-employee who invented Safaricom's 'Please Call Me' demands KSh 45 billion in compensation

By June 2018, the survey stated Safaricom had at least 5,434 employees and capped its market value at at KSh 1,119,231,203,509 (KSh 1.12 trillion)

Its sales were capped at KSh 221,848,283,029 (KSh 221.85 billion).

The telco's recognition comes hardly two months after America's Fortune Magazine ranked it 19th on the Change the World list.

The rank placed it as a company that had channeled more resources in mitigating social problems facing communities it operates in.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

Theresa May, British Prime Minister, visits Kenya | Tuko TV.

Source: Tuko.co.keUkraine has the army capable of protecting the state from the aggressor, powerful pressure from outside and the fifth column inside the country.

The combat-capable army is one of the solid factors allowing us to pursue a truly sovereign policy, a policy of independence, to have immunity against strong pressure from outside and defend ourselves against the fifth column inside our country, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said, speaking at the Kherson State Maritime Academy, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Ukrainians pay a high price for defending their European choice but they finally have the army capable of stopping the aggressor, the President noted.

Ukrainian army has localized the conflict and is crucial for returning Donbas to Ukraine and Ukraine to Donbas by political and diplomatic means, Poroshenko added.

Building a strong army is an obligation to future generations of Ukrainians, since it is a key element in building a state, the President of Ukraine summed up.

olPresident of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has recalled that the Defender of Ukraine Day is a holiday both for men and women who protect their homeland.

Tomorrow we will celebrate the Defender of Ukraine Day. It ceased to be a gender-based holiday because 55,000 women now serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said, speaking at the Kherson State Maritime Academy, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The President congratulated all the defenders of Ukraine on the upcoming holiday.

As a reminder, the Defender of Ukraine Day is celebrated on October 14.

olThe organization that deals with cultural projects began to deliberately spread lies and foment hatred.

Hungarian NGO Guttenberg Pal Nepfoiskola is spreading a fake in social networks about the persecution of national minorities in Ukraine.

"Plenty of nations lives together in Ukraine. Government of the country would ostracize the language the language of minority groups. People are afraid of demonstrating in the streets because of the injustice they experienced earlier. That is why I ask you, wherever you live in the world, to light a candle in your window on 25th October 2018 at 19.00 p.m. for letting everyone live together in peace and use the own language in freedom," the NGO published the relevant leaflet in eight languages on Facebook.

The organization that deals with cultural projects (in particular, collects books in the Hungarian language for libraries of Zakarpattia region and organizes festivals), began to deliberately spread lies and foment hatred, according to the news portal Mukachevo.net.

Read alsoKlimkin: Budapest's position on language harms ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine

As UNIAN reported earlier, Hungary has been blocking the holding of meetings of the Ukraine-NATO Commission, claiming the alleged violation of rights of Hungarians living in Ukraine over the provision of the new education law making Ukrainian language the language of instruction in the education process.

In particular, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Peter Szijjarto, demanded that Ukraine amend the law on education and postpone its implementation until 2023, otherwise Budapest will block important meetings for Ukraine at the level of the European Union and NATO.

In addition, after the situation with the secret distribution of Hungarian passports to Ukrainians in Zakarpattia region, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said that Ukraine could expel the Hungarian Consul in Berehove and would continue implementing the pro-Ukrainian policy in the region. In turn, Szijjarto threatened to resort to new measures to hinder the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine.

On October 4, the Hungarian Consul in the town of Berehove was declared persona non grata. He had to leave the territory of Ukraine within the following 72 hours. In a retaliation move, Hungary announced the expulsion of the Ukrainian Consul in Budapest.The Russian Orthodox Church's Synod will take an unambiguous stance on the decisions taken in Istanbul, Volkov said.

Reverend Alexander Volkov, press secretary of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, has said the response of the Russian Orthodox Church's Synod to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople over Ukraine will be appropriate and tough.

"The Holy Synod, which is to be convened in Minsk on Monday, will give an assessment to everything the Patriarchate of Constantinople has done," he told reporters on Saturday during Patriarch Kirill's visit to Belarus, according to Russian news agency TASS.

"In any case, the response will be appropriate and tough. The Synod will take an unambiguous stance on the decisions taken in Istanbul."

Read alsoPoroshenko urges Ukrainians to pray for autocephaly of Ukrainian church

As UNIAN reported earlier, the Kremlin vowed to protect the interests of Orthodox believers in Ukraine "politically and diplomatically," claiming Moscow did not intend to interfere in the "interchurch dialogue."

Dmity Peskov, a press-secretary of the Russian president, made the statement on Friday, commenting on the decision of the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to proceed to granting autocephaly to the Church of Ukraine.

On October 11, following a meeting of the Synod, a decision was announced, stating that the Ecumenical Patriarchate proceeds to granting autocephaly to the Church of Ukraine. In addition, the legal binding of the Synod's letter of 1686 was abolished, thus taking the Kyiv Metropolis from under Moscow's canonical jurisdiction. Also, head of the UOC of the Kyiv Patriarchate Filaret and head of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church Makariy were reinstated in their canonical status.

Head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) Filaret on October 12 urged the hierarchs of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) to prepare for a special unification council.There have been no Ukrainian army casualties in the past day.

Russian-led forces mounted 26 attacks on Ukrainian troops in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, in the last 24 hours.

"No casualties among Ukrainian troops have been reported in the past day. According to intelligence reports, two occupiers were wounded," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation said in an update on Facebook as of 07:00 Kyiv time on October 14, 2018.

Read alsoJFO: Russia-led forces attack Ukraine troops 11 times on Oct 13

Russian occupation forces opened aimed fire from grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms to attack the defenders of the towns of Svitlodarsk and Krasnohorivka, and the villages of Krymske, Vilniy, Katerynivka, Stepne, Troyitske, Novoluhanske, Chermalyk, Pavlopil, Hnutove, Vodiane, Lebedynske, and Shyrokyne.

In addition, the enemy resorted to 120mm mortars to shell the Ukrainian positions near Novoluhanske and Lebedynske, while those near Vilniy, Troyitske, Svitlodarsk and Lebedynske came under fire from 82mm mortars.

Moreover, last night the invaders cynically fired 120mm and 82mm mortars at Chermalyk and Shyrokyne. The shelling was carried out from the territory of the occupied villages of Verkhnioshyrokivske and Sakhanka. The consequences and extent of destruction are now being assessed by the Ukrainian members of the Joint Center for the Control and Coordination (JCCC) of the ceasefire and stabilization in Donbas, as well as OSCE SMM monitors.

"Since Sunday midnight, Russian-led forces have mounted three attacks on the Ukrainian positions near Krymske, Hnutove and Shyrokyne, using grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms. No heavy weapons have been used. One Ukrainian soldier was wounded," 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 11 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas on October 14, with two Ukrainian soldiers reported as wounded in action (WIA).

Read alsoDonbas update: Ukraine reports 26 enemy attacks in past 24 hours

"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.

Russian occupation forces opened aimed fire from grenade launchers of various systems, heavy machine guns and small arms to attack the defenders of the villages of Pisky, Novotroyitske, Bohdanivka, Hnutove, Vodiane, and Lebedynske.

In addition, the Ukrainian fortified positions near Hnutove came under fire from 82mm mortars.

The situation in the zone of the Joint Forces Operation remains under control of Ukrainian troops.(@rukhshanmir)

Fulin Group has offered to set up a vocational university in Pakistan to meet the ever increasing demand of the skilled labour for the projects being completed under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) framework

BEIJING, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Oct, 2018 ) :China's St. Fulin Group has offered to set up a vocational university in Pakistan to meet the ever increasing demand of the skilled labour for the projects being completed under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) framework.

"At present, we are discussing the details with the concerned officials in Pakistan and the embassy of Pakistan in Beijing and hoping for a positive response and cooperation," Scarlet, CPO of St. Fulin Group said.

"China is the best in the vocational education in the world rather even in some areas it is better than Germany and Japan and we are ready to impart quality training to Pakistani students in their country," she told APP in an interview.

While acknowledging that Pakistan has good universities and other educational institutions, she stressed that the country needed more vocational training institutions to fulfill the requirement of the manufacturing sector, adding Pakistan was the country of 200 million people and everyone could not be provided white collar jobs.

Scarlet said that at present China was developing roads and communication infrastructure in Pakistan and there was a high demand for skilled workers for the projects being completed under the CPEC.

She informed that St. Fulin Group established a permanent office in Pakistan was jointly working along with the Chinese education ministry and was affiliated with a number of vocational universities and institutes.

The CPO said in the beginning, a two-member delegation was leaving for Pakistan and later other delegations would also join, adding, "We will have discussions with the concerned Pakistani officials and during the meetings, we will share our experience which China achieved during last 40 years because of its reforms and development strategy." The delegation will have meetings with the officials responsible of setting up industrial parks and visit different universities to show what is happening in China and how Pakistan can learn from China to make it an industrial giant.

She said that her group was also willing to cooperate in water purification and bringing the CNG machinery and equipment into the Pakistani market as technology was vital for the progress and development.

"Our group also intends to donate some training equipment and machinery to Pakistan and is looking forward to a positive response from Pakistani institutions which are interested to receive it," she added.

She said her company would work as a bridge to further promote cooperation between China and Pakistan in logistic, vocational training and cultural communication.(@rukhshanmir)

Sindh Minister for Education Syed Sardar Ali Shah, has set a precedent by getting admission for his only daughter in a Government school of Hyderabad.

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Oct, 2018 ) :Sindh Minister for education Syed Sardar Ali Shah, has set a precedent by getting admission for his only daughter in a Government school of Hyderabad.

In a move to restore the lost confidence in public schools system, Syed Sardar Ali Shah admitted his daughter, Kaif-ul-Wara, in class-IV at Miran Government Girls School Hyderabad, said a statement issued here on Saturday.

Along with his daughter, his two nieces, Umeza and Aliza, daughters of Minister's brother Syed Sartaj Shah admitted in the same Pilot Primary school which is merger unit of Meeran High School at Hyderabad.

Admission forms of the three girls were personally submitted by the Minister Education at the office of the Principal Meeran School.

Talking to media outside the school premises, the Minister said that he had fulfilled what he had promised in the Sindh Assembly.

Replying to a question whether he would issue orders for his department's employees to follow the suit, he said that it is not a matter of"imposition", but of conscience for others to follow.DUBAI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 14th Oct, 2018) The UAE announced, on Sunday, the launch of the 'Federal Manaa' system, which provides a mechanism for consumers to share information on products across the UAE's markets.

Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy and Chairman of the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology, ESMA, launched the system during the GITEX Technology Week 2018 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

The newly launched system can be accessed via a smart application and website, enabling consumers to inform regulators of products deemed unsafe or withdrawn from the market across the Emirates. Prior testing of the new system was conducted by the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council in the nation's capital a few years ago.

Commenting on the launch of Federal Manaa, Al Mansouri said that the introduction of a system that protects consumers and improves the availability of services to members of the public at the federal level serves the country's objectives to ensure quality control on products available in the markets.

Abdullah Al Maeeni, ESMAs Director-General, affirmed that the launch of the system has social, economic and environmental dimensions and benefits. "It will build consumer confidence in the UAE by continuously auditing the quality of products and services," he explained, adding that it also improves the national economy with regards to facilitating the circulation of products conforming to the UAEs standards.(@rukhshanmir)

A delegation led by Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), visited Huawei, a leading global Information and Communications Technology (ICT) company, in Shanghai, China.

SHANGHAI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 13th Oct, 2018) A delegation led by Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), visited Huawei, a leading global Information and Communications Technology (ICT) company, in Shanghai, China.

The visit aimed to enhance mutual relationships and share best practices and experiences in the fields of innovation, disruptive technologies, smart networks, digital transformation, automation, cloud platforms, and artificial intelligence (AI).

Al Tayer was accompanied by Marwan Bin Haidar, Executive Vice President of Innovation and the Future at DEWA; Waleed Salman, Executive Vice President of business Development and Excellence; and Dr. Yousef Al Akraf, Executive Vice President of Business Support and Human Resources at DEWA.

At the Huawei headquarters, Al Tayer and the accompanying delegation met with Guo Ping, Rotating Chairman of Huawei; Jerry Ji, President of Global Energy Sector; Charles Yang, President of middle East Region at Huawei Technologies; Terry He, President of Middle East Enterprise Group; and Li Shi, CEO of Huawei UAE.

In line with the Smart Dubai initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai the happiest and smartest city in the world, Al Tayer signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Guo Ping, to build a partnership that achieves the strategic objectives of both parties; including the co-creation of digital services, co-marketing of digital products in the UAE and around the world, and the co-sharing of the value created from these businesses enabled services.

As per the MoU, a joint research and development team will be established for new initiatives, including the development of an advanced networking infrastructure backbone and access, and of a network self-healing mechanism. It also includes internet of Things (IoT) technology, cloud services that comprise cloud solutions and pre-fab data centre facilities, smart city initiatives, digital services, and AI.

Al Tayer and the accompanying delegation also visited Huawei Connect Worldwide 2018  Huawei's largest exhibition in the global ICT ecosystem that attracts more than 20,000 leading ICT professionals from more than 120 countries annually.

During the tour, Al Tayer was briefed on Huaweis innovative cloud solutions, ICT infrastructure, and the great potential it provides for system integration and resource security.(@FahadShabbir)

ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 14th Oct, 2018) Tawazun Economic Council hosted the 8th Defense Contractors Council workshop on Sunday to discuss industrial partnerships in the UAE and future collaboration opportunities.

Matar Ali Al Romaithi, Chief Economic Development Officer of Tawazun Economic Council, attended the workshop along with senior representatives from international defence companies.

In his keynote address, Al Romaithi welcomed the participants and underscored the myriad opportunities the UAE offers to business and industrial partners.

"Set to celebrate 48 years of the union, the UAE is steadily striving to achieve its future goals for sustainable and comprehensive development. Thanks to the wise leaderships vision, the UAE has continued on the course of diversification and progress and achieved new milestones," Al Romaithi said.

He underlined the remarkable growth in the non-hydrocarbon sector which is expected to pick up from two percent in 2017, to five percent in 2021, while its contribution to the GDP is set to increase 80 percent.

He stated that the council is currently developing new initiatives that will add value to the economic development and consolidate its successful, enduring and mutually beneficial partnerships, particularly in the areas of knowledge, technology and expertise transfer, as well as capacity building.

Al Romaithi also referred to the Tawazun Economic Programme, or the UAE offset programmes successes, not only in bringing economic benefits to the UAE but also in contributing to the welfare of the community through unique initiatives. These include privatisation of water and electricity, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, SMEs, Public Private Partnership, PPP, healthcare third-party insurance, IPOs, etc.

"Over the past 25 years, the council enabled the creation of more than 90 companies and investment vehicles, covering 11 sectors, including defence manufacturing," he said.

Al Romaithi emphasised the importance of the meeting in highlighting the opportunities for collaboration and exchange of expertise, especially in human and technology development domains.

"We thank the Defense Contractors Council for bringing to light the potential for collaboration among the local and international content of the defence programme in the UAE. With events such as this, we encourage our industry members to participate and learn about the new environment and players in our ecosystem," he added.

The meeting saw a presentation by Alan Davis, Chief Executive Officer of Raytheon Emirates, who shone a light on future opportunities ahead to build a new legacy of industrial partnerships for a sovereign capability that will develop local national talent and contribute to the Emirates diverse knowledge-based economy.

Building on Raytheons 30 plus years in the UAE, Davis reflected on taking that relationship to the next level by starting the companys newest wholly owned subsidiary in the UAE.

Anna-Karin Rosen, Chief Executive Officer of SAAB middle East, made the second presentation about the companys operations in the UAE.

"The UAE is one of Saabs key markets. This was manifested during 2017 as Saab established its African and Middle Eastern regional headquarters in Abu Dhabi and also conducted the launch of a development and production centre, Saab Ltd, in Tawazun Industrial Park, Abu Dhabi. This step is also well in line with Saabs strategy to increase international presence in order to enhance sales and achieve profitable growth," Rosen said.

A workshop was organised on the sidelines of the meeting on the economic impact of partnerships from the perspectives of the foreign defence contractors operating in the UAE.(@rukhshanmir)

Prospects of propelling cooperation between UAE and Bahrain were the main topic of discussion between Abdullah bin Faisal bin Jabr Al Dossari, Assistant Foreign Minister of Bahrain, and Sheikh Sultan bin Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Ambassador to the Kingdom.

MANAMA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 15th Oct, 2018) Prospects of propelling cooperation between UAE and Bahrain were the main topic of discussion between Abdullah bin Faisal bin Jabr Al Dossari, Assistant Foreign Minister of Bahrain, and Sheikh Sultan bin Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Ambassador to the Kingdom.

Al Dosari underlined the importance of enhancing current coordination between the two brotherly countries toward all issues of mutual interest.

The UAE ambassador praised the UAE-Bahrain relations as a model to be copied for brotherly and solid ties between world countries.

He extended his sincere congratulations on Bahrain's win of the Human Rights Council's membership from 2019 through 2021, wishing the Kingdom further progress and prosperity.ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 14th Oct, 2018) Over seven million Yemeni citizens across the Red Sea Coast region will benefit from the infrastructure reconstruction projects undertaken by the Emirates Red Crescent, ERC.

The projects valued AED107 million are being implemented as per the directives of the His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and the supervision and follow-up by H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler's Representative in Al Dhafra Region and Chairman of the ERC.

The announcement came during a press conference at the ERC's headquarters in Abu Dhabi, where Authority representatives unveiled project plans to be undertaken, complementing the UAE's foreign aid policy in general, and Yemen in particular.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed said that the UAE continues to enhance its development and reconstruction efforts in Yemen's liberated governorates, as per the directives of the UAE leadership. He noted that the UAE aid authority will spare no effort to provide all that is necessary to reduce hardships inflicted on Yemen's citizens, and will continue contributing towards the restoration and refurbishment of critical infrastructure to improve the quality of life for individuals across the country's liberated governorates.

"We have had a clear vision to support Yemen's citizens across a number of relief and development sectors. Our aid policy has been carefully placed to keep pace with developments across the country, allowing us to deal with them as efficiently and effectively as possible," His Highness added.

Sheikh Hamdan reiterated that the ERC continues its efforts to provide necessary humanitarian relief and development assistance, to ensure the security and stability of residents, as well as to help internally displaced persons to return to their homes safely.

Commenting on the projects that the ERC will operate in the Red Sea Coast, Dr. Mohammed Ateeq Al Falahi, ERC Secretary-General, said that the UAE aid authority has increased its efforts and carefully studied the needs and requirements of Yemeni citizens to realise its infrastructure reconstruction efforts in health, education, utilities, clean energy, and roadworks.

So far, the ERC has assisted in the reconstruction of 143 kms road from Bab al-Mandab to Hodeidah, the reconstruction and refurbishment of some 43 schools allowing 28,800 students to continue their studies, as well as the distribution of school bags and the provision of computers benefiting 15,500 students. The UAE aid authority has also refurbished 13 medical centre and maternity clinics, benefitting over one million people. It has provided solar-powered electricity to thousands of households, as well as built 58 artesian wells, providing access to potable water to 165,000 individuals.

Other projects that the ERC has undertaken include capacity-building of Yemen's citizens, including the redevelopment of fishing ports to assist fishermen, as well as small-scale projects allowing indigent families to be able to support themselves financially. Some 4,320,000 individuals have benefited from the opening of 24 bakeries across the Red Sea Coast region.Strategic alliances between Chinese and foreign companies have given Chinese companies the essential impetus to modernize and, consequently, to improve their performance, a milestone in China's economic development.





Strategic alliances as essential tool of expansion





One of the most important milestones in the internationalization of Chinese companies started in the late 1980s, opening a new era in China's economic development. Of key importance were two main strategic alliances generally known as OEM (original equipment manufacturer) and ODM (original design manufacturer).





These two forms of strategic cooperation proved to be a veritable engine for the growth of many Chinese companies, providing the necessary basis for their technological development. In fact, the implementation and intensification of such strategic cooperation was in the best interests of both sides. Thus, Chinese companies offering low labor and production costs, could be linked with capital-rich foreign companies, which, in addition to professional expertise, also had an established brand name they could provide. Besides, thanks to low manufacturing costs, Chinese producers were able to keep purchase prices for foreign customers to such a minimum level that the latter would not be able to resist the temptation of such cost-minimizing logic  with both positive and negative consequences for the country.

The main reason for the initial success of both OEM and ODM business models was that the foreign client was not necessarily being asked to make available its own factory production if any, but could leave the entire manufacturing process to the OEM / ODM partner in China. Thus, this type of cooperation resulted in a relatively large discharge for the client in terms of investment and in-house management operations, as the Chinese manufacturers themselves handled many necessary production operations.

While the original equipment manufacturer carried out the order in the form predefined by the client, and waived the right to make any corrections or modifications to the product by selling its product under the clients brand name, a company name identifying the original manufacturer hardly appeared anywhere. Meanwhile, the original design manufacturer referred to a company turning out products commissioned by other companies that were partly self-developed, but still ultimately sold under the brand name of a customer.

The consequences of strategic alliances

As already mentioned, it can be concluded that OEM and ODM were in the interests of both cooperating partners. While Western clients benefited from cost-effective purchases, and thus increased their own profits, the Chinese producers gained valuable knowledge of various business processes. Thanks to strategic alliances, the latter were able to accumulate and to analyze business processes and, in some cases, make their own technological achievements. Besides, the emergence of OEM business models represented an important step in the positioning of Chinese companies on the international stage, supporting the Chinese government to be internationally more active than it had been in previous decades. This should be explained in more detail with reference to the following embodiment.

The establishment of the OEM / ODM model allowed many Chinese companies, to no longer have to largely design their business activities according to domestic needs, but would provide their own production capacity to meet foreign demand by specializing primarily in the production of various goods sold abroad. Those companies helped to establish a sales-based relationship between Chinese and foreign economic operators, while at the same time creating a reciprocal dependency between the business parties in and outside China. This resulted in a quantitative increase of inter-state interactions, while also contributing to the development of financial and legal platforms that barely existed before, or were poorly developed. The need for inter-state cooperation thus became unavoidable, as interdependency inevitably leads to the formation of supranational institutions or integration into already existing supra-national organizations. Joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 is just one example of the consequences described above.

However, the fast-economic development that was thus achieved brought not only positive aspects to China, but also some of the most dangerous environmental devastation caused by a production industry in human history. The aforementioned cost-minimizing logic led both the foreign producers and the local Chinese manufacturers into the temptation to save cost at any price without considering the potential risk of such an irresponsible activity. On one side, there were the foreign companies who were glad to receive goods at a very competitive prices, so they could maximize their own profits. On other side, there were local producers keen to receive more orders and consequently to increase the volume income. However, to keep production costs to the minimum was only possible by cutting expenditure in areas that seemed, on the surface, less relevant than economic growth  work place safety, workers salary, and environmental protection. While the buyers pushed the producers to sell the goods for as little as possible, the latter did not have a choice other than to minimize operational costs by ignoring the international standards required for the foreign companies. The consequence of this was a disaster for everyone involved. Buyers began complaining about the average quality of goods, the producers had to accept poor working conditions for own workers without paying necessary attention to certain standards, and the environment was exposed to massive pollution. Thus, financial growth suddenly revealed another face that apparently was not pretty.

However, despite all the challenges of the last three decades, it can be stated that many Chinese companies became familiar with the numerous peculiarities of individual foreign markets and were able to start following specific technical standard compliances, so that the production of high-quality goods was no longer a problem. The accumulated experience during the OEM phase, along with the accumulation of the necessary equity, finally enabled many Chinese companies to establish their own company name in and outside the country.

Dr. Konstantin Schamber is an entrepreneur, expert in collaboration between China, Central Asia and Europe, and visiting lecturer at several business schools. He is managing director of the center for strategic intercultural communication GmbH in Germany and founder of the Business Innovation Congress.HYDERABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Oct, 2018 ) :A student of class 4 was axed to death in grisly incident of killing in a village here on Sunday.

According to Paban police station, the incident happened in village Shah Ali Mari.

The police said 12 years old Vaqash Kolhi was allegedly killed by a vegetable cart vendor, Bheeko Kolhi, for whom the slain boy worked after school.

The police told that the boy returned home from school on Saturday and did not go to his daily-wage job.

The infuriated vendor Kolhi reached out to the boy's home, called him outside the home and took him to an agricultural field where he was axed to death.

According to the police, the boy's cries were heard by the residents and Vaqash's mother was first to reach the place of incident.

The police said the suspect assault the boy's mother Radhan Kolhi before trying to escape but he was caught by the local people who handed him over to the police.

The police took the dead body to Liaquat University Hospital for postmortem and later handed it over to the bereaved family for burial.

The incident's FIR has been lodged at Paban police station and the suspect has been remanded to the police custody by a judicial magistrate.(@FahadShabbir)

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Oct, 2018 ) :The Punjab health department on Saturday sacked four nurses of the LHG on bogus documents.

Director General Nursing Punjab Kauser Parveen said, in a statement issued here, that there was no room for such fraud in the field of medical. She added that the Pakistan Nursing Council was being approached to cancel the registration of these nurses.

Kauser Parveen said that further action was also being taken to get salaries and benefits reimbursed from these nurses as per rules and regulations.

These nurses got medical training from Jinnah Hospital, Sir Ganga Ram and Lady Aitchison Hospital of Lahore and Civil Hospital Tatha, Karachi after which they got appointment through Punjab Public Service Commission in Grade 16 and were posted in the Lahore General Hospital (LGH).

As per the government policy, the administration of Lahore General Hospital got verified the documents of all employees from their concerned educational boards, following which documents of the nurses, including Saadia Rasheed, Makhmoor Tareef from Nursing school of Jinnah Hospital, Zahida Parveen of Ganga Ram Hospital, Lady Aitchison and Asma Javed from CivilHospital Tatha Karachi, were found bogus.RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Oct, 2018 ) :Solid steps would be taken for the development of Galiyat, removal of encroachments, conservation of water resources and provision of more facilities to the tourists visiting the area from various parts of the country, newly appointed Director General Galiyat Development Authority (GDA) Raza Ali Habib said on Sunday.

Talking to APP, he said new proposals were being prepared for promoting tourism, improvement of basic infrastructure of Galiyat including construction of new roads particularly in far-flung areas with an aim to provide better facilities to the local residents and tourists.

He informed that all out efforts would be made to address long standing issue of supply of water for different areas of Galiyat.

New water supply schemes would be launched, he added.

Raza Ali said, the GDA was a profitable organization and the department had succeeded to recover Rs 210 million out of Rs 970 million outstanding dues from the defaulters.

He expressed the hope that nearly Rs 200 million would also be recovered from the defaulters within current fiscal year.

To a question, he informed that efforts would be made to achieve Rs 300 million revenue target fixed for current fiscal year.

He said, proposals had been prepared to achieve several other targets for the development of the area.

To another question about Ayubia Chairlift the DG said it was a unique project in its kind when it was launched due to which some technical issues were faced but now the homework had been completed.

He said, with the start of new season, the GDA would decide that whether the Chairlift project should be run by the department or given to private sector.

He further informed that GDA would make efforts to purchase latest machinery sothat during snowfall season, the roads of the area could be cleared withinshortest possible time frame.(@rukhshanmir)

Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar on Saturday said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government has launched an indiscriminate anti-encroachment campaign across the Punjab.

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Oct, 2018 ) :Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar on Saturday said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government has launched an indiscriminate anti-encroachment campaign across the Punjab.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony of 'Clean and Green Pakistan' programme at Town Hall here, he said that strict action was being taken against encroachers without considering their political affiliation.

He said that Clean and Green Pakistan programme was not related to a single political party, but a collective programme of the people of Pakistan and all political parties of the country.

The governor said that the PTI government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, would make Pakistan clean and green.

Regarding media for being the most effective forum in creating positive image of the country, Ch Sarwar said that the media should provide maximum coverage to highlight and promote the development measures, taken by the government for welfare of people.

He also appealed to the media to highlight Prime Minister's Clean and Green Pakistan campaign.

Earlier, the governor launched the campaign by planting a sapling and taking part in cleaning of the Town Hall.

Addressing students, the governor urged them to spearhead the movement as they hold the key to the future of Pakistan and said that 10 billion trees would be planted across the country within the next five years to reduce the effects of climate change. He said that water treatment plants would also be set up at rivers in the coming years to purify the water.

He also stressed the need for collective efforts to make Clean and Green Pakistan campaign a success and bring about improvement, development and progress in the country.

Punjab Chief Secretary Yusuf Naseem Khokhar, Lahore Mayor Mubashir Javed, wife of Punjab governor Parveen Sarwar, Secretary Local Government, students from Lady Maclagan school and others were present.HYDERABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Oct, 2018 ) :The 'International Day of Rural Women' will be observed across the world including Pakistan on October 15 to laud the women role in supporting their communities.

This year's theme is "Sustainable infrastructure, services and social protection for gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls." Talking to APP, Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf leader and civil society activist Ms Anessa Waliaullah underlined the need of elimination of gender discrimination as well as atrocities and social injustice with women. The country could not move the right direction of progress and prosperity unless the participation of the fifty percent population, she added.

Ms. Waliaullah said women consists the fifty percent population of the country and it is the dynamic leadership of Imran Khan which created awareness among the women and now they are ready to play their due role for the progress and prosperity of the country. The PTI has made effective plans for the women development in the country, she said and added that now the skilled women would have no issue in finding jobs in every field of life.

She called upon the women representatives to play their vital role in the improvement of socio economic condition of the fifty percent population both in urban and rural parts of the country.

Sindhi writer and human right activist and Professor Ammar Sindhu called upon all the organizations working for betterment of women to bridge the gap in between urban and rural women to bring all women into the mainstream and make them equal participants in the society.

Amar Sindhu said that traditionally, women day is being celebrated in all big cities, leaving the rural women as unaware about their rights and responsibilities.

Social worker & Child Rights Defender Social Activist Ms. Kumari Pushpa said that traditionally women day were being celebrated in all big cities, leaving the rural women as unaware about their rights and responsibilities.

Coordinator Aurat Foundation & Associate professor at University of Sindh Arfana Mallah said the NGOs and opinion leaders, working for betterment of the women should work more for the girls' education and arrange informative programs special at rural areas.

She said that encouragement of women industrial homes, vocational training centers for women were the steps of the district government to make them enable to earn their livelihood.

Ms. Mallah said that due to lack of awareness, the women are unable to know about their rights and in this direction a comprehensive campaign should be launched so that the women could achieve their guaranteed Rights.

Incharge, Women Development Department (WDD) Syeda Qurat Shah share her views that rural women play a major role in running the house affairs even they had to go into the bushes and collect firewood in the remote areas where there is neither gas nor electricity. The women are still facing numerous challenges in their everyday life, she added.

She said that the main purpose of celebrating the day is to ensure efforts for the promotion of constitutional protection to women.

Different Governmental & Non Governmental Organizations & groups are conducting different seminars and conferences to highlight the struggles of rural women.ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Oct, 2018 ) :Parliamentary Secretary for Railways Farrukh Habib said that Pakistan Railways (PR) would be established on modern line by ensuring compliance with all international standards to make it self-sufficient.

Talking to the media here at PR Headquarters, he said that the government would focus on actual initiatives and Pakistan Railways would be brought at par with railway system of neighbouring and European countries.

To a question, he said that the fiscal deficit, inherited from the previous regime, was one of the major challenges being faced by the present government, adding that PR was being provided with Rs 37 billion subsidy by the government to meet its financial requirements.

Parliamentary Secretary mentioned that they were exploring the ways and means to reduce the PR fiscal deficit and enhance its revenue targets especially the freight side, having immense potential of growth.

He said that PR was also set to install Wi Fi internet in trains to facilitate passengers, adding that as per Prime Minister's vision, the security and safety of the passengers was most important, for which the PR Postal Company was further improving the insurance system and railways' regular passengers would have more attractive packages.

Furrukh Habib continued that like PIA, the PR was also putting in place a system for train passengers so as to provide them with online TNR (Ticket Number for Reservation), and they would not have to go to PR reservation offices and get their rail ticket reserved at their homes instead.

To another question, he said that it was government's priority to develop IT (Information Technology) related plan of Pakistan Railways speedily and effectively, besides putting in place best financial system and ensuring safety of the passengers. Track and signaling system of railways would also be improved. Pakistan Railways was also planning to generate enhanced revenues from its commercial lands, he mentioned and opined that increased resources would also help better care and welfare of the railways employees.

He said that past governments had never given that much importance to Pakistan Railways as it had deserved, asserting that railway system was a strategic asset of Pakistan.ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Oct, 2018 ) :Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul Wazir has said that a solid waste management system would be set up on Tehsil and district level across the country.

In an exclusive talk, the Minister told APP that solid waste would be recycled and reused for producing energy in second phase of solid waste management system.

The Minister said that a task force and committees would also be established for the implementation of Clean and Green Pakistan project.

She said that government would make efforts to make Pakistan clean and green through its massive campaign across the country.

The Minister said that government would continue efforts to achieve the set target of ten billion trees in the country, adding that in this regard government would involve students, youth.

She said that efforts would also be made to reduce misuse of water and make it save from pollution.

She said that a massive campaign would be initiated to create awareness about the hazards of water pollution and its misuse.

The Minister said that the ministry of Climate Change would involve students, youth ambassadors and religious leaders to create awareness.

Zartaj Gul Wazir said that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government will fulfill its promise of eradicating corruption and money laundering from the country. She said that government also retrieved thousands of kanal government land from the encroachers. She said that the initiative is not against any specific community butagainst the land mafias.

She also expressed hope that special train or Mianwali Express would be extended to Dera Ghazi Khan railway stations to facilitate the people with modest transport system.SIALKOT, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Oct, 2018 ) ::A woman and her two minor sons were killed in Moga village, Zafarwal, near here on Sunday.

According to police, Fouzia Bibi, 32, and her sons- Ali Raza, 6, and Faizan, 10, were sleeping at their home when some unidentified accused shot them dead.

On information, the police reached the spot and started investigation besides shifting the bodies to a local hospital for autopsy.MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th October, 2018) At least 23 security forces personnel were killed in Afghanistan in three clashes with Taliban militants overnight into Sunday, local media reported citing sources.

According to TOLOnews broadcaster, Taliban militants attacked seven security check posts in the western province of Farah, killing at least 15 servicemen and capturing 10 other security force members.

Another two incidents took place in southern province of Zabul, where at least eight police officers were killed in clashes with Taliban militants, who also suffered losses.

Afghanistan has been struggling to achieve stability for years as central authorities have been fighting Taliban radical movement and a number of terrorist organizations, including the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia) that are attempting to gain a foothold in the country. According to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), nearly 2,800 civilians were killed and over 5,200 sustained injuries in military action in Afghanistan in the period from January to September 2018.Rome, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Oct, 2018 ) :Italy's child welfare tsar on Sunday urged a town in the country's north to rethink a controversial policy targeting migrants which has seen the children of foreign parents segregated at school.

The far-right mayor of Lodi, Sara Casanova, is behind a recent council resolution obliging foreign families to declare their assets not only in Italy but also in their home country -- an impossible task for many.

Those who fail to do so are automatically charged the highest quota for hot school lunches. Children whose parents cannot afford to pay and who bring homemade sandwiches instead are forced to eat separately from their classmates.

"All children must immediately be readmitted to the canteen. It's unthinkable to force young children to eat alone, cut off from their classmates, because their parents cannot pay," children's tzar Filomena Albano told La Repubblica daily.

Some 300 children are affected by the policy, which prevents them from using the school bus as well.

The policy has sparked outrage in Italy, with critics saying it asks the impossible of those who fled their homes to seek asylum in Europe, or are unable to get the necessary documents from crisis-hit countries or despotic regimes.

"Children cannot pay the price," said Albano, insisting that excluding youngsters from the canteen was a breach of their human rights.

She suggested consulates in Italy could take on the task of requesting the necessary documents, giving foreign countries 70 days to reply, after which the fees owed should be calculated based on a family's Italian assets alone.

Child protection associations have begun collecting donations to help the affected families.

"What's happening is inhuman," said former centre-left prime minister Matteo Renzi.

But deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini, who heads the far-right League party, defended his mayor, saying the policy would catch those cheating the system.

The fact that "some who could pay think they don't have to is an insult to parents Italian and foreign alike, who pay what they should," he said.

Salvini, whose party is a member of the coalition government, has sparked anger among rights associations in recent days for his call for "ethnic" shops to be closed after 1900 GMT, and his decision to close down a popular migrant reception programme. Flash

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday called on China and Tajikistan to tap cooperation potential and explore new forms of cooperation so as to better achieve win-win cooperation.

Li's remarks came as he met with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon here in the Tajik capital.

The traditional friendship between China and Tajikistan is deep, said the premier, adding that the two countries have enjoyed high-level political mutual trust, always respected and supported each other and achieved fruitful results from pragmatic cooperation. The development prospects of bilateral relations and their cooperation are broad.

"China is willing to continue to work with Tajikistan to lift their comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level," said Li.

Noting that China and Tajikistan are highly complementary in economy, Li called for joint efforts to further cooperation to better achieve win-win results in cooperation.

China supports capable Chinese enterprises in investing and starting business in Tajikistan and hopes that Tajikistan create more favorable business environment, facilitate customs clearance and improve transportation, Li said, adding that China welcomes high-quality agricultural produce of Tajikistan into Chinese market.

China stands ready to work with Tajikistan and other countries in the region to intensify security and anti-terror cooperation so as to safeguard regional peace and stability, he said.

Rahmon said Li's visit greatly boosted Tajikistan-China ties and cooperation. Tajikistan attaches great importance to the relations with China and will firmly cooperate with China in various fields, so as to deepen the two countries' comprehensive strategic partnership.

Tajikistan appreciates China's support and assistance to its economic and social development and is willing to enhance cooperation with China in areas of transportation, agriculture, energy and infrastructure construction, expand people-to-people exchanges, strengthen communication and coordination in regional affairs as well as anti-terror and law enforcement cooperation, said Rahmon.

Li arrived in the central Asian country on Thursday for an annual meeting of heads of government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states and an official visit.

This is his first visit to Tajikistan. After Tajikistan, he will head for the Netherlands to continue his Eurasian trip which will also bring him to Belgium.(@FahadShabbir)

BEIJING, Oct. 14 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Oct, 2018 ) :China plans to launch its first satellite to test the technologies of the space-based gravitational wave detection program "Tianqin" by the end of 2019.

The program Tianqin, meaning "harp in sky," was initiated by Sun Yat-sen University in south China's Guangdong Province in 2015. It will consist of three satellites forming an equilateral triangle around the earth.

"It's like a harp in space. If the gravitational waves come, the 'harp's strings" will be plucked," said Luo Jun, president of the Sun Yat-sen University and an academician of the Chinese academy of Sciences, at a conference held recently in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province.

The detection will be based on high-precision laser interferometry technology to measure the changes of the distances and locations of the three satellites, according to Luo.

Gravitational waves are "ripples" in the fabric of space-time caused by some of the most violent and energetic processes in the universe.

Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves in 1916 in his general theory of relativity.

The first-ever discovery of gravitational waves by the American Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), announced in February 2016, has encouraged scientists worldwide to accelerate their research.

Different from LIGO, the space-based probes will be used to detect gravitational waves at much lower frequencies, which are generated by the merging of massive or super massive black holes, scientists say.

The European Space Agency has also launched a space-based gravitational wave detection program, the "Laser Interferometer Space Antenna" project.

Luo admitted that although China had achieved some breakthrough results in the detection technology, there was still a huge gap to realize the space-based detection of gravitational waves.

Laser-ranging is one of the necessary technologies for detection. China accomplished its first successful laser-ranging between earth and the moon in January this year.

The relay satellite of China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe, launched in May this year, carries a reflector developed by the Sun Yat-sen University, and is expected to extend laser-ranging to a record distance of 460,000 km in 2019.

Scientists from Germany, Italy and Russia have expressed their willingness to cooperate with China in gravitational wave detection.(@FahadShabbir)

Guatemala City, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Oct, 2018 ) :The eruption of Guatemala's Fuego volcano ended Saturday, an official source said, with locals escaping a repeat of June's eruption that killed 190.

However, mild to moderate explosions sent smoke swirling up to 940 meters above the crater, while a lava flow measuring 1,200 meters continued.

"All of this activity is expected to disappear in the coming hours," said a bulletin from Guatemala's government agency for seismology (Insivumeh), without ruling out that it could pick up again in coming days.

The latest eruption began in the early hours of Friday, with 62 people evacuated and a highway near the 3,763 meter volcano, 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Guatemala City, closed.

Guatemala's disaster management agency CONRED said two other volcanoes are also being monitored.

The Pacaya volcano, located 20 kilometers south of the capital, and the Santiaguito volcano, 117 kilometers west of Guatemala City, have both showed increased activity.

A powerful June 3 eruption of the Fuego volcano -- located 35 kilometers southwest of the capital -- rained rocks, ash and toxic gases on several villages and left 190 people dead and 235 missing.(@rukhshanmir)

BAGHDAD (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th October, 2018) Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Jaafari has arrived in Damascus far talks with the Syrian leadership, including President Bashar Assad, Iraqi Foreign Ministry's spokesman Ahmed Mahgoub told Sputnik.

"The foreign minister will hold a meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad and hold talks with high-ranking officials," Mahgoub said.

After over seven years of fighting, Damascus has finally regained control over most of the country's territories that were previously seized by terrorist groups. The Syrian government is now focused on reconstructing the infrastructure to welcome Syrian refugees who have fled the war and currently reside abroad.Luxembourg, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Oct, 2018 ) :Luxembourg's liberal premier Xavier Bettel will meet the country's Grand Duke on Monday to discuss whether he can maintain his coalition after an inconclusive legislative election.

As expected, the centre-right CSV beat Bettel's DP by 28 percent to 17, according to the first provisional results, with the socialist LSAP now in third place with 16 percent.

But the CSV was the main force after the previous 2013 election too, and after that Bettel managed to form a ruling coalition with support from the left and the Greens.

The main parties remained on top Sunday, but smaller outfits made notable gains.

The Greens advanced strongly to 15 percent, the Pirate Party doubled its score, and the populist right ADR increased its share to nine percent.

The small Grand Duchy has an electorate of just 256,000 choosing 60 deputies, and Monday's royal meeting will decide whether Bettel is again tasked with building a coalition.(@FahadShabbir)

The decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople to recognize an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church is a political move that will only sow discord in the country, two metropolitan bishop from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate said on Saturday.

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th October, 2018) The decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople to recognize an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church is a political move that will only sow discord in the country, two metropolitan bishop from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate said on Saturday.

On Thursday, the Synod of the Constantinople Patriarchate announced that it would proceed to the granting independence to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, which is currently split into three major churches the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) of Moscow Patriarchate, the non-canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kiev Patriarchate (UOC-KP), which was created after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the so-called Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

"In this case, the Constantinople Patriarchate was used as a tool in a big political game that aims to sabotage peace in Ukraine," Horlivka and Sloviansk Metropolitan Mitrofan said in a statement, as quoted by the UOC outreach department.

He added that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko made it his goal to sever his country's "spiritual link" with Russia, and warned that the Ukrainian government would continue to interfere with religious rites of its people.

Metropolitan Luka, the head of Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate in the Zaporizhia province, accused the Patriarchate of Constantinople of undermining the canon, the code of church laws.

"This openly hostile act by the Constantinople Patriarchate's Synod is a threat to the religious unity and... undermines the canonical base of our relations created by the Holy Fathers," he said, as quoted by the UOC outreach department.

Metropolitan Luka added that the Eastern Orthodox Church in Istanbul had acted arrogantly in its decision to interfere in other churches' affairs. He added the Synod's ruling created more controversy than there was before its historical meeting.

The synod's decision has been welcomed by Poroshenko, who looks to establish a single independent church in the country.

The Russian Orthodox Church called the synod's decision the "legalization of schism," saying that it would have catastrophic consequences and would affect millions of Christians in Ukraine and other countries. The Moscow-affiliated Ukrainian Orthodox Church said that the synod's decision was a hostile act, interfering with the Ukrainian church's affairs, and threatened the Constantinople patriarch with anathema.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Managua, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Oct, 2018 ) :Some 20 protesters were arrested Sunday when Nicaraguan police swooped in to break up a meeting of demonstrators gathering for a protest march against the government of President Daniel Ortega.

Police wielded clubs and hurled stun grenades to break up the demonstrators gathering at a shopping mall parking lot, beating men, women and even some elderly people.

Those arrested were beaten and dragged down the street to be later loaded onto police patrol vehicles.

Some reporters were also beaten and briefly detained, local independent reporters said.

"They respect no one, not even older people or children," said Azhalea Solis, head of the Civic Alliance, an umbrella group that represents business people, students and social groups.

Police had earlier announced that they would not allow any unauthorized demonstrations.

Hundreds of anti-riot police officers were deployed early in the day to key points of the capital Managua as well as to the highway to the restive city of Masaya.

Government supporters took over city roundabouts where protesters had planned to gather.

Anti-government demonstrations began on April 18, initially protesting changes in the social security system.

Since then the demonstrations have grown in size and the protestors are calling for the resignation of Ortega and his wife and vice president Rosario Murillo.MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th October, 2018) More than 100 refugees, including over 50 children, have returned to Syria from Lebanon over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Refugee Reception, Distribution and Settlement said on Sunday.

"Over the past day, in total 109 people (32 women and 54 children) left Lebanon for Syria via the Jaydet-Yabus and Zemrani CPs [checkpoints]," the center said in its daily bulletin.

A total of 26 internally displaced Syrians returned to their homes in Eastern Ghouta in the province of Damascus over the period.

According to the bulletin, the Russian side carried out two humanitarian operations in the provinces of Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor, with 3.9 tonnes of food sets distributed to local residents.

Moreover, the Russian Chechen Republic's Akhmad Kadyrov Foundation provided a tonne of bread, school uniform and writing implements to people in Aleppo. 

The center added that a total of 34 explosive devices, including seven improvised ones, were defused over the period.

After over seven years of fighting, Damascus has finally regained control over most of the country's territories that were previously seized by terrorist groups. The Syrian government is now focused on reconstructing the infrastructure to welcome Syrian refugees who have fled the war and currently reside abroad. Russia is providing humanitarian aid to civilians and acts as one of the guarantors of the ceasefire.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th October, 2018) Two Belgian police officers were shot overnight in the eastern Belgian province of Liege, the federal police and officials said on Sunday.

"We wish a speedy recovery to two our colleagues from the Vesdre department who were hurt in a shooting last night," Federal Police tweeted.

Prime Minister Charles Michele and Interior Minister Jan Jambon confirmed this and expressed their support to the officers, their families and friends.

Belgium's RTBF broadcaster said the officers were chasing a suspicious car near the village of Tiege when men inside opened fire on them. A manhunt is underway.BAGHDAD (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th October, 2018) Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Jaafari has arrived in Damascus far talks with the Syrian leadership, including President Bashar Assad, Iraqi Foreign Ministry's spokesman Ahmed Mahgoub told Sputnik.

"The foreign minister will hold a meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad and hold talks with high-ranking officials," Mahgoub said.

According to the Syrian Foreign Ministry, the visit will last for three days.

"The minister will meet with senior Syrian officials and discuss ways to strengthen bilateral relations, as well as discuss regional and international issues of mutual interest," the ministry's press service said.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, accompanied by a number of ministerial officials and Iraqi Ambassador to Damascus, greeted Jaafari at the airport.

After over seven years of fighting, Damascus has finally regained control over most of the country's territories that were previously seized by terrorist groups. The Syrian government is now focused on reconstructing the infrastructure to welcome Syrian refugees who have fled the war and currently reside abroad.No therapy and surveillance only

Systemic therapies:

Non-systemic therapies  stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for molecular staged oligometastatic disease?

Toronto, Ontario (UroToday.com) Oliver Sartor argues the state of non-metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (nmCRPC) does not even really exist, and there are a number of reasons for that. CT and bone scan can detect tumors with a volume of at least 1 cc, but 1 cc tumors may contain as many as 1,000,000,000 cells! That means that with these conventional imaging we are most likely missing many metastatic lesions that are already present. Newer molecular imaging is 10-50 times more sensitive than conventional bone and CT scans. These include the new PET PSMA, PET Fluciclovine, and PET Choline. Clinical trial inclusion and endpoints can be dramatically altered by newer imaging techniques. In the present and the near future, molecular imaging will redefine prostate cancer patients with localized, oligometastatic and nmCRPC disease.When trying to define nmCRPC patients, we need to identify them correctly, determine their prognosis, strategize their appropriate treatment options, and understand their treatment implications. There is a key role for PSA doubling time in the determination of prognosis in nmCRPC patients, and the correlation of PSA doubling time to the risk of metastatic disease is not linear, as can be seen in figure 1.Figure 1  Prognosis in patients with non-metastatic CRPC: a key role for PSA doubling timeThe therapeutic options that are available for nmCRPC patients include:a. Older hormonal therapies  bicalutamide, ketoconazole, transdermal estrogensb. Newer hormonal therapies  apalutamide, enzalutamide, is abiraterone effective?Dr. Sartor continued and presented the most significant studies published to date in the setting of nmCRPC. These important large randomized prospective clinical trials are SPARTANand PROSPER. PROSPER specifically assesses enzalutamide compared to placebo in nmCRPC patients, while SPARTAN focused on apalutamide in the same type of patients, compared to placebo again. Apalutamide is a next-generation competitive inhibitor of the androgen receptor developed for patients with prostate cancer. It has greater potency and reduced central nervous system adverse effects when compared to enzalutamide. Both these trials provide the first long-term data on overall survival in the nmCRPC setting. The primary endpoint in both studies was metastasis free survival (MFS). Secondary endpoints included overall survival, PSA response, and quality of life. Both studies demonstrated delay of symptomatic progression.Both SPARTAN and PROSPER specifically demonstrated a significant benefit to both apalutamide and enzalutamide in MFS, time to PSA progression, and time to symptomatic progression. There was a clear trend towards improved overall survival for the apalutamide arm and the enzalutamide arm in SPARTAN and PROSPR, respectively, but it was not statistically significant in both trials. Importantly, the adverse effects in the SPARTAN trial demonstrated a high percentage of rash (24%), falls (16%), fractures (12%), and hypothyroidism (8%) for an unknown reason. In the PROSPER trial, treatment discontinuation and deaths due to adverse events were slightly higher in the enzalutamide arm (9% vs. 6%, and 3% vs. 1%, respectively). As a result of the SPARTAN and PROSEPR trials, apalutamide was FDA approved for the setting of nmCRPC patients, and the FDA had broadened the label for enzalutamide to include nmCRPC without regard to PSA doubling time, respectively. A nice table summarizing and comparing the adverse effects of enzalutamide, apalutamide, and abiraterone was created by the institute for clinical and economic review, as shown in table 1.Table 1  Comparison of adverse effects of abiraterone, enzalutamide, and apalutamideWhen assessing the subsequent treatments these patients had received following enzalutamide, it was shown that abiraterone after enzalutamide resulted in a PSA response of 3%, but the data for abiraterone after apalutamide is not yet clear. However, it is getting clear that secondary therapies are less effective in general.Dr. Sartor moved on to discuss the role of genetics in advanced prostate cancer. In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2016, it was shown that 11.8% of men with metastatic prostate cancer had inherited DNA-repair germline mutations.These included BRCA2 in 5.8%, CHEK2 in 1.9%, ATM in 1.6%, BRCA1 in 0.9%, and RAD51d and PALB2 0.4% each. This is a most significant finding that requires further research and contemplation.The role of liquid biopsy (sampling the tumor via the blood stream) using cell free DNA, circulating tumor cells (CTCs), exosomes, RNA and others, needs to be defined. Androgen receptor mutations, amplifications, over-expression, splice variants and additional genetic variants are also extremely important, and their predictive power in the specific setting of nmCRCP is not clear.The role of DNA repair and poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP)/Platinum sensitivity needs to be further elucidated. In another New England Journal of Medicine paper, published in 2015, treatment with the PARP inhibitor, olaparib, in patients whose prostate cancers were no longer responding to standard treatments and who had defects in DNA-repair genes, led to a high response rate.Furthermore, the role of Platinum in metastatic-CRPC patients needs to be understood better. In a paper published in 2016, three metastatic CRPC patients achieved an exceptional response to platinum chemotherapy, despite disease progression on prior standard therapies.Using targeted next-generation sequencing on the primary and metastatic tumors of these patients, it was found that all three of them had biallelic inactivation of BRCA2, a known tumor suppressor gene critical for DNA repair.Lastly, Dr. Sartor discussed the role of immunotherapy in advanced prostate cancer patients. In May 2017, the FDA awarded pembrolizumab, a known anti PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, accelerated approval for cancers with high microsatellite instability or DNA mismatch repair deficiency. Furthermore, it has been shown that loss of both alleles of CDK12 gene, a protein kinase enzyme that is a member of cyclin-dependent kinase protein family, defines a molecular subtype of metastatic CRPC that is potentially targetable with immune checkpoint inhibitors.This metastatic CRPC subtype apparently occurs in 6.9% of advanced prostate cancer patients.Using the new imaging modalities discussed at the beginning of this talk (PET PSMA and others), we might be able to identify more lesions that potentially could be amenable to treatment with Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT). Moreover, extending the usage of the new PSMA ligands, we might be able to treat lesions identified by PET PSMA with PSMA-Lutetium-177, which will specifically target the lesion identified by PET-PSMA.Summarizing this excellent talk by Dr. Sartor, newly discovered data with two agents (apalutamide and enzalutamide) are quite similar and raise the same questions. It is still unknown whether the results demonstrated by these two trials would be different if abiraterone were used. This is especially important due to the fact that abiraterone will soon become generic. We need to further expand our knowledge on the role of biomarkers in selecting the appropriate therapy, and need to elucidate if PSMA scans and PSMA-targeted therapy will change the paradigm yet again.References:Speaker: Oliver A. Sartor, MD Tulane Cancer Center, New Orleans, LA.Written by: Hanan Goldberg, MD, Urologic Oncology Fellow (SUO), University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, @GoldbergHanan at the 70th Northeastern Section of the American Urological Association (NSAUA) - October 11-13, 2018 - Fairmont Royal York Toronto, ON Canada







 Flash

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced Saturday that Iran will keep its military advisory presence in Syria as long as the Syrian government demands it, Press TV reported.

The IRGC spokesman Ramezan Sharif said Tehran has been supporting Damascus in accordance with international regulations since the beginning of the crisis in the country.

The legitimate Syrian government has called for Iran's military advisory presence in the country, he said, adding that the Iran has made efforts to share its "useful" experience with the Syrian army and people to help them defend their country.

Resistance of the Syrian people and government has foiled a plot hatched by Israel and its allies aimed at dividing the Arab country to create a safety margin for Israel, he told Press TV.

"Four or five years after the beginning of the crisis in Syria, they (Israel and its allies) found out that they had failed to overthrow the Arab country's government and they are facing a professional Syrian army," the IRGC commander said.

He stressed that the outcome of the Syrian war marked a "big loss" for Israel.

Iran has emerged as the main regional ally to the Syrian government since the beginning of civil war in Syria in 2011.Obesity

Anticoagulation

Skeletal deformity

Other medical comorbidities

Patient preference

Concomitant ureteral stone

Failed PCNL access

Renal anomalies

Toronto, Ontario (UroToday.com) Dr. Denstedt gave the last discussion on stone disease in the Northeastern Section Annual meeting in Toronto. This talk focused on the limits of retrograde intra-renal surgery (RIRS) for renal stones.The first extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) for the destruction or renal stones was performed in 1981 and was published in a paper including 72 patients.There were no complications or changes in renal function, the method was used successfully in all patients with renal pelvic stones, and two patients with ureteral stones had to be operated on because of insufficient stone destruction.There are many factors that can reduce the stone-free rates following ESWL. These can be divided into the patient, stone, and technical factors, as seen in figure 1.Figure 1- Factors reducing stone-free rate following ESWL:According to the current American Urology Association (AUA) guidelines, for stone burden less than 20 mm, which is not in the lower pole, the treatment recommendation is either with ESWL or with ureteroscopy (strong recommendation, evidence level grade B). However, ureteroscopy is associated with a lower risk of repeat procedure, and the stone-free status is achieved faster than with ESWL. The advantages of ESWL include its non-invasiveness, patient preference, and lack of stent at the end of the procedure. Whatever procedure is chosen, it is important that this process be a shared decision making one. Ureteroscopy achieves a stone-free rate of around 95% for stones smaller than 2 cm.This increases to 100% for stones <1 cm. The most common complications attributable to ureteroscopy include stent symptoms in 11% of patients, transient fever in 2.2% and transfusion rate of 0.7%. Grade 4 Clavien Dindo complications occur only when ureteroscopy is performed for stone sizes of 3 cm or more.For stone burden of over 20 mm, the AUA guidelines recommend performing percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL). If the patient is not a good candidate for PCNL, the AUA guidelines recommend a staged ureteroscopy procedure (moderate recommendation, evidence level grade C). These patients include those with a PCNL-incompatible body habitus, variant renal anatomy, or a patient who is anticoagulated. Holmium-laser ureteroscopy has been proven to be safe and effective in anticoagulated patients.Indications for ureteroscopy for stones larger than 2 cm include:In these ureteroscopies for large stones, the surgeon would more likely use an access sheath and pressurized irrigation. It is suggested that that procedure stops after a maximum of 90 minutes. The surgeon would more likely use the dusting technique instead of the basketing technique, and it would be preferable to leave a stent at the end of the procedure. These procedures are more likely to require a second procedure, less likely to be completely stone free when compared to PCNL, and the overall rate of complication is the same as a standard ureteroscopy for smaller stones.A systematic review including 7 studies with 131 patients treated with ureteroscopy has shown that it is a safe procedure for obese patients.Ureteroscopy has also been shown to be safe and most effective in patients with renal anomalies, including horseshoe kidney, ectopic kidney, and malrotated kidney. The ureteral stone-free rate was 85%, 94, and 88%, respectively, while the renal stone-free rate was 77%, 20%, and 71%, respectively.Dr. Denstedt concluded his talk with a few words on what the future holds for this growing field. It is almost certain, that digital endoscopes will dominate the field. These entail 9.3-8.7 Fr tapered shaft, with a 3.6 Fr working channel, with 250-degree deflection, 80-degree field of view, demonstrating a larger image with no camera. We will also see the use of disposable flexible ureteroscopies that eliminate the need to be concerned with their fragility. These disposable ureteroscopies will be dynamic, digital and reliable. In a study performing micro-cost analysis, the costs of the disposable and reusable ureteroscope were comparable.In a systematic review of the single-use flexible ureteroscopy, 11 studies with 466 patients were included. The authors concluded that no difference in procedure duration, stone-free rate, or complications were witnessed when compared to the standard reusable ureteroscope.Presented by: John Denstedt, MD, Western Ontario University, CanadaReferences:1. Chaussy C et al. J Urol 19812. Hyams ES et al. J Urol 20153. Al-Qahtani SMAI et al.EAU 20134. Watterson JD et al. J Urol 20025. Aboumarzouk OM et al. BJU Int. 20126. Taguchi K et al. J of Endo 20187. Davis NF et al. World J. Urol 2018Written by: Hanan Goldberg, MD, Urologic Oncology Fellow (SUO), University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, @GoldbergHanan at the 70th Northeastern Section of the American Urological Association (NSAUA) - October 11-13, 2018 - Fairmont Royal York Toronto, ON CanadaTo present a simplified technique for GreenLight laser enucleation of the prostate (GreenLEP), designed to reduce the learning curve commonly associated with endoscopic prostate enucleation.

GreenLEP is a novel endoscopic treatment for BPH which allows for durable resection of large glands with minimal energy use, minimal bleeding and has been shown to be non-inferior to holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP)1,2. Furthermore, GreenLEP was recently shown to be superior to GreenLight PVP For glands > 80 g with respect to operative time, unplanned hospital readmission and decrease in post treatment PSA and prostate size.3 Unfortunately, a steep learning curve has remained a roadblock for adaptation by many urologists. Our technique for lobe-by-lobe GreenLEP is described and shown.

GreenLEP allows for removal of the entire transition zone in patients with large glands traditionally best treated with staged TURP or simple prostatectomy. A lobe-by-lobe approach allows the urologist to learn the procedure in a stepwise fashion as they become increasingly comfortable with the technique. During the learning process, some lobes may be addressed by enucleation while others by vaporization.

This simplified technique allows novice enucleators with GreenLight experience to feel more comfortable with GreenLEP, simplifying the learning curve.

Urology. 2018 Oct 09 [Epub ahead of print]

Petar Bajic, Nicolas Noriega, Alex Gorbonos, Edward Karpman

Loyola University Medical Center, 2160 S. First Ave, Maywood, IL, USA, 60153. Electronic address: ., El Camino Urology Medical Group, 2500 Grant Rd, Mountain View, CA, USA, 94040., Loyola University Medical Center, 2160 S. First Ave, Maywood, IL, USA, 60153.

PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30312672The Synod Fathers apologise to youth, African issues have been overlooked, and Pope Francis always shows respect.

By Russell Pollitt, SJ

Ms. Corina Fiore Mortola Rodriguez from Mexico said that she wants to convey that she, and the young people at the Synod, are very grateful to Pope Francis for giving them this opportunity to be at the Synod and for the chance to speak. She said that the presence of young people has been fruitful and everyone is working together. She explained how, in a coffee break, she had a conversation with Pope Francis who told her that young people must shake up the Church. She says that the Holy Father told young to speak their minds.

Synod Fathers apologised to young people

Ms. Rodriguez said that young people want a Church that does not give up in the face of adversity  when confronted with migration, violence and abuse of all kinds. Young people want the church to be the trending place of charity. She told journalists that she felt very emotional but wanted to say how touched the young people were when the Synod Fathers humbled themselves and apologised for what has happened in the Church that should never have happened.



She said that young people dont want to be directed, they want to be accompanied. Young people move away from the Church because an encounter is missing, they dont encounter people who love what they are doing. If you love what you do, it is conveyed to others by the way you live, she said. With great enthusiasm she said that young people, like her, want to share the energy they have for their faith like a hurricane  one that brings something good.

Cardinal Juan Jose Omella Omella of Spain added that the Church preaches a lot and says religion is positive and that we must love God. He said that although this is done, young people claim that we do not practice what we preach. He went on to propose Pope Francis as a model saying that he does the things he speaks about, he is earnest and consistent. The Cardinal said that Pope Francis got rid of excess and that the Church must do that too.

African issues are left out

Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier, OFM, of South Africa said that there were a number of elements missing from Africa in the Synod document. He expressed the hope that they will be captured in the final document. He said that in the West many young people are leaving the Church but in Africa young people are searching in the Church.

Another thing he highlighted was the scourge of unemployment, poverty and migration. He said these issues were touched on but mostly in the European context rather than Africa. The Cardinal said that there is uncontrolled exploitation in Africa, the extraction, for example, of minerals and the environment which is degraded as a result. He said that this leaves Africans with no other means of survival but to leave the continent.

He also mentioned how some families remove their children from school and put them into situations of child labour so that the can make ends meet. This means that children are not getting an education, and so the cycle of poverty continues. The Cardinal mentioned bribery and corruption in governments which have a massive impact on the wellbeing of African youth.

The Pope is always respectful

Cardinal Juan Jose Omella Omella said that the Holy Father is always with the Synod in the gathering of the general assembly. He says he listens and takes notes and clearly shows the gathering that what they are doing is something important and significant. He says Pope Francis is always respectful, he knows how to listen and he knows when to speak. The Cardinal said that the Holy father spoke once, he summarised what had been said and made an important input himself. He said that when people speak the Holy Father looks at them, gives them attention, no matter who they are  young people, curial officials, bishops, auditors and members of other churches who are observing the Synod.

The prelate said that the Holy Father asked everyone at the beginning of the Synod to speak freely. The assembly heard things that some people didnt like, he admits, but the important thing is that everybody is free to speak what is in their hearts. I believe that there is a free climate and that is beautiful, the Cardinal Omella Omella said.

Cardinal Napier said that he believed that the critique of Pope Francis was often unbalanced and that there are many things which Pope Francis has done that are not often spoken of. He mentioned how, in the Council for the Economy, there are now budgets and accountability which, he said, was not the case in the past.

The Jewish Community Center of Southern Nevada welcomed Danica Torchin and Neil Popish to the new team, where they join director, Stefanie Tuzman and administrative and events coordinator, Georgette Cohen.

Torchin serves as the Las Vegas Bnai Brith Youth Organization city director and youth and family program manager. Shes a Las Vegas native who has remained active in the Jewish community throughout her teen and young-adult life holding positions at BBYO, Congregation Ner Tamid and JCCs Camp Khelah.

In her new position, Torchin hopes to expand and diversify the programs offered, provide resources and tools to Jewish families and create outlets for strengthening Jewish identity throughout the community. She looks forward to working with the community to offer new, exciting programs for Jewish children and their families.

Also, JCC welcomes back Neil Popish as its new program director. After a nearly five-year hiatus, Popish decided to return to the JCC, a place he always considered his second home.

I look forward to creating new and innovative programs to the community, said Popish, who has worked with Jewish communities for nearly 25 years in Boca Raton, Florida, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Las Vegas. I am very excited to be working with such a talented staff.

Adult film actress and model, Bridgette B, celebrated her birthday with a late-night bash at Crazy Horse 3 gentlemens club in Las Vegas last night (Photo credit: Joe Fury).

Photo credit: Joe Fury

Bridgette arrived at the award-winning gentlemens club wearing a sheer red corset, paired with a red-hot tutu and black stilettos. The blonde film star posed on the red carpet for photos along with her friends and eager fans.

Photo credit: Joe Fury

Bridgette and her entourage made their way to Crazy Horse 3s VIP lounge, greeted by adult film star Nicolette Shea and surprised with a decadent bottle presentation of Ketel One Vodka. Bridgette and Shea are currently filming a season of Brazzers House together, a televised competition between renowned adult film stars through a series of challenges for a cash prize.

Photo credit: Joe Fury

The birthday girl was also presented with an all-pink Barbie doll cake, a nod to Bridgettes nickname, Spanish Doll, oversized cutouts of her head and a birthday banner. When blowing out her birthday candles, Bridgette wished for world peace. Bridgettes birthday party was also joined by legendary adult film actor, Charles Dera.

Photo credit: Joe Fury

Bridgette B is best known for working with top adult studios, including Hustler, Digital Playground and Naughty America, and winning the Adult Video News Award (AVN) for Unsung Starlet of the Year in 2012. The former exotic dancer is also a popular Instagram influencer with over 1.8 million followers.

Photo credit: Joe Fury

More information about Crazy Horse 3 is on the website at www.crazyhorse3.com as well as on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Crazy Horse 3 is located at 3525 W. Russell Rd., just minutes away from the Las Vegas Strip and a few blocks west of I-15. Flash

Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz condemned on Saturday allegations about the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi against his country.

The minister highlighted in a statement issued by Saudi Press Agency that what have been circulating about orders to kill the journalist are "lies and baseless allegations" against the government of the kingdom.

He praised cooperation with Turkey through joint investigation penal to know the whereabouts of Khashoggi and details about his disappearance. He stressed the importance of the media in sticking to facts and not to affect the investigation and judicial proceedings.

The Saudi journalist vanished since Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The disappearance case attracted the world attention with the allegations that Khashoggi might had been killed or arrested inside the Saudi consulate, which had been dismissed by Saudi Arabia.Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (centre) witnesses the signing of agreement for three infrastructure projects between Indonesias Nikko Sekuritas Indonesia and Viet Nams construction firm Licogi 16 on October 12 in Bali, Indonesia.-VNA/VNS Photo Thong Nhat

According to the agreement, Nikko Sekuritas Indonesia, one of Indonesias biggest investment banking firms, and the construction company Licogi 16 JSC of Viet Nam will together implement two construction projects in Indonesia  a $50-million financial tower in Jakarta and a 6.7km highway with estimated capital of $200 million  marking the first time a Vietnamese enterprise has conducted an infrastructure project in the neighbouring country.

At the same time, Nikko would invest $50 million into Licogi 16s 50MW solar energy project in central Viet Nam.

The signing took place on the morning of October 12 as the Vietnamese Government leader is on a visit to Indonesia to attend the annual IMF-World Bank meeting on the popular tourist island of Bali.

Licogi 16, previously a State-run firm under the Ministry of Construction, had under its belt several critical large-scale projects including the Ha Long-Van Don express in the northeastern province of Quang Ninh, upgrades and expansion of National Highway No.1, and the water treatment facility at the Formosa Ha Tinh plant.

All three projects are slated to begin in early 2019.

On the occasion, PM Phuc held talks with Harianto Solichin, President Director of Nikkos board of directors.

The Vietnamese leader applauded the agreement and expected further co-operation and more public-private partnership (PPP) projects between the two companies, both in Viet Nam and Indonesia.

He hoped that Nikko, with its experience, global network and financial capacity, would support Vietnamese enterprises in investing in Indonesia, and facilitate Indonesian firms investment in Viet Nam, especially in airports and sea ports.

The Vietnamese leader reaffirmed the Governments commitment to maintaining social order and economic stability, improving the business environment for overseas firms to invest in Viet Nam.

For his part, Nikkos President Director shared his impressions of Vietnams outstanding socio-economic development in recent times, which is made possible by the Governments commitment to reforms.

He hoped that the PM and concerned authorities would create favourable conditions for the companys projects in Vietnam.An EUMETSAT image showing Hurricane Leslie's approach towards the Iberian Peninsula. (Photo: AFP/Handout)

Neighbouring Spain was also preparing itself for what was dubbed a "zombie" hurricane, as it first formed on Sep 23 and has been meandering through the waters of the Atlantic Ocean for weeks.

Leslie was set to make landfall in the Lisbon area overnight on Saturday, by which time it is expected to have been downgraded to a tropical storm.

Even before nightfall the sea was beginning to surge at beaches south of the Portuguese capital, with surfers ordered to return to shore.

Portuguese authorities urged those living by the coast to stay indoors and fishermen to return to port while some flights were cancelled over warnings winds could reach up to 120 kilometres per hour (75 miles per hour).

Spanish meteorologists were expecting the hurricane to hit there early Sunday.

"The meteorological system has lost intensity but gained speed. It will therefore arrive a bit earlier than predicted and a bit further north of Lisbon," Portugal's civil protection chief Luis Belo Costa told reporters on Saturday evening.

Costa said that Saturday night would be a critical period, warning of the risks of flooding in coastal areas, downed trees and power and telecoms outages.

In central Lisbon the situation remained calm though weather conditions were worsening by the hour.

Meteorological records indicate that only five hurricanes have ever arrived in this part of the Atlantic Ocean, and Leslie could turn out to be the most powerful storm to hit Portugal since 1842.

The exact trajectory of the hurricane, however, remains uncertain due to the presence of another storm approaching the region from the north, Portugal's meteorological institute said.

ONE IN 176 YEARS

Maritime authorities advised fishermen currently at sea to return to the nearest port and Portugal's TAP airline cancelled seven flights to and from Lisbon.

"We don't know what the real and concrete impact will be, so we're erring on the side of caution," Lisbon's mayor Fernando Medina told reporters.

Over the past 176 years, only Hurricane Vince has made landfall on the Iberian peninsula, hitting southern Spain in 2005, according to weather records cited by experts.

In October 2017, strong winds from Hurricane Ophelia, which travelled north off the coast of Portugal and western Spain, fed forest fires that killed around 40 people during a heatwave.

Ophelia then made landfall in Ireland as a violent storm, killing three people.

While Leslie is likely to be downgraded to storm category when it hits western Spain on Sunday, authorities still warned that it could cause damage as it adds on to other active weather fronts.

Spain's civil protection agency said storms in the south and east of the country could be "very strong locally" and that heavy rain was expected in the north and east.

On Tuesday, intense rain sparked flash floods in the Spanish holiday island of Majorca, killing 12 people.

With the new storms approaching, the civil protection agency advised people to secure doors and windows in anticipation of strong winds and to avoid going near trees, cranes or buildings under construction. Flash

China and Tajikistan will support each other and seek common development to boost bilateral ties to new levels, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said.

Li made the remarks when holding talks with Tajik Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, on Saturday.

Li said Tajikistan is the first leg of his Eurasian trip, which demonstrates the importance China attaches to the comprehensive strategic partnership with Tajikistan.

Noting the rapid and healthy growth of bilateral ties and cooperation in all areas at the moment, Li said China stands ready to strengthen the synergy of the Belt and Road Initiative with Tajikistan's development strategy to advance good-neighborliness and practical cooperation across the matrix.

Speaking in details, Li said cooperation in economy and trade and investment must be expanded. Leading and trustworthy Chinese companies are encouraged to invest in Tajikistan in the fields of energy, power, mineral exploitation, industrial capacity and processing.

He said connectivity should be strengthened, with more to be done in transportation, energy, and border infrastructure development.

Cooperation on agriculture needs to be expanded, he said, adding that the focus is agricultural processing and import of more high-quality Tajik farm products.

Li also spoke of the need to improve the business environment, strengthen cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and tighten coordination and cooperation under the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Rasulzoda said Tajikistan is willing to take an active part in building the Belt and Road, enhance bilateral practical cooperation in trade, energy, transportation, agriculture, investment and financing, expand cultural and people-to-people exchanges, among others, to maintain the healthy and steady development of the bilateral ties.

Rasulzoda said Tajikistan is ready to coordinate closely with China under the SCO framework.

After the talks, Li and Rasulzoda witnessed the signing of documents on political, trade, customs, and local cooperation, and jointly met the press.A runaway hearse carrying an Ebola victim has become the latest example of sometimes violent community resistance complicating efforts to contain a Congo outbreak  and causing a worrying new rise in cases.

The deadly virus' appearance for the first time in the far northeast has sparked fear. Suspected contacts of infected people have tried to slip away. Residents have assaulted health teams. The rate of new Ebola cases has more than doubled since the start of this month, experts say.

Safe burials are particularly sensitive as some outraged family members reject the intervention of health workers in the deeply personal moment, even as they put their own lives at risk.

On Wednesday, a wary peace was negotiated over the body of an Ebola victim, one of 95 deaths among 172 confirmed cases so far, Congo's health ministry said. Her family demanded that an acquaintance drive the hearse, while they agreed to wear protective gear to carry the casket. A police vehicle would follow.

On the way to the cemetery, however, the hearse peeled away "at full speed,'' the ministry said. A violent confrontation followed with local youth once the hearse was found at the family's own burial plot elsewhere. The procession eventually reached the cemetery by day's end.

The next day, with a better understanding of what was at stake, several family members appeared voluntarily at a hospital for Ebola vaccinations, the ministry said.

"They swore no one had manipulated the corpse,'' it added. Ebola spreads via bodily fluids of those infected, including the dead.

The Beni community where the confrontation occurred is at the center of Ebola containment efforts. To the alarm of the World Health Organization and others, it is also where community resistance has been the most persistent  and where many of the new cases are found.

Chronic mistrust after years of rebel attacks is part of the "toxic mix'' in Beni, WHO's emergencies chief Peter Salama said in a Twitter post.

So far, the Ebola work in Beni has been suspended twice since the outbreak was declared on Aug. 1. A "dead city'' of mourning in response to a rebel attack caused the first. Wednesday's violence caused the second. With each pause, crucial efforts to track thousands of possible Ebola contacts can slide, risking further infections.

Defending themselves, Beni residents have pointed out the shock of having one of the world's most notorious diseases appear along with strangers in biohazard suits who tell them how to say goodbye to loved ones killed by the virus.

"Until now we didn't know enough about Ebola and we felt marginalized when Red Cross agents came in and took the corpse and buried it without family members playing a role,'' Beni resident Patrick Kyana, who said a friend lost his father to the virus, told The Associated Press. "It's very difficult. Imagine that your son dies and someone refuses to let you assist in his burial. In Africa we respect death greatly.''

Until recently many people in Beni didn't believe that Ebola existed, thinking it was a government plot to further delay presidential elections, Kizito Hangi, president of Beni's civil society, told the AP.

Now the population has started to catch on and cooperate, Hangi said. "The problem was that the health workers all came from outside, but local specialists have been included to persuade and inform people in local languages.''

Jamie LeSueur, the head of emergency Ebola operations with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, acknowledged the problem. In early October, two Red Cross volunteers were severely injured in an attack during safe burials in the community of Butemo. Another volunteer was injured in September by people throwing stones.

"It raised a lot of questions for all of us. Where is the violence coming from?'' he said. They have stepped up efforts to collaborate with communities and be clearer about messaging while working within cultural norms as best as possible.

"Of course there are limitations,'' LeSueur said. "Some people like to view the corpse as it is buried, but with Ebola it is difficult to open up the body bag.'' In the emotionally charged environment where families have lost loved ones, a misstep could quickly raise tensions.

While Congo's government is acting to give more protection to its own safe burial teams in Beni, LeSueur noted that the "militarization'' of similar efforts in the far deadlier Ebola outbreak in West Africa a few years ago led some residents to hide or not report deaths from the virus.

"I don't think that will be the case in this event,'' but everyone remembers that lesson, he said.

With its position of neutrality, the Red Cross doesn't use armed guards in any case, LeSueur added. "Community acceptance  that's our security.''The U.N. children's fund reports the vast majority of children living in Ebola-affected areas of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have returned to school where they are taught ways to avoid infection.

School began one month ago in Democratic Republic of Congo. The U.N. children's fund says efforts to get children to return to school in Ebola-affected areas in conflict-ridden eastern DRC have been hugely successful.

It says 80 percent are attending schools in Beni and Mabalako health zones. They are the epicenters of the current Ebola outbreak, which was declared August 1 in North Kivu and Ituri Provinces. The latest World Health Organization report finds 207 cases of Ebola, including 130 deaths.

UNICEF spokesman, Christophe Boulierac, said the return of so many children to the classroom is encouraging. He said school provides the children who are living in an area of epidemic and conflict with a sense of normalcy. He said school offers them a protective environment.

Boulierac said children in school learn how to prevent getting Ebola and when they go home, they promote regular hand washing with their families. He says this helps avoid further spread of the disease in the community.

UNICEF has identified more than 1,500 schools in the areas affected by the Ebola epidemic. Among them are 365 schools located in the high-risk epicenters of the outbreak. The agency has equipped these schools with hygiene and health equipment.

Boulierac said more than 3,500 teachers and school principals have received training on preventive measures for Ebola. He said more than 69,300 school children have received these Ebola prevention messages.The International Organization for Migration reports some Rohingya refugee women in Cox's Bazar have formed a committee that will enable them to present their concerns and needs to U.N. camp managers directly, without having to go through a man.

More than 100 Rohingya women have formed this first-of-a-kind committee. These women represent only a minuscule fraction of the nearly one million refugees who have fled to Cox's Bazar to escape violence and persecution in Myanmar.

Nevertheless, the committee is seen as a ground-breaking achievement. In Cox's Bazar, as in most refugee settings, men dominate. Women live in the shadows while the male members of their families decide on aid, work, and living priorities.

The International Organization for Migration says this first-ever all-female committee will flip this scenario around. IOM spokesman, Joel Millman said men are not always aware of the issues women consider to be of utmost importance. He said the women in the committee will be able to raise and pursue these issues themselves with U.N. staff who are in a position to help.

"They point out that two of the goals in the near term are to bring concerns of gender violence, improving lighting for example around latrines and places that are often risk centers for sexual harassment and abuse. But, also to discourage or at least to advise people on what IOM is referring to as forced or early child marriage," he said.

Millman said other issues the women are pursuing include health, water, sanitation, hygiene, protection and camp management and development. He said the women also think it unfair that men only are able to participate in Cash for Work programs. They say they too want to work.

He said IOM has heard their call and plans to have these Cash for Work programs equally distributed in the camps between men and women by the end of the year. In the meantime, he said the women have their own ideas for making money and enhancing livelihoods. He said they are planning to make soap and handicrafts at the community center to sell.The number of people killed when a bomb went off at an election rally in northeastern Afghanistan has climbed to at least 22, officials said Saturday.

The explosion happened in Takhar province, where scores of people had gathered to listen to a speech by a woman standing as a candidate in the parliamentary polls on Oct. 20.

Jawad Hejri, spokesman for the Takhar governor, said at least 22 people died and 36 were wounded in the attack, which occurred in Rustaq district.

Explosives had been placed on a motorcycle near the rally, which was to have been addressed by the candidate, Nazifa Yousufi Bek.

The victims included security officials and civilians, a local police official said, adding that the candidate was not at the rally at the time.

No militant group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. It was the third attack against the election campaign process this month.

Bek is one of 417 women contesting seats across the country, more than ever before.

Candidates, regardless of gender, are braving violence and opposition from social conservatives in a campaign seen as a test of the war-torn nation's democratic institutions.

Seven candidates, all men, have been killed in separate attacks so far. Another two have been abducted, and four others have been wounded by hard-line Islamist militants, election officials said.

Takhar, a province bordering Tajikistan, has long been a hotbed of the Taliban insurgency. The Taliban have told Afghans to boycott the upcoming polls.

In the western province of Herat, gunmen attacked the election campaign office of a candidate, killing a security guard and a child, said Jailani Farhad, a spokesman for the Herat governor.

President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attacks in a statement, saying that the enemies of Afghans cannot weaken the will of the nation.

US Ambassador to Afghanistan John Bass condemned the violence, and called on the Taliban to do the same.

"If the group [the Taliban] is serious about the peace process, it will do the same and punish those responsible," he said in a tweet.Armed with a chain saw, Panama City resident Johnny Gonzalez was sawing through as many fallen trees as it takes to clear roadways and driveways.

Hurricane Michael left a path of destruction, downing trees and power lines. In the coastal town of Panama City, near where the hurricane made landfall, some residents were still trapped in their homes, surrounded by fallen trees.

Gonzalez knows the feeling of helplessness. He went to a church to seek shelter from the hurricane and thought it was safe, until the hurricane blew the roof off. He is just glad his children are safe.

WATCH: Elizabeth Lee's video report

'By the grace of God'

By the grace of God, we made it out of there somehow. I dont know how we got lucky; they said we had tornadoes hit us. With the winds we couldnt even tell. I remember hearing a whistling sound like a train was coming, and the roof was just sucked up from the church we were in, Gonzalez said.

He made it home with his family, but the situation was not good. He called his boss, Lee Nettles, for help. Nettles, the manager of a beach resort community about 80 miles away, heard Gonzalezs voicemail.

We got a call from him. Just a voicemail. All we heard is that we were trapped and we need water. Help! Amanda said, Im going to get him, and I said, OK, Im going with you. And we found him and his wife and his two kids, Nettles said.

Nettles co-worker is Amanda Miles, director of security at the beach resort. Gonzalez is the assistant director.

When I needed help they come and rescued me. They sacrificed their life for me and now Im going to sacrifice mine for my town people, Gonzalez said.

Helping their community

The team of three decided to hit the road and offer help to others in the community who did not evacuate. In many parts of town, there is no power or water. Debris, destroyed buildings, downed trees and power lines were everywhere.

I dont care how strong you are, this is tough to witness. Total destruction, Nettles said.

The team of three first started by going from street to street offering water, and then on the way, Amanda said, Lets pick up a chain saw, so what the heck, Ive never used a chain saw until today, Nettles said.

Even with a clear path out of town, some residents decided to stay and wait for the electricity and water to return. It may be weeks if not months before things get back to normal again.

More than 1,000 people, including families and women carrying babies, set off from Honduras toward the United States on Saturday, days after the United States urged Honduras' president to halt mass migration.

Recent attempts at group crossings from Central America to the United States have tested U.S. President Donald Trump's "zero tolerance" stance on illegal immigration, as people fleeing violence and poverty defy threats of deportation.

"I believe we'll get to the United States. There's no work in Honduras, and you live in fear that they're going to kill you or your children," said Fanny Barahona, 35, an unemployed teacher who walked with her 9-year-old son and carried a 2-year-old daughter.

Some 1,300 people joined the "March of the Migrant," planning to walk from San Pedro Sula in northern Honduras through Guatemala and into Mexico, organizer Bartolo Fuentes said. Once in Mexico, they plan to request refugee status to remain in the country or a visa to pass through to the

U.S. border, he said.

In April, media coverage of a similar group of migrants, dubbed a "caravan," prompted Trump to press for tougher border security and demand such groups be refused entry. Most in the caravan said they were fleeing death threats, extortion and violence from powerful street gangs.

Poverty, violence

More than 64 percent of Honduran households live in poverty, and San Pedro Sula has one of the world's highest murder rates.

"There is no work and so much violence that you can get killed walking down the street," said Javier Solis, 25, who said he had not found work in a year and wanted to enter the United States. On a previous attempt, he was deported to Honduras upon reaching Mexico.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence met with the presidents of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador in Washington on Thursday and told them the United States would be willing to help with economic development and investment if they did more to tackle migration, corruption and gang violence.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez said U.S. funding was declining, and he called on the United States to reunite migrant children with their parents after Washington's policy of separating families trying to cross the U.S.-Mexican border put Honduras under "huge pressure."In Mexico Beach, Florida, the tiny Gulf of Mexico coastal hamlet virtually wiped off the U.S. map by the devastation wrought by Hurricane Michael, the reality of the long path to recovery is becoming apparent.

"Mexico Beach is devastated," Governor Rick Scott said of the town where the storm came ashore with 250-kilometer-an-hour winds in what was one of the most damaging hurricanes to hit the United States in decades.

"It's like a war zone," he said Saturday as he toured the town of 1,000 people.

One of the 17 deaths caused by the storm across four states occurred in Mexico Beach, an elderly man whose body was found hundreds of meters from his house. The Mexico Beach property damage was immense, with house after house, store after store leveled down to the concrete slabs they were built on.

Mexico Beach police chief Anthony Kelly told VOA's Spanish Service, "When you come here and see the devastation, it's hard, it's emotionally hard."

"We know each person in the majority of the houses. They know us," Kelly said. "All these people are close to us. And now we're going around the neighborhoods making sure that they're not in any of these houses that are so extremely damaged."

"Looking in the debris, seeing photos of grandkids, people that we know that have come back here year after year, that's the emotional side," he said. "I've got officers that this is their first catastrophic event, and it's hard to explain to them, you know, it's going to get better, because they're seeing reality."

The town's medical manager, Patricia Cantwell, said, "It's extremely sad that the devastation has been so rampant throughout the Panhandle" of the state.

"Having lived through Hurricane Andrew in south Florida [in 1992], it's going to take a while," she told VOA. "It's one day at a time. It looks overwhelming to start, but, you know, one day at a time. It's going to take years to get things back up and running."

Brock Long, the head of the country's Federal Emergency Management Agency, said the death toll in Mexico Beach could rise, as rescue workers continue to search the rubble left behind by the storm. It could take another 10 days to compile a damage estimate.

Some physical structures in the town were lifted off their moorings and moved hundreds of meters away by the winds and storm surge from the storm. Other buildings were left in masses of debris, demolished beyond recognition.

Jose Pernalete and Jorge Agobian of VOA Spanish Service contributed to this report.Naurus government says it can meet the mental health needs of residents as well as refugees and asylum seekers detained in an Australian-run immigration facility. The camp has been used to hold unauthorized migrants caught trying to reach Australia by boat.

On Friday, the Nauru government told Medecins Sans Frontieres staff that they had to leave the island.

In response, MSF said conditions on the tiny Pacific republic were beyond desperate.

The medical charity says it is concerned for the more than 100 asylum seekers and refugee children on Nauru, citing fears about post-traumatic stress, attempted suicide and self-harm.

We make no mistake. MSF is extremely concerned for the on-going mental health of all our patients remaining on the island, including asylum seekers and refugees who remain in a complete state of hopelessness and despair," says Paul McPhun, executive director at MSF Australia. "MSF calls for the immediate evacuation of all asylum seekers and refugees. MSF calls for an end to the Australian policy of indefinite offshore detention.



Nauru is one of two locations in the South Pacific used by Australia to process asylum seekers. The other, on Manus Island in Papua, New Guinea, closed last October after local judges ruled it unconstitutional because of the poor conditions at the camp.

More than 200 detainees are held in Nauru. Under strict border control measures they will not be allowed to ever resettle in Australia, even if found to be genuine refugees. Australia says it has no intention of closing the facility, despite repeated condemnation from rights groups.

Canberra argues that offshore processing is a powerful deterrent for migrants risking their lives at sea, often trying to make the journey on rickety fishing boats from Indonesia.

I have been very clear before  if I could bring all those people to Australia tomorrow I would do it in a heartbeat. But if I did that I restart boats and then you would be asking me about the children who are drowning at sea," says Australias Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton.

The flow of migrant boats arriving in Australias territorial waters has stopped. Navy vessels have been ordered to either tow or turn unauthorized boats away.

Australia's acceptance of refugees is relatively small compared to other wealthy countries. In 2016, Australia resettled 27,626 people from overseas.Twenty-two people, including children, died on Sunday when a vehicle carrying migrants reportedly heading for EU member Greece plunged off the highway into a waterway in western Turkey.

The vehicle, described as a lorry, was traveling on a highway in the Izmir region close to Izmir airport when it flipped over and fell into the channel several meters below, state-run Anadolu news agency said.

The nationality of the migrants was not made clear. Twenty-two people were killed, the agency said, lifting an earlier toll of 19, while 13 more were injured.

Turkish television pictures showed the stricken wreckage of the vehicle, which was reduced to burned-out metal by the impact of the crash with corpses strewn beside.

The DHA news agency said the driver of the vehicle, a Turkish man aged 35, survived and told police from his hospital bed that he had swerved to avoid an oncoming white vehicle.

The dead included two babies and two children as well as a pregnant woman, it said.

Once the driver's hospital treatment is completed, he will be sent to court with a demand to be arrested, Anadolu said. Regional prosecutors have opened an investigation, it added.

DHA said that the vehicle was headed for the coast of the Izmir region, from where the migrants planned to take inflatable dinghies, which had been packed into their vehicle, to Greece's Samos island.

Samos is just a few kilometers north of Turkey's Dilek peninsula that juts out from the Izmir region.

Key transit point

Turkey is a key transit points for migrants from troubled countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa seeking a new life in Europe.

A million migrants crossed from Turkey into Greece in 2015, mostly by boats, in a crisis which forced a deal between Ankara and the EU to stem the flow of people.

Numbers have fallen since but people are still undertaking what is a highly perilous journey and the flow has ticked up this year from 2017.

According to UN figures, more than 24,500 migrants have arrived in Greece by sea so far this year, with 118 people losing their lives via this route.

Last week, eight migrants were found drowned off the Karaburun district, also in Izmir province, after their boat capsized.

Twenty-six others are still officially listed as missing after that accident, according to Anadolu.

The trips of migrants towards Greece are often organized by smugglers who demand hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars per person to sort out the logistics.

After the disaster off Karaburun, four suspected smugglers were arrested following evidence given by an Iraqi who survived, Anadolu said. They had demanded a fee of $1,500 from each migrant.Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was released from jail Sunday after three weeks behind bars for organizing anti-Kremlin protests, his second spell in detention in as many months.

The 42-year-old activist left a detention center in the south of Moscow early in the morning and spoke briefly to journalists before leaving in a waiting car.

Over the 50 days I have been in jail we have seen yet more evidence that this regime is in complete decline, he said, referencing recent embarrassments to Moscows intelligence services abroad and the launch failure of a manned Russian space rocket.

If anyone thinks that with arrests ... they can scare or stop us, that is clearly not the case, he said after thanking those who supported him.

Authorities have turned up the heat on Vladimir Putins main opposition since the Russian presidents approval ratings took a beating over deeply unpopular pension reforms.

The Kremlin critic finished a 30-day sentence in September for organizing a rally at the start of the year, but was arrested as soon as he was released to face further charges over another protest.

The latter demonstration, against the raising of the retirement age, was time to coincide with regional elections last month.

The Kremlin suffered rare defeats in those polls, with voters rejecting candidates from the ruling United Russia party in at least two regions. Flash

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke with Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray over the phone late Saturday to discuss international trade.

During the phone conversation, Videgaray briefed Wang on the recent signing of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), saying Mexico is an independent sovereign state and the agreement will neither affect the exchanges between China and Mexico in any respect, nor lead to any restriction on bilateral trade, investment or political relations between the two countries.

China is a trustworthy partner for Mexico, he said, adding that Mexico is willing to further develop the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership.

Wang said China and Mexico, as comprehensive strategic partners, have always had mutual understanding, trust and support on major issues.

Any bilateral or multilateral free trade agreement should not be directed against a third party or used to restrict other members' legitimate rights and interests, nor should it be in the vein of exclusionism, Wang said.

Both China and Mexico are emerging economies and they should work together to safeguard multilateralism and the free trade system, he said.Pope Francis has created seven new saints in a canonization ceremony at the Vatican. The new saints included two important Church figures who were strong voices in the favor of the poor: Pope Paul VI and Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero.

Before tens of thousands of faithful in Saint Peter's Square, Pope Francis elevated to sainthood seven people including Pope Paul VI and murdered Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero. Both were controversial figures in the church.

Large tapestries with the images of the seven new saints hung from St. Peter's Basilica as is customary during a canonization ceremony. The other five lesser-known new saints were from Italy, Germany and Spain. They included an Italian orphan who died from bone cancer when he was just 19 years old.

Salvadoran President Salvador Sanchez Ceren, Chiles President Sebastian Pinera and Spains Queen Sofia attended the ceremony.

Pope Paul VI was the third pope to be declared saint by Francis since his election in 2013. He was best known for having presided over the final sessions of the Second Vatican Council, the church meetings in the 1960s that reformed the Catholic Church and opened it to the world.

Francis said Paul VI, like the apostle, spent his life for Christ's Gospel, crossing new boundaries and becoming its witness in proclamation and in dialogue, a prophet of an extroverted Church looking to those far away and taking care of the poor.

In a sign of the importance Pope Francis placed on Romero and Paul, Francis wore the blood-stained rope belt Romero wore when he was murdered in 1980 and also used Pope Paul's staff, chalice and vestment. Both men strongly influenced Francis and he praised them for their courage in turbulent times and their dedication to social justice and the poor.

Romero was killed in San Salvador by a right-wing death squad. He had often denounced violence, repression and poverty in his homilies. He became an icon for Latin Americas peasants.

In his homily, Pope Francis praised Romero for disregarding his own life to be close to the poor and to his people.Pakistani authorities detained and then released on bail a prominent human rights activist as she re-entered the country, although they withheld her passport, the activist said.



Gulalai Ismail said she was returning from London Friday when immigration authorities at an Islamabad airport told her she was on a no-fly list.



Talking to VOA's Deewa Service, Ismail said authorities could not explain to her which government department had put her name on the list, or why.



In August, police charged Ismail and 18 other people with making anti-state comments and using inflammatory language at a protest rally in Swabi, in Khyber Paktunkhwa province.



The rally was organized by the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement, a party considered anti-military for its stance that Pakistan's military has used the fight against terrorism to carry out human rights abuses against Pashtuns in restive tribal areas and other parts of the country.



The military has been carrying out operations in those areas, often under international pressure, to clear them of militant groups.



PTM gained nationwide attention after the extra-judicial killing of a young Pashtun male model in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi. The suspect in the killing, police officer Rao Anwar, is out on bail. The case is still pending.



Ismail denied charges against her.



"This is not an attack on Gulalai Ismail or PTM. This is an attack on civic freedoms, this is an attack on our liberty to speak out, this is an attack on our freedom of speech," Ismail claimed in an audio statement she sent to a WhatsApp group.



Human rights activists who went to the offices of the Federal Investigation Agency, the government agency detaining Ismail, said they were allowed to communicate with Ismail.



"They were very cordial with us. I was pleasantly surprised," said one activist who did not want to be named.



PTM says it has challenged the police report in court and a hearing is scheduled for later this month.



Ismail is a women's rights activist and runs a non-governmental organization called Aware Girls.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is making an urgent appeal to Islamic State's West Africa affiliate in Nigeria to release two healthcare workers who were abducted earlier this year.

We urge you for mercy. We urge you to not kill another innocent health care worker who was doing nothing but helping the community in north-east Nigeria, wrote the ICRCs recent plea.

ICRC says a deadline that could result in the killing of one of the healthcare workers is less than 24 hours away.

The two nurses, Hauwa Mohammed Liman and Alice Loksha, were abducted in March along with another nurse while working in Rann, a town that serves as a home for refugees and a point of previous militant attacks. The attacks have impacted the medical care in the heavily targeted region.

Saifure Hussaini Ahmed Khorsa, the other nurse who was abducted, was killed in September by Islamic State. The ICRC says it is working to do everything possible to avoid the same outcome for Liman and Loksha.

Nigerias government says it is continuing to push for the release of everyone who has been abducted by insurgents, including Leah Sharibu, a 15-year-old student who was taken from her school in Dapchi in a separate abduction in February.The head of the Democratic Unionist Party, the Northern Irish party that props up British Prime Minister Theresa May's government, is "ready" to trigger a no-deal Brexit and now regards it as the "likeliest" outcome, The Observer reported Saturday, citing a leaked email.

The newspaper said Arlene Foster told Ashley Fox, leader of Conservative Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), she had a "hostile and difficult" exchange at her meeting this week with Michel Barnier, the French official leading the European Union's negotiating team.

"AF said the DUP were ready for a no-deal scenario, which she now believed was the likeliest one," according to the email, whose sender or recipient the newspaper did not identify.

The Observer said it was one of several emails "leaked from the highest levels of government" that it had seen.

A DUP spokesman declined to comment beyond what Foster wrote for an article published in Saturday's Belfast Telegraph. In it, Foster said she would prefer no Brexit deal to a bad deal, describing current plans as amounting to "the annexation of Northern Ireland" by the EU.

British and European Union negotiators this month accelerated the push for a Brexit deal, but talks remain snagged over the issue of the border between Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, and the Irish Republic, an EU member state.

Without a comprehensive EU-UK trade partnership after Brexit, the EU is seeking a "backstop" arrangement whereby Northern Ireland would effectively remain subject to the bloc's regulations to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.

But the DUP, whose support May needs to pass legislation in the British Parliament, vehemently opposes any proposals that treat the province differently from the rest of the UK.

"I fully appreciate the risks of a 'no deal' [Brexit] but the dangers of a bad deal are worse," Foster wrote in the Telegraph article.

"This backstop arrangement would not be temporary. It would be the permanent annexation of Northern Ireland away from the rest of the United Kingdom and forever leave us subject to rules made in a place where we have no say," she added.

'No game'

Britain wants any "backstop" arrangement to be time-limited. Hard-line supporters of Brexit in May's ruling Conservative Party fear it could be used to indefinitely keep the entire UK inside a customs union with the EU.

The EU is opposed to any specific cutoff date.

Foster said her party, which has 10 lawmakers in the UK Parliament, was not bluffing in its tough stance.

"This is no game. Anyone engaging in this in a lighthearted way foolishly fails to grasp the gravity of the decisions we will make in the coming weeks," Foster said. "The coming days, weeks and months will be critical. The decisions taken will shape the type of Northern Ireland that our grandchildren will live in."

Foster said she wanted a workable deal for both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and would travel to Dublin for talks on Monday.

In an article in another Northern Ireland newspaper, the Belfast News Letter, former British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson also took aim at the backstop, describing May's agreement to accept it as a "dreadful mistake."

"The only way to put things back on the right track is to ditch the backstop," Johnson wrote.The Rohingya camps in Indias Haryana state, adjoining the capital, New Delhi, lie far from the countrys northeast from where Indian authorities deported seven Rohingya men to Myanmar earlier this month. But the first-ever deportations have caused deep worries here of more repatriations of the Muslim minority that fled persecution and violence in Myanmar.

As it takes a tougher stand on illegal immigrants, Prime Minister Narendra Modis Hindu nationalist government has said it plans to send back the estimated 40,000 Rohingyas living in the country.

They are scattered throughout India, living in dreary camps like the one lying off a dusty road in Haryanas most underdeveloped district, Mewat.

No complaints in camp

At one such camp, 45 families living in cramped shelters share one water pipe, the children study in a makeshift school and the men sustain their families by working as laborers on construction sites whenever they can find work.

However, nobody complains. The residents say they are willing to cope with the squalor and lack of steady work in these camps that have provided a safe shelter for the last six years from the constant fear they faced in their homeland.

Nobody harasses us in India. If we do some work, we can fend for our food. There is no problem, said Fatima Hatu, who fled Myanmar with her husband in 2012.

Can they stay?

But the Rohingyas now worry about how long they can call this home. Ali Zohar, who is the informal head of the settlement, fears the deportation of the seven Rohingyas in Indias northeast has cleared the way for more to be sent back.

Zohar, who says he was once a relatively prosperous landowner, is alarmed.

My life has been ruined, he said. But what do I do about the future of my children? Will they have to return back? My mind is tired thinking.

Hopes pinned on UN card

Residents in these camps are hoping that refugee cards given by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees will protect them from a second displacement; about half the Rohingyas in India are registered with the U.N.

The seven Rohingyas who were deported did not have U.N. cards and had been detained as illegal immigrants.

That is why at an adjoining camp, Sultan Amin, keeps his U.N. card, his most prized possession, locked away. Like many of the Rohingyas living in India, he came from Bangladesh in search of better opportunities and so far the card has given him the freedom to move around and work.

He says his two brothers and mother, who could not leave Myanmar, tell him that they still face harassment, and Amin believes that his life could be at risk if he is repatriated.

I escaped here to save myself, he said. How can I go back to be killed?

Called security threat

India has said, however, that it does not recognize the U.N. refugee cards. Officials say all those who have entered the country without valid permits are illegal immigrants and state authorities have been told to start collecting the biometrics of Rohingyas so that they can be sent back.

New Delhi calls them a security threat and has told the Supreme Court, where the planned repatriations have been challenged, that some Rohingyas could be linked with Pakistan-based terror organizations and similar organizations operating in other countries.

So far no member of the Rohingya community has been charged with militant links, according to security experts although they say there are apprehensions that they could be targets for radicalization.

Election plays a role

Political observers say Prime Minister Modis Hindu nationalist governments plan to deport the Rohingya Muslims represents a U-turn on Indias traditionally tolerant policy towards refugees. For example, India is home to tens of thousands of Tibetan refugees.

An independent political analyst in New Delhi, Neerja Chowdhury, links the tougher posture to general elections scheduled in 2019. There have been loud calls from Hindu groups linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party to send back the Rohingyas.

Certainly if the discourse can be polarized on Hindu-Muslim lines, it is advantage BJP, Chowdhury said.

The refugees say all they want is a patch of land where they can have shelter and where they can eke out a living.

All my relatives and family there (in Myanmar) have been killed. When our country is safe like India and Bangladesh, we will go back, said 30-year-old Noor Begum at a camp in Mewat.

Such voices are supported by the United Nations refugee agency, which has criticized the deportation of the Rohingyas and said refugees should not be sent back to countries where they fear persecution.President Donald Trump threatened "severe punishment" over the disappearance of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi.

The Tadawul exchange in Riyadh dropped over 6 percent in the week's first day of trading, with 182 of its 186 listed stocks showing losses by the early afternoon.

Turkish officials say they fear Saudi agents killed and dismembered Khashoggi after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, saying they have audio and video recordings of it that they have not released. The kingdom has called the allegations "baseless," but has offered no evidence the writer ever left the consulate.

In an interview to be aired Sunday, Trump told CBS' "60 Minutes" that the consequences of Saudi Arabia being involved would be "severe."

"There's something really terrible and disgusting about that, if that was the case, so we're going to have to see," Trump said. "We're going to get to the bottom of it and there will be severe punishment."

However, Trump in the same interview said: "As of this moment, they deny it and they deny it vehemently. Could it be them? Yes."

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has aggressively pitched the kingdom as a destination for foreign investment. But Khashoggi's disappearance, and suspicions he may have been targeted over his criticism of the crown prince, has led several business leaders and media outlets to back out of an upcoming high-profile investment conference in Riyadh.Saudi Arabia has rebuffed U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to punish it over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, saying Sunday it would retaliate with "greater" economic actions of its own if Trump were to sanction Riyadh.

The Saudi stock market plunged seven percent before recovering to a five percent loss for the day after Trump told CBS there would be "severe punishment" if it is determined, as Turkey believes, that Saudi agents killed Khashoggi inside Riyadh's consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago.

The Saudis have said the allegation is "baseless," but have provided no proof that Khashoggi left the diplomatic outpost alive after arriving to pick up documents for his impending marriage.

The official Saudi Press Agency quoted an unnamed government source as saying, "The Kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether by threatening to impose economic sanctions, using political pressures, or repeating false accusations."

The statement said the Saudi government "also affirms that if it receives any action, it will respond with greater action," noting that its economy, as the world's biggest oil exporter, "has an influential and vital role in the global economy."

Trump, in excerpts released Saturday from an interview to be aired Sunday on CBS's 60 Minutes show, warned there would be "severe punishment" for Saudi Arabia if it is determined that Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi consulate. Khashoggi was living in self-imposed exile in the United States and had criticized Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in columns written for The Washington Post.

Trump said "nobody knows yet" what happened inside the consulate, "but we'll probably be able to find out" if Salman ordered Khashoggi's murder. Trump added the United States "would be very upset and angry if that were the case."

But Trump, who has frequently boasted about his business ties with the kingdom, suggested during the interview that ending U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia would not be an option, saying, "I don't want to hurt jobs."

A key U.S. lawmaker, Republican Senator Marco Rubio, told CNN on Sunday that if Saudi agents "went medieval" on Khashoggi, "that would be an outrage."

He said any response to Khashoggi's killing "needs to be strong, not symbolic," including the possibility of cutting off U.S. weapons sales to Riyadh, or it would undermine the U.S.'s moral standing in the world.

In protest of Khashoggi's disappearance, several U.S. businesses leaders have pulled out of next week's Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, dubbed "Davos in the Desert," after the annual meeting of world economic interests in Switzerland. Rubio said U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin should also withdraw, but White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the Treasury chief is still planning to go.

Media reports say Khashoggi may have recorded his own death on his Apple Watch.

Accounts say Khashoggi turned on the sound recording capability on his device as he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

The watch is reported to have been connected to the iCloud and the cell phone that he left with his fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, before he entered the consulate. Cengiz said she waited for Khashoggi to come out of the consulate, but he never left.

The reports say the watch recorded not only Khashoggi's interrogation and torture, but also his murder.

The Washington Post reported in recent days that the Turkish government informed U.S. officials it was in possession of video recordings that prove Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate, but have not made them public.

Saudi officials have denied any involvement in Khashoggi's disappearance and said he departed the consulate shortly after entering. Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdel Aziz bin Saud bin Nayef has called the reports the government ordered Khashoggi killed "lies and baseless allegations."

A group of 15 Saudi men is reported to have flown into Istanbul the day that Khashoggi went to the consulate. Media reports say the men were in the consulate when Khashoggi was there. The men stayed at the consulate for a few hours and then took flights back to Saudi Arabia.

One of the members of the group, according to CNN, has been identified by Turkey's official Anadolu news agency and the Sabah newspaper as Salah Muhammed al-Tubaiqi, whom the media outlets say is listed on an official Saudi health website as the head of the forensic medicine department at the Interior Ministry.Three people were arrested in New York City following violent clashes after a speech by the founder of a far-right group, and police said Saturday they were reviewing video of the clashes and could make additional arrests.

The violence Friday night followed a speech by Gavin McInnes, the founder of the Proud Boys, at the Metropolitan Republican Club. The male-only Proud Boys describe themselves as western chauvinists.

Videos posted on YouTube show clashes between the Proud Boys and groups that were protesting McInnes speech.

No serious injuries were reported.

The three arrested face assault charges and were awaiting arraignment Saturday in Manhattan criminal court. Police spokesman J. Peter Donald said the department was reviewing video and would make other arrests as warranted.

Several elected officials expressed outrage over the violence and blamed the Proud Boys, which has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

More arrests possible

Authorities must review these videos immediately and make arrests and prosecute as appropriate, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said. Hate cannot and will not be tolerated in New York.

New York City Public Advocate Letitia James, a Democrat who is running for state attorney general, said, I am disturbed and disgusted by the videos Ive seen of members of the neo-fascist, white supremacist Proud Boys group engaging in hate-fueled mob violence on the streets of New York City.

City Councilman Rory Lancman, also a Democrat, said video shows police officers were at the scene of an assault by Proud Boys members but did not arrest anyone from the group.

It is revolting to see white supremacists commit a hate crime on the streets of New York City  in full view of the NYPD  and for none of them to be arrested or prosecuted, Lancman said.

The Republican club was vandalized ahead of Fridays speech by McInnes, who is also a co-founder of Vice Media. Statewide Republican officials said the damage included smashed windows, a spray-painted door and a keypad lock covered in glue. A note left at the scene claimed that the damage was just the beginning.

Clashes in Portland

Saturday night in downtown Portland, Oregon, fights broke out between protesters with a right-wing group and counter-demonstrators.

The right-wing Patriot Prayer group was holding a Flash March for Law and Order Saturday evening when the counter-demonstrators, some of whom identified themselves as members of the militant group Antifa, confronted them, leading to scuffles, local media reported.

Police in riot gear worked to break up fights and used pepper spray to try to control the crowd, local media reported. Police said officers saw people at the demonstration with hard-knuckled gloves, guns, knives and batons.President Donald Trump heaped praise Saturday on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, crediting the veteran Kentucky lawmakers political toughness and acumen during the ugly battle that concluded with Brett Kavanaugh becoming a Supreme Court justice.

Hes Kentucky tough, Trump declared.

Kavanaugh took his seat on the high court this week after overcoming allegations of sexual misconduct dating to his high school and college years. He forcefully denied the charges, and Trump and McConnell firmly backed Kavanaugh as part of their combined quest to populate the judiciary with conservative judges. Kavanaugh could tilt the political balance of the high court in the conservative direction for generations.

We stuck with him all the way because we knew the facts, Trump said, speaking of himself and McConnell, Kentuckys senior U.S. senator.

Theres nobody tougher. Theres nobody smarter. He refused to cave to the radical Democrats shameful campaign of personal and political destruction, Trump said at a political rally at Eastern Kentucky University before he called McConnell to the microphone.

McConnell returned the compliment and told the president to continue nominating judges and well keep confirming them.

Fierce Democrat opposition

Democrats fiercely and vocally opposed Kavanaugh, opposition that hardened after Christine Blasey Ford accused him of sexually assaulting her when they were in high school. Other women accused him of other sexually inappropriate behavior.

Protesters swarmed Senate office buildings and hundreds were arrested in a futile attempt to intimidate a handful of holdout senators into voting against confirming Kavanaugh. Trump has taken to referring to Democrats who opposed Kavanaugh as an angry mob.

Rally in Kentucky

The president flew to Kentucky to campaign for three-term Republican Rep. Andy Barr, who is facing a strong challenge from Democrat Amy McGrath, a retired Marine fighter pilot, in one of the countrys most-watched House races.

Democrats are focusing on the seat in their drive to regain control of the House. Former Vice President Joe Biden became the highest-profile Democrat to campaign for McGrath when he came to Kentucky on Friday night.

Trump told the rally that a vote for Barr could make the difference between unbelievable continued success or failure, and pleaded with his supporters to vote on Nov. 6 to send more Republicans to Congress.

The only reason to vote Democrat is if youre tired of winning, he said. I need you to get your friends, get your family, get your neighbors, get your co-workers and get out and vote for Andy Barr, Trump said.

Familiar Trump themes

The president sounded familiar themes during the hour-plus rally, touting the economys performance, a new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, and his plan for a new military branch devoted to outer space, among a host of other issues that led the crowd to cheer him.

He again panned journalists as the fake news media and suggested he could live without their attention.

Id like to walk into a place one night and not have any of these guys, Trump said.

With just over three weeks before Election Day, Saturdays rally was part of an aggressive fall campaign push by Trump to energize Republicans and encourage them to help keep his legislative agenda moving forward by voting to keep the GOP in control of both houses of Congress.

In fact, even before Trump left the stage Saturday night, his campaign announced a three-state Western swing through Missoula, Montana; Mesa, Arizona; and Elko, Nevada, next Thursday through Saturday.U.S. President Donald Trump is suggesting Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis could be one of his next key officials to leave the government.



The Republican president, said in an interview Sunday on CBS's "60 Minutes" news show, that he has no indication that Mattis is leaving, but added, "It could be that he is. I think he's sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth."



The U.S. leader described the retired Marine Corps general as "a good guy. We get along very well. He may leave. I mean, at some point, everybody leaves. Everybody. People leave. That's Washington."

Trump, during his 21-month administration, has fired or pushed out dozens of key officials, or watched as others he liked have resigned, including United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, who last week said she would be leaving her post at the end of the year.

Mattis, while leading the U.S. military, has occasionally been at odds with Trump and more hawkish Trump administration officials, including national security adviser John Bolton.

Mattis, in mid-2017, pushed for more diplomatic overtures to North Korea in dealing with Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, a stance Trump eventually came around to, leading to his June summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump said there are still "some people" in his administration that he is "not thrilled with." He has often assailed Attorney General Jeff Sessions but declined to fire him for removing himself from oversight of the lengthy investigation of whether Trump's 2016 campaign colluded with Russia and whether Trump as president obstructed justice by trying to thwart the probe.

But Trump rebuffed reports of chaos in the White House as "fake news," adding, "I'm changing things around. And I'm entitled to. I have people now on standby that will be phenomenal. They'll come into the administration, they'll be phenomenal."The U.S. Bill of Rights, ratified in 1791, enshrined in law the right to speech, assembly, and worship.

Now some congressional leaders are calling for a new bill of rights, one for the internet age.

The purpose: to protect people's personal data.

U.S. Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who counts many tech firms in his district, recently issued a list of 10 principles as part of his "Internet Bill of Rights."

"You should have the right," Khanna begins, "to have access to and knowledge of all collection and uses of personal data by companies."

Privacy advocates have long criticized internet firms for their handling of user data and the difficulty many people experience in taking control of their information. That discussion has only gained momentum in recent months as U.S. tech companies such as Facebook and Google grapple with high-profile data breaches that have undermined consumers' trust.

Internet regulations on multiple fronts

In addition, internet firms are facing new privacy and security laws.

California's new online privacy law, slated to go into effect in 2020, gives consumers more control over their data and greater ability to sue companies. State regulators will have more power as well to fine companies that violate the new law, which allows customers to tell companies to delete or not share their data.

California's new law has been described as the most stringent privacy regulation in the country, although it is not as expansive as Europe's General Data Protection Regulation, which went into effect earlier this year.

Other U.S. states, such as Ohio, have recently passed cybersecurity legislation.

"There's a feeling that to stem the tide of state regulation, a federal law is needed," said Chris Hoofnagle, an adjunct professor of law at the University of California Berkeley. "The big goal is to knock out California."

Tech leaders argue for national privacy law

On Capitol Hill, tech company executives have turned the tables somewhat on privacy advocates by taking the lead in arguing for federal digital privacy legislation.

At a congressional hearing in September, executives from Google, Apple, Amazon, Twitter and other firms testified in support of a federal law. Google released a framework for legislation, which includes giving people the "ability to access, correct, delete and download" personal information.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told The New York Times that if the Democratic Party takes control of the House of Representatives in November, there would be a push for federal legislation.

"It is not a question of being antagonistic, but being ready to find a better way for the future," she said.

A broad consensus for federal privacy legislation

The issue of internet privacy tends to cross political party lines, with Democrats and Republicans expressing support.

At a recent hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee, Senator John Thune, (R-South Dakota) said, "It's increasingly clear that industry self-regulation in this area is not sufficient. A national standard of privacy rules of the road is needed to protect consumers."

But Senator Edward Markey (D-Massachusetts), a longtime advocate for digital privacy rights, questioned tech firms' involvement in setting the agenda.

"We shouldn't have any delusions about why those companies and their peers are all of a sudden advocating for a federal privacy law," Markey said. "Their hope is that Congress will pass a comprehensive privacy bill that will pre-empt California and maybe more burdensome state laws."

An internet wish list

With his bill of rights, Representative Khanna, who declined to comment for this story, addresses some of consumers' biggest digital privacy concerns about what data is collected, how it is used and who has control of it.

Among the rights would be the ability to "move all personal data from one network to the next" and to be notified of a security breach or "unauthorized access of personal data."

One of Khanna's rights has seemingly little to do with privacy but with customer internet access. It would restore "net neutrality," making it a law, not a regulation that can be overturned with each new administration. Internet service providers would be prohibited from "blocking, throttling, engaging in paid prioritization, or otherwise unfairly favoring content, applications, services, or devices."As the Pentagon plans to spend about $1.6 trillion developing new systems, as calculated by the GAO, it has jumped at the chance to connect weapons systems. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, for example, depends on millions of lines of code to process sensor data and zero in on targets. That connectivity has allowed the Pentagon to achieve military capabilities once thought impossible, but it has also created opportunities for hackers.Wuerls resignation is the culmination of the latest reckoning for church leaders over reports of sexual abuse by priests and a failure among church leaders to hold them to account. Wuerls legacy had been one of an aggressive reformer. He fought the Vatican when it sought to reinstate an abusive priest, and he advocated to oust others accused of molesting children.The trial, which could last three weeks or more, is the latest round in the long-running debate over affirmative action. However Burroughs rules, both sides expect the verdict to be appealed. Blum said he hopes to push the issue back to the Supreme Court in an effort to overturn precedents that allow universities, within certain limits, to consider race in admissions. The pivotal vote in the 2016 ruling upholding UTs policy was Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who has since retired and been replaced by Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.I just like the fact that they have a school where you can go to and learn about technology and stuff, so if you have a dream of being an engineer or something, you have a better chance of becoming that, Konnor said, adding, I like to tinker.But Kevin Harris, a senior adviser to Jealous, said the nominees platform and stances remain the same. I cant explain why Mr. Leggett was ever confused about Bens positions, but they havent changed, Harris said in a texted statment. The Amazon deal was poorly negotiated, tuition-free college is the right thing to do and schools everywhere should be fully funded, including in Montgomery County, not at its expense. Those always were and still are our positions.Todays Headlines

The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning.

Email address

By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy PolicyThe sergeant promotional exam is given to officers with at least three years of experience. The written portion of the exam consists of multiple-choice questions regarding department practices and procedures, and city, state and federal laws related to police work, among other things. Officers who pass the written exam are eligible to take the oral exam, which evaluates the candidates knowledge, skills and abilities in areas such as administrative or technical procedures, reasoning and judgment, communication and ability to work with others.From the beginning, our fundraising numbers always showed that we were building the foundation of our campaign right here, with voters in Central Virginia, Spanberger said in a statement. As weve turned this race into a toss-up, I am proud that so many people across the Commonwealth and country have joined to support our efforts. Our whole team is grateful for every person who has put their time, energy, enthusiasm, or money behind this campaign.About 200,000 Floridians are still sleeping in the dark and unable to operate their well water pumps. Many are running out of fuel in their vehicles. While this number has dropped from its peak of about 400,000, much of the power restoration has happened in places like Tallahassee, where the storm was not as severe and where restaurants and stores began reopening this weekend. The hardest-hit counties in the Panhandle remain in a primitive state.

A destroyed gas station left behind by Hurricane Michael in Albany, Ga. Days later, residents are still recovering from the damage of this storm and others that have hit in the past two years. (Dustin Chambers/For The Washington Post)

Its nickname is The Good Life City, built on the pecan groves and cotton fields that gave rise to the Deep Souths trade. It is far inland  more than 150 miles from Mexico Beach, Fla.  and not exactly the archetype of a place that would face repeated natural disasters.

Yet in the past two years, Albany has thrice been hit with devastation: First, a tornado ripped through here in January 2017 while on a 70-mile path that left parts of the city smashed and five people dead. Then, eight months later, Hurricane Irma scarred the regions crops after it meandered up Floridas Gulf Coast. And last week, Hurricane Michael shocked this community with terrifying power, downing live oaks and pines and damaging hundreds of homes; glass from the downtown convention center was blown into the streets; and again the pecans and cotton fields were left bleeding. More than half the city doesnt have electrical power.

Albany has become the Hard Luck City. Misery abounds, said Matthew Eisley, 50, a communication consultant in Raleigh, N.C., who grew up in this city of about 75,000. Her proud people just keep coming back  and they will again. But right now they need help, and lots of it.

[Back to frontier days: Hurricane Michael turns many rural Floridians into unwilling 21st-century pioneers]

Like numerous inland towns along Floridas Panhandle, this part of southwest Georgia took a beating after Michael obliterated Mexico Beach and caused massive destruction at Tyndall Air Force Base and in Panama City at the coast. The storms powerful eyewall swept north-northeast  still as a Category 3 storm, with winds up to 115 mph  delivering another dose of hardship to one of the poorest swaths of Florida, Alabama and Georgia.

Each storm has tested Albanys nickname, adding enormous stress to a city struggling with pockets of poverty and crime  about 30 percent of residents here live in poverty, according to census data.

We didnt have time to recover from the last storm, said Yolander Shazer, 40. A tree that fell during the 2017 tornado still lies in her backyard.



A family passes time in a Red Cross shelter setup at the Albany Civic Center, which opened its doors to distribute food and water. (Dustin Chambers/For The Washington Post)

The farms in and around Albany took a severe beating. They produce a good share of the countrys supply of sweet pecans and of the states cotton. Georgia is the second largest cotton producer in the nation after Texas, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department.

The damage is so widespread that the Georgia Agriculture Department estimates a $2 billion hit to the states economy. To recover, state officials and farmers said federal assistance will be necessary.

This was going to probably go down as one of the greatest crops ever, said Justin Jones, who farms 2,600 acres of cotton and 500 acres of pecans in the Albany region. Good weather this summer, with the perfect amount of rain, had made for an outstanding growing season, he said. Hurricane Michael rendered much of Joness crops unusable, with cotton that wont be worth picking.

Many of the processing plants and buying points for peanuts and pecans were significantly damaged, state agriculture officials said. And farmers estimate about 80 percent of irrigation pivots in farms south of Albany were flipped over.

You cant get harder hit than this. Theres nothing to sell to get our income back. Its all gone, Jones said. I have been a farmer for 15 years on my own, and I may have just lost everything I got in a matter of six hours. . . . We are going to need some type of assistance or guidance.

City officials fear the storm will stall progress made in recent years to revitalize Albanys downtown and the citys waterfront, an effort to lure in new businesses and more jobs. The citys plan for a trail system to connect to downtown  often a sign of progress in cities under distress  could once again be delayed.

We have been beat up again and again, said Dorothy Hubbard, a two-term mayor and the citys first African American woman to hold the job. It feels like we are always in recovery mode.



Albany Mayor Dorothy Hubbard walks toward the shelter at the civic center. It feels like we are always in recovery mode, she said. (Dustin Chambers/For The Washington Post)

But the city has also shown resilience, residents and public officials say. If anything, it has gotten better at cleanup efforts. In the past two years, residents have organized chain-saw crews that are ready to respond after a storm to help remove fallen trees. Local restaurants prepare food for line crews and other recovery workers. And the citys huge civic center opens its doors to distribute food and water.

The one good thing about a southern town like Albany, everybody comes together to help each other, said Bo Henry, a local businessman.

Tucked in Georgias southwest agricultural farmland, the city has developed a diversified industrial economy, with the presence of major companies such as Proctor & Gamble, MillerCoors and Mars Chocolate North America, the makers of M&Ms and Snickers. In recent years, it has worked to redevelop blighted buildings downtown, making a more appealing waterfront around the Flint RiverQuarium.

Herb Benford, 70, a Vietnam veteran has had his share of weather-related home crises in the 40 years since he settled back in Albany.

Michaels powerful winds knocked down a 130-foot-tall pine tree in Benfords yard, splitting his home in half and leaving him and his wife homeless, again. The same house on four acres of land by the Muckalee Creek saw six feet of water during the flooding of 1994 that followed Tropical Storm Alberto. It flooded again four years later during another historic deluge.

Ive gotten a nickname recently  they call me Split-House Herb, he said, maintaining a sense of humor while working outside his home Saturday. I cant control it. I am going to rebuild. I am going to stay here.

Others not that far from me got devastated, Benford said. People have it much worse than I do. . . . So how can I complain?Meanwhile, Karen Evans, the assistant secretary for cybersecurity, energy security and emergency response at the Energy Department, testified Sept. 27 that our energy infrastructure has become a primary target for hostile cyber-actors. She warned that, energy cybersecurity and resilience has emerged as one of the Nations most important security challenges, and added in response to a committee question that she is not confident our utilities are prepared to withstand such attacks, particularly from potent actors such as Russia and North Korea.But the Kavanaugh effect apparent in other parts of the country may not be enough to swing races here. In many of the Great Lakes states, candidates like Barletta who most tied themselves to the Trump agenda are still flailing. In Ohio, Rep. James B. Renacci (R), whose first Senate campaign ad was about his tight bond with Trump, has yet to come within 10 points of incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) in a major public poll.The focus on judges was safe territory for Trump weeks before the midterms where Democratic enthusiasm has put some Republican incumbents on the defensive. The remarks came just two days after McConnell struck a deal with Senate Democrats to allow votes on 15 more judicial nominees in exchange for allowing the Senate to end its work until after the midterms.In one episode reported by Woodward, Mattis described Trump as having the understanding of a fifth- or sixth-grader after a National Security Council meeting. In another episode, after Trump said he wanted to have Syrian President Bashar al-Assad assassinated, Mattis reportedly agreed but later told an aide, Were not going to do any of that.Mohammed and Kushner became close early on in the Trump administration. They struck up a friendship at a White House lunch in March 2017 and had private, one-on-one phone calls that took senior intelligence leaders by surprise and worried career national security officials because note-takers were not always present, according to multiple people familiar with the relationship. One Trump adviser said it was insane how much Kushner spoke with Mohammed. The contents of some of those conversations remain a mystery.Certainty to vote is up 32 points among women younger than 40, compared with 2014. Among men and women ages 18 to 29, it has risen 17 points. Among nonwhite registered voters, 72 percent are now certain to vote, up from 48 percent in Post-ABC polling in October 2014. White men without college degrees represent the one heavily Republican group whose certainty to vote is lower than average and has increased less than other groups since 2014. In contrast, white women with college degrees are up 15 points to 88 percent. For white women without degrees, the figure is up 12 points.Holder, who has said he was speaking figuratively, made the comment this month while campaigning for Abrams in McDonough, Ga. The remark has become a flash point ahead of an election in which Republicans are seeking to galvanize their voters by painting Democrats as an angry mob.Im not denying any climate-change issues, Kudlow said on ABCs This Week. Im just saying, do we know precisely . . . things like how much of it is manmade, how much of it is solar, how much of it is oceanic, how much of it is rain forest and other issues?If Khashoggi had disappeared in Turkey when he was at a hotel or a private residence, I think there is plausible deniability on the part of the Saudi government. But he disappeared when there is video evidence of him being at the consulate, Brennan said on NBC Newss Meet the Press.Before this campaign, people who wanted to build a house or graze their cattle just went into the woods. Now that has been stopped, Riasat said. Even some former timber rustlers, he said, have started growing and selling trees. We used to go after them, but now they come to us for advice, he said.That changed Sunday, with voters in the affluent region defecting en masse and redistributing their support to both ends of the political spectrum. The result wont end the CSUs 61-year streak in power, but it forces the party to bargain for partners. And it will almost certainly add to the strain on an already beleaguered Merkel, whose other coalition partner, the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), was also punished Sunday. The combined share of the vote won by the SPD and CSU was down more than 20 percent since the last election, in 2013.But later Sunday, Faisal bin Farhan, a senior adviser to the Saudi Embassy in Washington, wrote on Twitter that the column in no way reflects the thinking of the Saudi leadership. The embassy also issued on its Twitter account what it said was a clarification of the government statement, writing that the kingdom extends it appreciation to all, including the US administration, for refraining from jumping to conclusions on the ongoing investigation, an apparent reference to Khashoggis disappearance.Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull used his MP allowance to fund "whole of government" social media advertising and digital promotions worth up to $30,000 per week last year.

Mr Turnbull charged taxpayers $246,000 for expenses billed as "e-materials" from May last year to June this year, about 15 times what the average MP spent. Soon-to-be Prime Minister Scott Morrison spent $11,354 and Bill Shorten $2,563.

In the 2017-18 financial year MPs were allowed to spend up to $134,099.34 on office expenses, including targeted promotion of government policy on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.

In addition they were entitled to spend $1 for every enrolled voter in their electorate, as at the end of 31 March in the previous financial year. The most recently published headcount states there were just over 102,000 enrolled voters in the Wentworth electorate in 2016.A West Australian diver has described a encounter with a great white shark off Perth's northern beaches on Saturday afternoon that gave him "an insane appreciation for those sharks".

Steve Oakes and his mate Matthias Grundl were diving north of Two Rocks on 3 Mile Reef in above-water conditions he described as "aboslutely terrible".

Steve Oakes and Matthias Grundl had a close encounter of the great white shark kind on Staurday, but luckily they bagged a Dhuey later in the day. Credit:Facebook

But he said underwater visbility was brilliant at 15 metres.

"We swam together for around 100 metres from the boat when a 5-metre, fully grown female white shark charged from behind me, side swiping me," Mr Oakes said.A 48-year-old Alexander Heights man will appear in court after the vehicle he was allegedly driving crashed into a house in Alexander Heights overnight.

Police were called to the house on Hillcrest Road around 6.40pm on Friday evening after reports a Holden Monaro had crashed into a bedroom.

The driver fled the scene, but was found a short time later at a nearby house.

No one was injured, though firefighters attended to assess the structural damage.

The driver will receive a summons to appear in court charged with careless driving and driving with a blood alcohol content exceeding 0.08 per cent.This is about which bodies one can place confidence in, he said. Dewayne Johnson after hearing the verdict in his case against Monsanto in the Superior Court of California in San Francisco. Credit:AP He said further inquiry could take different approaches to find out how and why the IARC and the APVMA differed. Australia could do its own independent scientific assessment of the IARCs methods, but he said this would be a "surprising" move for the government. It may not be a good use of a lot of scientists time when it would be possibly a duplication of the high-quality agency work, which I consider to be sufficient, he said.

He said the other possible approach was to assume the IARC was correct and instead examine the Australian regulators processes and the influence, if any, of the farming industry that funded it via levies. Id be inclined to see if the APVMA was squeaky clean in its regulatory processes in the light of the IARC report, and how they made the decisions. Were they free from conflict of interest?" he said. Farmers would be very upset if they lost access to glyphosate and that is another interest that needs to be considered ... it needs to be more broadly based than just scientific. You would almost need a forensic investigation [to] try to come down to, first an unarguable assessment of the carcinogenic risk, and also the extent to which the APVMA was influenced by sources that may or may not have been unreliable. That would be a judicial, not just a scientific inquiry and would have to be overseen by a judge and led by the government ... the government have every right."

He said existing research was inadequate to assess the average Australian farmers exposure to glyphosate. Loading Professor Armstrong said the IARC had only once in his memory received new information strong enough to downgrade an assessment in its almost 50-year history. Decisions are based on scientific expertise; conflict of interest is rigorously addressed ... their procedures are good. No human endeavour is perfect, so they can go wrong; but I doubt this is such a circumstance, he said. Professor Lin Fritschi, from Curtins School of Public Health, was on the IARC working group, a team of international scientists who worked for a year to assess all evidence, culminating in an eight-day meeting.

She described the Australian regulators dissenting assessment as disappointing. It would be useful to review their methodology. In particular their epidemiological expertise, she said. There is surprisingly little publicly available literature available on the health effects of glyphosate and almost none in Australia. More studies need to be done and could be done and some of these would be quite easy to do. An APVMA spokesman said the regulator's funding source bore no influence on its regulatory activities. He pointed to a longer statement responding to the claims in the recent Four Corners story.

It said it considered the IARC report in 2016 when making its assessment, and like other regulators determined glyphosate unlikely to cause cancer in humans when used according to label directions. Monsanto called the IARC classification inappropriate and inconsistent with the science and cited many global regulatory agencies including the European Food Safety Authority. This important herbicide does not cause cancer, said Phil Miller, Monsantos vice president for global regulatory and government affairs in a statement. The WA Farmers Federation last week voiced concerns about the misrepresentation of glyphosate. Grain Council president Duncan Young said Four Corners blew the issue out of proportion and failed to address clear and overwhelming scientific evidence from independent regulators.

He said it was vital the government and public were well informed and not swayed by misleading commentary, and WA Farmers would continue to highlight the importance of glyphosate. The IARC is one of two authoritative classification systems used internationally by regulators, non-governmental organisations and courts. It relies only on publicly available information in making assessments, in interests of transparency. Its work considered case-control studies in the USA, Canada, and Sweden reporting increased risks for non-Hodgkin lymphoma associated with glyphosate. It concluded there was limited evidence in humans and sufficient evidence in experimental animals for the carcinogenicity of glyphosate, observing positive association with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.ISTANBUL: Turkey's investigation into the disappearance of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has revealed recordings made on his Apple Watch purportedly indicating he was tortured and killed, a Turkish newspaper reported on Saturday.

The report in the pro-government Sabah daily, which could not immediately be verified, emerged after a delegation from Saudi Arabia arrived in Turkey for a joint investigation into his disappearance.

"The moments when Khashoggi was interrogated, tortured and murdered were recorded in the Apple Watch's memory," the paper said, adding that the watch had synched with his iPhone, which his fiancee was carrying outside the consulate.

Two senior Turkish officials previously told Reuters that Khashoggi had been wearing a black Apple watch when he entered the consulate and that it was connected to a mobile phone he left outside.Boise, Idaho: An Idaho Fish and Game Commission member is in hot water after sharing photos of himself posing with a family of baboons and other animals he killed while hunting in southern Africa last month.

Idaho Fish and Game Commissioner Blake Fischer poses with 'a whole family of baboons' he says he shot on a recent hunting trip in Africa. Credit:Idaho's Office of the Governor

Commissioner Blake Fischer and his wife shot at least 14 animals in Namibia, according to the photos and descriptions included in an email he sent to more than 100 recipients.

They included a giraffe, leopard, impala, sable antelope, waterbuck, kudu, warthog, gemsbok (oryx) and eland.

The photo causing most angst is one of Fischer smiling broadly with four dead baboons propped in front of him, blood visible on the abdomen of the smallest baboon. Fischer killed them using a bow and arrows.First Nations across Canada have banned or restricted the flow of alcohol for years.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 14/10/2018 (1129 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

First Nations across Canada have banned or restricted the flow of alcohol for years.

Its a legal power they hold through the federal Indian Act, which allows First Nations to ban the sale, purchase and possession of alcohol or any other intoxicant. To pass, a bylaw requires a vote of 51 per cent of residents who attend a meeting called for the vote. It comes into effect as soon as the local chief and council enact it and a copy must be mailed to Ottawa within four days.

First Nations that govern their affairs outside that legislative framework enjoy similar jurisdictional powers. Its also common practice to search and confiscate contraband from baggage when planes land in remote or isolated First Nations. Theres even a name for them  dry reserves.

In the days leading up to Oct. 17, the date when marijuana will become legal in Canada, its unclear if First Nations have the legal right to ban pot possession.

Efforts to determine what position Manitoba dry reserves are going to adopt have been unsuccessful, despite repeated calls to various levels of the federal government, police and Indigenous organizations.

Politically and administratively, it seems certain some First Nations will quietly ban pot anyway. Then it will be up to Ottawa to decide whether to make a court issue out of it or not.

Federal Liberals have focused their political efforts on carving a path to strike a balance between twin political priorities that could clash  Indigenous governance and the right to ban distribution of an intoxicant thats about to be legal.

Spokespersons with Carolyn Bennetts Crown-Indigenous Relations and Jane Philpotts Indigenous Services departments made a point of deferring to Health Canada on the file.

"Throughout the legalization and regulation of cannabis, the government has placed a high priority on Indigenous interests," a spokesperson with Health Canada said in an email to the Free Press.

Framing the legalization of pot as a health issue isnt new; Prime Minister Justin Trudeau relied on the same strategy for public support during the 2015 election campaign.

Securing Indigenous support has also meant a lot of work behind closed doors, however.

Ottawa created a special task force on legalization and regulation of pot on First Nations, Health Canada said, which included setting up a team of government experts to work with Indigenous communities on ways to set up regulations around pot after Wednesdays legalization.

The process rolled out a year ago, and since then officials have held 70 separate meetings across the country with Indigenous leaders, communities and organizations, including the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.

The crossover between federal and Indigenous interests on pot has also drawn the attention of Canadas lawyers, who so far seem to be taking a wait-and-see attitude.

They are also aware some First Nations see legalization as an economic opportunity. Others will focus on substance abuse and some, particularly dry reserves, may ban it all together.

In Manitoba, expect all three scenarios to roll out.

Chief Christian Sinclair of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN) positioned The Pas-area community as the first Indigenous group to be the largest private shareholder of a cannabis clinic chain. OCN holds 10 per cent of the shares in the Ottawa-based National Access Cannabis Corp. (NAC).

Sinclair described how Manitoba First Nations hashed out their positions in a recent meeting.

"In that regard, the issue came up at the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs last summer... and the vote came down that every First Nation has the right to decide to do what it wants and we will respect that," Sinclair said.

"If someone comes into one of our storefronts, and theyre legal, well sell to them... its up to that individual to deal with the bylaws of his own community. But were not going to go to a First Nation we know is a dry reserve and say, Hey, can we (set up a dispensary here)? Well respect that."

In business terms, Indigenous law and pot laws might come into conflict, but they neednt clash.

"Its very simple. We recognize First Nations are sovereign," Sinclair said.

Communities such as Sinclairs OCN welcome marijuana sales as a new source of revenue. NAC announced plans earlier this year to open up storefronts in what he called the big five First Nations of Manitoba OCN, Nisichawayasihk, Long Plain, Peguis and Brokenhead.

"Its a public commodity now. Let the free market reign," Sinclair said.

If theres a counterbalance, its regulation.

Thats the message coming out in stereo from Health Canada and from cabinet ministers in recent hearings before a Senate committee.

"Let me be clear... it would not be a federal offence to possess cannabis in (a dry reserve) community because the federal law, the Cannabis Act, has repealed that, and made it possible for people to possess it," Bill Blair, minister of border security and organized crime reduction, said in response to questions put to him by Manitoba Sen. Marilou McPhedran earlier this month.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Blair and his cabinet colleague Philpott appeared before the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples Oct. 3 to answer questions about the impact legalization will have on Indigenous communities.

"But there are other aspects of that law that also apply to banning it under certain ages and in certain amounts," Blair added. "Its entirely possible, I believe, for a community to pass additional restrictions as long as its not frustrating the intent of the act.

"Quite frankly, Im not inclined to tell them they cannot do it, but a court could determine that it frustrates the intent of the act."

Pressed on whether Ottawa would take a First Nation that banned cannabis into court, Blair said it was unlikely.

"My understanding is the minister of justice has made it clear that she does not intend to litigate on that issue," Blair said.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.caThe following companies are subsidiares of Kellogg: 545 LLC, AQFTM Inc., Afical - Industria e Comercio de Alimentos Ltda, Afical Holding LLC, Alimentos Gollek S.A., Alimentos Kellogg S.A., Alimentos Kellogg de Panama SRL, Argkel Inc., Austin Quality Foods Inc., BDH Inc., Bear Naked Inc., Bisco Misr, CC Real Estate Holdings LLC, Canada Holding LLC, Cary Land Corporation, Eighteen94 Capital LLC, Favorite Food Products Limited, Gardenburger LLC, Gollek Argentina S.R.L., Gollek B.V., Gollek Inc., Gollek Interamericas S. de R.L. de C.V., Gollek Servicios S.C., Gollek UK Limited, Illinois Baking Corporation, Instituto De Nutricion y Salud Kellogg A.C., Insurgent Brands LLC, K (China) Limited, K Europe Holding Company Limited, K India Private Limited, K-One Inc., K-Two Inc., KBAR SRL, KECL LLC, KELF Limited, KJAL Limited, KPAR Limited, KT International Finance SRL, KTRY Limited, Kashi Company, Kashi Company Pty Ltd, Kashi Sales L.L.C., Keebler Company, Keebler Foods Company, Keebler Holding Corp., Keebler USA Inc., Kelarg Inc., Kelcone Limited, Kelcorn Limited, Kellman S. de R.L. de C.V., Kellogg (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., Kellogg (Deutschland) GmbH, Kellogg (Japan) G.K., Kellogg (Osterreich) Gesellschaft GmbH, Kellogg (Schweiz) GmbH, Kellogg (Thailand) Limited, Kellogg Activation Services Company, Kellogg Argentina S.R.L., Kellogg Asia Inc., Kellogg Asia Marketing Inc., Kellogg Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Kellogg Asia Products Sdn.. Bhd., Kellogg Asia Sdn. Bhd., Kellogg Australia Holdings Pty. Ltd., Kellogg Belgium Services Company BVBA, Kellogg Brasil Inc., Kellogg Brasil Ltda., Kellogg Business Services Company, Kellogg Canada Inc., Kellogg Caribbean Inc., Kellogg Caribbean Services Company Inc., Kellogg Chile Inc., Kellogg Company East Africa Limited, Kellogg Company Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Kellogg Company Subsidiaries, Kellogg Company of Great Britain Limited, Kellogg Company of Ireland Limited, Kellogg Company of South Africa (Pty.) Ltd., Kellogg Costa Rica S. de R.L., Kellogg Ecuador C. LTDA., Kellogg El Salvador Ltda. de C.V., Kellogg Espana S.L., Kellogg Europe Company Limited, Kellogg Europe Finance Limited, Kellogg Europe Services Limited, Kellogg Europe Trading Limited, Kellogg Europe Treasury Services Limited, Kellogg European Logistics Services Company Limited, Kellogg European Support Services SRL, Kellogg Fearn Inc., Kellogg Funding Company LLC, Kellogg Group LLC, Kellogg Group Limited, Kellogg Group S.a.r.l., Kellogg Hellas Single Member Limited Liability Company, Kellogg Holding Company Limited, Kellogg Holding LLC, Kellogg Hong Kong Holding Company Limited, Kellogg Hong Kong Private Limited, Kellogg India Private Limited, Kellogg International Holding Company, Kellogg Irish Holding Limited, Kellogg Italia S.p.A., Kellogg Kayco, Kellogg Latin America Holding Company (One) Limited, Kellogg Latin America Holding Company (Two) Limited, Kellogg Latvia Inc., Kellogg Lux I S.ar.l., Kellogg Lux III S. ar L., Kellogg Lux V S.a.r.l., Kellogg Lux VI S.ar.l., Kellogg Management Services (Europe) Limited, Kellogg Manchester Limited, Kellogg Manufacturing Espana S.L., Kellogg Marketing and Sales Company (UK) Limited, Kellogg Med Gida Ticaret Limited SirketiI, Kellogg Netherlands Holding B.V., Kellogg North America Company, Kellogg Northern Europe GmbH, Kellogg Pakistan (Private) Limted, Kellogg Rus LLC, Kellogg Sales Company, Kellogg Services GmbH, Kellogg Servicios S.C., Kellogg Snacks Financing Limited, Kellogg Snacks Holding Company Europe Limited, Kellogg Superannuation Pty. Ltd., Kellogg Supply Services (Europe) Limited, Kellogg Talbot LLC, Kellogg Transition MA&P L.L.C., Kellogg Treasury Services Company, Kellogg U.K. Holding Company Limited, Kellogg UK Minor Limited, Kellogg USA LLC, Kellogg de Centro America S.A., Kellogg de Colombia S.A., Kellogg de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Kellogg de Peru S.R.L., Kellogg's Produits Alimentaires S.A.S., Kelmill Limited, Kelpac Limited, Klux A Sarl, Klux B Sarl, Mass Food, Mass Food International SAE, Mass Food SAE, Mass Trade for Trade and Distribution SAE, McCamly Plaza Hotel Inc., Multipro Consumer Products Limited*, Multipro Private Limited*, Multipro Singapore Pte. Ltd*, Nhong Shim Kellogg Co. Ltd.*, Nikko Industries*, Nordisk Kellogg's ApS, PRUX S.a r.l., Padua Ltda, Parati Group, Parati Industria e Comercio de Alimentos Ltda, Portable Foods Manufacturing Company Limited, Prime Bond Cyprus Holding Company Limited, Prime Bond Holdings Limited, Pringles, Pringles (Shanghai) Food Co. Ltd., Pringles Australia Pty Ltd, Pringles Hong Kong Limited, Pringles International Operations Sarl, Pringles Japan G.K., Pringles LLC, Pringles Manufacturing Company, Pringles Overseas Holdings Sarl, Pringles S.a r.l., Pronumex S de R.L. de C.V., RX Bar UK Limited, RXBRANDS Canada ULC, Ritmo Investimentos, Rondo Food Manufacturing S.A.E., RxBar, Saragusa Frozen Foods Limited, Servicios Argkel S.C., Shaffer Clarke & Co. Inc., Specialty Cereals Pty Limited, Specialty Foods L.L.C., Stretch Fibres*, Stretch Island Fruit Sales L.L.C., Sunshine Biscuits L.L.C., The Eggo Company, The Healthy Snack People Pty Limited, Trafford Park Insurance Limited, Uma Investments sp. z o.o., Vita+ Naturprodukte GmbH*, Wimble Manufacturing Belgium BVBA, Wimble Services Belgium BVBA, and Worthington Foods Inc..The following companies are subsidiares of American International Group: AGC Life Insurance Company, AIG APAC HOLDINGS PTE. LTD., AIG Advisors S.r.l., AIG Aerospace Insurance Services Inc., AIG Asia Pacific Insurance Pte. Ltd., AIG Asset Management (Europe) Limited, AIG Asset Management (U.S.) LLC, AIG Assurance Company, AIG Australia Limited, AIG Brazil Holding I LLC, AIG CIS Investments LLC, AIG Canada Holdings Inc., AIG Capital Corporation, AIG Capital Services Inc., AIG Claims Inc., AIG Egypt Insurance Company S.A.E., AIG Employee Services Inc., AIG Europe (Services) Limited, AIG Europe Holdings S.a.rl., AIG Europe S.A., AIG Federal Savings Bank, AIG Financial Products Corp., AIG General Insurance Co. Ltd., AIG Global Asset Management Holdings Corp., AIG Global Real Estate Investment Corp., AIG Global Reinsurance Operations, AIG Holdings Europe Limited, AIG Insurance (Thailand) Public Company Limited, AIG Insurance Company China Limited, AIG Insurance Company JSC, AIG Insurance Company of Canada, AIG Insurance Company-Puerto Rico, AIG Insurance Hong Kong Limited, AIG Insurance Limited, AIG Insurance Management Services Inc., AIG Insurance New Zealand Limited, AIG International Holdings GmbH, AIG Investments UK Limited, AIG Israel Insurance Company Ltd, AIG Japan Holdings Kabushiki Kaisha, AIG Kenya Insurance Company Limited, AIG Korea Inc., AIG Latin America I.I., AIG Latin America Investments S.L., AIG Lebanon SAL, AIG Life Holdings Inc., AIG Life Insurance Company (Switzerland) Ltd, AIG Life Limited, AIG Life South Africa Limited, AIG Life of Bermuda Ltd., AIG MEA Holdings Limited, AIG MEA Limited, AIG Malaysia Insurance Berhad, AIG Markets Inc., AIG Matched Funding Corp., AIG PC Global Services Inc., AIG Philippines Insurance Inc., AIG Property Casualty Company, AIG Property Casualty Inc., AIG Property Casualty International LLC, AIG Property Casualty U.S. Inc., AIG Re-Takaful (L) Berhad, AIG Resseguros Brasil S.A., AIG Seguros Brasil S.A., AIG Seguros Mexico S.A. de C.V., AIG Shared Services Corporation, AIG South Africa Limited, AIG Specialty Insurance Company, AIG Technologies Inc., AIG Travel Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., AIG Travel Assist Inc., AIG Travel Assist Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., AIG Travel EMEA Limited, AIG Travel Inc., AIG Uganda Limited, AIG Vietnam Insurance Company Limited, AIG WarrantyGuard Inc., AIG-FP Pinestead Holdings Corp., AIG-Metropolitana Cia. de Seguros y Reaseguros S.A., AIGGRE EOLA LLC, AIGGRE Europe Real Estate Fund I GP S.a r.l., AIGGRE U.S. Real Estate Fund I GP LLC, AIGGRE U.S. Real Estate Fund I LP, AIGGRE U.S. Real Estate Fund II GP LLC, AIU Insurance Company, AM Holdings LLC, Ageas Protect, AlphaCat Managers Ltd., American General Corporation, American General Life Insurance Company, American Home Assurance Co. Ltd., American Home Assurance Company, American Home Assurance Company Escritorio de Representacao no Brasil Ltda., American International Group Inc., American International Group UK Limited, American International Overseas Association, American International Overseas Limited, American International Realty Corp., American International Reinsurance Company Ltd., American International Underwriters del Ecuador-Holding S.A., American Security Life Insurance Company Limited, Arthur J. Glatfelter Agency Inc., Avondhu Limited, Blackboard Customer Care Insurance Services LLC, Blackboard Insurance Company, Blackboard Services LLC, Blackboard Specialty Insurance Company, Blackboard U.S. Holdings Inc., Chartis Takaful Enaya B.S.C. (c), Commerce and Industry Insurance Company, Crop Risk Services Inc., Eaglestone Reinsurance Company, Ellipse, Fortitude Group Holdings LLC, Fortitude Life & Annuity Solutions Inc., Fortitude Reinsurance Company Ltd., Franklin Life Insurance Company, Fuji Fire and Marine, Glatfelter Insurance Group, Globe and Rutgers Insurance Group, Grand Isle SAC Limited, Granite State Insurance Company, Group Risk Services Limited, Group Risk Technologies Limited, Illinois National Insurance Co., Jefferson Eola Venture LLC, Johannesburg Insurance Holdings (Proprietary) Limited, Laya Healthcare Limited, Lexington Insurance Company, MG Reinsurance Limited, Mt. Mansfield Company Inc., National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh Pa., National Union Fire Insurance Company of Vermont, New Hampshire Insurance Company, PT AIG Insurance Indonesia, Pine Street Real Estate Holdings Corp., Private Joint-Stock Company AIG Ukraine Insurance Company, Risk Specialists Companies Insurance Agency Inc., SA Affordable Housing LLC, SAFG Retirement Services Inc., Service Net Warranty LLC, Stratford Insurance Company, SunAmerica Affordable Housing Partners Inc., SunAmerica Asset Management LLC, Talbot Holdings Ltd., Talbot Underwriting Holdings Ltd., Talbot Underwriting Ltd., Thai CIT Holding Company Limited, The Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania, The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York, The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company, Travel Guard, Travel Guard Group Canada Inc./Groupe Garde Voyage du Canada Inc., Travel Guard Group Inc., Tudor Insurance Company, VALIC Financial Advisors Inc., Valic Retirement Services Company, Validus Holdings, Validus Holdings (UK) Ltd., Validus Holdings Ltd., Validus Reinsurance (Switzerland) Ltd, Validus Reinsurance Ltd., Validus Ventures Ltd., Volunteer Firemen's Insurance Services Inc., Western World Insurance Company, and Western World Insurance Group Inc..ConocoPhillips engages in the exploration, production, transportation and marketing of crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, natural gas liquids, and liquefied natural gas on a worldwide basis. It operates through the following geographical segments: Alaska; Lower 48; Canada; Europe, Middle East and North Africa; Asia Pacific; and Other International. The Alaska segment primarily explores for produces, transports and markets crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The Lower 48 segment consists of operations in the U.S. and the Gulf of Mexico. The Canada segment is comprised of oil sands development in the Athabasca Region of northeastern Alberta and a liquids-rich unconventional play in western Canada. The Europe, Middle East and North Africa segment consists of operations and exploration activities in Norway, the United Kingdom and Libya. The Asia Pacific segment has explorations and product operations in China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia. The Other International segment handles exploration activities in Columbia and Argentina. The company was founded in 1875 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Roche: 454 Life Sciences, Adheron Therapeutics, Adheron Therapeutics Inc., Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Anadys Pharmaceuticals Inc., Ariosa Diagnostics, Ariosa Diagnostics Inc., Arius Research, Ascur Versicherungsvermittlungs GmbH, BINA Technology, Bina Technologies Inc., BioImagene, BioVeris, BioVeris Corporation, Biopharm AG, Boehringer Mannheim, Borean Pharma, Chemical Manufacturing and Trading Company Limited, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Disetronic Holding AG, Dutalys GmbH, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd / Jordan P.S.C., FLLC "Roche Products Limited", FMI Germany GmbH, Flatiron Health, Flatiron Health Inc., ForSight Labs, ForSight VISION4 Inc., Foundation Medicine, Foundation Medicine Inc., Foundation Medicine Securities Corporation, Galenus Mannheim Pharma GmbH, GeneWEAVE, GeneWEAVE Biosciences Inc., Genentech, Genentech Inc., Genentech P.R. Inc., Genentech USA Inc., Genia Technologies, Hoffmann - La Roche Ltd, Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., Hoffmann-La Roche Limited, Hoffmann-La Roche Products Limited, I5 Surviving Corp., IGEN International Inc., IGEN LS LLC, IQuum, IQuum Inc., Ignyta, Ignyta Inc., Inflazome, Infogenetik Molekuler Bilgi Hizmetleri Anonim Sirketi, Institut Roche SAS, InterMune, InterMune Holdings Limited, InterMune Inc., InterMune International AG, Jecure Therapeutics Inc., Kapa Biosystems, Kapa Biosystems (Pty) Ltd, Kapa Biosystems Inc., Limited Liability Company Roche Diabetes Care Rus, Limited Liability Company Roche Diagnostics Rus, MTM Laboratories, Marcadia Biotech, Medingo Ltd., Medingo Medical Solutions, Memory Pharmaceuticals, Memory Pharmaceuticals Corp., Mirus, Museum Tinguely AG, N.V. Roche S.A., P.T. Roche Indonesia, PVT Probenverteiltechnik GmbH, Phaor AG, Piramed, Productos Roche (El Salvador) S.A. de C.V., Productos Roche (Honduras) S.A., Productos Roche (Nicaragua) S.A., Productos Roche (Panama) S.A., Productos Roche Dominicana S.R.L., Productos Roche Guatemala (Sociedad Anonima), Productos Roche Interamericana S.A. (PRISA), Productos Roche Quimica Farmaceutica S.A., Productos Roche S.A., Productos Roche S.A. Quimica e Industrial, Productos Roche S.A. de C.V., Produtos Roche Quimicos e Farmaceuticos S.A., Promedior, Rabbit-Air Ltd, RoDiagnostics Egypt for Trading S.A.E, Roche (China) Holding Ltd., Roche (Hellas) S.A., Roche (Hungary) Ltd, Roche (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Roche (Philippines) Inc., Roche (Shanghai) Pharmaceuticals Consulting Co. Ltd, Roche (Shanghai) Pharmaceuticals Trading Co. Ltd., Roche - Moscow Ltd., Roche AB, Roche Algerie SPA, Roche Austria GmbH, Roche Bangladesh Limited, Roche Beteiligungs GmbH, Roche Biomedical Laboratories Inc., Roche Bolivia SRL., Roche Bulgaria EOOD, Roche Cameroun SARL, Roche Capital Market Ltd, Roche Capital Services Ltd., Roche Catalyst Investments Ltd., Roche Chemische Unternehmungen AG, Roche Chile Limitada, Roche Cote dIvoire SARL, Roche DC Japan K. K., Roche DC Mexico S.A. de C.V., Roche Deutschland Holding GmbH, Roche Diabetes Care (Switzerland) Ltd, Roche Diabetes Care Argentina S.A., Roche Diabetes Care Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Roche Diabetes Care Australia Pty Limited, Roche Diabetes Care Austria GmbH, Roche Diabetes Care Brasil Ltda., Roche Diabetes Care Deutschland GmbH, Roche Diabetes Care France SAS, Roche Diabetes Care GmbH, Roche Diabetes Care Inc., Roche Diabetes Care India Private Limited, Roche Diabetes Care Italy S.p.A., Roche Diabetes Care Limited, Roche Diabetes Care Middle East FZCO, Roche Diabetes Care Nederland B.V., Roche Diabetes Care Polska sp. z o.o., Roche Diabetes Care South Africa Proprietary Limited, Roche Diabetes Care Spain S.L., Roche Diagnostica Brasil Ltda., Roche Diagnostics (Hellas) S.A., Roche Diagnostics (Hong Kong) Limited, Roche Diagnostics (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Roche Diagnostics (Shanghai) Ltd., Roche Diagnostics (Suzhou) Limited, Roche Diagnostics (Switzerland) Ltd, Roche Diagnostics (Thailand) Limited, Roche Diagnostics Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Roche Diagnostics Australia Pty. Limited, Roche Diagnostics Belgium NV, Roche Diagnostics Corporation, Roche Diagnostics Deutschland GmbH, Roche Diagnostics France SAS, Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Roche Diagnostics Hematology Inc., Roche Diagnostics India Private Limited, Roche Diagnostics International Ltd, Roche Diagnostics K.K., Roche Diagnostics Korea Co. Ltd., Roche Diagnostics Limited, Roche Diagnostics Ltd., Roche Diagnostics Middle East FZCO, Roche Diagnostics NZ Limited, Roche Diagnostics Nederland B.V., Roche Diagnostics Norge A/S, Roche Diagnostics Operations Inc., Roche Diagnostics Oy, Roche Diagnostics Polska Sp. z o.o., Roche Diagnostics Proprietary Limited, Roche Diagnostics S.L., Roche Diagnostics S.p.A., Roche Diagnostics Scandinavia AB, Roche Diagnostics Turkey Anonim Sirketi, Roche Diagnostics a/s, Roche Ecuador S.A., Roche Eesti OU, Roche Egypt LLC, Roche Egypt for Manufacturing and Trading SAE, Roche Farma (Peru) S.A., Roche Farma S.A., Roche Farmaceutica Quimica Lda., Roche Finance Europe B.V., Roche Finance Ltd, Roche Financial Investments Ltd., Roche Financial Management Ltd., Roche Financial Services Ltd., Roche Forum Buonas Ltd, Roche Georgia LLC, Roche Glycart, Roche Glycart Ltd, Roche Health Solutions Inc., Roche Holding (UK) Limited, Roche Holdings Inc., Roche Hong Kong Limited, Roche Innovation Center Copenhagen A/S, Roche Innovatis, Roche International Ltd., Roche International Ltd. (Montevideo Branch), Roche Intertrade Limited, Roche Ireland Limited, Roche Kazakhstan LLP, Roche Kenya Limited, Roche Korea Company Ltd., Roche Laboratories Inc., Roche Latvija SIA, Roche Lebanon S.A.R.L., Roche Long Term Foundation, Roche Makedonija DOOEL, Roche Molecular Systems Inc., Roche Myanmar Company Limited, Roche Mustahzarlari Sanayi Anonim Sirketi, Roche Nederland B.V., Roche NimbleGen, Roche Norge A/S, Roche Operations Ltd., Roche Oy, Roche PVT GmbH, Roche Pakistan Limited, Roche Palo Alto LLC, Roche Pars Co. (Ltd.), Roche Pharma (Switzerland) Ltd, Roche Pharma AG, Roche Pharmaceuticals (Israel) Ltd., Roche Pharmaceuticals Middle East FZCO, Roche Pharmholding B.V., Roche Polska Sp. z o.o., Roche Privacy GmbH, Roche Products (India) Private Limited, Roche Products (Ireland) Limited, Roche Products (Mauritius) Ltd, Roche Products (New Zealand) Limited, Roche Products (Proprietary) Limited, Roche Products Ghana Limited, Roche Products Inc., Roche Products Limited, Roche Products Ltd., Roche Products Pty. Limited, Roche Products Saudi Arabia LLC, Roche R&D Center (China) Ltd., Roche Real Estate Services Mannheim GmbH, Roche Registration GmbH, Roche Registration Limited, Roche Romania S.R.L., Roche S.A., Roche S.p.A., Roche SAS, Roche Sequencing Solutions Inc., Roche Services (Asia Pacific) Sdn. Bhd., Roche Services (Europe) Ltd, Roche Services Americas Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, Roche Services Holdings Ltd., Roche Servicios S.A., Roche Servicios de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Roche Singapore Pte. Ltd., Roche Singapore Technical Operations Pte. Ltd., Roche Sistemas de Diagnosticos Sociedade Unipessoal Lda., Roche Slovensko S.R.O., Roche TCRC Inc., Roche Thailand Limited, Roche Tunisie SA, Roche Ukraine LLC, Roche Vietnam Company Limited, Roche a/s Medicinalvarer og Kemikalier, Roche d.o.o., Roche d.o.o. farmaceutsko drustvo  Roche Ltd. Pharmaceutical Company, Roche farmacevtska druzba d.o.o., Roche mtm laboratories AG, Roche s.r.o., Santaris Pharma, Sapac Corporation Ltd., Seragon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Shanghai Roche Pharmaceuticals Limited, Signature Diagnostics GmbH, Spark Therapeutics, Spring Bioscience Corp., Stratos Genomics, Syntex Corporation, Syntex Pharm AG, Syntex Pharmaceuticals International Limited, Syntex Puerto Rico Inc., Tanox Inc., Tavero AG, Tensha Therapeutics, Tensha Therapeutics Inc., Therapeutic Human Polyclonals, Therapeutic Human Polyclonals Inc., Trophos, Trophos SA, Tusk Therapeutics, Tusk Therapeutics Limited, UAB Roche Lietuva, Ventana Medical Systems, Ventana Medical Systems Inc., Verum Diagnostica GmbH, Viewics, Viewics Inc., Viewics India Private Limited, mySugr, mySugr GmbH, and mySugr Inc..The Boeing Co. is an aerospace company, which engages in the manufacture of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Airplanes; Defense, Space and Security; Global Services; and Boeing Capital. The Commercial Airplanes segment includes the development, production, and market of commercial jet aircraft and provides fleet support services, principally to the commercial airline industry worldwide. The Defense, Space and Security segment refers to the research, development, production and modification of manned and unmanned military aircraft and weapons systems for global strike, including fighter and combat rotorcraft aircraft and missile systems; global mobility, including tanker, rotorcraft and tilt-rotor aircraft; and airborne surveillance and reconnaissance, including command and control, battle management and airborne anti-submarine aircraft. The Global Services segment provides services to commercial and defense customers. The Boeing Capital segment seeks to ensure that Boeing customers have the financing they need to buy and take delivery of their Boeing product and manages overall financing exposure. T

Read MoreNTT DOCOMO, INC., a telecommunications company, provides various mobile services in Japan and internationally. It operates through three segments: Telecommunications Business, Smart Life Business, and Other Businesses. The company offers iPhone, iPad, smartphone, tablet, and feature phone products and services under the docomo name, as well as d POINT CLUB, a point program. It also provides technical and operational services to mobile operators and other companies. In addition, the company offers LTE, FOMA, and FOMA high-speed services; docomo Wi-Fi services; VoLTE voice call services; docomo Hikari, an optical Internet service; and docomo Shop services. Further, it provides optical-fiber broadband, satellite mobile communications, and international services; distributes video, music, and electronic books, etc.; and offers finance/payment services, online shopping service, other life-related services, etc. Additionally, the company engages in the mobile device protection service, commissioned development/sale, system maintenance businesses, etc. As of March 31, 2019, it had 78.45 million cellular subscriptions; and 70.15 million d POINT CLUB memberships. NTT DOCOMO, INC. has collaboration with Tohoku University to research on an artificial-intelligence technology to detect periodontal disease by photographing a person's gums with a smartphone. It also has a mobile payment alliance agreement with Merpay, Inc., LINE Pay Corporation, and KDDI Corporation for merchant stores. The company was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. NTT DOCOMO, INC. is a subsidiary of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation.

Read More11 Wall Street research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Hugo Boss in the last twelve months. There are currently 6 hold ratings and 5 buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street research analysts is that investors should "hold" Hugo Boss stock. A hold rating indicates that analysts believe investors should maintain any existing positions they have in BOSS, but not buy additional shares or sell existing shares.

View analyst ratings for Hugo Boss or view top-rated stocks.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..Imperial Brands PLC, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, imports, markets, and sells tobacco and tobacco-related products. It offers a range of cigarettes, fine cut and smokeless tobacco, papers, and cigars; and next generation product (NGP) portfolio, such as e-vapour products, as well as oral nicotine and heated tobacco products. The company sells its products under various brands, including Davidoff, Gauloises, JPS, West, L&B, Bastos, Fine, Winston, News, Parker & Simpson, blu, Kool, Horizon, Jade, Cohiba, Montecristo, Romeo Y Julieta, Backwoods, Skruf, Golden Virginia, Rizla, and Knox in approximately 160 countries worldwide. It also provides logistics services that include the distribution of tobacco and NGP products for tobacco and NGP product manufacturers; and various non-tobacco and NGP products and services. In addition, the company is involved in the management of a golf course; marketing of papers; restaurant business; distribution of pharmaceuticals, POS software, and published materials and other products; printing and publishing activities; and provision of long haul transportation, industrial parcel and express delivery, advertising, and support management services. Further, it owns the trademarks; and retails its products. The company was formerly known as Imperial Tobacco Group PLC and changed its name to Imperial Brands PLC in February 2016. Imperial Brands PLC was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Bristol, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreInvesco Municipal Income Opportunities Trust is a closed-ended fixed income mutual fund launched by Invesco Ltd. The fund is co-managed by Invesco Advisers, Inc., INVESCO Asset Management Deutschland GmbH, INVESCO Asset Management Limited, INVESCO Asset Management (Japan) Limited, Invesco Hong Kong Limited, INVESCO Senior Secured Management, Inc., and Invesco Canada Ltd. It invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. The fund primarily invests in municipal bonds rated BB or better by Standard & Poor's or Ba or better by Moody's. It employs fundamental analysis with bottom-up security selection approach to create its portfolio. The fund was previously known as Morgan Stanley Municipal Income Opportunities Trust. Invesco Municipal Income Opportunities Trust was formed on September 19, 1988 and is domiciled in the United States.

Read MoreKAZ Minerals PLC, together with its subsidiaries, engages in mining and processing copper and other metals primarily in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan. It operates through Bozshakol, Aktogay, East Region and Bozymchak, and Mining Projects segments. The company operates the Aktogay and Bozshakol open pit copper mines in the east region and Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan; three underground mines in the east region of Kazakhstan; and the Bozymchak copper-gold mine in Kyrgyzstan. It also develops greenfield metal deposits; operates Koksay deposit in Kazakhstan, and the Baimskaya licence area in the Chukotka region of Russia; and produces and sells various by-products, such as gold, silver, molybdenum, and zinc. In addition, the company supplies and distributes heat, water, and electricity; and offers construction, project management, financing, management, sales and logistics, and repairs and maintenance services. The company was formerly known as Kazakhmys PLC and changed its name to KAZ Minerals PLC in October 2014. KAZ Minerals PLC was founded in 1930 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

Read More American Consumer News, LLC dba MarketBeat 2010-2021. All rights reserved.

326 E 8th St #105, Sioux Falls, SD 57103 | U.S. Based Support Team at [email protected]m | (844) 978-6257

MarketBeat does not provide personalized financial advice and does not issue recommendations or offers to buy stock or sell any security.



Our Accessibility Statement | Terms of Service | Do Not Sell My Information



 2021 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. To see all exchange delays and terms of use please see disclaimer. Fundamental company data provided by Zacks Investment Research.Lincoln National Corp. is a holding company, which operates multiple insurance and retirement businesses through its subsidiary companies. It provides advice and solutions that help empower people to take charge of their financial lives with confidence and optimism. The company operates through the following segments: Annuities, Retirement Plan Services, Life Insurance, Group Protection, and Other Operations. The Annuities segment provides tax-deferred investment growth and lifetime income opportunities for its clients by offering fixed and variable annuities. The Retirement Plan Services segment includes employers with retirement plan products and services, primarily in the defined contribution retirement plan marketplaces. The Life Insurance segment focuses on the creation and protection of wealth for its clients by providing life insurance products, including term insurance, both single and survivorship versions of universal life insurance, variable universal life insurance, and indexed universal life insurance products. The Group Protection segment offers group non-medical insurance products, which includes term life, disability, dental, vision and accident and critical illness

Read MoreNational Grid plc transmits and distributes electricity and natural gas. It operates through UK Electricity Transmission, UK Gas Transmission, US Regulated, and National Grid Ventures (NGV) and Other segments. The UK Electricity Transmission segment owns and operates electricity transmission networks, which comprise approximately 7,236 kilometers of overhead lines. The UK Gas Transmission segment owns and operates gas transmission systems, as well as third-party independent systems and liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage facilities. The US Regulated segments owns and operates transmission facilities across upstate New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont; and electricity distribution networks in upstate New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Its assets comprise 14,439 kilometers of overhead lines; an electricity distribution network of approximately 117,498 circuit miles; and a network of approximately 57,551 kilometers of gas pipeline. The NGV and Other segment engages in the energy metering business; transporting renewable energy long distances through its electricity interconnectors; and storing LNG, as well as commercial property and insurance activities in the United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreBank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. The company's personal banking products and services include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and financial and investment advice services; and commercial banking products and services comprise business deposit accounts, commercial credit cards, business loans and commercial mortgages, cash management solutions, foreign exchange, specialized banking programs, treasury and payment solutions, and risk management products for small business and commercial banking customers. It also offers investment and wealth advisory services; digital investing services; financial services and solutions; and investment management, and trust and custody services to institutional, retail, and high net worth investors. In addition, the company provides life insurance, accident and sickness insurance, and annuity products; creditor and travel insurance to bank customers; and reinsurance solutions. Further, it offers client's debt and equity capital-raising services, as well as loan origination and syndication, balance sheet management, and treasury management; strategic advice on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, and recapitalizations, as well as valuation and fairness opinions; and trade finance, risk mitigation, and other operating services. Additionally, the company provides research and access to markets for institutional, corporate, and retail clients; trading solutions that include debt, foreign exchange, interest rate, credit, equity, securitization and commodities; new product development and origination services, as well as risk management advice and services to hedge against fluctuations; and funding and liquidity management services to its clients. It operates through approximately 1,400 bank branches and 4,800 automated banking machines in Canada and the United States. The company was founded in 1817 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of PerkinElmer: Analytica of Branford, Applied Biosystems, Arnel Inc., ArtusLabs, Beijing Huaan Magnech Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., Beijing Longrun Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., Beijing Meizheng Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., Beijing Meizheng Testing Lab Co. Ltd., Beijing OUMENG Biotechnology Co. Ltd., Bio Evolution SAS, Bioo Scientific Corporation, Biosense Picolabs Inc., Biosense Technologies Pvt Ltd., Caliper Life Sciences, Caliper Life Sciences Inc., Cambridge Research & Instrumentation Inc., CambridgeSoft, Ceiba Solutions, Chengdu PerkinElmer Medical Laboratory Co. Ltd., Chromo G.A. SAS, CisBio US Inc., Cisbio Asia Pacific Ltd, Cisbio Bioassays SAS, Cisbio China Ltd., Cisbio Group SAS, Cisbio KK, Cisbio.com, DNA Laboratories Sdn. Bhd., Dani Analitica S.r.l., Dexela, EUROIMMUN (Hangzhou) Medical Laboratory Diagnostics Co. Ltd., EUROIMMUN (South East Asia) Pte Ltd., EUROIMMUN (Tianjin) Medical Diagnostic Technology Co. Ltd., EUROIMMUN AG, EUROIMMUN Brasil Medicina Diagnostica Ltda., EUROIMMUN Diagnostics Espana S.L.U., EUROIMMUN France SAS, EUROIMMUN Italia Diagnostica Medica S.r.l., EUROIMMUN Japan Co. Ltd., EUROIMMUN Medical Diagnostics (China) Co. Ltd., EUROIMMUN Medical Diagnostics Canada Inc., EUROIMMUN Medical Laboratory Diagnostics South Africa (Pty) Ltd., EUROIMMUN Medizinische Labordiagnostika AG, EUROIMMUN Polska Spolka z o.o., EUROIMMUN Portugal Unipessoal Lda., EUROIMMUN Schweiz AG, EUROIMMUN Turkey Tibbi Laboratuar Teshisleri A.S., EUROIMMUN UK Ltd., EUROIMMUN US Inc., EUROIMMUN US Real Estate LLC, Geospiza, Guangzhou EUROIMMUN Medical Diagnostic Products Co. Ltd., Hangzhou EUROIMMUN Medical Diagnostic Products Co. Ltd., Horizon Discovery, Immunodiagnostic Systems, Integromics S.L., Jiangsu Meizheng Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., LabMetrix Technologies, Labtronics, ManCell SAS, Nexcelom Bioscience, NovaScreen Biosciences Corporation, Opto Technology, Orchid Biomedical Systems Pvt Ltd., Oxford Immunotec, Pediatrix Medical Group - Newborn Metabolic Screening Business, Perkin Elmer Chile Ltda., Perkin Elmer Italia SpA, Perkin Elmer Sdn. Bhd., Perkin Elmer Yuhan Hoesa, Perkin Elmer de Mexico S.A., Perkin-Elmer Argentina S.R.L., Perkin-Elmer Instruments (Philippines) Corporation, PerkinElmer (Hong Kong) Ltd., PerkinElmer (India) Pvt Ltd., PerkinElmer (Ireland) Ltd., PerkinElmer (Schweiz) AG, PerkinElmer (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund L.P., PerkinElmer (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer (UK) Holdings Ltd., PerkinElmer Analytical Solutions B.V., PerkinElmer Automotive Research Inc., PerkinElmer BVBA, PerkinElmer CV Holdings LLC, PerkinElmer Cellular Technologies Germany GmbH, PerkinElmer Danmark A/S, PerkinElmer Diagnostics Global Holdings S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Diagnostics Holdings Inc., PerkinElmer Espana S.L., PerkinElmer Finance Luxembourg S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Finland Oy, PerkinElmer Genetics Inc., PerkinElmer Germany Diagnostics GmbH, PerkinElmer Global Diagnostics S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Global Financing S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Global Holdings S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Health Sciences (Australia) Pty. Ltd., PerkinElmer Health Sciences B.V., PerkinElmer Health Sciences Canada Inc., PerkinElmer Health Sciences FZ-LLC, PerkinElmer Health Sciences Inc., PerkinElmer Health Sciences Pvt Ltd., PerkinElmer Healthcare Diagnostics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer Holding Luxembourg S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Holdings Inc., PerkinElmer Holdings Pty. Ltd., PerkinElmer IVD Pte Ltd., PerkinElmer Inc., PerkinElmer Informatics Inc., PerkinElmer Instruments (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer International C.V., PerkinElmer Investments Ky, PerkinElmer Israel Ltd., PerkinElmer Japan Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer LAS (Germany) GmbH, PerkinElmer LAS (UK) Ltd., PerkinElmer Life Sciences International Holdings, PerkinElmer Limited, PerkinElmer Ltd., PerkinElmer Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer Nederland B.V., PerkinElmer Norge AS, PerkinElmer Oy, PerkinElmer Polska Sp z o.o., PerkinElmer Pty. Ltd., PerkinElmer SAS, PerkinElmer Saglk ve Cevre Bilimleri Ltd., PerkinElmer Shared Services Sp z o.o., PerkinElmer Singapore Pte Ltd., PerkinElmer South Africa (Pty) Ltd., PerkinElmer Sverige AB, PerkinElmer Sweden Health Sciences Holdings AB, PerkinElmer Taiwan Corporation, PerkinElmer VertriebsgmbH, PerkinElmer chemagen Technologie GmbH, PerkinElmer do Brasil Ltda., Perten Instruments, Perten Instruments (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Perten Instruments AB, Perten Instruments France SASU, Perten Instruments GmbH, Perten Instruments Italia S.r.l., Perten Instruments of Australia Pty Ltd., RHS Ltd, RayAl Ltd., Shandong Meizheng Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., Shanghai Haoyuan Biotech Co. Ltd., Shanghai Spectrum Instruments Co. Ltd., Shanghai Spectrum Instruments Co. Ltd., Signature Genomic Laboratories, Solus Scientific Solutions Inc., Solus Scientific Solutions Ltd., Surendra Genetic Labs, Suzhou PerkinElmer Medical Laboratory Co. Ltd., Suzhou Sym-Bio LifeScience, Suzhou Sym-Bio Lifescience Co. Ltd., Tulip Diagnostics, Tulip Diagnostics Pvt Ltd., Vanadis Diagnostics, Vanadis Diagnostics AB, ViaCell, ViaCord LLC, VisEn Medical, VisEn Medical Inc., Wallac Oy, Wellesley B.V., Xenogen Corporation, ZeLab SAS, and chemagen Biopolymer-Technologie AG.1 Wall Street analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Premier Oil in the last twelve months. There are currently 1 hold rating for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street analysts is that investors should "hold" Premier Oil stock. A hold rating indicates that analysts believe investors should maintain any existing positions they have in PMO, but not buy additional shares or sell existing shares.

View analyst ratings for Premier Oil or view top-rated stocks.The following companies are subsidiares of Sealed Air: A.P.S. (Holdings) Limited, AFP Trading (China) Co. Ltd., AFPTOH LTD, APS Automated Packaging Systems GmbH & Co. KG, APS Verwaltungs-GmbH, Air Ride Pallets Hong Kong Limited, Austin Foam Plastics Inc. (dba AFP Inc.), Automated Packaging Systems, Automated Packaging Systems Asia Holding Company Limited, Automated Packaging Systems Comerciale Importacao do Brasil Ltda., Automated Packaging Systems Europe, Automated Packaging Systems LLC, Automated Packaging Systems Limited, Automated Packaging Systems Southeast Asia Co. Ltd., B+ Equipment, B+ Equipment SAS, Beacon Holdings LLC, Biosphere Industries, BluPack (New Zealand), Blue Dot Packaging Pty Ltd., Cactus (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Cryovac (Malaysia) SDN. BHD, Cryovac Brasil Ltda., Cryovac Holdings II LLC, Cryovac International Holdings Inc., Cryovac LLC*, Cryovac Leasing Corporation, Cryovac Londrina Ltda., Cryovac Packaging Portugal  Embalagens Ltda., Cryovac-Sealed Air de Costa Rica S.R.L., DELTAPLAM Embalagens Industria e Comercio, Diversey, Diversey J Trustee Limited, Diversey Trustee Limited, Entapack Pty. Ltd., Fagerdala (Chengdu) Packaging Co. Ltd, Fagerdala (Shanghai) Foams Co. Ltd., Fagerdala (Shanghai) Polymer Co. Ltd., Fagerdala (Suzhou) Packaging Co. Ltd., Fagerdala (Thailand) Limited, Fagerdala (Xiamen) Packaging Co. Ltd., Fagerdala Leamchabung Limited, Fagerdala Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Fagerdala Mexico S.A. de C.V., Fagerdala Mexico Supply Chain S.A. de C.V., Fagerdala Packaging Inc. (Indiana), Fagerdala Singapore Pte Ltd, Fagerdala Singapore Pte. Ltd., Getpacking.com GmbH, Invertol S. de R.L. de C.V., JSC Sealed Air Kaustik, KRIS Automated Packaging Systems Holding Company, Kevothermal LLC, Kevothermal Limited, Nelipak Holdings, Pack-Tiger GmbH, Polyrol Limited, Polyrol Packaging Systems LLC, ProAseptic Technologies S.L., Producembal- Producao de Embalagens LTDA, Reflectix Inc., SLD Air Packaging Paketleme Malzemeleri Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Saddle Brook Insurance Company, Sealed Air (Asia) Holdings BV, Sealed Air (Barbados) S.R.L., Sealed Air (Canada) Co./CIE, Sealed Air (Canada) Holdings B.V., Sealed Air (China) Co. Ltd., Sealed Air (China) Limited, Sealed Air (Israel) Ltd., Sealed Air (Korea) Limited, Sealed Air (Latin America) Holdings II LLC, Sealed Air (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Sealed Air (New Zealand), Sealed Air (Philippines) Inc., Sealed Air (Singapore) Pte. Limited, Sealed Air (Ukraine) Limited, Sealed Air Africa (Pty.) Limited, Sealed Air Americas Manufacturing S. de R.L. de C.V., Sealed Air Argentina S.A., Sealed Air Australia (Holdings) Pty. Limited, Sealed Air Australia Pty. Limited, Sealed Air Australia Real Estate Pty Ltd, Sealed Air B.V., Sealed Air Belgium N.V., Sealed Air Central America S.A., Sealed Air Chile SpA, Sealed Air Colombia Ltda., Sealed Air Corporation (US), Sealed Air Cyprus Ltd., Sealed Air Denmark A/S, Sealed Air Finance B.V., Sealed Air Finance II LLC, Sealed Air Finance Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Sealed Air Funding LLC, Sealed Air General Trading LLC, Sealed Air GmbH (Germany), Sealed Air GmbH (Switzerland), Sealed Air Hellas SA, Sealed Air Holding France SAS, Sealed Air Holdings (New Zealand) Pty. Ltd., Sealed Air Holdings South Africa Proprietary Limited, Sealed Air Holdings UK I Limited, Sealed Air Holdings UK Limited, Sealed Air Hong Kong Limited, Sealed Air Hungary Ltd., Sealed Air Investment and Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Sealed Air Japan G.K., Sealed Air LLC, Sealed Air Limited (Ireland), Sealed Air Limited (UK), Sealed Air Luxembourg (I) S.a.r.l., Sealed Air Luxembourg (II) S.a.r.l., Sealed Air Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Sealed Air Management Holding Verwaltungs GmbH, Sealed Air Multiflex GmbH, Sealed Air Netherlands (Holdings) I B.V., Sealed Air Netherlands (Holdings) II B.V., Sealed Air Netherlands Holdings V B.V., Sealed Air Norge AS, Sealed Air OY, Sealed Air Packaging (India) Private Limited, Sealed Air Packaging (Shanghai) Co. Limited, Sealed Air Packaging (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Sealed Air Packaging LLC, Sealed Air Packaging Materials (India) LLP, Sealed Air Packaging S.L.U., Sealed Air Peru S.A.C., Sealed Air Polska Sp. Zoo, Sealed Air Pty Limited, Sealed Air S.A S., Sealed Air S.r.l., Sealed Air South Africa (Pty.) Ltd., Sealed Air Svenska AB, Sealed Air Taiwan Limited, Sealed Air UK Limited Partnership, Sealed Air US Holdings (Thailand) LLC, Sealed Air Uruguay S.A., Sealed Air Verpackungen GmbH, Sealed Air de Mexico Operations S. de RL. de C.V., Sealed Air de Venezuela S.A., Sealed Air s.r.o., Shanklin Corp, Shanklin Corporation, TTS-Ciptec, TXAFP Asia Pacific Ltd., TXAFP GP LLC, and Trigon Industries.The following companies are subsidiares of PPG Industries: AIPCF V Texstars Blocker Inc., AkzoNobel, Alermac Inversiones S.A. de C.V., Alpha Coating Technologies LLC, Alpha Coatings Inc., Broad Range Development Limited, Brown Brothers Distribution Limited, CG Holdings Manufacturing Co., Centro de Investigacion en Polimeros S.A. de C.V., Chemfil Canada Limited, Chorlton Trade Paints Limited, Comercial Mexicana de Pinturas S.A. de C.V., Comex, Comex Industrial Coatings S.A. de C.V., Consorcio Comex S.A. de C.V., Cristacol S.A., Cuming Microwave Corporation, Deutek SA, Dexmet Corporation, Dexmet Holding Corporation, Distribuidora Kroma S.A. de C.V., EPIC Insurance Co. Ltd., Eberle Design Inc., Empresa Aga S.A. de C.V., Ennis Canadian Holding Company, Ennis Flint Soluciones Seguras Para Trafico, Ennis Highway Traffic Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Ennis Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, Ennis Paint Australia Holding Pty Ltd, Ennis Paint Boya Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., Ennis Paint Canada ULC, Ennis Paint Germany GmbH, Ennis Paint Netherlands Holdings LLC, Ennis Paint U.K. Holding Company Limited, Ennis Prismo Italio S.r.l., Ennis Traffic Safety Solutions Pty Ltd, Ennis  Flint Mexico, Ennis  Flint New Zealand, Ennis  Flint New Zealand Holding Pty Ltd, Ennis-Flint, Ennis-Flint Africa (Pty) Ltd, Ennis-Flint Inc., Foshan Bairun Chemicals Co. Ltd., Fpu Industrial S.A. de C.V., Grupo Comex S.A. de C.V., Hemmelrath Automotive Coatings (Jilin) Co. Ltd., Hodij Coatings B.V., Homax Products, Industria Chimica Reggiana I.C.R. SPA, Johnstones Paints Limited, Kalon Investment Company Limited, Kalon South Africa Proprietary Limited, Manchester Thermoplastics LLC, Masterwork Paint, MetoKote Canada Limited, MetoKote Corporation, MetoKote Mexico Holding Inc., MetoKote UK Limited, MetoKote de Mexico S. de RL de CV, PPG AC - France SA, PPG ALESCO Automotive Finishes Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., PPG AP Resinas S.A. de C.V., PPG Aerospace Materials (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., PPG Architectural Coatings (Puerto Rico) Inc., PPG Architectural Coatings Canada Inc., PPG Architectural Coatings Ireland Limited, PPG Architectural Coatings Italy S.r.l., PPG Architectural Coatings UK Limited, PPG Architectural Finishes Inc., PPG Asian Paints Private Ltd., PPG COATINGS SINGAPORE PTE. LTD., PPG Canada Inc., PPG Cieszyn S.A., PPG Coatings (Hong Kong) Co. Limited, PPG Coatings (Kunshan) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., PPG Coatings (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings (Thailand) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings (Wuhu) Company Ltd., PPG Coatings (Zhangjiagang) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings B.V., PPG Coatings Belgium BV, PPG Coatings Danmark A/S, PPG Coatings Deutschland GmbH, PPG Coatings Europe B.V., PPG Coatings Manufacturing SARL, PPG Coatings Nederland BV, PPG Coatings S.A., PPG Coatings South Africa (Pty) Ltd., PPG DYRUP S.A., PPG Deco Czech a.s., PPG Deco Polska sp. z.o.o., PPG Deco Slovakia s.r.o., PPG Deutschland Business Support GmbH, PPG Deutschland Sales & Services GmbH, PPG Distribution S.A.S., PPG Europe B.V., PPG Finance B.V., PPG France Business Support S.A.S., PPG France Manufacturing S.A.S., PPG Guadeloupe SAS, PPG Hellas S.A., PPG Hemmelrath Coatings Inc., PPG Hemmelrath Lackfabrik GmbH, PPG Holdco SAS, PPG Holdings (U.K.) Limited, PPG Holdings Argentina USA LLC, PPG Holdings Latin America USA LLC, PPG Iberica S.A., PPG Iberica Sales & Services S.L., PPG Industrial Coatings B.V., PPG Industrial do Brasil - Tintas E. Vernizes - Ltda., PPG Industries (Korea) Ltd., PPG Industries (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., PPG Industries (UK) Ltd, PPG Industries Argentina S.R.L., PPG Industries Australia PTY Limited A.C.N. 055 500 939, PPG Industries Colombia Ltda., PPG Industries Czech Republic s.r.o., PPG Industries Delfzijl B.V., PPG Industries Europe Sarl, PPG Industries France S.A.S., PPG Industries International Inc., PPG Industries Italia S.r.l., PPG Industries Kimya a Sanayi VE Ticaret AS, PPG Industries LLC, PPG Industries Lipetsk LLC, PPG Industries Middle East FZE, PPG Industries Netherlands B.V., PPG Industries New Zealand Limited, PPG Industries Ohio Inc., PPG Industries Poland Sp. Z.o.o., PPG Industries Securities LLC, PPG Industries de Mexico S.A. de C.V., PPG Italia Business Support S.r.l., PPG Italia Sales & Services S.r.l., PPG Japan Ltd., PPG Kansai Automotive Finishes Canada LP, PPG Kansai Automotive Finishes U.K. LLP, PPG Kansai Automotive Finishes U.S. LLC, PPG Luxembourg Finance S.aR.L., PPG Luxembourg Holdings S.aR.L., PPG Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PPG Mexico S.A. de C.V., PPG Packaging Coatings (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., PPG Paints Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PPG Performance Coatings (Hong Kong) Limited, PPG Powder Coatings (Shanghai) Limited, PPG Romania S.A., PPG SSC Co. Ltd., PPG Switzerland GmbH, PPG Trilak Kft., PPG Vietnam Co. Ltd., PRC-DeSoto Australia Pty Ltd., PRC-DeSoto International Inc., PT. PPG Coatings Indonesia, Painter's Supply, Paintzen, Peintures de Paris SAS, Plasticos Envolventes S.A. de C.V., Polymeric Systems Inc., Prismo Road Markings Limited, ProCoatings B.V., ProCoatings BV, Protec Pty Ltd. A.C.N. 007 857 392, Reno A&E LLC, Revocoat France SAS, Revocoat Holding SAS, Revocoat Iberica SLU, Revocoat S.A.S, Road Infrastructure Investment Holdings Inc., SEM Products Inc., Sealants Europe SAS, Sierracin Corporation, Sierracin/Sylmar Corporation, Sigma Marine & Protective Coatings Holding B.V., SigmaKalon (BC) UK Limited, SigmaKalon Group, SigmaKalon Middle East B.V., Sikar (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Spraylat International Ltd, Texstars LLC, The Crown Group Co., The Crown Group Inc, The Homax Group, Tikkurila Group, Traffic Safety Intermediate LLC, Traffic Safety Parent LLC, United International Business NV, Vanex Inc., Vernisol S.p.A., Versaflex, Viasa S.A. de C.V., Whitford, Whitford B.V., Whitford Corporation, Whitford Jiangmen Ltd., Whitford Ltd. (HK), Whitford Ltd. (UK), Whitford Pte. Ltd., Whitford S.r.l., Whitford Worldwide Company LLC, Worwag Coatings, and Zaganite Industries Pty Ltd.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.

Read More1 Wall Street research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust in the last year. There are currently 1 hold rating for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street research analysts is that investors should "hold" SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust stock. A hold rating indicates that analysts believe investors should maintain any existing positions they have in SPY, but not buy additional shares or sell existing shares.

View analyst ratings for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust or view top-rated stocks.Weatherford International plc, an oilfield service company, provides equipment and services for the drilling, evaluation, completion, production, and intervention of oil and natural gas wells worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Western Hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere. It offers artificial lift systems, including reciprocating rod, progressing cavity pumping, gas, hydraulic, plunger, and hybrid lift systems, as well as related automation and control systems; pressure pumping and reservoir stimulation services, such as acidizing, fracturing and fluid systems, cementing, and coiled-tubing intervention; and drill stem test tools, and surface well testing and multiphase flow measurement services. The company also provides safety, downhole reservoir monitoring, flow control, and multistage fracturing systems, as well as sand-control technologies, and production and isolation packers; liner hangers to suspend a casing string in high-temperature and high-pressure wells; cementing products, including plugs, float and stage equipment, and torque-and-drag reduction technology for zonal isolation; and pre-job planning and installation services. In addition, it offers directional drilling services, and logging and measurement services while drilling; services related to rotary-steerable systems, high-temperature and high-pressure sensors, drilling reamers, and circulation subs; managed pressure drilling, conventional mud-logging, drilling instrumentation, gas analysis, wellsite consultancy, and open hole and cased-hole logging services; reservoir solutions and software products; and intervention and remediation services. Further, the company provides equipment and drilling tools; tubular handling, management, and connection services; equipment rental services; and onshore contract drilling and related services through a fleet of land drilling and workover rigs. Weatherford International plc was incorporated in 1972 and is headquartered in Baar, Switzerland.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Rite Aid: 1515 West State Street Boise Idaho LLC, 1740 Associates LLC, 4042 Warrensville Center RoadWarrensville Ohio Inc., 5277 Associates Inc., 5600 Superior Properties Inc., Advance Benefits LLC, Apex Drug Stores Inc., Ascend Health Technology LLC, Bartell Drugs, Broadview and WallingsBroadview Heights Ohio Inc., Design Rx Holdings LLC, Design Rx LLC, Design Rxclusives LLC, Drug Palace Inc., EDC Drug Stores Inc., Eckerd Corporation, Edgehill Drugs, Elixir Insurance Company, Elixir Pharmacy LLC, Elixir Rx Options LLC, Elixir Rx Solutions LLC, Elixir Rx Solutions LLC, Elixir Rx Solutions of Nevada LLC, Elixir Savings LLC, Envision Pharmaceutical, Envision Pharmaceutical Holdings LLC, EnvisionRx Puerto Rico Inc., First Florida Insurers of Tampa LLC, GDF Inc., Genovese Drug Stores Inc., Gettysburg and Hoover-Dayton Ohio LLC, Grand River & Fenkell LLC, Harco, Harco Inc., Health Dialog, Health Dialog Services Corporation, Hunter Lane LLC, ILG  90 B Avenue Lake Oswego LLC, JCG (PJC) USA LLC, JCG Holdings (USA) Inc., K&B Alabama Corporation, K&B Incorporated, K&B Industries, K&B Louisiana Corporation, K&B Mississippi Corporation, K&B Services Incorporated, K&B Tennessee Corporation, K&B Texas Corporation, LMW  90B Avenue Lake Oswego Inc., Lakehurst and Broadway Corporation, Laker Software LLC, Maxi Drug Inc., Maxi Drug North Inc., Maxi Drug South L.P., Maxi Green Inc., Munson & Andrews LLC, Name Rite LLC, P.J.C. Distribution Inc., P.J.C. Realty Co. Inc., PCS Health Systems, PDS-1 Michigan Inc., PJC Lease Holdings Inc., PJC Manchester Realty LLC, PJC Peterborough Realty LLC, PJC Realty MA Inc., PJC Revere Realty LLC, PJC Special Realty Holdings Inc., PJC of Massachusetts Inc., PJC of Rhode Island Inc., PJC of Vermont Inc., Perry Distributors Inc., Perry Drug Stores Inc., RCMH LLC, RDS Detroit Inc., READs Inc., RediClinic, RediClinic Associates Inc., RediClinic LLC, RediClinic US LLC, RediClinic of DC LLC, RediClinic of DE LLC, RediClinic of Dallas Forth-Worth LLC, RediClinic of MD LLC, RediClinic of PA LLC, RediClinic of VA LLC, Richfield Road  Flint Michigan LLC, Rite Aid Drug Palace Inc., Rite Aid Hdqtrs. Corp., Rite Aid Hdqtrs. Funding Inc., Rite Aid Lease Management Company, Rite Aid Online Store Inc., Rite Aid Payroll Management Inc., Rite Aid Realty Corp., Rite Aid Rome Distribution Center Inc., Rite Aid Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Rite Aid Transport Inc., Rite Aid of Connecticut Inc., Rite Aid of Delaware Inc., Rite Aid of Georgia Inc., Rite Aid of Indiana Inc., Rite Aid of Kentucky Inc., Rite Aid of Maine Inc., Rite Aid of Maryland Inc., Rite Aid of Michigan Inc., Rite Aid of New Hampshire Inc., Rite Aid of New Jersey Inc., Rite Aid of New York Inc., Rite Aid of North Carolina Inc., Rite Aid of Ohio Inc., Rite Aid of Pennsylvania LLC, Rite Aid of South Carolina Inc., Rite Aid of Tennessee Inc., Rite Aid of Vermont Inc., Rite Aid of Virginia Inc., Rite Aid of Washington D.C. Inc., Rite Aid of West Virginia Inc., Rite Investments Corp., Rite Investments Corp. LLC, Rx Choice Inc., Rx Initiatives LLC, Rx USA Inc., The Bartell Drug Company, The Jean Coutu Group (PJC) USA Inc., The Lane Drug Company, Thrift Drug Inc., Thrifty Corporation, and Thrifty PayLess Inc..Legg Mason, Inc. is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides investment management and related services to company-sponsored mutual funds and other investment vehicles including pension funds, foundations, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, private banks, family offices, individuals, as well as to global, institutional, and retail clients. It launches and manages equity, fixed income, and multi-asset customized portfolios through its subsidiaries. The firm also launches and manages mutual funds and exchange traded funds for its clients through its subsidiaries. It invests in private and public equity, fixed income, and multi asset markets across the globe through its subsidiaries. Through its subsidiaries, the firm also invests in alternative markets. It also employs a combination of fundamental and quantitative research to make its investments through its subsidiaries. Legg Mason, Inc. was founded in 1899 and is based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Danaher: AB SCIEX, AB Sciex Germany GmbH, AB Sciex LLC, AB Sciex LP, AB Sciex Pte Ltd., Accu-Sort Systems, Acme Cleveland Corporation, Advanced Vision Technology, American Precision Industries, Applied Biosystems, Applitek NV, Aquatic Infomatics ULC, Aquatic Informatics, Armstrong Tools, BC Distribution BV, Beckman Coulter, Beckman Coulter Australia Pty Ltd, Beckman Coulter Biotechnology (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Beckman Coulter Biyomedikal Urunler Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited [irketi], Beckman Coulter Canada LP, Beckman Coulter Commercial Enterprise (China) Co. Ltd., Beckman Coulter France S.A.S., Beckman Coulter G.m.b.H., Beckman Coulter Genomics Inc., Beckman Coulter Hong Kong Limited, Beckman Coulter Inc., Beckman Coulter India Private Limited, Beckman Coulter International SA, Beckman Coulter International Shanghai Trading Co., Beckman Coulter Ireland Inc., Beckman Coulter K.K., Beckman Coulter Korea Ltd., Beckman Coulter Laboratory Systems (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Beckman Coulter Limited Liability Company, Beckman Coulter Mishima KK, Beckman Coulter Nederland B.V., Beckman Coulter Nippon GK, Beckman Coulter S.L.U., Beckman Coulter Saudi Arabia Co.Ltd., Beckman Coulter Srl, Beckman Coulter Taiwan Inc., Beckman Coulter United Kingdom Limited, Beckman Coulter de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Beckman Coulter do Brasil Ltda., Beckman Finance ApS, Beckman Holdings Ltd., BioTector Analytical Systems Ltd, Biosafe S.A., Blue Software LLC, Cepheid, Cepheid AB, Cepheid Europe SAS, Cepheid GmbH, Cepheid HBDC SAS, Cepheid UK Ltd., ChemTreat, ChemTreat Inc., ChemTreat International Inc., Cispus Hong Kong Holding Limited, Cytiva, Cytiva BioProcess R&D AB, Cytiva Biotechnology (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd., Cytiva Biotechnology (Hang Zhou) Co. Ltd., Cytiva Europe GmbH, Cytiva Sweden AB, Cytiva Sweden Holding AB, DH Europe Finance II Sarl, DH Europe Finance Sarl, DH Holding Italia SRL, DH Japan Finance Sarl, DH Life Sciences LLC, DH Netherlands BV, DH Technologies Development Pte Ltd., DHKAB Company AB, DTIL Ireland Holdings Ltd., Danaher (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd., Danaher Hong Kong Limited, Danaher Medical ApS, Delta Consolidated Industries, Devicore Medical Products Inc., Easco Hand Tools, Esko, Esko BV, Esko Finance BV, Esko Graphics BV, Esko Software BV, FHAB Company AB, Fluke, G. Lufft Mess- und Regeltechnik GmbH, GE Biopharma, Gelman Sciences Inc., Gendex, Genetix Group, Gilbarco Veeder Root, Gilzoni Ltd., Global Life Sciences Solutions Austria GmbH & Co. KG, Global Life Sciences Solutions Germany GmbH, Global Life Sciences Solutions Korea Ltd., Global Life Sciences Solutions Manufacturing UK Ltd, Global Life Sciences Solutions New Zealand, Global Life Sciences Solutions Operations UK Ltd, Global Life Sciences Solutions Singapore Pte Ltd, Global Life Sciences Solutions USA LLC, Global Life Sciences Technologies (Shanghai) Co Ltd., Global Life Sciences Technologies Japan KK, Hach Company, Hach Lange Finance GmbH, Hach Lange GmbH, Hach Lange Sarl, Hach Sales & Services Canada LP, Hach Ultra Japan KK, Hach Water Quality Analytical Instru. (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., HemoCue AB, HyClone Laboratories LLC, Hybritech Incorporated, Hyclone Life Sciences Solutions India Private Limited, IDBS Group, IRIS International, Imaging Sciences International, Immunotech SAS, Immunotech Sro, Intabio LLC, Integrated DNA Technologies, Integrated DNA Technologies BVBA, Integrated DNA Technologies Inc., Integrated DNA Technologies Pte. Ltd., Iris International Inc., Joslyn Holding Company LLC, KVHG GmbH, KaVo, KaVo Kerr, Kaltenbach & Voigt, Keithley Instruments, Kipp & Zonen BV, Kollmorgen, Labcyte Inc., Laetus, Leica Biosystems Imaging Inc., Leica Biosystems Melbourne Pty Ltd, Leica Biosystems Newcastle Limited, Leica Biosystems Nussloch GmbH, Leica Biosystems Richmond Inc., Leica Instruments (Singapore) Pte Limited, Leica Microsystems, Leica Microsystems (UK) Limited, Leica Microsystems CMS GmbH, Leica Microsystems Cambridge Limited, Leica Microsystems IR GmbH, Leica Microsystems Inc., Leica Microsystems Limited, Leica Microsystems Ltd. Shanghai, Leica Mikrosysteme Vertrieb GmbH, Life Sciences Holdings France SAS*, Lifschultz Industries, Linx Printing Technologies, Linx Printing Technologies Limited, MDS Analytical Technologies, Marconi Data Systems, McCrometer Inc., Microtest, Molecular Devices, Molecular Devices (Austria) GmbH, Molecular Devices LLC, Navman Wireless, Navman Wireless OEM Solutions, Nihon Pall Ltd., Nihon Pall Manufacturing Limited, Nobel Biocare, OTT Hydromet Corp, Pall, Pall (Canada) ULC, Pall (China) Co. Ltd., Pall (Schweiz) GmbH, Pall Aeropower Corporation, Pall Artelis BVBA, Pall Asia Holdings Inc., Pall Australia Pty. Ltd., Pall Austria Filter Ges.m.b.h, Pall Corporation, Pall Europe Limited, Pall Filtersystems GmbH, Pall Filtration Pte. Ltd., Pall Filtration and Separations Group Inc., Pall France SAS, Pall GmbH, Pall India Pvt. Ltd., Pall International Sarl, Pall Italia Srl, Pall Korea Ltd., Pall Life Sciences Belgium BV, Pall Life Sciences Puerto Rico LLC, Pall Manufacturing UK Limited, Pall Medistad BV, Pall Netherlands BV Irish Branch, Pall Technology UK Limited, PaloDEX, Pantone LLC, Pelton & Crane, Phenomenex, Phenomenex Inc., Precision NanoSystems, QHC Ireland Finance Limited, Radiometer, Radiometer Basel AG, Radiometer K.K., Radiometer Medical ApS, Radiometer Medical Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Radiometer Turku Oy, Raytek, Reytek Corporation, SH Switzerland Finance Sarl, Sea-Bird Electronics Inc., SenDx Medical Inc., Shanghai AB Sciex Analytical Instrument Trading Co. Ltd., Sutron, Sybron Dental Specialties, TCIL Ireland Finance Ltd., Tektronix, Thomson Industries, Tianjin Bonna-Agela Technologies Co. Ltd., Trojan Technologies, Trojan Technologies Group ULC, VSS Monitoring, Videojet Do Brasil Comercio de Equipamentos Para Codificacao Industrial Ltda., Videojet Technologies (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Videojet Technologies Europe B.V., Videojet Technologies Inc., Viridor Waste Management Limited, Vision Systems Limited, Willett International, X-Ray Optical Systems Inc., X-Rite, X-Rite Europe GmbH, X-Rite Incorporated, X-Rite Switzerland GmbH, XOS, Yukon Hong Kong Holding Limited, and Zhuhai S.E.Z. Videojet Electronics Ltd..Ryan Zinke's very first meeting as interior secretary was never put on his official calendar.

It was a meeting scheduled to last five minutes with Chris Cox, the executive director of the National Rifle Association's lobbying arm, on the sidelines of an event with other sportsmen.

Business and industry sectors Business, economy and trade Donald Trump Energy and resources Energy and utilities Political Figures - US Ryan Zinke Freedom of information Law and legal system

Then on his second day in office, Zinke was scheduled to meet with Karl Simich, an apparent reference to the managing director of Sandfire Resources, an Australian mining company that had been trying to develop a copper mine in Central Montana for at least six years. It also wasn't listed on his calendar.

The meetings are coming to light now only because of internal memos and other notes, released through a Freedom of Information Act request, that reveal these meetings and others that were not noted on his calendar, glaring omissions from what is supposed to be a complete record of the secretary's activities.

The monthly calendars the Interior Department has released publicly in response to Freedom of Information Act requests have often left off or obscured some meetings. More detailed accounts of Zinke's time are found in separate briefing memos prepared by his staff, which have not been released with the calendars and were obtained only by filing another FOIA request.

At least six more meetings were omitted from Zinke's calendar between his first day in office in March 2017 and July of that year, Western Values Project discovered. The findings of the public lands advocacy group, which has been critical of Zinke, were corroborated by CNN.

Chris Saeger, the executive director of the Western Values Project, said Zinke is "keeping the public in the dark about meetings with the same corrupt special interests that brought this administration to power."

Keeping meetings off official calendars goes against the usual practice of a Cabinet secretary and flies in the face of transparency practices, according to experts who have talked to CNN.

"If I was your boss -- and the American people are the bosses -- I would love to know what you're doing with your time," said Elizabeth Hempowicz of the Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan advocate for open government. The incomplete release of calendar information "removes the ability of the public to do any oversight," such as seeing with whom public servants are meeting.

It raises the question, Hempowicz said, "What are you trying to hide?"

The Interior Department declined to comment on specific omissions or redactions from Zinke's calendar, referring instead to the statement it issued when CNN reported in September on vague language used to describe events on Zinke's calendar.

"We work to ensure the accuracy of the secretary's calendar, which is constantly changing, and will continue to be transparent in our scheduling process," spokeswoman Heather Swift said in a written statement at the time. "The secretary has one calendar which is submitted to the FOIA office where it goes through standard processing by career officials to ensure full compliance with all laws, rules and regulations. For most meetings, there is a memo which provides more context. These memos are available and regularly released to the public and media via the standard FOIA request."

Zinke's calendar has been under scrutiny since a CNN report in July first exposed that it omitted meetings or details of meetings. For example, his calendar described a meeting in May 2017 as between Rep. Chris Collins, a New York Republican, and him, but a memo prepared for the secretary ahead of the meeting revealed that executives from a large hospitality company that does business with the Interior Department also were there.

After that report, Zinke's office began publishing each week an unofficial outline of his schedule for the preceding week on the Interior Department website. The official calendars and the briefing memos for that time have not yet been released, however.

Separately, it released two months of his calendars, May and June 2018, in response to a FOIA request but those calendars lacked key details more so than the monthly calendars his office had released previously. Instead of noting topics or attendees, many entries were recorded only as "external meeting" or "internal meeting," meaning it was impossible to tell what the secretary was doing or with whom he was meeting.

Missing calendar items played a role in the downfall of another Trump appointee, former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, who resigned in July after a myriad of scandals culminated with a CNN report that he kept a secret calendar showing meetings with industry that had been omitted from his public schedule.

"Much like the ousted EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, Zinke has been keeping a secret calendar that includes everything from meetings with lobbyists and coal executives to oil and gas CEOs," Saeger, of the Western Values Project, said in his statement. "How many more secret meetings that could be undermining our American birthright -- public lands, public access and national parks -- are being withheld from the public by Zinke and his office?"

Undisclosed meetings with energy industry

Among the new Zinke records are emails and briefing documents from his scheduler with subject lines like "Secretary Daily Schedule." The documents list time frames, locations and attendees for meetings that do not appear on the calendar Zinke's office released.

Norm Eisen, the Obama administration's co-called ethics czar, said the omissions are outside the norm and show "a shocking pattern of affirmatively concealing meetings with special interest influencers."

"It appears to violate federal law, which in my view requires that such records be maintained and produced," said Eisen, who is board chairman of the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank and a CNN political commentator.

Several of the undisclosed or obscured meetings included representatives from energy companies, whose interest in the Interior Department could stem from its ownership of public lands, regulation of mining and some energy production, and enforcement of certain environmental laws.

For example, although Zinke was scheduled to meet on two occasions in 2017 with representatives of a major coal company, Peabody Energy, neither encounter is accurately described on his calendar.

In May, Zinke was to meet for dinner at the Trump-owned hotel in Washington with Scott Mason, an apparent reference to the former Trump campaign official who's now a Peabody lobbyist. Zinke's calendar indicates an event at that time, but the topic and attendees are redacted.

That June, three Peabody executives were scheduled to meet with Zinke, according to emails from his scheduler. The secretary's calendar disclosed only "Peabody Energy" -- with no way to tell whether that was the topic of the meeting or a reference to the people attending -- and the names of several Zinke aides who were also at the meeting.

Zinke also was to meet in May 2017 with the International Association of Drilling Contractors. The meeting was not listed on his calendar, but his scheduler included it in an email briefing to the secretary on his meetings for the week.

Toward the end of his second week in office, Zinke was scheduled to speak by phone for about 30 minutes with Thomas F. Farrell, the president of Dominion Energy, a Virginia power company. That meeting was also revealed in an internal memo.

There are only two entries on Zinke's calendar that day: a daily meeting with senior staffers, and lunch.An admission by the Justice Department is renewing questions about whether Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Congress the truth about the controversial citizenship question on the 2020 census.

Steve Bannon, who was at the time a top adviser to President Donald Trump, contacted Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in the spring of 2017 and asked him to talk with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who led the administration's review of alleged voter fraud, about including a citizenship question on the census, according to a court filing.

Government and public administration Government bodies and offices Government organizations - US US Department of Justice US federal departments and agencies US federal government Business figures Censuses Citizenship and naturalization Donald Trump Government departments and authorities Immigration, citizenship and displacement International relations and national security Justice departments Political Figures - US Population and demographics Society Wilbur Ross Elections and campaigns Law and legal system Law courts and tribunals Politics Voters and voting Voting rights White House Commerce departments Testimony Trial and procedure US Congress

Ross, however, told Congress a different story at two congressional hearings in March 2018.

"Has the President or anyone in the White House discussed with you or anyone on your team about adding this citizenship question?" asked Rep. Grace Meng, a New York Democrat.

Ross replied: "I'm not aware of any such."

Two days at another hearing, Ross said, "The Department of Justice, as you know, initiated the request for inclusion of the citizenship question."

A Commerce Department spokesman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Ross' comments before Congress were not misleading, saying the Justice Department "response supplements the record but does not change the secretary's story, it only adds to it."

Meng has made clear on her social media that she feels like she was "lied to" during the hearing.

"Hate being lied to! Very displeased to learn that @SecretaryRoss lied to me on the origins of adding a citizenship question to the #2020Census at a hearing this spring. Not a tough question, but I guess when you're in company with Steven Bannon, you've got to cover it up?" Meng tweeted, quoting a tweet from Chris Lu, a former deputy secretary of labor under President Barack Obama.

In the March hearings, Ross spoke on at least three other occasions of the citizenship question request as coming from the Justice Department, rather than from the White House.

"We are responding solely to the Department of Justice's request, not to any campaign request," he said on one of those occasions, when asked if the question had been influenced by the Trump campaign.

The filing also says Ross spoke with Attorney General Jeff Sessions about the question "in the Spring of 2017 and at subsequent times."

Earlier this summer, emails were released as part of discovery in a lawsuit filed by a group of state attorneys general who are challenging the addition of the question to the 2020 census.

One of the emails, dated April 2017, was from Brooke Alexander, a senior adviser in the Commerce Department, to the wife of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. "Steve Bannon has asked that the Secretary talk to someone about the census," Alexander wrote in the email. "He could do it from the car on the way to a dinner."

An appellate court has ordered that Ross be deposed as part of the lawsuit.

The Justice Department is fighting the order and has taken the question to the Supreme Court.

On Thursday, New York and several other states filed a brief with the high court urging the justices to allow Ross' deposition, which the court has blocked for now.

"Today's response supplements the record but does not change the Secretary's story, it only adds to it," a Commerce Department spokesman said in an email.

As a part of pretrial discovery, the states are seeking to learn more about the rationale behind the administration's decision. The challengers in the lawsuit allege the administration used concerns about the Voting Rights Act as a pretext to hide animus against certain ethnicities.

"The Secretary's deposition is thus the only means by which the district court can obtain critical facts about the rationale that animated the Secretary's extensive efforts to add the citizenship question  facts that are central to understanding the Secretary's actual rationale, evaluating plaintiffs' claims of pretext, and ultimately determining whether the Secretary's decision was arbitrary and capricious," New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood wrote.

The challengers believe that while Ross has said the added question was necessary to comply with the Voting Rights Act, the real intention was to reduce the representation of immigrant populations. They argue that the question will negatively impact the response rate for noncitizens, who may be too afraid to come forward. The trial is set to start November 5.

In response, the Department of Justice is asking the Supreme Court to reverse the lower courts and block the deposition. The Justice Department has maintained that the administrative record, not Ross' mental state, should be a factor in the case.

"Absent a stay, these high-level Executive Branch officials will be forced to prepare for and attend these depositions, and those harms cannot be undone by an eventual victory on the merits, " Solicitor General Noel Francisco argued in court papers earlier in the week.

It would take five justices to grant the government's request, and the court could rule as early as Thursday.

CNN previously reported that Ross testified before the House earlier this year that the Department of Justice had "initiated the request for inclusion of the citizenship question." In his March memo, Ross said he "set out to take a hard look" at re-adding the question following the Justice Department's request.

In a lower court opinion, Judge Jesse Furman wrote, "The record developed thus far, however, casts grave doubt on those claims." He noted that Ross, "by his own admission," began considering reinstating a citizenship question shortly after his confirmation in February 2017, but before the Department of Justice's formal request on December 12, 2017.

This story has been updated.CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait (WTVA) - Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann visited Mississippi National Guard Soldiers of the 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team October 7-11, in Kuwait.

Secretary Hosemann and Maj. Gen. Janson D. Boyles, adjutant general of Mississippi, spoke to roughly 3,500 Mississippi Soldiers during their visit. Hosemann instructed Soldiers on the process of registering to vote and absentee voting while they are deployed in support of Operation Spartan Shield.

"Historically, for some reason, soldiers have not voted, and we want them to vote," said Hosemann.

The 155th ABCT conducted a transfer of authority July 15 at Camp Buehring and took over the mission as a part of Task Force Spartan. Through Operation Spartan Shield, Task Force Spartan maintains a U.S. military posture in Southwest Asia sufficient to strengthen our defense relationships and build partner capacity. Units supporting OSS provide capabilities such as aviation, logistics, force protection and information management, and facilitate theater security cooperation activities such as key leader engagements, joint exercises, conferences, symposia and humanitarian assistance/disaster response planning.JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  Mississippi will get nearly $500,000 in a settlement involving a company that was selling unregistered securities.

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said the penalties are part of a $26 million multi-state settlement with LPL Financial LLC. Securities regulators say the company had been selling unregistered securities since 2006, not doing enough to make sure its employees complied with state and federal laws.

A consent order finalized the settlement earlier this week.

The case was investigated by a task force created by the North American Securities Administrators Association, led by Massachusetts and Alabama.DANVILLE, KY. (WTVA) - A pastor from Monroe County is accused of traveling to another state to meet a teenager for sex.

Michael Shane Cruse, 46, of Columbus, was arrested Saturday, October 28 in Danville, Kentucky.

Officers say Cruse started an online chat with a 16-year-old teen, then arranged to meet and have sex with the boy.

This was part of an online undercover operation conducted by the Boyle County Sheriff's Office in Kentucky.

However, WTVA is told the "teen" was actually an undercover detective.

According to court documents, Cruse knew the age of the detective when he agreed to have sex. It says the two decided to meet at a movie theater where he was arrested.

Cruse's Facebook page describes him as a pastor and founder at Restoration Life Church in Hamilton, Miss.

He also owns and operates Cattleman's Steak and Fish restaurant in Columbus.

He is charged with the unlawful transaction with a minor-1st degree-illegal sex act, victim under 18 years of age and/or prohibited use of an electronic communication system to procure sex from a minor.

He is currently out on a $20,000 bond.

In total, the undercover operation landed 8 people behind bars in Kentucky.

WLEX-TV in Kentucky reports Cruse was in Kentucky performing in a singing competition at a church. After winning the competition Saturday morning, the TV station reports Cruse was supposed to return and sing in the grand finale that night.

However, due to his arrest, he never showed up.Hillary Clinton's security clearance withdrawn at her request originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's security clearance was withdrawn by the State Department at her request, according to a letter from the agency to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The letter, dated Sept. 21 and published Friday by the Republican chair of the committee, Sen. Chuck Grassley, does not detail why Clinton made the request, except that she did so on Aug. 30. An aide to Clinton did not respond to a request for comment.

The request came shortly after the Trump administration revoked former CIA Director John Brennan's security clearance, citing what White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said was "erratic behavior" and "a series of unfounded and outrageous allegations, wild outbursts on the Internet and television about this administration." To many, however, it was a naked attempt to punish a vocal critic. Brennan himself called it "part of a broader effort by Mr. Trump to suppress freedom of speech and punish critics."

PHOTO: In this Nov. 8, 2016, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and her husband former President Bill Clinton, greet supporters after voting in Chappaqua, N.Y. (AP)

At the time, the White House announced that it was also reviewing the security clearances of other former top officials, such as FBI Director James Comey, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, National Security Advisor Susan Rice, National Security Agency Director Michael Hayden and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.

But Clinton was not on the list.

The letter also says five other State Department officials, including Clinton's longtime aide Cheryl Mills, had their security clearances withdrawn, too. The names of the other four individuals are redacted, but all five had been designated as "researchers" by Clinton, allowing them to keep their clearance after they left the department.

(MORE: Emails link Flynn to person involved in GOP operatives hunt for Clinton emails)

Grassley had asked the State Department last year about the status of Clinton's security clearance and that of her top aides.

Story continues

In 2016, while running for president against Trump, Clinton was investigated by the FBI and the State Department for her use of a private email server while secretary, but she was never charged with any crime, although Comey said he believed she had been "extremely careless."

PHOTO: Hillary Clinton speaks during An Evening With Hillary Rodham Clinton at ICC Sydney, May 11, 2018, in Sydney. (Don Arnold/Getty Images)

The department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security will investigate whether any rules or laws were broken by Clinton's staffers after all their emails are reviewed to determine their classification status, according to the letter.

Grassley's office released the letter Friday night despite a warning from the State Department not to do so: "We request that you protect the information in this letter, as it is not public and generally not appropriate for public release... Should you wish to disclose any portions thereof, we ask that you provide the Department with a reasonable opportunity to inform the Committee of any sensitive information that should be safe-guarded," wrote acting Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs Charles Faulkner.

(MORE: Hillary Clinton: Kavanaugh's political 'revenge' claim deserves 'laughter')

It's unclear whether Grassley's office did so.

The State Department would only confirm that Clinton made the request, referring further questions to Clinton.

Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill tweeted about Grassley releasing the letter on Friday night. Merrill criticized the senator for releasing it and called it "playing politics with our national security" and a "disgrace." Merrill confirmed Clinton sent the letter in response to Adm. William McRaven's criticism of Trump revoking Brennan's clearance.

Her attorney submitted a letter to the Department, citing McRavens op ed. She did this quietly so as to not allow Trump to use our national security for partisan purposes yet again. Because thats what was in the best interest of the country.  Nick Merrill (@NickMerrill) October 13, 2018

"Back in August, Admiral William McRaven penned a letter in the Washington Post in the aftermath of Trump revoking @JohnBrennans security clearance," Merrill tweeted. "In his letter, he admonishes President Trump for this petty act, and says that Trumps time as President has embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation. Who is Admiral McRaven? A partisan? No. He headed Joint Special Operations Command during the rescue of Captain Phillips. He was the architect of the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden. A prominent Republican once said that he had literally written the book on Special Operations.

"Admiral McRaven has served both Republican and Democratic Presidents, and is a man of honor whose service to this country and heroism is virtually unrivaled," he continued. "Secretary Clinton has great respect for Admiral McRaven. She read this message & decided to take the step of voluntarily withdrawing her security clearance, which she maintained after leaving her post as Secretary of State to write her book, customary for former Secretaries."If youve been on Instagram anytime in the past year or two, youve likely seen a #beautyflatlay complete with a jade roller in the shoot. Dubbed the millennials beauty tool of choice, the facial tool is said to boost circulation and increase product absorption. I thought it felt nice  especially when it had been stowed in the fridge  but I didn't see visible results from using it.

Fast forward to a visit to my local crystal healing shop, where, alongside myriad crystal rollers, was a different kind of thin, curved tool Id never seen before: gua sha  the Botox of the East, the owner excitedly told me. For only $15, I picked up a rose quartz one, because millennial pink, and then did my homework by consulting skin experts as to whether the traditional Chinese medicine-originated practice would do everything the store owner said it would. Hearing promises including the treatment of skin issues like acne and eczema, along with all the anti-aging benefits, like delivering a firmer, smoother, and less wrinkled complexion, I wondered if it was maybe the best $15 Id ever spent. If you want to give it a try and see for yourself, here's everything you need to know about facial gua sha.

What is gua sha?

Gua sha is a process in which a tool is scraped against the skin to the point that it creates mild bruising, says Joshua Zeichner, MD, Director of Dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. The goal of the treatment is to enhance blood flow to the skin.

The gua sha technique, which translates to scrape wind, was primarily first used on the body to release toxins and relieve pain in tired, sore, or injured muscles, says Anna Lam, of Ginger Chi, a natural boutique in New York that carries its own line of gua sha tools and jade rollers. By scraping with repeated strokes on the surface of the skin, the gua sha helps stimulate new blood flow and draw out stagnation in the problem areas to help generate metabolic cell repair and healing, Lam says.

Story continues

If all that scraping and bruising sounds scary to you, fret not: That kind of gua sha  the one thatll give you scary search results if you Google image search it  is not used on the face; its much more akin to the traditional Chinese medicinal practices of cupping and acupuncture. In facial gua sha, a much lighter hand is used.

How is facial gua sha different?

You can exhale: Using gua sha on your face is not meant to cause bruising. Rather, the scraper is used much less aggressively over the facial curvatures in an attempt to bring new blood to the surface and promote lymphatic drainage, says Lam. Gua sha relaxes tension in facial muscles which can cause lines. Its kind of like exercise for your face  with regular use, gua sha can tone skin and promote increased skin elasticity.

If you're wondering, wait, is this the same as jade rolling? I get where you're coming from, but hang on: While similar principles apply to the jade roller and the gua sha tool in theory, they arent quite the same in practice. Jade rolling is a process that takes advantage of the actual contact between the stone and the skin, says Dr. Zeichner. In gua sha, the treatment is not as much about the material used, but rather the scraping technique itself.

Translation: By dragging the crystal along your face in broad even strokes from the neck up, youll see a reduction in the appearance of wrinkles and notice a temporarily more firm complexion, according to Valerie Grandury, the founder of Odacite, a department-store beauty brand which sells a rose quartz gua sha tool of its own. Think smoother, brighter, and younger-looking skin almost instantly  it maybe it takes five minutes to treat your whole face  without leaving home. Whats more, unlike the more effective spa facial treatments, this wont leave you red or flaking afterward; you can scrape and go without any side effects.

RELATED: What Does Facial Massage Actually Do for You?

How do you choose a gua sha tool?

Pick the tool that you feel most drawn to as theres no one model that works best, says Lam. They should all be carved with curves, rounded knobs, and points to fit within the curvatures of the face and press down on the meridian points, or pressure points in which traditional Chinese medicine practitioners believe vital life energy known as Qi flows through.

Same goes for the crystal you choose for your gua sha: Find your favorite and stick with it. While I purchased a rose quartz scraper, Ive seen jade, amethyst, and tigers eye recently, too. Each stone is known to have different healing properties, but all should provide similar results as its more about the gua sha technique than the crystal of choice, says Lam. However, jade was traditionally used because its cool to the touch and has detoxifying properties, she adds.

How do you use the gua sha tool on your face?

Lam says the whole thing is pretty straightforward  provided you use a light touch. Hold the gua sha tool with the curved side to your face and glide it gently up and out, starting with the neck, jawline, chin, and around the mouth, between three and five times per area, says Lam. Then sweep across cheeks and gently glide under the eyes, across your eyebrows and from your forehead up to your hairline. As for how often you do this treatment, Lam recommends at least a few times a week for best results.

When I first picked mine up, I was admittedly a little nervous  Id gotten bodily gua sha in the past, and the bruises were no joke. But since the individual is control of how much pressure is placed on the face, I kept things extremely light. I started by softly running the comb up my neck, working from left to right in the most elegant strokes I could possibly produce. While I did expect this to release some of my tech-neck wrinkles, I wasnt expecting the muscle relief the gua sha tool provided. Turns out my neck is really tight  blame cell phones, computers, and a clenching habit  and the gentle strokes helped to seemingly loosen the muscles a tiny bit, too.

From the neck, Grandury then recommends working from the center of the chin outwards, from the nose to the sides of the cheeks, between the brows and across the forehead. Honestly, the whole practice felt pretty meditative: The counting, repetitive style of motion, and resulting improved circulation honestly made me look like Id just spent an hour at Inscape or maybe even had sex. And although the pesky wrinkle between my eyebrows didnt disappear completely, I did notice a temporary reduction in its appearance while applying tinted moisturizer several minutes later.

Skincare: Before, during, or after?

Gua sha is best done after both cleansing the face and applying a moisturizer or facial oil, says Lam, as the gua massage not only gives your skin a workout, but also helps products nutrients absorb better into skin.

Likewise, Grandury told me to use an oil-based serum or lotion before gua sha to give the tool maximum slip. Personally, Im deep into Herbivore Lapis Oil for its anti-inflammatory properties, which leaves my skin looking calmer with just one application.

RELATED: How to Tell the Difference Between a Wrinkle and a Fine Line

Incorporating gua sha tooling into my nightly facial oil routine was a breeze, not only because it was calming, but also really upped my skins absorption of the products I use at bedtime, too. My skin looked less puffy following gua sha treatments, and maybe I looked a few years younger. Honestly, the gua sha tool felt really good, and it made my products work like they were on steroids.

The bottom line?

Is it as good as Botox? Definitely not. But it definitely made my face feel fresher, and my complexion tauter. But bear in mind that's my individual experience. Writ large, Dr. Zeichner isn't convinced. The concept behind gua sha is that it enhances circulation to promote healthy collagen production, however theres little data to prove its effectiveness, he says. But you could look at it this way: It's rare for such a good Instagram prop to come at such an accessible price point. Its almost worth it for that alone.Researchers have discovered an underwater volcanic world filled with marine life off of the coast of Tasmania.

Scientists from the Australian National University (ANU) recently made the discovery during a 25-day research excursion involving detailed seafloor mapping in waters located some 250 miles east of Tasmania.

Mapping taken by the Investigator research vessel revealed a chain of volcanic seamounts (underwater mountains) sitting at a depth of about 16,400 feet, with some of the tallest peaks reaching heights close to 10,000 feet.

This is a very diverse landscape and will undoubtedly be a biological hotpot that supports a dazzling array of marine life, Dr. Tara Martin from Australias natural science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization said in a statement.

The previously unseen underwater world is "teeming with marine life," researchers said, pointing to sightings of 28 humpback whales in one day followed by additional sightings of a pod of 60 to 80 long-finned pilot whales the very next day.

Researchers believe the area could be a vital stopping point for migrating animals, particularly with whales who might be using the underwater volcanoes as navigation points to help them find their way.

Related: Watch Humpbacks From a Hot Tub on Norways Whaling Boat-turned-spa

These seamounts may act as an important signpost on an underwater migratory highway for the humpback whales we saw moving from their winter breeding to summer feeding grounds, Dr. Eric Woehler, who was part of the team of researchers onboard the vessel, said.

In addition to whales, researchers also spotted a variety of seabirds that flock to the area, which they believe is a hotbed for marine life both above and below the ocean's surface.

The researchers plan to continue studying the newly discovered "lost world" this November and December, using deep sea cameras to document its rich array of aquatic species.Associated Press

As a jury was deliberating over his fate, a Georgia district attorney on Monday pleaded guilty to several charges stemming from improper acts while in office and agreed to resign. Mark Jones had already been suspended as Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit district attorney after the state attorney generals office obtained the indictment on Sept. 7. It accused him of trying to influence a police officers testimony, offering bribes to prosecutors in his office and trying to influence and prevent the testimony of a crime victim.Empangeni (South Africa) (AFP) - President President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday symbolically handed back land to a community of black South Africans who were forcibly removed from it under apartheid and promised to accelerate land reform.

"We are making history and celebrating the return of your land today. We are righting the historic injustice and returning the land to its rightful owners," he said during a ceremony at Empangeni in northeastern KwaZulu-Natal.

Land reform has become a hot topic in South Africa after Ramaphosa vowed that the country's constitution would be changed to explicitly allow for the expropriation of land without compensation.

Ramaphosa, who took part in a traditional Zulu dance at the ceremony, said Sunday's return of around 4,500 hectares (13,000 acres) would be the first of a number of land claims "that we aim to unlock over the next few months".

And he acknowledged criticism that the government had been too slow to tackle the issue.

"Any failure on our part to reverse the injustices of our past... will result in social instability and economic decline in our country. This we cannot afford," he told the KwaMkwanazi community.

"As government, we concede that much more could have been done since 1994 to accelerate land reform.

"This government is resolute in our commitment to returning the land in an orderly and lawful manner. We shall not allow illegal land occupations."

The policy is designed to redistribute land to poor black people to tackle severe inequality 24 years after the end of apartheid, but it has attracted sharp criticism.

Land reform is set to be among the fiercest political battlegrounds at elections next year, when Ramaphosa will try to revive fading support for the ANC, which has ruled since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Ramaphosa has vowed reforms will be within the law and not threaten stability, but many landowners and investors remain alarmed by the policy.Mr Brunson knelt and prayed for Mr Trump in the Oval Office: REUTERS

Pastor Andrew Brunson has met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office after more than two years of detention in Turkey.

During the encounter Mr Brunson knelt before the president and prayed for him, asking that he be made a great blessing for this country.

The pastor touched down at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland following his release on Friday and was pictured kissing an American flag that he was given.

Mr Trump, during his remarks in the Oval Office, said that the US has been working long and hard to secure the release of Mr Brunson, and that the pastors strength and faith while in Turkish detention had galvanised the country.

I just want to congratulate you ... Theres so much interest, and its your faith, its your strength, what youve gone through, Mr Trump said.

Right now the whole world is a fan of yours, he said.

The pastor had been in Turkish prison after being arrested for alleged links to political groups including a banned movement related to exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen. His arrest followed the failed coup in 2016 which Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has blamed on Mr Gulen.

He was convicted for those crimes on Friday, but was released from custody due to the time he had spent behind bars. Additional espionage charges that had been brought against him were dropped.

Before the Oval Office meeting, Mr Trump had tweeted about his planned meeting, saying he was excited to see the pastor.

It will be wonderful to see and meet him, Mr Trump wrote on Twitter. He is a great Christian who has been through such a tough experience.

Mr Brunson, after his release, told reporters that he now plans to spend time with his wife and children.

Mr Trump, in the Oval Office meeting, said that he believes Mr Brunsons release was a tremendous step towards a better relationship between Turkey and the US.From fashion choices to her marriage, ABC special reveals first lady is far from clueless  and willing to bait those around her



Media can be very tricky sometimes, Melania Trump said back in 1999, in an interview with ABC News. You need to be very careful.

That wariness has, not surprisingly, stuck with her, which is why much of the new ABC special, Being Melania, consisted of her offering up vague bromides and an innocuous set of talking points: her independence, her own priorities, the Be Best initiative she launched earlier this year and the work of staying true to myself.

But, strikingly, there were also many moments when Melania seemed uninterested in being careful. And in that unwillingness to stick to her own talking points, we got a tiny glimpse of her spiky recalcitrance  her refusal to be what either the left or right want her to be.

In general, being Melania meant not being entirely on script. She pronounced herself to be the most bullied person on the world. She freely noted that there are people in the White House she does not trust. (After ABC released an advance clip of Melanias comments on the White House, Trump himself called the producers to say that this was not his version of things.) She told Tom Llamas, her interviewer, she was blindsided by the policy of separating children from their parents at the border, and found it unacceptable. In this, she didnt play the usual role of the political wife, cannily couching disagreement and controlling the narrative to hide administrative chaos. She just seemed indifferent to such strategies.

Melania Trump on the infamous jacket: It was for the people and for the leftwing media who are criticizing me. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Then there was the matter of the infamous Zara jacket. In the days leading up to her June visit to the Mexico border, the Trump administration had come under harsh fire over the separations policy. And so when Melania wore a military-style jacket that carried the slogan I really dont care do u? en route to visit children at detention centers, it appeared at best stunningly clueless and at worst a horrific expression of disengagement, on par with Marie Antoinettes Let them eat cake.

Story continues

At the time, her spokesperson said: There was no hidden message. After todays important visit to Texas, I hope this isnt what the media is going to choose to focus on. Many on the right treated the hubbub over her style choice as an example of liberal hypocrisy, citing the lefts war on women.

On ABC, Melania initially deflected the question.

Its obvious I didnt wear the jacket for the children, she said. I wore the jacket to go on the plane and off the plane.

But then she paused and, jaw tightening, went on to explain that the jacket was in fact a message.

It was for the people and for the leftwing media who are criticizing me. And I want to show them that I dont care.

When she saw how the media was covering it, she told Llamas, she put the jacket back on for the journey home.

The interview clarified that Melania is not clueless: the jacket was a sophisticated form of baiting. After all, any media criticism of it would only make Trumps base hate the media more, for focusing on trivialities instead of her real mission that day.

It was hard not to hear another coded message in the brevity of Melanias response

Her admission to Llamas made other style choices  namely, her decision to wear a white pantsuit, associated with suffragettes, at the state of the union, shortly after the Stormy Daniels affair broke  look like a similar kind of telegraphing, this time to her husband and his handlers, of her displeasure. Llamas showed a clip of Melania sitting expressionless, clapping while others stood to applaud and cheer. The first lady, it seems, has a strong sense of what she will and wont tolerate and if anyone crosses the line she lets them know.

Perhaps its not so crazy to read meaning into tiny choices Melania makes; she seems to want us to. In fact, if Being Melania showed anything, its that she is quite skilled at sending messages in a barely coded way, and very willing to bait those around her. Its the power of the powerless person in powerful situations, a mode of communication perhaps learned from years working as a model who had lots of glamorous visibility but no real authority.

Nowhere was Melanias spiky mode of signaling more apparent than in her responses to questions about her marriage. Nearly 20 years ago, ABC interviewed a 26-year-old Melania about her possible marriage to Trump and what she would do if he ever became president. Charmingly, she replied: I would be very traditional, like Jackie Kennedy  I would support him, I will do a lot of social obligations. A pause, then: I stand by my man.

Melania Trump departs Nairobi, Kenya. Photograph: Carlo Allegri/Reuters

When their husbands infidelities become public, women in American politics are expected to do just this, to appear beside their spouses at press conferences, testifying to their essential goodness despite slip-ups along the way.

Asked about the state of her marriage to the president, Melania instead said, somewhat impatiently, Yes, were fine. And left it at that. Likewise, asked about Daniels claim of an affair with her husband, which he denies, she said, simply: It is not a concern and focus of mine. Im a mother and a first lady, and I have much more important things to think about and to do.

It was a far cry from, say, Hillary Rodham Clintons support for her husband in a similar 1992 interview: Im sitting here because I love him, and I respect him, and I honor what hes been through and what weve been through together. And you know, if thats not enough for people, then heck  dont vote for him.

It was hard not to hear another coded message in the brevity of Melanias response.

In the end, though, there was something both sad and dangerously blinkered about the interview. Melania may be quietly pushing back at what she perceives as her bullying  bullying by the left, bullying by her husband. But ultimately, one felt one was watching someone out of her depth, someone at once reasonably pained by the way she has been treated and also terribly unaware of the entitlement of her position  a victor who sees herself as a victim.

Hers is a vantage with a hazardous lack of self-awareness. After saying she is possibly the most bullied person on the world, she also claimed she was having a good time in the White House.

Im enjoying it, she said. I love the Washington.KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)  A motorcycle rigged with explosives detonated at an election rally in northeastern Afghanistan on Saturday killing at least 14 people, including civilians and security forces, officials said.

Khalil Aser, spokesman for the provincial police chief in Takhar province, said 32 others were wounded when the explosives-laden motorbike parked near the rally in Rustaq district blew up.

"There are a number of wounded people in critical condition," he said.

The attack took place at about noon before Nazefa Yusoufi Beg, a female candidate running for a seat in parliament in the Oct. 20 elections, arrived at the rally, Aser said. It was not immediately clear if she was the target.

Jawad Hajri, spokesman for the provincial governor, said Rustaq is a remote district where insurgent attacks have not occurred in the past and the candidate's supporters had gathered for the rally confident they would be safe.

Adeb Hamra, a local resident, said in a telephone interview that the district government hospital has only four doctors and was overwhelmed with dead and wounded, most of them in critical condition.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but Taliban insurgents are active in the province and have claimed pervious attacks there.

Meanwhile, in a separate attack Saturday that targeted the office of a candidate in western Herat province, at least two people including a security guard and a child were killed, said Gelani Farhad, spokesman for the provincial governor.

He said one other person was wounded after two gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire at the campaign office of parliamentary candidate Sayed Azem Kabrzani in the Injil district.

"The candidate himself was not in the office when the attack happened and he is safe," said Farhad. A police investigation was begun to find out more about the attack, he said.

These were not the first attacks targeting a political campaign this year.

Story continues

On Tuesday, eight people including candidate Saleh Mohammad Achekzai, were killed when a suicide bomber struck Achekzai's home In Helmand province. He was holding a meeting at the time of the attack in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital.

On Oct. 2, just days after official campaigning began, a suicide bomber struck an election rally in eastern Nangarhar province, killing at least 14 people and wounding around 40.

Last week, Taliban insurgents issued a statement condemning the elections and warning candidates and Afghan Security Forces that they would be targets if they participate. The Taliban called the polls a U.S.-manipulated event to further their hold on the country.

There are 2,565 candidates vying for seats in the 249-member chamber, including 417 women candidates.

In the run-up to campaigning, five candidates have been killed in separate attacks. Officials from the country's Independent Election Commission said another two candidates have been abducted, with their fates unknown, and three others have been wounded in violence. Afghan security forces accidentally killed three bodyguards of an independent candidate during a raid on a house near his residence in the eastern Kunar province.

In a separate report from eastern Logar province Saturday, at least five civilians were killed when a bomb exploded during a wedding ceremony, said Shah Poor Ahmadzai, the provincial police chief's spokesman.

Ahmadzai said seven others were wounded in the attack late Friday, which took place in Mohammad Agha district.

Mohammad Naser Ghairat, a provincial council member in Logar, said the bomb was planted near the house where the wedding was taking place and targeted the participants of the wedding.

Ahmadzai said initial reports show both the groom and bride were not hurt. An investigation was begun to find out more and the death toll could rise, he said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but Taliban insurgents are active in the province.Sao Paulo (AFP) - Brazil's far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro is "fomenting violence" and is a danger to democracy, his leftist rival Fernando Haddad told AFP on Saturday.

Haddad, trailing in the polls ahead of an October 28 runoff, argued against Bolsonaro's pledge to ease gun laws for citizens to combat rampant insecurity and highlighted contentious remarks Bolsonaro has made.

"My adversary foments violence, including a culture of rape," Haddad said, recalling an episode when Bolsonaro told a congresswoman she didn't "deserve" to be raped by him.

He stressed he believed Brazil was seeing the biggest peril since returning to democracy three decades ago, saying: "In my opinion, the big threat to the continent is Bolsonaro."

The charges were made as violent incidents linked to the election occurred in various parts of Brazil. Early this week, a man was stabbed to death in a bar for reportedly yelling support for Haddad's Workers Party. A transgender woman also said she was beaten by Bolsonaro supporters in the street.

Haddad, a former mayor of Sao Paulo, is fighting to close a big gap between him and Bolsonaro, who admires US President Donald Trump and is nostalgic for Brazil's 1964-1985 military dictatorship.

Haddad is pushing for televised debates that his rival has so far avoided, initially because of a wound Bolsonaro suffered when a lone assailant stabbed him while campaigning last month.

- 'Intolerance' -

In the first round of the election last Sunday, Bolsonaro easily dominated, winning 46 percent of the vote to Haddad's 29 percent.

A subsequent Datafolha survey suggested Bolsonaro, a former paratrooper running on an anti-crime, anti-corruption platform, had 58 percent voter support going into the run-off, against 42 percent for Haddad.

In his interview with AFP in Sao Paulo, Haddad homed in on the frontrunner's message that has resonated most with Brazilians: Bolsonaro's law-and-order pledges that include making it easier for citizens to defend themselves with firearms, boosting the police force, and lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 16.

Story continues

"Arming the population will resolve nothing. It's the state that has to implement public safety," he said.

He added that the outgoing government had fallen short in this area, especially in combating organized crime.

Bolsonaro was singularly unsuited to fighting violence, Haddad said, pointing to a campaign moment when the far-right candidate feigned shooting up the Workers Party.

"How can a person preaching intolerance offer security to anyone?" he asked.

- Admits 'errors' -

Haddad also pushed back against a public perception highlighted by Bolsonaro that the Workers Party, in power from 2003 to 2016, was corrupt -- a view confirmed by the incarceration of its icon, former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, for corruption.

His party had made "errors," he admitted.

"Our government didn't brush anything under the carpet. Obviously, what people saw outside the carpet wasn't pretty but that was combated with legislation we approved and... all organs of the state will be strengthened in our new government," Haddad said.

"I share the same view as society that corruption is something intolerable."

But he also pointed to Bolsonaro's very thin record of being involved in passing laws despite nearly three decades in Congress, saying: "He rails against things. But what he proposes has no consistency whatsoever."

Haddad declared: "That person is leader in the polls, but he will lose."

Lula, he said, was "very happy" at Haddad's performance so far in the elections, especially as he had been a late replacement for the ex-president in September, after a court ruled Lula to be ineligible to run again.

Haddad also tackled attempts by Bolsonaro's campaign to claim the Workers Party was the same as the Socialist regime running neighboring Venezuela, in crisis under President Nicolas Maduro.

The Workers Party's run in government in Brazil "didn't look anything like what is happening in Venezuela," he said, adding that his party "was born in the challenge to all authoritarian regimes on the left and right -- unlike Bolsonaro whose roots are in the military dictatorship."Brussels (AFP) - Michel Barnier's time on the political stage was supposed to be over.

Passed over by his allies in Brussels in a failed audition for Europe's top role and out of step with his own party in his French homeland, it was time for him to take his bow.

But the 67-year-old former French former minister and former EU commissioner was invited to perform his final encore as Brussels' chief Brexit negotiator -- and he's winning applause.

The experienced operator has impressed pro-Europeans with his pugnacious defence of the Union's core interests and won the grudging respect of his British opposite numbers.

He appears to be enjoying the return to the limelight, even though he had nothing to lose when he accepted what seemed a thankless task on October 1, 2016.

A convinced European, he had hoped to take a role in building rather than dismantling the union in March 2014, when he sought the backing the centre-right PPE to become president of the EU Commission.

But his own French conservative party failed to swing behind him, and former Luxembourg premier Jean-Claude Juncker got the job instead.

Isolated in Brussels, Barnier later hoped to return to his homeland of Savoie in French Alps as president of the regional assembly, but again local barons of his UMP opposed him.

"He embodies Europe -- everything our voters don't want," one party worthy told colleagues ahead of the 2015 poll, in a conversation overheard by an AFP reporter in Strasbourg.

Friends say these failures left him bitter, but it was Europe that came to the rescue, albeit with a role mitigating what he sees as the "lose-lose" decision of British voters to quit the union.

His former rival Juncker named him a special adviser on defence and security, then handed him the tricky but high-profile task of agreeing divorce terms with the pickly Brits.

Two years later Barnier still hasn't nailed down the settlement terms, but he's done well enough that he felt he had to announce he is not seeking PPE support to replace Juncker next year.

Story continues

Instead he plans to focus on Brexit and might yet find himself in a position to slip into the top job anyway, after staying above the fray of party infighting and the European parliamentary vote in May.

"The PPE was never going to let one of its members sink without trace," explained one of Barnier's allies. The Frenchman has been vice-president of the group for 12 years.

In a letter to PPE president Joseph Daul, Barnier said he had a "duty and a responsibility" to see the Brexit negotiations through to the end.

Now, Barnier is a rare European leader known well-enough in Britain to be caricatured by Fleet Street cartoonists and excoriated in euro-sceptic editorials.

But he insists he's not in it for the knockabout.

"I will do this without aggression and with much respect for a great country that will remain our ally an partner," he insisted, as he always does, in one of his now regular speeches last week.

- 'Pragmatic and experienced' -

When late French leader Charles de Gaulle opposed Britain's entry into the then European Common Market, Barnier voted in a 1972 French referendum to allow it in.

"I have never regretted that vote because there is strength in unity," he has repeatedly declared.

British europhobes were always going to scorn a patrician-looking Frenchman and veteran Brussels' insider, but those who know him best were not outraged by his nomination.

"We could have done a lot worse than the pragmatic and experienced Barnier," admitted Syed Kamal, head of the British Conservative Party's group in the European Parliament.

Barnier served variously as France's environment, European affairs, agriculture and foreign minister -- learning the dossiers that now bedevil the complicated break-up talks.

And in Brussels, where he has been commissioner for finance and for the single market, he mastered the arcane mysteries of EU law.

"He knows about the problems we'll have to negotiate with the British," Juncker explained.

- Power players -

Britain's task is a hard one; the unprecedented dissolution of legal, political and trade ties built over four decades after a narrow majority of voters backed an exit rejected by the bulk of the political elite.

But Barnier's political challenge is almost as complex. He is the Brexit pointman not only for his nominal employer the European Commission, but also for the 27 remaining member states.

The deal will have to be approved not just in Westminster but in the Strasbourg parliament -- and by power players like France's President Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Thus far, Barnier has avoided trouble from his own side, "but we've often had to realign the talks" sniffs one diplomat.

And the scars from his earlier political battles have not healed, warn others, describing a "tortured" and often bitter personality beneath Barnier's suave exterior.

But, while Britain has repeatedly changed its own main negotiator, and Prime Minister Theresa May has tried and failed to go above his head directly to fellow national leaders, Barnier has held on.

And if the British leader comes to Brussels this week ready to sign up to a Brexit deal that respects the integrity of Europe's single market, Barnier will be on stage to take a bow.Sydney (AFP) - Prince Harry and Meghan touched down in Sydney on Monday, kicking off a bumper Pacific tour that is the British royals' first major outing abroad as a couple.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made a low-key arrival to a wet and wintery Australia after a weekend spent celebrating the marriage of their relative Princess Eugenie and following an overnight commercial flight with Qantas.

They were seen leaving the airport with staff, looking relaxed, as Meghan clutched a pair of purple binders and Harry carried a brown and green manbag.

Their more-than-two-week official visit will take in multiple stops in Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand -- all parts of the Commonwealth, a group of predominantly former British colonies.

Queen Elizabeth II is still the head of state in Australia although there is significant support for the country becoming a republic.

Recent polls show Australians fairly evenly split on the issue, with only the slimmest of majorities in favour of ditching the British Queen and nominating an Australian head of state.

During the trip, the royals plan to pet koalas, watch soldiers perform the haka and attend the Invictus Games, a multi-sport tournament for military service personnel and veterans who have been wounded or suffered injury or illness that opens on Saturday 20 October.

The whole visit will be keenly watched by the British and Australian media.

Meghan, a photogenic US actress, married the grandson of Queen Elizabeth II in May, becoming the newest royal to attract media obsession in Britain and beyond.

The 37-year-old made waves recently by bucking protocol and closing her own car door.

- Koalas and joeys -

The couple will be accompanied by a staff of 10 and a substantially larger swarm of reporters from all the major British papers and TV broadcasters.

The official visit begins on Tuesday in Sydney, where they will be welcomed by Australia's Governor-General Peter Cosgrove -- the queen's official representative -- and his wife Lynne.

Story continues

The royals will meet two koalas and their joeys at Sydney's Taronga Zoo.

After sailing Sydney Harbour and visiting the famous Bondi Beach, meeting flying doctors, attending functions at the Invictus Games and meeting Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, they jet off to Fiji on October 23.

Meghan will get a chance to speak at a UN women's empowerment in marketplaces event and meet some female vendors in the project in the Fiji capital Suva.

They will meet the local royals in both Fiji and Tonga, which are members of the Commonwealth.

The final leg coincides with the 125th anniversary of women's suffrage in New Zealand -- the first country to give women the right to vote.

Meghan is expected to speak at a suffrage anniversary celebration in Wellington on October 28.

The couple will have a chance to watch members of the New Zealand defence force perform the haka -- the traditional warrior dance popularised globally by the nation's rugby team -- at a governor's reception earlier that afternoon.

The trip officially ends in New Zealand on October 31.

Meghan has previously visited New Zealand as a tourist in 2014. Prince Harry has been to all four countries, but on his own.

The couple's first trip abroad saw them dash off to Dublin shortly after their wedding.SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The "sinicization" of religion must be upheld to promote ethnic solidarity and religious harmony, a senior Chinese official has said in the troubled western region of Xinjiang, which is home to a large Muslim population. China's state-run Xinhua news agency on Saturday quoted You Quan, head of the ruling Communist Party's United Front Work Department, which oversees ethnic and religious affairs, as making the remarks on a visit to Xinjiang this week. "The Party's leadership over religious work must be upheld," You said, adding that "the infiltration of religious extremism must be guarded against". Reports of mass detentions and strict surveillance of ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang have provoked international criticism, prompting the United States to consider sanctions against officials and companies linked to allegations of human rights abuses. China says Xinjiang faces a threat from Islamist militants and separatists and has rejected all accusations of mistreatment in an area where hundreds have been killed in recent years in unrest between Uighurs and members of the ethnic Han Chinese majority. Xinhua said You expressed the hope "that people in religious circles can inherit and carry forward the fine traditions to love the motherland and their faith, lead religious believers to follow the right faith and abide by the law and contribute to the healthy development of Islam". You is a member of the influential secretariat of the party's central committee. (Reporting by John Ruwitch; editing by David Stamp)BERLIN (AP)  Three people died after they were hit by a small plane in central Germany on Sunday as it attempted to take off after an aborted landing, police said.

Police in Hesse state said the victims, two women and a child to be around age 9 or 10, were on a path next to an airfield at the Wasserkuppe hill near Fulda, German news agency dpa reported.

They said the Cessna was attempting to take off after an aborted landing maneuver, but failed to gain lift and broke through a barrier, hitting the three.

Five other people  the four on board the plane and an eyewitness  were suffering from shock.

The plane came from the Mannheim area of southwestern Germany and had been on an excursion to the Wasserkuppe.Getty

The Democrat running to be the governor of Georgia has accused her Republican counterpart of creating a miasma of fear to scare people out of voting for her.

Stacey Abrams, who would be the first African American woman elected to a governorship if she defeats Brian Kemp next month, accused her opponent of creating a voter identification law  which has put tens of thousands of voter registration applications on hold  to try and scare people.

This is simply a redux of a failed system that is designed to both scare people out of voting and make it harder for those who are willing to push through, make it harder for them to vote, Ms Abrams said on CNN.

Voting should not be a question of trust on the part of voters, whether they can trust the system. And, right now, he is eroding the public trust in the system because 53,000 people have been told, you may be able to vote, you may not, its up to you to prove it.

She added: The miasma of fear that is created through voter suppression is as much about terrifying people about trying to vote as it is about actually blocking their ability to do so.

The 44-year-old, who served as minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017, had been asked about the tens of thousands of applications that were pending because they did not meet the states exact match requirement. That rule places an application as pending if the personal information on the form does not match the information on the states Department of Driver Services or the Social Security Administration.

Ms Abrams is among those who have accused her opponent, Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who leads the office that oversees Georgia elections, of trying to suppress minority votes.

Asked if she thought the move was intended to hurt black turnout, she said: We have known since 2016 that flawed exact match system has a disproportionate effect on people of colour and women. She said Democrats had sued Mr Kemp and a federal court ordered him to restore 33,000 illegally cancelled registrations. She said Republicans had then voted again to introduce a similar measure.

Story continues

She said: When you know something is going to have a disproportionate effect on people of colour and women, and you still do it, that is problematic.

Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams explains why she feels there is voter suppression. pic.twitter.com/LgfRclJDhr  LJ (@LJOpinionsViews) October 14, 2018

Mr Kemp has always denied the allegations. This summer he said: Despite any claim to the contrary, it has never been easier to register to vote in Georgia and actively engage in the electoral process. The numbers do not lie.

The comments of Ms Abrams come amid growing accusations that, in the guise of anti-voter fraud measures, Republicans across the US are working to prevent large number of people of colour from voting.

Last week, it was reported Native American groups in North Dakota were scrambling to try and help potential voters acquire new addresses, in the few weeks remaining before November 6, after the Supreme Court declined to overturn the states controversial voter ID law, which requires residents to show identification with a current street address.

The rules state that a Post Office (PO) box does not qualify. However, many Native American reservations do not use physical street addresses and instead use PO boxes.

Last month, Carol Anderson, a professor at Emory University, published an investigation into Americas ongoing voter suppression  something that had worsened since a 2013 Supreme Court ruling stripped away parts of the historic 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA).

She said in One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying our Democracy, countless thousands of African Americans and other minorities, were prevented from voting in the 2016 general election, the first held in 50 years without the protections of the VRA and which saw Donald Trump win the White House.

Minority voters did not just refuse to show up; Republican legislatures and governors systematically blocked African Americans, Hispanics and Asian Americans from the polls, she writes.

Pushed by both the impending demographic collapse of the Republican Party, whose overwhelmingly white constituency is common an ever smaller share of the electorate, and the GOPs extremist inability to craft policies that speak to an increasingly diverse nation, the Republicans decided to disenfranchise rather than reform.President Donald Trump has warned there will be severe punishment if investigations conclude Saudi Arabia is responsible for the disappearance and possible death of journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi.

The Saudi reporter and columnist for The Washington Post has not been seen since entering the Saudi consulate in Turkey earlier this month. He was a known critic of Saudi policies, and Turkish authorities claim he was killed inside the building.

Theres a lot at stake, theres a lot at stake and maybe especially so because this man was a reporter, Trump told 60 Minutes host Lesley Stahl in a preview clip released Saturday ahead of their interviews full broadcast on CBS Sunday.

Check out the clip here:

"There will be severe punishment." In his first 60 Minutes interview since taking office, President Trump tells Lesley Stahl that if Saudi Arabia is found to be responsible for journalist Jamal Khashoggi's death, there will be consequences. https://t.co/BRZfIPHbNY pic.twitter.com/s6X98AylBR  60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 13, 2018

Youll be surprised to hear me say that theres something really terrible and disgusting about that if [Saudi involvement] were the case, added Trump, who in the U.S. has repeatedly described CNN as fake news and journalists as the enemy of the people.

Were going to get to the bottom of it, and there will be severe punishment, he added.

Trump said nobody knows yet if Khashoggi was murdered on the instruction of Saudi authorities, adding that the incident was being investigated and being looked at very, very strongly.

As of this moment, they deny it, and they deny it vehemently, he said. Could it be them? Yes.

Trump refused to reveal whether he would impose sanctions on Saudi Arabia if its involvement was confirmed, and he said he was reluctant to cease arms sales between the U.S. and the country because it could hurt American jobs.

Story continues

There are other ways of punishing, to use a word thats a pretty harsh word, but its true, he told Stahl.

Also on HuffPost

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Andrew Brunson, an American pastor released from a Turkish prison on Friday, prays inside the White House on Saturday - Getty Images North America

An American pastor released from a Turkish prison on Friday knelt at Donald Trump's feet on Saturday, praying for the US president during a gathering in the Oval Office.

Andrew Brunson, a 50-year-old preacher from North Carolina, who has lived in Turkey for over 25 years, asked Mr Trump if he could pray for him.

I need it more than anybody in this room, the president replied.

Mr Brunson then knelt, asking God to give Mr Trump the wisdom to lead this country into righteousness.

He continued: "Protect him from slander, from enemies. Fill him with your wisdom, and strength, and perseverance."

President Donald Trump and Mike Pompeo bow their heads as Andrew Brunson prays for the administration Credit: AP

Mr Brunson was detained in October 2016 and charged with links to Kurdish militants and supporters of Fethullah Gulen, the cleric blamed by Turkey for a failed coup attempt that year. He strongly denied any links to militants, and Mr Trump took up his case with gusto, demanding the preacher be released. His case became a bitter diplomatic row between Ankara and Washington.

Mr Trump said the pastor's release marked a significant improvement in US-Turkish relations.

This is a great step towards having the kind of relationship with Turkey that we want to have, he said, emphasizing that the US had not made any payment or granted concessions to Turkey in exchange for his release.

"The only deal, if you can call it a deal, is a psychological one," he said. "We feel much different to Turkey today than we did yesterday. I think we have a chance now to have a really great relationship."

There was NO DEAL made with Turkey for the release and return of Pastor Andrew Brunson. I dont make deals for hostages. There was, however, great appreciation on behalf of the United States, which will lead to good, perhaps great, relations between the United States & Turkey!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2018

Flanked by Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, and John Bolton, the national security advisor, plus a phalanx of senators and advisors, Mr Trump paid tribute to the work of his team in securing his release. He also said the country was delighted he was home.

Story continues

Right now the whole world is a fan of yours, he said.

Andrew Brunson, pictured in Turkey in July, escorted by police to house release at his home in Izmir

Mr Brunson said he and his family still loved Turkey and the Turkish people, but added that he was unsure what he would do next.

Spend time with our children, and then pray and see what God wants next for us," he said.

"In the future we will probably be doing some interviews, but this is just a time to thank this administration. We love this country. Last night we arrived in Germany, and the ambassador met us at 1:30am  I couldnt believe it. He had a flag and I took it and very naturally kissed it."

His wife, Norine, added her thanks to the president, who jokingly asked who she voted for. She replied that she had voted for him.

"I sent an absentee ballot from prison," Mr Brunson added.By Saleh Salem GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians on Friday in protests along Gaza's border, Gaza health officials said. Israel said its troops had shot a group who broke through the fence with a bomb and attacked an army post. The Palestinian deaths bring to around 200 the number of Gazans killed since the border protests began on March 30, according to Palestinian Health Ministry figures. Gaza medics said that, in addition to the seven dead, around 140 others were wounded. The Israeli military said that the demonstrators, numbering around 15,000, had been "hurling rocks, explosive devices, firebombs and grenades" at Israeli troops and at the fence. Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col Jonathan Conricus tweeted that one group had "detonated a bomb on the Israel-Gaza border fence", allowing around 20 people to climb through the hole. He said around five of the group had then launched an organised attack against a military post inside Israel and all had been killed by the troops. The Palestinian protesters are demanding an end to an Israeli and Egyptian blockade on the narrow coastal strip, which is home to around 2 million Gazans. They also seek the right to return to lands that Palestinians fled or were driven from upon Israel's founding in 1948. Israel accuses the Islamist group Hamas, which controls Gaza, of orchestrating the protests along the border fence to provide cover for attacks and to distract from Gazas economic plight. Hamas denies the allegations. The Israeli military has been criticised by Palestinians and international human rights groups for its lethal response to the protests. It says its troops have used "riot dispersal means" and have fired "in accordance with standard operating procedures". One Israeli soldier has been killed by a Palestinian sniper during the weekly protests, and tracts of Israeli land have been scorched by incendiary kites and balloons. Hamas seized control of Gaza from Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007 and has since fought three wars with Israel, most recently in 2014. Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, addressing a conference in Istanbul from Gaza, said on Friday that Hamas was seeking to reach understandings with several parties, including Qatar, Egypt and the United Nations. He expressed hope that the efforts "could lead to calm in return for breaking the siege". (Reporting by Stephen Farrell; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Andrew Heavens)By Gabriela Baczynska, Alastair Macdonald and Elizabeth Piper BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) - The stubborn problem of Britain's land border with Ireland thwarted a drive to clinch a Brexit deal before a European Union summit this week, as negotiators admitted defeat after marathon talks and pressed pause for the coming days. EU negotiator Michel Barnier said after meeting British Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab that they could still not bridge a gap between his "backstop" demands that Northern Ireland stay in the EU's economic zone if there is a risk that border checks with EU member Ireland could revive conflict, and London's rejection of any checks on trade between the province and the British mainland. Both sides want to end more than a year of talks by mid-November. This is to give parliaments in London and Brussels time to approve a deal before Britain otherwise crashes out of the EU next March, plunging businesses and millions of ordinary citizens into a chaotic and costly legal limbo. However, British Prime Minister Theresa May faces intense opposition to some of the EU's demands from members of her Conservative party and allies in Northern Ireland, some of whom threaten to reject any deal they do not like in parliament. "Despite intense efforts, some key issues are still open, including the backstop for (Ireland/Northern Ireland) to avoid a hard border," Barnier tweeted after his meeting in Brussels with Raab ended days of bargaining between Barnier's deputy Sabine Weyand and May's Brexit lieutenant Oliver Robbins. A British government spokesman said progress had been made in some key areas. "However there remain a number of unresolved issues relating to the backstop. The UK is still committed to making progress at the October European Council," he said. But the result, EU officials and diplomats said, is that there are no plans for further talks before leaders of the other 27 EU member states meet over dinner in Brussels on Wednesday to hear Barnier brief them on the state of play. Several said there was little chance the leaders would give Barnier new instructions. They noted this puts the onus on May, who will join the leaders on Thursday morning, to break the deadlock she faces among her own allies and supporters. "It seems like May doesn't have backing in her cabinet for the backstop," said one senior EU diplomat who was briefed by Barnier. Both sides had for a time been talking up progress but many Brussels diplomats and officials have questioned whether May could appear to come to terms quite so quickly. More days, or weeks, of drama could strengthen her hand as both sides talk up preparations for a possible "no-deal" Brexit. Leaders had been due to decide on Wednesday whether enough progress had been made for them to agree to hold another summit, pencilled in for Nov. 17-18, at which both the treaty on an orderly British withdrawal and a vaguer document setting out future trade relations could be inked in. It is unclear now whether the leaders will call for the November summit this week. Many, notably French President Emmanuel Macron, made clear at a summit with May last month that they would agree to meet only if she could show she had come sufficiently close to a deal to make it worthwhile. EU sources said Barnier's team have offered new wording on a text on the backstop, highlighting that it may never be activated or only for a limited time, and also that Britain as a whole could stay under EU rules for longer as it transitions out after March 2019. But so far that has not met British reservations. Both sides want to avoid renewed checks on what will become their only land border to avoid hindering trade on the island of Ireland and reawakening tensions two decades after a peace deal ended 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland. FUNDAMENTAL DECISIONS David Davis, who resigned as Brexit minister in July, accused May's government earlier on Sunday of accepting "the EU's language on dealing with the Northern Ireland border". "This is one of the most fundamental decisions that government has taken in modern times. It is time for cabinet members to exert their collective authority," Davis, who campaigned for Britain to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum, wrote in the Sunday Times. Davis also pressed May to abandon her Brexit proposal, which involves staying in a free trade zone with the EU for goods. So far, May has shown little appetite to change tack, trying to persuade Conservative lawmakers and those in the opposition Labour Party to vote for any deal based on her plan. Even if she reaches a withdrawal agreement, she will struggle to get it through parliament and may find opposition from the small Northern Irish party which props up here minority government to other legislation such as the budget. "I fully appreciate the risks of a 'no deal' but the dangers of a bad deal are worse," Arlene Foster, head of the Democratic Unionist Party, wrote in the Belfast Telegraph newspaper. "This backstop arrangement would not be temporary. It would be the permanent annexation of Northern Ireland away from the rest of the United Kingdom and forever leave us subject to rules made in a place where we have no say." (Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska and Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Keith Weir and David Stamp)Updated on October 11:

Billy McFarland, one of the organizers of the disastrous Fyre Festival, is going to prison. On Thursday, October 11, U.S. District Court Judge Naomi Buchwald sentenced him to six years for multiple counts of fraud, Vice News reported.

The remorse I feel is crushing, McFarland said in the courtroom, as reported by Vice. I lived every day with the weight of knowing that I literally destroyed the lives of my friends and family. He and his lawyers had reportedly asked for leniency during his hearing; but at the sentencing, Buchwald referred to him as a serial fraudster whose fraud like a circle has no ending.

McFarlands sentencing comes months after he was arrested for the second time in June 2018 (his first arrest was in June 2017, and he pled guilty to wire fraud in March 2018). According to Vice, the second arrest was the result of another alleged scam that McFarland launched while out on bail. NYC VIP Access was reportedly a ticket-selling scheme in which he sold customers access to events like the Met Gala and the Victorias Secret Fashion Show  without actually having the ability to deliver.

Buchwald reportedly factored McFarlands lies before, during, and after the failed festival into his sentencing. This was not a good idea gone bad, she said, according to Vice. The bad intent was long withstanding.

Previously:

One of the organizers responsible for the "complete disaster" that was Fyre Festival has pleaded guilty to wire fraud, the Associated Press reports.

The charges, filed in June 2017, stem from Billy McFarland's planned luxury music festival. The festival, which was scheduled to begin on April 27, 2017, never quite got off the ground. Attendees that made it to the island in the Bahamas where Fyre Festival was scheduled to be held were greeted by chaos, much of which was documented on social media and later turned into Internet memes. Promised high-end accommodations ended up being plastic tents and less-than-stellar food.

Story continues

On Tuesday (March 6) McFarland addressed the charges in a statement in federal court. According to NPR, McFarland admitted to lying to Fyre Festival backers, saying, "I grossly underestimated the resources that would be necessary to hold an event of this magnitude. In an attempt to raise what I thought were needed funds, I lied to investors about various aspects of Fyre Media and my personal finances. Those lies included false documents and information."

McFarland's charges of two counts of wire fraud each carry a maximum of 20 years in prison. But according to NPR, the promoter will likely face a sentence of eight to 10 years, and a fine of up to $300,000, under the terms of his plea agreement.

He also went on to apologize, the AP reports. "I deeply regret my actions, and I apologize to my investors, team, family and supporters who I let down, he said. Bloomberg also reports that McFarland owes investors more than $26 million.

In addition to the charges of fraud, McFarland also pleaded guilty to lying to a ticket broker, in order to convince him to buy $2 million worth of tickets for future Fyre Festivals, Bloomberg reported.

The former festival promoter has been out on bail since July 2017 and will face sentencing on June 21, Bloomberg notes. In the meantime, he also reportedly faces lawsuits from attendees and investors of the festival.

Related: Ja Rule Is Speaking Out About the Fyre Festival Disaster

Check this out:Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - With just under six months until Brexit day, German business is losing patience with negotiations ahead of a vital deadline, warning ever more stridently of the risks of a no-deal departure.

"Europe must stop a worst-case Brexit scenario," Joachim Lang, director of the Federation of German Industry (BDI) said Tuesday, warning that "a separation of the UK from the EU without a departure or transitional agreement or clarification of the future relationship is still a possibility."

At stake for Germany are some 50,000 jobs the BDI says depend directly on business with the UK.

In financial terms, Europe's largest economy sold 84.4 billion euros ($97.4 billion) of exports to Britain in 2017, making the island nation its fifth-biggest customer, while importing 37.1 billion.

The scale means a no-deal Brexit would be "a disaster that would cause great difficulties for tens of thousands of firms and hundreds of thousands of workers on both sides of the English Channel," Lang said.

Current talks aim to settle Britain's divorce issues and agree a "transition phase" to ease its departure by keeping it under EU law through 2020.

But while much is already agreed, negotiations have snagged on thorny issues like the Irish border that allow for little compromise and divide British PM Theresa May's majority.

An EU leaders' summit this week has been dubbed a "moment of truth", as two sets of lawmakers -- in Westminster and the European Parliament -- must both green-light any deal and will need time to debate it before Brexit day on March 29.

Adding to the pressure, the European Commission said last week it was making plans to cope with a no-deal scenario.

- 'Will Brits be reasonable?' -

Businesses on the front line of potential Brexit disruption mostly strike a less alarmist tone than the BDI chief.

"If Britain becomes a 'third country' (losing membership of the EU's single market) it's not a problem, we already work with 50 third countries," said Samia Zimmerling, head of export administration at Delta Pronatura -- a cleaning products maker with operations in both Germany and the UK.

Story continues

But she lamented the drawn-out talks, which are delaying concrete adjustments companies must make to any new trade arrangements, like updating complex IT systems.

"We're waiting every day," she said. "We don't have any faith in the British (government), they're just indecisive."

Zimmerling and around 200 other businesspeople attended a Wednesday conference organised by Frankfurt's Chambers of Commerce and Industry (IHK), one of a string of events in economic centres around Germany.

Britain's departure has special significance for Frankfurt, which is both the centre of the powerhouse "Rhine-Main" region and a financial hub.

Bankers and local politicians hope to attract banking business from London following Brexit, with lobby group Frankfurt Main Finance last week tallying 26 financial firms that will transplant some operations.

But at Wednesday's meeting, experts from the finance ministry in Berlin and the customs service focused on explaining more prosaic issues to the gathered businesspeople.

Attempting to strike a bright tone and coax the odd laugh from the audience along the way, they delved into how to register for customs software or claim back taxes on goods exported outside the EU.

Higher barriers to trade "wouldn't be anything new to us as a company, although for me personally, yes," said Thorsten Neubecker, a 30-year veteran of Germany-UK trucking at transport firm MOL Logistics.

"We're assuming that there will be this temporary two-year transition period, to give us time" to adapt, he added.

"Whether the Brits will be reasonable, whether Brussels will be, I don't know, we just have to hope."

Alexander Schroeer of Cuta Solutions, a firm that advises other companies about international trade, was more pessimistic.

"There's a political discussion in England that has nothing to do with the agreement itself," he complained.

"For me it's clear that there will be a hard Brexit."Googly eyes are hilarious. Put some googly eyes on literally anything and people are going to have a good time.

Unless it's the city government of Savannah, Georgia we're talking about. To them, googly eyes are no laughing matter  at least not googly eyes placed on a historic statue.

The City of Savannah Government Facebook page posted photos on Thursday of a monument of American Revolutionary War figure Nathanael Greene with googly eyes plastered to his face. Accompanying the hilarious photos was a message decrying the act of vandalism and informing the public that this is in fact a crime.

SEE ALSO: Obama trying VR headset with googly eyes proves he can make anything look cool

The googly eyes allegedly caused harm to the statue, which has withstood years of weather and who knows what else at its outdoor location in Johnson Square.

If the googly eye bandit that did this is found, they could face a charge of criminal trespassing, according to local news site Savannah Now. The reason why it's being taken seriously is because this is a monument to a deceased person who served in the military.

Greene, who died in Georgia in 1786, was a major general under George Washington in the Continental Army. He started as a self-trained soldier who organized a local militia in Boston and eventually came to command the southern theater.

If the damage to Greene's statue is found in excess of $500, the googly eye bandit could be hit with felony charges.

And nothing takes the fun out of googly eyes like criminal charges.GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP)  Israeli forces shot dead six Palestinians Friday, four of them in a single incident, in one of the deadliest days in months of mass protests along the security fence separating Gaza and Israel, Gaza's Health Ministry said.

The ministry said four were killed in one location, where the Israeli military said it opened fire on a crowed of Palestinians who breached the fence and approached an army post. No Israeli troops were harmed, the army added.

Two other Palestinians were killed in other protest locations, the ministry said, adding that at least 140 Palestinians were wounded by live bullets.

The Israeli military said 14,000 Palestinians thronged the border fence areas, burning tires and throwing rocks, firebombs and grenades at soldiers stationed atop earth mounds on the other side of the barrier.

Since March, Hamas has orchestrated near-weekly protests along the fence, pressing for an end to a stifling Israel-Egyptian blockade imposed since the militant group wrested control of Gaza in 2007.

Hamas' chief, Ismail Haniyeh, who attended a protest in east Gaza City, said that "the determination of the Palestinian people will break the siege."

More than 150 Palestinians participating in or present at the marches have been killed since they began. In May, about 60 protesters were killed in a single day, making it one of the deadliest since a 2014 war between the two sides.

The blockade has restricted Hamas' ability to govern and plagued most of Gaza's 2 million residents. Electricity is supplied for roughly four hours a day, unemployment stands at more than 50 percent and tap water is unpotable.

Repeated attempts to reconcile Hamas and the West Bank-based administration of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have all but faltered, increasing the desperation that has in large part fueled the demonstrations.

This week, the United Nations began supervising deliveries of Qatari-donated diesel fuel meant to restart Gaza's only power plant to increase electricity supplies and mitigate the crisis. The station has yet to operate.

Hamas seeks a cease-fire with Israel securing an easing of the blockade but accuses its rivals in the West Bank of thwarting the effort. In recent weeks, it has stepped up its campaign, holding nighttime protests and adding new locations such as along the beach. Hamas says the escalation of protests is a response to the unresolved cease-fire talks.NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli police said on Saturday they were investigating the death of a Palestinian woman in the occupied West Bank, after her husband said he suspected Israeli settlers had pelted their car with rocks. Reuters was unable to verify the circumstances of the incident independently. However, footage of the car, which a Reuters cameraman said bore Palestinian license plates, showed what appeared to be a blood-stained broken brick at the foot of the passenger seat, which was covered in shattered glass. A doctor at the Palestinian hospital where Aisha al-Rawbi was brought said the 47-year-old was dead on arrival and that she had suffered a head injury. Her relatives said an autopsy was to be carried out. The woman's husband, Aykube al-Rawbi, 52, said he was driving by a settlement late on Friday after dark along a main road near the Palestinian city of Nablus and that he could not see who pelted the car. "The stones came from the side where the settlement is. I could hear the people speak Hebrew, but I didn't see them," said al-Rawbi. Israeli Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said: "Police arrived in the area and have opened an investigation." An Israeli court issued a gag order on details of the inquiry. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in a statement published by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa that it was "an ugly crime" perpetrated by settlers. On Sunday, a Palestinian gunman shot dead two Israelis and wounded a third near a West Bank settlement and on Thursday the Israeli military said a Palestinian had stabbed an Israeli soldier in the area. On Friday, Gaza health officials said Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians in protests along Gaza's border. Israel said its troops had shot a group who broke through the fence with a bomb and attacked an army post. Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Saturday all fuel deliveries to Gaza will stop and resume only when border violence ends. Israel allowed two trucks of fuel across its border into Gaza on Tuesday in a Qatari- and U.N.-backed effort to ease conditions in the enclave. Around 200 Palestinians have been killed since the border protests began on March 30, according to Palestinian Health Ministry figures. One Israeli soldier has been killed by a Gaza sniper during the protests, and tracts of Israeli land have been scorched by incendiary kites and balloons sent across the border. The protesters are demanding an end to an Israeli and Egyptian blockade of the enclave, which is home to around 2 million people. They also seek the right to return to lands that Palestinians fled or were driven from upon Israel's founding in 1948. Israel says the blockade is aimed at preventing weapons from reaching militants, including Hamas, the Islamist group that rules Gaza and which has fought three wars with Israel since 2008. Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in 2014 and a bid by U.S. President Donald Trump to restart them has shown little progress so far. The Palestinians want to establish an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem -- territories that Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. Settlements Israel has built in the West Bank, where Palestinians have limited self-rule, are deemed illegal by most countries. Israel disputes this. (Reporting by Ali Sawafta and Maayan Lubell; Editing by Catherine Evans and David Stamp)Rome (AFP) - Italy's interior ministry ordered Saturday that all migrants be transferred out of a tiny southern town that had welcomed them but which triggered a national debate on integration after its mayor was arrested.

Domenico Lucano, the left-leaning mayor of Riace, made headlines around the world for welcoming migrants to the sparsely-populated town in Calabria in a bid to boost jobs and development.

But earlier this month, he was placed under house arrest on charges of involvement in organising "marriages of convenience" for asylum purposes.

Known as Mimmo, the mayor has also been accused of skipping a tender process to award a rubbish management contract to co-operatives with ties to migrants.

His arrest was hailed by Interior Minister Matteo Salvini and his far-right League party as proof that the "government of change has declared war on the immigration business".

But it sparked an outcry from supporters who say the "Riace model" -- funded since the 2000s with Italian and European funds -- is a simple but effective way to both revive depopulated villages and house hundreds of asylum seekers.

The transferral of the migrants to other centres will begin next week, according to the ministry, which has been investigating "clear irregularities" in the town's reception system since 2016.

The state gives small centres 35 euros a day for each resident with the bulk of the money spent on providing accommodation, food and language lessons. A small amount of pocket money is also given to the migrants.

- Model for integration -

Lucano said his lawyers were preparing an appeal against the ministry, which has demanded a breakdown of all expenses.

"How is it possible to think of destroying the 'Riace model', which has been described by innumerable people, politicians, intellectuals and artists, as an extraordinary experience?" he asked.

"They want to destroy us," he added.

Story continues

"I am immensely bitter."

His migrant programme has seen abandoned houses restored and craft workshops reopened in Riace, attracting tourists, and has been lauded by many as a model of integration.

Lucano was even named one of the 100 most influential personalities by Fortune magazine in 2016 and inspired a docu-fiction by Wim Wenders.

Salvini, who wants to reduce projects inspired by Riace and group asylum seekers in large centres, has seen his popularity increase since the coalition government came to power in June.Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee to the Saudi journalist who has been missing for nearly two weeks, has written an obituary-style op-ed on Jamal Khashoggi, which was published Saturday by The New York Times.

Unlike a Washington Post op-ed she published earlier this week, which called on President Donald Trump to investigate Khashoggis disappearance, Cengiz wrote frankly Saturday of her fiances possible death.

Cengiz also didnt just call for an investigation into Khashoggis disappearance, she urged for the responsible party, irrespective of their political positions, to be punished.

"That haunting question doesnt leave me for a single moment: Is it true? Have they assassinated Jamal?"@mercan_resifi, Jamal Khashoggi's fiancee, writes about the disappeared journalist on his birthday. https://t.co/meM1soVedm  NYT Opinion (@nytopinion) October 13, 2018

When we arrived at the consulate, he went right in, Cengiz, a doctoral student in Instabul, wrote of her and Kashoggis visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

Had I known it would be the last time I would see Jamal, I would have rather entered the Saudi consulate myself, she added. The rest is history: He never walked out of that building. And with him, I also got lost there.

Khashoggi is a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist who was formerly close to Saudi Arabias royal family but had grown critical of Saudi policies in recent years.

He had been living in a self-imposed exile in Washington for over a year when he went to the Saudi consulate on Oct. 2 to obtain a document that would allow him to marry Cengiz.

Since then, I have been thinking that Jamal and I are no longer in the same world, Cengiz wrote for the Times. I keep asking the same questions to myself: Where is he? Is he alive? If he is alive, how is he?

Story continues

A surveillance video obtained by the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet and made available on Oct. 9 shows a man believed to be Khashoggi entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. (Photo: CCTV VIA HURRIYET / ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Many experts presume Khashoggi has been murdered.

According to the Post, U.S. intelligence documents revealed that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman recently attempted to lure Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, top Turkish authorities have told U.S. news organizations that they believe Khashoggi was assassinated at the consulate on orders from Saudi Arabias royal court.

One Turkish official told the Times that Khashoggi had been killed by a team of Saudi agents within hours of arriving at the Saudi consulate and an autopsy expert helped dismember his body.

The Saudi government has denied they were involved in Khashoggis disappearance. In a 60 Minutes interview, President Donald Trump said the incident was being investigated and warned that there will be severe punishment if Saudi Arabia was involved with Khashoggis death.

In her op-ed for the Times, Cengiz mourned Khashoggi while celebrating his lifes work.

If the allegations are true, and Jamal has been murdered by the errand boys of Mohammed bin Salman, he is already a martyr, Cengiz wrote.

Jamal spoke up against oppression, but he paid for the Saudi peoples demand for freedom with his own life, she continued. His voice and his ideas will reverberate, from Turkey to Saudi Arabia, and across the world. Oppression never lasts forever. Tyrants eventually pay for their sins.

Related...

Saudi Arabia's Defenders Offer Conspiracy Theories About Missing Journalist

New Reports Add Detail To Disappearance Of Saudi Journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Saudi Arabia Wants Trump And Congress To Forget Jamal Khashoggi. Heres Its Likely Playbook.

What We Know About The Disappearance Of Saudi Journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Trump: More At Stake Over Jamal Khashoggi Disappearance Because He's A Reporter

Donald Trump Is Complicit In Jamal Khashoggi's Likely Death. So Are Many Others.

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.The crisis over the disappearance of a Saudi journalist has highlighted Donald Trumps lack of US ambassadors in Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

Jamal Khashoggi went missing after visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, and authorities there believe he may have been murdered by a Saudi assassination squad.

The 59-year-old may even have recorded the moments he was allegedly tortured and killed on his Apple Watch, according to a Turkish newspaper.

Donald Trump has warned of severe punishment if Saudi Arabia is found to be behind Mr Khashoggi's death, though the US president stopped short of threatening to ban arms deals with the kingdom.

When he was asked whether the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, gave an order to kill Mr Khashoggi, Mr Trump said: Nobody knows yet, but well probably be able to find out.

Speaking in an interview with CBS News, Mr Trump added: We would be very upset and angry if that were the case.

Mr Khashoggi was reportedly banned from writing in newspapers, making TV appearances and attending conferences in Saudi Arabia after criticising Mr Trump when he was president-elect.

His disappearance has called attention to the large number of diplomatic vacancies under Mr Trump  particularly in Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

Nearly two years into the former reality TV stars presidency, Mr Trump has yet to nominate candidates for ambassadorial posts in 22 nations, including Egypt, Mexico, Pakistan, Australia, Ireland, South Africa, Singapore and Sweden.

At the same time, 46 ambassadorial nominees are still awaiting Senate confirmation,

A number of ambassador positions to international organisations also remain unfilled, as do 13 senior positions at the State Department headquarters, for which five have no nominee.

On Friday, Turkey freed an American pastor, Andrew Brunson, after repeated complaints and sanctions from Washington.

However, the management of diplomatic relations can deteriorate without the presence of a personal representative of the president.

Story continues

The difference between having an ambassador in country or only having a a charge daffaires running an embassy is a matter of degree but can be substantial, according to Ronald Neumann, the president of the American Academy of Diplomacy.

Mr Neumann said that non-ambassadors can have trouble getting access to senior officials and may not be viewed as the legitimate voice of the president or his administration.

An ambassador is the personal representative of the president. A charge is the representative of the State Department, he explained.

Some countries may also resent not having an ambassador posted to their capital.

Countries may get grouchy without an ambassador and that may affect relations, he said. Without an ambassador, there is a greater chance of misunderstanding and greater chance you arent able to persuade them to do something we want.

Saudi Arabias interior minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, has condemned what he called lies and baseless allegations against the kingdom in relation to the Khashoggi case.Jamal Khashoggi was one of Saudi Arabias most prominent journalists. He had been living in self-imposed exile in Virginia after leaving Saudi Arabia last year. Then, after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, he disappeared. Turkish officials said he was killed inside. After repeatedly denying it, the Saudi government acknowledged that Khashoggi died there. Saudi officials, who detained 18 people in the case, say he was killed after discussions turned physical, an account European officials and some U.S. lawmakers cast doubt on.

1. Why was Khashoggi so prominent?

Khashoggi, 59, was a leading critic of Saudi Arabias current leadership, sharing his views via platforms including opinion columns in the Washington Post that began a year ago and were translated into Arabic. His journalism career included stints in Afghanistan, where he met and followed the rise of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in the 1980s. He was deputy editor-in-chief of the Saudi newspaper Arab News at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S., which made him a valuable source for foreign journalists seeking to understand what drove some Muslims into such actions. In the 2000s, he was twice fired from his post as editor-in-chief of the Saudi Al-Watan daily newspaper, which under his leadership ran stories, editorials and cartoons critical of extremists and the way in which the country enforced its religious values. (Saudi newspapers are privately owned but government-guided, and the government approves and can fire top leadership).

2. Why was he so well-known outside Saudi Arabia?

In part because, in between his Al-Watan stints, he was an adviser to the Saudi ambassador to London, Prince Turki Al-Faisal, a former long-serving intelligence chief. Then, in 2005, when the prince was appointed the Saudi envoy to the U.S., Khashoggi joined him as a media aide. Most recently Khashoggi worked as a columnist and commentator before leaving the kingdom for exile in the U.S. in June 2017.

Story continues

3. Why did he go into exile?

He told friends and reporters that the space for freedom of speech under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was shrinking and he feared for his safety. In an appearance on Al Jazeera TVs Upfront that aired in March, he said hed left the kingdom because I dont want to be arrested. On the worsening environment for journalists since Prince Mohammed took over, he said, I got fired from my job twice because I was pushing for reform in Saudi Arabia. It wasnt that easy but people were not being put in jails. There was a breathing space.

4. What has he written?

Khashoggi didnt see himself as a dissident but as a critic worried about the direction his country was going under its 33-year-old crown prince. In his first Washington Post column on Sept. 18, 2017, he wrote about his decision to leave Saudi Arabia: I have left my home, my family and my job, and I am raising my voice. To do otherwise would betray those who languish in prison. I can speak when so many cannot. I want you to know that Saudi Arabia has not always been as it is now. We Saudis deserve better. In February, Khashoggi wrote that Prince Mohammed maybe should learn from the British royal house that has earned true stature, respect and success by trying a little humility himself. If MBS can listen to his critics and acknowledge that they, too, love their country, he can actually enhance his power. In one of his last columns, he urged Prince Mohammed to end the war he started on Yemen more than three and a half years ago: The longer this cruel war lasts in Yemen, the more permanent the damage will be. The people of Yemen will be busy fighting poverty, cholera and water scarcity and rebuilding their country. The crown prince must bring an end to the violence and restore the dignity of the birthplace of Islam.

5. Why would he enter a Saudi consulate in the first place?

To finalize paperwork for his wedding to Hatice Cengiz, a 36-year-old Turkish doctorate student. He had recently bought an apartment in Istanbul so the couple, once married, could divide their time between Turkey and the U.S.

6. What has the Saudi government said about Khashoggi?

Saudi authorities refrained from saying anything critical about Khashoggi after his disappearance. Prince Mohammed said in a Bloomberg interview in Riyadh Oct. 3 that Khashoggi is a Saudi citizen and we are very keen to know what happened to him. His brother, Prince Khalid bin Salman, whos the kingdoms ambassador to Washington, called Khashoggi a friend and praised him for dedicating a great portion of his life to serve his country.

7. Whats the Khashoggi familys relationship with Turkey?

In Turkey, theyre known as the Kasikci family. Their most famous member until now was Adnan Khashoggi, the billionaire arms dealer whose biography is called The Richest Man in the World, and who in the 1980s sold his yacht, the Nabila, to Donald Trump. Adnan Khashoggis father was Turkish, a doctor who married a Saudi woman and became court physician to King Abdulaziz, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia. That marked the familys rise to prominence in Saudi Arabia. However, theyve kept their ties to Turkey. Another member of the family, Hasan Khashoggi, made the news in Turkey in 2017 when he survived a terrorist attack on the Reina nightclub in Istanbul, in which a gunman massacred 39 people.Canada officially legalizes the possession and use of cannabis October 17. But when it comes to travel, to play on the words of a famous ad campaign, do leave home without it.

That's the big message from the Canadian government and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) which are reminding travelers that despite the new legalization of marijuana, it's not a-free-for-all.

Here's what you need to know:

For travelers entering Canada

Whether it's recreational or medical marijuana, taking products containing cannabis in any form into Canada will remain illegal.

The rule also applies even when traveling from countries where cannabis is also legal or decriminalized like the Netherlands, Uruguay and Spain.

Travelers who do enter Canada with marijuana must declare it to border officials or risk arrest and prosecution.

For travelers leaving Canada

When in doubt, leave it out. Because even if you carry medical documents authorizing the use of cannabis for medical purposes, or are traveling to a country where marijuana is legalized or decriminalized, you will be subject to arrest or prosecution.

According to the CBSA, the only accepted authority that can issue permits or grant exemptions for the import or export of cannabis is Health Canada.

The Canadian government also reminds travelers that cannabis is still illegal in most countries. Travelers who've demonstrated use or previous use of cannabis could be denied entry into their destination country.

Travelers and Canadians alike need also note that every province and territory in Canada has different laws regarding the purchase and consumption of cannabis. It is the user's responsibility to follow the laws that are in place in that jurisdiction.

A list of provinces and territories and cannabis use can be found on the Government of Canada website.

Travel to the US

Once again, travelers are warned not to attempt to cross the Canada-US border with any amount of cannabis -- even if they're traveling to a US state where possession is legal.

That's because, as the US Customs and Border Protection office points out, US federal law supersedes state laws.

Furthermore, Canadians are warned that if they're traveling to the US for reasons related to the marijuana industry, they may be denied entry.GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP)  The Latest on the Israel-Palestinian conflict (all times local):

2:15 p.m.

Palestinian mourners across the Gaza Strip have held funerals for seven protesters killed a day earlier.

Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Gaza's ruling Hamas group, attended a funeral Saturday, pledging to keep up the near-weekly protests along the security fence with Israel until a decade-long Israeli-Egyptian blockade is lifted.

Israeli troops killed six Palestinians as thousands thronged the border area in a Hamas-staged demonstration. A Palestinian succumbed to his wounds later, Gaza health officials said.

Four of the seven were killed in a single incident when they breached the Israeli side of the fence and approached an army post, the Israeli military said. Two other Palestinians were killed in other protest locations.

Israeli fire has killed 155 Palestinians during the protests since they began in March. An Israeli soldier was killed over the same period.

___

9:35 a.m.

Palestinians in the northern West Bank say a woman has been killed after being struck in the head by a stone thrown by Israeli settlers.

A relative says Aisha Rabi, 48, was traveling with her husband and two daughters to their home in Bidya early Saturday when their vehicle was pelted with stones.

Her cousin, Isam Rabi, says she was struck in the head and rushed to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. He says her husband saw a small group of settlers nearby.

Israeli police say they are investigating.

The area is near several ultranationalist Jewish settlements.

Last Sunday, a Palestinian assailant killed two Israelis in a nearby settlement. And on Thursday, a Palestinian man stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier, raising the possibility of a revenge attack.

___

8:20 a.m.

Palestinian health officials say Israeli forces have shot dead six Palestinians, four of them in a single incident, in one of the deadliest days in months of mass protests along the security fence separating Gaza and Israel.

Story continues

Gaza's Health Ministry said Friday that four were killed in one location, where the Israeli military said it opened fire on a crowed of Palestinians who breached the fence and approached an army post. No Israeli troops were harmed, the army added.

Two other Palestinians were killed in other protest locations, the ministry said, adding that at least 140 Palestinians were wounded by live bullets.

Since March, Hamas has orchestrated near-weekly protests along the fence.

The Israeli military said 14,000 Palestinians thronged the border fence areas Friday.Ottawa (AFP) - Canada is just days away from legalizing cannabis, but as apartment buildings, schools and other spaces move to ban pot smoking on their premises, some enthusiasts fear they won't have anywhere to exercise their newly acquired rights.

Across Canada smoking tobacco is prohibited in or near entrances to bars and restaurants, offices and even parks.

These rules are supported by decades of research linking smoking -- including second-hand -- with an increased risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease

Taking a cue from the anti-smoking campaigns of the 1980s and 90s, managers of private and public spaces are now rushing to crack down on cannabis before legalization comes into effect on Wednesday in order to prevent the same kinds of concerns arising from pot smoke.

But the move has provoked a backlash, notably from renters who face "being left out in the cold" with nowhere to consume what will be a legal product.

"When legalization hits, only people who own their homes will be able to consume it because rentals have moved to restrict smoking," pot advocate and renter Shawn MacAleese told AFP.

"The idea that you'll be able to be able to purchase a product but not use said product unless you own your own home or property is ridiculous," he said.

Canada will become only the second country in the world to legalize cannabis on October 17, following Uruguay, which led the way in December 2013.

According to the government statistics agency, about 13 percent of Canadians currently smoke tobacco.

By contrast, about 4.6 million Canadians or 16 percent of the population have used cannabis this year, and the number is not expected to rise significantly once the mind-altering drug is legalized, a recent Statistics Canada survey found.

A recent report by the Canadian Cancer Society noted 65 of the country's roughly 260 university and college campuses have banned pot smoking or vaping, praising them for "providing a healthier environment" for students.

Story continues

Others have resisted, including the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, whose spokesman Hubert Lai told local media the institution did not wish to "drive the behavior underground."

- Rentals on the rise -

Dorothy Church of Condo Management Group, the largest residential building manager in Ottawa (overseeing more than 300 buildings), said there has been a push by most condominium corporations to have restrictions in place by October 17.

"The majority of condo owners don't want marijuana in their buildings," she said, because of its pungent smell and health concerns.

About 4.5 million or nearly a third of Canada's 14 million households rent, with demand for rentals outstripping demand for buying for the first time in decades.

Air circulates between apartment or condo units, for the most part, by design -- to meet building and fire code rules. Smoke can also travel, for example, from a balcony into a neighbor's open window.

"We're in an age where people are becoming sensitive to chemical scents, cleaning supplies, and cigarettes. We'll hear from a (condo) owner complaining about a neighbor who is burning incense or uses (scent) plug-ins by her door," Church said.

"The smell of marijuana is much stronger."

Some apartment and condo residents are already planning to challenge these rules, but lawyers consulted by AFP say they are confident they will hold up.

Exceptions are made for medical marijuana users.

- 'Messy' legal framework -

After hearing from pot proponents, Calgary in June became the first city in Canada to designate public pot smoking spaces in parks and at festivals.

But the bylaw was rolled back after it was deemed unworkable due to a clause requiring neighborhood consultations in each instance. It also contravened a provincial ban on smoking in public.

Calgary city councilor Jyoti Gondek described the legislative framework around cannabis as "messy."

"We will have legalized cannabis, but as a society we are still villainizing it," the former sociologist said.

"We tend as municipalities to try to manage social disorder through planning principles," which can result in "bizarre" outcomes such as this, she said.

Gondek suggested easing anti-smoking rules to allow for cannabis lounges is the best solution, but feels there is no political will for such a move.

"It's just too complicated," she concluded.

MacAleese agrees on the need for "consumption spaces."

"If we can't consume cannabis in a lounge or bar-like setting, can't consume at home unless you own it, and can't consume in public, what exactly does the government expect us to do when we finally get our legal cannabis?" he said.Skopje (AFP) - Macedonia's parliament will vote Monday on whether to ratify a deal to change the country's name, in a bid to finally settle one of Europe's longest running disputes.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev faces an uphill battle to get the necessary votes to rename the Balkan state North Macedonia to end the row with Athens and open a path to EU and NATO membership.

He needs two-thirds of parliament's MPs to amend the constitution and seal the deal.

But the Social Democrat premier's coalition, backed by parties representing ethnic Albanians -- who make up around a quarter of the country's 2.1 million population -- doesn't have enough votes.

He will need to get the support of around a dozen deputies from the rightwing opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, which has campaigned vehemently against the change.

Ever since its small neighbour proclaimed independence in 1991, Greece has maintained that the word Macedonia can only apply to its own northern province.

Greece has long vetoed the Balkan country joining NATO and the European Union over the bitter row.

But a breakthrough came in June when Zaev and his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras agreed on the name North Macedonia.

Macedonia then held a referendum on September 30 in which more than 90 percent supported the name change -- but only a third of the electorate turned out, leading to opponents claiming the result was illegitimate.

The poor turnout has hurt Zaev's campaign to attract opposition MPs to the cause.

- 'Very uncertain' -

"There will be no two-thirds majority, do not hope for it," VMRO-DPMNE MP Trajko Veljanovski said last week.

Another of the party's MPs, Ilija Dimovski, was more cautious.

"We will see what will happen, but VMRO-DPMNE MPs, or most of them, will not support the deal."

The government has planned talks with four or five VMRO-DPMNE lawmakers -- which would still not be enough to ratify the deal.

"All this is very uncertain," a government official, who requested to remain anonymous, told AFP.

Story continues

Zaev has said that if parliament fails to pass the name he will immediately call early elections.

According to Florian Bieber, a professor of southeast European studies at the University of Graz in Austria, it is still "possible that pro-agreement parties and candidates might win a two-thirds majority and ratify the agreement.

"Only if this fails, will the agreement be dead or at least shelved," he told AFP.

But Boris Georgievski, expert in international relations and head of Deutsche Welle's Macedonian-language service, said that if Monday's vote falls short he does "not see how the agreement has a chance to survive".

And time is running out, as the agreement stipulates that everything must be completed by the end of the year -- though Greece has already said it is willing to be flexible over deadlines.

- 'No plan B' -

Failing to change its name could push Macedonia into isolation.

Tsipras said in July that if the deal is not ratified, Skopje will not be invited to join NATO and EU talks will not move forward.

This "chance will not be repeated", Zaev warned, and called on the opposition to look to "its responsibilities".

"There is no plan B to join NATO without a name agreement," the military alliance's chief Jens Stoltenberg repeated earlier this month.

"The only way to become a member of NATO is for the country to agree on the name issue with Greece."

Bieber said that while Macedonia had historically seen Athens as the "main stumbling block", failing to pass this deal "would certainly put the country and the government in a difficult position, as the responsibility would lie with it, and not with Greece".

The parliamentary session starts at 11:00 am (0900 GMT) on Monday. No deadline has been set for when it will end.Neil Armstrongs stoic nature and personal challenges are at the center of Damien Chazelles new film First Man, in which Ryan Gosling portrays the legendary moon walker. As Armstrong, Gosling brings out the astronauts quiet side  one that his contemporaries couldnt help but notice. A 1969 profile of the Apollo 11 crew in TIME calls Armstrong tight-lipped and phlegmatic as well as an inscrutable loner.

His wife Janet told LIFE at the time: Silence is a Neil Armstrong answer. The word no is an argument.

But beneath the quiet surface, Armstrong had a certain something that left him particularly qualified to make history.

As TIME noted in 1969, Armstrong, at first a civilian test pilot for NASA, did not initially have any intention of becoming an astronaut. But as other pilots were brought into the space program, he changed his mind. He was chosen to be an astronaut in 1962. And yet, in some ways, it was as if he had been preparing all his life:

Last spring, he spent two full days with his father and never once bothered to mention that the day after they parted he was going to be officially named as the first man to set foot on the moon. With his sandy hair, innocent blue eyes and boyish smile, he looks as though he has just stepped out of a Norman Rockwell painting. More than any other astronaut, Neil Armstrong epitomizes small-town America.

He was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio (pop. 7,500), the son of a career civil servant who is now assistant director of the states Department of Mental Hygiene and Correction. As a youth, Neil limited his social life mainly to school and church functions; when he went out with a girl it was usually on a double date to the ice-cream parlor. He played baritone horn in the school band. He studied hard, and while his teachers do not remember Armstrong as a particularly brilliant student, he impressed them all with the thorough, meticulous way he went about his work. Says Professor Paul E. Stanley, who taught Neil aerodynamics at Purdue: He was a Boy Scout [in fact, he made Eagle Scout at 17], and he literally lived up to the motto Be Prepared. 

Story continues

Armstrong first set eyes on an airplane at the age of two, and he made his first flight at six in an old Ford tri-motor. As a boy, he was forever assembling model airplanes, and while other youngsters were still scrambling for comic books, he went right for the aeronautical publications when the magazine shipments arrived on the stands. He worked part time in the drugstore (40 an hour) and as a grease monkey at the airfield to accumulate the money for flying lessons ($9 an hour), and earned his pilots license on his 16th birthday, the first day he was eligible. For a while, he had to bicycle the three miles between Wapakoneta and the field; Neil Armstrong was flying planes before he had a drivers license.

At about the same time, the future astronaut was taking his first close look at the moon through a homemade 8-in. reflector telescope fashioned from a stovepipe and mounted on roller-skate wheels atop a garage. The wondrous device belonged to Jacob Zint, a neighbor of the Armstrongs and a draftsman in the Westinghouse plant. I cant recall that Neil ever said he wanted to go to the moon, says Zint. But as early as 1946, Armstrong was regularly visiting the makeshift observatory and often, says Zint, he looked right into the Sea of Tranquillitythe prime site for next weeks landing.

The audience knows how Armstrongs NASA story ends, but Chazelle imbues First Man with enough tension to make one remember that space travel, even when successful, is a pretty stressful process.

Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter

Prior to joining Apollo 11, Armstrong had some near misses as a pilot and proved himself capable of dealing with them. As a civilian test pilot in 1962, he plummeted uncontrollably toward earth when the rocket engine in his X-15 failed to start, but it caught on just in time. As commander of Gemini 8 in 1966, he had to abort the scheduled three-day flight after ten hours when a short circuit threw the spacecrafts thrusters out of control. Last summer he had to eject from a lunar-landing research vehicle at an altitude of only 100 ft. when it spun out of control and crashed, TIME detailed.

The mission to the moon itself was also incredibly dangerous. TIMEs 1969 coverage of the moon landing noted the dangers of the flight:

At any point during the eight-day journey, a massive failure of the electrical or oxygen systems, or a collision with a large meteor would almost surely result in tragedy. But lift-off was the most nerve-racking part of the mission. If the ascent engine had failed to start, Eagle would have been stranded on the lunar surface. Too short a burn would have tossed the module into a trajectory that would send it smashing back onto the lunar surface.

Of course, as everyone now knows, the spacecraft was able to leave the moon and return to Earth without major issue. The moon landing was immediately hailed by TIME as a stunning scientific and intellectual accomplishment for a creature who, in the space of a few million years  an instant in evolutionary chronology  emerged from primeval forests to hurl himself at the stars.

It was an achievement that bowled over even the most reserved of people, including Armstrong, whose reputation for being quiet preceded him. As TIME put it, Even the taciturn Armstrong could not contain his excitement once he got there:

He began to bubble over with detailed descriptions and snap pictures with all the enthusiasm of the archetypal tourist  Even his geologic descriptions bordered on the rhapsodic It has a stark beauty all its own. Its like much of the high desert of the United States. Its different, but its very pretty out here.Businesses in Maine are facing a backlash after Susan Collins, the states Republican senator, decided to back the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Two of Maine's biggest industries, lobster fishing and tourism, are facing a consumer boycott following Ms Collins' key vote in the most hotly contested appointment to the Supreme Court since that of Clarence Thomas in 1991.

Maine faces backlash after Susan Collins backs Brett Kavanaugh - Bloomberg

The state's lobster industry is already reeling because of the punitive tariffs imposed by China as a result of the trade war launched by the Trump Administration.

The Senate confirmed Mr Kavanaugh by 50 votes to 48 with Lisa Murkowski, another Republican, voting against his appointment but Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, backing President Trumps nominee.

Ms Collins had been one of the waverers as Mr Kavanaugh faced a wave of sexual misconduct allegations, which he angrily denied.

His confirmation infuriated women's rights campaigners and the controversy has shown little sign of abating in the aftermath of the vote.

A crowdfunding campaign has already raised $3 million for any Democrat who runs against Ms Collins in 2020.

Brett Kavanaugh's appointment was confirmed by the Senate Credit: Andrew Hamik/AP

The boycott campaign took off when John Fugelsang, a comedian and actor, took to Twitter to voice his disgust to his 413,000 followers.

Dear Susan Collins  I really struggled with this but my tourist $ just voted against ever visiting Maine while you remain in office, he tweeted.

Video: The $3 Million Crowdfunding Effort to Unseat Sen. Collins

For more news videos visit Yahoo View.

Mr Fugelsang has since said he was only joking, but already people have been voting with their wallets.

They include John Tesar, the owner of six restaurants in Texas, who spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on Maine seafood every year.

He said he will look elsewhere in order to encourage Maines fishermen to vote her out of office.

Story continues

Mark Murrll's lobster business is facing a boycott because of Susan Collin's business Credit: Mark Murrell/Portland Press Herald

My intention was not to harm the Maine fishing industry, but to encourage people to take a stand for what they believe in, especially come election day, to remove people who supported Kavanaugh, and subscribe to his treatment of women, he said.

Moving forward, I will educate myself on the source of the seafood we use in my restaurants and understand who is providing it and who they support politically, to make better decisions.

Mark Murrell, who runs GetMaineLobster.com, is among the businesses which bore the brunt of those incensed by Ms Collins vote.

We had customers who have contacted us saying they are boycotting us because of her speech and vote, said Mr Murrell.

Basically they want businesses like ours to hustle and vote her out. But she is not up for re-election until 2020.

But we have also had people from the other side who, after they read the story, contacted me and said they were going to order more.

Mr Murrell said he had written to Senator Collins following her decision. I was not happy with the course she took.

The Telegraph approached Senator Collins office, which declined to comment.Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Paul VI, the man who cracked down on free love during the 1960s and carried out sweeping changes to the Church, became a saint Sunday, along with slain Salvador archbishop Oscar Romero.

Giovanni Battista Montini, a softly spoken cardinal from northern Italy, was elected pope in 1963 and held Saint Peter's chair for 15 years in a difficult period for the Roman Catholic Church, which saw many believers and priests up sticks as populist rebellions swept across the West.

His papacy was marked by a growing secularisation and liberation of morals, and while the polarisation of Cold War politics did little to ease his rule he was also hampered by a reputation for being weak and overly cautious.

But Paul VI is credited with being one of Pope Francis's models, a humble man in many ways, to whom the Argentine pope frequently refers in his speeches.

The intellectual Paul VI continued the Second Vatican Council launched by his predecessor Pope John XXIII in 1962, winding it up in 1965 and implementing its numerous reforms, including efforts to dialogue with other religions and a greater role for lay people.

He was a pope of great initiative. The first pilgrim pope -- crossing continents on his trips to meet the faithful, he was also the first to attempt to reform the Vatican's powerful Curia, the first to hold weekly general audiences with the common man in Saint Peter's Square and seek the opinions of non believers.

He is most famous, however, for reaffirming the Church's ban on artificial contraception -- despite the fact that his own birth control commission, set up to advise the Vatican, voted overwhelming to lift the prohibition.

The decision enraged many Catholics at a time when believers were embracing sexual freedom and women were demanding the right to use the birth control pill.

- Refusing the papal tiara -

Paul VI's path to sainthood began in 2013 when the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints approved his first miracle, the apparent healing of an unborn child in 2001 in the United States who had a high risk of brain damage.

Story continues

Doctors offered the mother an abortion, but she refused and instead prayed for Paul VI's intercession using a fragment of the pope's clothing given to her by a nun. Her child is now thirteen and appears to be healthy.

Having made saints of John Paul II and John XXIII in a lavish do in 2014, Francis will canonise Montini in a ceremony aimed at honouring a man who, like the 81-year-old current pope, shunned pomp and the spoils of power.

Just as Francis refused to wear the traditional gold cross, Paul VI set aside the jewel-encrusted papal tiara shortly after his election in 1963, laying it on the altar of Saint Peter's Basilica and donating its value to the poor.

The ceremony coincides with a meeting of the world's bishops, for it was Paul VI who introduced the tradition of holding such synods.

The current meeting is being held as the Church struggles to emerge from a series of abuse scandals.

Francis was in his late 20s when Paul VI was elected and while it is yet to be seen whether he will stand firmer than the Italian pope, the pair share a sense of humility and openness towards people of all backgrounds.

Some of Francis's actions have also echoed those of Paul VI before him, from the latter's historic 1964 encounter in Jerusalem with the Patriarch of Constantinople to his 1965 speech to the United Nations in which he cried out an appeal for "no more war, never again!"Jack Brooksbank marries Princess Eugenie - PA

Jack Brooksbank, who married Princess Eugenie today in the year's second Royal wedding, was working as a waiter in a cocktail bar when he first met her. But it was no rags to riches story for the newest member of the Royal family.

Educated at Stowe School in Buckingham, where boarding fees are currently almost 12,000 per term, Brooksbank, 31, is a descendant of the Brooksbank baronets and reportedly a distant cousin of Eugenies. (Her mother, the Duchess of York, is the great-great-granddaughter of Lady Julia Coke, who is the daughter of Jack's great-great-grandfather, Thomas Coke.)

Son of George Brooksbank, 68, a chartered accountant and company director, and his wife Nicola, 64, Jack has a younger brother called Thomas, 29 - who took on the role of Best Man for the wedding. Since 2001, the family address has been an apartment in a gated period conversion in Wandsworth, not far from Battersea Park.

Brooksbank was introduced to Eugenie, the younger daughter of Prince Andrew, during a ski holiday in Verbier, Switzerland and the couple have been together for more than six years.

Jack Brooksbank and his brother Thomas arriving at St George's Chapel today Credit: Toby Melville/Reuters

Back then, Eugenie was studying English literature, history of art and politics at Newcastle University and Brooksbank is said to have been waiting tables and serving drinks at Devonshire Terrace, a bar and restaurant near Liverpool Street in London.

Having left school in the mid-noughties, he had given university a miss, choosing instead to launch himself straight into a career in hospitality.

He went on to work at Chelseas Admiral Codrington pub, from where he was poached by businessman and nightclub owner Piers Adam and employed by the Markham Inn nearby.

At the Markham Inn, I had to deal with lots of strange people, and everyone was demanding, he once said of his experience there. I also got to know the locals, which I loved.

These included Prince Harry and his close friend Guy Pelly who, according to Tatler, pulled him into the Mahiki set.

Story continues

He went on to manage the Mayfair nightclub, a favourite among royalty and celebrities, and also owned by Adam.

Then, in August 2016, he set up his own company, Jack Brooksbank Limited, a wine wholesaler.

He is described by those who know him as kind and selfless and a perfect match for Eugenie.

Jacobi Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe, a friend of the couple, tells the Telegraph: Never have I known a couple with so much lust for life, who light up every room they enter with joy, laughter and unprecedented warmth. Im sure youll hear this a lot but Jack possesses one of the most infectious laughs youll hear, and you will hear it!!

Mr Brooksbank and Princess Eugenie during their wedding ceremony Credit: Jonathan Brady/AFP

It has been a pleasure watching their relationship grow over the years, two people who enjoy each others company so much. They are two of the kindest, [most] selfless and sensitive people I know. In that they have met their match.

But Brooksbank hasnt entirely avoided scandal.

In 2013, a tabloid newspaper reported that explicit photographs of him touching the naked breasts of a stripper while blindfolded and covered in candle wax during his 21st birthday celebrations had been leaked online. The pictures were quickly removed from the internet after they had been discovered.

Sign up for Your Royal Appointment  an exclusive insight into everything you need to know about the Royal Family, delivered straight to your inbox each week.Getty

Voter enthusiasm is soaring ahead of the midterm elections  especially among young people, minorities and Democrats, a new poll suggests.

Turnout during midterms is typically considerably less than during a presidential election year. In 2014, just 37 per cent of people voted  the lowest percentage since World War II  while 61 per cent cast ballots in 2016.

But amid an increasingly tense political environment, and with issues such as the confirmation of Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh stoking passions, 2018 is shaping up to see a large number of people come out to vote, even though Donald Trumps name is not on the ballot.

A poll for Washington Post-ABC News found voter enthusiasm was up among all groups, but that the increase from 2014 was greatest among the young, people of colour and Democrats.

Four years ago, midterm voter turnout fell to its lowest level in more than half a century. Republicans were able to capitalise by expanding their house majority and taking control of the senate, the Post reported.

Today, with that Republican house majority at risk and some close Senate races that will determine who has control of that chamber in January, a 77 per cent majority of registered voters say they are certain to vote next month or have already voted, up from a 65 per cent majority in polls in October 2014.

Voter enthusiasm does not always translate to voter participation. As pointed out, 2014 saw barely a third of people vote, even though polls found two-thirds saying they intended to.

But a number of issues, among them the low approval rating of Mr Trump, are persuading people they need to ensure they cast their ballot in 2018.

The poll found that certainty to vote had increased by 32 points among women younger than 40, compared with 2014. Among men and women ages 18 to 29, it had risen 17 points.

Among non-white registered voters, 72 per cent were now certain to vote, up from 48 per cent in 2014 the newspaper said. White men without college degrees represented the one heavily Republican group whose certainty to vote was lower than average and had increased less than other groups.

Story continues

Among voters who intended to opt for Democratic candidates for the house, 81 per cent said they were certain to vote, up from 60 per cent in 2014. Among Republican supporters, the figure was 76 per cent, compared to 73 per cent in 2014.

Most analysts believe the Democrats will flip the 23 seats they need to take control of the house, the lower chamber of congress where most legislation starts life and where any effort to impeach Mr Trump would begin. The partys chances of taking control of the senate as well, are considerably slimmer.

Yet while Democrats will be pleased by this most recent poll, nothing is certain. Indeed, another poll, published earlier this month, found that Republicans had almost closed the enthusiasm gap with Democrats. The NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll suggested Democrats now led Republicans by just 82-80 among those intending to vote, the gap having closed ten points since the summer.

Analysts said while many Democrats were fired up to vote and see the election as a referendum on Mr Trump, whose approval rating stands at 43 according to the Post poll, the president and Republican leaders have been able to use other issues to stir up their base.

The deliberate decision to paint Mr Kavanaugh as a victim of Democratic senators, and Mr Trumps mocking of Christine Blasey Ford  one of the women to have levelled accusations of sexual assault at Mr Kavanaugh, allegations he denied  appeared to have struck a chord.

Mr Trump knows that among sections of his supporters, especially Christian evangelicals and social conservatives, there was no greater policy priority that appointing a conservative justice, especially one who appeared open to rolling back landmark rulings such as Roe v Wade, which have guaranteed women access to legal abortion.

On the day the senate voted to move forward with a ballot to confirm Mr Kavanaugh, Mary Katharine Ham, a writer a The Federalist, a conservative news magazine, appeared on CNN. I think we are under-under-estimating the extent to which Republicans are energised by this, she said. You are starting to see it in things like the increase in donations to the [National Republican Congressional Committee.]

Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, said: The result of hearings, at least in the short run, is the Republican base was awakened.Istanbul (AFP) - Twenty-two people, including children, died on Sunday when a vehicle carrying migrants reportedly heading for EU member Greece plunged off the highway into a waterway in western Turkey.

The vehicle was travelling on a highway near Izmir airport when it flipped over and fell into the channel several metres below, state-run Anadolu news agency said.

The nationality of the migrants was not immediately clear, but 22 people died in the crash and another 13 others were hurt, the agency said, hiking an earlier toll of 19 dead.

Turkish television pictures showed the wreckage of the vehicle upside-down in the river channel, reduced to burned-out metal by the impact of the crash with corpses strewn alongside it.

Rescue workers later used a crane to lift it on to the road, with images showing the vehicle's back end was simply an open container into which the migrants had been crammed.

- Driver survives -

The DHA news agency said the driver, a 35-year-old Turkish national, had survived, telling police he had swerved to avoid an oncoming white vehicle.

The man had a standard 'B' license to drive a car did not have the required papers to drive a vehicle of that size, it said.

The truck had been hired for four days.

Among the dead were two babies, two children and a pregnant woman, it said.

The driver was expected to be arrested after leaving hospital, Anadolu reported, saying regional prosecutors had opened an investigation.

DHA said the vehicle was headed for the coast of the Izmir region, from where the migrants were to have tried to reach Greece's Samos island. In the truck with them were several inflatable dinghies.

Samos is just a few kilometres north of Turkey's Dilek peninsula that juts out from the Izmir region.

- Key transit point -

Turkey is a key transit point for migrants from troubled countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa seeking a new life in Europe.

A million migrants crossed from Turkey into Greece in 2015, mostly by boats, in a crisis which forced a deal between Ankara and the EU to stem the flow of people.

Story continues

Numbers have fallen since but people are still undertaking what is a highly perilous journey and the flow has ticked up this year from 2017.

According to UN figures, more than 24,500 migrants have arrived in Greece by sea so far this year, with 118 people losing their lives via this route.

Last week, eight migrants were found drowned off the Karaburun district, also in Izmir province, after their boat capsized.

Twenty-six others are still officially listed as missing after that accident, according to Anadolu.

The trips of migrants towards Greece are often organised by smugglers who demand hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars per person to sort out the logistics.

After the disaster off Karaburun, four suspected smugglers were arrested following evidence given by an Iraqi who survived, Anadolu said. They had demanded a fee of $1,500 from each migrant.

The Hurriyet daily said investigators were now looking into whether the same smuggling network behind the Karaburun disaster was also linked to the migrants caught up in the truck accident.

Eleven people also died on in northern Greece on Saturday when a car thought to be carrying migrants crashed head-on with a truck and burst into flames.Up to 60% of Americans of European descent could be identified using only a DNA sample, some basic personal information and consumer genetic databaseseven if theyve never done a genetic test themselves, according to a new study published in Science.

Some 7 million Americans have taken a direct-to-consumer DNA test, many of which promise insights about ancestry, wellness and likelihood of developing certain chronic diseases in exchange for a sample of spit. The proliferation of these tests has also given rise to crowdsourced online databases that allow people to anonymously upload their results for further analysis and ancestry research.

One of these sites, GEDmatch, proved instrumental in arresting the suspected Golden State Killer in April, sparking questions about genetic privacy. Those questions bubbled back up in July, when consumer testing giant 23andMe announced that it had sold a stake of its business to pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, so that GSK could use anonymized data in drug development.

In the new Science study, researchers wanted to see just how anonymous genetic data really is. Not very, they found: If investigators were presented with a random DNA sample from an American of European ancestry, they could in roughly 60% of cases use consumer genetic databases to find a third cousin or closer blood relative match. (Since fewer Americans of other heritages have participated in consumer genetic testing, it would be harder to identify these individuals.) Zeroing in on that relative match makes it significantly easier to identify an individual  and with some basic personal information, the search gets even simpler, the study says.

Narrowing the list of individuals to those within a 100-mile radius would exclude 57% of the possibilities, the study says. Estimating the targets age, plus or minus five years, would cross off 91% of the remaining pool. And inferring the persons biological sex would leave only 16 or 17 individuals, the authors estimate  a short enough list, theoretically, to investigate them individually.

Story continues

This is the first time weve had some sort of thoughtful quantification for how easy it is to track any individual, whether they participated in these databases or not, through the people who have participated in these databases, says Dr. Robert Green, a medical geneticist at Brigham and Womens Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School, who was not involved in the research. I think thats something everybody should understand be aware of.

The prospect of being tracked may seem scary. After all, genetic databases are feasibly open to abuse, Green says. Sperm donors or biological relatives who wished to remain anonymous could be identified, for example, or an individuals medical privacy could be violated by exposing his predispositions to certain diseases. But Green says these risks need to be weighed against the significant benefits of genetic tracking.

All of the crimes that are currently unsolved, which have DNA evidence, theres now a pathway to trying to locate these perpetrators, Green says, pointing to the backlog of unanalyzed rape kits currently sitting in storage across the country. I would like to see it interpreted through this prism. We could do a huge amount of social good that way.

Another new study, published Thursday in the journal Cell, adds to the debate. This paper looked at the possibility of identifying a persons relatives by comparing national forensic databases, which include DNA samples from criminal offenders, with consumer genetic databases. The two typically rely on different genetic markers to identify an individual  but even still, the Cell paper found that around 30% of people in the forensic database could be linked to a parent or child in a consumer database, and about 35% could be linked to a sibling.

That possibility could make it even easier for law enforcement officials to track down suspects, but it also underscores how identifiable people are by their genetic information. Plus, the new study suggests that the DNA samples in the national forensic database are more revealing than they are often described.

Its important that consumers understand these scenarios before they spit in a tube, but Green emphasizes that the issues they raise arent so different from many realities of modern life.

It is a legitimate concern for people who are privacy-minded, Green says. But I really think this needs to be put in the context of all the other tradeoffs we make in our daily life, like putting our credit card online for a purchase, or being on Facebook or other social media, where information we provide can be scraped and diced and analyzed. At the present time, I think the potential benefit, in terms of criminals who could be captured, far outweighs the vulnerability, in terms of privacy intrusions.

Even one of the most common issues raised in the genetic privacy debate  that family members who didnt choose to take a DNA test are pulled into the fray  has a social media parallel, Green says.

The person who posts a lot of Facebook pictures generally posts them with other people, he says. As soon as facial recognition software gets better and better, any photograph is going to tell people whos in that photo.

Of course, there are plenty of people who are equally uncomfortable with these privacy issues, particularly following Facebooks Cambridge Analytica scandal this year. But modern society has largely accepted these risks in continuing to weave social media, the Internet and now consumer genetics tests into everyday life.

According to the Science study, it would be possible to identify nearly anyone in a certain group using a genetic database that includes information about 2% of that population. For Americans of European descent, thats around 3 million people. And since DNA test kits are only getting more popular, the study says, that number is foreseeable for some 3rd party websites in the near future.Managua (AFP) - Some 20 protesters were arrested Sunday when Nicaraguan police swooped in to break up a meeting of demonstrators gathering for a march against the government of President Daniel Ortega.

Police wielded clubs and hurled stun grenades to break up the demonstrators gathering at a shopping mall parking lot, beating men, women and even some elderly people.

Those arrested were dragged down the street to be later loaded onto police patrol vehicles.

Some reporters were also beaten and briefly detained, local independent reporters said.

"They respect no one, not even older people or children," said Azhalea Solis, head of the Civic Alliance, an umbrella group that represents business people, students and social groups.

And there was outrage from the Organization of American States and the president of neighboring Costa Rica.

"We demand the government of #Nicaragua release the protesters who have been detained, that it respect the right to peaceful protest nationwide, and stop repression and all intimidation of political leaders and civilians," OAS chief Luis Almagro wrote on Twitter.

"Deeply concerned by this morning's arrests in Nicaragua. The repression the Nicaraguan people are being put through must stop," Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado tweeted.

Police had earlier announced that they would not allow any unauthorized demonstrations.

Hundreds of anti-riot police officers were deployed early in the day to key points of the capital Managua as well as to the highway to the restive city of Masaya.

Government supporters took over city roundabouts where protesters had planned to gather.

Anti-government demonstrations began on April 18, initially protesting changes in the social security system.

Since then the demonstrations have grown in size and the protestors are calling for the resignation of Ortega and his wife and vice president Rosario Murillo.Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis has defrocked two Chilean former bishops for allegedly sexually abusing minors, the Vatican said on Saturday, after a meeting between the pontiff and Chile's president.

The decision to expel former archbishop Francisco Jose Cox Huneeus and former bishop Marco Antonio Ordenes Fernandez -- the latest heads to roll in a country hit hard by the cleric abuse scandal -- is not open to appeal.

Both were stripped of their priesthood "as a consequence of overt acts of abuse against minors", it said.

The announcement came a day after the pope accepted the resignation of Washington DC archbishop Donald Wuerl, who has been blamed for not doing enough to deal with paedophile priests.

Saturday's defrocking was "an extremely unusual, if not unprecedented" move, wrote Ines San Martin, a Vatican expert working for specialist Catholic website Crux.

Defrocking is considered the Church's harshest penalty for priests, barring the offender from exercising any clerical duties at all, even in private.

Scores of new cases involving the abuse of minors by priests have come to light in Chile, deepening a crisis in the Roman Catholic Church that has also embroiled Pope Francis.

On Saturday, Francis met with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera at the Vatican for talks on the "difficult situation" in Chile.

They discussed "the painful scourge of abuse of minors, reiterating the effort of all in collaboration to combat and prevent the perpetration of such crimes and their concealment", the Vatican said.

The leaders "shared the hope that the church could live a true rebirth," Pinera said in a statement.

A total of 167 bishops, priests and lay members of the church in Chile are now under investigation for sexual crimes committed since 1960.

- Years of allegations -

Fernandez became a bishop in 2006, at the age of 42, but resigned just six years later, allegedly for health reasons.

Story continues

It later transpired he had been accused of sexual abuse, sparking both a church and a civil investigation.

"The civil investigation is still ongoing because he's never responded to a court subpoena to give testimony," Vatican expert San Martin said.

Last seen in public in 2013, Fernandez has reportedly been living a life of penitence and prayer in Peru, she wrote.

The allegations of abuse against Cox date back to the 1970s.

The Vatican said he would remain part of the Schoenstatt Fathers institute in Germany.

Now 85 and reportedly in poor health, the prelate has lived at the institute since 2002, San Martin said.

In a statement, the Schoenstatt Fathers reaffirmed its "willingness to collaborate" with anything that the judicial authorities required.

It pledged to "ask for a medical evaluation to determine whether it is possible for Francisco Jose Cox to return to Chile".

Legal proceedings were initiated in Germany against Cox over the alleged abuse of a child in care in 2004, Deutsche Welle radio reported.

- Good day for survivors -

Francis has already apologised repeatedly to Chileans over the scandal, admitting the church failed "to listen and react" to the allegations, but has vowed to "restore justice".

In May, the Argentine pontiff accepted the resignation of five Chilean bishops following allegations of abuse and related coverups.

Francis himself became mired in the scandal when, during a trip to Chile in January, he defended 61-year-old bishop Juan Barros, who was accused of covering up abuse by paedophile priest Fernando Karadima in the 1980s and 1990s.

Karadima was suspended for life by the Vatican over allegations of child molestation.

Francis eventually accepted he was wrong to defend Barros and subsequently accepted his resignation.

On Saturday Juan Carlos Cruz, one of Karadima's victims, tweeted that it was "a good day for the survivors of these monsters".

"Now it's up to the Chilean justice to do something!"By Axel Bugge LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's prime minister announced a reshuffle of his cabinet on Sunday, following the resignation of the defense minister and completion of the draft of next year's budget, making changes at four ministries ahead of a general election in 2019. Cabinet Minister Pedro Siza Vieira, a lawyer who joined the government a year ago, will serve as the new economy minister, replacing Manuel Caldeira Cabral. Joao Gomes Cravinho, the European Union's ambassador to Brazil, will take over from outgoing Defence Minister Jose Azeredo Lopes, who resigned on Friday amid an investigation into a suspected cover-up of an arms theft from a military depot. This is the biggest cabinet reshuffle since Prime Minister Antonio Costa's minority Socialist government came to power in 2015 and aims to bolster the administration going into next year's election. The Socialists lead in opinion polls with about 40 percent support. Costa said in a statement the reshuffle "reinforces economic policy at the center of government and prioritizes the transition of energy (use) to mitigate climatic change." Siza Vieira joined the government a year ago from the law firm Linklaters and will continue as cabinet minister as well as economy minister. The powerful economy ministry has recently gained further importance thanks to surging foreign investment and strong economic growth. The reshuffle comes after the government approved this weekend the 2019 draft budget which will be presented to parliament on Monday. The Socialist government has overseen a strong economic recovery since Portugal's 2011-14 debt crisis with policies to ease austerity measures, boost foreign investment and spur a fledgling technology sector. The reshuffle also includes the transfer of responsibility for the energy sector to the environment ministry from the economy ministry, indicating a stronger emphasis on clean energy. Portugal produces a large part of its energy from hydro-electric power and is boosting other alternative energy sources such as solar and wind. The other changes include the appointment of Graca Maria da Fonseca as the new minister of culture after working as secretary of state for administrative modernization. Marta Temido, who previously headed the central administration of the public health system, will take over as health minister. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who has to approve the nominations, said in a statement the new ministers would be sworn in on Monday. (Reporting by Axel Bugge; Editing by Mark Potter and Raissa Kasolowsky)Beirut (AFP) - Rebels have fired mortar shells from a planned buffer zone in northwest Syria, a monitor said Sunday, days after they were meant to have withdrawn such weapons from the area.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said rebels in the zone fired several "mortar shells at an army position in nearby Hama province, killing two soldiers" late Saturday.

Also on Saturday, rebels shelled Aleppo province from other parts of the demilitarised area, with no casualties recorded, the Britain-based monitor said.

"This is the first clear violation of the deal since the heavy weapons were withdrawn. This area is supposed to be clear of heavy weapons, including mortar shells," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

Under a deal reached by opposition backer Turkey and regime ally Russia last month, rebels and jihadists alike were meant to have pulled out all heavy arms from the horseshoe-shaped zone by October 10.

The deadline had reportedly been met, with Ankara, rebel factions, and the Observatory all reporting that the area was free of heavy-duty weaponry.

Syrian pro-government newspaper Al-Watan also reported on the apparent violation.

On Sunday morning it said that western parts of Aleppo province were being hit with "rocket fire and shelling with heavy weapons, which were supposed to be pulled out from the area".

And an AFP correspondent in western Aleppo reported mortar fire in the area after several days of quiet.Mexico Beach (United States) (AFP) - Carefully, the search and rescue team examines what is left of a house devastated by Hurricane Michael when it blasted through this small waterfront community days earlier.

Wearing a hard hat and with a hammer in hand, chief Dobson, one of several hundred people searching for survivors in the ruins of Mexico Beach, gingerly climbs the rickety stairs to Number 2603.

"Fire rescue, anybody home?" Dobson calls out, before his men follow him up the stairs.

"Second floor clear," a team member shouts from the landing. "Search clear, we do the third floor."

Two beds are all that's left of a top floor room whose roof and exterior walls were torn away by the Category 4 storm, which made landfall Wednesday at Mexico Beach packing 155 mile an hour (250 kilometer an hour) winds.

To wrap up the inspection, Dobson's five member team bring in a black labrador retriever, which makes a final sweep of the rubble around the house.

His team has come here from Miami, deployed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The first contingent arrived on Wednesday, and have worked without let up since then.

"We stay 10 to 15 minutes in each house. It depends on the size of the structure and how much damage there is," Dobson says.

Scott Deane, the head of FEMA's urban search and rescue unit in Florida, says they will stay as long as they are needed.

"We want to make sure that we identify any individual that potentially stayed in their place, try to make contact, (and) if they are injured get them proper medical attention," he said.

- 'All you see is devastation' -

Of the 1,000 or so residents of Mexico Beach, about 200 ignored evacuation orders.

About 20 residents have been rescued and a family of four was evacuated, as have pets left behind by their owners.

Once the area has been completed cleared, the search and rescue teams will move to other areas "to make sure the whole county is searched properly."

Story continues

Mexico Beach police chief, Anthony Kelly, said it was tough to get people to leave their homes as the hurricane approached.

"We were here 60 miles before the storm hit and there was still people in town that would not leave. We went door to door, every single house.

"There were too many people, including with children that did not want to leave. We came back around, made a second attempt, some still chose to stay," he said.

For now, only one death has been confirmed in Mexico Beach -- the death toll overall stands at 17 -- but Kelly said it was "possible" another body might be found.

"Here today the weather is just as beautiful as it can be, but you look around, all you see is devastation, its god awful," he says.

"Hopefully we will not (find more dead) but realistically it's a possibility," he said.

There is still no water, electricity or telephone service in Mexico Beach, adding to the hardship.

"Right now what we need is the possibility for the people to use the restrooms and something that they can shower off. Some of the people have not taken a shower for four or five days.

"It's just bad, it's a bad situation," he said.A descendent of Confederate General Robert E. Lee said that President Donald Trumps comments about his ancestor were far from the truth in a video Saturday.

Rev. Robert Lee IV, who is the great-great-great-great-nephew of General Lee, tweeted out the message after Trump held a rally in Ohio Friday where, in complimenting the state as the birthplace to General Ulysses S. Grant, he said the Confederate general was a true great fighter and a great general.

Lees video came in response to NBC news and other media outlets sharing a video of Trumps quote, which the President called out for being irresponsibly reported.

Robert E. Lee fought for the continued enslavement of black bodies, Lee said in his Twitter video. It was for states rights yes, but for states rights to own slaves.

My response to @realDonaldTrump and his comments last night about my collateral ancestor, Robert E. Lee. pic.twitter.com/ISw6nMspZ1  Rev. Rob Lee (@roblee4) October 13, 2018

He is showing us he supports an idol of white supremacy and of hatred, Lee said of Trump.

The video gained popularity over the weekend and had accumulated over 7,000 retweets and almost 20,000 likes at the time of this writing.

Lee had previously criticized his ancestor when he spoke at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards following the violent clashes in Charlottesville, calling him an idol of white supremacy, racism and hate.

President Trump said in a tweet Sunday that his comments Friday had been intentionally misinterpreted, and that his words were actually a shoutout to warrior Grant.

NBC News has totally and purposely changed the point and meaning of my story about General Robert E Lee and General Ulysses Grant. Was actually a shoutout to warrior Grant and the great state in which he was born. As usual, dishonest reporting. Even mainstream media embarrassed!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2018

President Trump has previously opposed the removal of public statues honoring Confederate figures including General Lee.

Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments. You.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2017Vatican City (AFP) - Slain Salvadoran archbishop Oscar Romero and pope Paul VI, Catholic giants who sparked controversy during their lifetimes, joined the church's highest rank Sunday with an elevation to sainthood.

Pope Francis wore a blood-stained rope belt which belonged to Romero, who was murdered at the altar, as he led the ceremony in front of tens of thousands of pilgrims from across the world.

The pontiff also used a chalice and pastoral staff belonging to Paul VI, in a canonisation being seen as a reminder of Francis's call for "a poor church for the poor".

Both men have been hailed by Francis for their courage in turbulent times and their dedication to social justice and the downtrodden.

The men's giant portraits hung on Saint Peter's Basilica along with those of five other new saints, including an orphaned youth and a German nun.

"Paul VI spent his life for Christ's Gospel, crossing new boundaries and becoming its witness in proclamation and in dialogue, a prophet of a Church turned outwards, looking to those far away and taking care of the poor," Francis said.

"It is wonderful that together with him and the other new saints today, there is Archbishop Romero, who left the security of the world, even his own safety, in order to give his life according to the Gospel, close to the poor and to his people," he added.

Romero stood up for peasant rights in the face of a right-wing backlash which painted him as a radical supporter of "liberation" theology in his small, impoverished central American nation.

On March 24, 1980, the man dubbed the "voice of those without voice" was shot in the heart, killed by a single bullet as he prepared communion. His killing came at the start of a bloody civil war which claimed some 75,000 lives.

Relics of each new saint were carried to the altar -- part of a bone for Romero and the shirt Paul VI was wearing when he was stabbed in an assassination attempt at Manila airport in 1970.

Story continues

- 'Gave his life' -

Overnight, hundreds of pilgrims from across Central America celebrated the impending canonization in El Salvador's capital.

The visitors, many in clothes printed with Romero's face, gathered in front of his tomb, in the crypt of San Salvador's central cathedral, and at the Hospital of Divine Providence chapel, where he was assassinated.

"We are arriving here to honour the memory of Monsignor Romero, who took his faith to the point of giving his life for what he believed was right," said Francisco Navarro, a 51-year-old Honduran, at the chapel along with some 30 of his compatriots.

"Since before he was killed, he defeated his killers by forgiving them. Because he knew they were going to kill him," added university professor Julia Lainez.

For a long time, efforts to recognise Romero met with heavy opposition from conservative Catholics and the Salvadoran right, who saw veiled Marxism in his sermons.

But Francis -- the first Latin American pope -- beatified Romero as a "martyr" in 2015, to popular acclaim.

Paul VI -- who encouraged Romero in his struggle -- was the first head of the Roman Catholic Church to attempt to reform the Vatican's powerful and unruly Curia, the church's governing body. It was a challenge Francis also took on.

He was also famously the first to reject the papal trappings of luxury, setting aside the traditional tiara -- a jewel-encrusted, three-tiered, conical crown -- shortly after his election in 1963 and donating its value to the poor.

It was a gesture echoed by Francis, who renounced the papal apartment and gold cross.

- 'Brave Christian' -

The softly-spoken Giovanni Battista Montini was elected pope in 1963 in a difficult period for the church, which lost many believers as populist rebellions swept across the West.

He completed the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and was the first pilgrim pope, crossing continents on his trips to meet the faithful.

At his beatification mass, Francis had hailed him as a "brave Christian".

But he was also hampered by a reputation for being weak and overly cautious.

He is most famous for reaffirming the church's ban on contraception -- despite the fact that his own advisory commission voted overwhelmingly to lift the prohibition.Archbishop Oscar Romero, an advocate for the poor, was one of 75,000 killed by the countrys US-backed military

People carry a portrait of the Oscar Romero during a demonstration to ask to reopen the case of his murder. Romero will be declared saint by the Catholic church on 14 October. Photograph: Jose Cabezas/Reuters

When Guadalupe Mejia began searching for her husband  a community leader who had been forcibly disappeared by Salvadoran armed forces in 1977  it was Oscar Romero who encouraged her to speak out despite the danger.

Unite and thats how youll be able to find your loved ones, Mejia, 75, remembers the archbishop of San Salvador telling her and other bereaved women. He supported us and was always beside us in everything we did.

Romero earned powerful enemies for speaking out against military death squads and advocating for the rights of the poor  and on 24 March 1980 he was shot dead while celebrating mass, marking the beginning of the countrys 12-year civil war.

On Sunday Romero officially became a saint.

But as Salvadorans celebrate his canonization, pride and joy are tempered with anger and pain: 75,000 people were killed during the civil war, the majority at the hands of the US-backed Salvadoran military.

An amnesty law rushed through after the end of the conflict guaranteed impunity for war crimes, and was only overturned in 2016. Prosecutions have moved slowly and there have been no convictions in a Salvadoran court.

We still havent seen justice in any way, said Maria Irma Orellana, 64, whose sisters and two brothers were killed during the civil war. We still feel this lack of justice in so many cases.

Romeros assassination is no different: nobody has ever been convicted of plotting or carrying out the murder  or the massacre that took place when troops fired into the crowd at his funeral, killing dozens of mourners.

A UN truth commission concluded that Roberto dAubuisson  an army officer and founder of the rightwing Arena party  was responsible for ordering the killing. DAubuisson, who died of cancer in 1992, was never tried in court.

Today, Romeros bespectacled face is ubiquitous, gazing from postage stamps and posters across San Salvador.

Story continues

But in life, he was a deeply divisive figure, reviled by rich Salvadorans as a guerrilla in a cassock  and after his death, Romeros canonisation was bitterly resisted by conservative politicians and clerics, not least because of his association with the leftwing liberation theology movement.

Most rightwing politicians now make public displays of support for Romeros canonization.

Arena presidential candidate Carlos Calleja has promised to support a true search for truth in the case. But the party still denies its founder was involved and in August celebrated what would have been dAubuissons 75th birthday.

The supreme court declared the amnesty law unconstitutional in 2016, and the following year, the Maria Julia Hernandez Human Rights Association successfully pushed for the case of Romeros murder to be reopened.

Searching for justice in the case of Archbishop Romero also means dignifying all of the victims that he defended, said Ovidio Mauricio Garcia, the director of the association. His case is the most emblematic because behind his case, there are even more victims and people who were assassinated, disappeared and tortured.

Although the civil war ended in 1992, peace never came to El Salvador. US immigration policies helped street gangs originally formed in California take root in the country. Today, gang warfare, judicial impunity and political corruption have helped make it one of the most violent places on earth.

Mejia still awaits justice in the case of her husbands disappearance  as does Orellana in the case of her siblings murders.

He died, but he left his legacy for us, Mejia said. So that we can keep fighting and one day win what we seek  peace, justice and liberty.

Sofia Hernandez, who traveled to Rome to celebrate Romeros canonization, said that nobody had ever been charged  let alone prosecuted  over the disappearances of her daughter, two siblings and four nephews.

There are many of us victims and we want peace, justice and reparations, she said over the phone from Rome. We are going to continue fighting for our demands, so that the petitions of the victims are accepted. Thats what Romero taught us.CAIRO (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia denied allegations regarding the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Interior Minister said late on Friday. He said that allegations about orders to murder Khashoggi were "lies" targeting the government, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 to get documents for his forthcoming marriage. Saudi officials have said that he left shortly afterwards but Turkish officials and his fiancee, who was waiting outside, have said that he never came out. (Reporting by Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Toni Reinhold)People hold signs during a protest at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia about the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi - AP

Saudi Arabia yesterday hinted at economic retaliation over mounting international criticism of the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as its stock exchange suffered its worst losses in years.

Shares plunged as much as 7 per cent as US President Donald Trump promised "severe punishment", and the foreign ministers of the UK, France and Germany issued a joint statement calling for a "credible investigation" into Mr Khashoggi's fate.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and his German and French counterparts said light must be shed on Mr Khashoggis disappearance, and cautioned that the Saudi government was expected to provide a complete and detailed response.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency earlier hit back at the growing chorus of international voices threatening punishment if suspicions that Mr Khashoggi has been murdered are proved true.

The Kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether by threatening to impose economic sanctions, using political pressures, or repeating false accusations, the statement read. The the oil-rich kingdom added that it "also affirms that if it receives any action, it will respond with greater action, and that the Kingdom's economy has an influential and vital role in the global economy."

Sources inside Saudi Arabia said that any punitive measures directed its way would generate larger counter-measures.

A food delivery man leaves after delivering food at Saudi Arabia's consul's residence, in Istanbul Credit: Lefteris Pitarakis

Independent journalist Jamal Khashoggi has not been seen or heard from since he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October.

The writer, an advocate for reform and a thorn in the side of the countrys autocratic Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, left Saudi Arabia a year ago over fears for his safety.

The consular visit should have been a quick appointment to pick up personal documents, but Turkish security sources allege a murder squad lay in wait, and killed and dismembered Mr Khashoggi before flying back to Riyadh.

Story continues

Saudi Arabia insists Mr Khashoggi left the consulate, but has failed to provide security camera footage to back up its claims.

Saudi authorities have agreed to a joint investigation with Turkey, but there is little expectation that they will be forthcoming.

Turkey claims to hold evidence that Mr Khashoggi was killed and multiple reports suggest the government has audio of the killing, possibly recorded on Mr Khashoggi's Apple Watch.

After more than a week of growing concern over Mr Khashoggi, the public tone shifted late last week, with high-profile investors pulling out of Prince Mohammads upcoming big-ticket investment conference, nicknamed Davos in the Desert.

The heads of the World Bank and Uber are among a growing group of major figures in international finance who will boycott the event.

Sir Richard Branson, the head of Virgin, shut down talks with the Saudi sovereign wealth fund. On Saturday, Mr Trump, who had previously taken a more neutral line on the matter, used a television interview to say his administration would be very upset and angry if it emerged that the Saudi government had ordered Mr Khashoggis murder.

"As of this moment, they deny it, and they deny it vehemently. Could it be them? Yes," he said.

On Sunday, the first day of the working week in Saudi Arabia, the storm of controversy began to break when the Tadawul stock exchange in Riyadh dropped by 7 per cent. By days end, it was down 3.5 percent.

While Britain and the US are reportedly considering joining the boycott on the conference, the real ties that bind so many Western nations to Saudi Arabia are economic and military.

Saudi Arabia is the worlds number-one buyer of American weapons and the recipient of hundreds of millions of pounds worth of British arms, most of which are understood to be used in the war in Yemen. France and Germany also sell arms to Riyadh.Britain, France and Germany have issued a joint statement telling Saudi Arabia they were treating the case of the missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi with the utmost seriousness.

The foreign ministers of the three countries demanded an investigation into Mr Khashoggis disappearance and called for a detailed response from Saudi Arabia.

There needs to be a credible investigation to establish the truth about what happened, and  if relevant  to identify those bearing responsibility for the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, and ensure that they are held to account, the foreign ministers said in the joint statement.

We encourage joint Saudi-Turkish efforts in that regard, and expect the Saudi government to provide a complete and detailed response. We have conveyed this message directly to the Saudi authorities.

The statement, by UK foreign minister Jeremy Hunt, Frances Jean-Yves Le Drian and Germanys Heiko Maas, made no mention of potential actions the countries might take.

It comes after Saudi Arabia vowed to retaliate to possible economic sanctions taken by other countries after Donald Trump warned of severe punishment over the disappearance of a Saudi journalist.

The kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether through economic sanctions, political pressure or repeating false accusations, it said in a statement.

The kingdom also affirms that if it is [targeted by] any action, it will respond with greater action.

Steadfast & Glorious 

Demise is the outcome of these weak endeavors pic.twitter.com/WBb9yusaE6  Foreign Ministry  (@KSAmofaEN) October 14, 2018

Saudis ministry of foreign affairs also tweeted that it was steadfast and glorious in response to what it called false accusations. It added: Demise is the outcome of these weak endeavours.

Story continues

Saudi Arabia has been under pressure since Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Riyadh, disappeared nearly two weeks ago after visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

Turkish officials have said they fear Saudi agents killed and dismembered Mr Khashoggi after he entered the consulate and a Turkish newspaper has reported that Mr Khashoggis alleged torture and death may have been recorded on his Apple Watch.

The kingdom has called the allegations baseless, but has offered no evidence to show the writer ever left the consulate.

However Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud adopted a more conciliatory tone in a phone call with Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday, according to the Saudi state press agency.

The king thanked Mr Erdogan for welcoming the Saudi proposal to form a joint working group to discuss the disappearance of Mr Khashoggi and stressed the strength of the relationship between the two countries, it was reported.

Saudi Arabia also received support from Egypt, which said it was monitoring developments with concern and warned against the case being exploited politically.

Egypt stresses the importance of revealing the truth of what happened in a transparent investigation, the countrys foreign ministry said in a statement.

Saudi Arabias crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has aggressively pitched the kingdom as a destination for foreign investment, but Mr Khashoggis disappearance and suspicions he may have been targeted over his criticism of the crown prince have led several business leaders and media outlets to back out of an upcoming high-profile investment conference in Riyadh.

Mr Khashoggis fiancee said those behind his disappearance must be held accountable and punished to the full extent of the law.

Hatice Cengiz said Mr Khashoggi was a patriot. Writing in The New York Times, she said: Jamal spoke up against oppression, but he paid for the Saudi peoples demand for freedom with his own life.

She added: Oppression never lasts forever. Tyrants eventually pay for their sins.

Mr Hunts statement came after shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, criticised the UKs response to Mr Khashoggis disappearance.

The Labour MP said there had been nothing but pusillanimous mutterings from Mr Hunt over the disappearance of the Saudi writer.

He is being outdone by Donald Trump, whoever would have thought that? she said.

Theyre playing catch-up with Donald Trump when it comes to condemnation of this and actually taking action and being prepared to stand firm.President Donald Trump meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office of the White House on March 20, 2018. (Photo: Associated Press)

WASHINGTON  Saudi Arabia is facing an unprecedented backlash from the U.S. elite over the presumed murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi  and its threatening an unprecedented offensive of its own to try to turn things around.

Congress is threatening sanctions on the longtime U.S. partner, President Donald Trump is publicly demanding answers about Khashoggis fate, and major American businesses are backing out of a high-profile Saudi conference. But as top Americans suggest the U.S.-Saudi relationship may be about to fundamentally change, the Saudis have many powerful levers to pull in their efforts to maintain bipartisan support for their frequently controversial policies.

By directing billions of dollars of Saudi money into the U.S. for decades, Riyadhs ruling family has won the support of small but powerful circles of influential Americans and courted wider public acceptance through corporate ties and philanthropy. Its been a solid investment for a regime that relies heavily on Washington for its security but cant make the same claims to shared values or history as other American allies like Britain. For years, spending in ways beneficial to the U.S.  both stateside and abroad, such as its funding Islamist fighters in Afghanistan to combat the Soviet Union  has effectively been an insurance policy for Saudi Arabia.

At times of crisis, like after 15 of the 19 9/11 attackers turned out to be Saudis or when President Barack Obama signed a landmark arms control deal with Saudi rival Iran, the Saudis have used their clout to shield themselves from tough questions or to propagate the idea that the U.S. needs the kingdom.

Khashoggi, who had been living in the U.S. before disappearing in Turkey this month, is today very unlikely to be returned alive. High-level criticism of the kingdom is growing, and a key foundation of the U.S.-Saudi relationship  American reliance on Saudi oil  is weaker than ever. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia feels ready to fight. The kingdoms quasi-ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has consistently behaved aggressively toward regional neighbors and Western powers, and his mostly young population, used to foreign lectures about Saudi backwardness, is fond of his stubborn, often defensive brand of Saudi nationalism. Saudi Arabias response to the Khashoggi episode could involve every part of whats arguably the most complex and sprawling campaign of foreign influence in the U.S. today.

Story continues

That doesnt mean itll ultimately succeed. Some critics of the relationship say a Saudi escalation could provoke Washington to question not just the princes treatment of Khashoggi, but also whether its wise for the U.S. to allow the Saudis to have such reach.

One senior Senate aide put it bluntly when asked about the prospect of the Saudis responding to the U.S. the way they did to critical remarks from Canada and Germany, by dramatically limiting trade and diplomatic contacts.

I would love if they pulled that shit, the aide said. I beg them to do that. Its not remotely comparable, and it would be ugly.

Heres how Saudi leaders, credibly accused of killing a U.S. resident, could use public brinkmanship and private persuasion to get what they want from elite Americans in politics, business and what Trump likes to call the deep state.

Play The Jobs Card

One of the few traditions in American diplomacy that Trump has embraced wholeheartedly is describing weapons sales as jobs programs. The president has repeatedly said Khashoggis fate should not disturb the $110 billion package of arms that Trump says he got the Saudis to buy to support American industry. (Many of the deals were actually struck under Obama, and a large part of the total hes describing is still in the form of vague statements of intent.)

Keen to keep things on track with the Saudis, arms producers often work in concert with Saudi Arabias army of Washington lobbyists, congressional sources say.

Representatives from companies like Raytheon and Lockheed Martin argue that to keep jobs at plants that mushroomed across the U.S. amid post-9/11 wars, Congress must almost never use its veto over arms deals. Because we are in a permanent state of warfare, we have a war-based economy, said Elizabeth Beavers, an organizer with the progressive group Indivisible.

Arms manufacturers have already told Trump aides they are worried about Capitol Hill blocking more sales over Khashoggi, Reuters reported Friday. That would add to the deals already held up over a Saudi military campaign in Yemen thats been accused of dozens of war crimes.

A malnourished child receives treatment at the Sabeen hospital in Sana'a, Yemen, on Oct. 6. Saudi Arabia's military campaign in Yemen has caused famine in the country. (Photo: Mohammed Hamoud via Getty Images)

What Trump, military contractors and the Saudis have argued is that if Riyadh doesnt buy from the U.S., it will find another supplier less concerned about human rights like Russia or China. So the kingdom wont suffer or change its behavior, and Americans will lose revenue and chances for counterterrorism cooperation.

Researchers and anti-war activists say thats a red herring and its Washington that has the power here.

Pieter Wezeman of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said the Saudis have long been used to the U.S. way of doing things, and it will be difficult for Saudi to change its arms systems and training, for example.

They can do that, but its coming with a cost, he said.

The kingdom likely overestimates just how much of an impact its weapons purchases make on the gigantic U.S. economy anyway. Less than 1 percent of total exports in the world are about arms deals. Arms sales to Saudi are one part of that, Wezeman said. He added that a true reckoning of the economic importance of selling weapons to the Saudis would have to include projections of the other work skilled U.S. employees could be doing, and account for the fine print in many contracts that requires production to be done in the buyers countries  creating jobs there rather than in the American heartland.

After a string of increasingly tight Senate votes on permitting U.S. arms exports to the Saudis to continue, the weapons-equal-jobs argument was already looking a little weak.

Kate Gould, an advocate with the Friends Committee on National Legislation, said she heard from multiple congressional offices this week that their teams were directly pressing defense lobbyists on Khashoggi and hearing anxiety from State Department contacts about the Senate likely blocking two deals that are expected to come up for approval soon. Its the most obvious place where the U.S. just has so much leverage with Saudi Arabia, she said.

Win The Influence Game

The Saudis spend millions annually on employing high-profile Americans  from former senators to onetime diplomats, from Republicans to Democrats  to finesse their image. While a handful of lobbying and public relations firms have ended their relationships over Khashoggi, others are seeing a fresh opportunity. The kingdom has scores of paid friends it can marshal to talk to their own friends in government and the private sector.

Its hard to excuse using a bone saw on a journalist or bombing a bus full of schoolchildren. But whats becoming more clear is that good-faith persuasion doesnt have to be the goal. Ben Freeman, a researcher at the Center for International Policy, found that in 2017, lobbyists representing the kingdom donated nearly $400,000 to lawmakers they had contacted on behalf of Riyadh. In 11 instances, the donations came the same day they had meetings with congressional offices.

The Saudis realize its illegal for foreign nationals to make contributions in the U.S., but lobbying and PR firms are filled with American citizens for whom its perfectly legal to take their salaries and use them to give to members of Congress, Freeman told HuffPost, describing the system as legalized bribery. He believes the actual amount flowing from Saudi coffers to American political efforts is far higher than what is reported, because U.S. citizens paid by the Saudis can also contribute to entities like super PACs without leaving a paper trail.

Another part of the permanent Washington infrastructure that can help the Saudis is the slew of think tanks that often consult on policy matters and are crucial homes for national security experts and former officials. Many of them accept Saudi funding and push ideas Riyadh loves, like the need for the U.S. to confront Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood, which the Saudis see as threats to their regime. Its often unclear whether its the insights or the checks that come first. We can smell something there but they dont have to register, Freeman said.

The arrival of a businessman president has made a whole new level of pay-to-play possible. Saudi spending at Trump hotels has spiked in recent months, and Trump was already exploring potential new deals in the kingdom during his presidential run.

The prospect of landmark U.S. policy on a key partners human rights abuses being shaped by the personal financial interests of the commander-in-chief is a worrying one, particularly in the Khashoggi case, where its clear direction is coming from the very top.

Our concerns are varied and prioritized and the president decides the order, said Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, a former U.S. diplomat in Saudi Arabia and ambassador to Malta.

And Trumps choice of what matters here could readjust American priorities and human rights norms for years.

Courting Capital

Saudi oil money has attracted Western companies for decades, but the young prince has made it a particular focus to draw more foreign capital to the kingdom as part of his vision of making its economy less reliant on a single industry. He recently concluded a massive tour of the U.S. that focused on wooing business  even meeting with Jeff Bezos, the employer of the reporter hes now accused of murdering  and hes repeatedly said he believes Westerners should focus on his economic policies rather than his rights record.

The hope is that monied interests can, as they often do, overlook an atrocity or two. Amid the Khashoggi episode, the Saudis likely hope private firms and figures like JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon will help ensure the kingdom does not become an international pariah.

But a mix of the princes approach to wealthy Saudis and activism abroad has made that assumption increasingly shaky. Financial elites have already been worried about the rule of law and whether their money can be safe since Saudi authorities last year arrested and beat scores of rich citizens, demanding that they hand over unspecified amounts on the basis of corruption charges that were never detailed in public.

A protest outside the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 10. (Photo: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The arbitrary treatment of Khashoggi adds to the panic. It doesnt help that Saudi social media users are now threatening to punish companies that have taken steps like backing out of an upcoming investment conference over the issue, analyst Michael Stephens of the Royal United Services Institute in London said on Twitter.

These are global companies and [Saudi Arabia] and [ally the United Arab Emirates] are tiny markets in comparison to the Far East. Their risk exposure has been calculated. There is more to lose globally from the reputation  hit of being associated with [the conference] than what can be gained from the Saudi economy, Stephens wrote. This is simple maths, people, and feeling angry doesnt undo basic risk calculus.

Activists plan to keep pressuring companies to step back from Riyadh, said Kate Kizer of the advocacy group Win Without War, which is directly appealing to firms not to attend the Oct. 23 conference and helping organize regular Americans to do so too.

Its a matter of putting it in front of the grassroots that this is about a value proposition, she continued. If you ask someone, do you want to be supporting a regime that kills journalists, that starves millions of civilians, that jails women rights activists and tries to execute them, most Americans would say no.

This story has been updated to reflect Saudi comments Sunday.

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Brian Kemp accused of seeking to suspend minority voters from registration rolls under the exact match law

Stacey Abrams, Georgias Democratic candidate for governor, is trying to reach voters who dont usually vote in midterm elections in the hopes to drive up turnout in her race against the Republican Brian Kemp. Photograph: John Bazemore/AP

As a crisis of potential voter suppression in Georgia deepened, the Democratic candidate for governor accused her opponent of seeking to disenfranchise people of color and women by creating a miasma of fear around voting.

Stacey Abrams, who if elected would become the first African American woman governor of any state, is running against Georgias Republican secretary of state, Brian Kemp.

A lawsuit filed by civil rights groups on Thursday accused Kemp of seeking to disenfranchise more than 50,000 voters, up to 80% of them minority voters, by suspending voters from registration rolls if records held by various state agencies show any slight discrepancy in how a voters name is hyphenated, spelled or spaced.

Any voter whose records betrayed such a discrepancy would not be unregistered but would have to take subjective steps to convince poll workers of his or her identity, thereby risking not having his or her vote counted.

As secretary of state, Kemp is responsible for administering elections laws  including, in this case, regarding his own election.

Appearing on CNNs State of the Union, Abrams repeated a call for Kemp to resign as secretary of state. Kemps enforcement of the so-called exact match law, passed last year by Georgias Republican-led legislature and signed by the Republican governor, Nathan Deal, would hit minority voters hardest, she said.

What about those low-propensity voters in those tiny communities who are finally stepping up and saying, This is my turn to cast my ballot, only to find out that they are disenfranchised? Abrams said.

They dont know that they can go to the polls. They get a confusing letter saying there is something wrong with their registration, and more than likely they will sit out this election.

The miasma of fear that is created through voter suppression is as much about terrifying people about trying to vote as it is about blocking their ability to do so.

Story continues

The margin in the last two Georgia gubernatorial races has been about 200,000 votes. An Associated Press investigation found that Kemps office had cancelled more than 1.4m voter registrations since 2012, including nearly 670,000 in 2017 alone.

Georgias population is approximately 32% black, according to the US Census. The list of voter registrations on hold with Kemps office is nearly 70% black, the AP reported.

Kemps office has rejected concerns about disenfranchisement from the exact match law. Kemp has accused a 2013 voter registration project led by Abrams of sloppiness in registering voters and a failure to adequately train canvassers to ensure legible, complete forms.

As minority leader in the Georgia house of representatives, Abrams led a lawsuit against Kemp in 2016 challenging the exact match voting regulation, which was not state law at the time. A federal judge ruled Kemp improperly cancelled 33,000 voter registrations.

Abrams said on Sunday Kemp knew the exact match system would lead to disenfranchisement.

I would say that we have known since 2016 that the exact match system has a disproportionate effect on people of color and on women, Abrams said. He was sued for this exact problem.

He was forced to restore 33,000 illegally canceled registrations. And he turned around and got the state legislature to pass a law to allow him to make the same mistake again.

When you know that what you are doing is going to have a disproportionate effect on people of color and on women and you do it anyway, that erodes the public trust in the system, and thats problematic.

CNN said Kemp turned down an invitation to appear on the show. He commented via Twitter, writing that Abrams was unapologetically extreme and banking on illegal immigrants to secure victory for her at the ballot box. As context he attached a Fox & Friends clip in which Abrams is seen to include documented and undocumented people in a list of sections of Democratic support.

The issue also pulled in another senior Georgia Republican, when it was reported that David Purdue briefly seized a phone from a student who tried to ask a question about voting laws while the senator campaigned for Kemp.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's main jihadist group signaled on Sunday it would abide by the terms of a Russian-Turkish deal to prevent a Syrian government offensive on rebel-held Idlib the day before a critical deadline. Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadist alliance spearheaded by al Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate previously known as the Nusra Front, said it had adopted its stance after taking time for "consultation". Although it did not explicitly say it would abide by the deal, it said it would seek to provide security for people in the area it controls and that it appreciated efforts to protect that area, an apparent reference to Turkey. "We value the efforts of all those striving - at home and abroad - to protect the liberated area and prevent its invasion and the perpetration of massacres in it," Tahrir al-Sham said in its statement. "But we warn at the same time against the trickery of the Russian occupier or having faith in its intentions," it added. The group also said it "would not forget" the foreign fighters who came to assist it. Idlib's other main rebel faction, a Turkish-aligned alliance of groups known as the National Liberation Front, has already expressed its support for the agreement. The deal sets up a demilitarized zone running 15-20 km (9-13 miles) deep into rebel territory that must be evacuated of all heavy weapons and all jihadist groups by Monday, Oct. 15. Turkey has been working to persuade Tahrir al-Sham to comply with the agreement, which it arranged with the Syrian government's main ally Russia to avert an assault that it feared would send a new wave of refugees toward its border. However, Tahrir al-Sham also said in its statement, issued via its social media channels, that it would not end its jihad or hand over its weapons. Idlib and adjacent areas are the last stronghold of rebels who rose against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011. It is also home to an estimated 3 million people, more than half of whom have already been displaced at least once during the war. Last week Turkey said the demilitarized zone had been set up, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the zone was effective and no large scale military actions were planned in Idlib. Russian and Turkish troops will eventually patrol the zone, according to their agreement. (Reporting by Angus McDowall; editing by David Stamp and Sandra Maler)Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Thousands of Palestinians attended funerals Saturday for seven young men shot dead a day earlier by Israeli troops during fresh demonstrations along the Gaza border, an AFP correspondent said.

Mourners, including leaders of the enclave's Islamist rulers Hamas, chanted slogans condemning Israel for shooting civilians and called on the international community to deliver justice.

The Israeli army said five Palestinians had been killed during the protests Friday after they broke through the heavily-guarded border fence and attacked an army post.

Army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said around 20 Palestinians had crossed the border in an "organised attack" after an explosive device destroyed a portion of the fence.

About five of those who got through the fence assaulted an Israeli army position and were "repelled", he wrote on Twitter.

The enclave's health ministry said seven Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire as thousands of protesters approached the heavily-guarded Israeli border.

On Saturday, the ministry named the victims as: Ahmed al-Taweel, 27, Mohammed Ismail, 29, Ahmed Abu Naim, 17, Abdullah Daghma, 25, Afifi Atta Afifi, 18, Tamer Abu Armaneh, 25 and Mohammed Abbas, 21.

The army said approximately 14,000 "rioters and demonstrators" took part in Friday's protests.

At least 205 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since protests began on March 30.

The majority were killed during border demonstrations, though others have died in airstrikes and tank shelling.

One Israeli soldier has been killed.

The protesters are demanding to be allowed to return to land now inside Israel, from which their families fled or were displaced during the 1948 war surrounding the creation of the Jewish state.

They are also calling for Israel to end its crippling blockade of the strip.

Israel accuses Hamas of leading the protests and using them as a cover for attacks.

Story continues

There had been hopes the protests would ease after a UN-brokered agreement to ease the strip's energy crisis took effect this week.

But thousands gathered once again on Friday at sites along the border, AFP correspondents said.

They added that Hamas leader Ismail Haniya also attended the protests east of Gaza City and hailed the ongoing demonstrations.President Donald Trump is soliciting donations to his re-election campaign using a petition urging Congress to fund his promised southwestern border wall. (Photo: MANDEL NGAN via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON  Nearly two years into his presidency and having failed to build even a single yard of the 1,000-mile border wall he promised, President Donald Trump is now asking Republicans for donations to his re-election campaign to help him get it.

I need you to take immediate action and sign our petition urging Congress to pass this bill to FULLY fund our border wall, Trump writes in an email sent late Thursday by his re-election campaign. This is so important that I even recorded a video for you. I need every single American to add their name. Yours cannot be missing.

Those who click on the Add your name button are taken to a page that harvests contact emails on behalf of Trumps campaign and the Republican National Committee. Clicking the Add your name button after typing in a name, ZIP code and email address takes users to a page that solicits donations.

That email tells you everything you need to know, said Stan Collender, a former longtime budget committee staffer on Capitol Hill. Its not so much that Trump wants the wall as he wants this as a campaign issue.

Neither the Trump campaign nor the RNC responded to HuffPost queries about the fundraising email.

John Weaver, a Republican consultant who ran Ohio Gov. John Kasichs presidential campaign in 2016, joked that he did not understand the need for such an appeal. I thought he said were already building a great, beautiful wall, Weaver said with a laugh. Im so confused.

Throughout the summer and autumn, Trump has been claiming  falsely  that Congress has already approved $3.2 billion for his wall. In fact, almost all of that was dedicated to repairing existing fencing or building new fencing along the border with Mexico, and the legislation specifically prohibits building any type of structure that was not already in use in 2017.

Theres not going to be a wall. There doesnt need to be a wall, Weaver said. Sadly, its just a fundraising gimmick. They have no message that resonates beyond 25 or 30 percent of the country.

Story continues

Trump promised to construct a Great Wall of Chinastyle barrier along the 2,000-mile border with Mexico the day he announced he was running for president in June 2015. Over the course of his campaign, he said that perhaps only 1,000 miles of wall was necessary, given the natural barriers along much of the border, and he maintained throughout that he would force Mexico to pay for it all.

That promise evaporated days after taking office, when he told Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto that he understood that Mexico would not pay for the wall but asked Pena Nieto not to say that publicly so as to avoid embarrassing Trump.

Trump then seemed to lose interest in the wall until the evening before signing a $1.3 trillion spending bill this March, when Fox News evening hosts criticized him for preparing to approve legislation that had zero money for wall construction.

He threatened a veto but then wound up signing it anyway, promising that he would not sign another such bill without wall funding. That opportunity, though, came and went last month, as Trump approved another spending measure with no wall money, this one for $853 billion.

Now Trump is saying he will fight Congress for the wall after the midterm elections, again threatening a government shutdown if Congress does not give him what he wants. How precisely that would work with Democrats almost certain to increase their numbers in the House is unclear, Collender said, given that Trump has been unable to get his wall even with the House and Senate under Republican control.

Congress has repeatedly refused to fund the wall. They keep telling him well do it next time, Collender said. Hes such a wuss that he believes it or he doesnt understand the legislative process enough to understand that his leverage is decreasing, not increasing.

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Donald Trump has sparked fresh speculation that defence secretary Jim Mattis could be poised to leave his administration by saying that hes sort of a Democrat.

A week after UN Ambassador Nikki Haley announced she was standing down, the president suggested the 68-year-old former general could be the next to go.

During an interview with CBS, the president was asked if Mr Mattis  with whom he has at times reportedly had a strained relationship  was going to leave.

I dont know. He hasnt told me that, he said. I have a very good relationship with him. I had lunch with him two days ago. I have a very good relationship with him. It could be that he is. I think hes sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth.

He added: General Mattis is a good guy. We get along very well. He may leave. I mean, at some point, everybody leaves. Everybody. People leave. Thats Washington.

There has been considerable speculation about how long Mr Mattis, a one time Marine Corps general who commanded the 1st Marine Division during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, would remain in Mr Trumps government. The two men have differed on issues ranging from North Korea policy to the use of torture and transgender people serving in the military.

Speculation intensified last month with the publication of Bob Woodwards Fear: Trump in the White House, which claimed the former military officer had described Mr Trump as an idiot and told colleagues the president acted like  and had the understanding of  a fifth- or sixth-grader.

Mr Mattis, who was in India when excerpts of the book were first published, denied he had ever made such remarks.

The contemptuous words about the president attributed to me in Woodwards book were never uttered by me or in my presence, he said in a statement. While I generally enjoy reading fiction, this is a uniquely Washington brand of literature, and his anonymous sources do not lend credibility.

Back at the Pentagon, Mr Mattis told reporters: I wouldnt take it seriously at all. Of course I dont think about leaving, I love it here.

Story continues

The departure of Mr Mattis would be a blow for those in the country who have viewed him as a moderating force on Mr Trump. Mr Woodward quotes one scene in which the president reportedly told the defence secretary to f***ing kill Bashar al-Assad after the Syrian leader was accused of using chemical weapons in an attack on civilians in April 2017.

The book said Mr Mattis told the president that he would get right on it. But after hanging up the phone, he told an aide: Were not going to do any of that. Were going to be much more measured.

Following the publication of the book, a number of senior Republicans spoke out in defence of Mr Mattis.

The president does not ask my advice. If he were to ask my advice, Id say keep secretary Mattis there as long as you possibly can, said congressman Mac Thornberry, chairman of the house armed services committee.

I think hes been  is  a great secretary of defence, who has tremendous credibility on Capitol Hill, around the world. I think hes done a really great job, and I would do everything I could to keep him there as long as possible.

In the interview with CBS, Mr Trump said there were some people in his administration he is not thrilled with. He denied accusations of chaos in the White House as fake news.

But he added: Im changing things around. And Im entitled to. I have people now on standby that will be phenomenal. Theyll come into the administration, theyll be phenomenal.Retired general has been seen as restraining influence



President discusses cabinet chaos with CBS 60 Minutes

James Mattis attends a news conference in Paris, earlier this month. Photograph: Philippe Wojazer/Reuters

Donald Trump suspects his defense secretary, General Jim Mattis, might be a Democrat and could be heading for the exit.

Trump was responding to a specific question from journalist Lesley Stahl, for an interview for CBS News 60 Minutes, about whether Mattis was going to leave.

Well, I dont know, the president said. He hasnt told me that.

Do you want him to? Stahl pressed.

I have a very good relationship with him, Trump said. I had lunch with him two days ago. I have a very good relationship with him.

It could be that he is. I think hes sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth. But General Mattis is a good guy. We get along very well. He may leave. I mean, at some point, everybody leaves. Everybody. People leave. Thats Washington.

Mattis was a US Marines commander in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and was elevated under George W Bush to command the United States Joint Forces Command. Under Barack Obama, he became commander of US Central Command.

The defense department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In its first two years, the Trump administration has witnessed an unprecedented flow of high-profile departures. This week, UN ambassador Nikki Haley announced she was stepping down.

In a book published last month, journalist Bob Woodward depicted Mattis as directly ignoring an expressed desire by Trump to assassinate the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, and comparing Trumps understanding of tensions on the Korean peninsula to that of a fifth- or sixth-grader.

Mattis denied making such statements.

The defense secretary is scheduled to embark for Vietnam on Tuesday in a trip that originally included a Beijing agenda, since canceled.Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump said in an interview airing Sunday that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis "could be" leaving, referring to him as "sort of a Democrat."

Mattis, seen as one of the steadiest but also more independent members of Trump's cabinet, has served as a low-profile counterweight to the president in his often abrasive treatment of US allies.

In an interview to be aired Sunday on CBS's "60 Minutes," Trump was asked whether he wanted Mattis to leave.

"It could be that he is. I think he's sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth," Trump said, according to an excerpt released by CBS. "But General Mattis is a good guy. We get along very well. He may leave. I mean, at some point, everybody leaves."

Trump said he had lunch with Mattis two days earlier and the retired Marine four-star general had not told him that he was leaving.

Rumors that Mattis's days as defense chief are numbered have circulated since a book by journalist Bob Woodward about Trump's chaotic White House said the general had questioned Trump's judgment, likening his understanding to that of a 10- or 11-year-old child.

"Of course, I don't think about leaving," Mattis told Pentagon reporters last month. "I love it here."

Trump's comments come as he eyes another cabinet shakeup.

Last week, his ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, announced her resignation, effective at the end of the year.

She gave no reason for the surprise move, but observers have noted that the ascension of John Bolton as national security adviser and Mike Pompeo as secretary of state have shifted the power dynamics on Trump's national security team.

- Generals on the outs -

The generals who once dominated security policy increasingly have appeared to be on the outs with Trump.

Lieutenant General HR McMaster was replaced by Bolton in April, while John Kelly, the White House chief of staff and also a retired four-star general, is reported to have lost influence with the mercurial president.

Story continues

Mattis has been careful to avoid public conflict with Trump, but has nonetheless performed in ways that contrast sharply with his boss, emphatically defending the US commitment to its NATO allies and calling out Russia.

Earlier this month, as NATO announced its biggest military exercises since the Cold War, Mattis reassured allies of America's "iron-clad" commitment to the 69-year-old alliance.

The US, he told reporters in Paris, is "keenly aware of the dangers close to your home."

While Bolton and Pompeo also have taken a hard line on Russia, Trump has often expressed a desire for better relations with Russia's President Vladimir Putin. He used a NATO summit in July to berate allies as "delinquent" on defense spending.

In the "60 Minutes" interview, Trump alluded to upcoming changes in his cabinet.

"I'm changing things around. And I'm entitled to. I have people now on standby that will be phenomenal. They'll come into the administration, they'll be phenomenal," Trump said.

"I think we have a great cabinet. There're some people that I'm not happy with. I have some people that I'm not thrilled with. And I have other people that I'm beyond thrilled with," he said.The Rev. Andrew Brunson prays with President Trump in the Oval Office after his return from Turkish prison. (Photo: Mike Theiler/Reuters)

WASHINGTON  President Trump, welcoming an American clergyman on his return to the United States after a two-year imprisonment in Turkey, took credit for his release and blamed President Obama for not getting him out sooner.

For Andrew, its been a very interesting day, Trump told reporters who were called to the White House to witness the repatriation of Andrew Brunson, an evangelical Presbyterian from North Carolina. From a Turkish prison to the White House in 24 hours. Thats not bad.

Brunson, who had been living and preaching in Turkey for more than two decades, was arrested in October 2016 on suspicion of involvement in a coup attempt against the countrys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. His case became a cause celebre among American evangelicals, sparking tensions between the U.S. and Turkey, a NATO member, as the Trump administration maintained Brunsons innocence and pushed for his freedom.

A Turkish court found Brunson guilty on Friday of charges that could have led to a sentence of up to 35 years but immediately released him for time served. Brunson was quickly flown to the U.S. on a government plane.

In the Oval Office on Saturday, Trump touted Brunsons return as evidence of his strong handling of the cases of Americans detained abroad.

Weve been negotiating long and hard. We do not pay ransom in this country  at least any longer. We dont pay ransom; otherwise, you have big problems and lots of things will happen, lots of bad things will happen. But I still  I want to thank President Erdogan, Trump said.

Trump repeatedly said he had dealt with the situation better than his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, would have.

It started in a different administration, and they were not going to work out anything, and we took it over. We inherited it and we have, I think at this moment, gotten 19 people out of various countries that were being held, said Trump.

Trump cited the cases of three American detainees freed from North Korea in May and the case of Aya Hijazi, an American citizen who was released from Egypt in April 2017.

Story continues

Aya was, they said, a spy. She was sentenced to 25 years. They told President Obama, We will not let her out under any circumstances. And they told me, Shell be in the Oval Office in 24 hours, Trump said.

In brief remarks, Brunson thanked the Trump administration for fighting unusually hard on his behalf. Brunson and his wife, Norine, also prayed over the president.

Lord God, I ask that you pour out your holy spirit on President Trump. That you give him supernatural wisdom to accomplish all the plans that you have for this country and for him, Brunson said.

I just want to pray that the spirit of the Lord would rest on the president, that the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord, Norine said.

Trump responded with a political inquiry.

Thank you very much, Norine. Could I ask you one question? Who did you vote for? he asked.

The Brunsons and the officials in the room laughed.

I would like to say I sent in an absentee ballot from prison, Brunson responded.

Its a little unfair. I knew the answer, Trump said. I would never do that to myself. That could be  that could be too tough.

Trump was asked by reporters what he has done differently from previous presidents to free Americans held by foreign governments.

Well, theyre tending not to take them. They are tending not to take them out of our administration and thats good. I like that and I think I could tell you why, but I wont, Trump said, adding, But they tend not to take them out of our administration, and you know what? Its going to stay that way, OK?

Trump was also asked about other Americans who are imprisoned in Turkey.

As you speak, we are working on that, Trump said. And, by the way, other people that are in prisons in other countries other than Turkey, we have other people that have been there for many years. Weve done very well. We actually have at least 18, and the 18 were people that they said would never, ever be freed. And, by the way, Pastor Brunson was one of them.

Brunson, who thanked the administration for fighting unusually hard on his behalf, also addressed the other Americans in Turkish custody.

I would like to say something. Someone asked before about other American prisoners in Turkey, and I know that from dealing with the consulate there  they werent only engaging for me, that they were engaging for everyone there, Brunson said.

Brunsons release occurred as another case involving Turkey was making headlines. Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. permanent resident and Washington Post contributor who has been critical of the government of Saudi Arabia, disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 to complete some paperwork. The Turkish government, which has an extremely tense relationship with Saudi Arabia, said it has evidence that Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside the consulate.

Saudi Arabia has insisted that Khashoggi left the building.

When asked whether he believed that Turkeys decision to release Brunson was related to the Khashoggi case, Trump said it was a strict coincidence.

Ive heard a couple of people say, well, thats pretty tricky, could there be anything to it? No  its a total coincidence. Its interesting. A lot of things happening in a certain part of the world, Trump said.

The Trump administrations efforts to press for Brunsons freedom included levying sanctions on Turkish officials. Erdogan, who has said the decision to release Brunson was an impartial decision made by an independent court, had previously indicated that the pastor would be freed if the U.S. turned over Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric who lives in Pennsylvania. The Turkish government has blamed Gulens supporters for the attempted coup in which Brunson was implicated. Gulen has denied any role in the failed coup.

Trump has denied that there was any deal with Turkey and characterized Brunsons release as an independent gesture. He reiterated this on Saturday when he was asked what the future of U.S. sanctions on Turkey would be.

Well, we were very tough on Turkey and well take a look. There was absolutely no deal made. Frankly, the only deal, if you could call it a deal, is a psychological one, Trump said. We feel much different about Turkey today than we did yesterday, and I think we have a chance of really becoming much closer to Turkey and maybe even having a very, very good relationship.

Read more from Yahoo News:NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's lawyers are preparing answers to questions for the U.S. special counsel probing Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The development, first reported by CNN, appears to show progress after several months of talks between the special counsel, Robert Mueller, and Trump's legal team in connection with the president answering questions in the investigation. Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani said last month that Mueller wanted the president to commit to a follow-up interview to any written questions, a position Trump's legal team was resisting. The question of a potential interview has not yet been settled. But the source told Reuters that Mueller was willing to accept written answers to questions without a commitment from Trump's lawyers over what comes next. A spokesman for Mueller declined to comment. In an interview on Tuesday, Giuliani told Reuters: "We are not prepared to agree to more questions until the first group of questions are asked, answered and somebody can explain to us why that isn't enough." Giuliani reiterated that Trump would be willing to answer questions on whether his campaign had colluded with Moscow to influence the 2016 election, but not whether he had acted to obstruct the Russia probe. Mueller is investigating both. In an NBC News interview last year, Trump tied his decision to fire FBI Director James Comey to the investigation into Russian election meddling. At the time of his firing, Comey was leading the probe. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia interfered in the election to try to tip it toward Trump and away from his Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton. Moscow has denied any interference, while Trump has denied any collusion with Russia and any obstruction of justice. (Reporting by Karen Freifeld; writing by Tim Ahmann; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates has been in contact with British authorities over a British academic since shortly after he was detained in May, a senior UAE official said on Friday, amid suggestions that he would be charged with espionage. London has said little about the detention of Matthew Hedges, a 31-year-old doctoral student at Durham University, who appeared in a court in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. Hedges' wife Daniela Tejada said on Thursday that he had been detained without explanation at Dubai International Airport on May 5 after a two-week research visit, and held in solitary confinement ever since. She said he had he had not been informed of the charges. The court appointed a lawyer to review the case and adjourned it until Oct. 24. An Emirati source familiar with the case, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said Hedges would be charged with espionage, but that the court was waiting for his lawyer to review the case. On Twitter, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash indicated that the UAE was disappointed with Britain's response. "Case of Mathew Hedges extensively discussed with UK colleagues over last 5 months," he tweeted. "With reluctance of UK authorities to address matter thru common channels, due legal process needs to take its course." The British Foreign Office was not immediately available to comment. On Thursday, it said British officials were supporting a British man following his detention in the UAE, but gave no further details, adding that Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt had personally raised the case with his counterpart. State-backed UAE media reported last month that the attorney general had ordered a trial for a foreign national accused of spying, without elaborating on his identity. According to a profile on Durham University's website, Hedges is a doctoral student in the School of Government and International Affairs whose research interests include civilian-military relations, political economy and tribalism. Last year, he co-authored an article in an academic journal on the Muslim Brotherhood and the Gulf Cooperation Council, of which the UAE is a member. The UAE is a tourism and trade hub for the Middle East, but tolerates little public criticism of its monarchy or policies and is opposed to the Islamist ideology of the Brotherhood. (Editing by Kevin Liffey)Andrew Brunson thanks president and staff for securing deal that brought him home after years in prison

The pastor Andrew Brunson asked God to grant the president supernatural wisdom. Photograph: Mike Theiler/Reuters

Andrew Brunson, the American pastor freed from prison in Turkey this week, prayed over Donald Trump at the White House on Saturday. In response, the president asked who Brunson and his wife had voted for in the presidential election that took place weeks after the pastors arrest in 2016.

Brunson, who said he voted by mail, and his wife, Norine, indicated they backed Trump. The president said he had known that already.

Minutes earlier, Brunson had kneeled, grasped Trumps shoulder and asked God to grant the president supernatural wisdom.

Make him a great blessing for this country, Brunson said in the Oval Office, where he and his family gathered with Trump, administration officials including the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, and the national security adviser, John Bolton, and Republican members of Congress.

From a Turkish prison to the White House in 24 hours, thats not bad, Trump said.

Brunson, who moved to Turkey in the mid-1990s, was arrested and accused of having links to the Gulenist movement, which Turkey says orchestrated a failed 2016 military coup.

On Friday, a Turkish court sentenced Brunson to three years in jail but accounted for time served and suspended the rest of his sentence, making it possible for him to leave the country. Brunsons lawyer, Jay Sekulow, is also a member of Trumps legal team in the Russia inquiry.

On Saturday Brunson repeatedly thanked Trump, his staff and other government representatives. He and his wife will now spend some time with their children, he said, before praying for guidance. He declined to speak about his treatment in Turkey and said he would share that information in future interviews.

NBC reported on Thursday that the Trump administration had reached a deal for Brunsons release and said the US was expected to ease economic pressure on Turkey.

Andrew Brunson and his wife walk with Donald Trump. Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

Trump denied that and said the only thing close to a deal was a psychological one, explaining that Brunsons return had improved US feelings towards Turkey.

Story continues

The two countries remain divided on key issues such as Iran and the civil war in Syria. Before Brunsons hearing on Friday, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was disappointment that US-backed Kurdish militias have not left the Syrian town of Manbij, contrary to an agreement brokered this year.

Trump spoke about Americans released from captivity overseas under his administration, including Aya Hijazi, who was imprisoned in Egypt for three years, and three men released from North Korea in May.

Chairman Kim [Jong-un] was really great to us, he said. He added: Its not an easy situation for Turkey either. They had a lot of difficult situations going on and I do want to thank President Erdogan for making this possible.

Trump also faced questions about the disappearance of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi after entering Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul earlier this month.

Some analysts have suggested there is a connection between the timing of Brunsons release and the search for information on Khashoggis disappearance. Trump said Brunsons release was a total coincidence.Jerusalem (AFP) - A US student barred from Israel over alleged support for a pro-Palestinian boycott campaign issued a last-minute request on Sunday to appeal the decision with the state's top court, her lawyer said.

Lara Alqasem's request came the day she was set to be deported from the immigration facility at Ben Gurion airport, where she has been held for 12 days.

On Friday, the Tel Aviv administrative court upheld the state's decision to prevent her from entering the Jewish state under a 2017 law barring supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Following her request to appeal, the Supreme Court issued a temporary order preventing her deportation, setting a time on the upcoming Wednesday morning for a panel to decide whether to enable her to appeal.

Her lawyer, Yotam Ben Hillel, said he hoped the procedure would progress swiftly.

Alqasem, 22, landed at Ben Gurion on October 2, intending to study for a master's degree at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, but was not allowed to enter despite having a visa.

She chose to challenge the entry ban rather than return to the United States.

The Israeli academic year began on Sunday.

The Hebrew University meanwhile maintained its support of Alqasem, reiterating late Saturday that Israel's decision to expel the student "is a wrong one".

"This course of action does not contribute to the battle against BDS and harms efforts by the academic community to encourage students and scholars from around the world to visit Israel and to study here," the university said in a statement.

In March 2017, Israel's parliament passed a law banning the entry of supporters of the BDS movement, inspired by an international campaign against South Africa before the fall of apartheid.

Alqasem, reportedly of Palestinian descent, was president of a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine during her undergraduate studies at the University of Florida.

Story continues

The group has supported boycott campaigns against Israel.

Alqasem said she left SJP in 2017 and no longer supported the BDS movement, according to the Tel Aviv court.

"Any self-respecting state defends its own interests and those of its citizens, and has the right to fight against the actions of a boycott... as well as any attacks on its image," the court said in its ruling on Friday.Steve Mnuchin is second-guessing attending economic conference after claims that Saudi assassins killed journalist

The US treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin. Photograph: Frederic J/AFP/Getty Images

The US treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, on Sunday was second-guessing his stated intention to attend an economic conference in Saudi Arabia, following the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Mnuchins wavering, which was reported by the White House economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, was part of an ambivalent response by the Trump administration to claims by Turkish officials that a team of Saudi assassins killed and dismembered Khashoggi.

I am planning on going at this point, Mnuchin said on Friday of the investment conference, which is slated to start in Riyadh on 23 October. Media and tech companies including Uber, Virgin and Viacom have withdrawn in protest at Khashoggis alleged killing. Financial companies mostly have not.

Kudlow told ABCs This Week that Mnuchin would make up his mind as the week progresses and as new information surfaces.

Trump has warned there will be severe punishment if the allegations were true. That prompted a pugnacious Saudi response on Sunday: The kingdom also affirms that if it is [targeted by] any action, it will respond with greater action.

But Trump has simultaneously indicated a limited desire to confront the Saudis, telling 60 Minutes on CBS News he would not cancel an arms deal with the kingdom in any case.

They are ordering military equipment, Trump said. Everybody in the world wanted that order. Russia wanted it, China wanted it, we wanted it. We got it and we got all of it. Every bit of it.

I tell you what we dont want to do. Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon, all these companies  I dont want to hurt jobs. I dont want to lose an order like that.

Khashoggis fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, said on Saturday  the reporters 60th birthday  she would not accept an invitation to the White House if the administration does not take meaningful action.

Story continues

If Trump fails to act, Congress will step in, declared the Florida Republican senator Marco Rubio, a member of the foreign relations and intelligence committees, in an interview on Sunday.

I believe the Trump administration will do something, the president has said that, Rubio told CNNs State of the Union.

But if he doesnt, Congress will. That I can tell you with 100% certainty, with almost full unanimity across the board, Republicans and Democrats, there will be a very strong congressional response if in fact the Saudis lured [Khashoggi] into that consulate, murdered him, cut up his body and disposed of it, there will be a very strong congressional response.

Rubio said Mnuchin should not attend the Riyadh conference.

I dont think he should go, he said. I dont think any of our government officials should be going and pretending its business as usual until we know whats happening.

Trump has praised the Saudi regime for cracking down on opponents, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has personal ties to crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. But Kushner has also sought financing from Saudi regional opponent Qatar, which recently purchased a Trump Tower property.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and permanent US resident, had fallen out of favor after previously enjoying close ties with the Saudi royal family. But he told associates he did not believe his life was in danger.

The Vermont independent senator Bernie Sanders on Sunday said the US should withdraw support from the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

Its clear we cannot have an ally who murders in cold blood in their own consulate a critic, a dissident, Sanders told CNN. That is unacceptable.Hitlers last surviving relativestwo great nephewslive on Long Island, New York, and have refuse to speak to the media over the years, according to the German newspaper the Bild.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



One of the three brothers has now chosen to expose his familys history and shared the fact that one of his siblings was on his way to marrying a Jewish woman, but the wedding was called off after the truth was revealed.

The Bild was trying to trace down the Fuhrers nephews family and found them on Long Island; The New York Post called them The Hitlers next door.

The three brothers are the children of William Patrick Hitler, Hitlers nephew, and are his sole known descendants.William was born in the UK, the son of the Nazi rulers half brother. He became famous even before the war, when he gave interviews to the UK media and was known as the English nephew.

Adolf and William Hitler (Photo: Getty Images, AP)

This did not go without notice and Hitler summoned William to Berlin to reproach him for exposing family details to the press. A few years later he left England, travelled to the US and settled there. He even joined the US Navy in order to fight in the war.

According to the Bild, William moved to Long Island after the war, and changed his last name twiceuntil he settled for Stuart-Houston. He died in 1987, at 76.

William's children, Alexander, Louis and Brian Stuart-Houston, refused to speak to the media throughout the years. Now, Alexander, the middle child, 68, has agreed to say a few wordsand revealed that his second name is Adolf.

He also revealed an amazing detail, sharing the fact that one of the three great-nephews was supposed to marry a Jewish woman, who cancelled the wedding after she learned of his familys history.

William Patrick Hitler being sworn-in to the US Navy. (Photo: Getty Images)

Alexander responded to the rumor previously published, that he and his brothers have decided not to have children in order to end the Hitler bloodline. He said it was nonsense and that such an agreement never existed.

He added that a fourth great-nephew, Howard, who was married and died in 1989 in a car crash, never had a chance to have children.

Alexander also spoke of political affairs, and said that he supports Angela Merkel, and would have voted for her if he could. He added that he and his brothers are Republicans, but that he personally is not fond of President Donald Trump.

Apparently, the three brothers considered writing a book revealing all the details of the family story, but ultimately decided against it, as they wished to remain anonymous.

We will never do it, not for all the money in the world, said Alexander.

Louis and Brian, who live nearby, refused to speak to the media.

One neighbor admitted to knowing his neighbors family history, but said that they are lovely people and cannot be blamed for things their relatives did.Two New Zealand pro-Palestinian activists have raised NZ$14,000 ($9,108.40) as of Sunday for charity after being fined by an Israeli court for their alleged role in persuading pop star Lorde to cancel a concert in Tel Aviv last year.

Justine Sachs and Nadia Abu-Shanab said last week they would not pay the fine of 45,000 shekels ($12,423.05) awarded to three Israeli teenagers, calling the court's ruling a "stunt" intended to intimidate Israel's critics.US President Donald Trump said on Saturday the United States would be "punishing" itself by halting military sales to Saudi Arabia even if it is proven that Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the country's consulate in Istanbul.

Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Riyadh and a US resident, disappeared on October 2 after visiting the Saudi consulate. Turkey's government believes he was deliberately killed inside the building and his body removed.Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in an interview with Ynet on Sunday that the time has come to strike the biggest blow on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.After months of Hamas-led Gaza border violence, the time has come to deliver the hardest blow" on the terror group, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Ynet on Sunday.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



The defense minister explained that the violent rioting along the Gaza border fence and incendiary balloon terrorism have left Israel no choice.

We have turned every stone, and we have passed the point of no return We have reached the stage where we must deliver the hardest blow imaginable on Hamas, Lieberman said.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Photo: Yaron Brener)

"Before we go to war in Gaza, we must exhaust all other options, which we made every effort to do  we tried to exhaust every possibility," he explained.

"When you send soldiers into battle, you understand that some of them might not come home. So, we must exhaust every other possibility. When I accepted the position of defense minister, I said that Israel does not have the luxury of fighting wars if there is an alternativeonly when there is no choice, he emphasized, adding that the Cabinet will have to decide on whether the potential military operation will go ahead.

"Hamas has turned the border violence into a strategic weapon, through which they hope to erode our deterrence and put pressure on both the Israeli public and the government," the defense minister explained.

Hamas is determined to continue the violence until the blockade is fully lifted without reaching an agreement, especially regarding prisoner exchange, and without giving up on the main article in their charterthe destruction of the State of Israel, he went on to say.

(Photo: Yaron Brenner)

On Friday, a group of terrorists blew up a hole in the border fence and began advancing on the Israeli soldiers. The troops opened fire, leading most terrorists to return into the strip, and killed three that continued advancing.

Lieberman refused to say whether this was an attempt to capture an IDF soldier. "There really was serious violence, including planting an explosive, entrance into Israeli territory, and it ended as it ended. Not a single civilian so much as scratched," he said, adding Hamas leader "Haniyeh led the rioting, and we acted properly."

Following the border violence on Friday, the defense minister ordered a halt in fuel supply to Gaza. "In the morning we approved to let in four gasoline tanks into the Gaza Strip. In the evening we got four fires, 14 launches of incendiary balloons, balloons with explosives, (and) 16,000 people rioting on the border. And so as long as there's violence and rioting, there will be no fuel," he explained.

The defense minister also addressed the claims made by senior IDF officials that suggested there were shortcomings when it comes to the military's war readiness which is not sufficiently reviewed.

"The IDF has not been better prepared for war since 1967. Of course, when you talk about a huge mechanism such as the IDFwith 700,000 people and tens of thousands of pieces of equipmentthere is always something to improve  and partly, I accept the criticism, he allowed.

The defense minister, who has been a vocal supporter of capital punishment to terrorists, explained such a move would require a change in policy, which the Cabinet needs to decide on. At present, the attorney general's opposition to giving the death penalty to terrorists prevents judges from being able to hand down such a sentencing.

Addressing tensions in the coalition over the IDF draft bill, Lieberman said he was certain the legislation will be easily passed.

"I don't think elections right now are the most necessary thing for the State of Israel," he stressed, "precisely because of the (security) situation in Gaza, Judea and Samaria, a very complex situation in the north."

Deputy Health Minister Litzman, Defense Minister Lieberman and MK Moshe Gafni (Photos: Hadas Porush/Flash 90, EPA)

He insisted there would be no changes to the proposed legislation, which led Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman to threaten to resign.

"I think even the representatives of the ultra-Orthodox parties understand this is the only possible option. This is an entire thing, as soon as you start removing one screw and then another, the whole thing might collapse," Lieberman said.







He did not want to address the tensions with Bayit Yehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett, whom he labeled "a hilltop youth from Ra'anana," and said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should not resign from his position due to investigations into corruption allegations and should only consider that option once the final verdict is reached.Yacoub al-Rawbi, the widower of the Palestinian woman killed in a car accident in the West Bank after her vehicle was allegedly pelted with stones by Jewish settlers, insisted Sunday the settlers near the Tapuach Junction are to blame for her death but emphasized that the family does not seek revenge."

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



In an interview with Ynet, al-Rawbi recalled the events which led to the tragic incident in which Aisha al-Rawbi was killed.

One of the stones shattered the windshield, penetrated the car and struck my wife in the head," he stressed.

Aisha and Yacoub al-Rawbi

The investigation is being handled by the Judea and Samaria District Police, in cooperation with the Jewish Division of the Shin Bet, which is responsible for nationalistic crime committed by Jews against Arabs. So far, no evidence linking the settlers to the scene of the incident was found.

On Saturday, the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court issued a gag order on the investigation into the of the death of Rawbi last Friday evening, a Palestinian resident of the northern West Bank village of Biddya. Her husband and nine-year-old daughter were in the car as well.

Rawbi, 47, died after spending two days at her eldest daughters house in Hebron, where she had attended a wedding of a relative.

"She was supposed to return home the day before the incident, but she decided to postpone her return because she was afraid of the settlers," the widower said, adding that he eventually drove to Hebron himself on Friday to pick up his wife.

Funeral of Aisha al-Rawbi ()

X

In two weeks, the Rawbis third daughter was due to get married.

"I drove to pick up Aisha from Hebron to start preparing for the wedding  when we got close to the Rehelim settlement (near the Tapuach Junction), I heard people shouting in Hebrew and then the stone was thrown.

"I did not realize at first that my wife was hurt because she did not scream or say a single word. Then I looked at her and saw she wasnt breathing. Her face was full of blood . The daughter that was in the car started screaming my mother is dead, my mother is dead, she was left emotionally scarred by that, she is not letting go of her mothers phone, Yacoub described.

According to the widower, the family does not want revenge, only to catch and punish those who murdered her."

In recent days, following the surge of terror attacks in the West Bank, defense officials have been concerned of a possible increase in Jewish revenge attacks against Palestinians. For the time being, there is no known detainee, nor is it clear whether Jews are indeed responsible for the tragedy.

Funeral of Aisha al-Rawbi (Photo: EPA)

On Thursday, after the stabbing attack in which an IDF reservist was moderately wounded, a spontaneous demonstration of hilltop youth took place in the area, prompting the Border Police to arrest some of the participants.

Tzvi Sukkot, from the settlement of Yitzhar, told Ynet he is sceptical regarding the possibility that Rawbi was killed by settlers.

"It's impossible to know who did it, but statistics show that Arabs are usually the ones throwing stones," he exclaimed.

Tzvi Sukkot

Some right wing activists also criticized the Shin Bets involvement in the investigation.

The experience proves that the Jewish Division of the Shin Bet investigates the hilltop youths in an aggressive and problematic manner, which does not lead to the truth, but rather to false confessions, said Itamar Ben-Gvir from the far-right Otzma Yehudit party.

In addition, UN envoy to the Middle East, Nickolay Mladenov, addressed the incident via his official Twitter account.

"I condemn the attack in which a woman was killed by stones allegedly thrown by Israeli perpetrators. Those responsible should be brought to justice quickly. I call on all sides to stand against violence and terrorism," he wrote on the social network.Iran has arrested a member of its military in connection with a gun attack on a military parade in the city of Ahvaz last month which killed 25 people, semi-official Fars News agency reported on Sunday.

An Iranian ethnic Arab opposition movement called the Ahvaz National Resistance, which seeks a separate state in oil-rich Khuzestan province, claimed responsibility for the attack.Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman approved on Sunday during the Cabinet meeting the plan to build 31 new housing units in the Hezekiah Quarter in Hebron.

"I thank the prime minister and the Cabinet ministers who approved the plan that I formulated, and this is yet another important milestone in the extensive activity in trying to strengthen the Jewish settlement in the West Bank," Lieberman said.The Egyptian military says commercial truck traffic with Israel has resumed via a border crossing in the Sinai Peninsula that had been shut down amid the insurgency there.

Brig. Gen. Tareq Younis says the first few trucks from Israel crossed over into Egypt on Sunday, and that Egyptian vehicles began bringing goods into Israel earlier this month.AMMAN - The border crossing between Jordan and Syria will reopen on Monday after being closed for years, a Jordanian government spokeswoman and Syrian state television said on Sunday.

"This was a crucial artery of trade between Jordan and Syria and transit to other countries," said Jordanian government spokeswoman Jumana Ghunaimat.An IDF aircraft attacked Sunday afternoon a cell of terrorists launching incendiary balloons from the northern Gaza Strip into Israel, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



Meanwhile, the Security Cabinet has convened to discuss the situation in the strip with the attendance of the military brass.

Incendiary balloons

Deputy Chief of Staff Maj.Gen. Aviv Kochavi is filling in for Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot who is currently in the United States for a work visit.

Speeking in the Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hamas, saying the IDF is edging closer to a large scale military activity in the Gaza Strip and if the ongoing border violence continues, Israel will strike the terror group with very powerful blows.

Gaza border riots (Photo: AP)

Netanyahu emphasized that the time has come to resort to a different kind of activity to resolve the situation in the strip, adding that if Hamas has any sense, they will stop the violence immediately.

Speking to Ynet, Head of the Eshkol Regional Council, Gadi Yarkoni, said, "We must retaliate to end this (the kite and balloon terrorism-ed).

"This black thick blanket of smoke covering our skies is unacceptable. I invite defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman to spend the Shabbat with us. But he will have to bring his gas mask because it's impossible to walk outside without it," he quipped.

"This is a very serious situation, and I call on the defense minister and the Security Cabinet to take the right decisions," Yarkoni added.

According to the Eshkol Regional Council head, the Gaza border communities' residents have been under "routine emergency conditions," which must immediately stop.

"The Gaza border communities' residents are strong and are prepared for another round (of fighting) to achieve an outcome.

"Fighting is not the end, it's the means after which calm would be achieved. I'm certain that the Hamas leaders, those who give the orders to riot on the Gaza border fence, should be neutralized, as Lieberman said.

"No sovereign country would have let this happen," Yarkoni said in reference to the "March of Return" campaign during which Palestinian rioters gather along the security fence, resorting to violence over the six past months.

"The IDF must have the power to stop it," he concluded.

Fire erupts in Kibbutz Or HaNer amid incendiary balloon (Photo: Matan Tzuri)

After months of Hamas-led Gaza border violence, the time has come to deliver the hardest blow" on the terror group, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Ynet on Sunday.

"Before we go to war in Gaza, we must exhaust all other options, which we made every effort to do  we tried to exhaust every possibility," he explained.

We have turned every stone, and we have passed the point of no return We have reached the stage where we must deliver the hardest blow imaginable on Hamas, Lieberman asserted.

Meanwhile, several fires caused by incendiary balloons erupted during the day throughout the Gaza border communities.

The flammable balloons caused severe damages in Moshav Netiv HaAsara, following which a conflagration also sparked in the Gvaram nature reserve.

Incendiary balloon lands on electricity cable (Photo: Matan Tzuri)

An additional fire broke out due to an incendiary balloon near Kibbutz Or HaNer, and an incendiary balloon landed on an electricity cable in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. An IDF aircraft attacked Sunday afternoon a cell of terrorists launching incendiary balloons in the northern Gaza Strip into Israel, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said.

Earlier, an incendiary balloon triggered a fire in an avocado plantation in Kibbutz Sa'ad. Firefighting teams managed to gain control over the fire.

Furthermore, during Friday's violent protest along the Gaza border fence, IDF troops identified several terrorists climbing over the security fence on which they placed an object that caused a fire.

Immediately after that, the army spotted three Palestinians approaching an IDF post, prompting the forces to shot them dead according to rules of engagement.

No casualties were reported among the IDF soldiers.

An initial investigation into the incident shows that the terrorists placed a bomb on the fence, which exploded in part. Then, 20 Palestinians crossed the fence, and soldiers responded with open fire, pushing them back into Gaza.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, seven Palestinians were killed during the riots.

Gaza border violence (Photo: AP)

On Thursday, The IDF Spokesperson's Unit released footage the engineering unit's search for terrorist tunnels in the Gaza border area, as well as a video showing the demolition of cross-border Hamas tunnel in Khan Younis, area in the central Gaza Strip, which infiltrated 200 meters into Israel.

This is the 15th tunnel the IDF has destroyed since October 2017, and it is a part of a complex network of Hamas attack tunnels. The kilometer-long tunnel, which was divided into several branches, had electricity and was connected to communication networks.

A look inside the Hamas tunnel (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

Following the Gaza border clashes, Lieberman warned on Saturday that as long as the violent rioting continues on the Gaza border, there will be no supply of fuel and gas to the strip.

Lieberman's office said that "Israel will not tolerate a situation in which fuel tankers are allowed into Gaza, while violence against IDF soldiers and Israeli citizens is being used."Speaking in Jerusalem before 140 foreign journalists from 40 different countries, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly criticized Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, blaming him for rewarding terrorists.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



"Look at our neighbors. Look at what President Abbas is doing. I mean, he's rewarding terrorists. Pay for slay. The more they kill, the more they get paid. He has on his law books a rule, a law that says that if you sell land to Jews  you'll be executed. Some peace and some coexistence," the premier vented.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch)

In reference to the transfer of the US embassy to Jerusalem, Netanyahu said, "The American Embassy is close by, is actually within walking distance and it's a result of a bold and historic decision by President Trump to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and move the US embassy here. I think he deserves tremendous applause for a tremendous act. President trump corrected an historic wrong. I mean the idea that we are not attached to Jerusalem is an unbelievable fiasco that you see at the UN institutions, resolutions, at UNESCO.

Netanyahu speaks to reports (:  )

X

"This attempt to falsify history is vis-a-vis Jerusalem and vis-a-vis our connection to this land is a terrific injustice to the tribulation of the Jewish people that have made a journey that is unsurpassed by any other people.

"Israel is the only country in the Middle East where the Christian community thrives and grows. Without Israel radical Islam would overrun the Middle East easily, Israel not only protect itself nut also protects the neighborhood," he went on to say.

Addressing the Iranian threat, Netanyahu said, "Iran wants to base itself right next to Israel in order to destroy Israel. They say so openly. We will not let them do so. We back up these words with actions, including now in these days, as we speak. Nothing has changed. We'll continue to do what we need to do to protect ourselves and defend ourselves against those who would destroy us," he asserted.

"Several weeks ago the Iranians attempted to plan a terror attack against the regime in Paris," he vented.

"Iran is organizing terror cells around the world. Iran view us as the small devil, Europe is the medium devil, and the US is the big devil.

"Iran has expanded its empire through countries as Syria and Yemen. Don't give Iran the tools to destroy us," Netanyahu exclaimed.

Calling the journalists ambassadors of truth, the prime minister asked them to tell Israel's history, its present, about who wants and who does not want peace, stressing the fact Israel is a strong democracy that defends the rights of Muslims and Christians.

"People have to say the truth. You are ambassadors of truth. You're not merely the greatest ambassadors that Israel has around the world. You're champions of truth. And if there's one thing that I can ask you to do is to tell the truth. Tell the truth about our history, tell the truth about our present, tell the truth about who wants peace and who doesnt want peace," he elaborated.

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

"That is also applicable to what happened in the Palestinian Authority areas. You know the town of Bethlehem? Yes. You have a connection to it. We all do. And among other things, we have a connection to King David, the history of Ruth as you know, but also the story of Jesus.

"Now, Bethlehem had when we handed it over to the Palestinian Authority a Christian population of roughly 80%. Now it's about 20%. And that change happened because in the Palestinian Authority areas, as well as throughout the Middle East, Christians are being constricted, they're being pressured, also they're being persecuted," Netanyahu lamented.

When asked about American Student Lara Alqasem, who has been barred from entering the country because of alleged involvement in the BDS movement, the Israeli leader said that every country has the right to decide who can enter it.

"Every country and every democracy and many democracies have special arrangements where they decide who to let in and who not to let it. If you come in and you are virulently against America and you try to come to the United States, there's a good change you wont be let in if people know that in advance. That's also true of many of the European democracies. It's true of the democracy called Israel.

"I trust that Minister Erdan has examined that and looked into it. It's under the decision now of the Israeli Supreme Court so I'm not going to get into that. And they'll decide whether they handle it or not. If they handle it, we'll see how it develops. If they dont handle it, she'll be deported," he stated.

After Netanyahu concluded his speech, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman took the stage.

"Ten months ago the US administration acknowledges Jerusalem as Israel's official capital. Every day in which I go to work in Jerusalem is a special experience for me, and I'm not taking it for granted.

"Not a day goes by without me thanking for the privilege given to me to serve as the US ambassador in this holy city," Friedman said.Israel hoped that the entry of fuel into the Gaza Strip would succeed in bringing about calm. It worked, and for 48 hours there was relative calm in the scale of border fence disturbances, as well as in the launching of incendiary balloons. But then came Fridays border riots, which made it clear that the attempt had failed.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



On Friday at 6 PM Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman ordered to halt the flow of fuel into the coastal enclave.

Palestinians riot along the border (Photo: AP)

This declaration, which was justified in light of the circumstances, could push Hamas into a corner and eventually turn out to be a declaration of war. It is Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who is pleased with the move, hoping that efforts to implement an arrangement would fail.

Friday's demonstration was attended by 15,000 Gazans. Seven of them were killed, and more than 100 wounded. The most significant incident was the placing of an explosive device on the fence near the center of the Gaza Strip, which exploded partially and tore a hole in the fence.

Through this hole, 20 terrorists entered Israel. They were immediately identified by the IDF that fired warning shots. Most of the terrorists were pushed back into the strip. However, three of them continued approaching a military post and were shot dead. The IDF praised the actions of the soldiers who prevented the infiltration of the terrorists.

Gazans attempt to pry open security fence

The infiltration attempts, which have become more significant this week, indicate a step up. The infiltration of 20 terrorists sets a dangerous precedent and indicates an increase in the Palestinians' daring to detonate an explosive charge on the fence and infiltrate in large numbers.

The IDF was prepared for this event with observations posts, the 101st battalion which was properly deployed and an elite unit that was sent as reinforcements to Gaza especially for Fridays riots. But still, most of the time the IDF is not deployed in such an extensive manner.

This incident could have ended in the abduction of a soldier or a terrorist infiltration into a town close to the fence, which would have forced the IDF and the State of Israel to embark on a broad campaign that was neither planned nor wanted. Therefore, the policy on the fence must change.

Cabinet Minister Yoav Galant said Saturday that the orders given to the IDF are clear: Ensure that no one crosses the fence, but use the minimal amount of force. This directive, to use minimal force, could end in disaster.Concluding a four-hour meeting, the Security Cabinet decided Sunday evening to continue efforts to achieve an agreement with Hamas mediated by Egyptian intelligence head Abbas Kamel, and UN envoy to the Middle East Nikolay Mladenov, rather than to take harsh measures against the terror organization in light of the rampant violence on the security fence and the ongoing launching of incendiary balloons from Gaza into Israel.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter



Earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned Hamas that if the Gaza border violence would not cease, the terror organization will suffer a "very powerful blow."

Gaza border riots (Photo: AP)

Despite that Cabinet ministers urged Netanyahu to take firm moves against Hamas, the prime minister decided to wait for the weekend when Kamel is expected to arrive in the area in order to renew negotiations talks between Israel and Hamas.

Government officials said that the "Chance to achieve calm are higher than achieving escalation. However, a lot depends on Hamas."

Speaking at the beginning of the weekly government meeting, Netanyahu said the time has come to resort to a different kind of activity to resolve the situation in the strip, adding that if Hamas has any sense, they will stop the violence immediately."

Hamas has apparently not internalized the messageif they do not stop the violent attacks against us, they will be stopped in a different way and it will be very, very painful, the prime minister stressed.

In an Ynet interview, Lieberman explained that the violent rioting along the Gaza border fence and incendiary balloon terrorism have left Israel no choice.

We have turned every stone, and we have passed the point of no return We have reached the stage where we must deliver the hardest blow imaginable on Hamas, Lieberman said.

Gaza border riots

X

"Before we go to war in Gaza, we must exhaust all other options, which we made every effort to do  we tried to exhaust every possibility," he elaborated.

Meanwhile, Hamas threatened that if Abbas tightens the sanctions on Gaza, the security fence might be breached resulting in the infiltration of thousands of Palestinians to Egypt or Israel.

According to the Al-Hayat newspaper, Hamas's threat was conveyed to the Egyptian intelligence head.

Hamas officials added that they are not interested in the scenario of thousands of Palestinians becoming Shahids (martyrs). However, the officials said the terror organization would defend itself in case Abbas imposes additional sanctions on the coastal enclave.

Speking to Ynet, Head of the Eshkol Regional Council, Gadi Yarkoni, said, " We must retaliate to end this (the kite and balloon terrorism-ed).

"This black thick blanket of smoke covering our skies is unacceptable. I invite defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman to spend the Shabbat with us. But he will have to bring his gas mask because it's impossible to walk outside without it," he quipped.

Fire sparks in Kibbutz Or HaNer amid incendiary balloon (Photo: Matan Tzuri)

"This is a very serious situation, and I call on the defense minister and the Security Cabinet to take the right decisions," Yarkoni added.

According to the Eshkol Regional Council head, the Gaza border communities' residents have been under "routine emergency conditions," which must immediately stop.

"The Gaza border communities' residents are strong and are prepared for another round (of fighting) to achieve an outcome.

"Fighting is not the end, it's the means after which calm would be achieved. I'm certain that the Hamas leaders, those who give the orders to riot on the Gaza border fence, should be neutralized, as Lieberman said.

"No sovereign country would have let this happen," Yarkoni said in reference to the "March of Return" campaign during which Palestinian rioters gather along the security fence, resorting to violence over the six past months.

"The IDF must have the power to stop it," he concluded.

In addition, several fires caused by incendiary balloons erupted during the day throughout the Gaza border communities throughout Sunday.

incendiary balloon (Photo: Roee Idan)

The flammable balloons caused severe damages in Moshav Netiv HaAsara, following which a conflagration also sparked in the Gvaram nature reserve.

An additional fire broke out due to an incendiary balloon near Kibbutz Or HaNer, and an incendiary balloon landed on an electricity cable in Kibbutz Kfar Aza.

Earlier, an incendiary balloon triggered a fire in an avocado plantation in Kibbutz Sa'ad. Firefighting teams managed to gain control over the fires.Expert Interviews with Kevin Turner. 15/10/2018

A report released recently that estimates Chinese investment in Australian and New Zealand residential and commercial real estate has revealed that Chinese purchased property worth $17.4 billion in Australia in 2017. And in New Zealand, it was $1 billion. Carrie Law from Juwai looks at how that stacks up with previous years.



Listen to the interview now:

Transcript:

Kevin: A report released recently by juwai.com estimates Chinese investment in Australian residential and commercial real estate, and Ill give you the figures in just a moment. There are other reports, of course, foreign investment review board issues a report, but thats on approved investment. This gives you more of an indication about commercial and residential investment by Chinese, not always necessarily approved. So this gives us an idea on just how dynamic it is. It revealed that Chinese purchased property worth $17.4 billion in Australia in 2017. And in New Zealand, it was $1 billion.

Kevin: So how does that stack up to previous years, and where is it headed? Joining me to discuss that, Carrie Law, who is the CEO and Director of juwai.com, the number one Australian real estate portal. How does that compare with previous years?

Carrie: In year 2017, we see that in terms of the total transactions from Chinese buyers, especially mainlanders, is approximately Australian dollar 23.9 billion, which is a slight drop, as some jobs actually, as compared with 2016. Because the overall month, is approximately 26%, or 27% down by 2016.

Kevin: Yeah, 26.8%, thats quite a drop. How much of an impact do you think the legislation, or changes to legislation in Australia in particular, have to do with that in terms of trying to restrict foreign investment?

Carrie: I think that both sides kind of pull and push effect. Because in terms of China, as a whole, for restricting capital outflow and then investing in the overseas real estate properties is considered as USD fifty thousand per year, and thats just one thing Chinese buyer has been looking for ways in getting the money offshore, investing to all markets, not just Australian focus. And in terms of Australias we see that, say for example, Victoria as well as New South Wales, there are restrictions in terms of foreign buyers tax. So kinds of significant increments for non-permanent residents in terms of owning properties in Australia. So that is one thing has been restrict and slow down demand because getting also, in terms of money, some bank facilities to finance the projects is more difficult, as well. So thats combined push and pull, we consider, is causing the changes in the market for this year. However, the next year, or this year, 2018, receive more direct increments, potential increments, in Chinese demand for homes in Australia.

Kevin: Are there any decreases or increases in other parts of the world? What would you say would be the most favoured area for people and why?

Carrie: Yes, you have good eyes, I think, Kevin. Especially because of the [inaudible 00:02:59] we see southeast Asia is actually up and coming and a lot of investments or actually developers are very aggressive in marketing to China and Chinese world. We see significant growth in this market, especially Asia, which is up about 352.4% representing a total of 32.9, close to 33 billion USD. So this is a major increment, as this is as expect as Juwai as well, in the last year.

Kevin: The difference between commercial and residential, your report, of course, combines them both, is there a preference for one over the other?

Carrie: I still think the demand in terms of residential is still higher, because its kind of like 80% of total transaction, meaning approximately 19.4 billion last year, and 4.5 billion for commercial, which is 20%, or 19% in the market. So people buying into Australia, they actually look for more lifestyle as far as education for their children. And only 40% of them are for investments. So maybe because of that, residential still more preferred.

Kevin: Thank you for your time, Carrie.

Carrie: Thank you, Kevin.

Real Estate Talk  the only place where you hear all Australasias leading property experts.

...................................................................................................................................................News

Washington, DC - The Justice Department today announced that it has reached a settlement with Mar-Jac Poultry, Inc., a poultry processing company in Gainesville, Georgia. The settlement resolves a long-standing lawsuit filed by the Justice Department alleging that Mar-Jac Poultry violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by discriminating against work-authorized non-U.S. citizens when verifying their work authorization.

The Department filed its complaint on July 14, 2011, after investigating a charge that a worker filed. The complaint alleged that from at least July 1, 2009 to at least January 27, 2011, Mar-Jac Poultry routinely required work-authorized non-U.S. citizens to present a document issued by the Department of Homeland Security, such as a Permanent Resident Card or Employment Authorization Document, to prove their work authorization, but did not require specific documents from U.S. citizens. On March 3, 2017, the court found that Mar-Jac was liable for a pattern or practice of this type of discrimination against non-U.S. citizens Respondent hired between June 16, 2010 and February 9, 2011, leaving monetary and other remedies for future resolution. All work-authorized individuals, whether U.S. citizens or non-U.S. citizens, have the right to choose which valid documentation to present to prove they are authorized to work. The INAs antidiscrimination provision prohibits employers from subjecting employees to unnecessary documentary demands based on employees citizenship status or national origin.

Even an employer that hires many non-U.S. citizens can violate the INA if it treats employees differently based on citizenship status or national origin when verifying their identity and work authorization, said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore of the Civil Rights Division. This case demonstrates the Departments commitment to ensuring that all employers implement the employment eligibility verification process in a non-discriminatory manner.

Under the settlement agreement, Mar-Jac will pay a civil penalty of $190,000; pay $1020 to a refugee the company fired when he did not produce a DHS-issued document to reverify his work authority; pay up to $23,980 in back pay to compensate other affected employees and applicants; train its employees on the INAs anti-discrimination provision; and be subject to departmental monitoring for two years.News

Houston, Texas - A federal jury convicted a Houston-area hospital administrator on Friday for his role in a $16 million Medicare fraud scheme.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Departments Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick of the Southern District of Texas, Special Agent in Charge Perrye K. Turner of the FBIs Houston Field Office, Special Agent in Charge C.J. Porter of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector Generals (HHS-OIG) Dallas Region, Special Agent in Charge D. Richard Goss of IRS Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) Houston Field Office, and Unit Division Chief Stormy Kelly of the Texas Attorney Generals Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) made the announcement.

Starsky D. Bomer, 45, of Harris County, Texas, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to pay and receive healthcare kickbacks, two counts of violating the Anti-Kickback Statute, and one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud following a five-day trial. Sentencing has been scheduled for Jan. 28, 2019 before U.S. District Judge Vanessa D. Gilmore of the Southern District of Texas, who presided over the trial.

According to evidence presented at trial, from 2011 until February 2013, Bomer and others engaged in a scheme to defraud Medicare by submitting to Medicare, through Atrium Medical Center (Atrium) and Pristine Healthcare (Pristine), approximately $16 million in false and fraudulent claims for partial hospitalization program (PHP) services. A PHP is a form of intensive outpatient treatment for severe mental illness.

The evidence presented at trial showed that Bomer, the hospitals chief financial officer and chief operating officer, orchestrated a scheme by which he and others paid illegal bribes and kickbacks to group home owners and patient recruiters in exchange for sending Medicare patients to Atrium and Pristines PHPs. Bomer disguised bribes and kickbacks as salary payments and transportations payments to group home owners in exchange for patient referrals, the evidence showed. In addition, evidence presented at trial showed that Bomer knew that most of the patients admitted to Atrium and Pristines PHPs did not qualify for and were never provided legitimate partial hospital services.

Evidence at trial demonstrated that Bomer and his coconspirators billed Medicare over $16 million for psychiatric treatment purportedly provided to PHP patients at Atrium and Pristines PHPs.

The case was investigated by the HHS-OIG, FBI, IRS-CI, OPM-OIG, and MFCU. The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Jason Knutson, Aleza Remis, and Gerald M. Moody Jr. of the Criminal Divisions Fraud Section.

The Fraud Section leads the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which is part of a joint initiative between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their efforts to prevent and deter fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country. Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in 12 cities across the country, has charged nearly 4,000 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $14 billion.News

Washington, DC - Washington, D.C. siblings pleaded guilty Tuesday for their April attack on a federal prosecutor and a murder victims daughter outside the Superior Court for the District of Columbia, announced Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Departments Criminal Division.

Maurice Hight, 28, pleaded guilty to one count of felony assault on a federal official. Tiera Hight, 21, pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor assault on a federal official and one count of misdemeanor assault in violation of District of Columbia Code. According to admissions made in connection with their plea agreements, on April 5, 2018, Maurice and Tiera Hight were in a courtroom in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia waiting for a verdict against their brother, who was being tried for murder. After the guilty verdict, Maurice and Tiera Hight exited the courthouse and waited outside. Several minutes later, the murder victims daughter exited the courthouse, escorted by a federal prosecutor. As they approached the street, Tiera Hight walked directly towards the pair and she and Maurice Hight began to circle them. Tiera Hight then began to spit on the murder victims daughter and physically attacked her. The federal prosecutor intervened, but Tiera Hight continued her attack. Maurice Hight then joined the fight, forcibly grabbing the federal prosecutor, pulling her down and punching her in the right side of the face with a closed fist. The federal prosecutor fell hard to the ground and sustained swelling and bruises to her face and arm. Two deputy U.S. Marshals in the area placed Maurice Hight under arrest, and Maurice Hight proceeded to spit in the face of one of the deputy U.S. Marshals.

Our criminal justice system cannot tolerate violence against crime victims or those entrusted with enforcing our laws, said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski. Todays guilty pleas reinforce the Department of Justices steadfast commitment to prosecuting anyone who engages in vindictive attacks against victims of crime or federal officials.

The Hights will be sentenced on Dec. 18 before Senior U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman of the District of Columbia.

The Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Unit for the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia investigated this case. Trial Attorneys Jennifer A. Clarke and Lauren Bell of the Criminal Divisions Public Integrity Section are prosecuting the case.Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business.The following companies are subsidiares of UnitedHealth Group: 1031387 B.C. Unlimited Liability Company, 1070715 B.C. Unlimited Liability Company, 1st Avenue Pharmacy Inc., 310 Canyon Medical, 310 Canyon Medical LLC, 4C MSO LLC, 4C Medical Group PLC, 5995 Minnetonka LLC, ABCO International Holdings LLC, ACN Group IPA of New York, ACN Group IPA of New York Inc., ACN Group of California, ACN Group of California Inc., AHJV, AHJV MSO, AHN Accontable Care Organization LLC, AHN Central Services LLC, AHN Target Holdings LLC, AMIL International, AMIL International S.a.r.l., APS  Assistencia Personalizada a Saude Ltda., ARC Infusion, ASC Holdings of New Jersey LLC, ASC Network LLC, ASI Global, ASI Global LLC, Access Administrators Inc., Access HealthSource Administrators Inc., Access HealthSource Inc., Access I.V., Administradora Clinica La Colina S.A.S., Administradora Country S.A., Administradora Medica Centromed S.A., Advanced Care, Advanced Care Pharmacy, Advanced Pharma Inc., Advanced Surgery Center of Clifton LLC, Advanced Surgical Hospital LLC, Advantage Care Network Inc., Advocate Condell Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Advocate Sherman Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Advocate Southwest Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Advocate-SCA Partners LLC, Alere Health, Alere Health Improvement Company, Alere Healthcare of Illinois, Alere Wellbeing, Alere Wellology, Alere of New York, Aliansalud Entidad Promotora de Salud S.A., All Savers Insurance Company, All Savers Life Insurance Company of California, Alliance Surgical Center LLC, Aloha Surgical Center LLC, Ambient Healthcare, Ambient Healthcare Inc., Ambient Healthcare of Central Florida, Ambient Healthcare of Georgia, Ambient Healthcare of Northeast Florida, Ambient Healthcare of S. Florida, Ambient Healthcare of West Florida, Ambient Holdings, Ambient Holdings Inc., Ambient Nursing Services, AmeriChoice, AmeriChoice Corporation, AmeriChoice Health Services, AmeriChoice of Connecticut, AmeriChoice of New Jersey, AmeriChoice of New Jersey Inc., American Health Network of Indiana Care Organization LLC, American Health Network of Indiana II LLC, American Health Network of Indiana LLC, American Health Network of Ohio Care Organization LLC, American Health Network of Ohio II LLC, American Health Network of Ohio LLC, Amico Saude Ltda., Amil, Amil Assistencia Medica Internacional S.A., Amil Lifesciences Participacoes Ltda., Antelope Valley Surgery Center L.P., Analisis Clinicos ML S.A.C., Apothecary Holdings Inc., Apothecary Shop of Phoenix Inc., AppleCare Medical Management, AppleCare Medical Management LLC, Aquitania Chilean Holding SpA, Arise Physician Group, Arizona Physicians IPA, Arizona Physicians IPA Inc., AssuranceRx, AssuranceRx LLC, Athens ASC Holdings LLC, Audax Health Solutions, Audax Health Solutions LLC, Austin Center for Outpatient Surgery L.P., Avella Patient Access Program Inc., Avella Specialty Pharmacy, Avella of Austin Inc., Avella of Columbus Inc., Avella of Deer Valley Inc., Avella of Denver Inc., Avella of Gilbert Inc., Avella of Las Vegas II Inc., Avella of Orlando Inc., Avella of Phoenix III Inc., Avella of Sacramento Inc., Avella of Scottsdale Inc., Avella of St. Louis Inc., Avella of Tampa LLC, Avella of Tucson II Inc., Avella of Tucson Inc., Aveta Arizona, Aveta Health Solutions Inc., Aveta Inc., Aveta Kansas City, Aveta Tennessee, AxelaCare Health Solutions, AxelaCare Intermediate Holdings, AxelaCare Intermediate Holdings LLC, AxelaCare LLC, B.R.A.S.S. Partnership in Commendam, Banmedica Colombia SpA, Banmedica Internacional SpA, Banmedica S.A., Beach Surgical Holdings III LLC, Behavioral Healthcare Options, Behavioral Healthcare Options Inc., Belleville Surgical Center Ltd. an Illinois Limited Partnership, Benefit Administration for the Self Employed L.L.C., Benefitter Insurance Solutions Inc., Birmingham Outpatient Surgical Center LLC, Blackstone Valley Surgicare GP LLC, Blue Ridge GP LLC, Bordeaux (Barbados) Holdings I SRL, Bordeaux (Barbados) Holdings II SRL, Bordeaux (Barbados) Holdings III SRL, Bordeaux Holding SpA, Bordeaux International Holdings Inc., Bordeaux UK Holdings I Limited, Bordeaux UK Holdings II Limited, Bordeaux UK Holdings III Limited, Bosque Medical Center Ltda., Brandon Ambulatory Surgery Center LC, BriovaRx, BriovaRx, BriovaRx Infusion Services, BriovaRx Infusion Services 102 LLC, BriovaRx Infusion Services 200 Inc., BriovaRx Infusion Services 204 Inc., BriovaRx Infusion Services 209 Inc., BriovaRx Infusion Services 305 LLC, BriovaRx Infusion Services 402 LLC, BriovaRx Infusion Services Inc., BriovaRx Specialty LLC, BriovaRx of California, BriovaRx of California Inc., BriovaRx of Florida, BriovaRx of Florida Inc., BriovaRx of Georgia, BriovaRx of Georgia LLC, BriovaRx of Hawaii, BriovaRx of Indiana, BriovaRx of Louisiana, BriovaRx of Louisiana L.L.C., BriovaRx of Maine, BriovaRx of Maine Inc., BriovaRx of Massachusetts, BriovaRx of Massachusetts LLC, BriovaRx of Nevada, BriovaRx of New York, BriovaRx of New York Inc., BriovaRx of Texas, BriovaRx of Texas Inc., CDC Holdings Colombia S.A.S., CLISA  Clinica de Santo Antonio S.A., CMO  Centro Medico de Oftalmologia S/S Ltda., CMS  Central de Manipulacao e Servicos Farmaceuticos S.A., CNIC Health Solutions Inc., COI Participacoes S.A., COI  Clinicas Oncologicas Integradas S.A., Cabin Enterprises LLC, Cabin Holdings LLC, California MedTrans Network IPA LLC, California MedTrans Network MSO LLC, California Medical Group Insurance Company Risk Retention Group, Camp Hill-SCA Centers LLC, Capital City Medical Group L.L.C., Cardio Management, Cardio Management Inc., Care Improvement Plus Group Management, Care Improvement Plus Group Management LLC, Care Improvement Plus South Central Insurance Company, Care Improvement Plus Wisconsin Insurance Company, Care Improvement Plus of Texas Insurance Company, Casa de Saude Santa Therezinha Ltda., Casa de Saude Santa Therezinha S.A., Castle Rock SurgiCenter LLC, Catalyst360, Catalyst360 LLC, Catamaran Finance (Ireland) Unlimited Company, Catamaran Health Solutions, Catamaran Holdings I, Catamaran IPA III, Catamaran Mail, Catamaran PBM of Illinois II, Catamaran PBM of Puerto Rico, Catamaran PD of Pennsylvania, Catamaran PD of Puerto Rico, Catamaran Rebate Management, Catamaran S.a.r.l., Catamaran Senior Services, Catamaran of Pennsylvania, Cedar Park Surgery Center LLC, Cemed Care - Empressa de Atendimento Clinico Geral Ltda., Cemed Care  Empresa de Atendimento Clinico Geral Ltda., Central Indiana Care Organization LLC, Central Ohio Care Organization LLC, Central de Compras SpA, CentriHealth Corporation, CentriHealth UK Limited, CentrifyHealth LLC, Centro Medico Hospitalar Pitangueiras Ltda., Centro Medico Odontologico Americano S.A.C., Centro Medico PJ Ltda., Centro de Entrenamiento en Reanimacion y Prevencion Limitada (CERP), Centro de Servicios Compartidos Banmedica S.A., Centromed Quilpue S.A., Centros Medicos y Dentales Multimed Ltda., Centurion Casualty Company, Channel Islands Surgicenter L.P., Channel Islands Surgicenter Properties LLC, Charleston Surgery Properties LLC, Charlotte-SC LLC, Childrens Surgery Center LLC, ChinaGate (Hong Kong) Limited, ChinaGate Company Limited, Citrus Regional Surgery Center L.P., Clinica Oftalmologica Danilo de Castro Sociedade Simples, Clinical Partners of Colorado Springs LLC, Clinica Alameda S.A., Clinica Bio Bio S.A., Clinica Ciudad del Mar S.A., Clinica Davila y Servicios Medicos S.A., Clinica Medico Cirurgica de Santa Tecla S.A., Clinica San Borja (La Esperanza del Peru S.A.), Clinica San Felipe S.A., Clinica Santa Maria S.A., Clinica Sanchez Ferrer S.A., Clinica Vespucio S.A., Clinica del Country S.A., Coachella Valley Physicians of PrimeCare, Coachella Valley Physicians of PrimeCare Inc., Coalition For Advanced Pharmacy Services, Coalition for Advanced Pharmacy Services Inc., Coastal Physicians Management Inc., Collaborative Care Holdings, Collaborative Care Holdings LLC, Collaborative Care Services, Collaborative Care Services Inc., Collaborative Care Solutions, Collaborative Realty, Collaborative Realty LLC, Colmedica Medicina Prepagada, Colonial Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Colorado Innovative Physician Solutions Inc., Colorado Springs Surgery Center Ltd., Comfort Care Transportation, Comfort Care Transportation LLC, Commonwealth Administrators, Connecticut Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Connecticut Surgery Properties LLC, Connecticut Surgical Center LLC, Connextions, Connextions HCI, Constructora e Inmobiliaria Magapoq S.A., Consumer Wellness Solutions Inc., Country Scan Ltda., Crescent Drug Corp., Cypress Care, Cypress Care Inc., DBP Services of New York IPA, DBP Services of New York IPA Inc., DTC Surgery Center LLC, DWIC of Tampa Bay, DWIC of Tampa Bay Inc., DaVita Magan Management Inc., Danbury Surgical Center L.P., Day-Op Surgery Consulting Company, Day-Op Surgery Consulting Company LLC, Definity Health, Dental Benefit Providers, Dental Benefit Providers Inc., Dental Benefit Providers of California, Dental Benefit Providers of California Inc., Dental Benefit Providers of Illinois, Dental Benefit Providers of Illinois Inc., Derry Surgical Center LLC, Diagnostico Ecotomografico Centromed Ltda., Diasnostico por Imagenes Centromed Ltda., Dilab Medicina Nuclear Ltda., Diplomat Pharmacy, Distance Learning Network, Distance Learning Network Inc., Doctor + S.A.C., Dry Creek Surgery Center LLC, Dublin Surgery Center LLC, Duncan Printing Services, Duncan Printing Services LLC, E Street Endoscopy LLC, ELG FZE, EP Campus I, EP Campus I LLC, East Brunswick Surgery Center LLC, Electronic Network Systems, Electronic Network Systems Inc., Elual Participacoes S.A., Empire Physician Management Company, Empire Physician Management Company LLC, Employers Health Choice PPO Inc., Empremedica S. A., Endoscopy Center Affiliates Inc., Enterprise Life Insurance Company, Equian, Equian LLC, Equian Parent Corp., Esho  Empresa de Servicos Hospitalares S.A., Etho  Empresa de Tecnologia Hospitalar Ltda., Evercare Collaborative Solutions, Evercare Collaborative Solutions Inc., Everett MSO Inc., Excellion Servicos Biomedicos Ltda., Excellion Servicos Biomedicos S.A., Excelsior Insurance Brokerage Inc., Executive Health Resources, Executive Health Resources Inc., Executive Surgery Center LLC, Eye Clinic Oftalmologia Clinico Cirurgica e Diagnostico Ltda., FMG Holdings, FMG Holdings LLC, FOR HEALTH OF ARIZONA, Family Health Care Services, Family Home Hospice, Family Home Hospice Inc., First Rx Specialty & Mail Services, Florida MedTrans Network LLC, Florida MedTrans Network MSO LLC, For Health, For Health Inc., For Health of Arizona Inc., Fortified Provider Network Inc., Fortify Technologies Asia LLC, Fortify Technologies LLC, Foundation Financial Services Inc., Franklin Surgical Center LLC, Freedom Life Insurance Company of America, Freeway Surgicenter of Houston LLC, Frontier MEDEX Limited, Frontier Medex Tanzania Limited, FrontierMEDEX, FrontierMEDEX (RMS), FrontierMEDEX (RMS) Inc., FrontierMEDEX Government Services, FrontierMEDEX Government Services LLC, FrontierMEDEX Inc., FrontierMEDEX Kenya Limited, FrontierMEDEX US, FrontierMEDEX US Inc., Fundacion Banmedica, GRANTS PASS SURGERY CENTER LLC, Gadsden Surgery Center LLC, Gadsden Surgery Center Ltd., Gainesville Surgery Center L.P., Gainesville Surgery Properties LLC, Genoa, Genoa Healthcare Inc., Genoa Healthcare LLC, Genoa QoL Wholesale LLC, Genoa Technology (Canada) Inc., Genoa Technology Inc., Genoa Telepsychiatry Inc., Genoa of Arkansas LLC, Glenwood Surgical Center L.P., Glenwood-SC Inc., Golden Outlook, Golden Outlook Inc., Golden Rule Financial Corporation, Golden Rule Insurance Company, Golden Triangle Surgicenter L.P., Grapevine Finance LLC, Greater Hartford ASC LLC, Grove Place Surgery Center L.L.C., Guardian Health Systems Limited Partnership, H&W Indemnity (SPC), H&W Indemnity (SPC) Ltd., H.I. Investments Holding Company LLC, HCP ACO California LLC, HCP ACO Nevada LLC, HCentive Technology India Private Limited, HMI NewCo LLC, Harken Health Insurance Company, Hayes-Strub LLC, Health Business Systems, Health Care-ONE Insurance Agency Inc., Health Inventures Employment Solutions LLC, Health Inventures LLC, Health Net Insurance of New York, Health Net Services (Bermuda) Ltd., Health Plan of Nevada, Health Plan of Nevada Inc., Health Technology Analysts Pty Limited, HealthAllies, HealthAllies Inc., HealthCare Partners ASC-LB LLC, HealthCare Partners Management Services California LLC, HealthCare Partners RE LLC, HealthFirst IPA Inc., HealthMarkets Group Inc., HealthMarkets Inc., HealthMarkets Insurance Agency Inc., HealthMarkets LLC, HealthMarkets NewCo Inc., HealthMarkets Services Inc., HealthSCOPE Holdings Inc., HealthScope Benefits Inc., Healthcare Partners Plan of Nevada Inc., Healthcare Solutions Inc., Heartland Heart and Vascular LLC, Help S.A., Help Service S.A., Highlands Ranch Healthcare, Highlands Ranch Healthcare LLC, Home Care I.V. of Bend, Home Infusion With Heart, Home Medical S.A., Hospice Inspiris Holdings, Hospice Inspiris Holdings Inc., Hospitais Associados de Pernambuco Ltda., Hospital Alvorada de Taguatinga Ltda., Hospital Ana Costa S.A., Hospital Maternidade Promater Ltda., Hospital Samaritano de Sao Paulo Ltda., Hospital Santa Helena S.A., Hospital de Clinicas de Jacarepagua Ltda., Humedica, Humedica Inc., Hygeia Corporation, Hygeia Corporation (Canada), Hygeia Corporation (DE), Hygeia Corporation (Ontario), INOV8 Surgical at Memorial City LLC, INSPIRIS of New York IPA, INSPIRIS of New York Management, INSPIRIS of New York Management Inc., INSPIRIS of Texas Physician Group, IRX Financing I LLC, Illinois Independent Care Network, Imed Star  Servicos de Desempenho Organizacional Ltda., Impel Consulting Experts, Impel Consulting Experts L.L.C., Impel Management Services L.L.C., Indian River Surgery Center Ltd., Indian River Surgery Properties LLC, Indiana Care Organization LLC, Infusource, Ingram & Associates, Ingram & Associates LLC, Inmobiliaria Apoquindo 3001 S.A., Inmobiliaria Apoquindo 3600 Ltda., Inmobiliaria Apoquindo S.A., Inmobiliaria Clinica Santa Maria S.A., Inmobiliaria Vinamed Ltda., Inmobiliaria e Inversiones Alameda S.A., Inspiris, Inspiris Inc., Inspiris Services Company, Inspiris of Tennessee, Instituto do Radium de Cammpinas Ltda, International Psychological Services Pty Limited, Inversiones Clinicas Santa Maria S.A., Isapre Banmedica S.A., Isapre Vida Tres S.A., Johnston Surgicare L.P., Joliet Surgery Center Limited Partnership, LHI, Laboratorio ROE S.A., Laboratorios Medicos Amed Quilpue S.A., LifePrint Health, LifePrint Health Inc., LifeStyles Marketing Group Inc., LifeWell Ltd. Co., Lifeprint Accountable Care Organization, Lifeprint Accountable Care Organization LLC, Lifeprint East, Lifeprint East Inc., Logistics Health Inc., Lotten-Eyes Oftalmologia Clinica e Cirurgica Ltda., Louisville S.C. Ltd., Louisville-SC Properties Inc., Loyola Ambulatory Surgery Center at Oakbrook Inc., Lusiadas - Parcerias Cascais S.A., Lusiadas A.C.E., Lusiadas S.A., Lusiadas SGPS S.A., MAMSI Insurance Resources, MAMSI Life and Health Insurance Company, MD Ops, MD Ops Inc., MD-Individual Practice Association, MD-Individual Practice Association Inc., ME AHS UC LLC, MEDEX Insurance Services, MEDEX Insurance Services Inc., MGH/SCA LLC, MHC Real Estate Holdings, MHC Real Estate Holdings LLC, MIAMI SURGERY CENTER LLC, MSLA Management LLC, MXMD Centros De Cancer, Mamoeco  Mamografia e Ecografia Centro de Diagnostico, Managed Physical Network, Managed Physical Network Inc., March Holdings, March Holdings Inc., March Vision Care, March Vision Care Inc., Marin Surgery Holdings Inc., Maryland Ambulatory Centers, Maryland-SCA Centers LLC, Massachusetts Assurance Company Ltd. PIC, Massachusetts Avenue Surgery Center LLC, Mat-Rx Development, Mat-Rx Fort Worth GP, MedExpress Development, MedExpress Development LLC, MedExpress Urgent Care Alabama LLC, MedExpress Urgent Care Inc. - Ohio, MedExpress Urgent Care Maine Inc., MedExpress Urgent Care New Hampshire Inc., MedExpress Urgent Care of Boynton Beach, MedExpress Urgent Care of Boynton Beach LLC, MedSynergies, MedSynergies LLC, MedSynergies North Texas, Medalliance Net Ltda, Medalliance Net Ltda., Medica Health Plans of Florida, Medica Health Plans of Florida Inc., Medica HealthCare Plans, Medica HealthCare Plans Inc., Medical Clinic of North Texas PLLC, Medical Hilfe S.A., Medical Preparatory School of Allied Health, Medical Support Los Angeles Inc., Medical Surgical Centers of America Inc., Medical Transportation Services, Medical Transportation Services LLC, Medication Management Systems Inc., Melbourne Surgery Center LLC, Memorial City Holdings LLC, Memorial City Partners LLC, Memphis-SC LLC, Memphis-SP LLC, Mesquite Liberty LLC, Metro I Stone Management, Metropolitan Medical Partners LLC, Metropolitan Medical Transportation IPA LLC, Mid Atlantic Medical Services, Mid-West National Life Insurance Company of Tennessee, Midwest Center for Day Surgery LLC, Mile High SurgiCenter LLC, Mississippi Surgery Holdings LLC, Mississippi Surgical Center Limited Partnership, Mobile Medical Professionals, Modern Medical Inc., Monarch Management Services, Monarch Management Services Inc., Montgomery Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Mountain View Medical Group LLC, Mt. Pleasant Surgery Center L.P., Multiangio Ltda., Muskogee Surgical Investors LLC, Mustang Razorback Holdings, Mustang Razorback Holdings Inc., My Wellness Solutions LLC, NAMM Holdings, NAMM Holdings Inc., NSC Fayetteville LLC, NSC Greensboro LLC, NSC Lancaster LLC, NSC Seattle Inc., NSC Upland LLC, Nashville-SCA Surgery Centers Inc., National Foundation Life Insurance Company, National MedTrans LLC, National Pacific Dental, National Pacific Dental Inc., National Surgery Centers LLC, Neighborhood Health Partnership, Neighborhood Health Partnership Inc., Netwerkes, Netwerkes LLC, Nevada Medical Services LLC, Nevada Pacific Dental, New Orleans Regional Physician Hospital Organization L.L.C., New West Physicians Inc., Newton Holdings LLC, North American Medical Management - Illinois, North American Medical Management California, North American Medical Management California Inc., North Puget Sound Center for Sleep Disorders LLC, North Puget Sound Oncology Equipment Leasing Company LLC, Northern Nevada Health Network, Northern Nevada Health Network Inc., Northern Rockies Surgicenter Inc., Northwest Surgicare LLC, Northwest Surgicare Ltd., Nutritional/Parenteral Home Care, Nutritional/Parenteral Home Care of Huntsville, OC Cardiology Practice Partners LLC, OSB  Tecnologia e Servicos de Suporte Ltda., Omesa S.A., OmniClaim LLC, Oncocare S.A.C., OneNet PPO, OneNet PPO LLC, Optimum Choice, Optimum Choice Inc., Optum, Optum Bank, Optum Bank Inc., Optum Biometrics, Optum Biometrics Inc., Optum Care Inc., Optum Care Services Company, Optum Clinical Services, Optum Clinics Holdings, Optum Clinics Holdings Inc., Optum Clinics Intermediate Holdings, Optum Clinics Intermediate Holdings Inc., Optum Digital Health Holdings LLC, Optum Finance (Ireland) Unlimited Company, Optum Global Finance (Ireland) Unlimited Company, Optum Global Solutions (India) Private Limited, Optum Global Solutions (Philippines), Optum Global Solutions (Philippines) Inc., Optum Global Solutions International B.V., Optum Government Solutions, Optum Government Solutions Inc., Optum Growth Partners LLC, Optum Health & Technology (Australia) Pty Ltd, Optum Health & Technology (Hong Kong) Limited, Optum Health & Technology (India) Private Limited, Optum Health & Technology (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Optum Health & Technology (UK) Limited, Optum Health & Technology (US), Optum Health & Technology (US) LLC, Optum Health & Technology FZ-LLC, Optum Health & Technology Holdings (US), Optum Health & Technology Holdings (US) Inc., Optum Health & Technology Servicos do Brasil Ltda., Optum Health Services (Canada) Ltd., Optum Health Solutions (Australia) Pty Ltd, Optum Health Solutions (UK) Limited, Optum Health and Technology FZ-LLC, Optum Healthcare of Illinois, Optum Healthcare of Illinois Inc., Optum Hospice Pharmacy Services, Optum Hospice Pharmacy Services LLC, Optum Inc., Optum Infusion Services 100 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 101 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 103 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 201 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 202 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 203 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 205 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 206 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 207 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 208 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 301 LP, Optum Infusion Services 302 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 308 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 401 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 403 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 404 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 501 Inc., Optum Insurance of Ohio, Optum Insurance of Ohio Inc., Optum Labs, Optum Labs Dimensions, Optum Labs Dimensions Inc., Optum Labs Inc., Optum Labs International (UK) Ltd., Optum Life Sciences (Canada) Inc., Optum Management Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Optum Management Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Optum Networks of New Jersey Inc., Optum Nevada Accountable Care Organization LLC, Optum Operations (Ireland) Unlimited Company, Optum Palliative and Hospice Care, Optum Palliative and Hospice Care Inc., Optum Palliative and Hospice Care of Pennsylvania, Optum Palliative and Hospice Care of Pennsylvania Inc., Optum Palliative and Hospice Care of Texas, Optum Palliative and Hospice Care of Texas Inc., Optum Perks LLC, Optum Pharmacy 701 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 702 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 703 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 705 LLC, Optum Public Sector Solutions, Optum Public Sector Solutions Inc., Optum Rocket, Optum Rocket Inc., Optum Senior Services LLC, Optum Services, Optum Services (Ireland) Limited, Optum Services (Puerto Rico) LLC, Optum Services Inc., Optum Solutions UK Holdings Limited, Optum Solutions do Brasil  Tecnologia e Servicos de Suporte Ltda., Optum Technology, Optum Technology LLC, Optum UK Solutions Group Limited, Optum Women's and Children's Health, Optum Women's and Children's Health LLC, Optum of New York Inc., Optum360, Optum360 LLC, Optum360 Services, Optum360 Services Inc., Optum360 Solutions LLC, OptumCare ACO Florida LLC, OptumCare ACO Holdings LLC, OptumCare ACO New Mexico LLC, OptumCare Clinical Trials LLC, OptumCare Colorado ASC LLC, OptumCare Colorado LLC, OptumCare Colorado Springs LLC, OptumCare Endoscopy Center New Mexico LLC, OptumCare Florida CI LLC, OptumCare Florida LLC, OptumCare Health Plan of California Inc., OptumCare Holdings Colorado LLC, OptumCare Holdings LLC, OptumCare Holdings New Mexico LLC, OptumCare Management LLC, OptumCare New Mexico LLC, OptumCare New York IPA Inc., OptumCare South Florida LLC, OptumHealth Care Solutions, OptumHealth Care Solutions LLC, OptumHealth Financial Services, OptumHealth Financial Services Inc., OptumHealth Holdings, OptumHealth Holdings LLC, OptumHealth International B.V., OptumInsight, OptumInsight Holdings, OptumInsight Holdings LLC, OptumInsight Inc., OptumInsight India Private Limited, OptumInsight Life Sciences, OptumInsight Life Sciences Inc., OptumRx, OptumRx Administrative Services, OptumRx Administrative Services LLC, OptumRx Discount Card Services, OptumRx Discount Card Services LLC, OptumRx Group Holdings, OptumRx Group Holdings Inc., OptumRx Health Solutions LLC, OptumRx Holdings, OptumRx Holdings I LLC, OptumRx Holdings LLC, OptumRx Home Delivery of Illinois, OptumRx Home Delivery of Ohio, OptumRx Home Delivery of Ohio LLC, OptumRx IPA III Inc., OptumRx Inc., OptumRx NY IPA, OptumRx NY IPA Inc., OptumRx PBM of Illinois, OptumRx PBM of Illinois Inc., OptumRx PBM of Maryland, OptumRx PBM of Maryland LLC, OptumRx PBM of Pennsylvania, OptumRx PBM of Pennsylvania LLC, OptumRx PBM of Puerto Rico LLC, OptumRx PBM of Wisconsin, OptumRx PBM of Wisconsin LLC, OptumRx PD of Maryland, OptumRx PD of Pennsylvania LLC, OptumRx Pharmacy, OptumRx Pharmacy Inc., OptumRx Pharmacy of Nevada, OptumRx Pharmacy of Nevada Inc., OptumRx of Pennsylvania LLC, OptumServe Technology Services Inc., Orlando Center for Outpatient Surgery L.P., OrthoNet Holdings, OrthoNet Holdings Inc., OrthoNet LLC, OrthoNet New York IPA, OrthoNet New York IPA Inc., OrthoNet Services, OrthoNet Services Inc., OrthoNet West, OrthoNet West Inc., OrthoNet of the Mid-Atlantic, OrthoNet of the South, OrthoNet of the South Inc., Ovations, Ovations Inc., Oxford Benefit Management, Oxford Benefit Management Inc., Oxford Health Insurance, Oxford Health Insurance Inc., Oxford Health Plans (CT), Oxford Health Plans (CT) Inc., Oxford Health Plans (NJ), Oxford Health Plans (NJ) Inc., Oxford Health Plans (NY), Oxford Health Plans (NY) Inc., Oxford Health Plans LLC, P2 Lower Acquisition, P2P Link LLC, PCCCV, PCCCV Inc., PCN DE Corp., PHC Subsidiary Holdings, PHC Subsidiary Holdings LLC, PHYS Holding Corp., PHYSICIANS DAY SURGERY CENTER LLC, PMI Acquisition, PMI Acquisition LLC, PMSI, PMSI Holdco II, PMSI Holdings, PMSI Holdings LLC, PMSI LLC, PMSI Settlement Solutions, PMSI Settlement Solutions LLC, POMCO Inc., POMCO Network Inc., PPH Holdings LLC, PacifiCare Health Systems, PacifiCare Life Assurance Company, PacifiCare Life and Health Insurance Company, PacifiCare of Arizona, PacifiCare of Arizona Inc., PacifiCare of Colorado, PacifiCare of Colorado Inc., PacifiCare of Nevada, PacifiCare of Nevada Inc., Pacific Casualty Company Inc., Pacifico S.A. Entidad Prestadora de Salud, Paoli Ambulatory Surgery Center, Paoli Surgery Center L.P., Parkway Surgery Center LLC, Pasteur Plaza Surgery Center GP Inc., PatientsLikeMe, PatientsLikeMe LLC, Patrimonio Autonomo Nueva Clinica - PANC., Payment Resolution Services, Payment Resolution Services LLC, Peoples Health, Peoples Health Inc., Pharmaceutical Care Network, Pharmacy Review Services, Pharmacy Software Holdco Inc., PhyServe Holdings, Physician Alliance of the Rockies LLC, Physician Care Partners, Physicians Health Choice of Texas, Physicians Health Choice of Texas LLC, Physicians Health Plan of Maryland, Physicians Health Plan of Maryland Inc., Physicians Plaza Holdings LLC, Plano de Saude Ana Costa Ltda., Plus One Health Management Puerto Rico, Plus One Health Management Puerto Rico Inc., Plus One Holdings, Plus One Holdings Inc., Polar II Fundo de Investimento em Participacoes, Polar II Fundo de Investimento em Participacoes Multiestrategia, Polo Holdco, Polo Holdco LLC, Pomerado Outpatient Surgical Center Inc., Pomerado Outpatient Surgical Center L.P., Precision Dialing Services Inc., Preferred Care Partners, Preferred Care Partners Holding, Preferred Care Partners Holding Corp., Preferred Care Partners Inc., Preferred Care Partners Medical Group, Preferred Care Partners Medical Group Inc., Premier Choice ACO, Premier Choice ACO Inc., Premier Surgery Center of Louisville L.P., Prime Health, Prime Health Inc., PrimeCare Medical Network, PrimeCare Medical Network Inc., PrimeCare of Citrus Valley, PrimeCare of Citrus Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Corona, PrimeCare of Corona Inc., PrimeCare of Hemet Valley, PrimeCare of Hemet Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Inland Valley, PrimeCare of Inland Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Moreno Valley, PrimeCare of Moreno Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Redlands, PrimeCare of Redlands Inc., PrimeCare of Riverside, PrimeCare of Riverside Inc., PrimeCare of San Bernardino, PrimeCare of San Bernardino Inc., PrimeCare of Sun City, PrimeCare of Sun City Inc., PrimeCare of Temecula, PrimeCare of Temecula Inc., ProHEALTH Fitness of Lake Success, ProHEALTH Fitness of Lake Success LLC, ProHEALTH Medical Management LLC, ProHealth Medical Management, ProHealth Physicians, ProHealth Physicians ACO, ProHealth Physicians ACO LLC, ProHealth Physicians Inc., ProHealth Proton Center Management, ProHealth Proton Center Management LLC, Procura Management, Procura Management Inc., Progressive Enterprises Holdings, Progressive Enterprises Holdings Inc., Progressive Medical, Progressive Medical LLC, Progressive Solutions, Promotora Country S.A., Pronetics Health Care Group, Pronounced Health Solutions Inc., Prosemedic S.A.C., Prospero Management Services LLC, Pueblo-SCA Surgery Center LLC, Pulse Platform LLC, QoL Acquisition Holdings Corp., Quality Software Services, QuarterMaster Newco LLC, R&H Family Fitness Unlimited LLC, Rally Health, Rally Health Inc., Real Appeal Inc., Recaudacion y Cobranzas Honodav Ltda., Redlands Ambulatory Surgery Center, Redlands-SCA Surgery Centers Inc., Reliant MSO LLC, Research Surgical Center LLC, River Valley ASC LLC, Riverside Electronic Healthcare Resources Inc., Riverside Medical Management, Riverside Medical Management LLC, Riverside Surgical Center of Meadowlands LLC, Riverside Surgical Center of Newark LLC, Rocky Mountain Health Maintenance Organization Incorporated, Rocky Mountain HealthCare Options Inc., SC Affiliates LLC, SCA Alaska Surgery Center inc., SCA Athens LLC, SCA Austin Holdings LLC, SCA BOSC Holdings LLC, SCA California Surgical Holdings LLC, SCA Capital LLC, SCA Cedar Park Holdings LLC, SCA Clifton LLC, SCA Danbury Surgical Center LLC, SCA Development LLC, SCA EHSC Holdings LLC, SCA EWASC Holdings LLC, SCA Hays Holdings LLC, SCA Heartland Holdings LLC, SCA HoldCo Inc., SCA Holding Company Inc., SCA Holdings Inc., SCA IEC Holdings LLC, SCA Indiana Holdings LLC, SCA Nashville ASC LLC, SCA Pacific Holdings Inc., SCA Pennsylvania Holdings LLC, SCA Premier Surgery Center of Louisville LLC, SCA ROCS Holdings LLC, SCA Rockledge JV LLC, SCA SSC Holdings LLC, SCA SSSC Holdings LLC, SCA Sage Medical LLC, SCA Sage Medical MSO LLC, SCA Southwestern PA LLC, SCA Specialists of Florida LLC, SCA Stonegate Holdings LLC, SCA Surgery Center of Cullman LLC, SCA Surgery Holdings LLC, SCA Surgery Partners LLC, SCA Surgicare of Laguna Hills LLC, SCA Teammate Support Network, SCA eCode Solutions Private Limited, SCA of Clarksville Inc., SCA-Albuquerque Surgery Properties Inc., SCA-Alliance LLC, SCA-Anne Arundel LLC, SCA-Applecare Partners LLC, SCA-Bethesda LLC, SCA-Blue Ridge LLC, SCA-Bonita Springs LLC, SCA-Brandon LLC, SCA-Castle Rock LLC, SCA-Central Florida LLC, SCA-Charleston LLC, SCA-Chatham LLC, SCA-Chevy Chase LLC, SCA-Citrus Inc., SCA-Colorado Springs LLC, SCA-Connecticut Partners LLC, SCA-DRY CREEK LLC, SCA-Davenport LLC, SCA-Denver LLC, SCA-Denver Physicians Holdings LLC, SCA-Derry LLC, SCA-Doral LLC, SCA-Downey LLC, SCA-Dublin LLC, SCA-Encinitas Inc., SCA-Eugene Inc., SCA-First Coast LLC, SCA-Florence LLC, SCA-Fort Collins Inc., SCA-Fort Walton Inc., SCA-Franklin LLC, SCA-Frederick LLC, SCA-Freeway Holdings LLC, SCA-Ft. Myers LLC, SCA-GRANTS PASS LLC, SCA-Gainesville LLC, SCA-Gladiolus LLC, SCA-Grove Place LLC, SCA-Hagerstown LLC, SCA-Hamden LLC, SCA-Hilton Head LLC, SCA-Honolulu LLC, SCA-Houston Executive LLC, SCA-IT Holdings LLC, SCA-Illinois LLC, SCA-JPM Holdings LLC, SCA-Kissing Camels Holdings LLC, SCA-MC VBP Inc., SCA-Main Street LLC, SCA-Marina del Rey LLC, SCA-Mecklenburg Development Corp., SCA-Memorial City LLC, SCA-Merritt LLC, SCA-Midlands LLC, SCA-Midway Management LLC, SCA-Mobile LLC, SCA-Mokena LLC, SCA-Mokena Properties LLC, SCA-Morris County LLC, SCA-Mt. Pleasant LLC, SCA-ND VBP Inc., SCA-Naperville LLC, SCA-Naples LLC, SCA-New Jersey LLC, SCA-Newport Beach LLC, SCA-Northeast Georgia Health LLC, SCA-PORTLAND LLC, SCA-Palm Beach LLC, SCA-Palm Beach MSO Holdings LLC, SCA-Paoli LLC, SCA-Phoenix LLC, SCA-Pocono LLC, SCA-Practice Partners Holdings LLC, SCA-River Valley LLC, SCA-Riverside LLC, SCA-Riverside Partners LLC, SCA-Rockville LLC, SCA-Sacred Heart Holdings LLC, SCA-San Diego Inc., SCA-San Luis Obispo LLC, SCA-Sand Lake LLC, SCA-Santa Rosa Inc., SCA-Shelby Development Corp., SCA-Somerset LLC, SCA-South Jersey LLC, SCA-Sparta LLC, SCA-Spartanburg Holdings LLC, SCA-St. Louis LLC, SCA-St. Lucie LLC, SCA-SurgiCare LLC, SCA-Swiftpath LLC, SCA-VERTA LLC, SCA-Wake Forest LLC, SCA-Western Connecticut LLC, SCA-Westover Hills LLC, SCA-Wilmington LLC, SCA-Wilson LLC, SCA-Winchester LLC, SCA-Winter Park Inc., SCA-Woodlands Holdings LLC, SCAI Holdings LLC, SCP Specialty Infusion, SCP Specialty Infusion LLC, SHC Atlanta LLC, SHC Austin Inc., SHC Hawthorn Inc., SHC Melbourne Inc., SPINETRACK 20/20 Inc., SRPS LLC, SXC Comet, Sacred Heart ASC LLC, Saden S.A., Salem Surgery Center LLC, Salveo Specialty Pharmacy, Salveo Specialty Pharmacy Inc., Sand Lake SurgiCenter LLC, Santa Cruz Endoscopy Center LLC, Santa Helena Assistencia Medica S.A., Santos Administracao e Participacoes S.A., Savvysherpa Administrative Services LLC, Savvysherpa Asia Inc., Savvysherpa LLC, Scanner Centromed S.A., ScripNet, ScriptSwitch Limited, Seisa Servicos Integrados de Saude Ltda., Senate Street Surgery Center LLC, Senior Benefits L.L.C., Senior Care Partners, Serquinox Holdings LLC, Serquinox LLC, Servicios Integrados de Salud Ltda., Servicios Medicos Amed Quilpue S.A., Servicios Medicos Bio Bio Limitada, Servicios Medicos Ciudad del Mar Ltda., Servicios Medicos Santa Maria Limitada, Servicios Medicos Vespucio Ltda., Servicios de Entrenamiento en Competencias Clinicas Ltda., SharedClarity LLC, Shelby Surgery Properties Inc., Sierra Health Services, Sierra Health Services Inc, Sierra Health Services Inc., Sierra Health and Life Insurance Company, Sierra Health and Life Insurance Company Inc., Sierra Health-Care Options, Sierra Health-Care Options Inc., Sierra Home Medical Products, Sierra Home Medical Products Inc., Sierra Nevada Administrators, Sierra Nevada Administrators Inc., Sirona Infusion, Sistema de Administracion Hospitalaria S.A.C., Small Business Insurance Advisors Inc., Sobam  Centro Medico Hospitalar S.A., Sociedad Editorial para la Ciencia Limitada., Sociedad de Inversiones Santa Maria S.A., Somerset Outpatient Surgery L.L.C., Southwest Medical Associates, Southwest Medical Associates Inc., Southwest Michigan Health Network Inc., Southwest Surgery Center LLC, Southwest Surgical Center of Bakersfield L.P., Space Coast Surgical Center Ltd., Specialists in Urology Surgery Center LLC, Specialized Pharmaceuticals Inc., Specialty Benefits, Specialty Benefits LLC, Spectera, Spectera Inc., Spectera of New York IPA, Spectera of New York IPA Inc., Spotlite, Spotlite Inc., St. Cloud Surgical Center LLC, StoneRiver P2P Link, StoneRiver Pharmacy Solutions, Stonegate Surgery Center L.P., Streamlines Health LLC, Summit Home Infusion, SunSurgery LLC, Surgery Center Holding LLC, Surgery Center at Cherry Creek LLC, Surgery Center at Kissing Camels LLC, Surgery Center of Boca Raton Inc., Surgery Center of Clarksville L.P., Surgery Center of Colorado Springs LLC, Surgery Center of Des Moines LLC, Surgery Center of Easton LLC, Surgery Center of Ellicott City Inc., Surgery Center of Louisville LLC, Surgery Center of Maui LLC, Surgery Center of Muskogee LLC, Surgery Center of Rockville L.L.C., Surgery Center of Southern Pines LLC, Surgery Center of Spokane LLC, Surgery Center of Summerlin LLC, Surgery Center of The Woodlands LLC, Surgery Center of Vero Beach Inc., Surgery Center of Wilmington LLC, Surgery Center of Wilmington Properties LLC, Surgery Centers of Des Moines Ltd. an Iowa Limited Partnership, Surgery Centers-West Holdings LLC, Surgical Care Affiliates, Surgical Care Affiliates LLC, Surgical Care Affiliates Political Action Committee, Surgical Care Partners of Melbourne LLC, Surgical Center of South Jersey Limited Partnership, Surgical Center of Tuscaloosa Holdings LLC, Surgical Health LLC, Surgical Health of Orlando LLC, Surgical Hospital Holdings of Oklahoma LLC, Surgicare LLC, Surgicare of Belleville LLC, Surgicare of Jackson LLC, Surgicare of Joliet Inc., Surgicare of La Veta Inc., Surgicare of Minneapolis LLC, Surgicare of Mobile LLC, Surgicare of Oceanside Inc., Surgicare of Owensboro LLC, Surgicare of Salem LLC, Surgicenters of Southern California Inc., Symphonix Health Holdings, Symphonix Health Holdings LLC, Symphonix Health Insurance, Symphonix Health Insurance Inc., THE SURGICAL CENTER OF THE TREASURE COAST L.L.C., TeamMD Holdings Inc., TeamMD Iowa Inc., TeamMD Physicians of Texas Inc., TeamUP Insurance Services Inc., Tecnologias de Informacion en Salud S.A., The Advisory Board (Chile) SpA, The Chesapeake Life Insurance Company, The Lewin Group, The Lewin Group Inc., The Magan Medical Group, The Outpatient Surgery Center of Hilton Head LLC, The Polyclinic MSO LLC, Thomas Johnson Surgery Center LLC, Thousand Oaks Endoscopy Center LLC, Three Rivers Holdings, Three Rivers Holdings Inc., Three Rivers Surgical Care L.P., Tmesys, Tmesys LLC, Topimagem Diagnostico por Imagem Ltda., Touchpoint Health Plan, Trails Edge Surgery Center LLC, Travel Express Incorporated, TriMed LLC, Trinity Infusion, Trio Motion LLC, Tucson Arizona Surgical Center LLC, U.S. Behavioral Health Plan, U.S. Behavioral Health Plan California, UHC Finance (Ireland) Unlimited Company, UHC Global Health Services BC Ltd., UHC International Services, UHC International Services Inc., UHC of California, UHCG Holdings (Ireland) Limited, UHCG Services (Ireland) Limited, UHCG  FZE, UHG Brasil Participacoes S.A., UHIC Holdings, UHIC Holdings Inc., UICI Funding Corp. 2, UMR, UMR Inc., USHEALTH Academy Inc., USHEALTH Administrators LLC, USHEALTH Advisors L.L.C., USHEALTH Career Agency Inc., USHEALTH Funding Inc., USHEALTH Group Inc., USMD Administrative Services, USMD Administrative Services L.L.C., USMD Affiliated Services, USMD CT (Mo), USMD Cancer Treatment Centers, USMD Cancer Treatment Centers GP, USMD Diagnostic Services, USMD Holdings, USMD Holdings Inc., USMD Inc., USMD PPM, USMD PPM LLC, USMD of Arlington GP, Ultima Rx, Unidad Medica Diagnostico S.A., Unimerica Insurance Company, Unimerica Life Insurance Company of New York, Unison Administrative Services, Unison Health Plan of Delaware, Unison Health Plan of Delaware Inc., United Behavioral Health, United Behavioral Health of New York I.P.A., United Behavioral Health of New York I.P.A. Inc., United Group Reinsurance Inc., United Health Foundation, United HealthCare, United HealthCare Services Inc., United Management Services Inc., United Resource Networks IPA of New York, United Resource Networks IPA of New York Inc., UnitedHealth Advisors, UnitedHealth Advisors LLC, UnitedHealth Group Finance Inc., UnitedHealth Group Global Healthcare Services Limited, UnitedHealth Group Global Services, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated, UnitedHealth Group Information Services Private Limited, UnitedHealth Group International Finance (Ireland) Unlimited Company, UnitedHealth Group International GP, UnitedHealth Group International L.P., UnitedHealth International, UnitedHealth International Inc., UnitedHealth Military & Veterans Services, UnitedHealth Military & Veterans Services LLC, UnitedHealth UK Limited, UnitedHealthcare, UnitedHealthcare Benefits Plan of California, UnitedHealthcare Benefits of Texas, UnitedHealthcare Benefits of Texas Inc., UnitedHealthcare Children's Foundation Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of California, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of California Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Georgia, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Georgia Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Ohio, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Ohio Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Texas, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Texas L.L.C., UnitedHealthcare Consulting & Assistance Service (Beijing) Co., UnitedHealthcare Consulting & Assistance Service (Beijing) Co. Ltd., UnitedHealthcare Europe S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare Europe S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare Global Canada Limited, UnitedHealthcare Global Medical (UK) Limited, UnitedHealthcare Inc., UnitedHealthcare India Private Limited, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of Illinois, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of New York, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of the River Valley, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Designated Activity Company, UnitedHealthcare Integrated Services, UnitedHealthcare Integrated Services Inc., UnitedHealthcare International Asia, UnitedHealthcare International Asia LLC, UnitedHealthcare International I B.V., UnitedHealthcare International I S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare International II B.V., UnitedHealthcare International II S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International II S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare International III B.V., UnitedHealthcare International III S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International III S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare International IV S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International IV S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare International V S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare International VI S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International VII S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International VIII S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International X S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare Life Insurance Company, UnitedHealthcare Plan of the River Valley, UnitedHealthcare Plan of the River Valley Inc., UnitedHealthcare Service LLC, UnitedHealthcare Services Company of the River Valley, UnitedHealthcare Specialty Benefits, UnitedHealthcare Specialty Benefits LLC, UnitedHealthcare of Alabama, UnitedHealthcare of Alabama Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Arizona, UnitedHealthcare of Arizona Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Arkansas, UnitedHealthcare of Arkansas Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Colorado, UnitedHealthcare of Colorado Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Florida, UnitedHealthcare of Florida Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Georgia, UnitedHealthcare of Georgia Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Illinois, UnitedHealthcare of Illinois Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Kentucky, UnitedHealthcare of Kentucky Ltd., UnitedHealthcare of Louisiana, UnitedHealthcare of Louisiana Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Mississippi, UnitedHealthcare of Mississippi Inc., UnitedHealthcare of New England, UnitedHealthcare of New England Inc., UnitedHealthcare of New Mexico, UnitedHealthcare of New Mexico Inc., UnitedHealthcare of New York, UnitedHealthcare of New York Inc., UnitedHealthcare of North Carolina, UnitedHealthcare of North Carolina Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Ohio, UnitedHealthcare of Ohio Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Oklahoma, UnitedHealthcare of Oklahoma Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Oregon, UnitedHealthcare of Oregon Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Pennsylvania, UnitedHealthcare of Pennsylvania Inc., UnitedHealthcare of South Carolina Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Texas, UnitedHealthcare of Texas Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Utah, UnitedHealthcare of Utah Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Washington, UnitedHealthcare of Washington Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin, UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin Inc., UnitedHealthcare of the Mid-Atlantic, UnitedHealthcare of the Mid-Atlantic Inc., UnitedHealthcare of the Midlands, UnitedHealthcare of the Midlands Inc., UnitedHealthcare of the Midwest, UnitedHealthcare of the Midwest Inc., UpFront Insurance Agency LLC, Upland Holdings LLC, Upland Outpatient Surgical Center L.P., Urgent Care Holdings, Urgent Care Holdings Inc., Urgent Care MSO, Urgent Care MSO LLC, Urology Associates of North Texas, Urology Associates of North Texas P.L.L.C., VERTA MANAGEMENT SERVICES LLC, Valley Hospital L.L.C., Valley Physicians Network, Valley Physicians Network Inc., Vida Tres Internacional S.A., Vidaintegra S.A., Vivify Health Canada Inc., Vivify Health Inc., WESTMED Practice Partners LLC, Wauwatosa Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Wauwatosa Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Wayland Square Surgicare Acquisition L.P., Wayland Square Surgicare GP Inc., WebInsure Benefits LLC, WellMed Medical Management, WellMed Medical Management Inc., WellMed Medical Management of Florida, WellMed Medical Management of Florida Inc., WellMed Networks  DFW, West Coast Endoscopy Holdings LLC, Western Connecticut Orthopedic Surgical Center LLC, WillowB Labs LLC, Wilmington ASC LLC, Winchester Endoscopy LLC, Winter Park LLC, XLHealth Corporation, XLHealth Corporation India Private Limited, Your Health Options Insurance Services, Your Health Options Insurance Services Inc., Your Partner in Health Services, divvyDOSE, eCode Solutions LLC, gethealthinsurance.com Agency Inc., hCentive Inc., inPharmative, inPharmative Inc., and ppoONE.TC Energy Corporation operates as an energy infrastructure company in North America. It operates through Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines, U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines, Mexico Natural Gas Pipelines, Liquids Pipelines, and Power and Storage segments. The company builds and operates 93,400 km network of natural gas pipelines, which transports natural gas from supply basins to local distribution companies, power generation plants, industrial facilities, interconnecting pipelines, LNG export terminals, and other businesses. It also has regulated natural gas storage facilities with a total working gas capacity of 535 billion cubic feet. In addition, it has approximately 4,900 km liquids pipeline system that connects Alberta crude oil supplies to refining markets in Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas, and the U.S. Gulf Coast. Further, the company owns or has interests in seven power generation facilities with a combined capacity of approximately 4,200 megawatts that are powered by natural gas and nuclear fuel sources located in Alberta, Ontario, QuAbec, and New Brunswick; and owns and operates approximately 118 billion cubic feet of non-regulated natural gas storage capacity in Alberta. The company was formerly known as TransCanada Corporation and changed its name to TC Energy Corporation in May 2019. TC Energy Corporation was incorporated in 1951 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Read MoreH&R Block, Inc. engages in the provision of tax preparation and other services. The firm offers assisted income tax return preparation and related services through a system of retail offices operated directly by the company or by franchisees. It also develops and markets DIY income tax preparation software online, as well as through third-party retail stores and direct mail; and provides DIY tax services, including federal and state income tax returns, access to tax tips, advice and tax-related news, use of calculators for tax planning, and error checking and electronic filing. In addition, the company offers Refund Transfers and H&R Block Emerald Prepaid Mastercard, which enables clients to receive their tax refunds; Peace of Mind extended service plans; H&R Block Emerald Advance lines of credit; Tax Identity Shield that provides clients assistance in helping protect their tax identity and access to services to help restore their tax identity; refund advance loans; H&R Block Instant Refund; and H&R Block Pay With Refund services. The company was founded by Henry W. Bloch and Richard A. Bloch on January 25, 1955 and is headquartered in Kansas City, MO.

Read MoreiShares Latin America 40 ETF's stock was trading at $22.49 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, ILF shares have increased by 12.0% and is now trading at $25.19.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.The launch of Shatta Wales latest album, "The Reign" came with a lot of surprises that only the dancehall musician can explain.

On a night where the Ayoo hit maker thrilled a packed audience, he also finally reconciled with Shatta Michy on stage.

Shatta Wale finally launched his much talked about album titled The Reign on Saturday at the Fantasy dome in Accra.

READ ALSO: I was sacked from school for stealing goats - Okomfo Kwadee

The self-acclaimed dancehall king had a sold-out concert, with many of his ever-loving fans filling the whole place.

In what was a surprise appearance, Shatta Michy showed up on stage to perform together with her once long-time fiance.

The pair have not been on good terms in recent months since breaking up earlier this year.

However, the album launch presented the perfect opportunity for them to put everything behind them and to reconcile.

Shatta Wale openly proposed to Shatta Michy on stage, before the couple later shared a passionate kiss which obviously excited the crowd.

And here is Shatta Michy's response to the proposal;

I want people to accept me for me, not tag me to that brand even though I have been a part of the story. I just want to be known for me, it is like owning my brand. I have been a part of the story, building the empire she said.

The proposal was sealed with a performance of their song, Low Tempo after which Shatta Wale performed Bulletproof by way of assuring Michy of love and security.

READ ALSO: Photo of a man excited over his fathers death pops up on the internet

The Reign concert and album launch was held, Saturday, at the Fantasy Dome. The event attracted thousands of music enthusiasts and fans. Aside Shatta Wale and Michy, The Militants, Xylo, Smokey Beatz and Efe Keyz were among artistes who graced the stage.

Yenkasa: Sex Addict or Alcoholic Which Do You Prefer? | Yen.com.gh

READ ALSO: Joshua Buatsi destroys Tony Averlant in round one

Your stories and photos are always welcome. Send us a message via YEN's official Facebook page.

Source: Yen- Jerry Rawlings has condemned claims that he was responsible for the killing of three judges

- The former president insists he was never bloodthirsty during his tenure as a military leader

Former president and founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Jerry John Rawlings, has expressed frustration over claims of having a hand in the killing of three judges and a retired army officer 36 years ago.

There has been a documentary by Joy News titled "Who killed the judges". This documentary chronicled events that led to the abduction and killing of three court judges under the military rule of Jerry Rawlings.

Reacting to questions raised in a recent Joy News documentary, Who killed the Judges? at a forum in Kumasi, the former president said he wasnt bloodthirsty and that if he was, things could have been messier.

READ ALSO: 50 NPP members in the Eastern Region defect to the NDC

If I were bloodthirsty as these are people claiming, 15th May 1979, I could have ignited the thing and left it, '79, when people were calling for blood I could have just let go and let people do the killings. How do I come back in the 80s when things have cooled down a little bit to say I want to kill judges?... It was a terrible mistake some our comrades did. Why can't you chose how to knock me down without going low.

Meanwhile, Mr. Rawlings, after the documentary, Who killed the judges had emerged in a tweet, to describe the piece as an attempt to destroy the reputation of innocent people for a crime which has long been dealt with and perpetrators punished for same.

He did not understand why media giants, Multimedia Group Ltd will seek to do a documentary about the killing of judges 36 years ago when it equally could have investigated several other murder cases including that of the overlord of Dagbon Ya-Na Yakubu Andani and his elders.

We have rehashed and recooked history to make innocent people look murderous. And in the next breath using the same name to endorse yourselves because Rawlings said he is cultured (compared to his predecessors). This is vicious and callous political opportunism, his post read.

But speaking on the issue on Newsfile, editor-in-chief of the Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako said the former President wouldve been in better standing if he had kept silent on the subject in the first place.

READ ALSO: Photo of a man rejoicing over his father's death leaks online

He finds it rather strange that Mr. Rawlings, even in his position as President and Chairman of the PNDC during his era, remained silent for 14 years and failed to cooperate with the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) despite several attempts by the same to get his response to damning allegations about his alleged complicity in the murder of the judges contained in the findings of the NRC report.

Ghana News Today: Ebony Wins Big at 2018 Ghana Music Awards UK | #Yencomgh

Want to tell about a local problem? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Send us a message via Instagram or on YENs official Facebook page.

Source: Yen.com.gh- Former bodyguard of Rawlings says the NDC founder can never absolve himself from the killing of three judges

- Jerry Rawlings has condemned claims that he was responsible for the killing of three judges

- The former president insists he was never bloodthirsty during his tenure as a military leader

The ex-corporal in the Ghana Armed Forces and a bodyguard of former President Jerry John Rawlings has responded to claims by Jerry Rawlings that he was not responsible for the killing of three judges.

According to Mathew Adabuga, Rawlings cannot absolve himself of culpability in the murder of three judges and a military officer in 1982.

MyNews.com.gh has reported the narrations by the former bodyguard on how Jerry Rawlings gave the order for numerous murders for both soldiers and civilians who were buried in mass graves at Achimota Forest and Airport runway.

READ ALSO: Shatta Wale proposes to Michy at Reign concert; kisses her passionately

He also revealed that Rawlings created other mass graves at another place near the airport called Gadafi camp where many soldiers attached to the Military Intelligence were killed in mass by the express orders of Chairman Rawlings.

According to the account in Rawlings, Murder and Lies by Mathew Adabuga, Major Asare had run to Broadcasting House to say he was asked by Rawlings to take over and make the announcement in the aftermath of the 1981 coup but Major Asare was arrested and taken to see Rawlings who asked him Did I send you to take over? The soldier did not answer whereupon Rawlings ordered him to be killed immediately, insisting they make him suffer.

Defense of Rawlings

Former president and founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Jerry John Rawlings, has expressed frustration over claims of having a hand in the killing of three judges and a retired army officer 36 years ago.

There has been a documentary by Joy News titled "Who killed the judges". This documentary chronicled events that led to the abduction and killing of three court judges under the military rule of Jerry Rawlings.

Reacting to questions raised in a recent Joy News documentary, Who killed the Judges? at a forum in Kumasi, the former president said he wasnt bloodthirsty and that if he was, things could have been messier.

"If I were bloodthirsty as these are people claiming, 15th May 1979, I could have ignited the thing and left it, '79, when people were calling for blood I could have just let go and let people do the killings. How do I come back in the 80s when things have cooled down a little bit to say I want to kill judges?... It was a terrible mistake some our comrades did. Why can't you chose how to knock me down without going low,"Rawlings quizzed.

Meanwhile, Mr. Rawlings, after the documentary, Who killed the judges had emerged in a tweet, to describe the piece as an attempt to destroy the reputation of innocent people for a crime which has long been dealt with and perpetrators punished for same.

He did not understand why media giants, Multimedia Group Ltd will seek to do a documentary about the killing of judges 36 years ago when it equally could have investigated several other murder cases including that of the overlord of Dagbon Ya-Na Yakubu Andani and his elders.

We have rehashed and recooked history to make innocent people look murderous. And in the next breath using the same name to endorse yourselves because Rawlings said he is cultured (compared to his predecessors). This is vicious and callous political opportunism, his post read.

But speaking on the issue on Newsfile, editor-in-chief of the Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako said the former President wouldve been in better standing if he had kept silent on the subject in the first place.

READ ALSO: 50 NPP members in the Eastern Region defect to the NDC

He finds it rather strange that Mr. Rawlings, even in his position as President and Chairman of the PNDC during his era, remained silent for 14 years and failed to cooperate with the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) despite several attempts by the same to get his response to damning allegations about his alleged complicity in the murder of the judges contained in the findings of the NRC report.

Ghana News Today: Ebony Wins Big at 2018 Ghana Music Awards UK | #Yencomgh

Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Send us a message via Instagram or on YENs official Facebook page.

Source: Yen.com.ghA pastor's attempt to save his church's offering has ended in disaster as he got drowned in a flood chased by a heavy downpour.

The incident reportedly happened at Apapam, a town in Kyebi in the Eastern Region.

According to a report YEN.com.gh sighted on Adomonline.com, the pastor, Reverend Isaac Assiamah organised a mega crusade on Wednesday and Thursday.

All the money accrued from the offering taken was stored stored in the church's offertory bowl and was supposed to be taken to the bank on Friday.

READ ALSO: Shatta Wale sells first copy of 'The Reign' album for GHC150,000

However, on Thursday night, it rained so heavily that thewhole town got flooded.

The flood got into Assiamah church and destroyed everything. The flood also took away the churchs offertory bowl .

In an attempt to rescue the offertory bowl, the pastor was reported to have been drowned in the flood.

Residents in the town later found his body few meters from his house and deposited it at the morgue pending autopsy.

They lodged a complaint to the police in Kyebi who have began investigations.

Yenkasa: Does it Matter if a Child is Named by the Mother? | Yen.com.gh:

Share your views on this with us in the comments section below.

Do you have a story to share with us? Inbox us on our Facebook/Instagram page and we could feature your story.

To stay up to date with the latest news, download our news app on Play today

Source: Yen- An Accra Hgh Court judge, Justice Mensah sent his courtroom laughing after he asked one of the lawyers in the case about a popular hiplife song

- The song, Obiaa Wo Ni Master, is by Yaa Pono and Stonebwoy

Justice Daniel Mensah of the Accra High Court sent his courtroom into spontaneous laughter in court, before giving his ruling in an application brought before it by Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong.

The MP was praying the court to dismiss a GH25 million defamation suit filed against him by undercover investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas.

But before giving his ruling, Justice Mensah asked counsel for Agyapong if he had of a supposed "latest song in town", Mynewsgh.com reports.

READ ALSO: Three major reasons why Sarkodie and Kwaw Kese still support Shatta Wale

MP Kennedy Agyapong was sued by Anas Aremeyaw Anas for defamation in the wake of Number 12 documentary

Source: Original

When the counsel asked which song the judge was referring to, Justice Mensah responded, "Obiaa Wo Ni Master" (Everyone has their master).

The song was composed by Yaa Pono and it features Stonebwoy. It has enjoy a lot of airplay and is thought to be one of the best Yaa Pono has ever come up with.

Agyapongs lawyer while in apparent shocked, responded to the judege: My Lord, its an old song and this left supporters of both the plaintiff and respondent laughing quite loudly in court.

READ ALSO: Shatta Wale reportedly sells first copy of 'The Reign' album for GHC150,000

Justice Mensah then proceeded to give his ruling and in his ruling declined the application by the Assin Central MP, Agyapong.

The MP was sued by Anas Aremeyaw Anas for defamation in the wake of the famous Number 12 documentary.

Yenkasa: Does it Matter if a Child is Named by the Mother? | Yen.com.gh:

Do you have a story to share with us? Inbox us on our Facebook page and we could feature your story

Source: YenThe Lifetime Income Security Solution

This book provides a straightforward methodology to achieve and protect your financial goals. It not only explains why an income-based investment strategy is superior to active management but also how to utilize certain deferred compensation strategies to better time income recognition. Finally, there is an overview of a simple and realistic asset protection methodology that relies less on hype and more on an honest appraisal of asset protections true capabilities. Concise and conversationally written, this book is a must for high net worth individuals and investment advisers.We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message.Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

Have you thought how cool it might be to be a shoe famous brand? I know I have. A shoe designer has the opportunity impact the sneaker world for years with his designs. Not always, you choose a shoe designer can provide an epic sneaker that will last depended. It's got to feel pretty good to be one belonging to the select shoe designers could say that they that associated with impact of the sneaker world. Nike shoe designer Bruce Kilgore is just one of the few might say he feels Golden Goose Sale beneficial. He feels pretty good knowing he designed possibly the greatest sneaker ever reached. That's because Kilgore designed the epic Nike Air Force One.

The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons based in Rosemont, I'll., is issuing new safety advice that recommends helmets and other protective padding be worn, while using roller shoes.

If you meet a new cat for the first time, you will sometimes notice that the cat will just stop in its tracks for stare at you. The cat will be trying to function out the company you are, a person are in its territory the best part is other brings about. But if were distributed then approaches you and continues to stare to you without moving away, the cat will skill to sense how a person are about cats in normal. If you then return the cat's stare and try make contact with the cat, the cat is likely to respond well to power.

To plan a perfect ballerina party, one must first go with a location. Though home is the cheapest place to throw a party, the mess that 20 children can make will need a greater professional cleaning technician! Minimized stress solution is to either have the party outside or rent a storage. Because the theme is ballet, you need to look into possibly renting an auditorium. The children will feel like real dancers while eating cake and playing party games on idea! Some budget-cutting schools are renting out their auditoriums on weekends to replace the financial short crumble. These auditoriums can be rented for as low as $100 per day, and janitorial service is included!

Most on the time, issue can be fixed by putting on the correct foot-wear. Foot-wear that is uncomfortable to wear is difficult going to cause pain and discomfort.

Perhaps you'd like to for an off-the-cuff sneaker that will look perfect when combined with your jeans, a tee or a nice button down. As they case, you ought to try close to Marling Black-jack shoe. These cool kicks are created calfskin leather with an excellent red suede trim during the sides so a rubber on. You will be able to help keep your style halloween night costumes and relaxing while you're wearing these fun shoes and boots. So go ahead and maintain your look casual but comfortable and don't neglect to wear these sneaker!

Wood canes can be slashed with a http://www.goldengooser.com/ minute saw. Gather rubber tip, measure the cane from the top fringe of the handle to the required length, cut the cane, and replace the rubber tip.

1) Always wear complementary shoes with little black dress to improve your character. Like gold color, red color, gray color etc shoe are exceptional. Dark brown, navy and white color shoes should be prevented.A Facebook acquaintance, who is a friend of one of my many friends, posted a copy of a story that appeared several years ago in the Owensboro (Ky.) Messenger-Inquirer this week and it struck a cord with me. It listed about 20 reasons Jesus would not get elected if His name was on the ballot  my goodness, everybodys mad about something.

It failed to mention a huge problem we have as we get ready for early voting, which starts this Wednesday. In Chattanooga its a wonder how anybody gets elected because so many good people refuse to vote, for whatever reason. As you know Tennessee is the worst state in America for voter turnout. And Chattanooga is the very worst city for voting in the worst state.

Keith Lawrence, a much-beloved fixture at the Kentucky newspaper, has been in the news business for well over half of his life and his story, Why Jesus couldnt get elected in America today, is a crystal-clear look at some of the silliness that keeps us from thinking like we should. We let special interest groups dictate our logic and our reasoning in such a way that proves Keith is right  Not even Jesus is good enough for some people.

As I urge you to vote  no matter your choice  allow me to share Keith Lawrences list of reasons:

* * *

WHY JESUS COULDNT GET ELECTED IN AMERICA TODAY

By Keith Lawrence, the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer

First of all, He wouldn't run the kind of ads candidates run today.

And He was homeless, unemployed and unmarried.

His critics labeled Him "a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners."

The bigots wouldn't vote for Him because He was Jewish  on his mother's side, anyway.

Feminists would denounce His references to God as "Our Father."

The teetotalers would be upset that He turned water into wine at a wedding.

The charities wouldn't like what He said about making your donations in secret.

The affirmative action crowd wouldn't like Him surrounding himself with an all-male staff of the same ethnic background.

The school prayer people would be mad at Him for denouncing public prayer.

The defense lobby would be down on Him for His policy of turning the other cheek, doing good to those who hate you, loving your enemies, blessing those who curse you and not resisting evil.

The pacifists would be upset with Him for saying, "Don't think I've come to bring peace on earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword."

The self-righteous wouldn't like His instructions to "judge not that you be not judged."

His opponents would charge that feeding the multitudes was vote-buying.

The health-care community wouldn't like Him practicing medicine without a license.

The farming community would be mad because He cast demons into a herd of pigs and caused 2,000 of them to be drowned.

The wealthy would be offended by His remarks that "a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven."

He'd lose the lawyers' vote for telling people if someone sues you for your cloak, give him your coat as well.

The anti-tax crowd wouldn't like His "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's" speech.

And reporters would have a fit because they couldn't find any skeletons in His closet.

* * *

Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower

royexum@aol.comPresident Maithripala Sirisena said the economic recession prevailing at present is not only restricted to Sri Lanka alone, but many countries in the world were facing this challenge.



Certain individuals issue statements saying that they could do what the government couldnt not, the President said and added that he requested them to work in a responsible manner for the benefit of the country and nation and not to make cheap rhetoric for their political expediency.



President Sirisena made these remarks at a ceremony held to vest the new administrative building to the people in Mahara yesterday.



Even though smaller countries like Sri Lanka are vulnerable to the effect of conflicts between world powers, steps are being taken in Sri Lanka at present through proper economic management to overcome those challenges, President Sirisena emphasized.



He said that when the politicians and public servants fulfil their respective duties free of fraud, corruption and malpractices, achieving the economic goals of the country would not be difficult.



We have to reinstate the exemplary characteristics we inherited from our proud history in our society. Our culture has given prominence to the indigenous products while becoming a self-sufficient nation, eliminating the habit of importing everything from foreign countries including even kites.



This new administrative building has been built with the objective of uplifting the living standard of the residents and trade community in the Mahara area, at a cost of Rs. 445 million.



President Sirisena also opened the newly built three-storied building at the Mahara District Secretariat, and this building was constructed at a cost of Rs. 50 million according to the government policy of streamlining and make efficient the public service.



Meanwhile, the President vested the newly constructed swimming pool at the Kirillawala Central College, with the students. This project was implemented by the Urban Development Authority under the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development. The invested amount is Rs. 17 million.



Meanwhile, the newly built technology laboratory at the S.K.K. Suriyaarachchi Secondary School in Kadawata was also opened by the President.



Also, the awards ceremony of the Mahamaya BalikaVidyalaya was held under the patronage of the President. Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka, Deputy Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna, Harshana Rajakaruna, the Chief Minister of Western Province Isura Devapriya, Piyasiri Wijenayake, Ranjith Somawansha and Prishantha Jayakodi participated. (Sandun A Jayasekera)Intimidation and threats drove four members of an election panel in the Maldives to flee the island nation, two officials said on Saturday, a day before its top court hears defeated president Abdulla Yameens challenge to his election loss last month.

The tourist paradise has been in political upheaval since February, when a state of emergency was imposed by Yameen, who ran the Indian Ocean islands with an iron hand, critics say, jailing political opponents and Supreme Court justices.

Since Yameen lost his bid for re-election, the opposition has been trying to secure a smooth transition of power, due on Nov. 17.

Four members of the Maldives Elections Commission have fled and three are in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, leaving behind just one panel member, two of the Maldivian officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

We left due to threats, said one, who asked not be identified, for fear of a risk to his life.

Yameens party dismissed the threat accusations, saying the election officials left because of public outrage sparked by the leak of an audio recording about poll rigging.

So they say, Mohamed Hussain Shareef, secretary general of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), told Reuters. When in fact they left because of public outrage following a leaked audio about rigging. They are refusing to clarify.

The officials accusations follow domestic media reports of a complaint to police by the company that printed the ballots, saying the PPM sought to bribe its employees to provide false statements that backed Yameens challenge.

Yameens party called the complaint ludicrous, saying it was a tactic to divert attention from the court case.

Yameen conceded defeat in last months election after an official count showed joint opposition leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had polled 16.8 percent more votes in a surprise result.

The Election Commission said the vote had been free and fair, with turnout of 89.2 percent.

But on Wednesday, his lawyers approached the Supreme Court, saying supporters had complained about rigging of votes and fraudulent ballot papers.

With its location near key shipping lanes, the Maldives has become important as China and India compete for regional influence.

China is building up the islands infrastructure in its Belt and Road Initiative to boost trade and transport links across Asia.(Reuters)iberal-minded Sri Lankans have for long looked on the US as a bastion of democracy, a defender of freedom, democratic values and a promoter of human rights the world over.

The various statements made by the different arms of the US government condemning perceived human rights violations -as during Sri Lankas three-decade long ethnic war; election malpractice -as in Russias presidential election; authoritarian behaviour of governments cracking down on peaceful protests - as at Chinas Tianamen Square- has given credence to this belief, particularly among Colombos English-speaking middle and upper class.



Additionally, the US, through a plethora of privately funded organisations and its official development arm (USAID) generously contributes, financially and materially to civil society activist groups whose activites range from compiling lists of human rights abuses, to election monitors and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) involved in poverty alleviation programmes.



The help extends from payment of administrative costs including salaries and travel to social activists, to even helping poor folk participate in various activities organised by local civil society groups, via emoluments to participants who would otherwise have to forego a days wage to participate in programmes. It also includes payment for venues, speakers/lecturers, food and beverage, travel grants to the venue and back, in addition to costs of printed material etc.



In-house training as well as international training programmes (for the English-speaking leadership of activist groups) are held outside the country to help activists understand the needs of the funding partner. Seminars, conferences, skills-based training programmes and many other programmes are organised by international backers to help activists to identify the most important problems which affect them, their people and country. It also provides training to vocalize and publicize these issues.



By mischance perhaps, aid is granted only to programmes which fall within parameters drawn up by USAID to groups conversant in English. Not surprisingly therefore the US is recognised by recipients of its largesse as the upholder of democratic values and THE guarantor of human rights worldwide. The plethora of training programmes, conferences etc., has blinded them to the extent that they cannot see the trees for the wood.

In the early 1970s, in the aftermath of the first JVP uprising we saw the birth of the first activist group in the form of the Civil Rights Movement demanding justice, protesting torture and indiscriminate killing of young people suspected to be involved in that uprising. The group was born of the conviction of its small membership and maintained without any external funds. Its voice rattled the powers that be of the day, was heard internationally, forced accountability of the state and brought to an end the extra judicial killings of that era.



Following on, it created awareness on the bloody birth of Bangladesh, the dangers of the Prevention of Terrorism Act of the 1980s and the role of US imperialism in supporting apartheid in South Africa and overthrowing governments from Iran to Latin America to help US multinational companies exploiting those countries. All without foreign funds, no large staff, but having maximum impact.

Today our local human rights groups do not raise their voices against human rights violations under Israeli occupation of Palestine, or the US vetoing any discussion of ongoing atrocities against Palestinians at the United Nations (UN).



While the US brought a motion of censure against Sri Lanka at the UN for actions which occurred during the closing stages of the near three decade-long civil war, this self-same US turns a blind eye to ongoing atrocities committed in Yemen where a coalition led by Saudi Arabia is continuing to bomb Yemeni civillians using weapons provided by the US. Saudi Arabia has also imposed a land sea and air blockade of that country. The UN has described Saudis action in Yemen as having created a humanitarian disaster.



Today Saudi Arabia also stands accused of brutally interrogating, torturing, killing and dismembering US resident and Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi for being critical of Saudis de facto ruler Prince Mohamed bin Salman.

Yet the US refuses to condemn the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Saudi Arabia against Yemenis or the brutal murder of one of its own residents by the Saudi regime.

According to US President Trump, he cannot endanger the billion dollar arms deal with the Saudis.Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama said yesterday further import cuts would not be necessary unless there was a sharp rise in fuel prices in the global market.

Mr. Samarawickrama told Daily Mirror that things appeared to have stabilized at the moment.

Asked about his recent visit to Bangladesh, he said he explored the possibility of developing the apparel industry for the benefit of both countries. For example, he pointed out that Bangladeshi apparels such as Jeans and T-shirts could be warehoused in Sri Lanka for re-export after some form of value addition.

There are opportunities to this effect. We held talks with those involved in the apparel industry in Bangladesh. There will be a delegation coming here to explore the possibilities that exist here, he said.

He said Sri Lanka could be used as a hub for Bangladeshi products to be exported to foreign markets after value addition.

Asked about opportunities that exist in Bangladesh, he said Sri Lankans could seek investment opportunities in that country in areas such as construction, energy and rubber products. (Kelum Bandara)All who knew late Pushpa Irriyagolla grieve her untimely death almost a month ago. She was so hale and hearty. Most of us find it difficult to fathom this loss, as she was such a lively lady enjoying life with Cecil, daughter Yoshitha and Son, Nishan, daughter in law and grandson. A gracious and a simple lady, Pushpa touched the hearts of all who knew her- be it at Visakha Vidyalaya, the school she studied before she entered the Peradeniya University, and at the Pushpdana College where she started as a teacher.



Pushpa, born on November 20, 1941, hails from a well to do family, the head being, Late

I.M.R.A. Iriyagolla, a one-time Minister of Education, who left an incredible mark as a Minister years ago.

The Late Mr Irriyagolla and his wife late Ranee Iriyagolla made an impact on the life of Pushpa whether studies and interests or outlook, especially in writing.

Pushpa with such fully fledged background education and influence of her late father and late mother and her natural talent started writing from her very young days.

As she grew she became a prolific writer in late stages in life, where she developed her writing skills as she had a partner at home Cecil who too continues to write. Both contributed their skills to writing much-valued articles in many publications.



She was also a keen follower of drama, from school days, and in entering Peradeniya University, was selected with me to be a member of the choir of Sinhabahu the famous drama of one of the great personalities late Prof Ediriweera Sarachchandra, who with his writing and drama and other cultural promotions is still revered at local and international levels.

We felt privileged to be in this choir which took us to many parts of Sri Lanka as this famous drama was much in demand and enjoyed by drama lovers. I feel this influence as ardent students of this great Teacher helped us to develop our writing. Pushpa continued to be engaged writing verse along with prose where she was a contributor to many an article.



I owe a lot to her as she was a positive supporter of my writing of Sinhalese novels contributing with much-valued suggestions. Like many close friends who miss her, Cecil will miss her association as a close companion in writing and a dutiful husband, so will Yoshitha, Nishan and his family.

Pushpa will be missed by her students as she was a committed teacher assisting her students as she started her career as a teacher at Pushpadana and later on in her retirement as a teacher in English at the Sub Department of English University. We all knew her as a professional facilitator in English taking much interest to give a helping hand to those whose need was great to develop their English knowledge.

One factor we value in her life that even though she hailed from a family with the political background she never got involved in the day-to-day politics, rather continued to b actively involved in social work.

Pushpa imbibed well of her family especially her brother Late Gamini who was a top Civil servant Sri Lanka produced.

May she attain Nibbana!

Jayani C. PinnawaleThe passage of legislation establishing an Office for Reparations is another significant step forward in the transitional justice process aimed at healing the wounds of war and bringing a lasting solution to Sri Lankas ethnic conflict. In October 2015 the Government of Sri Lanka committed itself before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to embark upon a path of national reconciliation while meeting international standards. The government pledges included setting up an Office of Missing Persons, a Truth Commission, an Office for Reparations and a Special Court. The time period given to Sri Lanka comes to an end in March 2019.



The three-decade-long war led to immense human suffering amongst all the ethnic communities. The National Peace Council welcomes the government initiative to establish the Office for Reparations. We are disappointed, however, at the relatively low parliamentary turn out to ratify the law with it being ratified by a margin of only 59- 43 in a parliament of 225 members. It is a cause for regret that less than one-half of the parliamentarians saw it as their duty to attend the parliamentary sitting and to cast their own votes. This lack of conviction amongst the parliamentarians, and their failure to vote in favour of the new institution may have been prompted by the campaign to falsely describe the Office for Reparations as a mechanism to give succour to the LTTE and thereby pave the way again for the division of the country. This is a false allegation and the people in general and victim population in particular need to be educated on this score.

"The three-decade-long war led to immense human suffering amongst all the ethnic communities. The National Peace Council welcomes the government initiative to establish the Office for Reparations"



The National Peace Council calls on the Government, media and civil society to take special measures in this regard.

This is an opportunity for the government, political parties and public and civic institutions that failed in the past to make amends for our failures. We believe that the Office for Reparations can provide a strong message of care to the conflict-affected populations living in all parts of the country due to the several conflicts that have taken place during the countrys post-independent history. These include the recent anti-Muslim riots and the two JVP insurrections that took place in 1971 and again in 1988-89 in which much violence was perpetrated on

innocent people.

The legislation establishing the Office for Reparations leaves it to the new institution to set out the criteria regarding those who are eligible

for reparations.

"The passage of legislation establishing an Office for Reparations is another significant step forward in the transitional justice"

As the four mechanisms incorporated in the transitional justice process are related to each other, the findings of the Office of Missing Persons which has already been established will provide one basis for reparations. There will also be a need to have the consultation with the people who have been affected by conflict to identify eligibility criteria. We call on the government and international community to fully resource the Office for Reparations so that it may have the capacity to deliver the material and non-material dues to those affected by conflicts that successive governments failed to resolve through peaceful means.Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge Chad F. Kenney has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate for a new post on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

During his years of public service, Judge Kenney has proven himself to be an independent and fair jurist who has served the people of Delaware County well, said Republican Senator Pat Toomey in a joint release with his Democratic colleague, Bob Casey. Judge Kenney will make a terrific addition to Pennsylvanias Eastern District bench and I congratulate him.

Kenney, 61, is a graduate of Monsignor Bonner High School, Villanova University and Temple Law School, where he served on the Law Review. He was nominated by President Donald Trump for the federal judgeship in December.

Kenney has served in a variety of roles in the Common Pleas C ourt, including family court, the criminal and civil trial sections and the motion hearing division. He most recently oversaw orphans court.

Kenney served as Delaware County Sheriff from 1998 until his appointment to the Delaware County bench in August 2003. He was elected to a full 10-year term on the bench later that same year and was elected by the Board of Judges to serve as president judge in June 2012, replacing Judge Joseph Cronin.

Kenney, a Republican and former Nether Providence party leader, served as president judge until 2017, when he was replaced by Judge Kevin F. Kelly. Kenney is on vacation and could not be reached for comment Friday, but Kelly said Kenney had demonstrated unwavering dedication to his responsibilities throughout his years on the bench to assure that the ends of justice were always met for all parties.

The hallmark of Judge Kenneys president judge tenure was a staunch commitment to systematic betterment and an insightful appreciation of the courts need to recognize and effectively address within the constraints of the judicial function a host of societal concerns, including the ongoing opioid epidemic battle and the unique challenges presented by those suffering from mental illness and military veterans becoming enmeshed in the criminal justice system, Kelly said in an emailed statement. His foresightedness and tireless efforts in such regard led to the creation of the Mental Health and Veterans Court programs, along with the Second Chance Court treatment program, and the expansion of the existing Drug Treatment Court.

The board of judges wishes him all the best for continued success on his assuming the federal bench.Dr. Jeff Masters

12 October 2018

(Weather Underground)  As Hurricane Michael sped northward on 9 October 2018 toward a catastrophic landfall on Floridas Panhandle, the mighty hurricane put on an phenomenal display of rapid intensification. Michaels winds increased by 45 mph in the final 24 hours before landfall, taking it from a Category 2 hurricane with 110 mph winds to an extremely dangerous high-end Category 4 storm with 155 mph winds. It was a disturbing deja vu of what had happened just one year earlier. On August 25, 2017, Hurricane Harvey rapidly intensified by 40 mph in the 24 hours before landfall, from a Category 1 storm with 90 mph winds to a Category 4 storm with 130 mph winds.

Extreme rapid intensification rates expected to become more common

In a 2016 paper, Will Global Warming Make Hurricane Forecasting More Difficult? (available here from the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society), MIT hurricane scientist Kerry Emanuel explained that not only will global warming make the strongest hurricanes stronger, it will also increase how fast they intensify. Troublingly, intensification rates dont increase linearly as the intensity of a storm increasesthey increase by the square power of the intensity. Thus, we can expect future hurricanes to intensify at unprecedented rates, and the ones that happen to perform their rapid intensification just before landfall will be extremely dangerous.Dr. Emanuel used a computer model that generated a set of 22,000 landfalling U.S. hurricanes during the recent climate period of 1979  2005, then compared their intensification rates to a similar set of hurricanes generated in the climate expected at the end of the 21st century. For the future climate, he assumed a business-as-usual approach to climate changethe path we are currently on. The analysis found that the odds of a hurricane intensifying by 70 mph or greater in the 24 hours just before landfall were about once every 100 years in the climate of the late 20th century. But in the climate of the year 2100, these odds increased to once every 5  10 years. Whats more, 24-hour pre-landfall intensifications of 115 mph or morewhich were essentially nonexistent in the late 20th Century climateoccurred as often as once every 100 years by the year 2100. The major metropolitan areas most at risk for extreme intensification rates just before landfall included Houston, New Orleans, Tampa/St. Petersburg, and Miami.In an email, Dr. Emanuel said: My own work shows that rates of intensification increase more rapidly than intensity itself as the climate warms, so that rapidly intensifying storms like Michael may be expected to become more common. Moreover, he added, My work on Hurricane Harvey and a few other heavy rain-producing hurricanes such as Florence, together with much previous work by others on the subject, strongly suggests that hurricane-related flooding will increase as the climate continues to warm.

A dangerous scenario: a rapidly intensifying hurricane making landfall

Hurricanes like Michael and Harvey that rapidly intensify just before landfall are among the most dangerous storms there are, since they can catch forecasters and populations off guard, risking inadequate evacuation efforts and large casualties. Lack of warning and rapid intensification just before landfall were key reasons for the high death toll of the most intense hurricane on record to hit the U.Sthe 1935 Labor Day hurricane in the Florida Keys. That storm intensified by 80 mph in the 24 hours before landfall, topping out as a Category 5 hurricane with 185 mph winds and an 892 mb pressure at landfall. At least 408 people were killed, making it the eighth deadliest hurricane in U.S. history. Another rapidly intensifying hurricane at landfall, Hurricane Audrey of June 1957, was the seventh deadliest U.S. hurricane, killing at least 416. Audreys winds increased by 35 mph in the 24 hours before landfall near the Texas/Louisiana border, when it was a Category 3 hurricane with 125 mph winds. Lack of warning and an unexpectedly intense landfall were cited as key reasons for the high death toll.Of course, nowadays we have satellites and radar and regular hurricane hunter flights and advanced computer forecast models, so the danger of another Audrey or 1935 Labor Day hurricane taking us by surprise is lower. Or is it? All of that fancy technology didnt help much for 2007s Hurricane Humberto, which hit Texas as a Category 1 storm with 90 mph winds. Humberto had the most rapid increase in intensity in the 24 hours before landfall of any Atlantic hurricane since 1950: 65 mph. A mere 18 hours before landfall, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) predicted a landfall intensity of just 45 mph, increasing that estimate to 65 mph in a forecast issued 6 hours later. Its fortunate that Humberto was not a stronger system, or the lack of warning could have led to serious loss of life.Historical records show that since 1950, the greatest 24-hour intensification rates prior to a U.S. landfall were:By Karen Savage

12 October 2018

(Climate Liability News)  The Trump administration has filed another extraordinary appeal in its attempt to avoid a trial in the landmark youth-led climate lawsuit, Juliana v. United States.The government filed its third writ of mandamus petition to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to stay district court proceedings pending the resolution of a separate petition it plans to file with the Supreme Court next week. The Ninth Circuit denied the first two requests for a writ of mandamusa rarely used and even more rarely approved judicial appeal that asks a higher court to overrule a lower one before the conclusion of a caseand the Supreme Court has already once denied a request by the federal government to halt discovery.A writ of mandamus is usually granted only under extraordinary circumstances and is considered a legal last resort. The Ninth Circuit said after the first two requests that the government has not shown it would be meaningfully burdened by discovery or a trial.The trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 29 at U.S. District Court in Eugene, Oregon.Julia Olson, co-counsel for the plaintiffs, said there is nothing new in the governments latest petition.To suggest that our government suffers harm greater than its citizens by having to participate in a trial when its youngest citizens bring legitimate claims of constitutional harm before our Article III courts flies in the face of democratic principles, said Olson.The government filed a separate motion in the U.S. District Court last week asking for a stay until Judge Ann Aiken rules on two motions to dismiss the suit that were heard in July.Jacob Lebel, a 21-year-old plaintiff in the case, said the Trump administration doesnt want to face the climate science that will be presented during the trial. He referred to a government report issued in August that predicts even more drastic global warming than previous reports assumed.The Trump administrations own recent report indicates that we can expect 7 degrees F of warming before the end of this century, Lebel said. It is truly frightening that their priority in the face of this is to waste our time and the publics resources by desperately trying to avoid trial.Vic Barrett, a 19-year-old plaintiff from White Plains, NY, said repeated attempts by the Trump administration to wrangle free of the case are telling.The most powerful government in the world sure is scared of a group of young people armed with the truth, said Barrett.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 14)  The Department of Justice (DOJ) is denying allegations a Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) judge was being told to rule against Senator Antonio Trillanes' coup d'etat case.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Sunday they took "very strong exception" to a statement by Magdalo Partylist Rep. Gary Alejano Saturday who said they received information that Makati RTC Branch 148 Judge Andres Soriano was receiving pressure to give a negative decision against the embattled lawmaker.

"The DOJ does not interact with the judge except through the pleadings filed and arguments raised in open court. Rep. Alejano's allegations tend to impede the orderly administration of justice, unfairly cast aspersion on the integrity and professionalism of the Department of Justice and its state prosecutors, and contumaciously influence Judge Soriano's decision-making process," Guevarra said.

Guevarra added he thought it was unfair for Alejano to constantly make "unfair" statements against the agency.

"Come to think of it, sila yung clearly trying to influence the decision-making ni judge [they are the ones who are clearly trying to influence the judge's decision-making]," he said.

Guevarra went on to say they have not engaged Alejano's side in arguments.

"They're just going a bit too far," he said.

On October 12, Soriano said they may soon release a decision on Trillanes' case.

Should Judge Soriano decide to issue a warrant of arrest against Trillanes, the senator wouldn't be able to file a bail for his temporary release. The non-bailable coup d'etat charges were dismissed in September 2011 after he was granted amnesty by former President Benigno Aquino III. President Rodrigo Duterte, through Proclamation No. 572, voided the granted amnesty on August 31.

Meanwhile, Makati RTC Branch 150 heard the appeal of Trillanes to reverse the court's decision to issue an arrest warrant against the senator. On Sept. 25, Judge Elmo Alameda ordered Trillanes' arrest but allowed him to post a P200,000 bail on a separate case of rebellion.Its my third time at Manila Ocean Park and each time I visit theres new experience and attractions to visit.

My last was one of the best especially with the VIP treatment given to me, thanks to Travelbook.ph for arranging everything and for Manila Ocean Park Irish and Mark for being our guide although out.

My favorite part was petting and feeding Penguins at the Trails of Antsrtica exhibit. They have a bunch of Peruvian Penguins that can survive Philippine climate . Dont worry they are set in an icy and cold aquarium home in the Ocean Park.

My second favorite part was the kiss from Vincent the Sea Lion, he is the only male sea lion at the Aquatica. I had a 10 second kiss on the cheek and hug with Vincent. It was a very wet and sweet fishy kiss and hug. You can do the same for extra fee.

The Sea Lion show at Aquaitca in the ocean park is also one of the best I have seen , they have two female sea lions performing Sandra and Icys. I love their stunts and dance. Really well trained sea lions. Its a show you wouldnt want to miss.

Marcus tried the fish spa , I am unsure if he enjoyed it or not but he was describing it as terrible and weird and fun at the same time. I didnt do it because I know I am ticklish. I would just go berserk when a big fish like the one biting him bit me. What more more than a dozen of them would.

You can see his reaction on this vlog of my Manila Ocean Park visit.

There was also a Christmas Village with a very tiny snow show for you to experience it yourself. Nice for photo ops.

We would have gone to the Birds of Prey Kingdom but they close early , around 430pm. There was an Evening Symphony Show that we skipped coz we rather have dinner coz I was hungry. Thank you for the scrumptious dinner provided by MakanMakan for us . They serve delicious Filipino dishes.

If you would like to ecperience the same as I did, you may visit Manila Ocean Park , they are open everyday until 8pm. Or visit travelbook.ph to get ideas for fun getaways around Metro Manila and even out-of-town.

Stay gorgeous everyone!

Sharing is caring ! Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

LinkedIn

Telegram

WhatsApp

Skype

Reddit

Tumblr

Print

Email

Blog Archive June 2021 (1) May 2021 (77) April 2021 (77) March 2021 (82) February 2021 (68) January 2021 (64) December 2020 (67) November 2020 (66) October 2020 (66) September 2020 (67) August 2020 (74) July 2020 (83) June 2020 (92) May 2020 (86) April 2020 (104) March 2020 (105) February 2020 (74) January 2020 (75) December 2019 (75) November 2019 (70) October 2019 (89) September 2019 (69) August 2019 (81) July 2019 (77) June 2019 (73) May 2019 (110) April 2019 (110) March 2019 (102) February 2019 (85) January 2019 (123) December 2018 (116) November 2018 (112) October 2018 (121) September 2018 (107) August 2018 (150) July 2018 (163) June 2018 (190) May 2018 (145) April 2018 (112) March 2018 (124) February 2018 (113) January 2018 (164) December 2017 (150) November 2017 (144) October 2017 (169) September 2017 (171) August 2017 (135) July 2017 (131) June 2017 (147) May 2017 (160) April 2017 (138) March 2017 (156) February 2017 (143) January 2017 (203) December 2016 (208) November 2016 (185) October 2016 (173) September 2016 (194) August 2016 (232) July 2016 (225) June 2016 (238) May 2016 (231) April 2016 (215) March 2016 (246) February 2016 (226) January 2016 (252) December 2015 (230) November 2015 (250) October 2015 (234) September 2015 (222) August 2015 (253) July 2015 (275) June 2015 (279) May 2015 (223) April 2015 (226) March 2015 (243) February 2015 (258) January 2015 (281) December 2014 (292) November 2014 (296) October 2014 (413) September 2014 (472) August 2014 (506) July 2014 (483) June 2014 (488) May 2014 (512) April 2014 (497) March 2014 (531) February 2014 (482) January 2014 (535) December 2013 (482) November 2013 (441) October 2013 (416) September 2013 (491) August 2013 (521) July 2013 (491) June 2013 (470) May 2013 (457) April 2013 (426) March 2013 (420) February 2013 (414) January 2013 (489) December 2012 (433) November 2012 (504) October 2012 (469) September 2012 (430) August 2012 (427) July 2012 (360) June 2012 (336) May 2012 (362) April 2012 (322) March 2012 (263) February 2012 (224) January 2012 (291) December 2011 (295) November 2011 (325) October 2011 (330) September 2011 (319) August 2011 (333) July 2011 (318) June 2011 (387) May 2011 (373) April 2011 (389) March 2011 (375) February 2011 (335) January 2011 (400) December 2010 (445) November 2010 (395) October 2010 (312) September 2010 (262) August 2010 (277) July 2010 (323) June 2010 (386) May 2010 (360) April 2010 (333) March 2010 (351) February 2010 (336) January 2010 (384) December 2009 (353) November 2009 (300) October 2009 (308) September 2009 (350) August 2009 (298) July 2009 (255) June 2009 (203) May 2009 (193) April 2009 (186) March 2009 (197) February 2009 (173) January 2009 (148) December 2008 (181) November 2008 (197) October 2008 (236) September 2008 (304) August 2008 (314) July 2008 (273) June 2008 (27) May 2008 (1) April 2008 (6) October 2007 (1) May 2007 (1) April 2007 (6) March 2007 (2) February 2007 (1) October 2006 (1) September 2006 (1) August 2006 (4) July 2006 (4) June 2006 (1) July 2005 (1) May 2005 (2) March 2005 (1) June 2004 (2) May 2004 (1) April 2004 (4) March 2004 (2) February 2004 (2) July 2003 (2) June 2003 (5)(CNN)  Missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi may have recorded his own death, a Turkish newspaper reported Saturday morning.

Khashoggi turned on the recording function of his Apple Watch before walking into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, according to Sabah newspaper.

The moments of his "interrogation, torture and killing were audio recorded and sent to both his phone and to iCloud," the pro-government, privately owned newspaper paper reported. The Turkish newspaper said conversations of the men involved in the reported assassination were recorded.

Security forces leading the investigation found the audio file inside the phone Khashoggi left with his fiance, according to Sabah.

Upon noticing the watch, Sabah reports, Khashoggi's assailants tried to unlock the Apple Watch with multiple password attempts, ultimately using Khashoggi's fingerprint to unlock the smart watch. They were successful in deleting only some of the files, Sabah reported.

However, on its website, Apple does not list fingerprint verification as one of the Apple Watch's capabilities. A representative from the company confirmed to CNN the watches do not have the feature.

It was not immediately clear whether it would have been technically feasible for Khashoggi's Apple Watch to transfer audio to his phone, which he had given to his fiancee before entering the consulate.

CNN cannot independently verify the Sabah report and is seeking comment from both Saudi and Turkish officials.

CNN intelligence and security analyst Robert Baer cast doubt on the claim, saying it was too far for a Bluetooth connection and that Khashoggi was unlikely to have anticipated transmitting a recording in advance. "I think what's happened, clearly, is the Turks have the Saudi consulate wired, they have transmitters," he told CNN's Anderson Cooper.

"The Turks don't trust any diplomats and they have been into most embassies and most consulates in Turkey and they listen to what's going on -- and if indeed there are tapes proving that he was murdered, I think that's probably how they know. But the Turks are very reluctant to admit that."

Saudi Arabia firmly denies any involvement in his disappearance and says he left the consulate that afternoon. His fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, who was waiting outside the consulate, says she did not see him re-emerge. Turkey has called on Saudi officials to provide evidence that he left the consulate, as they claim.

Saudi minister: Reports are "lies"

Saudi Arabia Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz said reports that the Saudi government ordered the killing of Khashoggi are "lies and baseless allegations against the government of the Kingdom," according to a statement in the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) published early Saturday.

Abdulaziz also said "some media" have circulated "false accusations" regarding Khashoggi's disappearance.

On Friday, a source familiar with the ongoing investigation told CNN that Turkish authorities have audio and visual evidence that showed Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate. But it was unclear how Turkish authorities obtained the evidence.

The evidence, which was described to the source by a Western intelligence agency, showed there had been an assault and a struggle inside the consulate. There is also evidence of the moment that Khashoggi was killed, the source said.

Turkish security units analyzed how Khashoggi's reported killing unfolded with the use of a translator, according to Sabah.

Sabah also reported that investigation units are currently examining all cell phone and landline records from the consulate and the consul general's residence on October 2.

Efforts to locate Khashoggi's body are ongoing, Sabah reported.

Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post, went into the consulate to obtain paperwork that would allow him to marry his Turkish fiancee. He hasn't been seen in public since.

The Washington Post reported late Thursday that the Turkish government had told US officials that it was in possession of audio and video recordings proving that Khashoggi was killed in the consulate, citing unnamed US and Turkish sources.

The audio recording in particular provided "persuasive and gruesome evidence" that a Saudi team dispatched to Istanbul was responsible for Khashoggi's death, the Post reported.

Business leaders pull out of summit

International pressure has mounted on Saudi Arabia to explain what happened to Khashoggi, a former Saudi royal insider who became a critic of the regime and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is known colloquially as MBS.

The business world has also signaled its disquiet, with British tycoon Richard Branson saying he's pulling back from two tourism projects in Saudi Arabia and has suspended discussions with Riyadh about a $1 billion investment in Virgin's space companies. Business leaders have also started pulling out of a key conference hosted by MBS in late October.

CNN confirmed Friday that it too would no longer participate in the Saudi Future Investment Initiative conference, known as "Davos in the desert." CNN was a media partner for the event.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reaffirmed his commitment to attend the Riyadh summit while expressing concerns about Khashoggi's status.

"The conference is on for now, I am going," he told reporters Saturday at the International Monetary Fund's annual meeting in Bali, Indonesia. He also suggested that his plans could change as details from the investigation are released.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde told reporters in Bali she also still planned to go to the Riyadh conference. "Horrifying things have been reported" following Khashoggi's disappearance, she said, but she had "to conduct the business of the IMF in all corners of the world, and with many governments."

Lagarde said she always spoke her mind when visiting a country and that she would be paying close attention to developments in the case.

Trump to speak with Saudi King 'pretty soon'

US President Donald Trump said Friday he had not yet spoken with King Salman of Saudi Arabia in the wake of Khashoggi's disappearance and reported killing, but that he plans to "pretty soon."

Trump offered no new information on the case but said the US was working to uncover what happened. "A lot of people are looking to find out because it is potentially a really, really terrible situation so we'll see what happens," he said, speaking in Ohio.

A day earlier, Trump said he was reluctant to take action, particularly on the issue of arms sales. "There are other things we can do," he told reporters at the White House.

The US signed a nearly $110 billion defense deal with Saudi Arabia in May 2017, when Trump made Saudi Arabia a stop on his first foreign trip as president. The stop was seen, in part, as an endorsement of the strong relationship between Trump, Jared Kushner -- his son-in-law and senior adviser -- and bin Salman.

France's Foreign Ministry said it had demanded that Saudi Arabia provide a "complete and detailed response" with regard to the reported killing of Khashoggi, whose disappearance "raises serious questions about his fate."

Gulf Arab states came out in support of Saudi Arabia, however, in the first wave of official reactions from its neighbors.

In a tweet Thursday, the United Arab Emirates' Foreign Minister, Anwar Gargash, called media reports on the matter "a fierce campaign" run in coordination with "inciting parties."

Bahrain's Foreign Minister, Khalid bin Ahmad, said that "Saudi Arabia is the target, not the search for truth."

Focus on 15 men

Turkish authorities believe 15 Saudi men who arrived in Istanbul on October 2 were connected to Khashoggi's disappearance and possible killing. At least some of them appear to have high-level connections in the Saudi government.

One of the Saudi men was identified by Turkey's official Anadolu Agency and Sabah as Salah Muhammed al-Tubaiqi. He is listed on an official Saudi health website as the head of the forensic medicine department at the interior ministry.

On Thursday, a US official familiar with the intelligence told CNN that the US had intercepts of Saudi officials discussing a plan to lure Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia and detain him.

Washington's "working assumption" is that Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate in Istanbul, according to a US official familiar with the latest intelligence. "We are pretty clear eyed it is likely to have happened and it didn't end well," the official said. The source did caution that this was the latest assessment and no conclusions had been made.

A source who knows Khashoggi told CNN that Saudi authorities made several attempts to reach out to Khashoggi in 2017, including proposing he lead a think tank funded by the state. The source says that Khashoggi rejected the ideas and over the following months his much sharper criticism of the government, in its domestic policy and relating to the crisis with Qatar, ended any dialogue.

The source, who maintains high-level contact inside the kingdom, says that senior figures in the Royal Court in Riyadh were especially infuriated by Khashoggi's criticism of the decision by Saudi authorities in September 2017 to classify the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi as terrorists. At the same time, the source says, Khashoggi became more wary of returning to the kingdom.

Three days before his disappearance, Khashoggi -- speaking to a BBC journalist in an off-air conversation after a radio interview -- said he did not think he would ever be able to return to Saudi Arabia.

Asked when he might be able to go home again, Khashoggi says: "I don't think I'll be able to."

The BBC several days ago said it decided to publish the off-air conversation "in light of the current circumstances."

A delegation from Saudi Arabia has arrived in Turkey for the investigation into Khashoggi's disappearance, Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency reported Friday.

On Friday, a Saudi official said that he "welcomed" an announcement by the Turkish President to form a joint team of experts from both countries to investigate Khashoggi's disappearance and that he was "fully confident of the team's ability to accomplish the mission," according to a Saudi Information Ministry statement.

He said the "Kingdom attached utmost priority to its citizens' safety and security, irrespective of their location."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Apple Watch worn by Saudi journalist may have transmitted evidence of his death, Turkish paper reports."

By VOA News , Oct. 12, 2018





ISTANBUL  U.S. President Donald Trump met at the White House Saturday with American pastor Andrew Brunson, who returned to the U.S. after being detained in Turkey for two years.





"It will be wonderful to see and meet him," Trump had written in a Saturday morning tweet. "He is a great Christian who has been through such a tough experience."

Read More:



Join us - become an Elderado today at: LarryElder.com

Follow Larry Elder on Follow Larry Elder on Twitter

"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook



(CNN)  Saudi Arabia's King Salman spoke Sunday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, Saudi and Turkish media reported.

The Saudi Press Agency and the Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu reported the countries are considering establishing a "working group" to discuss the Khashoggi case.

The working group, which does not yet have an official date, comes amid intense international pressure on Saudi Arabia.

Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post and Saudi royal insider-turned-critic, went missing after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to obtain paperwork that would allow him to marry his Turkish fiancee.

His disappearance has drawn international condemnation and sparked warnings from U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday of "severe punishment" if the Saudis are found to be behind his death. Britain, France and Germany also said on Sunday they were demanding a "credible investigation."

However, in what appeared to be a coordinated response, a number of Arab countries gave their support to Saudi Arabia. Oman, Bahrain, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt all put out government statements on Sunday saying they express solidarity with Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia came out swinging early Sunday, threatening to retaliate and spelling out the ways in which Riyadh would punish the U.S. if it imposed sanctions.

In a statement Sunday on the official Saudi Press Agency attributed to "an official," the kingdom rejected any threats of economic sanctions or political pressure and said it would "respond with greater action."

Strongly worded op-ed

In a strongly worded op-ed published later on Sunday, Turki Aldakhil, general manager of the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya news channel, warned that if the U.S. imposed sanctions on Riyadh "it will stab its own economy to death," cause oil prices to reach as high as $200 a barrel, lead Riyadh to permit a Russian military base in the city of Tabuk and drive the Middle East into the arms of Iran.

"The information circulating within decision-making circles within the kingdom have gone beyond the rosy language used in the statement," Aldakhil wrote, referring to the earlier comment.

"There are simple procedures, that are part of over 30 others, that Riyadh will implement directly, without flinching an eye if sanctions are imposed," he said.

"If U.S. sanctions are imposed on Saudi Arabia, we will be facing an economic disaster that would rock the entire world," he added.

He warned that any sanctions would lead to the kingdom's "failure to commit" to specific levels of oil production and "if the price of oil reaching $80 angered President Trump, no one should rule out the price jumping to $100, or $200, or even double that figure."

Aldakhil later said on his official Twitter account that the op-ed piece was his personal opinion and not the official position of Saudi Arabia's government.

"I noticed that some people are connecting this article of mine with the Saudi government's official position. This is not true, it is my personal opinion," he wrote.

Faisal bin Farhan, a senior adviser at the Saudi Embassy in Washington DC, said on his official Twitter account Sunday that the op-ed "did not reflect the thinking of the Saudi leadership."

The Saudi Embassy in Washington offered a milder statement in a tweet on Sunday.

"To help clarify recently issued Saudi statement, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia extends its appreciation to all, including the U.S. administration, for refraining from jumping to conclusions on the ongoing investigation," the statement said.

The Saudi warnings came after the country's stock market fell as much as 7% on Sunday amid fears of sanctions. The index recovered some ground later to close 3.5% down. The losses wiped out all the market's gains in 2018, although it is still up 8% from a year ago. None of the statements mentioned Khashoggi by name, or provided any further clues into what happened to the journalist.

Growing isolation

In a joint statement later Sunday, the foreign ministers of the UK, France and Germany said "light must be shed" on Khashoggi's disappearance.

"Germany, the United Kingdom and France share the grave concern expressed by others including HRVP [Federica] Mogherini and UNSG [Antonio] Guterres, and are treating this incident with the utmost seriousness. There needs to be a credible investigation to establish the truth about what happened, and  if relevant  to identify those bearing responsibility for the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, and ensure that they are held to account," the statement said.

"We encourage joint Saudi-Turkish efforts in that regard, and expect the Saudi Government to provide a complete and detailed response. We have conveyed this message directly to the Saudi authorities."

Separately, British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt on Sunday urged Saudi Arabia to explain what happened to Khashoggi at the consulate, saying, "if they have got nothing to hide, then they will and should cooperate."

"If, as they say, this terrible murder didn't happen, then where is Jamal Khashoggi? That's what the world wants to know," Hunt told UK Pool.

In the diplomatic fallout over Khashoggi's disappearance, international firms are pulling out of a high-profile investment summit due to take place later this month in Riyadh.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday declined to confirm whether U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin would still be attending the Future Investment Initiative conference being hosted by the Saudi Crown Prince  known as "Davos in the desert"  later this month.

"I think we need to continue to evaluate the facts and we'll make that decision  I talked to Secretary Mnuchin about it last night, we'll be taking a look at it through the rest of the week," Pompeo, alongside President Trump, told reporters in the Oval Office on Saturday.

A U.S. senior administration official said that the U.S. hasn't really dealt much with the Turks on the Khashoggi investigation yet because American officials, including the embassy staff, mostly focused last week on getting American pastor Andrew Brunson home.

Now that Brunson is back in the U.S., and everyone is coming back to work on Monday, the official said the U.S. is expecting some information from the Turks. The U.S. also still hasn't heard anything from the Saudis, and are waiting for some information about what happened, the official said.

Doubts are also growing over whether British Trade Secretary Liam Fox will attend the Riyadh conference, the BBC reported Sunday citing diplomatic sources.

A spokesman for the UK's international trade department told CNN that Fox's diary was not yet finalized for the week of the conference.

Turkish authorities believe 15 Saudi men who arrived in Istanbul on October 2 were connected to Khashoggi's disappearance and possible killing. At least some of them appear to have high-level connections in the Saudi government.

On Friday, a source familiar with the ongoing investigation told CNN that Turkish authorities have audio and visual evidence that Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate.

Saudi Arabia firmly denies any involvement in Khashoggi's disappearance and says he left the consulate that afternoon.

Fiancee describes heartbreak over 'lonely patriot'

Khashoggi's fiancee Hatice Cengiz revealed how the couple spent their last hours together, writing that "tyrants eventually pay for their sins," in a New York Times article on Saturday.

Cengiz, a doctoral student at a university in Istanbul, wrote: "If the allegations are true, and Jamal has been murdered by the errand boys of Mohammed bin Salman, he is already a martyr."

Cengiz said in the article that Khashoggi had been "cheerful" on the morning they traveled together to the consulate, and that the couple had made plans for the rest of their day.

"We were going to browse appliances for our new home and meet with our friends and family members over dinner," she wrote. "When we arrived at the consulate, he went right in. He told me to alert the Turkish authorities if I did not hear from him soon."

The heartfelt article, which described how the pair met at a conference in Istanbul in May and bonded over their "shared passion for democracy, human rights and freedom of expression" was published on Khashoggi's birthday, Cengiz said.

"I had planned a party, inviting his closest friends to surround him with the love and warmth that he had missed," she wrote. "We would have been married now."

Cengiz said Khashoggi fled Saudi Arabia with two suitcases for the U.S. "amid a crackdown on intellectuals and activists who criticized Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman."

But rather than a dissident, he saw himself as a patriot "using his pen for the good of his country," she said.

Cengiz added that she had seen reports President Trump wanted to invite her to the White House. But she said, "If he makes a genuine contribution to the efforts to reveal what happened inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul that day, I will consider accepting his invitation."

The U.S. President said Friday he had not yet spoken with King Salman of Saudi Arabia  the father of bin Salman  in the wake of Khashoggi's reported killing, but that he planned to "pretty soon."

This story was first published on CNN.com "Saudi Arabian King calls Turkish President over journalist Khashoggi's disappearance"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.Just in Time for the Holidays, Hit Mobile Game Gets 28 Sets of New Fashion for Players and NPCs on November 26English Danish

October 9, 2018

NNIT acquires fast-growing US company to accelerate delivery of IT services to the international life sciences industry and increases revenue outlook for 2018

NNIT A/S ("NNIT"), a leading provider of IT services and consultancy announces that it has signed an agreement to acquire Valiance Partners, LLC. ("Valiance Partners").Valiance Partners is a computer software and services data migration company primarily for the life sciences industry. Established in 2003 and headquartered in New Jersey, US, Valiance Partners provide end-to-end data and content migration software solutions and services for IT, quality, validation and test management.Today, NNIT entered into an agreement with the shareholders of Valiance Partners to acquire 100% of the shares for an upfront payment of USD 25.0 million and an earn-out payment of USD 10.7 million at target, depending on performance.

Per Kogut, CEO of NNIT, comments:

"Valiance Partners provides a perfect strategic and cultural match and I am excited to welcome this fast-growing company to NNIT. They come with a strong experience and have delivered migration services to many of the world's most successful pharmaceutical companies. Together we will strengthen our growth potential and the acquisition will boost NNIT as a global IT provider to the international life sciences industry."

Richard Higger, Founder and President of Valiance Partners, comments:

"We are excited to become part of the NNIT Group and continue our successful growth. With NNIT's experience in international life sciences, we see an opportunity to expand our successful business in additional markets. Our two companies have already collaborated on several projects and learned that we make a good fit."

NNIT will acquire 100% of the shares of Valiance Partners, LLC for an upfront payment of USD 25.0 million. Further, the agreement consists of an earn-out element being realized until the end of 2021, which at target is USD 10.7 million, depending on performance.Following the acquisition, Valiance Partners will in daily operations continue its current business, while working together with NNIT on new and existing business opportunities. Valiance Partners will be named "Valiance Partners, LLC - an NNIT Group Company".NNIT will finance the acquisition through its operating cash flows and existing credit facilities. No external equity or debt financing will be needed.Closing of the agreement is expected to be November 1, 2018.

Strategic rationale

With the acquisition NNIT will strengthen its foothold as a leading IT services provider to the international life sciences industry. The demand for migration services has increased significantly over the past decade and Valiance Partners has become a leading migration partner to the life sciences industry. Our companies complement each other, combining Valiance Partners' migration solutions and references within international life sciences with NNIT's experience delivering advisory and other services to life science companies.



The addition of Valiance Partners' world-class data migration tools and services to NNIT's existing system integration methodology, positions NNIT as a leading implementation provider of highly complex Software-as-a-Service solutions to the life sciences industry.

About Valiance Partners

Headquartered in New Jersey, US. Valiance Partners is a computer software and services data migration company primarily for the life sciences industry. The company employs 60+ staff and independent contractors, located in its headquarters and the company's Dublin, Ireland office.



For the financial year 2017, Valiance Partners generated revenue of USD 9.8 million and normalized operating profit of USD 2.0 million equal to an operating profit margin of 20%. In 2018 revenue is expected to grow with more than 35% with an operating profit margin of around 24%.



Valiance Partners has managed more than 500 migrations for over 100 companies, including the world's leading pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology brands.

Outlook

The acquisition is expected to generate additional revenue in the last two months of 2018 of around DKK 15 million corresponding to approximately 0.5pp growth in 2018. As a result, the outlook for 2018 in constant currencies is increased:

Expected revenue growth is increased to be 4-7% in constant currencies (previously 3-6%)

Expected operating profit margin is maintained at 10-10.5% in constant currencies

The expected level of investments is maintained at 6-8% of total revenue and excludes the acquisition of Valiance Partners

NNIT will host a teleconference October 9, 2018 at 14:30 CET about the acquisition of Valiance Partners. Please visit the NNIT webpage at www.nnit.com to access the teleconference, which can be found under 'Investors - Events & presentations'. Presentation material will be available on the website at the start of the presentation.

Conference call details

Webcast link: https://nnit.eventcdn.net/20181009

Participant telephone numbers:

Denmark: +45 3544 5583

United Kingdom: +44 203 194 0544

Sweden: +46 8 5664 2661

United States +1 855 269 2604

Contacts for further information

Investor relations:

Klaus Hosbond Skovrup

Head of Investor Relations

Tel: +45 3079 5355

ksko@nnit.com



Media relations:

Helga Heyn

NNIT Communications

Tel: +45 3077 8141

hhey@nnit.com

About NNIT

NNIT A/S is one of Denmark's leading IT service providers and consultancies. NNIT A/S offers a wide range of IT services and solutions to its customers, primarily in the life sciences sector in Denmark and internationally and to customers in the public, enterprise and finance sectors in Denmark. As of June 30, 2018 NNIT A/S had 3,122 employees. For more information please visithttp://www.nnit.com.(TNS) - Nassau County's Amateur Radio Emergency Services (NCARES) team is helping state emergency management authorities with communications networking and technical expertise in Panhandle counties hard hit by Hurricane Michael.The hurricane destroyed critical infrastructure throughout several counties west of Tallahassee. Many are relying on volunteer Ham Radio operators utilizing the State Amateur Radio Network (SARnet) to relay information about structural damage, supply shortages and requests for assistance from the Panhandle to Northeast Florida. Those needs can be put directly into Emergency Management's web-based disaster information and mission request system, said Martha Oberdorfer, spokeswoman for Nassau County Emergency Management.A nonprofit, NCARES pays for all of its equipment and operations through donations and two annual barbecue fundraisers. Volunteers donate their time and resources to Nassau County Emergency Management staffing the County Watch Office, Oberdorfer said.During disasters, they do whatever needed to ensure emergency messages get to where they need to go. NCARES members towed their Mobile Communications Center  joining Nassau County Sheriff's Office detective Thomas Kelley in the agency's Mobile Communications Vehicle.Their mission is to provide emergency generator power as well as aiding dispatch capabilities and helping repair what they can to improve public safety communication in the devastated counties, she said.It was unknown how long they would be deployed, authorities said.Teresa Stepzinski: (904) 359-40752018 The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.)Visit The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.) at www.jacksonville.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.World energy consumption projections expect coal to stay one of the worlds main energy sources in the coming decades, and a growing share of it will be used in CTthe conversion of coal to liquid fuels (CTL). Researchers from the National Institute of Clean-and-Low-Carbon Energy in Beijing and Eindhoven University of Technology have developed iron-based catalysts that substantially reduce operating costs and open the door to capturing the large amounts of CO 2 that are generated by CTL. An open-access paper on their work is published in the journal Science Advances.

The conversion of coal to liquid fuels is especially relevant in coal-rich countries that have to import oil for their supply of liquid fuelssuch as China.

China represents the largest coal market in the world and is expanding its coal-to-liquids (CTL) technology by ~2% per year. By 2020, CTL is expected to account for 15% of the coal use in China. Accordingly, there is a large incentive to improve current CTL technology, which can convert coal into liquid fuels and valuable chemicals. Wang et al.

The first stage in CTL is the conversion of coal to syngasa mixture of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H 2 ). Using the Fischer-Tropsch process, these components are converted to liquid fuels. But before that can be done, the composition of the syngas has to be changed to make sure the right products come out in the end. Some of the CO is taken out of the syngas (rejected) by converting it to CO 2 , in a process called the water-gas shift.

In this chain the researchers tackled a key problem in the Fischer-Tropsch reactor. As in most chemical processing, catalysts are required to enable the reactions. CTL catalysts are mainly iron-based. Unfortunately, they convert some 30% of the CO to unwanted CO 2 , a byproduct that in this stage is hard to capture and thereby often released in large volumes, consuming a lot of energy without benefit.

The Beijing and Eindhoven researchers discovered that the CO 2 release is caused by the fact that the iron-based catalysts are not pure, but comprise several components. They were able to produce a pure form of a specific iron carbideepsilon iron carbidethat has a very low CO 2 selectivity.

The existence of -iron carbide was already known but until now it had not been stable enough for the harsh Fischer-Tropsch process. The Sino-Dutch research team has now shown that this instability is caused by impurities in the catalyst. The phase-pure epsilon iron carbide they developed is, by contrast, stable and remains functional, even under typical industrial processing conditions of 23 bar and 250 C.

The new catalyst eliminates nearly all CO 2 generation in the Fischer-Tropsch reactor. This can reduce the energy needed and the operating costs by roughly 25 million per year for a typical CTL plant. The CO 2 that was previously released in this stage can now be removed in the preceding water-gas shift stage.

We are aware that our new technology facilitates the use of coal-derived fossil fuels. However, it is very likely that coal-rich countries will keep on exploiting their coal reserves in the decades ahead. We want to help them do this in the most sustainable way. lead researcher Professor Emiel Hensen of Eindhoven University of Technology

The research results are likely to reduce the efforts to develop CTL catalysts based on cobalt. Cobalt-based catalysts do not have the CO 2 problem, but they are expensive and quickly becoming a scarce resource due to cobalt use in batteries, which account for half of the total cobalt consumption.

Hensen expects that the newly developed catalysts will also play an import role in the future energy and basic chemicals industry. The feedstock will not be coal or gas, but waste and biomass. Syngas will continue to be the central element, as it is also the intermediate product in the conversion of these new feedstocks.

Resources



1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.

2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.

3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament of the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.

5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.

6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.

7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.

8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.

9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.

10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.

11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)

12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.

13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.

14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.

15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.

16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

18. Gain control of all student newspapers.

19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.

20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.

21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.

22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."

23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."

24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."

28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.

30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."

31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.

32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.

33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.

34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.

36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.

37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.

38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand.

39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.

40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.

41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.

42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems.

43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.

44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.

45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike.



Haiti - DR : Investigation of the destruction by Haitians of certain boundary markers





A Commission composed of senior officers from the Cartographic Directorate of the Ministry of Defense and the Dominican Navy, went to the border area at the pyramid #1 of the municipality of Manzanillo, Montecristi, to investigate the allegations according to which Haitian citizens would enter the Dominican territory to destroy pyramids delimiting the 388 km of borders separating the two countries from the mouth of the river Massacre to Manzanillo to the Pedernales river according to the Aranjuez treaty between Spain and France.



Several people residing in Manzanillo were questioned by the officers. Members of the Military Commission said they would then go to the community of Sanchez, in Dajabon, where the destruction of pyramids was reported.



The survey included an examination of the existing 313 pyramids, beginning at Montecristi, where the #1 and ending at Pedernales with pyramid #313.



The intervention of the Dominican authorities was decided following the multiplication of reactions and complaints from the border populations who deplore that the symbols that indicate the territorial boundaries of the two countries, are being destroyed voluntarily by Haitians.



SL/ HaitiLibre

















As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content.

When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to.

After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS!

OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK

The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those.VFW members Joseph Burdick and Edward Denault pose with Town Administrator Carl McKinney and the new town field sign manufactured and installed by Neathawk Designs. A new bronze plaque tells the story of Peter A. Cook, the town's only Vietnam casualty. PreviousNext

Clarksburg VFW Unveils New Sign, Name for Town Field



Town meeting last December approved renaming the field. CLARKSBURG, Mass.  There's no missing the new name of the town field.

The large green sign proudly proclaims it as the Pfc. Peter A. Cook Veterans Memorial Field.

Town meeting voted to rename the field last December to memorialize Cook and the town's veterans and the local Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter, also named after Cook, raised the funds to install the sign.

"It was extremely important to us we get Pete Cook's name out here in a permanent status," said VFW member Edward Denault on Friday morning. "We didn't care how we got to it or where we put it really, but this turned out to be the perfect spot."

Cook was only 20 years old when he was killed in 1970 during an assault on his company in the Thua Thien province in Vietnam.

"We adopted his name for the post," Denault said. "He was the only combat-related fatality in Clarksburg. He was a hometown kid. He was our age."

He said it was also important to ensure that all veterans were recognized, not just a single individual, so "Veterans Memorial" was included in the full name.

The membership of the Peter A. Cook Post 9144 Veterans of Foreign Wars has been dwindling for years. It sold its post home, a converted church across from Town Hall, a couple years ago and there has been a concern that chapter would disappear completely. Members approached town officials about possibly renaming the field, which for years has been referred to as "Town Field" despite being named Veterans Field in the 1980s.

"We're all aging and we're the guys who had to do it," said member Joseph Bushika.

The sign was custom created and installed by Neathawk Designs of Williamstown; a bronze plaque with Cook's image and story was also replaced a smaller veterans plaque on a stone near the flagpole.

The effort was entirely financed through donations, including a $1,000 grant from the national VFW. The local VFW also made a "significant" donation, Denault said.

"We appreciate what the VFW does for this town," said Town Administrator Carl McKinney. "I think it's not recognized enough, look what they've done for repairing the school. We're deeply appreciative."

The local VFW chapter has regularly held fundraisers such as its popular pancake breakfasts to support various local events, causes and scholarships. It hosts the annual Easter egg roll, cleaned up the Clark Cemetery and recently donated $5,000 toward updating the plumbing at Clarksburg School.

"We're supposed to be giving back to the community and this is our way of doing," Bushika said. "That's what we're all about."

Denault said it's why the VFW gets such good support from the community. Bushika agreed, "this town is phenomenal."

McKinney said Cook "exemplifies the sacrifice" of soldiers who don't get to make the determination of where they're sent.

"When they came back [from Vietnam] there wasn't a lot of thanks," he said. "It may be a little be late ... thank God we've changed our way of welcoming veterans."

Future plans for the field include making it more handicapped accessible by adding a sidewalk and extending a paved path that runs by the sign all the way to the pavilion, which will also have to be renovated. McKinney said the town is looking to resurrect the handicapped commission to begin the self-review toward Americans With Disabilities compliance that will also allow Clarksburg to apply for grant funding to address accessibility issues.

In the meantime, the sturdy sign will ensure that the VFW post and its eponym won't be forgotten.

"It was an expensive undertaking but we wanted to make sure it was good and lasted," Denault said.



iciHaiti - Justice : Using prisons as a production center





The "Haiti-BENELUX Chamber of Commerce and Industry" (CCI Haiti-Benelux) organized a conference with the Directorate of Penitentiary Administration (DAP) with the support of the correctional unit of Minujusth, entitled "Synergies between prison and the private sector".



The CCI Haiti-Benelux explain that in order to stimulate communication and cooperation with the Directorate of Penitentiary Administration, and show that prison and prisoners can be a value for society and private sector itself and be part of the development of Haiti. Prisons can be used as production facility, Prisons and prisoners can help in agriculture development and environment protection, improve vocational training to secure a better social integration.



The CCI Haiti-Benelux work towards the formation of a committee that can be established between private sector organizations, DAP and other organizations in order to develop programs that can and will be a value for the private sector and improve conditions in general of prisons and be part of the development of Haiti and stimulate an effective social reintegration.



IH/ SL/ iciHaiti

















October 13, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Why do you work for a murderer?

Increasingly, it seems that is a question many Americans should be preparing themselves to answer.

Each year, Saudi Arabia employs, through consultants or otherwise, a host of retired American generals, diplomats, intelligence experts and others. Until now, they could assure themselves this was a win-win: lucrative for them, to be sure, but also enhancing mutual understanding with an important U.S. ally.

Now, as more and more evidence implicates Saudi Arabias de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in the reported murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Saudi diplomatic property in Istanbul, the equation has changed.

So how might, say, a retired Air Force colonel explain his work when his daughter asks, Daddy, why do you work for a murderer?

Well, it helps to pay your future college tuition, he might answer. And besides, I finally get to fly business class. Riyadh is no picnic, but they always spring for a couple of nights in a five-star hotel in London or Abu Dhabi on the way over and the way back. . . . And if I dont do it, someone else will.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

This, essentially, is President Trumps answer, at least so far. Yes, the Saudis may have committed a monstrous crime. But, the president said, Theyre spending $110 billion purchasing military equipment and other things. If we dont sell it to them, theyll say, Well, thank you very much. Well buy it from Russia. 

To an ethically challenged businessman, that may be nothing but common sense. To a patriot, the argument is self-evidently misbegotten. If the United States is willing to sacrifice its moral standing for $110 billion (most of which will never materialize, but never mind that), why should any nation ever look to it for leadership?

Watching his daughter try to process his justification, the retired colonel understands what Trump does not: No salary, no military contract, could compensate for the loss of the worlds respect. So he tries again.

You see, he says, we need Saudi Arabias help to stand up to the really bad actor in the region  Iran.

Oh, she says, hoping this answer will be more satisfying. What makes Iran so bad?

Well, they dont let their people express themselves freely, or practice the religion of their choice, or even dress the way they want, the colonel replies.

And Saudi Arabia does?

Well . . . , he answers. No. Not exactly. But Iran also does terrible things in its neighborhood  fighting in Syria, interfering in Lebanon.

By now, she is almost afraid to ask. And Saudi Arabia . . . ?

The colonel, thinking about Saudi war crimes in Yemen  the busloads of children blown up, the 400,000 children suffering from malnutrition, the worst cholera epidemic in modern history  falls silent.

Falls silent, and maybe reflects. On the enormity of what happened in Istanbul. On the extraordinary brazenness of this crime, even in an era when norms are eroding as the United States abdicates its role as leader of the free world.

The colonel thinks about Khashoggi, a peaceable, passionate man who, it happens, turns 60 this weekend. A man who loves his country, but exiled himself from it so he could write freely and, as he hoped, influence it to modernize in a constructive way.

To do otherwise would betray those who languish in prison, he wrote last year. I can speak when so many cannot. I want you to know that Saudi Arabia has not always been as it is now. We Saudis deserve better.

The colonel shakes his head as he wonders how such a man could come to be viewed by the crown prince as an enemy. How he could be lured to a Saudi diplomatic compound and then, if Turkish reports are correct, murdered and dismembered.

And he thinks: Can I possibly work for such a regime, and still look at myself in the mirror each morning?

Which is the question that we, as a nation, must ask ourselves now. Even if we still needed Saudi Arabias oil, which we do not; even if Saudi Arabia was a strong and principled ally in the region, which it is not; even if it helped push the Palestinians toward peace, or kept its promises in Yemen, or bought the weapons that Trump thinks it is going to buy. . . . No matter what Saudi Arabia offered, could its supposed friendship be worth shrugging off the ensnaring and killing of a critic whose only offense was to tell the truth?

Is that the country we want to be?

This article was originally published by " Washington Post " -

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here.

==See Also==

Turkey obtains recordings of Saudi journalist's purported killing: paper : Turkeys investigation has revealed recordings made on his Apple Watch purportedly indicating he was tortured and killed, a Turkish newspaper reported on Saturday.

Turkey has video evidence of journalist's killing in Saudi consulate, source says

Opinion: Will the Khashoggi case make Saudi Arabia a rogue state? : When dissidents are murdered in Eastern Europe, there are loud calls for immediate sanctions.

Israels secret assassinations: Since World War II, Israel has assassinated more people than any other country in the Western world,

Trump promises 'severe punishment' if Saudi Arabia responsible for journalist's killing

Donald Trump Jr. Peddles Tweet Linking Jamal Khashoggi To Jihadists

Saudi Arabia is America's No. 1 weapons customer: The U.S. remains the world's largest weapons exporter, a position it has held since the late 1990s. Our biggest customer? Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia jobs: on Veteran's Job Center

Note To ICH Community

We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites.

Thank you for your support.

Peace and joyOctober 13, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Before President Barack Obama authorized clandestine operations to defeat Syrian President Bashar al Assad in 2013, he asked the CIA to write the history of its secret wars. The classified document, say those who have read it, is a record of failure from Albania to Cuba to Angola to Nicaragua. Yet Obama went ahead with the covert program for Syria, which the CIA ran from Turkey and Jordan. Like its predecessors, Operation Timber Sycamore failed. It neither toppled Assad nor prevented Salafi jihadi fanatics from dominating the Syrian opposition. President Trump cancelled the program in July last year, but he is not immune to the siren call of another secret war  in his case, against Iran with as much chance of a positive outcome as Syria.

Why the fascination with arming foreign insurgents and proxy armies to fight wars that the U.S. wont fight itself? Were busily training, you know, local troops to fight local militants, why do we think we have this aptitude for creating armies? Andrew Bacevich, a retired army colonel and author of Americas War for the Greater Middle East, once told me. I dont know. It sure as hell didnt work in Vietnam. Two reasons stand out. One is that, as Bacevich explained, insurgencies are wars on the cheap, not only in dollars but in assuring the public that American soldiers lives are not in danger. It is also a midway point between invasion and doing nothing. And most American presidents, faced with an opportunity to undermine rival states, want to do something.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

It all started in Syria, where Britain conducted a successful insurgency against Ottoman Turkey from 1916 to 1918. The famed leader of the Arab rebels was Lawrence of Arabia, whose Seven Pillars of Wisdom remains required reading for any operative embarking on clandestine warfare. Lawrence became the inspiration for Britains first secret warfare organization, Special Operations Executive (SOE).

SOE came into being in the summer of 1940, because Britain lacked resources to fight on alone after the German conquest of Belgium, Holland and France. Winston Churchill created the office of ungentlemanly warfare on 19 July to coordinate all action by way of subversion and sabotage against the enemy overseas. The British would train, arm and finance local insurgents to harass the Germans, as well as their Italian and Japanese allies, in all countries under Axis occupation. SOEs first director of operations, Lieutenant Colonel Colin Gubbins, who became overall chief in 1943, wrote the Art of Guerrilla Warfare and the Partisan Leaders Handbook, based on what he called Lawrences epic campaign. What he instigated was, by SOEs admission, terrorism on the Axis.

SOE mobilized mountain tribes in Burma, communist and royalist rebels in Yugoslavia, and disparate anti-Nazis in France. It also encouraged the US to establish its own covert operations unit, which became the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Gubbins assigned Major Bill Brooker to train the Americans at top-secret Camp X in the Canadian woods, telling him, We think the Americans are going to come into the war and they have to learn all about this stuff. One American official wondered, What type of training was required to make an American un-American enough to stick the enemy in the back? Camp X, which opened three days after Pearl Harbor, instructed more than 500 inexperienced Americans in the dark arts of partisan recruitment, sabotage, assassination, secrecy and communications.

The entrance of the Soviet Union and the US into the war against Germany altered the balance in Britains favor and changed SOEs covert mission in Europe from harassment to support for an Allied invasion of the Continent. When Britain and the US invaded Italy and then France, SOE-backed guerrilla units diverted German resources away from advancing Allied armies. Resistance was not decisive, but it saved Allied troops lives and shortened the war.

SOE and OSS claimed numerous achievements, due to effective leadership by men and women who knew the countries they worked in, spoke the language, lived among their fighters and observed strict security. One of the best was George Starr, who set up operations in southwest France and slowly grew his WHEELWRIGHT resistance network from one small district to the entire region. His forces helped to impede Germanys Second SS Panzer Division from reaching the Normandy landing beaches by seventeen crucial days. The beachhead was secure when the battered division arrived. SOE critics, including Georges brother and fellow SOE operative John Starr, recorded fatal errors. The most famous was succumbing to false German radio signals, supposedly from SOE operators, that lured scores of British agents to their deaths.

In World War II, SOE was a partial success. Although the British shut it down when the Americans dismantled OSS right after the war, the seductiveness of special operations a la SOE and OSS lingered. In the post-war world, it has been a disaster. The British absorbed former SOE agents into its traditional spy agency, the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) also known as MI-6. OSS veterans formed the backbone of the CIA that President Harry Truman established in 1947. Both organizations existed to collect intelligence, but they nonetheless conducted operations that included assassination and clandestine war. Historian of espionage Phillip Knightley wrote that mixing the two made it inevitable that intelligence also involved covert action, and covert action now meant American intervention in countries with which the United States was not at war.

Intervention never stopped. The British and Americans infiltrated guerrilla bands into the Soviet Union and its satellites, in Trumans words, to roll back communism. They sometimes employed former Nazis, notably in the Ukraine where they armed fascist nationalists against the Russians in a disastrous campaign that left most of its participants dead, wounded or captured. The joint Anglo-American Operation Valuable infiltrated rebels into Albania to overthrow dictator Enver Hoxha, a former SOE ally during World War II. Most of them were immediately killed or taken prisoner. Frank Wisner, the CIA point man in Albania, told Kim Philby, the SIS operative secretly working for the Soviets, Well get it right next time. They didnt.

Attempts to use insurgents in the three Soviet-occupied Baltic nations led not only to failure but to 75,000 civilian casualties. The infiltration of thousands of guerrillas into North Korea likely affected the Norths decision to invade South Korea in June 1950. CIA support of rebellious colonels in Indonesia five years later did not prevent their total defeat by the Indonesian Army. The 1961 Bay of Pigs disaster in Cuba is well known, as is the clandestine Contra war against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. CIA director and OSS veteran William Casey ran the illegal war over Congressional objections using Saudi money and funds from the illegal sale of arms to Iran. The CIA covert war in Afghanistan led to a mujahideen victory over the Soviets, but it produced the chaos and civil war that led to the creation of the Taliban, the hosting of Osama bin Laden, 9/11 and the longest war in American history.

In 2011, a revolt erupted in Syria. The U.S., which was witnessing the tragic consequences of its intervention in Libya, was reluctant to use its military again. The halfway house between quick victory by Assad, backed by allies Russia and Iran, and American invasion was a covert operation. This was supposed to be different from the failed missions catalogued in the CIA study Obama commissioned. It wasnt. The CIAs bid to emulate Lawrence on the masters old terrain failed. Why?

Lawrence had advantages that the CIA lacked. First, the British Army under General Edmund Allenby invaded Palestine and Syria from Egypt. Lawrences ill-equipped tribesmen, who on their own could not have defeated the Ottomans, served as Allenbys right flank as his forces advance north. The CIA had no invading American army to support in Syria, denying their rebels a clear objective. Second, Lawrence fought alongside his men, while most CIA operatives remained at base in Turkey and Jordan. Third, Lawrences strategy was not to hold territory that his irregulars could not defend. Syrias rebels did that again and again.

Lawrence, writing the Encyclopaedia Britannica in 1929, explained that a guerrilla force had to be an influence, a thing invulnerable, intangible, without front or back, drifting about like gas  never giving the enemy a target. He felt that battles were a mistake, a lesson the CIA neglected to teach the Syrian rebels. The next edition of the CIAs covert ops history will have to include the $1 billion disaster in Syria.

Does that mean an end to secret wars? Rudy Giulianis recent calls for regime change in Iran, combined with Secretary of State Mike Pompeos announcement of an Iran Action Group, indicate that lessons remain unlearned. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is funding the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MeK), a Shiite mirror image of Al Qaeda, that seeks to overthrow the Iranian regime. The MeK was an ally of Saddam in the Iran-Iraq War, massacred Kurds in 1991 and was until recently on the U.S. State Departments list of terrorist organizations. If Syria was a disaster, Iran could be a catastrophe.

A century before Britain sent Lawrence into Syria, Wellingtons army supported Spanish partisans against Napoleons occupation of their country. The Spaniards won in 1814, returning King Ferdinand VII to his throne in Madrid. One of the monarchs first acts was to restore the Inquisition. As the Syria war heads towards a conclusion in Idlib, the U.S. can take solace that its jihadis did not conquer Syria and turn it into a base of the global holy war.

Charles Glass has covered Syria since 1973 and is the author of the newly released They Fought Alone: The True Story of the Starr Brothers, British Secret Agents in Nazi-Occupied France (Penguin Press).

Originally published at Reader Supported News.

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here.

==See Also==

Note To ICH Community

We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites.

Thank you for your support.

Peace and joyOctober 13, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Sixteen years ago this week, 77 U.S. senators and 296 members of the House of Representatives gave President George W. Bush the authority to wage war in Iraq.

That monumental vote enabled what is arguably the biggest strategic foreign policy blunder in American history, needlessly killing hundreds of thousands and costing trillions of dollars. To this day, the United States is still militarily engaged in Iraq and Syria, dealing with the continued fallout of Bushs decision to invade back in 2003. For decades to come, the United States will spend tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars caring for American service members wounded both mentally and physically in that conflict.

If you think the U.S. government learned its lesson from this tragedy, think again.

Former Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) was one of just 29 senatorsall Democratswho voted against the Iraq war authorization in October 2002. Last year, he issued a stark warning:

If an administration again pounds the drums for war and the media reacted as they did [during the run-up to the Iraq war], without serious thought, with just a visceral emotional response rather than thinking critically and seriously and responsibly, I dont think what happened in Iraq will unfortunately matter very much. I wish I could say to you something else.

Well it just so happens that an administration is pounding the war drums again, and the media is playing right along.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

Trumps Approach to Iran

Team Trump showed its hand in the early days of the administration when then-National Security Advisor Michael Flynn randomly stormed into the White House press room to put Iran on notice (for what, it was unclear, but in any event, Iran was on notice). Soon after, the Trump administration began its quest to dismantle the Obama administrations legacy of working through differences with Iran diplomatically and to put the United States back on the path to war.

While Trump began signaling his desire to leave the historic nuclear deal, administration officials started dialing up the bellicose rhetoric. Later that year, then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo pushed the baseless narrative that Iran is in cahoots with al-Qaeda. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley later put on a flashy show accusing Iran, without evidence, of violating UN resolutions in Yemen. That episode led one former Bush administration official involved in selling the Iraq War to sound the alarm that Team Trump was applying the same approach to Iran.

Trump then dismissed two senior officialsSecretary of State Rex Tillerson and Flynns successor, H.R. McMasterwho favored remaining in the Iran nuclear deal, and replaced them with uber Iran hawks Pompeo and John Bolton, both of whom hated the agreement and have pushed for war with Iran.

After Trump finally announced that the United States would violate the deal and reimpose sanctions, Pompeo again went on the offensive in a series of speeches outlining what everyone (even the right wing) knows but Trump officials wont say outright: a policy of regime change in Iran.

Lets not underestimate the impact of withdrawing from the Iran deal. The agreement is currently on life support. If the Europeans cant make it worthwhile for the Iranians to stay in it once U.S. oil sanctions go into effect this November, the Iran deal is likely dead, leaving Iran free to restart its nuclear program and raising the prospect for war.

But the last couple weeks have been particularly alarming. Trump, Pompeo, and Bolton used their spotlights on the world stage last month during the UN General Assembly and a U.S.-hosted UN Security Council meeting to lash out at Iran with unusual venom, as the Associated Press put it. The administration is also increasing the likelihood of military confrontation with Iran in the region, announcing plans to keep U.S. troops in Syria to counter Iranian forces and, more recently, blaming Iran for attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Iraq.

Media Mistakes

On the media side, there are some differences between now and the run-up to the Iraq War. For example, the Bush administrations case for war was a conversation that started shortly after 9/11 and was a primary media topic for the next year and a half. The country was still reeling in the aftermath of the attacks.

The context is different today, but the media is still making the same mistakes.

First, the Trump administrations sharp focus on Iran has been covered here and there but its by no means the topic of conversation on a day-to-day basis. Thats largely because theres just so much distraction, whether from the Mueller investigation, the many destructive policy decisions made by this White House, or just the ongoing ridiculousness of Trump himself.

Second, media outlets are beating the Iran war drums themselves now too, particularly Fox News and right-wing media.

But theres a mainstream media element too. Iran hawk columnists masquerading as hard-news reporters hold high perches at the some of the nations most elite media outlets, while others have promoted baseless claims about the Iran deal to help lay the groundwork for Trump to withdraw. And those who advocated for war in Iraq are getting plenty of air time these days to talk about confronting Iran.

On that front, theres also a newer game in town. The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, while not a player during the run-up to the Iraq War, is the most prominent and influential hawkish think tank in DC pushing for war and regime change in Iran . Whether in the op-ed pages of the nations most widely read newspapers, on major TV and radio news, or even in newer media puff pieces, mainstream outlets regularly give FDDs staffers wide latitude to trash the Iran deal or make the case for war and/or regime change. And theyre usually presented as neutral experts and analysts without giving any sense of what FDD is actually pushing for. They sometimes even get happy birthday wishes.

Just last week, mainstream outlets largely ignored the fact that Pompeo and Bolton were delivering their hostile Iran speeches before a shady but influential and well-funded group with ties to Gulf countries urging a more aggressive U.S. approach to Iran.

This march to war with Iran is happening. Because of the chaos that is this Donald Trump presidency, its not getting the widespread attention it needs. Indeed, as if reading right from the Iraq-War playbook, and without offering any evidence, Pompeo said last week he has solid intelligence that Iran is responsible for attacks on Americans in the Middle East. We can see the hand of the Ayatollah and his henchmen supporting these attacks on the United States, he said. Given the widespread media attention on the Supreme Court nomination circus, Pompeos remarks barely made a blip in the national media.

Although some in Congress have recognized that Trump has put the United States back on the path to war, the alarm bells arent as loud as they should be. And that recalls Kent Conrads disturbing warning: If the president of the United States wants to take this nation to war, he can take this nation to war. And stopping that is incredibly difficult.

Ben Armbruster is the communications director for Win Without War and previously served as national security editor at ThinkProgress.

This article was originally published by " Lobe Log " -

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here.

==See Also==

Sheldon Adelson: Trumps Patron-in-Chief: Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson has never been more powerful. The Trump administration has advanced his ideological and financial interests, including an assist in his quest to build a casino in Japan.

Second Major U.S. Jewish Charity Acknowledges Funding Canary Mission (Israeli) Blacklist: The Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles made a series of grants totaling $250,000 to nonprofit operating database used by Israel to interrogate, detain U.S. citizens

Ex- CIA Agent Reveals Signs Of Imminent Iran Invasion. John Kiriakou

Note To ICH Community

We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites.

Thank you for your support.

Peace and joyA Crash Course on the True Causes of Anti-Semitism By The Saker October 13, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - First, anti-Semites everywhere! It has been over a year since I wrote an article entitled A Crash Course on the True Causes of Anti-Semitism . I tried to illustrate how the kind of ideology and worldview of what ought to be called Rabbinical Phariseeism but is, alas, usually referred to as Orthodox Judaism, results in an inevitable hostile backlash from those whom this ideology and worldview even deny the status of human being. Today, I want to do something a little different: look at a political tactic which appears to give Jews a very desirable position but which in reality places them all at risk: the use of the accusation of anti-Semitism on practically anybody who dares to be critical of anybody and anything Jewish. The following recent headline on RT was what inspired me to discuss this issue: Trump accused of anti-Semitism over claim Soros funds elevator screamers. I wont take up space here by quoting the article at length so please check it out on the original RT page. Here is just a short excerpt: Critics of US President Donald Trump were quick to accuse him of anti-Semitism over a tweet claiming that women accosting senators over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh were paid by liberal billionaire George Soros. The very rude elevator screamers are paid professionals only looking to make Senators look bad. Dont fall for it! Trump tweeted on Friday. 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! Outrage ensued, obviously. ThinkProgress, the media arm of John Podestas Center for American Progress think tank, immediately accused the president of anti-Semitism. A Slate editor chimed in, calling Trumps words an anti-Semitic dog whistle. And a staff writer for The Atlantic called it a conspiracy theory that a rich Jewish boogeyman is making women claim to have been raped and assaulted. I have no idea why the RT reporter wrote that outrage ensued obviously, but lets first note that none of those who accuse Trump of anti-Semitism makes any effort to explain why exactly Trumps words are anti-Semitic. [Sidebar: I know, anti-Semitism is a misleading and basically meaningless notion. In this article What is Antisemitism Michael Neumann how this already ambiguous and misleading concept became fundamentally meaningless (he concluded his analysis by saying the real scandal today is not antisemitism but the importance it is given). I will be using this term only because it is so widely used by Jewish organizations to discredit pretty much all those who dare to express a critical thought.] Think Progress simply tweeted this: Trump tweets out anti-Semitic conspiracy theory about George Soros. Here we have a classical double-whammy: anti-Semitism, of course, but also a conspiracy theory. We will come back to this conceptual pair. But first, the basics. Is there any doubt at all that Soros sponsors all kind of protests in many different countries including the USA? Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter Lets check the hyper-politically correct and doubleplusgoodthinking Wikipedia and see what we find there. In the 6th paragraph of the introduction to Soros entry, we see the following sentence: Soros is a well-known supporter of American progressive and American liberal political causes, to which he dispenses donations through his foundation, the Open Society Foundations. Really?! Not only does Wikipedia unambiguously state that Soros is sponsoring various US progressive and liberal causes, but he has also even created a special foundation to do that. Does this entry mean that Wikipedia is also part of an anti-Semitic campaign and is spreading conspiracy theories? Did Trump not say precisely the same thing as Wikipedia when he tweeted about screamers are paid professionals and professionally made identical signs? Paid for by Soros and others? It sure looks to me that Trump and Wikipedia are saying the exact same thing, yet one gets accused of being anti-Semitic while the other is left in peace. Why? Besides, what Trump said is really something which is common knowledge and which is not even denied by Soros himself. Even better, the elevator screamers themselves dont even deny it either. And yet, in spite of that, the Daily Beast says that Trump goes full conspiracy nut while the Deputy Washington Editor of The New York Times, Jonathan Weisman tweeted that Im sorry but the Soros is paying them trope from the president of the United States is  wow and then proceeded to plug his book (((Semitism))) Being Jewish in American in the Age of Trump. That book was enthusiastically endorsed by The Washington Post: (a passionate call to arms), the Jewish Book Council: (Could not be more important or timely) and the inevitable Bernard-Henri Levy: (It would be wonderful if anti-Semitism was a European specialty and stopped at the border with the United States. Alas, this is not the case). Wait! How do you go from professional elevator screamers to anti-Semitism?! Trump says something which is both undeniable and actually undenied, and that somehow makes him a conspiracy nut and an anti-Semite and that, in turn, is supposed to suggest to us that Jews are in great peril in the USA (call to arms + could not be more important). Does that make any sense to you at all?! Trump is accused of being an anti-Semite because he had the nerve to actually openly state an undisputed fact. More specifically, Trump is guilty not just of stating an undisputed fact, but of stating an undisputed fact in reference to a Jew (hence the specific accusation of anti-Semitism and not of some other form of crimethink). But since Wikipedia and Soros himself pretty much say the same thing as Trump, albeit in a more educated way, what is the problem? Setting aside the fact that Trump has proven to be the best shabbos-goy the Likud ever had (just his move of the US embassy to occupied Jerusalem was an act of truly abject servility to Israel), lets deconstruct what is really going on here. I submit that for all the official propaganda, everybody knows that free speech in the AngloZionist Empire is strictly limited: in the European colonies by means of fines and incarceration and in the USA by means of political hysterics. The methods are different (no First Amendment in Europe!) but the goal is the same: to smear, discredit and eventually silence the crimethinkers. Let us look at two examples: Next, anti-anti-Semites everywhere First, check out this article about conspiracy theories in which the author writes: (emphasis added) The term conspiracy theory is used to describe any theory that attempts to characterize observed events as the result of some secret conspiracy. The term is often used dismissively, implying that the theory is implausible. Although conspiracy theories (particularly aimed at Jews and Bankers) date back hundreds of years, the earliest usage of conspiracy theory does not always have this connotation, although the theories are quite often dismissed in other ways. Usually, its simply a way of identifying the theory from other theories  as in the theory that happens to have a conspiracy. Therefore, since discussing Jews and Bankers is a typical conspiracy theory and since the term conspiracy theory is often used dismissively, implying that it is implausible, it is therefore implausible that Jews and bankers would have any special political or historical importance. But if this is so implausible, why are such theories particularly aimed at Jews and bankers and not at Buddhists and bakers? Where is the logic here? The second example is from an article entitled Holocaust denial and 9/11 Truth: Two crappy tastes that taste crappy together which clearly states: (emphasis added) Holocaust denial fits into the 9/11 Truth movement hand-in-glove. Think about it. Whenever you see claims by 9/11 Truthers that there was some sort of conspiracy to bring down the World Trade Center towers, who is inevitably part of the conspiracy in the paranoid vision of the Truth movement? Well, theres usually the U.S. government, but almost invariably the Mossad is said to be involved. Yep, the Jews. This is interesting. Lets assume that 9/11 truthers mostly think that Israel was involved in the 9/11 false flag (I certainly believe that!), how does that in any way imply that the Jews did something wrong or, even more so, the denial of the so-called Holocaust?! Furthermore, how does reaching the basic and inevitable conclusions implied by high-school level Newtonian physics about WTC 7 in any way indicate that somebody is paranoid? Maybe the label of paranoid ought to be applied to everybody not trusting the government? Would it not be much more fitting to apply the term paranoid to those who manage to jump from paid elevator screamers to anti-Semitism or from doubts about 9/11 to Holocaust denial? I think that the paranoid nutcases are the anti-anti-Semites who are constantly doing two very dangerous things: 1) strenuously denying obvious and well-known facts 2) accusing anybody capable of critical thought of being an anti-Semite Make no mistake, those still capable of critical thought will challenge the official narratives about 9/11 or about the Holocaust. I would even argue that any good and interesting history book will always be revisionist, at least to some degree. Good historiography should always challenge widely accepted beliefs, should it not? In a mentally sane and politically free society challenges to the official 9/11 conspiracy theory (because, make no mistake, the official fairy tale about 9/11 is quite literally a conspiracy theory and a most unlikely and most implausible one!) or to the official narrative about the Holocaust should be treated just like the no moon landing or flat earth or any other theory which should be discussed on its merits and not treated as a form of egregious and evil crimethink. Alas, as we all know, this is far from being the case today. Personally, I dont blame the Jews for this state of affairs, if only because I dont even use a category like the Jews which I consider to be meaningless. However, I do lay the blame for this situation on organized Jewry; that is, the main Jewish/Zionist organizations who by their constant efforts to place such utterly ridiculous limits on free speech (and even free thought!) create a world in which two main camps struggle against each other: First, the doubleplusgoodthinkers who are fully zombified by the mass media and who have fully internalized all the characteristics of the doublethink Orwell described in his book 1984: these brainwashed zombies can fully accept and believe two mutually contradictory things with no cognitive dissonance whatsoever.

Second, the crimethinkers who dare to doubt the official views about any topic and who, once they realize that they have been lied to about almost anything which matters, distrust and even challenge those ideas which are the most widely and systematically propagandized. Of course, this state of affairs is bad for non-Jews, but it is even much worse for Jews because it creates an extremely dangerous mechanism: by rabidly enforcing such outrageous limits on free speech, Jewish organizations are profoundly alienating all those capable of independent thought. Even worse, once they start doubting one thing, e.g., the official narrative about 9/11, they inevitably wonder if they have been lied to in another matter, e.g., the Holocaust. In fact, what this pressure to conform to the official doxa of the day, the Zeitgeist if you wish, results in, is what I would call a chain reaction of doubts, including very unreasonable doubts. Let me give just one example: After having read many books and articles about this topic, I find it extremely unlikely that the Nazis used gas chambers or crematoria in any large numbers. I would never presume to say that this never happened, but I personally dont believe that this happened in any large numbers (this is why I consider the word Holocaust, which means all/whole-burning, a very misleading term). I also believe that the (quasi-obligatory) figure of 6 million is a vast exaggeration. Why? Because I read a lot about it, from both sides, and, frankly, the revisionists have much stronger arguments, both factual and logical. However, There is also no doubt in my mind at all that the Nazis were genocidal maniacs and self-worshiping racists who butchered millions of totally innocent people, including a very large number of Jews. I just believe that most of their victims were either murdered by the SS Einsatzgruppen or starved to death in various concentration camps (including many smaller, lesser known ones). Is that really less evil than using gas chambers or crematoria? I sure dont think so. Neither do I think that four, three, two or even just one million murdered innocent is much better than six million. I know that there are many others out there who came to similar conclusions. But the problem is that there are also those who, once they began having doubts about gas chambers or crematoria, then decided the entire narrative about the Holocaust was one big lie and that no Jews at all were targeted or murdered by the Nazis. My personal observation is that the vast majority of those who come to such a (completely unwarranted) conclusions are, indeed, Jew-hating folks who want to whitewash the Nazis and who would gladly parrot any inanity as long as it is somehow anti-Jewish or pro-Nazi. Not very smart, for sure, but it is nonetheless true that their hostility towards anything Jewish or their sympathies for the Nazis did not come out of nowhere but are a reaction to what they feel is the toxic and oppressive power of the Jews over their countries or society. Replace the the Jews with Jewish and Zionist political organizations, and they have a point, dont they? One quick but honest look at US or French politics will immediately and easily confirm this. Conclusion: anti-Semitism is something artificially kept alive It seems to me that Jewish/Zionist organizations are apparently dead-set on creating as many enemies as possible or, at least, to alienate as many thinking people as possible. I can see how a rabid Zionist would find such a situation helpful for the Aliyah, but is it really good for the Jewish people? I very much doubt it. The same goes for the mindset which makes any criticism of Soros or of Jewish bankers into a manifestation of anti-Semitism? Again, great for the Aliyah I suppose, but it is good for regular Jewish people? What about applying the label of nutcase to all those who dare to question an official theory? In the bad old days of the Soviet Union quite a few dissidents were declared suffering from slowly-progressing schizophrenia ( ) by official psychiatrists and the free and democratic world was outraged (in spite of the fact that quite a few of these dissidents truly were suffering from mental issues). Is that profoundly different from placing the label of nutcase on somebody expressing doubts about an official theory? What Jewish/Zionist organizations are trying to impose on the rest of the planet is a blanket immunity from any criticism for all Jews (except the self-hating ones, of course!) combined with a grim determination to crush anybody daring to oppose such plans. The chances that most of the world will ever accept such mental shackles are virtually nil. What is much more likely is that the resistance to such efforts will grow, no doubt reported to the public as an emergence of a new anti-Semitism or something equally vapid. And at the end of the road, there will always be a powerful backlash against those who started it all. So what is the point? I am left wondering whether all these Jewish/Zionist organizations are staffed merely by incompetent people, or whether creating more, not less, anti-Semitism might not be the *real* goal of these organizations. Whatever may be the case, anti-Semitism is not something which just exists. It is something which must be rekindled over and over again. Left alone, it would just fizzle out. The Essential Saker II: Civilizational Choices and Geopolitics / The Russian challenge to the hegemony of the AngloZionist Empire This article was originally published by " Unz Review " - Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here. ==See Also== Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. Peace and joyBy Ben Tarnoff

October 13, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Last month marked the 17th anniversary of 9/11. With it came a new milestone: weve been in Afghanistan for so long that someone born after the attacks is now old enough to go fight there. They can also serve in the six other places where were officially at war, not to mention the 133 countries where special operations forces have conducted missions in just the first half of 2018.

The wars of 9/11 continue, with no end in sight. Now, the Pentagon is investing heavily in technologies that will intensify them. By embracing the latest tools that the tech industry has to offer, the US military is creating a more automated form of warfare  one that will greatly increase its capacity to wage war everywhere forever.

On Friday, the defense department closes the bidding period for one of the biggest technology contracts in its history: the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (Jedi). Jedi is an ambitious project to build a cloud computing system that serves US forces all over the world, from analysts behind a desk in Virginia to soldiers on patrol in Niger. The contract is worth as much as $10bn over 10 years, which is why big tech companies are fighting hard to win it. (Not Google, however, where a pressure campaign by workers forced management to drop out of the running.)

At first glance, Jedi might look like just another IT modernization project. Government IT tends to run a fair distance behind Silicon Valley, even in a place as lavishly funded as the Pentagon. With some 3.4 million users and 4 million devices, the defense departments digital footprint is immense. Moving even a portion of its workloads to a cloud provider such as Amazon will no doubt improve efficiency.

But the real force driving Jedi is the desire to weaponize AI  what the defense department has begun calling algorithmic warfare. By pooling the militarys data into a modern cloud platform, and using the machine-learning services that such platforms provide to analyze that data, Jedi will help the Pentagon realize its AI ambitions.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

The scale of those ambitions has grown increasingly clear in recent months. In June, the Pentagon established the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC), which will oversee the roughly 600 AI projects currently under way across the department at a planned cost of $1.7bn. And in September, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), the Pentagons storied R&D wing, announced it would be investing up to $2bn over the next five years into AI weapons research.

So far, the reporting on the Pentagons AI spending spree has largely focused on the prospect of autonomous weapons  Terminator-style killer robots that mow people down without any input from a human operator. This is indeed a frightening near-future scenario, and a global ban on autonomous weaponry of the kind sought by the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots is absolutely essential.

But AI has already begun rewiring warfare, even if it hasnt (yet) taken the form of literal Terminators. There are less cinematic but equally scary ways to weaponize AI. You dont need algorithms pulling the trigger for algorithms to play an extremely dangerous role.

To understand that role, it helps to understand the particular difficulties posed by the forever war. The killing itself isnt particularly difficult. With a military budget larger than that of China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, France, Britain and Japan combined, and some 800 bases around the world, the US has an abundance of firepower and an unparalleled ability to deploy that firepower anywhere on the planet.

The US military knows how to kill. The harder part is figuring out whom to kill. In a more traditional war, you simply kill the enemy. But who is the enemy in a conflict with no national boundaries, no fixed battlefields, and no conventional adversaries?

This is the perennial question of the forever war. It is also a key feature of its design. The vagueness of the enemy is what has enabled the conflict to continue for nearly two decades and to expand to more than 70 countries  a boon to the contractors, bureaucrats and politicians who make their living from US militarism. If war is a racket, in the words of marine legend Smedley Butler, the forever war is one the longest cons yet.

But the vagueness of the enemy also creates certain challenges. Its one thing to look at a map of North Vietnam and pick places to bomb. Its quite another to sift through vast quantities of information from all over the world in order to identify a good candidate for a drone strike. When the enemy is everywhere, target identification becomes far more labor-intensive. This is where AI  or, more precisely, machine learning  comes in. Machine learning can help automate one of the more tedious and time-consuming aspects of the forever war: finding people to kill.

The Pentagons Project Maven is already putting this idea into practice. Maven, also known as the Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team, made headlines recently for sparking an employee revolt at Google over the companys involvement. Maven is the militarys pathfinder AI project. Its initial phase involves using machine learning to scan drone video footage to help identify individuals, vehicles and buildings that might be worth bombing.

We have analysts looking at full-motion video, staring at screens 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 hours at a time, says the project director, Lt Gen Jack Shanahan. Mavens software automates that work, then relays its discoveries to a human. So far, its been a big success: the software has been deployed to as many as six combat locations in the Middle East and Africa. The goal is to eventually load the software on to the drones themselves, so they can locate targets in real time.

Wont this technology improve precision, thus reducing civilian casualties? This is a common argument made by higher-ups in both the Pentagon and Silicon Valley to defend their collaboration on projects like Maven. Code for Americas Jen Pahlka puts it in terms of sharp knives versus dull knives: sharper knives can help the military save lives.

In the case of weaponized AI, however, the knives in question arent particularly sharp. There is no shortage of horror stories of what happens when human oversight is outsourced to faulty or prejudiced algorithms  algorithms that cant recognize black faces, or that reinforce racial bias in policing and criminal sentencing. Do we really want the Pentagon using the same technology to help determine who gets a bomb dropped on their head?

But the deeper problem with the humanitarian argument for algorithmic warfare is the assumption that the US military is an essentially benevolent force. Many millions of people around the world would disagree. In 2017 alone, the US and allied strikes in Iraq and Syria killed as many as 6,000 civilians. Numbers like these dont suggest a few honest mistakes here and there, but a systemic indifference to collateral damage. Indeed, the US government has repeatedly bombed civilian gatherings such as weddings in the hopes of killing a high-value target.

Further, the line between civilian and combatant is highly porous in the era of the forever war. A report from the Intercept suggests that the US military labels anyone it kills in targeted strikes as enemy killed in action, even if they werent one of the targets. The so-called signature strikes conducted by the US military and the CIA play similar tricks with the concept of the combatant. These are drone attacks on individuals whose identities are unknown, but who are suspected of being militants based on displaying certain signatures  which can be as vague as being a military-aged male in a particular area.

The problem isnt the quality of the tools, in other words, but the institution wielding them. And AI will only make that institution more brutal. The forever war demands that the US sees enemies everywhere. AI promises to find those enemies faster  even if all it takes to be considered an enemy is exhibiting a pattern of behavior that a (classified) machine-learning model associates with hostile activity. Call it death by big data.

AI also has the potential to make the forever war more permanent, by giving some of the countrys largest companies a stake in perpetuating it. Silicon Valley has always had close links to the US military. But algorithmic warfare will bring big tech deeper into the military-industrial complex, and give billionaires like Jeff Bezos a powerful incentive to ensure the forever war lasts forever. Enemies will be found. Money will be made.

This article was originally published by " The Guardian " -

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here.

==See Also==

The Pentagon Insect Army

Note To ICH Community

We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites.

Thank you for your support.

Peace and joyBy Finian Cunningham

October 13, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - When a US warship narrowly avoided slamming into a Chinese naval vessel earlier this month in the disputed South China Sea, the incident could serve as a metaphor. The two economic giants seem to be on a collision course for war.



That collision course was ramped up last week when US Vice President Mike Pence delivered a barnstorming speech declaring China as global enemy number one. Speaking at the rightwing Hudson Institute in DC, Pence castigated China for increased economic and military aggression, and warned: We will not back down.



Pence did at one point say the US hopes to have a cooperative relationship with China, but the overall thrust of his remarks was stridently belligerent.

The New York Times headlined: "Pence's China Speech Seen as Portent of New Cold War."

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

There were even comparisons from some commentators to the infamous speech made by British leader Winston Churchill in 1946 when he declared an "Iron Curtain" with the Soviet Union, a speech which is seen as instigating the old Cold War between the West and Moscow that lasted for nearly five decades.

Pence's remarks covered a gamut of explicit and provocative accusations against China. Everything, it seemed, was thrown at Beijing, from stealing American economic resources, to "oppressing its own people", to "meddling in American democracy". The latter alleged transgression by China was claimed by Pence to be on a scale that makes alleged Russian interference "pale in comparison".

In other words, China is the foreign power that Washington seems to be targeting for confrontation. Russia has certainly come up against a raft of US hostility in recent years, especially since the Ukraine crisis. But China is the global rival that Washington is placing primarily in its crosshairs.

Last year, the acclaimed journalist and film-maker John Pilger released a documentary entitled: "The Coming War With China". Pilger recounted the proliferation of American military bases in the Pacific Rim region which are evidently meant to encircle China for an eventual shooting war, or at least to serve as a means of threatening Beijing into submission. Pilger's documentary is proving to be prescient given the ratcheting up of provocations by Washington.

Pence's broadside against China has to be seen the wider context of multiple US moves.

The Trump administration has started a trade war with China slapping punitive tariffs on an estimated $250 billion worth of Chinese exports. Those unprecedented costs to China's economy have, in turn, reportedly undermined investor confidence and stock markets in the country, which Pence appeared to gloat over in his speech.

This week, the US dramatically escalated tensions by prosecuting a Chinese government official for alleged industrial espionage. The man was extradited from Belgium and has already been detained in the US for several months. The case is said to be the first of its kind.

There were also sensational reports in US media that China has embarked on a large-scale, elaborate scheme of planting computer chips in electronic devices exported to the US for the alleged purpose of spying on American citizens, companies and even the Pentagon. China dismissed the claims as "made up from thin air".

The so-called bromance seems well and truly over. Trump is deferring to hawkish aides within the White House who have publicly relished the prospect of a showdown with China. Peter Navarro, the president's China trade advisor, has openly courted economic war with Beijing. Former advisor Steve Bannon is another advocate of belligerence towards China, going as far as predicting a war.

It's a fair assumption that the Chinese leadership will do everything to avoid a war with the US. China's political culture is not aggressive and tends to view matters as a long-term transition.

China may try to restrain tensions, waiting and hoping that in two years Trump will not be re-elected and that a more reasonable, the saner administration will come into the office.

Beijing has rebuffed the claims made by the Trump administration. It says it has not interfered in US elections. As usual, the Americans offer no supporting evidence for their allegations, in the same way, that Russia has been reviled by Washington without any substance.

China also rejects accusations that it is involved in industrial spying. Significantly, American tech giants Apple and Amazon came out and also denied the US media reports of "spy-chips" planted by China in factory assembly lines run by these US companies in China.

But how far can the famous Chinese stoicism be tested?

What the Trump administration wants to do is to restructure the entire American economy at China's expense. Trump's strategy is to "re-industrialize" America by making Chinese exports uncompetitive and by forcing US companies to relocate their operations back from China to US shores.

Ironically, the American government accuses China of "mercantilism" and "predatory practices" when in fact it seems more accurate to describe US policy in those terms.

If the Trump administration continues its aggression towards China then a collision seems inevitable. Accusatory, derogatory rhetoric is one thing. But when America starts to inflict huge economic damage on the very economy and livelihood of China, as it seems intent on doing, then at some point Beijing may be forced to respond out of sheer necessity.

This is, of course, condemnable conduct by the US. Its reckless actions towards China are bordering on criminal in that they are inciting a war with a nuclear power.

Such a war is not inevitable though. What is required is for the US economy and society to restructure in ways that are more democratic for its citizens. That is the right and reasonable option.

But the American ruling class do not want to take that option of restructuring their corporate capitalist economy as it would hit their profits and wealth. They want to take the option of forcing China to pay for America's failing economy. And that option could be the harbinger of war.

Finian Cunningham has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages. He is a Masters graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in newspaper journalism. He is also a musician and songwriter. For nearly 20 years, he worked as an editor and writer in major news media organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent.

This article was originally published by " Sputnik " -

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here.

==See Also==

Watch: John Pilger's "The Coming War on China"

Intel makes 5G push across China with Huawei: Intel has announced a series of new 5G developments in China alongside Huawei, ZTE, Tencent, China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, Baidu, and Unisoc.

PentagoUS lawmakers urge Canada to snub Chinas Huawei from 5G network design out of grave concerns over US securityn fears losing race for 5G to China

Note To ICH Community

We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites.

Thank you for your support.

Peace and joyWomens March on the Pentagon (WMOP) is excited to announce we are ready and rarin to go for our long anticipated march and rally at ground-zero for US imperialism.

"We envisioned this principled non-partisan march on the bi-partisan war machine at the beginning of this year. Despite obstacles, we are excited that many people have been attracted to this long over-due antiwar march in Washington, DC," said one of the lead organizers, antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan, from her home in California.

This is our schedule of events for the weekend of October 20-21:



Saturday, October 20:



St. Stephens Episcopal Church



1525 Newton St NW

Washington, DC 20010



(Free, but donations to cover costs of space and refreshments will be accepted)



Noon to 4:30pm



Workshops covering:



Womens Basic Self-defense

Protest Music History and Current Practice

Alternative Media and Citizen Journalism

Current Situation in Yemen

Civil Assistance (how to help those harmed by US Imperialism and the Pentagon budget)

(And More!)



4:30 to 6pm



Dinner on your own



6pm to 8pm

(St. Stephens)



Meet and Greet and Open Mic Night.

Hosted by CODEPINK



Sunday, October 21st



11am



Begin gathering at Pentagon City Metro Station

(Click for DC Metro Info)



12 noon to 12:45pm



March on Pentagon

(Click for Website)



1pm to 4pm



Rally at Pentagon

(Click for Speaker/Performer Line-up)



4pm to 6pm

Clean Up

(Stay to help us, please!)

Monday, October 22



11:30am to 1:30pm



Non-violent Act of Civil Assistance

WMOP will be feeding people who are unconscionably homeless in the wealthiest nation on earth at a local DC park.



(Place will be announced at Rally and on Website, and Facebook Event Page on October 21)



For more information or to schedule an interview with a speaker/performer or organizer, please contact



Cindy Sheehan at: CindySheehan@MarchonPentagon.com

or

Emma Fiala at: Emma@MarchonPentagon.com

or

Bonnie Caracciolo at: bosmarch2018@gmail.com



Disclaimer: This is NOT a pink-pussy-hatted event to only oppose Trump and Get Out the Vote for the treacherous and warmongering Democrats (or Republicans): This is a principled non-partisan march on the bi-partisan US war machine.

***



JOIN HERE DONATE and/orto make our dream of a peaceful, sustainable, and PROsperous (for all) future possibl e.

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

Note To ICH Community

We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites.

Thank you for your support.

Peace and joyIn Case You Missed It

'Here Are Your Enemies'



Saudi crown prince bragged that Jared Kushner gave him CIA intelligence about other Saudis, days before 'corruption crackdown' which led to torture and death



By Ryan Parry and Josh Boswell

Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Jared Kushner in October

Salman has since bragged about using classified intelligence from Kushner as part of a crackdown on 'corrupt' princes and businessmen in Saudi Arabia

He said the intelligence from Kushner included information on those who were disloyal to Salman and who were his 'enemies', insiders tell DailyMail

Kushner's attorney's spokesman said it was 'false' that the president's son-in-law passed on secrets and that he was 'well aware of the rules'

The crown prince launched his crackdown on corruption in November, days after he met Kushner for talks in Riyadh

Hundreds were rounded up, including princes from rival parts of the Saudi royal family and some of the country's wealthiest businessmen

But the crackdown saw accusations of torture and at least one reported death

Reposted - October 13, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Original 5 April 2018 - Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman bragged of receiving classified US intelligence from Jared Kushner and using it as part of a purge of 'corrupt' princes and businessmen, DailyMail.com can disclose.



The de facto ruler of the Middle East's largest economy is currently on a US tour which has seen him meet President Donald Trump in the White House, hold talks with a string of the country's richest and most influential people and book the entire Four Seasons in Beverly Hills for himself and his entourage.



Sources have told DailyMail.com that the prince  known by his initials MBS  has been boasting about his close relationship with the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, and the intelligence which he has told his circle Kushner passed to him.

Kushner was said to have a late night meeting discussing intelligence with Salman in October. Kusher and Salman are pictured above with Ivanka Trump at the Murabba Palace in Riyadh last May

The crackdown on 'corruption' in the Saudi kingdom was led by MBS and began in November, days after he had met Kushner for talks in Riyadh.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

But it saw allegations of torture as hundreds were rounded up, including princes from rival parts of the Saudi royal family and some of the country's wealthiest businessmen.

DailyMail.com revealed a photograph showing the detainees sleeping on the floor of a ballroom at the Riyadh Ritz Carlton, and disclosed that some had been tortured.

The New York Times later reported that one of the detainees had died from his injuries.

Most are said to have reached 'settlements' with the Saudi government, and MBS himself boasted in a 60 Minutes interview that the government had regained at least $100 billion from them.

Kushner claimed through his attorney Abbe Lowell that it was a 'false story'.

Peter Mirijanian, Lowell's spokesman, said: 'The alleged exchange never happened. Mr Kushner was and is well aware of the rules governing information and follows those rules.'

Despite Kushner's denial sources have told DailyMail.com how MBS boasted in private that Kushner was the source of intelligence used in the round-up.

He also told members of his circle that the intelligence included information on who was disloyal to him. There is no way to independently verify the truth of the boast.

'Jared took a list out of names from US eavesdrops of people who were supposedly MBS's enemies,' said one source, characterizing how MBS spoke about the information.

'He took a list out of these people who had been trashing MBS in phone calls, and said 'these are the ones who are your enemies'.

'MBS was actually bragging about it in Saudi Arabia when it happened, that he and Jared sat up until 4am discussing things, and Jared brought him this list.'

The Riyadh source said: 'They sat for several hours together. They literally laid out the future map of the entire region, that's why they stayed up to the early hours of the morning from the afternoon before.'

The intelligence allegedly discussed during Kushner's visit to the Middle East last October was said to have came from U.S. wiretaps on conversations between Arab royals in hotels in London, in major U.S. cities and even on yachts docked close to Monte Carlo, a favorite playground of the super-rich.

A separate source told DailyMail.com that it was being said in the Gulf that the president's son-in-law took a copy of information from the daily intelligence briefing provided by the intelligence community to the White House, and shared its contents with MBS.

The intelligence named several family members who were opposed to his rise, it was said.

'Kushner got hold of an intelligence briefing,' said the Riyadh palace source, recounting the version which originated with MBS. 'At that time he had a high level of security clearance and had access to that. He copied it and provided its contents to MBS.

'The CIA are doing their job by briefing the president on what is happening internationally.

'This is a briefing by the CIA to tell the president that some members of the Saudi royal family are plotting in this and that country.

'Kushner took that part of the briefing and flew to Saudi Arabia to impress MBS.'

The disclosure comes after The Intercept reported that Kushner had a late night meeting with Salman and discussed the names of Saudis who opposed his power grab.

MBS bragged to his closest regional ally, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed  the de facto joint ruler of the United Arab Emirates - and others that Kushner was 'in his pocket,' a source told The Intercept.

Access to the president's daily brief is closely guarded, but Trump has the legal authority to allow Kushner to disclose information contained in it as the president is the ultimate declassifying authority and legally free to do so at any time.

However if Kushner, 37, had passed on names to the Saudis, the move would be a stunning intervention by the US into the internal affairs of an allied nation.

If Trump's son-in-law, however, discussed the names with the Saudi prince without Trump's specific permission, he may have violated federal laws around the sharing of classified intelligence.

Kushner's access to intelligence is an issue which has come to bedevil the White House.

He has been unable to secure a permanent security clearance, for reasons which remain unknown.

In February chief of staff John Kelly moved to prevent any White House official with only interim security clearance from having access to top secret/sensitive compartmented information, meaning Kushner can only access 'top secret' material.

As a result he no longer had access to the daily intelligence briefing.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed it would not affect his ability to do 'the important work he has been do'.

This article was originally published by

"

Daily Mail

"

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here.

==See Also==

Donald Trump Jr. Peddles Tweet Linking Jamal Khashoggi To Jihadists

Note To ICH Community

We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites.

Thank you for your support.

Peace and joyVanguard



The choice of Mr Peter Obi as the running mate to the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 presidential election has divided the party in the South East.

The Nation



Why presidency took action top sourcePDP, ex-Minister Fani-Kayode kick, fault banA former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd), 13 former governors and seven ex- ministers have been barred from travelling out of the country under Executive Order 6 (EO6) issued yesterday by President Muhammadu Buhari.The restriction followed the judicial affirmation of the constitutionality and legality of the Executive Order 6 (EO6).The watch-list and restriction were put in place pending the

Thisday



Says Buharis hand too weak to sign agreement Shehu explains why president is yet to endorse pact Kunle Aderinokun and Obinna Chima in Bali, Indonesia Former President Olusegun Obasanjo saturday in Bali, Indonesia, criticised President Muhammadu Buhari for his failure to sign the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), describing it as a sign

The Sun

Failure at primary poll: Ambodes kinsmen threaten protest vote against APC in 2019

Indigenes and residents of Epe and its neigbouring communities have threatened to dump the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in Lagos State to register their disappointment over the truncated second termambition of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, a son of the area. Besides what they described as deliberate move to shortchange Epe by depriving Governor



Indigenes and residents of Epe and its neigbouring communities have threatened to dump the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in Lagos State to register their disappointment over the truncated second termambition of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, a son of the area. Besides what they described as deliberate move to shortchange Epe by depriving Governor

Guardian



The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Saturday said he would run a government based on the wishes of the people if elected. He made the pledge at Ikeja while speaking during a Thank You visit to party members in the Lagos West senatorial zone.

Daily Trust



The Kaduna State based Islamic scholar, Sheik Ahmed Gumi, has explained why he attended the reconciliation meeting between former president Olusegun Obasanjo and his estranged former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar. Gumi, in a chat with Daily Trust on Sunday in his house in Kaduna, said he acted true to Islamic injunctions by making himself available

.

Leadership



The financial allegation by the chairman of the Kaduna APC electoral panel against the senator representing Kaduna senatorial district, Shehu Sani, has been described as mischievous. According to a statement issued by his special adviser media, Abdulsamad Chima Amadi, and made available to newsmen in Kaduna, he said: our attention has been drawn to a



Tribune



VICE President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has disclosed that about $1trillion would be required to modernise the nations energy infrastructure for 29 years. He, however, said that the Federal Government was working relentlessly to attract domesticSegun Awosanya popularly known on Twitter as Segalink, has explicitly explained new ways in which innocent Nigerians are being incriminated and sent to jail.

The Nigerian human rights activist, prominent for the #EndSars campaign against police brutality in Nigeria on social media, made this revelation via Twitter on Sunday.

Read below

The general public should be aware that there are newer schemes deployed at incriminating innocent citizens now. The first is targeting those who buy second hand mobile devices while the second is random credit of accounts. Lets say you bought an alleged LONDON used phone, then weeks after you were on your way home when some officers demand that you follow them.

On getting to the station they show you a case file that the phone you have with you was one of the stolen items in an armed robbery that cost another citizen their car and other belongings.

The Police by default owing to their activation and inducement with the cash of the complainant will end their investigation with you with the claim that you alone can help them resolve the case by providing the seller of the phone. Now for those who buy phones in traffic, you may end up being sentenced for armed robbery without the option of fine or be given an option you may never be able to afford in this economy.

For those who are lucky enough to provide a proof of purpose and the seller, you will still pay heavily for being impari delincto.

*Meaning partners in illegality. In most of the cases we have intervened in, running into 100 hundred now if not more, Police will insist on charging the case to court once they realize they can not make money from it. With the corruption of the judiciary on armed robbery cases, you may end up spending more days in detention than necessary.

As published many young Nigerians have been tortured to death by police during these alleged stolen phones investigations. Mostly between the ages of 20-23. Women not excluded. So be careful out there.

If the issue is with cheaper smartphones with good camera that works with modern day apps. We will soon have an alternative out there that wont involve you having a police case or losing your freedom. I will announce this soon and we all can curb the patronage of phone thieves.

Secondly, theres been a growing rise in random credits of accounts. Investigation is ongoing on the source of this format. A lady went to the bank to withdraw N10k of her N12,500 balance. Only to hear that her account was blocked. Upon enquiry, she was told authorities did this, that her account was used to make fraudulent transactions.

The lady in question never got an alert neither used her account for any such. She was picked up by police & detained without considering getting her a representation. The bike man that brought her waited in vain.

In the past days a few followers have been showing me alerts that they received deposited N1k only to get a N400k Credit Alert. If you have gotten a similar experience please report this immediately immediately to you account manager and get a document that proves this.

You can also file a report in a police station near you about the incident for your sanity sake. When the order to block your account comes they wont follow due process and these precautions will come in handy before you are summarily deemed a fraud and jailed arbitrarily.

Miracle Alerts will inadvertently land you in jail even after you have been squeezed of money you dont have. This is not a warning but a guarantee. Stop making this a prayer point. God doesnt operate in your paper money. He has already empowered you. Find yourself.Foremost Nigerian lawyer, Femi Falana has urged the federal government to withdraw the travel ban list of 50 prominent, because it exposes the administration to ridicule.

The Human rights lawyer in a statement on Sunday said no law gives power to the executive to restrict the movement of persons under trial because they are still suspects. He also stresses that it was totally unnecessary for the executive to place these suspects on a watchlist since their passports have already been seized.

See statement below

Sadly, the travel ban is a sad reminder of the reckless placement of political opponents on security watch list and seizure of their passports by the defunct military junta.

Notwithstanding such judicial indictment of politically exposed persons seeking medical treatment during trial, the law has not authorised the Executive to restrict the movement of criminal suspects.

The power of the anti graft agencies and the courts to place criminal suspects on watch list or subject their passports to temporary seizure has never been in doubt.

To that extent, the directive to place the 50 high profile suspected persons on watch list and restrict their movement is highly superfluous, completely unwarranted and totally uncalled for.

In fact, it is an ingenious design to expose the Buhari administration to ridicule.

If the federal government had done some background check it would have discovered that the names of the 50 VIPs have long been placed on security watch list while their passports have been impounded by the anti graft agencies or the courts as one of the conditions for admitting them to bail.

For the umpteenth time, I am compelled to caution the Buhari administration to wage the war against the menace of corruption within the ambit of the rule of law.

Since the 50 high profile criminal suspects covered by EO6 have been placed on watch list while their passports have been seized by either the anti graft agencies or the courts the travel ban slammed on them by President Buhari ought to be withdrawn without any delay.Mobile forensics company Elcomsoft has recommended the U.S. law enforcement agencies to not look at iPhones with Face ID or else the same thing will occur as happened on Apples event.

Face ID and Touch ID both offer a user five attempts at unlocking their device. After the fifth failed attempt, iPhones will end up asking for the passcode for enhanced security. Elcomsoft is recommending law enforcement agencies to avoid looking at an iPhone with Face ID so as to trigger it.

This is quite simple. Passcode is required after five unsuccessful attempts to match a face, Vladimir Katalov, CEO of Elcomsoft, told Motherboard in an online chat, pointing to Apples own documentation on Face ID. So by looking into suspects phone, [the] investigator immediately lose one of [the] attempts.

Back when Apple unveiled the iPhone X in 2017, the first public Face ID demo failed because of too many failed attempts.

The first instance of the FBI forcing an accused to unlock their iPhone X using Face ID was reported earlier this year.

The U.S. law enforcement agency cannot legally force an accused to hand over their phones pass code as it is protected under the Fifth Amendment. This means law enforcement agencies can only force an accused to unlock their iPhone via biometric authentication. This makes every biometric attempt to unlock the device important.

Face ID is significantly easier to trigger than Touch ID since it is automatically triggered when one looks at their device.

With Apple stepping up the security on its iPhones with every new iOS release, every chance to unlock an iOS device by bypassing the Fifth Amendment Act is extremely important.

[Via MotherboardVideos

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.The Irving Shipbuilding facility is seen in Halifax on June 14, 2018. Shipbuilders at Halifax's Irving Shipyard have launched a campaign to keep shipbuilding work in Nova Scotia, as concerns mount over the possibility of repair work on Halifax-class navy ships being transferred to the Davie Shipyard in Quebec. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew VaughanCLEAR LAKE, Iowa  Flames destroy a Clear Lake home early Sunday.

The Clear Lake Fire Department got a call just before 4 am about a structure fire in the 6200 block of South Shore Drive. A blaze was found consuming a one-story unoccupied home and the Ventura Fire Department was called in to assist.

After deciding the home was a total loss, firefighters spent a couple of hours putting out the flames and making sure to extinguish all hot spots. There were no injuries. Estimated damage is over $100,000. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The Clear Lake and Ventura fire departments combined to use five engine companies, one rescue company, one squad company, one command vehicle, and 25 firefighters to handle this incident. The Cerro Gordo County Sheriffs Office and Alliant Energy assisted at the scene.CLEAR LAKE, Iowa  Sunset Sharkys in Clear Lake is holding its first annual SharktoberFest on Oct. 13.

The event includes a chili cook-off, polka music, brats and kraut, games, and live music during the evening hours.

Attendees can purchase an endless chili bowl for one dollar and judge the entries.

All proceeds are to benefit a local charity.

Joe Tremmel tells KIMT Saturday afternoon that the event had gone well so far.

We have about a dozen chilis here and people are sampling it and judging on best taste said Tremmel. Were raising money for a local charity and were having a good time, listening to polka music and having a good time.

Tremmel also said the hope for SharktoberFest is for it to grow in the coming years.FOREST CITY, Iowa  Dozens of people gathered in Forest City Saturday morning to help the Forest City Rotary Club raise money to eradicate polio.

Those in attendance were invited to participate in a cake walk, as well as a pumpkin carving contest.

There were also a variety of foods, vendors, and games for children available.

Liz Smith, past-president of the rotary, told KIMT that it is a day full of fun that goes toward a great cause.

Its a part of a multiple group effort for Octoberfest here in Forest City, but were just trying to raise awareness and reaise money for the cause said Smith. Polio is very close to being eradicated  theres three countries left.

This was the first year for the event being held in uptown Forest City.Americans ages 18 to 29 have had the lowest voter turnout rate of any age group in every election since 1986. (now.tufts.edu)By Jung Da-min, Park Si-sooA Vietnamese broadcaster is in the hot seat for alleged far-from-reality and inaccurate depictions of the Vietnamese military in a new drama series based on Korea broadcaster KBS's 2016 hit "Descendants of the Sun."The nation's defense ministry reportedly fired a salvo at the broadcaster, Vietnam Cable Television (VTC), calling for corrections.With 14 out of 48 episodes aired as of Saturday, the ministry and critics say military ranks, uniforms, the code of conduct in the barracks and other details are far different from those in the real Vietnamese military.According to local media VnExpress, the defense ministry held a rare press conference last week, criticizing the drama's "irrelevant" depictions. It said the broadcaster had not sought the ministry's advice.VTC apologized for the lack of attention to detail and promised to fix the inaccuracies. One Vietnamese film producer, who asked to remain anonymous, reportedly said the controversial scenes were inserted in reckless pursuit of making the drama as much like the Korean production as possible.A promotional photo for JTBC's new travel variety "Shall We Walk Together"/Courtesy of JTBC



By Park Jin-hai



Five-member K-pop idol group g.o.d of the early 2000s, which received huge popularity by appearing in child-rearing variety show "Babysitting Diary" between 2000 and 2001, has returned with JTBC's new travel variety show 17 years later.



In the "Shall We Walk Together" premiere Thursday, the five men, who debuted in January 1999, went on a two week long trek in the Camino de Santiago, Spain _ a route known as a spiritual path _ in order to commemorate their upcoming 20th anniversary.



"It was physically the hardest show I've ever done. But there was more that I gained," said Park Joon-hyung, leader of the group and now famous for his YouTube channel "Wassup Man," during a press conference at the JTBC headquarters in Seoul, prior to the show's broadcast. "We have walked our separate ways for many years, but for the two weeks together with each other, I felt like it filled all the gaps between us," he added.



The band, known for multiple hits like "To Mother," "Road" and "One Candle," had been nicknamed "the nation's idol" due to the broad popular appeal in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Following the departure of a member, the rest went on solo careers from 2015. They, however, reunited and made a comeback in 2014 releasing their 8th album "Chapter 8."



Yoon Kae-sang, who left the group in 2004 and pursued an acting career, said he had concerns for the show initially. "With old memories fading and having lived separate ways of life, I was worried about whether we could go back to the good old times. But the moment the five of us got together, we went back in time and all the memories we built together were rekindled," he said. "By the time we ended our trek, I thought that we could all start over again. It was like a life highlight for me."



The first episode showed the five members sitting together ahead of going trekking. Kim Tae-woo, the band's youngest member, speaks of his anticipation for the upcoming journey, saying he feels like "breaking away from the routine of daily life." In the city of Leon, where they started the trek, the five men reenacted the pose they took for their first album cover, harking back to memories of their old fans. Sharing a hotel room, the five members were reminded of the old days when they trained and lived under the same roof. The travel variety show started off with 1.5 percent in viewership ratings.



"While watching this show, I wish people could dream of setting off to travel with close friends," said the show's director Oh Yoon-hwan. Meanwhile, g.o.d will have three concerts in Seoul between Nov. 30 and Dec. 2, to celebrate the 20th anniversary. They will continue their concerts in Daegu and Busan in December.

Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Kim Dong-yeon, left, talks with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde at a meeting in Bali, Indonesia, Oct. 13 (local time). Korea agreed to give the IMF $20 million over the next five years in support of the latter's capacity development efforts based on a mutual understanding on the need to strengthen the role of the international body. Kim also asked for the IMF's help for North Korea to become a part of the global community citing recent de-escalation of military tensions on the Korean Peninsula as well as denuclearization efforts undertaken by the isolationist regime. / Courtesy of Ministry of Economy and FinanceBy Jhoo Dong-chan



Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance has been dominating the 1 trillion won ($883.2 million) insurance market for foreign workers here.



According to a documented released by Rep. Han Jung-ae of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance took up 95 percent of the insurance market for foreign employees in Korea.



The Ministry of Employment and Labor and Human Resources Development Service of Korea jointly select exclusive insurers for foreign workers through a competitive open bid every two years.



Of selected insurers, Samsung secured a 60 percent market share between 2006 and 2013, then managed to win 78 percent in 2015, and has come to dominate the market since 2016.



Claiming insurance business for foreign workers is lucrative because it is mandatory for local firms and foreign workers to be covered by selected insurers, Rep. Han said in a press release that "the open bid should be fair and transparent" while the labor ministry shouldn't favor a certain insurer in the process.



Samsung Fire & Marine has led a consortium for the insurance business since 2006 that other insurers such as Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance and Heungkuk Fire & Marine have participated in as partner firms.



Samsung started dominating the insurance market from August 2016 when Hyundai and Heungkuk exited the consortium. Hanwha General Insurance accounts for the remaining 5 percent.



"It was Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance that started the consortium in the first place," a Ministry of Employment and Labor official said. "It is natural for the insurer to obtain the dominating market position because it designed the consortium."



Market insiders said that Samsung's dominance came as other players gave up due to the low profitability of the market.



"Insurance business for foreign workers in Korea isn't very profitable," said a Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance official.



"The business sector posted nearly a 100 percent loss rate when Hyundai exited the consortium in 2016. It is natural for a firm to downsize or shut down an unprofitable sector."



A Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance official agrees.



"The business isn't very lucrative," the official told The Korea Times.



"However, it is a government-designating business. Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance has a responsibility in the business for the greater good."



Demoo Parkchoonmoo 2013 Spring/Summer Collection / Courtesy of Demoo Parkchoonmoo



By Kang Aa-young





Making her debut in 1988, Park opened her first store in Apgujeong-dong, Seoul, a fashionable and trendsetting destination. Courtesy of Demoo Park Choon-moo

In the 1990s, Seoul's trendy posh southern area of Apgujeong was once crowded with people wearing striking all-black outfits from the collection of designer Park Choon-moo. The fashion has since established itself as iconic classic style here.



Named after the designer, "Choonmoo style," was not an instant hit when it made its debut in Korea's fashion industry in 1988.



But it gradually expanded and raised its profile by entering department stores, earning recognition. People became fascinated with the signature style of the designer, which later became classic in Korea.





Designer Park Choon-moo / Korea Times photo by Kang Aa-young

In an interview with The Korea Times, the designer maintained a sense of charisma, humility and an energetic attitude. Her outfit _ represented by the signature all-black style with trendy white-lined sporty sock sneakers, the only color she wore other than black _ was eye-catching enough for anyone to believe that she would be the best person to pull off her own line, regardless of her age.



"Being in the fashion industry was natural for me," Park, 64, said.



Born in Gimje, a small town in North Jeolla Province, she was surrounded by fashion as her father owned a children's clothing brand. On top of that, a factory that made the items was located near her house.



Park has been designing for Demoo Parkchoonmoo for three decades and worked in the fashion industry even a decade before launching her own brand. By investing the money she earned, she started her own brand.



She then got a chance to get into one of the nation's largest department store chains, Lotte Department, in downtown Seoul. People soon fell in love with her wearable yet unique looks. Demoo fans not only wore the clothes, but collected items of the brand every season.



Her collections are well-known for being structural yet fluid with her fans describing them as "edginess full of monotone color."



Park believes the most important aspect when designing a garment is that it should be "wearable." The fabric should be comfortable for anyone to wear and the color should follow a customer's preference.



More than 80 percent of her brand's clothing is black. She said this is because the color represents her brand's identity and reflects what her fans favor. Take, for example, when pink was trendy, she designed a short pink vinyl skirt, but ended up throwing it since no one was interested in such a trend-focused piece from her brand.



"There are many shops that sell trendy clothes," Park said, "From us, people wouldn't buy trendy clothes that only last for a short time. People want to buy clothes that last long, with a classic style from my brand and I am very well aware of that."



The designer said she once had a customer who brought back a jacket she bought from Demoo Parkchoonmoo 10 years ago, to get it fixed.



The designer learned that some pieces became customers' favorite garments that they want to keep it forever. With customers who love her clothes so much, she said designers should have pride in their own brand.



Park thinks the most important factor she considers is whether her products can sell well in the market. "My brand's clothes don't sell well when it only reflects the current trend," she said, saying it is a way for the brand to have competitive edge in the market, to have confidence in their own brand's identity.



She still reflects on opinions from her customers by taking their needs into careful consideration. A coat from her upcoming collection is cashmere because many customers have asked her to make high-quality garments, she said.



Park has fans that have supported her brand since its launch. She said they are the driving force behind the brand lasting for decades. In an industry represented by a rapid rise-and-fall trend, it is even more difficult for any brand to survive for such a long period of time.



Park thinks the future of Korean fashion is hopeful, as there are four seasons to make different clothes and with its current global status, which is considered to be that of a nation that promises high quality. Thus it's important to live up to that expectation, rather than selling fast fashion, at a cheap price. Also, with the government's support for local designers, she said Korea is already a top country in Asia when it comes to fashion. It is important to keep that, beginning with much grit to succeed in the market and to get steady customers.



Park shared a story of an unnamed designer she met during her visit to Paris. The designer, who introduced herself as a Demoo fan, was from Belgium. She even shed 10 kilograms to wear Park's clothes. "I was truly touched," Park said.



Showcasing her work all over the world, she has a broad range of customers here and abroad.



Participating in the Paris Pret-a-porter collection from 1996 to 2003 and the New York collection in 2010, she has been devoted to expanding her business to international markets over the past 30 years.





A poster for Park Choon-moo's 30th anniversary exhibition "From Moo" / Courtesy of Demoo Park Choon-mooBanker Phares is a John and Karen Mast Professor at SFA. He teaches financial planning and is board certified in estate planning and probate law.



By Jung Da-min







North Korean propagandists are making a rare overseas trip with its purpose and other details shrouded in secrecy.







The delegation led by Vice Chairman Jo Yong-sam of the DPRK Information Committee left on Saturday to visit Britain, France and Hong Kong, the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Saturday.







The DPRK Information Committee is a non-permanent organization committed to state-level public relations. DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.







It was the committee members' first overseas trip in four years  the most recent trip was to Singapore and Qatar in 2014  according to KCNA. It did not provide further details.







The trip is widely seen as an effort to improve the North's ties with other countries in sync with its recent peace overtures.

By Yi Whan-woo





Moon Chung-inPresident Moon Jae-in delivers opening remarks before the start of a dinner meeting with South Korean residents in France at the Maison de la Mutualite conference center in Paris, early Sunday (KST). Yonhap



By Kim Yoo-chul



PARIS  President Moon Jae-in is seeking France's help to make a breakthrough in denuclearization talks with North Korea.



France is Moon's first stop on a nine-day tour of four European countries, which is largely centered on promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula. He arrived here Sunday morning.



"A permanent peace is approaching for the Korean Peninsula. It's coming. I want your support. I will build a Republic of Korea that you can be proud of," Moon said in a meeting with some 200 South Korean residents of France, Sunday morning (KST).



France, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) and a key member of the European Union (EU) is one of two EU members alongside Estonia that have no diplomatic ties with North Korea. Other EU members including Germany and Spain have some sort of diplomatic contact with the North since the 2000s.



But France is one of the strongest backers for Moon's signature "engagement-centric" policy toward the North, and has long called for the international community to apply "carrots and sticks" to ensure the irreversible dismantling of Pyongyang's nuclear program.



Senior Cheong Wa Dae officials told The Korea Times that Moon plans to ask French President Emmanuel Macron to become a "responsible helper" in getting the UNSC to roll back some economic sanctions imposed on the North.



"Macron has praised Moon's efforts toward denuclearization saying South Korea's diplomatic outreach is bringing stability to the peninsula and Northeast Asia," said one presidential office official.



Although Moon will focus his second summit with the French leader, late Monday (KST), on the need for continued progress in nuclear talks, Cheong Wa Dae also said the two may discuss the outlines of sanctions relief for North Korea if it undertakes verifiable measures to abandon its nuclear capabilities.



A joint press conference is planned after the summit.



In a press release, Sunday, Moon's office said he thanked France for its support in the ongoing nuclear negotiations, and commitment to work with the United States to build a permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.



"President Moon thanked France for its continued support for negotiations on nuclear disarmament on the peninsula. Seoul wants more assistance from Paris to ensure the talks will advance further," Cheong Wa Dae said in the release.



Winning more backing from the European Union (EU) for the complete denuclearization of the peninsula and to achieve a lasting peace are key agenda items for Moon on his European trip.



Seoul has shifted its focus to justify its updated assessment of North Korea and help it get better access to the global economy with "corresponding measures" from the international community. This follows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reaffirming his commitment to continue working for a permanent peace on the peninsula.



Since 1995, over 370 million euros in aid has been provided in the form of food, sanitation medical assistance and agricultural support. In 2011, EU offered 10 million Euros in emergency aid following a severe food crisis in the North.



After France, Moon will fly to Italy, Tuesday, and visit the Vatican. He will also visit Belgium for this year's Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit.





Animal rights activists, wearing paper masks, carry out a street performance in downtown Seoul, Sunday, calling for an end to animal testing, zoos, the use of animal skin in fashion products, and meat consumption. / YonhapBy Yi Whan-woo





Kylychbek Sultan

Kyrgyz Ambassador to Korea Kylychbek Sultan is seeking asylum, according to a Kyrgyz media outlet.

Citing a message received from the ambassador, 24. kg News Agency reported Saturday he did not trust his government's investigation of a corruption scandal involving him and that he had decided not to go back.

He did not reveal the name of the country where he is seeking asylum.

Also a former ambassador to Malaysia, Sultan took office here in January.

According to 24. kg News Agency, President Sooronbay Jeenbekov accepted the ambassador's resignation request.

The Embassy of Kyrgyzstan in Seoul was not available for comment, Sunday.

"I am completely disappointed with the current government. I don't have any more trust in the authorities or the president, and I don't recognize such power in Kyrgyzstan," the envoy said in a message. "I will not return to Kyrgyzstan."

A diplomatic source said Sultan disclosed alleged corruption and irregularity concerning senior foreign ministry officials during a press conference in Kyrgyz's capital of Bishkek last month.

Sultan purportedly had hard evidence, which he gave to the presidential office and the State Committee for National Security to be delivered to the prosecution.

The prosecution looked into the case. But it also accused Sultan of corruption.

The investigation results were announced by the country's Security Council.

"The message of the Security Council is slander and a lie. I can provide evidence on each item," Sultan said. "We know that both the prosecutor's office and the State Committee for National Security are in the hands of the authorities."

Sultan, 42, had been living in Korea with his family.President Moon Jae-in boards the Korean Navy's 4,900-ton ship Ilchulbong, Thursday, on the sidelines of the 2018 International Fleet Review held on the nation's southern resort island of Jeju. A yellow flag, symbolizing Korea's heroic Admiral Yi Sun-sin, flutters to Moon's left. / Yonhap



By Lee Min-hyung



The Navy's disputed international fleet event ended Sunday.



Naval delegations from 46 countries took part in the 2018 International Fleet Review on the nation's southern resort island of Jeju to seek ways to create naval partnerships across the globe.



But a controversy erupted even before the event started Wednesday, as Japan had repeatedly said its representative warship would fly the "Rising Sun" flag, which reminds Koreans of Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.



The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the navy urged Japan to drop the plan and fly the country's national flag in consideration of public sentiment here.



The debate showed signs of abating on Oct. 5 when Tokyo decided not to send the warship to the event.



The bilateral diplomatic dispute, however, reignited Friday when Japan expressed discomfort that President Moon Jae-in delivered a speech on the Korean Navy's 4,900-ton ship Ilchulbong which raised a flag symbolizing Admiral Yi Sun-sin. Yi is a heroic Korean naval figure who fought against former Japanese ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the 16th century.



"Japan's foreign ministry sent a message of complaint (to its Korean counterpart) that Korea hoisted the flag on the ship where President Moon made a speech," NHK reported.



The complaint came as Japan views the flag as a representation of Korea's anti-Japan sentiment.



The Japanese foreign ministry also offered a "word of regret" to the Korean government, as the flag was raised at a time when Seoul strongly protested Tokyo's earlier plan to fly the Rising Sun flag.



Both sides, however, expressed a shared view that the series of flag disputes should not affect the ongoing defense and security alliance between the two.



This is the third time the Korean Navy has held the event since 1998. For the previous two events, Japan sent a vessel flying the Rising Sun flag. For this reason, calls have grown for the government to introduce a domestic law to stop such a controversy from recurring.



Domestic protest against fleet review



The fleet review also sparked a domestic dispute, with residents from Jeju's Gangjeong Village strongly opposing the five-day-long naval event.



Villagers there fiercely clashed with the government from 2007 when the government finalized its plan to build a naval base adjacent to the small town.



Reflecting on the decade-long controversy, President Moon met with a group of villagers on Thursday to deliver words of consolation.



"The dispute (over the establishment of the Jeju naval base) arose, as the government failed to properly communicate with local residents there while pushing ahead with the plan," President Moon said in the meeting.



"The government should have followed democratic procedure, even if the move was for national security," Moon said. "While the government carried out the plan, the conflict escalated among Jeju residents. As President, I want to offer words of consolation and regret over the controversy."





President Moon Jae-in takes a photo with BTS members after their performance in Paris. Yonhap



By Kim Yoo-chul



PARIS -- BTS performed in Paris ahead of President Moon Jae-in's second summit with French President Emmanuel Macron.



The "Korea-France Friendship Concert," held at an art performance theater in central Paris, was attended by President Moon, first lady Kim Jong-sook and about 400 others including students and musicians, Cheong Wa Dae said Sunday.



Moon's stop in Paris is part of his trip to Europe that will continue until Oct. 21.



The theme of the concert was "The Cry of Korean Musicians," with performances by traditional Korean musicians on the "geomungo" -- a traditional Korean string instrument -- and "pansori" -- traditional musical storytelling with a vocalist and a drummer -- as well as a fusion of modern instruments with traditional Korean sounds.



BTS is on the European leg of its world tour





BTS performs in Paris.





President Moon Jae-in signs his autograph on his gift watches to BTS members. Yonhap





By Lee Suh-yoon



A Seoul court ordered the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the country's financial watchdog, to pay an unsuccessful job applicant tens of millions of won in compensation, Saturday, after ruling the plaintiff was a victim of illicit hiring practices.



This was the first verdict against the illicit practices in the financial sector.



The Seoul Southern District Court announced that it had ordered the FSS to pay 80 million won ($70,000) to the applicant, who was dropped in the final interview stage despite achieving the highest score in the written exam  to make room for an applicant with personal ties to high-ranking FSS officials.



In its hiring in the fall of 2015, the FSS conducted an impromptu "reference check" of high-scoring applicants after the written exam. It claimed the unsuccessful applicant's previous workplace reported him as "lacking passion and professional knowledge." But, the applicant's former company testified in court that it had never replied to the FSS's inquiry.



The other applicant, who got the job, also lied about her university to get extra points, a detail the FSS dismissed as irrelevant.



"A job at a public institution like the FSS is sought after by many people, and the public also expects a more objective and fair hiring process from such an institution," said presiding Judge Oh Jung-woo.



"The sense of loss and dejection felt by the applicant is substantial because a fair opportunity to be assessed for his efforts was lost by a murky reference check, which cannot be considered objective or reasonable."



By Kim Ae-ran





"Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful" (Lk 6:36) is the key point of compassionate love. Being merciful means understanding, accepting, and loving others as they are; being generous and tolerant; forgiving others unconditionally without judging, criticizing, blaming or talking back.



To be merciful and compassionate is a demanding but worthwhile task to practice in our daily lives. How to forgive, how to forget past wrongdoings, how to be free from existing pain are an enduring homework to do again and again like regular exercises.



Pope Francis began his term with bowing his head down to receive the blessings of the people. And he proclaimed the extraordinary jubilee of mercy from Dec 8, 2015, to Nov 20, 2016, as a special period for remission of sins and universal pardon and mercy.



Opening the holy doors of the major basilicas in Rome and cathedrals and other major churches around the world, he encouraged us to ask for forgiveness and to forgive others without condition.



In this extraordinary year of mercy, I was also accepted to participate in the international charism course of the Pauline Family in Rome from September 2016 to May 2017, and that participation encouraged and inspired me in many ways. Much more vitality, creativity, solidarity and longing for common good came out of that experience.



Many issues in the church have been underlying deep in the heart of various projects. And due to the accusations of sexual abuse and harassment in clericalism around the world over 70 years, the Pope had to kneel down humbly and ask forgiveness for not being able to witness the truth in the society.



In fact, many minors and vulnerable adults have suffered due to sexual abuse, the abuse of power, authority and conscience. Pain still lingers in many victims.



In a letter addressed to the people of God on Aug. 20, 2018, the Pope, who once opened the holy doors as a sign of mercy, proclaimed "zero tolerance" to take responsibility for not being renovated from wrong behaviors.



Zero tolerance is the policy of applying laws or penalties to even minor errors so as to reinforce moral values and fundamental ethics.



"Looking back to the past, no effort to beg pardon and to seek to repair the harm done will ever be sufficient. Looking ahead to the future, no effort must be spared to create a culture able to prevent such situations from happening, but also to prevent the possibility of their being covered up and perpetuated"



I was so touched by his gestures of goodwill in solidarity as a spiritual Father of the whole church. Pope Francis takes the responsibility without blaming or accusing others.



On behalf of all those who made mistakes and errors, he sincerely apologizes and asks for forgiveness. Feeling shame, he kneels down humbly, saying "If one part suffers, every part suffers with it" (1Cor 12:26) and invites us to pray further, fast often, and make penance in solidarity with minors.



I also remember my struggles and wanderings during my adolescent age in high school. Conversion is a perpetual and constant process of making efforts to be transformed into another being.



Above all, it's high time to renovate every bit of life. Then, like a complete puzzle, each piece can compose the original image of God filled with the glad tidings of beatitudes.





The author is a member of the Daughters of St. Paul (Figlie di San Paolo) living and giving the Good News to the world by means of social communication. Learn more about the congregation at fsp.pauline.or.kr.



By Matthew F. Ferraro



The "America first" policy President Donald Trump extols "has won," scholar Robert Kagan wrote in a recent op-ed, surmising that the administration's preference for unilateralism, trade protectionism and immigration restrictions amount to "a new direction of American foreign policy."



But there is reason to believe that victory will be fleeting. In time, this period may be recognized more as the high water mark of a short-lived turn toward quasi-isolationism than the beginning of an enduring trend.



To understand why, consider the country's changing demographics. The millennial generation  those born between 1981 and 1996  will overtake Baby Boomers as America's largest cohort in 2019, according to the Pew Research Center. The size, ethnic diversity and experiences of this generation influence their views about America's relationship with the world.



Take immigration. Few issues defined President Trump's campaign more than a hostility toward illegal immigration, and his administration has acted to curb both illegal and legal admissions. He championed those policies in New York during his recent speech to the United Nations, celebrating the start of construction of "a major border wall" and defending his right to set America's "immigration policy in accordance with its national interests."



But a hard-nosed approach to immigration is unlikely to persist as America changes. Nearly eight in 10 millennials believe immigrants strengthen rather than burden the country, says Pew. A similar number believe that a path to citizenship should be created for undocumented immigrants now living in the United States, according to a University of Chicago study.



It's a similar story on trade. Before the U.N. General Assembly, President Trump defended tariffs, bemoaned trade deficits, and declared that the world trading system is "in dire need of change." The rising cohort disagrees, reports a June 2018 study by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (CCGA).



Nearly three quarters of millennials  73 percent  believe international trade is good for the U.S. economy. Majorities support NAFTA and the much-maligned Trans-Pacific Partnership, as well. And 70 percent of millennials agree with the statement "globalization is mostly good for the United States"  higher than any other American age group.



It is not difficult to imagine why. Millennials are born into a borderless culture that they both shape and are shaped by. For example, their iPhones, which are as much appendages as arms or legs, are conceived of in California, manufactured with parts from a dozen countries from Asia to Europe, designed with a Scandinavian aesthetic and marketed by ad firms in New York.



Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook friends span the globe and share an increasingly common argot of hashtags, emojis and memes. A cat video filmed in Nepal draws peals of laughter in Nashville. This generation's default setting is not to build walls but to grow earth-spanning digital tendrils.



Accordingly, when President Trump said in New York, "We reject the ideology of globalism and accept the doctrine of patriotism," he was speaking more of the present than the future. Millennials overwhelmingly favor the kind of multilateral agreements this administration has criticized. Seventy-two percent support America's commitment to NATO, 68 percent favor the Paris clime agreement, and 63 percent backed the Iran nuclear deal, according to the CCGA study.



That is not to say that a generation's ideas are uniform or cannot change with time or that tomorrow's internationalism will be the same as yesterday's.



Notably, millennials depart from traditional U.S. foreign policy in their current ambivalence toward U.S. military power (only 44 percent of them believe maintaining superior military power is a very important goal), American exceptionalism (50 percent believe the United States is "the greatest country in the world"), and American global leadership (only 25 percent think the U.S. should be "the dominant world leader"), according to the CCGA. In short, they prefer a globalized world absent an American imperium.



If America firstism is doomed, what could replace it? For those of us who believe that peace, prosperity and human dignity advance furthest under American global leadership, the task will be to nurture our generation's best impulses: to join its latent commitment to universal equality, interconnectedness and pluralism with support for the leadership of the nation that has done more to realize those dreams than any other.



The goal will be to build a vision of internationalism that rejects the false choice between globalism and patriotism and embraces the former as integral to the latter.





Matthew F. Ferraro is an attorney, former intelligence officer and visiting fellow at the National Security Institute of George Mason University. His commentary appeared in the Baltimore Sun and was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.



By Chang Se-moon





On Aug. 27 and 28, there was an important conference on the care of dying patients. The conference was the 4th International Conference on Palliative, Medicine and Hospice Nursing.



For those of you who may not be familiar with the term, palliative care refers to medical as well as non-medical care provided to a patient usually with life-threatening or terminal illness that is not intended to provide curative treatment but to manage, maintain, and improve the quality of their life.



Hospice care, on the other hand, refers to palliative care to patients who are terminally ill and do not have many days to live. "Unlike hospice, palliative care can and should be delivered while patients continue treatment for their diseases," according to Jane E. Brody in her Dec. 3, 2013, article in The New York Times.



I was invited to attend the conference as one of two keynote speakers, and thus was able to hear some presentations, and review the proceedings of the conference. Presenters came from all over the world, which included Canada, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Sweden, Australia, South Africa and the United States. The conference was cozy with quality presentations.



Dr. Buga from the City of Hope, California, made a good introduction of the End of Life Option Act that was enacted in California, June 9, 2016. The City of Hope is a well-known cancer treatment center as one of the designated National Cancer Institutes.



His presentation included a sad story of a patient who passed away in a car going home after taking the prescribed drug while he was driving.



Dr. Buga also made a presentation suggesting prescribers of opioids be aware that opioids for pain management can cause aberrant behavior in patients, meaning that those using opioids may behave strangely. This may lead to determining these patients as drug addicts, when in fact they are simply reacting to prescribed opioids.



The likeable Yvonne Heath from Canada provided advice for medical professionals that she learned during her 30 years of work in the profession. This included that the best time to talk about, plan and prepare for grief is when we are young and healthy, while the next best time is now, and that it takes a village to support the ill, the caregiver, the dying, the bereaved and each other.



Dr. Johan Menten from Belgium dealt with the question of whether a cardiac pacemaker would lengthen the dying process or postpone death in palliative care unit patients. Based on his own experience, Dr. Menten answered that pacemaker patients die two to six days earlier than their matched non-pacemaker patients, and stated that pacemakers would not lengthen the dying process.



Dr. Anna Klarare of Sweden stressed the importance of teamwork and 24/7 availability of the palliative care unit, especially since persons with life threatening illness are increasingly cared for and die at home. Dr. Klarare notes that families and patients experience security and continuity of care due to 24/7 availability.



Ching Wan Cheng with four co-authors demonstrated the effectiveness of animal-assisted therapy especially for older adult palliative patients. Benefits of the animal-assisted therapy included better cognitive function, stabilization of mental status and increased socialization.



Dr, Johan Menten and his five co-authors from Belgium tested the hypothesis that patients die mostly in the night, more in the weekend, and more in winter than in summer.



Based on the 2,774 patients who passed away at the University Hospital of Leuven from 1999 to 2015, they found the hypothesis to be false. They found natural deaths in the palliative care unit to have been spread equally over the day, over the week, and over the year.



Angela Sun of the Health Resource Center, USA, made an interesting presentation by posting the question of whether art therapy could be incorporated into palliative care programs among Asian Americans.



According to Ms. Sun, the Chinese Community Health Resource Center conducted a needs assessment among seven community members through a focus group utilizing qualitative data collection method.



All participants expressed interest in attending an art therapy program to promote healing and reduce anxiety. The types of art therapy participants highlighted were calligraphy, painting, singing, and, interestingly, ballroom as well as line dancing.



Finally, a presenter told a sad story of his experience as a caregiver for his wife of over 40 years. The only request his wife made during the long period of cancer treatment at a local cancer center that claims to be the best in the world was to let her die without pain.



None of the four oncologists at the two cancer centers, according to the presenter, gave the prescription for pain control when the patient was sent home for her last days.





Chang Se-moon (changsemoon@yahoo.com) is the director of the Gulf Coast Center for Impact Studies.

Temporary positions in public sector not the answer



The latest job data showed a slight rebound in the job market last month, as newly added jobs jumped on holiday sales and better weather after the scorching heat. According to Statistics Korea, Friday, the number of employed increased by 45,000 in September from a year earlier, after staying under 10,000 per month for the second straight month, with 5,000 in July and 3,000 in August year-on-year growth.



Despite the slight rebound, there is still plenty to be worried about. In September, Korea's jobless rate hit 3.6 percent, up 0.3 percentage points from 2017. It is the highest September jobless figure since 2005. Cheong Wa Dae said the results were better than anticipated, but the job situation was still grave.



The number of unemployed people reached 1.02 million last month, up 92,000 from 2017. The results are not good considering that the government has been implementing a 3.9 trillion won ($3.69 billion) supplementary budget aimed at creating jobs.



The rebound in new jobs was due to seasonal reasons, so it is hard to expect that such a trend will continue in the coming months. In particular, sectors that are hit hardest by the government's policy to raise the minimum wage, including restaurants and the retail sector, have suffered a considerable reduction in job growth.



It is worrisome that the government is still relying on half-baked measures to spur job creation. During the government audit at the National Assembly, a controversy arose over the finance ministry's push to increase temporary jobs at more than 300 public corporations and agencies. According to some lawmakers, the Ministry of Economy and Finance sent official notices to these organizations earlier this month, instructing them to devise a plan to increase jobs within their organizations this year.



Although the ministry explained that this was a routine notice, speculation is growing that the government is pressuring them to hire more temporary workers to raise hastily the number of new jobs. KORAIL, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, recently announced openings for 1,000 temporary positions, consisting of interns and contract workers. Rep. Park Wan-su of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party said such pressure to hire more temporary workers would hamper the situation in public corporations, which already face financial difficulties.



Expanding temporary jobs at public agencies and corporations is not a fundamental solution to the grave job crisis facing Korea. It also goes against President Moon Jae-in's policy of boosting quality jobs and reducing irregular workers. As the President recently said, the corporate sector is the main creator of jobs. The government should focus more on fixing the structural problems that hamper Korea's businesses from investing and hiring more.



Migrant workers held a rally in central Seoul Sunday, calling for better working conditions and an improvement in rights issues faced by the foreign minority working in Korea.



Some seven relevant organizations took part in the rally in which about 1,000 people participated. "Kim Myung-hwan, head of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions called for changing the way the workers are perceived by Korean society and getting rid of the current practice of exploiting and discriminating against migrant workers.



Recent statistics show that migrant workers face various problems at workplaces. According to Rep. Moon Jin-kook of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, the rate of industrial accidents among migrants workers is about six times higher than that of Korean workers. The accidents are continuously rising among these workers. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, there were 6,728 migrant workers hurt on the job in 2016, including 88 who died.



At the same time, another rally was held in central Seoul denouncing the government for being too lenient on illegal aliens and calling on it to ban foreign refugees. The two rallies show that the foreign community has become a social issue in Korea.



Since migrant workers are increasingly becoming a critical part of Korea's workforce, it is time to re-examine the various practices that have restricted their freedoms and infringed upon their rights. Also, measures are needed to better care for female migrant workers, who face even more hardship and discrimination. They deserve to be respected as our neighbors and active contributors to the nation's economy.



By Jason Lim





A gasoline storage depot in Goyang City blew up, sending out thick, dark plumes of smoke that could be seen from Seoul. The fire consumed 2.6 million liters of gasoline over 17 hours  this was actually fortunate since only one tank exploded and no casualties were reported.



The authorities, when releasing initial findings into the cause of the explosion, announced that the fire was caused by a sky lantern that fell in the grassy area near the fuel tanks, causing a fire. Sparks from the grass fire ignited the gas vapors emanating from the tanks. What was disturbing but entirely unsurprising was that the authorities mentioned that the person who launched the culprit sky lantern was a Sri Lankan migrant worker who was working at a tunnel construction site about 300 meters away.



Needless to say, the suspected arsonist's nationality made it into the press headlines. Somehow, the suspect's nationality was one of key facts of the case. It didn't matter that his nationality had nothing to do with the nature of the accident. It was the assumption behind the mentioning of the nationality that's the issue.



The underlying narrative that defined this story was now that this Third World migrant worker, who was so generously let into this country to make a living and provide for his family back home out of the grand largess of the Korean people, grossly betrayed his benefactors through his actions. It was all about eliciting an emotional "How dare he?" reaction from the audience, followed by "Kick them all out!" and "Korea is for Koreans!" vitriol typically and recently seen in the public debate about Yemeni asylum seekers.



What if the culprit was a Korean? This is would have been a non-story, except that it was a horrible accident. What if the original school ceremony lanterns had started the fire? The story would probably be about catering to the children who could have been emotionally injured by the totally unintended consequences. What about an American soldier? Perhaps another Mi-son and Hyo-sun brouhaha. What if a bunch of Korea-Chinese having a picnic on the grassy knolls had carelessly flicked a burning cigarette butt? Don't even want to imagine the public venom.



All this to say that the mainstream press grabbed at the identity of the perpetrator to spin the story in ways designed to cater to the loudest and often basest emotional reactions of the target audience. And more article views or higher TV ratings.



But then something happened that surprised me.



The target audience didn't buy the spin and pushed back. Of course, there were the expected, hyperbolic reactions calling for the expulsion of all migrant workers as a plague on the harmonious and homogeneous Korean society. But the vast majority of the reactions seemed to be a condemnation over the authorities and mainstream media's release of the nationality of the accidental arsonist. This didn't happen after a few days either. This happened almost immediately.



This was actually the first time I witnessed an organic self-correcting feedback loop that shifted a story's spin away from the one intended by the authorities and/or the press; soon, there were articles parroting the public sentiment and refocusing the story on the lack of safety measures in the fuel storage depot rather than on the nationality of the alleged arsonist.



For a brief moment, the top trending story on Daum was titled, "Don't scapegoat the Sri Lankan." The article was about multiple petitions that were posted on Cheong Wa Dae's petition page decrying the scapegoating of the suspect by nationality and requesting the suspect not to be arrested.



During the Arab Spring, social media was a force for good, democratizing influence and informing the people to speak truth against power. Now, social media is the new tobacco, addicting us by using our own emotional weaknesses and creating discordant echo chambers that accentuate our differences rather than bringing us together. Worse, it's a platform for political propaganda for the gullible who swallow fake news whole that speaks to their ingrained prejudices.



But can social media also be a spin doctor for news stories? I find this intriguing. I am sure the mainstream press constantly monitors how people react to their digital news stories and adjusts accordingly. Can dedicated social media spin doctors affect the narrative arch of a live news story in real time by leveraging the immediacy of social media?



Questioning the official company line was always an integral part of social media. However, they were usually limited to their own echo chambers. Now, we see social media skepticism translate itself into the editorial direction of a developing news story.



Perhaps this is just a one-time phenomenon. Or can this be an online extension of the candlelit revolution that brought the current administration to power and empowered the Korean public as an agent for change?



Is social media the good guys again?





Jason Lim (jasonlim@msn.com) is a Washington, D.C.-based expert on innovation, leadership and organizational culture.

Korean women smoking pipes and cigarettes circa 1900s



By Robert Neff



Men were not the only ones to smoke in Joseon Korea. Women, of all classes, enjoyed their pipes as much as their male counterparts and some, including the queen, were quick to take up the newest smoking craze  cigarettes.



When the American journalist, Frank Carpenter, visited Seoul in 1888, he wrote:



"The queen dresses, of course, in Corean costume. She wears fine silks and she has beautiful diamonds. She carries a chatelaine watch which is diamond studded and she smokes American cigarettes by the thousand.



"All Corean women smoke and the majority of them smoke pipes."



Ten years later, the New York Times noted that American cigarettes were used exclusively at the palace, where large quantities were consumed making them very popular with not only the women but also the upper classes.



These cigarettes were mainly imported by Townsend & Co. at Jemulpo (modern Incheon), but, by no means did this company hold a monopoly  the German firm, E. Meyer & Co., also began to import American cigarettes.



These imported American cigarettes were then sold to Chinese merchants in Seoul who resold  a package of 20 cigarettes cost about 40 cents.



There were other cigarettes for sale. Russian and Egyptian brands were sold to the European residents in Seoul and Jemulpo and were a little cheaper.





Cigarettes in Korea during the Japanese occupation. Circa 1920-40s



In 1896, Gaillard Jeune, a French merchant in Jemulpo, advertised 100 Bastos cigarettes for 60 American cents; 100 Egyptian cigarettes for $1.75 and 500 Blue Star cigarettes for $1.95.



A cigarette made in Shanghai, using American tobacco, called Little Sweetheart was fairly successful in Korea at the end of the 19th century. A package of ten cigarettes sold for about 4 cents.



The most popular cigarettes in Korea at the time were those made in Japan. Asahi was extremely popular and claimed to use only American tobacco but was probably mixed with Japanese tobacco. A package of ten cigarettes  with mouthpiece  sold for only 3 cents.



By far, the cheapest and poorest cigarettes were Korean. A package of 20 cigarettes sold for 2 cents.



Some unscrupulous merchants tried to take advantage of their unwary customers by repackaging inferior cigarettes in American and other European tobacco companies' boxes and selling them as genuine products.



Horace Allen, the American Minister to Korea, urged the Korean government to take action, which it did by declaring any Korean found guilty would be executed.



Allen was surprised but noted the Korean government's actions were ineffective against "the Japanese merchants who were the chief offenders."





Brands of Chemulpo Cigarette & Tobacco Company from a newspaper in the early 1900s.





Cherry  a Japanese brand of cigarettes sold in Korea in the early 1900s. Honey Bee  a Japanese brand of cigarettes sold in Korea in the early 1900s. Star  a Japanese brand of cigarettes sold in Korea in the early 1900s.

In 1901, a Greek resident, known only as Bandlus, established the Dongyang Tobacco Company and built at large cigarette-making factory in the eastern part of Jemulpo. Unfortunately, he could not compete with the cheap imports and soon failed. His failure led others to try.



In 1903, the British-owned Oriental Cigarette & Tobacco Company was established at Jemulpo under the management of A. S Hamilton. The factory had 6 machines that rolled 1 million cigarettes made from American and Korean tobacco. In 1903, it employed 797 men and 60 women.



Its competitor was the Chemulpo Cigarette & Tobacco Co.  which appears to have been one of Townsend's businesses. In 1905 it manufactured a couple of brands including Telescope ()  said to be manufactured with "pure Virginia tobacco"  Key () and Spider ().



Working in the cigarette factories was hazardous work and occasionally claimed lives. In 1904, the Korea Daily News reported:



"An unfortunate fatally occurred on Wednesday evening in the factory of the Chemulpo Cigarette and Tobacco Co. A Chinaman named Chang Fook-il experimenting with a tobacco drying machine, opened one of the doors of the machine, unknown to anyone and thrust his head inside.



The stopping of the machine caused the foreman to investigate matters, when the unfortunate man was discovered with his head tightly jammed among the pipes.



The machine was reversed and the Chinaman released, but his skull was so badly fractured that he died one hour after admission to St. Luke's hospital. The deceased was a native of Chefoo and had asked for leave of absence to return there, in order to get married."



Despite the dangers, working in a cigarette factory paid fairly well and even provided its employees with benefits as demonstrated by this article that appeared in The Seoul Press in July 1910:



"It is reported that the cigarette manufacturers in Seoul have planned to establish a night school in each of the five wards for the young employees of all the tobacco manufacturing companies here and most of the young hands will be admitted at a moderate fee."



In the years following the annexation of Korea, Japan monopolized the tobacco industry and the foreign firms were forced to close and sell out. The only reminders of these American and British tobacco companies' presence in early 20th century Korea are the occasional cigarette covers found in museums or auctions.



By Baek Byung-yeul





John Suffolk, senior vice president and global cyber security and privacy officer of Huawei, speaks during the Huawei Connect 2018 conference at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center, Thursday. / Courtesy of Huawei KoreaHanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn shakes hands with former Heritage Foundation President Edwin Feulner during their meeting at the Plaza Hotel in Seoul, Friday. / Courtesy of Hanwha Group



By Nam Hyun-woo



Hanwha Group Kim Seung-youn called for a smoother trade between South Korea and the United States, during a dinner with Heritage Foundation founder Edwin Feulner, the group said Sunday.



During their meeting in Seoul, Kim said, "Uncertainties in trade between Korea and the U.S. have somewhat cleared, but Korean industries still face difficulties."



Feulner replied that the Donald Trump administration's trade policies were primarily targeting China, and U.S. renegotiations of free trade agreements with South Korea, Mexico and Canada had already reached agreements. He added that the U.S. will continue pressuring China in terms of trade and investment.



Kim and Fuelner have maintained close relations for more than 30 years, holding regular meetings to share their view on pending issues of the two countries' relations as well as economic and political global affairs.



They agreed that the strong Korea-U.S. alliance has played a significant role in drawing North Korea to negotiations with international society, thus their ties should be enhanced further.



"The second Trump-Kim summit is expected to take place after the U.S. midterm elections, and preparation is required to have successful talks," Fuelner was quoted as saying to Kim.



Fuelner added that many predict the Democratic Party to win the midterms, but there is a chance that the Republican Party will retain the majority in both houses.



Fuelner has been in the leadership of the Heritage Foundation for the past four decades. He is an Asia and North Korea specialist, but also maintains close relations with the South's political and economic communities.



He is also known to be a leading in conservative ideas in the U.S., playing a key role in the inauguration of the Trump administration.



In recognition of their relations and Kim's contribution to better relations between Seoul and Washington, the think tank named one of its conference centers after him.

Hyundai Motor's Nexo fuel-cell electric vehicle



Hyundai to export 5,000 FCEVs to France by 2025



By Nam Hyun-woo



President Moon Jae-in tested the Hyundai Motor fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) Nexo during his state-visit to France, Sunday.



During the event, the President called for enhanced collaboration between Korean and French automakers to develop hydrogen ecosystems in their respective countries.



Following Moon's test, the carmaker will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with two French firms to export 5,000 hydrogen cars to France by 2025.



According to Hyundai Motor, President Moon tested the Nexo with first lady Kim Jung-sook in Paris. The FCEV was the first Nexo the auto giant exported to France.



After riding to a hydrogen charging station near the Alma Bridge, Moon observed a Tucson FCEV taxi driver charging the vehicle.



The FCEV taxi is operated by French startup named STEP (Societe du Taxi Electrique Parisien).



After launching its FCEV taxi business with five Tucson FCEV taxis in 2016, STEP garnered keen attention as an environmentally friendly form of urban transportation. The startup has 62 Tucson FCEVs.



The first FCEV charging station in Paris was established by Air Liquide, a France-based multinational industrial gases and services company.



Unlike electric vehicles, which take at least 30 minutes to charge, hydrogen-powered FCEVs take an average of 3 minutes to refuel.



"Unlike Paris, which has hydrogen charging stations downtown, charging stations in Korea are located on the outskirts of the city because of our misunderstanding on hydrogen energy and safety regulations," Hyundai Motor President Chung Jin-haeng said.



"Korea needs to benchmark France in this case."



As part of enhancing its cooperation with French companies, Hyundai Motor will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) Tuesday with Air Liquide and Engie, another French electric utility company, to help expand hydrogen car infrastructure in France.



According to the carmaker, the MOU contains details on Hyundai Motor exporting 5,000 FCEVs, including both passenger and commercial vehicles, to France by 2025.



Also, the three firms will expand infrastructures for hydrogen cars by jointly developing business and investment models for hydrogen charging facilities, and cooperating with European governments to help draw policies on subsidies.



Under the MOU, Air Liquide also promised to expand hydrogen charging and producing infrastructure in Korea via a domestic special purpose company (SPC).



The SPC, which is expected to be launched in November, will be formed by 15 companies and state-owned enterprises, including the Korea Gas Corp., Korea Expressway Corp., Hyundai Motor, SK Gas, Hyosung Heavy Industries and Air Liquide Korea.



With 200 billion won ($176.5 billion) in capital, the SPC aims to set up 100 hydrogen charging stations here by 2022.



Air Liquid is also expanding its presence in Korea, signing a 130 billion won deal with South Jeolla Province to build an industrial gas plant.



"As the government has recently shown keen interests on hydrogen economy, ignited by FCEVs, there will be momentum in exporting domestic hydrogen car technologies and expanding infrastructure in Korea," an official at a carmaker said.



Despite being the frontrunner in making FCEVs, Korea lags far behind other countries in terms of infrastructure for hydrogen cars.



While Korea has only eight fuel-cell charging stations, Japan, home to FCEV powerhouse Toyota, has 92 as of March 2018 and plans to double that amount by 2021.



According to McKinsey's report, hydrogen car technology will emerge as one of the key auto segments with more than 400 million passenger cars, 20 million trucks and 5 million buses powered by hydrogen by 2050.



Compared to electric vehicles, FCEVs have the advantage in long traveling range and shorter charging time.



This is because hydrogen and hydrogen fuel cells have high energy density, suitable for public transportation and logistics. Also, it is regarded as more eco-friendly than EVs because FCEVs can generate electricity on their own with fuel cells using oxygen from the air and compressed hydrogen supplied from charging stations.







By Nam Hyun-woo





AmorePacific Chairman Suh Kyung-bae.Kim Chang-ho, 49, the first Korean to finish the Explorer's Grand Slam, was killed in a snowstorm Friday while climbing Mount Gurja. / Yonhap



By Jung Hae-myoung



Rescuers recovered the bodies of five Koreans and four Nepalese, Sunday, who died in a snowstorm while climbing Mount Gurja (7,193 meters) in the Himalayas two days earlier.



According to the Korean embassy in Nepal, the accident happened about 70 kilometers northwest of Nepal's second-largest city Pokhara. Poor weather delayed the rescue work for about an hour.



A helicopter crew spotted the bodies Saturday near the base camp at an altitude of about 3,500 meters. One body was just next to the base camp while eight others were at the bottom of a valley nearby.



But the helicopter was too small to retrieve the bodies and the weather conditions were poor, so the embassy hired a larger helicopter Sunday, with four rescue workers onboard.



The larger helicopter could not land on the steep ridges near the base camp, so rescue workers were lowered from the aircraft and used ropes to lift the bodies to it.



The rescuers needed two trips to recover all the bodies. They flew the recovered bodies to a nearby village.



All the bodies were retrieved in about five hours, and were moved from the village to Kathmandu.



Among the Koreans was famed climber Kim Chang-ho.



"A powerful snowstorm destroyed the camp Friday night and it seems the people died after being swept down a steep slope," an embassy official said.



The Mount Gurja expedition started its 45-day expedition to pioneer a new south route to the summit, Sept. 28. The team planned to call the route the "Korean Way."



There was one more member of Kim's team, but he stayed at the foot of the mountain for health reasons.



Kim, 49, was a world record holder who completed the Explorer's Grand Slam. He was the first Korean to climb all 14 Himalayan peaks over 8,000 meters without using oxygen. He was also the first Korean to win "Piolets d'Or," a mountaineering award for the greatest ascents.



A documentary film director, Rim Il-jin, 49, was in the team to record the achievement. Another victim, Jeong Joon-mo, was on the board of the Korean Alpine Federation.



Two foreign ministry officials will travel to Nepal as early as today to assist in repatriating the bodies and support bereaved family members who also plan to leave for Kathmandu as soon as possible.

Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Sun and clouds mixed. High 46F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening followed by increasing clouds with showers developing after midnight. Low around 40F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.AltaMed Health Services Corp. Chief Executive Castulo de la Rocha, 69, has dedicated his life to the less fortunate, from his youthful participation in the Chicano civil rights movement to the present, running the largest community healthcare system in California funded under the federal Health Care Consolidation Act. The nonprofit has 2,800 workers and 300,000 clients, who receive service regardless of their ability to pay or their immigration status. AltaMed operates 50 accredited sites, including 21 clinics and six senior care centers. AltaMed was a finalist in the 2018 EY Entrepreneur of the Year program for greater Los Angeles.

Motivated

An early childhood in an impoverished mountain area in Chihuahua, Mexico, taught de la Rocha about how poor people had to struggle. His father, Moises, and mother, Consuelo, came to the U.S. in the 1950s and struggled to make a better life for de la Rocha and his two younger siblings.

My father worked construction, landscaping, furniture making, I mean, he did everything and anything, de la Rocha said. My mother was a seamstress.

Advertisement

Beyond self

From 1967 through 1971, de la Rocha might have been satisfied to be one of the lucky handful of Chicano students on the UC Santa Barbara campus. He wasnt. He wanted more minority students and faculty.

I organized this group called United Mexican American Students, de la Rocha said. We went out to the high schools to organize young Latino students to come to the university. We were doing the recruitment for the university.

The niche

After Santa Barbara, de la Rocha earned a law degree from UC Berkeley and worked for three years as a legal intern with MALDEF, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. But it wasnt until 1977, when he applied for the post of executive director of a small East L.A. free clinic, that everything clicked for him. He remembers seeing a long line of people waiting for hours to be seen at the clinic because they couldnt afford basic healthcare.

I saw the face of my mother, my sisters, my aunts, my family, de la Rocha said. I saw my community there, and I was a bit angry. First was just the compassion that I felt for the people who were in line. Secondly was anger because this should not be happening in America.

At an AltaMed facility in Commerce, people wait in December 2013 to sign up for healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Humble beginning

There was an immediate problem that underscored why no one else appeared to want the job, de la Rocha said.

The contract that I had was for three months, he recalled, laughing. I could continue working if I could find the money. So much pressure.

The first facility, then named the East L.A. Barrio Free Clinic, came with a budget of just $55,000  not even enough to have a full-time doctor on staff. A vital first step: a change in designation. We changed from a free clinic to a community health center, where it was now legal to be able to charge patients and charge insurers, MedAccount, Medicare and commercial, and to set up sliding fee scales.

Organizing

De la Rocha came into the job with no business experience. He found his footing by remembering his college days.

I had a background in activism and social justice sort of issues, de la Rocha said. What we did in the first few years was build from that. You look for help when you need it. We looked toward foundations and government entities to support the clinic, and we were successful.

Team building

To grow, de la Rocha had to build a team that understood demographics and communities without sufficient healthcare options. At the same time, he was learning to delegate authority to those who understood healthcare.

I knew we had to bring in talented people who understand the drivers in the healthcare market. I knew I had to find people committed to the mission, people who were committed to underserved populations.

Hands on

Even while delegating, de la Rocha said, he found it was important to maintain a hands-on approach. He said it was crucial to believe in ones own ideas and plans.

Ive sort of done it my way, de la Rocha said, adding that he had to choose his focus. I made a commitment almost 10 years ago never to attend my finance committee meetings and to always attend the quality committee meetings.

Scrutinized

In 2011, de la Rocha was swept up in a call for an audit of all salaries paid to healthcare providers with county contracts. He drew particular scrutiny because of his six-figure salary, which he defended as in line with the pay of administrators at similarly sized organizations. De la Rocha said he was glad that his board of directors had already begun an annual salary assessment of similar entities.

It taught me we were doing the right thing by consulting compensation experts, de la Rocha said. And we need to continue to do it to be consistent.

Respected

In 2017, de la Rocha received a Medallion of Excellence award from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, that groups highest honor.

AltaMed is always in the forefront on issues that are important to communities in need. Be it housing, education, immigration  these are issues that we take to legislators, that we take to radio, that we take to television. Were very visible, he said.

De la Rocha serves on the board of Americas Physician Groups and Center Theatre Group.

Personal

De la Rocha, who has five adult children, has been married to Zoila Escobar for more than eight years. She is AltaMeds senior vice president and chief administrative officer and also serves as president of the AltaMed Foundation.

Over the course of his career, he amassed a collection of more than 1,000 pieces of art, many of them chronicling the Chicano civil rights movement. Hes shared parts of that collection throughout AltaMed facilities.

We display it in our waiting rooms, our examination rooms, de la Rocha said. Artists are teaching our seniors how to paint. Its all about eye-hand coordination and experiencing and keeping active in the mind. So, art is an important part of what we do.Congratulations to Randy Lews for his beautiful piece on Linda Ronstadt [Shes Ready to Talk, Oct. 3]. Im 65, and the first concert I ever attended was the Stone Poneys when they played UCLAs Pauley Pavillion a million years ago. Your article brought back that fond memory.

The picture on the front page is absolutely fabulous.

Jeff King

Los Angeles

Advertisement

That Calendar photo of Linda Ronstadt really got to me because it brought back memories of all the times my late sister and I listened to Lindas music together  and tried to emulate her haircut.

One of my first concerts was Linda and the Stone Poneys at Melodyland Theater in Anaheim in the 60s. She came on stage barefoot and we loved it.

Nancy Roeger

Carlsbad

For 50 years one note from Linda Ronstadt gave me chills. Randy Lewis splendid article did the same thing.

Ed Masciana

Torrance

From the moon to the screen

Regarding A Down to Earth Guy [Oct. 7]: I grew up in the Apollo moon landing era, and as a boy Neil Armstrong was someone I always admired, but knew very little about. I am so looking forward to the movie First Man, but I am even more excited about it after reading Amy Kaufmans beautiful article. I just want to applaud her for crafting such a finely written piece. It brought back all of my feelings surrounding that incredible achievement and of the first man to set foot on another planet. Hearing of his sons commitment to making sure their father, their lives and the mission were portrayed accurately and the filmmakers and Ryan Gosling doing everything to make that so, made me emotional and proud of people who are trying to be accountable to history and the people who shaped it.

Jeff G. Rack

Burbank

If Neil Armstrong was a real stickler for the facts, as his sons stated in your article, he would have really been upset with the use of the United Nations flag instead of the United States flag, that Armstrong actually placed on the moon.

Ted Biondo

Rockford, Ill.

Editors note: The film First Man does not depict a United Nations flag on the moon, nor did the Los Angeles Times article suggest that it did. This is a rumor that has been circulating on the internet.

Kids cant resist The Circus

I loved your article that mentioned the Sailor Circus in Sarasota, Fla. [Run Away With The Circus Here. Oct. 9], I was one of those kids you wrote about in the first paragraph, and can honestly say it was one of the greatest moments of my young life. I participated in the circus starting in ninth grade as a rigger. I couldnt even fit in the overalls they gave me. I continued on until my junior year in high school, where I retired as the catcher on the flying trapeze.

The Sailor Circus was not the most popular activity in school. We were often looked at as weirdos. That was until April, when for approximately eight shows we became rock stars among our classmates.

Norm Hoffman

Santa Barbara

Oppenheimer, the real story

Thank you for Charles McNultys excellent review of the play Oppenheimer [Oppie Blinded us With Science, Oct. 9]. Its a historic crime against womankind that the great genius Lise Meitner doesnt get her due in these retold stories. First shes fraudulently stiffed in not receiving the Nobel Prize for the discovery of nuclear fission. Then, out of conscience, she rejects an offer to work on the Manhattan Project and her life seems to fade into the backwaters of history.

I can only hope that those seeing Oppenheimer can also come to learn of Lise Meitner, whose life story is far more compelling than that of Dr. Oppenheimer.

Lynn Borland

Pacific Palisades

Dont penalize great writers

Regarding Hey, Our Stories Count Too [Oct. 8]: Poe, Hawthorne, Twain, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Faulkner, Roth have survived because they wrote great literature and not because they are white males. Women and minorities were wrongly prevented from doing the same, but thats no reason now to discriminate against these wonderful writers, most of whom were every bit as subversive as Yvette DeChavez would like to be. The canon should not be destroyed, it should be expanded.

Harry Gordon

Long Beach

A fan extols Star power

Thank you, Kenneth Turan, for your review of A Star Is Born, [Stars Align, Oct. 5]. I think I may have seen the best movie in my entire life this past weekend.

Todd M. Wallace

Anaheim

Venom was a wake-up call

What a disgusting photo spoiling Justin Changs review of Venom, [As Sludgy as it Looks, Oct. 4]. I had to tear off the page in order not to ruin my morning completely. Please show your readers a little more consideration.

Madere Olivar

Los Angeles

Local theaters need love too

I am a long-time L.A. Times subscriber, and I am writing because my needs as a reader are not being met.

Specifically, there continues to be a lack of coverage of local theater from this newspaper. This really ticks me off as this is one of the main reasons I would wish to support a local paper  in addition to the N.Y. Times and Washington Post, which I also subscribe to and which cover national issues and science and health far more thoroughly.

Ive noticed that visual arts get at least twice as much coverage as the theater.

Recently the price of my subscription was raised. Please show me that its worth it by increasing coverage of the theater.

We could use more film and TV coverage as well  reviews, not celebrity profiles.

Deborah Klugman

Los Angeles

His work is timeless

Regarding Leaping Into the Language of Love [Oct. 9]: You cannot call the ballet Western Symphony dated. The genius of choreographer George Balanchine only gets more vivid with time. Go see the New York City Ballet and witness the timeless, incomparable beauty of his choreography.

That Los Angeles Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and the Miami City Ballet also feature his work is only a small part of his ongoing legacy. What other artist of the 1940-1980 era continues to impact popular culture in such a strong way? Just look at the work of Benjamin Millepied, Justin Peck and Christopher Wheeldon to feel Balanchines pulse 40 years after his passing.

With that said, I appreciate the L.A. Times providing quality dance criticism. Art thrives with the dialogue.

Phil Livingston

Boulder, Colo.

The conversation continues online with comments and letters from readers at

latimes.com/calendarfeedback

calendar.letters@latimes.comHello! Im Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.

Among this weeks new releases is First Man, the follow-up to La La Land from filmmaker Damien Chazelle. The movie stars Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong, the first person to set foot on the moon. In his review for The Times, Justin Chang called it a viscerally, sometimes maddeningly idiosyncratic piece of filmmaking  the movie has been shot and structured as a series of ruptures  physical and emotional, individual and collective  that eventually give birth to a rare, serene moment of triumph.

Amy Kaufman went to Florida to interview Gosling and Armstrongs two sons, Mark and Rick. As to whether he would have liked to have met Armstrong, who died in 2012 at age 82, Gosling was circumspect.

He would have been helpful, I think, Gosling said. But you know, in some ways, this is a really special way to get to know someone  through their children and their family and their friends. I feel as though I did get to meet him, in some way.

Advertisement

Well have more screenings and events coming up soon. For information and updates, go to events.latimes.com.

From left, Jon Hamm, Jeff Bridges, and Cynthia Erivo star in 20th Century Foxs Bad Times at the El Royale. (Kimberley French / 20th Century Fox)

Bad Times at the El Royale

Somewhat difficult to summarize, on purpose, Bad Times at the El Royale is the latest project from writer and director Drew Goddard, who previously made The Cabin in the Woods. Set in 1959 at a hotel along the California-Nevada border, the new films idiosyncratic mystery-thriller story line features performances by Jon Hamm, Dakota Fanning, Cynthia Erivo, Chris Hemsworth and Jeff Bridges.

In his review for The Times, Justin Chang spotlighted Erivo from the ensemble, whose performance here is revelatory in the most rewarding sense. Watch how carefully and patiently Goddard frames her face as she stares into a mirror, or breaks down crying and praying as a storm rages outside her window, and youll feel something remarkable: a filmmaker falling in love with an actor, wholly and unreservedly, in a way that encourages the audience to follow suit.

Josh Rottenberg spoke to Goddard about the movie and how it fits into the shape of his career. Heres the truth: Every movie Ive done in my career could be viewed as something the industry doesnt want, Goddard said. It all looks good in hindsight. But at the time, everyone said The Martian would never work. Even Cloverfield  Oh, youre going to do some weird Blair Witch Project take on Godzilla? They all sound like bad ideas in one-sentence form.

At the New York Times, Manohla Dargis wrote: Like many contemporary filmmakers who take on established cinematic forms, Goddard wants to play inside the frame and also to put his individuality on the picture. Optimistically set at the intersection of Agatha Christie and Quentin Tarantino, Bad Times is a hard-boiled thriller with flashes of a horror but largely a statement of authorial intent.

At Vanity Fair, Richard Lawson had a different take, noting that, I remain as curious as ever to see what Goddard does next. But this film, for all its canny presentation, is a mishmash of compelling narrative premises clumsily fused together. It manages to be both overwrought and under-developed, disappointing less for what it is than for what it could have been.

At Vox, Alissa Wilkinson noted: Even when it stumbles, Bad Times at the El Royale feels like a deeply weird and wondrous accomplishment, especially coming from a risk-averse major movie studio like 20th Century Fox. It taps into something that cinema and TV have been obsessed with for decades: how we can be saved, who saves us, and what we need saving from. And when it works, its a good time indeed.

Timothee Chalamet as Nic Sheff, left, and Steve Carell as David Scheff star in Beautiful Boy. (Francois Duhamel / Amazon Studios)

Beautiful Boy

Based on the memoirs of David and Nic Sheff, father and son, Beautiful Boy is a harrowing, empathetic look at addiction and its effect on a single family. In the film Steve Carell plays David, who feels increasingly helpless and lost in confronting the issues of the problems of his son, played by Timothee Chalamet. With a cast that also includes Maura Tierney and Amy Ryan, the movie is the English-language debut for Belgian filmmaker Felix Van Groeningen.

In his review for The Times, Kenneth Turan went all in, writing, It was hinted at in Lady Bird and other small roles and became more visible when Call Me By Your Name made him the youngest actor nominated for a lead actor Oscar since 1939. Now Beautiful Boy makes it official: Timothee Chalamet might be the male actor of his generation.

For the New York Times, A.O. Scott wrote Beautiful Boy is not a bad movie. It was made with earnest care and honorable intentions, and concludes with a recitation of one of Charles Bukowskis best poems. But as much as it may want to illuminate the realities of addiction, it mystifies David and Nics experiences, leaving too many questions  how and what as well as why  swirling in the air.

For Slate, Inkoo Kang wrote, But Beautiful Boy ultimately has little new to say about addiction, especially to those who already see it as a disease, rather than a personal failing. By the end, we feel as powerless to help as David, with the same sense that weve seen this movie before.

Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal from the film The Kindergarten Teacher, photographed in the L.A. Times Photo and Video Studio at the Toronto International Film Festival. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

The Kindergarten Teacher

Based on the 2014 Israeli film of the same name, The Kindergarten Teacher is adapted and directed by Sara Colangelo. The story concerns a teacher, Lisa (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who has aspirations of being a poet. Except she has no aptitude for it and latches herself onto a young student (Parker Sevak) who seems to show natural promise, creating an increasingly unhealthy dynamic.

In his review for The Times, Justin Chang wrote, What gives The Kindergarten Teacher its peculiar force is how quickly it acknowledges the darker side of Lisas nurturing impulse  and how successfully it ushers us into a strange complicity with her all the same. He added that Colangelos direction balances the storys myriad conflicting tensions with admirable lucidity. Thats another way of saying that she keeps the camera steadily trained on Gyllenhaal, whose brilliantly discomfiting performance anchors every scene.

In her review for the New York Times, Jeanette Catsoulis added: Gyllenhaal  who is never out of our sight  somehow makes us all her accomplices, imprisoning our sympathies even when Lisas inappropriate behavior escalates to inexcusable. Gyllenhaal forces us to search her face for clues to motives left purposely unarticulated. How far will she go? we wonder, even as we fear that we already know the answer.

Back when the film premiered at Sundance earlier this year, Gyllenhaal and Colangelo sat along with co-stars Anna Baryshnikov and Ajay Naidu for a panel conversation at the L.A. Times studio. And Colangelo also participated in our recent roundtable of female filmmakers at Netflix.

Email me if you have questions, comments or suggestions, and follow me on Twitter @IndieFocus.

SIGN UP for the free Indie Focus movies newsletter Jim Preis, a Los Angeles lawyer and activist who fought for the rights of the the mentally ill and disabled for decades, died on Friday. He was 66.

Preis was driven by his belief that everyone should be fighting for people who need advocates, said his daughter, Annie Preis. He served as the head of the L.A.-based legal nonprofit Mental Health Advocacy Services for four decades, defended the rights of the mentally ill in court, lectured on mental health law and co-wrote the textbook The Essentials of California Mental Health Law.

Preis grew up in Los Angeles and completed his undergraduate degree in philosophy at Stanford, followed by law school at USC. In 1979, a year after he finished his law education, he took over as the head of Mental Health Advocacy Services, which is based in Koreatown. He continued to lead the organization, which provides free legal service to people with mental disabilities, until earlier this year.

Bob Sipchen, a former Los Angeles Times editor and close friend who met Preis when they lived in Mount Washington, said Preis was in law school during the release of the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. It was around the same time that people began leaving mental institutions, often with nowhere else to go, he recalled.

Advertisement

I think he was strongly influenced by that and saw the beginning of this injustice  that we were seeing so many people living on the streets, Sipchen said. He had a sense of obligation ... a sense of public service being the highest calling.

Preis began paying attention to the mentally ill when it was unpopular to do so. He and colleague Sherrill Martin developed a system  eventually adopted by L.A. County  that made it easier for the mentally ill to receive disability benefits.

Elena Fiallo, director of benefits advocacy services for the countys Department of Health Services, expressed gratitude for Preis work, especially when no one else was thinking about how people access income.

Dora Leong Gallo, head of A Community of Friends  an organization that helps provide housing to people with mental disabilities who have experienced homelessness  said that many looked to Preis when making tough decisions. He served on the organizations board for more than 30 years. His presence had even become a deterrent to adding term limits to board seats, she said.

Every time we think about it, there are invariably people who say, But we would lose Jim!  Gallo said.

Preis especially valued the experiences of people who had mental illnesses. He advocated for adding seats on the board for tenants with mental illness.

We looked to Jim for things like that  reminding us of the value of people, the dignity of people, Gallo said.

Robert Leventer, a friend and L.A. juvenile court commissioner, and Preis together drafted and successfully lobbied for legislation that allowed juvenile courts to bring together in one hearing several agencies that could help children who were abused or involved in the juvenile court system. Leventer said Preis believed that everyone, including people with disabilities, were on a continuum of abilities.

He accepted a range of behaviors that a lot of people might squint at, but that he accepted that as just who people are, Leventer said. As a policy matter, he thought that these people should be able to live with dignity and the government is responsible to ensure that this happens.

Many remembered Jim as quiet, caring and humble. He enjoyed sailing and boogie boarding. He was a dad who attended his sons sporting events and his daughters plays, and always had time for a phone call, said his kids, Annie and John Preis.

His children followed in his footsteps, becoming lawyers.

Just a week before he was admitted to the hospital in late September, Preis was still teaching forensic psychology students, but they were coming to the house for class, John said. Preis loved teaching  he taught at UCLA and USC for decades  and had been hoping that dedicating more time to teaching would be the next chapter of his career, Annie said.

Living his entire life in California allowed Preis to maintain one odd habit: He almost exclusively wore flip-flops.

Annie Preis, 33, said her father got the idea when students from Hawaii visited his L.A. elementary school and said they wore sandals everywhere. Her father decided to wear flip-flops whenever he could. He put on shoes to go to court, though not always.

He was sworn into federal court once when he was still in flip-flops. He was very proud of that, said John Preis, 29.

Preis also insisted on taking public transportation almost everywhere. He shared a car with his wife, Debbie Vodhanel, but he didnt use it much.

Jack Schwartz, a lawyer and friend of Jims, said they had Passover Seder together over the last few years. Every time he met up with Preis, he had taken public transit to get there.

He would always take buses and mass transit only, because it was the better thing to do, which is sort of crazy because people in L.A. dont usually do whats the better thing, Schwartz said.

After Preis stepped down from his role at Mental Health Advocacy Services, the organization planned a gala honoring his work for the end of this month. Many said they would still attend, despite Preis absence.

Preis was diagnosed with bladder cancer in March. Sipchen, his close friend, said it was difficult to see Preis become frail and struggle through the same indignities that the people he was always trying to help had to go through.

Yet, he was always, Sipchen said, so humble, kind, generous  a bit like a saint.

Preis is survived by his children and his wife, whom he married in 1981. He is also survived by his older brother, Peter Preis, 68.

soumya.karlamangla@latimes.com

Twitter: @skarlamanglaChris Toledo has gone to painstaking lengths to build the home of his dreams.

He drew the patterns  based on antiques  for every one of his eight stained-glass windows. He shaped delicate scroll railings for his Juliet balconies. He laid nearly 6,000 barrel tiles, one by one, on his rooftop.

For the last two years, hes obsessed over every detail of his 1920s Spanish Mediterranean house.

Thousands have followed his labor online  including architects and interior designers.

But Casa California is a masterpiece of illusion.

The guest room is nearly the length of a pencil. The stone fountains are no taller than Q-Tips. The fireplace fits in the palm of a hand.

The whole house is under 6 feet wide.

A life-size version would cost millions  millions Toledo does not have.

So far, this is the closest the 32-year-old has come to owning a house of his own in Los Angeles.

Toledo lives with his fiance, Matthew Mathiasen, in a small rented apartment near MacArthur Park.

It has two bedrooms, but these days Casa California claims one.

Hes wanted to build something like it since he was 8 years old.

Thats when, in a doctors waiting room, he picked up a copy of Nutshell News, a magazine for miniaturists.

It featured an impeccable tiny version of the Gamble House in Pasadena. Toledo knew the place. Hed driven by it with his father, who restored old homes.

I was amazed,  he said of the diminutive replica. I didnt know what it was, but I wanted to do just that.

When Christmas came, he asked his parents for a kit to make a miniature two-story log cabin. Next came a Victorian, followed by a farmhouse.

Artist Chris Toledo has built a bite-size house with hopes that his creation will one day help him buy him a real house. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

At home in Alhambra, Toledo would spend months building each structure, then use money hed earned from chores to furnish every space. In Yucaipa, where his family often camped, there was a miniatures store, where hed go to buy petite floral sofas, chests of drawers and china cabinets.

His parents, immigrants from Argentina, hoped it was a calling.

We were convinced hed be an architect, said his mother, Liliana Eschoyez.

Instead, he grew up to work in fashion, photography and later in his current field, graphic design.

Four years ago, after a long pause, he returned to building the little houses that had brought him such boyhood joy.

But this time, ready-made kits would no longer be enough. He wanted to create an entire tiny home from scratch.

It was supposed to be a hobby, until he saw it might be more.

Artist Chris Toledo is reflected in the mirror inside the guest bathroom. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) Artist Chris Toledo peeks into the living room of the miniature home he has built piece by tiny piece. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) Artist Chris Toledo is reflected in the mirror inside the guest bathroom (left). Toledo peeks into the living room of the grand but tiny home he has built. (right). (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Toledos plan was to build a two-story, two-bedroom Spanish villa, a vision hed formed from watching Bob Villa restore a Spanish home on TV and spending hours driving around ogling grand estates in Hancock Park and South Pasadena.

I imagined I was a wealthy person in the 1920s ... who moved to Los Angeles to build a home for my family. This would be my castle, he said.

On miniaturist sites, there are plenty of examples of Victorian homes and English cottages. Spanish dwellings are rare. So Toledo had to make things up as he went.

Everything his father taught him about carpentry, painting and metal work came in handy. So did the hours he spent watching YouTube tutorials and home restoration shows.

To build scroll railings, he taught himself to solder bits of brass  beads, wire and charms he sourced online.

To make six different types of terra-cotta and ceramic tiles, he tried nearly 20 methods  including flattening clay on a pasta machine. He ended up hand-painting each tile and laser-etching the grout lines.

To get precise measurements for his barrel roof, he scrambled onto the rooftop of his two-story apartment building.

If something wasnt just right, Toledo said, Id literally tear it down and build the whole thing over again.

Tools took over the guest-room closet: saw, drill, soldering iron. Shelves filled up with paint cans, spackle pastes and sculpting clay.

In one corner, he set up a big laser cutter he bought for $3,500 on EBay. In another, a table to do the tiniest tasks, such as attaching 10-millimeter hinges to wooden doors less than 7 inches tall.

To afford everything he needed, he sold some of his clothes and miniature furniture hed collected since he was a boy. He lived modestly. But the costs added up, into the hundreds, then thousands.

There were times when Toledo grew so overwhelmed by the house, he couldnt bring himself to go near it. Sometimes, too, it looked so lifelike and perfect from the outside that it was painful knowing that hed never live inside.

A sneak peek of his freshly tiled staircase, a close-up of his hand-painted ceiling beams, a wide shot of his living room, washed in the electric glow of his scroll work sconces  Toledo started posting images on Instagram and Facebook. Each carried a little clue to show the scale  a quarter leaning on the fountain, a Super Glue bottle in the corner of the guest room, a pencil lying wall-to-wall across the kitchen.

The comments began to roll in.

Everything is so real! I imagine it on a hill above Montecito.

I've come back again and again to gaze into this scene.

One person went so far as to call him the Michelangelo of miniatures.

His fan base grew to nearly 40,000. Other miniaturists took notice. They marveled at his precision, his technique, his ability to constantly outdo himself  aged plaster on the walls, glistening tile on the kitchen ceiling. When Toledo posted photos of himself beside the home, they marveled that he was so young  and male.

The miniature world is full of women, many from the East Coast.

He made friends with Bridgette, whose specialty is teensy-weensy cats, mice and bunnies; June, who fashions French Baroque furniture; Barbara, who does wonders with stained glass.

Soon, Toledo had become a new star.

A fireplace in the living room is viewed through the window. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) Artist Chris Toledo peeks thru the front door of his latest piece. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) A fireplace in the living room is viewed through the window (left). Artist Chris Toledo peeks through the front door of his latest piece (right). (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

The kid is astonishingly talented, said Bradley Meinke, who lives in Missouri and is the head of the Cats Meow Miniature Society, a group with about 350 members. If he sticks with it, hes going to be in the upper echelon of the miniature world.

The upper echelon, Toledo learned, is a rarefied place. It includes those who make the sort of intricate edifices Kay Browning began acquiring in the 1970s and displays in her museum in Maysville, Ky.

Browning recently came across Casa Californias black-and-white-tiled bathroom online.

The space instantly transported her to her Greek Revival childhood home.

It made me feel very comfortable and warm inside, she said. I really wanted to have it.

So she commissioned Toledo to build that childhood bathroom. They have yet to discuss a price.

Brownings miniature world includes buildings that have sold for more than $200,000. Some collectors have been known to take out mortgages to buy such properties. Others pay interior designers large sums to outfit their interiors.

Browning says one furnished piece, her ancestral home in Cheshire, England, is worth close to $500,000.

Matthew Mathiasen and his partner, artist Chris Toledo, with Toledo's latest piece, a 1920s Spanish Mediterranean miniature home that Toledo has spent the last two years building. Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times

Toledo and Mathiasen long to own a piece of Los Angeles  a real house they can settle into after they marry this fall.

Now they realize that Casa California may be their best bet.

Its fine art, said Mathiasen, who works as a fashion sales manager. It can be worth a lot.

At first, he didnt fully understand. He thought of miniatures as toys.

Sometimes hed wander into Toledos workspace and tinker around in the tiny bathroom. Hed accidentally break the leg off a tub, the faucet off a sink. Toledo would stare at him, dead silent.

He and the cat are the two household members forbidden from entering my studio, Toledo said.

Every week, the couple hunt for properties on Zillow. Their phones buzz all the time with new listings.

But in L.A., their maximum price of $600,000 is pretty much entry-level.

So the homes they can afford with the kind of charm Toledo wants are in sketchy neighborhoods or have major problems: water damage, faulty foundations, kitchens and bathrooms that are total gut jobs.

On a recent afternoon, the two hit the road in Mathiasens Mazda to do what they often do: drive around Hancock Park and worship the houses.

Down wide, commodious June Street, the two sighed and craned their necks to catch a glimpse of every entryway and balcony.

Look at the Tudor over there, Toledo said.

Thats stunning, said Mathiasen.

Its a buffet of gorgeous houses.

I literally want every single one.

Theyre hopeful a collector might shell out as much as $80,000 for Casa California  which would go a long way toward a down payment.

Not on a house of its grandeur  with splendid stained glass and tile, said Toledo.

Maybe a little Spanish bungalow we can fix up over time.

Support our journalism Please consider subscribing today to support stories like this one. Get full access to our signature journalism for just 99 cents for the first four weeks. Already a subscriber? Your support makes our work possible. Thank you.

esmeralda.bermudez@latimes.com

@LATBermudezPresident Trump faced growing pressure from congressional allies and Western partners to vigorously seek answers from Saudi Arabia over the fate of Jamal Khashoggi, even as the kingdom on Sunday harshly threatened anyone seeking to punish its ruling royals over the journalists disappearance and reported death.

Khashoggi, a former palace insider turned critic of Saudi Arabias absolute monarchy and of its impetuous young crown prince in particular, walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on Oct. 2 and has not been seen since. The journalist lived in Virginia and wrote opinion columns for the Washington Post.

Saudi Arabia had until now confined itself to disavowing any knowledge of what happened to Khashoggi, saying he freely left the consulate, but on Sunday the kingdom unleashed threats of major economic retaliation against anyone who sought to act against it.

The kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether through economic sanctions, political pressure or repeating false accusations, said the official communique from Riyadh, which did not mention Khashoggi by name.

Advertisement

It added that if Saudi Arabia is targeted, it will respond with greater action.

Trump, who has sealed a close alliance with the kingdom, was initially silent about Khashoggis disappearance. Amid reports that there was audio and video proof that the journalist had been killed and his body dismembered in the consulate, Trump said it was important to find out what happened. But he rejected the idea of a retaliatory cutoff of arms sales to Saudi Arabia if the reports were borne out.

In an interview taped for airing Sunday on 60 Minutes, Trump said proof of Saudi involvement in anything terrible and disgusting that had befallen Khashoggi would be met with severe punishment.

But the president, who sometimes publicly touts denials of wrongdoing by those he supports as evidence of innocence, said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had spoken by phone with Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner and disavowed knowledge of anything untoward.

They deny it, Trump said. They deny it every way you can imagine.

Congress has taken a far tougher stance, and even GOP allies of the president insisted that Saudi Arabia must produce proof it did not harm Khashoggi.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Khashoggis fate was still unknown, but that it was incumbent on Saudi Arabia to provide swift answers.

I can tell you he walked into that consulate, and we have never seen him come out. And something happened, Rubio said on NBCs Meet the Press. And if hes not alive, then it is the Saudis who would know what happened.

If Saudi culpability is established, Rubio predicted lawmakers would act in concert in support of punitive measures, despite Trumps aversion to using an arms cutoff as punishment.

If this is proven to be true, there is going to be a response from Congress, he said. Its going to be nearly unanimous. Its going to be swift. And its going to go pretty far.

In a separate interview on CNNs State of the Union, Rubio was asked whether Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin should cancel his appearance at a high-profile upcoming economic gathering in Saudi Arabia. The senator said the United States should not conduct business as usual while the Khashoggi disappearance is unresolved.

The White Houses top economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, appearing on ABCs This Week, defended Mnuchins plan to attend the conference later this month, although some influential business leaders have dropped out. JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon joined that list Sunday.

Hes intending to go because of the importance of the issue of ending terrorist financing, Kudlow said, adding that plans could change.

Meanwhile, Germany, Britain and France expressed grave concern over the Khashoggi affair and said Saudi Arabia needed to provide a complete and detailed account of what had happened to the journalist.

The joint statement also offered an understated but sharp contrast to Trumps frequent depiction of the news media as an enemy of the people.

Defending freedom of expression and a free press and ensuring the protection of journalists are key priorities for Germany, the United Kingdom and France, the statement said.

A number of retired intelligence professionals have said that any move to kidnap or kill Khashoggi would have had to come at the behest of the highest echelons of the Saudi government. Former CIA director John Brennan, a frequent Trump critic, said on Meet the Press that the Saudi denials ring hollow.

It would be inconceivable, Brennan added, that such an operation would take place without the knowledge of the day-to-day decision maker of Saudi Arabia  thats Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The Saudi statement denouncing a campaign of false allegations and falsehoods against the kingdom was unprecedentedly strident, coming from the Trump administrations closest Arab ally. Hours later, the Saudi Embassy in Washington sought to soften the tone by offering up seeming praise for Trumps thus-far noncommittal stance.

To help clarify [the] recently issued Saudi statement, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia extends its appreciation to all, including the U.S. administration, for refraining from jumping to conclusions on the ongoing investigation, the embassy tweeted.

laura.king@latimes.com

Twitter: @laurakingLAT

UPDATES:

4:40 p.m.: This article was updated with JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimons decision not to attend the investment conference

This article was originally published at 12:10 p.m.Since fall 2016, more than a thousand families have participated in brief reunions along the U.S.-Mexico border in the middle of the dry Rio Grande riverbed near downtown El Paso.

But on Saturday, the semiannual event, called Hugs Not Walls, had to be moved to a dirt road a few miles to the northwest because the U.S. is constructing an 18-foot wall where the cross-border reunions had been taking place.

Nearly 250 families arrived early Saturday morning at the new site in Sunland Park, N.M., to await their three-minute mini-meetings with relatives whom they hadnt seen, in some cases, for decades.

Along the stretch of dirt, Border Patrol agents opened up the fence at 9 a.m. to allow people from the U.S. side to walk through to those waiting for them in a rural neighborhood of the city of Juarez.

Advertisement

I believe this is more symbolic than even before, because families hugging, crossing these walls  they overcame this wall, said Fernando Garcia, director of the Border Network for Human Rights, which operates the program. People are able to see their families, embrace them and at least be together momentarily.

Garcia estimated that 3,000 people took part Saturday.

First in line was Ruby Almaraz of Colorado Springs, Colo., who spotted her father through the border fence before she even reached it. Almaraz hadnt hugged her dad, Jaime, in 23 years. He was deported when she was a baby.

Almaraz had driven 12 hours for the meeting, accompanied by her sister, mother and 7-year-old daughter.

Soon, they would file through the opening in the fence, an air horn signaling the start of each 180-second get-together, and after walking through an opening in the fence, Ruby embraced her dad across yellow caution tape, used to signify the border line.

U.S. Border Patrol agents and Mexican police kept close watch to ensure that no one stepped across that line. Families on the Mexican side wore white T-shirts, those in the U.S. wore blue. A sign on the Mexico side read, Abrazos no muros, Spanish for Hugs Not Walls.

During the brief session, Jaime Almarez met his granddaughter for the first time in person and was able to hug her too.

As for conversation, there was barely enough time for family members to say they missed each other and that, one day, they hoped to be together again.

Then, the air horn sounded once again and Ruby and her relatives were ushered back to the other side of the fence.

It was amazing, she said, as she walked away from the fence. I cant explain it.

I could, her daughter shouted. We were just so happy.

Jaime Almaraz stands next to his daughter, Ruby, and other family members. (Courtesy of Ruby Almaraz)

On the Mexican side of the border, Juarez residents took in the scenes unfolding outside their homes. Two boys sat perched on a roof, watching as families broke down in tears. One woman held her baby in her arms as she embraced relatives and they hugged the baby.

Over and over, a taped version of Los Tigres del Nortes song America played over the crowds.

Todos son Americanos, sin importar el color, the band crooned. We are all American, no matter our color.

Some people were overcome with emotion, collapsing into tears once the air horn sounded and they had to walk away.

Yadira De la Cruzs family huddled together steps away from the fence, the children crying as well.

Nine of them had arrived that day to Sunland Park, anxious to visit uncles, brothers, cousins and parents who live in Mexico.

De la Cruz and her husband hadnt seen them for four years.

The time was so short, but at least we could be together again, she said. They hope that well all be together again soon.

Diana Moraga left Mexico six years ago and has not been able to return to see her family in Juarez since. She went to the event with her husband, 9-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter.

Her family spent the short time embracing her and the children. When the air horn sounded, she kissed her mother on the cheek and waved goodbye.

I never thought Id see them again, Moraga said.

Garcia of the immigration reform group thanked Border Patrol agents for working with the organizers to relocate the event. Participants also thanked them.

In El Paso, a four-mile section of existing fence is being removed and an 18-foot-high wall of steel bollard posts is to be constructed in its place. The $22-million construction project is expected to be completed in late April 2019, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

This new wall will be far more durable and far more effective in deterring would-be illegal entrants, the agency said in September.

As Garcia stood near an agent, he tapped his hand against the fence.

This is not the solution to whatever immigration problems we have, Garcia said. This is a political statement.

A sign hanging in the Anapra neighborhood of Juarez, Mexico, translates to Hugs Not Walls. (Brittny Mejia / Los Angeles Times)

Shortly before 11 a.m., as the event came to a close, Epifania Castro, 63, took a second turn meeting with her son and daughter-in-law. The El Paso resident hadnt seen her son since he was deported 15 years ago.

She had been scared to come, she said, fearful that Border Patrol agents would deport her. But she had so wanted to embrace her son that she was willing to take the risk.

As their meeting concluded, she made the sign of the cross on her daughter-in-law, then her son  el padre, el hijo y el espiritu santo  touching her fingers to their lips before saying goodbye.

brittny.mejia@latimes.com

Twitter: @Brittny_MejiaMy mother, who grew up in Queens, N.Y., and emigrated from the U.S. to Britain in the late 1950s, used to distinguish the two societies in this way: In the States, shed say, they hate you because youre black, a Jew or a woman. In England they hate you for yourself, and only incidentally because you happen to be black, a Jew or a woman.

Its this intrinsic sense of their own politeness and moral rectitude  they wouldnt dream of being personally offensive but would rather join, insidiously, in the collective othering  that marks the English national character.

Not that I believe any nationality has an objective character, but its certainly the case that English individuals, in common with their Americans and the French counterparts, like to behave in a manner they assume to be English.

And thats probably the best way to explain this strange thing called Brexit. To paraphrase Karl Marx, its the consequence of a great flock of English individuals getting it into their woolly heads that this is the way to make history.

Advertisement

Its precisely because Brexit is a sort of performance  with all these people and their leaders pretending to be doughty Brits  that its so very hard to suspend disbelief in it. And if you cant suspend disbelief in the show youre watching, how can you figure how its going to turn out?

Its this aspect of English moral superiority that makes the Brexiteers so much more dangerous than the anti-European Union movements in other countries.

With less than six months to go until the most significant European-wide constitutional change since the eastward expansion of the European Union following the collapse of the Berlin Wall, theres absolutely no consensus on what will actually happen.

Every day all media are full of anxieties. If theres a so-called hard Brexit, with no agreement on either immigration or trade, the doomsters foresee 20-mile tailbacks from the Channel ports and air passengers blocking up an already crowded Heathrow Airport. These would be immediate consequences. The long and lashing tail of such a Brexit could also, its opponents say, wreak havoc on an economy even now suffering losses some estimate as 500 million pounds ($657 million) a week due to the English peoples willful decision.

Earlier this month, the Conservative Party held its annual conference in Birmingham. But rather than seizing the opportunity to showcase bold new political initiatives that will allow a Britain unshackled from the sclerotic Brussels bureaucracy to fly freely and profitably, Prime Minister Theresa May cavorted onstage to the strains of Abbas Dancing Queen before delivering a set of policy pronouncements predicated upon the most Panglossian possible economic forecast.

This was a case of a gender-dysphoric dancing queen, for May is an emperor with no clothes whatsoever, held in power solely by negative energy of her would-be successor, the blond bombshell known as Boris Johnson, whose own little anachronistic act is especially contrived to convince Brits they can indeed go back to the future.

Of course, anyone who takes an interest in British politics has been witnessing the conflict between pro- and anti-European Conservatives since Christ stopped at Eboli (due to his being a stateless Middle Eastern migrant), but the important thing to stress is that Britains alliance with Europe was, is, and always will be profoundly divisive.

A Conservative prime minister, Ted Heath, took Britain into the European Economic Community, as it was called, in 1972, but when the Labour Party next gained power they called a referendum to decide on continued membership. That this was won by a substantial majority speaks more for inertia than conviction on the part of electorate.

Inasmuch as British pro-Europeans acted, in the subsequent decades, as a vector through which continental Europe infected these Isles, so they also carried the Anglo-American disease of unfettered neoliberalism into French and German economies. Oh, and British retirees bought up most of southwest France.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion 

But despite the British middle classes determination to eat their way through most of continental European culture, while their children ricocheted around the continent on low cost airlines getting drunk one week in Krakow, stoned the next in Barcelona, and despite the superficial veneer of Europeanness metropolitan British cities now share with their counterparts over the Channel, the British heart has never really fallen into line with the British head.

At root, the British, and most especially the English, see themselves as intrinsically different from other Western Europeans, and the Second World War, the very ostensible reason for the move towards ever closer economic and political union, remains the reason. I have sat at dinner with prominent British public intellectuals within the past year  liberals, not Brexit supporters  and heard them dismiss the French as a nation of Nazi collaborators.

What they think of the Germans obviously doesnt require much speculation. Its this further aspect of English moral superiority that makes the Brexiteers so much more dangerous than the anti-European Union movements in other countries. Part of the performance of being British, and you could see this triumphantly on display in the post-Brexit blockbusters Dunkirk and Darkest Hour, is suspending disbelief in the idea that Britain alone was responsible for the defeat of Hitler.

Its this that gives the English  and such unionist Scots, Welsh and Irish who are prepared to subordinate their own nationalist aspirations to their shtick  the necessary chutzpah to, as they put it, punch above our weight on the international stage.

Unfortunately, as my mother couldve told them if she were still in the land of the living, this is no kind of strategy at all, and if you punch above your weight, sooner or later someone will knock you flat on your ass. Or do I mean arse.

Will Self is a novelist and professor of contemporary thought at Brunel University in London.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or FacebookIt took the brilliant Pixar film Coco for me to figure out what was missing: the dancing skeletons, the flower-adorned grave sites, the altars crowded with candles and framed photos of deceased loved ones. Im talking about Dia de los Muertos, and though the celebration of this Mexican holiday is already established in Latin corners of the United States, Im proposing we go full throttle and declare the Day of the Dead an official American holiday.

Heres why Im stumping for the idea. Im a 62-year-old journalist, first diagnosed with cancer in 2014. As Ive written in The Times on other occasions, despite surgery, chemo and radiation, my disease metastasized in 2015. When three different doctors told me I would live six months or a yearish, I began to think a lot about death.

Until then, like most Americans, Id avoided the subject. Death was something to run away from  a giant negative, a dark mystery, the end of everything. Pain and grief seemed all that awaited any consideration, forced or otherwise, of what Shakespeare called the undiscovered country. It doesnt take departed psychologist Ernest Becker, who won the 1974 Pulitzer Prize for his book The Denial of Death, to recognize that most of us will do anything to ignore mortality until its coming straight for us or a loved one.

For Becker, this kind of avoidance pervades human culture and is one of the deepest sources of intolerance, aggression, and human evil on Earth. Ive learned the hard way to stop with the death denial. And thats where Coco enters into it.

Advertisement

The Day of the Dead acknowledges, joyfully, that an end is coming for us all.

In the 2017 film, 12-year-old Miguel embarks on a quest in the land of the dead to find his long-deceased great-grandfather. Along the way, the boy overcomes obstacles and finds truth in the least likely places.

Miguels adventure occurs over the multi-day holiday (beginning on Oct. 31, Halloween, All Hallows Eve) and reveals what this saints day is really about  keeping the dead alive by celebrating the links between our lives in the present and the lives of those we honor from the past. Instead of relegating death to outre, gruesome images as in the zombie stories Americans love so much, the Day of the Dead acknowledges, joyfully, that an end is coming for us all.

As someone who sees her end on a clearer timeline than most, Ive found my own very personal answer to the question of what gives meaning to life. But imagine millions of Americans  including those not facing death on so quick a calendar  annually tuning in to just how finite an ingredient each of us is in the grand continuum of life, marking the reality that no matter our divisions we are all bound together by our mortality.

Dia de los Muertos is a celebration, but its no frat party. Its got a deeply spiritual side. In Mexico, families pay their respects to the souls of the dead with parades, picnics around grave sites, all-night vigils, prayer gatherings and lots and lots of music. Some families build altars  ofrendas  to the dead, heaped with mementos, the deceaseds favorite food and drink, and photos. They tell stories of lives lived and loved ones gone. Religion plays a role, but the festivities are not really about belief in an afterlife. Ultimately, the Day of the Dead is a fiesta of what ties together the living and the dead.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion 

Formally expanding this beloved Mexican holiday into the United States could be a repentant bow to a country whose relations with America are at an all-time low thanks to border walls, ethnic slurs, family separations and cynical immigration politics. And its not just that country wed be acknowledging  parts of Africa, China and Japan also reserve a special day each year to honor their dead. Towns and cities all over the West already make room for the holiday with sugar skulls and papier-mache skeletons, pan de muertos and ofrendas laid out among the headstones in cemeteries, in museum galleries and in parks.

There would be resistance in Washington but, in the end, revels would win.

Thanks to good luck, a great doctor and immunotherapy, my own proximity to death has been stretched to a longer time horizon. Like other cancer patients who have responded to new medicines, Im grateful to have already lived several more years than my husband, family and friends could possibly have imagined. But more than most people, I can never forget that death is coming.

What a wonder it would be if dying people  all of us  exited life knowing that every year the connection of life to death would be glorified rather than mourned or feared. An American Dia de los Muertos might encourage us to stop the denial, reckon with the end of our days, and fully recognize the imperfect amount of time that connects us all.

Melinda Welsh is the former editor of the Sacramento News & Review.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand FacebookTo the editor: The Oct. 7 article on Californias aging population focuses welcome attention on the needs of this fast-growing demographic. However, there is temptation to concentrate only on the negatives when there is another side to the story.

Older Californians are valuable  our only growing natural resource  with the potential to make our communities better. Any discussion of higher healthcare costs should also acknowledge the economic contribution of these people. Consumers 60 or older are expected to account for at least 40% of U.S. consumption growth through 2030.

Older adults make up an under-utilized talent pool that can fill jobs, mentor youth and volunteer. The city and county of Los Angeles offer one example of how to make this positive vision a reality.

Purposeful Aging Los Angeles is a major public initiative to address the needs of this regions older residents. Every agency in the city and county is on board and focused on understanding and serving a population that will look much older in the years ahead.

Advertisement

In California, weve adapted to changing populations before. Now, its time for leaders to acknowledge the realities, embrace change and advance smart policies to improve the lives of todays older adults and build a better future for generations to come.

Paul H. Irving, Santa Monica

The writer is chairman of the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and FacebookTwo days before Californians go to the polls next month, as clocks and watches will be reset, the central question of Proposition 7 will be clear: Wouldnt it be nice if we didnt have to change the time twice a year?

Maybe the end of daylight saving time on Nov. 4 will provide some electoral serendipity for the ballot measures backers. Perhaps it will boost the chances that a majority of voters will favor abolishing the fall back, spring forward system that families and businesses adjust to  and complain about  in the fall and spring.

But passage of Proposition 7 wont change things. Even its supporters know the effort to embrace daylight saving 12 months a year is more dream than demand. Thats because only Congress can ever make the wish come true.

Proposition 11: The private ambulance industry is asking voters to change workplace rules 

Advertisement

Fifty-two years ago, the federal government took action to limit what a California legislative analysis noted was decades of state and local rules, a hodgepodge of time observances, and no agreement about when to change clocks. The 1966 law said a state could stay on standard time  and Arizona and Hawaii selected that option  but didnt give permission to have daylight saving time year-round. Proposition 7 is an attempt by lawmakers to have a plan in place should Congress ever change its mind.

That its on the ballot is a classic tale of California direct democracy. In 1949, during the era of fluid state and local timekeeping, voters approved a statewide proposition to formally embrace the time-switch system between standard and daylight saving time. Because it was voters who enshrined the process, its voters who must weigh in to allow the rules to be changed.

Proposition 7 would give the Legislature  by a supermajority vote in the Assembly and Senate  the power to impose daylight saving time all year. But only if federal officials allow states to do so.

Legislators have weighed this issue for the past three years, and have heard considerable testimony both for and against a year-round schedule for keeping time. Supporters largely have tried to make it a public health issue.

Numerous studies reveal [an] annual uptick in heart attacks, workplace injury, crime and traffic accidents, due to moving, switching spring-forward time, Assemblyman Kansen Chu (D-San Jose), the author of Proposition 7, said during a legislative hearing in 2017.

Nor are supporters of the proposal convinced that switching the clocks twice a year ever helped save energy, one of the reasons for implementing daylight saving time during both world wars.

When opponents of Proposition 7 speak up  few have done so  they point to the real-world impact of daylight savings time during the winter.

If you live in Los Angeles or Twentynine Palms, the sun wont rise until 7:30 a.m. or later from November to February, state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) wrote in the official ballot argument against the proposition. Youll be getting your family ready for the day in the dark; your kids will be walking to school or waiting for the school bus before the sun rises.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill that put Proposition 7 on the ballot, adding a bit of flair to his signing message by writing, Fiat Lux! which translated from Latin means, Let there be light.

But unless Congress changes the rules, Californias ballot measure is a debate without a decision. In that way, it resembles the 2016 advisory proposition that pleaded for congressional action on campaign finance rules. It passed. Supporters applauded. But the status quo remains.

john.myers@latimes.com

Follow @johnmyers on Twitter, sign up for our daily Essential Politics newsletter and listen to the weekly California Politics PodcastHello, my name is John Cherwa and welcome back to our horse racing newsletter as we reveal what Anoakia really means.

We hate to get too academic on you but a study just out from the University of Louisvilles equine industry program did a deep dive into what drives handle. I cant say any of this is a surprise but validates things we already thought we knew.

Now, it seems as if Churchill Downs might be a better study location for a project by the University of Louisville, but Im guessing that Koch being the former vice president of racing at Woodbine was probably the driving force in picking a track.

What the study concluded was the biggest factor in driving handle is field size. It makes total sense and its why Stronach racing boss Tim Ritvo declared field size as his biggest priority. I took a quick look at the exacta and trifecta pools at Santa Anita from last Monday. The largest combined pool of those two verticals was a nine-horse field in the 10 th race of $275,206. The smallest was the four horse second race of $50,906.

If you take the average of the four races with six horses it comes to $129,284 in the combined exacta and trifecta pools. If you average the four races with eight, nine or 10 horses it was $225,779.

Again, nothing you already know and intuitively, if you have more number combinations, you are likely to have more bets.

--There is a point of lessening value when you keep adding horses. In other words, the increase you might have when you add a seventh horse is going to be greater than the increase you will have when you add an eight horse. Looking at their graph, things start to flatten out somewhere between seven and eight horses. Or to put it one more way, the 14 th horse is not going to bring in much more handle than the 13 th horse.

--Restricted races, in this case Ontario-breds, have a negative impact on handle but that is offset by the increase with larger fields. Bringing this home, and Im just guessing at these numbers, a 10-horse Cal-bred race may not have more handle than a seven-race field in a non-restricted race.

--Im just going to quote this finding, because I really dont know what it means. Handle exhibited positive yet diminishing returns to race quality where outlier major stakes race events are controlled for separately in the econometric model.

--And finally, races broadcast on a delay are harmful to total wagering. Very interesting but something the folks at TVG live with every day. Its why the network slavishly adheres to its contract of always showing some tracks live even if its in the incredibly annoying split-screen mode.

So, you probably knew a lot of this anecdotally, but now there is some research behind it.

Remember what we wrote up top about how handle is impacted by races coming off the turf? Well, on Saturday because of a heavy downpour in the morning, Santa Anita moved all five of its turf races to the dirt, including the feature, the $100,000 California Distaff Handicap for Cal-bred fillies and mares going five furlongs.

The winner, Love a Honeybadger was supposed to make her turf debut, but moving it to the dirt made it a familiar scenario for her. She led every step of the way and showed some real grit down the stretch to win by 1  lengths.

I felt a little more confident when it came off the grass, Miller said. We thought shed like the grass, but we know she likes the dirt. Shes a real fast filly and tries hard every time. Shes best when she can get the lead and it looked like we were the fastest in the race.

Shes a nice filly, Pereira said. I won a couple on her when Brian Koriner had her and I want to thank Pete for staying with me.

Its an average nine race card for a Sunday at Santa Anita with one minor stakes races. Post time is 12:30 p.m. There are only three turf races, two of them down the hill.

The feature is the $75,000 Anoakia Stakes for 2-year-old fillies going six furlongs. So, who or what is Anoakia? First hint, its not a horse. Anoakia is a 50-room mansion built by Arcadia founder and first mayor Elias Jackson (Lucky) Baldwin .

In 1999, Richard Winton of the Times described it this way: Its Arcadias own version of Tara, a little tatty but still complete with wood-paneled rooms, a bowling alley turned library and a huge gymnasium that resembles the Parthenon.

The name is a combination of daughter Anita and the oaks that were once on the property. Its off of, you guessed it, Baldwin.

OK, back to the racing. The favorite, at 6-5, is Chasing Yesterday for trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Drayden Van Dyke . The filly won her first race and finished seventh in a Grade 1 at Saratoga. Smith was the rider, but got off to ride Itsjustanillusion, who is the 8-5 second choice. She has run only one race, a maiden special she won by 2 . Jerry Hollendorfer is the trainer. The race should go about 2:45 p.m.

Sophomore colt from the Jerry Hollendorfer barn comes off a pair of good runner-up efforts going long at Del Mar and now cuts back in distance to come down the hillside course. He is proven over the layout, has good tactical speed and is drawn favorably outside under Kent Desormeaux .

She has the most right to improve with the significant class drop while only making her third lifetime start. In last fourth-place try four weeks ago after an 18-week layoff, she checked solidly near the 1/16-pole when bothered by a rival who drifted in front of her. Her jockey/trainer combo of Vinnie Bednar and Scott Willoughby have been doing exceptionally well over the past month.

Always looking to add more subscribers to this newsletter. Cant beat the price. If you like it, tell someone. If you dont like it, then youre probably not reading this. Either way, send to a friend and just have them click here and sign up . Remember, its free, and all we need is your email, nothing more.

Any thoughts, you can reach me at johnacherwa@gmail.com . You can also feed my ego by following me on Twitter @jcherwa

Santa Anita Charts Results for Saturday, October 13. Copyright 2018 by Equibase Company. Reproduction prohibited. Santa Anita, Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, California. 10th day of a 22-day meet. Cloudy & Good

FIRST RACE. 1 Mile. Purse: $26,000. Claiming. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $20,000. Time 22.77 45.91 1:10.76 1:23.69 1:36.70

Pgm Horse Wt PP St    Str Fin Jockey $1 2 Just Kidding 121 2 1 1hd 1hd 11 14 111 Pereira 1.10 8 Elwood J 121 6 2 21 21 22 22 2 Maldonado 4.30 1 Broken Up 116 1 4 55 57 4hd 3hd 32 Figueroa 4.70 3 Dedicated to You 116 3 3 42 4 53 4 41 Espinoza 7.10 6 Popyhowuspelcupcak 121 5 6 3hd 3hd 3hd 53 55 Pedroza 4.80 4 Shirl's Ready 121 4 5 6 6 6 6 6 Pena 14.10

2 JUST KIDDING 4.20 3.00 2.20 8 ELWOOD J 4.00 3.00 1 BROKEN UP 2.60

$1 EXACTA (2-8) $12.40 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (2-8-1-3) $12.15 50-CENT TRIFECTA (2-8-1) $19.25

WinnerJust Kidding B.g.6 by Kiss the Kid out of Catomaria, by Tale of the Cat. Bred by Steve Tucker (FL). Trainer: Steve Knapp. Owner: Robert John Vanderdussen. Mutuel Pool $164,010 Exacta Pool $83,072 Superfecta Pool $35,083 Trifecta Pool $56,878. ClaimedJust Kidding by Hollendorfer, LLC, Team Green LLC and Todaro, George. Trainer: Jerry Hollendorfer. ScratchedIndygo Bo, Royal Albert Hall (GB).

JUST KIDDING had good early speed and dueled inside, inched away leaving the second turn, came a bit off the rail into the stretch and drew off under some urging. ELWOOD J had speed outside foes then angled in and dueled alongside the winner, was roused leaving the second turn, continued off the rail in the stretch and just held second. BROKEN UP chased inside then was taken three deep on the backstretch, continued three wide on the second turn and four wide into the stretch and was edged for the place. DEDICATED TO YOU between foes early, stalked a bit off the rail then inside into and on the second turn and into the stretch and weakened. POPYHOWUSPELCUPCAK three deep early, stalked outside a rival then between foes on the second turn, came three wide into the stretch and also weakened. SHIRL'S READY angled in outside a rival early, settled just off the rail then inside on the backstretch and second turn, came out into the stretch and again in upper stretch and lacked a further response.

SECOND RACE. 5 Furlongs. Purse: $24,000. Claiming. Fillies. 3 year olds. Claiming Prices $16,000-$14,000. Time 22.45 45.88 58.06 1:04.58

Pgm Horse Wt PP St  3/8 Str Fin Jockey $1 4 We Will Re Joyce 117 4 1 1hd 1 1hd 11 Espinoza 1.40 5 Ciao Luna 124 5 4 21 21 21 2nk Franco 6.90 2 Twisted Rosie 115 2 6 3hd 31 33 32 Fuentes 4.50 6 Atrevida 120 6 3 4hd 4 41 4 Bejarano 4.80 3 Bragging Rights 115 3 2 7 7 63 52 Figueroa 5.90 1 Mongolian Rahy 122 1 7 5hd 51 5hd 63 Sanchez 52.30 7 Sea Glass 122 7 5 62 61 7 7 T Baze 6.50

4 WE WILL RE JOYCE 4.80 3.20 2.60 5 CIAO LUNA 6.40 4.20 2 TWISTED ROSIE 3.00

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (2-4) $15.20 $1 EXACTA (4-5) $14.40 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (4-5-2-6) $13.98 $1 SUPER HIGH FIVE (4-5-2-6-3) $450.30 50-CENT TRIFECTA (4-5-2) $25.95

WinnerWe Will Re Joyce Dbb.f.3 by Kafwain out of Joyce and Me, by Discreet Cat. Bred by Tommy Town Thoroughbreds, LLC (CA). Trainer: Doug F. O'Neill. Owner: Ryan, Gloria, Suarez Racing, Inc., and O'Neill, Doug. Mutuel Pool $173,116 Daily Double Pool $31,210 Exacta Pool $91,800 Superfecta Pool $42,881 Super High Five Pool $78,563 Trifecta Pool $66,125. ClaimedTwisted Rosie by Pender Racing LLC, Hlavacek, Steven, Islas Jr., Ruben and Arthur, Michele. Trainer: Michael Pender. Scratchednone.

WE WILL RE JOYCE had good early speed and dueled inside, fought back when momentarily headed in upper stretch, regained the advantage in midstretch under urging and inched away late. CIAO LUNA angled in and dueled outside the winner, briefly put a head in front in upper stretch, battled alongside that rival until the final stages and just held second. TWISTED ROSIE stalked outside a rival then between foes on the backstretch and into the turn, came out leaving the turn and three deep into the stretch and just missed the place. ATREVIDA was close up stalking the pace off the rail then three deep between foes, continued outside a rival on the turn and three wide into the stretch and lacked a rally. BRAGGING RIGHTS three deep early, settled off the rail then a bit off the fence, went around a rival into the stretch and did not rally. MONGOLIAN RAHY a step slow to begin, went up inside to stalk the pace, steadied in tight into the turn to fall back some, continued inside and weakened. SEA GLASS stalked outside then four wide on the backstretch and into the turn, continued outside, came three wide into the stretch and also weakened.

THIRD RACE. 6 Furlongs. Purse: $25,000. Claiming. Fillies and Mares. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $25,000. Time 22.22 45.31 1:10.37 1:17.18

Pgm Horse Wt PP St   Str Fin Jockey $1 8 Arrowsphere 123 5 2 2hd 2hd 1 11 Bejarano 1.90 2 Don't Pass 120 1 5 11 1 22 2ns Roman 11.90 5 Gone to Town 123 3 6 4hd 4hd 43 31 Flores 4.10 6 Copper Fever 123 4 3 52 31 3 45 Prat 1.20 9 Lethal Legacy 123 6 4 6 6 6 513 Pereira 17.10 4 Jabber Now 123 2 1 31 54 53 6 Conner 12.50

8 ARROWSPHERE 5.80 3.80 2.80 2 DON'T PASS 10.60 5.20 5 GONE TO TOWN 2.80

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (4-8) $18.00 $1 EXACTA (8-2) $17.90 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (8-2-5-6) $23.83 50-CENT TRIFECTA (8-2-5) $57.75

WinnerArrowsphere Dbb.f.4 by Warrior's Reward out of Black Arrow, by Kipling. Bred by Equus Farm (KY). Trainer: Doug F. O'Neill. Owner: Bartlett, Charles and O'Neill, Doug. Mutuel Pool $183,169 Daily Double Pool $13,990 Exacta Pool $102,404 Superfecta Pool $51,297 Trifecta Pool $74,651. ClaimedCopper Fever by Rockingham Ranch. Trainer: Peter Miller. ScratchedAshley's Charms, My Audubon, Quinnie. 50-Cent Pick Three (2-4-8) paid $13.10. Pick Three Pool $43,138.

ARROWSPHERE dueled three deep then outside a rival nearing the turn and between foes on the bend, took the lead outside the runner-up in the stretch and inched away in the final sixteenth under urging. DON'T PASS went up inside to duel for the lead, fought back on the turn and until past midstretch and just held second. GONE TO TOWN saved ground stalking the pace, came out in midstretch and just missed the place. COPPER FEVER stalked outside a rival then three deep leaving the backstretch, bid three wide on the turn and into the stretch and was outkicked in the final furlong. LETHAL LEGACY allowed to settle off the rail, came a bit wide into the stretch and lacked a further response. JABBER NOW had good early speed and dueled between horses then stalked between foes leaving the backstretch and outside a rival on the turn, gave way in the stretch and was eased in the final furlong.

FOURTH RACE. 6 Furlongs. Purse: $50,000. Maiden Special Weight. 2 year olds. Time 22.05 45.11 56.97 1:09.72

Pgm Horse Wt PP St   Str Fin Jockey $1 2 Cruel Intention 122 2 2 1hd 13 15 15 Van Dyke 0.20 7 Teacher's Treasure 117 5 1 48 21 28 215 Payeras 7.40 1 Unusual Angel 122 1 5 5 5 5 3ns Blanc 41.50 4 Spendaholic 122 4 4 3hd 3 31 45 Conner 6.20 3 Peedie 122 3 3 22 48 42 5 Gutierrez 10.20

2 CRUEL INTENTION 2.40 2.10 2.10 7 TEACHER'S TREASURE 3.00 2.60 1 UNUSUAL ANGEL 6.20

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (8-2) $5.40 $1 EXACTA (2-7) $2.80 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (2-7-1-4) $4.34 50-CENT TRIFECTA (2-7-1) $11.00

WinnerCruel Intention B.c.2 by Smiling Tiger out of Perfect Feat, by Pleasantly Perfect. Bred by Premier Thoroughbreds LLC (CA). Trainer: Bob Baffert. Owner: Jungle Racing LLC, LNJ Foxwoods and Nexus Racing Club. Mutuel Pool $300,205 Daily Double Pool $21,088 Exacta Pool $95,633 Superfecta Pool $41,935 Trifecta Pool $61,854. ScratchedAsaro, Tiger Dad. 50-Cent Pick Three (4-8-2) paid $7.20. Pick Three Pool $19,380.

CRUEL INTENTION had good early speed and dueled inside, inched clear on the turn, was pushed along to widen in the stretch and drew off under a tap of the whip nearing the sixteenth pole and steady handling then a long hold late. TEACHER'S TREASURE stalked three deep then outside a rival, continued just off the rail leaving the turn, drifted to the inside in the stretch and was clearly second best. UNUSUAL ANGEL hesitated to be away slowly, settled a bit off the rail, drifted inward in upper stretch, came out again and just edged a rival for the show. SPENDAHOLIC stalked a bit off the rail then inside into and on the turn and into the stretch and was edged late for third. PEEDIE dueled outside the winner then stalked just off the rail then outside a rival on the turn and gave way in the drive.

FIFTH RACE. 1 Mile. Purse: $51,000. Allowance Optional Claiming. Fillies and Mares. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $16,000. Time 23.11 46.37 1:10.58 1:22.91 1:35.89

Pgm Horse Wt PP St    Str Fin Jockey $1 8 Mo See Cal 120 4 1 1 11 14 16 110 Van Dyke 2.50 1 Tapitha Bonita 119 1 2 2hd 2hd 22 25 24 Pereira 2.50 3 Sapphire Kid 118 2 3 5 5 5 4 33 T Baze 11.40 6 Thalia 120 3 5 41 41 45 32 45 Franco 1.90 9 X S Gold 120 5 4 31 31 3 5 5 Gonzalez 3.90

8 MO SEE CAL 7.00 3.40 2.40 1 TAPITHA BONITA 4.20 3.20 3 SAPPHIRE KID 3.00

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (2-8) $8.60 $1 EXACTA (8-1) $13.40 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (8-1-3-6) $7.96 50-CENT TRIFECTA (8-1-3) $25.00

WinnerMo See Cal Grr.f.3 by Uncle Mo out of Do Dat Blues, by Lydgate. Bred by Rozamund Barclay (CA). Trainer: Peter Miller. Owner: Rockingham Ranch. Mutuel Pool $173,034 Daily Double Pool $23,394 Exacta Pool $66,483 Superfecta Pool $26,448 Trifecta Pool $40,870. ScratchedCharmingslew, Marjorie E, Rolling Shadow, So Golden. 50-Cent Pick Three (8-2-8) paid $6.50. Pick Three Pool $33,221. 50-Cent Pick Four (4-8-2/5/6-8) 3604 tickets with 4 correct paid $25.60. Pick Four Pool $121,046. 50-Cent Pick Five (2/5/7-4-8-2/5/6-8) 6206 tickets with 5 correct paid $63.60. Pick Five Pool $459,317.

MO SEE CAL had good early speed a bit off the rail, set the pace between foes leaving the first turn then just off the inside, kicked clear on the second turn, drifted in and drew off in the stretch under a couple left handed cracks of the whip and a long hold late. TAPITHA BONITA went up inside to press the pace leaving the first turn then stalked along the rail to the stretch and was clearly second best. SAPPHIRE KID between horses early, settled a bit off the rail, came out in the stretch and picked up the show. THALIA three deep into the first turn, angled in and stalked outside a rival then a bit off the rail, found the inside entering the stretch and weakened. X S GOLD four wide into the first turn, bid three deep leaving that turn then stalked outside a rival, continued off the rail then alongside a foe leaving the second turn and gave way. TABITHA BONITA wore calks.

SIXTH RACE. 5 Furlongs. Purse: $18,000. Maiden Claiming. Fillies and Mares. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $20,000. Time 21.51 45.11 58.53 1:05.95

Pgm Horse Wt PP St  3/8 Str Fin Jockey $1 10 Queen Shelly Ann 115 9 1 51 4hd 3hd 1ns Espinoza 6.50 9 Whata Flirt 120 8 5 4hd 31 2 2ns Delgadillo 1.20 3 Cheyenne Dancer 113 3 3 21 11 13 34 Donoe 26.40 6 Lucky Hand 123 5 7 6hd 61 5hd 41 Franco 10.10 5 True Martha 120 4 8 1hd 21 42 5nk Jimenez 29.70 2 Venice 120 2 4 8 72 78 61 Pedroza 6.10 1 Charming Alexis 120 1 9 3hd 51 62 713 T Baze 2.60 7 Omerta 120 6 6 7 83 88 823 Vergara, Jr. 38.30 8 Yes Virginia 123 7 2 9 9 9 9 Harvey 63.30

10 QUEEN SHELLY ANN 15.00 5.20 4.00 9 WHATA FLIRT 3.20 2.80 3 CHEYENNE DANCER 6.20

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (8-10) $31.20 $1 EXACTA (10-9) $14.90 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (10-9-3-6) $61.55 50-CENT TRIFECTA (10-9-3) $80.20 $1 X-5 SUPER HIGH FIVE (10-9-3-6-5) Carryover $3,056

WinnerQueen Shelly Ann Dbb.f.3 by Street Life out of Susans Express, by Decarchy. Bred by Elliston Black (CA). Trainer: Peter Miller. Owner: Robison, J. Kirk and Judy. Mutuel Pool $256,256 Daily Double Pool $16,172 Exacta Pool $134,130 Superfecta Pool $83,664 Trifecta Pool $107,271 X-5 Super High Five Pool $4,008. ScratchedCal Pack Queen. 50-Cent Pick Three (2-8-10) paid $12.85. Pick Three Pool $49,936.

QUEEN SHELLY ANN stalked five wide then outside on the turn, came four wide into the stretch, drifted out some from the whip in the drive but rallied under urging to get up outside foes in the final stride. WHATA FLIRT close up stalking the pace four wide between horses then off the rail, on the turn, came three deep into the stretch and went up between foes late. CHEYENNE DANCER dueled between horses then inside on the turn, inched away midway on the bend, kicked clear along the rail nearing the stretch and was caught in the last stride. LUCKY HAND chased between horses then a bit off the rail on the turn and outside a rival into the stretch and lacked the needed rally. TRUE MARTHA dueled three deep then outside the winner early on the turn, stalked just off the rail leaving the turn, drifted in some in the stretch and weakened. VENICE saved ground chasing the pace, came out in midstretch and could not summon the necessary response. CHARMING ALEXIS sent inside to press the pace, stalked along the rail on the turn and weakened in the drive. OMERTA chased between horses on the backstretch, dropped back off the rail on the turn and gave way. YES VIRGINIA pushed open the front of the gate when fractious but did not come out, chased four wide between foes into the turn, dropped back, angled in and gave way then was eased in the stretch.

SEVENTH RACE. 6 Furlongs. Purse: $50,000. Maiden Special Weight. Fillies and Mares. 3 year olds and up. Time 22.01 44.96 57.19 1:10.27

Pgm Horse Wt PP St   Str Fin Jockey $1 3 Coco Kisses 120 3 1 1hd 12 14 12 Stevens 2.10 1 Into Rissa 120 1 8 8 74 68 21 Talamo 13.10 5 Lovely Finish 120 5 3 2hd 31 2hd 3nk Elliott 10.60 7 Absolutely Perfect 120 7 5 4hd 4hd 41 4ns T Baze 7.10 4 Paprika 120 4 6 5hd 53 5hd 53 Prat 2.50 8 Smoovie 120 8 2 31 2hd 31 63 Gutierrez 2.70 2 Encountress 115 2 7 71 8 72 713 Espinoza 69.60 6 Tribal Ann 123 6 4 612 63 8 8 Pena 42.50

3 COCO KISSES 6.20 3.80 2.60 1 INTO RISSA 10.00 5.20 5 LOVELY FINISH 3.80

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (10-3) $47.00 $1 EXACTA (3-1) $22.70 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (3-1-5-7) $58.74 $1 SUPER HIGH FIVE (3-1-5-7-4) $3,861.90 50-CENT TRIFECTA (3-1-5) $59.05

WinnerCoco Kisses Dbb.f.3 by Empire Way out of River Kiss, by Awesome Gambler. Bred by Terry C. Lovingier (CA). Trainer: Jeff Bonde. Owner: Brown, Jr., Edward J., Brown, Debi and Lovingier, Terry C.. Mutuel Pool $320,280 Daily Double Pool $22,831 Exacta Pool $164,208 Superfecta Pool $87,180 Super High Five Pool $11,177 Trifecta Pool $121,634. Scratchednone. 50-Cent Pick Three (8-10-3) paid $32.75. Pick Three Pool $38,292.

COCO KISSES had good early speed and dueled inside, kicked clear on the turn, opened up a bit off the rail in the stretch then drifted in and held under a strong hand ride. INTO RISSA hesitated then broke inward and slowly, settled off the pace inside, came out in upper stretch and gained the place. LOVELY FINISH dueled between horses then stalked a bit off the rail on the turn and into the stretch and just held third between rivals late. ABSOLUTELY PERFECT stalked three deep, continued outside on the turn and four wide into the stretch and was edged for the show. PAPRIKA close up stalking the pace a bit off the rail then inside, continued along the rail on the turn and in the stretch and was edged for a minor award. SMOOVIE dueled three deep on the backstretch, stalked outside a rival on the turn and into the stretch and weakened in the final furlong. ENCOUNTRESS broke inward and slowly, settled just off the rail to the stretch and was not a threat. TRIBAL ANN stalked between horses, dropped back under urging on the turn, swung out four wide into the stretch and gave way.

EIGHTH RACE. 5 Furlongs. Purse: $100,000. 'California Distaff H.'. Stakes. Fillies and Mares. 3 year olds and up. Time 21.84 44.35 56.56

Pgm Horse Wt PP St 3/16 3/8 Str Fin Jockey $1 10 Love a Honeybadger 123 7 1 1 11 1 11 Pereira 2.40 9 S Y Sky 124 6 3 21 22 24 23 Talamo 2.10 11 Family Girl 118 8 6 3hd 3hd 32 31 Prat 10.70 5 Meet and Greet 121 2 2 61 62 62 42 Van Dyke 3.00 8 Late 'n Left 118 5 7 4 5hd 5 51 Maldonado 32.60 2 Hailey Rachele 118 1 5 5hd 41 4hd 6 Pena 35.30 6 Ismelucky 119 3 4 8 8 8 71 Stevens 22.20 7 How About Zero 124 4 8 7hd 71 71 8 Gutierrez 5.60

10 LOVE A HONEYBADGER 6.80 4.00 3.40 9 S Y SKY 4.20 3.20 11 FAMILY GIRL 4.40

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (3-10) $24.60 $1 EXACTA (10-9) $12.60 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (10-9-11-5) $31.87 $1 SUPER HIGH FIVE (10-9-11-5-8) $682.30 50-CENT TRIFECTA (10-9-11) $35.05

WinnerLove a Honeybadger Dbb.f.4 by Bushwacker out of Angela's Love, by Not For Love. Bred by Terry C. Lovingier (CA). Trainer: Peter Miller. Owner: Rockingham Ranch. Mutuel Pool $298,350 Daily Double Pool $29,762 Exacta Pool $131,512 Superfecta Pool $73,644 Super High Five Pool $4,265 Trifecta Pool $98,456. ScratchedBeau Square, Helen's Tiger, Princess Roi. 50-Cent Pick Three (10-3-10) paid $54.90. Pick Three Pool $36,846.

LOVE A HONEYBADGER had speed outside rivals then angled in, set a pressured pace a bit off the rail, inched away leaving the turn, fought back when challenged again in the stretch and held on gamely under urging. S Y SKY angled in and stalked just off the inside then came out leaving the backstretch and bid outside the winner, stalked leaving the turn, bid again in the stretch and could not quite match that one late. FAMILY GIRL stalked four wide then three deep, continued outside a rival on the turn, came three wide into the stretch and held third. MEET AND GREET was in a good position stalking the pace between foes, continued a bit off the rail on the turn and into the stretch and lacked the needed rally. LATE 'N LEFT chased three deep then four wide into and out of the turn and could not offer the necessary late kick. HAILEY RACHELE saved ground stalking the pace, continued inside on the turn and in the stretch and weakened. ISMELUCKY settled outside a rival then off the rail on the turn and did not rally. HOW ABOUT ZERO broke a bit slowly, angled in and saved ground chasing the pace and lacked a response in the stretch.

NINTH RACE. 5 Furlongs. Purse: $22,000. Maiden Claiming. 2 year olds. Claiming Price $30,000. Time 21.78 45.19 57.51 1:04.18

Pgm Horse Wt PP St  3/8 Str Fin Jockey $1 4 Two Fifty Coup 117 4 1 12 12 15 18 Figueroa 0.70 2 Redrock Trail 122 2 3 4hd 41 33 2nk Van Dyke 4.70 3 Samurai Jack 122 3 2 2hd 21 2 33 Pedroza 12.40 11 Magic Bro 122 10 5 72 72 61 41 Delgadillo 23.70 13 Mr. Class 122 12 9 62 51 4hd 5 Sanchez 5.00 9 Jonathantoquick 122 8 12 11hd 103 9hd 6hd Pena 57.50 7 Lifesbeengoodsofar 122 6 11 91 9 8 7ns Pereira 12.10 10 Empirical Data 122 9 8 81 81 7 8 Fuentes 99.70 5 Warrensdirtydancer 122 5 7 31 31 53 9 Quinonez 91.30 8 Nations Hope 122 7 10 12 12 11hd 102 T Baze 46.50 12 Silent Musketier 122 11 4 101 112 12 111 E Garcia 158.40 1 Bonsail Treasure 122 1 6 5hd 63 105 12 Gutierrez 99.60

4 TWO FIFTY COUP 3.40 2.60 2.20 2 REDROCK TRAIL 4.20 3.00 3 SAMURAI JACK 4.20

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (10-4) $12.80 $1 EXACTA (4-2) $5.60 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (4-2-3-11) $17.95 $1 SUPER HIGH FIVE (4-2-3-11-13) $525.80 50-CENT TRIFECTA (4-2-3) $13.30

WinnerTwo Fifty Coup Ch.g.2 by Congrats out of Coup, by Empire Maker. Bred by Woodford Thoroughbreds (KY). Trainer: Doug F. O'Neill. Owner: Purple Rein Racing and Westside Racing Stable. Mutuel Pool $305,724 Daily Double Pool $33,443 Exacta Pool $183,331 Superfecta Pool $115,587 Super High Five Pool $4,824 Trifecta Pool $132,097. ScratchedA Salute to Lt Dan. 50-Cent Pick Three (3-10-4) paid $14.50. Pick Three Pool $44,862.

TWO FIFTY COUP had good early speed outside a rival then inched clear leaving the backstretch, set the pace a bit off the rail and drew away under urging in the stretch. REDROCK TRAIL stalked between horses then outside a rival, came three deep into the stretch and edged foe for the place. SAMURAI JACK prompted the pace inside the winner then stalked along the rail on the backstretch and turn, continued inside and was edged for second. MAGIC BRO chased off the rail then angled in a bit off the fence on the turn and lacked the needed rally. MR. CLASS stalked three deep then off the rail on the turn, came four wide into the stretch and did not rally. JONATHANTOQUICK broke a bit slowly, angled in and settled inside, saved ground on the turn and improved position in the stretch. LIFESBEENGOODSOFAR also broke a bit slowly then was bumped early, angled in and saved ground off the pace, came out on the turn and four wide into the stretch and could not offer the necessary response. EMPIRICAL DATA stalked outside then off the rail, came three wide into the stretch and weakened. WARRENSDIRTYDANCER close up stalking the pace three deep then outside a rival, continued just off the rail leaving the turn and into the stretch and also weakened. NATIONS HOPE bumped early, settled outside a rival then just off the rail leaving the turn and was not a threat. SILENT MUSKETIER angled in outside rivals then alongside a foe on the backstretch then off the rail on the turn and lacked a response in the drive. BONSAIL TREASURE saved ground stalking the pace, dropped back in the stretch and weakened.

TENTH RACE. 6 Furlongs. Purse: $51,000. Allowance Optional Claiming. Fillies and Mares. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $40,000. Time 22.15 45.26 1:09.73 1:16.19

Pgm Horse Wt PP St   Str Fin Jockey $1 6 Lightning Dove 123 3 5 4 53 21 11 Roman 4.10 12 Tyfosha 120 6 2 1 1 12 24 Gutierrez 1.30 2 Well Hello 120 2 7 63 31 3hd 3hd Van Dyke 1.80 13 Snaked 113 7 1 2hd 2hd 42 41 Espinoza 9.80 8 Clearly Gone 125 4 3 7 7 52 52 Stevens 14.50 1 Demigoddess 114 1 6 5hd 61 7 62 Fuentes 46.40 10 Media Tone 120 5 4 32 4hd 6 7 Franco 23.80

6 LIGHTNING DOVE 10.20 4.40 2.80 12 TYFOSHA 3.00 2.40 2 WELL HELLO 2.20

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (4-6) $14.80 $1 EXACTA (6-12) $12.40 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (6-12-2-13) $10.59 $1 SUPER HIGH FIVE (6-12-2-13-8) $240.10 50-CENT TRIFECTA (6-12-2) $13.80

WinnerLightning Dove B.f.4 by Uncle Mo out of Thunders Dove, by Thunderello. Bred by Windmill Manor Farm, Inc. (KY). Trainer: Hector O. Palma. Owner: BG Stables and Palma, Hector O.. Mutuel Pool $267,667 Daily Double Pool $94,835 Exacta Pool $147,999 Superfecta Pool $79,431 Super High Five Pool $18,345 Trifecta Pool $97,552. ScratchedChatty, Easy Grader, Great Return, Ladybug, Navajo Dreamer (IRE), Nice Ice, Pursuing The Dream (IRE). 50-Cent Pick Three (10-4-6) paid $16.40. Pick Three Pool $99,603. 50-Cent Pick Four (3-10-4/6-6) 6865 tickets with 4 correct paid $63.05. Pick Four Pool $567,503. 50-Cent Pick Five (10-3-10-4/6-6) 617 tickets with 5 correct paid $471.75. Pick Five Pool $381,457. 20-Cent Pick Six Jackpot (8-10-3-10-4/6-6) 134 tickets with 6 correct paid $827.80. Pick Six Jackpot Pool $207,061. Pick Six Jackpot Carryover $450,619.

LIGHTNING DOVE stalked outside a rival then between foes, continued alongside a rival on the turn, came out in midstretch ,rallied under urging to the front in deep stretch and proved best. TYFOSHA angled in and dueled between horses then a bit off the rail on the turn, inched clear into the stretch, drifted to the inside in the drive and was overtaken in deep stretch. WELL HELLO chased off the rail then three deep, bid three wide on the turn, came four wide into the stretch, drifted in and just held third. SNAKED angled in and dueled three deep then between foes on the turn, also drifted inward in the stretch and was edged for the show. CLEARLY GONE settled a bit off the rail then inside, came out into the stretch, went around a rival in upper stretch then angled back in and lacked the needed rally. DEMIGODDESS chased inside then outside a rival on the turn, came out into the stretch and weakened. MEDIA TONE angled in and pressed the pace inside then stalked along the rail on the turn and weakened in the drive.After years of receiving plaudits for his upbeat, merciful brand of Roman Catholicism, Pope Francis has seen his popularity slip in the U.S. over accusations he has fumbled the churchs attempt to stamp out child sex abuse.

Even as fresh revelations of priestly predators emerge in Pennsylvania, Germany and Chile, Francis has been accused by a senior archbishop, Carlo Maria Vigano, of covering up the alleged abuse of young seminarians by former Washington, D.C., Archbishop Theodore McCarrick.

Francis was already facing intense criticism from a well-funded community of conservative Catholics, many of them in the U.S., who loathed the popes liberal views and his move to allow remarried divorcees to take Communion.

Advertisement

Some of these same critics, despite a dearth of scientific evidence connecting homosexuality to child molestation, believe it is to blame for the level of child sex abuse in the church and fault Francis for his tolerant attitude toward homosexuality. It was the Argentine pope, they note, who said, when asked about gays and lesbians, Who am I to judge?

While the ongoing infighting between the pope and his detractors may be intensifying, a look at Catholic history suggests it has nothing on some of the rows that have split the church in the past.

1054 | The East-West Schism

As schisms go, this one is hard to beat  since it was about 600 years in the making, led to the creation of the Orthodox Church and has not been patched up nearly 1,000 years after it shook Catholicism.

In the 4th century, after the Roman Empire had adopted Christianity as its official religion, the empire split, with the creation of an Eastern empire run from Constantinople  modern-day Istanbul in Turkey  and a Western empire based in Rome.

In the wake of this political split, church leaders drifted apart, setting the scene for centuries of bitter rows, often over jurisdiction between the Latin-speaking leadership in Rome and the Greek-speaking leadership in Constantinople.

Frictions were also manifested in battles over theology: The Eastern church objected to Romes use of unleavened bread and its depiction of Christ as a lamb; Rome, for its part, insisted on its priests being celibate, while the East permitted married priests.

Matters came to a head in 1054 with a formal split amid a flurry of mutual excommunications, setting up centuries of continued tension, not helped by the sack of Constantinople in 1204 by Catholic Crusaders, who made off with precious relics.

Orthodox churches began to proliferate in the East, spreading to Russia, where today two-thirds of the worlds 200-million-plus Orthodox Christians live.

The Vatican now gets along with the patriarch of all the Orthodox churches, but it was not until 2016 that Rome and the Russian Orthodox Church overcame centuries of distrust and their two leaders  Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill  held a historic first meeting.

1378 | The reign of the antipopes

In the 14th century, clashes between Catholic Church leaders resulted in the election at one point of competing antipopes in France and Italy.

The so-called Western Schism got underway when a group of cardinals objected to the election of Pope Urban VI in 1378 and elected the first of a series of antipopes based in Avignon, France, who claimed Catholics should obey them, not the pope in Rome.

In 1409, the Council of Pisa in Italy, which included cardinals and bishops, sought to depose the pope in Rome and the French antipope but instead added to the confusion by electing its own pontiff, Alexander V, meaning the world briefly had three competing pontiffs, before the church again unified behind one Rome-based pope in 1417.

1517 | The Reformation

By the 16th century, the power of the Catholic Church in northern Europe was being questioned by an increasingly literate and free-thinking middle class, and on Oct. 31, 1517, a then-unknown theologian, Martin Luther, kick-started the Protestant Reformation with a defiant challenge to Rome.

That day he is said to have posted his 95 Theses on a church door in Wittenburg, Germany, challenging church practices. Four years later Luther was excommunicated, but the advent of printing presses ensured his work was widely read  and the Protestant split from Rome was underway.

In his tracks came French theologian John Calvin, whose disciples  Calvinist missionaries  helped spread the new faith, while a smaller sect, Anabaptists, later evolved into Mennonites in the U.S.

In Scotland, meanwhile, Presbyterianism took root, and by the middle of the 16th century Catholicism was on its back foot across northern Europe.

1534 | The English Reformation

Englands split with Rome was spurred by King Henry VIII, who wanted to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon when she could not give him a male heir, and was incensed when Pope Clement VII refused to grant the annulment.

Shrugging off papal authority, Henry established the Anglican Church in 1534, putting himself at the head so he could handle his own marriages. He also oversaw the closing of monasteries in England.

Officials justified the eviction of monks by citing their alleged storing of fake relics. In seizing and selling their land, the English Crown enjoyed a huge windfall.

Those who viewed the Church of Englands version of Protestantism as too close to Catholicism, including so-called Puritans, set off for America to establish the colony of Massachusetts, which would become one of the original United States, where they could practice their faith.

Kington is a special correspondent.German Chancellor Angela Merkels beleaguered and now-fragile grand coalition government was handed a stinging setback Sunday when her conservative party in Bavaria suffered its worst showing in 68 years in an important regional election that will likely increase tensions for her on the national level.

While the conservative Christian Social Union party in Bavaria that is aligned with Merkel and her Christian Democrats will still cling to power in the prosperous state bordering Austria and the Czech Republic, exit polls showed its support slumped to 37.3%. The once-dominant party that had won as much as 61% of the vote just 15 years ago will now be forced to find a junior coalition partner  a humiliating step for a party that once enjoyed such deep support.

This was an earthquake in Bavaria, and it shows that the federal government is a lot more fragile than it appears to be on the outside, said Thomas Jaeger, a political scientist at Cologne University.

Theyre pretending that weve got a stable government. But it looks to me now like it could collapse any day. Id say its 60%-40% that this grand coalition wont last until the next election due in 2021.

Advertisement

Merkels name was not on the ballot in Bavaria, but her pro-refugee policies certainly took center stage.

After an ugly election campaign tinged with xenophobic reaction to the 1.5 million refugees and migrants fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa who arrived with Merkels blessings, her conservatives and her junior coalition partners in Berlin, the center-left Social Democrats, were in a state of shock over their steep falls.

The Social Democrats, who share power with Merkels conservatives at the national level, fell 11 points to 9.6% in Bavaria  their worst state election performance anywhere since World War II.

Two smaller opposition parties in Bavaria appeared to profit from the uproar over the refugees and the heated battles between Merkel and her Bavarian allies over the last six months, but for different reasons.

The far-right Alternative for Germany won 10.6% after an unabashed campaign aimed at the refugees who have poured into the country since 2015. Yet the pro-Europe Greens party that supports refugees and immigrants won 17.8%  double its share in the last election in Bavaria in 2013, further siphoning support from Merkels party.

Markus Soeder, Bavarias governor, arrives to attend a television debate to comment on the results of the regional elections in Bavaria. (Peter Kneffel / AFP/Getty Images)

Analysts and political leaders in Berlin believe the results in Bavaria could further exacerbate fissures in the already tenuous grand coalition and might lead to its collapse before the national elections in 2021.

There is another important state election in Hesse, home to the German financial capital of Frankfurt, in two weeks, and a drubbing there could lead to more serious turbulence in the Berlin government. Merkel hopes to be reelected as the leader of the conservatives at a party congress in December, but there are growing doubts about that now.

Theres no doubt about it that the debates weve endured in recent months, especially the tone and the style of it, did not help us at all in Bavaria, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Merkels deputy party leader, told reporters in Berlin.

Markus Soeder, Bavarias governor, is likely to stay in office if he can pick a small party to be his coalition partner. He made it clear he favors an alliance with the Free Voters party that is active only in Bavaria and won 11.5% of the vote, but he could enter a coalition with the Greens.

This is painful for us, Soeder told reporters in Munich after the results were announced. We had to face a lot of challenges because of the tricky balancing act going on in the federal government. The important thing now is that we get a stable government for Bavaria.

Kirschbaum is a special correspondent.Pope Francis on Sunday praised two towering figures of the 20th century Roman Catholic Church as prophets who shunned wealth and looked out for the poor as he made saints of Pope Paul VI and martyred Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero.

Francis canonized the two men at a Mass in St. Peters Square before some 70,000 faithful, a handful of presidents and 5,000 Salvadoran pilgrims who traveled to Rome to honor a man considered a hero by many Latin Americans.

Tens of thousands more Salvadorans stayed up all night at home to watch the Mass on giant TV screens outside the San Salvador cathedral where Romeros remains are entombed.

In a sign of the strong influence that Paul and Romero had on the first Latin American pope, Francis wore the bloodstained rope belt that Romero wore when he was gunned down by a right-wing death squad in 1980, and also used Pauls staff, chalice and pallium vestment.

Advertisement

Paul, who was pope from 1963 to 1978, presided over the modernizing yet polarizing church reforms of the 1960s. He was the pope of Francis formative years as a young priest in Argentina and was instrumental in giving rise to the Latin American churchs preferential option for the poor that Francis has made his own.

Francis also has a close personal connection to Romero, and like him lived through the terror of a right-wing military dictatorship when Francis was in Argentina. Francis was responsible for eventually declaring Romero a martyr for his fearless denunciations of military oppression at the start of El Salvadors 1980-92 civil war.

In his homily, Francis called Paul a prophet of a church turned outwards to care for the faraway poor. He said Romero gave up his security and life to be close to the poor and his people.

Pope Francis swings a censer during the Mass in St. Peters Square at the Vatican on Sunday. (Andrew Medichini / Associated Press)

Related: Mass in Los Angeles to celebrate canonization of Pope Paul VI, Archbishop Oscar Romero 

And he warned that those who dont follow their example to leave behind everything, including their wealth, risk never truly finding God.

Wealth is dangerous and  says Jesus  even makes ones salvation difficult, Francis said.

The love of money is the root of all evils, he said. Where money is at the center, there is no room for God or for man.

For many Salvadorans, it was the culmination of a fraught, politicized campaign to have the church formally honor a man who spoke out for the rights of landless peasants and the poor at a time when the U.S.-backed right-wing government was seeking to quash a leftist rebellion.

We couldnt stay home on this historic day, said Jose Martinez, who with his wife and two young children joined the crowd outside the San Salvador cathedral. I want my children to know Monsignor, our saint, that he was a great man who raised his voice to defend his pueblo, and for that they killed him.

Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, was murdered as he celebrated Mass on March 24, 1980, in a hospital chapel. The day before he was killed, he had delivered the latest in a series of sermons demanding an end to the armys repression  sermons that had enraged El Salvadors leaders.

Almost immediately after his death, Romero became an icon of the South American left and is frequently listed along with Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas K. Gandhi as one of the worlds most influential human rights campaigners. The United Nations commemorates the anniversary of his death each year.

But his popularity with the left led to a decades-long delay in his saint-making cause at the Vatican, where right-wing cardinals led by Alfonso Lopez Trujillo of Colombia warned that his elevation would embolden Marxist revolutionaries.

Eventually Pope Benedict XVI unblocked the cause and Francis saw it through to its conclusion Sunday.

Romeros influence continues to resonate with El Salvadors youth as the country endures brutal gang violence that has made the Central American nation one of the worlds most violent.

He is my guide, and from what I have read about his life, I want to follow in his steps, said Oscar Orellana, a 15-year-old who joined the San Salvador procession wearing a white tunic like the one Romero used to wear.

Paul VI, for his part, is best known for having presided over the final sessions of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 meetings that opened up the Catholic Church to the world. Under his auspices, the church agreed to allow liturgy to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than in Latin and called for greater roles for the laity and improved relations with people of other faiths.

Paul is also remembered for his two most important encyclicals, or teaching documents, which have had a profound effect on the church: One denounced the mounting inequality between rich and poor, and the other reaffirmed the Catholic churchs opposition to artificial contraception.

The stark prohibition against contraception like birth control pills or condoms empowered conservatives but drove progressives away. Even today, studies show that most Catholics ignore that teaching and use contraception anyway.

Francis has also adopted the church of the poor ethos that Paul embodied when Paul formally renounced wearing the bejeweled papal tiara.

Paul is also very important to Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, whom Paul made a cardinal in 1977. Officials said the 91-year-old Benedict was too weak to attend Sundays canonization, so Francis paid him a visit on the eve of the Mass.PH mulls over issue of catastrophe bonds

posted October 14, 2018 at 07:10 pm by Julito G. Rada October 14, 2018 at 07:10 pm

THE Department of Finance is studying the possibility of sponsoring catastrophe bonds (Cat Bond) to help cover disaster-related risks in the Philippines and separate peso-denominated securities to offshore investors. The proposals, along with a plan to come up with SDG bondssecurities linked to attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goalswere discussed by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III with executives of Citi Group on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Bali, Indonesia. Jay Collins, Citi vice chairman for Corporate and Investment Banking, said the Philippine government under a Cat Bond would serve as sponsor, with the World Bank issuing the bond to qualified investors.Depending on the insurance coverage and its trigger, the Philippines as sponsor of the Cat Bonds will get paid the principal contributed by investors if a catastrophe occurs. But if there is no trigger, investors would make a positive return on their investment in the bonds.

COMMENT DISCLAIMER: Reader comments posted on this Web site are not in any way endorsed by Manila Standard. Comments are views by manilastandard.net readers who exercise their right to free expression and they do not necessarily represent or reflect the position or viewpoint of manilastandard.net. While reserving this publications right to delete comments that are deemed offensive, indecent or inconsistent with Manila Standard editorial standards, Manila Standard may not be held liable for any false information posted by readers in this comments section.XIAN, ChinaA restored ancient Chinese trade route in this city is opening its doors to Filipino workforce and businessmen as part of a plan to create borderless trade among Asean members and the so-called Silk Road countries. The Tang West Market Group, a group of business people of varied nationalities, is offering huge support to Filipino merchants who are willing to set up enterprises particularly in food that can help liven up the culinary mood in the city. Were very interested to have Philippine culture here in Tang West Market. Our interest is more on the cultural side. We want to house as much culture as possible, create a synergy that will draw in more tourists in this place, Silk Road Specialized Committee of the Institute of Dunhuan and Turpan Studies of China Prof. Ji Hu said over the weekend. There are more than 200 establishments owned by some 4,000 foreign businessmen in the city. Hu said a Filipino businessman used to a restaurant in the city, but was not able to keep the business for some reason. He said that the group was now considering leasing out commercial spaces to Filipino entrepreneurs at very minimal costs practically free for the first few years just like what we did for our Indian investors. Many Indian merchants are operating within the Tang West Market including owners of restaurants and shops selling Indian goods. Interested Filipinos who want to put up businesses in the Tang West Market are advised to secure work visa. The Tang West Market Group said it would assist them in the processing of documentary requirements including loan availment from China banks.Tourist traffic in Xian peaks to a high of 100,000 per day during the Spring Festival every Lunar New Year. The Tang West Market Group wants to create more cultural events to draw more tourists. Hu said Filipino culture is a rich culture that could help drive the local economy of Xian and create trade opportunities for Philippine exporters to bring in furniture, the best Filipino food products and even Filipino fashion. Chinas Belt and Road Initiative is an ambitious program to connect Asia with Africa and Europe via land and maritime networks along six corridors with the aim of improving regional integration, increasing trade and stimulating economic growth. The BRI comprises a Silk Road Economic Belt  a trans-continental passage that links China with Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, Russia and Europe by land  and a 21st century Maritime Silk Road, a sea route connecting Chinas coastal regions with Southeast and South Asia, the South Pacific, the Middle East and Eastern Africa, all the way to Europe. The program will involve $1 trillion in investments, largely in infrastructure development for ports, roads, railways and airports, as well as power plants and telecommunications networks. It covers more than 70 countries, accounting for about 65 percent of the worlds population and around a third of the worlds gross domestic product.







It's hard hearing the cracking voices of our countrymen and women from the Florida Panhandle whose lives have been turned inside out by Hurricane Michael. Some of lost their homes or businesses; some lost both. There were 17 American deaths, 8 in Florida, attributed to the strongest hurricane to strike the Panhandle in recorded history, the third strongest to ever hit the U.S. mainland. It made landfall near Mexico Beach as a Category 4 storm. Insured damage is estimated to be $8 billion so far. Damages to Mexico Beach and Panama City in FL-02 was pretty catastrophic.





Columbia Journalism Review called it NY Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal failed to mention Climate Change at all. None of the reporting I saw did either. "This is particularly disappointing," wrote Pete Vernon, "because, just days before Michael made landfall, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report with a dismal assessment of current global conditions and a warning that the future, soon approaching, is much more dire than previously feared." Last night the BBC reported that Mexico Beach was virtually flattened and nearly wiped off the map . Thecalled it a climate change story , even though the initial reporting on Michael by theandfailed to mention Climate Change at all. None of the reporting I saw did either. "This is particularly disappointing," wrote Pete Vernon, "because, just days before Michael made landfall, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report with a dismal assessment of current global conditions and a warning that the future, soon approaching, is much more dire than previously feared."

Climate scientists are cautious not to directly link rising sea levels and warming temperatures to any individual storm, but a basic theory holds: warmer water and air, along with rising sea levels, will lead to storms of greater intensity. Even though a straight line between climate change and Michael cannot yet be drawn (researchers will later be able to model the actual intensity of the storm compared to computer generated models), coverage of major storms that fails to address profound environmental problems fails to provide audiences with a full picture.



As our understanding of the impact of climate change expands, some journalists have taken up the challenge of bringing the topic into the discussion of storms like Michael. Hurricane Michael isnt a truly natural disaster, John D. Sutter, a CNN investigative reporter, wrote. Neither was Harvey in Houston. Nor Maria in Puerto Rico. Yet we continue to use that term. Doing so-- especially in the era of climate change-- is misleading if not dangerous. In Thursdays Times, Henry Fountain, a climate reporter, explained the triple threat from climate change: more rain in larger storms on rising seas. The Atlantics Robertson Meyer explained how Michaels sudden growth could be tied to rising sea levels and warming waters, writing that scientists wont formally know whether climate change played a role in Michaels rapid intensification for several months. But local weather experts have already said Michael is exactly what they would expect to see in a climate-changed world.



Writing on the UN report, the Posts Margaret Sullivan argued that when it comes to climate change, we-- the media, the public, the world-- need radical transformation, and we need it now. That transformation could include reporting on climate changes impact on any number of issues, from the economy to immigration to warfare. With the country focused on coverage of Michaels destruction, the opportunity to bring climate change into the discussion is there for the taking, and it shouldnt be ignored.

better than 99 in 100 chance to win next month. The congressman who represents Mexico Beach and Panama City is freshman Republican Neal Dunn, who replaced wretched Blue Dog Gwen Graham, who fled the area when redistricting made it harder for a Democrat to win. Although Dunn is probably best known for having an office lousy with sexual harassment, he also has a record as a legislator. Basically, he's just a Trump-worshipping backbencher in a safe red district. The PVI is R+18 and Trump won the district 66.2% to 30.6%. Dunn beat his Democratic opponent, Walter Dartland, 67.3% to 29.9%, after dumping $567,701 of his own money into the race. This cycle he's facing Bob Rackleff who's raised $165,478 to Dunn's $1,182,655. The 538 Forecaster gives Dunn athan 99 in 100 chance to win next month.













Panama City News Herald that he's "sure human activity plays some role, but I don't think the science is clear on how much is man-made and how much is natural. What I do know is that the United States should not follow the path of the global warming alarmists like the Obama administration who wants us to unilaterally handicap... industry with over-burdensome EPA regulations." There's no pulse left in Mexico Beach at all and it will be months before most of his district recovers. Ironically, Dunn is on the House Science Committee. The League of Conservation Voters gives him a 3% environmental score. As for climate change, he's, proudly, a denier . In April 2016 he told thethat he's "sure human activity plays some role, but I don't think the science is clear on how much is man-made and how much is natural. What I do know is that the United States should not follow the path of the global warming alarmists like the Obama administration who wants us to unilaterally handicap... industry with over-burdensome EPA regulations." There's no pulse left in Mexico Beach at all and it will be months before most of his district recovers.





all Climate Change deniers, including Ron DeSantis, currently running for Governor. Republican voters don't seem to connect the dots... yet. Most of the Florida congressmembers, like Dunn, are virulent Climate Change deniers , who all oppose regulating the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. Our top scientific institutions, the U.S. military, NASA, NOAA, and nearly all credible experts say pollution is causing our planet to get warmer. Still, false information designed to discredit climate science is actively promoted by organizations with ties to fossil fuels, and many leaders in Congress are also spreading disinformation for political reasons. While fossil fuel companies are generating enormous profits, we ultimately will bear the costs associated with extreme weather and rising sea levels. Representatives for Florida in the United States Congress have an important role in supporting efforts to solve the issue. They are virtuallyClimate Change deniers, including Ron DeSantis, currently running for Governor. Republican voters don't seem to connect the dots... yet.





There's no reason to believe Dunn will get any fewer votes than he would have before the Hurricane-- except for the 8 who died in his district. I wonder what it will take to wake these folks up. I especially would love to see how folks in Mexico Beach vote in November.This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 14 years and 30,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.Main Challenge for Democracy

By Levan Khutsishvili

Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament summarized the process of implementation of Association Agreements (AA) with Moldova and Georgia. The agreement went into force 2016 and the committee, in its report highlighted success as well as problems that need additional effort in order to make Georgia and Moldova closer to the EU family.According to the information spread through the web page of the European Parliament, the committee has praised Georgia's efforts in implementing the Association Agreement and criticized Moldova."Members of the Foreign Relations Committee welcomed a stable course of Georgia's reforms, which makes the country the EU's main partner in the region. EU is now the largest trading partner of Georgia and the largest source of direct foreign investment. The European Parliament calls upon the Georgian authorities to continue promoting stability, further democratic reforms and improve economic and social conditions, the statement reads.But, at the same time MEPs emphasized that there is a corruption in high echelons, judiciary system is not fully independent and media market is politicized, so those issues are important obstacles on the way to EU membership.Together with named problems, Georgia still needs to work on other issues, including labor rights, economic emigration; high levels of corruption, abuse of power by law- enforcement organs, gender equality and childrens rights, the committee stated.The MEPs also noted that ten years after the 2008 war Russia continues the occupation of the territories of Georgia. They reiterated their unilateral support for Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty, adding that proactive communication with Georgian citizens on the tangible benefits that brings the Eastern Partnership is significant, as support from society is important for processes, that are ongoing quite well."Georgia has a clear aspiration to become a member of the European family and interparty consensus on the European agenda is very important. Implementation of the Association Agreement, including the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, goes well. Along with other issues, we also note positive dynamics in the direction of visa-free travel and negotiations between Georgia and the EU on security issues, said the rapporteur on Georgia, author of a report on the issue of implementation of the Association Agreement, Andrejs Mamikins.The critical point that was voiced by MEPs was mainly based on the report done by the expert Nona Mikhelidze. According to her, governmental institutions in Georgia are weak and are governed by the oligarch, referring to Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder and chair of the ruling party Georgian Dream (GD)Main characters of state created by Ivanishvili are weakened institutions. State and non-state players, regulatory authorities and the society are influenced by one party, writes Nona Mikhelidze.According to her, non-formal governance is the main challenge for democracy in Georgia and it negatively affects all aspects of social and political life.: icey0218 (), : Banquet

 : Spiritual Dharma founder banned from entry into China

: BBS  (Sun Oct 14 09:33:54 2018, )



A Chinese-Australian man who leads a controversial religious organization

has reportedly been banned from entering China for illegally collecting

donations.



Chinese regulators have refused to allow Lu Junhong, founder of Xinlingfamen

, or "Spiritual Dharma," into the country after labeling the group an "

illegal-wealth amassing organization," the Beijing News reported Sunday.

160;



Authorities said the group illegally collected more than 6.5 million yuan ($

950,000) from Chinese mainland followers between March 2010 and May 2015,

according to the article posted on the paper's official WeChat account.



The Shanghai-born man immigrated to Australia in 1989. There he founded

Spiritual Dharma in 2000, which promotes Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door and

claims roots in Mahayana Buddhism. Lu leads more than 3 million followers,

read the report.



Lu has claimed to be the incarnation of the Guanyin Bodhisattva, which has

been widely contested on the Chinese mainland. The Buddhist Association of

China denied Lu's incarnation claim in 2014, adding his organization has no

root in genuine Buddhist teachings.



Buddhist communities from Singapore and Malaysia also issued similar

warnings against Lu and his organization in the same year, read the report.&

#160;



Lu holds dozens of talks around the globe annually in countries and regions

such as Malaysia, Macao and Hong Kong. He has collected donations through

various methods, including charging for apprentices.



Chinese authorities accuse Lu of collecting donations through illegal means,

said the report, without elaborating.



Before immigrating to Australia, Lu worked as a conductor at the Shanghai

Changning Opera Troupe and Jingan Shaoxing Opera Troupe.



Agencies - Global Times

--

 :WWW  mitbbs.com [FROM: 47.]

Education

Montgomery County Community College will present the spring installment of the interview/talk show program Issues and Insights April 20 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Science Center room 214, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The programs will be simulcast to the Colleges West Campus in South Hall room 216, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Dr. Kolsky will offer a humorous presentation, Carrots, Sticks and Politics: A State of the Nation and the World Message. In this speech, he will provide his interpretation of domestic and international politics and then welcome questions from the audience for discussion. Issues and Insights, is free and open to the public. For information, contact Dr. Thomas Kolsky, professor of political science, at 215-641-6380 or tkolsky@mc3.edu.

Montgomery County Community Colleges STEM Scholars Program will host a STEM Jam! open house April 25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Advanced Technology Center at the Colleges Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The drop-in event is designed for students interested in learning more about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities will include STEM program information and career advising, STEM speakers throughout the day from industry and academia, micro-helicopter and robotics competitive obstacle courses and demonstrations and static models of STEM student and faculty work. For more information about STEM Jam! or STEM programs at MCCC, contact William Brownlowe at wbrownlowe@mc3.edu or 215-641-6644, or Robin Zuhlke at 215-619-7440 or rzuhlke@mc3.edu.

Temple Ambler, located at 580 Meetinghouse Road, presents the following events:

International Club Global Bazaar April 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Ambler Campus International Club invites all students, faculty, staff and the community to celebrate a multitude of diverse cultures, which will be showcased at the organizations Global Bazaar. This family friendly event will highlight cultural traditions and celebrations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South American, North America and Africa through music, entertainment, food and informative displays developed and presented by students at the Ambler Campus. Young visitors will be provided with passports, which they may get stamped at each country they visit. Prizes will be awarded to world travelers who talk to cultural representatives, answer questions about the countries theyve visited and take part in fun-filled activities designed to help them learn about the rich diversity of cultures found throughout the world. Refreshments will be served. The event is free. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail tuc36466@temple.edu.

EarthFest 2011 April 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. More than 75 exhibitors, including the Philadelphia Zoo, The Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Elmwood Park Zoo and the Insectarium, will take part in EarthFest 2011. School students of all ages are invited to attend and develop displays of their own. EarthFest partner the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society also offers its Kids Grow Expo, featuring the Junior Flower Show, as part of the event. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail duffyj@temple.edu.

Annual Spring Plant Sale May 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The plant sale  an Ambler Campus tradition dating back to the early 1900s  will feature woody plants and perennials in portable sizes, hardy trees, shrubs, and vines, native plants that are attractive to wildlife, herbs, and hanging baskets. There will also be numerous special plants for sale to highlight Amblers special anniversary year. Garden books and garden tools will also be available for sale. Students, staff, and volunteers from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture and the Ambler Arboretum Advisory Committee will be available to answer questions. All proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale will support the Ambler Arboretum Fund and the Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society. Information: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

June Homecoming/Louise Bush-Brown Garden Dedication June 5 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. (June Homecoming), Bright Hall Lounge; 2 p.m. (Garden Dedication), Ambler Campus Formal Perennial Gardens. Tickets  June Homecoming: Participant  $18 per person; Sustainer  $25 per person; Benefactor  $40 per person. The 2011 June Homecoming, sponsored by the School of Environmental Design Alumni Association, will include the Alumni Association annual meeting and luncheon. June Homecoming will be followed by the formal dedication of Temple University Amblers Formal Perennial Gardens as the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Gardens. During this 100th anniversary of the campus, Temple University Ambler and the Ambler Arboretum of the Temple University is honoring Louise Bush-Browns many contributions to the history of the campus by formally dedicating the gardens in her honor. During the program, campus Executive William Parshall will welcome guests, Ambler Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey will speak about the Bush-Browns and the history of the garden, and an official ribbon cutting will be held for the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Garden. Following the ribbon cutting, guests are invited to take a tour of the gardens, which will wend their way to the Campus Greenhouse for the School of Environmental Designs annual Plant Auction. Information (Garden Dedication): 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Information (June Homecoming): 215-482-0722. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

Northview Garden Tour and Fundraiser for the Ambler Arboretum June 12 from noon to 5 p.m. Call for reservations. Tickets: $15 per person or $20 at the door. In addition to the gardens of the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University, Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey has a garden oasis all her own right in Ambler  Northview. Visitors will have the opportunity to take self-guided tours throughout the many gardens, where garden experts will be available to answer questions about the various designs. The Ambler Keystone Chapter of the Womans National Farm and Garden Association will also provide tea and refreshments. All proceeds from the tours will support the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University. Information or to register: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

The Senior Adult Activities Center of Montgomery County, 536 George Street, Norristown, will hold the following events:

SAAC Adult Day Care, an alternative to Nursing Home Care is available  for information call 610-275-1960

Volunteers are needed for Meals on Wheels Program (call the number above)

SAACs Fifth Avenue Boutique opens Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Exercise with Theresa will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m.

Dance class is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Tai Chi is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Yoga is held every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.

Line Dancing is held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

Dancing with Joan is held every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

Sculpture Class is held Wednesdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m.

Why Should I Learn Spanish? will be held Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m.

Generations On-Line computer classes for seniors will be held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.  4 p.m.  computers are available during those hours.

Health Living will be held every Tuesday at 1 p.m.

Boomer U will hold the following events. Boomer U is located at 45 Forest Avenue, Ambler. Registration & payment is required for all events: 215-619-8863.

Pilates Class is held Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. First class is free; please bring a mat. For information call 610-291-5376.

Blue Bell School of Dance, 921 Penllyn Blue Bell Pike, Blue Bell, hosts Argentine Tango Classes and a Milonga dance party every Friday evening. Lessons start at 8:30 p.m. followed by dancing at 9:30 p.m. Andrew Conway, master Argentine Tango dancer, instructor and performer and his partner Linda Chase will instruct. All levels welcome and no partner is needed. Refreshments will be served. Fee is $12 per person and includes lesson and dancing. Information: 215-634-1101 or www.amoretango.com.

The Montgomery Hospital Medical Center will offer the following classes:

Childbirth Education Class- all parents are invited to participate, including those who are delivering at

other hospitals. For more information on maternity services or classes, call 610-270-2020.

CPR and First Aid Courses are offered for beginners to experiences health care providers. Call 610-270-2313.

The Ambler SAAC (Senior Adult Activities Center), located at 45 Forest Ave in Ambler will hold the following events:

Tai Chi every Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m.

Yoga is every Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Friday at 10:30 a.m.

Strength and balance training every Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Armchair Aerobics is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Gourmet Weight Wise every Thursday at 12:30.

Fitness Center and Pool Room open daily 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

The Diabetes Education Center will offer day and evening classes each month. Health insurance pays for diabetes education classes. Preregistration is required. Call 610-270-2301.

For Kids & Families

The Ambler Kiwanis Club will host its annual Easter Egg Hunt April 26 at 10 a.m. in Ambler Borough Park, located just off of the intersection of Hendricks Street and Valley Brook Road. Members of the Wissahickon Key Club will assist Kiwanians in hiding thousands of wrapped chocolate eggs in a designated area of the park. Also hidden will be plastic colored eggs, which are redeemed for prizes. Elementary school children are separated by age.

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation will hold its 21st annual Storybook Egg-Stravaganza April 15 fom 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Upper Dublin Township Building. Toddlers and preschoolers love this annual event where photo opportunities with favorite friends abound! Treasures are collected from UDP&Rs assortment of lifesize cutouts of favorite cartoon characters from Disney, Sesame Street, Nickelodeon and other well-known animation. Children can have their picture taken with Bugsy OHare; bring your own camera. And dont forget a basket for goodies! $7 for UD residents; $12 for non-residents. Pre-register at 215-643-1600 ext. 3443.

Splash Week is a free week-long program that teaches children and families basic swimming skills and water safety practices. All YMCA branches will host multiple classes each day from April 11 to 15. For more information, contact the Ambler Area YMCA at 215-628-9950.

Healthy Kids Day is April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day is filled with fun, engaging and artistic activities that cultivate healthy living as part of the YMCAs larger efforts to help more kids and families become physically active. All activities are free and open to the community. For more information, contact the Ambler YMCA at 215-628-9950. No reservation is required.

The Ambler Area YMCA has added several new programs for area youngsters. Classes are held late afternoons or evenings on various weekdays. For more information, visit philaymca.org or call 215-628-9950.

Basic Beading: Ages: 10+. Wednesdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. This class will teach you the fundamentals of wiring and stringing along with how color can be used to create unique and vibrant beadwork design. You will create various jewelry including earrings, bracelets, charm pendants and much more! Supplies will be provided. Bringing your own jewelry pliers or tools would be a plus.

Messin with the Masters: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. Learn about some of the worlds greatest artists. You will be inspired to create your own Starry Night with oil pastels and tempera paints, a tissue paper painted Monet garden, a Picasso head using scraps of paper, a Georgia OKeeffe clay flower bowl and a Rousseau jungle collage.

Super Scientist: Ages: 5-7. Mondays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Well be concocting chemistry experiments such as making slime, mixing potions and having fun with magnet magic. Your budding little scientist will enhance his/her creative thinking and motor skills and to top it off will learn that science can be serious fun.

Wacky Junk Art: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 6 to 6:45 p.m. Why throw it away! Instead join us to make household junk into aliens from outer space, wacky specs, crazy hats, body masks or a recycled train.

Globe Trotters: Ages: 4-6. Tuesdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Youre never too young to start thinking globally. Each week, we explore a new country through crafts, games, music, stories and even some taste-testing. A perfect introduction to our great big world!

Crazy about Crafts: Ages: 5-7, Thursdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Let your childs creative juices flow with our fun arts and crafts projects each week. Fine motor skills and creative thinking skills will be enhanced with this crafty class.

Come out and join the Ambler Area YMCAs Teen and Junior Leaders Club. Participants are given the freedom to plan community service projects year round and truly make a difference in the lives of people in need. Those in Teen and Junior Leaders also attend leadership retreats all along the East Coast three times a year and meet other leaders who are doing the same great work in their respective areas. Dont miss out on this inspiring opportunity. Teen Leaders, ages 13-17, meet every Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Junior Leaders, ages 10-12, will begin in the spring and will meet every Monday. For more information, contact Mike Miles, Teen Director, 215- 628-9950 x 1540 or mmiles@philaymca.org.

Did you know that the new Ambler Area YMCA holds childrens birthday parties at its site for members and non members as well. The Ambler Y does all the work from start to finish and birthday parties include a personalized cake, ice cream, beverage and paper products. Parties are held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and include two party hosts to lead activities, set-up, clean-up and assist with serving. You can have a Splash Party for children ages six to 12 in the new zero depth entry pool with water slide and spray fountains. Up to 25 children have exclusive use of the pool area with 30 minutes in the party room. Sports Parties are offered for kids ages four to 12 with age appropriate activities and games, and sports such as floor hockey, soccer, basketball or dodge ball. Children ages three to five years of age will enjoy parties in the Family Active Center with use of the Moon Bounce and organized activities, such as parachute play and songs. For information, 215-628-9950 ext. 1583.

Community Events at the Ambler Y:

-YAchievers YMCA Achievers is a developmentally based, extracurricular, educational and team mentoring program designed to help students in grades five through 12 prepare for fulfilled livelihoods in college and beyond. Participation is free and all students in this program receive a free YMCA membership. Registration for the 2009 program begins now. You do not need to be a YMCA member to utilize these special services. Call 215-628-9950 to register.

Greater Norristown Art Leagues Childrens Weeklong Summer Art Camps will be held at 800 West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the summer. The cost per session is $125 per student for ages 6 and up. Jo Ann Cooksey Bono teaches an introduction to basic drawing skills and techniques from 10 a.m. until the lunch break each day. In the afternoon sessions, Mary Vogel Lozinak involves the students in hands on projects such as collage, papermaking, T-shirt printing, 3D design and sculpy clay. Fridays Graduation Day includes an art show, awards ceremony and reception for parents, siblings, grandparents and friends. All supplies are included. Students provide their own lunch. A refrigerator is available and the building is air-conditioned. This is the 15th year to run this successful program. Both instructors are professional artists with State Police and Child Abuse Clearances. To register, call Jo Ann at 610-279-1008, or register on-line at www.gnal.org.

Health

Dresher Physical Therapy is hosting an interactive seminar discussing its Golf Assessment Progam April 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at Dresher Physical Therapy, 1075 Virginia Drive, Suite 200, Fort Washington. Physical therapist Chris Miller, certified through the Titleist Performance Institute, will discuss why your body may be the most important piece of golf equipment you invest in and how this can drastically improve your game. $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Call 215-619-4545 to reserve your spot.

The Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, Center on the Hill and Chestnut Hill Hospital will host a Senior Health and Resource Fair April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, 8855 Germantown Ave. The event is free. For more information, call 215-248-0180 or e-mail chseniors@cavtel.net.

The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is hosting Help Yourself to Health, a new six-week workshop for older adults with ongoing health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, heart disease and others. The free workshop will take place at the Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center, 45 Forest Ave. on six Thursdays, May 12 through June 16 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Although there is no charge to participate, registration is required. To register, call 215-619-8863.

The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is sponsoring an eight-week program called A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls. Presented by the Montgomery County Health Department, this workshop will be held on Tuesdays, May 3 to June 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ambler Center, 45 Forest Ave. If you pre-register by April 27, the fee is only $5! Registration at the first class is $10. (Checks should be payable to SAAC and will benefit our Meals on Wheels program that serves homebound seniors.) A workbook will be provided and refreshments will be served. Call 215-619-8863 to register or for more information.

Fort Washington Wellness Center classes are ongoing. There are several offered during lunch or right after work, for your convenience: Boot Camp from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday; Zumba is MWF from 11 a.m. to noon and Friday at 4 p.m.; there are 25 cycling classes; Ashtanga and Vinyasana Yoga and Pilates; and a group Womens Strength Training class M-F from 10 to 11 a.m. Questions, call Cathy DeMarco at 215-641-1245.

Following the success of other local area programs, Impact Sports and Upper Dublin Parks and Recreation are delighted to team up again to offer a spring program for the 2011 season! Upper Dublin area children ages 3-5 years old can attend a Sports Program featuring their favorite sports games; soccer, rugby, hockey, track and field, basketball, and more. The program will start on April 27 and run through June 1. Cost for the program is $85 for the six weeks. The classes will be running 12- 1 p.m.; 1- 2 p.m.; 2- 3 p.m. For more info or to register, call Upper Dublin Township on 215 643 1600 or visit their website a http://www.upperdublin.net.

Spring Aquatic Programs  UDHS Pool:

-Summer is just around the corner  Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool can help get you into shape! Programs begin in March; preregistration is required.

 Shallow Water Aerobics  Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 8-8:45 p.m., $40R/$50NR.

 Adult Swim Instructions  Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 7-8 p.m., $50R/$60NR

-Open Rec Swims are fun for the whole family! Come out on Fridays from 7-9 p.m. or Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and enjoy use of the pool and diving area. Fridays are offered through June 17; Saturdays are offered March 12-May 21.

-Join a growing group of adult lap swimmers and water walkers. Lanes are set aside evenings and weekends for use; lanes are shared. Monday  Thursday from 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Fridays from 7-9 p.m. and Saturdays (March 12-May 21) from 1-4 p.m.

-Private Swimming & Diving Lessons for ages 3-adult are offered at the UDHS Pool through a partnership with the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club (UDAC). Visit the UDAC website for more information, www.udac.us, and click the link to UDHS Private Lessons.

-Looking for local programs for US Masters Swimming (adults) or Water Polo (all ages)? UDAC and UDSD are working together to develop programs that will be offered at the UDHS Pool. Add your name to Interest Lists by emailing slohoefer@upperdublin.net. emails will be sent about clinics and program start dates.

Questions about Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool, group use of the pool or pool rental? Contact Susan Lohoefer, Facility & Community Affairs Manager at slohoefer@upperdublin.net or call 215-643-8800 x8994.

SilverSneakers Fitness Program. The Healthyways SilverSneakers Fitness Program is a result-oriented program that enables older adults to take charge of their health. The program is an innovative blend of physical activity, healthy lifestyle and socially oriented programing. Members of the program are eligible for a free YMCA membership, with use of the pool and exercise equipment, along with customized classes designed for older adults who want to improve their strength, flexibility, balance and endurance. If you are a subscriber to Independence Blue Cross (Personal Choice 65 PPO) or Keystone 65 HMO, Bravo Health, or Health Options Programs (HOP), call the Ambler Area YMCA, 215-628-9950 or Hatboro Area YMCA, 215-674-4545. You can also visit www.silversneakers.com.

Zumba Fitness offers Zumba dance/fitness classes at Academy of Dance and Music/BBAD Studio located at 1524 DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell (behind Sherwin Williams). Classes are offered three times a week: Tuesdays at 6 p.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. For a free trial pass for your first class, email us at info@danceandmusic.biz or call 610-277-2557. For more info, visit our site at www.academyofdanceandmusic.org.

Chestnut Hill Health Systems presents the following Health Education Programs:

FITNESS CLASSES

Golden Yoga: A Breathing, Stretching and Relaxation Class. Fridays, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Lea Auditorium, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. Registration for four classes at a time required. Golden Yoga is Classical Yoga, adapted by the SKY Foundation, to accommodate those who have difficulty getting up and down from the floor. The program includes postures, breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques, all performed while sitting in a chair and standing. Registration required. Call 215-247-3029. Cost: $20 for 4 classes per month.

Tai Chi: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:30  9:30 a.m. Springfield Residence, 8601 Stenton Ave. Classes, for the novice or beginner/intermediate student, are designed to improve balance, power, posture, coordination, flexibility and mental focus. Slow, gentle movements are modified to most everyones abilities. For more information or to sign up for a free introductory class, call 215-882-2804. Cost: $8 per class/paid monthly.

SUPPORT GROUPS

Weight Loss Surgery Support Group: Fourth Wednesday of the month, 7-8 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. Join us for a monthly get-together where well share information for those interested in weight loss surgery, learn from guest speakers discussing current news on issues including lifestyle modification, nutrition and exercise and provide ongoing support for those who have completed surgery. Registration required. Call 215-753-2000.

Breast Cancer Networking Group: Fourth Tuesday of the month 5:30  7 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. A free, confidential support group for women living with a diagnosis of breast cancer designed to provide a forum for sharing information, feelings and concerns associated with breast cancer. Facilitated by Tish Wakefield, LCSW, Oncology Social Worker. Registration required. To register or for more information, call 215-248-8047.

New Moms Support Groups Tuesdays 10:30 a.m.  12 p.m.; contact Jeanine ORourke, MSW or 2:30  4 p.m.; contact Susan Schack, Ph.D Volunteer Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. The Center for Postpartum Depression at Chestnut Hill Hospital is pleased to offer two new support groups to support new moms. Both groups will be run by experienced mental health professionals who really get it when it comes to new motherhood and juggling relationships, extended family, work/family balance and self-care. If you are experiencing new mom challenges that often heighten anxiety and involve hormonally driven depression, join us for an informative and supportive forum to connect with other moms. Infants are welcome. $30 per session (flexible based on need). Registration is required. Call Dr. Schack, 646-265-2484, or Ms. ORourke, 215-206-2931.

Man to Man Prostate Cancer Support Group Third Thursday of the month 8-9 a.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. A networking group for men diagnosed with prostate cancer designed to provide education, support and encouragement. Spouses and partners welcome. Harry M. Baer, MD, Chief, Urology Division, will host Ask the Doctor. Registration required. Call 215-248-8325.

Contact the Senior Center by phone 215-248-0180 or email (chseniors@cavtel.net) with your questions about these programs or any of our on-going activities and classes.

Holy Redeemer HomeCare and Hospice seeks compassionate and emotionally mature volunteers to provide support to local hospice patients and their families in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Volunteers may also assist with pet therapy and administrative work within the hospice department and are requested to have daytime availability. Hospice patient care volunteers visit with patients in their homes or nursing facilities once a week for two to three hours. They provide emotional support and companionship to patients and family members, assist with errands or provide respite for caregivers. Bereavement volunteers support the families of hospice patients following the loss of a loved one, while administrative volunteers assist with typing, mailings and/or filing. Hospice care workers provide a great service to families and loved ones of hospice patients. Many volunteers also report a great deal of personal satisfaction as a result of their services. Patient care and bereavement volunteers complete an application and attend an 18-hour volunteer training program that covers the medical, psychological and spiritual aspects of hospice volunteering. Day and evening training programs are offered. To sign up for volunteer opportunities in Pennsylvania, contact Holy Redeemer Volunteer Coordinator Jean Francis at 215-698-3737 or email jfrancis@holyredeemer.com.

Librarytalk

Upper Dublin Public Library, 805 Loch Alsh Avenue, Ft. Washington, 215-628-8744

www.upperdublinlibrary.org

APRIL CHILDRENS PROGRAMS:

Storytimes: Please register in the library.

o Wee Ones: 0 to 23 months Thursdays and Fridays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m.

o Tiny Tots: age 2. Wednesdays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. and Fridays 11 to 11:20 a.m.

o Jr. Book Lovers: ages 3 to 6. Tuesdays 10:30 to 11 a.m.

o Bedtime Storytimes: 7 to 7:30 p.m. April 20 and 27. Wear your jammies, bring your teddy & hear Miss Barbara read bedtime stories! For ages 3 to 6.

APRIL TEEN PROGRAMS:

North Hills Library Teens April 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. Movie Matinee

APRIL UDPL ADULT PROGRAMS:

NEW! ESL Conversation Group. Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. Interested in practicing your English in a safe and caring environment? Come to our conversation group and improve your skills! Please register with Kay Klocko at 215-628-8744 or kklocko@mclinc.org.

One-on-One Computer Mentoring. Get personalized assistance from experienced computer volunteers! Sign-up for a one-hour session. Limit one session per month. Please register  contact info above.

Book Groups Please register with Kay Klocko 215-628-8744.

o Daytimers: April 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tired of book groups where you all read the same book? Read any fiction or non-fiction book on this months theme: Explorers. Please register.

Meetings:

Annual Meeting of the Friends of UDPL: April 14 at 1 p.m.

Board of Directors: April 20 at 7 p.m.

Blue Bell Library www.wvpl.org Upcoming Events: The Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 650 Skippack Pike (Route 73) in Blue Bell, is diagonally across from the Blue Bell Inn. Call 215-643-1320 or visit their website at www.wvpl.org.

For children and teens at Blue Bell:

* Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian.

* Mondays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages.

* Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Family Movies, new releases, second Saturdays of the month at 1:30 p.m.

* May 14  Despicable Me

* June 11  Alpha and Omega

* Special Events

* April  watch for date of spring/Easter events

* April 14 at 4:30 p.m.  Junior Lego Club for children ages 3 through 5. Parents and caregivers need to stay with children.

* April 14 at 7 p.m.  Jeopardy for ages 11 to 18. Test your book and library knowledge for prizes. Sign up to be a contestant. No sign up to be in the audience. Snacks provided.

* April 16 at 1 p.m.  Adult Mystery Book Group discussing The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie King.

* April 16 at 1:30 p.m.  Childrens event for One Book, Every Young Child celebration. Story and craft for book Whose Shoes?

* April 19 at 7 p.m. and April 26 at 1:30 p.m.- Adult book group discusses The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. Group led by Adam Button.

* April 30 through May 3  Friends book sale with about 10,000 items for sale for children, teens and adults.

* May  sign up for Science in the Summer

* June  sign up for Enrichment Programs for Elementary-Age children

* June  sign up for Summer Reading, all ages

For adults at Blue Bell:

* Daytime Book Discussion Group  fourth Tuesday, Jan  April at 1:30 p.m.

* April 26  The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

* Night-time Book Discussion Group  third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m.

o April 19  The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

* Art Series with Dr. Sheldon Weintraub, docent at The Barnes and speaker at local colleges

o April 27 at 2 p.m. The Art of Looking at Art-Is She Nude or Is She Naked?

*Mystery Book Discussion Group, third Saturday of the month at 1 p.m.; new mystery theme each month; www.wvpl.org/programs

* Yoga on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop-in class.

* Tai Chi on Mondays at 3 p.m. with Dr. Kurt Findeisen. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop in class.

* Philadelphia Museum of Art presents class on their Marc Chagall exhibit, April 13 at 2 p.m.

* Giant Book Sale, April 29  May 3

o Starts with almost 10,000 items for children and adults!

o Held during library hours.

o Preview for members of the Friends of the Library, April 28 at 7 p.m.

o Join the Friends and attend the preview sale. Modest fee to join.

* Blooms at Blue Bell Gardening Series

o May 11 at 1 p.m.  Summer Bulbs by PA Horticultural Society

* Knitting group Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Work on your project or observe and learn. The groups continue year-round in the community room.

* Socrates Cafe discussion group every Monday at 7 p.m. You pick the topic to discuss each week. No sign-up, nothing to read.

* Bridge every Friday at 12:30 p.m. New players welcome.

* Mah Jong every Wednesday at 1 p.m. New players welcome.

*Chess every Wednesday at 7p.m. for adults and teens 14 and older.

* Movie Matinee showing recent releases every Thursday at 2 p.m. April 14: Maos Last Dancer; April 21: Welcome to the Rileys; April 28: Conviction; May 5: Inception; May 12: Inside Job; May 19 The Kings Speech; May 26 The Fighter; June 2 Rabbit Hole; June 9 Black Swan; June 16 127 Hours

* Ongoing like-new, year-round book sale for adults & children during library hours

* Library opening at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday!

Ambler Library, a branch of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 209 Race St., 215-646-1072. www.wvpl.org. All the following events occur at the Ambler Library.

* Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian.

* Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages.

* For adults:

* Beading Group meets the first and third Monday of every month at 1 p.m. Work on your own projects or come to watch and learn.

* Free Family History Lookup with Connie Briggs. Email Connie for an appointment at the Ambler Library. conniebriggs@comcast.net

* Special Events:

* April 14 at 1:30 p.m.  Book Group discusses Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian.

* April 19 at 7 p.m.  Travel to Paris with world traveler Harry Balin. Tea and scones at 6:30 p.m.

* April 21 at 7 p.m.  Art with Sara for children in fourth through seventh grades.

*May 2 at 6:30 p.m.  Discuss the movie Lone Star with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time.

*May 10  Robert Capucci discusses Art into Fashion. Tea and scones served at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m.

*May 12 at 1:30p.m.  Book Group discusses The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman.

*May 17  Tour the gardens of Devon and Southwest England with Lois McMullen. Tea and Scones at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m.

*June 13 at 6:30 p.m.  Discuss the movie Blade Runner with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time.

Meetings and Lectures

The Unisys Blue Bell Retiree Group will meet in the Church on the Mall in the Plymouth Meeting Mall April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Kathy Sacket Young, director/trainer with the North Penn YMCA, will speak on Keeping Fit in Retirement. For more information, contact Membership Committee Chairperson Jerry Feldscher at 610-275-3538 or President Al Rollin at 215-368-4833.

The next FWBA meeting will be April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m.; meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Leon Singletary, Principal, First Contact HR and FWBA Executive Board, will present: Social Media: How to Use It To Get More Business. Lunch is provided courtesy of the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Members are welcome to bring a guest. An RSVP is requested by return email or 215-628-0313.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA is hosting a information sessions over the next few weeks on how to become a Big Brother. The information sessions will take place: April 16 at noon, April 19 at 8 a.m. and April 28 at 6 p.m. All sessions will be held at the groups Norristown Office,t 530 DeKalb St., Norristown. For more information, call 610-277-2200.

The North Penn Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) normally meets on the third Tuesday of each month from now until May. Meetings are held at the William Penn Inn on Route 202 and Sumneytown Pike, Upper Gwynedd, PA. Social hour starts at 5:30 p.m., dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., and the technical program begins at 7 p.m. Cost with reservation is $28 for members. Members without reservations and guests pay $30. Students with reservations pay $15. Reservations may be made by noon on the Monday preceding the meeting by phoning 215-371-1854 or emailing the reservation to northpennima@yahoo.com northpennima@yahoo.com. Information about the North Penn Chapter is available at http://northpenn.imanet.org/.

LeTip, a professional organization of men and women who are dedicated to the highest standards of competence and service meets every Tuesday at Cedar Brook Country Club, 180 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell at 7 a.m. -meeting officially starts at 7:16 a.m. and ends at 8:31 a.m. Our purpose is the exchange of business tips, leads, and referrals. Each business category is represented by one member and conflicts of interest are disallowed. Guests are welcome to visit any of our breakfast meetings.

Every third Thursday of month, Sunrise Assisted Living of Blue Bell (795 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422, 215-619-2777) serves as a satellite site to 148th Legislative district PA congressman Mike Gerber from 10 a.m. to noon. Stop by for help needed with things such as disability placards and license plates, vehicle registration, utilities issues, birth/death certificates,property tax/rent rebates, etc. Notary services arranged by appointment.

The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce is an action-oriented organization dedicated to promoting its members and the economic health of eastern Montgomery county. The Chamber is committed to serving as a catalyst by uniting business, community agencies, government and education to make our county a great place to live and work. For information, call 215-887-5122 or visit www.emccc.org.

Do you have a fear of public speaking? Blue Bell Toastmasters Club can help. We meet from 7 to 9 p.m., on the second and fourth Tuesday at the Marriott Courtyard, located on Route 202, directly across from the Montgomeryville Mall. Learn how to improve communication and leadership skills in a friendly and supportive environment. Guests are welcome. Admission fee: $5. For more info, visit www.bbtoast.org.

The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will hold the following meetings (for reservations to any of the following, email info@PennSuburban.org)

-Breakfast News Network, 7:30-8:45 a.m. at Normandy Farm Hotel (1401 Morris Road, Blue Bell, PA 19422) $15 members, includes full buffet breakfast. Join us for a networking program at Normandy Farm Hotel every Thursday morning for breakfast, business news, informative speakers, and plenty of networking. The cost includes a full breakfast buffet. Copies of the business cards will be made available to those who would like them.

The BNI, Fort Washington Chapter meets every Monday at The Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington for a networking meeting. Meetings are from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Visitors are welcome. The only cost to attend is the cost of your meal. For information or a reservation to attend, please call Luanne Cram at 215-947-7784, or visit our Internet site at: http://www.BNIDVR.Com and click on the menu item Find a Chapter.

For the past seven years, people have enjoyed participating in WVWAs Adopt-a-Tree program. Individuals can support the Association in its reforestation efforts by purchasing native trees to be planted. Supporters can plant their adopted tree or have WVWA volunteers will plant it. Trees cost $30 each. If you would like to volunteer or purchase a tree(s), please contact: Bob Adams at Bob@wvwa.org or call: 215-646-8866 for more information. Check www.WVWA.org for directions and maps.

Sustainable Upper Dublin, http://sustainableupperdublin.org, meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the Upper Dublin Township Building, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington, PA 19034. Please send any questions to suec@sustainableupperdublin.org or call 610-996-6316. To learn more about Sustainable Upper Dublin, view or join the discussion at http://googlegroups.com/group/sustainableupperdublin.

Special Events

The Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard will hold its first nutrition class April 19 at 10 a.m. at the Community Cupboard, 150 N. Main St., Ambler. Lynne Sinclair, a nutritionist from Abington Memorial Hospital specializing in diabetic nutrition, will conduct the class. Topics will include healthy eating, beneficial foods, recipes, making meals with every day foods, and how to use unfamiliar produce. A healthy snack will be provided.The class is is open to all residents in Montgomery County.

The Historical Society of Fort Washington presents The History of Conshohocken April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Clifton House, 473 Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington. Jack Coll will present an illustrated program on the history of the Borough of Conshohocken. Coll is a longtime resident of Conshohocken and a member of the Conshohocken Historical Society. He is co-author with his son, Brian, of the Arcadia Then and Now Series book Conshohocken. He has also done books Conshohocken and West Conshohocken Sports and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian Feast. He has taken many photos for the Conshohocken Record and the Norristown Times Herald. This program is free. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, call 215-646-6065.

Taste of the White House Soiree featuring former White House Chef Walter Scheib will take place April 29 at 6 p.m. at Manufacturers Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington to celebrate HealthLinks 10th anniversary and honor its founders, the Eugene Jackson Family. The evening will heat up with a Chef Meet & Greet, followed by a specially selected presidential menu. Gala tickets are $150 per person. Proceeds benefit HealthLink, a free clinic providing compassionate, quality medical and dental care to uninsured, working adults in Bucks and Montgomery counties who fall in between the health care cracks. Go to http://tasteofthewhitehouse.charityhappenings.org to make reservations online or lend support through sponsorship. For event information, call 267-699-0124 or email jmarushak@healthlinkmedical.org.

The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association will hold an open house at the Evans-Mumbower Mill April 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Mill is at the corner of Swedesford and Township Line Roads in Upper Gwynedd. The open house is free but donations are welcome. For more information, call 215-646-8866 o email info@wvwa.org.

The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce will host Breakfast With Your County Commissioners and State Representatives April 21 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Fort Washington, 432 W. Pennasylvania Ave. Commissioners: James R. Matthews (Chairman), Joseph M. Hoeffel (Vice Chair), State Representatives: Todd Stephens (District 151) and Josh Shapiro (District 153). Register onlineat www.emccc.org. $10 for EMCCC member; $20 for non-members.

Upper Dublins Districtwide Allied Art Show will be held April 27 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the Upper Dublin High School Athletic Complex.

The Rev. Alfred Muli, chaplain at Fort Washington Estates, will be the featured speaker at the Kiwanis sponsored breakfast observing the National Day of Prayer May 5 at 7 a.m. at the William Penn Inn. The breakfast is open to the public ($15). Reservations can be made by calling 215-646-4356 or by emailing georgesaurman@Juno.com.

The Upper Dublin Shade Tree Commission invites people to participate in its spring bare root planting events, sponsored in part by Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Friends of Robbins Park. On April 9, zix trees will be planted at the Evelyn B. Wright Park & Community Pool, 401 Logan Ave., North Hills, at 9 a.m., followed by the planting of 10 trees at Sheeleigh Park, Loch Alsh Avenue and Douglas Street, Ambler, at 10:15 a.m. On April 29, students from Upper Dublin High School will join the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to plant 16 trees in Robbins Park, Butler Pike and Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, to help launch the societys Million Trees campaign. This event will occur in conjunction with Temple Amblers EarthFest. Experienced tree-tenders are sought to assist the students. For more information,contact Ron Ayres at 215-653-0421 or 215-483-4348.

The Friends of the Wissahickon and the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association are teaming up once again to clean the Wissahickon Creek from top to bottom April 30 from 9 a.m. to noon. This spring marks the 41st anniversary of Wissahickon Valley Watershed Associations annual Creek Clean Up, and the second year that FOW has teamed up with WVWA. Volunteers of all ages will clean the creek, the surrounding trails and the many tributaries of the Wissahickon Creek. Armed with bags, volunteers will be assigned to sections of the creek. Following the clean up, all volunteers are invited to WVWAs Talkin Trash picnic in Fort Washington State Park, with food provided by Whole Foods Market of North Wales. The pavilion is located on Mill Road in Flourtown. To help out in Montgomery County, all volunteers must be pre-assigned a section of the Wissahickon Creek to clean. Please contact Bob Adams, WVWA director of stewardship, at 215-646-8866 ext. 14 or bob@wvwa.org. To work with the Friends of the Wissahickon in Philadelphia, meet at the pavilion along Forbidden Drive, a short distance south of the intersection of Forbidden Drive and Northwestern Avenue. Limited parking is available along Northwestern Avenue and other nearby streets. Volunteers are encouraged to bike or carpool to the event. To participate, register at www.fow.org. Contact Kevin Groves with questions at 215-247-0417 ext. 105 or groves@fow.org.

Montgomery County Community Colleges International Club invites the community to the second annual International Festival April 20 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The rain date is April 26. The International Club will transform the outside quad area into multicultural celebration with various performances by dancers, singers and musicians. Artists will share their artwork at various display tables. Activities include games, raffles, Easter egg decorating and henna tattoos. Students will have samples of international cuisine at tables representing different countries and will serve food from various local ethnic restaurants. Throughout the evening, volunteers will accept donations and will raffle gift baskets and prizes to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. Donations of food, international clothes and prizes are needed. Volunteers, including artists and performers, are welcome. For more information or to sponsor an activity, contact Gillian Nel, International Club president, at gnel9277@students.mc3.edu or 267-974-0163.

The Arts and Humanities Division at Montgomery County Community College is partnering with the Philadelphia Writers Conference to host Memoirs Matter: How Life Stories (Including Yours) Can Transform Your Relationship to Literature April 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Advanced Technology Center room 101, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The event is free and open to the public. In the first part of this two-hour seminar, professor and author Robert Waxler will explain how writing his two memoirs affected his life as well as his relationship to literature. In the second part, blogger and workshop leader Jerry Waxler will present a sequence of steps to help writers find their own story. For information, contact Dana Resente at dresente@mc3.edu.

The Maple Glen Garden Club will hold its fourth annual Plant Sale on May 7 from 8 to 11 a.m. Perennials, shrubs, vegetables and native plants grown by the club members will be sold. The club uses the plant sale proceeds to fund community projects, a college scholarship and community plantings. The sale will be held in the 500 block of Coach Road, Horsham, as part of a neighborhood garage sale. Plants will be sold at bargain prices. For more information, email MapleGlenGardenClub@gmail.com.

The Relay for Life Craft Show is looking for local crafters to participate in show, which will be May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Wissahickon High School track, 521 Houston Road, Ambler. There is a $10 entry fee, and 20 percent of sales are donated to the American Cancer Society. Participants will receive a 6-foot table under a tent. For information, contact Joanne at joannescoles@comcast.net or Mindy at mcamsilver@comcast.net.

Spring House Estates is hosting its annual book fair on April 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. and April 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Included will be hardback and paperback used books. Spring House Estates is located at 728 Norristown Road, Lower Gwynedd.

The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will present the Penn Suburban/Hatfield Joint Business Card Exchange April 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Univest Bank Lansdale Area Financial Service Center, 120 Forty Foot Road, Hatfield. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. Join Univest National Bank and Trust Co. for a spring-inspired Business Card Exchange at its newest office in the Hatfield Pointe Shopping Center. Come out and meet members of Univests executive management team while enjoying fine food and beverages.

13th Annual Community Reading Day Kick-off Breakfast Get Together April 26 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the North Wales Area Library, 233 Swartley St., North Wales. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. For more information, contact the chamber office at 215-362-9200 or info@pennsuburban.org. Join presenting sponsor Verizon, chamber staff and fellow members for the Community Reading Day volunteer get together. The Community Reading Day program allows volunteers to read a designated book to second-grade students throughout 38 area public and private schools and present the book as a gift to each class. Even if you are not a volunteer, you are cordially invited to stop by to network, enjoy coffee and pastries.

Ambler Mennonite Church is hosting a Spring Craft Show and Flea Market May 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rain date will be May 28. The community is invited to shop the great craft booths, find some gifts and deals, as well as enjoy home baked goods and tasty lunch specials. Childrens activities are planned. All vendors are encouraged to contact the church at 215-643-4876 or AmblerMennonite@verizon.net. Advertising, signage, customer parking and a shuttle to auxiliary parking at nearby lots for vendors will be provided. 10 foot by 10 foot spaces can be rented for $5 each and tables for an additional $5 each. All proceeds from space and table rentals go toward school kits for children around the world. The church is located at the corner of East Mt. Pleasant Avenue and North Spring Garden Street, Ambler.

The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association presents The Life & Times of Aquatic Insects in the Wissahickon Creek April 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. Join WVWA for a hands-on program. RSVP required: www.wvwa.org or 215-646-8866. WVWA member fee: $5 per person / $15 per family. Non-WVWA member fee: $10 per person / $20 per family.

The photography exhibition Natures Palette by photo-artist Judy Miller will run March 18 to May 19 at the Art in the Storefront gallery, 41 E. Butler Pike, Ambler.

JPRN  Networking For People in Transition & People Who Can Help Them  Unemployment remains high. JPRN, the Jarrettown Professional Relationship Network can help. Are you trying to network your way to a new job? Do you have expertise or contacts that can help people in transition? Is your company or organization looking for people in the area? This is a free outreach program to support those seeking work, involve people with contacts and networking know how, and involve local companies. Meetings held monthly at Jarrettown United Methodist Church, Limekiln Pike.

Pennsylvanias Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) grant program is now open for the 2010-11 heating season. Grants are based on income, family size, type of heating fuel and region. Additional information, such as specific income limits, and applications for LIHEAP grants are available online via the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Access to Social Services (COMPASS) website at www.compass.state.pa.us. Applications are available at most public officals district offices, county assistance offices, local utility companies and community service agencies, such as Area Agencies on Aging or community action agencies.

Begin your holiday shopping at Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation! Entertainment books for 2011, Philadelphia North, are now on sale at $30 each. Regal/United Artists movie tickets are on sale for just $7.50 each, and tickets to the Adventure Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium, and the Philadelphia Zoo are also available. Discounted ski vouchers to area mountains will be arriving in December; call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

RSVP of Montgomery County and the Wissahickon Valley Public Library have partnered again to offer the public their popular free mock interview sessions. The mock interviews are conducted by RSVP volunteers who are retired professionals, some of whom were in hiring positions themselves. Packets of information which include a sample employment application and interviewing tips with mock interview questions are available at the library to pick up prior to a scheduled mock interview or will be sent via email once the interview is scheduled. To schedule your interview, please contact Janis Glusman at RSVP 610-834-1040, ext. 16. The library is also offering a free resume review service. Bring in your current resume and the professional reference staff will assist you with hints and tips on capturing your work history accurately.

Registration for Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation summer playgrounds, Camp B.I.G. and Small Folks, X-Zone, and sports camps has began. Register online at www.upperdublin.net/store, or at the UDP&R office, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington. Call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information.

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Danielles Espresso Cafe presents Mornings at Mondaug Bark Park April 16 and May 21 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Meet fellow dog lovers. These events include complimentary coffee, treats for people and pups and raffles/giveaways.

Upper Dublins Annual Spring Flea Market will be held June 4 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reserve a table, or come and shop. Tables are $15 for UD residents, $20 for non-residents. This successful event occurs rain or shine. Refreshments available. Call 215-643-1600 ext. 3443 to register for a table.

Regal movie tickets available for purchase at Upper Dublin Township Parks & Recreation. Reduced rate: $7.50 per ticket. Some restrictions apply. Call 215-643-1600 x3443.

Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation movie tickets $7.50 Regal Cinemas, United Artist & Edwards Cinemas on sale throughout the year Monday  Friday from 9 a.m.  4 p.m.

Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation Camp Sign-ups for Stony Creek Day Camp  Stony Creek Tracers and Park n Tots. Register on-line at www.whitpaintownship.org OrCome to Township Building with check or Visa MasterCard Monday  Friday from 9 a.m.  4 p.m. For additional information call 610.277-2400 ext. 374

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation offers exciting new programs for the fall:

-Returning favorites include UK Elite Petite Soccer, Tiny Dancers, Kiddie Tennis, Fun-nastics, Messy Playtime, Little Chefs, and more. Babysitters Training will be offered in November and December. Continuing Adult Fitness Classes include Cardio Circuit, Core & More, Yoga, Boxing, and Adult G.Y.M. For more information call 215-643-1600 x3443. Register for programs online at www.upperdublin.net/store.

Music and Theater

The community is invited to a Cantors Concert April 16 at 8 p.m. Congregation Beth Or, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen. Listen and hum-along to the Yiddish, pop tunes and classical music performed by Congregation Beth Ors own Cantor David Green and his special guest, Cantor Irvin Bell, from Temple Beth Israel in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The cantors will be accompanied by Mark Sobol and his Klezmer musicians. Tickets are $18 in advance and $25 at the door. RSVP with payment to Barb Murtha, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen, PA 19002, or call 215-646-5806 ext. 220.

Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse will host the Jameson Sisters May 14. Doors open at 7:30 pm, performance at 8:00 pm. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse is located at the corner of Rte. 202 & Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd. $5 suggested donation. Light refreshment available at a modest cost. For further information, call 215-393-9576 or visit gwyneddmeeting.org/coffeehouse.html.

Celebrate patriotism through song with Gwynedd-Mercy Colleges choir, the Voices of Gwynedd, as it presents Hear America Singing April 15 at 8 p.m. The choir will perform song selections from all over the country, including Georgia on My Mind, New York State of Mind, and a medley including Philadelphia Freedom and Allentown. The performance will end with When the Saints Go Marching In to acknowledge the choirs upcoming tour in New Orleans. Hear America Singing will take place in the Julia Ball Auditorium, located in St. Bernard Hall. Parking is available in lots A, C and D. Admission is free.

The Choristers will present Anton Dvoraks Stabat Mater April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler. The choir will be accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $10 for students and children are free. Tickets will be sold in advance or at the door. For more information, call 215-542-7871 or visit TheChoristers.org

Religious News

The Staircase Gallery at Or Hadash: A Reconstructionist Congregation in Fort Washington will feature the work of Emily Ennuat-Lustine. The artist will be showing paintings and graphics inspired by her own personal spiritual journey and quest for meaning. Some of the works to be shown have been inspired by Biblical Psalms and writings. Her work has been shown at Abington Art Center, Cheltenham Arts Center and Old City Gallery of Jewish Art among others. The exhibition is open Friday evenings starting Feb. 18 after Shabbat services. Gallery hours are: Mondays through Thursdays 10-4:30, Fridays 10-3 and following Shabbat Services and Sundays 10-1. The synagogue is located at 190 Camp Hill Road in Fort Washington. For additional information contact the synagogue office at 215-283-0276.

Reunions

St. Matthews High School Conshohocken Class of 1961 is looking for classmates. For details, contact Greg Marincola at 215-646-2239, 215-740-1296 or gregcola@comcast.net.

Olney High School Class of 1971 is Lloking for classmates for a 40th reunion Oct. 28. For details, contact Judy at ohsclassof71@yahoo.com or 215-870-7572.

Abington High School Class of 1961 is seeking classmates for a 50-year reunion to be held Oct. 14-15, 2011.Visit the website, www.abington61.com, for details or call 215-947-1779.

Overbrook High School class of January 1956 is having a 55 year reunion on May 22, 2011 at the Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia. For information please contact overbrookreunion56@comcast.net

Germantown High School Class Of January 1961 is looking for classmates for 50th year reunion to take place in May of 2011. Please contact: 215-362-9148, 856-577-0659 or samdelcomo@comcast.net

The June 1961 class of Germantown High School is holding their 50th reunion on May 15, which will be a brunch. For further details please contact Linda Dorfman Alten at lindaalten@yahoo.com or call 215-441-8411.

Support

New Life Presbyterian Church in Dresher, will host GriefShare, a special seminar and support group which will run on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., from March 7 through June 6. At each meeting there will be a DVD about the grief process, discussion and reference to a grief workbook. Preregistration is required to secure a place in the group and to purchase a GriefShare notebook (for a one-time fee of $15). The notebook goes along with the 13-week schedule covering such topics as: living with grief, the effects of grief, and stuck in grief. For more information or to register, call: Sandy Elder at 215-884-5149.

PUPS (People Understanding Parkinsons) A self-help group for those adjusting to a new diagnosis or dealing with the early stages of Parkinsons Disease. Meets fourth Tuesday of the month from 1 to 2:30 p.m., at Abington Health Center, Schilling Campus, Willowood Building, 2510 Maryland Road, Suite 251, Willow Grove. For more information or to RSVP, contact Lorna at 215-542-2931.

The North Penn Visiting Nurse Associations Meals on Wheels program is looking for volunteers to pack or deliver meals to the elderly and infirmed. Meals are packed and delivered mornings, Monday through Friday. You can volunteer for as many days per week or month as you would like. Packaging meals requires approximately 2-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves making sandwiches, packaging food into individual serving containers and packing coolers with the meals. Delivering meals requires approximately 1-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves loading coolers into your car and delivering a route of approximately 10 to 15 stops. The Meals on Wheels program is also in need of emergency, winter-weather volunteers to pack and deliver meals in bad weather. North Penn VNA is located at 51 Medical Campus Drive in Lansdale and delivers meals in the Lansdale, North Wales and Blue Bell areas. For more information or to volunteer, please call Bridget, North Penn VNA Meals on Wheels coordinator at 215-855-8296.

Elkins Park Area CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) meets the first Tuesday of every month, 7- 8:30 p.m., at Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital in Elkins Park. For information on CHADD or ADHD, please see our website www.chadd.net/249 or call Claire Noyes at: 215-779-6656.

Center for Loss and Bereavement, 3847 Skippack Pike, Skippack (610-222-4110) www.bereavementcenter.org Offers professional counseling for individuals, couples, children and families dealing with issues of loss and bereavement. Six-week adult support groups: Newly forming young adult grief support group  every other Wednesday, 7  8:15 p.m. (free of charge); Monthly loss of child support  second Mondays, 7-8:15 p.m.; Six-week young loss of spouse/partner  Thursdays, 10-11:15 a.m.; Other groups scheduled as interest is shown for suicide loss support, adult loss of parent, motherless daughters, adult loss of sibling, coping with chronic illness and disability and mens loss of spouse. Nellos Corner Family Bereavement program offers peer grief support groups for ages 4 through teen and their caregivers  Every other Tuesday or Wednesday (free of charge) Local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children also meets at the Center. Registration required. Call for further information.

CHADD is a national organization for children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, providing education, advocacy and support for individuals and their families with AD/HD. Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital, 60 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027, will host children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder on the First Tuesday of each month 7  8:30 p.m. Free, no childcare provided.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphias Kehillah of Old York Road is sponsoring a free Caregiver Support Group for individuals who care for an elderly person with cognitive and/or physical impairments. The group meets at SarahCare Adult Day Care Center, 101 Washington Lane, Suite G-6, Jenkintown, Pa., on the first Wednesday of each month. Patty Rich,"Last week I had convinced myself I lost no matter how close it was. So to say this is surreal is an understatement." - Neil McDevittBy By:

Dr. Francis R. Souder, 85, formerly of Telford, died Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007 in the skilled nursing unit of Peter Becker Community, Franconia Township. He and his wife Marion R. (Parker) Souder celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary in July.

Born in Souderton, he was a son of the late Elvin B. and Mary (Rittenhouse) Souder.

A 1938 graduate of Souderton High School, he received his undergraduate degree in 1941 from the University of Pennsylvania where he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa. Dr. Souder went on to receive his medical degree from Hahnemann Medical College in 1944 and completed his internship at Hahnemann Hospital from Oct. 1944  July, 1945.

He served with the U.S. Navy Medical Corps for 30 months in San Diego and Long Beach, Calif. during WW II and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant prior to his discharge. He entered his second tour of duty during the Korean War where he served in Panama City, Fla. as the medical officer for the Panama City Naval Air Station and the Tyndal Air Force Base.

Dr. Souder owned and operated his family practice on Main Street in Telford from 1947-1989. He served on the staff of Grand View Hospital, and as its president, and taught at the Grand View Hospital Nursing School. He was a member of the Pa. Medical Society, the Bucks County Medical Society, Diplomat American Academy of Family Practices, and served on the board of trustees at Grand View Hospital, Sellersville.

He was a member of Trinity United Church of Christ in Telford, where he sang in the church choir. He was also a member of the MacCalla Lodge #596 in Souderton, the Raja Shrine, and Lehigh Consistory.

In addition to his widow, he is survived by a son, Dr. Ronald L. Souder, and his wife Susan L. of Green Lane; a daughter, Susan J. Souder, and her husband Stephan Russo of New York, N.Y.; five grandchildren: Jennifer A. Souder of Philadelphia; Emily E. Souder of Philadelphia; Kathryn A. Souder of Washington, D.C.; Noah Russo of New York, N.Y., and Rebekah Russo of New York, N.Y., and two brothers: Attorney Elvin B. Souder of Souderton and Dr. Lawrence Souder of Souderton.

Memorial services will be held on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 12 p.m. in Trinity United Church of Christ, 101 S. Main St., Telford, with calling hours following the service.

Interment will be private in Trinity UCC Cemetery Telford.

Memorial contributions may be made to Grand View Hospital, 700 Lawn Ave., Sellersville, Pa. 18960.

Arrangements are by Sadler-Suess Funeral Home, Telford.Gurbir Singh By

Express News Service

The World Banks Human Capital Index (HCI) report released on Thursday has startling findings. It says a child born in India is likely to be only 44 per cent as productive when he/she grows up to be 18, when compared to an ideal situation if the child had enjoyed optimum education and full health facilities. Poor investment in human capital has thus placed India at a lowly 115th rank on the HCI among 157 countries surveyed. This is much below its peers, including China ranked 46, Malaysia at 55 and even immediate neighbour Bangladesh at 106.

The World Bank Report shows India is still struggling to control infant mortality, with only 96 per cent of the children born likely to survive to the age of five.

GOVT POOH-POOHS REPORT

The Government of India has been quick to challenge the report stating that it did not reflect the key initiatives taken by the government to develop human capital like the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, which focuses on access and quality of education for the benefit of 197 million school children. It has been alleged that the report has also ignored the Ayushman Bharat Programme, the worlds largest Health Insurance initiative.

The government criticism has pointed to the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana that has benefited women by providing gas connections and replacing back-breaking firewood and coke fuel. Financial inclusion was also mentioned wherein the Jandhan Yojana has provided access to formal banking services to millions.

In conclusion, the response said, The Government of India, therefore, has decided to ignore the HCI and will continue to undertake its path-breaking programme for human capital development

However, the previous years data on human capital released by the World Economic Forum showed that there had been little change. In 2017, India ranked a low 103rd out of 130 countries surveyed.

It is not clear whether the World Bank has considered the impact of the Samagra Siksha education outreach programme; but to fault the World Bank for not taking into account the Ayushman Bharat health programme is not fair since the insurance cover has just been launched and its impact can only be seen after a year of operations.

It is also quixotic to point to Indias zero deposit bank accounts being opened as well as issuing of gas connections to millions of women folk as these do not directly impact the development of children as members of a future workforce.

POOR BUDGETS

Beyond the jhumla of data and figures, the ground reality is frightening. The death of 290 children in just one month of August last year at Gorakhpurs BRD Medical College Hospital is a scam that still hangs over UPs Yogi Adityanath government. Many of these children died because of the inability of the hospital to dispense oxygen in time.

There is an ambitious National Health Policy in place, which promises doubling health spending from the existing 1.15 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 2.5 per cent by 2025. This means increasing spends by Central and state governments by 25 per cent each year for the next 7-8 years till the health spending touches Rs 8 lakh crore, up from the current Rs 2 lakh crore. However, in the latest budget, the allocation is just Rs 52,800 crore for health in 2018-19, merely 5 per cent higher.

The Education Story is pretty much the same. Over 100 million people will enter Indias workforce by 2022, but a lack of skills and basic education may mean their contribution could be poor towards fueling economic growth. Though absolute spending by the Centre and the states on education has been increasing, as a percentage of GDP, there has been a steady decrease  Arun Jaitleys latest budget showed spending on education was 2.7 per cent of GDP for the financial year 2018, down from 3.1 per cent in FY2013. Compare this to spends on education by Indias peers in 2014  Brazil 5.7 per cent of GDP on education, China 4.1 per cent and South Africa 6.9 per cent.

Moreover, formal education and skills dont match. The Annual Status of Education Report 2017 found in rural India a quarter of all Class 8 children were unable to read Class 2 textbooks; and over half of them were unable to solve a three-digit by one-digit division problem. Data released by an international body like the World Bank should not be rejected as if national pride is at stake.

Instead, we should realise we have a long way to go in skilling ourselves and take the bull by the horns.By Reuters

NUSA DUA: US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday that Washington wants to include a provision to deter currency manipulation in future trade deals, including with Japan, based on the currency chapter in the new deal to revamp NAFTA.

The remark drew concern in Japan, where local media ran front-page stories questioning whether this would give Washington the right to label as currency manipulation any future foreign exchange market interventions by Tokyo to keep sharp yen rises in check.

The yen is often regarded as a "safe-haven" currency in Asia, attracting capital inflows during times of market distress that can spike its value for short periods, hurting exports.

Mnuchin told reporters at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Bali that Washington views the currency chapter in the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) as a model for future trade deals to deter trading partners from currency manipulation.

"Our objective would be that the currency issues ... We'd like to include (them) in future trade agreements. With everybody. I'm not singling out Japan on that," Mnuchin said when asked whether the United States will discuss currencies in trade negotiations with Japan.

"We haven't had specific conversations on that. We obviously continually have conversations with my counterparts about currency. But that is the model we'd like to incorporate going forward," he said.

Mnuchin has criticized China for recent declines in the yuan's value, and said Washington also wants to make currency issues a central part of any talks to resolve the US-China trade conflict.

Japan's Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, who oversees trade talks with the United States, said on Sunday he had so far made no discussions on currencies with his counterpart, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

"If discussions on this subject become necessary, they will be made by the finance ministers of both countries," Motegi said in a television programme, in response to Mnuchin's remark.

US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed in September to start trade talks in an arrangement that, for now, protects Japanese automakers from further tariffs.

Along with fears of being slapped with higher tariffs on its auto exports to the United States, Japan worries about having its hands tied on addressing sharp yen rises that hurts its export-reliant economy.

Trump in the past has criticised the Bank of Japan's ultra-easy monetary policy, saying it was aimed at weakening the yen, a claim the central bank dismisses.

NEW NAFTA CURRENCY CHAPTER

Democrats in the US Congress have long called for enforceable currency provisions in trade deals and were disappointed in 2015 when one was not included in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which President Donald Trump abandoned last year.

In the Sept 30 deal to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement, the United States, Canada and Mexico agreed to "avoid manipulating exchange rates or the international monetary system in order to prevent effective balance of payments adjustment or to gain an unfair competitive advantage."

The United States has not complained about Canada's and Mexico's free-floating currencies but sought the chapter to deter manipulation in future trade deals.

The USMCA requires the three countries to disclose monthly data on international reserve balances and intervention in foreign exchange markets, along with quarterly balance-of-payments data and other public reporting to the International Monetary Fund.

Each of the three countries will be represented on a monetary committee that will meet at least annually to monitor the chapter's implementation. If one party believes another is in violation of the pact, it can initiate bilateral consultations and the IMF can be invited to mediate disagreements.

Ultimately, they can turn to the USMCA's country-to-country dispute resolution mechanism if the dispute cannot be resolved bilaterally.The signing of cooperation agreements between the two localities (Source: VNA)

They reached the agreement during their talks in Quang Binh held as part of the working visit to Quang Binh by a high-ranking delegation from Savannakhets led by Governor Santiphap Phomvihane.



At the event, representatives from the two localities also signed several cooperation agreements.



The two sides informed each other of their respective socio-economic developments, defence-security situation, and party-building progress; while reviewing the implementation of contents in the minutes of the talks signed on September 26, 2016 in Savannakhet.



They agreed to continue coordination in building National Road 9B from Quang Binh to Savannakhets Chutmut-Lavin.



Quang Binh will help Savannakhet train 20 students each year in education establishments in the Vietnamese locality over the academic years of 2018-2019 and 2019-2020.



The two provinces will continue to maintain rotational exchanges between their border working missions and border protection and management forces in order to soundly address issues related to border work in line with the Vietnam-Laos agreement on border regulations.



They will also regularly share information concerning border management and protection, especially in thwarting reactionaries plots to sabotage and split the Vietnam-Laos solidarity; and in preventing drug trafficking, smuggling, and transport of firearms and explosives, as well as illegal crossings.



On the occasion, on behalf of the Lao President and Prime Minister, Santiphap Phomvihane presented the first-class Labour Order to Quang Binh authorities; as well as the second-class Freedom Order to Hoang Dang Quang, Secretary of the Quang Binh provinces Party Committee. He also honoured other officials of the Vietnamese locality.



Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Quang presented certificates of merit from the Chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee to three organisations and six individuals who made great contributions to building and developing the friendship and cooperation between the two localities./.By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Its that festive time of the year when Durga Puja, the biggest annual festival of the Bengalis, will be observed with much gaiety and fanfare. Elsewhere in India, too, the goddess is worshipped during this period where it is known in several other names such as Navratri especially in the north, Dasara in the South.

It is in the eastern states of Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Manipur, Tripura and Assam that people celebrate it only on four days of Navratri as Durga Puja.

The Bengali diaspora has gripped all the Hyderabadis with the Durga Puja celebrations. And Hyderabad Bengali Samity or HBS, the oldest Bengali socio-cultural organisation in Hyderabad, is celebrating its 77th year Durga Puja at PVR Convention, Lower Tank Bund between October 15 to 19.

HBS observes all the rituals of the Puja to the minutest detail which would be performed by scholars and priests from Kolkata. Puja days are strictly observed according to the Hindu calendar and prayers are offered on the four main days.

Bhog is offered to the Goddess and the prasadam distributed among all the devotees on Saptami, Ashtami and Navami days as annadanam. In the evening there are cultural programmes where famous artistes from Mumbai and Kolkata will perform melodious numbers.

Apart from this, the local talents will also enthrall the crowed with different cultural presentations like dance, music and different kinds of plays.

The celebrations come to an end on Vijayadashami with women in white sarees with red border, bidding farewell to the Mother Goddess by offering her sweets and applying vermilion in the partition of their hair.Anu Kuruvilla By

Express News Service

KOCHI: The picture that comes to our mind when we think of a nun is of a person with a serene, untroubled look on her face. And it is this image the laity always wants to see. But has anybody looked past the facade and tried to ascertain the underlying emotions? The recent incident that shook the church and the laity alike pinpoint to the fact everything is not right in the convents, which still follow the age-old customs and laws.

READ | Weighed down by the three vows

A nuns life inside the convent varies according to the congregation that she belongs to, said Sister Lucy, belonging to the Franciscan Clarist Congregation. There are around 128 congregations, belonging to the Latin, Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara rites in the Catholic Church in Kerala. The Catholic Church has around 128 congregations and each of them has a different set of rules. However, the basic rule that governs every congregation is leading a life of simplicity and piety. Ours should be a life of service to God and also the poor, said the nun who took part in the recent nuns protest in Kochi.

ALSO READ | Religious vocation crisis for Kerala women looms large

Sometimes, people lose the way and end up being miserable. But, this happens only in the case of those who take the veil under some false notion, she said. I decided to join the convent because I got the divine call and till date, I have been following the path shown to me by my Lord Jesus, said Sr Lucy.

She said, of course, even though convents are places where all human emotions like jealousy and anger should never find a foothold, the evils do carve out a niche for themselves. After all, we are human beings, she said. Another oft-heard complaint is that a lot of discrimination happens inside the convent. Girls coming from financially backward families are the ones who have to bear the brunt of discrimination, said a nun, who does not wish to be named.

ALSO READ | Braving odds: It is an isolated existence for five nuns in Kuravilangad convent

The merit of the nuns is measured in terms of the gifts their family members bring when they come to visit them. If the gifts are found to be not up to the standards set by the senior sisters, then the nuns fall from their grace, she said. Another problem the nuns face is the lack of a tidy pocket money. It is often assumed since we live in a convent and lead a simple life, we dont need money. If we want something, we have to go to the higher-ups in the convent and request them to give us the required amount. Once all their queries are answered, they issue us the money, said Sr Lucy.

Those sisters who work too cant keep their salaries with them. All the nuns who work have to deposit their salaries with the Church. The situation is funny since the money that we earn after toiling for hours in various professions have to be given back. In order to do any community work like helping the poor in the parish financially, we have to yet again go via the chain of command, she said.

One cant be outspoken or raise a complaint, she said. If you do so, you are branded a pariah. Like I have become after taking up the cause of the abused nun, said Sr Lucy. According to the nuns, the Church needs to bring in reforms in tune with the times. Instead of bringing in novices by promising them goodies like free education and jobs, the Church should try to bring in people who are actually suited for the calling, said Sister Anita, serving in north India.By Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: Hoping to find an end to their decade-long excruciating wait for justice to their daughter Ayesha Meera, who was brutally raped and murdered in her hostel room in December 2007, the parents of the B Pharmacy student Shamshad Begum and Syed Iqbal Basha, have decided to meet Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and request him to entrust the case investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

We have lost our hope and trust in the capability of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the case speedily and transparently. At least, the TDP, which was in the opposition when the incident happened in 2007, should fulfil its promise of delivering justice by bringing the killers to book. We will meet Naidu soon and put before him our request, Ayeshas mother Shamshad said.

Disappointed with the approach of the SIT, constituted to probe the case afresh, she found fault with Vizag range DIG Ch Srikanth and his team for their wfailure to extract the truth from the seven suspects. Its been more than 10 months since the SIT has been constituted, but they have not made an inch of progress in the case. Everyone (SIT) is wasting time and coming up with lame excuses, she rued.

Seeing conspiracy behind destruction of evidence, Shamshad expressed suspicion that the accused influenced both police and officials in the court. I wonder how can they destroy the evidence when the case is pending in upper court. Those people who destroyed the physical evidence should be exposed.



Extending their solidarity with the Ayeshas parents, lawyers, human rights activists, womens organizations and Muslim minority organizations have decided to accompany them to meet the CM. A few highly influential people are trying to save the killers and erased the evidence as per their plan. By closing all the doors, they (killers) are trying to walk out free from the case. Without evidence, how can they get justice? lawyer Pichuka Srinivas sought to know.By Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: Reiterating that there is no compromise on special category status, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan has urged Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to call an all-party meeting and lead a delegation to New Delhi for conducting talks with the Centre on the issue.

Interacting with media persons after inaugurating his partys State headquarters near Benz Circle here Saturday, Kalyan felt that it is high time for Naidu to prove his sincerity by convening an all-party meeting on SCS and other bifurcation promises made to the State. Collective decision and efforts are needed at this juncture, he stressed.

When asked about Jana Senas negative response to the two all-party meetings convened on SCS, the actor-turned-politician was quick to point out that sincerity was lacking in organising those meetings. The motive behind them was also different. Hence, Jana Sena did not respond at that time. Naidu is confusing people with frequent change of stance on SCS, while the Jana Sena has the same opinion on SCS from the beginning, he asserted.

On increasing criticism against his alleged soft stand towards the BJP, Kalyan clarified that neither the Jana Sena or himself has any truck with the saffron party. I am not supporting the BJP and I dont have any relation with Narendra Modi, he clarified. Speaking on the report of the fact-finding committee, which said the Centre has to clarify on `74,000 crore due to AP, Pawan was quick to point out that he was not an elected member and cannot raise the issue in the legislative bodies. I ensured that experts took stock of the situation and gave an analytical view of the situation. It was up to the Chief Minister and the Opposition to take up the issue, deliberate and strive to get what was due to the State, he said.

Taking a cautious approach on the recent I-T raids in the State, he said if the raids were on the Secretariat, government offices or Chief Minister, his party would have reacted. When the raids are on some properties of industrialists, how can we respond? he asked. Pawan said the inclusion of former Speaker Nadendla Manohar in the Jana Sena has given a big boost to the party.

Decision on contesting in TS polls soon: Pawan

Pawan Kalyan said the Jana Sena would take a final call on the Telangana Assembly elections within 4-5 days. I will announce the party s decision on the December 7 Telangana polls in a press conference in Hyderabad soon, he said. Taking exception to the decision to hold elections early, Kalyan described it as premature.

In fact, the Jana Sena was contemplating to contest 24-25 seats in Telangana in 2019. In 2009, I have visited almost every thanda, village and Assembly constituency in Telangana and have identified some potential candidates. Those candidates are at present with the TRS, occupying positions of corporators and some important positions in the party. Kalyan, however, exuded confidence that they would respond to his call and join the Jana Sena.By Online Desk

The Ernakulam Central police have received a complaint seeking action against actor Revathy for remaining silent after coming to know about a sexual assault attempt on a 17-year-old girl in a cinema set, reported Manorama online.

While talking about the #MeToo movement during the press meet conducted by Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) on Saturday, Revathy had recollected an incident which had happened in a cinema set 25 years ago. Without giving many details, the Kilukkam-heroine had said that a minor girl once knocked at her doors at a movie set to seek help.

ALSO READ | AMMA must look into issues raised by actresses: Kerala Minister

However, finding fault in the actor for not reporting a rape attempt for such a long period, advocate Jiyaz Jamal has filed a complaint against her. He has also asked the police to register a case and start an investigation into the matter.

Following this unexpected turn of events, the actor has come up with further explanation, stating that she can't give any further information on the incident without the permission of the victim. The victim was afraid to go public back then, she added.

Revathy explained that the girl was not sexually assaulted and she just narrated that incident to cite an example of the dangers being faced by working women.

The WCC, of which Revathy is an active member, on Saturday lashed A.M.M.A, the Malayalam actors association for supporting the accused actor in the infamous actress-assault-case while sidelining the victim.

In a press conference held here on Saturday, the WCC members levelled serious allegations against A.M.M.A and its president, actor Mohanlal.By Express News Service

KOCHI: The Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) on Saturday came out against A.M.M.A, the Malayalam actors association, alleging that the association openly continued to support the accused actor in the infamous actress-assault-rape case, while sidelining the actress who survived the sexual assault.

In a press conference here on Saturday, the WCC members levelled serious allegations against A.M.M.A and its president and actor Mohanlal.

She is being denied justice. The executive committee of A.M.M.A is raising arguments against the survivor. In one of the meetings, they even raised personal issues they had with the survivor, said Parvathy Thiruvoth, actor and WCC member.

The WCC alleged that the executive committee was twisting A.M.M.As bylaws to protect the accused actor. This shows thriving misogyny in the film industry and A.M.M.A is trying to protect the accused, said actor Padmapriya.

Actor Remya Nambeesan speaking at the press conference | Melton Antony

This is not a fight against A.M.M.A or any individual. This is against those in power who are reluctant to do anything to give justice to the survivor of such a heinous crime. The association has actors who are loved across the state and have huge fan following. Dont they have social responsibility? What if this happens again? asked actor Revathy.

The WCC has come out again on the issue after Mohanlal has said that only the general body of A.M.M.A has the power to initiate disciplinary action against any member. Raising this point, Mohanlal practically dismissed a letter sent by WCC raising their objections and concerns on the steps initiated to expel him from the association, alleged the WCC members.

A 17-year-old girl came running to my door; she was exploited

Kochi: I still remember the day when a 17-year-girl came running to my door. She was sexually exploited, said actor Revathi, referring to the existing sexual harassment and exploitation in the Malayalam film industry. The actress refused to reveal the details of the girl, saying that the victim herself will speak up when she feels so. It happened years ago, and it is up to her to speak up about it. It is her story and not mine to reveal, said Revathi.

The WCC also said that me too stories will soon come out of the industry. There are so many horrible cases which we have heard of. Soon, women will speak up and there will be a change in the industry, said Revathi. Asked about the allegations against actor-MLA Mukesh, actress Rima Kallingal said: Last we heard, one more complaint has been raised. We are curious about the action A.M.M.A and the government will take. The government has a responsibility as he is an elected representative in the government.



Actor recounts bad experience on big-budget movies locale

Kochi: Actor Archana Padmini spoke about the bad experienmce she faced during the shoot of Mammooty-starrer Pullikkaran Staara. She alleged that a production manager named Sherin Stanley misbehaved with her. Though she raised a complaint with Film Employees Federation of Kerala ( FEFKA ), no action was taken, she said. I had raised the complaint with director B Unnikrishnan. Even Sibi Malayil and Sohan Seenu Lal are also aware of the complaint. No action whatsoever has been taken against the accused, and he is still working in movies, said Archana.Shillpi A Singh By

Express News Service

Spices and herbs, a blend of which when used in the right proportion, give the food a distinct flavour, colour and aroma. An ounce more or an ounce less is bound to spoil the taste, and also the mood. And for the millennials on the go, sourcing spices to tickle their taste buds, and adding the much-needed zing to the varied cuisines from across the world, seems just a click away.

Thanks to a plethora of options from Sprig, Urban Platter, Urban Flavorz, Keya, Weber, Nutty Yogi, Asa, Earthon, and On1y, among many others that make their food taste better, and lives much more comfortable. From whole, ground to blends, and concentrates, from everyday spices to gourmet, theres something or the other to make the culinary experience one of its kind. Every player has chosen their area of expertise. While Weber is ruling the world of seasonings, Keya bring a premium range of spices from their lands of origin. Be it the Srilankan cinnamon powder, the Kashmiri paprika powder or the authentic nutmeg powder from Travancore.

Viren Desai, AVP, Jayanti Herbs and Spice, the company behind On1y, says, Capturing the essence of herbs and spices, On1y is an attempt to bring the luxury of fresh ground spice to every household. Our recent launch includes a range of 11 international seasonings. The owners started Urban Platter with a vision to deliver simply good food to people who seek a personal connection with what they eat, while Earthon lives by the motto, Every time you buy organic, youre persuading more farmers to grow organic.

The Westin Sohna Resort and Spa Executive Chef Ashish Juyal remembers how sourcing spices used to be a tough task in the earlier days. During my stint with Atlantis The Palm in Dubai the gourmet spices used to be sourced from across the best places in the world to make the cuisines special. From getting vanilla beans from Madagascar to importing green cardamom, nigella seeds and whole black pepper from Kerala, to sourcing oregano leaves from Greece and paprika from Hungary, we did whatever possible to get the best. But with the online sellers dominating the market, ordering everything original and authentic has become trouble-free.

Culinary expert, food blogger and food consultant chef Reetu Uday Kugaji also believes the easy availability of spices and spice blends such as Zaatar powder, Ground Allspice, Mexican Chile Chipotle, Garlic Sriracha Powder, Harissa Seasoning/Rub, Pumpkin Pie Spice and Ground Mahleb have given delectable options to the growing tribe of foodies.

These spices and spice blends are mostly used in almost all cuisines the world over. The popularity of Indian cuisine is on the rise. These spices are no longer region-specific, she says. On one hand, the foodies are happy, on the other hand the entrepreneurs are elated enough that they are serving their customers with the best of everything.

Ashok Mani, MD and CEO, Intergrow Brands Pvt Ltd, which manages Sprig, says, It successfully caters to global tastes and has 50 SKUs under it. Our best-selling product, vanilla extract, is the only alcohol-free vanilla extract in the market and uses vanilla beans sourced from Madagascar.

Not only professional chefs, even home chefs are catching up with the new trend because getting home-made spices was never this convenient. So get set for a culinary ride!

keya

Product portfolio: Apart from a variety of premium herbs, spices, sprinklers and seasonings, the brand sells over 100 other products.

USP: Modern avatar of the age-old smartness and state-of-the-art automated processes.

Must try: Sriracha spice mix, Travancore nutmeg powder, pizza chilli, Himalayan black salt.

Weber

Product portfolio: From shake-on spices to marinades, there's everything to up your grill game.

Must try: Kick'N Chicken Seasoning, Honey Garlic Rub, Black Peppercorn Marinade Mix, Beer Can Chicken Seasoning, Chicago Steak Seasoning.

Sprig

Product portfolio: Ranges from spices, natural extracts, food colours to exotic sauces and gourmet

green tea.

USP: Cutting-edge processing

techniques.

Recent launches: Sauces made from Bhutjolokia and Mexican chile peppers, the exotic mango jalapeno and the oriental ginger teriyaki complete the range. Spreads include unique flavour combos: chocolate and peanut butter, coconut and ginger caramel, classic slated caramel, coffee and chocolate.

On1y

Product portfolio: Has 31 varieties of gourmet spice seasonings and herbs.

USP: User-friendly packaging, ingredients sourced from best origin farms from across the globe, premium range of built-in grinders and two-way flip cap sprinklers.

Recent launches: In August 2018, a range of 11 international seasonings such as Piri Piri, Mexican, Chinese Five spice and Paprika was introduced which is a hit among people.G Parthasarathy By

In the early morning hours of November 3, 1998, then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was informed that the Indian Ocean Island of Maldives, a member of SAARC, had been invaded and its capital Male occupied by a group of unknown mercenaries. New Delhi responded swiftly. By late evening, Indian paratroopers landed in Male, routed the 80 intruders, who were mostly Sri Lankan Tamil militants, with a sprinkling of radicalised Maldivian Muslims. President Maumoon Gayoom thanked India and its political and economic ties with Maldives blossomed.

Things changed drastically when Gayooms step-brother Abdullah Yameen became President. Yameen arbitrarily ousted members of Parliament, arrested the Chief Justice and other judges, together with his predecessor Nasheed and former President Gayoom. He placed restrictions on Indian nationals and Indian projects. He even demanded removal of Indian Air Force helicopters, deployed in the Maldives and opened the doors for a flood of Chinese projects. The countrys islands were recklessly leased to China, opening the doors for deployment of Chinese military equipment.

The Indian response was slow but sure. Its policies led to Yameens decisive defeat in elections a fortnight ago by Opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohammed Solih, who has pointedly invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his inauguration. Solihs victory is a serious setback to Chinese efforts to eliminate Indian influence in the Maldives, which is located barely 461 nautical miles from India and 3,048 nautical miles from China.

While China may provide massive economic aid to Indias immediate neighbours, to undermine Indias influence, it has little understanding of political dynamics in democracies. It has cut a sorry figureinitially in Sri Lanka by backing President Rajapakse, and now in the Maldives. China now appears to be very satisfied in Nepal, presuming that it has Nepals Prime Minister Oli in its pocket. India is not unduly impressed by Olis actions, like threatening to use Chinese ports for its trade, or boycotting participation in BIMSTEC regional forum activities like the meeting of army chiefs of BIMSTEC countries in Pune, evidently to appease its Chinese friends.

He will soon realise, like Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia and others, that receiving large amounts of Chinese aid is a recipe for bankruptcy and mortgaging national sovereignty. Chinese ports are located at over 3,300 km from Nepals borders, whereas Kolkata is at adistance of barely 640 km. Prime Minister Oli surely knows that Chinese ports can never be a substitute for ports in India and Bangladesh. Trying to play off India against China is hardly a credible option for Nepal.

India should tell its South Asian neighbours that playing off India against China is not realistic. New Delhi should provide its neighbours with documented information on how receiving Chinese aid under its Belt and Road initiative, is now recognised widely as a recipe for bankruptcy. And Islamic countries need to be reminded about the persecution of Chinas Muslims in Xinjiang, its only Muslim-majority Province.dadpartha@gmail.comGautam Chintamani By

At the audio launch of his new film, Sarkar, Tamil superstar Vijay was asked if he was planning to play Chief Minister in real life. The answer was perhaps the only politically correct thing that someone like

Vijay could indulge in. But knowing how intertwined cinema and politics are in Tamil Nadu, the stars reply has already been interpreted as a hint at his possible foray into politics.

There are two aspects to Vijays statement, which goes: If I become the Chief Minister, I wont just act like one, but will do my job with sincerity. For starters, Vijay, like nearly every big star in Tamil cinema, has no qualms about wearing his political identity on his sleeve. Secondly, he is simply following the tradition of Tamil superstars blurring the line between cinema and political propaganda. After all, three Chief Ministers of this stateMG Ramachandran, M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaagraduated from films. Also, with Kamal Haasan announcing his political outfit and Rajinikanth dropping hints of getting into politics, the states political landscape is again going to be influenced by cinema.

Last year, Vijay initiated a debate about a political future when his film Mersal featured him mouthing controversial dialogue about the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The difference between then and now besides being closer to the elections, of course is that unlike a character in a film, Vijay, the person, spoke on how he wanted to root out corruption if he did become the CM.

Vijay addressed the gathering as if it was a political rally or how else do you explain utterances such as: we have already formed our sarkar (government) and now we are going to contest in the elections, and then clarify to the cheering fans that he was not talking about real-life politics but just the film, Sarkar.

With the 2019 elections approaching, there is going to be an increase in such politicking and you could expect such enthused one-liners from the likes of Vijay.

The massive fan-following that he or a Kamal Haasan has is akin to political cadre, but does that readily translate into votes? Haasans immediate release post the announcement of his party Makkal Needhi Maiam, Vishwaroopam II, was one of his careers worst reviewed films and also fell short on its commercial expectations.

By comparison, MGRs first film after he split from the Karunanidhi-led DMK to launch Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam later rechristened All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Ulagam Sutrum Valiban (1972) was such a resounding success and it settled any doubt about the states electorate.

Are todays celebrities who have political ambition unable to read the pulse of the people? A major chunk of Indias population is under the age of 25. They might not even be fully aware of the achievements of some of these celebrities to believe that they could replicate their onscreen personas in real life.

Perhaps that is why a relatively lesser known 22-year-old Prajwal Busta from Jubbal Kothkai, Shimla, is the youngest chairperson of a Block Development Committee in India and not some village elder or some famous local. There is a huge difference between reel and real, and the inability to gauge that cannot be mistaken for confidence that someone who claps at a matinee idols histrionics would necessarily vote for them.gautam@chintamani.orgBy IANS

NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah has said that he was not in a position to comment on M.J. Akbar, who is facing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, as the claims against the Union Minister needed to be "looked into".

"It's difficult to comment on something that comes on a website. One can put anything on a website. So, this needs to be checked. If that is true or false, whether such an incident happened or not," Shah said in an interview ETV late Friday.

"It will have to be seen if it is the same person who is levelling allegations or someone else has put it up (on social media). All these things will have to be seen. And once we do it, we will certainly think over it (the action against Akbar)," he added.

ALSO READ: #MeToo movement | M J Akbar's continuation as MoS seems untenable, say sources

More than half a dozen women journalists have accused Akbar of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour at various stages of his journalistic career, during which he launched and edited several newspapers.

Akbar, the Minister of State for External Affairs, is currently on an official tour abroad. He is yet to make a statement on the allegations against him.

On Friday, US-based journalist Majlie de Puy Kamp told online news portal HuffPost India that Akbar forcibly kissed her on the last day of her internship at The Asian Age office in 2007.

Earlier this week, FORCE magazine Executive Editor Ghazala Wahab, in an article on a news portal, wrote an account of her "harrowing experience" with Akbar.

Former Mint Lounge Editor Priya Ramani, who wrote about a predatory "celebrity editor" without naming anyone in a piece last year, on Monday publicly identified Akbar as the central character of her piece.

"I began this piece with my M.J. Akbar story. Never named him because he didn't 'do' anything. Lots of women have worse stories about this predator -- maybe they'll share," she said.

Journalist Shutapa Paul recalled in a series of tweets on Wednesday that as the India Today editor, whenever Akbar came to Kolkata, he would invite her to his hotel, usually after 8 p.m. He would then drink alcohol and ask her to also do so.

Other female journalists who have levelled allegations against Akbar include Prerna Singh Bindra, Sujata Anandan, Shuma Raha, Harinder Baweja and Anju Bharti.Delegates at the signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding (Photo: vov.vn)

The search, which is conducted in the annual dry season, will take place in Senmonorom city; districts of Kaoh Nheaek, Pechr Chenda, Ou Reang and Kaev Seima of Mondulkiri province, Cambodia. The activity is in the framework of a memorandum of understanding on continuing cooperation to search the remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts in Mondulkiri province, signed by Mr. Chang Sokchantha, Deputy Governor of Mondulkiri Province, and Ms. H'Yim Kdoh, Deputy Chairwoman of the Dak Lak provincial People's Committee, on October 3rd.

Accordingly, the administration of Mondulkiri province will create conditions for 64 members of Vietnams K51 search team to search the remains in the province under the laws and customs of the local people.

Besides, Mr. Chang Sokchantha also called upon agencies, administrations and people in the province to provide information and support the K51 search team.

According to a report of Cambodia in 2017, around 4,000 remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts have not been found. Both nations have been accelerating the implementation of plans in recent times to finish the search for the remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts by 2020./.By UNI

RAIPUR: BJP chief Amit Shah, known for fine tuning the electoral management at the minutest level and till the last minute, held key deliberations with senior party strategist Anil Jain for Naxal-hit Bastar region on Friday.

At one point of time, when he met Mr Jain, party's in-charge for Chhattisgarh and another key strategist Rajendra Singh, even Chief Minister Raman Singh and BJP's Chhattisgarh unit president Dharamlal Kaushik were not present.

READ| Chhattisgarh elections: Choose Congress and see Left-Wing Extremism grow, warns Amit Shah

Rajendra Singh is a Bihar-based leader and credited for organisational works. He could be made a special poll in-charge for Bastar region. Sources in BJP say there are different facets of elections in the Naxal region.

"One peculiar fact has been that there are six-seven seats in Naxal hit region where no MLA or party is re-elected. Elections are tougher in this region than it can be in the rest of the state," a party leader said.

Mr Shah's interactions for Bastar region is considered significant as in 2013 Assembly polls, there was significant erosion in BJP support base and Congress had put up an impressive show picking up eight seats out of 12 in the Bastar region.

The Congress vote share from 34 per cent in 2003 had leaped forward to 42 per cent in 2013 and this translated into BJP losing out 8 seats.

In Bastar region between the seven districts, there are 12 crucial seats. BJP had won nine of them in 2003 and the vote share was 41 per cent. This had improved to 11 in 2008 but came down to four in 2013 through the vote share had jumped to 44 per cent.

Among other things, Mr Shah reviewed the report of internal survey conducted by the party, sources said, adding during the crucial meeting, none of the ticket aspirants were allowed to come near the venue.

"The BJP needs to fine-tune the strategies about the tribal vote share and things are being examined closely," a source in Jagdalpur told UNI over phone.

According to sources, all those issues that could impact voting turnout in these areas and the manner people would vote either for BJP or against it were also taken a closer look at.

Tentative lists of candidates prepared by party's various units were also examined and things can be reviewed once again in consultation with other stakeholders and especially Chief Minister, the source said.

During his speech at BJP booth workers meet at Jagdalpur and later in the day at intellectuals meet at Raipur, BJP national president credited the Chief Minister as an able administrator especially for fighting the Naxal menace.By PTI

ALIGARH: Kashmiri students studying at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) have threatened to leave for their homes on October 17, if the sedition charges against three of them are not dropped.

In a letter to AMU vice-chancellor, AMU students union former vice-president Sajjad Rathar said, "If this vilification does not stop, more than 1,200 Kashmiri students will leave for their homes in the Kashmir Valley on October 17 as a last option."

Terming the slapping of sedition charges as "vendetta", Rathar said, "The option of holding Namaaz-e-Janaza (prayer meeting) in absentia was dropped after the AMU authorities did not give the permission."

"If no prayer meeting was held as confirmed by all official agencies, the slapping a case of sedition against three Kashmiri students is simply a vendetta, harassment and denial of justice," he said.

The letter was handed over to AMU Proctor Mohsin Khan in presence of large number of Kashmiri students at his office on Saturday night.

AMU spokesman Shafay Kidwai, however, denied the Kashmiri students' charges of harassment and stressed that "no innocent would be framed".

Prof Kidwai also made it clear that "there is zero tolerance for any anti-national activity on AMU campus".

Three Kashmiri students of AMU were booked on sedition charges for allegedly for raising "anti-India" slogans and trying to hold a prayer meeting for Hizbul Mujahideen commander Manan Bashir Wani on October 12 (Friday).

Twenty-seven-year-old Wani, pursing a PhD course in Allied Geology at the AMU, had quit the university and joined militant ranks in January this year.

He was killed in an encounter at Shatgund village in Handwara area of north Kashmir's Kupwara district on Thursday.

Aligarh's Senior Superintendent of Police Ajai Sahni said police took the action (on October 12) after a video surfaced, showing the three Kashmiri students raising "anti-India" slogans.

"Police have filed an FIR against Wasim Malik, Abdul Mir and one unnamed person. They have been identified on the basis of a video recording," he said.

Prof Kidwai said show cause notices have been issued to nine students for trying to hold an unauthorised gathering Thursday.

"A three-member inquiry committee has been set up to probe the incident. It will submit a report in the next 72 hours," he said.

The three students were suspended from the AMU earlier.

Some AMU students from Kashmir had on Thursday (October 11) gathered near Kennedy Hall on the campus to hold funeral prayers for Wani, following which the varsity staff and the students union leaders had rushed to the spot and tried to stop them.

A heated exchange erupted between the students union leaders and the Kashmiri students and they finally moved out of the area, Kidwai said, adding three Kashmiri students were suspended for trying to hold the "unlawful" gathering.

He said the university has made it clear that it has a zero tolerance policy for any act which could even remotely be described as anti-national.

AMUSU president Faizul Hasan had told PTI that he had always championed the cause of freedom of speech but any act of treason or terror was unacceptable to the students' union.

He said they will not allow the university to be defamed by any person who indulges in such unlawful activity.

BJP lawmaker from Aligarh, Satish Gautam said those who tried to hold a prayer meeting for Wani on the AMU campus should be expelled.Harpreet Singh Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: Interrogation of the three Kashmiri students arrested on Wednesday from Jalandhars CT Institute of Engineering and Technology has revealed that Kashmir-based terror outfit Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH) had been planning to carry out bomb blasts in the city during Dusshera, police officers investigating the case said on Friday.

The officers, who did not want to be named, added that the three arrested operatives  Zahid Gulzar, Yusuf Rafiq Bhatt and Mohammad Idriss Shah  had been instructed to watch out for the date on which they would have to carry out the blasts by looking for writing on a tree near a bridge in Amritsar. They added that 19 had been inscribed on a tree, which they had found and that this meant that the date chosen was October 19.

The states Intelligence and police agencies are not on the hunt for the person who brought the explosives into the state and stashed them with the arrested operatives. During the interrogation, Zahid said they did not know where they had to place the explosives. He reportedly told officers that he had been in touch with the terror group over six months and had gone to Amritsar on October 7 to collect the explosives from under a bridge.

He reportedly used social media platforms to communicate with the group. After the interrogation, the police have started rounding up several others. Four other students who hail from Kashmir were picked up by the city police on Friday evening for questioning. The four are said to be friends with the three arrested operatives and have been staying in the city for some time.

Two other students in Jagraon, near Ludhiana, have reportedly gone into hiding and the police are currently trying to trace their whereabouts. Another student, Sohail of Awantipura in J&K, is also under the scanner for alleged links with the terror group. Sohail is studying at a private institute near Chandigarh and was picked up by the J&K police in Jammu.Ramananda Sengupta By

NEW DELHI: India was elected to the influential UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) with the highest number of votes by the General Assembly on Friday India received 188 votes, the highest polled by any of the 18 countries elected in the voting.

The 18 new members were elected by absolute majority through a secret ballot. Countries needed a minimum of 97 votes to get elected to the Council. The Council has 47 members, selected each year by the UN General Assembly for staggered three-year terms. Human Rights Watch had urged UN member states to vote against several of the 18 states elected, including the Philippines, Bahrain and Cameroon, saying there were significant concerns over human rights in those nations.

I am happy to inform that India has been elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council with highest number of votes. We have secured 188 votes out of 193, tweeted External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj after the results were declared Friday in Geneva. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), a separate organ answering to the UN Secretary-General, provides technical, substantive and secretariat support to the Council. In June, the OHCHR had created a stir when its High Commissioner Zeid Raad Al Hussein released the first-ever UN human rights report on Kashmir, a 49 page document which ostensibly cites rights abuses by both India and Pakistan in Kashmir.

However, it focused mostly on chronic impunity for violations committed by Indian security forces, and called for an international inquiry. India had vehemently rejected the report, saying that it legitimized Pakistani terrorism. India rejects the report. It is fallacious, tendentious and motivated. We question the intent in bringing out such a report, the MEA said.

Describing it as a selective compilation of largely unverified information, it said, The report violates Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. Pakistan is in illegal and forcible occupation of a part of the Indian state through aggression.By Express News Service

BHOPAL: Two techie siblings from Mandsaur town of Madhya Pradesh are looking to take on the menace of fake news with the help of Artificial Intelligence.

The two brothers, Dushyant and Pallav Sethiya, both alumni of separate British universities, are developing a software platform for not only tracking fake news but also identifying its creators and blocking sources.

Dushyant (32), a Leeds and Cambridge University alumnus, and Pallav (28), who is currently studying at the Cranfield University, have already showcased their prototype among various start-up promotion meets and corporate companies in England.

Fake news is a malaise, which is being used by vested interests for political polarisation and creating imbalance in stock and financial markets; best exposed during President Donald Trumps election as US President ... Of late, fake news is also causing major trouble in India, such as the recent incidents of mob lynchings, Dushyant told The Sunday Standard.

We started off by devising a prototype which used emotive analysis to track positivity and negativity of news as well as detect how biased news content was. It was presented by Pallav at a weekend aimed to promote Startups in England in January 2018. The prototype drew significant appreciation, thus motivating us to make more upgradation and modification in our model, which was again presented at an Investor Day event in Cranefield University by Pallav last month, Dushyant added.

Buoyed by investor response, the Sethiya siblings, who have so far been financing their work with the revenue of their e-book publishing company, have now started work on patenting their model. Were in talks with journalists in India and are trying to add police stations and hospitals as third party local verification resource bases, Dushyant added. Were also working to ensure that our final efforts are used during the 2019 general elections  added Dushyant.By Express News Service

MUMBAI: The Nationalist Congress Party has informed the Congress of its plan to contest in 50 per cent seats of the total 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra.The talks to decide seat-sharing formula took place on Friday night, wherein we proposed to contest 50 per cent seats in the state. However, the Congress didnt clarify its stand. We are now waiting for its proposal, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said.

In 2014, the NCP had contested on 22 seats while the Congress fought on the remaining 26 seats. While NCP won four seats, the Congress managed only two. In this backdrop, the Congress maintains it has to accommodate other parties with whom talks are on and, hence, needs time.

While NCP state president Jayant Patil said the seat-sharing is likely to be finalised on the criteria of winning potential of candidates and the party, his Congress counterpart Ashok Chavan said the talks are likely to be concluded by October end.

According to Malik, NCP president Sharad Pawar had held talks with Congress chief Rahul Gandhi regarding seat sharing in Maharashtra. Malik also reiterated the NCPs stand to contest 200 out of 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh. However, that is a state-specific decision, and it wont have bearing on the alliance in Maharashtra.By IANS

NEW DELHI: Giving no indication of resigning from the government, Union Minister MJ Akbar, who is facing charges of sexual harassment and wrongdoing by around a dozen women journalists, on Sunday called the allegations "false, wild and baseless" and vowed to take legal action against the accusers.

"Accusation without evidence has become a viral fever among some sections. Whatever be the case, now that I have returned (from abroad), my lawyers will look into these wild and baseless allegations in order to decide our future course of legal action," he said in a statement hours after his return.

Akbar, who was abroad on an official trip in Nigeria when allegations were made by women journalists who had worked with him in newspapers over 15 years ago as part of the #MeToo campaign, asked whether there was an agenda in the allegations as they came ahead of general elections.

While Akbar issued a statement, there was no word from the government or the ruling BJP as to whether he would continue in the government amidst opposition demands for his resignation.

"Why has this storm risen a few months before a general election? Is there an agenda? You be the judge. These false, baseless and wild allegations have caused irreparable damage to my reputation and goodwill," he said.

"Lies do not have legs, but they do contain poison, which can be whipped into a frenzy. This is deeply distressing. I will be taking appropriate legal action," said the 67-year-old former Editor of Asian Age.

Referring to charges by former colleague Priya Ramani, who had written an article a year ago and now named him following the #MeToo campaign, Akbar said: "Priya Ramani began this campaign a year ago with a magazine article. She did not, however, name me as she knew it was an incorrect story. When asked recently why she had not named me, she replied, in a Tweet: "Never named him because he didn't 'do' anything.

"If I didn't do anything, where and what is the story? There's no story. But a sea of innuendo, speculation and abusive diatribe has been built around something that never happened. Some are total, unsubstantiated hearsay; others confirm, on the record, that I didn't do anything," he said.

He referred to other journalists and said: "Shutapa Paul states, 'the man never laid a hand on me'.

"'Shuma Raha says, I must clarify, however, that he didn't actually 'do' anything'. One woman, Anju Bharti, went to the absurd extent of claiming I was partying in a swimming pool. I do not know how to swim."

Akbar, a founding editor of The Telegraph daily and Sunday magazine, was a big name in the media industry before he joined politics in 1989 when he fought the Lok Sabha election on a Congress ticket and became an MP.

He joined BJP ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. A Rajya Sabha MP from Madhya Pradesh, he was inducted into the Modi government in July 2016.

Rebutting allegations by some others, Akbar said: "Another accusation was made repeatedly by Ghazala Wahab, in an effort to damage my reputation. She claimed that she had been molested in office, 21 years ago. This is 16 years before I entered public life, and when I was in media.

"The only office where I worked with Ghazala Wahab was that of The Asian Age. A part of the editorial team then worked out of a small hall. At the time concerned, I had a very tiny cubicle, patched together by plywood and glass. Others had tables and chairs two feet away.

"It is utterly bizarre to believe that anything could have happened in that tiny space, and, moreover, that no one else in the vicinity would come to know, in the midst of a working day. These allegations are false, motivated and baseless.

"Pertinent to remember Ramani and Wahab kept working with me even after these alleged incidents; clearly establishes they had no apprehension and discomfort. Reason why they remained silent for decades is very apparent, as Ramani has herself stated, I never did anything," he added.

As many as 12 journalists have accused Akbar of sexual harassment while he was one of the most powerful journalists in India himself.

The floodgates of allegations opened when journalists across the country joined the #MeToo movement and spoke up about Akbar's 'predator behaviours' across newsrooms.

Akbar was first named as a #MeToo accused by journalist Priya Ramani who tweeted that her article in Vogue in 2017 on sexual harassment was against him.

I began this piece with my MJ Akbar story. Never named him because he didnt do anything. Lots of women have worse stories about this predatormaybe theyll share. #ulti https://t.co/5jVU5WHHo7  Priya Ramani (@priyaramani) October 8, 2018

Following which, senior journalist Ghazala Wahab in an article in The Wire, penned her harrowing experience with Akbar (he was then the editor of the newspaper) while she was a budding journalist at Asian Age. "He was standing next to the door and before I could react he shut the door, trapping me between his body and the door. I instinctively flinched, but he held me and bent to kiss me," wrote Wahab.

Following Wahab's account, women took to Twitter and exposed accounts of his misbehaviour and sexual misconduct across newsrooms and hotels. A US-based scribe through her blog has also come forward to accuse the minister of trying to forcefully kiss her. Majlie de Puy Kamp, revealed that she was sexually harassed by Akbar in 2007 when she was an 18-year-old intern.

Opposition parties Congress, CPI(M) along with journalists demanded his resignation from the office of External Affairs.

Ever since the #MeToo movement gained momentum in India, several academics, journalists, intellectuals and Bollywood actors have been called out for alleged sexual misconduct. Times of India Hyderabad editor K Sreenivas who reportedly stepped down yesterday, Meghnad Bose from The Quint, Prashant Jha from Hindustan Times, Bollywood actor Nana Patekar, Alok Nath, director Vikas Bahl are among those who are named in the movement.

(With online desk inputs)By PTI

IMPHAL: One militant of the banned outfit Kangleipak Yawol Kanba Lup (KYKL) was arrested from Bishenpur district of Manipur on Sunday evening, police said.

The cadre was arrested from Keinou Bazaar area during an operation.

One 9mm pistol loaded with 6 live rounds and one mobile phone were seized from his possession, police said adding that the militant joined the KYKL in 2002.Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRINAGAR: At least 39 policemen have been killed so far in the Kashmir Valley; a number that has already surpassed the number killed last year, sources in the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) police said on Sunday.

On Friday evening, a group of militants barged into the residence of policeman Javed Ahmad Lone in Sopore, North Kashmir and shot him at point-blank range, while his wife and children were present in the house. 37-year-old Lone succumbed to his injuries in a nearby hospital. He was on leave at the time of the attack.

On September 21, militants abducted and killed three policemen including two Special Police Officers (SPOs) in the militancy-riddled Shopian district of south Kashmir.

The sources mentioned above said, of those killed, 30 were policemen while nine were Special Police Officers (SPOs).

So far, about a dozen policemen have been killed while they were on leave in south Kashmir, they added. In a major attack, militants ambushed a police vehicle at Arhama village of Shopian district on August 29, killing four policemen and looting their weapons.

On January 6, militants set off an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Sopore town of north Kashmir's Baramulla. The blast, which was claimed by Pakistan based militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad, claimed the lives of four policemen including an Assistant Sub Inspector.

In 2018, 33 policemen were killed in militant attacks across the troubled Valley.

A senior police official said militants are trying to intimidate the police by targeting them.

He said the police were the target because over the past two years, militant numbers had taken a hit due to successful operations by the state police.

By targeting policemen, the militants try to create fear among the local police and demoralise them to disrupt anti-militancy operations, the official said.

The attacks however, are not impacting the morale of the ranks, he said.

The operations against militants will continue without any relent, the official added.

The J&K police has advised its men hailing from south Kashmir not to visit their homes barring an emergency and even then, only after having informed the local police unit.By Online Desk

Sikkim has become India's first state to be identified by the United Nations as 'fully organic' and was awarded the top prize on Friday. It was recognised for its farming policies which have helped over 66,000 farmers and boosted tourism.

The small Himalayan state was declared 'fully organic' in 2016 after it opted to get rid of chemical fertilisers and pesticides and used natural alternatives instead.

According to the World Future Council, Tourism numbers rose by 50 per cent between 2014 and 2017.

#India has more organic food producers than anywhere in the world. 835,000 of them. Read more: https://t.co/RR9CZ6BB5t #agriculture pic.twitter.com/msYu4tKJWW

 World Economic Forum (@wef) October 12, 2018

The awards have earlier honoured a lot of policies including those combating desertification, violence against women/girls, ocean contamination. This year's award was for agroecology, such as planting trees, avoiding chemicals.

It is said that agroecology could help increasing farmers' earnings and make farms withstand any climatic change.

The second prize was given to three countries:

While Brazil won the second place for its policy of buying food for school meals from family farms, Denmark was awarded for creating more awareness among people and pursuing them to buying more organic food. Quito, which is Ecuador's capital, was recognised for encouraging urban gardening.Vietnam will host the United Nations Day of Vesak Celebrations in 2019 from May 12 th to14th next year (Photo: VNA)



At a press conference held in Hanoi on October 11th, President of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS), Most Venerable Thich Thien Nhon said that this is an important event which will help to enhance the VBS role in international integration and affirm Vietnams responsibilities in the United Nations.This will be the third time Vietnam hosts the Vesak Celebrations, he said, adding that the previous events, organised in Hanoi (2008) and Ninh Binh province (2014), left lasting impressions on the attending international friends.Themed Buddhisms approach to global leadership and sharing responsibility for a sustainable society, the Vesak Celebrations and international conference will welcome around 10,000 participants, including 1,500 dignitaries, leaders of Buddhist sects, and scholars and researchers from 100 countries and territories worldwide.They will get together to discuss global peace, stability, and the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on the Buddhist population.The first preparatory meeting is underway in Hanoi on October 11th and 12th, with the attendance of more than 150 representatives from Cambodia, China, France, Hungary, India, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the US.Most Venerable Phra Brahmapundit, President of the International Council for the Day of Vesak (ICDV), said that the council will support Vietnam to organise a successful event. /.By Express News Service

With RBIs deadline for multi-national payment service providers to comply with data localisation rules ending on Monday, the Trump administration is resorting to last-ditch efforts to soften the blow on US firms.

Senators John Cornyn and Mark Warner, co-chairs of the Senates India caucus that comprises 30 senators, have urged India to tweak the regulatory framework so that business is not affected. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they cited the need for free flow of information and data across borders, says a Reuters report.

RBI had issued a circular in April asking all system providers to ensure the entire data related to payment systems operated by them are stored only in India. The central bank gave them time till October 15 to comply.

Out of the 80-odd service providers, 64 are said to be ready with local data storage. These include Google, WhatsApp, Amazon and Alibaba.

However, not all are ready to go fully local and have approached the Trump administration against the RBI directive. Mastercard, Visa and American Express have reportedly been lobbying to get the norms relaxed.Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Ravi Shankar, 29, and Roshan Lal, 30, belong to different families but share identical stories. Both spent their childhood in abject poverty. Their parents worked as bonded labourers, often unable to feed all members of their families.

That was, however, not unusual for the Kol community, to which the duo belonged. Kol tribals historically inhabit the backward regions of Koraon and Meja in Uttar Pradeshs Allahabad district. But poverty has pushed many Kols to the badlands of Chitrakoot to turn dacoits.

In Ravi and Roshans case, hunger was the only issue before their parents, who would toil from dawn to dusk to earn a paltry sum of Rs 300 a day.

Despite living under such trying circumstances, Ravi and Roshan dared to dream big. They aspired not only to a life in which their families would be free of hunger, but also to do something for their community. It was not easy, but the two held on to their goal, finally graduating as lawyers.

My father knew my passion for education, and despite all hardships, sent me to school, says Ravi, a native of Dhoos village of Koraon. His mother, an asthma patient, worked in a quarry near the village.

There was no money for her treatment. Often, we went to bed hungry, he recalls. Somehow he completed his primary education and got admission at a secondary school.

After finishing school, Ravi went to Nehru Gram Bharti University, Allahabad, with the help of Prof Sunit Singh of GB Pant Social Science Institute, whom he met at a local NGO.

Now a proud lawyer, Ravi practises at Koraon tehsil. Roshan, Ravis batch mate, is from Bisari village in Meja. His parents used to work as labourers in the fields of rich farmers. His school was 15 km away and he had to walk all the way, every day.

I had seen enough hunger and poverty. My father had nine mouths to feed, says Roshan, adding his siblings were not as lucky as him as they were not sent to school.

Destiny goes hand-in-hand with determination. The two youngsters are an inspiration and their efforts will go a long way in uplifting their community, says Prof Sunit Singh.Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRINAGAR: The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB), on Sunday, approved the move to enhance free accident insurance cover provided to pilgrims visting the shrine.

The Shrine Board approved enhancement of Group accidental insurance cover for the pilgrims. The accidental cover extended to each pilgrim free of cost shall now be Rs 5 lakh instead of Rs 3 lakh for those aged 5 and above and Rs 3 lakh for pilgrims below 5 years of age up from Rs 1 lakh at present," said a spokesman of the Board.

The decision was taken at the 63rd meeting of the board, held at the Raj Bhavan in Srinagar under the chairmanship of J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik, who is also the chairman of the board.

The spokesman said the Board approved the additional cover to pilgrims, who avail the services of the upcoming Passenger Ropeway between Bhawan and Bhairon Ghati.

This cover shall be in addition to the accidental cover available to each yatri once he/she collects the yatra slip and commences the pilgrimage, he said.

The premium on providing insurance cover to the pilgrims is borne by the Shrine Board and the cover has been enhanced after 8 years.

The spokesman said the board also approved a medical support policy for the treatment of victims of public trauma. The beneficiaries in this policy will include public trauma victims of road accidents, landslides or shooting stone incidents and such calamities from surrounding areas of the shrine referred to the hospital by the Deputy Commissioners concerned to provide emergency medical aid.

He said medical assistance of upto Rs 2 lakh would be provided to each patient.

To upgrade medical facilities for pilgrims, the board decided to establish a new, fully-equipped and staffed medical unit at Lambi Keri to cater to medical exigencies in the Adhkuwari-Sanjichhat sector taking the total number of medical units to eight on all tracks.

The Shrine board has also decided to implement the Group Mediclaim Insurance Policy for its employees as notified by the State Government for its employees and their dependents.

"Under this scheme, all the 2,960 employees of the Board will be brought under the ambit of this insurance policy for an enhanced insurance cover of Rs 6 lakh for an individual employee and a total of 5 dependents at a premium of Rs 8777/- on the analogy of the State Government for a period of one year," the spokesman added.By Express News Service

MUMBAI: The Bhim Army has demanded a ban on "Ravana Dahan" this Dusserrah. Office bearers of the organization would give memoranda in this regard to government officials including police starting Monday.

"Ravan represents our rich cultural heritage. He was a judicious and popular king who had a good flair in various arts and cultural pursuits. He has been wrongly depicted as a villain in our scriptures. Some of the tribes worship him as a god and hence, we want the unjust act of burning effigies of Ravan on Duserrah," Ashok Kamble, Maharashtra head of the Bhim Army Ekta Mission told The New Indian Express.

"In India, we have several temples of Ravan. Most of them - over 350 are in Tamil Nadu, while the one at Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh is the biggest one - about 15 feet in height," Kamble said while stressing that he had been worshipped as a god by sections of society across India.

"Though the traditional scripts depict him as a Brahmin, it denoted the knowledgeability of a person during those days," Kamble said adding that like several social ills of our society the tradition of burning effigy of Ravan too shall be stopped.

"We shall be giving memoranda to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at 2 pm on Monday. Most of our district units too would meet the district collector as well as the police chiefs of the districts and hand them over the memoranda," said Sunil Thorat, general secretary of Bhim Army's state unit.

"We shall also demand that those who conduct such programs to burn the effigy of Ravan should be acted against relevant sections of the IPC regarding hurting sentiments of a community and creating public nuisance," Thorat said, and added that if people burn the effigy as a symbol of all ills, we won't have any objection to it.By Express News Service

RAIPUR: After the working president of the Congress, Ram Dayal Uike joined the BJP on Saturday, there are apprehensions in the opposition camp that more leaders, who are suspected to be in touch with the saffron party, may be tempted to switch-over ahead of the Assembly polls.

During the first visit of the BJP president to Chhattisgarh after the poll dates were announced by the Election Commission of India, the ruling party felt that weaning away of Uike, the tribal face of the Congress, was a big accomplishment in the presence of Amit Shah.

The Congress was shocked as it couldn't comprehend what led Uike to join the BJP, particularly when he was given the due respect and position within the party and often consulted on majority of the party's key decisions.

"This is absolutely opportunistic politics, but Uike failed to read the ground reality", said state Congress president Bhupesh Baghel on the development.

According to the political sources, around half-a-dozen Congress legislators are in touch with the BJP, out of which three are from Bastar region itself.

A few Congressmen feel that the odds are not in their favour and they dont have a bright chance of getting the party tickets again. This might emerge as the major reason for them switching over to the BJP.

However, Congress leaders rubbished the contention as rumours spread by the BJP.

"The Congress is united and strong in Bastar. After the election we will form a government in Chhattisgarh", asserted Rajiv Sharma, Bastar district Congress president.

The BJP leaders claimed that their party remains well-prepared to face the polls and not keen to pursue anything that breaks its advantage.

Nevertheless, the Congress after the Uike episode remains on alert and is reportedly keeping an eye on the leaders who might put Congress into a quagmire during the polls.

"The BJP resorts to such measures (luring away leaders from rivals) in states wherever the elections take place. This is nothing new. Uike left because he demanded a tribal chief minister post while he was with the Congress. Now let him do so in the BJP and be honest with the values of the tribals. We don't need to keep watch on such leaders, the people of Chhattisgarh will teach them a lesson", the chairman of Chhattisgarh Congress media Shailesh Nitin Trivedi told the TNIE.Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: On the third death anniversary of the two Sikh youngsters killed in police firing at Behbal Kalan, thousands, on Sunday, attended the bhog (offerings) ceremony in memory of the deceased of the two in Bargari village.

Meanwhile, pro-Khalistan elements branded former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal as a traitor of Sikhs even as authorities deployed heavy security in the village to avoid any violence.

On October 14, 2015, the Punjab Police opened fire in Kotkapura on protesters agitating against the then Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP) government in the state over incidents in which the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, had been desecrated. Later, the two Sikh youngsters  Krishan Bhagwan Singh and Gurjit Singh  were killed in police firing at Behbal Kalan village of Faridkot

In a five-page note, protesters demanding action in the matter of the desecration and the killing of the two youngsters, allegedly listed the Senior Badals misdeeds.

Punjab Cabinet Ministers Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria attended the ceremony. The Punjab Government is duty-bound to give justice to the victims of Behbal Kalan and Bargari firing incidents and the perpetrators would be behind the bars very soon. Due to some legal issues connected with the probe, the matter is facing delays but those responsible for these horrendous happenings will face the law, said Bajwa.

He added that Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh wanted to ensure punishment to those behind the incident.

Bajwa went on to say that the SAD-BJP government had revived the memory of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by resorting to firing upon those protesting in a peaceful manner against the sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP from Sangrur, Bhagwant Mann, who was also present at the ceremony, said Union Cabinet Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal had opposed him when he raised the issue in the Parliament. He added that he will raise the issues every day in the upcoming Winter Session of the Parliament. CM Amarinder is also equally responsible as he is delaying the action. The Congress and Akalis are playing a friendly match. They both held rallies on October 7 to divert attention from the core issue, added Mann.

Also, AAP rebel Sukhpal Singh Khaira, LIP MLA Simerjit Singh Bains and other MLAs were also present. Besides Shiromani Akali Dal rebel, SGPC member and senior vice-president Manjit Singh and Apna Punjab Party chief Sucha Singh Chottepur were also present.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took to Twitter to offer his condolences.

ALSO READ | Amarinder government didn't punish culprits of Guru Granth Sahib sacrilege: Arvind Kejriwal

I offer condolences to the families of Krishan Bhagwan Singh and Gurjit Singh. Highly unfortunate that Amarinders government has badly failed to punish the culprits of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib and the murderers of two innocents.Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Two persons were beaten to death by a mob on Sunday after they allegedly shot at a 12-year-old boy during a religious ceremony in Sultanpur district, around 185 km from Lucknow, said police.

The incident occurred at Saraiya village under Musafirkhana police station area on Saturday night and the boy who sustained the bullet injury was rushed to the district hospital where he is undergoing treatment and is said to be stable.

According to Vishwanath Yadav, Station House Officer of Musafirkhana police station, the deceased persons  Rahul Singh and Dileep Yadav  reached the temple during the ceremony in an inebriated state and picked a fight. One of them, reportedly shot 12-year-old Sumit on his hand, who was attending the ceremony, with a country-made pistol. Sumit was rushed to the Sultanpur district hospital immediately.

Outraged villagers at the temple, however, grabbed Singh and Yadav men and started to thrash them. Both of them were rescued by the local police and were taken to the local community health centre in a heavily injured state. Both succumbed to their injuries at the centre.

Senior police officials, including Additional Superintendent of Police BC Dubey and Superintendent of Police Anurag Arya reached the spot with a heavy contingent of additional forces to ensure that that the area remained peaceful.

On the basis of a complaint filed by the brother of one of the deceased, the police has lodged an FIR against six people under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the SHO said.

However, no arrests have been made so far. "We are trying to identify the villagers who were involved..." said SP Arya.T J S George By

History lies hidden in government files. Hidden because, while modern democracies declassify records after a reasonably brief period of time, India sits on them, sometimes forever. Occasionally a gold mine of files falls into the hands of a creative mind and we see a glittering universe of information opening up in front of us. That is what has happened in Intertwined Lives: P N Haksar and Indira Gandhi. It must be author Jairam Rameshs connections in Delhi as a member of that rare species, the thinking politician, that led him to the gold mine of unpublished manuscripts, official memos, letters, notes and other archival material related to P N Haksar. Let providence be praised.

Dont be put off by the dull and uninviting cover of this big book because, inside, every page bristles with valuable historical information. Its like Haksar has collaborated with Ramesh to publish this vital book. Although his name appears as the author of the book, Ramesh has chosen for the most part to stay in the background, like the director of a play, invisible. At best he can be called the editor of the material in his hands.

Why has the other collaborator remained relatively unknown all these years despite being, as these pages reveal, one of the shapers of India in the class of Jawaharlal Nehru? (An obituary writer called him the last of the Nehruvians.) Because he was a civil servant? Because, as he once said, I lack the strong ego to follow the footsteps of my very dear friend B K Nehru and write an autobiography?

Haksars contributions outweigh those of his very dear friends. Indira Gandhi picked him, an old family friend, soon after she became prime minister in 1967, and he stayed with her till 1973. Those were tumultuous years with Haksars imprint on them. His memo on the Congress Party enabled Indira to assume supremacy over her rivals with the famous Congress split of 1969. It was Haksar, once a Communist and always a socialist, who masterminded such policy decisions as the abolition of privy purses, the nationalisation of banks, of coal, of oil refineries and of general insurance. He also played a central role in the development of relations with Iran, Bangladesh and China.

It is clear that Indira Gandhis best years were the years when she trusted Haksar and implemented his ideas. Debates will continue on the socialism of the public sector policy she followed, but no one can deny that those years moulded India and gave it a mindset that survives to this day.

The main reason, perhaps, was that he was not always acting as a Marxist or a socialist. He was a universalist, speaking English, Hindi, Urdu and Persian and a bit of Bengali, French and German as well. He was a scholar and connoisseur of art. He was ready to put human values above ideologies. When Pather Panchali was initially banned from screening abroad because it showed up Indian poverty, Haksar complained to Nehru and liberated Satyajit Ray.

Ritwik Ghatak was chosen for Padma Shri in 1970, but the home ministry wanted to cancel it after the irrepressible Ghatak made some nasty remarks about Mahatma Gandhi. Haksar wrote in the file: Human history is full of examples of artists of genius living in destitution and penury because they cannot compromise their art with the vulgarity of public taste... Shri Ghatak alternates between moments of sanity and long periods of insanity... Can anyone say that Shri Ghataks words have diminished in any way the stature of the person against who he used such atrocious language?... If a man says something which he knoweth not, God forgive him, but man, his creature, cannot.

Haksar also played a formative role in science and research by putting men like Satish Dhawan, Homi Sethna and M S Swaminathan in leadership positions. He himself became, after he left Indira, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission and the first Chancellor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University. Splendid institution-building by a splendid visionary who laid some of Indias foundation stones.

He died a disillusioned man. That phase began when he showed the courage to advise Indira against her profligate son Sanjay. Indira turned out to be all mother while Haksar was all commonsense, all patriot. Indira paid for her mistake. History applauded Haksar. The thought lingers: If these files have thrown so much light on so many big issues, what about the files by/on other prime ministerial alter egosM O Mathai, Kanti Desai, R K Dhawan, Ottavio Quattrocchi, godman Chandraswami, Brajesh Mishra? Gold mines waiting for the attention of thinking politicians.By ANI

BENGALURU: After reports about a fresh batch of swine flu cases in Karnataka surfaced, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner Manjunath Prasad on Sunday assured that there is no need to panic, as the reported numbers are less than the previous year's figures.

"Till now we have identified 177 cases, out which 37 are from outside Bengaluru. These are regularly monitored and proper action is being taken. Numbers are less compared to the previous years. There is no need to panic," Prasad told ANI.

He also assured that authorities are taking all the necessary measures and as soon as anyone is tested positive, a health team is sent to visit the patient to provide necessary information to the patient's family and everyone in the vicinity.

Earlier today, Karnataka Deputy Chief G. Parameshwara held a meeting with health department officials, BBMP Mayor Gangambike and other municipal corporation officials to discuss an action plan to curb the spread of the H1N1 virus.

In the wake of the outbreak, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued guidelines for patients for precaution of the disease and categorised patients into A, B, and C categories.

Category A patients (mild fever, cough with or without body ache) do not require Oseltamivir and testing for Influenza. They should just confine themselves at home and avoid mixing up to avoid any risk.

Category B patients (symptoms of Category A with high-grade fever and sore throat) may require home isolation and Oseltamivir. If the Category B patients have more than one risk factor ( pregnant women, persons aged 65 years or older, patients with lung diseases, heart disease, liver disease, etc...), they shall be treated with Oseltamivir. Testing of the patient for influenza is not required in this case either. They too should avoid mixing with people. Broad Spectrum antibiotics as per the Guideline for Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) may also be prescribed.

If a patient has both the signs and symptoms of Category A and B following breathlessness, chest pain, drowsiness, fall in blood pressure, sputum mixed with blood or bluish discolouration of nails, it falls in Category-C. They require testing, immediate hospitalisation, and treatment.By Express News Service

UDUPI: After mourning over his daughters death for 86 days, father of Hazel Mathias, a nurse from Udupi who died in Saudi Arabia under mysterious circumstances, has decided to find out the exact reasons for her death. If the need arises, and after consultation with religious leaders, I may give my consent to the authorities to exhume my daughters body and probe the case, Robert Quadras, Hazels father, told reporters on Saturday.

Hazel Mathias

He said he has received a death notification from the forensic medicine centre, Al-Baha, signed by Dr Bandar Saleh Al-Zahrani, which stated that the cause of death was asphyxia through hanging by suspension. The doctor also concluded that it was a suicide. Robert said another communication from Maj Gen Ali Bin Mohammed Al Hadi, director of Al-Baha district police, Al-Makhwah Governorate, stated that it was suicide by hanging herself from the stairs over the roof of the hospitals nursing home. The same letter mentions that the physical examination showed no traces of violence or resistance or otherwise.

Expressing his disapproval over the probe conducted in Saudi Arabia, Robert said it is unusual that the Consulate General of India in Jeddah did not send the postmortem report along with the dead body in September. We believe that autopsy was conducted in this case as it was an unnatural death, he said and added that relevant documents like the inquest report, a copy of charge sheet filed by the police and the order copy from the court were also not sent to him.

Robert said he has sought documents such as Hazels personal diary, death note written by Hazel, letter of employment, insurance details, charge sheet, inquest report and postmortem report from Sanjay Kumar Sharma, Vice Consul (Labour), Consular General of India, Jeddah. Considering this as a grave injustice that has been meted out to our family, we will seek further probe into the case, he added.

President of Human Rights Foundation, Udupi, Ravindranath Shanbhaug, who was appointed nodal officer to bring back Hazels body from Saudi Arabia by Udupi Deputy Commissioner Priyanka Mary Francis, said he will assist the family till justice is delivered.

Shanbhaug said Ibrahim Al Zaheed, whom Hazel had alleged of harassing her, was arrested but was released two days ago. We want to know on what grounds he was released, he said. As a human rights activist, I will take up the legal battle against the Consular General of India, Jeddah, if the authorities do not respond, he added.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 PTI

BENGALURU: Ending uncertainty over her candidature, the JD(S) Sunday announced fielding Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's wife Anitha Kumaraswamy in the bypoll to the Ramanagara Assembly constituency.

The ruling party in the state also said Madhu Bangarappa, son of former chief minister S Bangarappa, would be the candidate from the Shivamogga parliamentary seat.

Earlier, there was speculation that Anitha would contest either from Ramanagara or Mandya.

The Janata Dal (Secular) has still not finalised the candidate for the Mandya Lok Sabha bypoll.

The party has said the candidature will be announced later.

The coalition partner of the JD(S), Congress, has announced that Anand Nyamgouda, son of Sidhu Nyamagouda who was killed in a road accident on May 28, will be its candidate from the Jamakhandi Assembly seat.

The party is yet to decide its candidate for the Ballari Lok Sabha seat.

The bypolls to three Lok Sabha seats -- Shivamogga, Mandya and Ballari -- and the two assembly seats of Ramanagara and Jamakhandi will take place on November 3.

JD(S) national secretary general Danish Ali told PTI that the names of Anitha Kumaraswamy and Bangarappa were finalised for the Ramanagar and Shivamogga seats respectively.

However, the candidate for Mandya would be finalised later, he said.

Ali also said the JD(S) would support the Congress candidates from Ballari and Jamakhandi.

Confirming this, JD(S) state general secretary M Srikanth said Bangarappa would be the alliance candidate from Shivamogga.

Bangarappa would meet JD(S) supremo and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda Monday, before leaving for Shivamogga to file his nomination papers, he added.

Congress spokesperson A N Nataraj Gowda also confirmed that Bangarappa would contest from Shivamogga.

The Congress, in a press release, said it had appointed polls in-charge for the seats from where JD(S) candidates would fight the by-elections.

Large and Medium Industries Minister K J George would oversee the Mandya parliamentary seat, while Revenue Minister R V Deshpande and Lok Sabha member D K Suresh would be in charge of Shivamogga and Ramanagara respectively, it said.

The bypolls were necessitated following the resignations of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president BS Yeddyurappa from the Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat, C S Puttaraju from the Mandya Lok Sabha seat and B Sriramulu from the Ballari Lok Sabha seat.

They contested the 2018 state Assembly polls and got elected.

The Ramanagara seat got vacated as Chief Minister Kumaraswamy, who won from both the Channapatna and Ramanagara seats, opted to represent the former in the Assembly and resigned from the latter.

The Jamakhandi Assembly seat fell vacant after the sitting MLA, Siddu Nyamagouda, was killed in a road accident on May 28.By Express News Service

BENGALURU: The organisers of a play  Shiva, which focuses on identity, gender and sexuality  were forced to cancel it after members of right-wing outfits descended on the venue on Saturday morning and warned them of dire consequences if they went ahead with staging it.

The play was scheduled to be staged at 3 pm at Jagriti theatre in Whitefield on Saturday. When contacted for help, the Whitefield police said they could not provide any help on Saturday, but promised to deploy three constables on Sunday to deal with the 25-strong group of protesters, according to the organisers.

The theatre, a popular venue for plays, witnessed tense scenes when a group of men, claiming to be from a right-wing outfit, arrived there, created a ruckus and declared that they found the play offensive. When asked if any of them had seen the play, they said they hadnt, but that they found the use of the name offensive.

They threatened to create trouble if we went ahead with the shows as scheduled, Arundhati Raja of Jagriti said in a statement. We had four shows of the play titled Shiva scheduled at Jagriti. The play is directed by Dayasindhu Sakrepatna, and has had 15 shows in the past. It is a story which deals with discrimination of the LGBTQI community, at a time when Section 377 of the IPC has been overturned, she added. Disappointed with the way things turned out, the theatre group decided to cancel the show.

Speaking to The New Sunday Express, director Sakrepatna said, I was shocked when Jagriti owner Arundathi Raja said two constables came with a notice saying Jagriti doesnt have proper permission about acoustics, etc., and we should not perform the play. However, Jagriti is an old space and has had hundreds of plays and other programmes here. We didnt pay heed to it. But by then a group of about 10 people came inside and spoke to Raja with a letter saying the name Shiva hurt the organisations religious sentiments and Shiva had no connection with sex and gender.

It was obvious that they had no idea of what the play was all about, the director said. The constables from Whitefield police station dispersed them and asked the artiste team to come to the police station. When we were at the station, 25 men from a different religious faction came near the theatre and started threatening the artistes of the play. We asked the police to give us protection, but they could give us only three constables against 25 strong men.

If the organisation could mobilise 25 men just several hours before the show then imagine how many could come during the show, Sakrepatna added. Artiste Lekha said, I am very disappointed. I feel powerless. The entire team put in so much of effort... I am frustrated too but we will not give up. We will definitely come back and perform at the same venue. Sakrepatna added, As a creator, I feel powerless. Is it so simple? You come and strangle the voices that you dont want to be heard? There is no reason, there is no logic, there is no dialogue, there is no discussion.

My voice is powerless. I feel angry at the same time. We will definitely come back. I didnt expect this to happen in our city and at a place like Jagriti. He now intends to consult advocates and higher officials, and seek suggestions on getting the right permits and security issues, and to go ahead with the performance soon. Shiva is a full-length play depicting stories of everyday people and their experiences around gender, identity and sexuality while addressing themes of conviction, fear, choice and acceptance.

It is a confluence of Bharatanatyam, Carnatic music and realistic storytelling. A senior director and artiste said, Our tradition teaches tolerance, our philosophy preaches tolerance, our Constitution practises tolerance, let us not dilute it. Regrettably, over the years, tolerance has been replaced by the rising menace of intolerance which strikes at various fields of human endeavour and creativity: writings, music, drama, paintings and movies. However, Whitefield police inspector said neither had such an incident happened nor have they received any complaint in this regard. He also refused to comment further on the issue.Arunkumar Huralimath By

Express News Service

KARWAR: After months of anxious moments, finally there is some good news for the families of Indian fishermen who were jailed in Iran for entering Iranian waters while fishing off the Dubai coast. An Iranian court on Saturday ordered the release of six of the fishermen, who were held along with another group of 12 Indian fishermen, nearly one and a half months ago.

This development has raised the hopes of the families of other fishermen, who are still in Iranian custody, that they will be released soon. The fishermen who have been released are Inayath Kadir Shamali, Ajmal Musa Shamali, Mohammed Ilyas Hussain Ambadi, Iliyas Kasim Mulla, Kashim Ismail Shaikh and Abdullah Suleman Dangi, all from Uttara Kannada district.

After their release from jail, they have been sent back to the boats which have been anchored in a dockyard for the last two months. Yakub Ismail Shamali, who has been under boat arrest since August 25, phoned his family in Kumta and confirmed the release of the six fishermen. He also informed his family members that an Iranian court will hear the case of the remaining fishermen on Sunday. He was optimistic that the court will release all of them.

The 18 fishermen from Bhatkal, Honnavar and Kumta taluks of the district were detained by Iranian security personnel in separate incidents on July 27 and August 25 near Kish Island. Yakub Ismail Shamali belonged to the second group of seven members, six of whom were sent to jail. According to sources, Dubai sponsor Ali Suhail Butti Alayali, who hired these six fishermen, hired an advocate in Iran to ensure the release of the six fishermen.

IN TROUBLED WATERS

April 28: Fishermen go to Dubai

July 27: While fishing off Dubai coast, Iranian security personnel detain some fishermen

August 25: Seven fishermen detained, six sent to jail

October 10: After spending months under boat arrest, a few fishermen inform a Bhatkal leader about it and the incident comes to light

October 13: An Iranian court releases six fishermen. They sent to their compatriots under boat arrestBy Express News Service

PATHANAMTHITTA: Braving rain, tens of thousands of devotees, a majority of them women, participated in the prayer yagna to protect the ongoing practice of Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple, organised under the auspices of Adoor NSS taluk union and other Hindu organisations in Adoor on Saturday. The prayer procession, chanting Ayyappa songs, was set off the two-km padayathra from Adoor-Peringanad-Chennampally Sree Sastha temple to Adoor Gandhi Maidan after passing through the main road at 4 pm.

Inaugurating the prayer meeting, Adoor NSS Taluk Union president Kalanjur Madhu said the yagna was organised to protect and preserve the ongoing practices of Sabarimala temple restricting the entry of women between the age group of 10 and 50.Madhu said the prayer yagna was not against any political party or with any vested interest but with the overall aim of protecting the sentiments of crores of Sabarimala devotees and the customs and practices of the temple.

Read | Not shaken by protest movements, gender activist Trupti Desai to announce Sabarimala pilgrimage date soon

Delivering the keynote address, Pandalam Kottaram Nirvahana Samithi president Sasikumara Varma said the devotees were forced to come out to the streets to protect the Sabarimala hill shrine and religious sentiments.

The authorities should take a stance favouring the sentiments of the devotees by initiating immediate measures to protect the ongoing practices of Lord Ayyappa temple. SNDP Union assistant secretary Ebin Ambadiyil, Anandan Changamala, Prasad Angadickal, N K Podiyan and Arun Sharma spoke. Prayer yagnas were taken out under the auspices of Ranni NSS taluk union and Thiruvalla taluk unions in which thousands of devotees took part.By Express News Service

TIRUCHY: A special team of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) from Delhi arrived at Tiruchy International Airport on Saturday to inspect the condition of the Instrument Landing System (ILS) that got damaged after the Air India flight bound for Dubai scraped past the outer wall of the airport.

The Air India Express aircraft which took off to Dubai on Friday damaged the five antennas, monitor and control unit of the ILS. Currently, the airport is using the alternative navigation systems and operations are going on without any issues.

Airport officials also inspected the accident spot with sources saying that the team will stay in Tiruchy till Monday.

We have the alternative systems in place for managing the operations. The accident has not affected our operation and ILS instruments would get repaired in a month, the sources added. It was an accident and similar accidents can happen anywhere. Therefore, there is no point in getting frightened about it, said V Karthik, a Singapore-bound passenger who arrived at the airport.

Meanwhile, the authorities made some temporary repair work at the damaged boundary wall of the airport. The spot has become an attraction zone with people taking selfies at the site.

The videos of the accident spot has already gone viral on social media platforms. We thought it would be interesting to take a picture at the accident spot, said R Vivek, a city resident. Yet, the nearby residents are not so curious.

After that incident, I was not able to have a sleep peacefully. Whenever I hear a small noise, I would go out to make sure that we are safe, said R Xavier, who lives in a thatched house near to the airport.

Officials dismissed these fears and confirmed that there is no need for unnecessary panic. It was an accident and we are already taking measures for ensuring safety, they assured.Jayanthi Pawar By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Tenty-seven-year-old Uma had been complaining about experiencing pain while breastfeeding ever since she gave birth to her son a month and a half ago. However, no one in her family took her complaints seriously. It is alleged that she finally threw her son into the Velachery lake in the wee hours of last Saturday. Police suspect that mounting depression may have pushed her to this act.

Uma and Venkanna (30), had migrated to Chennai from Andhra Pradesh five years ago in search of a job. Venkanna found employment at a supermarket, while Uma started working at a clothing store. A senior police officer who conducted inquiries with Uma and members of the family said the couple got married two years ago. Recently, she had a baby and after a few days began complaining of pain while feeding the child. She even told her husband to give the baby to her mother to look after but he refused and told her to adjust. Later, the womans sister and mother moved to their house to talk to her about feeding the child, but failed, said the police officer.

At one point, a fight blew up and the husband accused the wife of being more concerned about her health and of neglecting the child. This added to the mounting depression which probably forced the woman to kill the child, added the officer.

While it is not known if Uma suffered from what is known as postpartum depression (PPD) and if that played a role in her alleged crime, PPD is a serious condition about which there is little awareness and which can cause new mothers to feel anger, frustration and great sadness which they could express either through an inability to care for the child or even, sometimes, violence towards the child.

Unfortunately, mental health experts say there is an acute lack of awareness about postpartum depression, which limits access to care and support that a woman with PPD needs.

PPD is a complex mix of physical, emotional and behavioural changes which occur after a woman gives birth. Mothers affected by postpartum depression can show impairments in cognitive performance, behaviour disturbance and attachment insecurity. Women may even commit suicide due to PPD. While doctors mainly attribute PPD to a hormonal imbalance in the body after childbirth, some of the other triggers of PPD can be painful or complicated pregnancies, stress, tension with the husband or in-laws, financial difficulties and other health issues. Still, most women do show signs of depression, but families, due to lack of awareness, fail to notice or understand what they are undergoing.

In fact, even women with PPD can have difficulty identifying the illness. Lawyer Amba Salelkar of the Equals Centre for Promotion of Social Justice in Chennai recounted her experiences with PPD. After the baby was born, the inability to sleep and other factors, including hormonal changes, aggravated my temper issues. I could feel there were new symptoms and I was initially blind-sided. It was much latter that I realised I had PPD. Often, PPD can be mistaken as baby blues, she explained.

When we stress on the importance of breastfeeding and such, we should also stress that if a woman says she is unable to breastfeed, she is supported and allowed to use formula milk in the best interests of the mother and child. Doctors should create an atmosphere for women to open up on such issues, even if women do not approach them specifically to discuss these issues. Pediatricians should be roped in to help identify when a woman is going through PPD and intervene as new mothers will definitely meet pediatricians, she added.

Dr R Mangala of SCARF (Schizophrenia Research Foundation) in Chennai noted that while awareness of PPD was indeed low, the number of such cases seemed fewer compared to some other countries, perhaps due to the presence of family support for new mothers in India.

When a woman has her first child, there is usually family support to help look after the mother and the child, even if they experience some kind of depression. However, there is often less support during subsequent pregnancies which may cause the signs of PPD to be more pronounced, she said. Further, women do not approach doctors regarding PPD, the doctor said. It is the family that mostly brought women for treatment, that too when they noticed changes in behaviour that were unacceptable, Dr Mangala pointed out.

In one case, a new mother in Chennai, had attempted suicide and tried to kill her mother after developing delusional guilt. This is when the family brought her for treatment. We found she was already being treated for depression when she got pregnant. Also, she had previously undergone a medical termination of pregnancy (abortion). With the familys support she was treated with medication, she said.

Given the stigma attached to seeking mental health case, there is a long way to go in raising awareness about PPD , especially in rural areas, doctors said. More so, because of the cultural importance, we give to the mother-child relationship, which is often idealised. This makes it harder for women, bound by social constraints, to express their feeling in India. As they suffer in silence, without help, many try to harm themselves.

A city-based gynecologist described the symptoms that family could notice as such: the mother might become dull, not feed the baby, not take care of the child, stop eating, throw tantrums, become abusive, anxious, fearful or tense for trivial reasons. Even if a slight change is noticed, they should be taken to a psychiatrist immediately. Doctors also noted that the depression a new mother may experience rarely becomes suddenly extreme. Rather, like in the case of any physical illness, the depression builds up over time.

Doctors urge families to be alert to even slight changes in behavior. Of late, doctors have started discussing PPD with pregnant women so they can seek timely help if required. If this becomes the norm among all doctors, awareness may ensure more women are able to access help.

If you are in distress or feel suicidal, call the Tamil Nadu government health helpline at 104 or the Sneha Suicide helpline at 044-24640050.

Need to seek help

It is important to intervene before the depression worsens

Persistent sadness, anxiousness or empty mood

Severe mood swings

Feelings of frustration, irritability, hopelessness

Feelings of guilt, shame, worthlessness

Trouble bonding with the baby

Feeling inadequate in

taking care of the baby

Changes in appetite

Poor self-care

Social withdrawal

Insomnia or excessive sleep

Fear that you cannot care for the baby or fear of the baby

Worry about harming self, baby, or partner

Onset and duration

Usually begins between two weeks to a month after delivery. A study done at an inner-city mental health clinic has shown that 50% of postpartum depressive episodes there began prior to delivery. PPD may last several months or even a year. Postpartum depression can also occur in women who have suffered a miscarriage

18.6 per cent of mothers affected by PPD in low- and lower-middle-income countries, according to a WHO study in 2017. The study says mothers in developing countries are more succeptible to the disorder

15.3 per cent, around one in 10 women get depressed immediately after giving birth, according to most suveys, but the numbers in India ranges between 15.3 per cent and 23 per cent, estimates the National Mental Health

Survey 2015Arunkumar Sekhar By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Tamil cinema has been fighting piracy for a while now, albeit unsuccessfully as evidenced by the latest leaks of popular films 96 and NOTA just hours after their release. The latest salvo fired by Tamil Film Producers Council (TFPC) against piracy has come in the form of a letter dated October 11 to QUBE cinemas.

A list of 10 theatres, in which video piracy is alleged to have occurred, have had their projectors seized, and arrests have been made. However, with the investigation yet to commence, QUBE has reportedly installed new projectors at these theatres. The TFPC has termed this an as aiding and abetting criminal activities; and have requested the digital service provider not to provide new projectors to said theatres and if possible, seize the ones already supplied. The TFPC has also requested QUBE to stop supplying film content to said theatres.

In response, Satish, spokesperson for QUBE cinemas, said, We are legally and contractually bound to provide them with projectors. However, there have been instances when clear instances of C-form cancellations have led to the theatres being inactive, which in turn meant we werent obliged to provide them with projectors.

We have helped the TFPC in identifying the theatres where the piracy has happened, thanks to our forensic team which had correctly identified the theatres behind leaks of films like Oru Kuppai Kadhai and Raja Ranguski. As for content restriction, the final decision is in the hands of the producer. As long as they do not give the go-ahead, we will not hand over the KDM (key delivery message) without which films cannot be played, Satish added. SR Prabhu, treasurer, TFPC, has welcomed QUBEs efforts in eradicating piracy.K Shiva Shanker By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: As winter sets in, more number of patients suffering from swine flu (H1N1) are getting admitted at Gandhi Hospital which is nodal centre for swine flu. While a 56-year-old woman suffering from the flu has died On Thursday, currently 11 patients are undergoing treatment at the government hospitals Disaster Ward. Of them, four are being provided with non-invasive ventilation, and if their condition turns serious, ventilation through intubation has to be provided.

Test results of two more patients who are suspected to have contracted the flu are awaited.

After a person tests positive for the flu, family members and others who were in close proximity to the patient are given prophylaxis to help them avoid contracting the flu. A team checks on people in immediate neighbourhood of the patients home to find if anybody else has symptoms of the flu. Symptoms of swine flu includes fever, cough, cold, along with difficulty in breathing, head and body aches, running nose.

Dr T Pramod Kumar, Associate Professor in Pulmonology Department at the hospital, said that recovery from the infection is slow in people with diabetes, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, chronic kidney disease, those who underwent organ transplantation, asthma and if medical help is not provided on time, it could lead to death.

Video conference on Zika, H1N1

To take stock of preparedness and surveillance of Zika virus disease and seasonal influenza (H1N1), additional secretary of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare would hold a video conference with principal secretaries and other officials of Health Department on Monday. Officials from Telangana would participate in the conference where number of flu cases until October 14 will be presented. In Telangana, 132 swine flu cases were reported from January to October 12 this year. Apart from Hyderabad, patients from Warangal, Mahbubnagar, Medchal and other districts are admitted at Gandhi HospitalBy PTI

HYDERABAD: Former judge K Ravinder Reddy, who quit after delivering the verdict in the Mecca Masjid blast case, has joined the Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS), part of the opposition alliance led by the Congress for the coming Assembly polls, weeks after expressing keenness to embrace the BJP.

The move is being seen as a shot in the arm for the TJS in the run-up to the December 7 polls.

Reddy was welcomed into the party by TJS president M Kodandaram at an event Saturday.

Reddy, the then judge for National Investigation Agency (NIA) cases here, had on April 16 acquitted Hindutva preacher Aseemanand and four others in the Mecca Masjid blast case.

He had resigned as a judge within hours of pronouncing the judgment, citing personal reasons.

Last month, Reddy had expressed keenness to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), describing it as a "patriotic party", and banners welcoming him into the party were put up at the state BJP headquarters here, but it did not materialise.

The TJS is part of the opposition alliance, also comprising the Congress, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Communist Party of India (CPI), formed to take on the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in the upcoming polls.

Kodandaram expressed hope that the seat-sharing talks among the alliance partners would be finalised by "Vijaya Dasami" (October 18).

Kodandaram was the chairman of the Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC), which was at the forefront of the separate Telangana agitation.

The JAC consisted of various parties, including the TRS.

Kodandaram, however, fell out with the TRS after the party assumed power in Telangana in 2014.Siddhanta Mishra By

NEW DELHI: The tallest statue in the world of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel  at the height of 182 metres  built on the Sadhu-Bet Island, in Gujarats Narmada district will be unveiled at the end of this month, officials of the agency handling the project said on Friday.

The effigy, named as the Statue of Unity has been built approximately 3.5 km south of the Sardar Sarovar dam and will be unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had envisioned the project when he was the Chief Minister of the state.

Officials of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL), which is overlooking the project, said work was ongoing to develop boat rides to the statue.

The agency plans on using projection mapping to display the history and culture of each state at the statue, which they said, would add to its tourism value.

We plan to start the boat ferry rides and the projection mapping display within a month after the inauguration. This, we hope will give knowledge to visitors in an entertaining way... said SS Rathore, Chairman & Managing Director, SSNNL. Visitors would be charged `100 for entry, said Rathore, adding that they are also building a Selfie Point from where the whole statue is visible.

Although the statue will be unveiled on October 31, tourism in the area is yet to pick up given the poor condition of the roads.

The Statue of Unity

182 metres is the height of the statue

550panels of bronze plates which were made in China, used in making

B2389 cr

estimated cost

3,400 labourers

250 engineers

Work running 24/7

since October 1

Deadline of inauguration Oct 31, Sardar Patels 143rd birth anniversary

237.35 metres

above sea levelAishik Chanda By

KOLKATA: The BJP is all set to ride a rath again in a bid to come to power, this time in West Bengal.

Party president Amit Shah and two chief ministers of BJP-ruled states are planning to hold rath yatras in the state ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Shah will embark on a rath yatra from Shaktipeeth Tarapith covering entire western parts of Bengal from December 3. While Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal will start a rath yatra from Cooch-Behar's Madan Mohan temple covering entire north and central Bengal from December 5, his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath will lead a yatra from Ganga Sagar covering southern parts from December 7.

The three yatras will conclude at Kolkata in January end where PM Narendra Modi will address a public meeting. Shah, Sonowal and Yogi will be a part of the yatras for some duration of their course. Jharkhand and Tripura CMs are also expected to be a part of the campaign.

The yatra plans are giving security jitters to state police. Given the Babri demolition that followed after BJP veteran LK Advanis rath yatra in 1990 and the recent clashes between ruling Trinamool Congress and BJP workers, the police is not willing to take any chance. The rath yatras will go through stretches where the BJP performed well in rural elections, where TMC-BJP clashes were reported and where communal clashes have occurred in past two years. Providing security simultaneously in three different routes will be a challenge, a senior police officer said.

Special police units are likely to provide additional security to the yatras. The rath yatras will commence from Birbhum as western parts of Bengal are synonymous with political violence. Amit Shah has expressed his willingness to be part of the rath yatra covering western parts for a week, BJP state general secretary Sayantan Basu said.

The TMC said the yatras would be a flop. Similar rath yatras were earlier planned under Advanis leadership, but were unsuccessful. This time too, it will not succeed as the people of Bengal are against communal politics, said TMC MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray.By PTI

SANAA: At least 15 civilians were killed in attacks on minibuses in Yemen's embattled Hodeida province, a UN agency said Sunday, as Huthi rebels blamed air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs did not specify the type of strikes Saturday in the Jabal Ras district, but Yemeni rebels said they were air raids by the coalition fighting alongside the government.

The coalition's spokesman, contacted by AFP, had no immediate comment.

ALSO READ | Yemen's Houthi rebels release ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh's sons: Report

The UN agency said at least 20 more civilians were injured, in what Lisa Grande, the world body's humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, termed "a horrific incident".

The Norwegian Refugee Council condemned "an unacceptable pattern of attacks on civilian women, men and children by parties to the conflict who profess concern for the interests and welfare of Yemeni people".

Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government after the Iran-aligned Huthis ousted it from the capital Sanaa and swathes of the country's north.

The coalition has used air power to oust the rebels from much of the country's south, but the Huthis have held onto Sanaa and the key Red Sea port of Hodeida.

Following the collapse of United Nations-backed talks in September, the coalition announced it was relaunching an assault on Hodeida city and its Red Sea port.

The fighting has since eased and the coalition has focused its raids on the city limits and other parts of the surrounding province.

Coalition air strikes last week killed 79 Huthi rebel fighters and seven civilians in Hodeida province.

ALSO READ | Saudi Arabia gives Yemen USD 200 million amid currency's slide 

The coalition has drawn heavy UN criticism for the high civilian death toll from its campaign in Yemen.

Yemen's war has left almost 10,000 people dead, mostly civilians, since the coalition intervened in 2015, and sparked what the UN has labelled the world's worst humanitarian crisis.By PTI

COLOMBO: The Supreme Court of the Maldives is to decide Sunday on President Abdulla Yameen's petition to overturn his defeat in last month's election, a move that could bring international sanctions.

The tiny Indian Ocean archipelago, which straddles the main east-west international shipping lanes, has seen political tensions escalate as Yameen jailed or exiled all his main opponents during his five-year rule.

ALSO READ | Outgoing President Abdulla Yameen resists freeing Maldives political prisoners: Opposition

After initially conceding defeat in the September 23 presidential election, Yameen mounted a challenge on Thursday asking the Supreme Court to annul the results and call a fresh vote.

Despite opposition fears of rigging in favour of Yameen who has ruled with an iron fist since 2013, the election was endorsed by the international community as free and fair.

Yameen was due to hand over power to the opposition candidate, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, on November 17, but the latest court action risks pushing the country back into unrest, the opposition has said.

However, the strongest warning came from the United States which said it will take "appropriate measures" if Yameen fails to ensure a smooth transition of power.

"The US is concerned by troubling actions" by Yameen "that threaten to undermine the will of the Maldivian people, and will consider appropriate measures against anyone who undermines a peaceful transfer of power in #Maldives," a State department spokesman, Robert Palladino, said on Twitter.

The United States had previously warned of targeted sanctions if Yameen's administration attempted to rig the September vote won by Solih, who secured 58.4 per cent against Yameen's 41.6 per cent.

The Supreme Court hearing is due to start at 1:00 pm (0800 GMT) in the upmarket tourist destination which is also at the centre of a tussle for influence between India and China.

Yameen has courted China's backing while the opposition has said it wants to renegotiate huge loans Yameen had taken from Beijing.

Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, Colombo-based spokesman for the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), said the legal challenge was an attempt by Yameen to create unrest.

The country's Joint Opposition, which includes the MDP, has asked Yameen to withdraw the "blatantly unsubstantiated case, and to step aside and to facilitate a peaceful, and smooth transition.

" The opposition has also urged state institutions, including the courts and the security forces, to uphold the will of the people.

"Maldivians used the ballot to defeat the dictatorial regime.

Yameen must not be allowed to perverse the hard-won opportunity for all Maldivians to attain meaningful democracy and stability," the Joint Opposition said in a statement at the weekend.

ALSO READ | All eyes on Maldives strongman Abdulla Yameen after shock election defeat

Apart from his political foes, Yameen has jailed the chief justice and another supreme court judge after accusing them of trying to topple him in February.

Yameen had initially suspended the court, parliament and the constitution when he declared a state of emergency when parliament was about to impeach him in February.

Three of the remaining supreme court justices have been restored, but the opposition has said they had no faith in the judiciary to deliver justice while Yameen remained in power.

However, several high profile political prisoners, including Yameen's estranged half-brother Maumoon Abdul Gayoom have been released on bail since the election results were officially announced a week after the vote.By PTI

LONDON: Stephen Hawking, one of the world's best-known theoretical physicists who died seven months ago, had warned against a new race of "superhumans" created as a result of genetic engineering that could destroy humanity from beyond the grave.

The British author of the definitive 'A Brief History of Time', who famously often threw up the prospect of time travel, made his last prediction about scary superhumans in a final collection of articles and essays to be published next week, following his death in March at the age of 76.

"Once such superhumans appear, there will be significant political problems with unimproved humans, who won't be able to compete," Hawking wrote.

ALSO READ | Stephen Hawking's ashes buried in Westminster Abbey

"Presumably, they will die out, or become unimportant.

Instead, there will be a race of self-designing beings who are improving at an ever-increasing rate," noted the scientist, who suffered from motor neurone disease that had left him almost completely paralysed for most of his life.

The set of articles on what he called "the big questions" were in preparation for a book, which is set to be published on Tuesday.

According to 'The Sunday Times', in 'Brief Answers to the Big Questions', Hawking suggests that wealthy people will soon be able to choose to edit their own and their children's DNA to create superhumans with enhanced memory, disease resistance, intelligence and longevity.

"I am sure that during this century people will discover how to modify both intelligence and instincts such as aggression," he wrote.

"Laws will probably be passed against genetic engineering with humans.

But some people won't be able to resist the temptation to improve human characteristics, such as memory, resistance to disease and length of life," he adds.

Hawking's theory refers to techniques such as Crispr, a DNA-editing system that allows scientists to modify harmful genes or add new ones.

Invented just six years ago, it is already in use worldwide. Many scientists welcomed Hawking's predictions as a means of saving Earth from destruction.

ALSO READ | UK to offer Stephen Hawking fellowships

"Humans have arguably reached a critical moment," Chris Rapley, professor of climate science at University College London, told the newspaper.

"We have moved beyond affecting the planet at the landscape scale to interfering with its very metabolism at the global scale.

All the indications are that the limitations of our brains, both individually and collectively, leave us incapable of addressing the challenge.

On this basis the future looks desperately gloomy," he said.

The final set of research by Hawking will be presented by the Stephen Hawking Foundation and John Murray publishers in the form 'Brief Answers to the Big Questions' next week.By PTI

TEHRAN: Iran's president boasted Sunday that the United States has lost against the Islamic republic's "righteousness and wisdom" by walking out of the landmark nuclear deal.

"Everyone knows that America has lost legally and politically by giving up on its international obligations and that we have achieved victory," said President Hassan Rouhani in a speech at the University of Tehran to mark the beginning of the school year.

"There are but a few countries in the world that would call the US withdrawal from the JCPOA (nuclear deal) a good move," he added.

ALSO READ | Hassan Rouhani accused Donald Trump of trying to topple his government

"Those that are cautious express disappointment, those that are more frank say it was a mistake, and the outspoken say it was illegal.

" Washington pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers in May and is reimposing punishing sanctions on the country, hoping to pressure Tehran into what President Donald Trump calls a "better deal".

The US is due to complete the reimposition of sanctions on November 5, targeting Iran's oil sector and central bank.

The other parties to the agreement -- Russia, China, the UK, France and Germany -- have all pledged to continue to try to make the deal work, despite their firms being vulnerable to the US sanctions if they keep doing business with Iran.

Rouhani said Iran's response had left Washington "empty-handed".

ALSO READ | Iran's president Hassan Rouhani blames US after attack on military parade

"They expected us to leave the JCPOA hours after they announced they are, and what would have happened? The case would have returned to the UN Security Council, turned against Iran and isolated us," he said.

He said Iran had lost nothing by staying in the deal and could leave "whenever" it chooses.By PTI

WASHINGTON: Two top American Senators have asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to adopt a soft stance on data localisation, warning that India's policy on the issue will adversely affect American businesses in the country.

Data localisation is an act of storing data on any device that is physically present within the borders of a particular country where the data was generated.

ALSO READ | US Senators write to PM Modi; urge to soften stance on India's data localisation policy

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in a circular in April, said all system providers will have to ensure that the entire data relating to payment systems operated by them are stored in a system only in India.

It gave time till October 15 to comply with the mandate.

In a letter to Prime Minister Modi dated Friday, US Senators John Cornyn and Mark Warner -- who also hold top leadership positions in their own parties -- have opposed the data localisation requirement of the Indian government.

"Data localisation requirements, such as those contained in the draft data protection bill and draft national e-commerce policy framework, will have negative impacts on the ability of companies to do business in India, may undermine your own economic goals, and will likely not improve the security of Indian citizens' data," they said.

Cornyn from the Republican Party and Warner from the Democratic Party are co-chairs of the powerful Senate India Caucuses.

When companies adopt high-quality privacy safeguards, the location of data has no bearing on whether the data is secure, they argued.

"In addition to effectively reducing data security, forced data localisation requirements create inefficiencies for both businesses and consumers, raising the cost of procuring and delivering data services including ones that local Indian businesses utilize on a daily basis," the Senators said.

"Ultimately, they also increase the cost, and/or reduce the availability of, data-dependent services," said the letter, a copy of which has been obtained by PTI.

The two Senators said that forced data localisation will also be counterproductive when it comes to India modernising its framework regarding law enforcement requests for data.

"Both the protection and security of data-as well as access to data for lawful purposes-can be enabled without a requirement that data be stored in a specific physical location. We encourage increased dialogue on these issues between law enforcement agencies in the US and India," the powerful Senators wrote.

The letter comes amidst reports that major American IT companies are up in arms against the latest Indian directive.

American financial companies are believed to have approached the administration against the RBI directive which, beginning October 15, requires them to store in India any payment-related data from transactions that take place inside the country.

India has rejected their request of mirroring.

On Friday, Deputy US Trade Representative and US Ambassador to the WTO Dennis Shea said that the US wants to prohibit data localisation to ensure that there is a free flow of information across borders.

"We want to have prohibitions on data localisation to ensure that there's free flow of information, free flow of data across borders, disciplines around countries requiring companies to give up their source code, a permanent ban on taxation or duties on digital transmissions," Shea said.

Shea did not specifically pointed out India on the data localisation issue but made his views pretty clear where the Trump administration stands on this issue.

Republican Strategist Andy Surabian, who is also a political adviser to Donald Trump Jr, wrote in Breitbart News last week that if implemented, this policy will put an unnecessary burden on American companies and hurt consumers, who will endure higher costs and increased cybersecurity risks.

Meanwhile, mobile messaging platform WhatsApp has said it has built a system that stores payments-related data in India, in line with RBI's data localisation policy.By AFP

BEIRUT: A Russian-Turkish deal to set up a buffer zone around Syria's last major rebel bastion hung by a thread Sunday, as jihadists showed no sign of withdrawing hours before a deadline.

The accord also provides for the clearance of heavy weapons from a U-shaped zone around the northwestern region of Idlib, but a monitor said rebels late Saturday fired mortar shells from it.

The deal agreed last month between regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey is only the latest in a string of truces throughout Syria's seven-year war, which has killed more than 360,000 and displaced millions.

It calls for setting up horseshoe-shaped buffer zone around the Idlib region that would be free of heavy arms by October 10 and of "radical fighters" by Sunday at midnight.

But with just hours to go on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor and an AFP correspondent in Idlib said there was still no sign that they had left so far.

And deadly mortar rounds fired late Saturday from the planned buffer zone, according to the Britain-based monitor, appeared to indicate the first part of the deal was not fully implemented.

"In a few hours, the buffer zone is supposed to enter into force, but the deal has not yet been implemented," said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Observatory.

Late Saturday, "heavy mortar shells" were fired from the planned buffer area into regime territory, killing two soldiers, the Observatory said.

Rebel mortar fire



Rebels and jihadists had reportedly fulfilled the first part of the deal, with Turkish officials, armed factions and the Britain-based Observatory reporting that the area was free of heavy-duty weaponry.

But the shells which Saturday hit an army position in Hama province appear to have violated the accord.

"This is the first clear violation of the deal since the heavy weapons were withdrawn. This area is supposed to be clear of heavy weapons, including mortar shells," Abdel Rahman said.

He said intermittent regime shelling had been hitting the planned buffer for days, but the deal does not require government forces to withdraw any of their weapons.

On Sunday evening, regime shelling hit an area in the west of the planned buffer zone, in the northwest of Hama province, Abdel Rahman said.

Syrian pro-regime daily Al-Watan also reported rebel shelling, saying on Sunday that western parts of Aleppo province were being hit with "rocket fire and shelling with heavy weapons, which were supposed to be pulled out from the area".

And an AFP correspondent in western Aleppo reported mortar fire in the area after several days of quiet.

The Observatory said it was unclear which groups fired the mortars late Saturday, as both the Turkish-backed National Liberation Front and rival jihadist factions were present in the area.

The NLF -- which holds just under half of the Idlib region and has welcomed the accord -- did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment on the shelling.

- 'Vast ramifications' -

The lion's share of Idlib is held by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an alliance led by former Al-Qaeda members, as well as more hardline jihadists like Hurras al-Deen and Ansar al-Islam.

Those fighters also control more than two-thirds of the planned buffer zone and are supposed to withdraw by Monday.

Hurras al-Deen has publicly rejected the agreement, although it apparently withdrew its heavy arms from the area last week.

HTS, widely considered the most powerful force in Idlib, has not publicly commented on the accord but also quietly abided by its first deadline and re-stationed heavy arms elsewhere.

Persuading these jihadist factions to implement the deal's second half would be much more challenging, observers say.

In a recent report for the Turkey-based Omran Center, expert Nawar Oliver described HTS's approval as the deal's ultimate "test".

"If HTS acts as a spoiler to the agreement on the ground, this will probably lead to one of two scenarios: either Turkey and the NLF launch military action against HTS, or Russia will seize the opportunity with the support of the regime and its allies to enter Idlib," he said.

"The ramifications of that move could be vast," he added.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other top government officials have awarned that the Idlib deal was only a "temporary" measure.

On Friday, residents around Idlib received warning messages on their mobile phones from the Syrian army.

"Get away from the fighters. Their fate is sealed and near," one said.Reporter/Columnist

Julie Wurth is a reporter covering the University of Illinois at The News-Gazette. Her email is jwurth@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@jawurth).One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021President Emmerson Mnangagwa will meet Russias President Vladmir Putin early next year, as he continues his engagement and re-engagement drive that is calculated to integrate Zimbabwe into the global family of nations and spur growth as part of the vision to create an upper middle-income economy by 2030.







In August this year, Vice-President Dr Constantino Chiwenga was in Moscow as President Mnangagwas special envoy, to relay a message to the Kremlin.





Writing for The Sunday Mail in his inaugural column, President Mnangagwa said his charm offensive on the sidelines of this years United Nations General Assembly had yielded a solid stock of goodwill.





That goodwill, he said, had helped Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube make significant headway on an arrears clearance deal with creditors last week.





As I write, our delegation led by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, is in Bali, Indonesia, where it is meeting development partners and creditors. This initiative, which is a continuation of our engagement and re-engagement policy, has elicited good responses from IFIs and development partners, said President Mnangagwa.





The numerous contacts I made on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly gave our country a solid stock of goodwill which our delegation in Bali has fully exploited. Key countries which include the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, South Africa, the EU bloc and even the United States of America, have responded favourably to our engagement overtures, and have welcomed our debt-settlement plan for the US$5,6 billion we owe IFIs and the Paris Club, and our Transitional Stabilisation Plan which we will now fully implement.





The Peoples Republic of China continues to support us both bilaterally and internationally, including by way of private sector investments which continue to enhance national capacity.





Early next year, I am set to meet President Putin in Russia to explore ways to enhance our co-operation, he said.





Last week, Prof Ncube announced that the IMF and World Bank had endorsed Zimbabwes arrears clearance plan and two-year Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP).





The African Development Bank, EU, France, UK, USA, Australia, Netherlands and South Africa also expressed their support.





The TSP will guide the countrys economic thrust through to December 2020.





Zimbabwe arrears currently stand at $5,6 billion, which are spilt into $2,2 billion (multilateral creditors), $2,7 billion (Paris Club) and $700 million (non-Paris Club $700 million).





Prof Ncube told The Sunday Mail last week that next month Government would engage two specific sponsors who are G7 members to secure bridging finance required to clear arrears with multilateral creditors. The G7 comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.





Government will engage the G7 as a bloc and also two specific creditors within G7, as potential sponsors. I have already told the two potential sponsors that I will be approaching them at the end of November, Prof Ncube said.





In a speech at Chatham House  an international affairs think-tank in London  last Monday, Prof Ncube said the plan was likely to be adhoc and custom-made.





In the end the arrears plan for Zimbabwe will be adhoc; it will be custom-made.





I think it will be similar to the Myanmar one, where Japan was the sponsor, so even for us, we need a sponsor to make this happen, then cajole the rest of the club for debt restructure, he said.





Myanmar, which was saddled by a debt of $11 billion, met the Paris Club on January 25, 2013 and the latter agreed to cancel half of the arrears in two stages and rescheduled the rest over 15 years, with a seven-year grace period.





Norway cancelled all the $534 million owed to it, while Japan cancelled more than $3 billion.





Sunday Mail The Japan Bank for International Co-operation extended $500 million to help clear arrears to the Asian Development Bank.Sunday Mail



(Newser)  An 86-year-old Indian activist died Thursday during a hunger strike to protest pollution in the Ganges River, Reuters reports. G.D. Agarwal was more than 15 weeks into a fast that he began on June 22. He was demanding a law to protect the GangesIndia's largest waterway, sacred to Hindus, which is filthy with domestic and industrial wasteas well as the discontinuing of construction of hydroelectrical projects. Another activist tells Reuters that Agarwal's death "has shut one of the leading voices of criticism of the government on the Ganga pollution."

story continues below

The day before he died, Agarwal was forcibly taken to the hospital after refusing to drink water. Officers reportedly picked him up in the chair he was sitting in as he kicked his legs in protest. He later died of cardiac arrest, per Reuters. Another activist, 36-year-old Sant Gopaldas, was hospitalized Saturday after starting a hunger strike on June 24, NDTV reports. Gopaldas was protesting mining operations along the Ganges. Authorities have reportedly given hospital staff the OK to force-feed him. (Read more Ganges River stories.)(Newser)  With mechanics like these, who needs enemies? While servicing a fighter jet at a Belgian airfield, a mechanic accidentally fired a Vulcan cannon mounted on the aircraft and destroyed another F-16 jet that was on the tarmac (see images here). Authorities at Florennes airfield are investigating the Thursday incident, RTBF television reports, via Business Insider, with a colonel saying, "You can't help thinking of what a disaster this could have been."

story continues below

Two mechanics were reportedly treated for hearing lossthe only injuries reported (notwithstanding the jets). Loaded with fuel, the F-16 hit by cannon fire burst into flames and was completely destroyed, Avio News reports, adding that two other jets were slightly damaged. About 30 firefighters were called to the scene, along with other emergency personnel, per the Telegraph. The Belgian F-16s are used to patrol NATO's frontier with Russia, according to Business Insider. Each one of the US-made aircraft costs millions of dollars. (Read more F-16 stories.)(Newser)  Faced with the target-rich environment that was the week in news, Saturday Night Live opened with Kanye West's lively Oval Office meeting with President Trump, with Alec Baldwin returning for the first time this season as the commander in chief, reports the New York Times. "Thank you all for joining us today for this important discussion," Baldwin intoned in the Cold Open. "Its in no way a publicity stunt. This is a serious private conversation between three friends, plus 50 reporters with cameras." As Chris Redd's Kanye pontificated about the murder rate, Baldwin drifted to an internal monologue, thinking, "This guy can talk. He doesnt stop. He doesnt listen to anyone but himself. Who does he remind me of?" Then: "Oh my God, hes black me." SNL alum Seth Meyers guest-hosted, and gave his own Kanye anecdote, while Paul Simon was musical guest. Video highlights in the gallery. (Read more Saturday Night Live stories.)(Newser)  Pope Francis on Sunday praised two of the towering figures of the 20th-century Catholic Church as prophets who shunned wealth and looked out for the poor as he canonized the modernizing Pope Paul VI and martyred Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero. Francis declared the two men saints at a Mass in St. Peter's Square before tens of thousands of pilgrims, a handful of presidents, and some 5,000 Salvadoran pilgrims. Tens of thousands more Salvadorans stayed up all night at home to watch it on giant TV screens outside the San Salvador cathedral where Romero's remains are entombed, reports the AP. In a sign of the strong influence Paul and Romero had on history's first Latin American pope, Francis wore the blood-stained rope belt that Romero wore when he was gunned down in 1980 and used Paul's staff, chalice, and pallium vestment.

story continues below

Paul presided over the modernizing yet polarizing church reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 church meetings that opened up the Catholic Church to the world. In his homily, Francis called Paul, the pope of his formative years as a young priest in Argentina, a "prophet of a church turned outwards" to care for the faraway poor. He said Romero gave up his security and life to "be close to the poor and his people." Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, was murdered by El Salvador's right-wing death squads over his fearless defense of the poor as he celebrated Mass on March 24, 1980. Almost immediately after his death, Romero became an icon of the South American left and is frequently listed along with Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi as one of the world's most influential human rights campaigners.

(Read more Oscar Romero stories.)The US is committed to protect the shipping routes and choke points in the Arabian Gulf region, a senior US government official affirmed yesterday. Iran recently issued threats to block the Strait of Hormuz, which is one of the most strategically important choke points in the region and in the world with an oil flow of around 17 million barrels per day.

The country, which is reeling from the effects of re-imposing of the first round of US sanctions, has made clear its intention to disrupt shipping routes and has even previously masterminded attacks on two Saudi oil tankers at Bab Al Mandab using Houthi proxies. Speaking to reporters during a media round-table session yesterday, John J Sullivan, Deputy Secretary of State, who is an official regional tour said that the US remains committed to ensuring the protection of the trading routes in the region.

The United States is committed to a free and open trading system and that includes the movement of goods and persons by land, by sea, and by air particularly in this region. We are committed, along with our allies and partners including most importantly Bahrain, in ensuring that free transit continues and that states that are not committed to that free and open trading system are not able to disrupt that.

Ive had discussions with the government of Bahrain on our support, on our joint commitment to addressing the threats to the region that are posed by Iran. With respect to sanctions, it has been reimposed by the United States with the first round of sanctions having started in early August.His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has described the Bahrain-US relations as strategic, historical and strong, expressing pride in the remarkable progress of bilateral cooperation on all levels thanks to the support they receive as a result of the policies of the US President Donald Trump towards friendly and allied countries in the region.

HRH Premier stressed that the US cooperation with its friends and allies in the region is a necessity imposed by the requirements of security and stability, noting that Saudi Arabia is among the cornerstones of global security and stability, as well as the greatest and most important ally.

Supporting Saudi Arabia is a support for us because it represents all of us, he said. The Prime Minister made the statements while receiving, at his Palace in Riffa yesterday, the Deputy Secretary of State of the United States of America, John J. Sullivan, with whom he discussed ways to bolster cooperation between the two friendly countries in various fields.

HRH Premier welcomed the US officials visit, expressing hope that it will push the outstanding bilateral relations forward, and open up new horizons that would serve common interests. The Prime Minister lauded the steady growth of the Bahraini-US relations in all fields, thus embodying the deep-rooted bilateral ties which have always been based on mutual respect and shared desire to reach the highest levels of cooperation.The University of Bahrain is a proud symbol of the Kingdom. Since its establishment in 1986, the university has been contributing towards human capital development, leading innovation, contributing to economic development and leading society. In an exclusive interview with Tribune, UoB President Prof Riyad Y Hamzah says that the university is all set to become one of the best centres of academic excellence in the world soon. Excerpts:

With the beginning of the new academic year, what are the plans in place for the institution?

The year has started very smoothly and we could fully implement the online registration system. We have enrolled around 6,400 new students successfully this year with minimum disruption. We have spent the summer improving our physical infrastructure, such as classrooms, lab equipment, student services, and parking, in addition to our digital infrastructure to cope with the student numbers.

Additionally, we are able to offer students a range of new and exciting programmes, such as environmental sustainability, actuarial science, and a new range of postgraduate programmes. This year we have launched several new programmes in addition to the 11 new programmes last year.

Our new programmes, which were developed in partnership with industry and relevant stakeholders, reflect the dynamic and skills-based job market. We have also invested in our teachers, especially with regard to technology. Just two weeks ago, 200 of our teachers became Microsoft certified educators, which endorses a significant percentage of our faculty as experts in the use of technologies in the classroom.

I have also taken the opportunity to meet with staff from various colleges and to talk to students. It is always important to understand the views of the most important people in any university, the students and staff.

What has been the impact of UoB on the Kingdoms educational sector?

Our impact as a university is not just local, but international. This year for the first time ever, UoB was the only university in Bahrain to be ranked in the top 1000 globally, which puts us in the top three percent. In terms of employer reputation, we are ranked 411, which puts us in the top 2pc globally.

This is a significant achievement and demonstrates how highly the University of Bahrain is increasingly respected by academics and employers throughout the world. Two years ago, we were ranked 42 in the Arab university rankings and now we stand at 31, a jump of 11 positions, demonstrating how UoB is becoming more progressive, focused and recognised internationally. Our graduates are highly sought after and are both knowledgeable and skilled.

They are helping the economy to diversify by working in emerging job sectors that are technology-focused, and also in public services. We are proud that the institution has been generating high-quality teachers, professionals, and nurses that support our public schools and hospitals, making a positive contribution to society.

Through our research partnerships, we are working to solve regional challenges such as water security, food security and renewable energy, as well as emerging areas such as Artificial Intelligence. We are currently working on projects with some of the worlds leading universities such as Oxford, Aston and Loughborough University, and only recently successfully started a joint research project with Edge Hill University related to cybersecurity and the Internet of Things.

Currently, we are on schedule to record the highest number of research papers published in any one year in the history of the university. UoB is firmly committed to lifelong learning. Since my taking over as President, we have increased our number of postgraduate students by 400 percent. Many working professionals are now coming to study at UoB to gain new qualifications with the aim of furthering their careers. We have introduced a new range of postgraduate programmes that are designed for flexible learning and mature students.The United States enjoys an extremely robust relationship with the government and people of Bahrain. Ours is a long-standing, mutually-beneficial partnership that allows each country to enhance the others strengths and capabilities. Our partnership is built upon an enduring friendship that binds our two people and enriches both societies.

America is truly grateful for the strong bond we share with Bahrain. This week, as we celebrate Discover America Week, 2018 we shine the spotlight on one of the strongest pillars of our relationship: our deep commercial ties. Trade between our two countries is booming. The Bahrain-U.S. Free Trade Agreement  one of only two such agreements the United States has with GCC nations  is the most significant symbol of our economic bond.

Since the Free Trade Agreement came into force in 2006, two-way merchandise trade has more than doubled to $1.9 billion in 2017, benefitting Bahraini and U.S. exporters, and our economies  and it is only getting stronger. In the first seven months of 2018, two-way trade increased by 54 percent over the same period last year. Including services, trade totals over $3 billion annually. Bahrain exports a wide range of products to the United States under the agreement, including aluminum, textiles, plastics, fertilizers, chemicals, glass, and high-performance motorsports helmets, to name just a few.

The Free Trade Agreement has also brought investment and iconic American companies to Bahrain  companies that deliver good jobs for Bahraini citizens and provide unbeatable products and services for Bahraini consumers. Discover America Week, which runs from October 14-24, is a celebration of American commerce and innovation, including food, retail outlets, tourism, medical innovation, entrepreneurship, technology, services, and more. It is a great opportunity for Bahrainis to explore some of these world-class American products and services. This years programming underscores the enduring presence of a number of U.S. companies and brands in Bahrain. I would like to highlight just a few of the activities that will take place during the week.

We will be celebrating Free Trade Agreement success stories, like world-leading U.S. medical technologies at work at the American Mission Hospital and excellence in U.S. engineering at Alba. In partnership with the American Chamber of Commerce in Bahrain (AmCham), the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the United Nations Development Program, we will host a seminar on promoting trade with the United States.

We will also bring a world-renowned entrepreneur from the United States to discuss the importance of womens advancement in business, in an event co-sponsored with AmCham, C5, and the Capital Governorate. Other events include placing a spotlight on U.S. retailers and famous brand franchises and a visit to U.S. companies thriving at the Bahrain International Investment Park. While there is much of America to discover here in Bahrain, we hope you will visit the United States to experience even more. Each year, over 5,000 Bahraini citizens visit the Embassys Consular section in preparation to tour, study, or conduct business in the United States.

We now feature an interview waiver program that allows some Bahraini visa applicants to renew their visas without even setting foot in our Embassy. We are introducing innovations to make it easier and more convenient for you to visit and enjoy all that America has to offer. Please take a moment to find out what we are doing on the U.S. Embassy website at https:// bh.usembassy.gov and follow our Discover America activities on Twitter (@USEmbassyManama), Instagram (@usembassybahrain), and Facebook (U.S. Embassy Manama). I hope you will join me in celebrating Discover America Week!Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a male doctor who has been accused of using a so-called aJK businessa for an illicit encounter with a teenage girl earlier this year, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Oct. 11).

On June 14, Kenzo Kodaka, a resident of Itabashi Ward, allegedly paid the girl to 20,000 yen to engage in acts deemed obscene at a hotel in the Kabukicho red-light district of Shinjuku Ward while knowing she was a minor.

Kodaka, who has been accused of violating the law against child prostitution, admits to the allegations, police said.

According to police, the girl was provided to Kodaka via a business referred to by the abbreviation JK, or joshi kosei, meaning high school girl. The service, which recruited customers via Twitter, claimed to dispatch girls in uniform to customers.

In June, police arrested the male manager of the service on suspicion of violating the Child Welfare Act.

On Twitter, the manager billed the operation as offering massages at a rate of 8,000 yen for the first 60 minutes. However, a separate menu featured services allowing customers to take the girls out, which led to the provision of sex for between 30,000 and 40,000 yen, police said upon his arrest.Police in Sakai, Osaka, plan to charge a 44-year-old woman, already under arrest for killing her 40-year-old brother by making it look like he committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning, with the murder of her father by withholding his insulin.

Akemi Adachi, who is the president of a construction company in Sakai, was arrested on suspicion of killing her brother Masamitsu, who managed another company, at their parents' house in Naka Ward sometime between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on March 27, Fuji TV reported. Police allege that Adachi gave her brother sleeping pills.

Police said Adachi called Masamitsu's wife and urged her to come to their parents' home because something had happened to Masamitsu. When Masamitsu's wife arrived just before 7:30 p.m., Adachi showed her a suicide note and said Masamitsu had shut himself in the toilet on the second floor. The toilet door had been sealed with an adhesive bond. When Masamitsu's wife and Akemi managed to open the door, they found Masamitsuas body lying on the toilet floor. Traces of charcoal briquettes were found in the toilet.

Masamitsu was taken to hospital where his death was listed as a probable suicide due to carbon monoxide poisoning. However, traces of sleeping pills were found in his body after an autopsy. Furthermore, the empty adhesive bottle was not found inside the toilet, but in another room, along with a lighter. Police learned that Adachi had been prescribed sleeping pills which they believe she somehow gave to her brother via a spiked drink. A suicide note, purp0rtedly from the victim, was found by his wife who said the writing did not look like Masamitsuas. Police said they found the text of the note on Adachi's computer.

The Adachis' 67-year-old mother was also found collapsed at the house that day. Police said she told them later that she blacked out after drinking a matcha latte made by Akemi.Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has launched another attack on President Muhammadu for not including som...





Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has launched another attack on President Muhammadu for not including some names in the list of high profile politicians on travel ban.





According to Omokri, names such as Babachir Lawal and Maina should be on the list.





He also wondered why the aide to Wife of the President who allegedly made away with N.2.5 and a former Governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva was not mentioned.





In a series of tweet on Sunday, Omokri said, I just read Buharis travel ban list of 50 people that allegedly stole above 50 million.





Babachir Lawals name is not there although it is confirmed he stole 200 million. Maina, the Buhari financier, who stole 13 billion is not there. It is a political hit list! #RenosDarts





@aishambuharis ADC who stole 2.5 billion isnt on Buharis travel ban.





Timipre Sylvia, to whom @officialEFCC returned 48 houses seized from him, isnt there.